The Rose Embroidery Block

The Rose Block No. 8

Original Instructions: The colors suggested are deepest crimson and American beauty tones, rose or salmon pink, yellow or even white. However, to best balance in with all flowers in the made-up quilt, two tones of rose pink using the darker to the center are lovely with dull green leaves. Thorns may be dark red on the same light green of the stems.

• Garden roses. Embroidery for beginners by Diana Vingert
• Bullion knot rose stitch by Knit & Stitch
• Cast on Stitch Rose by NeedlePoint
• 3D white roses
• Brazilian embroidery by BD Hand Stitch

The Value of Easter Day

 " An angel rolled away the stone, and sat upon it." Matthew 28:2.

       Surely the angel of Easter morning did a superfluous piece of work! To roll away the stone of the sepulchre was a very important thing; but to sit upon it afterward - surely that was a useless task! Is it not a lame and impotent conclusion to a great deed! We should have expected the Easter angel, after rolling away the stone, to have been described as winging his way "beyond the clouds and beyond the tomb." But, when we are called to see him sitting on the old gravestone, is that poetry, is that beauty? Yes - the grandest poetry, the most subtle beauty. It is a far finer image than would have been depicted in the angel flying home. It is not enough that the stone of my grief should be rolled away; it must be glorified. Many a sorrow, when it passes away, leaves soreness behind. It is no longer the place of my tribulation to-day, but it was the place of my tribulation yesterday. I weep over my yesterday; I need something to explain my yesterday. To-day has been glorified; I want yesterday to be glorified too. I want to see the angel in the place where my old sorrow lay- on the stone of my former sepulchre. The glory of Easter morning is that it brightens past mornings. It tells me that what I called death was never there. It throws a light upon the ancient graves. It answers the long-repeated question, ''To what purpose is this waste?" It dispels my complaining over the vanished years. It dries my tears shed for the shortness of human life. It vindicates the past justice of my Father.

       Lord of Easter Day, let me see the angel on the gravestone! I cannot see Thy rising; I am born too late for that. But on every gravestone Thou hast left an angel sitting; the stone has itself become radiant. I used to cry for a chariot of fire to bear me beyond death. The chariot comes not, but the angel at the grave is better; he makes the cloud of death itself Thy chariot. Reveal to me that angel at the grave! Give me a view of death as a hallowed thing! It has long been to me the king of terrors; my gravestone has held a spectre. Take away the spectre, and put an angel there! If I saw an angel on the stone, I do not think I should need to see it rolled away. When I was a child I would have abolished the thunder; I thought it was the voice of disorder in the world. I would not abolish it now; I know it is the rhythm of Thine own voice. What has made the change? It is the presence of the angel. The thunder has not been rolled away, but it has ceased to be to me a discord; it has become a chord of Thy music. So is it with death this Easter morning! An angel sits upon the former spot of gloom! Thou hast glorified my pain of yesterday! Thou hast exalted my valley of humiliation! Thou hast peopled my desert of silence! Thou hast lighted my path of despair! Thou hast put the myrtle where the briar grew, the fir tree where the thorn grew! The stone of the sepulchre is not less heavy; but the weight of affliction has become a weight of glory.

The Burden In Heaven

 "For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." 2 Corinthians 5: 4.

       "Not for that we would be unclothed."  I understand Paul to mean ''not that we would be unclothed of our burdens in the future world." And this is a very strange saying. Paul is comparing earth with heaven. He says, '' In this tabernacle we groan, being burdened." We expect him to add, "when we get to heaven we shall make up for it by a life of ease." On the contrary, he says the advantage of heaven will be that we shall be able to hear our burdens, '' mortality shall be swallowed up of life." The burden which is a hindrance here will cease to be a hindrance there. Why does not Paul rather want to get rid of it altogether - to be unclothed of it? Because he sees a use for it yonder. I remember when I was minister of Innellan attending the last hours of a little deformed girl. She had been a lifelong invalid. She had borne years of pain with the most extraordinary patience. I asked her, in wonder, how she could bear so bravely. I expected her to answer, "I weep now; I shall laugh yet" - '' I go on foot now; I shall have a carriage yet " - " I have poor raiment now; I shall wear diamonds yet." Instead of that, she said, "O sir! you know I am training to be a ministering spirit." That little girl had seen the bridal of the earth and sky - the marriage supper of the Lamb.

       For indeed, my soul, what thou needest is not an unclothing of thy burden; it is that thy burden should be swallowed up in the life of love. Why has thy Father given thee a burden here? To make thee long for the beauty of heaven? A burden is a bad preparation for beauty. If Heaven is exclusively a place of flowers, thou shouldst be in the garden now. Why art thou not now in the garden? It is because thou art not training for a garden. Thou art training to be a ministering spirit. That is why God does not unclothe thee of thy heavy garments. The heavy garments are the fashion up yonder - only, they no longer oppress. God would not diminish thy load; He would strengthen thine arm. There will be more weights to carry in heaven than on earth. Wouldst thou enter into the joy of thy Lord? The joy of thy Lord is burden-bearing. He began by feeling the heaviness of the vesture; but love made it a garment of praise; and now His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Thou shalt not need to be divested of thy care when thou shalt enter into the joy, into the sympathy, of Jesus.

The Pain That Is Divine

 "Every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." John 15: 2.

       Man commonly inflicts suffering upon unpromising objects; the greatest criminal gets the heaviest sentence. But the penalties which God inflicts are upon the lives of promise, and because their promise gives hope of amendment. Two boys are brought before you, both convicted of lying. The one has been false all his life; the other has never lied before. You will probably decide to punish the first more severely. God's decision is the opposite. Instead of two boys, the passage takes its illustration from two branches. The one bears nothing; the other bears less than it ought to do. You would think the former would be treated more drastically. No, it is the latter. The former is simply removed from contact; the latter is subjected to severe discipline. Why? Because the penalties of God are proportionate not to the sin but to the promise. And, in pursuance of this law, our moral pain is proportionate not to the sin but to the promise. Paul suffers more inward pain than Nero - because he has more goodness in him. I never read of Nero beating on his breast and crying, ''O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death!" He had not love enough; he had not faith enough; he had not light enough. The pain of Paul came from the life higher than his own the life of the tree.

       No more, then, my brother, canst thou say with the men of old time, ''He is afflicted; therefore he must be bad." Thou wouldst be nearer the truth by the opposite sentence, "He is afflicted; therefore he must be good." In the moral world it is in fine weather that the glass falls. Be not discouraged that the glass falls; in the sphere of the heart it means not rain but sunshine. Be not dismayed although with each peak thou climbest the mist seems to deepen. Abraham never saw the mist till he began to ascend Mount Moriah. He saw it not in Egypt - where his life was really bad; only in the hour of his obedience did there come to him the call to sacrifice. Dost thou ask why Abraham was afflicted on the mount and Lot left scathless on the plain? Because Abraham was on the mount and Lot was on the plain. It is whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth; it is His light that makes thy shadow. Tremble not at the shadow, fear not when thou enterest into the cloud. It is only in thy transfiguration moments that God prepares a cloud for thee. It is only on the summit of Moriah that He bids thee yield thine offering. It is only on thy road to Canaan that He shows thee a path through the desert. The Father gives hard lessons to His promising son.

The Relation of Theism to Christianity

 "Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, 

cometh unto me." John 6: 45.

       The idea is that if a man believe in a personal God he ought, if he would be logical, to accept Christianity. Every man that has learned of the Father should, in strict reason, come to the Son also. There are men who call themselves Deists. They say, ''Have we not a God of nature - a God who meets the eye; why supplement that faith by a mystery?" Jesus answers "to clear away a mystery - the silence of this God of nature." The God of nature meets the eye; why does not He also meet the ear? Nature, you say, teaches you that there is a Father. It is well; but why does not that Father speak? I can understand one losing sight of a heavenly Father; but I cannot understand one having Him in sight and yet believing in His silence. Can you imagine any father sitting beside his little boy from morn to eve and never uttering a word? He could not; he would be bound to speak. It would be quite immaterial whether he said anything new. Love rarely does say anything new; but it delights to repeat its old things. It is not the revelation that is important; it is the revealing, the breaking of the silence, the communion of soul with soul.

       And so, my Father, is it with Thee. I do not know whether in the voice of Jesus Thou hast told me any new secret about the universe. It is Thy voice itself that breaks the great secret. I have received little light on old mysteries. Thou hast told me nothing new about the origin of life. Thou hast left unsolved the enigmas of space and time. But Thou hast spoken. Thou hast said, "I am here; " that is all; but that is heaven. I care not so much what Thou sayest as that I should hear Thy voice. The revelation I want from Thee is the revealing of Thy love. I care not though it should only tell the old, old story. I reck not though it should unbar no secret, though it should unclasp no mystery. Only let it speak - speak truisms, speak platitudes, speak repetitions. Only let it sound a note in the silence - a note which shall say, " I am with you, I remember you, I love you." Its reiterations will be the dearest message of all; its repetitions will be the sweetest message of all; its old, old story will be the gladdest message of all. My love will never weary of hearing the refrain of Thine; therefore, even though nature had told me all, I should still welcome the voice of Jesus.

The Poppy Embroidery Block

The Poppy Block No. 6

Original Instructions: Crimson poppies are among the most gorgeous of flowers. A turkey red cup and bottom petals with the upstanding one in crimson; green center with black dots around it and green stems, bud and leaves makes a brilliant addition to your blocks.

• Use a blanket stitch to embroider a poppy by AU Embroidery
• Poppy flower by best sewing...

The Slavery Which Glorifies

 "Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6: 19, 20.

1 Corinthians 6: 19, 20

       This is the only note of triumph I have ever heard sounded over the condition of a slave. Is it not a marvelous note? ''Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price; ye are the property of another; therefore glorify your master in your body and in your spirit." Can slavery glorify either a servant or his master! Can it glorify the body; does it not bring weariness! Can it glorify the spirit; does it not bring depression! How could Paul thus speak of a slave! Because there is one kind of slavery which does glorify both the servant and the master; it is love. The heart is never glorified till it gets an owner. Before that time body and spirit are very listless. But when the owner comes, when love comes, then body and spirit leap up together; the eye sparkles; the cheek mantles; the feet bound; the laugh rings; the pulse beats quicker; the yoke becomes easy, and the burden light. There is no homage to the master of a heart like the glory of that heart. When it brightens at his presence, when it leaps at his approach, he is glorified. He would not feel his ownership complete if it did not bring this glory, for the proof of my mastery over your heart is the gleam and glitter of its chain.

       I thank Thee, O Lord, for this one slavery -  the bondage of my heart. It is the charter of my glory. All the beauty of my heart lies in its chain; it sparkles most where it is bound. Never let there come to me an emancipation of the heart. I would have freedom in all else. Let the hands be free, let the mind be free, let the will be free; but let the heart ever have its chain. Thou whose name is Love, let me ever be Thy bondsman. I would not be the bondsman of any power but Thee. There are things in which I should always like to be independent. I should not like my body to be fettered; I should not wish my reason to be bound. But I should always covet Thy chain - Love's chain. I should not wish the independence of the heart. I should not like to have nobody to care for. I should not desire my affections to escape from the cage and be free. Love, Divine Love, Im- mortal Love, be Thou the master of my soul!