Signs of the Times  •  2 February 2017  •  No. 107

¶ Processional. Karim Sulayman stood blindfolded on a New York City sidewalk, with a sign saying what his fears were, inviting people to react: “I trust you.” (3:14 video, with Sinead O’Connor’s “In This Heart” song performed by Sulayman)

Above: Apostle Island National Park, Wisconsin

¶ Invocation. “Todos Somos Ilegales (We Are All Illegals),” Residente, Tom Morello & Chad Smith.

¶ Call to worship. “Listen, O people of the Way, and take note. Your ancestors were once illegal aliens. Boat people, all of you, undocumented immigrants. / Strangers we were, with no stake in the Promise; hopeless, helpless, beggarly-born. / Guest worker, day laborer, field hand, dark tan. Stay away from traffic stops—or disappear in a police van. / Strangers we were, with no stake in the Promise; stranded, branded, object of scorn.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “Strangers we were,” a litany for worship inspired by Ephesians 2:11-12

¶ Hope-filled news. Pictured at right: Meryem Yildirim, 7, left, sitting on the shoulders of her dad, Fatih, of Schaumburg, and Adin Bendat-Appell, 9, on the shoulders of his dad, Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Apell, of Deerfield, during a protest at O'Hare International Airport on Jan 30, 2017. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune) —for more see Vikki Ortiz Healy, “The story behind the viral photo of Muslim and Jewish children protesting at O’Hare,” Chicago Tribune

¶ “WHERE, many have asked these last weeks, do the rhetorical fireballs—the raging suspicion and rabid xenophobia—come from? Barring people from our shores, [Speaker of the House] Paul Ryan reminds us, is ‘not what this country stands for.’ Emma Lazarus would have agreed. But while the demonizing may sound un-American, it happens also to be ur-American [present from the beginning]. Well before Japanese internment camps, before the Know-Nothing Party, before the Alien and Sedition Acts, New England drew its identity from threats to public safety. We manned the nation’s watchtowers before we were even a nation.” —Stacy Schiff, “Anger: An American History,” New York Times

¶ Hymn of praise. “Jubilate Deo” (“Be Joyful to the Lord”) by Giovanni Gabriei, performed by VOCES8.

¶ “The sickness of American politics didn’t begin with Donald Trump, any more than the sickness of the Roman Republic began with Caesar. The erosion of democratic foundations has been underway for decades, and there’s no guarantee that we will ever be able to recover. But if there is any hope of redemption, it will have to begin with a clear recognition of how bad things are. American democracy is very much on the edge.” —Paul Krugman, “How Republics End,” New York Times

Left: Refugees-La Sagrada Familia," Kelly Latimore icon

¶ Helpful perspective on a word thrown about too carelessly. Fascism, in various forms, share one core tenent: “the myth that the nation needs to be, or is about to be, resurrected . . . from the forces of decadence, which, without drastic intervention by the forces of healthy nationalism, threaten to extinguish it for ever.” —Roger Griffin, “Staging the Nation’s Rebirth: The Politics and Aesthetics of Performance in the Context of Fascist Studies” in Library of Social Science: Ideologies of War (Thanks Steve.)

¶ Highly recommended read. “When Fascism Came to America,” The Boeskool. (Thanks Alan.)

¶ “Totalitarianism appeals to the very dangerous emotional needs of people who live in complete isolation and in fear of one another.” —Hannah Arendt, interview in The New York Review of Books, 26 October 1978

¶ “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power.” —Benito Mussolini, former dictator of Italy and dubbed “the father of Fascism”

¶ President Trump’s 17 cabinet appointees [stuffed with billionaires, CEOs and generals] collectively own more wealth that the bottom one-third of US households combined. —Facebook post by Senator Bernie

¶ There’s “an uncredited New York Times article from 1938 that said, ‘When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled ‘made in Germany’; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called, of course, ‘Americanism.’ Americanism. Wrapped in a flag. Waving a cross…” —“When Fascism Comes to America,” The Boeskool

¶ Confession. “The idea of vetting Muslims didn't start with Donald Trump, or even with the 9/11 attacks. It goes back to this country's earliest days. . . . [W]hen colonists sought to unite [what is now the US], Anti-Federalists railed against the Constitution. Nothing in the new document, they fumed, would prevent a Muslim from becoming president.” —Daniel Burke, “America’s long history of ‘vetting’ Muslims,” CNN

¶ “Map of White Supremacy mob violence, 1835-1964. The lynchings and riots to enforce racial superiority in the US. The [interactive] map is part of a website created by a group called Monroe Work Today, which takes its name from an early 20th century sociologist named Monroe Nathan Work, who spent decades compiling data and statistics on lynchings.”

¶ Make no mistake—this is still a thing. “At least 13 Jewish Community Centers [JCC] were evacuated Tuesday, after the third wave of bomb threats this month was made against the religious centers. . . . On Jan. 9, 16 JCCs in nine states received threats. Nine days later, 28 centers in 17 states received threats.” —Nikita Biryukov, NBC News

Left: Signs outside the Victoria Islamic Center a day after a fire destroyed the mosque in Victoria, Tex. Photo by Mohammad Khursheed, Reuters.

¶ Good news. “A [Victoria] Texas mosque that was gutted by fire over the weekend has raised about $900,000 in donations since Saturday to go toward rebuilding, a mosque official said on Monday. . . . Some people have offered to perform carpentry work, lend their trucking services and knit new prayer rugs, while churches and a synagogue have offered space to Muslim members to pray and hold meetings, according to Dr. Shahid Hashmi. ‘Jewish community members walked into my home and gave me a key to the synagogue,’ he said. ‘Churches came and prayed with us, and people brought cash and checks.’” —Christine Hauser, New York Times

¶ Hymn of lamentation. “I come only with my punishment / There comes only my conviction / Running is my fate / In order to deceive the law / Lost in the heart / Of the great Babylon / They call me the Clandestine / 'cause I don't carry any identity papers.” [English translation]. —Manu Chao, “Clandestino”

¶ Short story. The following announcement was made this morning by Kevin Biggs, principal of Theodore Roosevelt High School, Des Moines, Iowa.

        “Please place down your pens or pencils and listen to this announcement. This weekend, much of the world’s attention was focused on an effort by the federal government to impose far-reaching restrictions on the ability of immigrants and refugees to come to the US. From protesters at airports and on the streets to lawyers and judges in courtrooms, there was a swift reaction in support of immigrants and refugees. . . .
        “For our immigrant students, especially those of you who’s home country is Iran, or Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, or Somalia…we are here to support you as this attempt to ban your family from our country is constructed by the federal government. I ask every student to stand by our friends, support them with unwavering love and empathy, and be respectful during this chaotic time. . . .” —read the entire statement (Thanks Sue.)

¶ For more background on the refugee crisis, see last week's "Strangers & aliens: Special issue on immigrants and refugees."

¶ Words of assurance. “Now the Powers of Heaven,” Moscow Sretensky Monastery Choir.

¶ “Books to Help Kids Understand What It’s Like to Be a Refugee,” Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Brightly. (Thanks Kristin.)

¶ Professing our faith. “America needs more than a strategy to win back some seats for Democrats in 2018. We need a long term plan for a moral movement that links up and fights together for a moral agenda.” —read an edited version of Rev. William Barber’s comments at the Democratic National Committee Future Forum, 27 January 2017 (Thanks Deborah.)

¶ The headline is hype, but the content is stunningly apropos to the moment. “Anheuser-Busch Just Released Their Heartbreaking Super Bowl Ad, You Must Watch This.” (Thanks Connie. Watch this 1:01 video.)

Right: Painting by Solara Shiha, Syrian refugee

¶ The power of self-censoring media. “The Wall Street Journal will stop referring to the countries subject to President Trump's travel ban as “majority-Muslim” nations after Editor in Chief Gerard Baker said that the term, used widely in the media, is ‘very loaded.’ [Baker] recently faced criticism from fellow journalists after he said he would be reluctant to authorize use of the word ‘lie’ to describe false statements made by Trump.” Media mogul and Trump booster Rupert Murdoch owns the Wall Street Journal. —Callum Borchers, Washington Post

¶ When only the blues will do. “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” ZZ Top. (Thanks Randy.)

¶ LOL satire! “Putting the nation on alert against what it has described as a ‘highly credible terrorist threat,’ the FBI announced today that it has uncovered a plot by members of al-Qaeda to sit back and enjoy themselves while the United States collapses of its own accord.” —The Onion

¶ Preach it. “All social groups establish boundaries—whether physical impediments, such as fences or borders, or symbolic and cultural lines, such as language or dietary laws. Such boundaries can be a good thing, especially when they help protect weaker people from domination by stronger people. More often, however, boundaries function . . . to shore up the privileges of the strong against the needs of the weak. It is this latter kind of boundary that characterizes the current US immigration debate.” —Ched Myers, from the introduction to “A House For All Peoples? A Bible Study On Welcoming the Outsider,” reprinted in “Radical Discipleship”

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. Among the first executive orders issued by President Trump following his inauguration was one officially declaring the day to be a “National Day of Patriotic Devotion.” —Abby Phillip, Washington Post

¶ Call to the table. “You have drunk a bitter wine / With none to be your comfort / You who once were left behind / Will be welcome at love's table.” —"By Way of Sorrow," Dar Williams, Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Shindell

¶ The state of our disunion. A quick tour of some lesser-known episodes in US history of immigrant scares, like the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Espionage Act, and Operation Wetback. —Charles Redfern, “A tour of America’s anti-immigrant dark side,” Huffington Post

¶ For the beauty (and intelligence) of the earth. Paul Stamets spent his life exploring fungi and their role in enriching the soil. A remarkable, brief video (2:24). (Thanks Bruce.)

¶ Altar call. “In This Heart,” Sinead O’Connor.

¶ Benediction. Resist, to be sure, but reaction is but one tactic within a larger proactive mission. “If you want to be effective . . . you need a firm center. That’s how you get the steadiness and poise you need to handle all the challenges that come your way. But if your politics is based on a contradiction, and always following a moving target, it will throw you off balance. You’ll feel dizzy, like you’re standing on shaky ground. . . [Don’t be consumed with] what must be prevented. Focus on what must be promoted. Focus on . . . the world you want to create for the future.” —Ira Churnus, “Moving Beyond Resistance,” CommonDreams

¶ Recessional. “Psalm of Life,” Annie Moses Band.

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “Happy are those who walk in the Way of Beauty, harnessed in the Bridle of Mercy and according to the Weal of Justice. From Creation’s Promise to Redemption’s Assurance, may Your Faithful Word leap from our lips and exclaim with our limbs. In this Law I delight! May it rule soul and soil and society alike.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “In this law I delight,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 119

Right: Art from the “Syrian Refugee Children Find Comfort in Coping with Their Grief Through Art Therapy,” Anna Gragert, My Modern Met

¶ Just for fun. Tap vs. Irish Dance. Just wow. (Thanks Abigail.)

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “In this law I delight,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 119

• Last week’s column, “Strangers & aliens: Special issue on immigrants and refugees”

• “Strangers we were,” a litany for worship inspired by Ephesians 2:11-12

• “Riff on Isaiah five-eight,” a litany for worship inspired by Isaiah 58

 
Other features

• “Out of the house of slavery,” a Bible study on immigration

• “Strangers and aliens,” a collection of biblical texts relating to immigrants

Left: Art at right from the World Refugee Art Exhibition, facilitated by the Refugee Trauma Recovery in conjunction with Wellesley College, New Zealand.

©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.

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  •  26 January 2017  •  No. 106

¶ Processional. “What good is love and peace on earth? / When it's exclusive? / Where's the truth in the written word? / If no one reads it / A new day dawning / Comes without warning / So don't blink twice / We live in troubled times.” —Green Day, “Troubled Times” (Thanks Michael.)

 

 

Strangers & aliens

Special issue on immigrants and refugees

Introduction. The age of trumphoolery has begun. Our new "America First" president has come out of the gate swinging, with executive orders severely restricting Muslim immigration, threatening deportation of undocumented residents, ordering construction of the Mexican border wall, rescinding a provision that would have lowered the cost of mortgage insurance for lower and middle class home buyers—not to mention declaring the day of his inauguration a “National Day of Patriotic Devotion.”

Right: Greenpeace activists hold an anti-Trump protest as they display a banner reading ‘Resist’ from a construction crane near the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 25, 2017. Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

        Few things in Scripture are clearer than how “strangers” and “aliens”—immigrants and refugees—are to be treated. It’s time for communities of faith to make this clear and join with other people of conscience to insist on appropriate public policies. —kls

¶ Invocation. “You shall also love the stranger [non-citizen], for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” —Deuteronomy 10:19. See “Strangers and aliens” for a collection of biblical texts relating to immigrants

¶ Call to worship. “Gracious One, who jealously guards the lives of those at every edge, we lift our heavy hearts to your Mercy. We live in a fretful land, anxious over the ebbing away of privilege, fearful that strangers are stealing our birthright, aliens breaching borders, refugees threatening security. Loud, insistent voices demand a return to ‘the rule of law.’ Speak to us of the Rule of your law, the terms of your Reign. Incline our hearts to your command.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “You shall also love the stranger,” a litany for worship using texts on immigrants

¶ “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien” (Leviticus 19:33).

¶ Good news. “First came the mayors of New York, Chicago and Seattle declaring their cities ‘sanctuaries’ and saying they will protect undocumented immigrants from President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to deport them. Then thousands of students, professors, alumni and others at elite universities signed petitions asking their schools to protect undocumented students from any executive order. Now, religious congregations, including churches and synagogues, are declaring themselves 'sanctuaries' for immigrants fleeing deportation.” —Elizabeth Evans and Yonat Shimron, “ ‘Sanctuary churches’ vow to shelter immigrants from Trump crackdown,” Religion News Service

¶ Hymn of praise. “For the wretched of the earth / There is a flame that never dies. / Even the darkest night will end / And the sun will rise. / They will live again in freedom / In the garden of the Lord. / They will walk behind the plough-share, / They will put away the sword.” —Les Miserables Finale (Thanks Thom.)

¶ “Anne Frank Today Is a Syrian Girl.” In 2005, a volunteer sorting old World War II refugee files in New York City came upon a dramatic discovery.

        “Oh my God,” she said, “this is the Anne Frank file.” Along with the letter were many others by Otto Frank, frantically seeking help to flee Nazi persecution and obtain a visa to America, Britain or Cuba—but getting nowhere because of global indifference to Jewish refugees.

Right: This 1941 cartoon by Dr. Seuss was in reaction to the fact that most Americans opposed Adolph Hitler’s anti-Jew policies while also being opposed to granting safe haven to refugee Jews.

        • The New York Times in 1938 quoted the granddaughter of President Ulysses S. Grant warning about “so-called Jewish refugees” and hinting that they were Communists “coming to this country to join the ranks of those who hate our institutions and want to overthrow them.”
        • President Obama vowed to admit into the US 10,000 Syrian refugees. [The actual total was increased to 12,000.] But that number is less than one-fifth of 1% [.0002] of the total.
        • “‘When the safety of the country is imperiled, it seems fully justifiable to resolve any possible doubts in favor of the country, rather than in favor of the aliens,’ the State Department instructed in 1941.” —Nicholas Kristof, New York Times

¶ Watch this brief clip (4:26) about Emma Lazarus, German-Jewish immigrant, who wrote the inscription on the Statue of Liberty.

¶ Christians only. President Trump’s executive order halting immigration from select Muslim-majority countries “orders the secretary of state and the secretary of homeland security to prioritize those who are persecuted members of religious minorities, effectively ensuring that Christians living in predominantly Muslim countries would be at the top of the list.” —For more, see Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Trump Blocks Syrian Refugees and Orders Mexico Border Wall To Be Built,” New York Times

Left: A Ku Klux Klan march in the 1920s in Binghamton, New York, then the Klan's state headquarters.

¶ For a summary of the tortured political history of the phrase “America First,” see Lily Rothman’s “The Long History Behind Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ Foreign Policy,” Time.

¶ Confession. “Mother, mother / There's too many of you crying / Brother, brother, brother / There's far too many of you dying / You know we've got to find a way / To bring some lovin' here today.” —Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On”

¶ "Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against . . . those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts" (Malachi 3:5).

¶ Short story. “Some of you may recall hearing the story of Manuel Jesus Cordova. While sneaking across the border from Mexico, Cordova happened to find a 9-year-old boy, Christopher Buchleitner of Rimrock, Az,, alone and injured in the desert. Christopher and his mom had been in a single-car accident when their van went over a cliff on a remote road in southern Arizona. His mother had been killed, and Christopher went looking for help. Cordova gave the boy his sweater and some chocolate and built a fire to warm the boy. It was that fire that drew the attention of the border patrol. Authorities say Christopher would likely have died had Cordova not stopped to protect him.
        “Cordova was honored for the rescue by US and Mexican officials at a border crossing station. Then he was arrested by federal agents and returned to Mexico.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “Out of the house of slavery: A Bible study on immigration”

Right: Sign at the Women's March in Portland, Maine.

¶ “Even as researchers find that the foreign-born commit fewer crimes than their native-born peers, the perception that immigrants are uniquely crime-prone permeates public and political discourse.” —Dianca E. Bersani and Alex R. Piquero, Los Angeles Times (Thanks Billie.)

¶ Words of assurance. “When God imagined me / the Trinity was in harmony / I was no afterthought, no oversight.” — Alana Levandoski “When God Imagined Me” (Thanks Lenora.)

¶ For more analysis and ideas for action

            • Sign the pledge opposing deportations. “As people of faith and people of conscience, we pledge to resist the newly elected administration’s policy proposals to target and deport millions of undocumented immigrants and discriminate against marginalized communities. We will open up our congregations and communities as sanctuary spaces for those targeted by hate, and work alongside our friends, families, and neighbors to ensure the dignity and human rights of all people.”

        • One short video (6:07), using gumballs, to clarify US humanitarian response to global immigration and poverty.

        • To find written resources, a list of local coalitions of groups working on sanctuary, visit the “Sanctuary Not Deportation” website.

        • See this concise summary, “Key points in Trump’s immigration executive orders,” Tal Kopan & Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN

        • “What Trump’s Executive Orders on Immigration Mean for Cities,” Tanvi Misra, citylab

        • “Dear President Trump and Members of Congress. As religious leaders from a variety of backgrounds, we are called by our sacred texts and faith traditions to love our neighbor, accompany the vulnerable, and welcome the sojourner. War, conflict and persecution have forced people to leave their homes, creating more refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people than at any other time in history. More than 65 million people are currently displaced–the largest number in recorded history.” —Signed by over 800 religious leaders, the Interfaith Immigration Coalition has reopened for signatures its earlier letter. Add your signature.

¶ “Strategies for Hope,” by Rev. William Barber. Best 3 minutes you’ll spend all year. You may remember Barber’s stem-winding speech at the Democratic National Convention. He’s a pastor, head of the NC NAACP and of the Moral Monday Movement. (For the video, scroll down to the second photo.)

¶ This weekend, here in my own modest-sized city (Asheville, NC), more than 120 people from 20 faith communities and eight civic groups are registered for training on providing sanctuary to the undocumented. Ours is not an uncommon story.

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Suddenly it's repression, moratorium on rights / What did they think the politics of panic would invite? / Person in the street shrugs—‘Security comes first’ / But the trouble with normal is it always gets worse.” —Bruce Cockburn, “The Trouble With Normal” (Thanks Thom.)

¶ By the numbers. Cost of Trump’s proposed Mexican border wall. The cost of building such a wall has been estimated at least $12 billion and perhaps $15 billion for a single-layer barrier. Roughly a third of the U.S.-Mexico border is currently blocked by a fence. According to an eight-year-old estimate by the Government Accountability Office, the border fence cost the government $3-$4 million a mile to build. Estimates for additional fencing—in harsher terrain—could surpass $10 million a mile." —“ ‘A Nation Without Borders Is Not a Nation’: Trump Moves Forward With US-Mexico Wall,” Bill Chappell, Tamara Keith & Merrit Kennedy, NPR

¶ Preach it. Listen to Maya Angelou recite her poem, “And Still I Rise.”

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. “Our side, the conservative side, needs to reeducate its people that we own the entire [biblical] tradition." —Representative Dave Brat (R-VA), responding to President Obama’s quoting of Scripture during a news conference in response to Republican resistance to accept Syrian refugees. —Jordan Fabian, The Hill

¶ Call to the table. “I was born to endure this kind of weather / When it's you I find like a ghost in my mind / I am defeated and I gladly wear the crown.” —First Aid Kit, “Emmylou”

¶ The state of our disunion. The US contribution to the Syrian refugee resettlement crisis is impressive at $5.1 billion. But if you calculate each contributing nation’s portion on a per capita basis, the US total represents only $16 per person. Norway, on the other hand, contributes $240 per citizen, Germany $32, the UK $26. —Kim Hjelmgaard and Valeria Criscione, USA Today

¶ For the beauty of the earth. Full moon rising over Mt. Victoria Lookout, Willington, New Zealand. (Thanks Paul. 3:45 video, accompanied by Dan Phillipson’s “Tenderness” instrumental)

Left: The Refugee Art Project

¶ “Enter the ladies.” The best biblical-theological commentary I’ve seen about the historic Women’s March on Washington (and 599 other cities in the US and around the world) is that of Rabbi Joanna Samuels, commenting on Exodus 1:8ff, “Then a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.”

¶ Altar call. “You gotta move / You gotta move / You gotta move, child / You gotta move / Oh, when the Lord gets ready / You gotta move.” —Mississippi Fred McDowell, “You Gotta Move”

¶ Benediction. You who were formerly illegal aliens and undocumented workers in Creation’s midst are no longer strangers and aliens, but members of the household of God. (Ephesians 2:19, adapted)

Right: Art on the US-Mexican border wall. Photo by Sarah Strosahl-Kagi. The writing translates the first part of a quote from Frederick Buechner: The resurrection of Jesus signifies that "the worst thing is not the last thing." [The rest of the quote: "It's the next to the last thing. The last thing is the best. It's the power from on high that comes down into the world, that wells up from the rock-bottom worst of the world like a hidden spring."]

¶ Recessional. Japanese jazz band plays “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “I’m really tired of your smells and bells and frills and thrills."
        From the hollow of the Most High thunders the complaint of Heaven against every piety peddler. Good God a’Mighty, when we say our hail marys, our thank-you-jesuses and our god-bless-americas—why don’t you tip your hat and offer a prize?!
        “Your prayer breakfasts don’t cut it, given the way you treat school teachers and ICE-hounded immigrants.” —“Riff on Isaiah five-eight,” a litany for worship inspired by Isaiah 58

¶ Just for fun. Four cellists, one instrument. Wiener Cello Ensemble playing Maurice Revel’s “Bolero.”

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “You shall also love the stranger,” a litany for worship, using texts on immigrants

• “Out of the house of slavery,” a Bible study on immigration

• “Strangers and aliens,” a collection of biblical texts relating to immigrants

•“Mamrean encounter: A meditation on the threat of refugees, the burden of strangers and the bounty of God,” a poem

• “Riff on Isaiah five-eight,” a litany for worship inspired by Isaiah 58

©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.

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 January 2017  •  No. 105

¶ Processional, in honor of this week’s women’s march in Washington, DC (and many other cities). “I can see a world where we all live / Safe and free from all oppression / No more rape or incest, or abuse / Women are not a possession / You’ve never owned me, don’t even know me / I’m not invisible, I’m simply wonderful / I feel my heart for the first time racing / I feel alive, I feel so amazing.” —Tena Clark and Tim Heintz, “Break the Chain”

Above: photo by Peter Holme III

¶ Invocation. “Sleep, sleep tonight / And may your dreams be realized. / If the thunder cloud passes rain / So let it rain, rain down on he. / So let it be. / So let it. “ —"MLK," U2’s song in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., performed here by Darrell Adams, who also produced this video

¶ Call to worship, in light of the Women’s March on Washington.

           “Magnificent
The morning was, a memorable pomp,
More glorious than I ever had beheld.
The sea was laughing at a distance; all
The solid mountains were as bright as clouds,
Grain-tinctured, drench'd in empyrean light;
And in the meadows and the lower grounds,
Was all the sweetness of a common dawn—
Dews, vapours, and the melody of birds,
And labourers going forth into the fields.
Ah! Need I say, dear friend, that to the brim
My heart was full? I made no vows, but vows
Were then made for me: bond unknown to me
Was given, that I should be—else sinning greatly—
A dedicated spirit. On I walked
In blessedness, which even yet remains
—William Wordworth

¶ Hymn of praise. “My Roots Go Down,” Annie Patterson.

¶ Good news. “In one of his last official acts, President Obama designated Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and other civil rights landmarks in Birmingham, Ala., as the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument. The designation protects the historic A.G. Gaston Motel in that city, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders had their 1963 campaign headquarters, as well as Kelly Ingram Park, where police turned hoses and dogs on civil rights protesters.” —Religion News Service

¶ “City parking permits for 200 buses are being sought for our Slander-in-Chief's Inauguration Day. The number for the Women’s March: 1,200,” Perry Stein, Washington Post

¶ The Women’s March has turned into a global day of action. “Over 600 marches will take place in 57 countries around the world.” Find out more, and see a map of locations, in Nika Knight, CommonDreams.

¶ Find out more about “Break the Chain” and the One Billion Rising campaign of defiance against the exploitation of women.

¶ Confession. “The truth of these words is beyond doubt, / but the human spirit cannot move without great difficulty / against all the apathy / in the surrounding world, / yet we must move on / and some of us have already begun / to break the silence of the night.” —listen to Carla Christopher recite her poem, “The Silence of the Night,” which draws on language from Dr. King’s writing (video 4:08)

¶ Absolution’s resolution. “We are indeed strangers; but not foreigners. This “world” is not our home; but this earth is. We are not drifters: directionless, detached, disaffected, suffering neither loves nor longings, risking no hopes, claimed by no promises.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “Pacem in terres"

¶ Hymn of perseverance. “What do you do  / when you've done all you can / And it seems like it's never enough? / When you've given your all, / and it seems like / you can't make it through? / Well you just stand / when there's nothing left to do / you just stand.” —Donnie McClurkin, “Stand” (Thanks Bob.)

¶ As you’ve probably heard, 2016 was the earth’s hottest year, the third record-setter in a row, conclusions reached both by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and by NASA scientists. Watch this NASA produced animation of the history of global temperatures, from 1880-present. (0:49 video)

        Other details in the year-end reporting:
        • The last time the world was warmer was about 125,000 years ago.
        • The 2016 increase was by the largest margin ever.
        • Most of the warming happened in the past 35 years, and 16 of the 17 warmest years have occurred since 2001.
        • Temperature records were set on nearly every continent, and no land mass was cooler than average.
        • The first eight months of 2016 were the warmest for that month since record keeping began in 1880. —Doyle Rice, USA Today

¶ Words of assurance. “I was born to endure this kind of weather / When it's you I find like a ghost in my mind / I am defeated and I gladly wear the crown.” —First Aid Kit, “Emmylou”

¶ “As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. One some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and a complete narcissistic moron.” —H.L. Mencken

¶ I am a fan of Mencken’s wit (see the above quote) but not his political judgment. It is the “plain folks of the land” that are, in fact, among the biggest losers in this election. That some find it rather easy to manipulate them, yes, that much is true. That they deserve it, no. It is we, the unplain, the cosmopolitans, who are complicit in this disaster. And we shall continue our complicity until we find the wherewithal to fashion movements—across racial and class and urban-rural divides—sturdy enough to topple the gangster-bankster class, and their illicit aspirants, from their duplicitous thrones. —kls

¶ Professing our faith. “We can’t have a testimony without a test, and we are being tested right now for whether or not we’ve got courage enough, hope enough, fight enough, love enough to do what is necessary.” —Nina Turner, former Ohio State Senator, speaking on behalf of Bernie Sanders at a gathering in front of the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, DC. (Thanks Karen.) You can listen to her at this link.

¶ Short story. Being in Matanzas [Cuba] and watching election results on the night of November 8 was surreal. . . . The most interesting conversations came from people like my friend Samuel, who didn't seem at all bothered by a Trump presidency. Samuel's view is that America has long been suffering from a political/economic cancer, and perhaps Trump is the poison, the chemotherapy or radiation, that we need to deal with our cancer. Our cancer is the imperial illusion/fantasy of unlimited growth (isn't that what cancer is? he asked me). We are a discontented people, never satisfied unless our bank accounts and material storehouses are growing.” —Stan Dotson

¶ “When President Obama killed the 22-year-old policy giving preferential, fast-track citizenship to Cubans who could make it to the US [aka “wet feet/dry feet policy], his administration nixed another program, too. Not well known to most Americans, it sought to undermine the Cuban government through a form of brain drain. The Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program, created in 2006 under then-President George W. Bush, aimed to lure away some of the tens of thousands of doctors, nurses and other medical workers the island nation dispatched around the world.
            “If you were a Cuban doctor and bumped into some guy from the U.S. Embassy in Johannesburg, South Africa, and told him you wanted to take advantage of the medical parole program, then you’d be taken to the embassy and eventually be flown to the US, get residency—citizenship—and a job.” —Les Neuhaus, Los Angeles Times

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Inspired by love and anger, disturbed by need and pain, / Informed of God’s own bias we ask him once again:  / ‘How long must some folk suffer? / How long can few folk mind?  / How long dare vain self interest turn prayer and pity blind?’” —Choir of Trinity College, University of Melbourne, Australia, “Inspired by Love and Anger” (Thanks Andrew.)

¶ Oh, for the good ol’ days. “The traditional hospitality of the American people has been severely tested by recent events, but it remains the strongest in the world. Republicans are proud that our people have opened their arms and hearts to strangers from abroad and we favor an immigration and refugee policy which is consistent with this tradition.” —from The Republican Party’s platform, 1980 (Thanks Karen.)

¶ This fact is not only a scandal but also evidence of heresy. “Eight men own the same wealth as half the world's population, a level of inequality which 'threatens to pull our societies apart,' Oxfam said on Monday ahead of the World Economic Forum opening in Davos. The wealth of the world's poorest 3.6 billion people is the equivalent to the combined net worth of six American businessmen, one from Spain and another from Mexico.” —Yahoo News

¶ Preach it. “We are each other's / harvest: / we are each other's / business: / we are each other's / magnitude and bond.” —Gwendolyn Brooks

¶ Call to the table. “Maybe this is why [Jesus] says to the curious, ‘Come and see.’ Don’t try first to learn all about me as though that were possible. Just be with me. Watch me. Come hang out in the places I hang out. Let yourself weep and laugh over the same things that move me to tears and laughter.” —Kayla McClurg, inward/outward

¶ Hymn of conviction. “There have been times that I thought I couldn't last for long / But now I think I'm able to carry on / It's been a long, a long time coming / But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will.” —Sam Cooke, “A Change Is Gonna Come”
            Rolling Stone now calls “A Change Is Gonna Come" one of the greatest songs of all time, but in 1964 its political message was a risky maneuver. Cooke wrote this song after he and his band were turned away from a hotel in Shreveport, La. Cooke’s silvery voice and the music’s soothing tempo understate the song’s resolve. Eventually it became something of an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement.

¶ Best one-liner. “I believe in being truthful, not neutral . . . we must stop banalizing the truth." —Christiane Amanpour, Chief International Correspondent for CNN

¶ "To remake a Churchill quote for the current slate of cabinet members, "never in the course of human events have so many known so little about so much." One way to trim "big government" is to provide leadership that doesn't know what they are supposed to oversee and having no commitment to doing a good job with what they have responsibility for. I have never seen such an embarrassing display of American "leadership," and these folks haven't even begun yet." —Dan Buttry

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. “A Russian metal working company has minted a sterling silver coin to commemorate President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, featuring Mr. Trump’s face and the slogan (on the back side) ‘In Trump we trust.’” —CBS News

¶ For the beauty of the earth. Glowworms in Motion: A Time-lapse of New Zealand's Glowworm Caves. (1:48 video)

¶ Altar call. “What Does the Lord Require of You?” —Hilary Donaldson teaching a group to sing this simple song in the round. (It doesn't take long, even for a group of nonprofessional singers; and the resulting sound is marvelous.)

¶ Benediction. “Good adventure to you when you don’t have it all together. God is in the middle of the mess. . . . Good adventure to you who hunger for healing and justice. God is filling your belly with hope.” —continue reading Nancy Hastings Sehested’s “¡Las bienaventuranzas! (Good adventure),” Matthew 5’s Beatitudes paraphrased

¶ Robert McAfee Brown has noted that the famous injunction in Micah—“What does the Lord require, but to do justice, to love kindness, to walk humbly with God” (6:8)—is not a three statement sentence but a sentence saying the same thing in three different ways. Our minds have a hard time comprehending this.

¶ Recessional. One day we’ll all recess like this.

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “Harness your tongue and guard it from slanderous speech! Stand by your word, even if it comes at a price! Lend without interest and resist the insult of bribery. Snatch our hearts from the temple of vengeance. And plant our feet on your holy hill of mercy!” —“Sweet surrender,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 15

¶ The Beatitudes. —hear 7 year-old Sydney read the text in worship at my congregation

¶ Just for fun. "Panda at Toronto Zoo finds a Snowman playmate." (1:43 video)

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Sweet surrender,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 15

• “¡Las bienaventuranzas! (Good adventure),” Matthew 5’s Beatitude paraphrased, by Nancy Hastings Sehested

• "Beatitudes,” a litany for worship (which can also be sung to the tune of Pat Wictor’s “Love Is the Water”

 • “Pacem in terres,” a new poem

©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.

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  •  12 January 2017  •  No. 104

¶ Processional. “Precious Lord,” performed by Sister Gertrude Morgan.

¶ Invocation. “Most gracious God, before whose face the generations rise and fall; Thou in whom we live, and move, and have our being. We thank thee [for] all of thy good and gracious gifts, for life and for health; for food and for raiment; for the beauties of nature and human nature. We come before thee painfully aware of our inadequacies and shortcomings. We realize that we stand surrounded with the mountains of love and we deliberately dwell in the valley of hate. We stand amid the forces of truth and deliberately lie. For these sins O God forgive. Break the spell of that which blinds our minds.” —Martin Luther King Jr. See more of his prayers in “Prayers of Martin Luther King Jr.”

¶ Call to worship. “Oh, a storm is threat'ning / My very life today / If I don't get some shelter / Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away.” —"Playing for Change" multi-artist rendition of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’ “Gimme Shelter”

¶ Bearing witness, one house at a time. In the 9 December 2016 “Signs of the Times” column  I posted a sign that’s been popping up in neighborhoods across the country, which reads “No matter when you are from, we’re glad you’re our neighbor” written in English, Spanish and Arabic. (I’ve since learned it began with Rev. Matthew Bucher, pastor of Immanuel Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Pennsylvania.)

        Now one of my friends and neighbors, singer-songwriter-activist David LaMotte, has devised a creative way for households to address our post-election dystopia. He’s created a sign (3 ft x 8 ft,) for posting on your house that reads:

        “You are our neighbors. No matter who you vote for, your skin color, your faith, or who you love, we will try to be here for you. That’s what community means. Let’s be neighbors.”

        David is making the artwork available for free to anyone who wants it. You can even arrange for the printer than did his to print and ship one to you. Go to this site for details.

¶ Hymn of praise. “For you I'll fly / through skies and seas / to your love / Opening my eyes at last / I'll live with you. [English translation]” —Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman, “Por ti volare” (“For You I’ll Fly”)

¶ “On April 4, 1968, I was spending several weeks working as a volunteer during the sugar cane harvest when I first heard the shocking news of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.  As we sat eating our lunch, sitting on bundles of harvested cane and listening to a loud speaker providing music and occasional news, we heard the announcement that King had been assassinated.

        “I lowered my head in consternation when I heard several comments being made around me, “Look at that. They have killed him even though he is one of them.”  I took the opportunity to explain to those around me that King was a martyr, a fighter for racial justice and for the rights of the most humble of people. 

        “Quickly a circle of workers gathered around me, interested to learn of a type of Christianity which was new to them.” —continue reading Rev. Francisco Rodés’ “Martin Luther King Jr. in Cuba: A Cuban pastor’s story of King’s influence"

Left. Youth from Circle of Mercy Congregation at the Martin Luther King Center in Havana, Cuba.

¶ Take the time in the coming days to hear  Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech—“I’ve been to the mountain top”—on 3 April 1968, the night before his assassination. (43:14 video)

        Background. There was a terrible storm that night in Memphis. King was tired. The initial march in support of sanitation workers had attracted provocateurs who smashed windows along the march route. King was disappointed. His staff was very unhappy that he chose to be in Memphis when so much work was needed on the upcoming “Poor Peoples’ March” in Washington, DC. Memphis seemed like a distraction.

        Given the bad weather the night of the rally, given his tired and disappointed disposition, he didn’t want to go. “Ralph, you can take care of it.” But an overflow crowd showed up. And they wanted to hear King. So Abernathy called him and said “Martin, the people want to hear from you.” So he went and spoke extemporaneously, going on that famous “I’ve been to the mountaintop” riff, but then going on to say “I may not get there with you.” Almost a premonition of what happened the next day. He was 39 years old when the sniper’s bullet arrived.

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Precious Lord,”  performed by R&B singer Ledisi Anibade Young. Minutes before the assassin’s bullet found him, King called out, from the Lorraine Motel second floor balcony, to the music leader for that night’s rally, “I want us to sing ‘Precious Lord’ tonight.” This, reportedly, was his favorite hymn.

¶ Watch this video, “Death of Martin Luther King,” background of King’s involvement in the sanitation workers’ strike. —PBS. 9:16

¶ Watch this video (3:03) of King’s last day in Memphis. —NBC News

¶ Confession. “A human being whose life is nurtured in an advantage which has accrued from the disadvantage of other human beings, and who prefers that this should remain as it is, is a human being by definition only, having much more in common with the bedbug, the tapeworm, the cancer, and the scavengers of the deep sea.” —James Agee

¶ Hymn of lamentation. “Precious Lord,” Mahalia Jackson (who often sang this at Dr. King’s civil rights rallies).

¶ Among the many things to be learned from the black church is this: The articulation of lament—whether in speech or music or dance—contains in its very performance the generative power of assurance which siphons away the rule of fear.

¶ Words of assurance. “Precious Lord,” B.B. King.

Above: The Martin Luther King Memorial statue in Washington, DC.

¶ A real-life story of the power of forgiveness. “More than three million Muslims live in the U.S., and in recent days, there has been a disturbing rise in hate crimes against them. Filmmaker Joshua Seftel, who as a child was taunted by other kids because he was Jewish, created a new documentary series, ‘The Secret Life of Muslims,’ to explore the stories of Muslims in America.” —“Secret Life of Muslims,” CBS Sunday Morning (Thanks Abigail.)

¶ Professing our faith. “Precious Lord.” The song and its title have become so pedestrian as to be disdained. I know I have been so inclined, for the nearly six decades since I was able to understand the words to a hymn so frequently sung in my formative years as to appear visually in my dreams.

        Think about it: this daring juxtaposition of two words that typically mix no better than water and fire.

        As commonly used, precious is a distinctively feminine, fluid term, suggesting familiarity, intimacy, caressing, lenience, vicarious, unself-possessed.

        In contrast to lord, a rigorously masculine word, demanding, formative, scrupulous, stringent, directive, jealous.

        Bound together, they create an anomaly—“take my hand,” a precious request; “lead me on,” a lordly admission— as if to deny the laws of physics and metaphysics alike. There is a mystery here to be explored, well beyond our gendering, constricting prejudices.

        I wish I knew how to explain it better; suffice it to say, birthing by water and by fire belong together.

¶ “While I certainly empathize with the emotions driving [the urge for more militant oppositional tactics], we also have to remember that it is violence that got us here. It is hatred, ignorance, division, intimidation—all manifestations of violence—that brought us Trump. If we choose to be motivated by anger and hatred, if we choose to divide our communities even more, all we do is continue to feed the exact energy that got us Trump. Even if the anger is towards Trump and his supporters, we are empowering the forces that allowed him to rise to power. We need to be angry, but at the forces of injustice, not its human participants.” —Kazu Haga, Waging Nonviolence

¶ This is without a doubt the best 6+ minutes of political commentary I have heard in the electoral season just behind us—and, of all things, from Hollywood: Meryl Streep, speaking at the Golden Globe Awards. (Thanks Jon.)

¶ “She makes the most heroic characters vulnerable; the little known, familiar; the most despised, relatable. . . . Her artistry reminds us of the impact of what it means to be an artist, which is to make us feel less alone.” —Viola Davis, introducing Meryl Streep at the Gold Globe Award ceremony—a remarkable speech in its own right (12:23 video).

¶ Preach it. “What is to be done? First we must try to tell the truth and a condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak. For 40 years, neoliberals lived in a world of denial and indifference to the suffering of poor and working people and obsessed with the spectacle of success. Second we must bear witness to justice. We must ground our truth-telling in a willingness to suffer and sacrifice as we resist domination. Third we must remember courageous exemplars like Martin Luther King Jr, who provide moral and spiritual inspiration as we build multiracial alliances to combat poverty and xenophobia, Wall Street crimes and war crimes, global warming and police.” —Cornel West, “Goodbye, American neoliberalism. A new era is here,” The Guardian

¶ Call to the table. “Precious Lord,” performed by 12 year-old Joshua King at a New York State tribute event for Dr. King.

¶ In light of current political circumstances, a group of Christian leaders have penned “A Public Call to Protect All People” saying “. . . we feel led by God’s Spirit to call upon congregations and other assemblies to make the following public commitments in their communities: We will protect and support the worth and rights of all people, including marginalized persons who are targeted, discriminated against or singled out by hate crimes or state-sponsored/sanctioned violence. . . ." —continue reading “A Public Call to Protect All People”
        See an accompanying article, “Implementation Guide for local congregations and assemblies,” for ideas to use the “Public Call.”

¶ For the beauty of the earth. Real-time display of wind, weather, and ocean currents across the globe in motion.

¶ Altar call. My favorite short story is the one Martin Luther King Jr. tells about his “kitchen table conversion” in his book, Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. I’ve posted it at bottom.

¶ [Dr. King’s speech] “I Have a Dream” has become a bit dreamy, the sentiment injected with high fructose corn syrup, deep fried with a heavy batter, and rolled in sprinkles. Less than three weeks after the soaring prose at the Lincoln Memorial, King had to do the funerals of slaughtered Sunday school children in Birmingham. The Riverside oration [“Beyond Vietnam,” where he spoke out against the Vietnam War] puts the “dream” back into perspective in terms of the challenges still before us.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “When the dream gets dreamy: On the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s ‘Beyond Vietnam’ speech”

¶ Benediction. “Ignite in us again the Word that stirs insurrection against every imperial reign, against every forecloser’s claim, against every slaver’s chain, until the Faith which death could not contain, the Hope which doubt could not constrain, and the Love which fear could not arraign lifts every voice to sing ’til earth and heaven ring!” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s "Martin Luther King’s birthday commemoration: A litany for worship”

¶ Recessional. Steel drum rendition of “Precious Lord,” Neal & Massy Trinidad Allstars.

¶ Just for fun. “The Bubble,” video skit (2:20) by Saturday Night Live.

Left: Portrait by Bruni Sablan.

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “When the dream gets a bit dreamy,” on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s ‘Beyond Vietnam’ speech

• “Martin Luther King’s birthday commemoration,” a litany for worship

• “Faithful Witness: The testimony of Scripture and of Martin Luther King Jr,” a litany for worship

• “Prayers of Martin Luther King Jr.,” a brief collection

• “Dr. King didn’t do everything.” We miss the significance of the Civil Rights Movement if we attribute everything to Dr. King.
 

Other features

• “Martin Luther King Jr. in Cuba,” by Rev. Francisco Rodés

• “Hear this, O People of the Dream,” a litany for worship commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• “Write the vision, make it plain,” a sermon on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday

• “Hold Fast to Dreams: Defaulting on the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” a theological conference lecture

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Language not otherwise indicated above is that of the editor. 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.

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.