It is common, as William Sloan Coffin notes, that we are prone to use the Bible as a drunk uses a lamppost—for support rather than illumination. — anonymous
by Abigail Hastings
The poet Ellen Bass talks about
when grief sits with you, “an obesity of grief,”
and asks,
How can a body withstand this?
“Then you hold life like a face,” she instructs us—
“and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.”
Signs of the Times • 21 January 2016 • No. 55
¶ Processional. “Africa,” by Toto, by the Angel City Chorale, which begins with hand percussion mimicking a passing 
thunderstorm. (Thanks, Naomi and Geoff.)
¶ Invocation. “Fill my heart with song and / Let me sing for ever more / You are all I long for / All I worship and adore.” —7-year-old Angelina Jordan, from Norway, singing “Fly Me to the Moon”
Read more ›by Nancy Hastings Sehested
Text: John 2:1-11, the wedding at Cana
It was Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and I was preaching at the prison. There was a shortage of officers that day, so I was on my own with 70 inmates for the worship service.
All was going well. The choir singing. The prisoners praying. The chaplain preaching. The gang members whispering.
Read more ›“I am but a child!” you say.
“What business do you have with people of no claim,
of no clout, of no clue about the road to repentance
and the return from exile?”
Aahh, O clueless one, of no claim and no clout,
you know not that of which you speak!
Before your mother’s maiden life, I knew you;
before your father’s toddling feet,
I planned your sinews and mapped your countenance.
O child of consecrated lips and covenant voice,
relinquish your fear!
You shall not be put to shame.
Your Refuge is secure.
It is you, O child of destined grace,
who will utter the Word that will shatter all enmity.
by Ken Sehested
The greatest failure in the history of Christian thought is the separation of souls from bodies, spirit from soil, the wrenching of hearts from habitation—all representing the abdication of the realm of earth from the rule of Heaven. It is the great anthropomorphic heresy: that redemption is for humans alone, and then only for some ethereal essence: no bodies, no biology, no hills or dales, neither minnows nor whales.
As Tom McMillan has noted, for 200 years we've been conquering nature. Now we're beating it to death. To be saved we must cultivate a bodified faith.
Read more ›Signs of the Times • 14 January 2016 • No. 54
¶ Processional. “Wana Baraka,” by The Festival Singers of Florida. This popular Kenyan religious song expresses a message 
similar to that of Psalm 128: “They have blessings (and, in subsequent verses, “peace,” “joy,” and “well-being”), those who pray.”
¶ Invocation. “Who is this Christ, who interferes in everything?” —Rainer Maria Rilke
Read more ›Peace through nonviolent means is neither absurd nor unattainable. All other methods have failed. Thus we must begin anew.
Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace. . . .” —Isaiah 32:16-17
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead 
of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.
by Ken Sehested
Throw off the covers of earth’s darkened slumber! Unplug your ears, you creatures of flesh! From deepest sigh of tear-stained eye, set your sight on Heaven’s resolve.
For the sky’s bright luster, alive with motion, shows the wonder of Blessed intention.
Read more ›Signs of the Times • 7 January 2016 • No. 53
¶ Processional. Berzeit University (Ramallah, Palestine) performing the Palestinian Dabka folk dance. (58 seconds) (Thanks, David.) 
¶ Invocation. “To be hopeful in bad times . . . is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.” —Howard Zinn, “You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A personal history of our times”
Read more ›Few testimonies about nonviolence are stronger than those from war veterans. Our friends at the Mennonite Central Committee's Peace Education Office have compiled the following online resources. (For those who work with young people: These would be excellent resources for discussion, particularly for those approaching the age of mandatory Selective Service registration.)
•Reflections from Iraq War veteran Ben Peters. Six video clips (each 4-7 minutes long) with study guide for high school students/adults. Ben discusses the identity-shaping experiences of boot camp, his struggles with post traumatic stress syndrom, the question of whether violence can be redemptive, biblical frameworks and more. Ben is thoughtful, articulate and a compelling presenter.
•Reflections from Iraq War veteran Logan Mehl-Laituri and Marine Joe Gibson. Five video clips that feature reflections on conscientious objection, moral injury and contrasts between the call of the armed forces and the call of God.
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