While Smiling Across Dinner

Speculate with me. If you surveyed a hundred adults as to why they brush their teeth, what do you think the most common answer would be? My guess is that ninety out of a hundred would first reply, “For fresh breath” or “To maintain a pretty smile.” I would further speculate less than ten percent would say, “For good health.”

Now let’s give our poll results some additional thought. If your teeth look or smell first-rate all the while falling out of your head, how long will it be before oral hygiene ascends in priority? If we enjoyed healthy teeth and gums, doesn’t it seem likely that possession would ease the task of acquiring fresh breath and shiny, white teeth?

How much of life do we approach this same way? We want to appear solid, we want to come off in an inoffensive way, but we aren’t really much worried about the substantive issues that lie below the surface of our lives. The appeal of our personhood should be deeper; the reality of who we are should exceed this shallow allure.

Cosmetics don’t make the woman and clothes don’t make the man. Eventually the heart shines through, even surrounded by a surface focused social climate like ours. So while viewing smiles across the dinner table this Thanksgiving, consider what those smiles tell you about core values, priorities of the soul, and the way we rank what matters most.


Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
November 25, 2008