Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Noli me tangere  (Touch me Not), from the Ressurection  Giotto di Bondone

The Hope of the Resurrection

by Vachel Lindsay

Though I have watched so many mourners weep
O'er the real dead, in dull earth laid asleep—
Those dead seemed but the shadows of my days
That passed and left me in the sun's bright rays.
Now though you go on smiling in the sun
Our love is slain, and love and you were one.
You are the first, you I have known so long,
Whose death was deadly, a tremendous wrong.
Therefore I seek the faith that sets it right
Amid the lilies and the candle-light.
I think on Heaven, for in that air so dear
We two may meet, confused and parted here.
Ah, when man's dearest dies,'tis then he goes
To that old balm that heals the centuries' woes.
Then Christ's wild cry in all the streets is rife:—
"I am the Resurrection and the Life."

Though I have watched so many mourners weep O'er the real dead, in dull earth laid asleep— Those dead seemed but the shadows of my days That passed and left me in the sun's bright rays. Now though you go on smiling in the sun Our love is slain, and love and you were one. You are the first, you I have known so long, Whose death was deadly, a tremendous wrong. Therefore I seek the faith that sets it right Amid the lilies and the candle-light. I think on Heaven, for in that air so dear We two may meet, confused and parted here. Ah, when man's dearest dies,'tis then he goes To that old balm that heals the centuries' woes. Then Christ's wild cry in all the streets is rife:— "I am the Resurrection and the Life. "

Read more at: http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/6347/the_hope_of_the_resurrection

Though I have watched so many mourners weep O'er the real dead, in dull earth laid asleep— Those dead seemed but the shadows of my days That passed and left me in the sun's bright rays. Now though you go on smiling in the sun Our love is slain, and love and you were one. You are the first, you I have known so long, Whose death was deadly, a tremendous wrong. Therefore I seek the faith that sets it right Amid the lilies and the candle-light. I think on Heaven, for in that air so dear We two may meet, confused and parted here. Ah, when man's dearest dies,'tis then he goes To that old balm that heals the centuries' woes. Then Christ's wild cry in all the streets is rife:— "I am the Resurrection and the Life. "

Read more at: http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/6347/the_hope_of_the_resurrection

Though I have watched so many mourners weep O'er the real dead, in dull earth laid asleep— Those dead seemed but the shadows of my days That passed and left me in the sun's bright rays. Now though you go on smiling in the sun Our love is slain, and love and you were one. You are the first, you I have known so long, Whose death was deadly, a tremendous wrong. Therefore I seek the faith that sets it right Amid the lilies and the candle-light. I think on Heaven, for in that air so dear We two may meet, confused and parted here. Ah, when man's dearest dies,'tis then he goes To that old balm that heals the centuries' woes. Then Christ's wild cry in all the streets is rife:— "I am the Resurrection and the Life. "

Read more at: http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/6347/the_hope_of_the_resurrection

Though I have watched so many mourners weep O'er the real dead, in dull earth laid asleep— Those dead seemed but the shadows of my days That passed and left me in the sun's bright rays. Now though you go on smiling in the sun Our love is slain, and love and you were one. You are the first, you I have known so long, Whose death was deadly, a tremendous wrong. Therefore I seek the faith that sets it right Amid the lilies and the candle-light. I think on Heaven, for in that air so dear We two may meet, confused and parted here. Ah, when man's dearest dies,'tis then he goes To that old balm that heals the centuries' woes. Then Christ's wild cry in all the streets is rife:— "I am the Resurrection and the Life.

Read more at: http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/6347/the_hope_of_the_resurrection

Independence Day

Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776  Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

Excerpt from a letter to Abigail 

by John Adams

The second day of July, 1776, 

will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. 

I am apt to believe it will be celebrated 

by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. 

It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, 

by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. 

It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, 

with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, 

from one end of this continent to the other, 

from this time forward forevermore.

     

You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. 

I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure 

that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration 

and support and defend these states. 

Yet, through all the gloom, 

I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. 

I can see that the end is more than worth all the means. 

And that posterity will triumph in that day’s transaction, 

even although we should rue it, 

which I trust in God we shall not…

     

It may be the will of Heaven 

that America will suffer calamities still more wasting, 

and distress yet more dreadful. 

If this is to be the case, it will have this good effect at least. 

It will inspire us with many virtues which we have not, 

and correct many errors, follies and vices 

which threaten to disturb, dishonor and destroy us. 

The furnace of affliction produces refinement, 

in States as well as individuals...

But I must submit all my hopes and fears to an overruling Providence, 

in which, unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe.

Decoration Day

A British Spitfire Downs an Enemy Plane  T. Cowill

And Irish Airman Foresees His Death

by William Butler Yeats

I know that I shall meet my fate

Somewhere among the clouds above;

Those that I fight I do not hate,

Those that I guard I do not love;

My country is Kiltartan Cross,

My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,

No likely end could bring them loss

Or leave them happier than before.

Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,

Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,

A lonely impulse of delight

Drove to this tumult in the clouds;

I balanced all, brought all to mind,

The years to come seemed waste of breath,

A waste of breath the years behind

In balance with this life, this death.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas

The Nativity
Bernardino Jacopi Butinone

The Crucifiction  Matthias Grunewald

Resurrection of Christ
and Women at the Tomb
Fra Angelico          

Revelation 22:20

“Surely I am coming quickly."

Amen. 


      




Even so, 
come, Lord Jesus! 

The Last Judgement  Rogier Van der Weyden

The Eleventh Day of Christmas

The Madonna
Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato

John 1:14 and 16-17

And the Word became flesh 

and dwelt among us, 

and we beheld His glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 

The Resurrection  Carl Heinrich Bloch

full of grace and truth. 

And of His fullness we have all received, 

and grace for grace. 

For the law was given 
through Moses,

but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The Tenth Day of Christmas

Paradise  Jan Brueghel the Younger

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God, 

and the Word was God. 

He was in the beginning with God. 

All things were made through Him, 

and without Him nothing was made 
that was made.

Nativity Scene of Hope
Rembrandt van Rijn

In Him was life, 

and the life was the light of men.

And the light shines in the darkness, 

and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Ninth Day of Christmas

Crucifiction Triptych  Joos Van Gent 

The Nativity  Robert Campin

Nativity
Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre

Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given; 

And the government will be upon His shoulder. 

And His name will be called 

Wonderful, 

Counselor, 

Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, 

Prince of Peace.

Thanksgiving Eve

Old Woman in Prayer  Nicolaes Maes

Thanksgiving Exhortations  

from Deuteronomy 8:7-18

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land,
a land of brooks of water, 

of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 

a land of wheat and barley,
of vines and fig trees and pomegranates,
a land of olive oil and honey;  

a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity,

in which you will lack nothing; 

a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

When you have eaten and are full, 

then you shall bless the LORD your God 

for the good land which He has given you. 

“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God 

by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes
 which I command you today, 

lest—when you have eaten and are full,
and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 

and when your herds and your flocks multiply, 

and your silver and your gold are multiplied, 

and all that you have is multiplied; 

when your heart is lifted up, 

and you forget the LORD your God
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 

from the house of bondage; 

who led you through that great and terrible wilderness,

in which were fiery serpents and scorpions
and thirsty land where there was no water; 

who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 

who fed you in the wilderness with manna, 

which your fathers did not know, 

that He might humble you and that He might test you, 

to do you good in the end— 

then you say in your heart, 

‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’  

 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, 

for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, 

that He may establish His covenant
which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Veteran's Day, Armistice Day, Remembrance Day

Poppies  Claude Monet

In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

A Day for Spooks

The Scream  Edvard Munch

It's Halloween
by Harry Behn
Tonight is the night
When dead leaves fly
Like witches on switches
Across the sky,
When elf and sprite
Flit through the night
On a moony sheen.

Tonight is the night
When leaves make a sound
Like a gnome in his home
Under the ground,
When spooks and trolls
Creep out of holes
Mossy and green.

Tonight is the night
When pumpkins stare
Through sheaves and leaves everywhere,
When ghouls and ghost and goblin host
Dance round their queen.
It's Halloween.