“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an
understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.”
~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Often, when I meet a deeply-beautiful person, I learn, at some point, that that person has faced death.
It may have been the most painful of deaths - the death of a child. It may have been a near-death experience of their own passing. It may have been the death of a dream or an ego
death, brought about by what they felt was the loss of everything that defined them.
I often learn that that that beautiful person had their beauty polished in a twelve-step program,or they were transformed on some other spiritual path.
The next time you encounter a person who seems ugly,
disgusting or reprehensible in any way, please consider what Mother Teresa said when asked how she could work with the lowliest, the diseased, and the untouchables in her society. "How can you actually touch them with respect, tenderness and loving care?" she was asked.
She said that actually it was easy for her. She saw every human person as a child
of God, or Jesus in disguise.
Whatever your religious beliefs, consider seeing our fellow human beings in this way.
And, if we meet a challenge of any kind today, let's aim to see it as an opportunity to become more beautiful ourselves.
With
love,
Charlene
