Smile though your heart is aching

For Tuesday, October 11, 2022

News:

Growing up, I heard my dad play old records he'd collected from the 1930's to the 1950's. Mostly 45's. Mostly Tommy Dorsey and other big bands. Crooners like Kate Smith. Even some Perry Como, Sinatra, and Nat King Cole.

Cole sang some faster numbers but mostly those silky orchestrated songs. One was, Smile. Cole recorded it in 1954 and it reached number 10 on the Billboard chart. Sammy Davis Jr. recorded it on a Nat King Cole tribute album in 1965 and even pop star Michael Jackson cited Smile as his favorite song.

Nat Cole composed neither the lyrics or the tune. Actually the silent movie star Charlie Chaplin composed the tune for his 1936 film Modern Times. Chaplin was inspired by the opera Tosca, composed by the Italian composer Puccini. The lyrics were written by Geoffrey Parsons for the music publishing company, Peter Maurice Music. Their bread and butter was adapting foreign language songs into English.

That's a lot of folks who brought us the song that has an ages old theme found in our Bible readings this week. The song says to persevere in smiling and have an attitude of hopefulness even when everything seems drear and pointless. The Bible's message is that you can smile out of confidence that God is for you and with you and loves you.

When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow.
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you.

Scripture this week is: Psalm 121; Genesis 32:22-312; Luke 18:1-8; 2 Timothy 3:14- 4:5.

Allen Cross