A CHEERFUL HEART
Brian Cox
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones”  (Proverbs 17:22 NIV).

            A few years back I was sitting on the front pew, preparing myself for a speaking assignment.  Those entering the auditorium were greeting and visiting with others as they made their way to their seats.  A friend that I hadn’t seen in a while spotted me as he was about to take his seat and instead, made his way to the front to say, “Hello.”  We greeted each other warmly and he made a couple of comments that made us both laugh before he took a seat with his family.  I sat there thinking of my friend and his ability to cheer others up, when one of the other worship leaders sat down beside me and said, “You’d better wipe that smile off of your face because we are about ready to start.”

            Does your view of a spiritual person include a smiling face and an easy laugh?  Is smiling appropriate in Christian worship?  I know that we meet to remember the death and burial of Jesus Christ, but aren’t we also to remember his resurrection as well?  Remembering the grace that God blesses us with should cheer our hearts and bring a smile to our lips.

            Cheerfulness is contagious; one cheerful person can infect an entire group.  I have also seen one grumpy person bring down the mood of an entire group.  Which would you rather be responsible for?

            A cheerful heart is not always the result of the absence of problems or difficulties in one’s life.  Neither is a cheerful heart the result of one denying their painful reality in order to paste on a happy face.  Cheerfulness is a choice and a positive attitude.  We choose to see what is right rather than what is wrong.  We choose to see the glass half full rather than half empty.  It is not denying our feelings or burying our pain, it is acknowledging the pain, problems or difficulties in our life while recognizing that we have more to be thankful for than we do to worry and fuss about.

            Some find it difficult to be happy because they have set the threshold of their happiness so high they can never be happy.  Without a perfect night of sleep they feel justified in their unhappiness and in spreading their gloom to all that will listen.  Regular occurrences like bad weather, heavy traffic and grouchy store clerks set them off.  They want good weather, light traffic and polite people to serve them in the stores they frequent.  Don’t we all!  This world however, is not perfect and unless we can learn to be happy in less than ideal circumstances, we will not be able to be happy in any circumstances.

            If you want to be happy, be thankful for what you have and give little thought to what you would like to have.  We tend to spend more time on our lists of wants then we do on listing what we are thankful for.  This leaves us feeling like we really deserve better than we have.  If you want to be happy, count your blessings not your wants.

            If you want to be happy be generous with what you have.  The store here in town sells wonderful ice cream treats.  I look into the ice cream freezer knowing that I can afford to buy one, but remember how long I would have to ride my exercise bike to offset the calories, I usually leave the ice cream in the freezer.  I have found more joy in treating a young child or two to an ice cream than buying one for myself.  Seeing their eyes light up and their huge smiles is far more satisfying than any ice cream treat and contains far less calories.

            If you want to be happy live a peaceful life because it is impossible to find happiness when you are fighting with people.  No, I am not suggesting that you give in when truth is at stake, but I have observed that most of what we fight about just isn’t that important.  Even when it appears that truth is at stake in a dispute over some issue, too often the issue is just camouflage for another personal battle.   To live at peace we must learn that we are not always right and that we don’t have to always win.  If it isn’t important, allow the matter to drop before a dispute breaks out.  If a dispute has already broken out there are probably some hurt feelings, so learn to say you are sorry and to be forgiving.

            If you want to be happy make the most out of times of fun and fellowship.  Summertime has always been a time of great fun and fellowship, especially at our Camps.  I can still remember more than forty years later some of the skits on talent night at Omagh that had us laughing so hard our sides ached.  Just a few years ago at Family Camp we enjoyed a program so funny that we laughed for more than an hour straight.  It is such a blessing for Christians to laugh together, to have fun together and to simply enjoy being together.

            These times on their own would be hollow and without purpose if not in the context of a fellowship that loves God and one another.  These times at Camp bring us such joy because we are among people we share a common faith with, we love them and love being at Camp with them.
 
             “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them.’"  (Psalm 126:2 NIV)  Let your light shine for Jesus by smiling, choose a happy disposition and focus on what is right and good and spread the joy.  – BMC                                                                                                                                                                                  

- Lansdowne House, ON