Living Gallery and Easter 09

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Saturday we drove over to Jason’s college to attend the Living Gallery that he was a part of this year. A famous painting is depicted on stage, and the “living” part of the living gallery are the people who are positioned into place as some of the characters in a painting. Musical numbers are performed while the paintings are on stage, and in between the painting and music there is a play going on. This year the crucifixion and Easter story were depicted through the eyes of Joseph of Arimethea, “an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus” in order to bury it in his own tomb. (Mark 15:43.) He had been “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38), and the play depicted the struggle he probably underwent from being a secret disciple to making this bold request, which would have then branded him as a follower or at least a sympathizer.

Everything was so well done. The music was beautiful and touching. The story realistically portrayed not only Joseph’s struggle, but the effect of the events of the crucifixion on everyone from Pilate and his wife to the disciples. Then the confusion, disbelief, and finally understanding joy of His own when they learned He was alive! When the program ended with the Hallelujah chorus, though I am not a hand-waver in worship by nature, even I felt like raising my arms or at least placing my hand over my heart. I smiled as a little child somewhere near us was humming along — I wanted to sing along myself! And I did, in my heart.

The painting Jason was in was Ecce Homo (meaning “Behold the Man“) by Antonio Ciseri.

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This is just the painting: I don’t have any pictures of the performance with the live people in place — understandably we weren’t allowed to take pictures during the performance. It would have distracted from the music and program. Jason portrayed the guy at the far left with his hand on his hip.

But up close he looked more like a zombie:

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Striking his pose:

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For some of the paintings, like Da Vinci’s Last Supper and Rembrandt’s The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (one of my all-time favorites), at first they had the live people moving a bit, then the lights flashed off, then when they came back on the people were all “frozen” in place like the painting. For most of the paintings they also did different things with the lighting that brought out different aspects of it. The live people gave it 3-D effect. I found it ironic that my child who was the least “still” of my three had to stand still for this production. I don’t know how any of them held their poses for so long, but Jason said each scene was only up for about 3 minutes. It sure seemed longer! I don’t think I could have done it. Some of them, like the ones in the sculpture of Sansovino’s Descent from the Cross (couldn’t find a picture) were held in harnesses because the Christ figure was in a horizontal position while being taken down from the cross.

All together 9 paintings and 3 sculptures were portrayed. They did a wonderful, amazing job, and it blessed my heart immensely.

It was a great way to celebrate Easter as well!

Easter morning we had our traditional Resurrection Rolls with breakfast, a good Easter service at church, a good dinner, our unique Easter egg hunt, a bit of a nap, a great musical and narrative presentation at church Sunday night, and strawberry shortcake to top the evening off!

Hope you had a blessed Easter as well.

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Jesse is out of school for Easter break this week, and Jim took off to begin painting the house — but it is raining today. I’m in high gear preparing for the ladies’ meeting tonight and the luncheon in a couple of weeks.
Happy Monday!

He Is Risen!

Posted on April 12, 2009 by Barbara Harper

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The Cradle is empty, because Jesus had to grow up a righteous man, fulfilling the prophecies of the Messiah, and take our sins on Himself, that we might be made the righteousness of God.

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The Cross is empty, because when He said, “It is finished”, it was. And He died.

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The Tomb is empty, because death could not hold Jesus, and He is risen, and in some mysterious way is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, making intercession for us, and yet amazingly dwells in His children, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.

The Cradle, the Cross and the Tomb are all empty, that we might be filled with His Life.

~ Terry Rayburn

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Morning breaks upon the tomb,
Jesus scatters all its gloom.
Day of triumph through the skies–
See the glorious Saviour rise.
Christians! Dry your flowing tears,
Chase those unbelieving fears;
Look on his deserted grave,
Doubt no more his power to save.
Ye who are of death afraid,
Triumph in the scattered shade:
Drive your anxious cares away,
See the place where Jesus lay.

~ William Bengo Collyer
1782-1854

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Far be sorrow, tears and sighing!
Waves are calming, storms are dying,
Moses hath o’erpassed the sea,
Israel’s captive hosts are free;
Life by death slew death and saved us,
In His blood the Lamb hath saved us,
Clothing us with victory.

Jesus Christ from death has risen,
Lo! His Godhead bursts the prison,
While His Manhood passes free,
Vanquishing our misery.
Rise we free from condemnation;
Through our God’s humiliation,
Ours is now the victory.

Vain the foe’s despair and madness!
See the dayspring of our gladness!
Slaves no more of Satan we;
Children, by the Son set free;
Rise, for life with death has striven,
All the snares of hell are riven,
Rise and claim the victory.

~ Unknown author, possibly 13th century

Am I a stone and not a sheep?

Posted on April 11, 2009 by Barbara Harper

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Am I a stone and not a sheep
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy Cross,
To number drop by drop Thy Blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon –
I, only I.

Yet give not o’er,
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.

~ Christina Rosetti (1830-1894)

I see the scourges tear His back,
I see the piercing crown,
And of that crowd who smite and mock,
I feel that I am one.

‘Twas I that shed the sacred blood,
I nailed Him to the tree,
I crucified the Christ of God,
I joined the mockery.

Yet not the less that blood avails,
To cleanse away my sin;
And not the less that cross prevails
To give me peace within.

~ Horatius Bonar

St. Patrick’s Day

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Barbara Harper

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(Graphic courtesy of Anne’s Place)

Top o’ the mornin’ to ye!

Do you know the proper response to that greeting? “And the rest of the day to yourself.”

Though I think we have some degree of Irish blood in our veins, when I was growing up, we didn’t really celebrate or observe St. Patrick’s Day, except with the getting pinched if you didn’t wear green at school. which Sally tells us is an American invention. I don’t know why I never wondered why we did that. I don’t remember if we had corned beef and cabbage on that day — probably not, as it was one of my father’s favorite meals, we usually had it his birthday in late February. In my Christian college some staunchly wore orange rather than green to show their siding with Protestantism rather than Catholicism, though technically Baptists aren’t under the Protestant umbrella. But I like that the day seems to have become a celebration of all things Irish. Who doesn’t love the Irish? This poem I saw at Sally‘s says it well:

What Shall I Say About the Irish?

The utterly impractical, never predictable,
Sometimes irascible, quite inexplicable, Irish.
Strange blend of shyness,
pride and conceit,
And stubborn refusal to bow in defeat.
He’s spoiling and ready to argue and fight,
Yet the smile of a child
fills his soul with delight.
His eyes are the quickest to well up with tears,
Yet his strength is the strongest
to banish your fears.
His hate is as fierce as his devotion is grand,
And there is no middle ground
on which he will stand.
He’s wild and he’s gentle,
he’s good and he’s bad.
He’s proud and he’s humble,
he’s happy and sad.
He’s in love with the ocean,
the earth and the skies,
He’s enamoured with beauty wherever it lies.
He’s victor and victim, a star and a clod,
But mostly he’s Irish—
in love with his God.

One of my favorite missionaries, Amy Carmichael, is of Irish descent, and Irish folk songs are some of my favorite music.

Here are some St. Patrick’s Day links you might enjoy:

Updated to add this one: I saw on David McGuire‘s Facebook page this morning the statement, “It’s St. Patrick’s Day, but his inspirational life story is so much more than chasing snakes out of Ireland!” I asked if he has any good links about Patrick’s life, and he graciously sent me these:

The Confession of St Patrick.
What Evangelicals Can Learn From Saint Patrick.
St. Patrick FAQ from IrishChristian.net.

Very good reading!

I don’t remember who alerted me to One Pretty Thing, but I enjoy the compilations of projects and posts based on holidays or themes. She has several St. Patrick’s Day projects for kids here and here, and general St. Patrick’s Day projects here.

Skip To My Lou always has neat stuff: her St. Patrick’s Day links are here.

Laura Ingalls Gunn at Decor to Adore has been treating us to a feast of Irish decor this week with touches for an Irish table setting and meal, Irish castles (I’m not much of a traveler, but I would love to visit an Irish castle some day), Irish china, Irish Linen, Irish crystal, and Irish thatched roof cottages.

Laura also shared a list of her favorite Irish-based films. Of those I have only seen The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara.

Kelli at There is no place like home has some sweet touches for St. Patrick’s Day decorations.

Semicolon has a list of favorite Irish books. I’ve not read any of them yet.

And Tipnut.com has a list of Irish-related links as well, including a live webcam to watch for leprechauns.

And I can’t have an Irish post without linking to my all-time favorite Irishmen, the Irish Tenors. Here they sing, “Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears.” about the first Irish immigrant to come through Ellis Island, 15 year old Annie Moore.

In her little bag she carried
All her past and history,
And her dreams for the future
In the land of liberty.
And courage is the passport
When your old world disappears
But there’s no future in the past
When you’re fifteen years

And probably the best known Irish hymn is “Be Thou My Vision.”

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Poetry Friday: St. Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Poetry Friday is hosted at Big A little a today.

St. Valentine’s Day

by Edgar Guest

Let loose the sails of love and let them fill
With breezes sweet with tenderness today;
Scorn not the praises youthful lovers say;
Romance is old, but it is lovely still.
Not he who shows his love deserves the jeer,
But he who speaks not what she longs to hear.
There is no shame in love’s devoted speech;
Man need not blush his tenderness to show.
‘Tis shame to love and never let her know,
TO keep his heart forever out of reach.
Not he the fool who lets his love go on,
But he who spurns it when his love is won.

Men proudly vaunt their love of gold and fame,
High station and accomplishments of skill,
Yet of life’s greatest conquests they are still,
And deem it weakness, or an act of shame
To seem to place high value on the love
Which first of all they should be proudest of.
Let loose the sails of love and let them take
The tender breezes till the day be spent;
Only the fool chokes out life’s sentiment.
She is a prize too lovely to forsake,
Be not ashamed to send your valentine;
She has your love, but needs its outward sign.

Even though this is directed to men, I think it is important for all of us to take the time to let our loved ones know we love them. We all need “the outward sign.” And even though this should be a year-round activity, I love that Valentine’s Day provides a special opportunity to do so. For me Valentine’s Day isn’t just about romantic love, but any kind of love. It has always been a special family day for us.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Quotes about love for Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Barbara Harper

lacy 1. All you really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt. ~ Lucy Van Pelt

2. I don’t understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine’s Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon.
~ Unknown

3. Impart unto me, O God, I pray Thee, the spirit of Thy Love, that I may be more anxious to give than to receive, more eager to understand than to be understood, more thoughtful for others, more forgetful of myself. ~ F. B. Meyer

4. We say that grace is “unmerited favor.” And we are instructed to love as Christ loves us. He shows us grace; we are to show each other grace. What does that mean? That means we are to be kinder to people than what we think they deserve. ~ Unknown

5. Respect is love in plain clothes. ~ Frankie Byrne

6. It is love in old age, no longer blind, that is true love. For love’s highest intensity doesn’t necessarily mean its highest quality. Glamour and jealousy are gone; and the ardent caress…is valueless compared to the reassuring touch of a trembling hand. Passersby commonly see little beauty in the embrace of young lovers on a park bench, but the understanding smile of an old wife to her husband is one of the loveliest things in the world. ~ Booth Tarkington

7. True love ennobles and dignifies the material labors of life; and homely services rendered for love’s sake have in them a poetry that is immortal.
~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

8. The springs of love are in God, not in us. It is absurd to look for the love of God in our hearts naturally; it is only there when it has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

— Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, April 30

9. The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal, how can you hope to find inward peace?
– A.W. Tozer

10. We should measure affection, not like youngers by the ardour of its passion, but by its strength and constancy.
– Cicero

11. The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved – loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
– Victor Hugo

12. Loving can cost a lot but not loving always costs more, and those who fear to love often find that want of love is an emptiness that robs the joy from life.
– Merie Shain

13. Love means to love that which is unlovable; or it is no virtue at all.
~ G K Chesterton

I am linking this to Thursday Thirteen today, now under new management.

New Year’s Prayer

Posted on January 3, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Another year is dawning
With the chance to start anew.
May I be kinder, wiser, Lord,
In all I say and do.

Not so caught up in selfish gain
That I would fail to see
The things in life that mean the most
Cost not a fancy fee.

The warm, kind word that I can give,
The outstretched hand to help,
The prayers I pray for those in need–
More precious these than wealth.

I know not what may lie ahead
Of laughter or of tears;
I only need to know each day
That You are walking near.

I’m thankful for this brand new year
As now I humbly pray,
My hand secure in Yours, dear Lord,
Each step along the way.

-Author unknown

New Year’s Meditations

Posted on January 1, 2009 by Barbara Harper

But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. Deuteronomy 11:11-12.

I seem to start each new year with those verses. but I like to think of them in that way: that whatever “hills” and “valleys” the new year may bring, the Lord will be with us and take care of us.

Laurel Wreath is hosting a New Year’s Meditation Carnival, where she invites us to post our hopes, dreams, desires, and goals for the New Year (and she’s even awarding one participant a $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com.)

My friend Susan at By Grace posted several days ago about making goals instead of resolutions and examining every area of our lives to see what we need to work on. I’d like to use that format.

Spiritual: To “keep on keeping on,” to stay in the Word to be more attuned to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and more obedient more quickly..

Physical: I don’t want to just say generally “I need to lose weight” though I seriously do. But for specific goals I want need to go back to tracking what I eat through SparkPeople — that in itself curbs a lot of intake, plus educates and motivates — and either walk or use my low-impact aerobic video at least three times a week.

Marriage: I need to be more willing to lay aside what I am doing to focus on my husband. I tend to feel “interrupted” and need to remember that he is my priority.

Children: To pray every day for them especially as two are on the threshold of leaving the nest; to seek specific ways God would have me minister to them.

Homemaking: To get those curtains made!! To get back into planning meals. To make a master-list for grocery shopping to hopefully help me remember things so I don’t have to make multiple trips by the store each week.

Creativity: I want to organize my supplies so it is easier to work on a project and find what I need. I want to explore some ideas I’ve been toying with for an Etsy shop. I want to make time for some “serious” writing.

Ministry: I want to make up a questionnaire for the ladies concerning our group and what things they’d like to see us do. I want to be more faithful: I’m ashamed to say I’ve gotten distracted and begun some projects/events very late. God helped and blessed after prayer and repentance, but I want to handle these things better. I think I have also about decided to pass on the tract ministry to someone else — ordering tracts and making labels with the church contact information and sticking them on each tract. I have been thinking since Jim’s mom came that I need to pare down somewhere, and this is a pretty self-contained ministry that someone else could easily do.

We have a big year ahead with the college graduation and wedding of our middle son, another son just on the verge of leaving the nest, another learning to drive, along with the usual events of the year and whatever unknowns it may bring. We’ll have the adjustments of a new president who is very personable, likable, and inspirational, but who had views I strongly disagree with.

One of my deepest desires is that some (preferably all!) of my lost loved ones would be saved. My prayer for all of us can be summed up in three of Paul’s prayers:

Ephesians 3:14-19: “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

Colossians 1:9-12: “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light…”

Philippians 1:9-11: “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ, Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”

New Year’s links

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Barbara Harper

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Rob at ivman has a great list of “New Year’s resolutions you can keep,” such as, “Procrastinate more. Starting tomorrow” and “Don’t jump off a cliff just because everyone else did.” If you need some attainable goals…or just want a good chuckle…check them out.

Gretchen at Lifenut posted 100 irresolutions that she listed last year along with her end-of-the-year progress report. It was quite funny — I might try that. It might be easier to come up with things I won’t do!!

A couple of years ago I posted New Year’s Resolutions for your dog (My favorite: “I will no longer be beholden to the sound of the can opener.”) and a list of New Year’s wishes that someone had e-mailed me (May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs and your stocks not fall; and may your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your cholesterol, your white blood count and your mortgage interest not rise,” etc.)

Here are some New Year’s quotes, a hymn by John Newton titled “The Year We Have Now Passed Through,” and another hymn by Frances Ridley Havergal titled “Another Year Is Dawning.”

Last year, for some reason, I was facing the New Year with anxiety and wrote about God’s help for that in “The year to come.”

At the end of last year I began a study based on different statements in the Bible beginning with “I will…,” which I though a sort of resolution: “I will trust in thee,” “ I will declare thy name,” “ I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy,” “I will confess my transgressions,” and others. That led to a post called “Biblical Resolutions.” I see there I only got through Genesis to the Psalms at the time: I’ll have to look up my notes and see if I ever finished looking through the rest of the Bible for those “I will” statements. That study was a blessing to me, with much food for thought.

My friend Susan at By Grace posted several days ago about making goals instead of resolutions and examining every area of our lives to see what we need to work on. I am hoping to do that in time for Laurel Wreath’s New Year’s Meditation Carnival, where she invites us to post our hopes, dreams, desires, and goals for the New Year (and she’s even rewarding one participant and $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com.) That would be a great way to start the year!

(Graphic courtesy of Antique Clipart.)

Christmas 2008

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Barbara Harper

We had Christmas in stages this year.

We met up Tuesday night with two of my sisters who live about 40 minutes away at a Mexican restaurant between our locations.

Jason left Christmas Eve afternoon to spend a few days with his fiancee and her family, so we opened his presents to and from us as well as our stockings earlier that day.

Christmas morning we brought Grandma over. While I finished up a few things, Jesse played his piano recital piece, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.”

(All of these picture, by the way, were taken by Jeremy except the one later on of him.)

Then Jim read the Christmas story.

Then we opened presents. See that big box right in front? It’s mine. 🙂

I had thought these were really neat and been wanting one, but thought they were way too expensive. But my husband found a great deal on one.

Grandma had a great time.

Living alone and then with a daughter who did not want to celebrate Christmas at all, I think it was a nice change for her to experience a family Christmas again.

We did have a little bit of frustration, though…We used to open one gift at a time while everyone watched and then we talked about it, but that took all morning, so now we kind of go by rounds. Jesse passes out a present to everyone, and we each open that one gift at the same time before we move on, and that gives us a chance to explain or tell the story behind the gift. Grandma, at this stage, can’t seem to wait for anything (I’m wondering if this is true for others elderly parents with some degree of dementia?), so she would be wanting help with her present while Jim was trying to talk to one of the boys about theirs — no waiting patiently in between. But overall that was a relatively minor blip in the day though it was frustrating at the time.

Jim here is opening a globe from Jeremy with constellations on it (astronomy is one of Jim’s interests, plus he likes interesting things on his desk).

Jesse playing one of his new DS games:

For the past several years I have made these for Christmas breakfast:

Sister Shubert’s (or Schubert?) sausage wraps and cinnamon rolls. In the frozen section of the grocery store, only 15 minutes or so in the oven. In the past the boys didn’t want to have breakfast first, but I have low blood sugar and couldn’t wait til mid-morning, so these were a nice compromise. I could heat them up before we got started, and then people could wander in and out of the kitchen as desired. I also opened a can of sliced apples and added sugar and cinnamon and warmed them up.

Jeremy waiting for Christmas dinner…

Which usually consists of a spiral-sliced brown sugar glazed ham that our local grocery store always has on sale for Christmas, plus Cheesy Potatoes, Vegetable Medley, and brown and serve rolls. Later on we had pumpkin pie and apple pie.

We took Grandma home after the pies, then crashed for the rest of the day. I heated up a plate of leftovers for dinner while Jim and Jeremy made ham sandwiches and Jesse ate leftover Mexican food.

Then Friday we all pitched in for a cleaning marathon. One of Jim’s nephews with his wife and five children, who used to live near Grandma in ID but moved to TN, were coming up for a surprise visit to Grandma. They arrived late in the afternoon while Jim was out picking up Grandma.

Surprise!

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They just stayed over one night, but we had an enjoyable visit. It was good to catch up with them. Their kids range in age from 4 to 12, and I don’t think I had seen them since the oldest was about 4. It had been a long time since we had young kids in the house, and I was expecting a lot of noise and commotion. but they were very quiet and exceptionally well-behaved.

After they left on Saturday we again crashed except for laundry and had pizza for dinner. It was nice to have the house all clean! Usually it takes a few days after Christmas to get things in order.

Yesterday was a fairly normal Sunday. Jason gets back this afternoon, and I have an inkling he’ll bring a couple more presents with him. We’ll probably take the tree down later this week, then it will be “back to normal.” Though in many ways getting back into routine is nice, I often miss the Christmas festivities, lights, gatherings, etc.

Updated to add: I saw after I posted this that 5 Minutes For Moms was hosting a Christmas Photo Carnival, so I linked this post to that.