Inner Beauty

GEODE. A strange word. It comes from the Greek ge·oʹdes, meaning “earthlike.” It is a stone that is roughly spherical, hollow, and varying from an inch [3 cm] to more than a foot [0.3 m] in diameter. The one shown here is more elongated than spherical and comes from Brazil. Its outward appearance is only so-so, as stones go.

But break it open! Look inside! Feast your eyes on those jammed-up piles of sparkling purple crystals! The geode formed around a cavity in sedimentary rock. As it grew, cracks developed in its surface, allowing mineral-bearing water to filter in, and as the minerals precipitated, crystals grew inward from the cavity wall. In time we have a crystal-lined geode. The one shown here produced a purple variety of crystallized quartz called amethyst. Its outward appearance may not be much, but its inner beauty is dazzling!

Have you not known people who are like geodes? Quiet, maybe shy, perhaps rather plain-looking on the outside? But you take the time to get acquainted, and they open up and show you an inner beauty that glows. A warm, kind spirit emerges, a delightful personality unfolds. You discover depths you never suspected.

You begin to appreciate what the apostle Peter said: “Do not let your adornment be that of the external braiding of the hair and of the putting on of gold ornaments or the wearing of outer garments, but let it be the secret person of the heart in the incorruptible apparel of the quiet and mild spirit, which is of great value in the eyes of God.”​—1 Peter 3:3, 4.

And you try to practice seeing the way God sees: “Mere man sees what appears to the eyes; but as for Jehovah, he sees what the heart is.”​—1 Samuel 16:7.