If only beauty and brains could solve our crises, our world could probably be a much much better place now than it was ever. Americans alone, spend billions of dollars a year on beauty products. Add to that the time spent on “improving” our looks. The same for education. We spend so much time and money acquiring and dispensing knowledge. Information is so accessible with a few clicks. It is almost as if we have so many tools, yet know not how to use even just one or two of them. So, there they sit on the shelf, locked up and polished every so often, yet unable to fix anything. We pay the price mostly in the form of relationships, broken or the lack thereof; and, since relationships, particularly families, are the building blocks of society, thus our societies are falling apart.
When was the last time you got to know someone so well, that you hardly ever notice his/her cleft lip, or that he/she never dresses according to style? What matters to you is that that person is your friend or brother or sister and that is how you see him/her. We all have this inner desire to be known for who we are, not what we do/don’t do, or what we have/don’t have. The question is how much time and money do we spend on improving our inner looks? Do we subject our souls to the shaping of the Creator Master’s hand and rely on His wisdom? When someone gets close enough, what will they see? Will they see a sister/brother/friend or a selfish, cunning and devilish being? At that point, it would not matter much the shape of one’s body or the amount of information one can retain.
The following quote from Anton Checkhov is true: “After us they’ll fly in hot air balloons, coat styles will change, …. but life will remain the same, a hard life full of secrets, but happy. And a thousand years from now man will still be sighing, ‘Oh! Life is so hard!’ and will still, like now, be afraid of death and not want to die.” What would matter in this hard life, is if we help make it bearable for another by being kind, gentle, and loving. More importantly, what would matter best is if we show them the hope we have in Jesus for eternal life, so that death would not be such a scary thing, but a mere passing from this hard life to God’s eternal glory.
So, fret not much on days when no matter what you do, you cannot look perfect enough outwardly, for some things of this matter cannot be helped. (You know that feeling of putting on the perfect outfit, and then soon after someone, if not yourself, spills coffee on you and your day is ruined.) Focus rather on what good you can impart to another and they are bound to see past your outer stains. Tomorrow, you will wear another outfit, but your goodness today may change someone’s life forever.
My Future Is Alive 