SOME QUOTES:

"If just one person makes just one person smile, laugh or feel loved, then this world has grown in joy." (Joseph J. Mazzella.) "Each of us is born unique, born to win, born to smile and laugh, born to share." (Ashok Gollerberi.)

"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed." (Chuck Gallozzi.)

In the Bible we read from King David's son, Solomon."A joyful heart makes a cheerful face...a cheerful heart has a continual feast."(Proverbs 15 : 13-15.) "A joyful heart is good medicine."(Proverbs 17 : 22.)

I believe a smile is most healing. I remember when I had my second baby. I was extremely ill. The doctors were very worried about me and we were all extremely anxious about our baby. Our first child, a beautiful baby boy, died suddenly when 18 months old. So this second baby was very precious indeed. The doctors had warned us that all was not well with the baby and to expect that it may have huge problems. When this babe was ready to be born, it was delivered by caesarian section and I was unconscious. I went into the theatre just praying that this little babe would live. As I came out of the anaesthetic I can vividly remember the face of my doctor. As I peered through the fogginess, with everything out of focus, I could see Dr. Sutherland. He was stroking my face and he was SMILING!! As soon as I saw his smile I knew all was well. I lapsed back into a deep sleep, but peacefully this time, knowing that my baby was alive. That smile calmed my fears. It stilled my anxious heart. It brought healing to my soul.

That little baby was another boy, and yes, he was alive, but he was not healthy. The doctors were worried that he had received brain damage, and they told me to look carefully for all the normal stepping stones of a baby's development. So I waited for that very first, important stepping stone - baby's first smile! The doctor said it should come at about six weeks. That six weeks yawned ahead of me. I prayed as I fed and rocked this tiny little babe, and often I cried as I begged God for his health. I had already lost one child.......to have the next one suffer brain damage just loomed as too much to bear. My dear husband and I smiled at, cooed and fondled this little one, coaxing him in every way we could to reach that first smile. Six weeks came.....no sign of it. The next day and the next. Each day seemed like a fortnight. Then it happened! With no warning, no coaxing, no cooing or encouragement at all. I went to pick up my little one from his cardle for a feed and there he was, beaming up at me! A strong, steady smile!

What healing that smile brought to our hearts, our minds, our home!!! That was the first sign of our healthy baby! I shall never forget it. All the fireworks of a New Year's Eve, or the joy of a sunset, or a beautiful ocean.......nothing can compare to that smile, given so freely on that hot February morning. Its memory will last forever.

All of us will have special smiles we will never forget. That smile of shared love, the smile of a daughter arriving home from a long holiday, the smile of a stranger when we were lost or frightened.

A smile heals. It encourages. It lifts burdens. It answers prayers. It solves problems. It dissolves arguments. It offers forgiveness. It releases tensions. It brings humor. It often brings a smile back to us.

This week when we sit down to eat our meals, let's make that very small effort to smile at each of the people at our table. You may be the healer of a wound. You may bring comfort in a way no words could do. A welcoming smile is ALWAYS welcoming.

Let's welcome each other! SMILE! Be an instrument of God's healing today.

SMILE

A smile costs you nothing but gives much.
It enriches those who receive, without making poorer those who give.
It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.
None is so rich and mighty that they can get along without it, and none so poor but that they can be made rich by it.
A smile creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in business, and is the countersign of friendship.
It brings rest to the weary, cheer to the discouraged, sunshsine to the sad, and it is nature's best antidote for trouble.
Yes, it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away.
Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours.
None needs a smile so much as the one who has no more to give.(Anonymous).

© 2004 Christine M. Jones
Christine Jones is married to David. She has two adult children and precious grandchildren. She has worked for many years as a school teacher/librarian, and written children's material for several years in her 'spare time'. She loves nature, music and the theatre.

John Mark Ministries
djandcj@optusnet.com.au