THE VIRTUE OF CHEERFULNESS

Saturday I gave a conference to a small group of Missionaries of Charity on one of Mother Theresa's three central teachings: "cheerfulness." The other two are "loving trust" and "total surrender."

I've reflected and written about the notion of "Joy" for years, but "Cheerfulness" is different. It seems to me that joy is something inward, a disposition of the spirit. I can be filled with joy sitting all by myself somewhere. Cheerfulness, on the other hand, seems to presume some sort of personal interaction with others, an encounter with another person. It doesn't make sense to say, "After our conversation I sat in my room and felt a great cheerfulness." It seems to me that you need someone else around if you want to use the word "cheerfulness." 

The Greek word for "cheerful" is not used a lot in the New Testament, but the two instances I came across in St. Paul are very revealing. Look at Romans 12:6-8:

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if your gift is serving, then serve, if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously, if it is to lead, then lead diligently, if you do acts of mercy, do so with cheerfulness.

Then in 2 Cor. 9:7 when Paul is encouraging the Christians of Corinth to be generous in a collection that was being taken to help the persecuted Christian community in Jerusalem, he reminds them that "God loves a cheerful giver."

Notice that in both these passages cheerfulness is closely connected with giving. In the first instance, "acts of mercy" almost certainly has to do with the exercise of an office within the community for helping the poor.

I came across this powerful commentary on Rom. 12:8: 

The kindness of charity is doubled when it is done in a cheerful and kindly way. There is a class of religious minds which is especially apt to forget this. Cheerfulness is not merely a matter of temperament, but to be cultivated as a duty.

A "temperament" is a trait that you are born with, such as being introverted or extroverted, active or passive. But a "disposition" is different: it's a trait that you can deliberately acquire and develop through practice. In the monastery you work a developing a disposition to listen to holy reading, or to obey a superior immediately. So, "cheerfulness" is indeed something you can work at developing, especially when dealing with needy people. 

Here are two anecdotes from my book "Faces of Easter."

i The Wheelchair Pusher

The Good News walks around our neighborhood all the time, and bumps into you when you least expect it. Take the guy pushing the wheelchair.

This man comes toward me hustling a wheelchair up the long, steep sidewalk toward King Boulevard, chatting away with his crippled, frowning passenger. As the hill gets longer and steeper, and the man in the seat gets heavier and his face longer, the pusher shortens his stride with a practiced ease that speaks of long years of experience. Then he bends forward and says something that makes the man ion the seat burst into laughter and forget for one joyful moment his useless legs. The chair floats past me and the rest of the way to the corner. I wonder what magical words the chair-pusher could have said to lighten his passenger's load and lift his spirits?

This fellow is Good News.

ii The Patient Principal  

Or, how about this. I'm on the school office, watching the Head of our Middle School listen to  tinny voice spewing hot anger at her through the phone. Instead of hanging up on the rude parent as I would have, she calmly responds as one mother to another, pouring the oil of understanding on the towering waves of rage and accusation, sympathizing with the upset mom, asking if she doesn't find it hard raising a son all by herself. As if by magic, the screeching from the phone quiets to a murmur as the two settle into sisterly commiseration and gentle laughter about the unfathomably weird ways of twelve year-old boys. 

In awe, I watch her living the Good News, being Good News.

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It seems to me that cheerfulness is hard to fake -- for example, folks can easily detect a smile that's just painted on. So, what is the source of true cheerfulness? It must be something deep inside. I suggest that the source of true cheerfulness is love. If you develop the habit of seeing Christ in every person you meet, regardless of who they are or how they may treat you, then it's certainly possible for you to be cheerful with them. Not just to act cheerful, but to truly be cheerful. 

You and I can develop that disposition of cheerfulness by practicing it as we go through each day.

Cheers!