Day 3 of the Jesse Tree is a symbol for the fall of Man, the choosing to follow our own will rather than God's will. That needs to be fleshed out because God's will is what will make us happiest and should be our will. When we choose our "will", we are acting on impulse, emotionally, not taking the full picture into account. We may be making ourselves temporarily happy but we won't achieve lasting happiness without acting in accordance with how God made us.
Today is the first Monday of Advent. For this season, I'll try to post a Jesse tree picture and reflection each day.
Today is a picture of Mary and Jesus in the middle, surrounded by various prophets and kings of the Old Testament that each prepared the way for Jesus. The season of Advent can be explored by meditating on each of these prefigurements, foreshadowings, and how each gives us a glimpse into who Jesus is.
*I'm about halfway through this book of poetry. Ted Kooser lives near where my dad grew up in Nebraska. His poetry is simple but very evocative of the area and a way of life mostly gone now, but still on the fringes of my memory as I was growing up.
*This week is the musical (I know, I keep saying that), so this is a minimal post.
*Tomorrow is going to be frozen chicken strips and a bagged salad (Asian crunch, my favorite).
*Tonight is bierocks/runzas that my mom made for me a couple weekends ago and I threw in the freezer. I warm them up for 30 minutes at 350 in the oven. I like mine with Dorothy Lynch dressing.
*Last night I made baked potatoes and we had them with leftover chili.
*Tuesday night the Son made strawberry stuffed french toast. He's a decent cook but struggles to remember when he is feeding other people to start early enough to finish at the meal time, so his meals tend to be about an hour late.
*Monday night we had leftovers because...
*Sunday we ate Mediterranean from Old Jerusalem Cafe, and Saturday the Husband and I had a date night to Garrozzo's in Overland Park. Both were delicious but we ordered way too much food at both places...on purpose to have leftovers to carry us through.
*It's musical week, and I took the next weekend off from playing for Mass, so it's just all musical all the time. I'm most nervous about "All Through the Night" and the dance on "Blow Gabriel, Blow." As of Saturday night it will all be over!
Right now cleaning house is the last thing on my mind, but about a month ago a sister came to stay with some of her kids and I wanted to let them know I was all ready for them, so I took a picture of their prepared beds.
St Elizabeth of Hungary is today's saint. Born in Hungary and married very young to Louis of Thuringia, she had three children and took care of the poor in a hospital after her husband died. Alive in the 13th century, she seemed to share the concern of other kings and queens that their wealth was actually an impediment to getting to heaven if they weren't careful to take care of others.
