(Taken from Captivating. The chapter on “Beauty to Unveil”)

Read this ladies!

Beauty is what the world longs to experience from a woman. We know that. Somewhere down deep, we know this to be true. Most of our shame comes from this knowing and feeling that we have failed here. So listen to this: beauty is an essence that dwells in every woman. It was given to her by God. It was given to you…Beauty is powerful. Beauty may be the most powerful thing on earth.

• Beauty speaks.
• Beauty invites.
• Beauty nourishes.
• Beauty comforts.
• Beauty inspires.
• Beauty is transcendent.
• Beauty draws us to God.

As Simone Weil wrote:

The beauty of the world is almost the only way which we can allow God to penetrate us…Beauty captivates the senses in order to obtain permission to pass straight through to the soul…The soul’s inclination to love beauty is the trap that God most frequently uses in order to win it.

Beauty is the most essential and, yes, the most misunderstood of all the feminine qualities. We want you to hear clearly that it is an essence every woman carries from the moment of her creation. The only things standing in the way of our beauty are our doubts and fears, and the hiding and striving we fall to as a result…

So then you can see that when we speak about the essence of a woman–her beauty– we don’t mean “the perfect figure.” The beauty of a woman is first a soulish beauty. We know– it’s a harder jump to make. We’ve lived so long under the pressure to be beautiful. But stay with the thought for a moment, because it will really help. The beauty of a woman is first a soulful beauty. And yes, as we live it out, own it, inhabit our beauty, we do become more lovely. More alluring. As the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, “Self flashes off frame and face.” Our true self becomes reflected in our appearance. But it flows from the inside out…

The essence of a woman is Beauty. She is meant to be the incarnation–our experience in hman form— of a Captivating God. A God who invites us.

Your thoughts readers???