Is beauty really only skin deep?

Well, I suppose it is for some people.  Ergo the common statement that is actually a warning about people whose good looks don’t match their heart.

However, I’d like to submit a crazy idea.  Let’s suppose for just a moment that beauty isn’t supposed to be like a thin, cheap sweater that barely keeps off the cold.  Let’s imagine that maybe, just possibly, it is supposed to be a deep, vibrant, bubbling flow of life that originates at our core?  That every time you peel back another layer you will simply find more of the same?  

In fact, while I am at it, I might as well go after another cultural norm. What if beauty is not always in a nice place?  What if its surroundings are downright ugly?

Sometimes that’s when we most need to find beauty.

God used a lot of beauty in the world He made, like an artist.  But I think too often we sell it short by believing that it can only be found in nice places or even worse, that it exists outside of us, on the surface.  

It is a facet of the nature of our God.  It is a flavor of life that can flow from within us, strengthening our own spirits as well as transforming the world.  Really, just think about it.  Dark, dirty, and sin-stained is the world around us.  True beauty is hard to find, and for some, their hearts are so clouded by pain they can hardly see it anyway. 

But what if YOU were different?

 Imagine. 

Over the next few weeks I am going to be working on the first set of a three-part series on beauty.  This topic flows from a very deep place within me, and I am really looking forward to the process of articulating what God has put inside my heart.  I fully anticipate that I will be changed in the process. 

I would be most grateful for your prayers, as you feel led.  I have set aside Sundays as the primary time to work on the blessings.