Headquarters of the Spirituality While Alive Taskforce (SWAT)
From The Book of Uncommon Prayer:
1.4.1
O One In Charge,
while our bodies and computers rest from the labors of the day and as our RAM, caches, and our souls are released from the thoughts of this world, grant that we may stand in your presence with tranquility, quietness, and peace.
Amen.
1.4.3
One In Charge, guide us waking and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch our RSS feeds, and asleep we may rest in peace.
Amen.
Not just any journalist. But one who was or is in captivity or who was killed or tortured?
Whether you can name one or not, Sistertech thought you should keep in mind the recent journalist who died in the line of duty and offer this prayer from The Book of Uncommon Prayer:
4.15 For those in Danger or Captivity
Remember, O One In Charge, IT workers, citizen and professional journalists, and bloggers journeying in hostile foreign lands, in captivity or in prison, undergoing torture or bitter slavery.
Be their constant shield and companion. Give them courage to endure and escape their travail. Assist us in working for their swift release. Let their plight not be forgotten by us, their colleagues, family, and friends.
Amen.
From The Book of Uncommon Prayer:
1.3.1
Keep watch, dear One In Charge, with those who work the night shift, or who watch over their employer’s servers, or who weep for lost computers or data. Tend sick computers; give rest to service technicians, bless dying toner cartridges, soothe suffering victims of spam, shield joyous owners of new smartphones; and all for your love’s sake.
Amen.
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) led an incredible life and Sistertech is proud to remember him today. Du Bois (he pronounced it “due boys”, not the fussy “due bwah”) was a towering intellect and tremendous champion for the dignity of African Americans and of all peoples.
Dr. David Levering Lewis, in his book, W. E. B. Du Bois, 1919-1963: The Fight for Equality and the American Century
In the course of his long, turbulent career, W. E. B. Du Bois attempted virtually every possible solution to the problem of twentieth-century racism— scholarship, propaganda, integration, national self-determination, human rights, cultural and economic separatism, politics, international communism, expatriation, third world solidarity.
That’s all well and good, but if you really want to know why Sistertech so admired Du Bois you need look no further than his Prayers for Dark People
Teach us, O God, that NOW is the accepted time–not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best studying can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work and tomorrow comes the harvest and the play-time. May we learn in youth, when the evil days come not, that the man who plays and then works, rests and then studies, fails and then rushes, is not simply reversing nature, he is missing opportunities and losing the training and preparation which makes work and study and endeavor the touchstone of success. Isaiah 49:8-11
How fitting is Psalm 113:1-7 for remembering W. E. B. today!
Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord;
praise the name of the Lord.
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time on and for evermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
4 The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust,
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
Gentle Lover of our Souls, we beseech thee to so soften our hearts that we may always choose to follow thee and confirm thee promptly as our True Friend. Inspired by thy divine Friendship, we boldly approach thy throne of mercy and lay before thee our concerns and curiosities, good wishes and gossip, likes and LOL’s. In thine compassion grant us some measure of thy wisdom that we might judge worthily the appropriate time to cease updating and tweeting our status. Help us to entrust our friends and followers to thy loving care and relieve our anxieties over their status. Cause us to remember that thou, Who Hast Been In Charge even before the beginning of cyberspace, hast beheld their updates and tweets, yea, even before the same were posted online. Thy beneficence hast taught us that thou art doing for our friends and followers better things than they might receive from any replies, DM’s or RT’s we could post.
Amen.
As I mentioned yesterday, the requests for prayers has stepped up significantly since the publication of The Book of Uncommon Prayer. Sistertech is delighted to have the help of Tom the Intern. Instead of having Tom fly over to the general Receiving Department, we’ve decided to route the requests straight through to Tom’s desk at the Spirituality While Alive Taskforce (SWAT) data center.
Tom will be checking the incoming requests to determine whether new prayers need to be developed. It is Sistertech’s hope that this will streamline efforts and reduce response time.
Tom’s email address is: tomtheintern@sistertech.com. He’s got an auto-response on it, but rest assured that with SWAT, you’ll always be our second priority. The One In Charge is our first priority.
Of course, anyone who uses the address to send SPAM will be find themselves thrust fairly quickly into, well, let’s say it is a place in which you would rather not be spending eternity.
Today Sistertech remembers a first. Samuel Ferguson (1842-1916) was the first African American to be consecrated a bishop in the Episcopal church. He served in Liberia. Sistertech knows from personal experience the extra effort is takes to be a first. Besides her own responsibilities, many of Sistertech’s friends over the centuries have been firsts of their own.
But more than his being a first, I am especially pleased to report that Bishop Ferguson founded many schools in Liberia. One of which is now Cuttington University. Sistertech has a soft spot for schools. The Psalm appointed for today is one that many of you no doubt learned as children.
Psalm 119:9-16
Wherewithal shall young people cleanse their ways?
by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
With my whole heart have I sought thee:
O let me not wander from thy commandments.
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
Now that The Book of Uncommon Prayer is on the market, Sistertech has received even more requests for help. I’ve been trying to figure out whether this is an intended or unintended consequence. Tom, one of my interns, has clocked some serious miles flying back and forth from our Receiving Department delivering requests.
“Sistertech, a lot of the requests have to deal with Facebook,” Tom said.
“I know. I know,” I sighed. If The One In Charge had asked me about it beforehand, I would have cautioned that Facebook belonged in the category with the tree and Stan. My thoughts drifted back across the eons to the tree and Stan. It was a shame about Stan’s going over to the Dark Side. Eve should have never listened to him.
“Frankly, Tom, I think Facebook should have been reserved for angels and not humans. I mean, really. Whose bright idea was it to give…”
“But didn’t The One In Charge…,” Tom interjected.
“humans…er, um…eh, (cough-uh-cough)…” A glance at Tom’s puzzled look helped me snap out of it.
“Please Tom. Don’t interrupt. Now, as I was saying. Yes, of course, Tom. Facebook is a gift from The One In Charge. But Facebook requires a great deal of self-control by its users lest it tempt them into spending untold hours in its time-draining, life-sinking, clutches.”
“What are we supposed to do with all these requests for help?” Tom asked.
“Ours is not to question why. Ours is to realize that Facebook is here now. We’re just going to have to up straighten our halos and deal with the consequences. Humans are starting to get the idea that no matter what predicament they find themselves in the Spirituality While Alive Taskforce (SWAT) is here to help.”
“What prayers shall we offer, Sistertech? I’m not sure I know of any that will help.”
“That’s exactly where our Department comes in, Tom. We’re going to have to compose prayers just for Facebook users who are in need. Try composing one,” I said.
Tom thought for a moment. “We work 24/7 but humans don’t, right?” I nodded in the affirmative. “This means that work is something we do up here at any moment a human pauses to think about it, right?” I again nodded in the affirmative. Tom scribbled a few lines, scratched them out. He thought a bit more and wrote a few lines.
“How’s this prayer, Sistertech?”
It never ceases to amaze me how industrious interns can be. I think for a beginner’s first prayer, Tom’s is a good one. We’ll have to get to work on more prayers, but Sistertech offers you Tom’s as a start.
As above,
so below.
Back to work
now I go.
Sistertech was a bit careless the other night and stubbed part of her wing while flying to a client’s office. I confess I was speeding a little bit. But it made me think about all the things The One In Charge has made. It would be nice to have wings that do not bruise. But, hey! It’s very cool to have wings! And so I rejoice with all the children of The One In Charge that we were made at all.
What a fantastic praise fest! This place is, as they say, jumpin’!
Bach has never been better. The Handel and Purcell sets were splendid, too. JB (yes, he allows Sistertech to call him that) is one of Sistertech’s favorite composers. She cannot tell you how many times she’s listened to the “Coffee Cantata”. Sistertech suggests that her clients play the CD for some stress relief. It does the job. Soothing and energizing at the same time.
Whoever selected Psalm 150 for the trio of tunesters got it perfectly:
Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!