One hot day in Jerusalem I was leaving the old city on my way to the YMCA and had to cross a slight canyon and then climb a long hill. Crossing the street I cast by eyes down and beheld a blue card smiling up at me. Upon it were inscribed the words “Keep Smiling”. I naturally suspected that it was some kind of ad but being curious I picked it up so I could at very least throw away some litter. I flipped it over and discover a benign message of optimism inscribed on the back. How cheery I thought and stuffed it in my pocket for later processing.
I never did throw it away. It fit very nicely in the front pocket of my cargo pants-you know the small pocket that is useless for anything else- so I took to carrying it around with me as I wandered to and fro across the land. It got washed one or two times so I ended up stapling it together. I would whip it out when we had to study or take tests. Flashing it around the room never failed to bring a number of cheesy smiles. Interestingly enough, though the cheesy smiles would fade quickly there was also a little more optimism then there had been before. What a curious effect this was.
Two weeks before leaving Israel the card disappeared. It was tattered and worn and held together only by a half dozen staples and it appears that it failed to survive the most recent run in the laundry. Pondering the message and its power I determined to make my own. It was simple enough to type something up, I used a scripture from Alma for my inspiration backing. I made ten and distributed them to my FHE family as a parting gift. Maybe I could keep a good thing going a little longer.
In the lazy hours once I was home I finally looked up the website on the back of the card. www.thedailysmile.com . There I saw a link to submit my story so I did so. This is what I wrote:
Hello,
I wanted to thank you for making these cards. I was in a study aboard program in Israel over the summer through the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center headquartered in Provo Utah. We spent four months in the Holy Land studying the various aspects of the current political issues and the ancient history, particularly bible history, of the land. In between classes and field trips we were set free to enjoy the endless opportunities Jerusalem offers to those that know where to look. On one such trip walking through the hot weather to visit the YMCA near the King David Hotel I saw a blue card lying on the sidewalk. I impulsively picked it up an noticed the words “Keep Smiling” in large friendly letters on the front. I initially thought it was some advertising scheme so i put the card in my pocket for future recycling. It didn’t take long before our group of hot and tired students were sitting around and I remember the card in my pocket. I discovered that simply by flashing that thing briefly from my pocket I could make the tired worn out students produce a cheesy smile and up their spirits by a couple of points. I carried that card faithfully for the next three months as we traveled all over the country. It became iconic as we passed through long lines at boarder crossings or when we were stuck on the bus for long drives through the desert. When finals arrived the card proved even more useful as it’s mere presence produced chuckles and a release of pressure. It was an enormous source of relief and joy for us as we traveled the holy land and witness the various conflict which seem to have no solution. Indeed it seems to me that the only way to find peace in that land, be it between Israeli and Palestinian, Catholic or Greek, Muslim, Jew or Christian or Latter-day Saint in our case, would be to just keep smiling and learn to love everyone even when they disagree with you. It is incredible what a little compassion and a little more laughter can do in any tense situation. My card eventually went through the wash one too many times so I went ahead and made my own replacement cards and gave them to my Family Home Evening group so that we could all be card carrying members of optimism and cheer.
Thank you for this simple but powerful reminder of the good that joy and bring to our lives.
Riley Rackliffe
Salt Lake City
Utah, USA
I imagined that would be the end of it. Then I received a response:
~~TY delightful Riley~~~you have touched the very core of the reason for our being~~
~~may you continue to spread JOY Happiness Peace & LOVE~~
~~and…..we would like to offer YOU the opportunity to spread this far and wide via the Mormon community……we have the cards in 12 languages….english, Hebrew, Spanish, Russian, French, Portuguese, Italian, german, japans, Korean, Chinese…….soon…Arabic………..certainly in the provo area you can become our distributor……just order many cards (1000?) and dole them out to friends…family….at temple….stores….it’s all FREE…………………….AND…..ask those wonderful young people who are going on mission to bring some to the country where they are heading….think how fantastic to have the KEEP SMILING cards in the native language….it makes an instant ice breaker and builds bonds…..of friendship….and peace….
~~please let me know what you think….am ready to supply whatever you need…….
~~do not hesitate to write or call (424.212.1571)……most sincere best wishes, efryim shore~~
~~~ps: we can do this~~
WWW = What a Wonderful World
I was pretty estranged initially by the response then I realize what exactly he was offering. I kept looking for the catch, who was this guy? A did some google searching and found one or two references to him and decided to initiate another contact.
Greetings Mr Shore,
I wrote you earlier about the Mormons in Jerusalem that found great
use of your cards. You responded with a wonderful email. I tried to
respond to it but I think you may have a filter set up on that email
account which prevented it from going through. I’m touched by your
willingness to share your cards so liberally and I would be delighted
to hand out as many as you can send. BYU has 30,000 students on campus
and they come from all over the country and the world. If you sent me
a box of 1000 cards I’m sure i could find homes for them all. BYU also
happens to be very well know for speaking many different languages,
some 75% of the students speak a second language, so other language
cards would also be very useful although a majority of English and
Spanish would be most useful.I thank you kindly for the offer. If you are still willing to send
them I will send you my address and see to it that they are widely
distributed. Thank you for your great efforts at disseminating cheer
in a world in need of hope.
Riley Rackliffe
I found an article about him in a Jewish magazine called Mishpacha. I was able to write to the magazine and get his full story from them (drop me a line if you would like to get a copy of it too since a google search will only give you the first page). Efryim (Barry) Shore is a middle to older aged man from California. He is Jewish and has always been know for optimism. A number of years ago he contracted a rare disease that rendered him paralyzed in a number of hours. Through the painful, long, slow hours of therapy and hospital time he continued to maintain his cheery spirit. He and his wife began passing out cards (he got the initial idea from a Yeshiva in New York) as kind of a side hobby/project to increase the joy of people around them. How do you say no to a paralyzed man (from the head down) passing out such cards in the hospital? Barry has been able to recover mostly but still requires assistance to walk. This is his reply to my email.
~~~TY Riley…….this is GREAT~~
~~ok….first 1,000…..let’s see….750 english….200 spanish….20 each
of French, german, poruguese, korean, Chinese, Japanese……how’s that?
~~eagerly awaiting your address and your input as to how people will use
them…..as you know…they WORK~~~
~~may JOY Happiness Peace & LOVE be our constant companions….
~~most sincere best wishes, barry
~~ps: what is your role at BYU…student? teacher? Et al?
~pps: believe the cards can be very helpful for students on missions
~~Enjoy~~
And with that I became steward of 1000 cheery blue cards, completely free. Barry Shore has passed out more then 150,000 of these over the years and somehow one of them found its way to Jerusalem and a random Christian Utahan and started this whole process. I have been spreading them to everyone I know plus a few random places around campus. This is one adventure I don’t expect to end just yet. Already I have had a number of fun smile induced experiences.
I somehow ended up with some flowers in a pretty clear plastic cup. I left the flowers with a card on my boss’s desk mostly on a whim. The following Monday I walked into my lab to find the card taped over my workstation with a stick of gum. It will be impossible to track the potential influence of all those cards. I hope if those reading this recover one they will remember the potential good that a smile can do for any day and share that with those around them. Let us be a happy people.
And remember
Keep Smiling!
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