Author: ppadmin

16 July 2015   •   No. 30

¶ Invocation. Who among you believe that / grieving and lamentation / are symptoms of despair. / Not so! / Only the hopeless are silent / in the face of calamity— / silenced because they no / longer aspire even to be heard, / much less heeded. The labor / of lament, on the other hand, / is premised on the expectation / that grief’s rule will be bound / by the Advent of Another. (Continue reading “The Labor of Lament” by Ken Sehested

A newly hatched sea turtle (right) makes its way to the ocean. Photo by Courtney Campbell, “The Pendulum,” Elon University Student News.

¶ Shores of hallelujah! “In Florida, sea turtles are making a comeback. The green turtle is leading the way. It's a species that a few decades ago was close to disappearing from the state, and the scope of its recovery is virtually unprecedented for an endangered species in the United States,” says National Public Radio host Robert Siegel. “As a scientist, I have to be a little bit careful about how I throw the word miracle around, but yes, I agree that, in this case, it is really quite extraordinary. —Lou Ehrhart, University of Central Florida researcher who has counted sea turtle nests in this refuge since the mid-'80s.

9 July 2015  •  No. 29

¶ Invocation. Listen, O people of the Way, and take note. Your ancestors were once illegal aliens in the land of Southern Appalachia. Boat people, all of you, undocumented immigrants. Scots-Irish trash; crackers and kaffirs, wetbacks and wops; gooks, goyim, gringos and gypsies. / Strangers we were, with no stake in the Promise; hopeless, helpless, beggarly-born. (Continue reading “Strangers we were,”  by Ken Sehested.)

¶ Hymn of praise. Kate Campbell, “Jesus and Tomatoes Coming Soon,”  Get your own “Jesus and Tomatoes Coming Soon” bumper sticker ($5 postpaid) at katecampbell.com.  While you’re there, sample the tracks from her fabulous new album, “1000 Pound Machine.”

2 July 2015  •  No. 28

¶ Invocation. “With good pleasure, in the beginning, the Beloved aspired all that now breathes. Then again, in the Lovely One, even Christ Jesus, the Wind of Heaven confounds the wail of rancor. Come, heaven! Come, earth! With mercy so tender, adopted in splendor, all bloodletting malice shall melt into praise.” (Continue reading “Good Pleasure,” a litany for worship inspired by Ephesians 1:3-14.)

¶ “Why is it that when we talk to God we’re said to be praying, but when God talks to us we’re schizophrenic?” —Lily Tomlin

26 June 2015  •  No. 27

¶ Invocation. A different “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah” (Since I Lay My Burden Down).  —Staple Singers

Photo at right: Jacob Kerr, Huffington Post

¶ Pride history. While posting this edition, news of the US Supreme Court’s decision validating the right for same-sex couples to marry. [photo cap: Jacob Kerr, Huffington Post]
        This news comes only days after another milestone moment: “Nearly 46 years after powerful protests there galvanized the modern gay rights movement, New York City's historic Stonewall Inn has been granted official landmark status. It was June 28, 1969, when police raided the Greenwich Village bar that served gay clientele in an era of intolerance toward homosexuality.” —Deirdre Fulton, “Stonewall Inn, Celebrated Birthplace of Modern Gay Rights Movement, Gets Landmark Status”