Signs of the Times

Signs of the Times  •  28 January 2016  •  No. 56

¶ Processional. “Traveller,” Anoushka Shankar, on sitar, dance by Shalini Patnaik. The dance form, Odissi, is one of the eight classical dance forms of India and is thought to be the oldest surviving dance of India.

Tibetan Prayer Flag Quilt by Peg Green, VA

¶ Invocation. "Oh, a storm is threat'ning / My very life today / If I don't get some shelter / Oh year, I'm gonna fade away." Watch David Wolfe's inspiring, multi-artist rendition of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' "Gimme Shelter."

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”

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.”

Right: Photo by Alexey Kljatov. See more of Kljatov’s macro photos of snowflakes’ impeccable designs.

¶ Invocation. “Who is this Christ, who interferes in everything?” —Rainer Maria Rilke

Signs of the Times  •  7 January 2016  •  No. 53

¶ Processional. Berzeit University (Ramallah, Palestine) performing the Palestinian Dabka folk dance. (58 seconds) (Thanks, David.)

Right: A ring of fire—the aurora borealis (“northern lights”) as photographed from a NASA satellite. It is caused by the interaction of charged particles from the sun with atoms in the upper atmosphere.

¶ 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”

Signs of the Times  •  31 December 2015  •  No. 52

¶ Processional. African Children’s Choir, live at Coolum Beach, Australia. (9:23 minutes. Thanks, Connie.)

¶ Invocation. “May your home always be too small / to hold all your friends. / May your heart remain ever supple, / fearless in the face of threat, / jubilant in the grip of grace. / May your hands remain open, / caressing, never clenched, / save to pound the doors / of all who barter justice / to the highest bidder.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “Benedicere: A New Year’s Day blessing” poem

Signs of the Times  •  24 December 2015  •  No. 51

¶ Processional.  “Nami, Nami” (Arabic Lullaby, 4:17 minutes), by Azam Ali.

¶ Invocation. “The terror of God is the Risen One’s threat / to every merchant of death, every marketer’s breath, / every peddler of gun-wielding promise of power.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “The Payback of Heaven”

Signs of the Times  •  17 December 2015  •  No. 50 (WOO-hoo!)

¶ Processional. “Ode to Joy” flashmob performance (orchestra and choir), Sabadell, Spain.

¶ A full moon will rise on Christmas for the first time since 1977, only the ninth in US history. The next coincidence won’t occur until 2034.

Signs of the Times  •  10 December 2015  •  No. 49

¶ Processional. My favorite Hanukkah song. “Light One Candle” by Peter, Paul and Mary.

¶ Invocation. "Only those with wombs of welcome / to heaven's Annunciation / can magnify God and heal the earth." —read Ken Sehested's Advent poem, "Annunciation: Mary's song of praise."

3 December 2015  •  No. 48

¶ Processional. Beluga whales responding to cello music.

¶ Call to worship. “The Manger’s trailhead opens at / the portal of praise and genuflecting / thanks. Not because heaven arises to / piety’s incense. But because Advent’s / brush with moral flesh is a perilous journey, / fraught with insurrection’s threat, / pregnancy’s scandal, birthed from / stabled bed, and Herod’s foam and fury. / The innocents take it in the chops every time.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “Portal of Praise”

26 November 2015  •  No. 47

¶ Processional. “Break the Bread of Belonging (welcome the stranger in the land),” by Gary Rand.

¶ Invocation. “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come,” by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.