Sunshine and Smiles

Would you rather have someone greet you with a smile or a frown? I prefer a smile. Whether it’s my wife, my kids, my boss, or the cashier at Wal-Mart, I always prefer being greeted with a smile. A smile is comforting, inviting, non-threatening. It says that there’s no trouble here and it’s just plain nice to see a person smiling––any person––man, woman, or child.

Isn’t it remarkable that when any person smiles or laughs, young or old, Swedes, Australians, Chinese, Africans or Mexicans––it looks the same. It feels the same––happy. If it showcases laughter, it sounds pretty much the same. Why don’t different people from different countries and cultures have different kinds of smiles? Or different meanings for laughing? No matter where we’re from in this world, or what language we speak, or what color our skin, we’re born knowing how to laugh and how to smile the same way as everyone else.

What does this mean? It means that while we may be different on the outside, we’re very much the same on the inside. We share the same red color of blood no matter our skin shade, our country or culture. Smiling and laughing show how similar we are under our skin, sharing the same emotional triggers. This means we’re connected in a spiritual way.

Wait, spiritual? Yes, we’re connected by a common spirit that flows through us, uniting us emotionally to one another. Deep down, spiritually and emotionally, we’re the same.

What about tears? Crying is also the same through all mankind. It looks the same on everyone, everywhere. It feels the same no matter where we live, or what schools we attend.

We had a common beginning from a spiritual source, not from pond scum. Our spiritual ancestors were Adam and Eve, who, according to the Bible, were made by God. Genesis 1:26––Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  There was a physical and a spiritual blueprint, a design, a plan, a formula, a recipe, a method to how we were made. That’s why we share so much in common––like two eyes, one mouth, smiles and tears.

Laughter looks the same on each of us. Crying and tears look the same on each of us. Both come from something deep inside. A soul.

Ridiculous, some would say. Our tears and our smiles simply evolved along with our physical traits. Oh, my. Some still choose to replace God in their lives by believing the constantly disproven theory of evolution. Evolution becomes their faith, their religion. They kneel at the altar of pond scum, praising opinions ignorant of actual science, willing to argue that we and everything we see evolved merely by chance.

To pond scummers I say, consider this: why do we laugh? Is laughter the same as other survival traits that they believe developed over time…like running? Does laughing at an erupting volcano or at a charging lion help our survival fitness? Maybe tears would be better. Oh, I know. Our tears probably evolved to protect us whenever we came face to face with a hungry lion. The more tears an ape-type-caveman could muster, the better his chances for survival. Why? Because that hungry lion would smell the increased salt content flowing down his face and avoid it. Everyone knows that too much salt in your diet can be bad for your health––and during this time of evolution, lions were probably becoming health conscious, so they, too, could survive. Of course, we have to consider this: if lions kept eating cavemen before our tear ducts were fully evolved for human survival, then how did humans survive long enough for tears to evolve?

Imagine how laughing started. Some chimps in a tree notice a strange-looking ape on the ground underneath them. Weird. This ape is walking more upright than they can. One of the chimps throws a banana peel and it lands in the path of the strange-looking ape. The strange ape steps on it, slips, feet flying out from under and slams onto its backside with a loud, “Ughh!” Onlooking chimps start bobbing up and down, making funny noises through their teeth, and nearly fall off the limbs of the tree. This episode was probably the catalyst for the evolution of laughter as a survival mechanism of the fittest. Without laughter as a release, we might explode. Don’t believe it? Try to stifle a laugh during your next business meeting or some solemn occasion.

The truth is, we are high-tech bio organisms designed to have an eternal future if we faithfully choose to understand our beginnings and prepare accordingly. Psalms 139:14–– I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. The psalmist recognizes God, his power and creativity. The psalmist also recognizes a part of us that exists deep under our skin––our soul, the spiritual part that connects us to our maker, God, the inventor of laughter and sunshine.

Too bad Adam and Eve were fooled by Satan into thinking they could exist forever without God. That’s where crying tears come from. We inherit spritual mutation from Adam and Eve––born into this life as dried up twigs snapped from the life-giving branches of our loving creator, God.

Did I say loving? Yes. God set sunshine in place to support life and also sent his son, Jesus, to graft our brittle twig-type lives back into the vibrant tree of life. He gives us the chance to laugh at that inherited death sentence, courtesy of Adam and Eve. Revelation 21:4––He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

May we all cherish God’s wisdom and faithfully prepare for joyous times ahead.