It seems odd to me the way we wish to hide our imperfections. Men and women both do things that are expensive, painful and sometimes dangerous do make ourselves conform to our artificial ideals. I have a scar on my hand. I dont try to cover,hide,regenerate or otherwise lessen its appearance. I got this scar when I was building my churchs' new building. A teacher of mine and I were setting up the studs for the first floor walls, and as luck would have it, I slipped and fell. When I dropped the stud on my hand, and left a fairly large gash in it. I licked it and moved on, the bleeding stopped, and it not being very painful. Now when I go into that building, I can say " I built those walls, I hung that rooms ceiling tile, I put the flooring down for that room, and I hung those lights" my scar is not an unsightly reminder of an injury, It is a constant reminder of time well spent that made a difference in my life. You don't spend all summer working around the elder men of your church without picking up some of their character.
             Women often mask "laugh lines", thinking that they represent their advanced age and the beginning of the end of their prime. They seem beautifull to me. Those wrinkles mean that you were happy enough to laugh. and you laughed more than you didn't. We should pity those who don't have cause to laugh, and so appear young in old age, and moreso, those who don't live long enough to recieve these lines, laughing or not. People are beautiful. We are, after all, made in Gods image. Although, after having met some of his creations, I have decided that he has one quirky sense of humor.
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