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Signs of the Times  •  6 June 2019 •  No. 194

¶ Processional. “Veni, Sancte Spiritus” (“Come, Holy Spirit”), Taizé.

Nature’s own “tongues of fire”? Every year for a week or so between late May and mid-June people from around the country (and, this year, as far away as Australia) flock to the Smoky Mountains National Park (near where I live) for a unique occurrence: The annual appearance of synchronous fireflies (Photinus carolinus, aka lightning bugs), the only species in the US whose individuals can synchronize their flashing light patterns, part of their mating display. For more (including other photos and a brief video) see “Ryan Wilusz, “Smokey Mountains synchronous fireflies left us nearly speechless,” Knox News

Preface

Pentecost Sunday is far and away my favorite moment on the church’s liturgical calendar.

        It wasn’t always so. . . .

        Pentecost, T.S. Eliot wrote in his poem, “Little Gidding,” written after he survived the German bombing of London in 1941-42, occasions a fateful choice:

        “The only hope, or else despair / Lies in the choice of pyre . . . / To be redeemed from fire by fire.” Namely, to be refined by Pentecost’s blaze or consumed by the conflagration of war. —continue reading “T.S. Eliot’s Pentecostal agenda: Refined by Pentecost’s blaze or consumed war’s conflagration”

¶ Invocation. “Quit your prayers for quick answers, for quick garden growth, quick flight across the country, quick salvation, and even quick death. Prayers for quick are what got us here. Today, pray only for breath, for in and out, for a chance to join these ancient openings and closings that move at no speed but their own.” — Kateri Boucher, Radical Discipleship

¶ Call to worship. “When Pentecostal power erupts, all heaven’s gonna’ break loose. The boundaries will be compromised; barriers will be broken; and borders will be breached. Economies of privilege will be fractured, and the politics of enmity will be impeached. The revenge of the Beloved is the reversal of Babel’s bequest.” —continue reading “Pentecost,” a litany for worship

¶ The US and Iran have again escalated belligerent threats, counter-threats, and military posturing. US National Security Advisor John Bolton, our nation’s leading warmonger, is the primary instigator behind this dangerous tantrum.

        In 2007 my congregation approved an open letter in opposition to this threat escalation. Then we reaffirmed and reissued that letter again in 2012 when tensions again dominated news headlines.

        “Despite assurances to the contrary from the U.S. Administration, we believe our nation’s leaders may be seriously calculating the benefits and risks of attacking Iran. Our reading of this moment in history, in light of our commitments as citizens and our convictions as followers of Jesus, impels us to oppose such a move.

        “We fear that our political leadership—led by the Administration with the complicity of Congress—is pushing us to the brink of moral, financial, ecological and diplomatic bankruptcy.” —continue reading “We Say NO”

¶ In US media you will hear nothing about Iran other than sound bites and suspicion. Take the 55 minutes needed to watch this fascinating and informing travelogue program from Rick Steeves.

Right: Young Iranian women. Photo from Rick Steeve’s travel program, “Iran.”

¶ Unfortunately, few in the US know the long history of our country’s direct meddling in Iran’s affairs, including our overthrow of its democratically-elected government in 1953. For more background, read “Worried about increasing US-Iran tensions? You should be.”  and “The latest US-Iran dust-up: Reckless baiting . . . again.”

¶ Hymn of praise. “All People,” a song for Pentecos, by Alana Levondoski.

¶ Any and every independent broker of basic human rights and advocate of geopolitical restraint have cause to question Iranian behavior. But what’s fundamentally at stake for the US is the fact that 40% of the world’s oil production flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a 21-mile wide channel that provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and global markets. The US openly backs—including massive arms sales—far more despotic regimes in the region.

¶ “@BarackObama will attack Iran in order to get re-elected.” —Donald Trump, 17 January 2012

¶ Muslim countries US has bombed or occupied since 1980. Iran (1980, 1987-1988), Libya (1981, 1986, 1989, 2011), Lebanon (1983), Kuwait (1991), Iraq (1991-2011, 2014-), Somalia (1992-1993, 2007-), Bosnia (1995), Saudi Arabia (1991, 1996), Afghanistan (1998, 2001-), Sudan (1998), Kosovo (1999), Yemen (2000, 2002-), Pakistan (2004-) and now Syria (2014-). —Jeff Faux, Huffpost

¶ Confession. “If we can let ourselves go in prayer and speak all that is in our minds and hearts, if we can sit quietly and bear the silence, we will hear all the bits and pieces of ourselves crowding in on us, pleading for our attention. Prayer’s confession begins with this racket, for prayer is noisy with the clamor of all the parts of us demanding to be heard. The clamor is the sound of the great river of being flowing in us.” —Ann and Barry Ulanov

¶ Hymn of supplication. “Hear me Jesus / Hide me in thy wounds / That I may never leave thy side / From all the evil that surrounds me / Defend me and when the call of death arrives / Bid me come to thee.” —Mary Lou Williams, “Anima Christi”

¶ “A pair of British artists have created this stunning installation of 9,000 silhouettes on a D-Day Landings beach to mark international Peace Day. (See photo at left.) The project, named, 'The Fallen' is a tribute to the civilians, German forces and Allies who lost their lives during the Operation Neptune landing on June 6, 1944.” —“1,000s of Stencils Mark Peace Day on Normandy Beach” (Thanks Abigail.)

¶ Prophetic hymn of resolution. “Arise! Arise! / I see the future in your eyes. / To a more perfect union we aspire / And lift our voices from the fire.” —Jean Rohe, “National Anthem: Arise! Arise!” (click the “show more” button to see the full lyrics)

¶ Satire alert. “Donald J. Trump’s bid to become a born-again Christian failed over the weekend after Jesus Christ turned down his friend request, campaign officials have acknowledged.

        “Jesus, who has not generally been active on Facebook, made a rare appearance on the social network on Monday to announce His decision to ignore the presumptive Republican nominee’s request for a personal relationship with Him.

        “In a brief post, Jesus offered the following explanation: ‘Just everything.’” —Andy Borowitz, New Yorker (Thanks Michael.)

¶ Words of assurance. “Hush child. Don’t be afraid. Soon we will be in Zion.” —Kate Hurley, “Hush Child”

¶ Testify. “’To effectively work in that kind of environment, at least in combat, you kind of have to let that dark side out a little bit. I used to call it 'the beast.’ Then when you talk to your kids and wife, you've got to put that away real quick." So said retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Paul Darling about his book, Taliban Safari, about his time in Afghanistan.

        “‘You're a very different person when you're hunting down human beings,’ he says. . . . ‘Civilization has a veneer that allows us to function and to cooperate and not do those bad things,’ he says. ‘I found in combat, and it was frightening to see, how thin the veneer of civilization really is. . . .’”

        “Societal and familial pressure not to share the ugliness has kept entire generations of combat veterans from talking about experiences perceived as just too terrible to share.” —Anne Kniggendorf, “To Answer His Wife's Question, A Kansas City Veteran Wrote A Book About One Day In Afghanistan,” KCUR

¶ Hymn of lament. “In the cold grey light of the sixth of June in the year of forty-four / The Empire Larch sailed out from Poole to join with thousands more / The largest fleet the world had seen, we sailed in close array / And we set our course for Normandy at the dawning of the day / There was not one man in all our crew who know what lay in store” —Jim Radford, “The Shores of Normandy” (Thanks Kimberly.)

¶ 30th anniversary. “Tank Man” is the nickname of an unidentified Chinese man who stood in front of a column of tanks leaving Tiananmen Square on 5 June 1989, the morning after the Chinese military had suppressed the Tiananmen Square protests by force. Watch this short (2:35) video. (Thanks Ed.)

¶ On the 100th anniversary of congressional approval of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, giving women the right to vote: It was a complex history, sometimes pitting women’s rights against the demands for racial justice.”

        “The 19th Amendment was colorblind,” said Weiss, adding that leading suffragists felt they needed to reach out to white racists to gain their votes. “The way it was implemented was not.” —Elizabeth Evans, “The complex role of faith in the women’s suffrage movement,” Religion News

¶ Also on the topic of women’s suffrage:

        • Elizabeth Cobbs, “What took so long for women to win the right to vote? Racism is one reason.” —Washington Post

        • “Long ago a lie was told, a lie that laid the foundational bricks of patriarchy. The lie said, “Patriarchy works for everyone – especially men.” But the truth is patriarchy doesn’t work for everyone – even men.” —Erica Whitakercoffee mug and a heated conversation saved me from my self-righteous view of patriarchy,” Baptist News

        • “By autumn, hundreds of women [protesting in 1917 at the White House for the right to vote] had been arrested for obstructing the sidewalk outside the White House. Many of them were sent to prison. Newspapers reported that women were tortured at Occoquan, the Virginia workhouse where several prominent suffragists served time. The idea was “to break us down by inflicting extraordinary humiliation upon us,” Eunice Brannan told The New York Times after her release. . . . Bedding was never washed, and the beans and cornmeal served to prisoners were crawling with maggots. ‘Sometimes the worms float on top of the soup,’ one woman wrote in an affidavit.” —Adrienne LaFrance, “,” Atlantic

¶ Hymn of intercession. “The singing. / There was so much singing then / And this was my pleasure, too. / We all sang, the boys in the field, / The chapels were full of singing. / Here I lie: / I have had pleasure enough; / I have had singing.” —Birmingham Boys Choir, “I Have Had Singing”

¶ Preach it. “So let us pick up the stones over which we stumble, friends, and build altars. Let us listen to the sound of breath in our bodies. Let us listen to the sounds of our own voices, of our own names, of our own fears. Let’s claw ourselves out from the graves we’ve dug. Let’s lick the earth from our fingers. Let us look up and out and around. The world is big and wide and wild and wonderful and wicked, and our lives are murky, magnificent, malleable, and full of meaning. Oremus. Let us pray.” —Pádraig Ó Tuama

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. After President Trump’s royal pageantry in London, he flew to County Clare, Ireland, where he rented four limousines for a further eight mile trip to his golf resort near the village of Doonberg. The cost for that short drive? Just short of $1 million, or $116,879 per mile.” —, Guardian

¶ Call to the table. A young child, living with blindness and autism, is out for a stroll on a sunny day. She is drawn to the sound of a busker’s music. This is how we, in our locked-up selves, come to the table and are ushered into the serenity of the Spirit’s serenade.

¶ Best one-liner. "Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine." —Henry David Thoreau

¶ For the beauty of the earth. Swimming Spanish Dancer. (Hexabranchus sanguineus. 0:57 video. Thanks David.)

¶“Texas SandFest — the largest Native-Sand Sculpture Competition in the USA — is an internationally recognized 3-day family event that draws sculptors and tens of thousands of visitors from around the world each year to Sunflower Beach Resort in Port Aransas, Texas. “Liberty Crumbling” by Damon Langlois (pictured at right), won first prize. This year’s event raised $355,000 in donations distributed to area nonprofit organizations. To see additional sand sculpt photos see this link.  (Photo by Kastle Photography. Thanks Pam.)

¶ Altar call. “Tell me what is it you plan to do / With your one wild and precious life?” —Mary Oliver

¶ Benediction. “The fear-tombed, nay-saying, people-pleasing / prisoner of scarcity, shame and threat— / that one has died. / The stone of Outcomes has been rolled away. / The linen grave-clothes of Consequences / are lying abandoned. . . . / Don't live as if you're afraid to be crucified. / Live as if you're already risen.” —Steve Garnaas Holmes, “Already risen”

¶ Recessional. “Ole Time Religion,” Joe Bonamassa. (Thanks James.)

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. See “Resources for Pentecost Sunday” below.

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “The voice of Wisdom,” a litany for worship inspired by Proverbs 8.

¶ Just for fun. The sand pendulum, from the Science Academy. (Thanks Floyd.)

Art at left: Linocut art ©Julie Lonneman

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “T.S. Eliot’s Pentecostal agenda: Refined by Pentecost’s blaze or consumed war’s conflagration”

Resources for Pentecost Sunday

• “Pentecostal Passion,” a poem

• “Summon your nerve,” a call to the table on Pentecost Sunday

• “All together,” a litany for Pentecost

• “The promise of Pentecost,” a sermon

• “Adelante—Keep Moving Forward,” a litany for worship 

• “Worthy,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 29 and the Pentecost story in Acts 2

• “Pentecost,” a litany for worship

• “Kindle slavery’s funeral pyre,” a litany for worship inspired by Exodus 13:17-22 & the story of Pentecost in Acts 2

• “Why Psalm 104:35 needs to be included in the reading for Pentecost Sunday (Year A),” brief commentary

• “Day of Pentecost choral reading,” a choral reading script for nine voices
 
Other features

• “Dad’s ‘Heart Shield’ Bible,” a D-Day remembrance of my Dad

©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  •  9 May 2019 •  No.193

¶ Processional. Blue Ridge Mountain Dancers with Pete Seeger, at the Newport Folk Festival, 1964. May 3 was the 100th anniversary of Seeger’s birth.

¶ Invocation. Bread baking, kitchen-dwelling, breast-feeding God, / We return to your lap and to your table / because we are hungry and thirsty. / Fill us again / with the bread that satisfies, / with milk that nourishes. / Drench parched throats with wet wonder; / feed us ‘til we want no more.” —continue reading “Bread baking God”

¶ Call to worship. “Imagine if every church became a place where everyone is safe but no one is comfortable. Help us to hold one another to the truth.” —Rachel Held Evans, rest in peace (I’ve gathered my top 10 favorite quotes from Evans—add one or more of your own to this list.)

¶ Good news. “‘We've Made History’: Ireland Joins France, Germany and Bulgaria in Banning Fracking.” —Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch

¶ Hymn of praise. "Pie Jesu" (“Merciful Jesus”), Andrew Loyd Hebber, performed by Hauser (cello), Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra Choir Zvjezdice, & Josephine Ida Zec (vocals).

¶ Confession. “There are times when life is cruel beyond imagination and against all explanation. At such times, we simply wrap our arms around the still-breathing bodies of those we cherish. And we pray, and we sing, and we speak tenderly through the tears, chanting aloud or silently the promise that one day, all tears will be dried; one day, all mourning will pass away; one day, all crying will cease; one day, death itself shall come undone (Rev. 21:4). Vaya con Dios, my friend, as you journey through the valley of this deathly shadow.” —condolence letter to a close friend after the trauma of losing a dearly beloved

¶ Well, that’s a start. “The provincial government in British Columbia, Canada, has amended workplace legislation to prevent employers to force women to wear high heels at work.

        “‘In some workplaces in our province, women are required to wear high heels on the job. Like most British Columbians, our government thinks this is wrong. That is why we’re changing this regulation to stop this unsafe and discriminatory practice,’ said BC premier Christy Clark. A mandatory high-heel dress code “is a workplace health and safety issue,” she said. ‘There is a risk of physical injury from slipping or falling, as well as possible damage to the feet, legs and back from prolonged wearing of high heels while at work.’” —, Guardian

¶ “I once suffered a miscarriage shortly before Mother’s Day. When I entered the sanctuary that Sunday, an usher carrying a basket of carnations greeted me. ‘Happy Mother’s Day, pretty lady!’ He innocently beamed. ‘I know you must be a mom! Here’s a flower.’ In a sudden daze I accepted the flower from his hand and rushed to the bathroom crying.” —continue reading “Pastoral dilemmas with observing Mother’s Day”

¶ Words of assurance.  “Down in the valley while on my knees / I asked my Jesus, carry me please / He promised that he’d take care of me / If I would lift him up / He said if I  / Be lifted up  / He said if I / Be lifted up (be lifted up) / I’ll be your father, I’ll be your mother / I’ll be your sister, and your brother.” —Emmy Lou Harris, “If I Be Lifted Up”

¶ Professing our faith. “Peace is the fruit of love, a love that is also justice. But to grow in love requires work—shard work. And it can bring pain because it implies loss—loss of the certitudes, comforts, and hurts that shelter and define us.” —Jean Vanier, rest in peace

¶ Short story. “During the Christmas holidays of 1964, [Jean Vanier] visited a friend who was working as a chaplain for men with learning difficulties just outside Paris. Disturbed by conditions in which 80 men did nothing but walk around in circles, he bought a small house nearby and invited two men from the institution to join him.” —continue reading Martin Bashir, “Jean Vanier: Founder of L’Arche dies,” BBC

¶ Hymn of contrition. “Gospel shoes are laced with shackles and chains / Fitted for the poor runners of the race / Now every hand is folded shape of a gun / Target's ever changing but the war it rages on / So the armies march onward for the mother and the son / As this world of screaming color is bleached in the blood.” —Madolin Orange, “Gospel Shoes”

¶ Word. “I wanna talk about the grief. I know a lot of people they really wanna stick on the hope train. Let’s just be hopeful, it’s all gonna be okay.

        “We need to sit in the grief. We need to sit the enormity of the issues because I’m telling you; if we don’t sit in the reality of the situation, we are just going to spend all this time, all this energy, this life force — giving to false solutions and I really don’t want that for our generation moving forward. I don’t want to just be taken away by these commercials for our greater future and then put all this energy into it and realize in 30 years, oh my gosh — what have we really done?” —Ayana Young at Humboldt State University (Thanks Shelley.)

¶ Hymn of supplication. “We hunt your face and long to trust that your hid mouth will say again / let there be light, a clear new day. / But when we thirst in this dry night, / we drink from hot wells poisoned with the blood of children. / And when we strain to hear a steady homing beam, / our ears are balked by stifled moans / Wellspring gold of dark and day, be here, be now.” —James Taylor, “New Hymn”

¶ Preach it. “It’s the realization of how to create a culture which is no longer a culture just of competition, but a culture of welcoming, where tenderness, where touch is important. It’s neither sexualized nor aggressive. It has become human. And I think that this is what people with disabilities are teaching us.” —read more of Krista Tippett’s interview with Jean Vanier, “On Being” (Thanks Mike.)

¶ “Ramadan is about re-establishing your relationship with God.” [The daytime fasting means that] “every day of Ramadan reminds us of our life cycle. We start the day strong, like we’re very young.—we’re ready to go. But by the end of the day, no matter your age, you get very weak, and you’re reminded of your death. Then [after sundown] you break your fast and are reminded of Paradise.” —listen to the first 1:06 of this video “A Ramadan etiquette guide for non-Muslim” (Thanks Kristen)

        • “Why Ramadan is called Ramadan: 6 questions answered.” —Mohammad Hassan Khalil, Religion News

        • Here is a short overview of the tradition and practices of Ramadan.

        • Learn how to pronounce the traditional greetings in Arabic: "As-salamu alaikum," which translates “Peace be upon you”; and the traditional response: “Wa alaykumu as-salam,” or “And unto you peace.” (The transliteration of the Arabic into English varies in spelling. Here is one very brief aid in pronouncing of these two phrases.)

      • For more on the commonalities in peacemaking traditions among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, see “Peace Primer II: Quotes from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Scripture & Tradition.”

      • For more on the need for building interfaith coalitions, see “The things that make for peace: The purpose, promise and peril of interfaith engagement.”

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. “Our objective is to get the Islamic Republic of Iran to behave like a normal nation,” says US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo [without the least bit of irony, given that the US has 45 military bases in countries bordering Iran]. —Pompeo quoted in Lolita Baldor & Zeke Miller, Associated Press

¶ Hymn of lament. “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” Odetta.

¶ Call to the table. We come to your lap and to your table / and rediscover your romance with the world. / As you nourish us with the bread of life and the milk of your word, / let your Spirit hang an apron around our necks. / Fashioned and patterned like that worn / by our Lord-become-friend, Jesus.” —continue reading “Bread baking God”

¶ The state of our disunion. On Monday, 6 May, the United Nations released a report saying that one million plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction due to climate change, “with alarming implications for human survival.” On that same day, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blocked an Artic Council policy statement referencing extreme polar ice melting, instead celebrating the amount of money to be made on the new shipping lane being created by the thaw, which would add dramatically to the flooding threat of rising sea levels. —Rick Noack, Washington Post

        For context on the latter, watch this short (2:44) video on “How Earth Would Look If All The Ice Melted.”

¶ Best one-liner. “I would rather put a song on people’s lips than in their ears.” —Pete Seeger (3 May was the 100th anniversary of his birth)

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Holy Mother, where are you? / Tonight I feel broken in two. / I've seen the stars fall from the sky. / Holy mother, can't keep from crying. / Oh I need your help this time, / Get me through this lonely night. / Tell me please which way to turn / To find myself again.” —Eric Claption & Luciano Pavarotti, “Holy Mother”

¶ For the beauty of the earth. Incredible time lapse footage shows a beautiful sunset in Western Australia, followed by a view of the Milky Way as it spins overnight into dawn. —ABC News

¶ Altar call. “You will always have what you gave to love / In this life the love you give / Comes back around / To be your treasure / What you lose will be what you win / A well the echoes down too deep to measure.” —Beth Nielson Chapman, “Deeper Still”

¶ Pastoral suggestion. If you’re willing to veer off the lectionary reading for this Sunday, consider preaching from Proverbs 8, featuring the character of “Wisdom” (“Sophia”).

¶ Benediction. Women: Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or of tears! / Men: Speak up, that all may hear! / W: Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. / M: Oh, brothers, can you hear?” —continue reading “Mother’s Day,” a litany for worship, drawn from the words of Julia Ward Howe

¶ Recessional. “Like a Woman,” Ryan Amador, a modern Mothers’ Day anthem celebrating the women who teach boys to grow into a different kind of manhood.

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. “The One on the Throne will pitch his tent there for them: no more hunger, no more thirst, no more scorching heat. The Lamb on the Throne will shepherd them, will lead them to spring waters of Life. And God will wipe every last tear from their eyes." —Revelation 7:15b-17

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next.

• “Oak and ash, black bear and red robin, ladybug and dragonfly, you city-folk and you farmers, acclaim the One whose breath is your bounty, whose mercy is your salvation.” —continue reading “Acclaim the One whose breath is your bounty,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 148

• “Hallelujah,”  a poem adapting Psalm 23; musical rendition performed by Ken Medema, a Leonard Cohen tune

¶ Just for fun. Watch master potter Vernon Owens create a ceramic candlestick holder on the wheel.

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Hallelujah,”  a poem adapting Psalm 23; musical rendition performed by Ken Medema, a Leonard Cohen tune

• “Acclaim the One whose breath is your bounty,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 148

For Mother’s Day

• “A brief history of Mother’s Day”

• “Mother’s Day,” a litany for worship, drawn from the words of Julia Ward Howe

• “Bread baking God,” a poem

• “Pastoral dilemmas with observing Mother’s Day” 

Other features

• “Eastertide: The outing of the church,” an essay

©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  •  30 April 2019 •  No. 192

¶ Processional. “Lord I’m free, free, free, Lord I’m free.” —Melanie DeMore, “Free, Free, Free”

¶ Invocation. “We seek justice in the world, we fight for the flourishing of each and all, not just because we suffer with others, but because we sense the luminosity and love the loveliness.” —Mayra Rivera

Special issue
EASTERTIDE: THE OUTING OF THE CHURCH
A collection of short reflections

Introduction. “Eastertide was the period when the early followers of Jesus were forced to recalibrate their messianic expectations. Good Friday’s execution was a crushing blow to their hopes. Despite Jesus’ repeated teachings to the contrary, the apostles still presumed Jesus would be the leader of a divinely-inaugurated coup d’état that would expel Roman occupiers and restore King David’s regal dynasty.” —continue reading “Eastertide: The outing of the church”

¶ Call to worship. “For this, improbably, is the / Little Flock of Jesus empowered: / To stand amidst the rule of the / imperium, the markets of the / emporium and the impunity / of their praetorian guards—  / each with global reach and / aspirations, though none / so imperative as the / implausible mercy of God. . . . / How, indeed, shall we then live / in this enduring season between / Easter, / God’s Resurrection Moment, and / Pentecost, / God’s Resurrection Movement?” —continue reading “This Little Flock of Jesus”

¶ Hymn of praise. “Death’s flood has lost its chill  / since Jesus crossed the river; / Lover of souls, from ill / my passing soul deliver.” —St. Mark’s Church Choir, “This Joyful Eastertide”

¶ The entire universe’s supply of tears is insufficient to wash away the tragedy of human enmity. This is why Easter’s promise is not just important but is essential to any thought of any tomorrow devoid of death’s fragrance. —kls

¶ Confession. "Is the sweetest melody the one we haven't heard? / Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear? / The right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear / Oh, but a change of heart comes slow. . . ." —U2, “I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight”

¶ “We should not be surprised that the women are overcome with 'fear.' The disciples have in fact been described as ‘fearful’ (phobeisthai) at several important ‘passages’ in their journey with Jesus: both stormy boat crossings (4:41; 6:50), his transfiguration (9:6), the portents of his execution (9:32), and the journey up to Jerusalem (10:32). . . .

        “The second epilogue, like the first (8:21), ends with a challenge to the reader in the form of an unresolved question. Will we ‘flee’ or will we ‘follow’? . . . We do not entirely understand what ‘resurrection’ means, but if we have understood the story, we should be ‘holding fast’ to what we do know: that Jesus still goes before us, summoning us to the way of the cross. And that is the hardest ending of all: not tragedy, not victory, but an unending challenge to follow anew. Because that means we must respond.” —continue reading this short excerpt from Ched Myers’ book, “Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus,” reflecting upon the open tomb ending of the first Gospel. “Jesus Still Goes Before Us”

¶ Hymn of supplication. “Abide With Me,” David Hartley, steel guitar.

¶ “The sealing of the tomb is, I believe, notoriously misunderstood. I grew up with a Sunday School notion that to seal the tomb was a matter of hefting the big stone and cementing it tight. The seal, in my mind’s eye, was something like first-century caulking–puttying up the cracks to keep the stink in. Not so. This is a legal seal. Cords would be strung across the rock and anchored at each end with clay. To move the stone would break the seal and indicate tampering. . . . To move the stone and break the seal is a civil crime. The resurrection is against the law.” —continue reading this short excerpt from Bill Wylie-Kellermann’s book, “Seasons of Faith and Conscience”

¶ “Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free. He has destroyed it by enduring it. He destroyed Hades when He descended into it. Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with. It was in an uproar because it is mocked. It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed. It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated. It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive. Hell took a body, and discovered God. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see. O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?” —excerpt from the Easter Sermon of John Chrysostom (347–407 CE) Archbishop of Constantinople. To see the full text, and more about Chrysostom, see this Orthodox Church in America link.

¶ Words of assurance. For what can we hope? “Only this: confidence that / the dust is not that of / abandonment, but / of adama, of earth, earth / from which all adam receive / breath, and shall again, on / that rapturous occasion when / creation comes / unbound.” —continue reading “Psalm 30 interrogation: For Madeleine, too soon departed”

Right: Barbara Rose Jones is featured in one of 18 statues of leaders and participants in the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial in Richmond, Virginia commemorating protests which helped bring about school desegregation in the state. After losing a court challenge to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education (Topeka, Kansas) Supreme Court ruling outlawing school segregation, number public schools in Virginia were closing—some for only a day, but one entire school district, Prince Edward County, remaining closed for five years. (See more below.)

¶ Short story: an April remembrance. “On April 23, 1951, quiet teen Barbara Johns (1935-1991) organized a strike of 450 students, fed-up that their dilapidated school in Farmville, VA had no desks or cafeteria and was dangerously overcrowded. An NAACP lawsuit went all the way to the Supreme Court, but, ordered to integrate, the county chose instead to close all public schools for 5 years! White terrorists forced the Johns family to leave town. But Martin Luther King Jr. was right about the arc of the moral universe. Persistent activism won out. In honor of Johns’ courage, a state office building in Richmond has been renamed for her.” —Pam McAllister; see more of her profiles—usually of unrecognized heroes—at her blog, “Activists With Attitude”
        For more on Johns, see “Virginia celebrates first-ever Barbara Johns Day,” WTVR, Richmond, Va.

¶ Professing our faith. Once “the power of Easter has burst upon us . .  now we no longer strive to be good because we have to, because it is a duty, but because our joy is to please him who has given all his love to us! Now our life is full of meaning!” —Thomas Merton

¶ Hymn of resolution. “The shackles are undone / The bullets quit the gun / . . .The stone it has been moved / The grave is now a groove / All debts are removed / Oh can't you see what love has done?” —U2, “Window in the Skies” (Thanks Kevin.)

¶ “One empty tomb poses no threat / to present entanglements, / any more than annual and / specially-adorned sanctuary / crowds encroach on Easter morn. / It’s Easter’s aftermath, / resurrectus contagio, / contagious resurrection / that threatens entombing empires / with breached sovereignty. / The Lamb Slain sings / of tribulation annulled, / of death undone, / of heaven reraveling the / sinews of soil and soul.” —continue reading “Easter’s aftermath”

¶ Did you know? After fire ravaged the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, innumerable commentators mentioned in their statements of grief how this building represents “our shared European heritage and identity.” Few know that the architectural design owes its origins to Middle Eastern predecessors. —Diana Darke, Middle East Eye

¶ “The journey towards peace / is one in which the end is not / known at the beginning. / Frequently, the journey cannot / be made by flying over the conflict, / or by driving past the conflict. / Those paths are tempting, / but in the end often futile. / It’s only by walking through the conflict, / with the people who are living it, / sharing the dust, and the fatigue, / stumbling on rocks, and starting again; / weeping with those who weep, / and rejoicing with those who rejoice / that transformation can be reached.” —Janice Jenner, in “Footpaths,” newsletter of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University

¶ Hymn of intercession. “When Jesus wept, the falling tear / In mercy flowed beyond all bound. / When Jesus groaned, a trembling fear / Seized all the guilty world around.” —OnlyAStarvingWriter, “When Jesus Wept” (Thanks Tim.)

¶ Preach it. “But hope is not about what we expect. It is an embrace of essential unknowability of the world, of the breaks with the present, the surprises. Or perhaps studying the record more carefully leads us to expect miracles . . . to expect to be astonished. . . . And this is grounds to act. I believe in hope as an act of defiance. . . . There is no alternative, except surrender. And surrender not only abandons the future, it abandons the soul.” —Rebecca Solnit, excerpted from “Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities"

¶ Your weekly devotional. Take a 17 minute break as you begin Eastertide to listen to Mahler’s “Symphony No. 2 Mov V,” featuring the Simón Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and soloists Miah Persson & Anna Larsson (Thanks Kimberly.)

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. The Trump administration is threatening to veto a UN Security Council resolution seeking to end the use of rape as a weapon of war. Why? Because the resolution contains language on the need for victims’ support from family planning clinics. —, Common Dreams

¶ Call to the table. “It isn’t always easy here. We share in the conflicts common to all creation. Sometimes the vision seems slow, and weariness overtakes us. But joy sustains, and grace is sufficient. Our guiding creed is the Rule of Mercy. To its Author alone do we pledge faithfulness.” —continue reading “Covenant vows for new and renewing members,” a litany for worship

¶ The state of our disunion. “Someone had to pick the cotton / Someone had to plant the corn / Someone had to slave and be able to sing / that’s why darkies were born.” —lyrics to “What’s Why Darkies Were Born,” sung by Kate Smith (1907-1986), who premiered the iconic song, “God Bless America”

¶ Best one-liner. “The funny thing about the heart is a soft heart is a strong heart, and a hard heart is a weak heart.” —Criss Jami (Thanks Amy.)

¶ “Easter demands not sympathy for the crucified Christ but loyalty to the risen Christ. The proof of Easter is not a rolled-away stone, but carried-away Christians.” —William Sloan Coffin

¶ For the beauty of the earth. When the trees slow dance: video from above of forest in Tulum, Mexico, swaying in the wind. (1:04 video. Thanks Kathryn.)

¶ Altar call. “The greatest failure in the history of Christian thought is the separation of souls from bodies, spirit from soil, the wrenching of hearts from habitation—all representing the abdication of the realm of earth from the rule of Heaven. It is the great anthropomorphic heresy: that redemption is for humans alone, and then only for some ethereal essence: no bodies, no biology, no hills or dales, neither minnows nor whales.” —continue reading “Realm of earth, rule of Heaven: Bodified faith and environmental activism”

¶ Benediction. "Martin Luther King did not become an icon of social change by giving a speech that said ‘I have a complaint. No, he dreamed of a different kind of world." —Rabbi Michael Lerner

¶ Recessional. A most familiar piece of music—but that’s not the point. It’s the spontaneous dance. Count me among those who have a hard time sitting still and quiet in worship when splendor and/or revelation break out. (2:27 video. Thanks Martha.)

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. “Discard your reluctance, you saints and you sinners: Shout vowels of praise, sing consonants of delight. . . . Take my mourning heart and teach it to dance;  tailor my grieving gown into festival attire!” —“Weeping may linger," A litany for worship inspired by Psalm 30”

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “The One on the Throne will pitch his tent there for them: no more hunger, no more thirst, no more scorching heat. The Lamb on the Throne will shepherd them, will lead them to spring waters of Life. And God will wipe every last tear from their eyes." —Revelation 7:15b-17

¶ Just for fun. The Hooded Grebe Courtship Dance. —National Geographic

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Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Eastertide: The outing of the church,” a new essay

 • "Easter’s aftermath,” a poem

• “Realm of earth, rule of Heaven: Bodified faith and environmental activism,” an essay

• “Earth Day: The link between Easter and Pentecost,” an essay

• “Psalm 30 interrogation: For Madeleine, too soon departed,” a poem

• “Weeping may linger,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 30

©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  •  19 April 2019 •  No. 191

¶ Processional. “Lamb of God / with love poured out / you suffer with the world.” —The Many, “Lamb of God”

Above: Wisteria Tunnel at Kawachi Fuji Gardens, Japan.

¶ Invocation. “Let him easter in us.” —line from a Gerard Manly Hopkins poem

¶ Call to worship. “The spiritual life does not come cheap. It is not a stroll down a Mary Poppins path with a candy-store God who gives sweets and miracles. It is a walk into the dark with the God who is the light that leads us through darkness.” —Joan Chittister OSB, “Called to Question: A spiritual memoir”

¶ Two seasonal essays.

        • “The week beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter Eve is arguably the most volatile and conflicted period on the liturgical calendar. Even the lectionary suggestions for Scripture readings give the options of celebrating a coronation or lamenting a crucifixion. Do we give priority to the cross or the crown?” —continue reading “Jesus wasn’t lynched because he talked about getting right with God”

        • “Earth Day observance represents a significant theological lens focusing Easter’s provision with Pentecost’s promise. In the testimony of Scripture, all creation is sentient—capable of responding to the Creator’s purpose, promise and provision.” —continue reading “Earth Day – The link between Easter and Pentecost”

¶ Resources from prayer&politiks for local for congregations’ observance of Earth Day.

¶ Hymn of praise. “O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” Darrell Adams.

¶ Why Easter is called Easter, and other little-known facts about the holiday.

¶ To comprehend many themes in Christian faith, we must first explore the antecedents in Judaism. See “What is Passover?” —My Jewish Learning

¶ Good news. “A federal court issued another blow to the Trump administration's aggressive deregulatory agenda when it ruled on Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must immediately reinstate an Obama-era pollution rule that sets methane emission standards for the oil and natural gas industry.” —Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams

¶ Confession, reminiscent of Jesus’ “why hast thou forsaken?” “I read somewhere that you are / near the brokenhearted / Which causes me to wonder / if you have seen my heart / or is it just some distant thunder  / . . . ‘God Answers Prayer’ I’ve read / on greeting cards and bookmarks / Someday I hope to find ‘that prayer’ / and say it the right way / then maybe you will answer / . . . I do not understand how / to see into the unseen / or if it’s you, or if it’s me / who seems to be / agnostic, God.” —poem fragment from Aaron, a friend in prison

¶ In late March and early April, fires consumed three century-old African American congregations (pictured above) in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana: St. Mary Baptist Church, Greater Union Baptist Church, and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. Authorities have arrested a suspect, the 21-year-old son of a deputy sheriff, and prosecutors charged him with three counts of arson and a fourth “hate crime” charge. (As of this writing, authorities are not using the word “terrorism” to describe this violence. They appear to be laying the groundwork to attribute the crimes to mental illness.) —for more background on previous fires in black churches in Louisiana, see Claire Taylor, Acadian Advocate

¶ You can contribute to the rebuilding of these churches via a GoFundMe campaign organized by the Seventh District Baptist Association.

¶ Hymn of supplication. “We all see through different eyes / Blinded by each other’s lies / Truth be told we’re all the same / A mother lies awake at night / Not a trace of hope in sight / She’s asking god who to blame / She’s on her knees and screams his name / No luck from above God knows it’s not easy to love.” —Eli Yacinthe, “Easy to Love” (Thanks Mandy.)

¶ Words of assurance. Watch this brief (2:37 video) excerpt of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech, “I Have Been to the Mountaintop,” delivered under stressful conditions (the first march in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis had turned violent) on the night before King's assassination.

¶ Professing our faith. “As a deputy and an employee of the county, I have to watch out for residents. But as a human being and a Christian, I also have to watch out for people. . . .” —Deputy Sheriff and code enforcement investigather Ben Cothran, who spends off hours working with Rev. Kurt Stutler, pastor of South Main Chapel and Mercy Center, whose ministries include care for the homeless in Anderson County, SC, in Kirk Brown, “When the woods are home,” Independent Mail

¶ Hymn of resolution. “Old Rugged Cross,” Zane King, steel guitar.

¶ “Earth Day challenge for gardeners: Don't poison bees.” —Rachel Layne, CBS News (Thanks Davis.)

¶ Short story. “As the author E.B. White watched his wife Katherine planning the planting of bulbs in her garden in the last autumn of her life, he wrote, ‘there was some thing comical yet touching in her bedraggled appearance . . . the small hunched-over figure, her studied absorption in the implausible notion that there would be yet another spring, oblivious to the ending of her own days, which she knew perfectly well was near at hand, sitting there with her detailed chart under those dark skies in dying October, calmly plotting the resurrection.

        “‘Katherine was a member of the resurrection conspiracy, the company of those who plant seeds of hope under dark skies of grief or oppression, going about their living and dying until, no one knows how, when or where, the tender Easter shoots appear, and a piece of creation is healed.’" —Robert Raines

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Have mercy, my God, / for the sake of my tears! / Look here, heart and eyes / weep bitterly before You. / Have mercy, have mercy!” —translation of lyrics to "Erbarme dich mein gott" (“Have mercy, my God”) from Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” performed by Delphine Galou, contralto

¶ Word. “Act on climate change like you did on Notre-Dame, activist Greta Thunberg begs EU.” Within 24 hours some $700 million [the total is now $1 billion] has been pledged to rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. How can we provoke such bold generosity to confront climate change? —SBS News

¶ More from the young, following the March 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida. After the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, students mobilized for action, including trips to meet with legislators in Florida and, in Washington, DC, members of congress. Here is an extraordinary afterward statement by Parkland student Delaney Tarr, one of the organizers of March for Our Lives. (1:43 video)

¶ “Jesus was lynched. Holy Week’s symbols should include a cross and a noose.” —, Baptist News Global
        Which reminds me that Will Campbell once quipped, “If want to feel the true meaning of the cross, wear a miniature electric chair on your necklace.”

¶ “In the old days, on Easter night, the Russian peasants used to carry the blest fire home from church. The light would scatter and travel in all directions through the darkness, and the desolation of the night would be pierced and dispelled as lamps came on in the windows of the farm houses, one by one. Even so the glory of God sleeps everywhere, ready to blaze out unexpectedly in created things. Even so his peace and his order lie hidden in the world, even the world of today, ready to reestablish themselves in his way, in his own good time: but never without the instrumentality of free options made by free people.” —Thomas Merton

¶ Preach it. “It’s Friday But Sunday’s Coming,” a short clip (3:34) from Tony Campolo’s most famous sermon.

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. “In an eye-opening exclusive reported by CNN, it was revealed that former Aetna Medical Director, Dr. Jay Ken Iinuma, admitted under oath that ‘he never looked at patients’ records when deciding whether to approve or deny care.’ This admission was made during a deposition in a lawsuit brought against Aetna by Gillen Washington, a 23 year old with common variable immune deficiency (CVID) who was denied coverage for an infusion of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) four years ago.” —, Forbes

Right: “Christ carrying the cross” by Sadao Watanabe, Japan’s foremost Christian artist. See more of his art.

¶ Call to the table. “It was in losing the fear of death that I began to understand faith and hope. Faith is the belief that certain outcomes will happen, and hope is the belief that they can happen. The work of faith is to actively surrender to forces unseen, to acknowledge that what is desired will come about, but by means you might never know – and this is difficult. Faith will sometimes waver. . . .

        “Hope is the precursor to strategy. It powers our vision of how to bring about a desired goal, and it amplifies our efforts. I am not surrendering to luck, or a blind faith that things will just get better. I am reminded that to have faith that a world of equity and justice will emerge does not relinquish one’s role in helping it do so. This is the way to use hope: as faith’s companion, and vice versa.” —DeRay Mckesson, “‘,” Guardian

¶ The state of our disunion. “Fuzzy chicks and cut bunnies are part of the pastel pantheon of Easter décor, and their charm helps define the look of the season. . . . The key to a modern Easter look is simple, according to Kevin Sharkey, executive creative director for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia: ‘It’s about a controlled color palette.’

        “At ALLYOU.COM, find instructions for turning eggshells into tiny votive holders, nestled in silver egg cups—an elegant Easter dinner idea. Spring hues and simple style elements will take your Easter décor from sweet to sublime.” —Kim Cook, Associated Press

¶ Best one-liner. “We seek justice in the world, we fight for the flourishing of each and all, not just because we suffer with others, but because we sense the luminosity and love the loveliness.” —Mayra Rivera

¶ For the beauty of the earth. “The secret life of flowers,” short (3:46) animated video. —

¶ Altar call. “Return to your heart, O you transgressors, and hold / fast to the One who composted soul and soil alike. / Stand with the Beloved and your footing shall be / firm. Rest in the Merciful One and you shalt be / buoyed.” —continue reading “Return to your heart: Altar call for repentance and amendment”

¶ Benediction. “May Easter’s affection / spawn many children / who know / despite the trouble / the toil / the rubble strewn soil / the way of the cross leads home.” —Easter blessing by Ken Sehested

¶ Recessional. “Ain’t No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down),” A Southern Gospel Revival & Jamie Wilson.

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. Confronting white supremacy with Easter’s announcement: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any who fear God and does what is right is acceptable to God.” —the Apostle Peter, Acts 10

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” —the Apostle Peter, upon his arrest by the Temple police, Acts 5:27-32

¶ Just for fun. Think of this brief (1:32) video as analogous to the early disciples’ (and ours) stumbling, bumbling efforts to understand our mission. (Thanks Linda.)

¶ And before we go, a wee bit of bragging—prayer&politiks won two writing awards from the Associated Church Press (for material published in 2018): “He desired a better country: A remembrance of David McReynolds,”  and “Getting soaked: A meditation on the recovery of baptismal integrity.”

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Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Jesus wasn’t lynched because he talked about getting right with God”

• “Earth Day – The link between Easter and Pentecost”

• Earth Day resources from prayer&politiks for local congregations

• “Return to your heart: Altar call for repentance and amendment”

Right: Each of the three “Rose Windows” (this one the "North") in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris were among the art objects rescued from the fire. More than a billion dollars has already been raised to rebuild the 13th century church building.

©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.