The Power of A Smile
By Jessica Brodie
“A cheerful heart is good medicine.” — Proverbs 17:22a
A couple weeks ago, I encountered a grocery store cashier clearly having a hard day. My heart tugged. I greeted her with as friendly and sincere a hello as possible. Because of COVID-19, I wore a mask that hid my smile. So, I cocked my head at her and gave her as warm-eyed a smile as I could. My body language instantly felt more relaxed, more expansive, which was an interesting observation.
I saw the effect it had on her, which was even more interesting. She slowed her pace, then swiveled her head a little my way. We made small talk about nothing and nonsense—the weather, that sort of thing—and then I left.
But my smiling-with-my eyes thing transformed our interaction. So I’ve started doing it everywhere I go, and guess what? I saw how such a seemingly small act could impact others. Plus, focusing on letting my joy spill out in new and more obvious ways relaxed me. It warmed my heart, literally and figuratively.
When we feel joy, it should spread through us and into others. Our joy in the Lord should explode—into a smile, into our eyes, and keep going! Our whole body should radiate that love and light! Our joy doesn’t depend on emotion—it isn’t rooted in happiness or mere feelings. We can feel joy even in our darkest, most painful hours.
Remember to let your light shine always, no matter what.
That light could draw someone else to Jesus Christ.
Jessica Brodie is an award-winning journalist and a member of the Wholly Loved Ministry team. She’s also an author who currently serves as the editor of the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, the oldest newspaper in Methodism. She is the author of More Like Jesus: A Devotional Journey (2018) and editor of Stories of Racial Awakening: Narratives on Changed Hearts and Lives of South Carolina United Methodists (2018), both from her newspaper’s Advocate Press. She also writes contemporary women’s fiction, represented by Bob Hostetler of The Steve Laube Agency. Her novel The Memory Garden won the American Christian Fiction Writers’ 2018 Genesis Contest. She has a faith blog at JessicaBrodie.com.
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Originally published Monday, 18 December 2023.
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