Daily Signet

O Beloved Spirit, 
There are days when the air is not so clear,
and the view is clouded by the small;
when the focus is fragmented
and particulates of debris hover
like a haze in the mind.
In the swirl of small, 
how do I stay clear of small?
In the soiled haze of small,
how do I stay clean of small?

Be my breath, 
that I might clear my mind with light.
Be my breath, 
that I might purify my heart with light.

Light fill me.
Breath fill me.
That, though I am in the smallness,
I be not of the smallness.
Though I am bounded by smallness
I be not constricted into smallness.

Be my breath, O Holy Spirit, 
my inspiration of light.
In Your Image.  Amen.

Benjamin Martin 

On This Day…

Painting by Kobayashi Eitaku, 1880-90 (MFA, Boston). Izanagi to the right, Izanami to the left.

Koshogatsu: Shinto day of prayers to the Goddess Izanami who, along with God Izanagi, created the Kami responsible for cosmic energies and nature.