This passage from Thomas a Kempis' classic devotional The Imitation of Christ struck me this morning as being very beautiful and inspiring. (Comments in quotes are mine!) The kingdom of God is the peace and joy of the Spirit

Turn to the Lord with your whole heart and leave behind this wretched world. Then your soul shall find rest. For the kingdom of God is the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit. If you prepare within your heart a fitting dwelling place, Christ will come to you and console you.

  His glory and beauty are within you, and he delights in dwelling there. The Lord frequently visits the heart of man. There he shares with man pleasant conversations; welcome consolation, abundant peace and a wonderful intimacy.

  So come, faithful soul. Prepare your heart for your spouse to dwell within you. For he says: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and we shall come to him and make our dwelling within him.

  Make room for Christ. When you possess Christ you are a rich man (or woman!), for he is sufficient for you. He himself, shall provide for you and faithfully administer all your cares. You will not have to place your hope in men. Put all your trust in God; let him be both your fear and your love. He will respond on your behalf and will do whatever is in your best interest.

  You have here no lasting city. For wherever you find yourself, you will always be a pilgrim from another city (the Heavenly Jerusalem). Until you are united intimately with Christ, you will never find your true rest.

  Let your thoughts be with the Most High and direct your prayers continually to Christ. If you do not know how to contemplate the glory of heaven, take comfort in the passion of Christ, and dwell willingly in his sacred wounds. Endure with Christ, suffer for him, if you wish to reign with him.

  Once you have entered completely into the depths of Jesus, and have a taste of his powerful love, then you will not care about your own convenience or inconvenience. Rather you will rejoice all the more in insults and injuries, for the love of Jesus makes a man scorn his own needs.

---

Be gracious, Lord, to us who serve you,

  and in your kindness increase your gifts of grace within us:

so that, fervent in faith, hope and love,

  we may be ever on the watch

  and persevere in doing what you command.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

  who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

  one God, for ever and ever.

Amen

50 Days of Easter

                                              

Fifty Days of Easter celebration between Easter Sunday and Pentecost!  At our house we like to celebrate around the table, so we enjoy making different settings.

 Below is my Easter Sunday breakfast table.  

Actually, I ended up using different napkins - the ones  included in my 'rimshot'.  

Let's see......placemats and ramekins are from TJ Maxx;  blue glasses, small blue plates and napkins - Old Time Pottery; beige plate and silver napkin rings - Walmart; vase - Dollar Tree.  

Soon after Easter, I decided to use some new pink napkins I found at the Harvest Thrift Store.  The plan was to use some pretty fresh pink flowers to go with the damask tablecloth and silver, but I couldn't find any in town.  So I resorted to my burgundy and dusty rose candle ring.

Next I wanted to use an heirloom banded tablecloth that I found at Savers.  I don't know if you can tell that besides the bands it has hemstitching!  Since it is a 60 inch square, I layered it over a green tablecloth.  The green napkin rings are from Savers, too.  Actually, so are the Homer Laughlin ivory plates.

The tablecloth has a kitchen feel to it, so I decided to keep it simple with plain glassware and a pitcher of greens and salmon colored carnations.

There are many more days of Easter celebration yet to come.  My Grandma Schuster always ended her letters to me with the phrase "Take time to smell the flowers!"  Well, I am taking her advice by setting a pretty table with glassware and china and sometimes even with fresh flowers and by taking time to enjoy a meal with my husband, friends and family.

A Poem for Holy Saturday

The ancient grayness shifted

Suddenly and thinned

Like mist upon the moors

Before a wind.

An old, old prophet lifted

A shining face and said:

“He will be coming soon.

The Son of God is dead;

He died this afternoon.”

A murmurous excitement stirred

All souls.

They wondered if they dreamed –

Save one old man who seemed

Not even to have heard.

And Moses, standing,

Hushed them all to ask

If any had a welcome song prepared.

If not, would David take the task?

And if they cared

Could not the three young children sing

The Benedicite, the canticle of praise

They made when God kept them from perishing

In the fiery blaze?

A breath of spring surprised them,

Stilling Moses’ words.

No one could speak, remembering

The first fresh flowers,

The little singing birds.

Still others thought of fields new ploughed

Or apple trees

All blossom-boughed.

Or some, the way a dried bed fills

With water

Laughing down green hills.

The fisherfolk dreamed of the foam

On bright blue seas.

The one old man who had not stirred

Remembered home.

And there He was

Splendid as the morning sun and fair

As only God is fair.

And they, confused with joy,

Knelt to adore

Seeing that He wore

Five crimson stars*

He never had before.

No canticle at all was sung

None toned a psalm, or raised a greeting song,

A silent man alone

Of all that throng

Found tongue –

Not any other.

Close to His heart

When the embrace was done,

Old Joseph said,

“How is Your Mother,

How is Your Mother, Son?”

Limbo by Sister Mary Ada, OSJ

* In case you haven't figured it out,  the five red stars are the five wounds Jesus received on the cross

Celebrating Spring

 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle (dove) is heard in our land;

Technically Winter is over and Spring IS here, but in Northern Indiana we are waiting for the rains to come because the snows are not over.  The only flowers that appear are from the florist.  

I did see a Robin or two this past week and wondered why on earth they were here as they tried to dig through the snow for a few morsels.

The Goldfinches are still wearing olive drab, but I'm sure they will brighten up in a few weeks.

But even though nice Spring weather is only a hope and a promise...

We do our best to celebrate the end of a long, rough winter anyway. 

March Madness

A few nice days in March does a lot for a spring-like outlook - even though we know we still have to suffer winter -like weather. 

But, fortunately there is a lot to celebrate in March, such as the Ides of March........

.............the day when Julius Caesar's  friends assassinated him.

Mr. Bill challenged me to do the Ides themed table.

A few days later, with a few quick changes - we have St. Patrick's Day.........

.......and  are all set for a bit 'o Irish stew.

Even the tiniest leprechaun sized bouquet is a feast for the eyes these cold March days!

Going Green

Today it is 10 degrees and going much lower tonight.  The ground is mostly snow covered with a few patches of very dead looking brown grass.  The idea of Spring seems almost like a myth. There is absolutely nothing green outdoors.  I am craving green, so I went around the house finding green things for my table.

I am wondering if the colors show well in these pictures.  I usually take them in the morning, but I think the light is too harsh then.  Next time I will wait until the afternoon.  I went thrift shopping a few weeks ago and picked up these adorable plates.  I love the plaid rim.

Actually there are two different designs.

The green napkins and brass rings were treasures from the same trip.  (I may have to move the napkins to the side.  It looks like my place settings are wearing hair  bows and if Mr. Bill has that thought it would really gross him out.)

I paired new $1,00 pressed glass goblets from Dollar Tree with vintage Czechoslovakian crystal wine glasses.  Surprisingly, they have a similar pattern.  The crystal does have a much higher monetary 

value, but mine are actually priceless.  They were a gift to our family from relatives in Slovakia.  My in-laws traveled there in 1976 while Slovakia was suffering under Russian rule.  The people had little, but were very generous in sending such beautiful gifts to us so that we would remember them.

Two brass candlesticks (stacked), some faux ivy,

 and a gently used light green candle complete the "greening" of my dining area.

I  think my new favorite color is green!

La Fleur de Fevrier - Violettes

How could I let February pass by without a tribute to its lovely little flower - the humble violet?  That would be impossible since violets are my favorite flower!

So delicate and sweet, they are the perfect decoration tea things.  (For full disclosure, I have mixed in some pansies with my violets - but after all, the are really called Violas.)

The hot chocolate station has become a tea tray.  Much more springlike don't you think?

These beauties deserve a closer look.

Can you believe that these were all gifts - including my 'new modern' teacup that I received on my fiftieth birthday more than 20 years ago!

What could be better than a lot of violets? More violets!

One day one of my daughters pointed out to me that I was a violet person and she was a rose person.  She was right!  So I traded her my rose dessert set for her violet set and I have been very happy since!

This little pitcher, a gift from another daughter, was one of my first violet pieces.

Well, I have more pretty violet things, but I'll save them for next February.

Meanwhile, select some special tea, find a flowered teacup, and join me for teatime!

And above all - THINK SPRING