The Allurement of a Smile...

A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells
people you're at home.  ~Author Unknown

There is insurmountable beauty held within a smile. When I see someone smile, I cannot help but wonder, what well of joy is hidden inside?  I get an urge to draw near and soak up the goodness around them, to stand in the shadow of their happiness.  I am puzzled, where does their joy come from?  Have they received good news?  Do they hold a precious secret?  What gave them liberty, that resulted in a smile? 

 The teeth are smiling, but is the heart? ~African Proverb
 I have met a few people in my life who always smile.  I have often wondered if their face is just shaped that way, you know a permanent, somewhat manufactured glued- on smile?  It is like the face is frozen, more like a “snile”, instead of a smile.  I will explain, to say smile, you must close your mouth; your lips contact each other in forming the word.  But, in saying, “snile”, your mouth is open, your lips apart, teeth touching, in a frozen position.  Go ahead, try it!    I love bashful naïve smiles that reflect silent giggling innocence. The carefree toothless smiles are the best. I am intrigued by the "I'm so happy full-face smile", where the smile captures the entire face causing the eyes to squint. I am captivated by the wide-eyed smile of wonder.   But a fake smirk, I can live without! And a sinister grin, well that is just downright scary!  What about the hand over the mouth smile, what's up with that?

Alright, so I analyze smiles.  I ponder and ask these questions because I find it a difficult task to smile. My face does not fill the shape of a smile easily.  There must be something unique and wonderfully special to set my heart to laughter and bring forth a smile. Please, don’t get me wrong, I love to laugh! It is a magical liberation, a glorious emancipation of self.    

I think my eyes are my, tell “tale”, they reveal my story held within.  They shine as the morning sun, when I am truly joyful. They tear when I am moved by awe.  At times, they are held downcast refusing to look at sorrow and deception. They twinkle when I am feeling ornery or excited.   They appear distant when I am deep in thought.  They dilate when I am curious.  They are heavy when I am tired and weary. They are focused when discerning the written word. 

Therefore, after I am lured by a smile, I look to the eyes of the gleaming face.... and I wonder, “What is your story, what treasures are hidden within”.  

---

Desperado....

A desperado - a person out of hope 

and living in despair.

 

 
Hopelessness is that feeling when all seems lost.  Breath does not bring life, it is only a reminder that you are alive, but hopelessly empty. Life has no meaning. All expectation, anticipation and confidence are gone.  Hopelessness, is that feeling when everything around you is spinning rapidly out of control, you are caught in the middle, and cannot escape the vacuum.  Hopelessness is that feeling that you have done everything you know how, strived to do and live right, yet to no avail.  Hopelessness is the feeling of complete loss of control. Hopelessness is utterly being dumbfounded with life, or worse, being found dumb in life.

How is hopelessness achieved?  It comes by choice, it comes through surrender.   At some point, a conscious or subconscious decision was made and it haunts your thoughts. This choice has become a weighted scarf around your neck, and slowly it has wrapped itself around you like a python, tightening with each move it gradually chokes the life out of you. Everything becomes a struggle; sweat drips from your brow into your straining eyes causing a clouded stinging perception. Your body has become weak and your thoughts are consumed in defeat. You have become prey to hopelessness.

For the hopeless, hopelessness has become their constant companion. These desperadoes cannot see anything good, there is nothing pure, and life is vanity. Vain and futile, life is aborted, it is useless. The hopeless are held convicts jailed within their own desperate souls. The hopeless looks upon others with disdain, their faces are hardened, their words are bitter and their breath is rank. Their steps are hindered, backs are hunched over, and movement is crooked. The hopeless have forgotten beauty and believe that innocence is a mere mirage of deception. 

Nothing is as it seems, everything is black or white, but really everything is just BLACK! Every thought and every word are spoken in absolutes - nothing, never, always.  Their mottos are verses of misery:  “Nothing every works”, “I will never succeed.” “Bad luck follows me where ever I go.”  “They have everything, I have nothing.” “I can’t win, for losing.”   “Everything is wrong, nothing is right.” "I can't!"   Hope deferred has created a sick and embittered heart!  

The hopeless wade in the muck and mire.  They have no zeal, no courage, nothing but appalling memories and a vacant present. To think of the future is utterly absurd, “why bother?” nothing good is waiting there. They boldly declare,” it is only going to get worse!” 

We see these people every day, and we ask ourselves, “What happened to them?”  You try to reach out to them, to pull them out; they look back with disgust and turn away.  Darkness is their friend; they fellowship with doom and gloom. They would rather remain in their obscurity than dare to hope. The idea that anything could get better is terrifying.  The notion that a wrong could be made right, that there is beauty for ashes, that there is a sweet taste available instead of life’s bitter gall, that their life could be full and satisfying, that there is a loving embrace waiting for them- ridiculous! 

Boisterously, hopelessness declares, “Goodness, love and prosperity may happen for others, but it is not ever going to happen to me”.  Hopelessness mocks kindness; it shudders at the thought of happiness. Hopelessness lurks, it tempts and persuades the hopeful to join its desperate parade. 

We have all faced adversity and endured hardship, it is escapable.  We live in a fallen sinful world.  But not all of us surrender to its power.  I may be considered foolish for believing that life is greater than hardship. That good triumphs over evil.  That something good is beyond the bend.  I refuse to be bullied by life.  Life has not been easy, I have been knocked down, blindsided and left for dead.  But I will not lie in the dirt, raise my fist and curse life.

“I would have despaired, unless I had believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

Life is too precious.  Life is a mystery, it is a treasure chest of wonders, it is a challenge, it is an essence to long for, and it is a heroic quest.   I prefer to look for the good among the bad. Some days are difficult, they have little to offer, but I choose to face the spirit of depression and violently push it aside. I place despair under my feet, and jump up and down upon its ugly head!  I put on the mantle of hope; I crown my head with faith, and fill my heart with joy. Laughter is medicine to my wounded heart; thanksgiving changes the condition of my downcast soul.  I look up, and I breathe in the vitality of life.  I wrap peace around my feet, and I move forward.  I head toward the light at the end of the tunnel. 

The temptation to dwell on the negative is an easy endeavor, at times a mindless option.  Therefore a choice is required, a standard of hope must be raised. I choose to uncover good, to discover the quality of excellence, instead of measuring the quantity of mediocrity. Decisively, I look for hope, I wait in anticipation, I opt to rely and have confidence in something greater than my circumstance.  I choose to dwell in the land of the living.  Come join me,  there is plenty of room.

 

Choose hope....

 

 

 



The door is open.... walk in.

Seek Truth

I woke up this morning with this question..."What lies below the surface?  I laid in bed and pondered this question for awhile. 

If you dive into the ocean, you see the underwater beauty that cannot be seen from the shore.  If you look at ugly crustacean covering of an oyster, toss it aside and never open the shell, you miss the pearl held within.  If you dig beneath the surface of the soil, you find tremendous wealth of mineral deposits.  If you dare to enter a dark cave, you may discover a molten rough piece of coal. However when this hardened stone is cut and polished, it reveals the rare sparkling luster of a diamond. Don’t be fooled by what is seen on the exterior, the outer shell can be deceptive.

To seek: to go in search or quest of
                
There are many masters of deception, covering up and concealment is their persuasive art form. They disguise truth with fear and  hopelessness, misdirection, half-truths and illusion.  Discovering truth requires a patient, yet ravenous hunger. Seeking truth is a noble life quest. Truth must be tenaciously pursued and often it is necessary to excavate for genuineness. Dig Deeper! Truth seekers must look beyond the shell of ugliness, peer into the darkness, and take a plunge into the deep.

I hope that you will join me in the pursuit of truth!  Together we can expose deception.

Excerpt from:  Exposed!