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Keeping Perspective on Christmas |
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Peace on Earth
Your WebWeaver has been looking for a suitable Christmas
gift for all our website friends.
Jack King, formerly campus pastor at Indiana University
and my brother, has written a poem that does the job well.
[12-18-03] |
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Season's
greetings from the American Empire [12-18-03]
Sojourners offers holiday insight into the American
Empire through the holiday greeting cards being sent for Christmas 2003 by
President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney |
| "God
Rest You Merry Congressmen"
A Christmas carol to ponder
[12-19-02]
Witherspooner Jane Hanna sent us this updating of
the old carol. She received it from Anne Dunlap, who worked on Central
American issues for the church for a number of years.
God Rest You Merry Congressmen
(words by Barb Ballenger)
God rest you merry congressmen
let nothing you dismay
Remember that Afghanistan
is very far away.
You need not count the casualties
as starving children say:
No Tidings of Comfort and Joy,
Comfort and Joy
No Tidings of Comfort and Joy
We know that in the middle east
your oil rigs were born
And to preserve our way of life,
this region is war-torn.
We prop up Saudi dictators;
Iraq we hold in scorn.
No Tidings of Comfort and Joy,
Comfort and Joy
No Tidings of Comfort and Joy
God rest you merry congressmen,
the Macy's sale is on.
There's nothing like a shopping trip
to cover up our wrongs.
But growing debt and lay-offs
make it hard to play along.
No Tidings of Comfort and Joy,
Comfort and Joy
No Tidings of Comfort and Joy
God help you merry congressman
to learn that acts of war
Have never made it better
than it ever was before.
So listen to the wisdom
in the voices of the poor
Who seek Tidings of Comfort and Joy,
Comfort and Joy
Who seek Tidings of Comfort and Joy.
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CORINTHIANS 13, CHRISTMAS VERSION
(from the Internet)
[12-19-02]
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows,
Strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,
But do not show love to my family and friends,
I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen,
Baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
Preparing gourmet meals
And arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime,
But do not show love to my family and friends,
I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen,
Carol in the nursing home
And give all that I have to charity,
But do not show love,
It profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels
And crocheted snowflakes,
Attend myriad holiday parties
And sing in the choir's cantata,
But do not focus on Christ,
I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss one''s spouse.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china
and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful
they are there to be in the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but
rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures
all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will
rust...But giving the gift of love will endure.
Thanks be to God for the eternal gift of Jesus Christ.
And thanks to the Rev. Bruce Gillette, Co -Pastor of
First Presbyterian Church, Pitman NJ, who sent this to us.
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If you have something to add as a
perspective on Christmas, please send
a note! |
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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