Beauty Beyond the Mirror: A Sacred Redefinition

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," wrote Keats, but what happens when the world's truth doesn't recognize your divine reflection?

Let me speak to you from the heart of a Black woman who has walked through spaces where beauty was narrowly defined, yet carried within her the expansive wisdom of Solomon who wrote, "She is more precious than rubies" (Proverbs 3:15). To my brothers, whose strength and beauty have also been scrutinized and often misunderstood, your majesty too is ordained by the divine.

I remember the first time I truly saw myself – not through society's lens, but through my Creator's eyes. It wasn't in glossy magazines or on billboards, but in quiet moments when the Spirit whispered, "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). This journey of understanding beauty has been both warfare and worship, for all of us who bear the richness of melanated skin.

You see, beauty isn't just aesthetic – it's ancestral. It's in the curve of my grandmother's smile, the strength of my father's shoulders, the rhythm of our walk, and the crown of our hair. The philosopher bell hooks wrote that "loving blackness" is a political resistance, but I've learned it's also a spiritual practice. When God formed humanity, He didn't just create one standard of beauty; He created all possibilities of human splendor, each shade and shape a different note in His divine symphony.

In boardrooms and ballrooms where Eurocentric standards still reign, we stand fully in our melanated glory, understanding what Augustine meant when he said, "Beauty is indeed a good gift of God." Our dark skin isn't just beautiful – it's holy. Our full lips don't just speak – they praise. Our coiled and textured hair doesn't just grow – it reaches toward heaven.

The Song of Solomon celebrates one who declares, "I am black and beautiful" (Song of Solomon 1:5), not as a contradiction but as a harmonious truth. In a world that often tries to separate these qualities, we must remember that our beauty isn't despite our Blackness – it's magnificently interwoven with it.

Consider the strength and beauty of David, a man so striking in appearance that even as a youth, he was described as "ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance" (1 Samuel 16:12). Yet his true beauty lay in the courage of his heart and the poetry of his soul. Like him, our brothers today carry both warrior and poet within them, though the world often tries to deny them this complexity.

The Greek philosopher Plato taught that beauty was a form of divine goodness, but what he couldn't have known was how that divine goodness would manifest in the sass of Maya Angelou's walk, the regality of Paul Robeson's voice, the revolutionary grace of James Baldwin's pen, or the regal bearing of Sidney Poitier's presence.

To all my sisters and brothers navigating spaces that don't mirror your magnificence: your beauty isn't waiting for validation in those rooms. As Audre Lorde reminded us, "If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive." Our beauty is ancient, passing down through generations like a secret code written in melanin and memory.

When the world tells you to shrink, remember that your beauty takes up holy space. When they suggest you tone it down, recall that the God we serve isn't a God of dimming lights but of

A Prayer for Divine Beauty:

Father God, in Jesus' name,

Thank You for crafting us in Your divine image,

For weaving beauty into every coil of our hair,

Every shade of our skin,

Every curve and angle of our being.

Help us see ourselves through Your eyes,

To recognize the holy in our human,

The divine in our design.

Give us courage to stand fully in our beauty,

To occupy space without apology,

To shine without dimming our light.

Let us be living testimonies

That Your beauty comes in all shades of glory.

For our sons and daughters,

Let them see themselves as You see them,

Royal and righteous,

Beautiful and blessed.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Literary & Poetic References:

1. "Beauty is truth, truth beauty"

- Author: John Keats

- Source: "Ode on a Grecian Urn" (1819)

Biblical References:

1. Proverbs 3:15 - "She is more precious than rubies"

2. Psalm 139:14 - "Fearfully and wonderfully made"

3. Song of Solomon 1:5 - "I am black and beautiful"

4. 1 Samuel 16:12 - Description of David's appearance

Philosophical References & Quotes:

1. Augustine's quote: "Beauty is indeed a good gift of God"

- Source: "City of God" (426 AD)

2. bell hooks' concept of "loving blackness"

- Source: "Black Looks: Race and Representation" (1992)

3. Plato's theory of beauty

- Source: "Symposium" and "Phaedrus" dialogues

- Context: Beauty as a form of divine goodness

4. Audre Lorde quote: "If I didn't define myself for myself..."

- Source: "Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches" (1984)

Historical Figures Referenced:

1. Cultural Icons:

- Maya Angelou (1928-2014) - Poet, author

- Paul Robeson (1898-1976) - Actor, activist, singer

- James Baldwin (1924-1987) - Writer, playwright

- Sidney Poitier (1927-2022) - Actor, director

2. Spiritual/Religious:

- Solomon - Biblical king and writer

- David - Biblical king, warrior, and psalmist