Happy Easter to all who celebrate this glorious time of rebirth, and renewal. May your baskets be full, your sewing machines taking days of rest, and may you all be blessed with family, friends, and a sense of tradition and community!
I was deeply moved by Pope Francis's spiritual interpretation of Maundy Thursday and the ritual of the washing of feet. What a truly good man who is able to look beyond traditional boundaries and go, instead, into pure love and wash not only the feet of men but women, as well. God Bless this good and holy man.
I am also touched by the recent news of Nelson's Mandela's ongoing battle with a lung infection. Another good man, not always perfect, but oh so good, who has done amazing works of unifying his own country and making others aware of our own iniquities.
I only mention these two great men, because their energies are strong this week and thus, they are meant to touch all of our hearts in different ways. It is also the week of a Full Moon on Friday..an intense time always of bringing in new energies from the Universe with the give and the take, the push and the pull of so many forces. And what a month of contrasts it is! This is the 'worm' or the 'sap' moon. A time for letting things dig in, cast off their outer casings and flow freely!
Blessings to all movements that focus on love, faith, and charity... ..remembering always that the greatest among these is love..no matter our faith, the color of our skin, our sexual orientation. With so much in the news and so many hearts opening to acceptance it is a learning, growing, and accepting time for each and every one of us who chooses to see the truth beyond all fear of those we think are different than we are.
Spiritual practice is love in action and we must never forget that!
During times of challenge, loss, or stress...it is good to keep the heart and the hands busy and in service to those people, and those causes, we care most deeply about.
Now, as we end this holy week before Easter, and we gather across the world in all of our spiritual and cultural belief systems, share that love with those in your family and by extension, the bigger family ..our neighborhood, our cities and towns, our States, and our Nation.
And do send up a prayers of peace to all nations during this time, as well.
For those of you in our Jewish community, may you share, and celebrate
a blessed holiday of Passover, as well.
May those of us who practice other spiritual or religious practices never forget that Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew. And not only a faith filled and practicing one, but one that Christians revere as a man, the son of God, with two fathers!
a blessed holiday of Passover, as well.
May those of us who practice other spiritual or religious practices never forget that Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew. And not only a faith filled and practicing one, but one that Christians revere as a man, the son of God, with two fathers!
Blessings... from my heart and my hands.... to you during this Holy Easter Season!
Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska and all of her AAQI Quilting. Sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join in the Liberated Quilting Challenge and make or donate small art quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Help us change the world, one little quilt at a time!
