It Will Show

“A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” (Pr 15:13 AV)

The truth stated is obvious.  Solomon is simply stating that the condition of the heart works itself out in our outward person.  If we have a merry heart, our face will show it.  If, on the other hand, our heart is occupied with sorrow, that too will outwardly manifest itself.  The application is unclear.  We don’t know if Solomon is challenging his children to go about life with a merry heart.  Or if he is merely stating that whatever our disposition of heart, it will reveal itself to all whom we encounter.  It is naïve to think that we can live life with a continual merry heart.  There are great losses along the way.  There are adversaries that drain us of our cheerful disposition.  Some wear their emotions on their sleeves.  The observer doesn’t have to guess what it going on in the heart.  It is as obvious as the nose on one’s face.  Others seem to hide their feelings rather well.  Or worse yet, they bury them deep so they cause little harm.  Or do they?  The point is, we cannot hide what is going on inside.  It works itself out in our disposition.

I don’t know if you are ever tempted to do the following, but I do it all the time.  It started when I was a child.  Our little town had traveling circuses come through from time to time.  The largest ones hit the big city.  However, the smaller ones would stop by our neck of the woods.  They would often set up in county fairgrounds or the parking lot of a large church.  It might be the 4-H grounds, the Legionaries field, the Knights of Columbus Park grounds, or some other venue.  It wasn’t a large circus.  Just a few animals, some performers, and one large tent where the acts would perform.  We didn’t get the lions or the tigers.  We got the poodles.  We didn’t get the one-hundred-foot trapeze.  We got the twelve-foot gymnastic set.  Some acts were local people.  A juggler here.  A magician there.  The clowns were almost always local people whom we would be familiar with.  Hence, the habit I took up.  It was a curiosity for me to try to discover who it was under all that makeup and costume.  If the clown’s identity was undiscernible, that was a treat.  Even more so, I tried to discern if the clown was as happy as his painted face projected.  I tried to see his or her natural lips.  I looked into the eyes to see the person.  I wanted to see the person behind the mask.  It is a habit I carry well into my adult years.  I see the Joker in the old Batman shows or the more modern movies and see the pain behind the smile.

It is easy to think we can pretend to be someone we are not.  But Solomon would beg to differ.  We may think we are hiding our hearts well enough to fool most people.  Like the commercials that advertise antidepressants, there is a placard we hold up with a smile on our faces when inside, we preoccupied with the adversities of life.  Or, the opposite can be true.  Life could be grand.  The wind is in our favor and it seems as much is going right.  The blessings of life abound, and we arrive with a glow about us while others do not understand what the joy is all about.  Our optimism is both infectious, but could be a bit intrepid depending on our audience.  The point is very simple.  The condition of our hearts is seen by others.  How that is to be applied depends on the circumstances.  Empathy for the situation of others is important.  So too is the point Paul makes in the beginning of his letter to the Corinthians.  If we are of a sorrowful spirit, we will unnecessarily make others sorrowful and will never receive the encouragement we need.  The truth is obvious.  The observation plain.  As to how that dictates the demeanor is which we are to portend ourselves, the circumstances dictate the manifestation.