God put a smile on my face

So whilst out running recently I decided to experiment on passers-by, a piece of social research, something that would try to interact with everyone that I met, something that would try and force a response as I ran by. Before you get too concerned it was as simple as this; I would smile at everyone who looked up and say hello. If they didn’t look up then I would say ‘good morning’ and when they looked up I would smile – simples!

Unfortunately I lost count of exactly how many people I passed; it was more than forty and EVERY single one smiled back (well actually there were two teenage lads together, with headphones in and heads down who didn’t even notice me – so they don’t count!). Now usually when out running a (very) small percentage of people make eye contact and smile first. This particular morning, my plan meant that they would already meet my gleaming smile. For most people though their faces were without emotion, just getting on with life. It was brilliant to see the smiles that came back and as I ran it became more and more intriguing that this response was repeated over and over.

Now those that know me well also know that I am not a huge fan of running, I do it as a discipline and running is hard, it hurts, I am usually more likely to grimace rather than smile. The funny thing was, is that as the smiles were reciprocated, I actually found it quite fun and had a little chuckle to myself. I think it made the running a little less painful and brightened my day a little. Now I can’t speak for the people who returned the smile, I have no idea what their days were like but I am naïve enough to believe that their smile, returned to me, however transitory might have brightened their day too.

Whilst not a massive Coldplay fan, as I thought about the concept of the reciprocation of smiles, I was reminded of Chris Martin's lyrics to ‘God put a smile on my face’ and I was delighted that the final verse concludes with ‘…put a smile on your face’. Again we have some reciprocation, a connection, a sharing.

As a Christian there is a danger that my smile might be smug or sickly serene as if what I have is mine and goes no further. The reality is that there are times in life when I grimace like everyone else (and not just when I run), being a Christian doesn’t mean that my life is a bed of roses. The other side of that is that I see my life in a different context, perhaps the hymn ‘O love that will not let me go’  articulates this context well:

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

The idea of God putting a smile on my face might seem a little arrogant, yet I believe he has and that there are more reasons to smile than to grimace. It might also seem arrogant to think that my smile might make a difference, however small. All that said it won’t stop me trying. So…

    if you see me out running please smile, even if I am grimacing, I reckon I will smile back.