Daily Signet

O Beloved Spirit,

We hold to the worthiness of our lives—
that somehow our efforts will merit visitation,
that somehow our achievements will gain good favor,
that somehow true words and honest work will save.
And yet, in our hearts we feel, we know
our efforts, achievements, words, work, 
bring us no closer.

Move us beyond the expectations attached to our deeds, 
that we may purify the prayers we live. 
Link us to faith first; that the outcomes of what we do 
grow out of our love for what we cannot know. 
The body without the breath is dead; 
our works without the faith, stubbed off. 
May our deeds be infilled with holy breath,
our only means to the gift of Spirit Holy. 
In your Image, Amen. 

Benjamin Martin

On This Day…

Upton Sinclair born 1878 in Baltimore, Maryland: writer known for his “muckraking” exposure of American industrial practices, died 1968
Works: The Jungle, Oil, King Coal
Quotes: “Fascism is capitalism plus murder.” “They use everything about the hog but the squeal.”

Donald Hall born 1928: Pulitzer Prize winner and Poet Laureate
Works: Oxcart Man, Essays After Eighty, Life Work
Quotes: “Contentment is work so engrossing that you do not know that you are working.” “Everything important always began from something trivial.”