Daily Signet

O Holy Spirit,

I am positioned between walls
that will not budge.

I am at the base of mountains
that will not move.

I am stuck beneath clouds
seamed with threatening rain.

And yet, despite those conditions, 
I know a joy— 
a joy without conditions—
a joy that sustains me
even when the days are sour
and my passage blocked.  

This unconditional joy rides
upon the intake of my breath
and circulates a rejuvenating life.  

You are That—
that Breath, 
that Joy, 
that Life. 

In Your Image. Amen.                                                

Benjamin Martin

On This Day…

Adrienne Rich born 1929 in Baltimore, Maryland, died 2012: poet
Works: Diving Into the Wreck, The Dream of a Common Language, On Lies, Secrets and Silence
Quotes: “Lying is done with words and also with silence.” “When a woman tells the truth, she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.” “Every journey into the past is complicated by delusions, false memories, false naming of real events.”

Daily Signet

Happiness and unhappiness come from very thoughtful, serious, logical reasons.  I think Marx approved of happiness, but only in the right circumstances.  I think Freud approved of happiness, but only in the right circumstances. I think they thought that unhappiness is the normal state (since we’re oppressed and repressed) and that we must have good, material reasons to feel happy or unhappy…. Joy is completely unreasonable; there is no reason to feel joy.  “The heart has reasons that reason doth not know.” I think Marx disapproved of joy; there are never the right circumstances for joy. I think Freud disapproved of joy; you are kidding yourself if you feel full of joy. How can something good and true come up from the pit of darkness? How can death be faced with joy?

….Joy comes unbidden from the inside. Joy rises up irresistibly inside of us and bursts out. Joy is natural; you have to work hard to suppress joy; senseless and random are the acts of joy. Joy is more than a bubbling spring welling up inside; joy springs; joy is a gusher. Joy infests and saturates every breath. Let fairness, disappointment, righteousness go. Let pride, resentment, anger go. Let hard work, well-done and good-job go. Instead, make a joyful noise. Dance then, wherever you may be. All atoms are dancing; all our atoms are dancing; all our cells are dancing; how can our tongues and feet resist? Joy, ecstasy; joy evermore.

Ben Leichtling

On This Day…

St. Isadore the Farmer (1070-1130 CE): Spanish farmer and miracle-worker

Daily Signet

So little of joy is happy, so much of joy is participation.                                

Benjamin Martin

On This Day…

St. Matthias: selected by Jesus’ remaining disciples to replace Judas; he was later martyred

Daily Signet

I don’t just do them; I try to do them with love.

I don’t just enjoy the ending of the task. I try to remember to rejoice that it may have given pleasure or comfort.

I have asked what I need to do to move into the world of the Divine…

There is a way.

I realize I’ve known this all along, as this is how I try to approach the midnight prayers (morning prayer is somewhat less focused!). With anticipation. With joy. With love.

And any task or chore (they’re different) CAN be done as a gift to someone—to God?

Mary K Boast

Daily Signet

As we convert more and more luxuries 
into our daily necessities,
we realize no amount of comfort
can insulate us from our need for joy.

No matter how sophisticated our settings,
no matter how established our knowledge,
no matter how filled up our days,
we realize no amount of attainment 
can replace our need for emptiness.

Teach us empty, 
that we might have a place for joy to fill.
Teach us empty,
that we might release what we are letting hold us.
Teach us empty,
that we might experience for the first time again
and then again.

In the midst of all our achievements
and all our things and all the items we do well,
bless us with being empty.
For out of our emptiness comes empathy —
and out of our empathy, love — 
and out of our love, joy.
Fill us, with Your emptiness.

In Your Image.  Amen.                                   

Benjamin Martin

On This Day…

Edward Lear born 1812 in England, died 1888: artist, musician, nonsense poetry and prose writer
Works: The Owl and the Pussycat, The Quangle Wangle, A Book of Nonsense
Quotes: “The owl and the pussycat went to sea/in a beautiful peagreen boat/they took some honey and plenty of money/wrapped up in a five pound note/they dined on mince and slices of quince they ate with a runcible spoon/and hand-in-hand on the edge of the sand/they danced by the light of the moon”