Daily Signet

From perennial wisdom, the truth: “as above, so below” and whenever the divine is brought into the now, a blessing, an element of grace—something extraordinary—occurs.  When the “I am that I am” entered a bush in the desert, something extraordinary occurred.  Seeing it in flames, Moses said, “I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”  

When we bless a candle, we are bringing the above into the candle below and it is imbued with an element of grace from above—something marvelous occurs.  Like a burning bush, the candle holds the presence of God within it and is made holy.  Likewise, when we speak the names of those we pray for, we call down the blessing of healing and hope from above—something marvelous occurs.

God’s last words to Moses from the burning bush were: “And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”  The staff was what was at hand—it represented a lineage of shepherding.  Notice it wasn’t a glorious gold-tipped sword or a mystical shield forged by a god, or even a golden chalice of magical power—it was Moses’ daily working tool.  From what you do every day—the means to blessings from above—occurrences marvelous, magnificent, awe-full.                                                                                        

Benjamin Martin

Daily Signet

On This Day…

Pearl Buck born 1892 in West Virginia, died 1973: novelist famous for her stories of China, recipient of both Pulitzer and Nobel awards

Works: Dragon Seed, The Good Earth, Pavilion of Women and many, many more

Quotes: “Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied.” “You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings.” “The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible – and achieve it, generation after generation.”

Today… I stood in my father’s garden,
July sun poured upon my hair,
Mid---summer heat rising.

For the first time,
I witnessed Greenness.
Living green of a thousand shades.

I saw birdsong
And the sound of blackberries’ bursting ripeness,
The silent skein of golden gnats, slowly spinning.

My father made this garden,
Preparing the ground, 
Sowing seeds, watering and feeding.

Today… I stood inside my father’s soul,
And was made to know that
I am my Father’s garden.                                                                             

Donna Leichtling

Daily Signet

The Hebrew name for God is not Yahweh or Jehovah or Adonai or El or Emmanuel. The Hebrew word for God is not a name. The real God has no name. The real God is not a “The." The Hebrew word for God means, “That which is unnamable.” That which is Holy and universal, ineffable and divine. That which cannot be noun-ed or bounded or controlled or propitiated. You’re damned to graven images if you give God a name. The Upanishads point to a Spirit beyond Brahma, Brahman and Atman; beyond the Vedas and tapas and ritual. The creative spirit seeded in all creation. The creative spirit that breathed its life into all creation. Holy and universal, ineffable and divine.

I am home in a world of unbounded, uncontrolled, uncontained, unpropitiated, ineffable God at play, at recreation; a world in which God says, “I Am that I AM.” A world that sparkles and vibrates. In which God says, “Behold,” and sometimes doesn’t even say what to behold.     

Ben Leichtling

Daily Signet

We sing a new song.

I have danced my life to such music as saints make.
I have lived in the sun and glinted in its gold.
I've lavished feasts of fire on my soul and
blessed my skin for every touch of wind or
love that came.
I have loved.
I have created stars—
even if they were only little stars;
but they were mine.
O God, thank you! Is Heaven better?             

William Boast

Daily Signet

…physical purchase is more easily found than spiritual purchase. People stumble, drag their feet, leap clumsily from one possibility to the next, never knowing to remove their sandals on sacred ground. It makes for a terrible un-groundedness, an existence without the possibility of light…  

Eastern Orthodox congregations stand for services. They don’t sit in the presence of God.
Each prayer begins with the command to 
“Attend” Which means: “Be present; Stand with purchase.”

A part of spiritual purchase is in returning to your heart. St Augustine said, “Monastic prayer begins with a ‘return to the heart’—finding one’s deepest center, awakening the profound depth of our being in the presence of God who is the source of our being and our life.”  And presence requires purchase.                                                                                                       

Donna Piper Leichtling