I've Just Seen A Face

A couple months ago (when I had intended to write this new entry) the media were in a buzz about the new statue of Ronald Reagan placed in the Capitol building. One commentator said something like, “Reagan is the only statue whose face bears a smile.” Then I thought about a message I received long ago while walking through the streets of Oxford, England. I was a tourist back in 1984, before my Jesuit days, on a three-week tour through the UK, and I loved visiting the two great seats of learning: Oxford and Cambridge. One afternoon as I strolled down a busy Oxford street full of small bookstores, coffee and souvenir shoppes, I noticed my face in the reflection of a store window. Woah! What a grouch. The expression on my face looked something like this one taken by my brother last month.

“What am I so mad about,” I asked. My brother replied, “Nothing, that’s just the way you normally look.” Sweet Mother of Pearl!

Hello, Patrick, are you happy? (yes) Well, why not tell your face!

So, I continued to walk down the Oxford street, forming a new commitment in my head, “Hmmm, I’ve just got to start smiling more.” How hard is that? I usually smile at myself in the mirror after I’ve shaved. And I smile at bank tellers, people in the McDonald’s drive-through, and flight attendants. I even smile at the dentist! So, why not more places and more often?

These thoughts all ran through my head as I walked along the sidewalk, until the store windows ended. Soon I found myself walking along a stone wall with a graffiti message scratched into it. I stopped and looked more closely. No way! A message for me, from … GOD! It had no be so. It was too weird. I pulled out my camera in disbelief and recorded the graffiti for posterity: “Smiling is good for you.”

Since I think this is what I imagine would be “posterity,” I present the photo in digital form today and hope that it brings a smile to your face as well. Tomorrow, my birthday, I will try to make another entry. But for now, keep smiling.