“That which is striking and beautiful is not always good; but that which is good is always beautiful.” ~Anne “Ninon” de l’Enclos
Are you familiar with the children’s faery tale Beauty and the Beast? Of course you are! Even if you have never read the original, you are probably more than familiar with Disney’s animated version of the story all done up with song and dance. Originally published in 1740 by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, La Belle et la Bête is the quintessential tale of unrequited love.
In the original telling of the story, a wealthy young prince is turned into a hideous beast by a fairy after he refuses to let her in from the rain. She tells him that the curse can only be broken by finding true love in spite of his ugliness. The Prince, distraught and stricken with despair, begins to live a life of isolation believing that no one will ever come to love him as The Beast.
As time goes by, a merchant lost in the woods stumbles across the Beast’s castle. Recently afflicted with severe financial misfortune, the Merchant not only finds shelter, but also tables laden with food and drink, which have apparently been left for him by the castle’s owner whom he has never met. He graciously accepts the gifts from his unknown host and helps himself to a rose from the garden. Upon picking the most lovely rose he finds, the merchant is confronted by the hideous Beast, which tells him that for taking his most precious possession after accepting his hospitality, the merchant must stay his prisoner forever. The merchant begs for his freedom, arguing that he had only picked the rose as a gift for his youngest daughter, Belle (which coincidentally means “beautiful” in French). The Beast agrees to let him go only if the merchant will send his daughter to live in the castle in his place.
“The beauty seen is partly in him who sees it.”~Christian Nestell Bovee
When Belle arrives, she is given extravagant gifts and is treated like royalty. She enjoys his company and engaging conversation, but cant see him as more than a friend. Each night, the Beast asks her to marry him, but she refuses. After each refusal, Belle dreams of a handsome prince who pleads with her to answer why she keeps refusing him, and she replies that she cannot marry the Beast because she loves him only as a friend. Belle does not make the connection between the handsome prince and the Beast and becomes convinced that the Beast is holding the prince captive somewhere in the castle. She searches for him and discovers multiple enchanted rooms, but, of course, never the prince from her dreams.
OK… at this point in our story, both Belle and the Beast obviously have some serious unresolved issues they need to work out. What makes me say that? Because, they have both come up with a “Procrustean Solution” to their problems. I know what you might be thinking; “Here goes Brother Jason with his five dollar words again”. But, before you click on the big red “X” at the top of the page, please hear me out.
“Do I love you because you’re beautiful,Or are you beautiful because I love you?”~Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Cinderella
”Procrustean Solution” is the undesirable practice of tailoring data to fit its container or some other preconceived stricture. A common example from the business world is embodied in the notion that no resume should exceed one page in length. The term actually has its roots in Greek mythology. In the Greek myth, Procrustes was a son of Poseidon. He lived in a stronghold on Mount Korydallos where he kept an iron bed and frequently invited passers by to spend the night. Unbeknownst to them, Procrustes was crazy. As they slept, he “set to work on them” with his smith’s hammer, stretching any one too short to fit the bed exactly and amputating the excess length of anyone who proved to be too tall. Here’s the sucky part. NOBODY ever fit the bed exactly because secretly Procrustes had two beds. Procrustes continued his reign of terror until he was captured by Theseus, travelling to Athens along the sacred way, who “fitted” Procrustes to his own bed:
In regards to Belle and her beastly friend, their stricture was beauty. The Beast fears that no one will ever love him because he has lost his good looks. This causes him to compensate by showering his new found love with gifts. The only problem with this plan is that even though Belle likes the gifts, conversation, and company, the Beast does not “look like” what she has envisioned her ideal prince to be. She therefore casts the notion of loving him as more than a friend aside to pursue the love of her dreams (I know, right? They have more drama than a Tyler Perry play). Eventually, after Belle becomes homesick, the Beast releases her from their arrangement risking the chance of never seeing her again. Belle promises the Beast that she will return in a timely fashion, but does not. Her evil sisters, jealous of her treatment and new fortune, convince Belle to stay longer than what she had agreed. After some time has passed, Belle begins to feel guilty about not keeping her word and decides to look in on the Beast through an enchanted mirror (Most faery tales have one. This one is no different). To her surprise, she discovers the Beast is lying in his castle half dead from loneliness and heart break. Using a magic ring, she whisks herself instantly back to his side where she finds the Beast almost dead. She weeps over his body, saying that she loves him. When her tears strike him, the Beast is transformed back into a handsome prince.
“Everything that is beautiful is cracked. That’s how the light gets in.” ~Leonard Cohen
Sadly, as Christians, we sometimes commit ourselves to the same tragic lives as Belle and the Prince. What do I mean? I’m glad you asked! Lets start off with the Prince/Beast. After losing his good looks, he is convinced that he will never find true love to break the fairy’s spell. How many times have you had someone cry on your shoulder because they felt that they were not good enough? Or, to make the question more personal; How many times have YOU cried on someones shoulder because you felt that you were not good enough? Society places a high emphasis on things that are temporal versus things that are eternal. If someone or something, does not fit on the Procrustean bed of life, the world is quick to try to force it to conform. But just like Procrustes, the world has too beds. You are either too smart or not smart enough. Too old, or not old enough. Too proud or not proud enough. Too Black or not Black enough. Too White or not White enough. Too rich, too poor, too fat, too skinny, too this, or too that. What we are doing is defining our worth by the worlds standards instead of by the standards set in place by our Heavenly Father. Who cares if you don’t look like the lady on the cover of Vogue. You are STILL beautiful (besides, the cover girl probably isn’t as skinny as she looks anyway). What does it matter that you don’t have a degree. You can STILL be called and used for Gods purpose. So what if you are divorced with three kids. You can STILL find a new love. It doesn’t matter that the only money in your checking account is spare change that you cant withdraw. My Bible has taught me a lot about enduring hardship, but two things stand out regarding finances 1. The righteous will never be forsaken or their seed begging bread. And 2, If God is for us, who can be against us? 
Now that we’ve discussed the Beast, lets talk about Belle a bit. Far too many times as Believers, we put our trust in what we think is right for us intead of what God believes to be right for us. If what God has presented does not fit on our Procrustean bed, our day planner, or if it has too much baggage, or work associated with it, we cast the idea off as being ungodly when in fact we are just failing to see the potential in something beautiful. ”Potential” is a funny word because it speaks of things that are yet to come. It refers to things that are possible instead of actual. The word potential means that a person, place, or thing, has the ability to become something else. Looking at your situation with your earthly, nearsighted eyes prevents you from seeing the potential beauty that stands right in front of you. Their is a saying that familiarity breeds contempt. After being exposed to something over and over again, that thing sometimes loses its luster. Man is exposed to potential beauty so much that he often fails to recognize that it is even there. Nature writer Rachel Carson put it this way.
“One summer night, out on a flat headland, all but surrounded by the waters of the bay, the horizons were remote and distant rims on the edge of space. Millions of stars blazed in darkness, and on the far shore a few lights burned in cottages. Otherwise there was no reminder of human life. My companion and I were alone with the stars: the misty river of the Milky Way flowing across the sky, the patterns of the constellations standing out bright and clear, a blazing planet low on the horizon. It occurred to me that if this were a sight that could be seen only once in a century, this little headland would be thronged with spectators. But it can be seen many scores of nights in any year, and so the lights burned in the cottages and the inhabitants probably gave not a thought to the beauty overhead; and because they could see it almost any night, perhaps they never will.” ~Rachel Carson
Belle was showered with gifts, spoiled, and lived in the lap of luxury. However, even being exposed to the kindness and selflessness that true love offers, she could not see the potential beauty in front of her because of its temporal situation. This lack in knowing what she had almost cost her everything.
“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” ~Kahlil Gibran
So enough about faery tales, Brother Jason. What does the Bible say about beauty? The Bible tells us that we need to take a different approach to appearance than fitting into society’s idea of beauty. God doesn’t focus on our outward appearance. It is what’s on the inside that matters most to Him. The Bible tells us that God’s focus is on developing our inner beauty so that it can be reflected in everything we do and what we are. Here are a few examples.
7″ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” ~1 Samuel 16:7 NIV
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” ~Proverbs 31:30 NIV
8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. 9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. ~1 Timothy 2:8-10 NIV
13 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” ~Psalm 139:13, 14 NIV
More than anything, when you meditate on what you have just read, I want you to remember two things. Who you are is not dictated by what others believe and what you have is not dictated by what you see. God has the final say in EVERYTHING. Your situation may look hopeless but it is temporal. As children of God, we don’t have to fit in or be measured by the worlds standards like Procrustes bed. We are measured by our Heavenly Father, created by His Divine hand. Therefore, you have been fearfully and wonderfully made. In short, YOU…ARE… BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Be Blessed, My Friends. Be an Overcomer!!!
~Bro Jason Z. Hunt
Memory Verse: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” ~Psalm 139:13, 14 NIV
Memory Word: “Procrustean solution“ is the undesirable practice of tailoring data to fit its container or some other preconceived stricture.
Inspiring Music: “Imagine Me” by Kirk Franklin
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