Author: ppadmin

The work of praise

Portending peace for the earth

The Blessed One does not stand in need of our praise;
nor sits impatiently, impudently, awaiting our
genuflection; nor strides restively, demandingly,
threateningly, toward our cowering pose.

No, none of this. There is no protection to be warranted by
proper groveling, calculated flattery, sustained applause,
pleading curtsies or bargaining bows.

It is, rather, we who need to praise. By it we transcend
self-serving ways. By it beggarly egos loosen their grip;
anxious trembling and toil, stilled and rested; fury, calmed;
moans, soothed; regrets, unknotted.

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News, views, notes and quotes • 26 February 2015 • No. 11

Lenten invocation. “I am the vessel. The draught is God’s. And God is the thirsty one.” — former United Nations General Secretary Dag Hammarskjöld in Markings, his personal journal, posthumously published, now considered a classic of spiritual devotion

Oscar good news. Citizenfour, the film chronicling the decision made by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden to expose wrongdoing to the world by leaking details of the agency's top-secret global surveillance operation to journalists, was awarded the Best Documentary Film award at Sunday night's Academy Award. "The disclosures that Edward Snowden revealed don't only expose a threat to our privacy but to our democracy itself," said Laura Poitras, the film’s director.

In case this question ever crossed your mind, the US government has 17 different intelligence agencies. Here’s the annotated listing.

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“Journey to Iraq: Of risk and reverence” & “Caitlin Letters”

by Ken Sehested

 

     Context: On 8 February 2003 Rev. Ken Sehested traveled to Iraq for three weeks as a member of the Iraq Peace Team, a project of Voices in the Wilderness, calling for an end to the threat of war by the U.S.
     Prior to going, the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times newspaper published his article, “Journey to Iraq,” as a guest editorial and asked Sehested to write three weekly columns for the newspaper while in Iraq. Printed below is the initial article followed by three columns posted from Baghdad. The latter are titled “Caitlin Letters,” written as open letters to Caitlin Wood, a member of Circle of Mercy Congregation in Asheville. Caitlin was among the more than 200 high school students in Asheville who participated in the 6 March 2003 “Books Not Bombs” nationwide school walk-out in opposition to war on Iraq.
     Sehested previously traveled to Iraq in March 2000 as part of an interfaith delegation of Jews, Christians and Muslims from the U.S.

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God, in Your Mercy

Lyrics by Brian Graves

// God, in your mercy, bind our wounds, renew our strength,

Hear our cry, hear our cry: heal the broken-hearted. //

// Like mother bird and tree of life, you have gathered and sheltered us,

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Dueling psalms

Oh LORD, you are my shepherd, I shall not want.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?

You make me lie down in green pastures; You lead me beside still waters.

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Slalom

We are slalom skiers, feet-high
bodified beings dependent on
inches-wide thin board to keep us
aright and alert to the unpredictable
weight of water, or the studded
terrain, with obstacles requiring

(given the bullet train of events)
near-instantaneous dodging when
neither surf conditions nor topo
maps can be consulted, eyes,
hands, and feet preoccupied as
they are with coordinated maneuvers.

Tumbles, even vertigo, are inevitable.
Do not assign animus in the
waves’ collision, or the
mountain’s jagged contours.
No one passes through
unbloodied. Make them count.

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Elegy for an Ash

by Ken Sehested

I confess I complained more than I should,
of your small branches falling in my yard,
having to stop the mower to toss them
to the side, for later bundling at the
curb for the city’s yard debris pickup. And
for your prodigious leaf rain each fall.
I suspect, though, you were pleased to
know your petals fed my compost. Did your
sensors recognize parts of your own
genome sequence in my cherry tomatoes?

I did not genuflect in your direction
nearly enough. For that I sorrowfully
repent. Now, that side of the house feels
naked. More so, since finally, two years
ago, I took an ax to the ivy vines blanketing
your height. Some growths, however
pleasing to the eye, are malignant and
voraciously suffocate all other life relying
on photosynthetic access.

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News, views, notes and quotes • 19 February 2015, No. 10

Invocation. Hearts open to Thy Face, like the flower to the sun / Hearts open to Thy Face, come and trace / The tears that stain our face, the joy that shall displace / All sorrow by thy grace, mercy bound, mercy bound / All sorrow by thy grace, circle ‘round. —new verse to “What Wondrous Love Is This"

Artwork at right ©Julie Lonneman, used with permission.

One of the young people in our congregation is spending her junior year of high school as a foreign exchange student in Oman, located on the Arabian Peninsula’s southeast corner. Her blog posts have been remarkable, but a recent one is the most articulate statements I’ve seen on the struggle for intercultural understanding. She’s given me permission to share the link for that commentary.

Confession. “In an unusually frank admission, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said that American law enforcement stands ‘at a crossroads,’ acknowledging in a speech at Georgetown University that ‘There is a disconnect between police and the communities they serve. . . . All of us in law enforcement must be honest enough to acknowledge that our history is not pretty.’” —USAToday

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Pastoral Principles for Prophetic People

by Ken Sehested

Working for peace and justice isn't easy. We live in a world predicated by greed and violence. Swimming against that stream isn't easy. It can be unpopular and lonely. As has been said, paraphrasing a verse from John's Gospel: "You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you odd!" Sometimes we wonder if we're crazy. Sometimes even prophets need pastoral care.

All of us have known people who have attempted to "win the world" only to have their own spirits wither, their vision blurred. Maybe not with such tragic drama—maybe they've simply stopped speaking out. Something has come undone in their lives. Maybe it's happened to you.

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What Wondrous Love Is This

Let young and old alike gather here, gather here
Let young and old alike gather here
Let young and old alike, proclaim our God’s delight
O’er human wrath contrite, hostile walls tumbling down
O’er human wrath contrite, tumbling down

When sorrow grips the heart, lift your voice, life your voice
When sorrow grips the heart, lift your voice
When sorrow grips the heart, to Mercy’s shade depart
To Heaven’s rest embark, linger there, linger there
To Heaven’s rest embark, linger there.

When joy surrounds your way, rise and sing, rise and sing
When joy surrounds your way, rise and sing
When joy surrounds your way, let love’s embrace convey
Redemption’s bright display, wondrous love, wondrous love
Redemption’s bright display, wondrous love, wondrous love

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