Greet Every Person With a Cheerful Countenance

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

~Albert Einstein

 

In the Jewish Literature Tractate "Pirkei Avot" or "Ethics of Our Ancestors" in Chapter 1:15 there is a rule that promotes peace and love toward one's neighbors and gives instructions on how to have this peace and love with a very easy method. The rule is "To greet every person with a cheerful countenance."

 

I have been experimenting with this easy method of creating peace in my neighborhood and at my residence. I smile in a cheerful way at everyone I meet. It is that simple. One does not even have to have an explicit stimulus to become cheerful, except that one does this with the desire to create peace and love with one's neighbors and to follow a Jewish rule.

 

This peace-making method of smiling at everyone cheers one's own heart. Especially when one gets a smile back--but one should not do this to seek a reward, but do it whether or not one gets a response or not. It is this cheerfulness that becomes contagious, and if one is cheerful towards another, it is a show of friendliness, a show of lovingkindness--to change a sour look on one's face into a smile. This is a gift from Adonai and to use it as a peace-making tool can change your life as well as everyone's life around you for the better.