A Bright Easter

Hallelujah!

c. 1901

He is not here!

"....and here's the rest of the story...."

When some of Jesus' followers went to the tomb as soon as they could  to clean the body and annoint it and do the final preparations for burial,

(according to Jewish laws and traditions)

 the tomb's huge rock across the front was rolled to the side!

They needed to do these burial rituals, but the tomb was empty!

A bright shining angel was at the entrance, and announced:

"He is not here!"

Of course, being humans, they had to make sure themselves....

and there in the tomb were the hastily scrambled together clothing that they had wrapped Jesus' body in,

only there was no body.

This is Easter.

Death could not hold Jesus.

He rose from the dead,

and with His new Resurrected body,

He was reunited with His Father.

He came to earth in this new body so His disciples could believe, and so there was no doubt that His body had not been stolen or disposed of. It just was no longer in the tomb....dead.

He also showed Himself risen,

as he had last minute preparations and instructions to His disciples.



So we color bright Easter eggs to symbol new life,

we celebrate with Easter lilies as they look like angels' trumpets,

we go to church to hear the Good News again,

We cluster with our families for Easter special foods,

We dress in our fancy best....

Because this is the one HUMONGOUS celebration of the year!

vintage Art Nouveau art

 

German Easter Greetings, vintage

and that's the rest of the story....



Blessing to all, and with a spirit of great joy,

I wish you a Blessed Easter.

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com

A Dark Good Friday

Greetings!

Today I would like to explore the Good Friday that many Christians celebrate.

It centers around Jesus Christ being beaten almost to death by several groups of people who had made false charges against Him, and then taken to a hill above Jerusalem to be crucified with 2 other criminals.
On a Friday.

This happened around 200 years ago, yet still is alive and current to all of us.

Handel's 'Messiah'

As Paul Harvey would say:

".....now here's the rest of the story..."

Central in the history of Jesus dying while on a cross is that

G-d turned away from His only Son.

I think this was the greatest grief that Jesus could have born.

Earth reacted to this in many rather stunning ways.

There blew in a sudden and severe storm,

turning the sky so dark that it looked like it was night.

There were loud claps of thunder.
The ground shook like an earthquake.

It shook so severely that many tombs that had been sealed broke open.

But wait....there's more!

There are reports all over Jerusalem that loved ones that had died...

 and been buried...

are alive!

They are knocking on doors to see their loved ones again!

Wow.

AND, the seamless curtain that hung in the Temple,

that separated the people from the awesomeness of Y'weh -

split from top to bottom!

To demonstrate how important this curtain was,

the priests would draw "straws" to see which one

had to go behind the curtain every day to wait for Y'weh to speak,

 or to perform religious ceremonies.

They knew the power of their Y'weh,

so the chosen priest would have a rope tied around his waist,

just in case G-d struck him dead.

The rope was to pull him back to the 'people's' side.

Wow again.

c. 1550, Michelangelo sketch

What an incredible event,

and how sad for the followers of Christ that He died in such a horrible way.

....But now for the rest of the story....

c.1900

Jesus' body was taken down from the cross by some friends.

One of His friends lent space in a tomb, because Jesus was too poor to own one.

A pet peeve of mine:

People that leave Jesus on the cross.

check out the dates these were painted:

c.1308, Giotto's 'Lamentations"

c. 1505, Andrea Solario's 'Lamentation'

and a modern coloring page for children:

All of His disciples and followers and at least a few members of His earthly family were sad and grief stricken. They were scared. They were at a total loss.

Why would anyone call this Good Friday?

It sounds more like Dark Friday to me.

But...

Oh yeah, you have to wait for more,

just as Jesus' disciples had to wait too!

by Spencer Williams

see you tomorrow!

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com

Lambs both Vintage and Modern with Spring Cupcakes

Happy day!

"Keep the promises you make to yourself."

Dove Promises candy wrapper

Remember, you can always click on the image, puzzle or coloring page 

for a larger version to view and/or copy!

Here is a quick and easy cupcake decoration for Spring. This is perfect for those days when your child is getting ready to go to bed and informs you that he has committed you to bringing snacks for a party... tommorrow!

Easy Spring Cupcakes:

You will need:

> Baked cupcakes from cake mix directions (total time is approx. 30 minutes start to finish)

OR

> purchased pre-made cupcakes from local bakery/grocer

> Jelly Beans

> tinted green coconut

> canned frosting,

          optional: tinted green

reminder: Remember how to tint coconut from a previous blog? Get a glass jar with a lid. Put in coconut. Drop in a few drops of green food coloring. Shake well to coat coconut. You can always add a drop or two more, but once it's green it is hard to make the coconut lighter.

Okay - simple directions.

* Frost cupcakes with canned frosting. If you have pre-purchased cupcakes, you still probably need to put a very light dollop of frosting on top.

* Sprinkle on green coconut.

* Press in 3 jelly beans to simulate eggs.

Presto! Bingo! You're ready to place them in a box and go to school!

Timely tip:

Remind your child that you need more notice next time, like a week!

Remind again. And again.

for sale at Princess Paradise, etsy

"Now that the winter's gone, the earth hath lost
Her snow-white robes, and now no more the frost
Candies the grass, or casts an icy cream
Upon the silver lake or crystal stream;
But the warm sun thaws the benumbed earth,
And makes it tender; gives a sacred birth
To the dead swallow; wakes in hollow tree
The drowsy cuckoo and the humble-bee.
Now do a choir of chirping minstrels bring
In triumph to the world the youthful spring."
-  Thomas Carew, The Spring, 1630  

Here are some great Vintage Song Sheet graphics

that would look great decoupaged onto a tray!

c.1895

and

c.1907

and

c.1906

Here is a more recent lamb, Shari Lewis' Lamb Chop:



"The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs."

- Biblical quote

Here is a classical portrait of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God,

and as the Great Shepherd:

"Oh for a closer walk with God,

A calm and heavenly frame;

A light to shine upon the road

That leads me to the Lamb!"

- William Cowper

I think both the pencil sketch and the poem are so beautiful. On that lovely note, I will close for today.

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com

http://www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com/