Is There Beauty In Your Countenance?
Years ago I attended school with a girl who was not graced with beauty in the physical sense, yet she appeared beautiful to me for I knew her heart. This girl’s mother must have seen the same inward beauty when she was born because she named her after a flower. The flip side of this is: Have you ever met a person whose physical appearance was attractive yet they appeared ugly and undesirable? Beauty, as well as ugliness, should be seen through the countenance of an individual rather than only considered from the looks they were born with. For countenance should be a reflection of the person’s character, the person’s heart, their soul.
We only have to turn on the radio, television or any other media outlet to see examples of this first hand. With elections drawing near, lately our airwaves have been inundated with ads from countless political candidates. Without fail, many of the advertising tactics are marred with mud-slinging, where candidates do everything to tear down their opponents rather than building up their own image. This tactic, in my opinion, does quite the opposite. I see right into the politician’s character, seeing ugliness as soon as they step into this form of fighting. So, what is the rooted source of these actions? One might think greed, competition, or desire, but these are only elements of an even greater destroying character trait called “Pride.”
Pride is a very misunderstood attribute. The world would have you believe that it is good to have pride, and that having pride in one’s self is having a sense of achievement and satisfaction. I say, “Do not confuse self-worth with self-centeredness, conceit and arrogance. There is no comparison.” They are rather opposites in nature. Self-worth can be emulated through the most humble of souls, yet humility is a non-existent trait of character when pride is the driving source.
A prideful person will not be told what to do and does not take counsel in others seriously. They will seek their own will on matters even if it is contrary to the consideration of others. They must always feel that they have control and are unwilling to give it up to another. Yet, a prideful person will always seek validation from others in order to feel value in themselves. A judgmental person is a prideful person. Are you easily offended by others, and when someone has offended you are you quick and long to hold grudges, keeping that person in your debt, unjustifiably so? And finally, a person who is contentious and combative, argumentative and hostile is driven by pride.
With so many facets and so great a destroyer, it is no wonder that “Pride is the destroyer of nations.” With this thought I want to propose a way to turn this around. A nation is patterned from its regions, the regions formed from its villages, the villages run by the tribes, and finally the tribes molded by the hearts, thoughts and actions of separate individuals. It is one person at a time that changes their heart for good that can ultimately affect a nation for greatness. Simply stated by my friend Laura, “We’ve become fat cats, spoiled brats, turning a blind eye, and not holding ourselves accountable.”
So, in this challenging time of unrest and ugliness, let us look inward to find the solution to our world’s problems. Let us look at the pride of our own hearts rather than (the simple path) seeing pride in others. We cannot change another; it is their move and only theirs to make, but we can change ourselves. Are you a rose, or a gentle daffodil, or are you a weed that infests and takes over the places you reside? Is there beauty in your countenance? Is there good in your soul? When you answer these questions honestly you will find out if you have become the problem or the solution.
In Other’s Words:
“Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. . . . It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.”
~C.S.Lewis~