Nostalgia (part 3) - Something Old, Something New

everystockphoto.com/Happy New Year!

New Years Eve ... New Years Day 

These are holidays in which we may look back and look ahead.   Something old ... something new.  For a sampling of each, here are a few musings from Bible verses and videos clips that emphasize the "holy" in the holidays.

First,

The Old ... 

The Good Old Days can bring feelings of nostalgia.  Even Moses gave instructions to the children of Israel to remember the past and pass on their stories to the new generation:

Remember the days of old;
consider the generations long past.
Ask your father and he will tell you,

your elders, and they will explain to you.
Deuteronomy 32:7 (NIV)

Yet, some of this remembrance can also bring a sense of sadness, such as reflected in this song that often resurfaces at the end of the year:

(reference: http://youtu.be/sT_aKiRNm-A) 

The sentiment behind the lyrics of this song has been around for some time.  For its history, check out:  Story of Those Were the Days

Likewise several generations after Moses, when the children of Israel were captive in Babylon, they became sad when they thought of the good old days:

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept

    when we remembered Zion.

Psalm 137:1 (NIV)

But the second chance, a fresh start, can give rise to optimism and happiness.  With the change of the calendar year, we may  look forward to

The New ...

The new is part of the vision of God's plan of the universe.  It's a time that people of faith may look forward when the old world of suffering will come to pass and all things will be new again:

See, I will create
    new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.

Isaiah 65:17 (NIV)

And in this life, the pursuit of happiness encompasses the "new" like the wonder of a child, who continues to explore, learning, seeking ... as seen below:

(reference:  http://youtu.be/-oflLvqnKqM)

And that is a cause for joy, especially for those of faith:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) 

And this traditional song connects

The Old and the New ...

As New Years Eve turns to New Years Day, after the stroke of midnight, many sing this old song that rings in the New Year:
 :

(reference:  http://youtu.be/GxSqMbsHeJ8 )

And for a fresh start, a second chance, a new life, may we ...

Sing to the Lord a new song,

for he has done marvelous things

his right hand and his holy arm

    have worked salvation for him.

Psalm 98:1 (NIV)

Happy New Year!

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Previous posts in this series:

Nostalgia (part 1) - A Father's Thanksgiving Prayer  (2014)

Nostalgia (part 2) - Christmas Past in War and Peace (2014)

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Photo from:  everystockphoto.com/Happy New Year!

Pray4America (part 11) - New Year Reset

NASA/GEMINI VII - EARTH-SKY VIEW 

To the good old days! 
That is a good modern paraphrase of Auld Lang Syne.   [reference:  History and Meaning of the Song, Auld Lang Syne - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com]
The lyrics and the tune have an interesting history.   Auld Lang Syne  is from Scottish poem written in 1788 by Robert Burns and later the words were set to the music of a folk song.   [reference:  The History and Words of Auld Lang Syne — The Official Gateway to Scotland]

Universally sung as New Year’s Eve turns into the New Year at the stroke of midnight,  no doubt, it will be sung, again, around the world as 2013 rolls over to 2014.

A beautiful rendition of this song is performed in this link below:

(reference: http://youtu.be/zrucR4cQgIw)

The New Year can bring a sense of optimism, a sense of starting over.  Resetting the calendar can mean a reset of our lives.  As to the good old days, it is a time to put the past behind us and press ahead into the future - the New Year.

In the New Testament, St. Paul exhorts us, too, to put the past behind us and press ahead and look up as expressed in this advice:

Brothers and sisters, 
I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.
But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize
for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)

This past year has had many troubling events, its share of tragedies.  But 2013 has had its triumphs as well as good memories.  Though there still may be dark days ahead in 2014, we have the promise that the future will be glorious in a new world where the sorrow of the past will be forgotten:
  

See, I will create new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,  
nor will they come to mind.

Isaiah 65:17 (NIV)

Meanwhile, as we press ahead and make resolutions for 2014, may one of our New Year's resolution be to lift up one another and -

Pray for America

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Previous posts in this series:

Pray4America (part 1) - National Day of Prayer (2012)

Pray4America (part 2) - FDR's prayer on D-Day (2012)

Pray4America (part 3) - FDR's Flag Day prayer - June 14, 1942 (2012)

Pray4America (part 4) - It's a Wonderful Life, America (2012)

Pray4America (part 5) - United we stand? (2012)

Pray4America (part 6) - Christmas in Iran 1980 (2012)

Pray4American (part 7) - For such a time as this (2013)

Pray4America (part 8) - Fear no evil (2013)

Pray4America (part 9) - America, the Beautiful - 1893 to 2013 (2013)

Pray4America (part 10) - Real Hope for America  (2013)

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Photo from:  NASA/GEMINI VII - EARTH-SKY VIEW