If you’re of a certain age, you’ll remember well the Mickey Mouse Club song “Beauty Is as Beauty Does.” Here, for those who don’t know it, is Mouseketeer Doreen singing it with Jimmie Dodd accompanying her. (Reading this via email? You may have to click on the title above to see the video clip.)
I thought of this song recently, having come across some old snapshots of a drop-dead gorgeous 96-year-old friend. And once again, I was surprised to note that this woman had not been especially pretty when she was young—that she was, in fact, a little homely. Yet somehow this Plain Jane managed to become a great beauty in her old age.
Interestingly, she’s far from alone in this. It’s a phenomenon I’ve observed a number of times over the last two decades.
Is there a common denominator? Have they all put on or lost weight? Have they donned appealingly modern duds or hairstyles? Could the secret be some little-known moisturizer or centuries-old beauty routine?
Apparently not.
But it won’t surprise some of you to learn that all these beauties have been born-again Christians.
Surely some were genuine Christians in their younger days, yet their early photos don’t seem to reflect that essential trait. I guess cameras can’t capture the essence of any sort of life, any more than scientists can explain it.
Yet God Himself has indwelt each of these women. And perhaps to know one of them, to spend time with her, is to feel His love overflowing from her earthly body. Perhaps to speak with her is, in some supernatural way, to see His presence in her, to get a glimpse of her Creator, living and vital and beckoning all to embrace Him as this woman has. And maybe that’s why they are, in person, so incredibly beautiful even in great old age.
We’ve been taught since childhood that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Maybe that’s true, for anyone who has eyes to see. And maybe Mouseketeer Doreen is right, too. Like all of us, these women are far from perfect as long as they dwell in this fallen world; they have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, not by good deeds. But as committed Christians, they have all done their best to emulate their Savior. And what could be more beautiful than that?
If you'd like to join them, here's a good place to start.
Interestingly, she’s far from alone in this. It’s a phenomenon I’ve observed a number of times over the last two decades.
Is there a common denominator? Have they all put on or lost weight? Have they donned appealingly modern duds or hairstyles? Could the secret be some little-known moisturizer or centuries-old beauty routine?
Apparently not.
But it won’t surprise some of you to learn that all these beauties have been born-again Christians.
Surely some were genuine Christians in their younger days, yet their early photos don’t seem to reflect that essential trait. I guess cameras can’t capture the essence of any sort of life, any more than scientists can explain it.
Yet God Himself has indwelt each of these women. And perhaps to know one of them, to spend time with her, is to feel His love overflowing from her earthly body. Perhaps to speak with her is, in some supernatural way, to see His presence in her, to get a glimpse of her Creator, living and vital and beckoning all to embrace Him as this woman has. And maybe that’s why they are, in person, so incredibly beautiful even in great old age.
We’ve been taught since childhood that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Maybe that’s true, for anyone who has eyes to see. And maybe Mouseketeer Doreen is right, too. Like all of us, these women are far from perfect as long as they dwell in this fallen world; they have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, not by good deeds. But as committed Christians, they have all done their best to emulate their Savior. And what could be more beautiful than that?
If you'd like to join them, here's a good place to start.
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