Beauty Not Sinful Nor Foolish 



BY THE MAN WITH HIS EYES OPEN 



One 01 the evidences that the world is growing 

 better is the fact that people are getting over 

 the idea that there is anything either sinful or 

 foolish about beauty. 



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In "je olden time" the preacher would have 

 the congregation sing 



"No mortal can with Him compare 

 Among the sons of men. 

 Fairer is He than all the fair 

 That fill the heavenly train." 

 And then he would preach a sermon about the 

 folly and sinfulness of women who wore beau- 

 tiful clothes or sought beauty of person or tried 

 to make their homes and surroundings beautiful. 



The preachers don't preach that way any 

 more. 



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For which blessing may we all be duly 

 thankful. 



^ ^ jjj 



Wonder how the dear old saints of "je olden 

 time" ever got the idea that there is anything 

 either sinful or foolish about beauty? 



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If there is anything either sinful or foolish 

 about beauty, why did God cover the earth vdth 

 a velvet carpet of green and embroider that 

 carpet with flowers in all the hues of the 

 rainbow ? 



❖ ^ t'fi 



Why did he paint the heavens with the most 

 beautiful shades of blue and drape it with a 

 tapestry of golden and silver clouds, with shades 

 of gray and black to bring out the beauty of 

 the brighter? 



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Why did he give to the beasts of the field 

 and the birds of the air such beauty of form and 

 of clothing? 



t'fi ^ jjs 



Why did he give to the seas their changing 

 tints of blue and of purple and green and gray? 



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Why did he lift up the mountain peaks in 

 forms of grandeur and magnificence, and set 

 before us daily pictures of such transcendent 

 beauty that no artist of earth can even copy 

 them? 



Why did he relieve the ebony coronet of night 

 with the sparkling diadems of stars? 



* ❖ * 



Why did he construct the temple of the morn- 

 ing with pillars of crimson and gold, and adorn 

 the gates of the evening with glory? 



* ❖ * 



Why did he make the air rich with the 

 fragrance of flowers and vibrant with the voices 

 of birds? 



* ❖ ❖ 



If there is sinfulness or foolishness in beauty, 

 why did not he who is all holy and all wise make 

 all these things in somber, righteous, intellectual 

 ugliness? 



* * * 



Is it reasonable to think that it is either 

 foolish or sinful for us to seek after beauty 

 when God has sought it in all the work of his 

 hands? 



Nay, the good old saints of "ye olden time" 

 were holy men, no doubt, but they misunderstood 

 their Bibles when they condemned beauty as 

 folly and the desire for it as sinfulness. 



It is the duty of every woman to be as 

 beautiful as she can, and if she has beauty, to 

 seek its preservation. 



* ❖ * 



Moses forbade the Israelites to disfigure them- 

 selves after the custom of the heathen nations, 

 who thought they would be more acceptable to 

 their gods by making themselves iTgly. 



^ ^ ^ • 



And Christ condemned the hypocrites who dis- 

 figured their countenances with the idea that it 

 made them appear more holy. 



* ❖ * 



That which is good is beautiful, and that 

 which is beautiful is a help to the good. 



* ❖ ❖ 



Let the home be beautiful and it will be a 

 help to beauty of life, beauty of thought, and 

 beauty of character. 



* ❖ * 



Let us have all the beauty we can get, and 

 cultivate it and develop it and preserve it. 



