“THE CORNERS OF YOUR MOUTH”

Hugo McCord

Visible in large letters to motorists driving by an auto repair shop (9803 SW Barbur Blvd., Portland, OR 97219) are words that shocked me, words having nothing to do with car repairing: “YOUR DAY WILL GO AS THE WAY THE CORNERS OF YOUR MOUTH TURN.” I stopped and asked an employee the source of the quotation. He did not know, saying that his boss had a book of quotations.

The quotation tells me that a person’s disposition, his attitude of mind, is known by the way that the corners of his mouth turn. An inward turning is close to a frown; an outward turning is close to a smile. Every morning, when you get out of bed, immediately your loved ones know by “the corners of your mouth” how you feel. They know that you are either starting the new day by finding fault and complaining, as shown by an inward turning of the corners of your mouth, or they know that you are starting the new day cheerful and upbeat, as shown by the outward turning of the corners of your mouth.

The highway sign is not a Bible quotation, but what it says is taught in the Bible. God wants every human being to start each day saying: “THIS IS THE DAY GOD HAS MADE! LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!” (Psalm 118:24).

The inspired psalmist may have been predicting the day (April 9, A.D. 30) of Jesus’ “resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4), or he may have had reference to “the day of salvation” from sins (May 28, A.D. 30 until “the end of the world,” 2 Corinthians 6:2; Matthew 28:20). But, aside from the day of Jesus’ resurrection, and aside from the day of Christianity, everyone should awake each morning with joy and gladness, knowing that he is alive because of God (Acts 17:25) and that the new day itself is a gift of God (James 1:17), whose “mercies never end; they are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23, and that his new day brings new opportunities to go “about doing good” (Acts 10:38).

I. Ed Rayburn

Ed Rayburn (1008 W. Silver Meadow, Midwest City, OK 73110), though enduring the threat of a heart attack for the last ten years, writes that “every day is a day of grace.” He is thankful that he is alive, and his wife Jo can tell by “the corners of” his mouth that he is cheerful.

II. Lucile Drullinger

With the dawning of each new day Lucile Drullinger (31809 Brinn Rd., St. Helens, OR 97051), with two legs amputated, is cheerful and joyful even though she is never out of bed or a wheel chair. She never complains, writing that God allows her never-ending pain to teach her patience.

Hugo has learned that patience is more difficult to learn than love, and he does not know that he could make James 1:2-4 part of his life, as does Lucile Drullinger:

My brothers, consider it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the trying of your faith produces patience, and let patience have its complete work, that you may be complete and entire, lacking in nothing.

Hugo has not seen Lucile’s smile for several years, but by her letters he knows that “the corners of” her mouth always turn outward.

III. Paul

During the last eleven years (57-68 A.D.) of Paul’s life he awoke each morning with a “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). Certainly he was not speaking of a literal thorn. There is reason to believe that Paul suffered painfully from acute glaucoma. He wrote to some of his converts “that because of a bodily ailment I proclaimed the gospel to you,” and “I testify to you that, if possible, you would have dug out your eyes to give them to me (Galatians 4:13, 15).

During two years (61-62 A.D.) of Paul’s last eleven years, he was under house arrest in Rome, and he needed money for house rent and food bills (Acts 28:20; Philippians 2:30). Also, the left hand of a soldier was chained to Paul’s right hand (Ephesians 6:20; THE LIFE OF PAUL, Conybeare and Howson, II, 394). He prayed for relief from his unceasing pain, but God let him know the “thorn” was divinely given to keep him humble, and that he would have it the rest of his life (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

Though Paul had miraculous power to heal other people’s ailments (Acts 19:11; 28:8), he could not heal himself. Did he complain? Did “the corners of his mouth” show a frown or a smile? A frowning man would be lying to write:

Because of the excellency of the revelations, that I might not be conceited, a thorn in the flesh, a grievous bodily malady from Satan, was given to torment me, that I might not be conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to heal me, but he told me, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my strength shows itself fully in those who are weak.” Most gladly, therefore, I glory in my weaknesses, ... because when I am weak, then am I strong (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

The ability of Paul to turn the corners of his mouth outwardly, to rejoice and be glad each morning, did not come to him overnight. On his own, through years, he had to “learn” that a Christian never complains: “I have learned to be contented regardless of my circumstances” (Philippians 4:11). His preaching, “Always rejoice in the Lord. Again, I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4), though written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:13), was “less through instruction than by experience and practice” (B-G-D, 490).

When the church at Philippi, some 400 miles away, sent money to Paul at Rome, his thank-you note shows that the money was not as important to him as his determination never to complain, never to turn the corners of his mouth inward:

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound. ... However, you did well to share with me in my trouble (Philippians 4:12, 14).

Misguided translations (KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRS) have inserted the word “do” in Philippians 4:13, making Paul to say: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Paul did not write the word “do,” poieo. Instead, he wrote ischuo, a word meaning to be strong, to be able. He was not talking about what he could “do,” but what he could “endure”: “I can endure every situation through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

And the strength that comes through Christ, a determination always to keep the corners of his mouth outward, comes to nobody by a miracle. It only comes by the self-discipline that Jesus practiced and demands: “If any one will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).

IV. SUSAN

Susan Walton, a member of the North MacArthur church in Oklahoma City, was a customer in the credit office of the Murrah Building when the bomb exploded in April 19, 1995. She suffered many broken bones, a ruptured spleen, and nerve damage that left her crippled. She has undergone 20 surgeries. How could she keep the corners of her mouth outward? Hugo does not believe he could have done it, but “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Of Susan, Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating wrote:

Susan Walton epitomizes the qualities of courage, faith and endurance. ... As terrible as her injuries were, and as complex as her recovery has been, she has never failed to smile and show her love.

Then she suffered a second jolt! While she was in Denver testifying in the Tim McVeigh trial, Susan received word that her Oklahoma City home had gone up in flames. Her reaction: “Well, at least I’ll get a new wardrobe out of this.”

V. GERI

After I had bought stamps in a Portland postoffice, as I turned to leave, I said to Geri, the clerk: “Have a good day!” The corners of her mouth turned outward, into a smile, as she said, “I will have a good day. It’s up to me.”

Was Geri right? Can everybody make every day, from morning until night, a good day, if he wants to do so?

4-12-00