All in a Smile

Each week a child is selected to bring the Children's Lectionary from the Church proper to our Sacred Space.

Last week, one of our little friends approached our pastor after I had already made the selection. He seemed disappointed not to be chosen.

This week I waited for him. He raced towards our Pastor, stopping directly in front of him. I asked our little friend to carry the special book, a task to which he eagerly agreed.

There was no need to remind him to carry the book high above his head, he had the stance down pat. As he passed his mother and I, he turned and gave us a huge toothy grin, the pride in this gesture was unmistakable.

As I followed my little group out of the Church, I paused to reflect on that smile. How often do we wear our pride so openly? In today's world we often hide our pride for fear of being judged as boastful. We limit celebration to a low key so as not to look silly. We hide our moments of joys behind words of self deprecation.

Perhaps our God really does want us to show our pride; to boast openly of all of the wonderful gifts that he has given to us and continues to share with us. Maybe by openly demonstrating our pride in our relationship with our Lord we can invite others to join in our celebration and find the gifts of love, peace and joy that are waiting.