It’s a blessing and a curse ...

This is a familiar line from the Monk detective series. Adrian Monk is usually talking about his skills as a detective - who happens to have OCD.

I have been thinking about something rather different: beauty.

Is the gift of beauty a blessing or a curse?

I’ve heard that it is advisable to use beauty as a business and career asset. What do you think? Have you done it? Does your CV or Resume have - listed under transferrable skills and assets - the legend beauty shown?

I have just been wondering how, if you are beautiful, you go about enhancing this attribute to your best advantage, you know, for rapid career progression.

I know many beautiful people and they have said that being seen as attractive is more often than not a curse because they suffer from the lack of genuine observation of their intelligence or their personality.

They sometimes wish their gift of beauty away or hide it beneath clothes and behaviour. Is this fair?

This made me think about what else, as a natural phenomenon could be used as a business asset?

Should any birthright be cultivated for a career? Maybe Tyra Banks could give me some answers on this ... then more people could become the Top Model in their particular field.  

Comparisons

We all seem to hate being compared to other people – either because we feel we are too superior to them or that we are totally overwhelmed by them. But, it is a fact of life, that no one is free from comparisons.

Recently I heard a woman on the radio being compared to her father. He was a playwright, she is a playwright ... altering one of his seminal pieces. She felt overwhelmed by his legacy. But, nevertheless, she did her very best. It appeared she did a fantastic job.

Some people may not agree. Because they will always hold someone up as the higher standard to measure things against. That does not alter the fact that if you do your best, you have done your best: that is your own personal standard and you have succeeded – outstandingly.

Superheroes

People wear t-shirts emblazoned with the image or the slogan of whatever they are promoting, or what they think is amusing. You see them everywhere. T-shirts with people or products on them. Promoting someone or something. It may be the child-like games character or the symbol of a multi-national company. The space is used for a sign of some kind of devotion. There is intense competition for advertising space – everywhere. Even on our bodies. We are advertising ourselves all the time.

When I wear my t-shirt with the words ‘Jesus, Hope for Tomorrow’ on it I get pitying looks. At first I was not totally conscious of the looks then I began to notice that I was getting those double take looks that people do when they don’t quite believe what they have seen. The eyes were on my t-shirt. The glances re-read the words then took me in. Disbelief settled in their eyes. It is as if people have investigated the truth behind the story of Jesus and have decided that it is a myth, a joke, nothing to take seriously. The sadness is palpable. Sometimes it is open disgust.

When I wear t-shirts with other graphics or symbols on them I see people look, smile or nod appreciatively but this never happens when Jesus is up front. Jesus is not a popular name to say in serious conversations or public places. Jesus has become the butt of all jokes. His name is used regularly, but mainly as a swear word.

In the 21^st century Jesus has become the anti-hero in the world. He is no longer held in high regard.

The world has a new hero. Superman is the hero. Any superman. In fact, any superhero.

Superheroes are the devil’s plan to make sure people don’t believe in Christ Jesus.

Superheroes are the anti-Christ.

Because people do not really believe in superheroes - and they are part of the fabric of everyday life - then it is becomes more likely that people will grow in disbelief when faced with the reality of the life and powers of Christ.

Superheroes were conceived to make the real Hero unbelievable.

Even sweets are heroic!

Where will the competitions end?

What is present in most human interactions? Some of the common occurrences are love, desire, fear, hatred, anger, need and competition.

Competition is there in the desire for improvement in comparison with others. Also present is the need for attention and affection which are usually learnt as a child – from an early age we hone the skills needed to seek and gain these things in our lives. Because people consistently have different points of view there is an ongoing battle for the resources - natural and manufactured - to do better than the next person in order to achieve each one’s personal aim. This means that there will always be conflict.

Is all of life destined to be a competition?

From the cradle to the grave people are competing for something. We live in a competitive world and what we have others want, so they compete for it. Our time, our affiliation, our intelligence; how we vote, study, worship can all become affairs for personal advancement.

American Senator Henry Clay wrote, “Of all human powers operating on the affairs of mankind, none is greater than that of competition”.

21^st century television is awash with shows based on competition: who is fastest, who can last longest, and who has the most, who is biggest, who is smallest, and who can endure the most. It seems that for every human interest there is some contest for supremacy.

How then does humanity decide the differences of religious faith?

Is global terrorism the answer to the competitions of which religion is right, which faith follows the truth, what belief holds sway against the errors of the masses? Will this ultimate competition lead to the end of all contests as humanity destroys each other to prove that their own creed is the basis of light and truth?

How can we cease religious rivalry? Can we cease religious rivalry? Is there only one right way or are there many ways to illumination? Is the only way to answer this found in the annihilation of all opposition? Will there ever be one supreme religious conviction on this earth? Questions continue because the terror continues relentlessly in the name of devotion to one’s belief.

There is no dispute from me … terror in the name of faith is always shown as hostility and destruction, not a demonstration of holy persuasion and love. With religious terror there are no winners. Religious terror is destructive. That competition will never have a winner.