Easter – Valerie's Voice

Cathedral in Bloom

I have never been to the National Cathedral, but have always wanted to see it. Since we were going to be in the Washington D.C. area during holy week, I checked out the cathedral’s schedule. There was a lot going on. I settled on buying tickets to see the Cathedral in Bloom.

The magnificent cathedral is lavishly decorated with flowers for Easter and they keep the bouquets fresh throughout the following week for people to enjoy, adding more beauty to the already impressive architecture.

So once again, we took off with the grandchildren to go exploring.

The Episcopal cathedral was chartered by congress in 1893 and established on Mount St. Alban (the highest point in the city). In 1907 the cornerstone was laid by President Theodore Roosevelt. The construction slowed during periods of economic hardship, so the building wasn’t completed until 1990.

“Our” National Cathedral is for all people. “This Cathedral holds a unique place at the intersection of sacred and civic life. …we strive to serve God and our neighbors as agents of reconciliation; as a trusted voice of moral leadership; and as a sacred space where the country gathers during moments of national significance.”*

Looking up to the rose window on the outside.

Looking out the rose window from the inside.

“In a city of monuments and memorials, this Cathedral stands apart as a vibrant community of people called together to serve and renew the world around us. Our founders envisioned this Cathedral as a sacred space where the nation could gather in good times and in bad.”*

This amazing Easter Lily bouquet had a matching bouquet flanked on the other side of this entryway.

We used a self-guided tour brochure to find our way around the massive building.

I enjoyed this space stained-glass window so I took a photo. I learned later that the small eye in the large red circle is a piece of moon rock brought back by the astronauts of Apollo 11 and given to the Cathedral by NASA

I enjoyed the gothic architecture, stained-glass windows and myriads of flowers.

The Pilgrim Observation Gallery on the 7th floor.

There was a striking observation gallery on the 7^th floor, offering great views of the city.

There were several smaller chapels throughout the cathedral.

Resurrection Chapel: the walls were floor to ceiling Mosaics depicting stories of Jesus.

I have noticed the choir section on television, when I’ve watched special events at the cathedral. Although there were no flowers on the choir seats, the dark, rich, carved wooden benches were stunning.

This Cathedral took on much more meaning after seeing it and touring it. I want to think of it as our National Cathedral from now on.

My enjoyment of flowers along with my enjoyment of exploring churches made this a special outing for me.

The Canterbury Pulpit is made from stone from Canterbury and was carved in England in 1929.

I had a hard time choosing which photos to include on this blog post.

Beauty invites you to enter under the arch.

Enjoy.

This lovely arrangement was tucked in the corner of a stairwell!

*Both quotes taken from the Washington National Cathedral brochure.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter

He is risen. He is risen, indeed!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Good Friday

Lent is soon over: it’s Good Friday, but Easter Sunday is coming! Here are three haikus I wrote for this year’s Lenten journey.

Fast from complaining,
And alter your mindset to
Feast on gratitude.

Practice a new way.
Fast from being critical,
Feast on uplifting.

Lent can be a time
to exercise letting go
and form new habits.

I trust these reminders will carry on.

Zoom-ing

I had not heard of the communication app called Zoom until this pandemic took over our lives. Then Zoom quickly became a part of everyday language, like email and texting. So we downloaded Zoom and started using the “user-friendly” app to stay in touch with others.

We have used Zoom to connect with both our sons and their families at the same time. It’s so nice to see everyone: Gary and me in Northfield, our oldest son and his family in Minneapolis, and our youngest son and his family in Colorado.

We have used Zoom to connect with other groups too. I meet weekly with my book club.

I’ve participated in a church ministry meeting using Zoom, and small group. We connected with out-of-state friends over a “social hour” one evening.

I have also started a story time with my two grandchildren in Colorado…I set up the meeting and their parents get them situated on their end and then I start reading children’s books to them and they stay focused and seem to enjoy it as much as I do. It feels good to me to be able to connect with them this way.

Reading to my grandchildren on the other side of the screen…in Colorado.

We even had an Easter egg hunt over Zoom. On Easter Sunday Gary and I hid Easter eggs around our house.

An Easter egg hidden in our Christmas cactus.

Gary took his phone using Zoom and walked around the house letting the grandchildren find the eggs as he scanned the rooms. When the kids spotted an egg they’d call it out and tell us the color. It turned out well…it was fun to see all three grandkids engaged in this activity (the fourth grandson is a newborn). They may not remember this Easter egg hunt but we sure will. It helped me overcome my sense of sadness at not being able to gather together in person to celebrate Easter, my favorite holiday.

We collected the empty eggs into an Easter basket I made many years ago.

And so, the beat goes on…and we will continue to use Zoom to connect with family and friends. This pandemic would be a lot more difficult without the technology we have these days to stay in touch. I’m grateful for it.

Happy Easter

Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!

Alleluia!

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 38-39

Happy Easter

Christ is Risen! He is risen, indeed!

Mark 10:14 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Easter Eggs

It’s been awhile since I’ve colored eggs for Easter, but with our grandchildren here of course we had to do it. I hard boiled 11 eggs and ate one so that left us with 10 eggs. 😉

I plopped the tablets from the egg decorating kit into cups of vinegar and made several bold, color dyes to chose from.

The kids (of all ages) had fun drawing on the egg with a clear wax pencil or crayon, deciding which color to dip the egg into, then watching and waiting, with anticipation, to see how their egg would turn out.

The most unique egg is one our grandson envisioned and had help with the drawing. He has talked about Christmas trees since Christmas…he was so enthralled with our tree…so he wanted a Christmas tree on his Easter egg. O well, we couldn’t have Easter without Christmas.

An egg with Happy Easter written in Portuguese, the other language we hear in our house these days, is another special egg for our basket.

Adding mini-stickers to the dry eggs the next day.

Ukraine is known for their beautiful Easter eggs. I have a bowl full of Ukrainian Easter Eggs. I brought a few home with me from my visits there. These eggs are wood, not the typical, fragile “real” eggs. Ukrainian Easter Eggs are amazing… detailed, intricate, artistic. I took a class on how to paint Ukrainian eggs but I never caught on to the technique. It is an art, and like all art, it usually takes much practice, and some talent.