Pretty Girls Have Inner Beauty, Too!

I have a friend who is prettier than most. She's sort of exceptional-looking, dark hair and eyes, a taste for flattering clothes, musician's hands - but it's her skin that makes her stand out most of all. Her skin is nothing like my own; no sign of weather-damage or neglect, no blotchy-red response to sudden cold or heat. Instead it glows with just the right amount of inner-light, it seems forever well-tended, and looks softly made-up even freshly scrubbed clean. I covet the easy perfection of her skin; all the same, I've never wanted to look just like her, I'd rather look like myself - perfected.

Me..unperfected

My friend's beauty inspires me to try for my own best look. She reminds me, just by being herself, that caring for the whole body is a holy act. A way of blessing the people we love, ourselves, and the world around us. Because beauty is a gift meant to be shared.

Not everyone is interested in receiving that gift, however, and physical beauty has as many - or more - naysayers within the Church as architectural beauty. So many faithful Catholics want to leave behind the grand, rich, artful buildings and make their holy places streamlined, conference-centers housing a toned-down tabernacle; and many more - especially women - fight beauty in the bodily temple. They want to know why we bother with make-up at all, why we work to make our bodies living canvases for the Beauty of the Divine Love.

living canvas

 
It's not that I believe that people who are less than pretty are out of God's favor, or that the ridiculously good-looking are holy simply because of their looks. I don't insist on - or even necessarily encourage following the trends of the day - molding our bodies to the ever-shifting standards of perfection. What I do believe is that my body is a temple to the Holy Spirit, and that it is not enough to merely sweep the temple clean and wash the windows. The effort taken to dress and decorate the altar, to hang lights, and fill the walls with Icons and images is a holy effort - it glorifies God and gladdens His heart.

 I'm sad when I hear women denigrate someone like my lovely friend, calling into question her 'inner beauty' because she finds it worthwhile to nurture the outer beauty as well - not, as some would assume, to seduce or distract the husbands of other women, nor to make those women jealous and miserable; but to delight God with the care she gives his temple, to delight her husband and to live out the vow "with this body, I thee worship", and to make a fitting home for her own beautiful soul. Because, believing in our own inner-beauty requires us to let it show, doesn't it? Either with Byzantine Churches - the abundant old-style I prefer; or else in country chapels - white-washed and gleaming, but beautifully tended, however we house it.