March 7, 2016 Monday)
Today is Monday.
Is Monday a happy day for you?
Japan arranged for four big holidays to be celebrated on Mondays, giving the workers four additional three-day weekends, which made them happy. The people would lump them together in conversation and speak of the “happy Mondays.”
An entrepreneur has taken the name for her business of helping people with their careers. Her aim is to help them think of work as enjoyable. Hence, “Happy Mondays.”
A clothing store for girls is known as the “Happy Monday Store.” I guess that means the
new clothes gives them self-confidence at school.
So, let me ask you again: “Is Monday a happy day for you?”
Many pastors choose Monday as their “day off.” Years ago a pastor friend told me that he
absolutely rebelled against that idea. He asked, “Why should I feel bad on my day off?”
Sunday is a hard day for ministers and one can wake up tired the next day.
So, I suppose, not everyone is happy on Monday.
I have to admit I rarely took a day off for many years after entering the ministry. It was
only after being told to do so by my doctor that I gave it a try.
I suppose I liked every day, Monday included, and I especially enjoyed Sunday, even though it was a full day of activity, and very tiring. The worship and interaction with fellow believers invigorated me and made me feel alive. I therefore welcomed Monday. I still do.
Now, in my semi-retirement mode, I welcome every day of the week. I’m happy to be alive. Every new day is a gift from the Lord. Of course it always was, but I understand it better now, I think.
My enthusiasm for life may be dampened sometimes by the limitations of old age, but even on days when I don’t feel very well, I am full of gratitude. My face may not reflect my joy, but that’s gravity, not sadness. Life is precious.
Do you want to be happy? I do. The words of an old song sort of express my feelings:
I want to be happy but I won’t be happy till I make you happy, too
Life’s really worth living when we are mirth-giving,
Why can’t I give some to you?
When skies are gray and you say you are blue,
I’ll send the sun smiling through,
I want to be happy but I won’t be happy till I make you happy, too
I’m a very ordinary man trying to work out life’s happy plan
Doing unto others as I’d like to have them doing unto me
Now when I find a very lonely soul to be kind becomes my only goal
I feel so much better when I tell ’em my philosophy
I want to be happy .. (repeat first verses)..
(Click here to go to YouTube and listen to Doris Day sing this if you like)
After publishing this blog, I found out that one of my dearest friends, Monsignor Gregory Deane, has passed away. Although he always served a specific parish, I felt that everyone he knew was included among his friends. He attended my retirement dinner and when my successor, Walter Knight, became pastor of the church, the two of them became fast friends, closer than brothers. The world was a better place when “Rory” was here.