Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Addiction, Faith, and Film
Gaming addiction classified as disorder by WHO
Summary: Gaming addiction is to be listed as a mental health condition for the first time by the World Health Organization. Its 11th International Classification of Diseases (ICD) will include the condition “gaming disorder”.
Read more at: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42541404
HH
Sweet Vine
Sweet Vine Story Lectionary 11 March 2018 The Fourth Week of Jesus’ Lenten Journey God’s Creation of Humankind and the Command to Bear Fruit (Genesis 1) Psalm 1: Blessed is He Who Yields Fruit in Season Psalm 128: The Lord’s Blessing You are the Fruit of Your Actions (Proverbs…
Metaphors of Music — Preaching Tip for 11 March 2018
We usually think of metaphor and image as visual, but they can be auditory experiences too! In fact, many of the metaphors in scripture are primarily auditory in nature. Sometimes, a song can express what neither our mind nor our sight can comprehend. Music can be used within the sermon…
Pastor’s Prayer for 11 March 2018
And you have all been formed into one choir, to sing God’s song together and praise the father with one voice through Jesus Christ, that when he hears you he may realize from what you have done so well that you are of his Son’s members.
St Ignatius of Antioch, 35-108 AD
The Word in the Wilderness
The Word in the Wilderness:
A Poem a Day for Lent and Easter
by Malcolm Guite
–Review by Teri Hyrkas
It might seem a little unusual to read a poem a day as a devotional practice during Lent, but with poet/priest Malcolm Guite as docent and The Word in the Wilderness: A Poem A Day for Lent and Easter (Canterbury Press, 2014) as the text, rest assured that the time spent reading and considering each poem will be full of rich rewards.
Designed to serve as a pilgrimage through Lent, Guite begins The Word in the Wilderness on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. The author sets the stage for the pilgrimage with a piece by one of his favorite poets, the late Seamus Heaney. The composition, Station Island XI, contains within it a translation of a poem by St. John of the Cross. St. John’s poem, originally written in Spanish, was given to Heaney to translate by a priest who told him, “Read poems as prayers.” At the conclusion of Heaney’s poem, Guite explains that the piece helps us to see that all we have muddied and misused in our life can be restored. “[Cleansing] of the instrument of our vision by the power of [Heaney’s] imagination as a poet is part of that whole restoration….“ Guite goes on to say, “Perhaps we can see our own Lenten pilgrimage as a journey upstream to the source of that ‘fountain, filling, running’ that is celebrated in this poem.” read more…
Plucked from the Blaze
Plucked from the Blaze Story Lectionary 4 March 2018 The Third Sunday of Jesus’ Lenten Journey Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors (Genesis 37) The Order of Priestly Dress –Blue, and Purple, and Fine Linen (Exodus 28 and 39) The Colors of the Tabernacle Linen Veil (Exodus 36) Regulations Regarding Skin…
Artists and Their Thoughts –Jean Sibelius
If we understood the world, we would realise that there is a logic of harmony underlying its manifold apparent dissonances.
— Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) is the patron saint of Finnish music, the composer who, more than any other, has described for the world the cold, crisp, fresh, pristine northern natural landscape in music. His Finlandia Hymn is the unofficial national anthem of Finland. In seven symphonies, dozens of programmatic orchestral pieces, and many more piano and chamber music works, Sibelius embedded his world. read more…
The Carpenter’s Square
The Carpenter’s Square Lectionary 4 March 2018 3rd Sunday in Lent Exodus 20:1-17 Psalm 19 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 John 2:13-22 Text to Life We want to be known by symbols of strength, goodness, even greatness. Soldiers proudly wear uniforms flashing medals showing solidarity in serving their country. Athletic teams and…
Braving the Wilderness
Braving the Wilderness (2017)
Brené Brown
ISBN:9780812995848 (hardback)
–Review by Douglas Balzer
Any book title with the two keywords brave and wilderness in it grab my attention. Adventure and the wildness of the outdoors resonate with my soul. Now, knowing the author, Brené Brown, it is evident the content of the book would be based on the metaphor of the wilderness and the brave heart of exploring life and meaning. Still, I do like a good wilderness story, but this book offers a look at the mutual thinking about what it means to belong to our culture and society. The content is almost holistically based on Western culture, but nuances to other cultures pushing in the direction of an individualistic culture out of communal culture. The angst of the emotions of not belonging or unbelonging, as Brené writes, including feelings of anger and unrest are becoming prominent especially amongst the young generations. read more…
Gripping the Heart –Preaching Tip for 4 March 2018
Many preachers are used to appealing to the mind, to reason, or persuasion by argument or points. But these are forgotten as soon as the mind goes onto the next “good” thing. But stories that grip the heart –those are never forgotten. Remember this Lent to offer a heart-gripping story,…