The other day, I was standing in front of the mirror looking at my reflection. I wasn't really doing anything; I was just standing, looking at myself and admiring my new haircut and all the ways I could wear it differently. I must have stood there for ten or fifteen minutes before I'd realized it'd been ten or fifteen minutes, and I stopped (not because I wanted too, but because I felt like a girl). Then, the question crossed my mind that I've been asked before but haven't ever answered:
Were we made too pretty?
Sometimes, it sure does seem like it.
How many times I day do I look at myself in the mirror? Whether it's to fix my hair, check to see if I have something in my teeth or look and see if I have any new pimples, I frequent the mirror more than a 20-something-year-old frequents their Facebook page while driving, which is a lot. I even admit to making sure I get a side glance at myself if I pass by a large window so I can catch my reflection in it to make sure I'm looking from head to toe while I'm walking- and to know what I look like to the other people around me. Honestly, it's pretty vain.
The question, "Were we made too pretty?" is actually a question I heard from a song called, 'Made too Pretty" (makes sense for the title, right?). It's a song that doesn't question the belief that we were made in God's image, and it doesn't state that beauty God bestowed on and in His creation is wrong; it's a song that questions the idea of humans turing themselves into gods, and I think that's a good question to ask.
So often, as the song says, "we're caught up in a stare we cannot break," or at least I am anyway. We spend so much time in front of mirrors fixing ourselves and staring at ourselves and spend so much time taking selfies and staring at pictures that ourselves that I believe our vain-ness can sometimes become and idol and a god. We stare at our reflections and see what's on the surface- but how often do we stop and stare at what's below the surface?
If I took the time to self examine my soul as much as I take the time to self examine my surface, I think I'd be better off. If we all took the time to look at what's on the inside as much as what's on the outside, I think we would find that we really may have been made too pretty in such a way that our outside generally doesn't reflect the mess that we all are on the inside.
We're all messy people, maybe not always on the outside, but always on the inside. There is always something our hearts are in need of help with, and we can't edit it out or put a filter over it to mask it. That's what grace is for.
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: Were you made too pretty?