The very first thing that crossed my mind when I saw my future wife was, “Wow, she’s beautiful.” The very first thing that my future brother-in-law said to his mother after meeting my sister was, “Mom, I just met the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.”
So, what?
My wife was thin with long, auburn hair. She was shy, so she wasn’t ultra-popular, but she was quite striking by most “worldly” standards. My sister is not thin and never has been. She is a wonderful person, but by most “worldly” standards, it would be very hard to call her “beautiful”. Her husband, however, looked at her and was bowled over by her beauty.
My wife has given birth to six children, and both of our waistlines are nowhere near what they used to be. Her hair now is auburn only when she colors it, and mine looks best when it is cut short enough to not accentuate my expanding bald spot. However, we love each other now every bit as much as we did when we both were skinny and good-looking by common worldy standards.
I believe that we are influenced, often subconsciously, by the media and culture around us, but I also think that there is an ambiguous SOMETHING that reaches out and grabs some people when they meet some other people that is hard (ok, impossible) to quantify.
There is a profound corollary with how people react to the Restored Gospel in there somewhere.
2 comments:
I liked this post, it made me reminisce.
When I first met my wife, I was attracted to her personality: brains, vitality, thoughtfulness, wisdom, and multi-talentedness. I had never been that interested in being around someone. 17 years later, my greatest pleasure each day is talk with her. Her voice is magical.
When my dad's friend met her when we were newlyweds, he told me, "I have seen lots of girls in my day. You could search the world up and down for a hundred years and never find her equal. You remember that and treat her well!"
I thank God every day for that ambiguous SOMETHING that reached out and grabbed us, distinctly and individually, to notice the remarkable traits that make our life a fantastic adventure of love and delight!!
You have made an interesting corollary to similar reactions to the gospel. That gives me something new to contemplate... especially this weekend.
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