Daily Signet

More personal than all the things we desire,
more unique than the opinions we have acquired,
more vital than the talents we can display,
the epiphany of you in us.

As if you are the breath that sounds out and through the song we sing,
as if you are the intoxicant that sets us trilling with joy,
as if you are the longing for life beyond the death we must conceive,
the epiphany of you in us.

Star above,
whose light illuminates the manger of our work, our deeds, our desires
shine over us in a shout of light and call out in us the recognition,
there is a child of god given birth in here,
the epiphany of you in us.

In Your Image.  Amen                                                

Benjamin Martin 

On This Day…

Christian Watch Night: Evening service ending after midnight where prayers of atonement are said, and blessings on the New Year

Shinto Oharai/Grand Purification: festival exorcising evil from the world

Daily Signet

Every morning, the sun proclaims, “He is risen.”
Your star has risen within you.
Every morning the Christos in you is risen.
Born is the King of Israel.
Born are the sons and daughters of Man.

The stars in our Services remind you of who you really are so that, remembering, you will truly act as you truly are—sovereign of this day in this world, each day.
It’s work to put the “old you” back in the morning.
It’s work to ignore the new day’s call of warmth, desire and the light.

Your star is your world’s chance to be.
Where do you find your star?
Non fores ire. In interior, homine habitat.

Follow the star rising in you.
Your star is your world’s chance to be.                                              

Ben Leichtling

On This Day…

Rudyard Kipling born 12-30-1865 in Mumbai, India: short story writer famous for his Jungle Book, Just So Stories, If, and Kim. Died 1-18-1936 Quotes: “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” “A woman’s guess is much more accurate than a man’s certainty.” “We have 40 million reasons for failure but not a single excuse.”

Daily Signet

Our Christmas in India was spent on the beaches of Goa—65 miles of perfect, uninterrupted sand and palms beside the Arabian Sea. It was warm water with big waves rolling in and Mary and the kids rollicked in it. We had gone down from Bombay on a ship; we had a stateroom, but most of the Indian passengers slept on a deck. The full moon was coming up to our left—a beautiful night and down on the deck the Indians sang, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.” Later in the night there was a great storm, but I don’t remember much about it. We landed in Goa, storm gone. The next night Mary, kids and I were led around the great Cathedral of St. Thomas, the Apostle: he was lying there in state. Can you imagine six people being led through a great, empty, dark and darker cathedral by a dear priest with one candle? No else tried to go. (Somewhere in our house is a piece of St. Thomas’ shroud cut off by the priest leading us on our tour by candlelight.)

When we went back to the hotel late that night, as our ferryboat crossed the river, Mary said, “I hope someday someone will say something about the beautiful moon coming up, so I can say, “Oh, you’ve never seen it as a beautiful as it was coming up over the Mondavi River on Christmas night in Goa.”            

From “Omnific Journey”, by William Boast

Sunset on the Arabian Sea in Goa, India

On This Day…

Massacre of the Holy Infants: Christian Catholic remembrance of the first children murdered by order of King Herod when he heard of the birth of Jesus

Daily Signet

O Holy Christ born within us, may we go
like a blessing, like a bloom, like a star,
like a song, like a dance
and may we go in love, be bathed in love, be fully immersed in love
and know You fully as the body and blood of sweet communion—
to know You as the bread and the chalice of our daily intercourse,
to know You as the nourishment, a taste of immortality,
and the grace of the moment now robed in Always.

May we go like a blessing, like a bloom, like a star,
like a song, like a dance. May we go in love.                                                

Benjamin Martin

On This Day…

St. Thomas Becket: 12 C bosom friend of English King Henry II who appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury to support his right to be king. But when Becket became devout in his support of the Church, he was murdered in the Canterbury Cathedral by Henry’s soldiers.

Daily Signet

Oh Holy Spirit,

The gift of birth is all around us 
and inside us.
So much life waiting to be named 
and unfold through us and around us.
Accept our gratefulness for the birth and rebirth
renewed in the season of the Christ born in a manger.

Accept our gratefulness
for the riches you have bestowed on us –
in the loves we know,
in the friendships we cultivate,
in the amazing miracle of life and renewed life.

In Your Image.

Benjamin Martin

On This Day…

St. John the Evangelist: 1C Disciple of Jesus, evangelist writer of the fourth gospel, and many letters to early Christians

Feast of the Holy Family: Christian Catholic remembrance