![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/deanna-brown-and-frank-ramirez-choral-reading.jpg\")
Deanna Brown (right) and Frank Ramirez lead in a choral reading for Wednesday evening worship. The reading was authored by Brown, who also served as worship leader for the service.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Reader 3: And you think that\u2019s good news?<\/p>\n
What\u2019s wrong with the old?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2 I remember Annual Conference when it was held at Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Brethren arrived with a 10 dollar bill and the 10 Commandments\u2026and didn\u2019t break either one of them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
3 I remember when we were the BYPD.<\/p>\n
1 BYPD???? Beautiful Young Precious Dunkers?<\/p>\n
2 Bodaciously Yearning Pastry Dividers?<\/p>\n
3 No! We were the Brethren Young People\u2019s Department.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1 I remember when women did NOT wear earrings to church.<\/p>\n
And I remember the days when only the women wore earrings.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
- \n
- I remember when meat was good for you;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
3 and people thought of air as clean and sex as dirty.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1 What happened to those Saturday drives into town \u2013 to the filling station and the 5 \u2018n dime, the moving picture show and soda shop?<\/p>\n
3 What happened to the days when hula hoops and slinkys provided festive fun?<\/p>\n
2 What happened to the days when people knew what I was talking about when I asked, \u201cWhere\u2019s the nearest phone booth?\u201d<\/p>\n
1 Or when I called something ducky<\/p>\n
or the cat\u2019s pajamas.<\/p>\n
3 Or said: fifty-two skidoo!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2 When was the last time you heard these heart-warming phrases?<\/p>\n
3 Ain\u2019t got much gumption.<\/p>\n
1 Well, I\u2019ll be a monkey\u2019s uncle!<\/p>\n
3 You ain\u2019t just whistlin\u2019 Dixie.<\/p>\n
2 Well, I declare!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/deanna-brown-and-tana-durnbaugh-choral-reading.jpg\")
Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Deanna Brown (right) and Frank Ramirez lead in a choral reading for Wednesday evening worship. The reading was authored by Brown, who also served as worship leader for the service.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n1 Isn\u2019t it more expressive to say<\/p>\n
2 Don\u2019t get your bloomers caught in an updraft!<\/p>\n
1 rather than \u201ccalm down\u201d?<\/p>\n
3 Or he\u2019s just a bump on\u00a0 the log.<\/p>\n
1 Instead of \u201cHe\u2019s lazy\u201d?<\/p>\n
2 Or Lord willin\u2019 and the crick don\u2019t rise!<\/p>\n
1 Instead of \u201cIf it all goes well\u201d?<\/p>\n
3 Do you remember ice boxes and washboards, threshing rings and rumble seats?<\/p>\n
2 How about crinolines?<\/p>\n
3 and outhouses?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1 Clearly, some things are meant to stay in the historical archives.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2 But who wants to live in a culture where classic fairytales are condensed to 60-second sound bites?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
3 And cell phones become a utensil at dinnertime.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1 And the Internet superhighway carries hundreds of billions of messages every day.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
3 Land \u2018o Goshen!<\/p>\n
1 Land \u2018o Goshen!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1 Imagine a world where we could breathe the air.<\/p>\n
2 Where we could turn off the television<\/p>\n
1 Or even turn on the television with the right clicker.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2 Violence, oppression, exploitation, and globulultion.<\/p>\n
3 Reality TV, alienation, and lack of forbearance.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1 Who wants this media-drenched data rich, channel surfing, computer-gaming, high-band width, multi-tasking virtual age?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
3 And yet\u2026<\/p>\n
2 Listen!<\/p>\n
1 Listen!<\/p>\n
3 Behold, I make all things new. (Rev. 21:5)<\/p>\n
1 This is a new Day. We will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)<\/p>\n
2 Sing unto the Lord a new song (Psalm 96:1)<\/p>\n
3 I will put a new spirit within you. (Ez 11:19)<\/p>\n
1 if anyone be in Christ, they are a new creation. ( 2 Cor 5:17)<\/p>\n
2 God led the people of Israel \u2013 not by the familiar way but by the roundabout way of the wilderness\u2026.(Ex. 13:18)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1 Isn\u2019t God always calling us to be made new?<\/p>\n
2 \u201cTo unlearn the follies of a lifetime<\/p>\n
3 “To see through inbred self-deceptions<\/p>\n
1 “To deepen understanding, compassion, and conviction.” (Abraham\u00a0 Hershel)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
All: What does it mean to think anew?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1 To remember that our salvation is not defined by botox or plastic surgery or what we own\u2026<\/p>\n
2 have you ever seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
3 To know that we are not burdened by years but gifted with years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2 To know that we can listen \u2013<\/p>\n
1 even though we wear hearing aides<\/p>\n
3 See with God\u2019s eyes \u2013<\/p>\n
1 even with bifocals<\/p>\n
3 And walk the talk \u2013<\/p>\n
1 even though we sometimes walk slowly.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2 Martin Buber wrote, \u201cTo be old is a glorious thing when one has not unlearned what it means to begin.<\/p>\n
3 Emily Dickenson wrote, \u201cWe turn not older with years but newer every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2 Behold, I make all things new.<\/p>\n
3 Behold, I make all things new.<\/p>\n
1 Behold, I make all things new.<\/p>\n
2 Here I am, God.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Here I am God.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
1 Here I am, God.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
All: Make us new!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–Deanna Brown wrote this reflective reading for National Older Adult Conference 2011. Brown\u00a0was worship leader for the Wednesday evening\u00a0service at NOAC.\u00a0She is an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren and founder and facilitator of Cultural Connections Women’s Sojourns to India.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Deanna Brown’s choral reading for the Wednesday evening worship service at National Older Adult Conference was an instant hit with NOAC. The reading for three voices was given by Brown along with Tana Durnbaugh and Frank Ramirez.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1259],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-3319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-noac"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3319"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12102,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3319\/revisions\/12102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3319"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=3319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Here I am God.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n