Wow. What a month. What a year. Such vitriol in seemingly every corner of our daily existence, the banner of inelegance and the torch of bitterness carried by the very ones who would seek to lead us. It’s no wonder studies show we are more irritable, depressed, and angry these days. Heaven help us.
Many have lost friends — both real and virtual — over this election, a cycle that has proved to us once and for all to never discuss religion and politics if you have any hope of keeping the peace.
The election cycle conditioned many to hate, and we have been led to believe that hate is OK, especially when it is necessary to advance your political ideologies for “the good of America.” After all, our very futures rely on our leaders, and if you don’t believe me, well then, you know what you can do with it.
Unfortunately for us all, the one we are being called to follow is not God. If it were, we wouldn’t be having these troubled times, nor would we be involved in this divisive speech. If we placed our trust solely on God, perhaps we wouldn’t have fallen so far, so hard, so fast.
But here we are.
I guess we could all let forth with a big, friendly smile, right?
Trite, you say? Yet, is it not the absence of a pleasant outward demeanor that has landed us all here in the first place? We all owe ourselves a few days of smiles after what we have just been through. And those who especially need one — both on the receiving and giving end — are those who have been so misled to believe that all of what ails us is solvable through the election of one flawed human being, regardless of who that person is.
Our collective national psyche is now more in tune with Nat King Cole’s “Smile, though your heart is breaking,” rather than Frank Sinatra’s, “When you’re smilin’, the whole world smiles with you.”
My father taught me to smile always. At strangers, at work, especially at home, to neighbors and to strangers. He never sat me down and told me, smile always even though you may not feel like it. He just did it. It is often better to learn by example rather than mere words. The lessons last longer.
We can overcome the nastiness of the last several months. In fact, the simple fact that the election is over will hopefully provide the path back to a better collective mood of joy ... if, that is, it is the path upon which we follow the one who put us here in the first place and not someone largely forgotten one-hundred years from now. As a friend on Facebook posted recently, “Now that the voting is over, maybe we can all go back to posting pictures of our food.”
I certainly don’t mean to minimize the seriousness of the issues at stake. They are critical to all of us and should be thoughtfully studied and considered. While the issues are of the highest importance, the presentations of those who would lead us resembled more a playground fight between two bullies. There is nothing to be gained other than to learn from it and make sure we don't let it happen again.
The first time the word ‘smile’ appears in the Bible is in Genesis 33. It comes when Jacob and his brother Esau make peace with one another. The two had a long-running contentious relationship, and after having been separated for several years, they see each other again. First they embrace and weep. Then they attempt to exchange peace offerings in the form of livestock, a custom at the time. But Esau turns down Jacob’s offering, insisting he has plenty of sheep and cattle. But Jacob insists. Finally, a look of joy comes across both and they forget their differences, choosing instead to remember the love that had always been there.
“What a relief to see your friendly smile,” Jacob tells his brother. "It is like seeing the face of God.”
What beauty is contained in those words.
Your friendly smile is like seeing the face of God!
That would be the finest compliment anyone could ever pay me.
Every time my wife goes to the grocery store, she goes with a list and a mission. If she comes upon a cashier and finds he is having a bad day or is otherwise noticeably irritated or grumpy, she makes it her personal goal to make that person smile.
On many more occasions than not, she succeeds. Before she walks away, bags in hand, the cashier is not just smiling, but is having a conversation with her. Other times, the smile is fleeting, but at least that smile was there for a moment and took the place of a lonelier, unhappy expression.
Two things happen for sure when my wife carries out her mission at the store: It makes her feel better that someone’s day was brightened. And it makes the person on the receiving end feel better. Maybe, for whatever reason, he or she hadn’t felt that in a while, or maybe the smile spreads because someone took the time to make a difference. Or maybe both.
So smile. Though your heart may be breaking. As George Weigel recently wrote, our country will survive this, too. If it doesn’t, we’re already beyond repair.
The only way it will not survive is if we turn from God — and stay turned away from each other.
So smile. As Job said, “I will forget my complaints. I will change my expression. And I will smile.”
If Job can do it, so can we.
Trite? Ridiculous? Consider St. Teresa of Calcutta’s words: “Peace begins with a smile.”
And that is just what is needed and what we can make happen.