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| Master Servant |
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| Washing the Feet |
Saturday, March 30, 2013
The Symbol of the Easter Lily
Although I've always loved the beautiful Easter Lily, I've often wondered why and how it came to be associated with Easter. Yesterday, my wonderful friend, Melanie Wilkes, posted a picture of her dining table with a beautiful arrangement of Easter Lilies around a statue of an angel with a trumpet.
With regard to her personal love of the Easter Lily, she said, "The shut tight pod of the Easter lily could represent the grave. We wait and wait for it to open. Sometimes we get one that we think is never going to open!...and then it bursts open, almost when you aren't looking, like a trumpet heralding the opening of the grave. It's the loudest, happiest flower in nature."
What a beautiful image: the bud of the lily is a trumpet, that swells, and swells, then bursts open (ideally on Easter Morning) as a glorious trumpet heralding the opening of the tomb. As stated in Moses 6:63," ...ALL things have their likeness...All things bear record of me."
Doing some research online, I found the following description of the Easter Lily:
For many, the
beautiful trumpet-shaped white flowers symbolize purity, virtue, innocence,
hope and life—the spiritual essence of Easter.
History, mythology, literature, poetry and the
world of art are rife with stories and images that speak of the beauty and
majesty of the elegant white flowers. Often called the “white-robed apostles of
hope,” lilies were found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane after Christ’s
agony. Tradition has it that the beautiful white lilies sprung up where drops of
Christ’s sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and deep
distress. Churches continue this tradition at Easter time by banking their
altars and surrounding their crosses with masses of Easter Lilies, to
commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and hope of life everlasting.
A mark of purity and grace throughout the ages,
the regal white lily is a fitting symbol of the greater meaning of Easter.
Gracing millions of homes and churches, the flowers embody joy, hope and life.
Whether given as a gift or enjoyed in your own home, the Easter Lily, along
with other Easter blooms,
serves as a beautiful reminder that Easter is a time for rejoicing and
celebrating.
The following poem by Louise Lewin Matthews
captures the spiritual essence of the Easter lily:
Easter morn with lilies fair
Fills the church with perfumes rare,
As their clouds of incense rise,
Sweetest offerings to the skies.
Stately lilies pure and white
Flooding darkness with their light,
Bloom and sorrow drifts away,
On this holy hallow’d day.
Easter Lilies bending low
in the golden afterglow,
Bear a message from the sod
To the heavenly towers of God.
I was impressed by the symbolism of the Angel sounding his trumpet, as stated in D&C 45: 45 But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his trump, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud. I thought this would be a great tradition for our family to start, as well, so I went out looking for an Angel Statue today. I couldn't find an Angel statue with a trumpet, but I did find two beautiful pieces of art:
I am grateful for the knowledge that I have that my Redeemer lives, and that he is MY advocate with the Father, as described in D&C 45:3-5:
Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.
These are the words of hope and love from our beloved Brother, the cause of our rejoicing.
Happy Easter!
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Just Some Thoughts on Homeschool Pros and Cons
I was just reading an article about homeschool pros and cons tonight. As I read through the comments on the article, I was actually shocked at how many hateful comments there were about home-schoolers, either directed at the parents (unfit to teach, or religious fanatic, etc) or the child (will turn out socially inept and unproductive). Wow. To me, homeschooling is about trying to find the best fit for each child.
It is rather crazy how many people think that children can only be taught effectively in a "public school" environment, when in actuality, public schools are, historically, a fairly new system. I would venture to say that the majority of people throughout history have been taught in their own homes, whether by a parent or by a hired teacher, or taught in a small group setting, (think Socrates "discussion groups"), or a one room school house (with one teacher teaching a variety of levels).
The point being, of course, that there are many methods that have been used successfully throughout history to gain an education, and just because one system has priority today does not mean that it is necessarily the best.
In Utah, parents currently have a huge choice of ways to educate their children. Public schools are one, but there are also charter schools, private schools, online schools, and homeschooling. Each of these options has many pros and cons. However, for me, the most important thing is that now-days, the choice doesn't have to be either/or. It can be a combination that takes the strengths of each. Of my 4 kids, 2 are full time in a charter school. One is mostly full-time in a charter school, but he does several classes online. One child is home-schooled full-time, but next year he will be part-time at home, and part-time in a regular public middle school. The great thing is, the public schools here are required to allow part-time students, so if you feel your child would do better being home-schooled in a subject, or doing it online, you have the flexibility to do that.
My middle schooler really struggles in math, so I've chosen to do that subject at home next year, where I can see where the gaps and problems are, and really hit it intensely. I also feel that certain subjects, like CTE are a waste of time, so I'm opting to do intensive writing classes at home during that time. At school, he will get to be with his friends and learn to follow a schedule. Also, he'll take classes there that I don't feel I can provide at home, such as science, choir, and keyboarding. In addition, having him in school part-time will give me some free time.
For my High schooler, charter schools are great, but often don't have as much diversity in class options as public schools, so by taking 2 courses online, he gets more options. In his case, he is able to take Japanese as his language, and slow down the pacing of his pre-calc to a level he can manage. With recently passes legislation in Utah, there are now many online high schools in Utah that offer up to two courses to students who are not enrolled full time in that school. This creates incredible flexibility to parents whose children struggle to succeed in the traditional school system, giving us the tools we need to help our children successfully complete their education in a well-rounded way.
I really love the way so many choices in Utah right now are allowing parents to navigate the pros and avoids the cons of the various options of schooling our children.
It is rather crazy how many people think that children can only be taught effectively in a "public school" environment, when in actuality, public schools are, historically, a fairly new system. I would venture to say that the majority of people throughout history have been taught in their own homes, whether by a parent or by a hired teacher, or taught in a small group setting, (think Socrates "discussion groups"), or a one room school house (with one teacher teaching a variety of levels).
The point being, of course, that there are many methods that have been used successfully throughout history to gain an education, and just because one system has priority today does not mean that it is necessarily the best.
In Utah, parents currently have a huge choice of ways to educate their children. Public schools are one, but there are also charter schools, private schools, online schools, and homeschooling. Each of these options has many pros and cons. However, for me, the most important thing is that now-days, the choice doesn't have to be either/or. It can be a combination that takes the strengths of each. Of my 4 kids, 2 are full time in a charter school. One is mostly full-time in a charter school, but he does several classes online. One child is home-schooled full-time, but next year he will be part-time at home, and part-time in a regular public middle school. The great thing is, the public schools here are required to allow part-time students, so if you feel your child would do better being home-schooled in a subject, or doing it online, you have the flexibility to do that.
My middle schooler really struggles in math, so I've chosen to do that subject at home next year, where I can see where the gaps and problems are, and really hit it intensely. I also feel that certain subjects, like CTE are a waste of time, so I'm opting to do intensive writing classes at home during that time. At school, he will get to be with his friends and learn to follow a schedule. Also, he'll take classes there that I don't feel I can provide at home, such as science, choir, and keyboarding. In addition, having him in school part-time will give me some free time.
For my High schooler, charter schools are great, but often don't have as much diversity in class options as public schools, so by taking 2 courses online, he gets more options. In his case, he is able to take Japanese as his language, and slow down the pacing of his pre-calc to a level he can manage. With recently passes legislation in Utah, there are now many online high schools in Utah that offer up to two courses to students who are not enrolled full time in that school. This creates incredible flexibility to parents whose children struggle to succeed in the traditional school system, giving us the tools we need to help our children successfully complete their education in a well-rounded way.
I really love the way so many choices in Utah right now are allowing parents to navigate the pros and avoids the cons of the various options of schooling our children.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Lorenzo Snow #4 Follow Up
Just a caution about using a video in your lessons: with the new YM/TW curriculum, teachers are using a lot more media in their lessons. ALL the YM/YW teachers wanted the TV! I was very lucky, and maybe a little pushy to be able to get one. Which means going into the lesson I was still trying to calm down from a little bit of panic, which is not the greatest state of mind to have before a lesson. The lesson ended up going really well, and the videos were well received, but still I never want to think end up on a Sunday without the bulk of my lesson. Bottom line: I will think long and hard before using a video in a lesson again!
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