Crazy Beautiful

What is beauty? Sarah attempts to answer the timeworn question and define the meaning of true beauty. 

I grimaced at the regrettable face staring at me in the mirror. I blinked, and looked more deeply into the eyes that dared me to look away. I noticed the unmistakable lines that had become a permanent fixture between my brows, and the shadowy circles beneath my eyes.  I drew a finger along my cheekbone and surveyed the overall decline of my skin that had seen too many years in the sun. Exasperated, I shook my head and stepped away from the mirror — wondering if other people noticed the imperfections that I had just meticulously catalogued.  

Many years ago, I had been considered somewhat attractive. But now? I sighed, as I sank onto my bed and buried my face into my pillow.  It was time to face the fact that I was getting older, and I no longer fit into the anthropological meaning of “beautiful.” (Yes, I actually really do use words like that.) I rolled over and allowed my mind to wander back through the decades to another time when I had read about another woman who believed she was … unlovely. 

The legend of the ugly woman

It was a legend about a young woman who was widely believed to be the ugliest woman in town. She was so ugly that people would cross to the other side of the street just to avoid her countenance. Children teased her, and the other young women gazed upon her with pity as they thanked their good God for delivering them from such a dreadful fate. 

The legend goes on to bewail the poor woman’s prospects for a husband, since it was taken for granted that she would never garner the attention of a suitor (a harbinger for an impoverished existence without the resources of a husband). 

Realizing her plight, the woman left her home and town behind to search for a husband — someone who would love her for the beauty she possessed within — for she was a kind woman with a great capacity to love and be loved.  

At this point, I believe that our unlikely heroine experienced some moderately-chivalric adventures as she searched into the farthest corners of the kingdom for someone who would truly love her.  

It seemed as if all hope was lost when at last, the woman encountered a heroic and valiant knight who took pity on her and agreed to marry her, despite her obvious unsightliness. 

But that isn’t the end of the story.  

The knight was so taken with the kind and generous spirit of his wife that he fell deeply in love with her — which allowed him to finally see her as she truly was: a beautiful woman. In fact, her beauty was so transcendent that the knight referred to her beauty as “crazy beautiful.” 

The two eventually decided to travel back to the woman’s hometown, and upon arriving at the town gate, the “ugly” woman became reluctant, since she had not forgotten the disparaging behavior she'd been subjected to.  

As the unlikely pair made their way into the center of town, they were subjected to stares and whispers from the townspeople, but the woman realized that the looks of pity she had expected to encounter were now replaced with looks of awe and admiration.  

Puzzled, the woman approached a group of young women and asked them why they were looking at her in such a manner. The astonished women did not recognize her at first, but upon realizing who she was, they confided that she was no longer ugly, for she had now become … beautiful. And not only was she beautiful, but she was the loveliest woman in the land. 

Receiving the gift of true love had rendered the woman … crazy beautiful. 

The gift of God's true love

How beautiful you are, how fair, my love, daughter of delights! (Song of Songs 7:7) 

For centuries, Catholic theologians have understood the Song of Songs from the Bible to be a metaphor for the relationship between God and His people: a passionate love poem between the Architect of Love and the object of His affection. It is God’s Love, and seemingly preposterous desire to be with us, that caused Him to lay everything down for His children. We are that lovable to Him. We are that … lovely. 

In the final analysis, it is God who loves us and renders us utterly and astonishingly … beautiful. 

I sat up on my bed, shook my head, and silently thanked God for the gentle memory. How quickly we forget the lessons that flow from the Heart of the Creator. God created me because He loves me, and that Love is reflected in the light of my soul and every scintilla of my being. 

I AM … crazy beautiful. 

So, I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but you ARE crazy beautiful … too. 

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Copyright 2024 Sarah Torbeck
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