Today I will practice the spiritually subversive act of smiling. I will face reality. I will recognize the depth of the problems around me and within me. I will understand how serious these problems are and I will engage with them as such. But then I will smile. Even in the heart of all the problems of the world, I will smile. And by so doing I will embody the subversive nature of spirituality. The smile has its own sacred reality. Life in the midst of death, joy in the midst of sorrow, hope in the midst of chaos. I will seek to embody that to the world, to all those who need it so desperately. Today I will smile.

~ Steven Charleston

Sunrise, Monument Valley – photo by SeanPavonePhoto, bigstockphoto.com