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HAPPY NEW YEAR to my dear fellow BlogNog Friends,

May 2010 be filled with bright, new hope in our faithful Lord Who said, “Behold, I make all things new.”

To ring in the “new” we rang our smaller version of America’s Liberty Bell.  It’s housed in our Flag Garden here at our Decker Hills home.

What a glorious day it must have been when the original Liberty Bell first rang out announcing the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776.

And what an apt Scripture (Leviticus 25:10) is inscribed upon it: “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”  I pray that still rings true of America today.

Curiously, the Liberty Bell was cast in England in 1752.  And at that time, the old rhyme called “The Bells of London” was already a favorite, although the children sang it as, “Oranges and Lemons.”

That’s the version I knew well, as a child, and the one I paraphrased to honor God’s Creation in my first Christian Mother Goose Book, released in 1978.  Later, the rhyme was beautifully orchestrated in the Dove award finalist album, “The Christian Mother Goose Musical Adventure” CD.

When you hear the many mystical church bells in symphony on the CD, remember – those Bells of London can still be visited today.  Their fascinating history recalls characters, such as the money-lenders, like old Ebenezer Scrooge of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” who lived within the sound of St. Martin’s bells.  Or, their unfortunate clients who failed to pay back the money-lenders on time, and were sent to Fleet Street Debtors’ Prison, where they languished under the sound of Old Bailey’s bells.

Then, the inspiring Bells of Bow in the story of Dick Whittington (1606).  This young, penniless, runaway lad heard the chimes of the Bow Bells calling to him, seeming to sing prophetically: “Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.”  Stirred and encouraged beyond all his miserable circumstances, he returned to London where he became wealthy, and, eventually, Lord Mayor of London.

Sadly, those ancient Bow Bells were silenced by Nazi bombs in World War II.  When war comes to your doorstep, everything changes radically.  My own youthful days, growing up in wartime Liverpool, were changed, overnight, forever.  Go back with me to those days:

As the air raids over our city began, it was a strange sight, especially for children, to see colossal, grey barrage balloon dirigibles floating in the sky above us.  They were meant as a defense against enemy bombers, but seemed quite ineffective.  To me, they looked like sad, giant bumblebees who had lost their yellow coats.

World War II Barrage Balloon

Soon after the launching of those barrage balloons, our beekeeper friend, Mr. Yardley, dropped in to see us, obviously bursting with news to tell us. He couldn’t even wait for a cup of tea!  (That’s serious for an Englishman)  So we gave him the floor, and here’s what trumped the tea:

A great swarm of bees had lodged in the pipe organ of a large church.  What a choice place some Queen Bee had chosen for her family gathering, complete with full power amplifiers through all those organ pipes to announce the event.  The “buzz” announcement did not fall on deaf ears!  In fact, the relentless buzzing absolutely guaranteed empty pews the next Sunday – wartime-needed prayers or not.

So, the police were called to conquer – but the buzzing won! The Fire Station was then called – again, the buzzing won!

Then someone recommended Mr. Yardley, the beekeeper.  He was told he could get a huge swarm of bees if he could smoke them out and save the peace.  He hastily arrived on the scene with his equipment.  From the roar of the buzzing, he gleefully anticipated his reward as the smoking-out began.

Suddenly, the great buzzing ceased, and, to his amazement and chagrin, one single solitary bumblebee surrendered to the smoke.  No great swarm (to add to his hive) to justify the uproar.  Just one bumblebee inside the mighty resonance of the pipe organ had thwarted the police, the firemen, and turned a neighborhood upside down!  “Ah – I’ll have that cup of tea now.”

However, thinking about the bells and the bumblebee, I see an abiding principle at work:  It was only in the huge church bell that the small clapper found its ability to ring out across London.  It was only in the resonant pipe organ that the little bumblebee could impact a city’s district.

And it is only in Christ that we frail, flawed earthlings can be transformed with newness of life – eternal life! –  new purpose, new desires and a new destiny.  As it is written in II Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

How miraculous it is to us that the freshness, sparkle, surprise  and delight of the “new” is ever present with God.  Earthlings everywhere are saying, “Happy New Year!”  But it is only with trust in Christ Jesus, The Lord, Who makes all things new, that the year 2010 will remain “new” in the highest and dearest sense.

As I think of all the resolutions I’m making this New Year, I have to chuckle at yet another saying that crops up in the Decker family to drive home a point of need.  My older brother, Jimmy, coined the phrase when he came home after six years away in World War II. Clothing was still heavily rationed, and new shirts scarce.   Grinning, Jimmy said, “Here’s a button, all I need is a shirt sewn on it!”

So, echoing Jimmy’s homespun appeal, I say, “Lord, here are my good resolutions,” (the button).  “All I need is the power to perform them!” (the shirt).  Praise God, His power is not rationed.  It is free and abundant to all “button” believers in “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”  (I Corinthians 1:24)

May God’s grace, peace and love “ring out” to all my Blog-Nog-Button friends.  Happy New Year!

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Christian Mother Goose®

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