A SMILE

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

Somewhere I came across this quote, “If a smile is all you’ve got, it may be worth a million dollars to someone.” Years ago, I volunteered as a chaplain at a hospital. Comforting people I didn’t know and sharing the Gospel with them created a lot of anxiety in me and I became very discouraged at my lack of “results.” One weekend I stayed overnight at the Oregon Coast (my “escape of choice”). Hoping to hear an encouraging word, I attended a Lutheran service the next morning. The pastor spoke about “taking up your cross.” I could feel my mood slipping down another couple of notches. About twenty minutes into his message, the pastor stopped. Then he said, “Why are you all looking so sad?” Maybe all that your cross is asking of you is to ‘smile’.”  The next day while I was visiting patients at the hospital, some of us volunteers were called into the chapel to have a group photo taken. I was instructed to stand near the cross. Then the photographer said, “Now, smile.”

Of course, I smiled as I remembered the pastor’s message from the day before. Sometimes we make the Christian life much more complicated than it needs to be.

When you are discouraged…reach out to someone and smile!