Cheerfulness

Googly eyes have been appearing on sculptures around the central Oregon city of Bend, delighting many residents and sparking a viral sensation covered widely by news outlets. On social media, the city shared photos of googly eyes on installations in the middle of roundabouts that make up its so-called “Roundabout Art Route.” One photo shows googly eyes placed on a sculpture of two deer, while another shows them attached to a sphere.

A Facebook post received hundreds of comments, with many users saying, “We love the googly eyes. This town is getting to be so stuffy. Let’s have fun!”

Now, after months of speculation, the mystery of the googly eyes has finally been solved. Jeff Keith is the founder of the nonprofit Guardian Group that combats human trafficking. But in his free time Keith apparently also battles boredom, because he claimed responsibility for placing googly eyes on public art sculptures around the city of Bend, Oregon.

Keith, who used duct tape to attach the googly eyes, admitted, “It’s a (way) for me to cope with some pretty heavy stuff," Keith said to an AP reporter. He noted the "unimaginable trauma" that many of the trafficking victims he's worked with have experienced.

The city of Bend shared photos of the googly-eye-decorated art, noting that adhesives can damage the art. According to city officials, eight sculptures were affected, and it cost $1,500 to remove all the googly eyes.

Keith said he didn’t anticipate the attention and offered to pay for any damages. After he came forward, a spokesperson for the city said its post had been misunderstood, and that the intention was to raise awareness about the damage adhesives can do to public art.

Keith hopes his pranks bring humor to people's lives. “I think the biggest thing is, for me, just to get a laugh,” he said. “When I come up on these roundabouts and I see families laughing, like hysterically laughing at these, it makes for a good time.”

Editor’s Note: You can see an example of the googly eyes here

Possible Preaching Angle:

While it is never a good idea to deface public art or buildings, we can appreciate the attempt to bring humor into people’s lives. As Proverbs says, “a cheerful heart is good medicine” (Prov. 17:22).

High fives, fist bumps, and words of encouragement are given freely by the Flash Dads. The Flash Dads program was launched seven years ago by Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky, and there are now several dozen members. The men go to elementary schools across Louisville and line up to greet students, cheering them on and getting the day started on a positive note.

Participant Roger Collins said, The Flash Dads are "community members showing up for students who sometimes don't have anybody showing up for them." Another member of the Flash Dads, James Bogan, heard about it through his grandson, and signed up so he could surprise him one day at school. "It's contagious and I've been doing it ever since," he said.

The Flash Dads take their duties as role models and mentors to heart, and Bogan said the students know "we're not just there that day. We're there whenever you need us. It's not a one-day thing, it's a lifetime thing."

So, laughter really is the best medicine. A mere chuckle is enough to expand cardiac tissue and increase the flow of oxygen throughout the body, thus exercising a weakened heart, according to a new study.

Scientists in Brazil set out to prove that “laughter therapy” can improve cardiovascular health and ease symptoms of heart disease. Professor Marco Saffi said, “Our study found that laughter therapy increased the functional capacity of the cardiovascular system.”

Researchers looked at 26 adults, at an average age of 64 who had previously been diagnosed with coronary artery disease. Every week for three months, half of the group viewed comedy programs while the other half watched serious documentaries about topics such as the Amazon rainforest or politics.

Results showed that the group who watched comedies had a 10% advancement in the amount of oxygen the heart could pump into the body as well as an improvement in their arteries’ ability to expand. Blood testing also detected notable reductions in inflammatory biomarkers, which can indicate if people are at risk for heart attack or stroke and show how much plaque is built up in blood vessels.

It’s believed that laughter has this effect because it releases endorphins, which are needed to maintain healthy blood pressure and reduce strain on the heart by keeping stress hormones low. Saffi said, “This study found that laughter therapy is a good intervention that could help reduce that inflammation and decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke. People should try to do things that make them laugh at least twice a week. Laughing helps people feel happier overall.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Scripture foretold these findings many years ago. We read in Proverbs, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Prov. 17:22). A happy heart produces good health, but a heavy spirit can drag you down.

N.D. Wilson writes in an article titled “God the Merrymaker”:

We Christians are the proclaimers of joy. We speak in this world on behalf of the One who made lightning and snowflakes and eggs. Or so we say. We say we want to be like God, and we feel we mean it. But we don’t. Not to be harsh, but if we did really mean it, we would be having a lot more fun than we are. We are made in God’s image and should strive to imitate him.

A dolphin flipping through the sun beyond the surf, a falcon in a dive, a mutt in the back of a truck, flying his tongue like a flag of joy. These all reflect the Maker more wholly than many of our endorsed thinkers, theologians, and churchgoers.

Look over our day-to-day lives. How do we parent, for example? Rules. Fears. Don’ts. “Don’t jump on the couch.” “No gluten in this house.” “Get down from that tree.” “Quiet down.” “Hold still.” We live as if God were an infinite list of negatives. In our bent way of thinking, that makes him the biggest stress-out of all.

We say that we would like to be more like God. Speak your joy. Mean it. Sing it. Do it. Push it down into your bones. Let it overflow your banks and flood the lives of others. At his right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. When we are truly like him, the same will be said of us.

It is said that George Frederick Handel composed his amazing musical The Messiah in approximately three weeks. It was apparently done at a time when his eyesight was failing and when he was facing the possibility of being imprisoned because of outstanding bills. Handel however kept writing in the midst of these challenges till the masterpiece, which included the majestic, “Hallelujah Chorus,” was completed.

Handel later credited the completion of his work to one ingredient: Joy. He was quoted as saying that he felt as if his heart would burst with joy at what he was hearing in his mind. Sure enough, listening either to the entire work of The Messiah, or to the "Hallelujah Chorus" brings great joy to one's heart.

Similarly, in the midst of the many challenges he faced, including chains, imprisonment, and slander, the Apostle Paul, filled with the joy that Christ gives, could say, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Phil. 4:4). May the joy of the Lord fill your heart today!

Thousands of workers now identify as their company’s “Chief Happiness Officer” or CHO. What does a CHO do every day? For Erika Conklin, CHO of a digital marketing startup, this month’s duties, included procuring beer and Jet Skis for a company retreat to Sarasota, Florida. She still deals with employee benefits and payroll. But she also works late signing contracts for company events or listening when co-workers need to vent about whatever makes them unhappy.

McDonald’s started the trend by “promoting” Ronald McDonald to chief happiness officer in 2003 as a joke. Then tech companies like Google joined the CHO bandwagon. The late Zappos Chief Executive Tony Hsieh was famously committed to a fun working environment. His book, Delivering Happiness, prompted other business leaders to give priority to workers’ emotional well-being.

But being responsible for others’ high spirits comes with a lot of pressure. There’s the expectation to always appear cheerful. And if morale sinks or the retention rate slips, the person with “happiness” in their title is likely to get some of the blame. CHOs often stress about their colleagues’ levels of happiness.

One CHO said, “Generally, I am very positive—my husband and my immediate family are the only ones who see the not-so-great side.” Another CHO polls her roughly 100 co-workers weekly so that she always knows the collective mood. “If there’s a dip, we ask, ‘Why?’” she says. “If it soars, we’re like, ‘What are we doing? How can we keep repeating this?’”

In a recent Bloomberg Business article, Mark Ellwood confronts what he calls the "cult of positivity.” He titled his article “Trying to Stay Optimistic Is Doing More Harm Than Good.” The push to be upbeat in the workplace, as well as at home, has resulted in an experience he calls FONO. That's the fear of negative outlook:

You see it on Instagram, where the affective filter is always upbeat, usually followed by the hashtag #blessed. You might even recognize it in the boss who insists that colleagues start every Zoom meeting by sharing a piece of good news to help keep moods buoyant amid the gloom.

Think of this mindset as one that responds to all human anxiety with uncompromising optimism. It can be found in sentences that start with those negating words “At least,” which are followed by a suggestion that however bad you’re feeling, at least you’ve got plenty else that should offset it.

Ellwood explains the origin of this cult:

For the current generation, the origins of this emotional cure-all lie in the 1990s, when Martin Seligman, president of the American Psychological Association, suggested that pessimism is a learned behavior. Therefore, it both could and should be avoided.

That observation snowballed into bestsellers such as Rhonda Byrne’s, The Secret. It was popularized after Oprah Winfrey championed its ethos. That breakout bunkum bible was essentially built on claims that the power of positive thinking would provide whatever you want, be it a baby or a Mercedes-Benz.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The Bible alone is supremely honest and realistic. God tells us that we will have negative, sometimes devastating, experiences in life (John 16:33). However, Scripture also promises that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:38), that trouble refines us spiritually (2 Cor. 7:10; 1 Pet. 1:7), and that God works all things together for our good (Rom. 8:28).

When the Minneapolis Department of Health received a complaint about an unlicensed vendor selling hot dogs, they chose to view him not as a shady lawbreaker, but as a potential entrepreneur. Thirteen-year-old Jaequan Faulkner initially started selling hot dogs as a way to earn money for clothes and shoes, borrowing the hot dog roaster from his uncle Jerome. But after a while, he began to develop a passion for it.

"It's the cooking and the people," says Faulkner. "I see someone go by with a frown on their face. I'm there with a smile, then I see a smile on their face. I just made a smile on somebody's face by selling them a hot dog."

That infectious enthusiasm attracted enough attention and business that someone in the community reported his unauthorized setup to the city. But when city officials talked to Faulkner, they were so impressed with his positive attitude, they wanted to help out. Health inspectors pitched in to help Faulkner get all the training, materials, and equipment he would need to comply with city health regulations.

They even connected him to a local nonprofit designed to assist underserved entrepreneurs. Ann Fix, program manager for the Northside Food Business Incubator, had nothing but raves for Faulkner's attitude. "This young man is so full of gratitude," Fix said. "He is absolutely terrific to work with."

Potential Preaching Angles: Instead of seeing people as problems to be eliminated, gospel-centered people see others as potential vehicles for grace and redemption. We are blessed to be a blessing, and as we bear one other's burdens, we create common good.

A spouse can create good feelings about the marriage, increasing the sense of satisfaction, intimacy, and fun, all with a simple reaction. When a partner shares good news, actively respond.

Dr. Shelly Gable, who helped author a UCLA research report on the subject, said, "It isn't enough just to listen passively." Gable says a partner needs to be active, offering hugs and even "high fives." When the responder does this, the other person immediately has tender feelings toward the supporting partner.

This truth should transfer to all loving relationships.

In Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address, he referenced the simple white grave markers in Arlington Memorial Cemetery. He said:

Under one such marker lies a young man, —Martin Treptow, —who left his job in a small town barber shop in 1917 to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division. There, on the western front, he was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire.

We are told that on his body was found a diary. On the flyleaf under the heading, "My Pledge," he had written these words: "America must win this war. Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone."

If you can start the day without caffeine; if you can get going without pep pills; if you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains; if you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles; if you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it; if you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time; if you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you when through no fault of yours something goes wrong; if you can take criticism and blame without resentment; if you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him; if you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend; if you can face the world without lies and deceit; if you can conquer tension without medical help; if you can relax without liquor; if you can sleep without the aid of drugs; if you can say honestly that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, color, religion, or politics; then, my friend, you are almost as good as your dog.

In the feature film The Shawshank Redemption, Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), tells the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins)—a young, successful banker who is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife in 1947 and sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms at Shawshank Prison. Andy endures confinement year after year while maintaining hope for freedom.

Red is a hardened but somewhat repentant convict resigned to spending the rest of his natural life behind the gray prison walls. When Red first sees Andy arrive at Shawshank, he takes an immediate disliking to the tall, slender banker. According to Red, Andy looked weak, "like a stiff breeze would blow him over." In fact, Red gambled that Andy would be the first of the new prisoners to break down. Surprisingly, Andy survives his first tormented night at Shawshank with his sanity intact, and not long after, he meets Red in the prison yard for the first time.

As Andy strolls away from his conversation with Red, he stoops to collect a pebble from the dusty prison grounds; the bright sunlight seems to transform his drab prison uniform into casual wear. Red reflects in a voiceover:

I can see why some of the boys took him for snobby. He had a quiet way about him: a walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here. He strolled like a man in the park, without a care or a worry in the world. Like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place.

There is a way we can live like Andy Dufresne—an innocent man placed in difficult circumstances, shielded by a mysterious peace. God can be our peace, our invisible coat, shielding us from trouble.

Elapsed Time: Measured from the beginning of the opening credit, the first scene begins at 0:11:45 and ends at 0:12:00, and the second scene begins at 0:28:16 and ends at 0:28:46.

Content: The Shawshank Redemption is rated R for profanity and violence.

Since Tom and I, by nature, tend to focus on the hole instead of the doughnut, we try hard to "realize life," to call each other's attention to the goodness right here under our noses.

Sometimes Norm can be so positive and enthusiastic about whatever's he's doing that it's disconcerting to me. I wonder if he's walking in the same world I am. Once we were fishing in a mountain lake. We hadn't caught a thing. Norm had rowed the boat to five or six different spots, looking for the fish to bite. Finally, after about three hours, he got this big grin on his face and said, "Now we can really start fishing. We know where the fish aren't!" He has a wonderful enthusiasm for life that permeates everything he does.

Motivation. It's the one part of your health agenda that you can't buy, borrow, or do without.