Hannah Roorda writes:

(So you know, I expect to continue with Weddings and Celebrations for a while. :)

It is customary in many cultures to offer toasts when celebrating. At weddings you toast the couple, at parties you toast the guest of honor, and at the end of an old year you toast the new.

While toasts are not mentioned specifically in the Bible, the principle is certainly Christian. A toast is an opportunity to thank, encourage, and bless others. Toasts are customarily given with an alcoholic beverage– wine that makes glad the heart. They are a reminder of the gifts that God has given us and the hope of good things to come. And they are a simple but extraordinary way for each of us to give of ourselves to others and build each other up– publicly. It is not easy to stand up in front of everyone at a wedding and say to your brother and his new bride, “May your children possess the gates of The Enemy” but it is a gesture that is a memorable witness and a blessing for years to come.

I have collected many toasts that are appropriate for many different occasions (excellent resource: Toasts Book) and would like to share some of them with you. Well, all right, quite a bounty of them, and I hope it makes up for the lack of posts last December:

As we start the New Year,
Let’s get down on our knees
to thank God we’re on our feet.

May you have warm words on a cold evening, A full moon on a dark night, And the road downhill all the way to your door.

Be at war with your voices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
-Benjamin Franklin

May the roof above us never fall in. And may the friends gathered below it never fall out.

May all single men be married, and all married men be happy!

As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never face the wrong way.

May the most you wish for be the least you get.

Here’s to the year that has gone
With its share of joy and sadness
And here’s to the year to come
May it have a full measure of gladness

May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

Here’s to the love we give away for it’s the only love we keep.

May for better or worse be far better than worse.

When I said I should die a bachelor,
I did not think I should live ’till I were married.
—Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing

Frame your mind to mirth and merriment,
Which bars a thousand harms and lengthens life. –Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew”

God, the best maker of all marriages,
Combine your hearts in one.
– Shakespeare: Henry V

Congratulations on the termination of your isolation and may I express an appreciation of your determination to end the desperation and frustration which has caused you so much consternation in giving you the inspiration to make a combination to bring an accumulation to the population.

May you be buried in a casket made from the wood of a 100 year old oak
That I shall plant tomorrow.

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Long Life to our Friends: May the chicken never be hatched that will scratch on their graves.

And finally, to my co-bloggers John, Gabriel, Mark, Nick, Samuel, and Philip, and to our readers:

Another year is dawning! Let it be
For better or for worse, another year with thee.