Recently, in preparation for my daily practice of mindfulness and prayer, I came across a stunning piece of information.

When I heard the learn’d astronomer,

When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me...

Some days are special not because there is a birthday or a holiday—although those are very special days. Some days are special because if you are paying close attention, you get a sign.

When I was a kid, I pictured the part of the Christmas story about “no room at the inn” as a kind of neon no vacancy sign, blinking from the ancient motels of Biblical days.

Was it only dumb luck in that wedding, out at the state park, when I happened to call thunder and lightning down out of the sky? Or was it a sign from God?

A man arrives at a wedding banquet and finds that they have run out of wine. Mysteriously, plain water is transformed into wine sufficient for all the guests.

No one lights a lamp in order to hide it behind the door: the purpose of light is to create more light, to open people's eyes, to reveal the marvels around. —Paulo Coelho

In a meeting the other night we lit a small chalice and someone shared a blessing to center us down and gather us in for whatever work it was, and the blessing ended with the question, “What do you welcome in winter?”

It happens with the simplest gestures:

a door swung open,

a light turned on in the hall,

the snap of a lock as it opens

somewhere unseen inside.

I’ve been enjoying looking at pictures of tiny homes lately—little bitty houses made of cargo containers, recycled materials or just a lot less traditional building materials.