“The splendor of a just soul is so seductive that it surpasses the beauty of all sensible things.”

~Thomas Aquinas

This is a profound quote… it astounds me really… still drinking it in after reading it more than an hour ago.

Who are some “just souls” that you can think of? Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela… I know some modern day just and noble souls who are:  rescuing trafficked women, loving homeless people in Tokyo and keeping the passion alive for racial reconciliation, and nurturing abandoned children in China (Cheryl of Mother’s Heart www.mothersheartchina.org).

How do they become “just”? It may be through a process of coming through the fires of life without allowing bitterness to take root. Perhaps they are just born that way.

Life can shape you in beautiful ways or cripple. One’s heart can enlarge or harden with experiences and pain. It doesn’t have to be big pain; it could be whatever we long for that we don’t possess. The longings, the unfulfilled desires, the deferred hopes. How we respond, instead of knee-jerk reacting, will determine everything.

Shallowness and pettiness are worse than disease; those who are afflicted by it are the last to know. There is nothing more repelling than self-centeredness. Another shade of this is popularly dubbed “toxic people.”

May I/we continually work towards attaining nobility of heart and mind.