Sunday, March 03, 2013

Elegance

"Elegance is refusal," said Coco Chanel.

If elegance can be defined as dignified gracefulness or restrained beauty of style, then we can understand what she meant.  A woman who aspires to elegance choose that which is best and leaves the rest.  That is not my strong suite, but I am working on being able to discern what is best from many options.

Elegance is not necessarily a spiritual value and the pursuit of elegance can take people far from the heart of love.  Yet, what better example do we have of elegance than the Proverbs 31 woman?  

She chooses what is best with regard to time.
She chooses what is best with regard to the raw materials she works with.
She chooses what is best in her investments.
She chooses what is best in being open-armed to the needy, for she seeks to spend her resources on people and their care.
She chooses what is best with regard to her words.
She chooses what is best with regard to fearing the Lord, rather than chasing ephemeral things that might lead to frustration.

She is a wise manager of all the resources the Lord has given her.  She is not dragged along by busyness or the crowd, but evaluates and makes wise choices.  She lives with purpose.  

She is elegant.

Enjoy!