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Signs of Life is featuring povitica in our coffee shop again this Easter. Povitica (pronounced something like poh va teet’ sa) is the traditional dessert bread of Eastern Europe. Each is hand rolled by third-generation bakers locally so it is fresh for our customers. It is available in several flavors, but the most popular are the traditional black walnut and the scrumptious cream cheese. We offer Povitica by the loaf in an attractive gift box. You can take it home to enjoy with your Easter meal or give povitica as a gift to family and friends. We also have povitica by the slice in our cafe so you can come in and savor it with your favorite latte, chai, or juice.

For Christians, last month’s Ash Wednesday marked the start of the Lenten Season, a 40-day period (excluding Sundays) for fasting, solemnity, and personal introspection in preparation for Holy Week. Christians from various traditions—Protestant, Orthodox, Evangelical, Roman Catholic, Anglican—have long used this period to consider their own mortality and the seriousness of sin, as well as the forgiveness of God as offered in the Gospel. It is also a common occurrence for laymen and clergy alike to use the period to rededicate oneself to a disciplined spiritual life, reforming or recommitting certain habits to aid one’s contemplation of God’s words during this time. Along this note, several textual aids are available to the individual or group desiring direction during Lent, as well as several classic texts addressing themes appropriate to the season.

In the past couple of decades, there have been many texts published concerning the Spiritual Disciplines, but several titles have stood the test of time. Richard Foster’s classic work, A Celebration of Discipline, is lauded by many as one of the best treatises on the importance of the core spiritual disciplines. In the book, Foster outlines 12 disciplines under three broad categories: the Inward Disciplines, the Outward Disciplines, and the Corporate Disciplines. Thus habits like meditation, prayer, simplicity, service, confession, and worship are put in the context of personal, familial, civic, and communal life, giving the book a certain pastoral completeness.

Other titles in this category include Donald Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and John Calvin’s classic reader, Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life. For those looking for books treating individual disciplines, John Piper’s book on fasting, Hunger for God is very good. Also, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Meditating on the Word is a small treatise for those looking to grow in this important discipline.

Finally, the use of prayer books in lay life is an increasingly popular activity these days, especially during intensely devotional seasons like Lent. Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer has served a central role in Western directed prayer for over three centuries. Additionally, the Valley of Vision is an excellent compilation of Puritan prayers published by Banner of Truth. Finally, Phyllis Tickle has compiled a three-book series of directed prayer and praise for individuals and groups called The Divine Hours. The three book series contains Prayers for Springtime, Prayers for Summertime, and Prayers for Autumn/Winter, respectively.

We were sitting around at a meeting of the Lawrence Conservatives Club the other day. The whole membership was there. All three of us. We unanimously agreed to this proclaimation: Sin makes you stupid. We came to this realization when someone observed that the liberal agenda seems to consist mainly in irradicating the consequences of choices. Especially My choices. Especially My choices regarding sex.

Case in point: there has been a lot of talk lately about mandatory vaccination of pre-pubescent girls against HPV - a sexually transmitted disease linked to cervical cancer. Our local paper carried a big article about the issue, complete with opinions and quotes from several people who think its a great idea. One doctor called it a no-brainer, like the flag and apple pie. The article mentioned that some people have moral concerns, but it didn’t explain what those concerns might be, nor did it quote anyone who held those concerns.

When one of our members pointed out in a letter to the editor that some people were not at risk for STDs, he was vehemently and personally attacked in the newspaper’s on-line forum. These anonymous attackers went so far as to find out his wife’s name and use that in their diatribe. “You call that a culture of life?” they screamed. Well, yes we do. And if you weren’t blinded by your liberal agenda, you might be able to recognize it for what it is.

Now we learn, in a recent story in the Dallas Morning News, that there are reasons why we are suddenly hearing so much about making HPV vaccination mandatory. Millions of reasons, actually. The manufacutrer of the vaccine has been financing an aggressive lobbying campaign for the purpose of boosting sales. But they are backing down now due to a backlash among parents, physicians and consumer advocates. The conservative position has some economic traction for a change.