holidays and observances – watercress words-exploring and sharing the HEART of health

Why we need Palm Sunday

The first Palm day was a prelude to unexpected pain and suffering. Most of us did not anticipate the pain and suffering this pandemic would bring. But the second Palm day was a celebration

Palm Sunday is one of several “holidays”, or more correctly holy days that Christians “celebrate”, or observe, in the weeks before Easter called Lent. Palm Sunday comes from an event recorded in the Bible books of Mark, Luke, and John.

The prophet Zechariah had said

“Announce to the people
of Jerusalem:
‘Your king is coming to you!
He is humble
and rides on a donkey.
He comes on the colt
of a donkey.’ ”

image from the LIGHTSTOCK.COM collection, an affiliate link

The disciples left and did what Jesus had told them to do. They brought the donkey and its colt and laid some clothes on their backs. Then Jesus got on.

The next day a large crowd was in Jerusalem for Passover. When they heard that Jesus was coming for the festival, they took palm branches and went out to greet him. They shouted,

Hooray for the Son of David!
God bless the one who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hooray for God
in heaven above!”

(Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.28-38; John 12.12-19)

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)

Lent starts with the well known Fat Tuesday-Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday.

Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday, related in the story above. At my church on Palm Sunday, the preschool age children march into the auditorium waving palm branches and sing a song for us. The parents and grandparents sit up front, proudly taking pictures and video. It’s a day to celebrate before we observe the solemn sad days of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

a second day to wave palm branches

It may not have been a Sunday, but I recently discovered another time when palm branches are used to honor Jesus. But unlike the first Palm Sunday, it celebrates a much happier occasion. It’s in the book of Revelation.

After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, as they shouted,

Our God, who sits
    upon the throne,
has the power
to save his people,
    and so does the Lamb.
Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom,
    thanks, honor, power,
and strength belong to our God
    forever and ever! Amen!”
Revelation 7:9-12, CEV

sharing faith, hope, and love

FAITH LOVE HOPE- words created with letter tiles — These three remain, faith, hope and love, and greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

The first Palm day was a prelude to unexpected pain and suffering. Most of us did not anticipate the pain and suffering this pandemic would bring. But the second Palm day was a celebration because their pain and suffering was over. And I believe some day we will look back on these difficult days and celebrate health and wholeness again.

I appreciate all of you who follow this blog; there are numerous other blogs to choose from so I am honored you chose to spend some time here. A special welcome to all my new followers from this past month.

I would love for you to start following Watercress Words : use this form to get an email notification of new posts . Please find and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Thanks so much.

Dr. Aletha

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Christmas Day

Christian tradition believes that St. Luke, the writer of this gospel, was a physician. Perhaps that’s why this Bible book speaks so much about Christ’s compassion and concern for the sick, the poor, widows, orphans, the abused and oppressed. He tells the stories of the lost (prodigal) son and the good Samaritan.

Luke chapter 1

²⁸The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

³⁰But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”

³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

photo from the **LIGHTSTOCK.COM collection,** stock photo site, an affiliate

Mary’s Song

⁴⁶And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.”

This video shows Mark Lowry as a serious and talented singer. However, he is also a gifted comedienne. He attributes his love and talent for humor to his childhood diagnosis of ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Rather than try to suppress it, he developed it into an asset to entertain and bless others.

sharing the HEART of Christmas

I would love for you to start following Watercress Words : use this form to get an email notification of new posts . Please find and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Thanks so much.

Dr. Aletha

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Giving Thanks

As we in the United States celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, let’s remember people who can’t celebrate at home with their friends and family-

Flash mobs usually involve singing but this one dances. It is a “flashwaltz” which happened in a hospital (after all, this is a health blog) .

Music students played The Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky at the Hadassah Hospital.

As we in the United States celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, let’s remember people who can’t celebrate at home with their friends and family-

people in hospitals and nursing homes
those serving in the military
those who work today to keep the rest of us safe- police, firefighters, medical professionals, transportation workers

The Waltz of the Flowers is available at Amazon

(this blog earns a small commission if you purchase from this link)

sharing the HEART of thankfulness today and always

I would love for you to start following Watercress Words : use this form to get an email notification of new posts . Please find and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Thanks so much.

Dr. Aletha

What is Palm Sunday?

Palm Sunday is one of several “holidays”, or more correctly holy days that Christians “celebrate”, meaning observe, in the weeks before Easter which we call Lent.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem
(Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.28-38; John 12.12-19)

The prophet Zechariah had said

“Announce to the people
of Jerusalem:
‘Your king is coming to you!
He is humble
and rides on a donkey.
He comes on the colt
of a donkey.’ ”

The disciples left and did what Jesus had told them to do. They brought the donkey and its colt and laid some clothes on their backs. Then Jesus got on.

Many people spread clothes in the road, while others put down branches which they had cut from trees. Some people walked ahead of Jesus and others followed behind. They were all shouting,

Hooray for the Son of David!
God bless the one who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hooray for God
in heaven above!”

When Jesus came to Jerusalem, everyone in the city was excited and asked, “Who can this be?”

The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Matthew21 CEV

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)

The “holidays” of Lent

Palm Sunday is one of several “holidays”, or more correctly holy days that Christians “celebrate”, meaning observe, in the weeks before Easter which we call Lent.

Lent starts with the well known Fat Tuesday-Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday.

Photos and graphics in this post are from Lightstock-quality photos and graphics site- start free trial and get 4 free credits here.

(This is an affiliate link)

Dr. Aletha

New Year’s Resolutions Approved by Grandmas

I’m a stickler for definitions so I checked to see what “resolution” means. It is a “firm determination to do something” or the “act of solving a problem.”

With people living such long lives now, most of us will spend a large portion of it as grandparents, even great-grandparents. But today’s grandmothers aren’t just sitting in rocking chairs knitting.

Modern grandmothers do everything. They run businesses and run for office.

There are grandmothers in Congress and on the Supreme Court.

Grandmothers run marathons, teach yoga, and compete in ballroom dancing (like me).

Some retire from long successful careers and some start new careers.

And some grandmothers write blogs.

These grandmothers’ blogs cover a variety of subjects

home,marriage, family, travel, cooking, fitness, retirement, faith, genealogy, crafts, gardening, books, health, DIY, and of course grandchildren.

find hidden opportunities hidden in each new day — Michael Josephson-ethics law professor– affiliate link

2019 New Year’s Resolutions

Several of the other grandmother bloggers I know shared their new year’s resolutions online. Here is what I wrote-

I’m a stickler for definitions so I checked to see what “resolution” means. It is a “firm determination to do something” or the “act of solving a problem.”

So I don’t do New Year’s resolutions because I think we should be doing resolutions all the time; if we think of it as just a once a year process, we miss multiple opportunities to accomplish new things or solve problems.

So, I do resolve to continue learning new things and improving my skills. In 2019 I will be required to recertify as a family physician, so I have a “firm determination” to pass the exam.

I also want to improve my ballroom dancing skills, learn new steps and routines.

I want to update old blog posts with newer information and address important medical topics that I haven’t tackled before.

I want to spend quality time with my friends and family, nurture my faith and find new ways to give back to my community.

This bright new year is given to me to live each day with zest-William Arthur Ward — William Arthur Ward- author and pastor– affiliate link

More grandmothers’ resolutions

Here are summaries of what other grandmothers shared with a link to their blogs.

Kimberly – Passing Down the Love:

finalize my retirement plans,
move my feet a little more and
look for happiness in the little things.

Donna – Retirement Reflections:

healthy diet and increased exercise.

Sylvia – Grace for a Gypsy:

to organize and publish my family research

Angie – Flippin Fanchers:

fully transition my DIY blog to a grandma blog.

Louise – Going Ba-Nanas for Baby:

To pray with consistency, and not just when I need help.
To thank God for my blessings instead of complaining about my challenges
To request, each and every day, that my loved ones and I will be watched over from above, and always kept in the light of divine grace.

Marilyn – Marilyn’s Treats:

To simplify my life.
To spend more time taking care of “me” so I can be there to enjoy family and friends.

Cathy – Life of 2 Snowbirds:

Start my healthy diet and exercise more.

Nikki – Gwin Gal Inside and Out:

to host more family get-togethers much more frequently in the coming months.

Renee – Grandmommin:

to be more verbally appreciative

Pat – Mille Fiori Favoriti:

to live even more healthfully, with more exercise, and to
be proactive about going to exams and tests to monitor our health.

Marisa – All Our Way:

I’m signing on with an agent which leaves me free to work on my blog
I want to double my page view by next year.

Christie – So What? Now What?:

to accomplish or experience things during 2019, focusing on health, joy, learning, and relationships.

Beverly – Across the Boulevard:

for blogging, to re-evaluate what I want to accomplish and to take steps that puts it on the path I want for it.

Your turn to resolve-

How about you? What do you resolve, plan, hope, or want to achieve in 2019? And why not ask your grandmother what her resolutions are?

The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year, but a new you.

the HEART of health

Thanks for joining me to explore New Year’s resolutions and the HEART of health. Will you resolve to share this blog post and follow Watercress Words? I appreciate your support.

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Happy New Year.

Photos and graphics in this post are from Lightstock-quality photos and graphics site- start free trial and get 4 free credits here.

(This is an affiliate link)

Dr. Aletha

“Tis the season, again

Having a birthday close to Christmas makes both occasions rather messy for you and your family. As my friend ,whose birthday is on New Year’s Day, wrote, “You feel like you get cheated on your Christmas/birthday gifts.” But there are perks.

This is one of my favorite posts, probably because I had fun writing it. There’s no serious medical information in it, but I hope you will find inspiration to stop and think about the “reason for the season”.

Don’t we celebrate more special events and holidays the last six weeks of the year than the rest of the year combined? It feels that way to me. We have these three major holidays-

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day

Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve have become mini holidays too.

And when Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on the weekend, Friday or Monday will be a holiday for many people.

First we had Black Friday. Then they added Cyber Monday. Now we also have Giving Tuesday, which I think is the only one that really counts.

beautiful large Christmas tree — Christmas at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry

Some people observe the special celebrations of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

In the United States, we observe December 7 as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, the day in 1941 the United States entered World War II. That event changed our country forever, and created my generation, the post-war Baby Boomers.

The USS Arizona Memorial — Pearl Harbor Memorial to the USS Arizona

On December 17 , 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made their famous flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, ushering in the age of air travel, another historical turning point.

aircraft airplane antique classic — Photo by Inge Wallumrød on Pexels.com

The shortest day of the year occurs on December 21, the winter solstice and first day of winter in the northern hemisphere.

And there are other special holidays and events observed too.

Besides holidays, other matters demand our time and attention during this season also.

College students face the end of a semester by studying for finals and finishing term papers and projects.

Renewal notices for subscriptions, licenses, and memberships show up in our mailboxes or inboxes.

Charities offer us one final opportunity to make tax-deductible donations.

Patients call their doctor’s, dentist’s or optometrist’s office for that last chance to use medical insurance before the new (and probably higher) deductible kicks in or use medical spending accounts.

red gift boxes — Christmas birthdays can be messy too.

And in the middle of all this, I celebrate my birthday.

Your neighbors remind you your birthday is coming by hanging lights on their houses and turning them on every evening. (My husband claims that’s not the real reason. He doesn’t believe in Santa Claus either.)

You can go to a holiday party and pretend it’s for you.

You can listen to Christmas music on your birthday without seeming weird.

Your husband may hire a limousine to drive you around town looking at holiday lights displays. (No joke.)

boy and woman with birthday cakes — Celebrating a long ago birthday with my son. I don’t know why I had two birthday cakes.

Thank goodness, so far, no one else in my immediate family has chosen to be born or married this month. (Although I was delighted to learn recently that two distant cousins also have December birthdays.)

But the best part of any birthday, no matter when you observe it, is reflecting on your life, both the successes and failures, the joys and sorrows, and remembering and reflecting on the people and events that brought you to where you are now.

Birth and death comprise this journey we call Life. Long ago I recognized that we physicians do not ultimately “save lives” or “prevent death”, but we can sometimes impact the time and circumstances.

A Bible book, Ecclesiastes chapter 3 addresses the extremes of life in this passage which is often read at funerals or memorials-

For everything there is a season, and a time for

every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

This year I have celebrated with friends who welcomed new babies into their families. I watched a friend face a disabling illness and death with the same faith, courage, enthusiasm, dignity and humor that he had lived life. I have mourned with his family and others who have lost loved ones this year.

Some people dread birthdays, but I believe they are a blessing; I am grateful for another year of life and hope to use whatever time I have left productively. I agree with Oliver Wendell Holmes

“To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old.”

Buzz Aldrin, one of the Apollo 11 astronauts and second human to step on the moon’s surface , trekked to the South Pole-at 86 years old.

A woman celebrating her 103rd birthday made the news. As always, she spent the day at a senior citizen center- as a volunteer!

In January, our country observes the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I doubt my birthday will ever be named a holiday, but I hope something I do in life will leave this world a little better.

A birthday creates a new beginning and so does a new year. Perhaps we can all use the New Year’s Day holiday to remember, reflect, renew and recharge our hearts and minds for another season of life.

Yes, ’tis the season-Merry Christmas, Happy New Year-

and happy birthday, whenever yours may be.

Dr. Aletha

dessert with a lit candle in the middle — I hope your favorite restaurant gives you a complimentary dessert on your birthday.

Bringing good news

We usually associate Messiah with Christmas, but Handel intended it to be performed at Easter.

Luke chapter 2, New Living Translation

The Shepherds and Angels

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them.

shepherds raising arms to the sky — Shepherds drawing by Bill Hart

“Don’t be afraid!” he said.

“I bring you good news that will bring

great joy to all people.”

The artist- Bill Hart

The late Bill Hart was a professional artist. He served in the United States Army during World War II and was part of the force which invaded and liberated France in 1944. You can read Bill’s story at this link.

The composer- George Handel

These verses from the Bible book Luke are sung in Handel’s musical Messiah musical. We usually associate Messiah with Christmas, but Handel intended it to be performed at Easter.

“Handel got the lyrics from a preacher named Charles Jennens, who wrote out the whole piece as a collage of Bible verses designed to tell a story about the Messiah.”

quoted from wheatwilliams.com

According to the Bible, Luke was a physician. George Handel’s father, Georg, was a barber-surgeon.

Handel’s Messiah -Listen on Apple Music

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A Simple Christmas book cover — A Simple Christmas: A Faith-filled Guide to a Meaningful And Stress-free Christmas (Spirit of Simple Living)

25% Off Imaginext Toys! Shop BN.Com & in stores through 12/25/19

sharing the HEART of Christmas

I would love for you to start following Watercress Words : use this form to get an email notification of new posts . Please find and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Thanks so much.

a second day to wave palm branches

sharing faith, hope, and love

Use these links to share the heart of health wherever you connect.

Like this:

Luke chapter 1

Mary’s Song

sharing the HEART of Christmas

Use these links to share the heart of health wherever you connect.

Like this:

Music students played The Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky at the Hadassah Hospital.

The Waltz of the Flowers is available at Amazon

sharing the HEART of thankfulness today and always

Use these links to share the heart of health wherever you connect.

Like this:

The “holidays” of Lent

Use these links to share the heart of health wherever you connect.

Like this:

These grandmothers’ blogs cover a variety of subjects

2019 New Year’s Resolutions

More grandmothers’ resolutions

Kimberly – Passing Down the Love:

Donna – Retirement Reflections:

Sylvia – Grace for a Gypsy:

Angie – Flippin Fanchers:

Louise – Going Ba-Nanas for Baby:

Marilyn – Marilyn’s Treats:

Cathy – Life of 2 Snowbirds:

Nikki – Gwin Gal Inside and Out:

Renee – Grandmommin:

Pat – Mille Fiori Favoriti:

Marisa – All Our Way:

Christie – So What? Now What?:

Beverly – Across the Boulevard:

Your turn to resolve-

the HEART of health

Use these links to share the heart of health wherever you connect.

Like this:

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day

Besides holidays, other matters demand our time and attention during this season also.

And in the middle of all this, I celebrate my birthday.

But the best part of any birthday, no matter when you observe it, is reflecting on your life, both the successes and failures, the joys and sorrows, and remembering and reflecting on the people and events that brought you to where you are now.

For everything there is a season, and a time for

every matter under heaven:

“To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old.”

Yes, ’tis the season-Merry Christmas, Happy New Year-

and happy birthday, whenever yours may be.

Use these links to share the heart of health wherever you connect.

Like this:

The Shepherds and Angels

The artist- Bill Hart

The composer- George Handel

sharing the HEART of Christmas

Use these links to share the heart of health wherever you connect.

Like this: