Seeing people from the inside out

I remember Anna's first Easter Egg hunt as a toddler. She saw the bright, plastic eggs strewn all over the lawn and lit up with excitement. But she was so taken with the pretty colored eggs (which also made delightful shaking noises) that she failed to realize they had treasures inside of them.

I was thinking about that concept yesterday, as I was watching the variety of students walk past the hot chocolate table. They came in tall, short, dark, light, beautifully dressed, plainly dressed, and just a plethora of shapes and sizes.

But if we were to open up all the shells, the mortal bodies that we're all encased in, you would see a bunch of souls walking around. And that's the part that really counts, because it lasts for an eternity, while our bodies are only temporary.

So really, what is on the inside is who we really are, even though society tends to define us by our outsides.

Chris Massa was standing at the table with me, and he shared a cool story related to this idea. He was in an "Every Man's Battle" study back at Westchester University. One night they were discussing what attracts them to a girl, and most of the guys in the room were saying that the first thing is how she looks.

Then Brandon spoke up. "I look for her voice. If there is warmth in it, if she is friendly, if she listens well. Really, just if whe seems like a nice person." The other guys in the room got totally silent. You see, Brandon was blind, so the concept of how a girl looked was totally irrelevant to him. Brandon had the amazing gift of seeing people from the inside out.

1 Sam. 16:7 says "....man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Lord, I pray that you would give me eyes like yours, to see people from the inside out. Let me value what really counts in the people around me. Let me see them as eternal beings living temporarily in a physical state, and not physical beings who also have a spiritual dimension. Give us an eternal perspective, and an eternal passion, and an eternal love for those around us.