cktimes.ca Archives for The Pastoral Lens
The Pastoral Lens
Plain Cover, Incredible Book
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
You can't judge a book by its cover. We have all heard that phrase many times before. Last week we saw it in full colour. Her name is Susan Boyle, and before last week she was just a plain, simple British woman whom nobody outside of her quaint little village knew anything about. That's all changed now thanks to an unexpected explosion of talent by Britain's newest celebrity. What had every appearance of a "let's-get-this-over-with" audition for 'Britain's Got Talent' turned into an epic performance that was given a standing ovation by the surprised capacity crowd. Razor-tongued co-host, Simon Cowell, seemed put out and annoyed as he asked the bubbly Boyle what she hoped to become as a result of her audition. When she declared her desire to become famous he rolled his eyes, as did the members of the audience, in a rare supportive gesture of the negative celebrity. The other judges also followed suit. What came next, however, took everybody by surprise. "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables never sounded so beautiful as it did when Susan Boyle sang it that night. The looks on the faces of the judges and audience members alike more than screamed the obvious: You can't judge a book by its cover.One week and 16 million 'You Tube' hits later and plain jane Susan Boyle is the second coming of Celine Dion. The 47-year-old spinster, who lives with her cat in a small Scottish village began to walk off the stage at the end of her song and had to be begged to come back on. Humble and blushing, the new star beamed with pride when she received unanimous praise from the panel of 3 judges. She got as giddy as a school girl when the reality of it sank in. The unknown soprano had always dreamed of making it big but spent most of her years caring for her aging parents. Neither slim nor stunning, it wasn't until she opened her mouth and presented her powerful offering that she was finally taken seriously. Will we ever learn?
Why is it that we are so quick to form opinions about others based on shallow presuppositions from the outside? With limited information, based on outward appearance, we decide in our own mind who we feel is worthy of our time and attention. More often than not we are light years away from being right. We should rather be more careful and take time to get to know people and give them the benefit of the doubt when we don't have all the facts up front. We may even be quite pleasantly surprised by what we find when we delay the temptation to form a quick opinion. Thank-you, Susan Boyle, for reminding us that God makes people very beautiful in a myriad of ways. You have touched more lives than you can imagine and helped confront stereotypes that have long since needed correcting. May you experience the blessing of the Lord and feel His presence when you sing!
