Beauty
Now Think On This
Steve Martin
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a
woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30, NASU)
They say beauty is in
the eyes of the beholder. That may be true, if the beholder has the character
and discernment to know what is real beauty. You see, it goes far beyond skin deep.
Real beauty resides in the deep affection of the soul to please the Creator.
Then that which radiates from within is indeed a thing of beauty.
Growing up in the
northeast land of Iowa, in the town of Cedar Falls, I had the privilege of going to a parochial school, named
St. Patrick’s. The classes of about 18 kids each received our educational
instruction from BVM nuns (Blessed Virgin Mary order) and “lay” teachers.
Occasionally one of the priests would come during the week and conduct a class
on the Roman Catholic Church theology.
Prior to daily classes,
I would attend Mass around the 8:15 am hour. Desiring to please the Lord, as I
knew at the time was a way to do thus, it was my intent to follow Him in His
ways, and in the meantime cut a few years off of my time to be spent later in
Purgatory (or so I was taught.) Being a young lad, attending the school from 2nd
through 8th grades until I reached the age of 13, going to Mass
during the week was not the norm for most kids, apart from Sunday. In fact, I
can’t remember if any others in my grade did this. Besides that, there weren’t
too many adults either that I recall making their presence known. I guess work
and other occupations restricted the time it took, rather than time with God.
One thing I most
remember about those morning hours, other than the bare heads of Father Mullen
and Father Purcell, was this old, stooped-back lady who was always dressed in a
long, black coat. Her head was also always covered with a black hood, but I knew
she was not a nun. In fact, I knew very little about her, other than that she
regularly was cleaning the church building. Quietly. Consistently. Without
fanfare or to be an attention-getter. For the most part I thought she was kind
of creepy, and weird. I never heard or saw her speak to anyone.
I can’t remember the
exact day, but one Saturday morning I followed her as she walked down the
street to her home, after the Mass had ended. I had an idea where she lived,
but wasn’t sure. And yes, when she got to the house that I thought was hers,
badly in need of paint and repair, she stopped and turned around. I was
shocked!
For the first time I was
able to see into her eyes. Though surrounded by wrinkles and gray hair that needed
some combing, she had the most tender eyes. She smiled, didn’t really say
anything, turned back around and went into the house.
I never knew what her
name was, but the impression she left on me over those years, as often I
watched her in her work, clearly had an impact in my life. A true servant of
the Lord, and one whose beauty was truly one to behold.
The Lord has many that aren’t
widely known among the populous nor being counted with the famous. They are
carefully hidden, daily doing that which is their calling, performing the works
which the Lord has given them to do. But when they reach their time of glory,
the beauty within will shine along with the One who created them, as they
behold the most beautiful One of all.
What a glorious and magnificent
day that will be.
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People,
Inc.
P.S. I would be most grateful if you'd share
this encouraging word with your family and friends. They might need it. You can
easily use the social media icons below. Thanks! Steve
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– Thank you very much.)
Please share Now
Think On This with your friends.
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Now Think On This - In
the Year of our Lord 03.11.17 - #277 – “Beauty” – Saturday 4.30 pm
All previous editions
of Now Think On This can be found on this
Blog, and on the website: Now Think On This
Again, I would be most
grateful if you'd share this encouraging word with your family and friends. You
can easily use the social media icons below. Thanks! Steve
