A picture, even a school yearbook picture, can be surprisingly prophetic. Fr. Neuhaus’ Lutheran seminary snapshot, for example, shows a confident young man gazing determinately out from behind a friend’s scrawled “Pope.” The scribbler, perhaps, was on to something.
Now, from the eminent Journal of Motivation and Emotion comes a study correlating yearbook smiles and marital success. The process: Rank the intensity of the spouses’ yearbook smiles, one to ten. The conclusion: “None of the people who fell within the top 10 percent of smile strength had divorced [according to one study], while within the bottom 10 percent of smilers, almost one in four had had a marriage that ended.” A curious statistic, most likely pointing to something true about the link between cheerfulness and marital resilience. But something’s missing from the picture: With almost 50 percent of first marriages ending in divorce, as a national average, the study’s most lackadaisical participants are doing remarkably well. The moral: 62 percent of statistics aren’t to be trusted, and marriage is about more than a smiley face.
While I have you, can I ask you something? I’ll be quick.
Twenty-five thousand people subscribe to First Things. Why can’t that be fifty thousand? Three million people read First Things online like you are right now. Why can’t that be four million?
Let’s stop saying “can’t.” Because it can. And your year-end gift of just $50, $100, or even $250 or more will make it possible.
How much would you give to introduce just one new person to First Things? What about ten people, or even a hundred? That’s the power of your charitable support.
Make your year-end gift now using this secure link or the button below.
