Easter is so big it can't be celebrated in one day, so it overflows into an eight-day octave. The day after Easter Sunday has many names: Bright Monday, Pasquetta or Renewal Monday. In the Middle Ages it was called Laughing Monday - laughing at Satan who got his comeuppance.
I thought after spending almost fifty days reflecting on the painting-gifts of Isaak Levitan, we could visit his grave in the Novodevichy Cemetery and bless God for all the artist has brought to mind.
To bless God means to joyfully express gratitude to God, to admire God's beauty, wonders, goodness, richness, graciousness. To bless God means to delight in my own personal experience of God. O God, you are very great!
Bless the Lord my soul and forget not all his benefits. Psalm 103:2
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. Psalm 100:4
For sunlight,
lamplight,
firelight,
starlight and
moonlight in phases.
Bless God!
For riverside,
streams,
trails,
paths and roads,
mountains and hills.
Bless God!
For spring thawing,
summer ferns,
autumn birches and
winter snow.
Bless God!
For twilight of
morning,
twilight of
evening,
daytime,
nighttime,
fog and mist.
Bless God!
For dandelion and lilac,
cornflower,
grasses,
forget-me-not and moss.
Bless God!
For stormy rain
and pebbled beach,
forest edge,
and flowering field.
Bless God!
For high water,
low water
watery depths,
shallow shorelines
and cloud reflections.
Bless God!
For meadows and groves,
bridges and boats,
silent churches,
stillness
and prayer.
