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Signs of the Times  •  21 February 2019 •  No. 187

¶ Processional. “Baba Yetu” (“Our Father,” a rendition of The Lord’s Prayer in Swahali, performed by the Gospel Choir in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Above: Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, by noted landscape photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams on the 20 February anniversary of his birth in 1902.

Special edition
A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES
Many delightful, some distressing, all poignant, all instructive

¶ Invocation. “Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, / the world offers itself to your imagination, / calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting — / over and over announcing your place / in the family of things.” —Mary Oliver

¶ Word. “If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” —Rep. Shirley Chisholm, first African American woman elected to congress

¶ “Fifty years after she became the first black woman elected to Congress, Shirley Chisholm is finally being put on a pedestal amid a wider re-examination of her achievements and significance. New York City will erect a statue of Chisholm—also the first black person and the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination—outside Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, officials recently announced.” —Erin Durkin, Guardian

¶ Residents in a Newton, Massachusetts neighborhood hired a tutor to teach them sign language so they could communicate with a hearing-impaired toddler on their block. (2:43 video. Thanks Roger.) —CBS Sunday Morning

¶ Especially for Black History Month. Watch this short (3:09) video interview of Paul Robeson, blacklisted by McCarthyites in the 1950s for fighting for fairness and equality.

¶ Extraordinary personal story of moving through tragedy to compassionate advocacy. It took a while to move through the grief after her son died of an opioid overdose, but eventually she did; and now Agnes Mckeen helps others through “Out of the Darkness,” a project of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Watch this short (6:09) video, “Love is Looking for a Place to Go,” Aspen Institute

¶ On 20 February 1895, the famous abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass arrived home, eager to tell his wife about a dramatic moment patching his fractured relationship with leaders of the woman’s suffrage movement and, particularly, with Susan B. Anthony. She had personally greeted him at the door of women’s rally, ushered him to the stage, receiving a vigorous round of applause.

        Some historians refer to the “Great Schism” within the ranks of the 19th century human rights movement in the US, creating rancor between the abolitionists and suffragettes. This one occasion would not resolve this complex conflict, and other fractures would later emerge along the expanding front of multiple human rights struggles, emerging from conflicting analyses and strategic goals. But the story about this day—20 February—and the bright hope it represents, needs to be told over and again in the midst of our work.

        Another reason to remember: Frederick Douglass suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after his animated report to his wife. —kls

        For more see Steve Hendrix, “Frederick Douglass died Feb. 20, 1895, just hours after his public makeup with Susan B. Anthony,” Washington Post  and Ta Nehisi Coates, “The Great Schism: From their onsets, suffragists and abolitionists shared many of the same values, so what caused the movements to split apart?” The Atlantic.

¶ Ever hear of the “The Deaf Princess”? The amazing tale of Princess Alice, the deaf British royal who sheltered Jews in her home during the Holocaust.  —Accidental Talmudist (2:40 video. Thanks Connie.)

¶ This is the story our children are hearing. “Why do we build the wall,” written by Anaïs Mitchell, sung by Greg Brown

¶ Read columnist David Brooks’ story about Weave: The Social Fabric Project. “The first core idea was that social isolation is the problem underlying a lot of our other problems. The second idea was that this problem is being solved by people around the country, at the local level, who are building community and weaving the social fabric. How can we learn from their example and nationalize their effect?

        “We’re living with the excesses of 60 years of hyperindividualism. There’s a lot of emphasis in our culture on personal freedom, self-interest, self-expression, the idea that life is an individual journey toward personal fulfillment. You do you. But Weavers share an ethos that puts relationship over self. We are born into relationships, and the measure of our life is in the quality of our relationships. We precedes me.” —“A Nation of Weavers: The social renaissance is happening from the ground up,” New York Times

¶ In response to the severe refugee crisis prompted by the Syrian civil war, architect Abeer Seikaly designed a tent that can collect rainwater and store solar energy (pictured at right), while still being easy to assemble and transport. —Mirna Abdulaal, Egyptian Streets

¶ “Black Lives Matter Is Making Single Moms Homeowners: In Louisville, the group is purchasing vacant homes for low-income families to promote stability in the community and fight gentrification.” —Zenobia Jeffries Warfield, Yes! Magazine

¶ Army Sergeant Joshua Casteel “walked out of the interrogation room and told his superiors that if they wanted to continue interrogating this man, it would have to be done by someone else.

        “He went on scheduled leave to Qatar, where he shot off emails to family and friends. “So, I just experienced why it is I am here in Iraq,” he began one email. “Other than all the struggles I’ve been wrestling with. . . . I just ‘met’ my reason—a young foreign jihadist who said he might kill me if he had the chance (that is, as long as I am a U.S. soldier in Muslim lands). The Gospel came out of his mouth unwittingly, while trying to convert me to Islam. It was beautiful.” —Jennifer Percy, “The Priest of Abu Ghraib: Inside Iraq’s most notorious prison, an Army interrogator came face to face with a shocking truth about the war—and himself,” Smithsonian

¶ “In an environmentally historic vote, the European Parliament has moved to ban single-use plastic products across Europe. This ban outlaws plastic bags, straws, plates, cups, drink stirrers and cotton swabs.” —Heather McElhatton, MPRNews (Thanks Linda.)

¶ The rural/urban (coastal/heartland) divide in our body politic may not be the most damaging, but—proportionately—it gets the least attention. Here’s a one especially grievous example of the trouble at the distress at the origin of the food chain affecting us all:

        “Hard times for farmers got tougher with President Donald Trump’s trade war. Now Midwestern farmers are filing the highest number of bankruptcies in a decade, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of federal data. —Mary Papefuss, Yahoo News  ALSO: “The suicide rate for farmers is more than double that of veterans.” —Debbie Weingarten, “Why are American farmers killing themselves?” Guardian

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Mercy Now,” Mary Gauthier.

¶ Among the projects of BeLoved Asheville, a community ministry center, is training “street medics” to tend emergency medical needs among the homeless. Watch this brief (1:21 video) story of one of their volunteers.

¶ “Hindu monastic order is reclaiming transgender people’s status in Indian society.” —Soumya Shankar, Religion News

¶ The world’s most effective prisons don’t make punishment their goal. (1:16 video. Thanks Linda.) —World Economic Forum

¶ Dan Buttry’s “Blessed Are the Peacemakers” is now available as an e-book. “Will you find yourself waiting for an appointment this week? Then, just pull out your smartphone, tablet or e-reader—and soon your spirits will be lifted by reading one of these accounts of peacemakers who risked everything to make the world a better place.” —Read the Spirit

Right: Exorcism—Roman Catholics celebrate mass at the US-Mexican border.

¶ A crew of women—sailors, scientists, writers, and activists—is taking samples from the north Pacific gyre, known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” a swirling mass of trash 2X the size of Texas, in order to analyze how the plastic waste might pic up other pollutants. —Eve Andrews, Grist

¶ Preach it. “Writer and social activist Grace Paley once said in a workshop that the first step for writers who want to make a difference in the world ‘is to get over yourselves. The duty of a writer is to listen to the stories of the powerless and tell those stories to the powerful.’” —David Oliver Relin

¶ Another icon of degrading history removed. Recently a statue in San Francisco, erected in 1894 depicting a Native American lying at the feet of a Spanish cowboy and a Roman Catholic missionary, was taken down. Watch this brief (0:58 video) for details. (Thanks Amy.)

¶ Short story. “I saw a desert and I saw a woman coming out of it. And she came to the bank of a dark river; and the bank was steep and high. And on it an old man met her, who had a long white beard; and a stick that curled was in his hand, and on it was written Reason. And he asked her what she wanted; and she said, "I am woman; and I am seeking for the land of Freedom."

        And he said, "It is before you."

        And she said, "I see nothing before me but a dark flowing river, and a bank steep and high, and cuttings here and there with heavy sand in them."

        And he said, "And beyond that?"

        She said, "I see nothing, but sometimes, when I shade my eyes with my hand, I think I see on the further bank trees and hills, and the sun shining on them!"

        "That is the Land of Freedom."

        "How am I to get there?"

        "There is one way, and one only. Down the banks of Labour, through the water of Suffering. There is no other.

        “. . . . I dreamed I saw a land. And on the hills walked brave women and brave men, hand in hand. And they looked into each other’s eyes, and they were not afraid.

        And I saw the women also hold each other’s hands. And I said to him beside me, “What place is this?”

        And he said, “This is heaven.”

        And I said, “Where is it?”

        And he answered, “On earth.”

        And I said, “When shall these things be?”

        And he answered, “IN THE FUTURE.”  —continue reading South African novelist Olive Schreiner’s story, “Three Dreams in a Desert,” #V. in her book, "Dreams"

¶ How the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) minimizes Jesus’ command to love enemies. “[Eric] Lemonholm’s most striking example [of missing and disconnected texts in the RCL] is “love your enemies.” The RCL actually assigns both Matthew’s version of that text and Luke’s. But in both cases it’s slated for the seventh Sunday after Epiphany, one of the Ordinary cycle’s odd benchwarming weeks—used only when the liturgical calendar’s stars align.  Week seven didn’t make it into the Year A or C calendar between 2001 and 2011. “A ten-year absence of Jesus’ command to love our enemies occurred,” says Lemonholm, “during the first ten years of the war on terror.” —Steve Thorngate, “What's the text: Alternatives to the revised common lectionary,” Christian Century

¶ Benediction. “May you go out in joy and be led back in peace, the hills bursting in song, the trees in applause!” —continue reading “Go out in joy,” a litany for worship

¶ Recessional. It’s hard to describe Bruce Springsteen’s performance (6:26 video) at the [2018] Tony Awards. It’s a combination of spoken word and singing (from “My Hometown”) as he describes both the beauty and the heartache of every hometown. There is no one without the other. Root yourself; find companions; turn your face into whatever wind—fair or foul—is blowing. In everything give thanks, resting in the assurance, which only a heart of faith can access, that in the end goodness will outdistance hardship. —kls

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday.

• If you’re going to preach from the Luke 6:27-38 lection, you must read Walter Wink’s essay,  “Jesus’ Third Way.”

• “Pace yourself,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 37

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “Go out in joy,” a litany for worship

¶ Lent begins on 6 March, Ash Wednesday.

        • “Ash Wednesday: The only counter cultural holiday we have left”

        • “Plastic Jesus: A Lenten meditation on plastic”

¶ Just for fun. A pastor in Oklahoma City was preaching about the depersonalizing of modern life, even shopping. “Instead of going to Walmart and interacting with other humans, one need only say, ‘Alexa, order toilet paper.’” An online listener then heard a soft voice from her electronic assistant device say “OK, I’ve added it to your cart.” —Erik Tryggestad, Religion News

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Pace yourself,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 37

• “Go out in joy,” a litany for worship

• “Public reasoning and ekklesial reckoning: Commentary on the Vatican conference calling for “spirituality and practice of active nonviolence” to displace church focus on just war,” an essay
 
Other features

• “Plastic Jesus: A Lenten meditation on plastic”
 

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Language not otherwise indicated above is that of the editor, as are those portions cited as “kls.” Don’t let the “copyright” notice keep you from circulating material you find here (and elsewhere in this site). Reprint permission is hereby granted in advance for noncommercial purposes.

Feel free to copy and post any original art on this site. (The ones with “prayerandpolitiks.org” at the bottom.) As well as other information you find helpful.

Your comments are always welcomed. If you have news, views, notes or quotes to add to the list above, please do. If you like what you read, pass this along to your friends. You can reach me directly at kensehested@prayerandpolitiks.org.

 

Signs of the Times  •  14 February •  No. 186

¶ Processional. “We Have Come Into This House,” Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Printup, Victor Goines, Eric Reed, Reuben Rogers, & Winard Harper. (Thanks Dale.)

Above: Few astronomical sights excite the imagination like the nearby stellar nursery known as the Orion Nebula. ©Francesco Battistella

¶ Invocation. “The Just-and-Merciful One is a vigilant companion of all on the Way of justice and mercy. The corrupt and vengeful trudge the path of destruction. We are bound to this freedom road, prisoners of this hope, destined for the land where moaning and weeping are banished, destined for the land of joyous song, of laughter and dancing.” —continue reading “Bound to this freedom,” a litany inspired by Psalm 1

¶ Call to worship. “Our truth is an ancient one: that love endures and overcomes; that hatred destroys; that what is obtained by love is retained, but what is obtained by hatred proves a burden. —"Speak Truth to Power,” American Friends Service Committee

¶ “It is said that a jailer in a Roman prison had a daughter who was one of St. Valentine’s patients before he was arrested. He tended her for her blindness, but when he was arrested she still had not regained her sight. Before his execution, Valentine asked the jailer for some parchment and ink. He wrote the girl a note and signed it ‘From your Valentine.’ When she opened the note, a yellow crocus flower fell out of the parchment and it was the first thing she had ever seen. She had received her sight.” —continue reading more of the historical background to Valentine’s Day, “St. Valentine: Remembering prisoners on his feast day”

¶ Valentine’s Day is mostly subsidized by sentimental card makers and chocolateers. That’s not to say practicing the habits of expressing regard, even affection, should not be fostered. This stereotypical “feminine” practice is one that all healthy human beings should cultivate. And not just for romantic partners but for children, for friends, for any with whom we collaborate.

        No one likes cloying, suffocating repetition of devotion. But the art of timely and tender words of appreciation and encouragement should be one of our spiritual disciplines: which is to say, we need to consciously work at it, even against discomfort.

        So this issue of “Signs of the Times” features a series of good news stories, mostly small ones (don’t fail to mark these!) but large ones, too.

        Like other major cultural observances (like Thanksgiving and Christmas) which highlight time feasting with beloveds, Valentine’s Day is for some a reminder of loss. When your Facebook page only has exhibits of cheery emotion, those who have suffered loss, because of mortality or fractured relations, Valentine’s Day is hard to swallow.

        So this issue also gives reminders of such: In particular, the first anniversary of the mass murder at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. —kls

¶ Hymn of praise. “Gracias a la vida” (“Thanks To Life”), Mercedes Sosa & Joan Baez.

Left: "Women's wall" in Karala, India-photo by TA Ameerudheen

¶ Women’s uprising in India. On New Year’s Day, well over three million women (some reports say five) stood shoulder to shoulder along national highways in the state of Kerala to form a “Women’s Wall” that stretched for almost 385 miles. The event was billed the largest congregation ever of women in Kerala.

        The precipitating event was the controversy over women’s ability to enter the Hindu temple, Sabarimala Sree Dharmasastha. The mobilization included support from a coalition of political parties as well as another 175 civil society groups. —Kamala Thiagarajan, NPR

¶ A series of small, overlooked good news stories.

        • “Truckers Against Trafficking is an organization that teaches drivers to recognize the signs of human trafficking and has helped rescue more than 1,100 victims.” (1:40 video. Thanks David.) —NBC/Washington

        • “The European Union Just Voted To Ban Single-Use Plastics By 2021.” —Robin Andrews, Forbes

        • The government of Wales has just voted to end its use of fossil fuels. In the past Wales was one of the world’s top coal users. —Julia Conley, CommonDreams

        • Meet Corey Fleischer, who uses a powerwasher to scrub hate speech graffiti. (2:06 video)

        • Last July Ireland became the first nation to completely divest from the fossil fuel industry. (1:00 video. Thanks Loren.) —350.org

        • Fayetteville, Arkansas, is 54th city in the US to commit to 100% renewable energy, a list which includes the tiny town of Abita Springs, Louisiana to the Atlanta, Georgia metropolis. In addition 6 counties and one state (Hawaii) have made the same commitment. See the list compiled by the Sierra Club.

¶ Confession. “Let us agree / for now / that we will not say / the breaking / makes us stronger / or that it is better / to have this pain / than to have done / without this love. / Let us promise / we will not / tell ourselves / time will heal / the wound, / when every day / our waking / opens it anew. . . . / the only cure for love / is more of it.” —Jan Richardson, “Blessing for the Brokenhearted.” (Thanks Ashlee.)

¶ This is big, from Canada. “In 'Victory for Land and Water,’ Canada's Supreme Court Rules Bankrupt Fossil Fuel Companies Must Clean Up Pollution Left Behind: Bankruptcy is not a license to ignore rules," said the nation's highest court.” —Julia Conley, CommonDreams

¶ Hymn of supplication. “Magnify, O My Soul,” Moscow Patriarchal Choir.

¶ Historic vote. The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a legislation that would require President Trump to end US military support for the ongoing Saudi-led war in Yemen.” Two things are especially significant.

        First, the Senate approved such a bipartisan measure last December by a 58-41 margin. Second, the vote expressly employs the War Powers Resolution which authorizes Congress the power to remove US forces from “hostilities abroad” if the president hasn’t sought a declaration of war or an authorization of the use of force.” —Jon Queally, CommonDreams

¶ Words of assurance. “Don’t faint in despair when the gunslingers flourish. Don’t let fearmongering threats upset your soul. Let the confidence of Heaven throttle your breathing and the breath of delight inspire all that you do. Don’t go gettin’ all worked up when the hucksters and the hypesters and the sub-prime shysters come out ahead.” —continue reading “Pace yourself,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 37

¶ Professing our faith. “We want to bathe in the blood of the dragon and drink from the blood of the Lamb at the same time. But the truth is that we have to choose.” —Dorothee Soelle

¶ Hymn of resolution. “Gonna be a transformation in your heart and soul / Gonna be a transformation, baby, now that you know / Get used to righteousness when it makes you feel whole / Gonna be a transformation, baby, down in your soul.” —Van Morrison, “Transformation”

¶ Happy 50th anniversary, Sesame Street! —watch this short (3:52) highlight video 

¶ Short take. “Dutch Cabinet Allows Armenian Family to Stay in Country After 96-Day Church Service” (1:40 video). For more see “96 Days Later, Nonstop Church Service to Protect Refugees Finally Ends,” New York Times.

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Shine.” —students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, site of the 14 February mass shooting, give a moving performance of this original song written by survivors Sawyer Garrity and Andrea Peña, at the end of CNN's town hall. (Thanks Michael.)

¶ PARKLAND and beyond. “Last year’s shooting [14 February] at a Florida high school sparked a movement among a younger generation angered by gun violence and set the stage for a significant shift in America’s gun politics. . . .

         “‘What we’ve seen here is a tectonic shift in our politics on the guns issue,’ said Peter Ambler, executive director of Giffords, the gun violence prevention group founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. These people ‘didn’t get elected despite their advocacy for safer gun laws. They got elected because of their advocacy for safer gun laws.’” —Lisa Marie Pane, Associated Press

¶ Read brief bio sketchs of each of the 17 students and faculty/staff killed in the 14 February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. —Phil Valys & Mike Mayo, Sun Sentinel

¶ “Since Parkland: 12 months; 1,200 kids killed by guns; 1,200 stories about the lives they led, reported by teen journalists across the country.” (Thanks Dorie.)

¶ In January of this year alone, more than 80 children were wounded or killed by guns. —Gun Violence Archive

¶ Preach it. “The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.” —Nelson Mandela

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. “Fox & Friends” news host Pete Hegseth reported, on air, that he hasn’t washed his hands in 10 years, claiming “Germs are not a real thing. I can’t see them, therefore they’re not real.” —Sam Wolfson, Guardian

¶ Call to the table. A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshiping we are becoming. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

¶ The state of our disunion. “Four aid volunteers are facing prison time after leaving food and water inside an Arizona national wildlife refuge where undocumented migrants have died trying to enter the United States. The volunteers, part of the No More Deaths ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, could be sentenced to up to six months in prison and fined up to $500.” —Ray Sanchez, CNN
        Then watch this brief (1:29) video of US Border Patrol agents destroying food and water left for migrants.

Left: “15,000 school children on climate strike today in Liège, Belgium.” —Greta Thunberg, Instagram

¶ “Primary school children tell politicians: ‘I'll do my homework when you do yours.’” As many as 35,000 students in Belgium walked out of classrooms in Brussels, Liège, and Leuven, in the fourth straight week of protests to pressure policymakers for bolder response to climate change. —Jessica Corbett, CommonDreams

¶ Altar call. “The Maître D’ of Heaven commands the ’poverished-poor to table: the halt and helpless, lamed and maimed ushered up for honored seating. Our Maker’s steadfast love is like a lip-smacking feast of abundance. But the Market’s squaloring famine sows the seeds of violent harvest. Is it against the law to feed the immigrant? Then join the jailhouse chorus singing praise for God’s provision!” —continue reading “Maître D’ of Heaven,” a litany for worship

¶ Best one-liner. “Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?” —Charles Bukowski (Thanks Amy.)

¶ For the beauty of the earth. “Amazing trees from around the world.” (Thanks Jaroslav.)

¶ For Black History Month, let me urge you to do two things. First, watch this 56-minute film, “Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story.” Thurman, as much as any other in US history, knew the deep connection between spiritual vision and fruitful activism. Then read his book, Jesus and the Disinherited, a book Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. carried everywhere in his travels.

¶ Benediction. Dan Forrest’s musical composition of Howard Thurman’s poem, “The Work of Christmas.”

¶ Recessional. “Rhapsody in Blue,” George Gershwin. Read more about the origins of this remarkable piece of music in “Good News in History.” Scroll down to click on the music video. (Thanks Anne.)

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. Three litanies for worship inspired by Psalm 1:

        • “We Shall Not Be Moved”

        •”Multiply Their Presence”

        •”Bound to this freedom”

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “Pace yourself,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 37.

¶ Just for fun. “Blessed are the cheesemakers” a short clip (2:17) from Monty Python’s “Life of Brian.” (Thanks Missy.)

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “St. Valentine: Remembering prisoners on his feast day”

• “Maître D’ of Heaven,” a litany for worship

• ”Bound to this freedom," a litany for worship

• “Pace yourself,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 37

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Language not otherwise indicated above is that of the editor, as are those portions cited as “kls.” Don’t let the “copyright” notice keep you from circulating material you find here (and elsewhere in this site). Reprint permission is hereby granted in advance for noncommercial purposes.

Feel free to copy and post any original art on this site. (The ones with “prayerandpolitiks.org” at the bottom.) As well as other information you find helpful.

Your comments are always welcomed. If you have news, views, notes or quotes to add to the list above, please do. If you like what you read, pass this along to your friends. You can reach me directly at kensehested@prayerandpolitiks.org.

 

Signs of the Times  •  7 February 2019 •  No. 185

¶ Processional. School principal Zhang Pengfei and students at Xi Guan Primary School in Shanxi Province, China.

Special issue
TAXING MATTERS
Tax law and troublesome faith

        The question of tax fairness has long been on my radar. But it wasn’t until the phrase “marginal tax rate” made headlines recently that I realized few people know what it means, and my own understanding was pretty vague.

        At about the same time I came across the following quote while reading Rebecca Solnit’s book, Call Them by Their True Names:

        “If you boil the strange soup of contemporary right-wing ideology down to a sort of bouillon cube, you find the idea that things are not connected to other things, that people are not connected to other people, and that they are better off unconnected. . . .

        “Taxes represent civic connection: what we each give to the collective good. This particular form of shared interest has been framed as a form of oppression at least since Ronald Reagan. . . .

        “‘Freedom’ is just another word for nothing left to limit your options. And this is how the ideology of isolation become nihilism.” —continue reading “Taxing matters: Tax laws and troubling faith”

¶ Invocation. Sheikh Qari Barakatullah Saleem call to prayer, performing the Adhaan/Azaan in Afghanistan.

¶ Call to worship. “Angels filled the air, shouting, ‘Holy, holy, holy! Just and Righteous and Merciful is God’s name! Every bit of the earth is filled with the Blessed One’s caress!’ And in my vision, Heaven’s Voice made the mountains shake and the meadows rumble.
        "And I said, ‘I am not worthy to see such things! My lips cannot speak such wonder. My hands cannot hold it. I am only a little girl.’ But the One who breathes every breath said to me: ‘Do not say I am only a little girl. For you shall go where I send you, speak what I command you. Fear not, fear not.’” —continue reading “Send me,” a litany for worship inspired by Jeremiah 1:7-9 and Isaiah 6:1-8

¶ Hymn of praise. “I got two hands / I want to clap my hands together / I got two legs / I want to dance to heavens door / I got one heart / I gonna fill it up with up Jesus / And I ain't gonna think about trouble anymore.” —Townes Van Zandt, “Two Hands”

¶ “Right before Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017, President Trump proclaimed: ‘It’ll be fantastic for the middle-income people and for jobs, most of all … I think we could go to 4%, 5% or even 6% [GDP growth], ultimately. We are back. We are really going to start to rock.’

        “A year later, it’s very clear that the . . . the only thing that ‘rocked’ were corporate profits and the stock market. And we’re facing trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see.” —Howard Gold, MarketWatch (Thanks Jeanie.)

¶ Dutch historian Rutger Bregman told a room full of billionaires at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that they need to step up and pay their fair share of taxes. (4:34 video. Thanks Dick.)

¶ Since newly-elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “60 Minutes” television interview, where she said out arguments for a 70% marginal tax plan for the wealthiest individuals, polling show that 59% of Americans favor the plan. —Eric Levitz, “Majorty Back’s AOCs 70% Top Marginal Rate,” Intelligencer
        (By way, the plan is not to collect 70% of an individual’s income—only 70% of the amount over $10 million annually.)

¶ Here are two brief videos to explain marginal tax rates.

        • “Understanding Marginal Tax Rates,” Michael Linden. (2:16)

        • “How marginal tax rates actually work, explained with a cartoon,” Alvin Chang, Vox. (2:48, with accompanying text.)

¶ Confession. “A bad enough situation / Is sure enough getting worse / Everybody's crying justice / Just as long as there's business first. . . .” —Maria Muldaur & Mose Allison, “Everybody Cryin’ Mercy”

¶ How to get your head around how rich a billionaire actually is. “Let’s say you earn $50k/year and save every single penny. After 20 years, you’d have saved $1 million. After 200 years, you’d be dead, but would have saved $10 million. Only after 20,000 years would you have saved $1 billion.” —Nathan H. Rubin, Twitter (Thanks Susan.)

¶ The Republicans’ 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was supposed to boost business investments and crank up the economy, didn’t.

        • 84% companies questioned said the savings (which will add $1.9 trillion to the national debt over the next decade) will not change their hiring and investment plans.

        • The $1 trillion in tax savings went mostly to stock buybacks, boosting returns for investors as well as CEOs, most of whom receive stock options as part of their compensation.

        • Analysis at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management refer to the tax break as “The investment boom that wasn’t.”

        • 80% of American taxpayers will see no reduction in the income tax liability; the wealthiest citizens enjoy a 20% reduction, along with various other tax breaks. —Chris Tomlinson, Houston Chronicle

¶ Even before the dramatic lowering of rates for individuals and corporations, taxes in the US “made up a smaller share of national gross domestic product than in nearly any other of the rich countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.” —Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post

¶ “It’s Time to Get Billionaires Off of Welfare.” “Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is the wealthiest person on Earth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is now worth $168 billion. In fact, since the beginning of this year, his wealth has increased by about $277 million — every single day. [This article published in mid-January, just prior to market’s dramatic downturn.]

        “Meanwhile, Mr. Bezos continues to pay many thousands of his Amazon employees wages that are so low that they must rely on food stamps, Medicaid or public housing in order to survive. In effect, the middle-class taxpayers of this country are subsidizing the low wages paid by the richest person on Earth. That’s nuts.” —Bernie Sanders & Ro Khanna, CommonDreams

¶ A quick summary of the history of marginal tax rates in the US

        • In 1917, to help pay for World War I, the rates jumped from 15% to 67%

        • It rose again, to 77%, in 1918.

        • In the early ‘20s it dropped to the upper fifties, then down to 25% through 1931.

        • In 1932 the rate rose to 63%, then up to 79% in 1936, then to 81% in 1941, then to 94% in 1944, before dropped back to the lower 90s through 1963.

        • In 1964 and through1981, it dropped to 70%, then 50% in the mid-eighties, down to mid-to-upper 30s through 2017.

        • The 2019 marginal tax rate is 37% for annual income higher than a half million, the lowest in nearly a century. —for more details see “Historical Marginal Tax Rate,” Wikipedia

¶ Words of assurance. “When my morning comes around / From a new cup I'll be drinking / And for once I won't be thinking / That there's something wrong with me / And I'll wake up and find / That my faults have been forgiven / And that's when I'll start living / When my morning comes around.” —Iris Dement, “When My Morning Comes Around”

¶ Corporate welfare: two examples

        • A study shows that between 2010 and 2016, every one of the 210 new drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration were funded by the National Institute of Health (public money). None of the profits made by companies selling these drugs goes to reimburse the federal government’s research. —watch this short (3:11) video of congressional testimony (Thanks Michael.)

        • About half of the Pentagon’s $700+ billion budget goes to private companies.  —William D. Hartung, The American Conservative

¶ And in more Pentagon news

Left: Illustration by Victor Juhasz

        • In 1990 Congress passed legislation requiring the Pentagon to undergo an audit—just like other branches of government. It took 28 years to comply, and the effort cost $972 million (including the cost of fixing financial systems) and announced a failing grade. So it was put off to January 2019, but now the Pentagon has delayed its congressional briefing on the results. —Aaron Gregg, Washington Post

        • “For decades, the DoD [Department of Defense] leaders and accountants have been perpetrating a gigantic, unconstitutional accounting fraud, deliberately cooking the books to mislead the Congress and drive the DoD’s budgets ever higher, regardless of military necessity. DoD has literally been making up numbers in its annual financial reports to Congress.” —Dave Lindorff, “The Pentagon’s Massive Accounting Fraud Exposed,” The Nation

¶ Professing our faith. “Though Ann [Pettifor, British political economist, in her new book, Just Money: How society can break the despotic power of finance, wouldn't call herself a theologian, and although this is ostensibly not ‘that kind of book’, the way she discusses and expounds finance and economics is therefore profoundly theological.

        “It says that we do not have to be enslaved to a commodified mystification. It announces the possibility of deliverance. It demolishes the moneylenders' temple. It calls for metanoia, for turning around and heading in a new direction. And it achieves all this without the use of the kind of 'religious' language that so often masks genuine theological insight.” —Simon Barrow, Ekklesia

¶ Hymn of resolution. “We will go by night, by night / to search for the well / only thirst will light the way / only thirst will light the way.” —English translation of the Taizé song, “De noche iremos”

¶ Word. “The moral crisis of our age has nothing to do with gay marriage or abortion; it’s insider trading, obscene CEO pay, wage theft from ordinary workers, Wall Street’s continued gambling addition, corporate payoffs to friendly politicians, and the billionaire takeover of our democracy.” —Robert Reich

¶ By the numbers. “Myth #1: Immigrants take more from the U.S. government than they contribute. Fact: Immigrants contribute more in tax revenue than they take in government benefits.” —for more see Gretchen Frazee, “4 myths about how immigrants affect the U.S. economy,” PBS

¶ Preach it. “When the orbit of worship properly encircles the world of work, the result upsets every pattern of domination.” —kls

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. When senior economic advisors warned President Trump about the calamitous effect over the next decade of the budget deficits, he responded: “Yeah, I won’t be here.” —Asawin Suebsaeng & Lachian Markay, Daily Beast

¶ Call to the table. “You are the wine / I am the cup / I can yield nothing till I am filled up / Hold me upright / And pour forth your life / O Wine, come fill me with you.” —Peter Mayer, “O Sun”

¶ The state of our disunion. “In 2018, The Average Family Paid More To Hospitals Than To The Federal Government In Taxes.” —Avik Roy, Forbes

¶ “Back in the 1960s, our top marginal tax rate ranged from 70% to 91%. That was also the decade when our country had its highest average economic growth rate. More importantly, it was an era when workers generally shared in the country’s prosperity. Since the 1970s, wages for most U.S. workers have flatlined, even as productivity has steadily increased. But back in the 1950s and 1960s, wage growth kept pace with productivity.” —Sarah Anderson, CommonDreams

¶ For the beauty of the earth. It got so cold last week that part of Niagara Falls froze. (0:22 video)

¶ This is why Republicans want to privatize everything. Major corporations that do contract work for the federal government have much higher CEO-worker pay ratios than other companies.” —Kevin McCoy, “CEO vs. worker pay: Federal contractors have the biggest compensation gaps,” USA Today

¶ Altar call. “Rejoice in the presence of those who resist the counsel of the arrogant, who sidestep the influence-peddlers, who refuse to participate in political payoffs. Blessed One, multiply their presence in our midst! And may we have the courage to be among their number!” —continue reading “Multiply their presence,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 1

¶ Benediction. “May the Christ who lightens every burden, and heightens every cheer, be ever-near, ever-here, no matter the road’s rutted way, no matter the journey’s bitter dismay.  Listen for that which no libelous tongue can say nor grief-plugged ear can hear: The One who suckles you and savors you and thrills at the sound of your beating heart—this One knows your need and will bleed in your defense.” —continue reading “Safe harbor awaits,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 20:4, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 34:8, Numbers 6:24-26

¶ Recessional. “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. / For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, / Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; / To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.” —English lyrics to Nunc Dimittis, performed at the Taizé Community

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. “Send me,” a litany for worship inspired by Jeremiah 1:7-9 and Isaiah 6:1-8

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. Three litanies for worship inspired by Psalm 1:

        • “We Shall Not Be Moved”

        •”Multiply Their Presence”

        •”Bound to this freedom”

¶ Just for fun. Mesmerizing: Trains plowing through snow. (8:07 video)

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Taxing matters: Tax laws and troubling faith,” a new essay

• “Safe harbor awaits,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 20:4, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 34:8, Numbers 6:24-26

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