Merriness

"A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." (Proverbs 15:13 NKJ)

A merry heart gives the face a lift. A smile is better than a frown or scowl or grimace. Self-help gurus and the positivity movement claim that it takes less facial muscles to smile than to frown. But there is no scientific agreement on how many muscles it actually takes for these expressions (see Snopes.com).

Whether it is physically exhausting to frown or exhilarating to smile, the smile is certainly beneficial. The wise teacher of Proverbs affirms that our inward feelings and emotions does affect our outward expressions. And it definitely makes a better impression on those around us. Perhaps we cannot truly understand why, people we meet will respond in kind to the expressions we exhibit. It seems we humans like reflecting what we see. And we do so with no conscious understanding of why we do.

So, when we smile others smile back. Hence the old adage, "smile and the world smiles with you." But our smiles are not beneficial only to those we meet today. A smile benefits the one doing the smiling! We may be confident that a facial expression does not merely reflect our feelings, it contributes to and increases its impact. A smile elevates our spirits and a frown depresses our spirits.

Now I know why mother constantly said (and my wife still reminds me), "Smile!" Smiling makes us feel better. But trying to fake it until the real thing occurs is not a cure-all for every situation (i.e., grief and so forth), but smiling is a short-term cure for attacks of the blues.

Eventually, however, we must deal with the problem instead of covering symptoms with band-aids. Whether to smile or not is a conscious activity and choice, but if we discover why our heart is not merry, then we can heal the issues that ultimately control the face.

When the heart is merry the face will be cheery! You see it boils down to this: heart issues. They control how the body reacts. Medical professionals will tell you that issues of the heart affect human physiology. Psychologists will tell you that mental hygiene is directly affected by issues of the heart. So, what is obstructing your heart's "merriness"? Remove the obstruction and the whole body will respond with joy and happiness and enthusiasm and smiles.

Dear Father, thank you for a merry heart. Empower us to cast all our care on you for we are confident that you care for us. Make our hearts merry and our faces smile. I pray this in the name of Jesus. AMEN

Choose a merry heart today,