Song for Sunday: For the Fruit of All Creation

Happy New Year!

Today, the first Sunday of Advent, is the first day of the Christian liturgical year. Baptists like me tend not to pay overmuch attention to such things, but I usually give  a nod to this new start.

And what better time than the beginning of a new year to begin again with my blog? I've neglected it for a while.

So, Song for Sunday.


At our Family Thanksgiving Service, we sang this hymn. The piece that stuck with me was the second half of the second verse:

"In our worldwide task of caring
for the hungry and despairing,
in the harvests we are sharing,
God's will is done."
                   ~Fred Pratt Green

It makes me think, how am I caring for the hungry and despairing? How am I sharing my harvest? How am I offering my body as a living sacrifice?

I volunteer, participate in service projects, and go on the occasional short term mission trip, but my life is comfortable. Am I supposed to do more?

I need to pray....


In the meantime, may the words of this hymn challenge you as well.

What has challenged you recently?

(Belated) Song for Sunday: Sister Suffragettes

I almost forgot to write this blog post and I haven't written in so long I am not sure I have any readers left, but anyway, here goes.


We watched Mary Poppins as a family not too long ago and I was struck by this song. It hopefully sings out:

"Our daughter's daughters will adore us
as they sing in grateful chorus
'Well done, Sister Suffragettes'"

Alas, I think in general it's wrong. Not about women voting, about their granddaughters being thankful...or even remembering.

It's election day here in the US and many women are wearing white as a sign of thankfulness for women's right to vote and run for political office. We have, for the first time, a female candidate from a major political party running for president. (We have actually had women candidates for years and, by the way, this doesn't indicate how I voted. I am not going there here.)  But most of the time I think we forget that gaining the right to vote was the hard won struggle of women who worked for nearly century to gain suffrage. And it hasn't even been a century since they succeeded.

This is a fun song. It's also humorous, contrasting a wife's progressive views with her husband's staunchly traditional ones.

The women's suffrage movement had a bit of a checkered history, making alliances with racists and advocating violent action. I don't condone either of those tactics.

I am, however, grateful to be able to vote...and enjoy Mary Poppins.

Check out this link on the history of the Suffragette Movement in the US.
http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage
And in England:
http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/overview/startsuffragette-/



Did you vote?