3 Mar, 2010
Pretty Camels?
Tribes Show Best Camels at Beauty Pageant
Gulf Arabs from across the region gather in a large sandy plot in Ajman to sit in for a four-hour competition, which will see the selection of the best out of 150 camels every day.
The three-day spectacle should end with the top two finalists bagging luxury cars, while a remaining eight win cash.
In an effort to preserve the Gulf Arab country's cultural legacy, the government encourages camel rearing through funding and festivals where the desert animal is paraded for beauty, and sold in auctions.
The festival also serves as a meeting point for the country's tribes, residing in the rural parts of the United Arab Emirates. Tribesmen are paid by the government to rear camels and preserve a pure lineage of the country's breeds.
"The UAE's heritage is linked to camels and this festival emphasizes this. Traditions and customs lie in maintaining our history," said Saeed al-Aameri, who owns a large camel farm and is a participant in the pageant.
The camels are judged on different criteria, depending on the breed. The body is divided into five sections, with 20 points each, to mark beauty and elegance.
After the prettiest camels are selected, based on the length of neck, curve of the humps, structure of the body, height and general appearance, the camels' owners are sworn in to vouch for purity of lineage and proprietorship.
Story and picture coutesy of reuters.com
1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."
What does God's Story teach us about valuing others?
Samuel was given a project. It was a project assigned by God himself, and the future of the nation of Israel would depend on its success. What was his project? To locate the next king that God had chosen for his people. Now Samuel had certain ideas in mind about what a king should look like, and yet God’s ideas were different, for he uses different criteria.
Just like the camel owners in this story, who, unlike you and me, are somehow able to find “beauty” in a camel, God looks at people differently than you and me. This was the same lesson that Samuel learned on his journey to find a king: though we tend to judge people by outward criteria, God judges by the inward criteria of the heart.
How can we connect today’s God Story scripture to our lives?
If God looks at the hearts of people, rather than their outward appearance, this is also true of how he looks at each of us. What do we use in our lives to determine our value and worth? Is our view of ourselves determined by what others say or think about us, or does our view of ourselves come from what God says about us?
The Bible says that those who have put their faith in Jesus and trusted in him to forgive their sin have been restored to a relationship with God. When this happens, our hearts are washed clean and we are fully accepted by God. Though there are parts of us that we may not like or wish we could change, and though there may be others who reject us for all kinds of outward reasons, we are always accepted by God.
How can we connect today’s story, God’s Story scripture, and our story to others?
Are there people around us who are rejected by others because they don’t fit in very well or can be annoying? Though others may reject them, we must remember that God loves them just as much as he loves us and desires to be in a relationship with them.
Ask God today to give you the eyes of a camel owner, looking past the outward appearances of those around you in order to love them for who God has made them. In doing this, every day will become another day to crown a camel beauty queen!
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