This will be short.

       Let me begin with one of my favorite stories…

       On her way home, a woman was walking on the sidewalk.  She saw a parrot in a pet shop window.  Upon seeing her, the parrot said, “Lady, you are really ugly!”

       Shocked, the woman walked away in a huff.

       The next day, she walked again on the same road.  She saw again the parrot peering through the pet shop window.  And sure enough, when the parrot saw her, it said, “Lady, you are really ugly!”

       The woman couldn’t take it anymore…

       She barged in the pet shop and told the owner, “Your bird outside has been telling me that I’m ugly.  You better do something about that parrot.  When I walk here tomorrow, and that bird says the same thing about me, I’ll sue you!”  The owner was very apologetic and said, “It won’t happen again, Ma’am.”

       The next day, she walked home on that same road.  Once again, she sees the parrot, and the parrot sees her.  She stopped and with an icy stare asked, “Yes?”

       The bird, strutting back and forth, cocked, “You know.”

You Don’t Have To Be Perfect To Love Yourself

       Friends, many of us have an inner parrot that tells us, “You’re ugly.”

       We have an inner parrot that we carry around within us, cruel and rude.  We actually don’t need the devil anymore to accuse us and damn us to Hell.  Because we do it ourselves.

       These feelings of shame drive us to our addictions.

       Friend, fire your inner parrot.  (Better yet, fry him with olive oil, a little garlic, and chilli.)

       Start telling yourself the truth: That you’re God’s child and beautiful beyond imagination.  And that God will use even your worst weaknesses.

       Remember: You don’t have to be perfect to be loved.

Your Weakness Is A Gift

       In the Bible, St. Paul boasted of his “Thorn in the Flesh”. 

       It was his weakness.

But whatever it was, about this weakness, he said these immortal, mind-boggling words.  “At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, “My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”  (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

       How can your weakness be gift?