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Listen close, God.
When we get together and sing
“Down By the Riverside,” we mean it.

But outside this sanctuary,
the urge to study war jumps up again.
     We all want peace, but we can’t seem
           to get what we want without war.

It’s not so much al-Qaeda
     [or, insert name of current national enemy]
that bothers us. It’s our neighbors, co-workers,
family members, or that friggin’ Lexus
     that just cut us off in traffic.

So burn this chorus in our memory.
           Keep humming it in our ears.

I ain’t gonna study war no more. . . .

I really don’t wanna / gonna study war no more. . . .

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org.

Our nation is at war, and our hearts are torn. The seeds of fear are planted in terror and harvested in violence.

How long, O Lord, how long?

The dream of a new order birthed in justice and baptized in mercy has been ruptured by the nightmare of bloody enmity.

But we still have our dreams, hard-won dreams, purchased with a price, beckoning us forward.

The time is coming, says Sister Hannah, when “The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. The Lord raises up the poor from the dust; God lifts the needy from the ash heap, to inherit a seat of honor.” (1 Samuel 2: 1-8)

May it be so with us, according to your word.

One day, says Brother Isaiah, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”  (Isaiah 11:3-9)

We long for the day when “every boot of the trampling warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.”  (Isaiah 9:6, 7)

Lean into the age, says the Beloved, when nations “shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Micah 4:3-4)

On that day the lame shall be restored, the outcast will be gathered, and God will change their shame into praise.  (Zephaniah 3:19)

Our hearts ache for that future—as Jesus declared—when the People of God will again be anointed with the power to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind,

. . . to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.  (Luke 4:18-19)

We testify to the coming “new heaven and new earth,” when God “will wipe away every tear, and death shall be no more.” (Revelation 21:1-4)

Oh Promised Hope of Heaven, today we stand ready to be instruments of your peace: in our homes and in the streets, with all fleshly bodies and with the earth itself.

And now may the One whose presence is promised through every siege and trial and darkest night cause you to rejoice and be glad.

Alleluia! Thanks be to God!

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org.

John’s Gospel begins with a dizzying set of Jesus tales. It begins in metaphysics:

“In the beginning was the Word . . . without him not a thing was made.”

Then, chapter two has him as the impromptu wine maître d’ for a wedding feast, intervening to spare the host’s embarrassment by turning water to wine—and such fine wine it was! Then the scene switches to the temple where Jesus makes a holy mess of things, rousting the loan sharks and stampeding their wares.

Ground of Being? Party patron? Temple bouncer? Which portrait of Jesus will do?

It was during Passover, the Hebrews’ annual festival celebrating liberation from Egypt’s slaveyard. Passover was Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans’ Day, Flag Day, and Fourth of July all rolled into one.

Which Jesus fits you best: Philosophical First Cause? Winebibber. Incarnation’s Agitation?

Rome always sent extra troops to town when Passover rolled around, and I swear I heard Pete Seeger singing “Which Side Are You On?”

Peddlers depend on temples of one sort or another—any spire will do, but a mall will, too—to traffick the soul’s deep longing.

Hawking access to the holy, preying ever on the lowly.

Yet soon shall the Word arise and unleash the earth from its bondage, its bridle, and it’s breach.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by John 2:13-22

Take heed, all of you, that your possessions
do not choke the breath from your lungs,
rout the glee from your hands, or steal the
affection of your hearts.

The longing for more, and yet more,
and more again, grows faster
than kudzu, whose greenery—
though pleasant of sight—
smothers everything in its grasp.

Take heed, all of you, and resist the urge
for bigger barns and the impulse to secure
your life by the power of your own appetite.

The longing for more, and yet more, and more again,
will spoil your appetite for all that is truly good,
     all that is truly beautiful, all that truly satisfies.

Take heed, all of you, who have more than enough,
for your bounty and abundance will become a
burden and encumbrance.

The longing for more, and yet more,
     and more again,
will sever your relations: with each other,
           with the land,
                 and with the Beloved One
who provides enough for our need (but not for our greed).

Sisters and brothers, your wanting is not flawed
if you long to be rich, be rich, be rich and yet more—
long to be rich in God!

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by Luke 12:13–21.

Oh, Sweet Surrender, inviting our companionship along the road
 of righteousness,

Hear the thankful hearts gathered in this tent of meeting.

You—Honor of the Humble and Restorer of Faithfulness,

Hear the affirmations that grow from our gratitude:

Pursue integrity, and speak the truth from your heart, all you who
desire the strength of days!

Harness your tongue and guard it from slanderous speech!

Stand by your word, even if it comes at a price!

Lend without interest and resist the insult of bribery.

Snatch our hearts from the temple of vengeance

And plant our feet on your holy hill of mercy!

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org

In the midst of great pain the Beloved spoke these words to the Apostle Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Grace is always sufficient when crops are abundant and food is plentiful; when benefit-laden jobs can be had; when crushing illness and death’s visitation are distant and anonymous;

When pin-striped, silk-tied pirates no longer plunder tomorrow’s dreams; when young ones have all that is needed for healthy bodies and vigorous minds; and when old ones need not fear being burdensome or abandoned.

But can grace be sufficient when bones grow brittle or when wells run dry? When a good name’s belittled or when the battered ask why?

In what shall we boast when power unravels, when dreams go awry? When friends desert and shame draws nigh?

Sufficient the grace of the One who complies with promise-filled future for earth and for sky, with Heaven’s rejoinder to all heartache and sigh.

With power’s demise, when dominion forsakes, comes the grace that suffices and shelters and breaks every fear-mongering threat, every murderous quake.

From the shadows of misery, from agony and ache, comes the Voice of Remembrance to rouse and awake the Memory of Mercy, sufficient of grace to adorn every creature with Beauty’s embrace.

Bet your life on this warrant—God’s grace is sufficient—though fig tree be barren and vineyard be bare. Though harvest be meager and herds be exhausted, boast of the Strong One whose bounty is trusted!

Sweet the surrender to grace ever tender. Power perfected in violence unveiled. May grace be sufficient when life proves deficient, whatever befall both harvest and stall.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by Habakkuk 3:17-19 & 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

After the mad dash from Egypt’s sweatshops and migrant labor camps—and after the Prophet Miriam led the people in songs of liberation—the People of Exodus trudge through the wilderness of privation and discontent, where dreams of the Promised Land of Plenty grow distant and dim. Unrelenting thirst overtakes them. Cotton-mouthed complaints grow louder.

Is the Lord among us or not?

First at the pool at Marrah [bitterness] then the land of Massah [testing] and Meribah [quarrelling], the Beloved responds.

The staff of Moses that parted the drowning waters of the sea first sweetens the pool and now strikes water from the barren rock.

Strike the rock, Brother Moses! Put your back into it! Let the waters of refreshment bathe every sweltering soul.

Strike your tambourine, Sister Miriam. Resolve again the cries of fear into shouts of jubilation.

Strike the rock, Brother Moses, cheating death from its wilderness prey.

Strike your tambourine, Sister Miriam. Sing of water’s baptismal glory.

Strike the rock, Brother Moses. Let the desert run wet with Mercy’s minaret, slake every parched throat with delight.

Strike your tambourine, Sister Miriam. Let songs fill the air of banished despair and the thirst for righteousness incite!

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by Exodus 15, 17 & Matthew 5:6.

Drenched by Jordan’s buoyant power, confirmed by dove’s anointing perch, conformed to Heaven’s sundering plow, bewildering days now beckon.

Spirit-led and Spirit-fed, off to the famishing wilds now tread.

To face the full force of the Tempter’s enticements: Can the river’s wet mark endure wilderness heat?

Spirit-led and Spirit-fed, pondering stones transformed into bread.

Ascending the mountain, its vistas of power, relentless domain and virulent reign.

Spirit-led and Spirit-fed, allured by the promise of royal-crowned head.

To piety’s palace, the temple’s high peak, fame could gotten by magical feat.

Spirit-led and Spirit-fed, with majesty, regency, glory now wed.

Yet the Tempter’s allure, the Confuser’s bright lie, failed to temper that wandering pilgrim’s reply.

Spirit-led and Spirit-fed, the wilderness welcomes us all.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by Luke 4:1-13.

Attention,
all you spiritual shoppers.
There are no discounts. No sale prices.
No fifty percent off summer specials, no bonus miles,
no pre-inventory clearance or back-to-school savings.

There are no shortcuts to faith, no money-back guarantees, no lifetime warranties or last-minute deals.

There are no wading pools. The depths are deep and
turbulence is standard. Every minute is your last.

If you want a God-soaked life, move to the margins.
Plant sequoias.* Find an eroded field and stake your
soul on its reclamation.

Synchronize your hope to an abandoned child’s heartbeat.
Set your sights on the interest from millennial investments.

Say o’er the clamor of all merchandizing madness:
           Life is not had
     by what is possessed,
                 but only by
     what has been promised.**

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by Prov 29:18. *Line from Wendell Berry, “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front**Line from Walter Brueggemann, Living Toward a Vision.

In seasons of dark desire eyes strain for Eden’s refrain and flickered light ’mid the fright of earth’s travail. Oh, Beloved …

Unleash your Voice of Pardon from wrath’s consuming reign. Speak peace to the hungered of heart.

Spring from the ground, hope-soaked, heeding Glory’s approach and steadfast love’s embrace. Oh, Beloved . . .

Unleash your Voice of Pardon from wrath’s consuming reign. Speak peace to the hungered of heart.

Let every just and gentle lip pucker up for the wedded kiss of peace! Oh, Beloved . . .

Unleash your Voice of Pardon from wrath’s consuming reign. Speak peace to the hungered of heart.

Goodness is given, and righteousness granted, to guard and guide each wayfaring step. Oh, Beloved . . .

Unleash your Voice of Pardon from wrath’s consuming reign. Speak peace to the hungered of heart.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by Psalm 85.