A Man of Stature

Scripture References: 1 Samuel 10:24, 16:6-7; 2 Corinthians 10:10

At age thirteen, while on vacation with her family, actress Betty Davis had her first crush–on a soda jerk. Each day she walked to the drugstore and sat at the counter, looking at the handsome young man. He was the first boy she kissed. When summer ended, the family left, and she never saw him again.

Fifty years later, while doing a show in Boston, she heard again: “Do you want a soda?” and instantly knew the voice. She invited him backstage. “I was so nervous waiting for him,” she remembered. “When he came into my dressing room, I didn’t recognize him. There stood this little old, old man, the person I had loved so madly long ago. Maybe that’s my biggest regret–not that I remembered his voice but that, fifty years later, I asked to see him again. In seeing the man, I lost the first boy I ever loved.”

It works both ways doesn’t it? He wasn’t the only one of the two grown older in those fifty years! But how clearly her response distinguishes infatuation from love—or from mature love. A couple married those fifty years would look past the bodily ravages to appreciate the soul’s beauty. Instead of being unbearable, the astonishing reality would bring delight.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved.