MARY, OUR MOTHER

CHAPTER LIII: TWO HEARTS OF WIT & WISDOM

"It's not WHAT you say it's HOW you say it"--that makes the difference! These are the words of a very successful salesman, telling us the secret of his phenomenal success, (as already explained in a previous Chapter.)
Not only in selling is it important:
IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY--
IT'S HOW YOU SAY IT!
Also in the immediate family circle--between husband and wife, sister and brother, acquaintances, in ordinary conversation--it makes that great difference!--Think about it.
A mistake is made, a person is caught doing something wrong, perhaps a misunderstanding--now, "We'll let 'em have it"--! It gives one the privilege, the prerogative, the excuse, the right to give it to 'em! - - -
Now again, 'It's not what you say, but how you say it,' in correcting the (loved one). It can be spoken so offensively, so violently, resulting in hurt and hard feelings - resentments - it may be the beginning of separation - ending in calamities--divorce--.
Some people may live out a whole life-time and never learn HOW to say it--HOW to be kind in speech--HOW to answer gently--HOW to speak softly also in difficult situations--.
Somehow these words of St. Paul never sank in:
"Charity is patient,
Charity is kind;
Charity does not envy, is not pretentious,
Charity is not puffed up,
Charity is not self-seeking, is not provoked;
Charity does not rejoice over wickedness,
But rejoices with the truth;
Bears with all things,
"Believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Charity never fails, whereas prophecies will disappear, And tongues will cease, and knowledge will be destroyed. For we know in part and we prophesy in part . . . So there abide Faith, Hope, and Charity, these three; but the greatest of these is CHARITY." (I Corinthians 13/4.)
Oh yes, St. Paul doesn't give up so easily, he continues on this matter in Galatians 5/22:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is:
Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faith, Modesty, Continency. Against such things there is no law.
Let us not become desirous of vainglory,
Provoking one another, envying one another.
Brethren, even if a person is caught doing something wrong,
You who are spiritual instruct such a one in a spirit of meekness,
Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
"Bear one another's burdens,
And so you will fulfill the law of Christ.
For if anyone thinks himself to be something,
Whereas he is nothing, he deceives himself . . .
Therefore, while we have time, let us do good to all men,
But especially to those who are of the household of faith."
St. Paul emphasizes all this, concluding with the words:
"See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hands."
(You notice--He doesn't use a typewriter.)
As a P.S. may I put in my two cents worth: One may wish to acquire that little something that "VIENNESE, Austrian GEMUTLICHKEIT!" The dictionary defines this:--Kindliness - Pleasant - Good-natured - Easy-going - Cheerfulness - Evenness of temper - Tenderness of feeling!

Auf Wiedersehn!

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