BEYOND THE SMILE

It is funny how sometimes a sad memory can produce a smile. That happens to me when it triggers a reflection on how the now is so much better than the past. This may not always be true, but when it is and one can see the Lord’s hand in the change it is truly inspiring.

Today my wife and I went on a combination of both chore and errands. Along the way we were consumed by thoughts about some changes looming in our live that are pause for a smile. We will soon (with the Lord’s help) finally get to move into our house. And in a few months we will be expecting the birth of our first grandchild.

There as so many past moments in our life that were filled with tears. Memories of past relationship that ended in failures continue to haunt us.

But on occasions like today when we are blessed with a hint of a future so much more full of smiles, we felt both warmed and joyous. More than anything from the awareness that none of this took place without the Lord’s touch.

So in the midst of savoring a respite from our routine we were filled with that simple warmth that lies beyond any conventional smile. It is the place we can travel where it allows us to see what is the true origin of that joy.

Then in awe and gratitude one can always vocalize, the soul sings in a quiet voice uttered in one’s heart that God can hear. It gives praise without words or show. Till the light of day brings another time of harvest to solidify the vision.

Being in a valley is always such a joy when you reach the next horizon. You know there are more valleys yet to be reach as well as more mountains.

But as a matter of faith and the flowers of trust that blossom when they come beyond the smiles they are the sweetest and most fragrant of all. Weary eyes often tell a tale that is lifeless in its value and joy. We all have weariness at times in our lives.

However, even in the midst of that weariness, there are times when the small flicker of knowing those times of beyond keep the smile still lingering in one’s essence. We can rejoice and see the hope beyond the emptiness.

No one can truly live another person’s life. Nor can we honestly expect to always feel what they feel in their misery or joy.

However we don’t have to ridicule it or treat it as unimportant. Traveling beyond the smile helps at times. It grants one a certain appreciation that all struggles are to the individual most stressful. And if that brews as compassion in some special way that can bring understanding.

It can also yield the capacity to share some insight to help the other person on their journey. And if it is done unto the glory of the Lord then that is the greatest beyond the smile there is.