News, views, notes, and quotes

19 November 2015  •  No. 46

Invocation. "Malka moma” (“Little Girl”), Bulgarian folk song performed by Neli Andreeva and the Filip Kutev Ensemble.

Call to worship. “Come ye fearful people come / Cast your sighs to highest heav’n / Yet—though terror’s harvest spread, / Casting sorrow in its stead— / Still the Promise doth endure / Life abounding to secure / Come, ye thankful hearts, confess / Mercy’s lien o’er earth’s distress.” —Ken Sehested, new verse to “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come

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A note from Gerald, on investing in prayer&politiks

We interrupt the weekly "Signs of the Times" posting schedule for an important note
from Gerald,
guardian angel of prayer&politiks and scribe for the
heavenly host’s synod overseeing this site’s vision and mission.

I hope (after you read this note) you’ll listen to Ken Sehested’s granddaughter reading The Beatitudes on All Saints Day.

There’s more to this request than grandfatherly pride—or even the sheer cuteness of an articulate, confident seven-year old reading Scripture in public.

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News, views, notes, and quotes

5 November 2015  •  No. 45

Special edition
Quotes on music & singing

Invocation.How Can I Keep From Singing?” performed by Enya.

¶ “Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half-dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice, nor more ashamed of its being heard.” —John Wesley

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News, views, notes, and quotes

28 October 2015  •  No. 44

Invocation. Malawian home-made instruments and home-grown gospel music. (Thanks, Phillip.)

Call to worship. “We are a people acquainted with grief. In the bonds of this Body none need be embarrassed at the sound of sobbing, of the soul’s aching groan. Here the tear is neither uncommon nor unwelcomed. Here the strong confess their doubts, the fluent run out of words.” —Continue reading Ken Sehested’s “Acquainted with grief,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 42.

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News, views, notes, and quotes

22 October 2015  •  No. 43

Invocation.  “When hope is aroused—or even the possibility of that hope’s approach—the body, of it’s own accord, fills with a reservoir of bated breath, as though preparing for the shouts of joy and happiness, victory and triumph, that are sure to come, no longer checked by the dams of possibility and doubt shored with the black mortar of cynicism.” —continue reading “When hope is aroused” by “Ghost,” a maximum security prisoner

Photo by Peggy Coleman. See more of her award-winning photography.

Call to worship. “No greater love hath any than to yield / Privilege and pow’r to welcome and to shield / The least, the lost, the whole creation healed / Alleluia! Alleluia!” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s new hymn lyrics to “For All the Saints

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News, views, notes, and quotes

15 October 2015  •  No. 42

Invocation. “I could not move against this wind if I did not pray. / And all that is said of me that is untrue / would make lame my gait if I / could not free myself from / the weight of other's / malice. —Rabia of Basri (c. 717-801), among the most influential female Islamic saints and a central figure in the Sufi tradition

Left: Calligraphy by a.levant (deviant art)

Call to worship—salsified Beethoven. Beethovan’s 5th Symphony, Sinfonia Cinco Salsa arranged by Sverre Indris Joner.

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News, views, notes, and quotes

8 October 2015  •  No. 41

Invocation. “The morning waits / across the pond / where fog meets frost / to mingle and declare / though substance change / and rearrange— / what is loved / cannot be lost.” —Mary Etta Perry

Call to worship. Shadows” by David LaMotte.

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News, views, notes, and quotes

1 October 2015  •  No. 40

Special Edition
Quotes from Thomas Merton

Introduction: A special issue of “Signs of the Times” devoted to Thomas Merton (31 January 1915 – 10 December 1968) quotes was already in the works, to mark the centennial of his birth. But when Pope Francis, in his historic address to a joint session of Congress, lifted Merton's name for special recognition (along with three other Americans), it seemed timely to move up the schedule. (Continue reading Ken Sehested’s "Introduction." For links to resources listed at bottom, go to this edition of "Signs of the Times.")

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News, views, notes, and quotes

24 September 2015  •  No. 39

Bees catch a break. “A federal court has overturned the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of sulfoxaflor, a pesticide linked to the mass die-off of honeybees that pollinate a third of the world’s food supply.”
        “Because the EPA’s decision to unconditionally register sulfoxaflor was based on flawed and limited data, we conclude that the unconditional approval was not supported by substantial evidence,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel wrote in its opinion. —Taylor Hill, “Bees Have Their Day in Court—and Win Big.” Photo at right by Shutterstock.

Fast facts about honeybees.
        •Honeybees account for 80% of all insect pollination. Without such pollination, we would see a significant decrease in the yield of fruits and vegetables.
        •Bees collect 66 pounds of pollen per year, per hive.
        •Honey is the only insect-created food eaten by humans, and it is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life.
        •There is only one “queen” bee in each hive. She lays up to 2000 eggs per day.
        • All worker bees are female, but they are not able to reproduce.
        • A hive of bees will fly 90,000 miles, the equivalent of three orbits around the earth, to collect 1 kg of honey.
         View this fascinating video (3 minute) of the “honeybee dance  For information on how to create a “bee garden” in your yard, see “Plant a Bee Garden—Create an oasis for bees and other pollinators.”

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News, views, notes, and quotes

17 September 2015  •  No. 38

Amazing grace. A Turkish bride and groom decided to share their joy on their wedding day by inviting 4,000 Syrian refugees to eat with them and celebrate in the southern Turkish city of Kilis. Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu and Esra Polat (at right), who got married in the province which is near the Syrian border last week, invited some of those refugees who have fled the country since the civil war which began four years ago. "We thought that on such a happy day, we would share the wedding party with our Syrian brothers and sisters.” —Raziye Akkoc, “Meet the Turkish couple who spent their wedding day feeding 4,000 Syrian refugees

Invocation. “Early in the morning we rise to greet You, O Gun Almighty. With all due reverence we bow before You. You alone are great. Mighty are Your deeds. Awesome is Your power. There is no one like You. In You do we place our trust.” —Read the entire “Let us all now pray to the Almighty Gun” prayer by David Gushee

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