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Signs of the Times  •  20 December 2017 •  No. 148

¶ Processional. “Mary,” Take 6 (an arrangement of “O Mary Don’t You Weep).

Above: Two mudskippers on tidal mudflat in Krabi, Thailand. Photo by Daniel Trim. For more humorous photos from nature see “The Comedy Wildlife Photograpy Awards” page.

¶ Invocation. “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and
bring glad tidings of good things.” (Isaiah 52:7) —"How Beautiful Are the Feet," G.F. Handel, sung by Jane Siberry

¶ Call to worship. “Regardless of the season’s shivering news, / the frost’s falling weight, / the bare naked limbs, / or the predator’s stalk, / lean in to this night’s forlorn silence, / and train your ears for the portent / of angel-winged rustle.” —continue reading “Silent night,” an Advent poem

¶ Hymn of praise. “Psalm 96: Chantez a Dieu, chanson nouvelle” (“Praise to the Lord a New Song”), by Jan Pieterszoon, performed by Kairos: A consort of singers.” (Thanks Roy.)

¶ Confession. Much religious piety (especially at Yuletide) parallels this Dennis the Menace cartoon. Standing next to a mall Santa, Dennis asks, “How good do I have to be to get what I want for Christmas?”

Left: This conspicuous statue of Dominican Friar Antonio Montesinos, which stands over the port of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is about 50 foot tall. It is in honor Montesinos’ prophetic challenge in 1511 of Spanish authorities’ treatment of indigeneous people on the island of Hispañola, modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Mexican government donated the work, by celebrated sculptor Antonio Castellanos Basich, to the Dominican people in 1982.

¶ Saint for the fourth Sunday of Advent.  Dominican friar Antonio Montesinos’ name is not widely known. It should be.
        It was the fourth Sunday in Advent, 21 December 1511. Montesinos and his Spanish friar companions, earlier sent as missionaries to the island of Hispañola (modern-day Haiti and The Dominican Republic), were deeply troubled to hear of the conquistadors’ brutal treatment of the indigenous Taino people in the land. The friars asked Montesinos to speak out in a sermon.
        “Montesinos’ text for the day was that clarion call from John the Baptizer, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness” (Matthew 3:3). This voice, Montesinos declared to the gathered colonial authorities, is that “all of you are in mortal sin and you live and die in it due to the cruelty and tyranny which you practice with this innocent people.  Tell me by what right and with what justice do you hold these Indians in such horrible servitude?  With what authority have you waged such detestable war, bringing havoc and death never before seen on these people who were living peacefully and calmly on their lands?” —continue reading “Saint for the fourth Sunday of Advent: The story of Dominican Friar Antonio Montesinos’ dramatic call to repentance for Spanish brutal treatment of indigenous peoples on the island of Española”

¶ For more background on Montesino.

        • Christopher Minster’s “Antonio de Montesinos,” ThoughtCo

        • English translation of Montesinos’ historic sermon. —Digital History

        • Brief (2:01) audio excerpt of his sermon translated into English.

        • Brief (3:24) audio reenactment in Spanish of his sermon.

¶ Hymn of supplication. “Holy,” from the Trinity Entertainment Group's production of Langston Hughes’ play, “Black Nativity.”

¶ Words of assurance. “Beneath the soil of grayed days and / clouded sighs lies the Promised Seed whose / reach through trampled ground and bloodied / debris awaits the thaw of clawed hands and / brittle feet. Blessed Assurance, however / embattled, shall not forever be constrained.” —continue reading “Grayed days and clouded sights,” a poem for a hospital-bound friend on New Year’s Eve

¶ Mull for a moment the graphic at right, listing 27 highly-profitable companies (note that the numbers are in millions) which paid no federal income tax. In fact, each of these received a tax rebate from the IRS (meaning, from you and me). Several things to ponder:

        • The reason these companies get public support is because of tax law loopholes designed to broadly share the cost of certain economic practices for the good of the whole community.

        • This sharing is called socialism. That’s right, the US government—just like (on much smaller scale) your family and mine—practices socialism. Parents care for children, even though they don’t “add value” to family fortunes. Sometimes, too, children care for parents. And no one keeps score as to who owes what to whom.

        • Why? Because we all know market forces can be brutal. It’s true that the free reign of capital is economically generative. But not all growths are good. Cancer is an obvious example; pollution is another.

        • But, you may say, isn’t it true that nearly half of US households pay no federal income tax? Yes, about 44%. Three-fourths of those are the elderly and lower-income families with children. The rest are among the poorest in the land. This doesn’t mean they pay no taxes. All workers pay Social Security and Medicare taxes (again, socialism), not to mention a host of local and state taxes.

        • Our elected representatives have agreed, in certain instances, that targeting benefits to a few enhances the well-being of the whole. It wasn’t Karl Marx who said, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be required” (Luke 12:48).

        • In my state (and in others), Duke Energy, the largest electric utility company in the nation, wants consumers—instead of shareholders, who have profited from the company’s earnings—to bear the cost of securing millions of tons of highly toxic coal ash waste dumps, accumulated over decades, which threaten public health. Examples like this (and they are countless) are why some say that in the US we have socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.

        • Now ponder this conclusion: The tax reform law just approved by Congress will mean the list of wealthy companies who pay no income taxes will multiply in the years to come. And the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader have both said the next big thing on their legislative agenda is cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and what little remains of our social safety net. And all the while they will yell DEFICITS! DEFICITS!, hoping the majority forget their role in creating such debt.

¶ Hymn of intercession. “The First Noel,” performed by the children of Public School 22 Chorus, Staten Island, NY, and Leslie Odom Jr.—for those who enjoy watching singers as well as listening.

¶ Catch next week's PBS special, "The Sultan and the Saint.” “A moment in time that has been captured in art has now been captured on film and could hold a powerful lesson for us today. The encounter in 1219 between St. Francis of Assisi and Malek al-Kamil, the sultan of Egypt, during yet another flashpoint in the long history of the Crusades has been made into a documentary. "The Sultan and the Saint" will get its nationwide premiere Dec. 26 on PBS. Check local listings for dates and times. (Thanks Jim.) —Mark Pattison, America

¶ The source of much bogus religious piety. Dennis the Menace cartoon setting: Dennis asks the mall Santa, “How good do I have to be to get what I want for Christmas?”

¶ Preach it. “The Christmas story starts with an imperial decree signed by Caesar Augustus. As I was watching President Trump’s address [6 December, recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the US embassy there], I could not help but think of the so-called Balfour Declaration signed 100 years ago when the British empire promised Palestine to the European Jews as their national homeland. Trump’s address was indeed another such imperial decree. . . . Again and again we, the Palestinian people, are sacrificed at the altar for imperial politics. . . .” —Dr. Mitri Rabeb, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem. Read his entire statement.

¶ The state of our disunion. “The war on Christmas is over and will soon be replaced by the war with North Korea.” —Alec Baldwin, in his Donald Trump persona on Saturday Night Live

¶ Best one-liner (satire alert). “In response to US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, the Palestinian National Authority has announced that it will recognize Texas as a state of Mexico since it was violently annexed by the United States in the 1840s.” —Alex Huntley, thebeaverton

Left: Remembering the context of Christmas. Despite the rocket attack that collapsed its roof, this time last year St. Elias Cathedral in Aleppo, Syria, hosted its first Christmas mass in five years. APF Getty image.

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. “When a group of Cub Scouts met with a Colorado state senator this month, they asked her about some of the most controversial topics in the nation: gun control, the environment, race and the proposed border wall between the United States and Mexico.” One of them was Ames Mayfield, 11, from Broomfield, Colo, who asked State Senator Vicki Marble, why she would not support “common-sense gun laws.

        “‘I was shocked that you co-sponsored a bill to allow domestic violence offenders to continue to own a gun. . . . Why on earth would you want somebody who beats their wife to have access to a gun?” Five days later Ames’ mom was told by his den leader that Ames was no longer welcomed in the group, saying gun control is too politically charged.” —Christine Hauser, New York Times

¶ Call to the table. “O saving Victim [Sacrifice], opening wide / The gate of Heaven to us below; / Our foes press hard on every side; / Thine aid supply; thy strength bestow.” —translated lyrics to “O Salutaris Hostia,” a section of one of the Eucharistic hymns written by St Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century for the Feast of Corpus Christi, performed by the Trinity College Choir, Cambridge, UK

¶ If it’s been a while since you heard the story of how the Christmas carol “Silent Night” brought a brief pause during World War I, watch “1914: A Christmas to remember” (3:38 video).

¶ For the beauty of the earth. Closeup photographs of snowflakes, each a piece of majestic art. (1:13 video. Thanks Abigail.)

¶ No single word, in any language, can capture the meaning of the incarnation—of the birth of Jesus and the larger redemptive purposes of God. But of all the words used in Scripture to indicate the purposes of God and the mission of Jesus, “peace” is surely among the most prominent. What follows is a collection of relevant texts. —continue reading “Prince of Peace: The birth of Jesus and the purposes of God: A collection of texts”

¶ Altar call. Few texts are more common this time of year than Isaiah’s prophecy, “For unto us a child is born. . . .” (9:6). Few, however hear the premise of this promise, in v. 5: “For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.”

¶ Benediction. “The angel breaks with Heaven’s hail! / from Joy’s horizon on every weary heart, / amid that unruly, precarious land beyond / where cheery sentiment stalls and merry, / bright roads end. Now, in terrain beyond all / mapping, the adventure begins.” —continue reading “Emancipation is (still) coming,” written against the backdrop of New Year's Eve services, 1862, when African Americans gathered to await news of US President Abraham Lincoln's promised "Emancipation Proclamation

¶ Recessional. “El cant dels ocells” (“The Song of the Birds,” which sing in the sky “Peace, peace, peace”), by Pablo Casals.
        In October 1971 Casals was awarded the United Nations Peace Prize “for his lifelong commitment to peace and the rights of all people. For the occasion, the ninety-four-year-old Casals performed "El can dels ocells," a traditional Catalan Christmas carol. It tells of nature's joy at learning of the birth of Jesus Christ in a stable in Bethlehem. After his self-exile in 1938 to protest the fascist regime of Francisco Franco, Casals would end concerts with this piece in tribute to the people of his country.” —Colin Field, The Plough

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. “Open your mouths, oh people of praise. Unchain your lungs and unleash your lips. / Let joyful noise erupt from every muted tongue, thankful hymns from every muffled mouth. / Compose a new song for the Chorister of Heaven. A cappella or symphonic, let the sound rise like leaven. / Whether big band or bluegrass or rhythm and blues.” —continue reading “Big band or bluegrass,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 98

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “Sister Anna. Last-named prophet in Holy Writ, more / likely listed among household property and livestock. / When did your Temple-dwelling vocation begin? /  sustained your twenty-four-seven vigil / for all those years? / Anna, school us in the habits / of vigilant perseverance.” —continue reading “Sister Anna,” a litany for worship inspired by the Prophetess Anna, Luke 2:22-40

¶ Just for fun (and back by popular demand). “Christmas According to Kids,” children telling the Christmas story, conveyed by a homegrown video from the folk at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky.

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Saint for the fourth Sunday of Advent: The story of Dominican Friar Antonio Montesinos’ dramatic call to repentance for Spanish brutal treatment of indigenous peoples on the island of Española”

• “Prince of Peace: The birth of Jesus and the purposes of God: A collection of texts”

• “Sister Anna,” a litany for worship inspired by the Prophetess Anna, Luke 2:22-40

• Planning a “Watch Night” service on New Year’s Eve? See “Watch night history: Awaiting the quelling word,” written against the backdrop of New Year's Eve services, 1862, when African Americans gathered to await news of US President Abraham Lincoln's promised "Emancipation Proclamation."

©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 “prayer&politiks.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  •  13 December 2017 •  No. 147

¶ Processional. “Prepare the Way,” Jaques Berthier, performed by the Choir of Grace Luther Church, River Forest, Illinois.

Above: Wildfire approaching Springs of Life Church in Casitas Springs, California. AP photo/Noah Berger.

Special issue
MARY'S MAGNIFICAT

¶ Invocation. “We are waiting . . . waiting for that Gloria in Excelsis Deo." —The Many, which is offering their new “Advent & Christmas” album for free download.

¶ Call to worship. “My soul magnifies you, O Lord, and my spirit rejoices in your Saving Presence. / Everything in me comes alive when you look in my direction. . . . / Your power is sufficient to baffle the aims of the arrogant. Imperial might trembles at the sound of your approach; but the prison yards and the sweatshops and the slaughterhouses erupt in jubilation!” —continue reading “My soul magnifies you: A contemporary midrash on the Magnificat, inspired by Luke 1:46-55”

¶ Hymn of praise. “Canticle of the Turning” is an exposition of Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55. Written by Rory Cooney, using a traditional Irish tune, this version is performed by Woven Image

My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great,
And my spirit sings of the wondrous things that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight and my weakness you did not spurn,
So from east to west shall my name be blessed.  Could the world be about to turn?

¶ Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, began at sundown last night and goes until sundown Wednesday 20 December. For more background see “My Jewish Learning.”

¶ Hanukkah hymn. “Light One Candle,” Peter, Paul & Mary.

¶ “If Mary had appeared in Bethlehem clothed, as St. John says, with the sun, a crown of twelve stars on her head, and the moon under her feet, then people would have fought to make room for her. But that was not God’s way for her, nor is it Christ’s way for himself, now when he is disguised under every type of humanity that treads the earth.” —Dorothy Day

¶ Confession. “Upon studying ‘The Coronation of the Virgin,’ a triptych altarpiece by the 16th century German painter Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder: ‘Yet Mary’s face betrays no exultation. She is practicing custody of the eyes, a way of seeing which instills trust, whatever the cross or crown may be. ‘I do not ask to see / The distant scene—one step enough for me.’ [quoting Newman] Could we believe enough, could we trust, could we let works like this altarpiece seep into our consciousness, surely it would dissolve our worries—at least for a time.” —Carol Zaleski

¶ Mary, the mother of Jesus, has always played a large part in the lives of many Christians. Life magazine once estimated the prayer “Hail Mary” is said two billion times every day. In the Orthodox tradition, her birthday is one of 12 “Great Feasts” on the church’s liturgical calendar.

        • Each year five to ten million people make a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City; many others visit Marian sites elsewhere in the world. This saint is prayed to as advocate and helper, and even in the sports area there is a reference to her power: the last desperate pass by a losing football team is called a "Hail Mary."

        • Mary’s “Magnificat” (Latin for “[My soul] magnifies”), also known as Mary’s Song, is the powerful canticle she speaks when visiting her cousin Elizabath, recorded in Luke 1:46-55. It has frequently been considered too subversive for public reading.

        • When the evangelical Anglican missionary Henry Martyn went out to Calcutta as chaplain to the East India Company in 1805, he was appalled to discover that the British authorities had banned the recitation of the Magnificat at Evensong. On the final day of British rule in India in 1947, Mahatma Gandhi, who was not a Christian, requested that this song be read in all places where the British flag was being lowered.

        • After Chilean dictator General Augustine Pinochet came to power in a 1973 military coup, he banned the Magnificat as a public prayer.

        • The Magnificat’s prophetic speech was banned in the mid 1970s in Argentina after the Mothers of the Disappeared used it to call for nonviolent resistance to the military junta.

        • During the 1980s, the government of Guatemala found the ideas raised by Mary’s proclamation of God’s special concern for the poor to be so dangerous and revolutionary that the government banned any public recitation of Mary’s words.

*Sources for the above: Bonnie Jensen, “We Sing Mary’s Song,” World and World  Elizabeth Johnson, Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints; John Dear, Mary of Nazareth, Prophet of Peace; Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, “Birthday of Mary, the Mother of Jesus”; Craig Greenfield, “Here’s what you need to know about the REAL war on Christmas” ; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, quote from The Mystery of Holy Night, a compilation of Bonhoeffer’s sermons and writings on Christmas; Dan Clendenin, “The Subversive Song of the Mother of God: Mary's Magnificat,” in The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself

Left: "Hail Mary," Meinrad Craighead

¶ “It is hard for me to imagine a ‘sweet baby Jesus, no crying he makes.’ What I see is blood-soaking straw where Mary lay, probably wanting to die if not actually near death, and Joseph nearly beside himself both with paternal concern, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, wondering how in the world he was going to explain this illegitimate child to the family back home. And then because of the threat from Herod’s death squads, loading Mary and baby Jesus back on the donkey for a midnight escape through the desert to Egypt.” —continue reading “The Manger’s Revolt,” a sermon on Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55

¶ Hymn of supplication. “Canticle of the Turning”

Though I am small, my God, my all, you work great things in me
And your mercy will last from the depths of the past to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame and to those who would for you yearn,
You will show your might, put the strong to flight, for the world is about to turn.

¶ Words of assurance. “Any exegesis is fruitless that attempts to tone down what Mary’s song tells us about preferential love of God for the lowly and the abused, and about the transformation of history that God’s loving will implies.” —Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutierrez

¶ Professing our faith. “At first glance, through modernity’s eyes, Mary’s encounter with the angel’s natal announcement—and her annunciating response—appears to be a form of self-subjugation.

        “Is Luke’s story a case of a colonized mind? Did she actively concede to her own binding and bonding? Should we insist on a more assertive, individuated figure to front the Christmas story?

        “I, for one, think not.

        “Does the manger’s straw have a ghost of a chance against sharpened steel? Can there be any lingering question about the dominance of shock and awe’s rule?

        “I, for one, think so. . . .” —continue reading “The renewing significance of Mary’s Magnificat,” an essay

¶ Hymn of intercession. “When I find myself in times of trouble / Mother Mary comes to me / Speaking words of wisdom / Let it be / And in my hour of darkness / She is standing right in front of me / Speaking words of wisdom / Let it be / And when the broken-hearted people / Living in the world agree / There will be an answer / Let it be.” —The Beatles, “Let It Be”

¶ “Then [Mary] conceived him; and withdrew with him to a remote place. ‏And the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this, and had been a thing quite forgotten! ‏So a voice came to her from beneath her: Grieve not, surely thy Lord has provided a stream beneath thee. ‏ And shake towards thee the trunk of the palm-tree, it will drop on thee fresh ripe dates. ‏So eat and drink and cool the eye.” —Qur'an 19:22-26

¶ Hymn of prophecy. “Canticle of the Turning”

From the halls of power to the fortress tower, not a stone will be left on stone
Let the king beware for your justice tears every tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more, for the food they can never earn;
There are tables spread, every mouth be fed, for the world is about to turn.

¶ Preach it. “It’s time to put Herod back in Christmas.  Not because we need any more Herods, but because it reveals that the sweet manger was placed in the midst of grave danger.” —continue reading Nancy Hastings Sehested’s “All’s wild with the world: A sermon on Mary’s Magnificat”

¶ “We are all meant to be mothers of god. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to [God’s] Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and my culture. This then is the fullness of time: When the Son of God is begotten in us.” —Meister Eckhart

¶ Call to the table. ““Oh, Sweet Deliverer, fruit of Mary’s annunciation, / troubler of worlds and troubadour of heaven’s fidelity, / whose call to the table gathers the lame and binds / every shame with the promise of feast for the lost, / for the least, for the last, and all willing / to sing the angels’ insurrectionary song.” —continue reading “The Manger’s Reach,” a poem for Advent

¶ Satire alert. The Supreme Court has ruled that there cannot be a live Nativity Scene on Capitol Hill this Christmas Season. This is not for any religious reason, they simply have not been able to find three wise men in the Nation's capitol. The search for a virgin also continues. There was, however, no problem finding enough asses to fill the stable. —from the internet (thanks Heidi)

¶ Altar call. “The song of Mary is the oldest Advent hymn. It is at once the most passionate, the wildest, one might even say the most revolutionary Advent hymn ever sung. This is not the gentle, tender, dreamy Mary whom we sometimes see in paintings; this is the passionate, surrendered, proud, enthusiastic Mary who speaks out here. . . . This song . . . is a hard, strong, inexorable song about collapsing thrones and humbled lords of this world, about the power of God and the powerlessness of humankind.” —German theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer

¶ Benediction. “If / you want, / the Virgin will come walking down the road / pregnant with the holy, / and say, / ‘I need shelter for the night, please take me inside your heart, / my time is so close.’ / Then, under the roof of your soul, you will witness the sublime / intimacy, the divine, the Christ / taking birth / forever, / as she grasps your hand for help, for each of us / is the midwife of God, each of us.” —St. John of the Cross

Left: "Our Lady Mother of Ferguson and All Those Killed by Gun Violence" icon by Mark Dukes

¶ Recessional. “Canticle of the Turning”

Though the nations rage from age to age, we remember who holds us fast;
God’s mercy shall deliver us from the conqueror’s crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard is the promise which holds us bound,
Till the spear and rod can be quelled by God who is turning the world around.

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. “Do not say with your lips, ‘The Spirit of the Lord! The Spirit of the Lord!’ when your hearts are shackled in fear, enslaved to security. / The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed. / Anointed you for what?! Have you grown confused by the barking of market reports? / By the demands of national security? By your 401K addiction?”  —continue reading “Anointed,” a litany for worship inspired by Isaiah 61:1-4 and Luke 4:18

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “Open your mouths, oh people of praise. Unchain your lungs and unleash your lips. / Let joyful noise erupt from every muted tongue, thankful hymns from every muffled mouth. / Compose a new song for the Chorister of Heaven. A cappella or symphonic, let the sound rise like leaven. / Whether big band or bluegrass or rhythm and blues.” —continue reading “Big band or bluegrass,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 98

¶ Just for fun. “If you were a sibling of Jesus,” Michael Jr. (Thanks Kyle.)

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “My soul magnifies you: A contemporary midrash on the Magnificat, inspired by Luke 1:46-55”

• “All’s wild with the world: A sermon on Mary’s Magnificat,” by Nancy Hastings Sehested

• “Annunciation,” Mary’s song of praise, inspired by Luke 1:46-55

• “The renewing significance of Mary’s Magnificant”

• “The Manger’s Reach,” a poem for Advent

• “The Manger’s Revolt,” a sermon on Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55

 
Other features

• Planning a “Watch Night” service on New Year’s Eve? See Ken Sehested’s “Watch night history: Awaiting the quelling word,” written against the backdrop of New Year's Eve services, 1862, when African Americans gathered to await news of US President Abraham Lincoln's promised "Emancipation Proclamation."
• “Silent night,” a new Advent poem
• “Advent & Christmas resources for worship: Litanies, poems, sermons & articles”
 

©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 “prayer&politiks.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  •  6 December 2017 •  No. 146

¶ Processional. “All God's creatures got a place in the choir / Some sing low and some sing higher, / Some sing out loud on a telephone wire, / Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now.” —Makem & Clancy, “A Place in the Choir”

Above: The Anasazi Family rock formations in Bears Ears National Monument, Utah. (Alamy Stock Photo) This week President Trump dramatically reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, which opens the land for commercial exploitation, particularly by fossil fuel companies.

Introduction
COMMEMORATING THE
75TH ANNIVERSARY OF KOINONIA FARM

Given the stampede of urgent, breaking news in recent weeks, we neglected to mark the extraordinary 75th anniversary of Koinonia Farm in Sumter County, Georgia. The farm was envisioned and launched by two couples—Florence and Clarence Jordan (see their photo below), Mabel and Martin England—who, inspired by the Acts account of the early church, committed themselves to create a “demonstration plot” for the kingdom of God. Clarence Jordan’s writing have been a sustaining inspiration for many, especially those of us with southern-flavored small-b baptist inclinations.

        The community’s name is the Greek word used to describe the early Jerusalem based Jewish-Christian community’s solidarity, including practice of the common purse. (Clarence had degrees both in agriculture and New Testament Greek.) Keep in mind that its use in the larger Greek culture, “koinonia” had a more concrete and sturdier meaning than the word “fellowship” connotes. Its usage included what business partners do when joining assets, each accepting both the costs and rewards of the venture.

        Clarence and Martin moved into a dilapidated farmhouse, surrounded by exhausted land, in November 1942, renovating the structure so that Florence and Mabel could join them. To mark the Farm’s ongoing legacy, selected quotes from Clarence’s writing are scattered throughout this issue of “Signs of the Times,” and a few resources for further background are noted.

¶ Invocation. “God is not in his heaven and all's well on the earth. He is on this earth and all hell's broke loose!” —Clarence Jordan

¶ Feast Day of St. Nicholas – 6 December. For more, see “Who’s St. Nicholas: Tracing Santa Claus’ history to a fourth century saint,” Colleen Kelly, Knowledge News

¶ The “war on Christmas” actually started nearly 400 years ago when Puritans banned it in Boston, charging it was an unholy pagan holiday. —for more, see Petula Dvorak, Washington Post

¶ Call to worship. “They who have an unsatisfied appetite for the right are God’s people, for they will be given plenty to chew on.” —from Clarence Jordan’s paraphrase of the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:1-12, in “Cotton Patch Gospel: Matthew & John”

¶ Good news. “While the federal government hits the gas on fossil fuels, states are speeding ahead to develop renewable energy—and reaching new milestones.” Only it may not be the states you suspect. “The state that produces the most renewable energy in terms of sheer quantity? It's Texas. The states that generate the largest portion of their power from renewables: Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and the Dakotas.” —Irina Ivanova, “The future of renewable energy is in Texas,” CBSNews Moneywatch

¶ Hymn of praise. “Ndikhokhele Bawo” (“Lead Me, O Father”), sung in Xhosa by the Mzansi Youth Choir.

¶ In an act of opposition to the Republican tax reform bill, 12 Christians were arrested (pictured at left) Thursday, 30 November, in Hart Senate Office Building while reading 2000 verses from the Bible that speak of God’s special concern for the poor. Watch this 2:55 video from the event. —Photo by Heidi Thompson. For more background, see Jack Kenkins, “Faith leaders arrested as major religious groups rally against the GOP tax reform bill,” ThinkProgress.

¶ Short story. “In 1929 [Jordan] enrolled in the Georgia State College of Agriculture in Athens. There, he joined the ROTC. On a summer day in 1933, just days from being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Calvary, he sat on a black horse, pistol in one hand an saber in the other. He had been memorizing passages of Scripture, focusing on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. When his turn came to gallop through the woods, stabbing and shooting at straw and cardboard dummies, the verse ‘But I say unto you, love your enemies . . .’ (Matt. 5:44) kept repeating itself in his mind. Before the drill was over, the Sermon on the Mount urged Clarence off his mount. He walked over to the commanding officer and announced that he was resigning his commission.” —Joyce Hollyday, "Clarence Jordan: Essential Writings"

¶ Confession. [Clarence Jordan] once said to a pastor who had just proudly pointed out the modern $10,000 cross atop a new church that he had been cheated on that price.  "Time was when Christians could get those crosses for free."

¶ Hymn of supplication. “We live in a world  / Of trials and tribulations / People filled / With hatred everywhere / So we bow our heads / And we raise our voices / Offer our petition  / In this prayer / Peace come stealing slow / Fall like silent snow / Swing down sweet and low / Peace come stealing slow.” —Kate Campbell, “Peace Comes Stealing Slow”

¶ The Sermon on the Mount was not a sermon at all, Clarence taught, but the platform of the God Movement. “Its purpose was not to evoke inspiration but perspiration."

¶ Words of assurance. “It is your path I walk / It is your song I sing  / It is your load I take on  / It is your air that I breathe  / It's the record you set  / That makes me go on  / It's your strength that helps me stand  / You're not really  / You're not really going to leave me.” —Michael Callen with Cris Williamson and Holly Near, “They Are Falling All Around Me”

¶ Professing our faith. “I don't think a Christian is worth his salt who has not been called a Communist today. Trying to refute that epithet is about like running for your birth certificate when someone calls you an s.o.b.” —Clarence Jordan

¶ “There just isn't any word in our vocabulary which adequately translates the Greek word for ‘crucifixion.’ Our crosses are so shined, so polished, so respectable that to be impaled on one of them would seem to be a blessed experience. We have thus emptied the term ‘crucifixion’ of its original content of terrific emotion, of violence, of indignity and stigma, of defeat. I have translated it as ‘lynching.’” —Clarence Jordan

¶ Hymn of intercession. “The darkest hour is just before dawn  / The narrow way leads home  / Lay down your soul at Jesus' feet  / The darkest hour is just before dawn.” —Emmylou Harris, "Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn"

¶ Short take. At the peak of controversy surrounding Koinonia Farm, in 1957, a delegation of folk from Americus, Ga., implored the community to go elsewhere. One member of the Sumter Country Chamber of Commerce said:
        “Unfortunately your experiment has not [made brotherly love in the community]. It has set brother against brother; it has created bitterness; it has created hatred; it has created every emotion that is contrary to my concept of Christianity.
        “We want to appeal to your good judgment to pray over it and think over it and see if you don’t think you’ll be serving the best interests of the community and certainly the best interests of your Lord to move and leave us in peace.”

¶ Nevertheless. “In 2009 the Sumter County-Americus Chamber of Commerce presented Koinonia with the Agri-business of the Year Award; and the Americus Mayor and City Council voted unanimously to place Clarence Jordan’s name on the Walk of Fame in downtown Americus for “his outstanding contributions to civil rights and the founding of Koinonia Farm.” —from the “Koinonia Farm Chronicle,” Fall 2009

¶ When only the blues will do. “Blues for Christmas,” John Lee Hooker.

¶ Preach it. “"The dove doesn't roost on a person who is scared to get hurt. If you want to share the life of Christ, you should be prepared for the suffering of Christ." —Clarence Jordan

¶ The state of our disunion. Washington’s subway banned a civil liberties group’s ad consisting entirely of the text of the First Amendment, which ostensibly violated the rule against ads “intended to influence members of the public regarding an issue on which there are varying opinions.” —ACLU

¶ Call to the table. “The Good News of the resurrection is not that we shall die and go home with [Jesus] but that he is risen and comes home with us, bringing all his hungry, naked, thirsty, sick, prisoner brothers with him." —Clarence Jordan

¶ Best one-liner. "We'll worship the hind legs off Jesus, but never do a thing he says." —Clarence Jordan

¶ For the beauty of the earth. “Paul Stamets spent his live exploring fungi, their role in enriching the forest soil with nutrients and ultimately in helping our home planet defend itself against us humans. Unfortunately, unless we learn to communicate with Mother Nature and stop killing Her, all of this won’t be enough.” Watch this extraordinary time lapse video (2:24) of mushrooms growing in the forest.

¶ Altar call. “The proof that God raised Jesus from the dead is not the empty tomb, but the full hearts of his transformed disciples. The crowning evidence that he lives is not a vacant grave, but a spirit-filled fellowship. Not a rolled-away stone, but a carried-away church.” —Clarence Jordan

¶ Can’t make this sh*t up. The US Supreme Court is currently deliberating what is considered a significant religious liberty case: Of whether a baker can, on the grounds religious conviction, refuse to create a cake for a same-sex wedding. At the same time, President Trump is dramatically scaling back protected status for two areas in Utah considered sacred land by Native American nations.

¶ “On a brisk October in 1969 [at the age of 57], sitting in his writing shack where he penned his cotton patch translation, Jordan succumbed to a heart attack. He was treat in death as in life—reviled by his enemies and tenderly loved by his family and friends. The coroner refused to come to the farm, so Millard Fuller drove Clarence’s body to town in a station wagon. The body was placed in a cedar crate, of the kind used to ship fancy coffins.” He was buried in an unmarked grave on a hill where the Koinonia community shared picnics. —Joyce Hollyday, "Clarence Jordan: Essential Writings"

¶ Benediction. “Faith is not belief in spite of the evidence. Faith is life lived in scorn of the consequences.” —Clarence Jordan

¶ Recessional. “Muiñeira de Chantada,” Carlos Nuñez & The Chieftains.

Left: "Life and Miracles of Saint Nicholas," painting by Alexander Boguslawski

¶ Resources to learn more about Clarence Jordan and Koinonia Farm

       • Listen as Clarence Jordan (in his downy-soft Georgia accent) tells the story of Koinonia Farm (46:10).

       • Watch this short (4:19) video, “Clarence Jordan: Legacy of Faith.”

       • Rent or buy the PBS documentary, “Briars in the Cottonpatch: The Story of Koinonia Farm”

       • Jordan’s “Cotton Patch” paraphrases of several New Testament books are still available online.

       • Dallas Lee’s The Cotton Patch Evidence: The Story of Clarence Jordan and the Koinonia Farm Experiment is packed full of wonderful anecdotes and short stories.

       • For an essay-length biographical sketch of Jordan’s life, plus a collection of some of the best of his writings, see Joyce Hollyday, Clarence Jordan: Essential Writings.

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. “To what wilderness have you strayed, oh people of the Way? To what distraction have you tuned your ears? Have you not heard? To what diversion have you loaned your eyes? Have you not seen? Oh people of Mercy: Sing chords of comfort to worried minds, tender songs to wounded hearts. Raise a song of gladness!” —continue reading “Chords of Comfort,” a litany inspired by Isaiah 40

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “Do not say with your lips, ‘The Spirit of the Lord! The Spirit of the Lord!’ when your hearts are shackled in fear, enslaved to security. / The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed. / Anointed you for what?! Have you grown confused by the barking of market reports? / By the demands of national security? By your 401K addiction?”  —continue reading “Anointed,” a litany for worship inspired by Isaiah 61:1-4 and Luke 4:18

¶ Just for fun. Mr. Bean directs the Christmas orchestra. (2:22)

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Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Who’s St. Nicholas: Tracing Santa Claus’ history to a fourth century saint,” by Colleen Kelly

• “Silent night,” a new Advent poem

• “Advent & Christmas resources for worship: Litanies, poems, sermons & articles”
 
Other features

• “The greedification of tax policy is a sign of spiritual impoverishment”

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