\u201cLook with compassion upon the afflicted of every condition, assuage the pangs of disease, comfort the broken in spirit.\u201d<\/em> \u2014<\/em>Jane Austen, Prayers<\/p> This time of year\u2014especially during 2020\u2014many people are in need of comfort and compassion. I find it particularly touching that Jane Austen\u2019s own timeless novels and prayers provide messages of hope that never seem to fade or wear out.<\/p> When Marianne Dashwood falls ill in Sense and Sensibility<\/em>, she is \u201cafflicted\u201d in both body and heart. She doesn\u2019t just need the physical \u201cpangs of disease\u201d assuaged; she needs comfort for her broken spirit. Sick at heart, she also lies sick in bed. It is during these difficult days that we see family members and friends coming to her aid to provide the love and care she needs.<\/p> First, Elinor spends her days \u201cattending and nursing\u201d Marianne and \u201ccarefully administering the cordials prescribed\u201d (ch. 43). When Marianne worsens on the evening of the third day, Elinor notices her altered condition and stays with Marianne while Mrs. Jennings goes to bed, \u201cknowing nothing of any change in the patient.\u201d Anxious to see Marianne rest quietly, she resolves \u201cto sit with her\u201d as she sleeps. When Marianne\u2019s pulse becomes \u201clower and quicker than ever,\u201d and she suffers hours of \u201csleepless pain and delirium,\u201d Elinor anxiously calls for the apothecary, sends Colonel Brandon for her mother, and never leaves her bedside.<\/p> This example of sisterly love is similar to the type of care Jane and Cassandra Austen provided for their own family members when they were unwell. When their brother Henry became suddenly and severely ill during one of Jane\u2019s visits to him in London, Jane and Cassandra both helped to nurse him. Caroline Austen provides this detail in her memoir, My Aunt Jane:<\/em> \u201cAunt Cass. stayed on nearly a month, and Aunt Jane remained some weeks longer, to nurse the convalescent.\u201d And when Jane herself fell ill, Cassandra, along with Mrs. Mary Austen (n\u00e9e Lloyd), to \u201ctake a share in the necessary attendance,\u201d went with her and cared for her in Winchester.<\/p> Even once Marianne begins to improve, Elinor stays by her side, \u201cwith little intermission . . . calming every fear, satisfying every inquiry of her enfeebled spirits, supplying every succour, and watching almost every look and every breath\u201d (ch. 43). It is only when Elinor is absolutely sure that Marianne is peaceful and sleeping soundly that she can \u201csilence every doubt\u201d and finally quit her post.<\/p> Mrs. Jennings, \u201cwith a kindness of heart which made Elinor really love her,\u201d also provides as much comfort and practical help as she can during Marianne\u2019s illness: She sends for the Palmers\u2019 apothecary and endeavors, \u201cby her own attentive care, to supply to her the place of the mother she had taken her from.\u201d Elinor quickly finds Mrs. Jennings \u201con every occasion a most willing and active helpmate, desirous to share in all her fatigues, and often by her better experience in nursing, of material use.\u201d<\/p> The morning after Marianne\u2019s long, difficult night, Mrs. Jennings greets Elinor \u201c[w]ith strong concern, and with many reproaches for not being called to their aid.\u201d Austen tells us \u201c[h]er heart was really grieved.\u201d She is \u201cstruck\u201d with concern for Marianne\u2019s life, one who \u201chad been for three months her companion, was still under her care, and . . . was known to have been greatly injured, and long unhappy.\u201d She imagines the \u201cdistress\u201d Elinor feels and is awakened to the fact that Marianne must be to Mrs. Dashwood what her own daughter Charlotte is to her: and \u201cher sympathy in HER sufferings was very sincere.\u201d<\/p> Finally, Colonel Brandon helps the Dashwood family by staying close at all times and volunteering to bring Mrs. Dashwood to town when Marianne becomes delirious and asks for her mother. When Elinor goes downstairs to the drawing room to ask his advice, \u201cher difficulties were instantly obviated, for with a readiness that seemed to speak the occasion, and the service pre-arranged in his mind, he offered himself as the messenger who should fetch Mrs. Dashwood.\u201d<\/p> The entire Dashwood family is greatly relieved by Colonel Brandon\u2019s help:<\/p> \u201cThe comfort of such a friend at that moment as Colonel Brandon\u2014or such a companion for her mother,\u2014how gratefully was it felt!\u2014a companion whose judgment would guide, whose attendance must relieve, and whose friendship might soothe her!\u2014as far as the shock of such a summons COULD be lessened to her, his presence, his manners, his assistance, would lessen it.\u201d<\/p>Sense and Sensibility<\/em>, Jane Austen<\/cite><\/blockquote> Again, during Marianne\u2019s recovery, Colonel Brandon is never far away. He stays in town, visits often, and only returns home when Marianne is well enough to travel back to Barton Cottage with her family.<\/p> True to Jane Austen\u2019s style, this portion of the novel also provides us with a message of hope. It\u2019s not just that Marianne\u2019s health improves; it\u2019s also the idea that the long night of anxious waiting doesn\u2019t last forever. That dark hour for Elinor and Marianne does pass. A new day dawns, their mother arrives, and Marianne heals in body and in spirit. Back at Barton Cottage, she once again finds great delight in music and books, walks and nature. And she is eventually able to move forward, finding a deeper, truer love in her marriage to Colonel Brandon than she previously thought possible.<\/p> As we enter into this holiday season, perhaps we can find inspiration and hope in the example set by Austen and her characters. Though things look a lot different this year for many of us, we can still provide comfort and compassion in a variety of creative ways. Like Elinor, we can check in and keep careful watch over those who are vulnerable or lonely. Like Mrs. Jennings, we can sympathize and provide for others with genuine concern and generosity. Or, like Colonel Brandon, we can anticipate needs and jump in to help wherever we\u2019re needed.<\/p> This year more than ever, we have the opportunity to help those around us, provide care where needed, and extend small kindnesses. We can write, we can call, and we can meet online. We can send gifts and treats and little surprises. And we can share with others those things which give us the most comfort\u2014whether it be a handwritten card, a prayer, a poem, a verse, a piece of music, a handmade gift, or a copy of one of Austen\u2019s beautiful novels.<\/p> If you\u2019d like to purchase a signed copy of The Anne of Green Gables Devotional<\/em> or Praying with Jane, <\/em>a prayer journal, or signed book plates for someone special, please visit my online Gift Shop<\/a>!<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/janeaustensworld.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/04\/elizabeth-spriggs_jennings.jpg\")
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<\/a>Gift Ideas for Kindred Spirits<\/h2>
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