April 17, 2009

Her name is Susan Boyle and the chances are nearly 100 percent you never heard of her until last week. Susan, who is 47 and by her own account has a body like a garage, stunned the judges and the audience at the “Britain’s Got Talent” contest. She sang “I Dreamed a Dream’ from “Les Miserables” and literally blew everyone away. Go to YouTube and see if you are not stunned, thrilled and encouraged.

We spend so much time on outer beauty and so little on the beauty that comes from within and is everlasting. Susan Boyle made people pay attention to the only beauty that truly matters. Our bodies grow old and wrinkled. Inner beauty never does.

Look at the condescension among the judges and the looks from people in the audience – especially the young – when she walks on the stage, as if to say “What’s she doing here?” And then watch and see how they are all transformed, as if to say “Why wouldn’t she be here with a voice like that?” And then contemplate what true beauty look like. Trust me: you’re in for a treat.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.