A New Year & Old Challenges for a New Day

Greetings,

      Happy New Year.

The New Year came in very quietly for Roberta and me.  That is, we did not have our usual party with friends.  We violated our long standing rule of not going anywhere on New year’s Eve.  And Roberta jumped into the world of “texting” as she kept in touch with Brenda and Timothy as they observed the New Year in Times Square, New York. 

We went to another unscheduled flight arrival at BWI Marshall, and as we expected, other than family members eager to greet their loved ones, there were not too many greeters there since the flight was unscheduled and it was New Year’s Eve.  Typically, there was a lot of standing and waiting, this night prolonged by a broken belt on the luggage conveyor, which gave me plenty of time to contemplate the turning of the year.  Regarding 2011, I chose to ignore the continual lying and ineptitude of Congress, the President, and politicians in general, and to not consider the replacing of tyrants and dictators with the tyranny of revolutionary groups replacing them.  And by ignoring the continued folly of celebrities and sports figures and some so-called Christian leaders, I was able to rejoice in the many blessings of the year and the continued gifts of God for each of us, and realize that considering the things that really matter, it was a good year, filled with the blessings of God.  It also seemed clear that 2012 is going to be an exciting year filled with the grace and blessings of God, and with the challenges before each of us to fulfill God’s plan and purpose for each of our lives.  At the same time I am more than ever convinced that God has a great deal in store for all of us who are concerned with spiritual growth, both personally and in order to renew and revive the Church.  There are great things happening, and a great deal more to come.  The Spirit works in amazing ways to accomplish God’s purposes, and the revolution of the Church in America and of our whole society is, I believe, at the top of God’s agenda.  God wants us to “save souls” and thus fulfill the mission of Christ for us.   

Ben Franklin offered this toast: “Be at war with your voices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.”  He was obviously a great advocate of spiritual growth.

In The United Methodist Book of Worship (# 294) there is a prayer for New Year’s.

Creative God, you make all things new in heaven and on earth.

We come to you in a new year with new desires and old fears,

new decisions and old controversies,

new dreams and old weaknesses.

Because you are a God of hope,

we know that you create all the possibilities of the future.

Because you are a God of love,

we know that you accept all the mistakes of the past.

Because you are the God of our faith,

we enter your gates with thanksgiving and praise,

we come into your presence with gladness and a joyful noise,

and we serve and bless you.  Amen.

Just as Tennyson’s Ring Out Wild Bells has become traditional for New Year’s Eve, this excerpt from Minnie Louise Haskins’ Desert (1908) has been used constantly for the New Year since George VI quoted it in his 1939 Christmas broadcast.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:

“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied:

“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

King George’s nation was already at war.  We Christians today are more aware than has been so for many, many years that we are very much at war also, against the forces of evil and the opposition or, perhaps even worse, the indifference of our society.  We are very much in need of going forth in the Way of God.  It is also very true that we have the opportunity to put our hands into the Hand of God.

May it be so for each of us.

Yours & His,

DED

Catonsville UMC Youth - Celebrate the New Year and New Commitments

Greetings,

Prayers for Use in Daily Devotions                                                               December 31, 2011

      We come to New Year’s Eve, according to the calendar of the world. The Church’s calendar started with the first Sunday of Advent, the preparation for the Incarnation (literally, the “in fleshing”), the coming of Christ into the world as one of us – human just like us.  For the Church this is the 7^th day of Christmas – remember the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas?  The twelve days of the Christmas season end on January 5^th, and on January 6^th we celebrate the Epiphany, or the manifestation, the revealing, of our Lord to all the world, not just to the Jewish people of Israel, by remembering the coming of the Magi, the Wise Men, who were Gentiles, that is, not Jewish.  They represent the whole world which Jesus also came to save, as well as to be the Jewish Messiah.

      Here is the e-mail message which I am sending to the adults participating in personal spiritual growth.  While you are still off from school, I hope you will take the time to read and think about all of this.

      While some of you are certainly familiar with this famous Tennyson poem, especially if you have been reading my e-mails in past years, I still expect it will be new to many of you.  Though written well over a hundred years ago, it still, if you will pardon the expression, rings true and is a great favorite for the New Year because of its message which speaks to each new age.  This year we once again hear so much talk about Change, about how this or that politician and/or political party is going to turn things around and really make a difference.  So many people have placed their hope in our President and other elected officials only to have their hopes dashed.  As we celebrate New Year’s Eve perhaps this old song may also serve to provide some perspective about Change and Hope.

Ring Out Wild Bells

                  Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

                        The flying cloud, the frosty light:

                        The year is dying in the night;

                  Ring our, wild bells, and let him die.

                  Ring out the old, ring in the new,

                        Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

                        The year is going, let him go;

                  Ring out the false, ring in the true.

                  Ring out the grief that saps the mind,

                        For those that here we see no more;

                        Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

                  Ring in redress to all mankind.

                  Ring out a slowly dying cause,

                        And ancient forms of party strife;

                        Ring in the nobler modes of life,

                  With sweeter manners, purer laws.

                  Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

                        The faithless coldness of the times;

                        Ring our, ring out my mournful rhymes,

                  But ring the fuller minstrel in.

                  Ring out false pride in place and blood,

                        The civic slander and the spite;

                        Ring in the love of truth and right,

                  Ring in the common love of good.

                  Ring out old shapes of foul disease,

                        Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

                        Ring out the thousand wars or old,

                  Ring in the thousand years of peace.

                  Ring in the valiant man and free,

                        The larger heart, the kindlier hand;

                        Ring out the darkness of the land,

                  Ring in the Christ that is to be.

      The poem speaks volumes of theology, philosophy and common sense.  It is well worth re-reading every year and through the year.

      So break out the raw oysters, angels on horseback, sauerkraut, raw beef, and the extraneous delectables and libations, and celebrate the hope and promise that God will make all things new.

      May each of you, and all of those you love, have a truly blessed New Year.

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      A prayer for the New Year, by W. E. Orchard.

      Eternal God, you make all things new, and abide for ever the same: grant us to begin this year in your faith, and to continue it in your favor, that, being guided in all our doings, and guarded all our days, we may spend out lives in your service, and finally, by your grace, attain the glory of everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

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      This prayer is from South India:

      O God, who before all others called shepherds to the cradle of your Son; grant that by the preaching of the gospel the poor, the humble and the forgotten may know that they are at home with you.  Amen.

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      Pray that this New Year will be filled with justice, peace and joy for all people, and that all people may come into the reality of your Kingdom.  Pray that God will bless you in this New Year.

      Pray for your own families and friends also.

      Continue to look for ways to give gifts of your time and service to those who are in need – elderly neighbors, people in nursing homes, people who are new to the community and may not yet have any friends here, and those who are homeless.  If you need suggestions, let me know.

      In the midst of your busy schedules, please be intentional about finding some time, even 15 minutes a day, to connect to God.  Please continue to do your reading and writing.  Remember, you can call Rev. Dennis E. Dorsch at any time if you have questions or want to discuss your reading at 410-744-5127, or e-mail at ded10@aol.com.

Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New

Greetings,

      While some of you are certainly familiar with this famous Tennyson poem, especially if you have been reading my e-mails in past years, I still expect it will be new to many of you.  Though written well over a hundred years ago, it still, if you will pardon the expression, rings true and is a great favorite for the New Year because of its message which speaks to each new age.  This year we once again hear so much talk about Change, about how this or that politician and/or political party is going to turn things around and really make a difference.  So many people have placed their hope in our President and other electet officials only to have their hopes dashed.  As we celebrate New Year’s Eve perhaps this old song may also serve to provide some perspective about Change and Hope.

Ring Out Wild Bells

                  Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

                        The flying cloud, the frosty light:

                        The year is dying in the night;

                  Ring our, wild bells, and let him die.

                  Ring out the old, ring in the new,

                        Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

                        The year is going, let him go;

                  Ring out the false, ring in the true.

                  Ring out the grief that saps the mind,

                        For those that here we see no more;

                        Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

                  Ring in redress to all mankind.

                  Ring out a slowly dying cause,

                        And ancient forms of party strife;

                        Ring in the nobler modes of life,

                  With sweeter manners, purer laws.

                  Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

                        The faithless coldness of the times;

                        Ring our, ring out my mournful rhymes,

                  But ring the fuller minstrel in.

                  Ring out false pride in place and blood,

                        The civic slander and the spite;

                        Ring in the love of truth and right,

                  Ring in the common love of good.

                  Ring out old shapes of foul disease,

                        Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

                        Ring out the thousand wars or old,

                  Ring in the thousand years of peace.

                  Ring in the valiant man and free,

                        The larger heart, the kindlier hand;

                        Ring out the darkness of the land,

                  Ring in the Christ that is to be.

      The poem speaks volumes of theology, philosophy and common sense.  It is well worth re-reading every year and through the year.

      So break out the raw oysters, angels on horseback, sauerkraut, raw beef, and the extraneous delectables and libations, and celebrate the hope and promise that God will make all things new.

      May each of you, and all of those you love, have a truly blessed New Year.

Yours & His,

DED

God Blesses in the Open; We Need to Witness in the Open

Greetings, 

      We are in the midst of Christmas, yet we are also very aware that we are coming to the end of another year as the world counts things.  While the world rarely uses the title out loud today, it is still, according to official United States of America governmental reckoning on all proclamations and laws, A.D., Anno Domini, the Year of Our Lord.  For at Christmas something happened which changed the world.

      In a flash, at a trumpet crash,

      I am all at once what Christ is,

      since he was what I am.

                                             Gerald Manley Hopkins

      To cleave to God hidden beneath the inward and outward forces which animate our being and sustain it in its development is ultimately to open ourselves to, and put trust in, all the breaths of life.

                                              Pierre Teilhard do Chardin

      Origen, in the third century wrote:

      “Let us too stand in the Temple and hold God’s Son and embrace him; and that we may deserve leave to withdraw and start on our way towards a better land, let us pray to God, the all-powerful, and to the little Jesus himself, whom we so much want to speak to and hold in our arms.

      “His are glory and power now and always.  Amen.”

     

      “Now Lord, let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation...”  This season, this celebration reminds us that we are in fact God’s servants (actually the Greek word in Luke 2:29 is “slave”) and that we have now seen the salvation which God has prepared for us in the presence of all peoples.  What God has done is not hidden, but open, and our acknowledgment of it needs to be in the open.  We need, with Simeon, to give our public witness to the glory of God and what God has done for us.  To depart in peace is not necessarily to die, it is to move forward to whatever God has prepared for us.  To move forward with Jesus on the Way we are to walk with him.  It is to face every trial and tribulation with peace, the peace of Jesus the Christ in our hearts and lives.

      This is the good news for each of us.

Yours & His,

DED

Christmas Continues to Offer Hope - Will We Accept?

Greetings,

      Even as we Christians continue to celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace, we as a society are in the midst of terror and war.  Even as we celebrate the Good News of God’s redemptive intervention on our behalf we are caught up in the process of bringing death and destruction.  We, the United States and our allies, lay claim to acting on behalf of justice, and imply very strongly that it is God’s justice we are serving.  Yet, there are so many questions raised by any such massive military actions which in our patriotic fervor we are not inclined to ask.  It is so obvious that we must stop the evil of terrorism that we sometimes may not consider that God’s way almost always is not the way humans do things.  When, in classic Star Trek terms, does the good of a few outweigh the good of the many?  When are you justified in rebelling against authority?  When are you justified in joining with those who have evil intention in order to accomplish your good intention?  When does one disobey an order of your superiors, or of your country?  Does the end ever justify the means?  (Jesus clearly holds that it does not.)  How does one stop evil and accomplish God’s will without following the ways of the world?

      The country is in a state of, what? Tedium?, stupor?, anticipation?, frustration?, or hope?, as we move into the primary elctions.   Nineteen years ago we were preparing to inaugurate “The Man From Hope,” Bill Clinton, who was going to change everything.  Four years ago we were told that we were about to enter an era of Hope and Change.  (I even remember the inauguration of John Kennedy and the era of Lyndon Johnson and the War on Poverty which was going to change everything and bring Hope to the world.)  Regardless of your political positions, we need to pray that there might be a true change in our society and the way we do things.  We need to pray fervently that the message of Hope, the only true message of Hope, Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God, may come to be the reality of our society.           

      The whole incarnation experience speaks to these issues.  The good news of Jesus’ birth will lead to the martyrdom of Stephen, to the slaughter of the innocents of Bethlehem, and countless ill-conceived and evil “holy wars” and persecutions.  Jesus teaches that the end never justifies the means.  We are called to do that which is right, and just, and true, and loving at all times, at all costs.  If others choose to oppose that which is good with evil, that is their sin.  We must proclaim the truth and love even to those who sin.  We must be God’s love for all people, knowing that indeed, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

      In the midst of our continuing celebration of Christmastide, we must be ever mindful of our responsibilities before the God who sent us Jesus, the God who calls us to follow him, the God who loves us, and loves justice perfectly.  May we offer that Hope and Change to those who are the truly hurting, the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, the homeless, the mentally ill, the depressed, the suffering, the lost.  May we offer that Hope and Change to the young, the old, the rich and the poor, the hard working citizen and the hard working alien, to those who are examples of goodness and love and to those who are caught in the struggles of sin and selfishness, and all of us who are in-between. 

      The world has put away Christmas.  We Christians are just getting started with Christmas and the message of Hope, Change, and above all, Love.

Yours & His,

DED

Youth Daily Devotions: God Knows Each of Our Names - We all deserved to be known to others by our name.

Youth  –  Personal Spiritual Growth

             

Prayers for Use in Daily Devotions                                                          December 28, 2011

Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace for those God favors.  (Luke 2:14)

Almighty God our heavenly Father, who have given us your Son to be our brother and our friend and by whose spirit we come together to sing the songs of Christmas, and continue to celebrate the Good News of his coming:

We thank you for the vision of the shepherds at Bethlehem and for every vision of ourselves that you have given us.  We pray that the vision they saw then and the vision we see now may be joined by your Son in making us more like him and our world more like his kingdom.

As gifts come to us, may we give to others.  As peace is in our homes, may it come to the nations.  As joy is in our hearts, may we rejoice in and work for the well-being of those who have no earthly cause for joy.

May we help one another bring to focus our common vision of a new day where brotherhood shall prevail, fears and poverty be no more, and where all your children may live in the spirit of your Son born that first Christmas night into the human family and now born again in our hearts, to bring joy to all men, in every city and over the face of the earth.

Amen.

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      On December 21, 2011, the longest night of the year, once it was dark, we held the annual Homeless Persons Memorial Service to remember those individuals who were homeless, or who had been homeless, whom had died during the year.  Many died as a direct consequence of being on the street.  Others died much sooner than they should have because of the consequences of having lived on the street.  We used a pair of shoes to symbolize each person; each pair had a tag with the name of one of the deceased, and a votive candle in one of the shoes to represent the light that person brought to the world, and the light of God which continues to burn in the darkness.

      It is a great tragedy of our society that we had to remember 111 people, just from Baltimore City who had been homeless.  Far too often the homeless are just numbers to be counted in annual statistical reports.  In Luke 12, Jesus taught that God knows each and every creature God has created, even the sparrows.  Then Jesus says, “Why, every hair on your head has been counted.  There is no need to be afraid: you are worth more than many sparrows.”

      The Christmas accounts talk about numbers: the number of months in a pregnancy, the registration of individuals by the Roman Empire for tax purposes, the miles in the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem and later from Bethlehem to Egypt, the number – a multitude – of angels singing praise before the shepherds, and, like the usually unnumbered homeless, the unnumbered children of Bethlehem killed by King Herod the Great.

      Lord Jesus, yourself the insignificant one who escaped the attention of this world’s statisticians, and lived and died to give us a new way of numbering our fellow human beings; calling a negligible number of men and women to be your followers; blessing five barley loaves and two small fishes for the feeding of a multitude; giving significance and value to the one over against the ninety and nine; promising your presence to the two or three who gather in your name; teach is likewise to do our arithmetic with you.  Amen.

      This is a prayer from Singapore which may not look like a Christmas prayer, but which, when you think about it, really is.

To count the crowds that fill the street statistics are the measure.

I am a tag without a name, a chest without a treasure.

      Just call me by my name

      Just call me by my name

      Just call me by my name, O Lord,

      Just call me by my name. 

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      We are now in the “season of Christmas” which is the twelve days from Christmas to Epiphany, January 6, when we celebrate the coming of the Wise Men.  While the world stops Christmas on December 26, we in the Church are just beginning our twelve days of celebration.

      Almighty God, we give you thanks each day of this Christmas season for your continued blessings to us, which comes as the continual gift of your Son, Jesus our Lord.  May we, each day of this season, be drawn closed to you, to your love, and to your light, that they may be made real in us and shine though us to all those around us.  To you, Almighty Father, Most Blessed Son, and Most Holy Spirit, One God, be blessing and honor and praise, now and forever.  Amen.

     

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      Pray that this Christmas, the light and love of God in Jesus Christ may spread throughout the world and tough every human heart with justice, peace and joy.

      Pray for your own families and friends also.

      Continue to look for ways to give gifts of your time and service to those who are in need – elderly neighbors, people in nursing homes, people who are new to the community and may not yet have any friends here, and those who are homeless.  If you need suggestions, let me know.

      In the midst of your busy schedules, please be intentional about finding some time, even 15 minutes a day, to connect to God.  Please continue to do your reading and writing.  Remember, you can call Rev. Dennis E. Dorsch at any time if you have questions or want to discuss your reading at 410-744-5127, or e-mail at ded10@aol.com.