Suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman whom you desire and want to marry, and so you bring her home to your house: she shall shave her head, pare her nails, and change the clothes she was wearing when she was captured. She will stay in your home, but let her mourn for her father and mother for a full month. Then you may marry her, and you will be her husband and she will be your wife. (Deuteronomy 21:12-13)
Before I say anything, let me begin by demythologizing the belief that: “Beauty lies in the hands of the beholder”. First, the beholder might not be objective, sober and confident enough to admit that what he/she holds is not beautiful. The Baganda People say: “Owe Mmamba awaana yiye” (every fish merchant praises the quality of his fish and not the fish of his competitor).
We the Banyarwanda also have a saying that goes like this: “Ntawanga ibye binuuka” (No owner feels the stench of his own fart as those around him). So for this reason, I doubt the conclusion of the beholder that what he beholds is what is beautiful.
Secondly, to subject beauty to be defined by an individual or just a group of beholders is also fallacious for beauty actually transcends ceremonies of beauty contests with set rules upon which the judges base on to crown the Miss World or Miss Whatever. I must also commend the world for the attention it has awarded to the concept of beauty.
We all know beauty is a positive thing and we all aspire to be beautiful and when we realize that however much we try through the Cosmetology & other technology, we are naturally incapacitated we sit back and encourage ourselves with sentiments like: “Beauty is relative”. But deep down in our hearts, we know that is not true. Beauty is absolute.
Listen, my friends, it is one thing for your mother faithfully doing her job to tell you that you are beautiful and quite another thing for you to really be beautiful. Yes, your Mother/Father as a good parent told you, you are beautiful and that put in line your esteem when it almost went off the cliff but today, after you have grown, you look in the mirror and either your mirror is wrong or those who said you were never beautiful to have been right. The choice is yours, sweetie!!!
The verse in Deuteronomy is not apologetic in its insinuation that not all captives looked the same, there could be one stunningly beautiful and attractive. Look, my friend, there is no official documented standard size of the cheekbone or that of the nose, but inwardly we all know the size and shape of the beautifully curved nose and cheekbone. And while those with unaccepted looks suffered slavery, and sometimes death, those with good and accepted looks (beautiful) were taken for marriage and initiated into national citizenship.
For some reason when you are walking with your beautiful friend, people will always favour them before you even when you know better than them. Pretty People really have an advantage over us who do not match their looks. Some men actually will suffer your rudeness, stupidity, etc. as long as you are beautiful but no man will tolerate a rude and dumb ugly wife.
While all this is good, Beauty has its downside. It is not a coincidence that 97% of men and women in the pornography and prostitution industry are beauties and hunks. It is intentional to have 97% of bar and disco waiters and waitresses beautiful. In modern weddings, the ushers and maids are more beautiful than the owner of the day and actually some struggle to have them on the convoy.
I could go on and on but this what the Spirit of the Lord is telling all of us today. There is a difference between us the beautiful ones of today and the beautiful woman of Deuteronomy 21: 12-13. This woman was beautiful but dressed in the garb of captivity and all she need was to take-off this garb of captivity and become a citizen of the free world and married to the prince of that nation.
But the Issue with us the beautiful ones of this world is that though we are not dressed in the garb of captivity, we are spiritual captives. We are mentally sick. We don’t look like what we believe, we don’t act the way we look. It is not skin make-up or bleach that we need, we need to be born again, and we need a new heart. And that beauty can only be brought about By Jesus Christ alone.
God bless you, I invoke _Truth, Reason and Faith_
Pr. ITM White
The Gospel Hawker
*iTiS Well of Worship Ministries* (John 4:24)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 