The Smileless City

 

The Power of a Smile

As I prepared for our vacation I made sure I had a variety of different gospel tracts and of course my favorites. We made several stops before actually arriving in New York city. We arrived on day 4 of our ten day adventure. We had visited friends in which I did not need to share tracts with. Then our first day after leaving our friends home we stopped in Philadelphia PA for a history lesson. This was a little taste of what was to come. It had a lot of people and there were lines. We took a carriage ride and after I got off I realized what an opportunity I missed by not giving our driver a tract. So I vowed to not miss another opportunity.

Right away in NY on the Ferry I tried to look for opportunities, but the faces never really looked my way, or people just seemed occupied, and I had not yet learned the “be quiet and mind your own business” unspoken rule! So when it was time to leave I gave an older man who seemed sad a tract. He was reluctant to take it (you would think I was handing them a loaded grenade!).

I watched for opportunities on the subway to give away my favorite tract…but everyone was so rushed I knew that tract would be useless in this fast paced city. I prayed and really was broken by the thought I could not even pass out tracts….these people were so closed.

So, I had to go back to the basics……………A SMILE! I ended up giving away LOTS of SMILES! I made it my goal to get as many people to look my way and when they did….i gave them a winning smile ear to ear. My eyes resonated caring. My heart reached out with all the tenderness my body language could say.

I ended up giving a couple of tracts away to the hotel clerk and to waitresses. I was able to give away a tract to every beggar when I gave them money. I prayed they would hunger and thirst for Righteousness as much as they wanted to fill their bellies.

I have never felt so helpless, so constrained and yet so burdened for a people as the three days we were in the smileless city. One thing is for sure….they were not used to seeing a smile…occasionally I caught one smiling back!

Never underestimate the power of a SMILE!

A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.

Proverbs 15:13