Being means: not numbering and counting, but ripening like a tree, which doesn’t force its sap, and stands confidently in the storms of spring, not afraid that afterward summer may not come. It does… — Rainer Maria Rilke
by Ken Sehested
Note: On Reformation Sunday, 1981, my wife Nancy and I were jointly ordained to the ministry. The choice of Reformation Sunday was intentional.
Beloved, Who beckons us with the aroma of baking bread, Whose breast offers milk and sweet honey, Who showers manna in the wilderness, with fresh water from sheer rock, and instruction from the mountain.
We give thanks for our baptismal trek through the sea, on the road from slavery to freedom.
Read more ›Sisters and brothers: Before we get down to business, wrestling with what the Spirit has to say today, let’s do some stretching exercises. Don’t want any muscle strains in the house of the Beloved. Easy does it—bend and stretch and tip-toe fetch.
Love from your devotion, not from your ambition.
Be quick to praise, slow to blame.
Read more ›by Ken Sehested
The disciples of John came to Jesus saying, “Dude, what’s up with this? John’s in prison, and you’re out here lollygagging in the boondocks! John wants to know when the revolution is getting underway. Are you the Man-in-
Charge or not?!”
Jesus said to them, “Go tell John what you see and hear.”
Read more ›by Walker Knight
Peace plans its strategy and encircles the enemy.
Peace, like war, is waged.
Read more ›by Ken Sehested
Sometimes knees grow weak and hearts grow faint.
Sometimes vision grows dim and resolve wavers.
Read more ›The following was used in a Maundy Thursday foot washing service, Circle of Mercy Congregation,
focused around the John 13 text of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet,
Long before the people of the Promise migrated to Egypt, long before their cries to heaven roused the ears of the Almighty, long before Moses led them on their freedom march to the promised land, the Lord God appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. As he did, three visitors suddenly appeared, and Abraham ran to meet them and bowed to the ground.
In the same way, Yahweh appeared in a vision to Isaiah, in the land of Judah, and said, Declare this to my people: “Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean!”
Read more ›The following was used in a Maundy Thursday foot washing service, Circle of Mercy Congregation,
focused around the John 13 text of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet,
Long before the people of the Promise migrated to Egypt, long before their cries to heaven roused the ears of the Almighty, long before Moses led them on their freedom march to the promised land, the Lord God appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. As he did, three visitors suddenly appeared, and Abraham ran to meet them and bowed to the ground.
In the same way, Yahweh appeared in a vision to Isaiah, in the land of Judah, and said, Declare this to my people: “Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean!”
Read more ›by Ken Sehested
Fretfully does my heart drag its heels into the sanctuary of delight. For my wanton days and weary praise reveal the toll taken by life’s relentless demands
To where shall I appeal for release from such encumbrance? To whom shall I turn to lay these burdens down
Read more ›by Ken Sehested
The Maître D’ of Heaven commands the ’poverished-poor to table: the halt and helpless, lamed and maimed ushered up for honored seating.
The Beloved’s steadfast love is like a lip-smacking feast of abundance. But the Market’s squaloring famine sows the seeds of violent harvest.
Read more ›by Ken Sehested
The Maître D’ of Heaven commands the ’poverished-poor to table: the halt and helpless, lamed and maimed ushered up for honored seating.
The Beloved’s steadfast love is like a lip-smacking feast of abundance. But the Market’s squaloring famine sows the seeds of violent harvest.
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