April Fools likely originated in 16th century France, where the start of the New Year was observed on April 1st until, in 1562, Pope Gregory introduced the new Christian calendar where the new year fell on January 1st. Some people, however, didn’t hear or didn’t believe the change, and continued to celebrate New Years on April 1st. Others would then play tricks on them (April Fools).
In France, April Fools was traditionally celebrated by placing dead fish on the backs of friends. Today, real fish have been replaced by fish shaped stickers, which are stuck to the back of one’s shirt. This arises from the fact that the April sun ends the zodiacal sign of the fish .
Today, Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on the first of April. One common trick on April Fool’s Day, or All Fool’s Day, is pointing down to a friend’s shoelace and saying, “Your shoelace is untied.” Teachers in the nineteenth century used to say to pupils, “Look! A flock of geese!” and point up. School children might tell a classmate that school has been canceled. Whatever the trick, if the innocent victim falls for the joke, the prankster yells, “April Fool!”
The “fools errands” we play on people are practical jokes. Putting salt in the sugar bowl for the nest person is not a nice trick to play. College students set their clocks an hour behind, so their roommates show up to the wrong class - or not at all. Most April Fool jokes are in good fun and not meant to harm anyone. The most clever April Fool joke is the one where everyone laughs, especially the person upon whom the joke is played.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Follow Me
A crowd of people gathered ‘round Him by the Sea of Gallilee
This man who healed the sick and made the blind to see.
Oh, that we had eyes to see Him
To mingle with the crowd
Ears to hear the words He taught them…..“Follow me.”
They say He ate with those shunned by the Pharisees
He told them man was not made for the law,
But had a higher destiny.
Oh, that we might have the mind to comprehend,
The privilege to call Him Master, Friend,
A heart contrite to understand His message…..”Follow me.”
News about His teaching traveled far and wide,
The Bridegroom waits to wed His Holy Bride.
Drink the wine of new life, cast away the old,
Accept God’s love made manifest of which you were foretold.
He tried to tell them about Gethsemane
One day they would deny, forsake Him, this he could foresee.
Oh, that we might speak for Him, His love embrace
To tell about Golgotha and His saving Grace.
Father , we thank you for sending your Son to
Live among men that we might know your love.
Let us remember also the sacrifice He made
That we might live free from sin. Amen.
Wilhelmine
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Easter
For children, the glorious Easter celebration, too often means that special Sunday when the Bunny comes and they get a basket full of goodies and get to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt. Traditionally for youth & adults alike it often means bright new spring clothes and bonnets. But Easter should have a much deeper meaning. It is the day when Christ rose from the dead and left the heartwarming message for all mankind that if you believe in Him, you too shall have everlasting life.
The philosopher Luther wrote: In His life, Christ is an example, showing us how to live; in His death, He is a sacrifice, satisfying for our sins; in His resurrection, a conqueror, in His ascension, a king, in His intercession, a high priest.
One brilliant explanation of the significance of Christ was written by a wise man named French:
This is part of the glory of Christ as compared with the chiefest of his servants that He alone stands at the absolute center of humanity, the one completely harmonious man, unfolding all which was in humanity, equally and fully on all sides, the only one in whom the real and ideal met and were absolutely one. He is the absolute and perfect truth, the highest that humanity can reach; at once its perfect image and supreme Lord.
Written many years ago, a verse from this Easter Carol gives a significant setting for a memorable Easter Day:
“Tomb, thou shall not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and Hope triumphant say
Christ will rise on Easter Day.”
If you think about meaningful words like these, you will begin to realize the real significance of the glorious Easter celebration.
The philosopher Luther wrote: In His life, Christ is an example, showing us how to live; in His death, He is a sacrifice, satisfying for our sins; in His resurrection, a conqueror, in His ascension, a king, in His intercession, a high priest.
One brilliant explanation of the significance of Christ was written by a wise man named French:
This is part of the glory of Christ as compared with the chiefest of his servants that He alone stands at the absolute center of humanity, the one completely harmonious man, unfolding all which was in humanity, equally and fully on all sides, the only one in whom the real and ideal met and were absolutely one. He is the absolute and perfect truth, the highest that humanity can reach; at once its perfect image and supreme Lord.
Written many years ago, a verse from this Easter Carol gives a significant setting for a memorable Easter Day:
“Tomb, thou shall not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and Hope triumphant say
Christ will rise on Easter Day.”
If you think about meaningful words like these, you will begin to realize the real significance of the glorious Easter celebration.
Interesting Facts About Easter
Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.
Based on the above information, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22), but that is rare.
Here’s the interesting information. This year is the earliest any of us will ever see Easter, and only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or older). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see a day earlier! Here’s the facts:
1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913. The only folks that were around for that were folks 95 years or older.
2) The next time Easter will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year.
This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.
Based on the above information, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22), but that is rare.
Here’s the interesting information. This year is the earliest any of us will ever see Easter, and only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or older). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see a day earlier! Here’s the facts:
1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913. The only folks that were around for that were folks 95 years or older.
2) The next time Easter will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Irish Limericks
Monday, March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a day when, as the saying goes, everyone’s a wee bit Irish. So, it seems fitting to share a few Irish limericks:
May there always be work for your hands to do,
May your purse always hold a coin or two,
May the sun always shine on your windowpane,
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain,
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
May you always find blue skies above your head,
Shamrocks beneath your feet,
Laughter and joy a plenty,
Kindness from all you meet,
Good friends and kin to miss you
If ever you choose to roam,
And a path that’s been cleared by angels
Themselves bringing you safely home.
As you travel down life’s highway,
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine softly in your face,
And the rains fall gently on your fields;
And until we meet again,
May God keep you in the palm of his hand.
When a bit of sunshine hits ye,
After passing of a cloud,
When a fit of laughter gets ye and
Yer spine is feeling proud,
Don’t forget to up and fling it at a soul
That’s feeling blue
For the minute that ye sling it,
It’s a boomerang to you.
May there always be work for your hands to do,
May your purse always hold a coin or two,
May the sun always shine on your windowpane,
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain,
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
May you always find blue skies above your head,
Shamrocks beneath your feet,
Laughter and joy a plenty,
Kindness from all you meet,
Good friends and kin to miss you
If ever you choose to roam,
And a path that’s been cleared by angels
Themselves bringing you safely home.
As you travel down life’s highway,
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine softly in your face,
And the rains fall gently on your fields;
And until we meet again,
May God keep you in the palm of his hand.
When a bit of sunshine hits ye,
After passing of a cloud,
When a fit of laughter gets ye and
Yer spine is feeling proud,
Don’t forget to up and fling it at a soul
That’s feeling blue
For the minute that ye sling it,
It’s a boomerang to you.
St. Patrick
Patrick was born in Britain, at the end of the fourth century, the grandson of a priest and son of a Christian deacon. He was kidnapped before his 16th birthday by Irish pirates, made a slave and forced to herd sheep for six years. He eventually escaped, but returned to Ireland and started the church there.
A humble man who shunned the limelight, Patrick wanted an unmarked grace and he got it. No one knows when he died or where he’s buried. Even the date of death is uncertain- maybe the 460’s, maybe the 490’s.
The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was in New York colony on March 17, 1762. Irish soldiers serving in the British military marched to bolster pride in their heritage. Today, the arch-bishop of New York reviews the parade from the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was completed in 1879.
Following are a few misconceptions and little-known facts about one of the world’s most popular saints: He was not the first bishop of Ireland, but the second, after Palladius, who was sent by Pope Celestine in 431. Patrick took over in 432.
It’s just popular lore that he drove the snakes out of Ireland.
Stories that he converted every soul in Ireland are false. For centuries after he founded the Christian church there, Druids and other worshippers of pagan Celtic gods remained.
It would have been clever, but to the best of anyone’s knowledge, St. Patrick never used the shamrock in sermons to explain the Holy Trinity. Like the leprechaun, that’s just another myth.
A humble man who shunned the limelight, Patrick wanted an unmarked grace and he got it. No one knows when he died or where he’s buried. Even the date of death is uncertain- maybe the 460’s, maybe the 490’s.
The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was in New York colony on March 17, 1762. Irish soldiers serving in the British military marched to bolster pride in their heritage. Today, the arch-bishop of New York reviews the parade from the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was completed in 1879.
Following are a few misconceptions and little-known facts about one of the world’s most popular saints: He was not the first bishop of Ireland, but the second, after Palladius, who was sent by Pope Celestine in 431. Patrick took over in 432.
It’s just popular lore that he drove the snakes out of Ireland.
Stories that he converted every soul in Ireland are false. For centuries after he founded the Christian church there, Druids and other worshippers of pagan Celtic gods remained.
It would have been clever, but to the best of anyone’s knowledge, St. Patrick never used the shamrock in sermons to explain the Holy Trinity. Like the leprechaun, that’s just another myth.
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