Smiles

Smiles, the Universal Language

When I was a child, a longtime ago (in a galaxy far away) there was a song sung in camps that nearly every one knew. The first line of the chorus goes, “There are smiles that make us happy. There are smiles that make us blue…” If you watch any of the colorful Mummer’s parade from Philadelphia on New Year’s Day, you may hear one of the banjo bands play and sing the song.

Sadly, I can’t speak Spanish, but like the children of Dorcas House, I can smile. When visiting there, smiles are the first thing you experience. The children rush to greet you. They are genuinely glad you are there. They smile. And the smiles stick all through your visit. You don’t need to know Spanish. A smile is part of the universal language of the human race, the ultimate coin of the realm.

Sometimes the honest and innocent smiles of the children make us cry, we who have so much and they who have so little. They have no expectation from us other than a hug and smile in return. No wonder Jesus said, “Suffer little children. Let them come unto me for such is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19:14)

People who visit Dorcas House or make a gift for the program there start with the idea we are giving something to the children, but leave with a different feeling. Like the song says, “There are smiles that have a tender meaning that the eyes of love alone can see. But the smiles that fill my life with sunshine are the smiles that you gave to me.”

Brother Andrew, SSP
Dorcas House Committee