One way to spread the love

Smile a lot … Others need it!

Abandonment, said Mother Teresa, is an awful poverty. There are poor people everywhere. But the deepest poverty is not being loved.

My good pastor friend Gary Grogan from Stone Creek Church in Urbana, IL, has a habit of telling me, “Love you brother,” especially when he says good-bye.  He hugs me, says “It’s been good to be together,” pats me on the shoulder and says, “Love you brother. You’re  one of the good guys.”

The best part is that Gary is totally genuine.  Completely.  The guy is a lover … a good one!

That makes me feel, well, loved!  And it leads me to the solution to conundrum posed by Mother Teresa…(the deepest poverty is not being loved).

The solution is for you and me to start loving, or perhaps to keep loving.

So today:

*Reach out to someone.

*Notice someone.

*Hold someone’s hand.

*Smile a lot.

*Cry with someone.

*Be a constant in someone’s life where nothing else is.

Practice saying my good friend’s phrase:  “Love you, brother.”  Or “Love you, friend.”  Even just the plain old “I love you.”  Practice one of those phrases in front of the mirror.  Smile while you say it.

Oh, it feels fake to you.  Well, fake it until you make it then.

People are in desperate need of your kindness, your love, your smile.And nobody can smile just like you.  No one but you!