O Ice and Snow

Painting: František Kaván, in US public domain due to age

As Much As You Like

This Summer

Spring Praise

Painting: Theodoor Verstraete, Spring in Schoore, in US public domain due to age

Where to Find You

Frost Like Ashes

 

'He sends forth his command to the earth; swiftly runs His word!

He spreads snow like wool; frost He strews like ashes.

He scatters His hail like crumbs; before His cold the waters freeze.

He sends His word and melts them; He lets His breeze blow and the waters run.'

Psalm 147:15-18

Painting: Peder Mørk Mønsted, in US public domain due to age

Before Those Greater Splendors

The Trouble With Autumn

Someone recently asked me which is my favorite season. I was stumped.

I realized I don't have a favorite. Or perhaps the truth is: I have four. I love autumn because of crisp red leaves and soft gray rains and whistling winds. Winter is my favorite when it swaddles the earth in a shushing hush of snow. Yet I am totally enamored of spring, with its peonies and tulips and lilacs. And who doesn't love summer nights, with their fireflies and their cricket lullabies? 

Seasons are not perfect, of course. Summer brings heat and biting bugs along with a soothing cover of green. In winter the long late light of summer nights is missing. Springtime storms can be unnerving. And the trouble with Autumn is - it's not Spring.

'For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.' (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Painting: H.A. Brendekilde, 1902

Always Springtime

'It is always springtime in the heart that loves God.'

St. John Vianney

Painting: Iosif Evstafievich Krachkovsky

Can You Ask for a Louder Voice Than That?

"Creation is a great book. Look above you; look below you! Note it! Read it! ... 

God did not write that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes 

the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that? 

Why, heaven and earth cry out to you: 'God made me!'"

St. Augustine

Painting: Peder Mørk Mønsted, Wood in Snow, in US public domain due to age {{PD-1923}}

All Things to Beauty

Notice How They Preach

'Listen to the sermon preached to you by the flowers, the trees, the shrubs, the sky, and the whole world. Notice how they preach to you a sermon full of love, of praise of God, and how they invite you to glorify the sublimity of that sovereign Artist who has given them being.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Painting: H. A. Brendekilde, A Wooded Path in Autumn, 1902

Forever Spring

'It is always springtime in the heart that loves God.'

St. John Vianney

Painting:  Charles Courtney Curran, Lotus Lilies

Ice and Snow, Bless the Lord

'Frost and chill, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Ice and snow, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Nights and days, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Light and darkness, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Let the earth bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.'

Daniel 3:69-74, 
from Azariah's hymn of
praise in the fiery furnace 
  




Painting:  Endogurov Zimniy 

Hush

I am enchanted by snow when it softens a city.  It's like the gentleness of God blanketing all that is sharp and angular, and somehow this is magical to me.  Maybe that's because, in grade school, I rode the city bus twice a day, and I got to see a chunk of my town in its sooty as well as whitewashed conditions.

The bus made stops and starts along Main Street, its doors whooshing open to let in soggy passengers toting briefcases and shopping bags.  I could hear sighs of relief as these weary ones fell into seats; I knew they were grateful to simply let chilled bones thaw.  

The magic of bus windows was that they weren't stationary.  Views changed incessantly, just like on a television.  City sidewalks, storefronts of tall department stores, tree-filled neighborhoods lined with cozy brick homes.  The perfect backdrop for a young daydreamer.

I don’t spend time on buses anymore, but I look out windows.  Oh, indeed I do.  Today I glance out toward my street and am unable to find it.  There is only a field of white, with sunshine bouncing so strongly that it hurts my eyes.  I might as well be living on a farm.  Tonight there will be pink and blue and amber sprinkles under streetlights; I hope I remember to enjoy them.

Snow is, to me, the gentleness of God trumping the clamor of man.  No matter how sharp the angles of our buildings, they are softened.  There is a hush of city sounds. 

In the darkest months of the year, the ones in which we may feel starved for light - that's when snow comes to brighten our paths.  Yes, snow might change our plans.  Yes, it could cause some disruption.  

But if it’s here, we might as well enjoy the view.

“Praise the Lord... fire and hail, snow and mist, storm winds that fulfill His word…”  (Psalm 148:7-8)

Portions of this post are (edited) from our archives. 
© 2014 Nancy Shuman.  TheBreadboxLetters.blogspot.com

Painting: Meersburg im Winter 1931; in US public domain due to copyright expiration
 

This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network 2014 Linkup Blitz

And There Are Books

It's a time of year when minds of young men and old women lightly turn to thoughts of books. 

Yes, I made that sentence up all by myself.

Perhaps I could put it this way.  The air outside is chilling.  Darkness falls early.  There's frost on the punkin, snow in the forecast, a crackling fire beneath the mantel, and a cup of warm tea by my side. 

And of course, a book.

This is also a time when we're thinking about Christmas gifts. Dolls and scooters and toy airplanes (I bought one of each this morning; shhhh, don't tell..). And what better gift than a book?

But there are books, and there are books.  Some transport us to worlds of wonder, and we soar through their pages on words spun together like threads in fine tapestries.  Others read more like a string of sentences akin to the first one in this post.  Not likely to be on any bestseller lists, they. 

Of course, bestseller lists are not the best places to find good reading material.  I know such news is not a shock to anyone reading this, and there are certainly exceptions, but many highly popular offerings are not worth our time (at best) and can (at worst) be harmful to our lives of faith.

I think St. John Bosco gave us perfect guidance on the matter when he wrote "Never read books you aren't sure about... even supposing that these bad books are very well written from a literary point of view.  Let me ask you this: would you drink something you knew was poisoned just because it was offered to you in a golden cup?" 

After my recent post on spiritual reading material, I’ve been thinking of writings that have struck me in some way.  Here are just a few, with links to more information about each. 

The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin. An inspiring look at growth in holiness, using the works of seven Doctors of the Church.  One of my favorite books of all time.

Fire Within by Father Thomas Dubay SM. I love anything by Father Dubay, but this one is my favorite.  

Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal, Letters of Spiritual Direction helped me know (and love) both of these saints as human beings. 

And then there are the following three titles, which had me burning the proverbial midnight oil.  I found them (the first in particular) as riveting as novels -  probably because the stories are true.  

Unplanned by Abby Johnson. 

Mother Angelica... by Raymond Arroyo. 

A Right to be Merry by Mother Mary Francis PCC.  I love Mother's humor! This was written in the (1950s?), but the life has changed little, and hey: a smile is still a smile.....

I want to feed my mind with things that will lead me toward God, never away from Him.  One of the most comprehensive helps I've found, for when I'm considering various topics and even (a few) authors, is a list of links on the Women of Grace Blog.  Even though it does not list specific titles, it does deal with subject matter we might run into when we're considering spiritual books.  I once heard it said that "lies are more believable when they're built on a foundation of half truths."  So I am grateful for the help that can be found by clicking here.

I write this as winds begin to stir outside.  I have a hard time adjusting to this season of early darkness.  My old clock keeps up a steady tick; it chimes on the hour, but never correctly (we decided to call this idiosyncrasy "charming").  I have chamomile tea, a soft afghan, and of course - a book.  

Long Sigh.


Painting:  St Cecilia (detail), John William Waterhouse 

This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network Monthly Linkup

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
                                             
                                        Robert Frost

All Tints of Light

Nature loves, as lady bright,

In gayest guise to shine;

All forms of grace, all tints of light,

Fringe her robe divine

Cardinal John Henry Newman

Let all Your works, made from the sublimity of Your majesty, praise You.

St. Gemma Galgani 

           

This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network Monthly Roundup

Walter Moras paintings in US public domain

Comes the Winter..

                  'I see that all the seasons are to be found in your soul; 

                  for at one time you feel the winter of sterility, 

                  distractions, disgust, and weariness; 

                  at another time the dews of the month of May, 

                  with the odour of the holy little flowers....  

                  In heaven it shall be all a springtime of beauty, 

                  all an autumn of enjoyment, 

                  all a summer of love.  

                  Winter there shall be none;

                  but here winter is necessary 

                  for the exercise of abnegation 

                  and of the thousand beautiful little virtues 

                  which are practiced in the time of barrenness.  

                  Let us keep on always at a quiet little pace...' 

                        St. Francis de Sales, letter to St. Jane de Chantal

                        Painting:  Jules Breton, Last Flowers, in US  public domain

So Many Signs

If there is anyone who is not enlightened by this sublime magnificence of created things,  he is blind.... if there is anyone who, seeing all these works of God, does not praise Him, he is dumb; if there is anyone who, from so many signs, cannot perceive God, that man is foolish.

                                                                                                             St. Bonaventure 

Public domain photo

BY THE WAY:  I have been finding so many good quotes and pictures to "put in the breadbox" that I count it a great  privilege to share them!  Meanwhile, many of my "original" thoughts are being shared over at The Cloistered Heart, where we've been looking at Lectio Divina.