The Priceless Smile

Here is my translation of a Spanish poster on the value of smiling.





A SMILE

A smile costs little
but is worth much.
The one who gives it is joyful
and the one who receives it is grateful.

It last but an instant
and, at times, it's memory
continues all life long.

No one is so rich
that he does not need one,
nor is anyone so poor
that he cannot give one.

It produces joy in the home,
prosperity in business and is
a password among friends.

It is rest for the weary,
light for the disappointed,
sun for the sad,
and a remedy for problems.

It cannot be bought
nor borrowed
nor take or stolen;
it serves only as a gift.

And no one needs a smile
as much as the one
who has forgotten to smile.

Smile always because the smile
is the best gift that we can receive
and the best that we can offer.

If in haste I forget
to give you a smile,pardon me.
Would you have the goodness to
give me one of yours?

Because a smile is the
best identification card
for walking through life.


Exposing myself to the accusation of being saccharine, I propose that you smile to someone who needs it, at least once a day, with God's love, for Lent.


"...[I]f you continually wish to please God in the little battles that go on inside you--a smile, for example, when you don't feel like smiling; and I assure you that a smile is sometimes more difficult than an hour's worth of cilice--then there is little room left for pride, or for the ridiculous notion of thinking we are great heroes. Instead, we will see ourselves as a little child, who is hardly able to offer even the merest trifles to his father, but who then sees them received most joyfully." Saint Escriva, Friends of God, par. 139.