Come, Let Us Anew, Hymns #217

January 2nd 

Lyrics

1. "Come, let us anew our journey pursue, roll round with the year, and never stand still till the Master appear"

The new year is a time to anew our commitment to follow the Lord and live his commandment, a commitment to keep working on the errand of the Lord preparing for his Second Coming. It is a commitment to keep going forward.

"His adorable will let us gladly fulfill, and our talents improve by the patience of hope and the labor of love".

His will is adorable, is great, is what we must look forward to fulfill, and each year we can renew that desire of being sensitive to the Holy Ghost to know how to accomplish the Lord's will and not our mere desires.
It is also a time to improve our talents, to recognize those gifts he gave us and to commit to improve them.

How to fulfill his will and improve our talents?

By patience of hope and labor of love, according to this hymn.

We might not know exactly why the will of God is what it is. We must fulfill it with faith, not knowing how or why, but having that hope, patiently hoping that things will work out because we are doing it in the Lord's way. Because we love God, we will put that love for him into work, laboring with our all to fulfill his will. Loving God and trusting him with hope, patiently, is essential to give us a better vision and desire to fulfill his will.

And improving our talents, who haven't try it. Learning a new instrument, a new language, a new skill... doesn't it take a lot of time to learn, practice and develop the talent? It would be really hard to improve our talents if we do not have patience of hope, if we are so desperate to get it that we end up giving up because we're not as perfect as we wish to be. We must hope to improve those talents with patience, knowing that it is little by little that we will be able to accomplish it. And love... have you ever try to accomplish something just to show others how good you are at versus accomplish something because you love someone and want to give your best to bless that person? I've tried both, and love makes all the difference. When we want to improve our talents in order to bless others, because we love them, whether someone close to us or people that we love because they're our brothers and sisters even if we don't know them personnaly, the results are much better. It is easier for me to improve a talent because I want to bless someone else than to get it only for myself. It is not fun to cook if we are the only ones to eat. It is not fun to play the piano if we are the only ones to listen. It is not fun to learn a new language if it's to speak only with our reflection on a mirro. When see people satisfied with the food we share with them, when we are able to play the piano in a meeting or activity and that people feel that warm joy that beautiful music brings, or when we are able to show our interest to someone from another culture because we know their language, the joy of being able to use our talents is more satisfactory. As an example, I am learning Tongan because I fell in love with the Tongan culture and I would love to visit that island and to get to know the people there. That love motivates me to learn the language more than if it was only to know more language without even using them. It gives me purpose, so it helps me improve my talents.

So if you're trying to find ways to commit to fulfill God's will and to improve our talents, you now were to begin... ;)

2- "Our life is a dream, our time as a stream glide swifly away, and the fugitive moment refuses to stay; for the arrow is flown and the moments are gone.
The millenial year presses on to our view, and eternity's here."

Basically this means that our time is short! Time flies and we're be standing before God... So we must use our time meaningfully that we may not regret all the time gone.

3- "Oh, that each in the day of His coming may say, 

"I have fought my way thru; I have finished the work thou didst give me to do."

Oh that each from his Lord may receive the glad word:

"Well and faithfully done;

Enter into my joy and sit down on my throne."

When all that time is gone, which side will we be? Would we respond with gladness, confidence and joy, knowing that we have done what we have to do and that we are ready to receive our reward, or will we want to hide under the rocks so that we may not face God and respond of all the time of our lives that we have waste.

Will we receive those words from the Lord "Well and faithfully done"? It is how we use our time and talents now that will determine where we will be. Where do we want to be? It is our time to take that decision, as says 2 Nephi 2:27, to choose captivity and death or liberty and eternal life. It's up to us.

Scriptures:
2 Timothy 4:7-8

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

God will reward all those who love him and who fight his fight. Are we fighting for him?

Matthew 25:21

"His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."

If we are fiathful, we will be able to rest with our Lord for ever. Is this what we are working for?
This hymn is all about learning to use our time well and to work for the Lord, that we may receive his blessings at the end. We must choose to serve him well if we want to be with him.


Author

Charles Wesley

Words were written by Charles Wesley. It was first published in the penny tract Hymns for New Years Day, 1750

Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement, most widely known for writing more than 6,000 hymns.

Wesley was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, the son of Anglican cleric and poet Samuel Wesley and his wife Susanna. He was a younger brother of Methodist founder John Wesley and Anglican cleric Samuel Wesley the Younger, and he became the father of musician Samuel Wesley and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley.

Wesley was educated at Oxford where his brothers had also studied, and he formed the "Holy Club" among his fellow students in 1729. John Wesley later joined this group, as did George Whitefield. Charles followed his father and brother into the church in 1735, and he travelled with John to Georgia in America, returning a year later. In 1749, he married Sarah Gwynne, daughter of a Welsh gentleman who had been converted to Methodism by Howell Harris. She accompanied the brothers on their evangelisticjourneys throughout Britain until Charles ceased to travel in 1765.

Despite their closeness, Charles and John did not always agree on questions relating to their beliefs. In particular, Charles was strongly opposed to the idea of a breach with the Church of England into which they had been ordained.^[1]

Otro año ha pasado (Another year has passed) - Himnos 142 (Spanish post about hymn - English for Scriptures and author)

January 1st, 2018

This hymn is only in the Spanish hymnbook, but I just found that it was on old hymnbook, the "Deseret Sunday School songs: for the use of Sunday Schools and suitable for Primary Associations, religion classes, social gatherings and the home", published in 1909." I had already studied this hymn in Spanish, so my thoughts about it are on that language, but here are the lyrics of the English version, and the scriptures linked to it on the Spanish hymnbook as some information I found about the author are found in English below.

Himno 142 - Otro año ha pasado

1- "Otro año más queda ya atrás; evaluemos lo que pasó. 

¿Puedo mejorar, puedo progresar este año que ya comenzó?"

Este himno nos invita a tomar el tiempo de evaluar lo que ha pasado en el año que ha pasado. El nuevo año es una buena oportunidad para evaluar nuestra vidas, nuestro progreso. No solo es un tiempo para festejar, comer y bailar, pero es una ocasión que tenemos de meditar en lo que hemos estado haciendo y como podemós mejorar. A la pregunta: ¿puedo mejorar, puedo progresar? la respuesta es siempre ¡SÍ! ¿Comó? El como es lo que podemos llegar a saber al evaluar lo nuestro progreso y fijarnos metas.

2 - "Con amor venid; al Señor servid en Escuela Dominical.

Es allí que Dios oye nuetra voz, y nos da Su gracias celestial." 

Esto es interesante. ¿Habían pensado ya en ir a la Escuela Dominical con amor? Debo confesarles que yo no. No iba con odio tampoco, pero creo que sería muy interesante llegar a la Escuela Dominical y a nuetras reuniones los domingos con el deseo de amar a los demás, tanto a los maestros como a los demás alumnos. ¿Se imaginan el ambiente en esas clases si todos llegaramos con amor a nuestras clases? Todos esos comentarios que ofenden, intencionalmente o no, y todas las personas que se dejan ofender, no existirián. Serían reuniones llenas del Espíritu donde todos aprenden con la intención de bendecir a los demás. ¿Que tiene que ver eso con el año nuevo? Tal vez nos da una guía sobre que evaluar en nuestras vidas, pensar en el estado en que asistimos y participamos en nuestras reuniones y en fijarnos metas para que en el nuevo año nuestras experiencias en la escuela dominical sean más significativas y edificantes.

3 - "Con valor seguid, por la senda id, que nos llevará al Señor."

Con valor seguid yendo en la senda que nos lleva al Señor. Al empezar el año se supone que, como miembros de la iglesia, estamos sobre esa senda, estrecha y angosta, pero estamos sobre ella. Cada año trae con si nuevos desafíos, pero debemos guardar valor para seguir adelante en esa senda, en ese camino, viviendo la doctrina de Cristo.

"Venos, Dios, aquí, guíanos a Tí; haznos conocer Tu gran amor."

Esta la veo como una súplica de que Dios nos vea ahí, deseosos de permanecer en la senda a pesar de las dificultades. Este año para mí fue desafiante y no pude lograr mucho de lo que me había propuesto, aunque si hice mucho que no había esperado hacer. A pesas de todos los obstaculos presentes durante el año, algo que nunca pude dejar fue mi deseo de permanecer en esa senda - mis oraciones no fueron tan significativas como hubiera querido, mi estudio no fue todos los días tan profundo y algunos días simplemente fue leer unos versículos. Mi asistencia al templo no fue tan constante, pero igual fuí cuando pude a pesar que a veces se me complicaba. A pesar de todas esas dificultades, pude ver la entrañables misericordias del Señor constantemente en mi vida. El conocer ese gran amor de Dios diariamente me ayudo a permanecer en esa senda. Y es la súplica que debemos hacer a Dios al comenzar el nuevo año: que nos permita conocer, ver, estar receptivos, a su gran amor, a sus entrañables misericordias, a sus muchas bendiciones que debemos contar, para que de ese modo podamos ver mejor su mano y ser mejor guiados a Él.

4- "Padre Celestial, líbranos del mal; danos Tu sostén y solaz, y felicidad, gracia y bondad mientras pase otro año más."

Esto nos dá una guía de cosas que podemos pedir a Dios para seguir siendo librados del mal: sostén, solaz, felicidad, gracia, bondad. Dios siempre nos dará su sostén y solaz. El puede llenar nuestra vida de felicidad si lo seguimos. Su gracia siempre es suficiente para salvarnos y librarnos. Su bondad se derrarmá constantemente sobre nosotros. Debemos ser receptivos todos los dones que el Señor nos dá para librarnos, a pesar de las dificultades, del mal que nos rodea.

Coro: ""Empuñemos ya nuestra bandera" es el lema que nos guiará.
Nuestro lema al empezar un nuevo año debe ser el de empuñar la bandera, el de estar listos y prestos a luchar para defender y vivir el bien siempre. Esa debe ser nuestra guía.
"¡Adelante! Canta ya los niños. Como siempre, Dios nos cuidará."

Ese lema, el de seguir adelante, el de luchar por el bien, no es solo un lema para nosotros los adultos: debe serlo para nuestros niños también. Es nuestro deber de enseñarles desque pequeños a que sigan adelante, a que cada año ellos tambien evalúen su progreso y sepan que pueden seguir mejorando. No debemos temer, ya que Dios los cuida siempre, si nosotros hacemos nuestra parte para enseñarles a vivir el Evangelio.
Esta frase es muy significativa para mí este año en particularmente porque es muy probable que mis sobrinos se vayan a un centro de readaptación en Febrero/Marzo. Quisiera poder tenerlos en casa y poder seguir criandolos en el evangelio, pero realmente es dificil por sus comportamientos. Sin embargo, esta frase me da fortaleza porque se que pase lo que pase, si nos esforzamos por dar lo mejor a mis sobrinos en las próximas semanas ellos podrán sentir el cuidado de Dios donde quiera que estén.

D&C 88:123-125
"See that you love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impar one to another as the gospel requires.
Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault on e with another; cease to sleep longer than in needful; retire to thy bed early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.
And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace."

This teaches exactly what the hymn invites us to do. To improve ourselves by letting aside those unrighteous habits, and to learn to love and do good to others.

D&C 43:8
"And now, behold, I give unto you a commandment, that when ye are assembled together ye shall instruct and edify each other, that ye may know how to act and direct my church, how to act upon the points of my law and commandments, which I have given."

D&C 88:78
"Teach ye diligenly and my grace shall atten you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand".

Well, these verses also teaches us of what they hymn told us to do: to attend our church meetings with love for those we are meeting with, in order to strengthen and edify each other. Perhaps our progression would not be the same if we didn't had our congregations to meet, with people who we might find difficult to love but from which we can learn and grow. Perhaps our year can be better if we put all these people with whom we meet as part of our progression, and we open our hearts to learn from them.

The author:
Mary B. C. Slade

Mary Bridges Canedy Slade was the wife of a clergyman of Fall River, Mass. She was born in 1826 and died in 1882. She was a teacher, and at one time assistant editor of the "New England Journal of Education," which position she resigned to stard "Wide Awake", a well-known publication, which she continued until her death. She was a warm hearted Christian woman. Most was a warm-hearted Christian woman. Most of her hymns were written for Prof. R.M. McIntosh.