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.”

Daily Signet

O Beloved Spirit,
Each moment of love—
the delightful surprise of a shared joke,
the compassionate exchange in response to a hurt,
the embrace of a knowing recognition. 

Each moment of learning—
the ah-ha of the insight,
the ecstasy of hearing it as if for the first time,
the connections made from such disparate sources. 

Each moment of seeing—
the snow-flocked trees offset by the blazing blue sky,
the dark, viscous night filled with stars from ages past,
the recognition of the unseen at work in everyday choices. 

Each moment of the generative life—
the fruitful, the bountiful, the amazing, the miraculous,
the loud enunciation of the impossible—
echoing through the very foundations of our lives. 

We swim in a sea of grace 
and are infused with a Spirit of love.
May we accept this grace-filled life.
May we accept this love-infused universe.
May we embrace this ceaseless generosity
and burn ever so brightly
through this moment of love,
this moment of learning,
this moment of seeing,
this moment of the generative life.
Amen.                                                         

Benjamin Martin

On This Day…

Christian Candelmas or Candelaria: candles are blessed and carried in procession in celebration of Jesus as the light of the world

Presentation of Jesus at the Temple

Anglican Presentation of Christ in the Temple: remembrance of the infant Jesus being consecrated in the temple.

Groundhog Day! Blessings on ye, Punxatawnee Phil!

Daily Signet

By grace we are here, may we clear the way for your grace. 
Here—the flower of a thousand graces;
in turn, it yields the seed of a thousand more graces. 
Here—a channel of a thousand tributaries;
in turn, the source of a thousand more rivers.
All we need, all we hope for is already in our Here. 
We need not look beyond the breath we breathe, 
the love we live, the endings we begin.                                   

From the Mystery of Grace and Love Service

On This Day…

Imbolc — Gaelic traditional festival marking the beginning of spring

St. Brigid: 6C Abbess of Kildaire, and one of Ireland’s three patron saints. She was granted land for a church and convent by the King of Leinster – as much as could be covered by her cloak. When thrown down, the cloak became enormous, and after the land had been granted, she picked the cloak up again and it returned to its original size. The church was then called Cill Dara, Church of the Oak.

Frederick Douglass born 1818 in Maryland, died 1895: social reformer, abolitionist, writer, statesman. Works: My Bondage and My Freedom, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Escape from Slavery  
Quotes: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

Langston Hughes born 1902 in Joplin, Mo., died 1967: poet, writer, playwright and important leader in the Harlem Renaissance. Works: Black Nativity, Mule Bone, (plays) and A History of Harlem
Quotes: “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?...or does it explode?” “Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” “I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”