Around the hearth

Under this title there are hidden beautiful truths. The Hearth is where in the old times people would gather, for warmth of body and soul, for light of the mind and the spirit, and its connection with the heart is very direct.

The Picture is taken from the book Feels Like Home, by Cheryl Moch, and is filled with quotations and snap-shots of the lifes around the hearth. I wanted to post here some of the quotes which I find very inspiring as I walk my daily homemaker tasks, to be reminded of what it is the essential.

"To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labor tends..." Samuel Johnson

"Home in one form or another, is the great object of life." Josiah G. Holland

"Home,-the nursery of the infinite." William Ellery Channing

"Without hearts there is no home" Lord Byron

"Where shall a man find sweetness to surpass his own home and parents? In far lands he shall not, though he find a house of gold." Odissey by Homer

"Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, Iwill go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." Book of Ruth

"In homesickness you must keep moving-it is the only disease that does not require rest." H. de Vere Stacpoole

"Dine on onions but have a home; reduce your food and add to your dwellings." The Talmud

"The beauty of a house is order, the blessing of a house is contentment, the glory of a house is hospitality." Anonymous

"Beauty commonly produces love, but cleanliness preserves it." Joseph Addison

"...Home is the place that you'll know...when you're there." Shelley Miller

Many of these would be useful for thought and ponder, but right now I wanted to mainly focus on two points.

The first one is to BE at home: I found that in staying more at home, I started cherishing more the spaces, taking more care of the home, and loving it better, if the home has to be a reflection of our hearts, and of our love for God, the more we refrain from being unnecessarily away, the better.

The second thing I wanted to say is about warmth, you could see probably people and homes warmer than others, and with this I do not mean that warmy fuzzy feeling that can be superficial, but a real strong warmth dettached from the material world.

I was blessed to have one grandmother, avia Esperanza, who showed me that kind of warmth, she would always have something in the stove prepared when you would come over, her nice homemade french fries were the best!, and she was willing to give you company in going to the doctor, or when leaving town by the train. She was there -and you could feel it- with her heart, it was not out of duty, not out of fulfilling works of mercy, she was there out of her love for you, and you could witness that same love for others too. Me on the contrary I am far away from attaining something like that, I can be harsh with my words, my culinary productions are disastrous, and sometimes seems I am like the Tin-man of the Wizard of Ozz, but I keep asking Mary, my intercessor, to ask Jesus to live in me, to give me graces, so I can truly love, have a genuine interest in all the people and starting from my home, impress every task and chore with the warmth of the Holy Spirit, change my cold heart into a warm heart shining His light.