let my eyes see beauty
Okay, so my last post alluded to something that had really been hitting me lately. That something is the ability to see loveliness when all appearances are unlovely. This is a theme in some of my favorite movies -- Beauty and the Beast for one.
The whole premise of the movie is that the Beast has to find someone who will think that he is worth loving with his beastly appearance intact. The sweetest scene of the movie is when they dress up for dinner, and the Beast is showing Belle what a gentleman he can be, and they end up dancing in a large ballroom. They are dancing, and even though Belle hasn't told him that she loves him, the way she looks at him tells the whole story. She gazes at him with such loving adoration in her eyes that you can tell she is really seeing him, not just seeing the beastly appearance, but seeing who he really is. She sees loveliness where there appears to be nothing lovely at all.
I have been to see the new Footloose movie twice already (don't judge me), and I love it. There are many things I love about it, but one of the main things I love is that this theme again appears in the relationship between Ren and Ariel, the main characters. I think my favorite scene of the movie is when they are in an old boxcar (Sidenote: I loved The Boxcar Children books when I was little. . .maybe that's why I love this scene?). Ariel asks Ren if he wants to kiss her. Ren replies with one word. . .Someday. When she asks what that answer means he tells her that that isn't his style.
What I absolutely love about that is that Ren sees that she is lovely and worthy of love, but she herself doesn't see it. He could have kissed her there, but it would have been empty and meaningless and just sad because he wasn't pursuing her. She was throwing herself at him. Ren sees her loveliness when all that is there is unlovely (not her physical self, but the entire feel of the way she is acting is unlovely).
What really drives this home for me is that this is how Jesus views me. "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8 Jesus died for me when I was still in all my extremely unlovely. When I had done nothing that could make me worthy of such a sacrifice, Jesus gave His life for me that I could be made lovely.
See that's what I love about these movie scenes. When the unlovely person had done nothing to earn it, the other one treated them like they were the most lovely person. I love that this mirrors my Saviors love for me. I love that in all of my unlovely behavior, Christ sees me as lovely anyway because He sees the true me, the Beauty behind the beastly appearance, my Eden self. What grace He has with me!!
So I've been trying to see the beauty in people, the loveliness that is hidden behind rough exteriors and walled up facades. I've been trying to have the eyes of my Savior that see loveliness in every person, no matter what my eyes may see. May I ever see more and more like Him!!
The whole premise of the movie is that the Beast has to find someone who will think that he is worth loving with his beastly appearance intact. The sweetest scene of the movie is when they dress up for dinner, and the Beast is showing Belle what a gentleman he can be, and they end up dancing in a large ballroom. They are dancing, and even though Belle hasn't told him that she loves him, the way she looks at him tells the whole story. She gazes at him with such loving adoration in her eyes that you can tell she is really seeing him, not just seeing the beastly appearance, but seeing who he really is. She sees loveliness where there appears to be nothing lovely at all.
I have been to see the new Footloose movie twice already (don't judge me), and I love it. There are many things I love about it, but one of the main things I love is that this theme again appears in the relationship between Ren and Ariel, the main characters. I think my favorite scene of the movie is when they are in an old boxcar (Sidenote: I loved The Boxcar Children books when I was little. . .maybe that's why I love this scene?). Ariel asks Ren if he wants to kiss her. Ren replies with one word. . .Someday. When she asks what that answer means he tells her that that isn't his style.
What I absolutely love about that is that Ren sees that she is lovely and worthy of love, but she herself doesn't see it. He could have kissed her there, but it would have been empty and meaningless and just sad because he wasn't pursuing her. She was throwing herself at him. Ren sees her loveliness when all that is there is unlovely (not her physical self, but the entire feel of the way she is acting is unlovely).
What really drives this home for me is that this is how Jesus views me. "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8 Jesus died for me when I was still in all my extremely unlovely. When I had done nothing that could make me worthy of such a sacrifice, Jesus gave His life for me that I could be made lovely.
See that's what I love about these movie scenes. When the unlovely person had done nothing to earn it, the other one treated them like they were the most lovely person. I love that this mirrors my Saviors love for me. I love that in all of my unlovely behavior, Christ sees me as lovely anyway because He sees the true me, the Beauty behind the beastly appearance, my Eden self. What grace He has with me!!
So I've been trying to see the beauty in people, the loveliness that is hidden behind rough exteriors and walled up facades. I've been trying to have the eyes of my Savior that see loveliness in every person, no matter what my eyes may see. May I ever see more and more like Him!!
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