Temple of the Hearth-Fire

I came across this passage from a book by Dion Fortune:

"In order to make the home a Temple for the soul, its duties must be dominated by two ideals--love and beauty. Its services must be rendered with sympathy and joy, and we must make its humblest details beautiful. Even in the barest room there is a beauty of perfect cleanliness and order. If we would merely eliminate the superfluous from our homes and keep what remains in perfect order, we should have achieved true beauty...

"Let us, in imagination, always put a chair at the fireside and lay a place at the table for the Unseen Guest, and live our life and do our work in the light of that Invisible Presence.

"If we rule our homes in a spirit of selfless love and serenity of heart, asking no return, but doing our duty for the sake of the need of those to whom we minister, our house will be a true Temple of the Hearth-Fire...

"Let us try to keep our homes always in readiness for the coming of the [divine] Wayfarer... For His coming it is not enough that the house should be swept and garnished, the spirit of the home must blossom on the hearth in peace and good will and, above all, in serenity, which is the true keynote of home."

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Last night's ice cream flavor: mango!