The online editorial staff comprises Betsy Shirley, Jenna Barnett, Josiah R. Daniels, Mitchell Atencio, Heather Brady, Kierra Bennning, and Zachary Lee.
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Verse of the Day: Tree Planted by Water
"But blessed is the one who trusts in Me alone; the Eternal will be his confidence. He is like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots beside the stream. It does not fear the heat or even drought. Its leaves stay green and its fruit is dependable, no matter what it faces." - Jeremiah 17:7-8 (The Voice)
Voice of the Day: Dorothy L. Sayers
"Unless we do change our whole way of thought about work, I do not think we shall ever escape from the appalling squirrel-cage of economic confusion in which we have been madly turning for the last three centuries or so, the cage in which we landed ourselves by acquiescing in a social system based upon envy and avarice." - Dorothy L. Sayers
Voice of the Day: Maya Angelou
"Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning." - Maya Angelou
Verse of the Day: Safety for the Helpless
"Blessed are those who consider the helpless. The Eternal will stay near them, leading them to safety in times of bitter struggle." - Psalm 41:1
Prayer of the Day: Thanksgiving (4 of 6)
God, thank you for the senses you have given us, physical and emotional. Touch our lives, that we may feel more of your presence each day. Amen.
Supercommittee SuperFAIL: Raise Your Hand If You Didn't See That Coming?
Image by Hans Gerwitz via Wylio (http://bit.ly/uTsCDz)
A special congressional supercommittee acknowledged failure Monday in efforts to cut the federal deficit by at least $1.2 trillion. The panel’s failure was announced in a joint statement issued in late afternoon after the close of U.S. stock markets, which plunged during the day.
Worth a Listen: Huffington Post's Religion Editor on Social Justice and the Gospel
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush
Over the weekend, our friend Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, senior religion editor for the Huffington Post, was a guest on NPR's "On Being" program with host Krista Tippett, to talk about how the Social Gospel movement of the early 20th century is shaping the religious and spiritual reality of 2011.
An ordained American Baptist minister and a former dean of religious life and the chapel at Princeton University, Raushenbush is the great-grandson of both the venerable Christian scholar Walter Rauschenbush and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. He talked to Tippett about the influence of faith on the Occupy movement, religion and emerging technologies and what his great-grandfather Rauschenbush's take on the social gospel — he famously said, "Social problems are moral problems on a larger scale" — has to say to the life of the church and society writ large today.
It's a compelling conversation, well worth your taking the time to listen.
Voice of the Day: Desmond Tutu
If an elephant has its foot on a mouse and you say that your are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. - Desmond Tutu
Verse of the Day: Peace and Unity
"Work toward unity, and live in harmony with one another. Avoid thinking you are better than others or wiser than the rest; instead, embrace common people and ordinary tasks. Do not retaliate with evil, regardless of the evil brought against you. Try to do what is good and right and honorable as agreed upon by all people. If it is within your power, make peace with all people." - Romans 12:16-18 (The Voice)
Prayer of the Day: Thanksgiving (3 of 6)
God, we thank you for grace and forgiveness. Help us to show mercy to others as you have shown mercy to us. Amen.
Verse of the Day: One Bread, One Body
"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." - 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
Prayer of the Day: Thanksgiving (2 of 6)
God, thank you for this earth you have created. When we look at the mountains and oceans and great plains, may we think of you. Help us to protect your creations and be good stewards of your land. Amen.
Voice of the Day: John Muir
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."
Verse of the Day: Pure and Refined Promise
"'Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will rise up,' says the Lord; 'I will place them in the safety for which they long.' The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times." - Psalm 12:5-6
Voice of the Day: Marian Wright Edelman
"So often we think we have got to make a difference and be a big dog. Let us just try to be little fleas biting. Enough fleas biting strategically can make a big dog very uncomfortable." - Marian Wright Edelman
Prayer of the Day: Thanksgiving (1 of 6)
God, thank you for the people you've placed in my life. May I recognize the lives in which you have placed me, that I may show love to others as you have shown to me. Amen.
Voices from the Human Circles of Protection: Stefan Fritz in Chicago
Stefan Fritz, a second-year seminary student at North Park Theological Seminary, speaks to Covenant Media Services on November 16, 2011 about North Park University Justice League discussing their partnership with the Sojourners Circle of Protection campaign.
"The time has come to put actions to our prayers, our values and act our morals," Fritz said. "And it's time for us to call upon our political leaders to act justly....We will fight together to protect these social programs that our country needs so desperately."
Watch video of Fritz's interview about today's Human Circle of Protection action in Chicago inside.
Human Circles of Protection: Jim Wallis Visits the Chicago Circle at North Park University
Sojourners' CEO Jim Wallis visited Chicago's North Park University today to march with students, faculty, and staff to form a “Human Circle of Protection” at the North Park Friendship Center. Jim shared his thoughts with Covenant Media Services after the march.
"We are saying, 'God is watching how you decide to cut a deficit,'" Wallis said." A deficit is a moral issue. But how we cut it — what we do, who suffers, who bears the pain of it — is a moral issue too."
Watch video of Jim's intervirew with Covenant Media inside.
Colbert on OWS Evictions: "Linking Arms is a Dangerous Act of Aggression."
"The founders never intended indefinite free speech. They assumed after two weeks any protest would be wiped out by small pox.” — Stephen Colbert
Voice of the Day: Origen of Alexandria
"The law becomes an 'old testament' only for those wish to understand it carnally, but for those who understand it and apply it in the Spirit and in the gospel sense, the law is ever new and the two 'testaments' are a new testament for us, not because of their date in time but because of the newness of the meaning. For those who do not respect the covenant of love, even the gospels are 'old.'"