Beauty

"Janine, don't you think she's pretty?"
My sister drew in a breath quickly.
"Who?"
"Her... the one in that light yellow sweater," Sr. Leslie Thu's eyes continued to follow the young lady's movements.

We were at Barnes and Noble because some of Sr. Gwen Huyền's students had given her a gift card. Sr. Leslie and I was in the calendar section.

"I guess she's pretty..." I slowly said.
"Oh... you're impossible!"
"I can't help it! I don't see what all this business is about. My parents never called any of us pretty, average, or plain. And they never commented on anyone's else appearances either."
"Janine, you know you're lucky in a strange way..."
"To be honest with you, the only beautiful people to me are the people whose company is warm and joyful... that is why I can't understand the attraction some people are attracted to each other... well you know I'm being quite direct because you are direct yourself.. when I know some of these people are quite difficult."

Perhaps beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Perhaps this is why cosmetics is a multi-billion dollar industry and recession-proof.

To some, the nature of cosmetics is to deceive.
The root word of cosmetics is cosmos.
To the Greeks, the cosmos is not the universe or everything. It is the harmonious ordering of the parts which creates the whole. We look at a clear winter sky and perceive the careful array. We pick a daisy and become aware of its minute symmetry.

Cosmetics helps put order into facial features.
Rough spots are smoothed and dark areas are lightened.
Eye bags are hidden and smiles are enhanced.
Beauty dons its mask.

Beauty is not in the face;
beauty is a light in the heart. (Khalil Gibran)

Perhaps this is why none of the evangelists (writers of the Gospel) ever mentions Jesus' beauty. Or his mother's.

It cannot be described by mere physical features.
It is a light which shines forth in their words and actions.

Today, one cannot count the renditions of these two persons.
Can beauty within be captured?

Photo: http://www.digitalrevolutions.biz/works/beauty_1600.jpg
ps. One year anniversary of my blog. Dedicated to family and friends who have awakened the beautiful in me.

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