Yesterday, I was at lunch with a good friend who told me about Susan Boyle. Boyle recently auditioned on Britain’s Got Talent and this 47-year-old woman stunned the audience and the judges as she sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.
She is from the Glasgow, Scotland, area. Notice her before she sings. How easy it is for all of us to pre-judge someone based upon appearance. For example, note these lines from WalesOnline:
"When Susan Boyle walked onto
the stage at the Britain’s Got Talent auditions, she was the complete
antithesis of our image-obsessed world. Dressed in a dodgy gold dress,
with bushy eyebrows and her greying hair longing to be styled and
coloured, first impressions meant we all expected her to fail
miserably."
Then she sang. Everyone was
shocked. A refreshing reminder to us all in a culture that values the
outward appearance above all else. How refreshing in a culture where
people often feel "less than" because they don’t wear the right jeans, don’t wear the right labels, don’t drive the right car, or in some way just don’t measure up. What a refreshing wake-up call.
Susan Boyle Stuns Crowd with Epic Singing – Watch more Funny Videos
That was amazing!
Who would of thought when I awoke yesterday morning that my day would be made so wonderful and exciting! Susan Boyle made my day! I am so anxious to hear more from this wonderfully talented lady! It brought tears to my eyes and continues to do so each time I replay the vidio!
They say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. But oh, we do, again and again. This video is a sermon in the form of an audition for the millions who’ve viewed the clip over the last few days.
Hooray for Susan Boyle!!
Awesome. Just awesome. Thanks for sharing this, I’m watching through streaming tears. What a sweet and extraordinary woman. And what a great reminder of how much we do all underestimate the gifts of God in our neighbor.
Paul Potts was another.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29
I love it when this happens!
Powerful post and video.
Thank you for sharing it with us all.
God bless all you do.
What a delight! Hope no one gets ahold of her and gives her a “makeover” or something atrocious like that. She’s adorable!
I had seen this video earlier and it brought goose bumps to my skin and tears to my eyes. I think I heard this site has had over 16 million hits in five days! Great thoughts from you, Jim. I was going to write a blog on it but I can’t compete with what you’ve written.
Your video link didn’t allow me access Jim. Don’t know what happened. BUT I did see the show and I was absolutely thrilled. My heart jumped for joy! I totally agree with your commenter Connie! I sure hope nobody wants to give her a makeover. Oh, were always taught about first impressions and how important they are. Well, those first 2 second impressions can be soooo wrong and I LOVE it when that happens!
Susan Boyle has an amazing voice. Most of the people I know that have watched the video have all been moved, as I was too. Isn’t it wonderful that we can be moved to tears by joy?
I thought of the following passage in Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. A root out of dry ground. KJV
Another version reads-“nothing to attract us to him”. It seems the ‘appearance’ problem has been around for a very long time.
Great article!
Karin–I think the source of the first video that I used took it off his site. Hopefully this one works now.
Thanks to each of you for your comments. I read what each of you said and appreciate your reaction to the video and to the entire situation with Susan Boyle. A wonderful story.