Face Lift, Anyone?

by Danny True

We all have seen the commercial in which Joan Rivers talks about all the facelifts that she has had – “more knives than a Benihana” (a chain of restaurants featuring Japanese cuisine). We also know people, men & women, who have had “touch-ups” , selective lipectomy, stretching of skin on the face and other areas, as well as “tummy tucks”.

Most all of these cosmetic treatments are designed to reshape the patient so as to look younger, slimmer, etc. The inevitable result is that they are trying to trick “Mother Nature”.

So, let’s explore this trend of trying to make one’s appearance to be younger. First of all, (natural) beauty is a delight to behold but does place higher demands on the ones who have received this “gift”. There are many accounts of beauty queens or fashion models who must maintain a ritual of treatments and applications in order to maintain their beauty. Most feel they never are as beautiful as they would like to be!

Another example is “Glamour Shots”, photo sessions where the person is “made up” to appear much more beautiful than they really are – sans makeup! Basically it is all for show. If you spotted most movie or music stars at “the mall” without their makeup you probably wouldn’t recognize them!

Not everyone is “blessed” with a gift of beauty however, since beauty is in the eye of the beholder (and it is), there is someone who will accept you for what you are, without camouflage.

Let’s look at nature, for comparison. In the life cycle of a plant, it produces a withered, ugly sprout that eventually develops into a colorful and beautiful flower, solely for the purpose of reproduction. Bees, butterflies and other flying insects are drawn to the beauty and sometimes the scent of the blossom. In doing so they pollinate the flower, with the resultant pod of seeds or young plants ready for the next growing season. After the flower has done its job, it withers and dies. At the end it is NOT beautiful but it has done its job, it has left the next generation to continue its species!

Human life is much the same way. Virtually every baby is born wrinkled, discolored and certainly is not attractive except to the parents and grandparents! However, in a short time, they begin the metamorphosis into a cute and attractive child. As they approach the teen years (puberty) other changes take place; the girls blossom and become more attractive and the guys more — virile.

This state is usually maintained from the teens into the thirties (during the reproductive years). The flower is in full bloom! Then “middle age” (whatever that means!) sets in, for a beautiful physique is no longer needed for reproductive needs and the shape begins to “shift”. In much later years, the wrinkles, similar to those we had at birth, come back. Eventually the “host” dies, for the next generation is in place.

These are processes that were set into motion following the banishment of Adam & Eve from the Garden of Eden. We cannot expect the cycle to change. We cannot live forever (in this life). We must first die and then be reborn into an eternal life with Christ (only for Christians – see Salvation in Jesus!). That is, in fact, what happened to Jesus – can we expect any different treatment?

We can sometimes “trick” Mother Nature but only on outward appearance. The inside still has the original timer running, to wear out or cease at the designated (but unknown by us) time.

At one of the last high school reunions that I attended in Virginia, I noticed a classmate of my wife who probably had gone to the same “Benihana” as did Joan Rivers! She looked to be about 23-25 but I know that she was approaching the upper-60’s!  One would say “she looks good, but what about the rest of her? Will her face fall off in a year or two?”

This reminds me of the 1937 movie, “Lost Horizons” in which a hidden valley (“Shangri-la”) in the unexplored high mountains of Tibet was discovered by some lost travelers. Nearly all the people there were young looking but in fact were hundreds of years old. They attributed their young looks and energy to the environment and climate in the valley. When/if they tried to leave those protected surroundings, they quickly regressed to their real age and wrinkled, dried up and died.

One final observation: when you live with your spouse for 20, 30, 60, 80 years, you do not notice those changes as do others. You see that same sparkle in the eyes and other attributes that first attracted you. THAT is a gift from God!

Okay, the false teeth, hairpiece and other simple supports are probably acceptable, certainly for chewing your pork chops. But, accept your age and grow old gracefully. Your friends will not love you any less!

My late wife and I had a plaque in our kitchen: “Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be”. We did and it was!