“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”  1 Samuel 16:7

Malcolm Gladwell’s essay in this month’s RELEVANT magazine is worth your time. Read it online here. In it, he discusses how he rediscovered his faith as he was writing his latest book DAVID AND GOLIATH.

In both examples Gladwell uses in the essay—parents whose child was murdered and a small town in France whose citizens defied the Nazis in World War II—he discusses the “weapons of the spirit”: the ability, as Samuel says in the verse above, “to look at the heart” and not fear the physical. Unfortunately, most of us “estimate[d] the dangers of action by looking on outward appearances—when they need[ed] to look on the heart.” And hence … faith suffered.

Gladwell goes on to say that finding God’s spirit is not about blind acceptance of the actions of others, but instead is using the “Weapons of the Spirit” to look into man’s heart. Standing up for justice. Doing what is right. And if a non-religious person like me can get it, there is a whole lot of untapped power waiting to be set free.

Bishop Kevin Vann … you listening? What about you, Timothy Dolan, Francis George, or James Wall? Have you wondered why so many Catholics have moved elsewhere to celebrate their faith? Perhaps you should look in the mirror of your heart. Because we have looked into your heart, and we fear for you. But we no longer fear you.