Delights USA 5
Summer in America 3
Friday, September 13, 2024
Five Minute Friday :: Preserve
In life events, in eats, in seasons of all kinds, I relish bittersweet. But… as summer subsides, as winter readies to roll in, it's all bitter without a hint of sweetness.
Summer has a reputation for long warm days, casual clothing, informal socializing, and – best of all – garden glory with bright flowers (of course), but even more, peaches, blackberries, strawberries, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, along with a literal plethora of sunkissed leafy greens—O, my heart!
Summer's waning days bring a knot to my gut.
How can I preserve summer not only in memories, not just in pictures or words on a page, but keep and preserve estival delights in physical, earthbound form?
It's almost mid-September. Winter awaits us (or we wait for winter) in the global north. Summer soon will depart, but there's something we can do to preserve summer's sunny bliss.
You can preserve some glorious fruit as actual "preserves!" Do it yourself, buy some at the farmer's market or the grocery store. Gift jars to everyone you know.
When days get shorter [nights longer], summer will be there with you. See smell taste the berries, the preserves. See smell taste saved preserved summer!
The sweet is back!
And in those preserves, trust the promise of another summer when winter's gone.
• Chocolate Cream Cake with Berry Preserves by Couleur
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
911 23 Years
The photographer included some history from wikipedia.
Where were you then? Where are you now?
I couldn't say anything any better than I did for WTC year twenty-two in 2023.
Municipal and liturgical observances have dwindled, but I was heartened to see 911 hashtags trending on Twitter as well as some tweets outside of Critter Twitter that's my main reason for being there.
Where were you then? Where are you now? How are you now?
perplexed but not driven to despair,
persecuted but not forsaken,
struck down but not destroyed,
always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10
Monday, September 09, 2024
Too Long at the Fair
I've been too long at the fair,
and Lord, I just can't stand it any more.
Written by Joel Zoss
Made famous by Bonnie Raitt
Five Minute Friday :: Youth
and renews your youth like the eagle's. Psalm 103:5
• Five Minute Friday :: Youth Linkup
Psalm 103:1-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless God's holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all God's benefits—
God forgives all your iniquity, heals all your diseases,
God redeems your life from Sheol, and crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
God satisfies you with good as long as you live and renews your youth like the eagle's.
It feels as if we never stop hearing this is a youth-oriented society (whatever that means). What is it about youth that people sometimes envy and aspire to recapture? An individual doesn't need to achieve much chronology to realize how clueless they themselves were only a few years ago. Even if someone had a sharp, inquisitive mind, why would anyone want to go back to a state of relative lack of information and paucity of wisdom? After all, a few years and a variety of experiences almost always makes a person wiser.
Besides, anyone who's taught middle school or high school, has had teenaged offspring, has ministered to church youth groups (maybe all three of those categories apply to you?!), can describe many many aspects of those years that are anything but enviable.
Although there are plenty of good looking older people, in general relatively younger does seem to equal relatively more attractive, and that's a plus. In addition, aches, pains, and creaky joints often are part of the aging process; just about everyone would like those to depart.
Psalm 103 announces God renews our "youth like the eagle's." What does that mean? Is it about God restoring the intellectual, physical, and social attributes [often extremely polite and considerate, sometimes anything but] of young people? Although I haven't researched what the tradition says, I'll suggest – and even claim – it's about receiving God's benefits the psalm lists: forgiveness; healings; redemption; love, mercy, and goodness. Wouldn't you like to order from that menu?
Psalm 103 begins with "Bless the Lord." What does it mean to bless God? How about letting God crown you with all those good gifts? God would glory to receive that gift from us!
Textual note: surprisingly, steadfast love in verse 4 isn't the familiar chesed; it's plain old everyday garden-variety "love."
Friday, September 06, 2024
Season of Creation 4 :: Mountain
God's holy mountain
is the joy of all the earth.
Psalm 48:1-2
Intro
For about a decade I designed for the liturgical Season of Creation emphasis every year. Between "life stuff" and a general move away from the three year series related to the Revised Common Lectionary, I didn't design anything new for the past couple of years. However, many pastors and churches still prefer the year A – Spirit; Year B – Word; Year C – Wisdom series. They make much more creative and interpretive sense than trying to dig out connections from the appointed RCL readings.
Not only due to Covid that exacerbated everything that wasn't going well for everyone, my days have been too unsettled for reasonably good overall health, yet I still was smart enough to remember no one does anything truly original because everything is inspired and derivative. Over the decades I've recycled, reworked, re-appropriated, and redone a lot of my own art and writing. Besides, given that some of my Season of Creation designs have been some of my forty or fifty favorites, why not do another Act II? I've based this year's banners on Year B from 2018.
Fonts used:
• Big Truck – Sunday name
• Betsystype – scripture verse
• Keener – season of creation calendar year
• Chelsea Studio – series name
Season of Creation 3 :: Sky
The heavens declare
the glory of God
and the firmament
sheweth God's handiwork.
Psalm 19:1
Intro
For about a decade I designed for the liturgical Season of Creation emphasis every year. Between "life stuff" and a general move away from the three year series related to the Revised Common Lectionary, I didn't design anything new for the past couple of years. However, many pastors and churches still prefer the year A – Spirit; Year B – Word; Year C – Wisdom series. They make much more creative and interpretive sense than trying to dig out connections from the appointed RCL readings.
Not only due to Covid that exacerbated everything that wasn't going well for everyone, my days have been too unsettled for reasonably good overall health, yet I still was smart enough to remember no one does anything truly original because everything is inspired and derivative. Over the decades I've recycled, reworked, re-appropriated, and redone a lot of my own art and writing. Besides, given that some of my Season of Creation designs have been some of my forty or fifty favorites, why not do another Act II? I've based this year's banners on Year B from 2018.
Fonts used:
• Big Truck – Sunday name
• Betsystype – scripture verse
• Keener – season of creation calendar year
• Chelsea Studio – series name
Season of Creation 2 :: Humanity
You have made them
a little lower than God
and crowned humanity
with glory and honour.
Psalm 8:5
Intro
For about a decade I designed for the liturgical Season of Creation emphasis every year. Between "life stuff" and a general move away from the three year series related to the Revised Common Lectionary, I didn't design anything new for the past couple of years. However, many pastors and churches still prefer the year A – Spirit; Year B – Word; Year C – Wisdom series. They make much more creative and interpretive sense than trying to dig out connections from the appointed RCL readings.
Not only due to Covid that exacerbated everything that wasn't going well for everyone, my days have been too unsettled for reasonably good overall health, yet I still was smart enough to remember no one does anything truly original because everything is inspired and derivative. Over the decades I've recycled, reworked, re-appropriated, and redone a lot of my own art and writing. Besides, given that some of my Season of Creation designs have been some of my forty or fifty favorites, why not do another Act II? I've based this year's banners on Year B from 2018.
Fonts used:
• Big Truck – Sunday name
• Betsystype – scripture verse
• Keener – season of creation calendar year
• Chelsea Studio – series name
Season of Creation 1 :: Earth
Then God Said,
"Let the earth bring forth grass;
and the fruit tree yield fruit,"
and it was so.
Genesis 1:11
Intro
For about a decade I designed for the liturgical Season of Creation emphasis every year. Between "life stuff" and a general move away from the three year series related to the Revised Common Lectionary, I didn't design anything new for the past couple of years. However, many pastors and churches still prefer the year A – Spirit; Year B – Word; Year C – Wisdom series. They make much more creative and interpretive sense than trying to dig out connections from the appointed RCL readings.
Not only due to Covid that exacerbated everything that wasn't going well for everyone, my days have been too unsettled for reasonably good overall health, yet I still was smart enough to remember no one does anything truly original because everything is inspired and derivative. Over the decades I've recycled, reworked, re-appropriated, and redone a lot of my own art and writing. Besides, given that some of my Season of Creation designs have been some of my forty or fifty favorites, why not do another Act II? I've based this year's banners on Year B from 2018.
Fonts used:
• Big Truck – Sunday name
• Betsystype – scripture verse
• Keener – season of creation calendar year
• Chelsea Studio – series name
Wednesday, September 04, 2024
Neatness Counts
If you're bakery people … we're bakery people, too
our package is the partner of your product
Container Corporation of America
Sunday, September 01, 2024
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