Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Rest and Ritual
We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.
― The Tempest. William Shakespeare
Viral Sleep Talking Recording Sheds Light On The Hilarious But Disturbing Nature Of Somniloquy
Summary: “A viral sleep-talking recording posted to Vimeo is full of both hilarious and disturbing moments that shed some light on the curious phenomenon of somniloquy, the medical term for talking in your sleep.”
Read more at https://goo.gl/44HtH1
Digitally mined from inquisitr.com
Sleep Demons: Bill Hayes on REM, the Poetics of Yawns, and Maurice Sendak’s Antidote to Insomnia
Summary: “Sleep acts … more like an emotion than a bodily function. As with desire, it resists pursuit. Sleep must come find you.” read more…
Arrival
Arrival, starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker
–Review by Ashley Linne
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers of the film and assumes the reader has already viewed it. For a spoiler-free review consider: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/movies/arrival-review-amy-adams-jeremy-renner.html?_r=0.
Every now and then a movie comes along that you simply have to watch twice, because it’s a different movie the second time. I happen to really love movies like that, and Arrival is undoubtedly one of them.
Arrival transcends its genre. It clearly has a sci-fi element—it is about aliens visiting earth and their non-linear conception of time. But it also is a tragically beautiful commentary on the human condition, examining the choice to love even when heartbreak is guaranteed. Not since Gravity have I sobbed my way through a science fiction film.
Within the first few minutes of the movie we learn that alien vessels have descended upon 12 seemingly random locations in the world. Our main character, Louise Banks, is a linguist the military enlists to provide translation of the aliens’ language and is tasked with discovering their purpose for visiting Earth. read more…
A Seed Planted –Preaching Tip for 22 January 2017
One of the most prominent metaphors in scripture is the seed planted in the fertile ground. This metaphor refers to the “seed” of God’s Word (the Torah, or the relationship with God itself, or the focus on God and one’s relationship with God) which is firmly planted within one’s heart,…
Pastor’s Prayer for 22 January 2017
Give me, O Lord
A steadfast heart
Which no unworthy thought can drag downwards;
An unconquered heart
Which no tribulation can wear out;
An upright heart
Which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside.
Bestow upon me also,
O Lord my God,
Understanding to know Thee,
Diligence to seek Thee,
Wisdom to find Thee, and
A faithfulness that may finally embrace Thee;
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
–St. Thomas Aquinas
Even in Our Hiding
Even in Our Hiding Story Lectionary 15 January 2017 Moses’ Mother Hides Him and Moses Later Hides in Midian (Exodus 2) Jonathan Helps David Flee from Ramah and Hide from Saul (1 Samuel 20) The Lord Bids that Elijah Hide in the Kerith Ravine (1 Kings 17) Jehosheba Hides Joash…
Get Off the Grid
Get Off the Grid Lectionary 15 January 2017 Second Sunday After Epiphany Isaiah 49:1-7 Psalm 40:1-11 I Corinthians 1:1-9 John 1:29-42 Text to Life Insider trading. In the world of Wall Street, few things are worse, or can get you in more trouble. Insider trading may be the biggest sin…
Nowhere Land -Preaching Tip for 15 January 2017
Sometimes that time between the end of the Christmas holidays and the beginning of Lent kind of gets lost in the winter doldrums. It’s almost as if when Christmas ends, the joy ends with it. It’s a great time to do something refreshing in your sermon time. Perhaps make this…
Pastor’s Prayer for 15 January 2017
Lord:
In the midst of Winter, when the days are cold and wind can pierce
….. remind us of the warmth of your love.
In the midst of Winter, when days are short, dawn comes late, and dusk arrives early
….. remind us that in the darkness your light still shines.
In the midst of Winter, when the flowers of spring still lie hidden in the earth, when leaves are off the trees, and the world can seem bleak
….. remind us that Easter is but a short time away.
And when in our lives we feel as if we are experiencing a season of winter, reach out to us with the power of your resurrection so that we may feel the warmth of your love and see your light that alone can take away the darkness of our soul.
Amen
–Cal Wick
The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem
The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem
By Stacy Schiff
–Review by Paula Jones
My love for good history books developed as a young adult, and only because first-rate historical fiction eased that door open. While Pulitzer Prize winning historian Stacy Schiff’s The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem is officially classified as history, at times it seems to slip into the genre of historical fiction. Although tediously researched, it also probes deeply into the emotional states and motives of main players in the tragedy, assuming things that could not be known from the existing written records of court officials and spiritual leaders. As a result, some characters are one-dimensional. Cotton Mather becomes a caricature of a dour Puritanical preacher, local magistrate John Hathorne an incompetent prosecutor doggedly pursuing a pre-ordained conclusion, and high sheriff George Corwin a corrupt, opportunistic, contemptible person.
Her book is nevertheless a compelling read. As an unquestionably gifted storyteller, Schiff offers such vivid descriptions of life in 1692 that it makes one wonder if she might herself be benefiting from a little witchcraft. Has she perhaps time traveled? Spoken to spirits? Signed a pact in blood for insider knowledge of weather, domestic tensions, and the agonies of living in an overcrowded, underground dungeon for months on end?
Fourteen women, five men, and two dogs––yes, two dogs––were executed as witches. More than 400 others were accused, and a coven of 700 were rumored to be meeting in a nearby field, this in spite of the fact that “the population of New England in 1692 would fit into Yankee Stadium today.” Every single person tried for witchcraft was found guilty and sentenced to die. Others died in jail where dozens were forced to live in cramped conditions––manacled with iron in an underground, unlit, unventilated, leaky stone dungeon with no toilet facilities or heat––through a bitterly cold winter. At least one woman gave birth born in this cruel setting. read more…
The Power of Community
We must help people connect to The Story, the mystery of God and the universe, so that they can understand the significance of their lives as part of the body of Christ and the Great Pattern, what Jesus calls “the kingdom of God.” More than ever before, our species must discover a common meaning, a shared story, to give our lives purpose and harmony.
― Richard Rohr
Forget Networking: Become a Connector
Summary: Even marketers understand helping others is often the best way to help ourselves.
Read more at https://goo.gl/07ZCK4
Digitally mined from blog.hubspot.com
Fun and Games Led to Some of the World’s Greatest Inventions
Summary: “Steve Johnson argues many that many of our important innovations–from probability theory to artificial intelligence—have their origins in human beings just trying to have some fun.” read more…