Cultivating Contentment

(Photo by Eli)

"At the end of her life, my mother suffered from Alzheimer's. She was in a nursing home and often did not recognize me. Mother shared a room with another woman about the same age. Her roommate was sloppy and often left things strewn everywhere. My mother had been an immaculate housekeeper, and even though she didn't know what day it was, she continued to carefully maintain order. One afternoon I helped her get to the bathroom so she could wash her hands. She stood at the sink and surveyed the dirt and chaos left by her roommate. An expression of disgust came over her face and she began to complain. But just as quickly she stopped herself and I heard her say, "But that would not please my Lord!"

For weeks I grieved that I was not able to talk with her to find out how she had learned contentment. After her death, I sorted through her things. In a pile of books, I found a small, old, looseleaf notebook with hand-lettered dividers. My heart stopped as I opened her little book and discovered thoughts and notes that my mother had written over the years.

One page jumped out at me. Copied in her careful lettering from a favorite book, it was titled, "If we wish to gain contentment we might try these rules":

* Allow ourselves to complain of nothing, not even the weather.
* Never picture ourselves in any circumstances in which we are not.
* Never compare our lot with that of another.
* Never allow ourselves to wish that this or that had been otherwise.
* Never dwell on the morrow; remember that this is God's and not ours.

With awe, I knelt to thank God for His gift of insight.

When our minds are gone, what will we have to offer God? If we have cultivated contentment, we can offer that to Him even when we cannot control what we think. We choose contentment today in order for it to be ours forever."

-- From "Holy Habits - A Woman's Guide to Intentional Living" by Mimi Wilson & Shelly Cook Volkhardt