7 Worst Days on Planet Earth

Please note the video included in this blog is 44 mins. long - but if you are an astronomy nerd like me, it's absolutely riveting stuff if you have the time.

Congrats

My lovely cousin A and her husband M had a beautiful baby boy C this week - mommy and baby are happy and healthy. :) Welcoming K and M's new baby brother, and A and M's little son. God's blessings on this wonderful growing family. XOXO

Do you hear the people sing?

I cannot WAIT for this movie. That is all.

Thankful Blog

I'm thankful for fun weekends with family.
I'm thankful for silly computer games.
I'm thankful for a lovely church family,
And lovely church visits.
I'm thankful for hot showers,
And cold sodas.
I'm thankful for work,
For a car that runs,
And for quiet evenings where sweet boys sleep.
Goodnight everyone! :)

Hot Crossed Buns

So, I learned something from the United Church Observer this month, which served me well in my role as children's pastor at my church as an object lesson for the children's sermon on Easter Sunday. Did you know Hot Crossed Buns are more than just yummy rolls we eat on Easter? It's true!

The bread the buns are made of, and the raisins in them (dried grapes) are meant to remind us of Jesus' last supper with his disciples, a Passover Seder meal which Jewish observers still celebrate, and Christians commemorate in the sacrament of Communion or Eucharist. The cross seared into the top of the bun is of course to remind us of the crucifixion, and the spices used in the baking are to remind us of the women who found Jesus' empty tomb on that first Easter Sunday (they had brought spices to anoint his body). The shape of the bun itself is round, to remind us of the stone the risen Christ rolled away from his tomb.

So remember, whenever you eat one of those delicious, toastable buns on Easter, you are in fact eating the Easter story! :) I hope yours was a festive and joyous occasion - and for our Orthodox friends whose Easter is still to come - blessings to you as you await the miracle of Resurrection. :)

Home ... Easter Weekend

Well ... Miami was phenomenal and you are about to be able to hear all about it over at http://inthisveryring.blogspot.com - check it out. Combine what is discussed there, with hotel pool lounging, lovely restaurants, a beach, and a historic tour of Miami, and we had a wonderful vacation - and well earned if I say so myself (which I wouldn't often, but it has been a BUSY several months, as anyone can tell from the sporadic blogging!). I'd hoped to post more wihle we were away, but it really turned into a VAY-CAY, and no apologies for enjoying that.

That said - after spending Palm Sunday surrounded by palm trees, we are now home for one of the most important times of year on the Christian calendar - today is Good Friday, historically observed as the day of Jesus' execution. Yesterday, a few of us at my church observed the Last Supper with a Tenebrae service (very intimate service involving communion and scripture - probably best described if you look it up); today we laid our worries at the foot of the cross in a Good Friday service. Tomorrow, we do the more secular 'Bunny' thing with my whole family ... and I mean WHOLE family (my side anyway) - my mother and step-father will be hosting us four, my brother, my grandmother, my dad and step-mother, for an Easter Egg hunt and dinner. Sunday will be obviously an important service at church, and hopefully the weather will be lovely enough to repeat last year's tradition of a picnic on Parliament Hill. Meanwhile, my father-in-law has been observing Passover by tangoing in Argentina - my mother in law will be joining him in a couple weeks' time.

It is a very holy and special time in both faiths observed here in the Daigen household; we hope that whichever you observe, it is good to both you and your family. And may all of your Good Friday crucifixions turn into Easter Sunday ressurections. Bless you all.