Beauty fades, but true love lasts forever.
So much in this world is fleeting, which is why clinging to things that matter is so important.
Marrying someone for superficial reasons — including physical attraction or social standing — is fruitless because looks and money can go away.
However, the soul stays constant, and that’s what matters most.
You wouldn’t know that from interviews with celebrities who usually celebrate the superficial side.
Cosmopolitan’s March cover girl Miley Cyrus — a 20-year-old actor and musician engaged to actor Liam Hemsworth — recently said a mouthful on how she sees her fiancé.
“Do you ever have these moments when you're still struck by how hot he is?” the magazine’s interviewer said, as quoted on the publication’s website.
“I'll literally look at him and be like ‘You are hot, dear god!’ The other day, I turned on the pool heater and it was steaming, and he walked outside and took off his clothes and jumped in the pool,” Cyrus said.
“I was like, ‘I'm gonna faint — the hottest guy of my life is in a steaming pool. This looks like a Playgirl shoot.’ So I took a photo and made it the background on my phone. My best friend grabbed my phone and was like, "Who's that? He is so hot!’ That's my hubby!”
And that’s all Hemsworth’s fiancée said about him, according to the magazine's website.
Nothing about the couple’s friendship, her fiancé's spirituality or his good nature.
Just a sound bite from a girl who sounds more like a groupie, less like a woman considering a lifelong commitment.
Maybe that’s all the magazine chose to use. It doesn’t matter, either way, because impressionable readers will equate “hot” with love, based on this isolated description of the relationship.
The well-circulated interview is an example of modern values.
Though we laud freedom of speech, and should, constant, widespread spectacles of opposing values and worldviews is relatively new. No time before rivals today, with the barrage of celebrities, their lifestyles and causes constantly appearing on television, in print, on computers and phones.
Often, these messages rival children’s morals or values from their upbringing.
Distractions, whether from a magazine interview or hip-hop music, undermine attention toward current affairs and world events.
Beyonce Knowles — and any other pop star — will come and go, but helping to form a perfect union in this country, working toward equality and sound governance, should always be in fashion.
Bob Sikes Elementary fourth-grader Justice Livingston understands that.
After the News Bulletin’s Jan. 19 and 26 editions reported on her Inaugural Day trip to Washington D.C., readers’ unanimous online response matched our initial impressions of the well-spoken and informed student.
I met Justice and her grandmother last week, just after she returned from her trip, and gained greater insight beyond words on a page.
Proudly wearing a “Barack Obama: 43rd President of the United States” T-shirt from his first inauguration, she recounted her experience, a dream come true for a girl who twice wrote the commander in chief: first in kindergarten in 2009 and just last November.
Knowles’ performance was a passing mention as she spoke with reporter Brian Hughes. The student was more excited about the historical Inaugural Parade, the president she supports, and the goals she hopes his administration can achieve.
Many children her age develop obsessions with video games, TV shows and other entertainment that becomes mindless in extreme doses.
But that’s not the case for Justice, whose grandparents keep her grounded, occasionally finish her sentences to reinforce their values, and teach her the importance of civic involvement.
Put down the magazines, girls and boys, and find real role models.
Contact News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni at 850-682-6524 or tboni@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbeditor.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EDITOR'S DESK: Kids today need enduring role models