Sunday, October 30, 2011

Days of Beauty: Beauty vs. Pretty

The other day I happened to be out of town taking Samuel to the eye dr. (getting a second opinion) and we went to the mall for lunch. After lunch, I had a couple of places I wanted to go and it was just he and I so we embarked on an adventure through the mall.

What was coming to mind is that we cannot force true beauty. It cannot successfully be contrived or brought about through our human endeavors. True beauty comes from within and shines on our faces without.

While I was mulling all of this over - I happened to walk by the Bare Escentuals shop and saw this on the wall (I didn't have my camera, but found this on their website):


Now, I'm not saying I agree with every word here - but there is some truth to what is said. Pretty isn't enough. Someone can be very pretty and then open their mouth and have it filled with trashy talk and pretty soon they aren't so pretty anymore.

There are a couple of lines I love, one is this - "Pretty lifts spirits. Beauty makes them soar." That's a beautiful line! I can't say I support the last line - but when you invest in your inner beauty and are drawing on God's strength (Phil. 4:13) we can do anything through His strength and that will be beautiful.

Think about it this way - pretty can be made. We can dress up, we can put on makeup, we can set a fancy pretty table. Beauty is deeper than that. Beauty cannot only be made through external changes - it is something all together more than that.

As defined by the dictionary:
Pretty: artful, clever; pat, apt; pleasing by delicacy or grace; having conventionally accepted elements of beauty; appearing or sounding pleasant or nice but lacking strength, force, manliness, purpose, or intensity

Beauty: the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit; loveliness; a beautiful person or thing; a particularly graceful, ornamental, or excellent quality

You can see the difference even in those definitions! I'll leave you with this and would love to hear your thoughts on the differences between pretty and beautiful.

1 Samuel 16:7,
"
But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height,
for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'"

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Monica,
This reminds me of the old saying
"Pretty is as pretty does" or "Beauty is only skin deep".
I can still hear my parents saying those phrases to me when I was growing up. My prayer is that I have embodied those principles into my life.

God Bless you my dear.

Love, Grandma

Anonymous said...

I have really enjoyed your posting these last 31 days. I found myself looking forward to it. It was the first thing I read with my coffee each day. Thanks for your time and effort. I love your simplicity!! You have wonderful ideas, beautiful thoughts, and frugal ways of doing things. Thanks for sharing. You are such an inspiration. I wish I had a friend like you!!

Mom said...

I was going to mention the same two sayings that Grandma mentioned in her comment -- guess she is where I learned them! :)

Thank you for sharing these thoughts on beauty this month. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos. And thanks for sharing from your heart -- you are beautiful inside and out!!
Love you, Mom

Christy Stanton said...

My Grandmother used to tell me that exact saying and there is such truth in it...”Pretty is as pretty does” My sweet and loving Grandmother went to be with the Lord
last month.

Kaira said...

This is really good. :)

Blissful & Domestic said...

love this. awesome words