Friday Features: Guest #17- Celeste Sibolboro

SALUTATIONS

Greetings to you! 

One way that I show great love in small things is through a heartwarming greeting.

When I was a child, I distinctly remember that my mom would always say a greeting of “good afternoon” when she came to pick my brother and me after her work and before she entered the home of my babysitter. It was good to hear my mom. My mom would actually say “magandang hapon,” which literally means beautiful afternoon in the Filipino language of Tagalog. In that greeting, I felt the beautiful greeting of “Hello there! How are you doing? I am well and I hope you are too.”

That made an impression on me. I think people like feeling acknowledged. It is important for me to greet others in a positive way with a warm smile and nice words like “good morning,” “good afternoon,” or “good evening.”

I think it’s important to smile when you say, “hi” even though these days, our mouths can be behind a mask due to the pandemic. Have you seen some senior citizens and you feel their “smiling eyes?” When you smile, you draw out your own smiling eyes. And, I believe your smile and smiling eyes are contagious. When you smile, others usually smile too.  Right? Spread your positivity during these trying times of COVID-19.

“Salutations” is a word that I write on the board every time I substitute teach. I have the children guess what it means. I give hints that the word is found in a book and a movie. Some guess that the book and movie is Charlotte’s Web. Then, most times the children figure out that “salutations” is a fancy way of saying “hello.” I really liked how Charlotte made Wilbur feel each time Charlotte would write something on her web. Charlotte gave Wilbur hope and Charlotte made Wilbur feel “special.”

I feel that greeting people and how you greet people are very important. I’ve heard some stories where someone just met another person for the first time. Later, the person who came and said “hi” realized that the other person was contemplating suicide. But, because one person acknowledged another person with a positive greeting and a heartfelt connection, though just briefly, a life was saved!

One of my favorite saints is Mary. The very first word of the “Hail Mary” prayer is a greeting. When we pray the “Hail Mary” we actually say a word of greeting with “hail.” One of the meanings of hail in the dictionary is a “greeting” or “salutation.” When the angel Gabriel came to announce to Mary that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit, Gabriel said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28) I loved when I first heard that when we are praying the rosary that it’s like giving a crown of roses to our Blessed Mother. Our Blessed Mother gladly receives our prayers and lets our prayers be known to Jesus. 

When I was planning my wedding and realized that a reception is a time to be received, I wanted to make sure to greet and talk with everyone who came to my wedding. It did take a while for my husband and I to greet all our guests for our wedding reception, but I know that people did feel well received. One of our guests said that it was the best wedding he ever attended. I’m grateful that he felt my intention of warmly greeting others. He definitely felt well received at our wedding! 

A greeting can be something small and sometimes can just take a second. It only takes a moment to smile and make eye contact. But, a greeting can make a big and lasting impression! So, greet others with your smiling eyes.