Signs of the Times • 23 June 2016 • No. 78
¶ Processional. “Siyahamb’ e-kukhanyen’ kwenkhos" (“We are marching in the light of God”), Oração popular da África do Sul.
Author: ppadmin
Nation of frivolous piety
A litany for worship inspired by Psalm 99 & Isaiah 1:15
by Ken Sehested
I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that Divine justice cannot sleep forever. A revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is possible. The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.*
Be forewarned, you nation of frivolous piety:
Read more ›Instruction on freedom’s demands
A litany for worship, inspired by Exodus 20
by Ken Sehested
After fleeing Pharaoh’s slavery through
the Red Sea’s baptism, the people of the
Most High assembled in covenant assembly
at the mountain of promise for instruction
in freedom’s demands.
Abandon every god of metal:
whether nation or spear or bandolier,
each Tomahawk and Trident,
every nuclear racketeer.
Do not sanction your vengeance by
the Name of the Beloved.
News, views, notes, and quotes
Signs of the Times • 17 June 2016 • No. 77
¶ Processional. “Dedication,” San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus sings in solidarity with Orlando victims. (Click the “show more” button for more background. Thanks Patrick.)
Faith without fanfare
A litany for worship inspired by Galatians 5
by Ken Sehested
There are, to be sure, moments of high drama in the
work of holy obedience:
marches to be made,
confrontations to be staged,
dangers to be endured,
corruption to be exposed,
trips made to distant and unfamiliar places,
maybe even jail cells to be filled.
On rare occasions, the whole world is watching.
Read more ›Steal away to Jesus
When the pulse is imperiled, find what is needed to keep on keeping on
by Ken Sehested
I was planning an abbreviated edition of “Signs of the Times” to allow time this week for other projects. The Pulse nightclub butchery, in a location named by many of its patrons as a “sanctuary,” sent us all tumbling into ravaging emotions of grief, horror, anger and despair.
I’m not alone in the work of attempting to write my way out of such despondence. (See “Hate crime vs. terrorism: How our language highlights or disguises violence.”)
Read more ›Hate crime vs. terrorism
How our language highlights or disguises violence
by Ken Sehested
Headlines about the Orlando nightclub slaughter regularly include the phrase “largest (or worst) mass shooting in U.S. history.” (See some of the photos and all of the names of those killed in this ABC News post.)
Hardly. Not by a long shot.
Read more ›News, views, notes, and quotes
Signs of the Times • 10 June 2016 • No. 76
Special edition
Sexual assault
There is no subtle way to have a conversation about sexual assault and rape. Nevertheless, we must endure the discomfort.
If you can read no further on this page, I urge you to read the statement by the Stanford University campus rape victim. She remains anonymous, but she had the moxie to not only write this but also to read this missive (and it is long)—in court and in the presence of her attacker and the case’s presiding judge.
This is a modern-day epistle, a dispatch from the traumatized trenches of gender bias. See “Make a new name” below.
She was not
The Bible’s most vividly brutal story, and why we must read and remember it
by Ken Sehested
Circle of Mercy Congregation
Text: Judges 19:1-30
There have been two special occasions in my life when I have become agonizingly aware of the special fear women feel over the threat of sexual assault.
The first happened when Nancy and I were counting the days before our 1973 wedding. Every couple weeks she came in from where she went to school in New Jersey to meet me in a chaplain’s office in New York City. We were doing a series of premarital counseling sessions.
Read more ›Make a new name
One unnamed woman's contribution to confronting a culture of rape
by Ken Sehested
By now you know about the judicial lenience given by California Judge Aaron Persky to Stanford student Brock Turner for raping an unconscious woman at a campus party. You may also know about the absolutely clueless letter read to the judge by the student’s father.
And you were probably shocked to learn that a Vanderbilt University athlete, convicted of the same crime under similar circumstances, is facing 15-25 years behind bars. Turner got 6 months. One of the two is African American, the other white.
Read more ›