A person's inner beauty

This morning, as I listened to SpeakingOf Faith on the National Public radio station, I was transfixed by what John O'Donahue was talking about to the interviewer. He was saying that each person has the potential to show forth inner beauty to others, thus showing forth God's love, (though not exactly in those words). HE then went on to ask if we have had meaningful conversations, ones we'll remember for a time and that seem to never leave you. I link that to memories as well of those we connect with. It was as if he read my mind, because his next point was that we all have soul friends, those who matter to us, those who understand us the best.

I found myself wondering if I really do have those friends, knowing the answer is yes. Anyone who has been there for me, who has comforted me in a way that runs deeper than the superficial, has become one of those friends to me and has shown me the inner beauty of their souls. Yet, has my inner beauty shown forth to others? Have they truly seen it? Have they felt I have made that connection with them and been the friend they needed at times when they needed a friend most?

I realize that maybe this is a selfish question for me to ask. But, please realize that while I may come across as someone with high self-esteem, it still helps to know that maybe I have been able to be that for someone.

Then, I find myself asking if this is what God wants me to understand, that in showing forth His love to my fellow man, my inner beauty is being created by Him for me to find out about when I am on the other side?

I guess Jackson Brown said it best in the last part of the last verse of his song "for a dancer".

"Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown.
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own,
and somewhere between the time you arrive and the time you go
may lie a reason you were alive that you'll never know."

Go forth today, and let your inner beauty shine!