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It's New Year's Eve so here's some fireworks - and below, a prayer for the New Year 2012, witten by Christine Sine with some of the traumatic world events of the last year in mind and posted on her website Godspace God the eternal rock is with us, From year’s beginning to its end, In hard times and in good, God is with us from year’s beginning to its end. God almighty is faithful, Present in each day and every moment, Drawing close in every act and deed, God is faithful through all eternity. God is trustworthy, Yesterday, today and forever, Sustaining, enlivening, making all things new, God the eternal rock is with us this day and evermore. Looking for something different? Try my previous New Year's Eve posts:  On Not Making a New Year's Eve Resolution Hogmanay Image: by Anthony Cramp, Creative Commons

30 December 2011 is a day the people of Samoa have decided to skip. They are going straight from Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 December - but only this year. Those with a birthday on 30 December can look forward to a proper celebration on the right day on 30 December 2012. The nation is close to the International Dateline and since 1892 it has been officially east of the line in order to facilitate commerce with trading partners in the US and Europe. This made the line a strange shape around the Samoan islands. When persuaded by the US to change from west to east of the line in 1892 they did this by repeating a Monday. Samoa now does far more trade with countries like Australia, New Zealand, China and the Pacific rim so (calendar wise) Samoa is moving west. They will now be 1 hour ahead of Wellington, New Zealand instead of 23 hours behind.  This change has created a dilemma for the 7th Day Adventist Church which observes the sabbath on Saturday. Samoan 7th day Adventist ...

Source Today is Holy Innocents Day - a day to remember the part of the Christmas story we may want to forget, in order to keep Christmas 'happy' and continue an escape from things that make us miserable or afraid. The massacre of infant boys by King Herod as told in Matthew 2: 13 - 18 doesn't often feature on Christmas cards - that would be too grisly. Such cruel images would spoil sentimental Christmas pictures. But a nostalgic and sanitised Christmas card scene was not the world into which Jesus was born and it is not the world in which we live. In a world where so many vulnerable children do suffer neglect, hunger, abuse and even murder, where tyrants still crush the powerless, the story of the murdered babies of Bethlehem still speaks into today's real world. The grief of parents who suffer the death of their children, for whatever reason, is still a universal story. The suffering of those forced by oppressive regimes to flee as refugees still goes on. ...