The Great Power of a Smile

By Fr Ralph de Hahn – One morning I woke up smiling and began to wonder if I had been smiling all through the night. I then began to ask myself: as a priest over so many years — so far 66 — has my smile been more fruitful than my words and preaching? Has my smiling at work been a major tool in my endeavours to evangelise? Only the good Lord knows that answer.

Isn’t it natural that when a passerby greets you with a smile, you return that smile? The saintly Mother Teresa said that there is fear in frowning and much love in smiling. “Let us always meet each other with a smile,” she said, “for the smile is the beginning of love.”

Whenever I meet a smiling face, I sense a spark of love. More than that, a smile is the most inexpensive gift I can bestow on anyone — and yet it has the power to shake kingdoms.

A quote, often wrongly attributed to John Lennon, advises: “Count your age by friends, not years; count your life by smiles, not tears.” And the Indian philosopher Paramahansa Yogananda offered this: “Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.”

‘I like your smile’

My years as a hospital chaplain bring to mind many wonderful healings. Here is one such occasion. Normally when I answer an urgent call for a patient in the ward, I move around to every bed. On that occasion, a patient raised his voice and asked: “Are you a pastor?” I smiled and replied: “No, I am a Catholic priest.” He grunted: “Oh, that’s too bad. I don’t like Catholics.” I smiled again: “That’s OK; if you’re happy, then I’m happy.” As I began to move on down the passage, the patient said: “But, Mister Priest, I like your smile!” That meant the world to me.  I have learnt that a joyful smile is a powerful tool in our quiet work of evangelisation.

Leonardo da Vinci said that he loved those who smiled when in trouble. Smile at your own stupid actions, embarrassing moments of forgetfulness, tripping over your own feet, and other such silly mistakes. A sense of humour and smiling go well together.

To live life to the fullest, you will find that smiling is one of the best beauty remedies. It is free therapy, it can change your looks — and even create a masterpiece. In the spiritual arena, the joyful Christian is always smiling, anointed with the Oil of Gladness. As Christians, we tend to underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment which has the potential of turning a life around for the good. You may be the reason why someone smiles or the reason one feels loved.

A smile is contagious

A smile is strangely contagious; it is God’s gift. It might take a split second to smile and then it is forgotten, yet for somebody who needed it, receiving a smile can last a lifetime! A convent pupil once said to me: “When my mother smiles at me, I feel she is hugging me.”

Be a happy smiler: it encourages the positive, and it upsets negative people. With our faith, with such a mighty tradition behind us, we have so much to smile about.

I was smiling yesterday. I am smiling today, and I will smile tomorrow, simply because life is too short to be crying over what will pass. When I experience smiles in a busy place, I realise there is still a lot of goodness in this crazy world.

Recalling the jukeboxes of my younger days, I remember Nat King Cole singing these words by Charlie Chaplin: “Smile, though your heart is aching; smile even though it’s breaking… light up your face with gladness, hide every trace of sadness… you’ll find that life is still worthwhile if you just smile.”

Published in the October 2024 issue of The Southern Cross magazine