We could all use a dose of beauty every day to help us connect with the source of all beauty, the Divine. Truth, goodness, and beauty are like medicine for the soul and are a path to joy in our lives.
I often use the internet to find beautiful art to enrich my soul. I thought I would share some of the beauty that I have stumbled upon recently.
First, German artist, Friedrich Anton Otto Prolss (1855-1934) of the Munich School who depicted touching scenes of family life.
In this first painting, Sunday 1894, he depicts an intimate scene of children reading a book together. Notice the arch that gives the painting a feeling of intimacy and how the flowers on the windowsill are depicted as well on the cabinet by the girl who gazes out the window on the world beyond. Notice the spinning wheel which reflects a time when handmade clothing meant devotion to the task.
In the painting below, Prolss depicts a family dining together, appropriately titled Having Lunch. Children watch as father ladles a meal from a pot into bowls and a mother engages the youngest child.
If you look closely, you can see the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Christ child hanging over the table and crucifix on the wall to the right side of the painting. In the past, faith was an integral part of family life offering hope and solace in both times of joy and times of hardship.
Another beautiful painting depicts a girl headed to Sunday Mass.
Lastly, I wanted to share a poem with you called The Stick-Together Families written by Edgar A. Guest published in 1917. A columnist for the Detroit Free Press, he published a poem every day for thirty years. He earned the title “The People’s Poet” for his poems championing the traditional American family.
The Stick-Together Families
The stick-together families are happier by far Than the brothers and the sisters who take separate highways are. The gladdest people living are the wholesome folks who make A circle at the fireside that no power but death can break. And the finest of conventions ever held beneath the sun Are the little family gatherings when the busy day is done. There are rich folk, there are poor folk, who imagine they are wise, And they're very quick to shatter all the little family ties. Each goes searching after pleasure in his own selected way, Each with strangers likes to wander, and with strangers likes to play. But it's bitterness they harvest, and it's empty joy they find, For the children that are wisest are the stick-together kind. There are some who seem to fancy that for gladness they must roam, That for smiles that are the brightest they must wander far from home. That the strange friend is the true friend, and they travel far astray they waste their lives in striving for a joy that's far away, But the gladdest sort of people, when the busy day is done, Are the brothers and the sisters who together share their fun. It's the stick-together family that wins the joys of earth, That hears the sweetest music and that finds the finest mirth; It's the old home roof that shelters all the charm that life can give; There you find the gladdest play-ground, there the happiest spot to live. And, O weary, wandering brother, if contentment you would win, Come you back unto the fireside and be comrade with your kin. ~Edgar A. Guest Enjoy your dose of beauty--medicine for the soul.
I’m so enjoying your Substack postings, Doc. Little helpings of the good, the true and the beautiful. Thanks.
So loved this poem. And timely as my family anticipates gathering, once again, for my nephews nuptuals. Thanks for sharing, Rae. Have a blessed day.