Blessed Villana de'Botti and a Deflated Belly

Blessed Villana de’Botti was born in 1332. At first, she was very devout but then it happened—boys. She became quite the party animal. When she married, she threw parties the likes of which are still talked about—think the toga party from Animal House. One day, she looked in the mirror and didn’t like what she saw. Instead of a Renaissance Victoria Secret’s model, she saw a hideous demon. Switching mirrors didn’t help. After that, Villana gave herself totally to God. When she died, people lined up to get relics from the saint on Earth. We honor Villana on February 28th.

I’m not one prone to selfies or even looking in the mirror. I figure if my Secret deodorant is working and my hair is not a grease pit, I’m fine. I’ve been known to pick up my children from school wearing a “Life is Good” tee peppered with bleach spots and torn jeans. But my reticence is not from humility. It’s from a disgust of my deflated balloon belly and frizzy hair. I just don’t like what I look like. But instead of changing myself like Villana did, I whine and mope. It’s a wonder my wonderful husband has not initiated couple’s counseling or even a weekend business trip to get away from my moodiness.

Villana saw her soul in the mirror. She refocused her love back to God instead of self. I see superficial things—my hair is graying and looks like a bad wig. My nose is too big and I’d kill for my son’s long eyelashes. I need to look my whole self like a gift. My children, for the most part, are a gift from God. If my belly is deflated, it means I had the honor of carrying children and bringing into the world new life. So my hair is gray and my nose is the size of a kumquat! It shows I have great genes! So come on, Christy, look inside yourself. Remember 1 Samuel 16:7 (but Yahweh said to Samuel, 'Take no notice of his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him; God does not see as human beings see; they look at appearances but Yahweh looks at the heart.') Just bypass those skimpy eyelashes and myopic blue eyes and look what God looks at—your soul and your capacity to love others.