Daily Archives: March 28, 2022

(BBC) Bishop of Coventry wants to retain ties with Volgograd despite twinning pause

The Bishop of Coventry wants the city to retain its link with Volgograd.

Coventry council voted on Tuesday to suspend the city’s 80-year twinning arrangement with the Russian city due to the Ukrainian war, despite an appeal by the Right Reverend Christopher Cocksworth for it to continue.

The bishop said it was important to “draw a distinction between the Putin state and the people of Russia”.

He said he would keep in contact with friends in the Russian city.

The Labour-run council said it was pausing its twinning links “with a heavy heart” until “such a time” they could resume.

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Posted in Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, England / UK, Ethics / Moral Theology, Foreign Relations, Military / Armed Forces, Politics in General, Religion & Culture, Russia, Ukraine, Urban/City Life and Issues

(Gallup Vault) Daylight Saving Favored for War, Energy Saving

In 1966, after more than 20 years without a national standard for time, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, and daylight saving time was standardized in the U.S. for part of the year.

However, in late 1973, to cut fuel consumption during the energy crisis, President Richard Nixon signed a law instituting year-round daylight saving time. Shortly before the bill’s passage, 57% of Americans supported the concept as a means to help deal with the energy situation.

Yet, the law quickly became widely unpopular as the public began to experience early-morning darkness, and multiple children were killed after being struck by cars while they were going to school in the dark. By early October 1974, President Gerald Ford signed a bill ending year-round daylight savings.

The twice-a-year time changes that were established under the Uniform Time Act subsequently resumed and have remained in effect, with slight modifications.

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Posted in America/U.S.A., History

(NYT front page) With Eyes on Russia, the U.S. Military Prepares for an Arctic Future

After parachuting into the frigid Alaska interior, Capt. Weston Iannone and his soldiers navigated miles through deep snow, finally setting up a temporary outpost on a ridgeline next to a grove of lanky spruce trees that were also struggling to survive.

Darkness was setting in, the temperature had fallen below zero, and the 120 men and women who had gathered as part of a major combat training exercise in subarctic Alaska had not yet erected tents. The supply line for fuel, essential to keep warm through the long night ahead, was lagging behind.

“Everything is a challenge, from water, fuel, food, moving people, keeping them comfortable,” said Captain Iannone, the 27-year-old company commander, as his soldiers shoveled deeper into the snow in search of a solid foundation to put up their sleeping quarters. “This is inherent training — understanding how far we can push physically and mentally.”

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Posted in America/U.S.A., Foreign Relations, Military / Armed Forces, Politics in General, Russia

Kendall Harmon’s Sunday Sermon–The powerful woman with no lines and no name (Luke 7:36-50)



Listen to it all or there is more there if you so desire.

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * South Carolina, Christology, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Preaching / Homiletics, Soteriology, Theology: Scripture

A Prayer for the Feast Day of James Solomon Russell

O God, the font of resurrected life, draw us into the wilderness and speak tenderly to us, so that we might love and worship thee as did thy servant James Solomon Russell, in assurance of the saving grace of Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer to Begin the Day from James Mountain

Almighty God, who has taught us in thy holy Word that the law was given by Moses, but that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ: Grant that we, being not under the law but under grace, may live as children of that Jerusalem which is above, and rejoice in the freedom of our heavenly citizenship; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

–The Rev. James Mountain (1844-1933)

Posted in Lent, Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Scripture Readings

I will sing of thy steadfast love, O LORD, for ever; with my mouth I will proclaim thy faithfulness to all generations. For thy steadfast love was established for ever, thy faithfulness is firm as the heavens.

–Psalm 89:1-2

Posted in Theology: Scripture