Messages of other months can be read by clicking HERE.

December
Holiday Season Busyness
God's Temple
Parades
Old Age
Solstice/Light
Christmas
East and West
Tsunami

We have now entered the final month of the year, according to the Gregorian calendar. In the ancient Roman calendar, the year began in March and was divided into ten months, of which December was the last. Even after the Roman calendar was revised and two months were added at the beginning of the year, the names of months that had been derived from Latin words for numbers were retained even though their position had been changed. Thus, December, derived from the Latin word for "ten," is now the twelfth month of the year. In Dutch and Anglo-Saxon traditions, it was known as "winter month," for in Western thought, the winter season begins with the winter solstice that occurs about December 22nd. Because of the celebration of Jesus' birth on December 25th and the many customs related to it--including decorations, giving of gifts, family gatherings, special services in churches, etc., December has become a very busy month in the West. Although for a different reason, the traditional Japanese name of this month is "teacher running month," probably because Buddhist priests are so busy running from house to house during this final month of the year. The ancient Roman festival in honor of the god, Saturn, was held during the winter solstice and the extensive festivities that took place at that time prompted Christian leaders to commemorate the birth of Jesus around the same time, even though this was not the season when he was born. During this busy month, it is well for us to take time to reflect on the reason for our busyness and to reflect the spirit of the one whose birth is being celebrated. (807)

Holiday Season Busyness
04/12/04

The primary meaning of 'season' is one of the four natural divisions of the year: spring, summer, autumn and winter. In a broader sense, other periods of time may be called 'seasons.' In the United States of America, this season between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas is sometimes called the 'holiday season.' It is a particularly busy season both for stores where people go shopping for Christmas gifts and decorations and for the people who do the shopping and put up the decorations. Many families gather together for a Christmas celebration, so transportation facilities as well as the travelers are also busy. For many of us, it is the busiest time of the year. Actually, a 'holiday' originally denoted a day free from work, which may be spent leisurely, but nowadays, holidays are often busier than workdays. Of course, this word is derived from 'holy day,' which is a day specified for religious observance. This holiday season is supposedly centered on the holy day set apart to celebrate Jesus' birth. Unfortunately, many people who enjoy the busyness of the season overlook its true significance. The word 'busyness' is not found in all dictionaries, but it denotes the condition of being busy. Some busyness is related to one's business. In this retirement community also, I feel very busy at this time of year, which raises the question of the meaning of 'retire.' The common meaning is to withdraw from business in order to relax, but I have experienced a different implication. The prefix 're' often denotes 'again,' as in the words 'reopen' and 'rethink.' In my experience thus far, 'retire' may also denote 'tire again' and that is my feeling during the busyness of this holiday season. (808)

God's Temple
04/12/09

In this Christian retirement community, worship services are held in the community church every Sunday morning. In another building in the community, a communion service is held every Wednesday morning. Retired ministers who reside in the community are requested to lead these services and this week it was my turn to lead the communion service, assisted by my wife. Since the date of the service coincided with the first day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, the Hebrew word meaning "dedication," which celebrates the rededication of the Jewish temple in 165 B.C., I chose "God's Temple" as the subject of my homily. In Jewish history, there have been three temples in the city of Jerusalem, but the last temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. so now there is no temple for the Jews. However, as the Apostle Paul stated in his speech in Athens, recorded in the 17th chapter of the New Testament book of Acts, "the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by men" (verse 24). The text for my homily was I Corinthians 3:16-17, where it is written: "you yourselves are God's temple and God's Spirit lives in you." Although human beings build temples, shrines, mosques or churches in which to worship God, Christians believe that the true God is not limited to such structures and we do not need to go to certain places to have communion with God. God's universal Spirit is in the heart of the sincere believer and is manifested in the believer's words and actions. The communion service may be considered a kind of "rededication" of this "temple." (809)

Parades
04/12/15

A procession of people walking along a street may be called a "parade." Some parades are formal events held on special days with certain traditional implications. Military troops may parade in uniform accompanied by a brass band on a national holiday. Other parades are more informal. Schools sometimes have a parade as part of their homecoming activities. A famous parade is held annually in New York City on March 17, St. Patrick's Day. As many as 125,000 marchers march along the four kilometer route passing St. Patrick's Cathedral and a reviewing stand where government officials, guests and local politicians have gathered to watch this spectacular event. In this Florida town of Penney Farms, it is customary to have a Christmas Parade during this holiday season. About two-thirds of the population of the town resides in this Penney Retirement Community and citizens outside of the retirement community are basically Afro-American. Both groups and individuals were invited to participate in this parade, which was held last Saturday, to encourage friendly relations between citizens both inside and outside the retirement community. Police cars, fire engines and ambulances with their sirens sounding also joined the procession along with bands and choral groups on the backs of open trucks, people in golf carts and many on foot. Following the parade, we ate together in the town park--food that had been prepared and brought by participants. My wife, who is a member of the Clown Group in this community, dressed in her clown costume for the event, but I wore my regular weekday garb. (810)

Old Age
04/12/19

"Young" and "old" are relative terms like "near" and "far," "tall" and "short," "big" and "little." Their precise meanings depend on the context in which they are used and the particular perspective of the speaker or writer. When I was a child, I considered a teenager "old," but later, I used this word for those who were over thirty or sixty. This week, I reached the age of 77, but in this retirement community, I am surrounded by people who are really "old." In the Old Testament book of Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 32, it is written: "Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God." The precise definition of "aged" and "elderly" is not given, but the attitude manifested toward them should be different than that expressed toward God. In Proverbs 20:29, we are told that "The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old." Although my hair has become gray, I am happy for the strength, even on a reduced scale, I still have. During this very busy last month of the year, I have not been preparing regular messages for this "Timely Words" webpage, but I do try to compose a new message when I find time. Recently, I have been transferring "old style" tapes of thirty or forty years ago onto cassette tapes for the future use of our children or other interested people. Unfortunately, I am unable to transfer them onto compact discs, but listening to the old taped voices of my parents, our children, our church members or lectures, sermons or interviews I have given has brought back many meaningful memories, which is an enjoyable characteristic of old age. (811)

Solstice/Light
04/12/22

The four seasons of the year in the temperate zones are: spring, summer, autumn and winter. They are determined by the mutual relationship of the sun and the earth. Spring and autumn begin when the length of day and night are equal, which is called the "equinox," from Latin words meaning "equal night." Summer and winter begin at the "solstice," from Latin words meaning "sun stand still," for at that time it was thought the sun had reached the limit in its ecliptic journey around the earth and was about to begin another circuit. Beginning with the winter solstice, which occurs on December 21st or 22nd, daylight hours are lengthened. In industrialized countries, electric lights are commonly used when it becomes dark, but during power outages, we realize how important light is in our lives. "Light" may have either a physical or a mental or spiritual significance, all of which are important. Even as we may stumble and fall if we walk in the dark, so we may be confused if we are without proper mental or spiritual light. Japanese students of English often find it difficult to distinguish the "r" and "l" sounds, so the words "light" and "right" may be pronounced the same or be confused, but it is important to follow the "right light." Mental light may be gained from study and education. Spiritual light is obtained through faith and Christians believe in Jesus' words quoted in the Gospel of John, chapter 8, verse 12: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (812)

Christmas
04/12/25

In Japan, December 23rd is a national holiday to celebrate the birthday of the present emperor who was born on this day in 1933. Although the celebration of his birthday is limited to Japan, two days later another birthday is celebrated not only in Japan, but also in many countries throughout the world. In the West, the birth of Jesus, the Christ, has been celebrated on December 25th since 336 A.D., but not only is the month and the day of his birth uncertain, we are not even sure of the year he was born. According to the 2nd chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was born during the reign of the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus (27 B.C.- 14 A.D.). According to the 2nd chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, he was born during the reign of Herod, King of Judea (37 B.C.-4 B.C.) who died in 4 B.C. Thus, the calculation made centuries later that Jesus was born in the 1st year of the Christian era is mistaken. He was probably born around 6 B.C. One of the reasons December 25th was chosen to celebrate his birth was to counter the pagan worship of the sun in the Roman Empire on that day near the winter solstice when days become longer. Even today, many popular customs associated with Christmas can be traced back to pagan origins, including the lighting of candles, decorations of evergreens, giving gifts and feasting. At the present time, Christmas has become so commercialized that its religious meaning is often overlooked. For Christians, Christmas is a time to thank God for the gift of our Savior, the Word of God who "became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1-14). (813)

East and West
04/12/28

Since returning to the United States, I have had a number of opportunities to give talks on Japan. At such times, I often begin with the question of where Japan is located. I surprise most listeners by my statement that Japan is located in the Far West for it is commonly thought that Japan is in the Far East. Nevertheless, when going from the United States to Japan, it is usual to travel west. World maps printed in the United States usually have the U. S. A. in the center and Japan is located in the far western area of such maps. It is on world maps with Europe at the center that Japan is located in the Far East. Of course, maps made in Japan have Japan at the center and on such maps, the United States is in the Far East. So it all depends on one's perspective. We tend to look at the world with our homeland at the center and at other people with ourselves as the standard. One of the advantages of living for a while in a foreign country is to be able to view our own culture, traditional customs and ways of thinking from a different perspective. It can be a very broadening experience and should result in a better understanding of our own nation and both its positive and negative aspects. On a global map, there are north and south poles which indicate the limits of those directions, but it is not so for east and west. To express the unlimited nature of God's compassion, in Psalm 103:12, it is written: "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our trangressions from us". (037)

Tsunami
04/12/30

One of the characteristics of the English language is that it includes many words that are derived from other languages. Some of these words change their pronunciations when they enter English, but others do not basically change. Until I went to Japan, I had never read or heard the word "tsunami." I did not know there was such a word in English, but I did understand this word in Japanese. Because of the severe, devastating tsunami that occurred this week in the Indian Ocean, this word has now become very well known in English-speaking countries. My English dictionary defines "tsunami" as "A very large ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption." The extraordinarily strong earthquake that occurred under the Indian Ocean and the tsunami it caused resulted in about 100,000 deaths, and over a million people lost their homes. There is now fear that many more people will die from illnesses caused by impure water, lack of food and various kinds of infections. Questions related to how such disasters can be explained or why they occur are very difficult to answer. People who say they are inexplicable will not try to explain them, but all human beings have some kind of "faith" related to the relationship of nature and human beings. From my perspective (faith), there are many events which I cannot explain, but I still believe that there is meaning in life and a purpose for all that occurs. How we react to events we cannot understand (whether on a personal or universal level) depends on our "faith," which is evident in our daily lives--whether in times of joy or sorrow. (814)