"Peace Like A River . . ."

Photo by MarashGirl©2021

I'm So Happy And Here's The Reason Why. . .

When Marash Girl was a little girl, she attended Sunday School at the United Armenian Brethren Evangelical Church in Watertown, Massachusetts, a church established by those who had survived the genocide of the Armenian people which occurred between the years of 1915 and 1922. The preacher of our church, Rev. Vartan Bilezikian, was himself a survivor the Armenian Genocide (see yesterday's blogpost). Students from Gordon College were Marash Girl's Sunday School teachers. Young, enthusiastic, and committed, they taught her and her classmates to love Jesus, to live according to Jesus's teachings. But that's not all they taught. They taught wonderful Sunday School choruses, many of which Marash Girl remembers to this day. and here's one she finds herself singing often! "I'm so happy and here's the reason why, Jesus took my burdens all away; Now I'm singing as the days go by, Jesus took my burdens all away." "Once my heart was heavy with a load of sin, Jesus took the load and gave me peace within; Now I'm happy and here's the reason why, Jesus took my burdens all away." An upbeat (children's) hymn written by Stanton Gavitt . . . a hymn Marash Girl loves to sing as she takes her morning walk. Check out the song on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKA_jOdxEH0. You'll be so happy because Jesus took your burdens all away AND because you will be able to sing along with the pianist. Happy Palm Sunday!

Remembering A Sunday School Chorus Marash Girl Learned Years Ago From A College Classmate!!

Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, To shine for Him each day... In every way try to serve Him, At home, at work, at play. A sunbeam, a sunbeam, Jesus wants me for a sunbeam. A sunbeam, a sunbeam, I'll be a sunbeam for Him. Thank you, MJ, for teaching Marash Girl this children's chorus while we were still college classmates. Although Marash Girl has forgotten much that she learned in college, she has never forgotten the words or the tune to this song. She sings it to this day.

Remembering Thanksgiving at 84 Bowers Street, Newtonville

Every year, Great Uncle (Rev.) Vartan and Great Auntie Elmast would invite little Marash Girl and her family and extended family over (to their home on the second floor in the brick building across from the train station on Bowers Street in Newtonville) for Thanksgiving dinner, the adults (Uncle Vartan, Auntie Elmast, Uncle Paul, Auntie Zabelle, Uncle Kay, Auntie Bea, Uncle Setrag, Auntie Gulenia, Daddy Peter, Mommy Jennie . . .) all eating in the dining room while the kids (little Marash Girl, Martha, James, Pauline, John, Carol, Nancy, Charlie, Ruthie, Herald, David . . .) all eating in the kitchen (which gave the kids all the space they needed to have fun and make a racket!!) Traditional roast turkey with Auntie Elmast's delicious rice pilaf, freshly cut up celery and carrots, cranberry relish (which Marash Girl believes that her family brought to add to the table), and Auntie Elmast's homemade paklava for dessert. So many people eating, and talking in English, Armenian and Turkish, and after dinner, all the kids singing hymns accompanied by Auntie Zabelle playing the upright piano in Uncle Vartan's living room . . . so much fun . . . "but those days are gone," as Marash Girl's father would have said, were he living today, "forever!" Although this Thanksgiving is different from any Thanksgiving that Marash Girl has ever experienced, "May your Thanksgiving be happy and healthy . . . Albeit, so lonely . . . May you have loving hugs from caring family . . . Distant hugs only!" N.B. Uncle Vartan was the son of the minister of the first Armenian Protestant in Marash, Turkey; Uncle Vartan, or "Uncle", as we all called him, established the United Armenian Brethren Church in Watertown, Massachusetts, becoming its first minister. In the beginning, he conducted services in his second floor apartment on Bowers Street in Newtonville, Massachusetts. And in all the years that he served as a minister, he never accepted money from his parishioners for the religious services he performed.

"At The Cross" In Newton Corner

Photo by Marash Girl

The Hymns Stay With You Forever!

The words, the tunes of those old-time hymns stay with you forever.  You may forget the sermons, but not the hymns!  When you most need them, they are there with you, a reminder of God's presence.  At least, that is the case for Marash Girl.  In case she hasn't mentioned it before, the hymnal she grew up with, Spiritual Hymns of Worship, compiled by E. E. Elmajian, was published in three languages -- English, Armenian in Armenian letters, and Turkish in Armenian letters.  And the hymns were sung in all three languages by folks who had sung those hymns in Turkish and Armenian and English throughout the time of untold atrocities, atrocities against the Armenian population, atrocities that occurred under the cover of World War One.  We are all so thankful to be safe, here in the United States of America.