Kung is a Focolarina, a key member of the focolare movement. She recently shared her view on smiling. Coincidentally, an invisible inheritance my mother left me was also smiling. Therefore, I want to share with you what Kung said.<br/><br/>
By the way, four readers responded to the June 9 piece of Pastor’s Corner. This is good and I encourage readers to tell me what they think.<br/><br/>
“Today I am going to share with you a way to love our brothers. This way is very simple, yet effective: It is the smile offensive. This technique does not require any money, everybody has it, and everyone can give this to others. By the way, the more we smile, the happier we get. Also, you may not have noticed it because it is not easy to see, but smile can be related to our spiritual life.<br/><br/>
When it comes to smiling, you must first observe if there is a smile on your face. Is your face displaying seriousness, or anger, or condescension over others, or sorrow…If you don’t smile, you probably have forgotten the uniform of the focolare movement – smiling.<br/><br/>
Of course, if your smile comes from true peace and joy in your heart, it reflects the presence of God and warms other people’s hearts. This smile is like the soft sunlight shining in a dark world. If you cannot display this type of smile, “force” one out and it means extending the muscles around your mouth a little. Don’t worry if your smile is not genuine: The more we use those muscles, the more natural the “forced” smile will become.<br/><br/>
If you are not used to smiling at people, you can start with smiling at Jesus in your heart, saying hi to Him and asking Him to help you smile at other people. Please note that if your heart is filled with stress, weariness, sadness, and doubts, you should smile even more. I remember Lu said that the devil could only see the exterior of a person. If he sees a sad face, he will trap that person in sadness, making this person unable to get out of it. On the other hand, if someone smiles while facing a lot of stress, the devil will think that that person’s soul is doing well and is very difficult for attacks and the devil may back away from starting its offensive against the person.<br/><br/>
Smiling makes others feel comfortable, breaks the barriers between people, helps you to be friendly to others, and makes others respect you.  Also, when you hear things you don’t want to hear about, your smile will allow you not to reply to the offensive comment and will stop you from falling into the trap of anger. Of course, you do need to work hard, but we can start now: As you are reading this, smile…Are you smiling? Please reply.<br/><br/>
Kung"