We must bless without wanting to manipulate. Without insisting that everything be straightened out right now. Without insisting that our truth be known. This means simply turning whoever it is we need… — Madeleine L’Engle
by Ken Sehested
Is there no song to be sung, no bell to be rung, no laughter from the fields at play with their yield? Would that my mouth be formed and my lips unleashed to speak a word, a true and hearty word, to all grown deaf with grief.
Make our tongues worthy—make them constant and true—to sustain the weary with a word.
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The Rock of the Righteous is our God:
Who marks the boundaries between justice and vengeance;
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From the depths of distress, every sail sagged and limp,
my mutinous lips offer insurrecting sighs.
With heart-aching hope doth my voice still rejoice.
Incline us, consign us, to steadfast Embrace.
by Ken Sehested
Introduction: It is right and proper to retrieve and celebrate the memory of women of significant achievement who model excellence, infused with righteousness, for us all. However, the vast majority of such women (and men) are highly contextual, inconspicuous, and will only be known to a handful of witnesses. Kathy Waters is one of those.
The following is a meditation, circulated to friends, after the collision of trauma and joy surrounding my youngest’s wedding. I did not realize until now that these events from 14 years ago coincided with International Women’s Day.
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Signs of the Times • 3 March 2016 • No. 61
¶ Processional. “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me,” Fannie Lou Hamer.
¶ Invocation. “We know the road to freedom has always been stalked by death.” —Angela Y. Davis
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My vote for this Lent’s saint of the season is 8-year-old Amelia Meyer of Kansas City. Given the current electoral charade, with its evisceration of democratic traditions, her testimony couldn’t come at a better time.
I learned of her story in a most mundane setting. My lunchtime habit is to heat up leftovers, or smear apple slices with peanut butter, and watch television news channels or sporting reports while eating. Occasionally, when all of those have simultaneous commercials, I flip to CNN’s “Headline News” for an update on “trending” styles and the subjects of public gossip. (You should try it—it can get pretty funny.)
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I had a dream. We were in Sunday’s circle, settled in our motley gaggle of chairs, some fabric, some stained; some vinyl, some torn,
Huddled ’round an ordinary, store-bought Formica-topped table, of folding legs, covered in cloth and adorned with host and cup and candles burning,
Read more ›Signs of the Times • 25 February 2016 • No. 60
¶ Processional (and celebrating the rising of the women). The ceremony marks the first aboriginal women—Melanie 
Mark—elected to British Columbia (Canada) legislature. (Thanks, Lee.)
¶ Photo at right. Colima Volcano in Mexico shows a powerful night explosion with lightning and incandescent rockfalls. This photo, by Velasco Garcia, took second place in the 2016 World Press Photo Contest.
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Call to worship
It has been said: Our weakness is our only claim on Jesus. “Come to me, you who are weary. . . . For my yoke is light” (Mt. 11:28, 30).
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When power reaps death from countless
killing fields, and every war sows the seeds
of the next, those in the Great Shepherd’s
flock resist the bloodletting lure.
Let the mournful rejoice in the Lamb who
rules, for the Tendering Day draws near!
Both lion and lamb are inheritors of the
coming peaceful kingdom, but
the latter’s sleep is the sweeter.
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