The Christian Smile

There is one thing that constantly bothers me is what I dub the Christian smile. Perhaps something of an unfair title for a phenomenon not limited to Christians, but I have personally observed it most frequently on the faces of Christians. Hence the name.

The appearance of the Christian smile is quite distinct. It's a rather vapid blissful smile that appears out of nowhere. In fact it appears at the drop of a hat, making one very suspicious as to the provenance of such an expression. Now, I generally have nothing against people being genuinely happy. However, there is something very wrong with the way certain people smile, and I've been trying to figure out what that was.

After some thought, my conclusion is that the smile I see is simply too exaggerated and too readily available to be real. Ordinarily, a smile of pure enjoyment ramps up some, reaches maximum intensity for some short moments, and then settles down into a happy looking state that is not quite the sort of ecstatic looking bliss that was glimpsed when the smile was at its most intense. It's quite natural, really.

In contrast, the Christian smile goes off like a flash bulb, shooting straight to max intensity and staying there for an unnatural period of time. Now, that's not saying that it's fake. I can't read minds so it may well be real, and to all appearances it does look real. The whole smile reaches the eyes thing. But, the bothersome thing is that it just looks like a sustained exaggeration of what a smile really is. And of course, virtually everyone who has that particular smile is a Christian. Oddly enough. And not just a regular faithful, but the sort that's really quite involved in church activities.

I shall refrain from speculating as to the exact nature and/or provenance of the smile in question. However, I do maintain that at a personal level I find it unnatural and it does make me wonder as to the mindset that underpins the creation of this rather curious expression.