Being a Sturdy Shelter
You Are More Than Your Wobbly Bits
Photo By: Flickr/M Yashna
I’m a sucker for chick flick movies, especially with heroines so different and strange that many consider them losers. I strongly identify with them.
My favorites, “Bridget Jones’ Diary” and “The Truth about Cats and Dogs,” are based on the classics Pride and Prejudice and Cyrano de Bergerac. Both heroines are bumbling, awkward misfits. Bridget, a writer, has lots of “wobbly bits,” as she calls them (i.e. she’s fat) while Abby is a super smart veterinarian who has glasses and mousy brown hair. Both are not considered conventionally beautiful, but their adorable quirkiness, kindness and intelligence make them attractive. In my view, they are especially beautiful because they become comfortable with themselves just as they are and refuse to change to attract someone. The movies, while getting F’s for morality, get A’s for empowerment and communicating the overarching message that interior beauty is more meaningful.
Why is it so hard for many of us to believe that it is who we are at our core that counts and not what we look like? Because society gives us the exact opposite message. We are bombarded with media images and societal pressures that shout beauty is all important. According to the world, if you don’t look good, you are not important and can’t possibly accomplish anything worthwhile.
That message hit me during a recent trip to Walmart. I walked by a stunning Amazonian woman with flowing blond hair, high heels and a cute coat. Heads turned as she walked by, including mine as I looked at her and then myself wearing boring yoga pants and a nondescript sweater. It didn’t help that I was at war with my hair that day. An old insecurity was resurrected.
I was able to avoid the negativity trap but was angry I fell for it in the first place. We as Christians can’t pay attention to what the world says about beauty, because that definition is elusive and superficial. First, we are told that a beautiful person must have this or that quality and wear a certain type of outfit. Then, we’re told to be natural, but get bombarded with ads about enhancing ourselves. “Use XYZ product to get that flawless, natural look you’ve always wanted,” the ads say. Why do I need make-up to look natural? No wonder the fashion and cosmetics industries make billions every year. They are profiting off our insecurities.
God’s definition of beauty is the only message I want running in my head. When Samuel was sent to anoint a king for Israel, God told him: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The LORD looks into the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) In 1 Peter 3:3-4, we also read: “Your adornment should not be an external one: braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or dressing in fine clothes, but rather the hidden character of the heart, expressed in the imperishable beauty of a gentle and calm disposition, which is precious in the sight of God.”
Like Bridget, we all have wobbly bits – any outer imperfection that can cause insecurity. Don’t get hung up on them. Our bodies are only shells that fade away. You are more than your wobbly bits.
God looks at the beauty of our hearts. So, while I rejoice that I am a beautiful creation of God, wobbly bits and all, my priority is to work on enhancing that inner beauty. The kind that can be perfected by humility and service, not Revlon, Cover Girl or Maybelline.
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About the Author
Lori Peters is the mother of eight children, six living, from Pennsylvania who runs a crisis pregnancy center and helps post-abortive women in her spare time. She converted to Catholicism in 2004 and was blessed to become her parents’ sponsor upon their conversions in 2010 and 2012. A former journalist, Lori enjoys writing, reading, taking religion classes, exercising and volunteering for Church and pro-life activities. She has self-published a book of poetry and is developing a website, www.astoryinmind.com, and a blog.
