Beauty is only skin deep, love goes all the way to the heart

THERE’S ALWAYS A MARKET FOR LOVE


The classified ad read, “Ugly but loving dog, free to good home.” The woman who ran the ad was surprised by the response. Dozens of people telephoned about the stray dog she found, and the first couple to see it adopted the dog.
“I’m amazed how many people are eager to have an ugly dog,” she said to the dog’s new family, a retired couple. The man shook his head. “There’s no market for ugly,” he said, “ but there’s always a market for love.”
What an important insight, not just in terms of animals but also in terms of oneself.
Many of us when we look in a mirror or see photographs of ourselves don’t especially like what we see. If we don’t feel “ugly,” we feel at least unattractive and undesirable, especially those of us who are older, or overweight, or have physical limitations. We often don’t appreciate images of ourselves. Intensely negative feelings toward what we see aren’t uncommon. Our feelings of disdain for ourselves are probably stronger than any negative feelings others might have about us.
When we don’t care for images we see of ourselves, it’s important to remember that man’s words: “There is always a market for love.” If we focus on our areas of unattractiveness we deplete our ability to be the most loving persons we can be. It’s crucial that we look beyond the body, face, hair or any other perceived physical shortcomings. People who are gentle, kind and loving are always attractive.
Rose hardly matched the world’s standards for physical beauty. Gray-haired, 79-years old, she was a little overweight and most of her clothes weren’t new. But with Rose it was easy to see beyond all of that—because she saw beyond the clothes, hair and wrinkles of others. She was a truly loving person. She returned the kindness and caring of others in portions even larger than she received. When she died people didn’t talk about her clothes or accomplishments or how pretty she was. They did talk about her loving nature and her warm hugs, kisses on the cheek and the “I love you” she eagerly shared with friends. She wasn’t physically gorgeous, but what a gorgeous, loving heart.
Regardless of our physical attributes and whether or not there’s some thing we can do about them, it’s our inner beauty that is important. It’s our loving self that we should bring to and share with others. Growing in love for others, and displaying that love—that is far more important than whether or not we have movie star beauty.
When we focus on bringing out our inner beauty, our loving self, it then becomes easier for us to look beyond the exterior beauty of others, and see their inner beauty.
St. Paul tells us that of the three main virtues: faith, hope and love, “The greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) Thus it stands to reason that by developing our ability to be more loving persons toward ourselves, we become more loving persons toward others too. It’s important that we remember, always, there is no market for ugly—but there is always a big market for loving.