Celebrating the end of one year while ushering in yet another gives us all a chance to take inventory, a chance to redirect our efforts to achieve goals, to repair damages and get on with life. Our hymnbook has a somber selection that we close the year with; although instructed to be sung “fervently”, perhaps “funereal” would better describe the mood.
I’d like to take a moment to wish all my friends a Happy New Year, one that will enlighten their minds, touch their souls and lead them toward an improved version of their eternal spirit. Find the time to express your love to those around you in such a way as to imprint their heart with lasting moments, enough to help take them past any challenges that are placed before them.
Learn to appreciate the tender mercies that are furnished by the Lord, as Elder Bednar so beautifully explained, “. . . as you and I face challenges and tests in our lives, the gift of faith and an appropriate sense of personal confidence that reaches beyond our own capacity are two examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. Repentance and forgiveness of sins and peace of conscience are examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. And the persistence and the fortitude that enable us to press forward with cheerfulness through physical limitations and spiritual difficulties are examples of the tender mercies of the Lord”.
Ring Out, Wild Bells ( Hymnbook version linked via title bar )
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, 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 out, 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 of 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.
Special thanks to Esther Anna Lombardi for having posted this poem and making it more accessible on the internet. I found this quote from James Baldwin on Esther’s page, ”You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world...” Perhaps that explains why most of us blog when we could be sitting down watching television. I look forward to reading, to learning and to improving as 2007 presents new challenges. Have a safe and a Happy New Year!
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