Crafts For Christ

Sowing the

‘Seed of the Word” in our daily lives

Biblical encouragement for ladies of all ages

 

I shop for groceries at Wal Mart, HEB, and Albertsons. Have you ever looked at the people shopping? No one smiles. No one looks directly at anyone else. Mostly they stare, consumed in their own private thoughts. Some are constantly texting on their phones, oblivious of the world around them. If someone does catch your eye, they immediately look away, out of fear that you might speak to them. You know the fear. So many people scared to death of human contact and scared to death of smiling.

I see many people shopping, but no smiles. A smile is a sign of humanity. A sign that we are willing to communicate. They all seem trapped.

Trapped. Trapped in a job they do not like. Trapped in unemployment. Trapped in bad marriages. Trapped in lonely singleness. Trapped in divorce. Trapped in widowhood. Trapped in life. Trapped in sin. Trapped. And without a smile.

I suppose their lives are full of pain and hopelessness. The lack of a smile is loneliness personified, I guess. It is not letting oneself relate. It is being surrounded by people, but lonely -- desperately lonely -- yet afraid to smile, for that would break the loneliness and threaten

the solitude. So they do not smile. So many people and there is no joy.

"When I smiled at them,

They scarcely believed it;

The light of my face was

Precious to them." ~ Job 29:24

A smile is a sign of hope. Of hope in another person. of trust. If I smile at you, if I let my personality bridge the distance between us, perhaps you'll smile back. And so I smile in hope, and am met with eyes that turn away.

I wonder how Jesus greeted people? With a pious attitude? With reserve and suspicion? With a clearly defined distance from soiled humanity? NO. He felt the jostling of the crowds. He touched the unclean. He stopped and inquired, "Who touched me?"I don't think He was afraid to meet people's eyes with his own. I think He smiled into their soul, a smile of hope that would ignite hope within them. A smile of friendship and acceptance that would unwind their tightly-coiled loneliness. A smile of fearlessness, willing to handle our pent-up hostilities and agendas and not-so-pure motives.The next time you are out shopping, look at the faces around you. Are they smiling?Jesus smiles through our faces. When you see someone without a smile…give them yours. And if they ask you “What are you smiling at?”...tell them “Jesus loves me and He loves you too!”