Today's Pipe Dreams features the music of the Wesley men, Charles, Samuel, and Samuel Sebastian. Not only does it include fantastic pipe organ, but out-standing choir work, too. Pay close attention to the descant on Lo, He Comes on Clouds Descending. Hardly a Sunday goes by at St. Philip's when we don't add a lovely descant like this to one or two of the hymns. In fact, I think we've done this one. Give it a listen and let the inspiration begin. The narration also includes good information on the Wesleys and hymnology, in general. And if you haven't made your contribution to public radio, please be generous.
.
Yesterday's Speaking of Faith program featured Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners Magazine, an author, and a rational, progressive voice among evangelicals. I missed part of it, but will go back and listen to the whole thing. I liked his idea of "leveling the praying field."
.
I did penance at the gym for all my over-indulgences of late. Actually, the aerobics we do in the pool are too much fun to call penance, but the effort it takes me to get there is not. Among all the sins of the flesh that I have been known to commit is the sin of sloth, I have it in spades.

As a Baptist, I never heard much about the seven deadly or mortal sins. Sin was sin, one as bad as the other, and we certainly never heard of "doing penance," but since leaving the Baptist church, I've discovered that some Christians consider some sins to be worse than others. From Wikipedia:
.
Listed in the same order used by both Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th Century AD, and later by Dante Alighieri in his epic poem The Divine Comedy, the seven deadly sins are as follows: Luxuria (extravagance, later lust), Gula (gluttony), Avaritia (greed), Acedia (sloth), Ira (wrath, more commonly known as anger), Invidia (envy), and Superbia (pride). Each of the seven deadly sins has an opposite among the corresponding seven holy virtues (sometimes also referred to as the contrary virtues). In parallel order to the sins they oppose, the seven holy virtues are chastity, abstinence, temperance, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility.
.
Here ends today's theology lesson.

Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen. (BCP)