Good Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd; 

I shall not want. 

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 

he leadeth me beside the still waters. 

He restoreth my soul: 

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness 

for his name’s sake. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; 

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 

Thou preparest a table before me 

in the presence of mine enemies: 

thou anointest my head with oil; 

my cup runneth over. 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 

all the days of my life: 

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord 

for ever. 

Psalm 23, King James Version

Banks of the Seine, Vétheuil, 1880

MONET, Claude

1880

National Gallery of Art

Washington, DC

United States

http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20160415301544189&code=ACT&RC=46693&Row=3

During the early years of impressionism, one of Monet's primary intentions was to capture fleeting effects of light and atmosphere. Working quickly, out of doors, he sought to transcribe with directness and spontaneity his sensory experience of the landscape before him. But by about 1880, when this picture was painted, Monet was beginning to show more interest in the painted surface itself. This interest would lead him to explore the same subject repeatedly in his series paintings, seeking to unify individual canvases and harmonize each series as a whole.

Here, brushstrokes vary in response to the different textures they portray—contrast, for example, the quick horizontal skips in the river's gently rippled surface with the rounder, swirling forms of the sky. But it is the foreground, where thick grasses and flowers are painted with crowded, exuberant strokes, that draws our attention. These heavy layers of paint were probably not completed on the spot, but instead carefully reworked in the studio. The strokes assume an importance in their own right, becoming decorative as well as descriptive. Monet, however, never strays far from the natural forms that were his inspiration.

https://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg85/gg85-46652.html

Not just beautiful, though — the stars are like the trees 

in the forest, alive and breathing.

And they’re watching me.

~ Haruki Murakami

The best thing one can do when it’s raining *

is to let it rain.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Hassan Najjar, Foothills Art Center’s new Executive Director,

joined our Painted Toe Society members for lunch on Monday.

I love his lunch box!

Jeanne Gibbard and I enjoyed The Mountaintop at the Arvada Center on Wednesday.

We also enjoyed a lo-o-o-o-ong early dinner!

Bob Cole’s wildlife camera caught these three mountain lions having dinner in his yard on April 12, 2016, at 6:02pm.

Bob is a member of our church and lives next door to Danna and David Cuin.

Can you see all three?  The one in the foreground is dining from the kill.

The second seating for dinner at 8:21pm.

Saturday morning — our big snow storm.

A snowy stay-at-home day is a perfect day for pancakes!

Two snowshoers out enjoying the heavy, wet snow.

It is still coming down.  Even church for tomorrow has been cancelled.

We also had a couple of cross-country skiers.

If there is any wisdom running through my life now, in my walking on this earth, 

it came from listening in the Great Silence to the stones, trees, space, the wild animals, 

to the pulse of all life as my heartbeat.  

-Vijali Hamilton

April 17, 2016 Fourth Sunday of Easter

Previous OPQs may be found at:

http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

*or snowing!!!

"We expect Jesus to say that the sheep follow him because they know him, but instead he says that they follow him because he knows them.  We long to be known — to be understood at the deepest levels.  Profound intimacy bespeaks profound love.  This Gospel makes it clear that Jesus sees to the depth of the heart, and it is no wonder that the sheep perceive that and follow him.”

~ Donovan

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one."

John 10:22-30

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

Remembering

Ann Harrison Alexander

April 6, 1928 ~ April 16, 2016

Alas.  I cannot access a digital photo of Ann (who was the wife of our oldest brother, Harry, or H.K.)

Here is a video of her several years ago at her retirement community’s dance competition.

Ann and her partner, one of the employees, went on to win the contest!

Riderwood’s Dancing with the Stars Contest

Silver Spring, Maryland

https://youtu.be/ukxGbMuJLSM?t=300

Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30