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| Captivating - Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul |
"Satan fell because of his beauty. Now his heart for revenge is to assault beauty. He destroys it in the natural world wherever he can" [and he also perverts it]. Eve is the incarnation of the Beauty of God, she is captivating, uniquely glorious and allures the world to God and Satan hates it with a jealousy we can only imagine."
Beauty SPEAKS
"Think of what it's like to be caught in traffic for more than an hour. Horns blaring, people shouting obscenities. Exhaust pouring in your windows, suffocating you. Then remember what it's like to come into a beautiful place, a garden or a meadow or a quiet beach. There is room for your soul. It expands. You can breathe again. You can rest. It is good. All is well.
That is what beauty says: All shall be well.
And this is what it's like to be with a woman at rest. A woman comfortable in her feminine beauty. She is enjoyable to be with. She is lovely. In her presence your heart stops holding its breath. You relax and believe once again that all will be well. And this is also why a woman striving is so disturbing, for a woman who is not at rest in her heart says to the world: "All is not well. Things are not going to turn out all right." We need what beauty speaks. What it says is hard to put into words. But part of it's message is that all is well. All will be well."
It is so significant that his Face Book update after our first lunch date after he moved out was: "I can breath again". And also when I invited him back home, his first words after entering the door were "My heart can breath again". That evening I shared with him why I believed he had to come home and asked him to among others read this piece on "Beauty" in Captivating. As he read it aloud he started crying - it so resonated with his soul. And this morning in the shower he came up with the following: "familiarity breathes content".
What stands out though is that striving and performing does not produce this result. I cannot work at keeping him. It is my contentment with who I am that speaks. It is when I'm not relying on him to validate my worth but on God, that I am beautiful and that God can work through me.
That is what beauty says: All shall be well.
And this is what it's like to be with a woman at rest. A woman comfortable in her feminine beauty. She is enjoyable to be with. She is lovely. In her presence your heart stops holding its breath. You relax and believe once again that all will be well. And this is also why a woman striving is so disturbing, for a woman who is not at rest in her heart says to the world: "All is not well. Things are not going to turn out all right." We need what beauty speaks. What it says is hard to put into words. But part of it's message is that all is well. All will be well."
It is so significant that his Face Book update after our first lunch date after he moved out was: "I can breath again". And also when I invited him back home, his first words after entering the door were "My heart can breath again". That evening I shared with him why I believed he had to come home and asked him to among others read this piece on "Beauty" in Captivating. As he read it aloud he started crying - it so resonated with his soul. And this morning in the shower he came up with the following: "familiarity breathes content".
What stands out though is that striving and performing does not produce this result. I cannot work at keeping him. It is my contentment with who I am that speaks. It is when I'm not relying on him to validate my worth but on God, that I am beautiful and that God can work through me.
Beauty INVITES
"Recall what it is like to hear a truly beautiful piece of music. It captures you; you want to sit down and just drink it in. We buy the CD and play it many times over. (This is not visual, showing us that beauty is deeper than looks.) Music like this commands your attention, invites you to come more deeply into it. The same is true of a beautiful garden, or a scene in nature. You want to explore, partake of it, feast upon it. We describe a great book as "captivating." It draws you in, holds your attention. You can't wait to get back to it, spend time with it. All of the responses God wants of us. All of the responses a woman wants too. Beauty invites."
A controlling woman however does not invite, a vulnerable one does. Hurt can cause one to put up walls and take control vowing never to need anyone or allow anyone close ever again.
A controlling woman however does not invite, a vulnerable one does. Hurt can cause one to put up walls and take control vowing never to need anyone or allow anyone close ever again.
Beauty NOURISHES
"It is a kind of food our souls crave. A woman's breast is among the loveliest of all God's works, and it is with her breast that she nourishes a baby - a stunning picture of the way in which Beauty itself nourishes us. In fact a woman's body is one of the most beautiful of all God's creations. "Too much of eternity" as William Blake said "for the eye of man." It nourishes, offers life. That is such a profound metaphor for Beauty itself. As CS Lewis said, "We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into word - to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves." (Weight of Glory)"
A needy woman doesn't nourish instead she drains. This is the other hurt-response - to become needy and pitiful. Being around someone like this is not life giving, it is exhausting.
A needy woman doesn't nourish instead she drains. This is the other hurt-response - to become needy and pitiful. Being around someone like this is not life giving, it is exhausting.
Beauty COMFORTS
"There is something profoundly healing about it. Have you ever wondered why we send flowers to the bereaved? In the midst of their suffering and loss, only a gift of beauty says enough, or says it right... It soothes the soul"
This bit touched me too, especially knowing that he needs healing and that my presence will aid this. Pushing him away will stunt it, in fact cause more hurt and more scarring for both of us.
This bit touched me too, especially knowing that he needs healing and that my presence will aid this. Pushing him away will stunt it, in fact cause more hurt and more scarring for both of us.
Beauty INSPIRES
"...At the end of As Good As It Gets Jack Nicholson says to Helen Hunt "you make me want to be a better man." Isn't it true?... A teacher in the inner city explained to us why he insisted on putting a fountain and flowers in the courtyard of the building. "Because these children need to be inspired. They need to know that life can be better." Beauty inspires."
Beauty is TRANSCENDENT
"It is our most immediate experience of the eternal... Sometimes the beauty is so deep it pierces us with longing. For what? For life as it was meant to be. Beauty speaks of heaven to come, when all shall be beautiful. It haunts us with eternity, it draws us to God."
And this is what he needs most, to be close to God, to grow spiritually mature for it is the only thing that will bring deliverance and victory!
And this is what he needs most, to be close to God, to grow spiritually mature for it is the only thing that will bring deliverance and victory!
"All these things are true for any experience of beauty. But they are especially true when we experience the beauty of a woman - her eyes, her form, her voice, her heart, her spirit, her life. She speaks all of this far more profoundly than anything else in all creation, because she is incarnate; she is personal."
"Beauty is, without question, the most essential and the most misunderstood of all God's qualities - of all feminine qualities too."
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