Happy Easter!

by Carol11 Comments
Stushi's Art Christ the Lord Is Risen Today Text: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788 Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia! Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia! Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia! Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia! Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia! Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia! Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia! Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia! Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia! Following our exalted Head, Alleluia! Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia! Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia! Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia! Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia! Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia! King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia! Everlasting life is this, Alleluia! Thee to know, thy power to prove,...
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Five Things I Love To Do (but haven’t lately)

by Carol16 Comments
I enjoy doing a lot of things, but some of my favorite things I haven't done in over a year. Go on a real vacation Work on my scrapbooks See a movie by myself Sleep 'til after noon Take a cruise Okay, I've never actually been on a cruise, but I bet I'd love it. And we have a vacation planned for June. I actually do the things I love on a regular basis. I play the piano, read, take pictures, write, visit museums, zoos, amusement parks, go to baseball games, eat spaghetti, spend time with family and friends. We find time to do the things we enjoy. What about you? What's something you love to do that you haven't gotten to in the last year?...
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Her Plea (flash fiction)

by Carol6 Comments
Image: Christophe Vacher Her Plea by Carol 370 words The sheets felt cool and luxurious against her skin as she laid her arm across the empty space beside her. So, he had woken and left her already. Not surprising. She knew he had planned on working this morning at first light, the growing season began today, but still she missed him. Today, she would hold back her clouds, allow the farmers to plant their crops without rain falling on their backs. She looked down and saw a young woman praying in her temple. Concentrating, she heard the girl’s plea. “Talai, please. Here is my gift.” She laid down a loaf of fresh bread, the hearty aroma rising to Talai’s suite. “I beg you for help. My husband, Benjamin, went out ten days and he hasn’t returned, please send him back to me. Without him, I will die. Just tell me what I need to do and I will do it. Anything.” Tears streamed down the girl’s...
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Friday’s Tale: The Golden Goose by The Brothers Grimm

by Carol2 Comments
This is not the story I think of when I think of the Golden Goose, but it's an amusing little tale by the Grimm brothers. It starts off with a pretty standard family, a husband and wife with three sons, the youngest of whom is always teased and put down. He even has the nickname of Dummling. As usual, the youngest one is the hero of our story, but we're not there yet. The oldest son goes out to the forest to cut wood and his mother sends with him a sweet cake and a bottle of wine. When he enters the woods, he meets a little gray-haired man who asks to share his cake and wine. The boy refuses and keeps going, but when he's cutting the tree, he cuts himself with the axe and has to go home to have it bandaged. The story leaves no doubt that the "accident" was due to the little man. The middle brother...
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Sharing a poem

by Carol4 Comments
As many of you know, April is National Poetry Month, and I wanted to share a couple of poems before the month is over. This one is by Kathleen Norris, award-winning poet, writer, and author of The New York Times bestsellers The Cloister Walk, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, and The Virgin of Bennington. "Luke 14, a Commentary" - Kathleen Norris (Luke 14:7-24) He is there like Clouseau at the odd moment, just right: when he climbs out of the fish pond into which he has spectacularly fallen, and says condescendingly to his hosts, the owners of the estate: "I fail where others succeed." You know this is truth. You know he'll solve the mystery. Unprepossessing as he is, the last of the great detectives. He'll blend again into the scenery, and more than once he'll be taken for the gardener. "Come now," he says, taking us for all we're worth, "Sit in the low place." ...
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