Nana’s Advice to Miss Universe

Perhaps you have read about the Miss Universe contest. There is speculation that Miss Phillipines would have won had she not given an inappropriate answer to her question.  She didn’t say anything bad, she just didn’t give a good answer.  Her question was “What is one big mistake you made in your life and what did you do to make it right?”

And her answer was, “You know what, sir, in my 22 years of existence, I can say there is nothing major, major — I mean, problems — that I have done in my life, because I am very confident with my family with the love that they are given to me. So… Thank you so much that I am here! Thank you, thank so much!”

There are a whole host of reasons why this young woman might have answered the way she did, but we will probably never know why she said what she did. Miss Mexico won and that’s that.

I didn’t watch this pageant but I’ve seen pictures of Miss Mexico and Miss Philipines and they both are beautiful girls.  In fact, all the young women in the pageant were beautiful…on the outside. Maybe they are on the inside too, but as far as I know there isn’t an applause meter for niceness or a pure heart.

Remember the story in the Bible about Samuel and his sons? He was to choose one of them to be his nation’s leader. He looked over his sons and tried to choose one but he was interrupted by the Lord.

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.”

My Grandma Layne was a beautiful woman. Would she have won Miss Universe? Not a chance. When I was a teenager I was in a few pageants and Grandma Layne didn’t encourage me or discourage me but she did give me some advice. “Just remember,” she said, “that pretty is as pretty does and true beauty is on the inside.”

Amen, Grandma. Amen