Signs of the Times • 2 September 2016 • No. 86
¶ Processional. “Approach My Soul God’s Mercy Seat,” hymn from the indigenous “Spiritual Baptist” tradition of Trinidad & Tobago. (More on that below.)
Author: ppadmin
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Signs of the Times • 25 August 2016 • No. 85
¶ Processional. Korean figure skater Yu-na Kim, 2010 Olympic champion, performing to the song “Arirang,” the unofficial national anthem of both North and South Korea.
Labor Day
A litany for worship: For work that fulfills
by Ken Sehested
Creator God, we give thanks this day for work: for work that sustains; for work that fulfills; for work which, however tiring, also satisfies and resonates with Your labor in creation.
As part of our thanks we also intercede for those who have no work, who have too much or too little work; who work at jobs that demean or destroy, work which profits the few at the expense of the many.
Read more ›Old dogs, new tricks, and social media
Is the "fear of missing out" actually causing us to miss out?
by Ken Sehested
“I don’t know how to act my age. I’ve never been this age before.”
— cartoon character Dennis the Menace, responding to a scolding from his Mom
I am more or less at the age of old-fartness. My Medicare coverage is in place—started Social Security early to fund prayer&politiks. Not so long ago I organized a “Pilates for Old Farts” exercise group.
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Signs of the Times • 8.19.16 • No. 84
Special issue
Hope quotes
Introduction
I wrote only one poem from my work as a stonemason, after several days of cutting capstone with hammer and chisel to adorn pillared porch columns. That experience remains a vivid image for what it means to live in hope.
Grayed days and clouded sighs
Note to a friend
by Ken Sehested
A note from a dear friend—hospital-bound, IV-fed, on New Year’s Eve and in the isolation ward, no less—
accompanied by a gray landscape photo from her window, inspired an impromptu poem
which captures my emotions in the haggard season in which we live.
The colorless days spur us to stir memory’s store
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Signs of the Times • 11 August 2016 • No. 83
¶ Processional. “Just a Closer Walk With Thee,” by legendary clarinetist Pete Fountain, who died Sunday at age 86.
Send me
A litany for worship inspired by Jeremiah 1:7-9 and Isaiah 6:1-8
by Ken Sehested
It was a time of great turmoil in the land. The Spirit of God bypassed all the famous leaders and came to me with a dream.
And I saw the Ruler of All Creation sitting on a throne, high and lofty, with majesty filling the sky as far as the eye could see.
Read more ›In memory of Brother Roger, founder of the Taize community in France
A meditation on tribulation and contemplation
by Ken Sehested
Written after receiving news of the death of Brother Roger,*
founder of the Taizé community in France, 16 August 2005
I did not know Brother Roger. Haven’t been to the South of France. Hadn’t, until recently, experienced a “Taizé” service, though I am enchanted with the music created there. (In our congregation’s recent delegation to Cuba, we sang "Come and 
Fill Our Hearts" at each of our stops.)
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Signs of the Times • 4 August 2016 • No. 82
¶ Processional. “Now the Powers of Heaven,” Moscow Sretensky Monastery Choir.
