All You Need is Love and a Smile

Jesus preached it and the Beatles sang it – “All you need is love.” It’s a catchy little song for sure. You might even be singing it right now. Throw in a smile and I could end this blog here. What else is there really, if we all love well and smile.

51 words of an opening paragraph that aren’t all that interesting suggests I should probably go on. I would like to share a little story. My only outing these days consists of a quick trip to the grocery store. I never thought the grocery store would become a place of insight and revelation. Here’s what I’ve learned: shopping during a pandemic brings me more anxiety than I knew I had. And more importantly, grocery store employees are solid, exemplify love and wear a uniform that includes a smile.

Yesterday, while picking up a few supplies, I noticed every grocery store employee smiling, not just at customers, but at each other. Smiling does something. Well, it probably does a multitude of things including helping us to smile back. All seems a little better if you can muster a smile. 

The deli counter folks were smiling ear to ear whenever someone walked up to order. The folks stocking shelves made eye contact with customers and smiled. The pharmacist was smiling while chatting it up. And the checkout gal was steady and calm. There was a peace about her, and you guessed it, she was smiling. Smiling does something.

Made me smile

After returning from the store, I stopped by the mail box. I know, the excitement of the day. To my surprise, there was a white sheet of paper placed inside. As I took it out of the mailbox, it made me smile. It was a hand drawn smiley face. It contained a note at the bottom of the page that said, “we wanted to make sure you smiled today.” Thank you neighbor, I did!

Little acts of love are as simple as sharing a smile. Let’s practice smiling. It helps. As the Beatles sang, you can do things, know things, say things, learn things, and even sing things, however, all you need is love, and love is all you need. I am more and more convinced that nothing says love like a smile.

Do everything in love

1 Corinthians 16:14