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Glad Tidings from Hawaii
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Barbara Bowyer writes: Many of you have probably never heard
of my favorite Christmas song, Nū ʻoli,
which translates from the Hawaiian language to Glad Tidings. I first
heard it when I was living in Hawaii and it has been a Christmas standard for
me ever since. The artists are the Brothers Cazimero, beloved and well known
through the islands. Their harmonies are beautiful and whenever I play it, I
can’t help but feel a smile in my heart. The chorus is especially uplifting,
even if you don’t understand the Hawaiian language.
I’ve included a link in
case you want to hear it for yourself. The original Hawaiian lyrics and the
English translation are provided below.
Nū ʻoli! Nū ʻoli!
He nū kamahaʻo!
He nū no ke ola mai luna mai nō
No kānaka nui, no kamaliʻi nei
A ʻoi ka nani i ke gula aʻiaʻi
Hui:
Nū ʻoli! Nū ʻoli!
Nū kamahaʻo, kamahaʻo, kamahaʻo ē!
Nū ʻoli! nū ʻoli!
He nū no ke ola e hau'oli ē!
Nū ʻoli! Nū ʻoli!
Ua pili ia nū
I ka poʻe ʻilihune, ka poʻe luʻuluʻu
Neʻe mai a paulele hahai iā Iesū
A pau nō ka hune a maha ʻoukou
Nū ʻoli! Nū ʻoli!
Hauʻoli ʻoukou
Ka poʻe akahai a haʻahaʻa ka naʻau
Na Iesū e kala a hoʻohānau hou
A kaʻi mai nei aʻe i ka nani ma ʻō
Glad tidings! Glad tidings!
What wonderful news! Such news of salvation from above For great men and for little children, too
More glorious than brilliant and shining gold
Chorus: Glad tidings! Glad tidings! News so wonderful, astonishing, remarkable too Glad tidings! Glad tidings! Such news of salvation, 'tis happiness and joy!
Glad tidings! Glad tidings!
Clinging to the news Are the poor and the sorrowful in burdensome
straits Push ahead in faith and follow Jesus All you who are poor and burdened too
Glad tidings! Glad tidings!
Happy are you Those who are meek and humble too 'Tis Jesus who frees us and gives us new life And on to the glory by Him we are led
Mike Willock writes: At Second Church earlier this month the preaching text came from 1 Samuel 3, the call of Samuel. It’s a good story: The boy Samuel is serving in the house of the Lord under the old priest Eli at a time when the word of the Lord is rare in the land of Israel. When the lamp of God had not yet gone out, the Lord calls Samuel by name. Samuel runs to Eli, who says, “I did not call you. Go lie down.” When the call comes a third time, Eli realizes God is calling Samuel and tells Samuel to respond, “Speak, Lord . Your servant is listening.” “Speak, Lord . Your servant is listening”. Just six words, but they 1) confirm the relationship between God and Samuel, 2) affirm with conviction that God is still speaking, and 3) that Samuel is ready and willing and waiting to receive and do the word of God. As reformed Presbyterians we know that God still speaks to those who have ears to hear by the power of Holy Spirit, and that God calls us to live out God’s word in love among...
Mike Willock writes: I love poetry – I always have. In this poetry month at Second, three poems come to mind – all of them old, like me. As aches and pains come and go each day and my mobility decreases, I recall “The One Hoss Shay” (1858) by Oliver Wendell Holmes. The poem is much too long to print here, but the gist is that the Deacon built the shay for the Parson in 1755 so it wouldn’t break down. It had no weak spot – each part was just as strong as the rest. He found the strongest oak and lancewood and ash and whitewood and elm and steel and leather to build it. In 1800 it was good as new and so it stayed until November 1, 1855 when it began to show traces of age. While the Parson was on the way to the meeting house that Sunday morning working on the fifth point of his sermon text he found himself sitting on the ground behind the horse with the shay in bits and pieces all around him. …It went to pieces all at once, All at once, and nothing first, Just as bubbles d...
A shout out to Kendal Ackerman who each week in Lent has been placing one or two framed posters of paintings by Van Gogh in the sanctuary, accompanied by devotional writing to tease out the connections between Van Gogh’s artistic vision of the world and the season of Lent. This Sunday – Easter Sunday – the culminating image was “The Raising of Lazarus.” Others images on display include “The Starry Night,” “Worn Out/At Eternity’s Gate” and “Still Life with Bible.” This quote on the leaflet to do with “The Starry Night” particularly caught my eye: “[Van Gogh’s] paintings reveal a more biblical vision of reality – one in which heaven and earth intersect to form what Dallas Willard called a ‘God-bathed world.’ We occupy a cosmos filled with God’s presence the way liquid fills a sponge.” (Quote from author and podcaster Skye Jethani) All of the write ups coordinated by Kendal can be found here .
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