by Ken Sehested
“The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
—Ezekiel 18:2
“What on earth are you going to write [about the election outcome]?” a friend wrote this week.
Read more ›Commentary
Isaiah 65 coloring book & “After Tuesday” pastoral prayer
Reaffirming rainbow promises in light of an electoral deluge
This week members of my congregation are adding artistic colors to one or more of the 22 pages of an “Isaiah 65 coloring book.” Adults have been encouraged to decorate one or more page as they watch elections results Tuesday night.
Each of the pages has a phrase pointing to a profoundly different future, taken from Isaiah 65 (plus one from a similar text in Isaiah 11 and from Mary’s hymn of praise in Luke 1) each against a rainbow background, the sign of God’s re-creational covenant in Genesis 9.
This coming Sunday, 14 November, featuring the Isaiah 65 text, will be our first post-election gathering to discern what “After Tuesday” looks like and what it means for the living of these days. Artwork created by members will be displayed in our sanctuary next Sunday.
Read more ›How you can support the Standing Rock action opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline
(See “Signs of the Times: 3 August 2016, No. 95” on the prayerandpolitiks.org site for additional background.)
by Ken Sehested
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.
—Edmund Burke
Confrontation at the Cannonball
The Dakota Access Pipeline controversy
Introduction to a special issue of “Signs of the Times” (4 November 2016, No. 94)
by Ken Sehested
By now, DAPL (Dakota Access Pipeline) has become a familiar acronym to many in the US. The confrontation near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, where the Cannonball River joins the Missouri River, is cleft by a thin barricade.
Read more ›Longing from below
An Advent meditation
by Ken Sehested
Advent is a season of great longing, specifically for those longing “from below.”
The longing is a revolutionary one, however, and frightening to those in charge, who have much to lose if existing hierarchies are breached. Such anxiety is what fueled Herod’s terror against male babies.
Read more ›Enough of this! Toward a theology of nonviolence
Why I don’t often use the language of “pacifism”
by Ken Sehested
Presentation for the colloquia on the theology of nonviolence,
Eastern Mennonite University/Seminary, October 24, 2002
The baptist impulse
Notes toward a renewal of baptist identity
by Ken Sehested
Address to the "Coalition for Baptist Principles" breakfast meeting,
American Baptist Churches USA Biennial, 21-23 June 2013, Overland Park, Kansas
You’re a hardy group, I must say—to get up early on a muggy summer morning, on a Saturday, for an outrageously expensive 7:30 breakfast, to reflect on Baptist identity. To say the least, “Baptist identity” is a contested topic, sometimes a boring topic, and often an embarrassing one.
Read more ›Learning to see
Why communities of conviction are important
by Ken Sehested
“The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive. . . .”
—Matthew 13:13
President Barack Obama, speaking at the opening ceremony of the African American Museum in Washington, DC, said: “Hopefully, this museum can help us talk to each other, and more importantly listen to each other, and most importantly see each other.”
Read more ›The Zacchaeian Encounter: Tell the whole story
A sermon about the wee little man
by Ken Sehested
Text: Luke 19:1-10
It seems like we’ve turned to the story of Zacchaeus on several occasions during this past year. I was surprised when it showed up as the lectionary reading for this Sunday; and I almost chose an alternate text, since we’ve given so much attention to the “wee little man.” But I decided to stay with it, to see what new vistas it might open up.
We’ve given a good deal of attention to questions of economic justice since January. Andy Loving, a friend from Louisville, preached for us in February when he was coming through Asheville, and he spoke about “The God of Maximum Return.” Andy is a certified financial planner and an advocate for socially responsibly investing; and his commentary was so stimulating that several of you asked if we could get him back, to help us think about how we can invest our savings in ways that support our values. He did come back in the spring, to do a forum on alternative investing; and quite a few of you signed up for personal consulting on how to align your investments with your faith commitments.
Read more ›Having a dream is not the same as being had by a dream
The genetic flaw of idealism
by Ken Sehested
Any of you who spend time on Facebook know you will endure . . . well, uh, let’s keep it decent and say a pre-edited version of “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.” And not just from . . . uh . . . the incredulous and socially-challenged who have too much time on their hands.
There are also memes from the seriously well-intentioned, like the one I saw recently proclaiming, in all caps and bold face type, “RACISM DESTROYED IN ONE MINUTE.” As if being able to state insight about a problem is equivalent to implementing the remedy.
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