Golden Age

    I survived a weekend of parties. We had our family Christmas dinner on Saturday. There were 34 at the tables plus two infant great-grandchildren. 

  

   We had roast beef this year instead of the usual turkey or ham. The meal was followed by the usual singing and gifts. Our newest grandchild is concealed under that red plaid shirt. He/she missed our Christmas by about six weeks. Stay tuned.

I gave Leroy a model hit-and-miss engine he was wishing for a long time.

   The afternoon ended with Cheryl showing pictures of their trip to Europe. Daryl showed his from India, and Gene from their trip to Greece. Our family logged a lot of miles across the globe this year. So thankful everyone traveled safely and was here under one roof.

   We had our dinner a week early this year to combine it with Leroy's 80th birthday on Sunday. We had not recovered from Saturday's party when we started over to do it again. Our children all came back after church for a soup and salad lunch. We were ordered to stay in the basement while the women went upstairs to get the food ready. While they thumped around up there Leroy started to understand why I was in such a hurry to get home from church. Everything was ready by 2 p.m. when the first guest arrived. 

   

Five of Leroy's nine siblings and his 100 year-old mother came to the party.

 

They gave him a box with a pull tab. He pulled and a long string of money came out. The longer he pulled the bigger the number on the bill. 

   The black and gold color scheme was appropriate for an 80th birthday. This is the golden age of life. There are pros and cons to being eighty. There's less stress but also less strength. It's just unbelievable how fast the years rolled around to reach this milestone. We know how fast ten years can go and that's scary. He is in basic good health and if he takes after his mother he could live another twenty years. We thank God for a good life and know however long life lasts on earth our future is secure in Him.

Ornery People

    In my post last week I encouraged listening to the words of the Christmas songs we are hearing. I am taking my own advice. 

    We listened to the Lancaster Meistersingers program on Sunday. It was a great program. One of the songs they sang was "I Wonder as I Wander." 

I wonder as I wander, out under the sky,

How Jesus the Savior did come for to die

For poor ordinary people like you and like I.

I wonder as I wander, out under the sky.

When Mary birthed Jesus, all in a cow's stall,

Came wise men and farmers and shepherds and all,

And high from the heavens a star's light did fall;

The promise of the ages it then did recall.

If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing,

A star in the sky or a bird on the wing,

Or all of God's angels in heaven for to sing,

He surely could have had it, 'cause he was the king.

For the first time, I clearly heard the third line "For poor ordinary people. . ." I always thought it was "ornery people." Go ahead and laugh, but it fits, doesn't it? We are ornery people in need of Someone to save us from our own ornery selves. I surely do wonder why He bothered with such ornery people. He could have washed His hands of the whole mess and left us stew in our own juice! The only reason I know is love. Undeserved and unearned love from a God who is the essence of love.

Here is the story behind the song (from Wikipedia).

"I Wonder as I Wander" is a Christian folk hymn, typically performed as a Christmas carol, written by American folklorist and singer John Jacob Niles. The hymn has its origins in a song fragment collected by Niles on July 16, 1933.

While in the town of Murphy in Appalachian North Carolina, Niles attended a fundraising meeting held by evangelicals who had been ordered out of town by the police. In his unpublished autobiography, he wrote of hearing the song:

A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform attached to the automobile. She began to sing. Her clothes were unbelievable dirty and ragged, and she, too, was unwashed. Her ash-blond hair hung down in long skeins. ... But, best of all, she was beautiful, and in her untutored way, she could sing. She smiled as she sang, smiled rather sadly, and sang only a single line of a song.

The girl, named Annie Morgan, repeated the fragment seven times in exchange for a quarter per performance, and Niles left with "three lines of verse, a garbled fragment of melodic material—and a magnificent idea". Based on this fragment, Niles composed the version of "I Wonder as I Wander" that is known today, extending the melody to four lines and the lyrics to three stanzas. His composition was completed on October 4, 1933. Niles first performed the song on December 19, 1933, at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. It was originally published in Songs of the Hill Folk in 1934. 

Peace on Earth

   I am enjoying the Christmas music we are hearing this month. The carols are so familiar we can sing them without thinking about the words. I challenge you to think about the words you sing. There is a lot of truth packed into them. 

   I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow during the Civil War.

I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play

And mild and sweet their songs repeat

Of peace on Earth, good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head

"There is no peace on Earth, " I said

For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on Earth, good will to men.

   The Civil War ended long ago but nothing has changed. War is raging in multiple places on the earth today. At Jesus birth the angels announced "Peace on earth, goodwill to men." That was two thousand years ago and wars have never stopped. Where is the peace on earth the angels said Jesus would bring?

    Jesus did come to earth to bring peace but it will not be a global peace as long as men rule the nations. Yet, Jesus does give us peace on earth. It's on an individual basis. 

Joy to the world, the Lord is come

Let Earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room

And Heaven and nature sing

   Every heart that receives Jesus will have peace on earth and ultimate joy in heaven. We can have peace on earth here and now. It's not an impossible dream but a reality for everyone who receives Him in their hearts. 

Peace I leave with you,

My peace I give unto you.

Let not your heart be troubled,

Neither let it be afraid.

John 14:27