Months ago I was walking by myself in downtown when a voice interrupted my deep thoughts with, "Smile! It can't be that bad!" I was startled and smiled in response, but thought "sure it can be."
Throughout life we experience things that cause us to lose our smile. Deep hurts, serious concerns, heavy pressures, significant losses. They all have the potential to replace our smiles with frowns. It's hard to smile while you're crying. It's hard to smile when you're fuming mad. It's hard to smile when you feel like you're drowning in stress. In fact, to smile in the midst of such things seems false. And often it is false. It's okay not to smile all the time. It's okay to frown, or scowl, or grimace.
Recently, however, I've been searching for joy. I had lost my smile, my sense of peace, the grace and mercy that lifts heavy burdens. Everything had become so serious, pressures had become intense, relationships strained, there seemed to be no relief from the discomfort. Smiling became a rare experience, and I treasured the brief moments when something retrieved my smile from it's recesses.
Today I was sitting at a local coffee shop, trying to make heads or tails of all of the concerns in my head, when I saw someone smile. It was a beautiful smile.
Smiles are beautiful aren't they?
I mean, look at the smiles in these faces from last Christmas:
(Poor Daisy was having a tough time, but these are great smiles!)Maxie Burch recently wrote in his blog, "Your life is short, but it is good. Sharing the sheer joy of your life with others may be the reason you are here."
The Apostle Paul not-so-recently wrote, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials...So that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2, 4b) He also claimed, "But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all." (Phil. 2:17)
In my community of faith we've been asking the question, "What would it mean to reinterpret Christmas through the resurrection?" (Listen to the messages here: http://www.rhinocrash.org/audio/podcast/podcast.xml)
I want to experience Christmas in light of the resurrection. I want to live my life in the reality of the resurrection. The resurrection gives me permission to smile in the midst of pain. I can feel the way the girl in this picture feels and still smile without being false. I can still frown, scowl, and grimace too. But the truth that I have been resurrected in Christ frees me to experience peace, grace, and joy knowing that I am being restored, healed and comforted.
I'm not going to say to anyone, "Smile! It can't be that bad!" because I know it can be. But I would like to live in the reality of the resurrection and offer that life to others. So I will smile in the pain and share the hope of Christ with others through my beautiful smile. I pray that when you see a smile today it will make you smile.
2 comments:
Kelly, you DO have a beautiful smile, and I am glad you are finding the truth behind it and not feeling as though it is a mask to be worn. You are a beautiful woman whose Christ-like heart is such an encouragement and a joy for me! Thank you for bringing a smile to my face tonight!
Hey, those are great looking kids!! :)
Love, Kristy
wow!! such words of TRUTH. Thank you Kelly for the encouragement. You're absolutely right! God's fullness is full of paradoxes that I don't always understand at all. Sometimes that's all I feel like we can do...smile. (And yet I forget too--to lean into him and release my heart to inhale deeply in His peace--to permit my soul to smile) Lord, I cannot grasp your ways...but I know your love and I smile. I love you so much my sister!! You amaze me. The Christ I see in you radiates your beauty.
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