My mom was a collector and had two prominent collections. One was angels. When she passed away in 2009 I set up a table in the fellowship hall of the church where we had her funeral, and set out all her angels with a sign saying “take an angel to remember Ruby”. It was a hit…the angels were all gone by the end of the luncheon.
This is an angel I saved from my mother’s collection. It has a favorite scripture etched into it: Isaiah 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
Her other significant collection was clowns. She had a pretty sophisticated clown collection, with many clowns by specific artists. We eventually sold most of them…but didn’t get their true value.
The clown I kept from my mother’s collection.
One favorite clown that I saved was a tall clown on a stand, with different masks hanging from its neck to interchange. When our sons were little, they‘d go to grandma and ask if they could change the masks…when she said yes, they very carefully took off one mask and replaced it with another. That clown sits on top of our bookshelf in our sunroom now. I saved a few smaller, whimsical clowns that are tucked in different places throughout the house.
A glass clown figure tucked into the corner of a curio cabinet.
For many years a clown picture, that my mom cross-stitched, hung in my laundry room. It had been in the guest room where the grandkids slept when they came to visit, but the picture scared them, so we moved it out. I agree, clowns can be kind of scary.
The cross-stitch picture my mother made.
The cross-stitch is large with bright colors. It is professionally framed in a blue frame with glass. Unfortunately, we have no place to display it in our new home, so I decided to sell it (after checking with other family members.) The gal who bought it is thrilled to have it, and that makes it easier to part with…it will be on display for others to enjoy, instead of in a box in the garage.
There was a variety of clowns in my mom’s collection.
Of course, to this day, whenever I see a clown I think of my mom. She had a fun and unique collection.
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! (Luke 2:8-12)
This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
First morning light…6:35 am 10/1/24
7:03 am on 10/1/24… the moment of sunrise.
7:04 am on 10/1/24…here comes the sun.
A couple hours later we trekked up Oberg Mountain and saw more beautiful colors of a different kind. Once again, I was grateful to be able to hike this trail, and was thankful to have the opportunity to do so.
10:00 am on 10/1/24…Oberg Lake
10:00 am on 10/1/24
10:15 am on 10/1/24…a view out to Lake Superior on the Oberg Trail.
10:30 am on 10/1/24… one of seven outlooks on the Oberg Trail.
And back at the cabin…the lovely, wispy clouds.
2:30 pm on 10/1/24
The sky was constantly changing, but the waves continue to roll in, year after year, reminding me of God’s faithfulness.
7:43 pm on 10/1/24… the cabin backlit by the early evening light.
8:30 pm on 10/1/24 …the end of our day, fire light on the rocks and a stunning display of stars overhead in the night sky.
This morning I went for a walk with a friend in Carleton’s lower arb. As we walked near the river, an eagle flew out of a tree in front of us and flew across the river to the other side. It was amazing to see it up close…the wing span was large.
The eagle flew from one side of the river to the other
I thought of the verse in Isaiah 40:31 “…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
It was a majestic sight and a wonderful reminder that as I am hoping in the Lord these days, He will renew my strength.
I like radishes!
And…my friend surprised me with a bunch of beautiful radishes.
It never ceases to amaze me…the chapel at Lakewood Cemetery, on Lake Bde Maka Ska (previously Lake Calhoun). My paternal grandparents, and a beloved aunt, are buried in this picturesque cemetery. That is how I discovered the chapel. I didn’t know about it before I went to the cemetery to see the family graves. Since my discovery, I do visit the chapel occasionally, and often bring friends or out-of-town guests there, if they have not seen the stunning chapel.
My paternal grandmother’s gravestone.
The cemetery itself seems like an extra special place. Two Hundred and Fifty acres of mature trees, lush grass, and rolling hills with magnificent tombstones and monuments. I learned on my last visit, the grounds of the cemetery are an accredited arboretum. I would assume my grandparents chose to lie in rest at this cemetery because of its beauty and proximity to a city lake. I know my grandmother loved the water, as do I. And as did Auntie Ag.
The Lakewood Cemetery Memorial Chapel.
The Memorial Chapel was completed in 1910. It is the centerpiece of the cemetery. It is on the National Register of Historic Places, and it is a work of art; an excellent example of Byzantine mosaic art. I’m not sure why more attention isn’t given to this edifice. It is said, if this chapel were in Europe, thousands would visit it.
“The dome is 40 feet high and ringed with 24 stained glass windows, set in copper and serves as a sundial. Twelve angels adorn the door, relating to the Old Testament’s 12 sons of Jacob, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 gates to the Holy City and the 12 disciples of Christ in the New Testament.” There is a lot of symbolism within the artwork, explained in the brochure.
A zoomed-in image of one of twelve angels in the dome…all small mosaic tiles.
The chapel at Lakewood Cemetery is open to the public daily, when not reserved for special events, such as weddings or funerals. When we were there with our son and his family recently, there was a sound check going on so it was closed to the public, however a woman came over to us and said if we kept silent, she would open the doors so we could peak into the chapel to see the magnificent dome, its amazing walls, and its beautiful mosaic.
From the brochure:
"In 1906, Lakewood’s trustees formed a committee to guide the chapel development and solicit design concepts from leading architects.
In 1908 the Lakewood Building committee hired Harry Wild Jones, a prominent Minneapolis architect.
In 1909 the Lakewood Board of Trustees commissioned New York interior designer Charles Lamb to design the interior. He suggested a Byzantine mosaic design based on the interior of the San Marco Cathedral in Venice.
Lamb traveled to Rome to enlist six of Italy’s most accomplished mosaic artists, who had just completed a project at the Vatican. In Venice they created more than 10 million mosaic pieces, from marble, stone and glass fused with gold and silver [for the Lakewood Memorial Chapel].
The tiles, no larger than a fingernail, were attached to gummed cloth and shipped to Minneapolis. The artist themselves arrived in the summer of 1909 and painstakingly assembled the masterpiece inside the chapel."
The chapel was completed in 1910.
“The alcove at the front of the chapel is lined with entwined mosaic olive trees, whose fruit is known for healing properties.”
Today the chapel stands virtually unchanged in appearance from the day it was completed.
One of four large mosaic figures that represent the virtues of Love, Hope, Memory and Faith. They adorn the side walls below the dome. This particular figure is “Hope”.
If I lived close to this impressive – dazzling – spectacular chapel, I’m confident I would find myself visiting more frequently, just sitting inside and being still.
Copper doors and mosaic tiles and lots of detail are in this architectural masterpiece.
Russian Matryoshka dolls (I bought in the Ukraine) depicting the Christmas story.
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2: 15-20
Years ago, I read several of Max Lucado’s books. He writes short devotionals in chapter form and I always liked his style of writing. One of the meditations in the book God Came Near, has stayed with me ever since I read it 30+ years ago, (which doesn’t happen much for me these days…remembering themes or plots of books or stories, plays or movies that is).
The chapter “When God Sighed’ in his book God Came Near, talks about a surprisingly, small word tucked into the passage where Jesus is ready to heal a deaf man, in Mark 7: 31-37. After putting his fingers in the man’s ears, Jesus looks up to heaven and sighs before he does any healing. Max goes on to say “I never thought of God as one who sighs. I’ve thought of God as one who commands…weeps…calls forth the dead…created the universe, but not one who sighs.”
Max surmises, we all do our own share of sighing. “All these sighs come from the same anxiety; a recognition of pain that was never intended, or of hope deferred.” Wars, sickness, poverty, broken relationships, our own life troubles, all these situations cause us to sigh.
“Man was not intended to be separated from his creator; hence he sighs, longing for home. The creation was never intended to be inhabited by evil; hence she sighs, longing for the garden. And conversations with God were never intended to depend on a translator; hence the Spirit groans on our behalf, looking to a day when humans will see God face to face.”
This idea of sighing was implanted in my heart years ago, and I think of it often. Many times, when I sigh, especially a deep sigh, I remember this may not be the way the God intended our/my world to be. And God sighs too.
So, Max concludes, he hangs this word “sigh” alongside the word comfort. He finds comfort in sighing and remembers, “The holy sigh assures us that God still groans for his people. He groans for the day when all sighs will cease, when what was intended to be will be.”
May we, too, find comfort in our sighing.
All quotes are from Max Lucado’s book God Came Near (1987) pp.63-66.
A flicker of light~
Twinkling and twirling around...
Fireflies at night.
While in Minnesota, our Ukrainian friends saw fireflies for the first time. They were excited. We were with them one evening, and the fireflies were dancing all around us. We all enjoyed seeing the fireflies, as well as our friend’s excitement.
A hedgehog I saw in the wild in Ukraine, 2008.
I told them the one and only time I saw a hedgehog was in Ukraine, and it was exciting to see it. We walked to a village after class one day, to an interpreter’s home, and we saw a cute, little hedgehog tucked away on the side of the path.
God is creative!
“God made the animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the crates that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:24
Matthew 6: 28-29
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."
