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Signs of the Times  •  6 June 2017  •  No. 122

¶ Processional. “Toss the Feathers,” The Corrs. (Thanks Ivan.)

Above: Photo of a fire coral in Great Barrier Reef, off Australia’s northeast coast, is the largest living structure on earth. Watch this National Geographic video (4:14). In 2016 the Reef suffered a serious “bleaching” event, caused by rising sea temperature, that threatens its existence.

Special Issue
PARIS AGREEMENT TRUMPED

INTRODUCTION. President Trump’s move to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement (or Accord) shouldn’t surprise us. Bullies relish poking all perceived competitors in the eye.
        Does this move impair the urgent work of “decarbonizing” the globe? Yes. Does this then represent a fatal blow to our work? No. What follows is an attempt to sort out the meaning of this moment.

¶ Invocation. “O God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things. We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion of [humankind] with ruthless, cruelty so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to thee in song, has been a groan of travail.” —Basil  the Great, 4th century bishop in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey)

¶ Call to worship. “Like crafters working on a great cathedral, we have each been given instructions about the particular stone we are to spend our lives carving, without knowing or being able to guess where it will take its place within the grand design.” —N.T. Wright

¶ Hymn of praise. “Lord of the starfields / Ancient of Days / Universe Maker / Here's a song in your praise.” —Bruce Cockburn

¶ Confession. “Most of our populace and all of our leaders are participating in a mass hallucinatory fantasy in which the megatons of waste we dump in our rivers are not poisoning our water, the hydrocarbons we pump into the air are not changing the climate, over fishing is not depleting the oceans, fossil fuels will never run out, wars that kill masses of civilians are an appropriate way to keep our hands on what’s left, we are not desperately overdrawn at the environmental bank, and, really, the kids are all right.” —Barbara Kingsolver

¶ Hymn of lamentation. “Woe is Me,” Thomas Tomkins, performed by the Tallis Scholars.

¶ This is amazing. “We can brag that the city, this city of Las Vegas, is one of the few cities in the entire world that can boast using all of its power from a green source,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said in a news conference [19 December 2016]. Watch this video (0:58).

¶ In a nutshell—and there’s no way to sugarcoat this. There is “scientific consensus that human civilization cannot survive in any recognizable form a temperature increase more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Given that we’ve already warmed the earth about 0.8 degrees Celsius, that means we have 1.2 degrees left,” a measure involving the release of 565 gigatons of additional carbon.
        The globe’s proven fossil fuel reserves are estimated to be 2,795 gigatons. In other words, what is available for use in energy production is more than five times the amount that would result in virtual extinction of the biosphere.
        Therefore, the challenge we face is “force the powers that be . . . to leave 80% of the carbon they have claims on in the ground.” —Chris Hayes, “The New Abolitionism,” The Nation

¶ Words of assurance. “Jump for joy, oh people! For amid the screaming commercials and blithering campaign ads, the Redeemer has heard our aching voice. God hears! God knows! This is our assurance against all blistering deceit.” —continue reading “Bounty and abundance,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 116

Left: Just as the United States was pulling out of the Paris climate agreement last week, China was flicking the switch on the world's largest floating solar energy plant, cementing its status as the top producer of solar energy on planet Earth.

¶ Best summary I’ve found. “5 Changes That Could Come From Leaving The Paris Climate Deal.” —National Public Radio

¶ “Poverty is both a cause and a symptom of environmental degradation. You can't say you'll deal with just one.” —Wangari Maathai, from Kenya, the first environmental activist to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (2004)

¶ Professing our faith. “It's also important to understand what marching and sign waving don't do. By themselves, they don't make change. They can even be a distraction and a hindrance if we are naive enough to think that they should. As impressive as today's events will be, we run a risk of depression and despair tomorrow when we realize that our moment on stage didn't budge the needle one iota on the amount of carbon daily pouring into the atmosphere. . . .
        “No, what is going to swing that needle will not be one (or even many) large, telegenic media moments. We will preserve ourselves and our communities by the sustained application of hope and dissatisfaction to what is by comparison very small. We are on a path to learning to be ambitious about the small.” —part of a statement read at a climate change march in Asheville, NC, by Greg Yost who, at the time was among the 300,000 participants in the 2014 “People’s Climate March” in New York City

¶ Hymn of resolution. “A Better Man,” Keb’ Mo’.

¶ This is important. “Contrary to what you might be forgiven for thinking after seeing some of the more hyperbolic headlines making the rounds, the White House announcement is deeply regrettable – but it’s not the end of the world. Here’s why.” —“Why the US Leaving the Paris Agreement Isn’t the End of the World,” The Climate Reality Project (Thanks Marti.)

¶ “Whatever the reasons, the end result [of the Paris climate deal] was an agreement that has a decent temperature target, and an excruciatingly weak and half-assed plan for reaching it. Which is why, when it was first unveiled, James Hansen, arguably the most respected climate scientist in the world, called the agreement ‘a fraud really, a fake,’ because ‘there is no action, just promises.’” —Naomi Klein, “Will Trump’s Slow-Mo Walkaway, World In Flames Behind Him, Finally Provoke Consequences for Planttary Arson?” The Intercept (Thanks Graham.)

¶ On the other hand, the Paris accord furnished a significant psychological value, a sense of momentum, shared burden, sustained attention and public accountability, with virtually all the nations of the world devoting measurable levels of commitment to achieving a common goal. These qualities do make a difference.

Left: A group of high school math students helped their teacher, Greg Yost, create this banner for use in several actions dramatizing climate change. Displayed here as part of worship at Circle of Mercy Congregation, Asheville, NC.

¶ Short story. Versova Beach in India used to be one of the dirtiest in the world. Then Afroz Shah got to work. (1:12 video. Thanks Evelyn.)

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Rock of Ages,” Fernando Ortega.

¶ Trump should listen to the military. “On July 23, 2015, the Department of Defense released a report titled, ‘National Security Implications of Climate Related Risks and a Changing Climate’ saying ‘DOD recognizes the reality of climate change and the significant risk it poses to US interests globally.’” —Keith Martin, “By withdrawing from the Paris Accord, Trump will make America sicker, poorer and much less secure,” LATimes

¶ By the numbers. Numbers can be tricky. I recall, some years ago, the big news that China surpassed the US as the world’s #1 emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2). I don’t remember any journalist reminding us that China’s population is more than four times that of the US. On a per capita basis, China’s CO2 rate is 7.7. In India, the second largest polluter, that figure is 1.9. The US rate is 16.1. —see more data at Wikipedia

¶ “A slab of ice (right) nearly twice the size of Rhode Island is cracking off of an Antarctic glacier, and the rift between it and the southern continent is growing longer and wider every day. This 1,000-foot-thick piece of floating ice is quickly fracturing off of Antarctica's prominent peninsula, likely due to rapid human-caused global warming.” —Dave Mosher, Business Insider

¶ Preach it. “If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.” ― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

¶ With dyraulic fracturing (fracking), natural gas is now less expensive a fuel source than coal. That’s good, right?
        No. Natural gas is mostly methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, trapping 86 times as much heat as carbon dioxide. Some of it leaks during extraction. “Fugitive methane emissions may counter the benefit over coal with respect to climate change.” Not to mention the billions of gallons of toxic wastewater created in fracking. —see more at Reynard Loki, “8 Dangerous Side Effects of Fracking That the Industry Doesn’t Want You to Hear About,” Alternet

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. “As a Christian, I believe that there is a creator in God who is much bigger than us,” Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) said at a town hall last week in Coldwater, Mich. “And I’m confident that, if there’s a real problem, he can take care of it.”

¶ The Spirit’s call to the table. “Because I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know,” Amy Winehouse.

¶ Among the numerous examples of creative organizing are these two.
        •As of this writing, “246 US Climate Mayors commit to adopt, honor and uphold Paris Climate Agreement goals.”
        •An as-yet-unnamed group of governors, mayors, university presidents and business leaders are already underway to submit to the United Nations a plan to meet the Paris Accord’s targets on limiting greenhouse emissions.

¶ The most engaging theological reflection on climate justice is Ched Myers’ work on “watershed discipleship.” Read his “A Watershed Moment.” Read it alongside Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Sí.’ (Read online or download for free.)  And if you want an advanced course in ecological analysis, Bible study and theological reflection, read Ellen F. Davis' Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible.

¶ Best one-liner. “Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do.” —Wendell Berry

¶ For the beauty of the earth. “How the Oceans Move,” graphically illustrated video (0:37) of ocean currents. (Thanks Anne.)

¶ Altar call. “We are, largely, innocents who must lose our innocence to inherit a future other than the fatal consequence of our transgressions. We have hard work to do, patient work, risky work, but worthy, inspiring, hopeful work. Take a hand. Make your vow. Gird your loins. Step over your threshold.” —continue reading “Confrontation at the Cannonball: The Dakota Access Pipeline controversy”

¶ What to do about climate change? The list is as long as an ocean wave—and just as varied. The roots of profound change begin at home, so at the very least get serious about the 4 “R”s of consumption: recycle, reduce, reuse, refuse. Make a concrete, measurable commitment; educate yourself and those in your web of relations; speak out on public policy issues; take bold public actions. Find a starting place and allow that to deepen your analysis and commitment.

¶ Disputators needed. The work of Beyond Extreme Energy, which engages in nonviolent direct action strategically focused on opposing the infrastructure of fossil fuel transport and storage, deserves wider attention. In the long run, reduction (and eventual cessation) of fossil fuel extraction will turn on numerous factors; but one of them requires reduced handling capacity.

¶ Benediction. “Fear not the times when your back is against the wall. / The seed of faith already buried deep in your soul / is enough to keep you anchored in the coming storm, / when all invested in the way things are / will rail against the Way that is to come. / Trust this Way even when the black-and-blues rain like hail.” —continue reading “Justification by faith,” a litany inspired by Romans 5:1-8

¶ Recessional. “Brother John,” Stephen and Jim Bennett. (Thanks Duane)

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. Creation itself cheers on the water protectors and related advocates: The heavens themselves, the moon, the stars, declare the Blessed One’s beauty and bodacious bounty, along with the splendorous vocation of humanly stewards. —kls, adaptation of Psalm 8:3-8

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “Eons ago, ‘the Lord’—in the guise of three traveling strangers—ventured into Abraham’s and Sarah’s oaken camp at Mamre, were given hospitality, and then announced the promise of a fertile womb beyond all conceivable prospect.” —continue reading “Mamrean encounter,” a meditation on the threat of refugees, the burden of strangers and the bounty of God,” inspired by Genesis 18:1-15

¶ Just for fun. "The worst sheepdog in the world." (0:35 video. Thanks Mary.)

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Bounty and abundance,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 116

• “Great commission,” a litany for worship inspired by Matthew 28:16-20

• “Justification by faith,” a litany inspired by Romans 5:1-8

• “Mamrean encounter,” a meditation on the threat of refugees, the burden of strangers and the bounty of God,” inspired by Genesis 18:1-15

©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  •  30 May 2017  •  No. 121

¶ Processional. “Ô Sang et eau” (“O blood and water”), Chant de la communauté de l' Emmanuel.

Above: “Mountain Sunset” by Russ Shugart

Special theme issue
HEALTHCARE

¶ Invocation. “Clothed with majesty, the Blessed One lingers. Awash in radiant light, God’s chariot rides the clouds, descending on winded wings, anchoring the earth to its bedrock of hope. Come, joy; come sorrow, every day and every morrow, every vict’ry and defeat now embraced at Mercy’s Seat. Allahu, Allahu, Allahu Akbar!” —“Allahu Akbar,” a litany for worship

¶ The greatest wealth is health. —Virgil

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

¶ The Latin root of our English word "salvation" is salus (salutis). Its basic meaning is "health" or "wholeness" along with derivative meanings such as "beneficial," "salutary," and "wholesome."

¶ “US Health Care Ranked Worst in the Developed World. The U.S. ranks worst among 11 wealthy nations in terms of ‘efficiency, equity and outcomes’ despite having the world's most expensive health care system.” —Melissa Hellmann, Time

¶ In case you didn’t already know this: Researchers have documented the fact that singing in a choir is good for your health. —Nick Collins, The Telegraph

¶ “It is a rare unifying moment. Hospitals, doctors, health insurers and some consumer groups, with few exceptions, are speaking with one voice and urging significant changes to the Republican health care legislation.” —Reed Abelson & Katie Thomas, New York Times

¶ "When the head aches, all the body is the worse."  —English Proverb

¶ “Did you know that before 1973 it was illegal in the US to profit off of health care? The Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 passed by Nixon changed everything.” —Investment Watch Blog

¶ Hymn of praise. “Ain’t That Good News,” Stellenbosch University Choir.

¶ “‘We’re going to have insurance for everybody. . . . There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.” —Donald Trump, 11 January 2017 press conference

¶ “The Great Healthcare Bloat: 10 Administrators for Every 1 U.S. Doctor.” —Heather Ross, healthline

¶ “The obscene spectacle of House Republicans gathering in the Rose Garden to celebrate the House’s passage of a bill that would likely strip insurance coverage from tens of millions of Americans, while simultaneously serving as a massive tax break for the wealthy, had the callous feel of the well-heeled dancing on the poor’s graves.” —Charles M. Blow, New York Times

¶ "It's bizarre that the produce manager is more important to my children's health than the pediatrician."  —Meryl Streep

¶ Confession. “Some basic level of health care ought to be considered a fundamental human right, along with free speech, the right to vote, and all other recognized provisions for what it means to pursue ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’” —Ken Sehested, “Health care as a fundamental human right”

¶ “For every three doctors in the U.S. there are two staffers handling paperwork.” —Sarah Kliff, “8 facts that explain what’s wrong with American health care” Vox

¶ “There are about 200 countries on our planet, and each country devises its own set of arrangements for meeting the three basic goals of a health care system: keeping people healthy, treating the sick, and protecting families against financial ruin from medical bills. But we don't have to study 200 different systems to get a picture of how other countries manage health care. For all the local variations, health care systems tend to follow general patterns. There are four basic systems.” —excerpt from T.R. Reed, “The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care,” reprinted in “Frontline”

¶ Hymn of lamentation. “In My Time of Dyin’,” Bob Dylan.

¶ "Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon." —Doug Larson

¶ Why does the US alone, among other industrialized countries, lack universal health care? “Its culture is unusually individualistic, favoring personal over government responsibility; lobbyists are particularly active, spending billions to ensure that private insurers maintain their status in the health system; and our institutions are designed in a manner that limits major social policy changes from happening. As long as the reasons above remain, there is little reason to expect universal coverage in America anytime soon. —Timothy Callaghan, The Conversation, posted in Business Insider

¶ "America’s healthcare system is second only to Japan, Canada, Sweden, Great Britain, . . . well, all of Europe. But you can thank your lucky stars we don’t live in Paraguay!" —Homer Simpson, The Simpsons

¶ “If the health-care system were to break off from the United States and become its own economy, it would be the fifth-largest in the world. ‘It would be bigger than the United Kingdom or France and only behind the United States, China, Japan, and Germany,’ says David Blumenthal, executive director of the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund.” —Sarah Kliff, “8 facts that explain what’s wrong with American health care,” Vox

¶ Words of assurance. “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desire,” J.S. Bach, Cantata, BWV 147.

¶ The Medicaid safety net provides health insurance for more people than any other payer, covering 72 million—more than one in five US residents. Half are children; the majority of the others are seniors, many requiring long-term nursing care, along with others living on the edge of desperation. —Ron Pollack, Yes! magazine

¶ “The Affordable Care Act never really solved the healthcare crisis. It treated healthcare as a commodity allocated through market forces rather than as a public good and failed to address the profiteering at the core of our healthcare system, forcing it to use a series of confusing and convoluted mechanisms to expand heath insurance coverage and regulate health insurance providers.” —Mark Dudzic, “Six Ways Trumpcare Makes Healthcare Worse (and One Way to Make It Better),” CommonDreams

¶ Professing our faith. In providing for those with few resources, as St. Ambrose put it: “You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich.”

¶ "The root of all health is in the brain. The trunk of it is in emotion. The branches and leaves are the body. The flower of health blooms when all parts work together." —Kurdish proverb

¶ “But the claim that corporations are losing money on Obamacare ignores the record-breaking profits and compensation packages that health insurers continue to collect. . . . UnitedHealth celebrated revenues that quarter totalling $46.5 billion, an increase of $10 billion since the same time last year.” —Amy Martyn, Consumer Affairs

¶ “A federal judge has ruled [in January] that Aetna wasn't being truthful when the health insurer said last summer that its decision to pull out of most Obamacare exchanges was strictly a business decision triggered by mounting losses. U.S. District Judge John Bates concluded this week that Aetna's real motivation for dropping Obamacare coverage in several states was ‘specifically to evade judicial scrutiny’ over its merger with Humana.” —Matt Egan, CNN Money

¶ “The largest health insurance companies in the United States reaped historically large profits in the first quarter of this year, despite all the noise surrounding the Affordable Care Act's individual marketplaces.” —Bob Herman, “Profits are booming at health insurance companies,” Axios

¶ “The Untold Story Behind Skyrocketing Obamacare Premiums. . . . So the Affordable Care Act’s opponents used a backdoor maneuver in late 2014 to practically guarantee that by this year, insurers would be bailing out and health insurance premiums would be soaring.” —Claire DeMatteis, Linkedin

¶ Hymn of resolution. "Take, O take me as I am, summon out what I shall be,
set your seal upon my heart and live in me." —John Bell, Einzug beim Evensong, “Take, O, Take Me As I Am”

¶ “[House Speaker Paul] Ryan and the Republicans are taking free market fundamentalism to a new level of absurdity. Under his logic, if someone can’t afford antibiotics when they get an infection and therefore die, they've ‘chosen’ to die.” —Robert Reich, in a FaceBook comment

¶ Amazing healthcare short story. You may recall the 2015 press conference with former US President Jimmy Carter announced his cancer diagnosis. Stunningly, he simultaneously announced that should he not accomplish anything else, “I’d like to see the last Guinea worm die before I do.” Few know this has been Carter’s passion for many years. [Thankfully, Carter recovered.]
        “When the Carter Center first became involved with Guinea worm [the afflicted live in excruciating pain], there were an estimated 3.5 million cases.” In January “the President announced that the number of cases has dropped to just 25 in three countries: Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.” —Jennifer Rainey Marquez, Atlanta Magazine

¶ "The I in illness is isolation, and the crucial letters in wellness are we."  —Author unknown

¶ “Let us imagine that you would like to redistribute hundreds of billions of dollars from working class people to the rich, and wouldn’t hesitate to risk the lives of tens of thousands of people to do so. Well, as luck would have it, there is a bill—the “American Health Care Act”—that does precisely that.” —Adam Gaffney, The Guardian

¶ Hymn of intercession. “I Need Thee Every Hour,” Southern Raised.

¶ By the numbers. “A study published in the American Journal of Public Health calculated that each year nearly 45,000 deaths are linked to lack of health insurance.” —Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes

¶ Offertory. “Czardas,” by Vittorio Monti, performed by Jennifer Jeon, violin, and T.J. Thompson, piano.

¶ "I have to tell you, it's an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated." —President Donald Trump, 27 February 2017

¶ Preach it. “I can't believe I am standing today in a Christian church defending the proposition that we should lessen the suffering of those who cannot afford health care in an economic system that often treats the poor as prey for the rich. I cannot believe there are Christians around this nation who are shouting that message down and waving guns in the air because they don't want to hear it.” —Rev. Jim Rigby, “Why Is Universal Health Care ‘Un-American?’”

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up.
        • “The reason why older people should pay 5 times more than they’re paying right now is because . . . they are, in fact, 5 times sicker.” —White House Chief of Staff Rence Priebus, USPOLN
        • In a Lewiston, Idaho, town hall meeting, Rep. Paul Labrador (R-Idaho) responded to a constituent’s comment by saying “Nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care.”
        • “Just like Jesus said, ‘The poor will always be with us.’ There is a group of people that just don’t want health care and aren’t going to take care of themselves.” —Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS), in a recent interview

¶ Call to the table. “Sister and brothers, you still don’t seem to get it, all this arguing over which gift of the Spirit is more important or deserves more attention in your newsletter. Fact is, all gifts—all your abilities, however modest or great; all your commitments and tasks, however mundane or noteworthy—come from the same Spirit.” —“What of it?” a litany for worship inspired by 1 Corinthians 12

¶ The state of our disunion. “In the name of freedom—freedom from regulationthe banks were permitted to wreck the economy. In the name of freedom, taxes for the super-rich are cut. In the name of freedom, companies lobby to drop the minimum wage and raise working hours. In the same cause, US insurers lobby Congress to thwart effective public healthcare; the government rips up our planning laws; big business trashes the biosphere. This is the freedom of the powerful to exploit the weak, the rich to exploit the poor. Freedom? Always ask, for whom?” —George Monbiot, “This bastardised libertarianism makes 'freedom' an instrument of oppression,” The Guardian

¶ Best one-liner. “The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human." —Aldous Huxley

¶ “As the distance between rich and poor grows in the United States, few consequences are so overlooked as the humiliating divide in dental care. High-end cosmetic dentistry is soaring, and better-off Americans spend well over $1 billion each year just to make their teeth a few shades whiter. Millions of others rely on charity clinics and hospital emergency rooms to treat painful and neglected teeth.” —Mary Jordan & Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post

¶ For the beauty of the earth. “Antarctica, With You at the Center,” four short films (9-14 minutes each) that explore the southern pole, from above and from below. —New York Times

¶ Altar call. “If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth—only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.” —C.S. Lewis

¶ Benediction. “We are what we practice. Therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit. —Aristotle

¶ Recessional. “Ode to Joy” in Jonny May’s ragtime arrangement.

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. “Resources for Pentecost Sunday worship,” litanies, poem, sermon, commentary, and a script for choral reading of Acts 2:1-13.

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next.  “To the mountain we go, for the baptismal vision of life lived unleashed in the Commissioner’s pow’r! So tarry on this mountain. Be still and know that Mercy’s full measure is given for guidance in the trials to come.” —“Great commission,” a litany for worship inspired by Matthew 28:16-20

¶ Just for fun. Man filming seagulls finds himself in a whale of a story. And he got it on film. (1:32 video)

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Resources for Pentecost Sunday worship,” litanies, poem, sermon, commentary, and a script for a choral reading of Acts 2:1-13

• “Great commission,” a litany for worship inspired by Matthew 28:16-20

• “What of it?” a litany for worship inspired by 1 Corinthians 12

• “Health care as a fundamental human right,” an essay

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

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  •  23 May 2017  •  No. 120

¶ Processional. “Cure Thy children’s warring madness, / Bend our pride to Thy control. / Shame our wanton selfish gladness, / Rich in things and poor in soul. / Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, / Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.” —Furman Singers, "God of Grace and God of Glory," Paul T. Langston arrangement

Above: Northern Lights from Fairbanks AK-photo by Adam Dille.

¶ Invocation. “Peace, Salaam, Shalom,” by Emma’s Revolution with the Community of Christ.

¶ Call to worship. “People of Mercy, put your hands together for the One we adore, lift your cheers to the Tender of orphans and widows, to the Protector of migrant farmer and those crushed with medical debt. Release your grip on the gods of armed might, on strategies of shock and awe. Confound the tortured schemes of the White House, jolt the laggard vision of the church house, and raise the burdened hopes of the poor house.” —“Offer your applause,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 68

¶ She would want us to steal this idea. “When Jeanne Esther Barbour, died on March 8, she passed on a bit of her philosophy of life with the world in her obituary: ‘In lieu of flowers, please be kind to someone. Call a friend or relative you haven’t reached out to recently. Visit a shut-in or nursing home resident. Forgive someone. All acts of kindness are appreciated.’” —Zelda Caldwell, “The 4 lines from an obituary that inspired so many,” Aletia

¶ Be careful with your assumptions about little old ladies in lilac hats. Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010, pictured at right) was this year’s featured profile on the US Postal Service’s Black Heritage stamp. “An American administrator and educator, was a civil rights and women's rights activist specifically focused on the issues of African-American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for forty years and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. Civil rights leader James Farmer described Height as one of the "Big Six" of the Civil Rights Movement, but noted that her role was frequently ignored by the press due to sexism.” —Wikipedia

¶ Hymn of praise. “Then why, O blessèd Jesus Christ / Should I not love Thee well? / Not for the hope of winning Heaven, / Nor of escaping hell. / Not with the hope of gaining aught, / Nor seeking a reward, / But as Thyself hast lovèd me, / O everlasting Lord!” —Darrell Adams, “My God, I Love Thee,” words attributed to Fancis Xavier

¶ Confession. “The United Airlines debacle isn't about customer service. It's about the morality of capitalism.” —James Martin, SJ, America magazine, documents how the transcendent rule of capital overrides moral claims

¶ Wondering how much the US spends on war? Take a look at these calculators provided by National Priorities.

¶ Numbing numbers from Brown University’s Watson Institute
        • In this century alone US wars have resulted in the deaths of 370,000, more than half of them civilians.
        • The costs of our wars—to-date as well as projected future costs, particularly medical expense of treating wounded troops—now stands at $4,790,000,000,000. —for more info, see William Hartung, “The American Way of War Is a Budget-Breaker,” Common Dream

¶ Hard to imagine how much a trillion is? Here’s a way to break it down: Say you were to count out $1 bills—nonstop, one per second, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks per year—it would take 32 years to reach a trillion. Better?

¶ Hymn of lamentation. “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” Louis Armstrong.

¶ “The U.S. government is paying the salaries of ‘tens of thousands’ of non-existent Afghan soldiers, police, teachers and civil servants, a top Pentagon official said [11 January] reporting on the scale and variety of misspent US money. John Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said the salaries of ‘ghost soldiers’ is just one of many ways Americans' money is wasted in Afghanistan. . . . ‘Including US war funding unrelated to reconstruction, US appropriations for Afghanistan now totals more than three quarters of a trillion dollars—not including the $43.7 billion requested for fiscal year 2017.’” —Perry Chiaramonte, Fox News

¶ More Afghanistan news. Now the Pentagon is requesting 3,000-5,000 additional US troops to “move beyond the stalemate” in Afghanistan, nearly 16 years after the country’s initial “liberation” in 2001. Among the human costs to date: 2,400 US troop fatalities (another 1,100 coalition troop fatalities), nearly 18,000 wounded. —for more, see Tom Englehardt, Tom’s Dispatch

¶ “Cicero, two thousand years ago, warned that ‘In times of war, the law falls silent’ (Inter arma enim silent leges). John Jay, in Federalist No. 4, warned that as a result of that truth, ‘nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it . . . for the purposes and objects merely personal, such as thirst for military glory, revenge for personal affronts, ambition, or private compacts to aggrandize or support their particular families or partisans.’” —Glenn Greenwald, “The ‘war on terror’—by design—can never end,” The Guardian

¶ Words of assurance. “Cast All Your Cares Upon the Lord,” Adrian Mitchel Music. (The text references 1 Peter 5: 7.)

¶ St. Dymphna, 7th century, patron saint of those living with mental or neurological disorders, depression, runaways, and victims of incest. Having fled her father’s wrath Ireland, she settled in the Flemish village of Geel and established a hospice for those of unsound mind. After centuries of veneration, she was canonized in 1247, and a church was constructed in her honor in the mid-14th century.

Left: St. Dymphna of Belgium. Icon by Kathrin Burleson.

        Stories of healing of the mentally ill began to circulate, so that sufferers and family members began making a pilgrimage to Geel. Over time, the town’s citizens began taking the afflicted into their homes as guests, a tradition that continues to this day. (See more background to this story below.)

¶ Short story. “Half an hour on the slow train from Antwerp, surrounded by flat, sparsely populated farmlands, Geel (pronounced, roughly, ‘Hyale’) strikes the visitor as a quiet, tidy but otherwise unremarkable Belgian market town. Yet its story is unique. For more than 700 years its inhabitants have taken the mentally ill and disabled into their homes as guests or ‘boarders’. At times, these guests have numbered in the thousands, and arrived from all over Europe. There are several hundred in residence today, sharing their lives with their host families for years, decades or even a lifetime.” —Mike Jay, Aeon

        • For more about St. Dymphna, see Ray Cavanaugh, National Catholic Reporter.

        • Listen to NPR’s “Invisibilia” podcast (with Lulu Miller & Alix Spiegel) about Geel. (In the upper right corner on this site, fast forward to 12:47 to hear this particular story.)

¶ Preach it. “I have seen your religion, and I hate it. / I have heard your doctrine, and I loathe it. / Take away your empty praise songs, / your vacuous worshiptainment. / Your mouth is full of religious words, / but your proverbs are salted manure. —see more of Dave Barnhart’s “The Exodus” (Thanks Alan.) 

¶ This is how John’s “Revelation” must have been experienced by his initial audience. “We believed your words, but now we see / You just don't mean, a thing to me / Your power reign was sick and wrong / Your time is gone, your time is gone / And we don't need ruin and lies / Your touch is death, your heart despised / Your time of reign and dark began / Your time to change is at an end.” —Moby & The Void Pacific Choir, “Erupt + Matter”

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. The US State Department recently posted promotion for President Tump’s Mar-a-Lago luxury resort (whose private membership rate doubled to $200,000 after the election), though the agency’s “Share America” website, an in-house tourism promotion operation circulating via US embassies and consulates in 140 countries. When uncovered, the agency removed the ad, saying “we regret any misperception” [i.e. "we regret your picky-picky-pickiness"]. —see Ross Barkan, The Guardian

¶ Call to the table. “When he left, Jesus said something like this to his friends, ‘I didn’t say it would be easy. I said it would be worth it.’” —“Summon your nerve: A call to the table on Pentecost Sunday”

¶ The state of our disunion. “I can’t get the image of that 8-year-old [killed in the 22 May 2017 terrorist attack in Manchester, UK] out of my head,” said Speaker of the House Paul Ryan [CNN, 23 May 2017].
        True enough. “Heinous” is the one adjective that comes to mind short of vulgarity to describe this crime.
        So where in our mind do we have the space for the estimated 178 children killed in US drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen, alone, just in the years between 2007 and 2010? It is disingenuous to say you didn’t mean to, when you knew this was the likely result. —"Child Casualties As a Result of US Drone Strikes" (1:30 video) @WarCosts

¶ “As Vicki Divoll, a former CIA lawyer who now teaches at the U.S. Naval Academy, observed, ‘People are a lot more comfortable with a Predator strike that kills many people than with a throat-slitting that kills one.’” —quoted in Jonathan Tran, “The Audacity of Hope and the Violence of Peace: Obama, War, and Christianity”

¶ Best one-liner. “If you profess to be a Christian and have cheered either the most recent missile attacks [in Syria] or the mega bomb [in Afghanistan], please do not read the Gospels, you will NOT like the main character.” —author unknown, from the internet

¶ For the beauty of the earth. Otters juggling rocks. Who knew? (Thanks David.)

¶ Altar call. “The believing community needs to ponder the conflicting memorials which roll around nearly as often as the church celebrates The Lord’s Table, many of which bear the carved inscription featuring King James’ rendition: ‘This do in remembrance of me.’ Whose remembrance takes center stage?” —“Conflicting memorials: The Lord’s Table of remembrance vs. the nation’s vow of preeminence”

¶ Benediction. The really amazing thing about grace is not its sweetness, although this emotion has often been reported as a result of the sense of emotional cleansing. But the emotion is incidental and transient. Much more importantly, grace is the power of disarmed hearts and hands to confront and unravel the rule of hatred and hostility. The profession of Jesus-oriented faith is hinged on the conviction that the future belongs to this sort of insurgency against the present reign of rancor. If next Sunday’s benediction doesn’t at least imply this mandate, ask why. —kls

¶ Recessional. “Preobrazhenie” (Transfiguration), Isihia.

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. “Rain will absorb every drought and mercy be restored to the marketplace. Lush meadows will break through the developer’s asphalt. Affordable homes will open for all whose hopes have been foreclosed. Those who buy and sell the futures of crops and petroleum, who barter menial wages for market share, will confront the One who crushes the delight for war and leads the prisoner to prosperity.” —“Offer your applause,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 68

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “To be sure, the psalmist’s imprecatory rage is processed in lament before God—and is no sanction for lethal vengeance, however just our intent. But as long as the assaults now raining in the streets of the meek never raise an ache in our bodies nor a bruise on our hearts, we will never know the urgency of the Advocate’s liberating word. Intercession implies a certain interposition.” —“Why Psalm 104:35 needs to be included in the reading for Pentecost Sunday (Year A),” brief commentary

¶ Just for fun. “Liberal Rednick – Mama Missiles and Baby,” Trae Crowder. (Thanks Andy.)

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Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Conflicting memorials: The Lord’s Table of remembrance vs. the nation’s vow of preeminence,” an essay for Memorial Day

• "Memorial Day preparation," a collection of resources for preparation
 

Pentecost Sunday preparation resources

• “Pentecostal Passion,” a poem

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

• “All together,” a litany for Pentecost

• “The promise of Pentecost,” a sermon

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

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

• “Pentecost,” a litany for worship

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

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

• “Day of Pentecost choral reading,” a script for nine voices, inspired by Acts 2:1-13

Left: He Qi, "Holy Spirit Coming"

©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.