Happy New Year

Happy New Year. Only a few days away now.

For the ultra-competitive Kiwis they may brag that the first major city to see the beginning of the new year is the city of Auckland which is only is 496.3 kilometres west of the International Date Line.

For those who thought that New Year comes once in a year, think again. You will be surprised to learn that New Years are celebrated several times all through the 12 months of the year.

January 1 - New Year's Day – is the world's most widely celebrated holiday. Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, India and many other countries celebrate their New Year on this date. It is also the Japanese New Year's Day known as Gantan-sai or Oshogatsu.

January 7 is the Egyptian New Year's Day (Sekhmet) and the Mahayana Buddhist New Year is celebrated on the first full moon day in January.

January 11 is the Old Scottish New Year

January 14 is the Eastern Orthodox New Year's Day

January 21 is the Celtic New Year, and close to this is the Korean New Year (Sol-Nal). The Lunar New Year being celebrated at sunset on the day of the second new moon after the winter solstice.

The Vietnamese New Year or Tet is celebrated between January 17th and February 19th at the time of the new moon.

The Tibetan New Year also called Losar is celebrated in late January or early February at the time of the new moon. Some Tibetans celebrate their New Year a month later than the Lunar New Year as Ugyen Thinley Dorje.

Muharram is the first month of the Muslim year and its first day is celebrated as Islamic New Year's Day sometime during February.

March 1 is the Roman New Year also called the Festival of Mars or Feriae Marti, honouring Mars, the Roman god of war.

March 14 is the Sikh New Year Day. It is the first day of Chet, the first month of the Sikh calendar.

The Baha'i New Year (Naw-Ruz) is always celebrated on the 21st March.

Also during March, The Hindu New Year known as Bikrami Samvat falls on the day following the new moon on or after the spring equinox.

The Persian or Iranian New Year (Noruz) is always held on the spring equinox on March 21st. On thsat same day, the Assyrian New Year, called Rish Nissanu, occurs on the vernal equinox, commencing the start of the spring.

The Zoroastrian New Year or Jamshedi is always on March 21st.

Telugu New Year's Day also known as Ugadi is celebrated on the day after the new moon following the vernal equinox (first day of spring).

Before the Calendar Adjustment Act of 1751, Great Britain and its U.S. colonies celebrated New Year's Day on March 25 because it is Lady Day as well as the Feast of the Annunciation. This is referred to in the literature as the Old British New Year.

The Tharavadin Buddhists of Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Lao celebrate the New Year on the first full moon day in April with three days of celebration.

April 14 is Solar New Year (Songkran) - This new year's day is celebrated in many southeast Asia countries as Baisakhi in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka (or Varushapirapu); Songkran in Thailand; Boum Pimay or Bun-Pi-Mai-Lao in Laos; Thingyan in Myanmar; and Bon Chol Chhnam in Cambodia. Like the Nepali New Year’s Day, the exact time on the 13th or 14th is determined by astrologers.

April 13 or April 14 is also the Sikh New Year’s Day (Vaisaki or Baisakhi). On this day in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh created the Brotherhood of the Pure.

Sri Lankans celebrate their national New Year's Day (Puththandu in Tamil and Aluth Avurudhu in Sinhala). The specific time of the New Year is set by astrologers on the 13th or 14th. The Tamil New Year and Vishu are celebrated on the same day respectively in the Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They generally fall on 13 April or 14 April. The first month of the Tamil New Year is called Chithrai.

The Thai New Year is celebrated from 13 April to 15 April by throwing water.

Also during this time is the Cambodian New Year and Lao New Year, and the Bengali New Year called Pohela Baisakh is celebrated on 14 April or 15 April in both Bangladesh and West Bengal.

Parsi New Year Day also known as Pateti is celebrated on April 23 (April 22nd on leap years), this is one of the local new years celebrated in India.

The Babylonian New Year begins the Nabonassar Era Year 2752 on April 25th (24th on leap years).

The  Buddhist New Year also known as Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti is May 26. Some Buddhist sects celebrate Budhha's birthday on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month as their New Year's Day, although some sects now celebrate Buddha's birthday on April 8th.

Some versions of the ancient Greek calendar celebrated the new year on the summer solstice. June 21

Armenian New Year - The Armenian Era, an old way of measuring time, began on July 9, 552.

On the new moon in late August or early September (the first day of the Hindu month of Bhadon), the southern Indian state of Kerala celebrates the Malayalam New Year.

The Zoroastrian New Year (Shenshai) is always on August 23rd, for those Zoroastrians who follow the Shenshai calendar.

September the first marks the New Year for some Russian Orthodox Christians.

September 10 is the African New Year

Ethiopian New Years Day is September 11 (or 12th in leap years). This is a national holiday in Ethiopia.

Rosh Hashanah or Jewish New Year begins on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishri (Tishrei), is also called the Day of Judgment and Remembrance. This is September 16th.

October 3rd. is the Moroccan New Year's Day

The Hindu New Year (Diwali) is celebrated on the new moon in late October or early November. It is considered by some as one of the Hindu New Years (sometimes celebrated the day after Diwali as Vikram New Year). The Marwari New Year is also celebrated on the day of the festival of Diwali

The Jain New Year is celebrated on the day after Diwali. This is the New Year's day for the Jain religion. It is the day after of the attainment of Moksha by Mahavir Swami and the day when his chief disciple Gautam Swami attained Kevalgnan.

The Gujarati New Year is also usually celebrated the day after the festival of Diwali (which occurs in mid-fall - either October or November, depending on the Lunar calendar.

The Sikkimese New Year or Losoong is celebrated from the first to fifth day of the Lunar 11th month. It is also called Sonam Losar or the Farmer's New Year and occurs in December.

So whenever you celebrate the New Year, if you do, May God grant you a new beginning.

A prayer: Precious Lord, You are the specialist when it comes to new things. You give us new mornings, new life, new joy, new peace, new hearts and new beginnings. As this tumultuous year draws to a close, once again you give us the gift of a new year. We praise you for your leading throughout this past year a time of joy with babies born and precious souls born again. A time of sorrow with natural disasters, war and the loss of loved ones. A time to reflect and a time to look forward. We rejoice to know that, by placing the future in your hands we can be secure whatever this groaning world throws at us; safe in the Everlasting Arms. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

A Christmas Prayer

The following prayer was written in rhyming couplets. It is not intended to be good poetry, It is just as it came from my head to the paper, unedited. (Lionel.)


Lord, this is our prayer, we know you are near
We know that You care; that you sense our tears,
You feel our pain and as we come to you again
You feel our joy as we praise your holy name.

Our hands and feet are committed for your use here on earth
For the building of your kingdom in honour of Your Birth.
The day you changed all history to show us the father’s love
By leaving all the glory, leaving Heaven above.

A stable rude was where you came to begin your sacred duty
Animals for company, a manger for a bed, no comforts, no beauty
In the comfort of our decorated homes, we need reminding once again
That Christmas is not about tinsel, but remembering why you came.

And as the angel chorus welcomed you that day
We too welcome you into our lives to stay.
And as humble shepherds were privileged that night
We too consider it an honour to be for you a light.

As the Eastern wise men came in homage to their king
We likewise pay you tribute as we join in offering __
Ourselves into your service, whatever way we can
Acknowledging that every gift comes from your generous hand.

We confess our sins and selfish ways,
You take confessed sin and blow it away.
You give us new life and new paths to tread,
Free from anxiety, worry and dread.

Filled with Your peace, you give us new hope,
New vision, new hearts and all we need to cope.
We offer our thanks, our gratitude clear
Lord, this is our prayer, we know you are near

We come to You for learning, our hearts are open wide,
Inviting Your Holy Spirit to come and dwell inside.
Teaching us all things that we need to know
As we heed your commission for us to boldly ‘Go’.

For all that you’ve done and are doing today
And what you have planned for eternity
We praise you, precious Lord again.
This is our prayer, in Jesus’ name.
Amen

Victory!

Victory!

Several hundred years before the birth of Jesus, a crucial battle occurred between the Greeks and the Persians upon the plains of Marathon. The battle raged for hours. In many respects it was a fight to the finish. Finally the numerically inferior Greeks, the underdogs, managed a tremendous tactical win, but there was a problem. Soon the Senate, many miles away in Athens, was to vote and would most certainly ratify a treaty of appeasement. In desperation they sent a runner in full battle gear to go the twenty-seven miles to tell of the news. By the time the young boy got to Athens he had run a Marathon. It is said he was totally spent, that he literally ran himself to death. In his exhaustion he was able to utter only one word to the Athenians: "Victory."

Easter is all about that one word: victory.

A while back, I asked my son David what Easter means to him and he said, “An empty tomb”.

I applaud his answer, however there is much more to it than that, because THE empty tomb is not just any tomb. There is an empty tomb in Egypt that dates back to the fourteenth century B.C. It is an elaborate tomb that was prepared for King Tutenkhamen's military leader Horemheb, but he was never buried there. Four years after King Tutenkhamen died, Horemheb became the pharaoh and was later buried in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes.

The Etruscans were the first known inhabitants of Italy. They were there before the Romans and had a highly developed civilization. They left no written record, no history, no poetry, and no literature. All that we know of them we have learned from their tombs.  Grave robbers have stripped these tombs bare. There are many empty Etruscan tombs.

One April, a certain Sunday school teacher asked all eight children in her class to hide within an empty film container a small object that represented life in the spring.

Not wanting to embarrass eight-year-old Stephen, whose mental retardation was becoming more manifest, the teacher suggested that the children all place their unlabeled containers on her desk. Since she feared that Stephen might not have caught on, she decided that she should open them.

The first had a tiny flower. "What a lovely sign of new life!" "I brought that one!" the donor exclaimed. Next came a rock. "That must be Stephen's," the teacher thought, since rocks do not symbolize new life. But Billy shouted that his rock had moss on it, and moss was new life. The teacher agreed.

A butterfly flew from the third container, and another child bragged that her choice was best of all.

The fourth container was empty. "That has to be Stephen's," thought the teacher, quickly reaching for the fifth.

"Please, don't skip mine!' Stephen interjected. "But it's empty." "That's right," said Stephen. "The tomb was empty, and that is new life for everyone."

Later that summer, Stephen's condition grew worse, and he died. On his casket at the funeral, mourners found eight little containers. They were all empty.

For me the victory of Easter is not an empty tomb but a risen Saviour.

Musical duo William and Gloria Gaither wrote, “Because he lives I can face tomorrow; because he lives all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future, and life is worth the living just because he lives.”

On Saturday 17th August, 2002, suspected Basque terrorist Ismael Berasategui Escudero escaped from the high security La Sante prison in Paris.

He swapped places with his brother and it took embarrassed staff five days to discover the escape.

On Friday on the first Easter, Barabbas was on death row, condemned to die. Your Elder Brother and mine swapped places with him and was crucified instead. It took three days for the disciples to discover his death sentence had really been revoked. It has taken two thousand years since then and still many have not discovered Him.

In 1874, hymnist Robert Lowry wrote a certain hymn. I have at home a scratchy 1921 recording of it by Henry Burr and the Peerless Quartet.

When I first heard it, I laughed. I confess that at first I did not listen to the words, but was intrigued by the metrical pattern in the melody. The verses are sung very solemnly in five-part harmony and the refrain in unison is in contrast, both upbeat and joyous. As they sang on, I began to listen to the words and it was strangely moving. Here is what they sang:

“Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Saviour, waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Saviour; vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Saviour; He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

And the refrain: Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes, He arose a Victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever, with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!”

Easter is all about that one word: victory.

Lionel Hartley, Easter 2014