O Holy Spirit,
We call upon the life in us
to regenerate new life —
to replace those cells no longer vital
and to revitalize our hearts, our minds, our dedication.
We live in such a jumble of shoulds and rights and wants.
It seems we cannot sustain a rhythm of hours, of seasons, of prayer.
Renew us.
Make our eyes new.
Fire our love that it may flow strong and rich.
Take the death in us
and from its ashes grow green visions
and deep-down imaginatio.
Let our arête germinate new action;
our contemplative time, new insight.
Turn our disappointments into joy,
our frustrations into hope.
For this season of renewal, we are grateful.
May this season be reborn in us.
In Your Image. Amen.
Benjamin Martin
And Now, quieted here,
we hear again
the melodies we have learned,
the songs we will hum as
temple dissolves to tabernacle,
and we begin a journey,
bearing within table, altar, holy book
and blessed pilgrim’s shell.
As the egg holds life, we bear light.
As the seed encases hope, we gather the tunes
that remember yesterday’s now
and bring up tomorrow’s sun.
Teri Martin
The shell of what once housed the spirit of
the rabboni, the rabbi, the Jewish teacher.
On the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion,
Mary Magdalene, among others,
came to the tomb to pay homage to what had been;
only to find a broken seal, a rolled away stone,
an empty tomb.
The signet impressioned on the spirit
was greater than the signet
impressioned on the tomb.
From The Death and Resurrection High Service
On This Day…
Hanuman Jayanti: Hindu celebration of Hanuman’s birthday
Cecil Day-Lewis born 1904 in the Republic of Ireland, died 1972: poet, poet laureate of the UK, writer of mysteries under the name Nicholas Blake, and also father of actor Daniel Day-Lewis.
Works: The Poetic Image, The Otterbury Incident, Thou Shell of Death
Quotes: “Summer has filled her veins with light and her heart is washed with noon.” “We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand.” “Selfhood begins with a walking away, and love is proved in letting go.”
The grain of wheat appearing inert when planted in the ground is Osiris in the tomb. The grain which germinates and produces the head of wheat from which will come the bread and nourishment of man is the god who under the sweet influence of Tu-Shen Tyt comes to life gain in order to heap his favors on earth. Everything in nature lives to die and dies in order to be reborn.
William Boast
Marcus Aurelius born 121 AD in Rome, died 180: Roman emperor and stoic philosopher.
Works: Meditations, The Emperor’s Handbook, Thoughts
Quotes: “It is not death that man should fear, but never beginning to live.” “You will have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
Much as there is a unique pattern on the thumbprint of each individual, there is a thumbprint on the soul—a fiery signet. And this signet is “set like a seal over our hearts” and it is impressioned with a blazing flame of love. As it says in Song of Solomon, “For love is as strong as death, passion is as unrelenting as Sheol. Its flames burst forth, it is a blazing flame.” So the seal on our soul is as strong as death and as powerful as a blazing flame—stronger than any cultural, time-bound limitation, stronger than any deadness that seems to have locked us, to have blocked us in. The fiery signet, our origo, our unique alloy of ancestry, talent and mastery is sealed in a blazing flame of love so that out of the death of the least of us, we might take the Christ born within us, break forth and “Go in Love.” The power that seals our soul is greater than the power that blocks us, defines us, confines us; the seal of the Beloved Spirit is greater than the seal of the Status Quo.
Benjamin Martin
