Pay attention to what you smile about
I have spent nearly all of my life studying smileology. It’s not worth thinking about something if you can’t smile at it.
Sure, there are some things in life that are serious, but not many. Too many people ruin their lives by taking everything seriously. Because they take things so seriously and make fun of themselves, these are the kind of people I like to be around.
I get the urge to try to make someone laugh whenever I see someone who looks sad. Who we are is defined by the smile on our faces.
I have to be careful when I smile from time to time. To be honest, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage has given me a lot to chuckle about, and I find so much to laugh about. Whether she has taught me to laugh or I have taught her to laugh is up for debate. The only thing that matters is the outcome. Laughing together makes life enjoyable.
Due to the possibility of laughing ourselves to death, we must exercise caution when watching programs featuring politicians. Charlie Chaplin serves as a model for every politician.
She strongly disagreed when I told my wife this.
She responded with the utmost vigor, “Oh, no, their role model is the Three Stooges.”
She is correct when she is, and with this, she is completely correct.
We appreciated the long period of therapeutic laughter.
Then a new section of our lives emerged. My wife asked me while we were having dinner together, “Do you know that my friend was locked out of Facebook?”
It made me laugh because I thought it was a joke.
I chuckled, “No, what kind of stupidity did she do to deserve that?”
I replied, “Is she aware that Facebook is not the center of her world?” Tell her to leave and start over.”
During the following week, I learned of several of my friends who were prevented from accessing Facebook. These companions were great individuals, and I was unable to sort out why on earth Facebook would lock them out. They probably committed a terrible act. Facebook would otherwise exclude them.
I’ve never been able to comprehend why someone seems to be locked out of Facebook on a weekly basis. I just laughed it off and considered the possibility that they had done something wrong.
Facebook, after all, always has the right idea. Or do they sway to the left?) I’d never be able to figure that out.
I would simply laugh and forget whenever I heard that someone was locked out.
I’ve learned a valuable lesson: don’t laugh about something if you don’t understand the entire context.
I got up one day this past week, had my coffee, went to my chair to read a little, and then went to my Facebook page on my iPad.
I guess this comes naturally to me, and I don’t give it much thought.
A message stating that I had been locked out of Facebook appeared while I was opening my Facebook page. It appears that things posted on my Facebook did not meet their standards, as they assert, and they never make a mistake.
My account was hacked and I started seeing things I had no idea were there.
She just started chuckling when I posted about my lockout on Facebook to my wife.
“What are you making fun of?”
“Well, you must have done something awful for Facebook to lock you out,” she said with a chuckle.
Just a moment of pause here; I didn’t crack a joke!
After that, she brought to mind all of our Facebook-locked friends and how much we laughed.
I responded with sadness, “Yeah, but that had nothing to do with me.” My door is locked!”
She gave me one of those stares and continued to stare at me. Her staring was making me feel a little uneasy. “Your world does not revolve around Facebook,” she finally said. Get a life, go.
I was beginning to do the opposite of chuckling at this point, rather than laughing. Right now, I can’t tell you what that is.
The remainder of the day, I contemplated my circumstance. I was unaware of how much time I spent on Facebook or how much I relied on it for particular information. The thought that Facebook was becoming the center of my world disturbed me. What an awful turn of events.
I am still locked out of Facebook at this point. How long I’ll be locked out is unknown; It could take up to a month. I have no idea how these things function.
I began to realize that it was a positive experience despite my initial impressions that it was a negative one. The worst experiences we have sometimes lead us to the best parts of life. God loves to shine through the shadows of our human experience.
“Rejoice in the Lord always:” was a New Testament verse that came to mind. and once more I say, “Rejoice.” Make your moderation known to everyone. The Lord is within reach.
(Ephesians 4:4-5)
I get a new chance to praise the Lord with every experience. Facebook is not the source of my happiness; Christ is.
