I picked up The Reed of God for Advent reading by Caryll Houselander: she speaks of inner emptiness, which is very different from that still, shadowless ring of light round which our being is circled, making a shape which in itself is an absolute promise of fulfillment.
How interesting a thought that is.
I'm not sure why I bother, because the sky never looks as fantastic in a photo as it looks to the eye.
The light was coming, and all these very dark clouds were going. It was so dramatic!
Meanwhile, I discovered that I was mistaken about youtube; they are not preventing people from linking to their content. They just changed the way it's done - you can't just highlight the URL and copy and paste it where you will; you have to click on "share" under the video and it gives you options. It may have always done that, but I didn't notice.
So,
Here is People Look East, all the verses, because I'm not sure Elizabeth knows it, and Clare says she doesn't. I will also provide a link to a lovely performance of it. The words to it are of Advent, but the sprightliness makes it feel like Christmas already. The link is in the title.
People, look east. The time is near
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the guest, is on the way.
Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare,
One more seed is planted there:
Give up your strength the seed to nourish,
That in course the flower may flourish.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the rose, is on the way.
Birds, though you long have ceased to build,
Guard the nest that must be filled.
Even the hour when wings are frozen
God for fledging time has chosen.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the bird, is on the way.
Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim
One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
Bright as sun and moon together.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the star, is on the way.
Angels, announce with shouts of mirth
Christ who brings new life to earth.
Set every peak and valley humming
With the word, the Lord is coming.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the Lord, is on the way.
- by Eleanor Farjeon
It was time to take away the fall decorations; the little pumpkins were wrinkled up, anyway.
"For us, the ordinary people of the streets, obedience means bending to the ways of our times whenever they are not harmful...
When we surrender to them without resistance we find ourselves wonderfully liberated from ourselves...From the moment we wake up these circumstances take hold of us. It is the telephone that rings; it is the key that won't work, the bus that doesn't arrive or arrives full, or doesn't wait for us. It is the person sitting next to us who takes up the whole seat; or the vibration of the loose window pane that drives us crazy.
It's the daily routine, one chore that leads to another, some job we wouldn't have chosen. It's the weather and its changes - which is exquisite precisely because it is completely untainted by human doing. It's being cold, or being hot; it's the headache or the toothache. It's the people we meet and the conversations they choose to start. It's the rude man who nearly knocks us off the sidewalk. It's the people who need to kill some time, and so they corner us.
When we live with others, also means we set aside our own tastes and leave things in the place others have put them. In this way, life becomes an epic film in slow motion. Little by little, thread by thread, it eats away at the old man's frame, which cannot be mended and must be made new from the ground up. When we thus become accustomed to giving up our will to so many tiny things, we will no longer find it hard, when the occasion presents itself, to do the will of our boss, our husband, or our parents."
- Servant of God, Madeleine Delbrel
It was Thanksgiving today! It went well, I think, although the turkey breast was a little dry. I suppose I should buy turkey more often, so I can practice my technique.
A client of my brother's gave him an apple crumb pie yesterday, still warm! That was nice. I made pumpkin, and that is enough dessert for three people over sixty-five, with a few chocolates. We made sure the cats had turkey canned food.
Heavenly Father, gratitude fills our hearts today as we recall all you have given us. Keep us ever thankful and generous in your holy service.
- from Magnificat, November 2022
Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King, on this last Sunday of the liturgical year. We sang this in church today -
At the Name of Jesus
Advent begins next Sunday - it is a time of preparation for Christmas. The church year follows the life of Christ; Advent, the time of waiting before his birth, begins the year in the same way that our lives begin at our conception, and those who wait for us to be born are busy preparing for us.
*I tried to link a choir singing the hymn, but youtube doesn't seem to allow it anymore.
There are three things in life which you can depend upon: death. taxes. And me forgetting to send Gail a birthday card. (why, oh why??)
All faded is the glowing light
That once from heaven shone,
When startled shepherds in the night
The angels come upon.
O shine again, ye angel host
And say that he is near;
Though but a simple few at most
Believe he will appear.
- from Magnificat, November 2022
All the windows are open; it's November twelfth. Next week it's going to be in the forties.
I came upon this image at the Tea with Mrs. Mourning Dove tumblr blog. It's from the blog Sweet Styled Home. I would love to make something like that. Got to get out all my fall-themed cookie cutters!
A few days ago I noticed that my list of some of the blogs I follow was gone. Was this a blip of Blogger? I thought it might reappear but wasn't sure I wanted to wait. So last night I started re-doing my list, but can't seem get it where it used to be - I move the gadget down to the bottom, but it will not stay down there when I refresh. It insists on being at the top. Well, it's all free, so I suppose it's silly to complain.
When I first started blogging, there were free widgets online here and there for all sorts of things, and I got the one that would show two or three of your older posts below every new post you put up. It was a very nice idea, but now it's gone, and who's going to go back to read somebody's whole blog? It takes time. The reason I mention this is that I know I have to be careful to not repeat myself; when I re-read a book, it seems the same passages leap out at me. I want to quote them, but I know enough to search first, to make sure I haven't done it already. Except that, without those older posts appearing below, it may not matter anymore if I'm repeating myself - who's going to know?
Anyway, I'm reading The Herb of Grace (Pilgrim's Inn) again:
"To get nicer and nicer you must love the sun and give good juice when you're bruised."
- Elizabeth Goudge
There!
Veterans' Day here in the U.S., but Remembrance Day in many other countries.
These hearts were woven of human joys and cares,
Washed marvellously with sorrow, swift to mirth.
The years had given them kindness. Dawn was theirs,
And sunset, and the colours of the earth.
These had seen movement, and heard music; known
Slumber and waking; loved; gone proudly friended;
Felt the quick stir of wonder; sat alone;
Touched flowers and furs and cheeks. All this is ended.
- from The Dead by Rupert Brooke
It's my brother's birthday and I once again made him a cheesecake. I have the recipe on a card in my box, but I'd also pinned it, and I first went to pinterest to look for it. But the website is gone! All I know is it was a European woman (because everything is in grams), and I had commented more than once to tell her how I loved her recipe, and she answered. Now, she's gone!
So, in the interests of preserving the delicious things in life, I'm going to print it here. I wish I could give this woman credit, but I don't even remember the name of her site - it may have been Gourmet Kitchen Tales, because that's what it says when you follow the link. I don't know. (they're selling the domain name for $4,795!)
Anyway, I love this cheesecake, so here it is, for posterity:
So, I've slept the past two nights with an open window. It's November! That will end tonight, when it goes back to the thirties and in the fifties during the day. But while we still have it, it's wonderful (even though I have a headache).
Dianne's cat had to be put down; the vet said his insides were all twisted up. So unfortunate. Meanwhile, this big dog attacked a small dog on Friday while his owner was walking him. This little dog will be all right, thank God! Animal Control has been at the owner's house a couple of times, I hear. I hope this fellow will learn how to curb his pet. I called another neighbor who's got a small dog, to warn her. Such unnecessary drama. But I feel bad for Dianne, since her hopes had gotten up when her cat reappeared like that, and Bill told me another of their cats passed away without warning around the same time - her cats are all of a certain age.
The window over the kitchen sink is clean!! It's harder every year to get in that sink and try to maneuver in order to wash that window - my brother helped out a little. It's done!
He had run over a butternut squash a couple of weeks ago, and we thought that was the only one; they have a way of wanting to grow outside the fence into the grass. But today he found three smaller ones - with goudges on them from either the mower or some garden implement, but we're very happy to have them! I'll cook them soon, because of their condition.
O Jesus, to your servants give
The consolation they require;
And when the cloud of trouble falls,
With heavenly hope their souls inspire.
Be ever near us, Christ, to bless
And help us in your faithfulness.
- from Magnificat, November, 2022
There was a frost a week ago, which faded the more tender plants. But now we're in the seventies, the air is moist and golden, the leaves are half off the trees and all under them. You can begin to see their structure, with bare branches beginning to make an appearance, and the distant hills are multi-colored and breathtaking. Everything close up looks burnished - it's all just fantastic. Who says November is dull and dreary?
From the American Meteorological Society:
What meteorological conditions constitute Indian summer? Three key elements to remember here.
It's a period of abnormally warm weather.
It occurs in mid to late autumn.
It occurs after the first frost.
My brother came home from work holding a small box. A little bird hit their window, and didn't survive. But he looked so perfect in the box, with his little eye open as if he was fine. Poor thing! He brought the box out to his pickup, and only then did I take the bird guides to try and identify it. So, going from memory, I think it may have been a brown creeper. It looks like this
We can compare the saints to the church windows which allow light to enter in different shades of color. The saints are our brothers and sisters who have welcomed the light of God in their heart and have passed it on to the world, each according to his or her own hue. But they were all transparent; they fought to remove the stains and the darkness of sin, so as to enable to gentle light of God to pass through. This is life's purpose: to pass through; it is the purpose of our life too.
- from Magnificat, November 2022
