December 2005

One of the best parts of being the executive director of The Beatitudes Society is the wonderful variety of stimulating and often hopeful bits of news that come my way.  I try to keep up with the Beatitudes themselves by using Google news alerts, and it's encouraging that these teaching of Jesus are becoming a growing presence in public dialogue. Just last week, Rep. Sherod Brown used the Beatitudes as part of a speech in which he announced that he is running for Senate.  Of course, The Society is firmly nonpartisan, but we will watch with some interest how Mr. Brown uses the Beatitudes in his campaign. Since I last wrote, a veteran group of observers of the religious right have launched an eloquent and fascinating new blog - www.talk2action.org.  They are monitoring and debating efforts to create a theocracy in America.  I recommend a daily dose - there are usually several original postings a day and much of the information will be new to even the most informed among us. This week, a momentous vote will take place in the House of Representatives in which an effort will be made to pass a budget slashing food stamps, housing aid and other fundamental underpinnings of a just society.  Sojourners is sponsoring vigils across the nation and has issued a call to clergy to join together in prayerful nonviolent opposition INSIDE the Capitol Rotunda, which will lead to arrests.  For additional information, please visit www.sojo.net I delight in receiving reports from various chapters as to their recent activities.  The Beatitudes Society at the Episcopal Divinity School is thriving, and is planning to podcast sermons, starting soon.  We hope to host this on our website to give the effort greater visibility.  If you want more information about their plans, please feel free to contact CWendell@eds.edu Several of us will be attending a conference featuring Anne Lamott, Richard Rohr, and Jim Wallis next month (next year!) in Washington, D.C.  This and many other events are listed in our calendar of events of interest to the prophetic Christian community - please check it regularly at www.beatitudessociety.org, under “Events and Conferences”. I’d like to end with a poem from Madeleine L’Engle, one of my favorite spiritual writers along with Anne Lamott.  It may sound a bit like I’m writing my Christmas Letter to the parish…once a parish priest, always a parish priest!  It's best read aloud. God did not wait till the world was ready, Till...nations were at peace. God came when the Heavens were unsteady, And prisoners cried out for release. God did not wait for a perfect time. God came when the need was deep and great. God dines with sinners in all their grime, Turned water into wine. God did not wait till hearts were pure. In joy, God came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt. To a world like ours, of anguished shame God came, and God's Light would not go out. God came to a world which did not mesh, To heal its tangles, shield it's scorn. In the mystery of the Word made Flesh The Maker of the starts was born. We cannot wait till the world is sane To raise our songs with joyful voice, For to share our grief, to touch our pain, God came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice! Madeleine L'Engle May we all raise our songs with joyful voice and offer our lives as a testament that God's love makes a difference ~ not only in our lives but in a world like ours. A blessed Christmas to you all. Please keep in touch. Frannie revfhk@aol.com

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