“Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” (Quote by Mother Teresa)
While this will surely be a challenge for me, a person who typically needs coffee before talking and whose mind is always working while conscious during from my early rising until the rising of the sun, and longer after the going down of the same, I want to challenge you as well, not just myself, in this Monday Short meditation. But before I do, think about the preached word you heard yesterday, take time to review the specific message that God had for you at that specific time, sent by a specific messenger. Did you recall the title and at least one point of emphasis without checking your notes? Did you recognize the purpose of the message as it applied to you? Wasn’t it proven, once again that God’s word is always profitable. While I am at it, let me nudge those who did not attend. One attendee whose schedule does not always make it possible to attend services in person said in an upbeat voice, “I like the word virtually. But it is so much better in person!”
Now I have exhorted you to do some reviewing and delicately doing my duty, addressing attending church services on Sunday…every Sunday, I’ll do the challenging I mentioned at the beginning of today’s meditation.
Let’s you and I commit to smiling more in the presence of others each of the next five days, Monday thru Friday; not with those the fake smiles or sarcastic smiles, but sincere smiles as a prelude to our practice of loving one another. Please, at a minimum, enter your first interaction on each of these five days with a true smile. Those five initial smiles will set a pattern to follow the rest of the day.
To help you, re-read the quote above. Do you need more help? Well, think about the childhood song you sang in Sunday School, the one that contained the lyrics, “So let the sun shine in, face it with a grin. Smilers never lose and frowners never win. So let the sun shine in, face it with a grin. Open up your heart and let the sun shine in.” Pay particular attention to the lyrics that said, “Open up your heart.”
Do you still need help? Well, consider this Biblical excerpt, “A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired (Proverbs 17:22 The Message Bible).” That’s applicable to how you feel and how you make others feel in your interactions. Remember, “Five Smiles”
Caution: Let me reinforce that our smiles should be genuine and that should be easy when we think that God has smiled on us, each day that He blesses us to see! Friend, let us make our smiles sincere and superficial. Let us, yes me too, not just merely change the expression of our faces, putting on a façade. But let our expressions be changed by what is in our good hearts. Remember, a minimum of five smiles are being requested of you and me! On the maximum side, repeat smiling often during the day. It will be easy to do as we willingly comply with Jesus’ commandment to love one another. Begin showing love with a smile! Let me help! The birds are not awake yet this morning, but already I am smiling towards you, in appreciating you for reading this publication and being my friend! Smile back because I love you! Be blessed!
“May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.’” (Numbers 6:24-25 NLT)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King