"Turner of the Season's Wheel, while I have slept you have been hastening summer. Before I enter into the motion of the day-star, I rest in the stillness of the wheel's turning." ~Caitlin Matthews

I begin many of my mornings by using a devotional book called Celtic Devotional:Daily Prayers & Blessings by Caitlin Matthews. I love this little book for many reasons. It has a rhythm about it, moving from the outward to the inward, staying in touch with the seasons and their turning. But one of the things I love most is the myriad of names that Matthew uses for God. Names like: Gardener of Dew, Summoner of Night, Faithful Companion of the Night, Opener of Morning, Healer of Hurts, Smith of Souls, Keeper of the Heart. The list goes on and on invoking the many ways in which the Holy One weaves in and out of our daily walk whether sleeping or awake.

These names open doors for me. To tell the truth they keep me from trying to put God in a box I can latch tightly, securing the Sacred within my own limitations. These names keep me from trying to control the ways that I build the Sacred in my own image rather than the other way around. Many of the names might stretch readers sense of the Holy. Names like Hostel of Welcome, Lap of Peace, Revealer of Dreams or Singer of Summer. And yet when I allow myself to say those names, let them roll around in my mouth and my heart, I remember times when, indeed, God was a Lap of Peace to me. I have known the Holy as One who throws open the door of a hostel, welcoming me in with a warm bed and a filling meal. I have also known God as the One who prods and pokes me until the dreams I cannot see or choose to run from are revealed in ways I cannot deny. And who among us, though we may not express it this way, has not come to the end of a glorious summer day filled with green and brilliant sun, colorful flowers and freshly harvested vegetables and not given thanks to the Singer of Summer?

Mostly we try to fit God into the smallness we can understand. We even make rules about which names for God are acceptable.  We sometimes even further fit those names into denominational boxes or constrain them within faith traditions. I find this very sad. It seems to me that this Mystery we experience as the Source of All cannot be contained in one or even a hundred names. And so I will continue to pick up my daily devotional and try on yet another name for the Unnameable I try so hard to know, hoping beyond hope to glimpse a clearer vision of not only myself but the one who delights in all Creation.

Cradle of Quietness…..Womb of the Night……Keeper of the Flame…..Cup of Transformation…..Ocean of Blessing………..on and on and on chasing after Mystery.