A Merry Heart

Since I just came back from my 50th St.Clement's School Reunion in Toronto, I am thinking about our principal, Miss Evelyn Waugh.

She was crippled very badly with arthritis. Her back was bent and her legs were bandy. Since I was a big girl, she would often summon me to come to the stage to assist her down at morning assembly. It was just one step and I was to put my hand on her elbow and let her arm rest on mine as she stepped down.

When I was in Grade 9 - Form I, Miss Waugh thought I should definitely go into Commerce and Finance at U of T (University of Toronto). So, when she first knew me, she thought I showed promise in mathematics. By Grade 12 she had almost given up on me. (I think she might be watching me now and be pretty happy I have turned my life around.)

Miss Waugh used to give a Merry Heart Award to students that had been noticed as being particularly cheerful.

The Quotation that Miss Waugh would have taken the name of that award from The King James Version of the Bible is:

A merry heart doeth like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Today, some of us use the New International Version of the Bible and it states Proverbs 17:22 a little differently:

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

If you have read my book, Bumpy Road To Texas, where I address how I was treated at home when I was young, then you know why I never won that Merry Heart award. Miss Waugh probably saw a broken or crushed spirit when she looked deep inside me. (My parents did not give me much in the way of encouragement to make me feel good about myself.)

Today, I see all the time people breaking or crushing other people's spirit. Not too many people can take a lot of criticism and/or rudeness and there is a lot of that in our society today.

There are lots of people - probably not very confident in themselves - who think nothing of casually making a smart or cruel remark to someone. Sometimes, it is someone they hardly even know. I believe a lot of people just do not stop to think before they speak!

Then, it gets worse: a person is spoken to harshly and they respond in kind. In other words, they toss out another ugly remark.

Today, I listened to Nickcole Byrd and Dr. Carolyn Clansy Miller on Blog Talk Radio (see bottom of today's blog or sidebar for link). Today's program was How To Develop A Spiritually Enriched Life. There was talk about how busy we are in today's world and how perhaps we do not walk with God was much as we should.

I do not even pretend to be a theologian, but I do know that if I am a true Christian believer, then I know that God is with me always.

. . . And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. - Matthew 28:20 NIV

Lots of times during the day, I know I can stop for a minute to say a little prayer. Life is not easy. Life is hard. Today, even more so, times are tough and it is harder and harder to be pleasant and forgiving, as we know we should be.

Every time I see someone hurt by someone else, it makes me wonder just how many people really do believe as they say they do? Or, is it simply that they do not stop and think before they make a comment?

You don't have to be a Christian believer to see just how our interactions with others work. It is straightforward and simple. Think about it!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/drcarolynmiller