No Assembly Required

By Brenda Black

The illusive Fountain of Youth has long been sought after. Many legends place its location in Europe or America. The waters that flow there are supposed to make old people young and sick people well. Spanish explorers thought the answer to life’s longings may be located somewhere in the Bahama Islands. Ponce de Leon searched for the fountain in Florida, but he never found it.

Hundreds of years later, we still want to find a way to stay young and the search continues! Going to the Bahamas or to Florida remain common strategies. In addition, we postpone aging with cosmetics and surgery and diet and exercise and health clubs and lypo-suction and implants and hair plugs. Ointments and creams crowd store shelves and promise no wrinkles. Vitamins and all-natural products claim cures for whatever ails you.

Granted, there are obvious healthy choices that promote strength and vitality. There are bad habits that shorten life and cause disease. However, an unspoken reality that often gets overlooked is that some folks are just plain endowed with great genes! Recently a very popular talk show paraded age-defying women on its stage. The hostess asked them their secret to looking so young. Some said they walked, ate right, and stayed out of the sun. Another, however, answered that her key to vitality was “Chasing after my children.”

Parenting may keep you on the move, but it doesn’t keep you young! Sleepless nights with a nursing infant, toddler tantrums and baby spit up are not beauty enhancing, nor age preventative. This vivacious mother failed to acknowledge one major contributor to her youthful vigor. She was blessed with genetics that gave her that perfect smile, those long legs, olive skin and beautiful hair. She could have grown up in a tent, bore 12 screaming children and she would still look young and lovely. It was God’s design.

Now, don’t go detecting jealousy. Those are simply the facts. In view of such evidence, it makes the plastic approach to beauty these days all the more obvious and desirous. For those who happen to be a bit short-changed when it comes to drop-dead good looks, the latest trends offer the supposed answer. For a lot of cash, agonizing pain, potential complications and possible disappointments, anyone can be transformed.

Young men and women are begging for cosmetic surgery for birthday and graduation gifts. Mom and Dad can’t say no because they are mortgaging their houses to see the experts themselves, who will slice and dice them into a new creation. Nose jobs, chin chiseling, tummy tucks, teeth whitening...it makes one wonder what the next generation will look like.

Imagine Joe Cool meets Beautiful Barbie and neither tell their surgical history. What happens when their first little by-product of this union comes along and has Dad’s real nose and Mom’s over bite? Now we’re dealing with a dose of reality. Will they love that baby any less? Let’s certainly hope not. Remember, that’s who will keep them young and beautiful! It is all maddening and unreasonable-- this obsession with outward beauty.

In a throw away, get it new society, no one wants to settle for less. Doctors will sculpt and reconstruct you to look like your favorite pop star, but when he gets caught drunk driving, will you still want his face on you? When she is an old has been, will you be looking to be someone new?

Every one is highly valued no matter what package they live in. This shallow thinking in the world tries to diminish your great worth in God’s sight. Always remember God loved you before anyone else ever saw you. He made you just the way you are. There is no assembly required.