Levenskunst

From Corrie Ten Boom's
In My Father's House:

"When Bessie told a story, she
wove threads of brillant color
through the word pictures she
created. When she moved into
a room, or dressed for a meeting,
it was with special flair. She knew
"levenskunst" ( the art of living)!

This is the second time Corrie has
used this word. Here she contrasts
her sister to herself in a chapter
called Seventeen, and So Much to
Learn. She said KNEW , not was.
Bessie must have developed that art!
Corrie used the term "the art
of living" in the first chapter entitled
Inheritance. She ends with a description
of her father giving her aunt one
guilder ( about 30 cents) as she nursed
Corrie's sick mother and took care of
4 children. Finances must have been
serious for he would have to ask for
the guilder back by Weds. after giving
it to Anna on Sat. It was "blessed
money." Anna always had it to give
back.

"This was the beginning of my rich
inheritance. When I remember my
family life, I realize that my parents
and my aunts had truly mastered the
art of living. They enjoyed life and
they loved the children.

"We never laughed so much as when
you children were small," Tante Anna
said.
In our hearts we must have stored up
some of the memory of laughter to
be brought out in later years, when the
sounds of happy laughter were scarce
in our beloved land."