I feel that we have been convinced into the belief that beauty can be categorized either one, of two ways; outer beauty or inner beauty.
In a person, outer beauty is determined by the way someone looks; flawless skin, dazzling eyes, etc.
And inner beauty is determined by a person’s character; someone who is kind, who is selfless, who saves puppies.
But I’m convinced that that’s not all there is to beauty.
See here; I would definitely say that a river has beauty. But why, I mean it’s murky, slimy, and when you are in it you try with all your might to just not touch the bottom. It can move dangerously fast in certain places, and annoyingly slow in others. So why do we claim it to be beautiful?
It doesn’t have outer beauty, and it doesn’t really have inner beauty; at least how they are commonly defined.
Well, beauty invites.
A river invites.
It allows fish to make their home in it, plants and other wildlife are fed through it, and people are invited to rest near it. The sound is soothing. The feeling is cool.
Yet all a river does is exist. It does what it is meant to do and because of this, it is beautiful.
We all have this picture in our minds of an old scraggly looking woman, yet somehow she is called beautiful. She is wrinkly, time has left her blind in one eye, and the whiskers on her chin poke you when she hugs you. But she hugged you.
She invited you into her home, she fed you. She counseled you and allowed your tears to flow onto her blouse. In her arms you found healing. In her laughter you experienced joy.
She lives, she exists in the best way she can, and she invites you to be yourself in her presence. Because of this she is beautiful. Beauty invites!
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“A woman who is striving invites others to strive.
A woman who is hiding invites others to hide.
A woman who is at rest invites others to rest.
But a woman who is beautiful is inviting others to life.”
- Captivating by John & Staci Eldredge