Universal Language

March 6, 2022 is the 10 year anniversary of Whispers Of His Movement. In honor of that special day, I am republishing my first two Whispers. Both were published in March, 2012. I am so grateful to God for this quiet space to listen to Him together.

 

If you asked my children to recall a game we played in the grocery store when they were young, they may not all remember. It was not intentional. It just happened.

There we were…one mother, five children, two shopping carts, many questions, many helpers. That weekly shopping trip was an event…a teaching tool really. It was a time to learn how to budget, how to use coupons, how to plan a week’s worth of menus, how to choose healthy foods…how to behave in a store. Little did we all realize that a far more important lesson was being learned.

Often, on our weekly trips, we would inevitably come upon a cashier, or a person behind the deli counter that was not having a good day. The reason didn’t matter, but the result of that reason was all over their face. Usually, the littlest one of my children would notice first. That person is not smiling. Sometimes, the dreamer in the group would try to come up with a scenario as to why.

The challenge was on. Could we make this person smile before we left the deli counter or the check out line? I don’t know how the game started, but it was important to my children. The tenderness of that desire made the “game” worthwhile. I loved to listen in on their attempts…listen to their ideas of how they could get that person to smile. Many times, they were met with little success.

But one day, as our cheese was being handed over the counter to us, one of my children reached up with a big toothless smile and said Thank you.  Nothing special really. No magic formula. No script. Just a sincere, precious heart of a child, with an adorable toothless grin, saying the two words they had been taught to say for as long as they could remember. Except this time, the words didn’t float off in the air. This time the words were heard…they were felt…in the innocence and sincerity of a child’s smile.

The person smiled back.

My toothless wonder was amazed. Mission accomplished. The smile game was born.
How does it work, Mom?
How does my smile make the other person smile?
Can we do it again?
Needless to say, it made the shopping trip very pleasant.

I remember driving home that day and talking about our smiles.
It is the universal language, I explained. Even if we don’t understand the words someone is speaking, we can always smile. Then we are all speaking the same language no matter where we live in the world. A smile is understood by everyone.

I was remembering the smile game the other day. I have to admit, I still do it from time to time, and I still get the thrill of making the other person smile back.
But there is more to it than that.

We live in a world of many languages and cultures. We may not understand the nuances of the people we come in contact with…we may not speak their language. But we can speak the universal language of a smile.

I have read that there are two types of smiles: Duchenne Smile, the kind that “comes from your toes” and crinkles your eyes, and seems to fill every crevice with joy, and Social Smiles that are posed and intentional. People tend to know the difference.  The smile that “comes from your toes” and fills up every crevice with joy is the smile that is contagious. That is the smile that multiplies smiles. That should be our smile if we are in Christ.

We all have difficulties. We all have problems each day, but we have a Savior, our Lord Jesus. If we are in Christ, we carry His Spirit wherever we go. That is our reason to smile.

How can another person come to know that God loves them, if they don’t experience His love through us first? Are we approachable so that others can ask us the reason for our joy? Do we realize the volumes that are spoken when we are able to smile even as we are going through hard times? Our smile is a way to point others to HIM. He is the reason we can smile “from our toes” since He fills us up with His presence.

We have a Gospel to share with the universal language of a smile. A smile breaks down the toughest walls, and breaks through the stoniest heart.

We have much to say. They have much to hear.
Start a smile game, with the Gospel on your lips, and see what God does.

For God so loved that world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

 

2 responses to “Universal Language”

1. Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary of writing these. I truly do enjoy them. You often give me things to think about. I also like the fact that we both live in Pennsylvania.

   Reply

   • Michelle,
     Thank you so much, Pennsylvania friend.
     I am delighted you have been blessed by these Whispers.
     Gina

     Reply