Smile

It's a lovely sunny morning here on Brookfield (though, for the time being, without siskins). The first really bright sunny spring days of the year are always special, and to get a few before February is out is a real bonus. I have found myself humming the old song 'The Sun Has Got His Hat On', and reflecting on the image of the sun in popular art, generally shown as having a jolly smiling face. Not for nothing do we describe someone as 'beaming with happiness'. A few good smiles can brighten up the world just as much as does a sunny morning.

Emoticons, and smileys especially, have been part of my conversation now for so long that it takes a bit of effort to realise that someone had to invent and design the smiley in the first place. Well, I'm glad they did. In some other animal species, what looks to us like a smile actually be a warning and aggressive statement, but in human beings it's a facial expression that can do so much that is positive and good. A smile shows and shares a feeling of personal happiness, contentment and ease; it can also be a means of offering welcome, comfort, support, encouragement to another person. A laugh, though it can be something shared and inclusive, can also be harsh, dismissive, even confrontational, depending on circumstances and how it's used; but a smile encourages response and seeks to make connection.

In the world of electronic communication, emoticons can be over-used, and of course, like anything else that's over-used, they then lose their impact, we just walk past them without noticing. So I don't over-use them; when I use a smiley, I mean it. At their best, these are symbols that provide a shorthand way of exposing our emotions, and inviting others in to some part of our own inner life.

Or, of course - and I've certainly used them in this way - they can be a way of softening the blow when there are hard things that have to be said. In such circumstances, the smiley (or another appropriate variant) can be seeking to say, "I have to say this to you, but please know that I do still care." On the occasions where hard truths have to be told without personal interaction, without eye contact or a hand on the shoulder, a smiley is at least an attempt at the same thing.

Well, I'm off out into the sunshine now, and down the hill to church. Have a nice day, and don't forget to use your smile!