Eight years ago, I started going out with Ruth. My friend Joe, who sings bass with the Messengers was very excited when I told him that Ruth and I were going out together. The first words out of his mouth were "She's a beautiful woman, and she's good looking, too." That was one of the wisest statements I've ever heard in my life. And true. The beauty Joe was talking about was inner beauty. When you meet someone who has that inner beauty, you respond to it instinctively. I am honored to know several people who have that inner beauty. Some are "good looking, too" and some are not (at least by contemporary standards.) But, whatever their exterior appearance, inner beauty radiates outward and can transform very ordinary looking people into something beautiful.

There is a woman who works on the checkout line at the local Home Depot. I go out of my way to get in her line, even if it is longer.
She is heavy-set, black, and has a tooth missing that is very noticeable, because she has such a radiant smile. She is very beautiful, and I even enjoy watching her as she waits on customers in front of me. She makes you feel like you are special, and that she is really happy to see you... and then you realize that she makes everyone feel that way. To her, each person is special.

There is a woman who works on the checkout line at a local supermarket who is the same way. She is quite overweight and not what would be considered a "beauty", but there is an inner beauty that shines through her and warms everyone who she waits on. Again, she makes everyone feel like they are special.

On the other side, there are women I know who are "beautiful" on the outside whose face when in neutral looks set in stone, with a faint, permanent look of disapproval. No matter how attractive they may be on the outside, they are always alone. The beauty is truly only skin deep.

Men have (or don't have) inner beauty, too. (It's not inner handsome.) There are men who get jealous when they see a very ordinary looking man with a gorgeous woman how is obviously in love with them. They wonder how that can be. The woman is responding to inner beauty.

In the long run, inner beauty is not dependent upon exterior beauty, although it can transform a very ordinary exterior into something beautiful if the person has eyes to see it. There are people in here, who I feel are beautiful. I don't need to click on the photos to see what they look like. Photos don't capture inner beauty very well. The thread What Love Rally Is touches on the whole inner beauty issue, and this post could easily have been added to that thread. But, I thought it deserved one of its own.

So, what makes inner beauty? I can think of a dozen qualities. I'll just mention one, and then turn it over to all of you.

Humility.

After others have had a chance to express their feelings, I'll come back to humility.

Jerry