Alex Tang
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Medical Students /Paediatric notes
on beauty
Conversation with my granddaughter
Dr Alex Tang
Hello little one,
Here we are, both of us all ‘dressed up’ and ready to go out. You must
wonder why we have to wear all these uncomfortable clothes just to go out. I
am sure you are just happy to be wearing only your t-shirt and pampers.
Grampa too. Wearing T-shirt and pants, that is, not pampers. The reason is
that, little one, this dressing up is to make us beautiful. I know, little
one, we are already beautiful. However, for some strange reasons, big people
think that smart clothes and even additional things like jewelry and makeup
make them beautiful.
What is beautiful? Good question, little one. To be beautiful is to make
your physical appearance pleasing to other people and to cause envy. Why
would big people bother about what other people think about their
appearances? I do not know, little one, but many big people spend a lot of
time concerned about what other people think of their appearances instead of
thinking about other more important things. In fact, Grampa suspected that
after an initial glance, most big people are not interested in thinking
about other big people’s appearances. They are generally more concerned
about their own.
What is even more interesting is that what is ‘pleasing’ to other people
changes over time. If you look at some of the pictures in Grampa’s books,
the pictures of beautiful women in the past are very fat! Now they are very
thin! Where once being fat is beautiful, now it is beautiful to be skinny. I
know, it is very confusing. And little one, you must be also are aware there
are many types of big people. Some are slightly bigger than you, some big
people such as your Mummy and Daddy who are called adults and there are some
older big people like as Grampa and Grandma. With time all people’s
appearances change. This is called aging. Grampa do not always look like
this. A long time ago, Grampa was young, thin and handsome. Now Grampa is
older, paunchy but still handsome.
Little one, true beauty is not what a person is on the outside but what that
person is in the inside. The outside of a person is the appearance but the
inside is the soul. We can see the outside but we cannot see the soul.
However we can appreciate the soul in how a person think, feel and act. A
beautiful soul is full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It is in continual communion with
God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. Grampa believes that if
the inner soul is beautiful, then the outer appearance will be too. That is
true beauty. Grampa thinks big people should spend more time looking after
their souls than their physical appearances.
Little one, may you grow to up to be a beautiful soul. May you always have
enough love to nourish your soul. May your soul grow to be a red rose that
brings beauty to the kingdom of God. May you always maintain the communion
you now have with the Holy Trinity and not lose it when you grow older. May
you bear the fruit of the spirit in your soul. This is Grampa’s wish for
you, my beautiful little granddaughter.
Dear God,
May this little one grow up to be a beauty in Your eyes. May she learn to appreciate real beauty and to strive for it.
Amen
18 February 2013
more conversations here
