Smile

A smile is a profound action.

Yes, says the cynic, and cotton candy will one day be on the good nutrition plate chart!

A smile can be so facile. Any idiot can smile. In fact, watch enough television, and it quickly becomes apparent that we should be really, really afraid when someone smiles--they want something; they want to sell something; they will be our friend only if we do whatever they want--so, beware the smiling fool.

Well, wait a moment.

Sure, a smile can be faked--as can nearly every human response to most anything. we can fake sympathy, glee, sadness, smarts, ignorance; we can play the fool, we can play the part assigned by whatever group we are in. We can smile with all the sincerity of the spider to the fly. 

My response--what would make it real?

To the point--what gives a smile real and actual power?

The heart.

A real and actual smile flows from the heart. When someone touches our heart, we smile. When we see someone respond to being loved, we smile. We smile when we feel at rest. We smile when we find peace. We smile when we are content. We smile when we feel a connection to someone else. 

Going for a walk through the neighborhood will most often cross paths with neighbors, some of whom we know quite well, some of whom we may not know well at all. Still, every one of them is a neighbor, someone with whom we share the streets, the collection of homes, the school bus routes, and so on. We are connected to them by the simple fact of sharing space. So smile at them. Smile at them because they are fellow human beings. Smile at them because they are unique acts of God’s creative will. Smile at them because in their presence is the kingdom of God--God made us all, so God is with us all. Smile. You are in the presence of God; you are in the presence of love.

Maybe it will help to start closer to home--heck, IN our homes! Smiling at strangers may seem weird, off-putting, or whatnot. So smile at the people you live with inside your home. Meet them first thing in the morning with a smile--not a plastered on fake smile, a smile that flows from your knowledge that this person is someone you love very, very deeply, and they love you. This smile flows from the realization of this gift--for it is a gift. Our families all began with a recognition by two people that they were loved, accepted, and affirmed so powerfully and so profoundly that souls twined together. This gift of one person to another is worthy of a smile. Let them know they are the treasure they are. 

Yes, there will be difficulties and dark valleys. Most everyone knows I have a personal credo of five dictums that seem true in most contexts--No. 3 is “If there is more than one person in a room, there will be conflict (and sometimes it does not require the second person).” Sadly, some of our closest relationships fall victim to this inevitability. But a continual practice of deep smiling can help--real, authentic smiles shared for one’s beloved can communicate more than words. It can also remind us, the smiling fools, of how special and important and wondrous this other person is. 

Obviously, then, real and actual smiles are not as facile as they appear. They require focus, awareness, and mindfulness. They require being able to say, “I smile because...” They need to live the affirmation, “My smile is my love.”

As such, they become deep moments of self-expression of our deepest, most profound essence of who we are. A smile communicating love becomes a means by which to embody God’s love, loving others as we have been loved.

Try it. See what happens. See what might become.