:: winter trees : :
"All the beautiful displays,
the living books,
and the proper methodologies
can still be stagnant without the joy of the heart
that comes from cheerful souls."
~Bobby Scott, from When Children Love To Learn, p.86
In preparation for a local Charlotte Mason study group gathering a few weeks ago, I had been reading Mr. Scott's essay, "Education Is An Atmosphere," and I was particularly struck by that thought. It has stayed with me, turning and turning around in my mind ever since.
I found myself asking:
What is the value of cheerfulness?
And I realized that cheerfulness is a virtue that has become very rare in our modern society-- so strange and so old-fashioned, in fact, that aspiring to achieve it has become almost embarrassing. Folks tend to scoff at cheerful people and write them off as sappy or "fake."
Our grandparents and great-grandparents held a much different view of cheerfulness. It was a virtue to be prized; they couldn't have survived wars, hardships, and economic depression without it. I found this in a book published in 1915:
“…people think that cheerfulness is something light and easy-going,
full of laughter and jokes that just tumble out of your mouth
without any effort; it is true that this one kind of cheerfulness,
but not the only kind, and not the best kind…
cheerfulness has its roots in courage, patience,
and good conscience."
Courage, patience, and good conscience-- the opposite of grumbling, short tempers, and regret.
I think I'm beginning to see what Mr. Scott means.
This time of year, there is an awful lot of talk about the doldrums of winter, post-holiday depression, homeschool "burnout," and the ilk. I wonder if the more we embrace these negative ideas, the more likely we are to fall prey to their negative influences? We're told to expect to feel lethargic, crabby, and dysfunctional during the winter months-- does the power of suggestion help to make it so?
This winter, I'm choosing not to pay any attention to the self-pity rhetoric. Instead, I plan to focus my energy on the practice of cheerfulness. It is love in action. It makes all things work for good.
Without a cheerful soul, I might have gratitude-- accompanied by guilt,
purposefulness-- with grumbling and sighs,
and a plan-- made rigid by impatience.
O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart.
Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling
and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.
+++++++
Saint Augustine
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