Reflections: Winter Quotations on winter to stir h…

Reflections: Winter
Quotations on winter to stir heart and mind.
Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman | posted 1/29/2007 08:32AM

AS LONG as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.
Genesis 8:22 (NRSV)

[GOD] gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down hail like crumbs— who can stand before his cold?
Psalm 147:16-17 (NRSV)

IT IS a pleasure to the real lover of nature to give winter all the glory he can, for summer will make its own way and speak its own praises.
Dorothy Wordsworth, Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth

LET US LEARN our obligation to thankfulness—for warm houses, clothes, and beds; for comfortable food and fuel to relieve us against the rigor of the cold!
William Cooper, Concio Hyemalis: A Winter Sermon

THE COLD autumn rains, the gray austerity of winter woodscape, the pearl purity of December snowfall—all awaken a desire inside of me that, I know, God will not disappoint.
Vigen Guroian, The Fragrance of God

I LIKE these cold, gray, winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood.
Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

HAVE YOU entered the storehouses
of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses
of the hail?
Job 38:22 (NRSV)

IN SEEDTIME, learn; in harvest, teach; in winter, enjoy.
William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

COLD AND CHILL, bless the Lord.
Dew and rain, bless the Lord.
Frost and chill, bless the Lord.
Ice and snow, bless the Lord.
Nights and days, bless the Lord.
Light and darkness, bless the Lord.
Canticle of the Three Youths

I AM weary of
The winter way of loving
things for reasons.
Richard Wilbur, “Winter Spring”

SPRING, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition.
Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic’s Notebook

IS IT too much to say, in winter, that I die? Something of me dies at least.
Frederick Buechner, Godric

AND WHAT else was there to do in the winter? Stay inside and read. Or write. Stay inside and dream. Stay inside and look, safely, outside. The Muse might as well be invited—who else would venture out?
Patricia Hampl, A Romantic Education

IF WINTER COMES, can spring be far behind?
Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ode to the West Wind”

THERE ARE only two seasons—winter and baseball.
Bill Veeck, “Seasons”

"U2-charist": Bono moves in mysterious ways

Mon Jan 29, 9:18 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) – For Anglicans who still haven’t found what they’re looking for, the Church of England is staging its first “U2-charist” communion service — replacing hymns with hit songs by the Irish supergroup.
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“Rock music can be a vehicle of immense spirituality,” said Bishop of Grantham Timothy Ellis, announcing plans for the unique service in the central English town of Lincoln in May.

A live band is to play U2 classics like “Beautiful Day” and “Mysterious Ways” with special singalong lyrics displayed on a giant screen. Seating for the 500-strong congregation is to be re-arranged so everyone can dance and wave their hands.

The service is to focus on the Millennium development goals — U2’s lead singer Bono is a leading promoter of the targets to alleviate world poverty. (original article linked to title)

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* Now I love U2, I love Bono, I’m a fan.
Though I believe that we can touched by God listening to music, (as I have been by U2 and many others), I am not sure this church has to go so far with this. I’m saying this more from a preferece thing. Why not include U2 songs in addition to the thousands of other works our faith has produced. As a church, we tend to go from one extreme to another.
But what do I know. I’m still signing up on their newsletter list so I will be notified for Gun’s Roses Sunday. I would love to see Slash play November Rain inside the church again.

British Airways allows employees’ religious wear

British Airways allows employees’ religious wear
Check-in worker Nadia Eweida can now wear her cross.

This is part of a longer story that started last fall when Nadia was sent home for wearing her crucifix. (British Airlines Sends Employee Home for Wearing Crucifix).
“November 20, 2006

A Christian employee of British Airways (BA) has lost her suit against the airline for telling her she cannot wear her crucifix, while allowing Muslim and Sikh employees to don their religious scarves and turbans.

Nadia Ewedia, a check-in worker at London’s Heathrow Airport, claims she was told in a letter from the company that her cross breached its uniform rules. “British Airways permits Muslims to wear a headscarf, Sikhs to wear a turban, and other faiths [to wear] religious apparel,” said Ewedia, a seven-year employee of the airline. “Only Christians are forbidden to express their faith.”

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Nice job British Airways, thanks for being consistent.

Five Streams of the Emerging Church by Scot McKnight

Key elements of the most controversial and misunderstood movement in the church today.”It is said that emerging Christians confess their faith like mainliners—meaning they say things publicly they don’t really believe. They drink like Southern Baptists—meaning, to adapt some words from Mark Twain, they are teetotalers when it is judicious. They talk like Catholics—meaning they cuss and use naughty words. They evangelize and theologize like the Reformed—meaning they rarely evangelize, yet theologize all the time. They worship like charismatics—meaning with their whole bodies, some parts tattooed. They vote like Episcopalians—meaning they eat, drink, and sleep on their left side. And, they deny the truth—meaning they’ve got a latte-soaked copy of Derrida in their smoke- and beer-stained backpacks.Along with unfair stereotypes of other traditions, such are the urban legends surrounding the emerging church—one of the most controversial and misunderstood movements today. As a theologian, I have studied the movement and interacted with its key leaders for years—even more, I happily consider myself part of this movement or “conversation.” As an evangelical, I’ve had my concerns, but overall I think what emerging Christians bring to the table is vital for the overall health of the church.In this article, I want to undermine the urban legends and provide a more accurate description of the emerging movement. Though the movement has an international dimension, I will focus on the North American scene.” (Full article linked here)—-Excellent article by Scot McKnight

"I believe in the culture war. And you know what? …

“I believe in the culture war. And you know what? If I have to take a side in the culture war I’ll take [the conservative Christian] side. Because if you give me the choice of Paris Hilton or Jesus, I’ll take Jesus.”

—Alexandra Pelosi, creator of the new HBO documentary “Friends of God” and daughter of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. She was quoted by The New York Times.

- Yes, if only the culture war was that simple.

A Visual Apologetic for Life: In the Womb

by Mark Early
January 22, 2007

“When Michelangelo carved the beauty of the human form in marble, he knew that true art is “but a shadow of the divine perfection.” As true art shadows God, so too, the beauty and complexity of the human form is an unrivaled masterpiece that proclaims its Creator. A new DVD and accompanying book from National Geographic called In the Womb highlight this masterpiece of life in its earliest stages. Despite National Geographic’s evolutionary language, these images are one of the best visual apologetics for the Creator and for choosing life that we have seen in a long time.

Today, thirty-four years after Roe v. Wade, we can see into the womb with detail that was unimaginable in 1973. Now, 3-D and 4-D scans—scans that literally piece together images to show a baby in motion in the womb—have brought the miracle of life into new focus. In the Womb author, Peter Tallack, calls this new technology the medical equivalent of the Hubble Space Telescope. And the images it zooms in on during the odyssey of pregnancy may change the minds of women contemplating abortion and ordinary men and women who have not reflected deeply on abortion’s horrors.

Statistics tell us that 88 percent of clinical abortions happen before the twelfth week of pregnancy. In the Womb shows us a heart cell jolting to life on day twenty-two, arm buds developing in week four, glassy eyes forming in week six, taste buds, purposeful movement, and separate digits on hands and feet by week eight.”

(Full article linked to title)

Watch the preview here

To my friends who have missed me, Thanks for the …

To my friends who have missed me,
Thanks for the encouraging words. I do intend on blogging more regularly. It’s been a resolution.

Know that things are well and I appreciate your thoughts.

* Special thanks to CarolAnn. Appreciate your prayers.

Why I Don’t Set Goals by Jack Hayford

People and institutions begin to corrode when fleshly zeal is tied to spiritual goals.

What are your primary goals for the immediate and long-range future?” The question came from the audience at one of our annual pastors’ seminars.

“I have none,” I replied.

Dubious stares and blank looks everywhere. I continued, “We never set goals—that is, in the sense of numerical targets, fund-raising drives, or enlargement campaigns. Our one goal is to build big people. Every effort goes into developing each believer in the threefold ministry of worship, fellowship, and stewardship of the gospel.”

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It makes more sense by the end of the article. If anything, applying his ideas will give a healthy backdrop to goalsetting.