Holy Blush

"Dr. Alice von Hildebrand says that when women no longer know how to blush, it is an indication that a society is on the verge of moral collapse."--

Hammond, Colleen. Dressing with Dignity. Rockford, IL: Tan and, 2005. Print.

The song "What Makes You Beautiful" by OneDirection has held a lot of interest for me lately.   You can listen to the song here, but it's about a girl who doesn't recognize her own beauty, or at least avoids the subject.  It has me thinking on how I respond to compliments of beauty.

I believe as women we sense a pressure to walk a fine line in how we recognize our beauty.  On the one hand we can grasp that we are beautiful creatures, but if we let others know that we have an idea of our worth, then we can be mistaken as being vain in character.  On the other hand, others might tell us of our beauty and we avoid the subject or flat out deny the beauty, thus not giving glory to God for the gift of femininity.  The two together can lead to a reaction of false modesty...we deeply know our beauty, but do not believe that we can "let on".

So what can be the proper response of a woman to her own womanhood?  How can we approach that mystery?  If the Tabernacle of God was approached with reverence, then the tabernacle of the openness of womanhood must be met with due awe.  Awe in a certain sense can be synonymous with fear; fear, though, is often misconstrued in today's society.  There is a fear that leads to being shunned...there is a casting away of fear that leads to licentiousness.  We must rediscover the emotion of holy fear.

Holy fear of womanhood is a powerful force.  It can open the doors to contemplation about the purpose of femininity, and I think even touch on the relationship to masculinity.  If the beauty of a woman can make a man's head float in the clouds, then it reveals two essential truths:  

1. Men have knowledge of the power of objective beauty (whether they know it or not).
2. Man can begin to glimpse the beauty of God, which reveals itself in some way in the beauty of women.

If the beauty of God is revealed in women to some degree, then a proper respect owed to that beauty is made, not for beauty itself, but rather in thanksgiving to the wondrous God who is beautiful beyond all thought.  This beauty is of such a nature that it cannot be ignored; it demands a reaction.  To God be all praise and glory.

So how shall we as women honor this beauty (My focus for this post is on women's own reactions, not men's.)?  I believe that this is where a balanced response of feminine traits come into play.  In order to discover a proper feminine response, the best to study and learn from is that of Mary.  Mary doesn't say much in the Gospels, but there are a few instances of her praise to God that are quite evident.  The two situations I like to contemplate are her reaction at the Annunciation, and her Magnificat upon meeting Elizabeth.  In the first she pondered the mysteries in her heart (many today would classify that as "shyness").  In the second she testified to the greatness that God would bestow upon her and how He would be glorified among the nations for His great deeds (some would say she could be "vain" in thinking she would be great).  Look carefully at both of her responses though.  She does not necessarily grasp the blessings of her femininity at that time; she simply makes the most out of it.  She is deeply in communion with God, and knows that His blessings flow through her.  Her beauty acts as a vessel, and her response is deep respect and awe for the mystery taking place through her. She does not flaunt it, though she does not deny its presence.  She does not pretend it is not existent, though she is modest in her outlook.  I often wonder if her downward glance in many of her depictions, in addition to looking upon her children on earth, is not also a "holy blush", a wonderful acknowledging of God's blessing upon her.

Nowadays a blush is viewed as a "childish" response, a mix of shame and vanity.  Though this may often be the case in our broken state, we as women need to blush, in a sense.  If we cannot blush or be aware of the mystery of our beauty, then we have lost the sense of awe and from whence our beauty comes, which is, in my mind, perhaps a worse conundrum.  A lack of a "blush" or some other such response is often a sign that the time taken to contemplate beauty has been tossed to the side and replaced with "instant gratification" of desires.  In those instances, beauty may be said to be "appreciated", but is rather degraded.  I will try not to have you call to mind instances of women not blushing, even though engaging in less than feminine activities, as I do not want to damage innocence of thought.  But this is what is meant by the profound thought offered at the beginning of this post.  When the blush has disappeared, beauty has been disregarded and the mystery of God's creation is no longer respected, leading to the taking advantage of women, the loss of the respect of dignity of human kind, and further loss of a sense of morality.  It may seem like a huge step, but it is rather a slippery slope.

A "holy blush" is thus the proper response to compliments of beauty.  This can probably manifest itself in a number of ways, from a physical blush, to an aspiration of praise and thanksgiving, to a simple "Thank you" to the compliment giver.  We need not over-think such compliments (a WHOLE other issue for women to deal with...a compliment is a compliment!  It is not a pick-up line, it is not a sarcastic comment.  Be thankful!).  We need simply to be receptive.  It is built into our very nature; it is not something to fight.