Happiness…Even in Deprivation

Why is a Nun? Because she is a realist in midst of the world of dreamers. She is convinced that life at the longest is short. She is certain that she is going to die. She has no doubts about the fact of judgement for sins committed. And so she gives over her days to preparation for the time when the last act of her life will be played.

On the manner in which she plays that act, the reward, not of happiness for a hundred million years, but of happiness for eternity, will depend. But she knows that a perfect final act cannot be played without long rehearsing and practising. Thus her life in a convent; thus her long rehearsing and practising. Thus her long and sombre robes that cover her charms and hide her beauty; thus her meditations and rigorous self-discipline. The strange aspect of the matter is that even though the career of a nun is one that is directed to eternity, it affords the greatest amount of joy in time.

Added to the reasons given above for the existence of happiness in a life that on the surface seems to exclude the possibility of happiness, is the reason of Hope. Happiness depends on hope. If a man has a sickness for which there is no cure, that man can hardly be happy. If a man is poor and has no hope of ever getting away from his poverty, that man will always be in misery. And if a man suspects that there is an eternity and yet does nothing to assure himself of a happy eternity, that man certainly cannot be happy. But nuns spend their lives in preparing for eternity. Therefore, their hope is always strong. Therefore, they are always happy. ( An Extract from “Why Is A Nun?” by M.J. Huber)