This makes me think... about what gives us meaning.

The resurrection of Christ is not the fruit of speculation or mystical experience: it is an event which, while it surpasses history, nevertheless happens at a precise moment in history and leaves an indelible mark upon it. The light which dazzled the guards keeping watch over Jesus’ tomb has traversed time and space. It is a different kind of light, a divine light, that has rent asunder the darkness of death and has brought to the world the splendour of God, the splendour of Truth and Goodness.

Just as the sun’s rays in springtime cause the buds on the branches of the trees to sprout and open up, so the radiance that streams forth from Christ’s resurrection gives strength and meaning to every human hope, to every expectation, wish and plan. Hence the entire cosmos is rejoicing today, caught up in the springtime of humanity, which gives voice to creation’s silent hymn of praise. The Easter Alleluia, resounding in the Church as she makes her pilgrim way through the world, expresses the silent exultation of the universe and above all the longing of every human soul that is sincerely open to God, giving thanks to him for his infinite goodness, beauty and truth.

---Benedict XVI, Urbi et Orbi, Easter 2012.

The F.U.N. Quotient... the beauty of moments, the life of abundance...

Sometimes the beauty of a single moment eludes me... here, in these videos, a single moment seems to arrest me... in a good way.

Enjoy these three minutes of beauty, goodness, and celebration of LIFE!

Jesus came, and died, and rose that we might have life in abundance. (See John 10:10.)

Seconds Of Beauty - 1st round compilation from The Beauty Of A Second on Vimeo.

The Beauty Of a Second - 2nd round compilation from The Beauty Of A Second on Vimeo.

The Beauty Of a Second - 3rd round compilation (Instant Bliss) from The Beauty Of A Second on Vimeo.

Now, go make a moment. 

Among Women ReadHER 2.18.12 Hugs, Lent, Love, oh yeah and the HHS Mandate.

Among Women ReadHER 

2.18.12

Every Single Bishop has Condemned Obama's HHS Mandate
By Thomas Peters at CatholicVote.org
Stay informed.

Contraception and Understanding: Rebuilding the Foundation
By Elizabeth Duffy at her column at Patheos
Absolutely required reading if you have pre-teens and teens.

Statistics, Obamas, and Internet Memes
By Michael Flynn at his blog TOF
If you've been wondering about the figure being tossed around in the media about "98% of Catholic women using contraception"...it's bogus. You'll want to read this. It's a bit long, but really gets good about midway through it.

Lent is Next Week!
By Marika Donders, campus minister at the KSC blog
Marika gives some great suggestions... the best one: Keep it simple!


Lent and the Corporal Works of What, Now?
By Maria Morera Johnson, subbing in for "yours truly" at my column at Patheos
Maria Johnson challenges us to blast out of our comfort zones.


Lenten Link Up!
By Lacy Rabideau at Catholic Icing
Go imbibe!


Archbishop Dolan Makes Big Push for Twitter, Social Media in Rome
By Joanne Molloy at The New York Daily News
Rock on, Your Excellency!

Just Give Me a Hug!
By Anthony Buono at Catholic Lane
Just go on, you know you wanna...

The Witness of Beauty
By Emily Stimpson at CatholicVote blog
No matter what your politics, this is interesting reading. The fight for true beauty and the preciousness of femininity -- a combination of fashion modesty and creativity -- is something we Catholic Christian must lead the way on. I'm no fashionista by any stretch, but this piece strikes a cord. 

Poetry keeps showing up in my mailbox...

sunlight splashes through the fall leaves, 

illuminating them in golden radiance

while dancing with delight. 

each leaf sings a joyful song

 to celebrate the sun.

I just love the idea that each leaf might have its own song... its own melody that springs from its depths. And I just delight in this final aging leaf that has twilight illuminating its veins.

My thanks to Maria Johnson for sending along her poetry. She is one of those insta-poets. She-sees-it-feels-it-writes-it. It is a spontaneous gift she has; I just dig it. 

These are just a few of the autumn leaves I found on my rosary walk this afternoon... the first sunny afternoon after much rain... I know this is why God made New England... to grace us with signs of his beauty and grandeur in his gifts of creation... even in something as ordinary as a little decaying leaf. 

+++

In other news, my mother, who still believes in the value of snail mail, sent me a few clippings that she collected... among them, this poem that follows. I hope you like it. It's a little bit like something you'd read in a greeting card, but I know many people on my prayer list who can relate to this sentiment at the moment.

The Gift of Tears

by David G. Mulvey*

"And you, Creature-in-My-Image,

I shall bless you with the Gift of tears!"

Thus God spoke, and humankind

Has questioned ever since:

"Why, my God, curse us with the pain and

Hurt of crying? It is too hard to bear!"

"Tears when you are hurting help release

The pain, my child;

They wash the selfishness from

Deep within your soul.

Tears make you aware of your

Deepest human emotions - liked and unliked;

They drain your arrogance and total

Self-reliance, and call you close to Me."

"Tears when you are overwhelmed with joy

Accentuate the joy you hold;

They make visible the depth of 

Feelings that you are capable of.

Tears wash others in your joy,

Spilling over within their very souls;

They water and nourish your Trust and 

Faith in Me, the Source-Of-All-Good."

"See, My Child, that tears truly

Are a Gift, both in Sorrow and in Joy!"

And when God spoke, humankind, insight gained,

Questioned less, but not for the last...

"But you, Creature-in-My-Image,

I have blessed with the Gift of Tears!"

*I tried to find some website, book or blog that referenced this writer's work, but to no avail. 

The Autumn Bug - or - How to be a Tourist in Your Own Town

My daughter's car was looking kind of lonely and I was missing her too, she being away at college. It  falls to me to rev up "The Bug" now and again to keep it running until her return.

The Autumn Bug

Each Friday I have a commitment to do an hour of adoration at our parish. And since I've been away for almost two weeks, to present at the CNMC, and to help lead a retreat for writers, I was missing my weekly date with Jesus too. The best part about having this midday hour on a Friday is that it forces me to step away from the screen and the studio and take in the local color, so to speak. So I thought maybe you'd like to come along.

The lake

Of course I live in New England, where folks actually vacation at this time of year in order to"leaf peep," basking in the glow of colorful foliage that blankets our hills and valleys. Some time this weekend, I'll be zipping along the country lanes --hopefully with the top down in Hubby's MG.

But on Friday I was itching to get out even if it was our third day of rain. And I thought I'd share some of the gracious backroads that I drive most days...

Gratuitous pumpkin shot

I have a thing for barns and so does my husband.

Our dream is for the next home to have a barn.

(See? It really was raining...)

Of course, it won't be a working barn per se. It will be where we keep the MG, and the writing studio, and the woodworking shop, and the... toys for the grandchildren. (Note to offspring... no worries, no rush on this... just filling in the dream details here.)  Anyway.

There are a lot of barns in this area.

It is horse country...

...and it is also a place where farmland once was greater than it is now...

...so everyone at one time had a barn, though many now function as glorified garages or sheds.

(more rainyness...)

This is one of my favorites...in the rain and from the distance the camera-phone almost can't handle the details... so it almost looks like a painting, right?

There are also these cows that I spent four years driving past... on the way to the highschool, but to which I do not drive anymore.

If you look carefully, you'll see very intelligent turkeys under the tree in the rain as the cow remains outstanding in its field. (I do believe the rain was curling its hair!)

Another "painting" due to shaky photography and rainy mist!

Same effect here too.

Among Women ReadHER 9.17.11 ... babies, beauty, burnout, single life, romance -- not necessarily in that order!

Among Women ReadHer

9.17.11

Is It OK to Be Single?
--Beth Knobbe, at Catholic Chicago Blog
The ever-pressing question. I like how Beth handles this. You may recall Beth as a guest on AW 68.

Fighting Burnout
--Arwen Mosher over at Faith and Family Live
After having twins, Arwen shares about dealing with stressors. Lotsa comments on this one too.


13 Things I've Learned in 17 Years of Marriage
--Karen Edmisten at Faith and Family Live
Thoughtful, practical, and always hopeful, Karen is one wise woman. Karen has been on AW twice before, hear her life story from atheism to faith to Marian devotion on AW 20 , and more about Mary on AW 82.


Good Girls Beware
--Elizabeth Foss at the Arlington Catholic
Sound daughter-raising tips!


Pulchritude in Women
--Kevin Lowry at The Grateful Convert

NOTE: pul·chri·tude 

[puhl-kri-tood, -tyood], noun. Defined: physical beauty; comeliness.
God Needs You
--Julie Robinson, at Virtuous Planet
I thought this little post about prayer was a good companion piece to this week's AW 109 - Metanoia. Looking forward to Julie being a future guest on AW!

Lovely Lady
--Lisa Schmidt of Practicing Catholic
A wonderful (and short!) re-posting from Radiant Magazine -- remember we profiled that magazine on AW 73?


The Triumph of the Cross - 2011
--Sr. Catherine, the Digital Nun
Even though the feast is passed (9/14) I thought this missive was simple yet deep.


Mary Sees Us
--Simcha Fisher in the National Catholic Register
Simcha, nice one!


I Was Going to Ridicule This

--Maria Johnson, from Another Cup of Coffee, and the Catholic Weekend podcast.

A good take on being an encourager of others. Plus Maria follows it up with this short 16-minute film... that packs its own good-for-you punch...

This makes me think... "this autumn day...."

God's World

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

(1892-1950)

O world, I cannot hold thee close enough! 

   Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!

Thy mists, that roll and rise!

Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag

And all by cry with color! That gaunt crag

To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!

 

World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!

Long have I known a glory in it all,

   But never knew I this:

   

 Here is such a passion is

As stretcheth me apart, -- Lord, I do fear

Thou'st made the world too beautiful this year;

My soul is all but out of me,-- let fall

No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.

~~~~~~~~~~~

To those of you who listen to the Among Women Podcast, I thought I'd treat you to some of the last autumn images that we have around these parts before all the leaves fall.

The photos above and below were taken by my handy little iPhone camera during one of my many walks down our country lane... over to the horse farms and back.

And yes, I really do live down a country lane in New England.

yes, that's the sky's reflection in a little pond...

Granite stone walls are a fixture everywhere here.

Have a beautiful day, wherever YOU are in God's world!

This makes me think...

A genuine falling in love... is a capitulation to the beautiful.

Falling in love here does not refer to the superficial infatuations or egocentric lust but rather to a selfless commitment made to a fascinating beloved.  While this is seen in ideal and holy marriages, it is especially clear in the case of the saints who are head over heels in love with the supreme Beloved, whose name is God. Saints see and are smitten. The heroic response is the only response. They know from experience that anything less than Everything is simply not enough.


In his masterpiece, The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevski place on the lips of one of his characters the observation that "beauty is the battlefield where God and Satan contend with each other for the hearts of men."  The one is supreme Glory (the biblical name for supereminent beauty), the other is supreme ugliness. Though our free wills make the choice, it is beauty that provides the powerful attraction to the only victory that ultimately matters in this peak of all combats.
---Thomas Dubay, SM, The Evidential Power of Beauty: Science and Theology Meet

image credit