The mayor of a town in the Australian outback found himself in the news. John Moloney, mayor of Mount Isa in northwestern Queensland, urged unattractive women to move to the mining town because there is a shortage of women there. Moloney said Mount Isa is a place for ugly ducklings to flourish into beautiful swans, and he called on those he termed “the beauty-disadvantaged” to settle there. Some people did not like Moloney’s message. They said it makes the men of Mount Isa seem boorish and like brutes who will pounce on the first woman they see walking down the street. Others were offended that Moloney would seem to equate physical beauty with virtue and quality.

The Bible is full of stories about that. In some cases, it led to disaster. Samson, a judge of ancient Israel, is one example. He was destroyed because of his inability to resist the physical charms of an evil woman named Delilah. One of the best examples is found in the book of 1^st Samuel. In the 16^th chapter, we read of the search for a man worthy to be chosen as the next king of Israel. The prophet Samuel thought he had found the man. But the Lord told him it was the wrong man. Then God said, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

The mayor of this Australian town would also do well to read Proverbs Chapter 31 and Verse 30. It says, “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

That’s Today’s News and the Good News. I’m Doug Poling