Shine for ME

Times are when the days of merriment suddenly turns dismal. The sun suddenly hides himself behind darkening clouds. What went wrong? A word innocently spoken and received as a threat and malicious? An act perceive as evilly motivated? A body language negatively seen as an affront? How can these negative receptions of language - spoken or acted -be avoided or at least minimized?

It is always wise to know as much the background and experiences of a person we are in conversation with. We may not know much about the person but little we know of him helps us to be careful and wise in our communication with him.

Jesus Christ said that we have to give an account to God cor every word idly spoken. It is truly a Godly gift to be an effective communicator. It is a gift too to be able to change a tense situaton with a word fitly chosen and spoken. It restores the sunshine to an otherwise gloomy atmosphere.

On the other hand the receptor of a spoken word must also listen carefully to get the true and exact intent of a speaker's word. It takes a lot of humility, patience, and maturity to be a good conversationalist.

Let me share a short fellowship song I learned in my younger years.
"If you're a smiling Christian you will outshine the sun,
You will outshine the sun, you will outshine the sun
And walk the golden streets on high."

Here is another smile song
Smile, smile, smile, smile the whole day through.
Someone will catch a smile from you and she will keep
on smiling too. Smile, smile, smile, smile the whole day through.