Article August 15, 2005 Issue

BEAUTY SECRETS

Sara Hoagland Hunter

The quest for physical beauty seems to have become a global obsession. Advice on how to attain narrow, cultural ideals of beauty saturates print media, the airwaves, and cyberspace. Tips on tanning, weight loss, wrinkle reduction, and teeth whitening abound, and yet their results can't compare with the transforming effect of a change in thought—or what I call a spiritual makeover. The three best beauty tips I ever received fall into the spiritual makeover category and came from a nonagenarian, a newlywed, and a preschooler.

My friend Mildred, a Christian Science healer for most of her adult life, was still helping and praying for people into her advanced years. Most impressive to me was her willingness to learn, to progress, and to grow each day. She loved to tell stories on herself, and one of them continues to instruct me.

While reading one morning in the living room of her retirement home, she glimpsed a woman she didn't recognize on the opposite side of the room. She thought about waving or saying good morning, but decided against making the effort. The woman didn't look too friendly anyway. As she studied the two books on her lap, the Bible and Science and Health, the thought came to her that no matter how unfriendly the stranger across the room might look, she could behave in a loving manner. She looked up from her books. The woman still looked pretty grumpy, but Mildred prayed quietly to see the woman as God saw her—lovely and perfect. She smiled and nodded at the woman. The woman smiled and nodded right back! That's when Mildred realized that she was looking in a mirror—and that grumpy-now-smiley woman was her own reflection.