Accustomed to wrong-ness

Two conversations this week have really made me think. I asked a friend who is about 30,"does where you live feel safe?" and their answer was "yes, definitely . Then later on in the week I was talking to someone older who was telling me how they didn't feel safe anymore. This person lives in the same area as the first but he was telling me that he used to leave his door unlocked but doesn't feel able to do that any more. It raised the question of whether we have got accustomed to living in a way that accepts something wrong.

We have become accustomed to having to lock our doors every time we leave the house. We have got used to a certain way of being, and a certain way of acting. Because we are so used to thinking in this way we don't realise we have got used to something that we shouldn't have to have got used to. We have forgotten that there could be a different way of being. 

When two cultures meet

It is only when two different cultures meet, you see the difference. In the case of my conversation, it was the culture of someone who was 80 and the culture of someone who is 30. But how many other things might there be that we have become accustomed to? 

Maybe if we can look again at the culture that we are part of and reexamine it. If we can see the bits that are bad and the bits that are good we can find ways of bringing about change. Maybe not on a big scale, but maybe in many little ways. If feel we always have to lock our doors, what could we do about it? 

Give yourself a culture shock

We don’t really get perspective on what’s close to us until we spend time away from it or are confronted with a different culture. maybe you could....

• Go into an area where the majority of people are from a different culture to you and if you can stop and chat to people, see what occurs to you as you do this.
• If you are a Christian, go to a different Church from what you are used to. Maybe one that is aimed at Students, or that is very traditional
• A more major culture shock....Go and volunteer in another country with an organisation like VSO (Voluntry Services Overseas)

Reflecting

Try and look at where you live with fresh eyes. Walk around your local area and ask yourself the questions:

• What is there to celebrate here, what is good where I live?
• What is not good here, what is there to dislike?
• What do I see that needs improving?
• What problems are hidden here?

Moving forward

Stop and consider what you can do to bring about change. How can you see things in a fresh way and  change things. How can you help others see things differently. Watch this video for the way one person managed to do this:

Seeing things differently

Or if you believe in God then pray God would help you find new ways to bring about the type of world that He would have us live in. A world where there are no more tears or pain (rev 21:4) or oppression (Luke4:18) and each person loves others as they love themselves (Mark 12:30-31).

'Beautiful' Bond Girls

I have become a bit of a MasterChef addict over the past few weeks. The show sets cooking challenges for a group of aspiring chefs each week and last week in one of the episodes they got together a group of 'Bond' girls, for the contestants to cook for. All women who at one point in their career had starred next to James Bond.

They showed pictures of the women in the films and all of them were roughly in their 20's or early 30's. Then in walked this group of people who were maybe 30 or 40 years older than they were when they starred in the film. And it showed quite clearly that 'beauty' as defined by TV, movies, magazines fades.The type of beauty that is aspired to by many and so emphasized in the media is very short lived. So maybe there should be a different sort of beauty we aspire to.

What does God have to say about beauty?

Do not let your adorning be external...but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.(1 Peter 3:3-4)

The wisdom in the Bible suggests that we aspire to cultivate an inner beauty, something that does last. This wisdom is not just from the Bible but many others have joined with this way of thinking:

“The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express.” ― P.C. Cast
“No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

How to change the way you think?

In a country where outer beauty is so emphasized, it is going to be difficult to change how we think but here are some ideas. Which could you do?

One lady has decided not to use mirrors for a year - A radical step to try and change her perception of beauty! (Link). Or maybe...one day a week as a no mirror day?


Maybe change our view of  beauty is to forget about ourselves for a while. Take time to go and serve someone else and cultivate something of that inner beauty that Jesus and the bible speaks about.

Recognise if everyone feels bad about the way they look, it must be the standard that needs changing. 

Remind yourself each time you see an advertising board with the perfect looking person on, that they are not real, almost all pictures are digitally enhanced and remember that the people who use these pictures are trying to make us feel bad about ourselves so we  buy their products. There have been campaigns to get advertisers to label photos that have been digitally enhanced to make people more aware (Link). 

Or suggest other ways in the comments area below.....