Today, a man smiled at me. I was touched. I was surprised at his smile. I was stunned by its immediate imprint on me. Thinking on that smile now, I covet another. What did his smile convey? Honestly, I cannot know what thought in his brain initiated the smile. Last Wednesday night in church I told Deacon Richard, “Look at your smile. Just what are you grinning at? If you were a baby I’d think you had gas.” His wife over heard and laughed. The deacon’s smile was gentle and welcomed but it neither touched nor surprised me.
The man who smiled at me today is a respected author. He has launched a local chapter of the Catholic Writers Guild. I have been to all the meetings. Six of us sat around a table, today, for a couple of hours as we read and critiqued each others’ writing samples. He had just read mine. If smiles were hugs this was a bear-hug. He liked what he read. I felt affirmed.
However, this was more than a pat on the back, an affirmation of my skill and work. A successful writer with strong publishing and networking contacts liked my short essay. I expected that. I knew I submitted a good piece. His acknowledgment was not surprising. His smile was. This was a looking at me that said, “I see you. Your words exposed your being to me. I liked what I read. I like what I now see.” He smiled at me because he liked me. I do not know if I smiled back. I probably did. It is the law. You return smiles. It is one of life’s most honored rules.
I do not know what he read in my smile. Surely, it etched no memory in his mind. His smile told me that I am etched in his memory. The “me” he found exposed in my writing was bear naked honest. I will have to remember his smile and do some interior etching myself. I must remember that exposing myself in my weakness, my problems, my uncertainties, my sin and my struggle as I work my way to wholeness and love is the way to write. I cannot be afraid of what people will think of me or my work. In fact, my step-mother has not spoken to me civilly since the day she read the same piece. It elicited no smiles. She glowered at me and calumnized me. Same work. Different reaction.
I am a writer. I work for honesty, truth and skillful wordsmithing. I am also a normal person. I covet smiles. Nevertheless, they cannot be my goal. However, today, when a man smiled at me, I was touched and pleasantly surprised.
Pleasant speech multiplies friends,and a gracious tongue multiplies courtesies. Ecclesiasticus 6:5
Louis Templeman
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