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

New Every Morning

    As Thanksgiving day approached, I thought about all the things I am thankful for. My life hasn't been all peaches and cream, but as I look in the rearview mirror at the past seventy-five years I have been abundantly blessed. Even the hard times came with blessings concealed in them. Then I held the mirror in front of me and looked at myself. I am not worthy of all I have received. The only way to account for it is the mercy of God.

   "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-23).

   NEW every morning. I am far from perfect and mess up too often. But every morning comes with new mercy from God and a chance to try again. His mercies are NEW every morning, not used, leftover, or past the expiration date. His mercy is brand new every morning.

   A NEW SHEET,

He came to my desk with a quivering lip, 

the lesson was done.

“Have you a new sheet for me, dear teacher?

I’ve spoiled this one.”

I took his sheet, all soiled and blotted

and gave him a new one all unspotted.

And into his tired heart I cried,

“Do better now, my child.”

A NEW DAY,

I went to the throne with a trembling heart;

the day was done.

“Have you a new day for me, dear Master?

I’ve spoiled this one.”

He took my day, all soiled and blotted

and gave me a new one all unspotted.

And into my tired heart he cried,

“Do better now, my child.”

Photo by Federico Respini on Unsplash

Salvation Medley

  After a two year wait, the virtual choir our son Daryl sang in has been released on You Tube and can be seen without a subscription. Each person in the choir recorded themselves singing at their own location and submitted it to Praise & Harmony. Then it was compiled into a virtual choir. 

   Watch for Daryl in the lower right corner (bald, maroon shirt). He appears most at the end from 12 to 15 minutes.

   As I listen to this and see the pictures of the singers I think about the choir made of all nations and tribes and peoples that will be assembled in heaven someday.

   

Burkholder Line

   I wrote a post about my Burkholder ancestors in January 2011 and another with newer findings in June 2014. A friend of mine said, "History doesn't change but what we know about it sure changes." That is true, and our story changes as we find more facts. The Burkholder story has changed dramatically from what we believed for many years. Now it's time for another update on the latest and greatest findings. The credit for finding the facts goes to Dale Burkholder who went to Switzerland to mine the records and find the true story.

   As long as I could remember, were told and believed that our immigrant ancestor, Christian Burkholder (1746-1804), was the son of Christian and Elizabeth Burkholder who migrated from Switzerland to Germany before immigrating to Pennsylvania. There was a Christian Burkholder in Gerolsheim, Germany, but he was not our ancestor Christian's father. In the 1990s, tax records were found in the Jura Mountain region of Switzerland showing Christian's parents were Ulrich and Barbara Burkholder. 

    Ulrich and Barbara lived on one of three farms on the mountain above the village of La Heutte. Ulrich died there and then widow Barbara and her six children immigrated with a group of other Mennonites. They arrived in Philadelphia in October 1754 on the Phoenix.

   Another breakthrough gave us Barbara's maiden name. She was the daughter of Ulrich and Elizabeth (Stucki) Schenk. Her parents were not Anabaptists, but the Schenk Chronicle handwritten by a family member in the 1700s confirms she married an Anabaptist, Ulrich Burkhalter from Ruderswil, moved to the Jura area, and immigrated in 1754. A letter the Mennonite immigrants brought with them lists Barbara Schenk as one of the poor people who received assistance from the church in Switzerland for their travel expenses.

   Having established that Ulrich came from Ruderswil, it was possible to find his birth in the church records and go back two more generations. Ulrich was baptized Feb. 11, 1699, in the Reformed church in Ruderswil. He was the son of Benedict and Anna (Kohler) Burkhalter.

   Benedict was baptized December 1, 1661 at the same church in Ruderswil. He was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Widmer) Burkhalter. 

  Joseph lived on a farm named Steinberg on a hill above Ruderswil. The farm was passed on to Benedict and Ulrich grew up there. This is the newer Steinberg house today. 

  The old Steinberg house is at the bottom of the hill. It probably is not the same house that was there in the 1600s but we can at least see the lay of the land and where we came from. I will never forget standing on the hill looking down at this farm. My heart knew I was Swiss and I had come home.

   Although Joseph and Benedict were not Anabaptists, records indicate there were Anabaptists in the neighborhood. In Swiss tradition, the farm was passed to the youngest son. Being the youngest, Ulrich would have been expected to get the farm but it was passed to his older brother Hans. It appears Ulrich became an Anabaptist, was disinherited, and moved to an Anabaptist community in the Jura mountains. Persecution was less severe in this French-speaking part of Switzerland. 

    There was no birth record for Joseph Burkhalter in Ruderswil so that was as far as we could document our Burkholder line. Thanks to Dale Burkholder's diligent research, we now know that Joseph was baptized June 6, 1623, at Lutzefluh, a village near Trachselwald. He was the son of Jost and Katharina (Kuhni) Burkhalter. They lived on the Haslimatt farm, on a hill overlooking the the village of Trachselwald and opposite the famous Trachelswald Castle where Anabaptists were imprisoned. This photo of Haslimatt farm was taken this month from the tower of Trachelswald castle by our daughter, Cheryl Miller. (Click to enlarge)

  

   Finding Joseph Burkhalter's birth record took us back two more generations. His father, as stated, was Jost Burkhalter. He was baptized at Lutzefluh on November 26, 1587, and married Catharina Kuhni on February 6, 1612, in Trachelswald. Since Joseph was not the youngest son of Jost, he did not inherit the family farm and moved to Ruderswil.

  Jost's baptismal record identifies his father as Hans Burkhalter but no mother's name is given. Hans Burkhalter, probably born sometime in the mid-1500s, is now our earliest known ancestor.

    Dale Burkholder wrote a beautiful book on our Burkholder ancestors. The title is taken from a song written by Christian Burkholder, Christ is Full of Love and Power. It contains many color pictures and the complete known Burkholder story. It is available from Grace Press, 2175 Division Hwy, Ephrata, PA 17522. Phone 717-354-0475.

Hans Burkhalter

Jost Burkhalter bap. 1587

Joseph Burkhalter bap. 1623

Benedict Burkhalter bap. 1661

Ulrich Burkhalter bap.1699

Christian Burkhalter/Burkholder (1746-1804)

I am the seventh generation of Christian's descendants in Pennsylvania. All of these generations stayed in Lancaster County where he settled until my parents moved across the county line. And there still am I. We find what we like and stick with it!

Love Is The Only Way Forward

The following was written by Shane Claiborne and is very well said.

For hundreds of years, Jewish people have been the victims of horrific violence. That historic backdrop of pain and trauma does not justify the crushing apartheid policies they’ve imposed on Gaza and the West Bank for over 50 years… but it does help explain it.

For decades the Palestinians have endured daily doses of terror, discrimination and abuse from the State of Israel. That does not by any means justify the violence of Hamas… but it does help explain it.

The current violence of both Hamas and the State of Israel create the conditions for more violence, adding fuel to an already combustible fire.

For many people the evil we are seeing daily by both the State of Israel and Hamas makes more killing justifiable. But violence only leads to more violence. Hatred begets more hatred. We cannot build a better future by killing each other’s families.

Jesus was right - if we live by the sword we die by the sword. Violence is a dead end. Love is the only way forward, even the audacious love for our enemies.

Love requires treating the person on the other side of the wall as nothing short of sacred, a child of God made in the image of God.

Killing babies is terrorism, whether it is done with bombs or with guns or knives - it is evil. Violence is always evil, no matter what flag it’s wrapped up in. Let us continue to work for peace… and do all we can to interrupt the war… and grieve every life lost… and commit ourselves to building a world where every person is sacred.