Religion in Daily Life

 © By the Rev. Edward Chinn, D.Min.

http://www.allsaintstorresdale.org

In a column, Erma Bombeck wrote about an experience she had in church. A small child turned around and smiled at everyone. The child’s mother slapped him and said, “Stop that grinning! You’re in church!” Erma wrote, “I wanted to grab this child . . . and tell him about my God. The happy God. The smiling God.” Where do we see the smile of God?

We see the smile of God when persons who have quarreled are reconciled. Over three thousand years ago there were twins-Jacob and Esau. They were the sons of Isaac, the grandsons of the patriarch Abraham. When they were growing up, Jacob cheated his brother Esau several times. After the last time of cheating, Jacob ran away from his irate brother and stayed away for twenty years. Finally, Jacob decided to go home and face Esau. Jacob didn’t know how Esau would greet him. At the time of meeting, Esau ran to Jacob, embraced and kissed him. Jacob said to Esau, “What a relief it is to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the smile of God” (Genesis 33:10, NLT).

We see the smile of God when one person encourages another. Job looked back on better times in his life and remembered how people looked to him for advice. “I smiled on them when they had lost confidence,” said Job. “My cheerful face encouraged them” (Job 29:24, TEV). Years ago, Bishop Fulton Sheen was about to climb the steps to the pulpit of a certain church to preach. A priest whispered to him, “O.K. Bishop, give them hell!” Without missing a beat, Bishop Sheen replied, “No, my job is not to give them hell. It is to give them heaven!” The good Bishop was echoing the words of the Apostle Paul: “Those who proclaim God’s message speak to people and give them help, encouragement, and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3, TEV).

We see the smile of God when religion becomes a blessing of peace to people. God told Moses how Aaron and his sons were to bless people. They were to say, “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace” (Numbers 6:24-26, NLT). W. Gunther Plaut, in his work, The Torah: A Modern Commentary, has this quotation: “Peace is the burden of the prayer with which every service in the synagogue concludes . . . The Jew who is true to himself will labor with special energy in the cause of peace.”