The Lord Sees the Heart

 “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Every day we are bombarded with beautiful people on our feeds in Facebook, Instagram, etc. I am reminded of the book, The Picture of Dorian Gray, written by Oscar Wilde in 1890. It is about a beautiful young man who sold his soul to keep his youth. Instead of his face showing the hedonistic, corrupt life he chose, it was his portrait that reflected his many sins and the picture became more and more grotesque every day. 

In contrast I offer Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, known as Mother Teresa to most of us. She was not beautiful. It is interesting what Bill McKendry, a top advertising executive with Leo Burnett thought of Mother Teresa’s feet when he interviewed her in 1996. 

She was wearing sandals as she usually does, and he was startled at how tremendously deformed, calloused and warped her feet were. 

“With toes that were twisted, nails that were missing, and bruises everywhere, Bill felt they were by far the ugliest feet he’d ever seen. He also knew they were the most beautiful he’d ever seen. Those were the feet of someone who lived life passionately in service to others. Those were the feet of someone who didn’t take the easy path or make life solely about themselves. Those were the feet of a woman who had every reason to retire, to not travel, to finally relax, but with failing health traveled to the United States to raise awareness and money for the neediest of the world.

They were, in other words, the feet of a living saint. “ 

God certainly saw beyond the wrinkled face, hands and feet of Mother Teresa. He saw her desire to give Him her all in spite of the profound spiritual loneliness she felt detailed in her letters to her spiritual directors. 

Father, may You walk with me, and always lead me to grow closer to You, until my heart is pleasing to You in every way.