... of good posts and sad stories

I was browsing through Challies'
excellent blog a bit ago and stumbled across a link to a site
I've not previously visited. On it,the author (Lydia) talks about the Christian virtue of modesty, but not in the way you might expect...

She
talks about how modesty should and must mean so much more than just
what we wear. It should refer to our entire demeanor - the way we
relate to other people. We all know somebody that routinely opens up
the floodgates of their emotions to virtual strangers, and we know the
awkwardness that creates. But more than just social discomfort, these
sorts of immodest behaviours can lead us to places we ought never to
go.

This leads me to the sad story. [To protect the people
involved, I'm not using names or specifics.] I know a guy that should
have read Lydia's post some years ago. He's a Christian, a graduate of
a Christian college and was working in vocational Christian ministry.
His wife (also a Christ-follower) is a lovely woman in every sense.
Their children are adorable. They lived a life very much like mine -
rural, family- and faith-centered. Long story short: he became "best
friends" with a married lady that worked with him. As best I can tell,
their relationship never became physical - in fact, he is adamantly
convinced that to characterize their relationship as anything other
than 'perfectly acceptable' is wrong. He is so much convinced that
having a woman other than his wife as his best friend is fine and
healthy that he and his wife are presently separated. I hurt for this
couple - especially the wife, to be honest. For reasons I still don't
pretend to understand, he - like most, I suspect - holds to an
understanding of modesty that limits itself to clothing...

Pray for them, please. And pray that we all might remember the Christian virtue of modesty.

My thanks to both Tim (Challies) and Lydia.

Hatushili