Daily Signet
One reason I believe we should wrest Grace from the theologians and leave it with the mystics is that the mystics understood that grace was something to be experienced and not necessarily understood. It is a fundamentally mysterious thing. Being graced, experiencing xaris, is a twofold activity that is experienced as one. It’s like the Greek concept of paideia or “educated.” You are paideia, not only because you are educated, but at the same time, your life itself becomes educative. In the same way, xaris became gratia in Latin, meaning grace and gratitude—both at the same time. The Greek word, xaris, then, implies both a Doer and a Receiver. On the part of the Doer there is the outpouring of grace, graciousness or goodwill. On the part of the Receiver, there is a sense of favor, a sense of gratitude and thankfulness. Grace is both favor received and gratitude given and even beyond that, the mystery of the grace of such gratitude.
Teri Martin
On This Day…
Four Chaplains Day: in remembrance of Army chaplains (Rev. Clark Poling, Dutch Reformed minister from Ohio; Rabbi Alexander Goode from Indiana; Rev. George Fox, Methodist minister from Vermont; and Fr. John Washington, Roman Catholic priest from New Jersey) who, in 1942, were aboard the USAT Dorchester bound from New York to Greenland. The ship was struck by a German torpedo, and as it was sinking, the chaplains all helped soldiers get aboard the lifeboats. After giving their own lifejackets to soldiers, they perished with the ship.
Setsubun: Shinto rite in which good fortune is invoked and evil exorcised by throwing beans
Gertrude Stein born 1874 in Pennsylvania, died 1946: expatriate writer, playwright and mentor to many artists and writers. Works: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Three Lives, The Making of Americans
Quotes: “We are always the same age inside.” “America is my country and Paris is my hometown.” “It takes a lot of time to be a genius. You have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.”