Testimony in a Time of Terror

Standing with the Word of God, for the earth and against the world: A litany for worship

by Ken Sehested

Our nation is at war, and our hearts are torn. The seeds of fear are planted in terror and harvested in violence.

How long, O Lord, how long?

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The payback of Heaven

A litany for worship inspired by Psalm 103

The payback of Heaven neither tortures nor torments.

The vengeance of God is Christ’s victory of mercy,
o’er all venal indenture and vile deception.

The terror of God is the Risen One’s threat
to every merchant of death, every marketer’s breath,
every peddler of gun-wielding promise of power,

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No one can serve two masters

A litany for worship inspired by Luke 16:1-13

by Ken Sehested

Hear this, oh people of the Covenant: The claim of Heaven’s Reign and the clamor over earth’s rule are woven together. The seed sown in one is harvested in the other. All questions of piety are questions of power. But the nature of power is contested.

No one can serve two masters.

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News, views, notes, and quotes

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.

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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.

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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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News, views, notes, and quotes

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.

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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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