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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Prayer of the Day: State Legislatures
God, we pray for each state's legislature, that they make just and humane choices to help underrepresented communities. We pray that their decisions be sincerely driven by the needs of those they serve, not by greed. Amen.
Afternoon News Bytes: Jan. 30, 2012
The Surprising Evangelical Support For Newt Gingrich (OPINION); Florida Evangelicals A Different Breed Of Voter Than Brethren In Iowa, South Carolina; Elite Wall Street Donations Jumped 700 percent In The Last 20 Years; Leslie H. Gelb On How President Obama Should Handle Iran; Americans Intrigued But Wary Still Of Mormon Beliefs; It Looks Like Civil War; In Yemen, A U.S.-Backed Transition Plan Draws Fire From Democracy Activists; The Truth About Foreign Aid (OPINION); How Conservatives Lost Their Moral Compass (OPINION).
Voice of the Day: Ben Okri
"It may be that what you could be haunts you. It is real. It is a weight you have to carry around. Each failure to become, to be, is a weight. Each state you could inhabit is a burden as heavy as any physical weight, but more so, because it weighs on your soul. It is the ghost of your possibilities hanging around your neck, an invisible albatross, potentials unknowingly murdered." - Ben Okri
Prayer of the Day: Temptation
Almighty God, help me to resist temptation this week. Help me to pinpoint divisive activities that get in the way of my walk with you. May my thoughts, words, and actions give glory to you. Amen.
Verse of the Day: Our Helper
"But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands; the helpless commit themselves to you; you have been the helper of the orphan." - Psalm 10:14
Afternoon News Bytes: Jan. 27, 2012
Marco Rubio Calls For A Shift In Rhetoric On Immigration; Davos Head Offers To Meet With Occupy Protesters; UN Rights Chief Calls For Them To Be Heard; Global Evangelical Body Plans Egyptian Summit, Calls For Worldwide Prayer; For GOP, Dislike For Obama Trumps All; Who Are Evangelicals?;congre A Scalpel, Not A Hatchet; Climate Change Goes Back To Square Zero; Rick Santorum: Gingrich And Romney ‘Bought Into The Global Warming Hoax’.
Voice of the Day: Teresa of Avila
"Beg our Lord to grant you perfect love for your neighbor… If someone else is well spoken of, be more pleased than if it were yourself; this is easy enough, for if you were really humble, it would vex you to be praised… Force your will, as far as possible, to comply in all things with others’ wishes although sometimes you may lose your own rights by doing so. Forget your self-interests for theirs, however much nature may rebel." - Teresa of Avila
Verse of the Day: Life and Blessings
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live." - Deuteronomy 30:19
Prayer of the Day: Holocaust Remembrance Day
God, today we lift up all people victimized by the Holocaust. We pray for continued healing of hearts and minds, and that we use this day to commit ourselves to pursuing peace in our community and justice in our society. Amen.
Afternoon News Bytes: Jan. 26, 2012
Talk Of Taxing The Rich More Faces Political Realities; Why Mitt Romney Can't Be The Mormon JFK; Why Evangelicals Don’t Like Mormons; Economic Crisis Mustn't Eclipse Battle Against Poverty, Says Bill Gates; Reclaiming The Name Evangelical (OPINION); Interactive: Is God Hearing Your Climate Change Prayers? (VIDEO); The 'Human Costs' Of An iPad; Reclaiming Jesus’ Sense Of Humor (OPINION)
Verse of the Day: Speak Truth to One Another
"So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another." - Ephesians 4:25
Voice of the Day: Anne Lamott
"To be a good writer, you not only have to write a great deal but you have to care. You do not have to have a complicated moral philosophy. But a writer always tries, I think, to be a part of the solution, to understand a little about life and to pass this on." - Anne Lamott from, Bird by Bird
Prayer of the Day: Strength for the Weary
God, bless those who are weary, that they might find strength in their weakness. Like you restore life to the earth in spring, fill our hearts with renewed hope. Amen.
Afternoon News Bytes: Jan. 25, 2012
Obama Speech: State Of The Union Address Carries Emphatic Populist Challenge; What Do Latino Evangelical Voters Want? (OPINION by Gabriel Salguero); Evangelist: True Christians Don’t Demonize Mormons, Obama; Daniels Slams Obama's 'Pro-Poverty' Policy; Does Mitt Romney And Newt Gingrich's Rise Signal The End Of Evangelical Influence In 2012?; Time For The Peace Vote?; Best Actor Nominee Dedicates His Oscar Nod To Undocumented Immigrants; Christine Lagarde Sounds The Alarm On Europe; Davos Elite: Capitalism Has Widened Income; Gap Alabama's Immigration Law Dividing Religious Community.
Castro's (Hypothetical) Death, Narnia and Middle Earth: The Florida GOP Debate Follies
At NBC's Florida debate earlier this week, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich got into a game of one-upmanship over where Cuban dictator Fidel Castro might end up after his hypothetical death.
You really can't make this stuff up. But you can make it funnier...if you're Jon Stewart, that is.
Watch the video inside the blog...
Must Watch: Richard Wilkinson's TED Talk
Richard Wilkinson on TED.com: How economic inequality harms societies
We feel instinctively that societies with huge income gaps are somehow going wrong. Richard Wilkinson charts the hard data on economic inequality, and shows what gets worse when rich and poor are too far apart: real effects on health, lifespan, even such basic values as trust.
Watch Wilkinson's TED talk inside the blog...
Voice of the Day: J. R. R. Tolkien
“It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to." - Bilbo, from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring
Prayer of the Day: For Clean Water
God, you created the seas, the rivers, lakes, and oceans. It is from these waters that we have learned to find life and sustain our bodies. Teach us how to care for the water in our world, how to keep it clean for future generations and cleanse it for those who need it in the present. Amen.
Verse of the Day: On Defiling What is Good
"Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet?" - Ezekiel 34:18
2012 State of the Union Address: The Complete Text
President Obama Addresses The Nation During State Of The Union Address via Getty Images
From President Obama's 2012 State of the Union Address:
The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive. No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. (Applause.) What’s at stake aren’t Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. And we have to reclaim them.
Let’s remember how we got here. Long before the recession, jobs and manufacturing began leaving our shores. Technology made businesses more efficient, but also made some jobs obsolete. Folks at the top saw their incomes rise like never before, but most hardworking Americans struggled with costs that were growing, paychecks that weren’t, and personal debt that kept piling up.
Read the full text of the SOTU Address inside the blog...