the Web Editors

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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Voice of the Day: Martin Luther King Jr.

by the Web Editors 10-15-2012

The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority. - Martin Luther King, Jr. + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Verse of the Day: And Be Thankful

by the Web Editors 10-15-2012

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. - Colossians 3:15 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

Prayer of the Day: Malala

by the Web Editors 10-15-2012

God, we pray for Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani girl shot in the head by Taliban gunmen. We ask for healing and also comfort for her family and friends. We pray for the Middle East and ask for peace.

Voice of the Day: Percy Shelley

by the Web Editors 10-11-2012

The past is death's, the future is thine own. Take it while it is still yours, and fix your mind, not on what you may have done long ago to hurt, but on what you can now do to help. - Percy Shelley + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Prayer of the Day: Hunger

by the Web Editors 10-11-2012

God, we pray for all of those who are hungry. Give them the strength to continue. And give us the resolve and conviction to act.

Verse of the Day: Act with Justice

by the Web Editors 10-11-2012

Thus says the LORD: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. - Jeremiah 22:3 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

We’ve Got Issues

by the Web Editors 10-11-2012

If you care about having a substantive conversation about issues that matter, you should share this post.

At its best, Christian faith provides a moral compass for advancing the common good. At worst, Christianity can be hijacked by partisan political agendas that divide and destroy. Sojourners encourages you to develop a robust and well-informed conscience around elections, measuring candidates and their platforms against Christian ethics and values. While we must be careful about translating scripture directly into public policy positions, there are principles and suggested approaches on a range of issues that can provide a critical framework to shape our perspective on public policy.

As we have since 2004, Sojourners has published an issues guide of principles and policies for Christian voters. We encourage you to use this guide to educate yourself on these issues. This can inform you as you write letters to candidates or to your local newspaper, call radio talk shows, and ask candidates at forums or town hall meetings questions based on these principles. Think and pray about whom, you would entrust with the responsibility to lead your community, state, and nation.

Share this with others and get ready for the conversation to begin.

Verse of the Day: Faithful Disobedience

by the Web Editors 10-10-2012

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up." - Daniel 3:16-18 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

Voice of the Day: Vigen Guroian

by the Web Editors 10-10-2012

“I think gardening is nearer to godliness than theology. True gardeners are both iconographers and theologians insofar as these activities are the fruit of prayer ‘without ceasing.’ Likewise, true gardeners never cease to garden, not even in their sleep, because gardening is not just something they do. It is how they live.” - Vigen Guroian from The Fragrance of God + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Prayer of the Day: Beauty and Practicality

by the Web Editors 10-10-2012

May I see in the textbook of creation that you fill the earth with beauty as well as with practicality; that even in the useful lies the purely ornamental, and that in seeing your holy and artistic design, I may, with your grace, do and be the same. From Pray All Ways by Edward Hays

Prayer of the Day: Wonder

by the Web Editors 10-09-2012

Overwhelm us with wonder, Lord, that our souls might rest in awe. From Common Prayer

Voice of the Day: Rabbi Israel Zolli

by the Web Editors 10-09-2012

"Conversion is light renewed, love of God renewed. The convert is a [man or woman] who has died and has risen again." - Rabbi Israel Zolli + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Verse of the Day: Christ Died for Us

by the Web Editors 10-09-2012

But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

Verse of the Day: Commit to the Lord

by the Web Editors 10-08-2012

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday. Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. - Proverbs 37:5-7 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

Voice of the Day: Jill Briscoe

by the Web Editors 10-08-2012

Jesus’ example was radical. Over and over he tried to tell people to differentiate between tradition and truth — and he called them to follow the truth, which abolishes prejudice. - Jill Briscoe + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Prayer of the Day: Wisdom

by the Web Editors 10-08-2012

God, each day we are faced with a multitude of choices. Help us to choose wisely. Grant us wisdom.

Prayer of the Day: Action

by the Web Editors 10-05-2012

God, help us to take seriously the call to love our neighbors. Stir us into action.

Voice of the Day: John Donne

by the Web Editors 10-05-2012

No [person] is an Island, entire of itself; every [person] is a piece of Continent, a part of the main, if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor or thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminshes me, because I am involved in Mankind. - John Donne + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Verse of the Day:

by the Web Editors 10-05-2012

For those in need shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor will never die. - Psalm 9:18 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

BREAKING: Jobless Rate Falls

by the Web Editors 10-05-2012

The U.S. jobless rate fell to 7.8 percent in September, the lowest since January 2009, President Obama’s first month in office. The Associated Press reports:

“The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent last month, dropping below 8 percent for the first time in nearly four years. The rate declined because more people found work, a trend that could have an impact on undecided voters in the final month before the presidential election.

“The Labor Department said Friday that employers added 114,000 jobs in September. The economy also created 86,000 more jobs in July and August than first estimated. Wages rose in September and more people started looking for work.”