Tomorrow, International Women’s Day is celebrated. I just preached a sermon today titled, “When God says, You are beautiful, don’t say No lah.”  It was based on Psalm 45 and how the Royal Bridegroom was enthralled by the beauty of the Bride, which is the church. I talked about the effects of “ugly” on women and adolescents. I read them a poem which I found meaningful. The title is, “The World Never Dared” by Kimberly Anne, a nineteen year old. My hope for women is that they be freed from the social stigma and emotional handcuffs of “ugly”.

The World Never Dared

She thought they called her ugly,

Behind her back,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She was afraid she would never be loved,

That no one could love an ugly girl,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She never saw the strength,

Nor the beauty that she had,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She cried into the night,

Worrying she wasn’t beautiful enough,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She started losing herself,

To the deep throes of what was truly ugly,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She started keeping her distance,

Until she truly believed that maybe the whole world was ugly,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She wandered off into the distance,

A sad look upon her face,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She lifted herself up,

Then let herself crash down,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She lingered in the shadows,

One moment too long,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She fell down the mountain,

Into a crumpled mess of ugly emotions,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She grew believing ugliness reigned,

And that she couldn’t overcome it,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She flew solo,

And never asked for directions,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She broke all the mirrors,

But still called herself ugly,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She hit and kicked,

Out at her soul,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She tried to make it work,

But she let the ugliness rumors overcome,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She followed all the wrong signs,

Into the deep and dark abyss where ugly ruled,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She stopped laughing,

Yet thought life was a joke,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She fell fast and furious,

To ugly’s power,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She stopped listening,

And she never heard the compliments,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

She kept pushing herself,

But still thought they called her ugly,

And the world never dared,

To set her right,

Then one day,

That not ugly, truly beautiful girl snapped,

And the world never had a chance,

To dare to set her right,

She finally stopped fighting,

And let ugliness take her all the way,

And the world never did dare,

To set her right.