Take a look around; do you what I see? A world, a society, a culture working so hard at consuming people with what it takes to not be real. Has there ever been a culture so pre-occupied with appearance? What does our future hold for generations to come when one imagines the possibility of cloning a person without flaw. And how much more proof do we need about how people cover pain instead of deal with it than Michael Jacksons plastic surgery? Then we ask, where did the real Dolly Parton go? When questioned about her nips and tucks she said, Costs a lot of money to look this cheap. The fact of the matter is, people judge others by appearance and pretending that it is not true does not change the truth!

I doubt that any one of us can honestly say we have never sat in judgment. Very likely, each one of us can also say we have been hurt at one time or another by someones judgment (or lack of it), slander, mistreatment, or disrespect. It is such an automatic thing to allow first impressions to rule our thoughts, based on a persons physical appearance, style of dress, body size, attitude, actions etc.; we form an opinion, then decide where they would sit on our personal scale of social status. I love the story one pastor tells of the street man who had slept outside the church one night and was still there in the morning when people started arriving for Sunday service. He was unclean with old, worn out clothes, his belongings in a gunny sac, hair long and unshaven; {you have a visual}. Of that whole congregation, not one person stopped to chat, say good morning, shake a hand; offer him to come in to the service, if he needed a ride, nothing. Rather, they ignored him, embarrassed by his appearance and kept walking. When it was time for the service to start, there was no pastor; he was the one outside. We all know what the message was that day. Everyone is a prisoner of his/her own experiences, no one can eliminate prejudice ~ just recognize it.

It is very sad to imagine that appearances are often how we value others or ourselves in comparison to the mainstream. We live in a world of diets, anorexia, wrinkle removal, cellulite busters, hair transplants, lipo-suction, breast implants, plastic surgery, and even face transplants are advertised everywhere. What about feelings, self worth, self- esteem and self-love?

Everyone, now and again, needs to do a heart and soul search and see whats there. How often have you had it said or said it yourself to someone, get real? That word, real, can be the key to some self-discovery. Being real and true to oneself is not easy in a world that wreaks falsehood. We tend to have to wear many hats, be to people what they expect us to be, act like they expect us to act, try to keep up at all costs, live outside ourselves. We all have values; money, satisfaction, freedom, trust, honesty, faith, integrity, security, power, control, ambition, helping one another to name a few examples. It is from these core values that we live our lives, it is the best place to find out if those values are in our best interests, if they are allowing us to be who we are or pushing us into being the person we (or someone else) wishes we could be.

I think back to my preteen years and what I wore. There was no choice, there were not visa cards to count on, nor did my parents give in to keeping up with the crowd. Emphasis was on presentable, neat and clean without name brands. The one time I tried to sneak out of the house to catch the bus with make up and lipstick on, I almost missed the bus. I thought dad was out of view but I swear he had laser vision. Heh, get back here, go wash that st off your face before you get on the bus! I wont tell you what happened when I tried to wear a mini skirt. Beauty is skin deep, so it is said, but I see skin as the precious part of creation that separates us from the outside world. What is under it is ours, not to be given without our permission. It is what sets the boundaries between the world and us. Often you hear someone say, oh that person sure gets under my skin, Guess what? The choice is ours entirely!

At The Heart of the Image Culture is you and I, and no matter how much the world tries to invite us into the importance of imaging and appearance, our soul is unchanging, it is who we really are; good people with so much to offer, special in our own right. We can see it in everyone; we just have to be willing to look.