Beauty Is Transcendent

John Eldredge has expressed the beauty of a woman in terms that is refreshing.  He insights breathe life and nurture a longing in the heart of men and women alike.  For men love to gaze at beauty and woman love to create it…or posses it.  But I would raise a flag of caution which I would like to express at the end of John’s insights below:

Beauty Is Transcendent 04/10/2008 "Beauty is transcendent. It is our most immediate experience of the eternal. Think of what it's like to behold a gorgeous sunset or the ocean at dawn. Remember the ending of a great story. We yearn to linger, to experience it all our days. Sometimes the beauty is so deep it pierces us with longing. For what? For life as it was meant to be. Beauty reminds us of an Eden we have never known, but somehow know our hearts were created for. Beauty speaks of heaven to come, when all shall be beautiful. It haunts us with eternity. Beauty says, There is a glory calling to you. And if there is a glory, there is a source of glory. What great goodness could have possibly created this? Beauty draws us to God. All these things are true for any experience of Beauty. But they are especially true when we experience the beauty of a woman— her eyes, her form, her voice, her heart, her spirit, her life. She speaks all of this far more profoundly than anything else in all creation, because she is incarnate; she is personal. It flows to us from an immortal being. She is Beauty through and through. Beauty is, without question, the most essential and the most misunderstood of all God's qualities—of all feminine qualities, too. We know it has caused untold pain in the lives of women. But even there something is speaking. Why so much heartache over beauty? We don't ache over being geniuses, or fabulous hockey players. Women ache over the issue of beauty—they ache to be beautiful, to believe they are beautiful, and they worry over keeping it if ever they can find it. A woman knows, down in her soul, that she longs to bring beauty to the world. She might be mistaken on how (something every woman struggles with), but she longs for a beauty to unveil. This is not just culture, or the need to "get a man." This is in her heart, part of her design. (Captivating , 40–41)

            The caution I wish to express about a woman’s beauty and her longing to bring it to the world, is wrapped in theology.  First, this world is not our own; we are passing through; and at the same time we are to be in the world but not be a part of it; and we are to bring redemption to a lost world…we are to beautify this dark world as light in the midst of darkness.  Women, as God’s crowning achievement, represent Him with the most attractive qualities. They are more special than the sunset and more profound as Eldredge wrote, than anything else in creation. But as I ponder upon the women whom I admire the most, they were not women of beauty. They were women of sacrifice, of humility, of faith, of godliness, of wisdom, of insight, of courage…I think of Esther Anne Kim who was savagely abused in a Japanese concentration camp.  She is one of my heroes.  She inspired me to more like Christ.  I think of Gladys Alwardt who led two hundred Chinese orphans across enemy lines in the face of enemy fire…she inspired me to walk by faith.  I think of Amy Carmichael who went to India to stop teenage prostitution…she inspired my courage. I think of Glenda Revell who was raped by her father for years…she taught me that in our darkest hours we can find God, and that all things really do work together for good.  I think of  I think of Corrie Ten Boom who helped the world to see that our bodies are not our own and that God sometimes allows hurt in order to bring forgiveness to a lost world.  When I think of the most beautiful women that I can remember, they are not those who are beautiful on the outside, though they are wonderful to enjoy for the moment, but I remember those women whose lives have been etched into the very fabric of my soul. These women possessed something far greater and longer lasting than outward beauty…they possessed an intimate relationship with their God….and they were willing to pay a price to cultivate a lasting beauty that fades not away.

            If sin had not occurred, then the beauty of a woman would stand as God’s most crowning achievement.  But because of sin, God’ crowning achievement for both men and women is a cross. Women are design first to bring redemption to her children, as 1^st Timothy 2:15 so wonderful records.  She is redemptive to her husband as Peter states;  the reason I say that a woman’s role is based in theology and not beauty is because when seen through theology, we see that her role as redeemer, requires her to get dirty.  One cannot take up a cross and remain beautiful.  Oh, please don’t misunderstand.  Both men and women need to do everything they can to keep themselves fit, attractive, and strong; but not at the expense of doing and being what we have been called to do and be…redemptive.  And redemption requires sacrifice…it always leads to a cross.