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Since it hasn't happened yet this year, I hope I can remember the usual impact. I do know that I don't sleep as well in the week or so after this change. My stomach seems to get hungry at the same time even though it isn't time in the new time. There is one benefit from moving the clocks forward in spring and that is the ease of moving the clock ahead instead of back an hour. In the fall, the Vienna Regulator clock, that I have, really needs to rest for an hour and then be started again. I often forget to restart. I think it is a lot of foolishness that many people have forgotten the reason for doing, including me most of the time. I would be fine without the extra hour in the evening later in the year. We get plenty of sun and heat. The length of daylight saving time has been extended and that has made no sense. Of course, the Oklahoma legislature continually proves that legislation often makes no sense. They can find the strangest things to pass legislation about. I guess this is all of a piece and I should not trouble my brain about it at all! --Carolyn
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Tomorrow we'll set clocks ahead again, and my morning will seem short but the evening long. Every year, daylight savings time seems to come earlier and stay later. And every year, there's talk of stopping the nonsense of changing time at all. It made sense at one time in history, but it doesn't make sense anymore, and it just leads to confusion, missed appointments, and loss of sleep. I read recently that some states have voted to stay on either standard or daylight savings time, but aside from Arizona and Hawaii, I'm not sure which ones. On a national level, there are bills introduced every spring and fall to standardize time (by time zone) across the country. And there's a hodge-podge of state bills that would do the same thing. None of them amount to much action (like everything else legislatures do). In addition, there's a "Lock the Clock" movement campaigning for keeping clocks the same year-round, which lobbies in favor of legislation to that effect. I'm all in! In Texas, TX SJR68 proposes a constitutional amendment exempting the state from daylight saving time. I'm hopeful, but I'm not holding my breath. At one time, I tolerated daylight savings with the promise of getting an extra hour of sleep in the fall, but we don't reap any benefit from that now--we have a dog! Animals don't respect time changes and take weeks to adjust to our new operating clocks. So I'll try to remember how to set all clocks in the house and the car tonight and tomorrow, and will likely have to drag out a manual or two. Then, I'll forget about it all until November. I'll enjoy a little later daylight for a few weeks until the heat of summer kicks in. Then, I'll be looking forward to fall again! --Janice Spring forward, Fall back? More than once our little family got to church an hour early or an hour late. And my body took weeks to adjust to the time differences. I'm a primitive person: Sun's up, I should be too, Sun down - time to sleep. So the arbitrary switching of the clocks to suit some far off official never made sense to me. Actually, I guess I am hard-wired to live in Arizona! I just wandered in the wilderness for years not knowing the land of hot, dry weather and sticky plants was my natural home. It does make sense to me! With air conditioning to keep the inside livable and shade to help with the outside heat we are doing well here! Now I just have to remember that calling eastern relatives needs to be on their time frame, not mine! --donna I don’t know that I have a favorite hymn, but the one that instantly popped into my head when this topic was chosen, was “This Is My Father’s World”. I love that it emphasizes the beauty of God’s glorious creation. When I’m hiking in the forest or mountains, looking at the ocean, or listening to the birds sing, I feel close to our Father. And, after all, I am one of his creations! Because of the joyful lyrics, I have chosen this as one of the hymns for my memorial service. Several years ago, I found and saved a YouTube video of the Adventist vocal ensemble beautifully singing “There is a Balm in Gilead”. Each time I view and listen to it, a sense of calm and serenity overcomes me. So, imagine my surprise and pleasure, when that same video was used in our online church service recently. --Jeanette There are so many great hymns! One of my all-time favorites is “Ode to Joy.” Some hymns have great music but the lyrics express bad theology. Others have great lyrics and dull music. This one has both gorgeous music, composed by none other than Ludwig van Beethoven, and fantastic lyrics, composed by an 18th century German poet, Friedrich Schiller. It’s amazing to me that someone like Schiller could write such transcendent words. The images are wonderful. I especially like the image of hearts unfolding like flowers before God. This hymn fills me with joy! Here are the first three verses (sing it yourself as you read!): Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love; Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee, Op’ning to the sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away; Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day! All Thy works with joy surround Thee, Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays, Stars and angels sing around Thee, Center of unbroken praise. I’m ending this blog entry with a huge smile on my face! --Terese This is a rich topic for me. I've spent many years attending churches and singing lots of hymns. Singing was always a joy to me so I sang in the choirs often. I never had a very good voice, kind of sang in between the high voices and the mid-range voices, sort of the "black note" singer. Adding that I couldn't read music was enough to keep me out of the Fellowship Choir. As a young child I loved "Jesus loves Me". It gave me the belief that I was good and loved and one of all of God's children. It also assured me that Black children were just as special as White children. My second husband had a lot of musical talent. He was really gifted in playing 12 string guitar, double the sound of a 6 string. He also was enough of a showman that he enjoyed leading singing in prayer groups and gatherings. Favorite songs were: "Amazing Grace", "Hallelujah" and "I'll Fly Away", among others, I'm sure. My Mother was a member of the Methodist Church in Macclenny, FL. Her mother was a member of that church and I went to Vacation Bible School there when I was visiting my grandparents. When Mother passed away, after long suffering with CHF, her funeral was held there. It felt very much like a homecoming to be there for the service. One memory that stays with me is the congregation singing a very familiar hymn, in harmony, "Lead Me Gently Home". toward the end of her life she planned her funeral, made her will and picked out her burial clothes. She spent a long time going "gently home". Then there are the two that have always pulled my heart strings, "Is It I, Lord?" and "On Eagle's Wings". Both speak to me in special ways, and we did sing them at Lonnie's funeral. It sometimes seems that I've got a hymn in my head for anything that happens in my day. --donna Hymns are the music of my life. There was no prohibition to listening to popular music, but since I went to church so much, hymns are the music I heard the most. I enjoy other music, but hymns are what tend to be replayed in my mind over and over again. When this topic was mentioned, my first thought was how do I pick one. There are so many. Over the seasons of my life, different hymns have resonated with me at different times. The first hymn I remember really feeling was “Blest Be the Tie That Binds.” That hymn was sung as we parted from the first church my dad served in Lyford, Texas. That was 65 years ago and I still remember the tears and sadness from that leaving. The next hymn that comes to mind is “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry.” It always reminds me of Erik's death and often brings me to tears to this day. Hymns seem to have the ability to make me feel the most deeply. Within the last year I heard “For Everyone Born” for the first time. With all the racial unrest in the last year, it seems to speak to how we should treat each person. Who knows what hymn may come next? So most of the time I am open to learning new hymns and having more music invade the space in my mind. --Carolyn I first heard this hymn while helping sponsor youth events in the 1990s. It was written by a composer of liturgical music, Dan Schutte, for a Catholic friend's 1979 ordination. Words and music were composed in three days' time, while Schutte (age 31 at the time) was quite ill with the flu, but he managed to complete it on time. It was first published in 1981 in a Catholic hymn book. We used to sing it at congregational and synod youth gatherings, and I loved it! It was eventually included in the Lutheran Book of Worship (and also appears in the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship. Yay!!)
In 2005, when Erv Janssen asked me to go to Guyana that summer with the team for a Mental Health Conference, I at first said no. I didn't see what I could add to a trip with that focus. When Erv urged me again to consider going to present a session on domestic violence, I told him I'd think about it. A few days later, one of the hymns chosen for that Sunday's worship was Schutte's "Here I Am, Lord." As I sang the chorus, with tears forming, I felt I was speaking directly with God. It was the most emotional experience I've had while singing a hymn. When the service was over, I pulled Erv aside and told him I would go to Guyana with the team, and I explained to him why I'd decided to go. "If I'd known what it would take to get you to say yes, I'd have chosen that hymn myself," he said. "It was definitely divine intervention." Every time we sang the hymn again in worship in the years following, Erv made a point of mentioning to me how grateful he was for its effect on me. The wise women in this group are put on notice: this hymn should be sung at my memorial service, whenever that may be. I'll be watching you all! --Janice I learned a new spiritual at Christmastime, and I have been singing it in my head since then. It’s called: Jesus, The Light of the World. I tell my “hey, Google” to play it, and it gives me the version of Jesse Dixon and his choir. Wow! It wakes me up and inspires me, it’s absolutely gorgeous! Other than that, I have to say that my favorite hymn is a Quaker hymn called “How Can I Keep From Singing?” The first time I heard it the words jumped out at me, and I wanted to agree with them. When I am weary I can sing it and it brings me up. I have so many blessings that I need to remember. “When love is lord over heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?” --Cynthia |
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