BEAUTY OF THE SURFACE, BEAUTY OF THE DEPTH

A Rugged Gem

• —1 Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

  —Psalm 26:6: “I will wash my hands in innocency...”

  —Romans 8:1 “therefore, there is now no condemnation in those that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit...”

• I have been called a “gem”. Ok...a rugged and sometimes ragged one, me.

  Where are gems located??

  In a tidy jewel box, displayed on shimmering satin or velvet, in perfect pristine order with no dust or dismay??

  Nope...but rather from mud and dust and disorder and hiding and the requirement of a pickaxe and shovel and a polisher.

  Polishing from the raw takes major work, mud-covered and grimy reality.

  Effort...work...labor...diligence...stick-to-it-ive-ness..

  Polishing is not tidy stuff!

  God, however, is the Great Transformer of people, as He sees into Eternity and our gifts hidden beneath the muddy exterior.

• God must be a great lover of beauty, as His creation is stunning and magnificent, an overwhelming compendium of symmetry, divine order, abundance of good, bounty and a sense of peace. Humans seem to be drawn to beauty. I think God designed us that way: symmetry offers stability and soundness. We break these Godly laws at our peril. I am very guilty of this, especially in times of my youth, in rebellion.

  I have long loved the realm of beauty! This includes the staggering beauty of God’s natural realm, the refreshing pine forests of my childhood home, the babbling brooks and creeks, the snowy Mount Shasta in the far distance across the California border, 90 miles to the south. I also love the fashion realm of beautiful clothing, some elements of surface applications like makeup and hair, lotions, fragrance and skin care and the honorable presentation of physical beauty. This, of course, can easily devolve into vapid obsession of temporary surface things but can also reflect the true beauty of holiness and righteousness (NOT shallow vanity or self-righteousness or hubris.)

  The older I get, however, I see the edges getting rather ragged and the more deeply I experience the stern pressure of the world, especially on women... “DON’T YOU DARE SHOW YOUR AGE! It is verboten to show reality!! You are pressured under condemnation, to join the Bowing-down Club and submit to fashion diktats! Oh, and that includes squandering money on some hopes of “looking young.” You are also commanded to blame things on the “patriarchy.” Ok??”

  Nope. I am no longer a feminist. I have become...gasp...a reverse- rebel, choosing to forge my way in Elder years by humbly following God and His Son and not the world.

  This does NOT mean not caring for yourself or giving up. God first of all, works on the inner sanctum, as it were, the closets full of sorrows and regrets...and my rueful personal favorite and frequent struggle, self condemnation over my flaws. A dead end, for certain and part of the realm of fashion certainly feeds this malady.

  God is not against beauty, He is against the worship of the external, combined with arrogance and hubris. No one holds back time...this place is temporary…

  Eternity is not.

  Beauty is a very personal and primal thing, one that plants itself directly in the middle of biological women’s lives, whether they actively participate in it or no.

  The pronouncements on women are seemingly endless...demands, condemnation, pressure, fantasy not grounded in reality.

  Heck, my Barbie doll, with the absurd body and her own “dream house “ had a much nicer wardrobe than I, long ago.

  I have in recent months been quite strident in my writing about the pursuit of honorable dress and against the devil’s lies over modesty and pushing vulgarity. Vulgarity is not empowering and the sexualization of children is directly from the pits of hell.

  This is spiritual warfare, front-line edition.

  A gem needs polishing and the requirement of this is also a very personal and challenging journey with God, into just what the heck is BUGGING me and all of us. Unsolved mysteries, buried regrets, self castigation (”stooopid...”) and frequent emotional hurricanes and headaches, brought on my useless perfectionism. You would think I would learn...but nooo...gotta still slog through at least some of the muck. Well, at least there is an end to the muck, bit by bit!

  I am seeing sparks of hope, however, that the light in the distance is a Godly light and not an oncoming train...

  As the Psalmist speaks of “washing my hands in innocency”...what a wonderful proclamation of an excellent thing to do!! Not cynical, not defeated, not dark and attending Curmudgeon University (my many-year personal location) and the ridiculous pursuit of shaping the surface stuff instead of working on the soul and spirit. Beauty will then begin to be reflected in the honorable surface and not the “impress others” surface. Impressing others, just like the following of “influencers” is not always a good ramble in the brambles, as the thorns are gonna get you and harm your soul. They are sharp and not friendly.

  Narrow path...it is a difficult but clean struggle but a most worthy end, pleasing your Creator and not the worldly demands.

  I keep on, as Papa God tells me daily, “one step, one day.”

  I hear and I listen and I will and I do.

  Wendy Elizabeth Williams Friday, April 17, 2026

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  --Consider donating any amount from $1 and up on my Ko-fi page, Ko-fi.com/wendyelizabethwilliams. You can donate one time, periodically or monthly, as you prefer. On my Ko-fi page, I am also creating a shorter writing piece per week, focusing mainly on my life-long love of all things fabric, garments, beauty and the centuries-long battles between men and women. After I get my weekly longer piece up on Substack on Friday nights (usually!), I then place my shorter Ko-fi piece up also on Notes. This week, my piece speaks of a past dear San Francisco friend who started calling me a “wren” because I did not dress in bright or flashy colors! I used to have some strong reactions to her gentle teasing...but tried to explain my warrior stance to her in my residential leasing work, handling all kinds of people out and about, ALONE, in showing apartments. I had to have some serious grounding and my faithful barn coat...the color of a barn...rough-wood, gave me stability and strength, as a fluffy color would not have. San Francisco is a very rowdy City and I managed to hold my own as a Leasing agent, for 17 years, partly with the help of my faithful Barn coat! No longer a “tart” but a “wren” and a good one at that! I like being more invisible. “A Wren in a Jacket: dressed for war.”

  --Please pray for me! Thank you, Wendy

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