Cheerfulness
The housewife's life is nicer if she's cheerful
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How’s the Lenten Cheerfulness Project going?
The world can seem pretty dark, and then there are our own personal struggles.
There is always a time for sorrow; the Bible tells us so. Chuckling at the wrong moment is not a good sign!
But what we have to avoid is making that long face a habit.
Children, babies, need a mother’s smiling face to look at. Do you worry about one of your children who seems to be naturally a bit gloomy? Give that child the gift of your cheer.
Greet your husband with a smile.
Today there will be many things to do. Somehow we need to shake off the feeling that they are all part of a vast conspiracy to oppress us!
Perhaps we need a role model!
My friend Amy Fahey wrote about St. Bridget of Sweden:
[She] lived in a time of widespread illness and contagion (only roughly 20% of the population of her home territory of Uppland survived the Black Plague), of pervasive immorality even among her own family members, of Church corruption at every level, of the collapse of law and order, even in major cities like Rome. Her chief task, as she experienced it through her revelations, was to elevate the moral tone of the age… In Conversations with an Angel, a vision which St. Bridget says was dictated to her by an angel, she describes the degradation of Rome:
‘Oh, my daughter, this city of Rome was in times past a city in which dwelt the warriors of Christ, its streets were strewn as if with gold and silver. But now all its precious sapphires are lying in the mire. . . . Toads and vipers build here.’
Another friend sent me the article with this passage especially highlighted:
Dame Margery Kempe visited St. Bridget’s former apartment in Rome not long after the canonization… she spoke there with Catherine of Flanders, who had been a longtime serving maid of St. Bridget and still occupied her mistress’ former home. Catherine described to Dame Margery the saint’s perpetually joyful countenance: “sche was goodly and meke to euery creatur and that sche had a lawhyng cher” (she was gentle and kind to every creature and she had a ‘laughing cheer,’ or cheerful face).
If her maid thought she was cheerful, then I think she’s the model for us!
St. Bridget, pray for us!
Thanks for being here! Apply my thoughts to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!
Who am I? Go here.
Be happy at home!
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For the longer version of this Substack and much more on this topic:
My 3-volume book on Order and Wonder in Family Life:
When my little family went through a period of extreme hardship, I began to lose my sense of humor (a lifelong buoy for me in hard times!). All my life, humor had transformed inconveniences into funny stories, and now all I had was a pile of bad luck, resentment, and tears on which to stash them. It occured to me one day that I was losing a powerful weapon against despair and had to fight to get it back. Enter, stand-up comedy routines on Youtube (there are plenty of clean ones)! I had to start hearing other people articulate their own "bad luck" through the lense of humor and rewire my own brain. Evenings with my husband could no longer be brooding sessions; a comedy routine on TV and cackling until our nervous systems were forced back to their factory settings were a matter of survival. I am sharing this for the other moms who are struggling❤️🩹. St Bridget, pray for us!