How BIG is Tesla? (Bigger Than Mitsubishi Motors!)

The Great Vigil of Easter in the Life of the Early Church

In ancient times (and in liturgical time even today) days begin at sundown and end at the following sundown. By this way of looking at things, Easter Sunday begins on Saturday night at sundown.

Here in Frederick, sundown on Saturday night is at 7:35 p.m. So we will be almost at the beginning of Resurrection Day.

For the first six centuries, the church celebrated The Great Vigil of Easter beginning at darkness on what we now think of as Saturday night. This was generally an outdoor service, and the Vigil lasted all night until daybreak on Sunday morning.

The Vigil began with the kindling of a fire, and the Passover Candle, along with other lamps and candles, were lit from this newly-kindled fire.

Since the Vigil lasted throughout the night, there was plenty of time for prayer. There was time for the singing of psalms and hymns. There was time for the reading of scripture, with commentary by the bishops or elders. And there was quiet waiting.

Finally, as the rays of dawn began to appear, there was a baptism. This was the night when most new believers, who had been instructed in the catechism for a year or more, were baptized.

In the year 407 A.D., in Constantinople, 3000 people were baptized on this one night.

And then these new believers joined in the Eucharist (or Holy Communion) for the very first time. It was a special night!

Saturday night we are remembering those nights of vigil (or watching).

Join with us as we celebrate Jesus, who came as a light shining in the darkness.

On Saturday night the Paschal Candle (or Passover Candle) will be used as a symbol of Jesus Christ. Just as the Israelites followed God in a Pillar of Fire shining through the night, we are the pilgrim people of God following Jesus Christ, the light of the world.

Later we will read part of the Exodus story together, and remember our baptisms. Then we will celebrate the Lord’s Table together.

Join with us as we worship Jesus, our Light and our Life!

My Down East Car Rental: Chevy Aveo

Earlier this month I visited eastern Canada.

I flew to Bangor, Maine.

Then I rented a car to drive the last five hours

to my destination.

My rental car was a bright red Chevrolet Aveo.

It was virtually new,

with less than 8000 miles on the odometer.

It handled superbly, and had all the power I needed.

I loved it! It was responsive and fun to drive.

I have a warm place in my heart for tiny cars,

            but I had hardly heard of the Aveo,

though it’s been available

in the USA since 2004.

Made in South Korea by GM Daewoo,

it’s available as a 4-door sedan

but the model I rented

was a 4-door hatchback called the Aveo5.

            (1.6 litre, 4-cylinder)

            It had a moon roof.

I see that in 2012 the Aveo’s successor,

the Chevy Sonic, will be built in the USA.

It will have a larger engine,

more airbags and ABS,

which will make it an even better choice

in the subcompact market.

Check it out: http://www.freep.com/article/20110113/BUSINESS03/101130408/1002/BUSINESS/2012-Chevrolet-Sonic

Trip to Beautiful, Wintry New Brunswick, Canada

From January 4th to 10th I'll be in New Brunswick, Canada,
visiting my parents. I'll have very limited access to the internet, but hope to spend quality time thinking and writing. I look forward to another good year of blogging in 2011. See you soon!

Happy New Year 2011 from the Hicks Family...

We hope your Christmas and New Year’s season were filled with joy and wonder.

GARY & CONNIE – Last August we celebrated our 33^rd wedding anniversary. Thank God for the refreshing love and affection in our marriage as we sail through these years of our mid-50s. In July and August we visited Gary’s parents (his mom has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s) and enjoyed spending time together at Campobello Island and on the northern coast of Maine. Our 2010 bedtime reading included the Bible and the conclusion of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. We loved the documentary film Babies, which gave us glimpses of four children from birth to their first birthdays: Ponijao from Namibia, Bayar from Mongolia, Mari from Japan, and Hattie from San Francisco.

GARY – This is my fourth year as a staff pastor at Brook Hill Church near Frederick, MD. I especially enjoy men’s ministry there. I continue to sing with folk band That Raucous Crew (Concert for Haiti, Frederick Celtic Festival, etc.). In February I went on a mission trip to a school in the mountains of Guatemala. This year I was busy with my blogs HicksPosts and New Hymns (http://shelburnehavelock.blogspot.com and http://wattswesley.blogspot.com). In November I completed the hymnbook In This Fair Morning with about 40 of my hymns, songs and poems.

CONNIE still directs and teaches at Damascus Community Preschool (25 years now). Her preschool ladies provide great support and friendship. This past year she was heavily involved as a caregiver for her dad. He has several health issues but (because of her attention) is able to live in his own house about 12 miles from us. She enjoys Saturday yard sales and shopping with Shannon. She finds great joy in her good man and grandsons. The rest of us thank God for her wisdom, goodness and common sense.

SHANNON is in her 5^th year teaching kindergarten at Spring Ridge Elementary School near Frederick. She lives near us and we usually share dinner together. She has taken several classes to further her interest in creative writing, and is planning to adopt a child in 2011 (yay!). In April she goes to Haiti on a short-term mission.

ALEEN and JOSIAH celebrated their 5^th anniversary in April. Josiah works for CoStar Group in Washington DC, and Aleen works part-time at Damascus Community Preschool. We’re blessed to have them living nearby. CALEB is almost 4 and a precocious preschooler. He loves to sing and play with his guitar. SAMUEL (“Schmol”) is 2, and full of fun, with a Murphy sparkle in his eyes.

God bless you with health and joy in 2011!

New Light

December 21st came unwelcomed

here in Frederick, Maryland

the bleak, dreary solstice of winter

our longest night

15 hours and 37 minutes of chilled darkness

the depths of winter, here in our town.

Cold blue blackness

frost and bitter wind

a howling, frozen hurricane

here, in blesséd Yellow Springs.

But in December

every small candle

whispers hope,

every little string of sparkling lights

sings a silent expectation:

The longest night must end sometime,

And that sometime is soon.

Now each new day brings more brightness

Every new week: seven more minutes of fresh daylight

Spring is coming!

Look past white January to pink February

And then to wild, blooming March –

Sun and wind and wonder!

So in the darkness of my anxious nights

When pains and fears and worries hide the sun

When hope seems gone, I still lie down in hope

When faith seems dead, I still rise up with faith

New light has come, and more is soon to come!

Our Father God is not silent –

He even speaks on windy winter nights

He even soothes in frosty darkness

He shouts and thunders with the rising Son

Perfect love and perfect light in Jesus.

Tom Mills on Christmas

This morning I met again with the men

who get together with me

early on Tuesday mornings.

We read and discussed

how Jesus healed the demoniac

in Luke chapter 8.

Then we talked about the hustle-bustle of Christmas,

and how this flurry of activity (even church activity)

can keep us from true worship.

My friend Tom Mills was part of this discussion.

Then later he sent this e-mail,

            which I have permission to share with you:

“To expand on the Christmas hype conversation

at the end of today’s study:

If we are to look at the life of Jesus

as our beacon of how to live ours,

let’s start with His birth.

The king of the universe wasn’t welcomed

into this world with majesty,

bright lights and parades.

Hardly majestic, very cold and dark,

no tinsel or music and dancing.

He was born on the manure-laden dirt floor

of a cold, filthy stable, in the midst of the mundane;

farm animals,

a virgin teenager, a lowly carpenter

and smelly, sweaty shepherds. 

Not in the presence of kings and queens

and people of high regard,

just family and newly acquired friends.

Mary didn’t choose that,

Joseph didn’t choose it either. 

God did. 

If this is how he brought His son into our world,

why would He want us

making a huge production of the season now? 

It just seems to me and my measly, tiny little brain

that we do what we do during this season

for us, not for Him. 

The lights, parties, shopping helps make us feel better

about who we are in the world

by connecting it to His birth

through the special season of Christmas. 

I am also a participant in this, and must admit enjoy most of it,

but the older I get the more I think we should be

connecting this to His birth without the hype

and through the reason for the season. 

And that should be celebrated everyday. 

If you stop and think of what God really did for us

on Christmas morning,

it is really un-believable!

How many of you would send your only son

away from your presence for a cause like us? 

Not me! 

And God knew what He sent His son here to ultimately do,

NO WAY! 

We allow the clutter and clamber

of what this world thinks Christmas should be

to cloud our view of it.

Wash off the “make-up” of Christmas

and see the true beauty beneath –

it’s there and nothing can compare.

Merry Christmas my friends!

Tom Mills.”