(Posted for quick reference)
"From the moment I took my first solo flight at age 9 to South America, my heart was set as a traveler. I was off to see the world!
Eventually I began dreaming the Hollywood dream and around the age of 18 I actually started living it.
After eight years as a professional model and actor my soul was body slammed by God and I was stunned before the Eucharist; I was called by name and transformed!
My life had a new passion – the Passion of Jesus Christ.
Two years before my conversion, Cosmo magazine had selected me as one of America’s 50 Most Eligible Bachelors.
But it wasn’t true. I wasn’t such a catch; I didn’t have God in my life.
A man with God is certainly more of a prime candidate. Being “in the world, not of the world” was as hard for women to understand as it was for me to explain.
As a model I would see things in the auditions, runways and photoshoots that the world calls “sexy and hot.”
But for me, the most attractive thing was modesty!
And no, I don’t mean turtle necks and potato sacks! It’s more than just necklines and dress lengths, but modesty of dress, of conversation, of music and of lifestyle.
One day I heard the phrase “modest is hottest,” and while the word “hottest” shocked me, I couldn’t help but identify. While skimpy outfits turn my head, nothing turns my heart and mind to the person before me like modesty!
‘A gem among virtues’
St. Bernard of Clairvaux exclaims: “How beautiful then, is modesty, and what a gem among virtues it is.”
I echo his words. I see great beauty in women. They are gems.
Blessed John Paul II talked about our bodies revealing God to us. I also learned from him that true love and sexual union are a gift of one person to another which is FTFF (free, total, faithful and fruitful).
We are in the world, and often what I see of others’ bodies is not appropriate for me and everyone to see, but rather for the beautiful intimacy that spouses share. Our bodies are such beautiful mysteries that lose their enticement when so easily visible and accessible to any passerby.
I like how Alice von Hildebrand put it: “To dress modestly is the appropriate response that women should give to their ‘mystery.’“
When I see a woman, I sometimes picture her as my future wife and the mother of my children. I want the woman I spend the rest of my life with to be a model of chastity and purity. The imagination shouldn’t have to be so stretched in order to see that as a possible reality, but in so many cases that’s the way it goes.
Taking action
So what can a man do about it?
Well, after being shunned out of the living rooms and off the party invite lists of disgruntled women who don’t understand my desire for purity, one response I have adopted is to stand up – or rather, to push up – for purity and modesty.
Around the world, using the power of Facebook, I am part of a movement that is exercising as an intercession for ourselves and for others to see the beauty of purity and modesty and, in turn, to practice it.
Why?
Why not?
Fasting on bread and water has been a customary mortification of mine, but when I heard about Push-Ups for Purity, I joined the club immediately. It requires no official ceremony or ritual. Just do the 100 push-ups daily and offer them up that chastity and modesty may become the “norm” in society.
Actually, Push-Ups for Purity was last month, this month I started a continuing event called Sit-Ups for Purity (or Abs 4 Abstinence). I am proud to be one of many men (and women) who is standing up for purity and modesty!
I am proud to do this for the love of purity and modesty, while at the same time getting our heartbeats going and muscles chiseled. It may seem superficial, but it’s a love revolution!
We don’t have to neglect our body or place it on the altar as a new deity. Balancing exercise with prayer is one way to make an offering for our society in desperate need. I need it, our future spouses need it and so do our friends, brothers and sisters.
Pope Pius XII issued a stark call to action, saying: “As long as modesty will not be put into practice, the society will continue to degrade. Society reveals what it is by the clothes it wears.”
Ouch!
Until next time, I’m offering my sit-ups and push-ups for you and me. Honor the mystery. Make a sacrifice, offering and reparation. Modest is hottest!
Will you join me and put it into practice?"
How beautifully written and how so very true! I read through it and was nodding my head almost the entire time.
Being a woman, I have found modesty to be rather difficult at times. I grew up always dressing conservatively and covered from neck to knee. As I ventured out, I began falling away from the roots that were planted as I grew up. I still watch what I wear, but not nearly as closely as I had once before. My necklines have become lower, and spaghetti strap dresses have become my summer fashion. I will not wear super low cut revealing tops. While I did purchase one this past spring, I wore it 3 times and have felt uncomfortable exposing so much of myself. I have been teased about sticking out more because I cover myself. For awhile I was being what someone else wanted me, or thought I needed to be.
I am finally starting to find what I like and don't like, what I find right from wrong, what pleases God and what doesn't, finally establishing my own set of morals and values!
I want to be so lost in God that a man has to seek God in order to find me. I have been in past relationships where God was so on the back burner it is no wonder why those relationships failed. Those men, if they can be called that, were after one thing only. How stupid I feel that I stayed in those relationships, falling farther and farther away from God. I am learning that that is not how a relationship should be. If a guy cannot take no for an answer, then he is clearly not the man for me. Even girl friends--if they respect me, they will not make fun of my modesty.
Modesty, modesty also goes beyond the way one dresses, as mentioned in the article posted above. I want to set a good example. I want to inspire others. I want others to know that they can be comfortable in themselves without having to conform to what someone else expects of them. That applies to dress, words and actions.
• Modesty in dress. One can still dress up without dressing immodestly. I for one love getting all dressed up and looking pretty. I don't have to show skin to look good. One can wear clothes that fit their body type, and wear colors that look good on them. Or even just wear what they like. There have been many a'moments when I've walked out the door dressed modestly, but certainly making a fashion statement! Those were actually some of my best days seeing that I was comfortable!
• Modesty in words. Modesty in words covers a whole variety of things. From talking nicely to others, about others, in general. Not cussing or swearing. Not taking God's name in vain or blaspheming. Not bragging, not gossiping, not talking badly about others. This includes talking about self as well; namely being humble.
•Modesty in actions. This includes doing things for others with pure intentions. Doing things without being asked.
These lists can go on and on, and are so short in comparison to the actual definitions of modesty.
This is all so short in comparison to what I want to share. Overall, I want to live my life holy and pleasing to God. I want to be modest in dress, words and actions.
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