1564 Passau Hymns

    Last evening we had the privilege of seeing a German hymnbook printed in 1564. It is preserved in the Mennonite Historical Library in Goshen, Indiana, and was carefully brought to Lancaster County by Joe Springer, curator of MHL, to be displayed in several meetings. 

    The Mennonite Historical Library was founded largely by the efforts of Harold S. Bender. In 1928, while on a trip to Pennsylvania, he discovered a book printed in 1564 which contained what is known as the Passau hymns. These are hymns which were sung by Anabaptists jailed in 1535 in the Passau castle near the border of Germany and Austria. 

    When they were released in 1544, one or more of the Passau prisoners carried with them the texts of fifty-three songs they sang in the prison. Some are identified as being written by a certain person while imprisoned. These were spread to various Anabaptist communities and then printed in a small book in 1564. This book was not called the Asubund, but was included in the first hymnbook titled Ausbund in 1583. The Ausbund is still used by the Amish in their worship services and sung in German.

   The book Harold Bender discovered was a Sammelband, a collection of printed booklets combined into a book with one binding.  Sammelbands vary in content and are not exactly alike. Usually, the owner of the book took his collection of materials to a bookbinder and had them bound into one volume. This Sammelband contained other small booklets of hymns and a prayer. Harold Bender recognized the Passau hymns near the back of the book. He did not have enough money with him to buy the book so the bookseller divided the book (which was falling apart) and sold him the Passau hymns for ten dollars. Later, he was able to buy the second half of the book.

    In 2015, Jeff Peachy painstakingly restored the book. He took it completely apart, cleaned every page, and repaired the broken leather spine. After languishing in the rare book room of the MHL for nearly ninety years, the 458-year-old book is now restored and on a short tour in Lancaster County. It is the only existing 1564 edition in the world.

    

   

A Quick Turn

    Our path of life took a quick turn this week. Of course, we know life is a terminal condition and life is only one breath away from death.  But that is easy to ignore, and we go on assuming death is somewhere off in the distant future. We got a reality check this week.

    Leroy occasionally said he had a burning in his chest. The pain was right down the center, so we assumed it was heartburn and it always went away. On Wednesday evening we went to prayer meeting. After we got home, he went to bed but could not sleep because of the pain in his chest. Then he started sweating and was nauseous. I put those things together and was sure he is having a heart attack.

   I called Gene (the son who lives closest to us) at 10 pm and he came over. He soon called the ambulance and Leroy was taken to the hospital where tests confirmed he had a heart attack. He was rushed to the Cath Lab and had three stents put in. One artery was 100% closed and there were partial blockages in other arteries. If we hadn't gone for help, things could have gotten worse quickly and the story would have a sad ending.

   He was in the hospital all day Thursday and came home Friday afternoon with some additional meds, doctor appointments, and diet restrictions. Because he is diabetic, he already was on a no-sugar diet, but he was not very faithful in it. He was also on a no-salt diet because of high blood pressure. Now he is also on a no-fat diet because of high cholesterol. 

   This means a big change in what he can eat and how I must cook. For starters, he can no longer eat chips every day or have scrapple or bacon with his eggs at breakfast. The foods he can eat are quite limited. What is good for one condition is bad for the other. We'll have to find our way through this.

   I remember when his dad came home from the hospital with the same diet restrictions. He was a good bit younger when that happened, and he lived to be 80. Leroy is two years short of that, so if he follows his diet he could live awhile yet. At least I hope so. I need him.

   

Observations on Ukraine

 I'm not a political analyst, but I have made some observations as the war in Ukraine grinds on.

1. The suffering and destruction of war which is caused by selfishness and greed is catastrophic. I cannot understand how people can deliberately kill their neighbors and inflict such cruelty on innocent civilians.

2. Ukraine is the underdog in this war but their unity is amazing as they fight Goliath.

3.  In addition to leaders of 141 nations supporting Ukraine and condemning Russia, one company after another is cutting ties to Russia and refusing to do business with them. I have never seen global unity on any issue on such a scale.

4. The way the countries surrounding Ukraine are receiving millions of refugees is astounding. In other crisis situations, refugees were housed in camps until they could find places to go. This time there are no refugee camps because people are taking the refugees into their homes and finding places for them to stay.

5. While some Americans who were serving in missions in Ukraine returned home, others chose to stay and help those in need as they flee. Their courage is commendable.

6. We don't know what the outcome of this war will be or whether it will explode into World War III. If it does, it will reach our shores and be unlike any war the world has ever seen. Will this be the fulfillment of the prophecy of the fall of Babylon described in Revelation 18? 

7. One thing I do know is that God is in control and He is able to bring good out of evil. He is already doing that in many ways. My heart goes out to all those affected by this war and I pray it will end soon.