Meme-ic Monday: Choose Happiness

We can't choose what we have to face, we can choose how to react to it. That's the piece of advice that this meme reminds me of.

My sister, Pam, passed away on February 25 and her memorial service was yesterday, March 12. A "Celebration of Life and Legacy" we called it, and it was. The men wore Hawaiian ties supplied by her husband because she had wanted Hawaiian shirts at her funeral but that might have been misunderstood by some. I wore a muted Hawaiian print shirt with my black skirt and gray shrug.

Pam had used the phrase "Life is Good" throughout her battle with cancer. Shortly before she died, she switched to telling people to "Choose Happiness." Today's meme was posted on her Facebook wall by a friend after she died.

I choose this meme in memory of my sister, and I have no desire to critique or even react to it. It just stands in remembrance of her.

How do you react to this meme?

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On Mondays, I will be posting and responding to memes, one each week. They will be ones that grab my attention, perhaps either resonate with me or annoy me. If you see a meme you would like me to react to, let me know.

Knitters' Devotional: Joy

I sat near a knitting group in a café.

I couldn’t hear their conversation, but I could see that they were looking at each other’s projects, comparing yarns and laughing. Their laughter was pure and friendly, the type that comes when people have joy.

Knitting can be bring joy in many ways. The work it self can be enjoyable and relaxing. There is joy in completing a project. There is joy in sharing our knitting with others. There is joy in rejoicing when someone else does well, when we learn a new stitch or when someone we are teaching masters the pattern they are working on. There is joy in sorting out a tangle, in redoing work to fix a piece or in figuring out a difficult pattern.

Joy abides deep in the heart, a gift of God. It is not transient or dependent on circumstances. It is real.

Look for the joy in all the areas of your life. It is there to be found, it is there to be taken, to be received with thanksgiving. May you find it always.

Dear God, grant us joy in our knitting and in all our lives. In Jesus name. Amen.

Song for Sunday: The Day of Resurrection

The day of resurrection!
Earth, tell it out abroad;
The Passover of gladness,
The Passover of God.
From death to life eternal,
From earth unto the sky,
Our Christ hath brought us over
With hymns of victory.

Our hearts be pure from evil,
That we may see aright
The Lord in rays eternal
Of resurrection light;
And, list'ning to His accents,
May hear, so calm and plain,
His own "All hail!" and, hearing,
May raise the victor strain.

Now let the heav'ns be joyful!
Let earth her song begin!
The world resound in triumph,
And all that is therein;
Let all things seen and unseen
Their notes of gladness blend;
For Christ the Lord hath risen,
Our Joy that hath no end.

                                        ~John of Damascus, 8^th century; 

                                           translated by John M. Neale

Have a most blessed and joyous Easter!!!

*Photo by Jordan Parry

Song for Sunday: Joyful, Joyful

This has always been one of my favorite hymns, but right now it's been going through my head a lot. The words are by Henry van Dyke and it is sung to a simplified version of Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.

The parts that have been coming to mind most are

"Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine."

and

"Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man."


Hmmm....seems to be a theme here.  Something to think about.

What songs are resonating with you just now?

On Old Hymn for the Festival of the Resurrection

Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
Endless is the victory, Thou o’er death hast won;
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
Kept the folded grave clothes where Thy body lay.


Thine is the glory, risen conqu’ring Son,
Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er death hast won.Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
Lovingly He greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
Let the church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing;
For her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting.

Thine is the glory, risen conqu’ring Son,
Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er death hast won.


No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of life;
Life is naught without Thee; aid us in our strife;
Make us more than conqu’rors, through Thy deathless love:
Bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above.

Thine is the glory, risen conqu’ring Son,
Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er death hast won.

                                                             HAPPY EASTER!!

Fall

Fall came late this year, but it came with startling beauty.

At least that's how I see it. It actually seemed that there would be no "peak" this season, no time when everything burst into color. In fact, just yesterday there was green mixed in with dullish autumn colors. But today.... bright and glowing with the light just perfect for viewing.

It was so beautiful that we gave up lessons and went to look. I have a feeling that this will be a short autumn as the trees are literally raining leaves.



Jordan brought along his camera,and these are his pictures I am posting.


I wonder if maybe it's because we had to wait so long for it that it seems so much better, so much more vibrant this time around. It's like that with some things, isn't it? I think maybe that's sometimes why God's answer to our prayer might be "wait".


Anyway, today has given us an unexpected blessing and I'm grateful we got to enjoy it.

                           


What's your fall looking like?

Seeing Jesus Face to Face

A memorial service was held yesterday for my pastor friend, Charlie Crook, at the church he was serving when he died. Near the end of the service, the pastor asked us to listen to a song  and imagine that this was what Charlie was doing. Over the loud speakers came a recording of Charlie's voice, sing this song by Aaron Jeffrey. It was the most touching moment in a very poignant service. 

Restless days stand in a clouded haze
Before my weary eyes
As I pray your kingdom come
Like a thief in the night
You know this world can be unkind sometimes
When you don't bow to its whims
But one day you'll take me far from here
Where the sun never dims

(Chorus)
Beyond my eyes 
Beyond the sky
Where tears turn to hope
And hope's the way of life
Beyond my fears
Beyond here
Beyond the realm of time and space
I'll see Jesus face to face
Beyond...beyond

I know some souls who made it there
Oh God, I miss them so
They traded in their earthly cares
To kneel before your throne
But if I could see them now
I know they'd cheer me on
Down this narrow road I'm traveling on
That leads me home 
That leads me home

(Repeat chorus)

Charlie is indeed seeing Jesus face to face now. What joy it is!

Christ is Risen!

Yes!!

The tomb is empty.


The victory won.


Jesus is alive!!

There is no doubting that. But perhaps, in The Wasteland, T.S. Eliot was on to something. The first stanza is subtitled "The Burial of the Dead." Here are the opening lines:

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering 5
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten, 10
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie, 15
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

In the same way that April is the cruelest the month for those who feel no part of it, perhaps Easter is the most difficult holiday for Believers who grieve.

We hear a lot about Christmas being difficult for those who have suffered a loss. And with the constant family gatherings emphasizing the abscence of a loved, it is. But Easter, for the Christian, is meant to be a time of unalloyed Joy. We are celebrating the final victory over death.... but for some it doesn't yet feel like a victory. The grief is too new, too raw.

Still, whatever it feels like for anyone just now, that victory is real. Jesus was dead. He is alive. Those who believe in him live forever in His kingdom, from the moment they believe through all eternity. That can bring us a measure of comfort. More than a measure.

So is it OK for the grieving to join in fully with the celebrations of Easter? I say, yes, because we are celebrating a true thing that nothing can change. But it's also fine not to feel up to it. God knows our hearts, understands pain and loss. After all, He's been there.


May your Easter be blessed and may you find true Joy.