About two years ago, I substituted a class in my home ward's Primary. For sharing time, the senior Primary watched this video. I really loved it, and I cried like a Sunbeam while watching it. It gave me some much-needed perspective.
(Watch it. It is totally worth the 3 minutes and 44 seconds!)
I used to roll my eyes at the story of The Ugly Duckling. The cynical part of me would always scoff at the message I tended to get from the story, which is "Mmmkay, so everyone who was born a swan can feel GREAT about themselves because they're prettier than ducks! Nice!" (Also, I don't really like birds in general. Swans are not as tranquil as they look.)
But I really love the way President Uchtdorf presents the message. (And I love the way he says "Hans Christian Andersen." So cool.) The story is not about appearances. It is about understanding identity. It is that understanding that changes the way you see your reflection in the mirror. It doesn't really matter what is reflected back at you. Without understanding who you are, that reflection is just an image. When we do understand who we are, we can begin to fully appreciate the phenomenal potential and power we possess as children of God. We can recognize both our physical beauty and, on a deeper level, our spiritual and eternal beauty. President Uchtdorf is right—the knowledge of who we really are does change everything.
Recapturing Beauty is a quest to deconstruct lies about beauty and replace them with truth. Just like the little swan in the story, we can have personal experiences that reveal the truth about beauty to us on an individual basis. Recapturing Beauty is the type of movement that will go far if it is based on the heartfelt convictions of men and women who understand who they truly are. Sometimes it takes courage to do what the swan did--take a look at himself and accept the identity that was reflected back at him. But, thankfully, God is more than willing to bless us with the comfort of knowing who we are. As the apostle Paul said, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16).
Article by Jessica Croft