Smile!

"But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions ... by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God" (2 Cor 6:4-7). Someone has said that a smile is the best gift you can give someone. It disarms, diffuses, befriends and calms. Sincerely offered with direct eye contact, a smile should be one of the first steps in any evangelistic outreach (unless eye contact is immediately offensive in your culture).

In the midst a family move to a new city, I have been forced into lunching on fast food. The closest joint was a little halal [Islamic] pizzeria (i.e., no ham and pepperoni). An entire Qur'an was framed on the wall with ornate calligraphy and columns of micro-Arabic surahs. Beside the little menus on the counter were illustrated pamphlets with detailed step-by-step instructions on the ritual cleansings and prayers. A sullen, restless looking man took my order, as if I was imposing. A hijab-clad woman began beating a dough-ball for me. As so many people in Balkan culture, they looked older than their actual age, with premature angry lines. To smile back at me seemed against their religion (like a few Baptists I've met!). Subconsciously, such a disposition greets me like a dare. A double-dog dare. "Betcha you can't make me smile."

Four days later--and sick of halal pizza--I'm claiming victory. Finally, after compliments and asking a few questions about the hajj, and making small talk about the Qur'an on the wall, I wrested a little smile from the man. He fell after a respectful joke about needing a big magnifying glass to read that Qur'an.

I wondered, "Was that painful for him? Was it liberating? Did he think, 'I remember what it was like to smile?'" Or, "Alright already! Can't this guy just leave me alone and frown once in a while?" I wonder if God uses little things like smiles and compliments in the lives of hard, angry, blinded men, to make them wonder if there is some other Way, some other Truth, some other Life, some other God than the one that seems to beat upon them as if they were pizza-dough.