Daily Signet
…But all calls, even this one, this call to home, requires of us a death: a death of our illusion that the greatness of a home is measured in square footage, or the measure of security, a function of home equity. This call to the place of first calls requires of us a death reminding it as it does of our first attempts to sacrifice our wishing and our first attempts to speak out our believing as we tried to exceed our self-doubting—and to die even to this self-doubting for it is this which keeps us homeless.
…And so it appears some homecomings may even feel like death, like a vessel at sea tumbling home, like being poured out like water as we let go of the illusion that if we plan hard enough and if we hold on tight enough we can secure ourselves against the future….
As we let go of our illusions
of entitlement and birthright,
tumble home we may
and land emptied and there,
by the grace of God
awaken to the appreciation
(in the old OED sense)
of the riches of life.
And there build a hearth, an altar
and upon it, a sacred fire
a re-sourcing of life, of warmth, of friendship
and give thanks…
and the moment we give thanks—
and herein lies the mystery—
the moment we give thanks,
we are home.
Teri Martin
On This Day…
Kurt Vonnegut born in 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana: author of 14 novels, five plays, and five works on non-fiction, remembered for Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, and Slaughterhouse Five. Died 4-11-07
Quotes: "I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center." "Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh since there is less cleaning up to do afterward." "I tell you, we are here on earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different."