The Beauty Within
She wasn’t much to look at, as she took the stage in front of national TV cameras in Britain last Saturday, April 11th. She was contestant #14321 appearing on “Britain’s Got Talent” show. She is 47 years old, unemployed, single, and lives alone in the village of West Lothian, Scotland. Her mother had died recently. She promised her Mum, before she died, that she would use her talent to sing and make something of herself. Her name is Susan Boyle.
Liz Thomas, of the London Mail, wrote the following about Miss Boyle: “Middle-aged, dowdy, with thick eyebrows and an unfortunate gait, she couldn’t have looked less like a star. … She has thick unkempt hair, bushy eyebrows and downy fuzz is noticeable across parts of her face.”
The audience, as well as the judges, Piers Morgan and Simon Cowell, snickered, as she told about her dreams to be a great singer, like Elaine Paige, as well as to perform in musical theater.
She then opened her mouth and sang, “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables, and left the audience and the judges spell-bound and stunned! What power! What clarity of tone! What a God-blessed voice!
The hard-nosed judges heaped praise and adulation on her, and she took it all in, like a giddy schoolgirl. She was genuinely surprised by their praise. Her simple joy in her stunning performance touched your heart. Did she really know the depth of the talent she had? Had no one seen this in her? Had no one encouraged her? Did her “frumpy” looks hide the real beauty within?
Oh, there’s so much to re-learn about people, from this “common woman heroine!”
From the earliest of times, our God has told us to withhold judgement of another, based on one’s looks. “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (I Sam. 16:7b)
Oh, that we would be patient, and see the value of the human soul, trapped beneath a layer of skin! God grant us the love to “bear, believe, and hope” in another person, and to draw out that hidden beauty and value that God has put within. Like Miss Boyle, they may be genuinely surprised!
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