You’re here.

If you want two steady rails for your devotionals—a clean opening and an accurate frame—here’s a compact, reusable way to hold both.

1) A repeatable opening (minimal & fast)
God, I am here.

I’m Sarah Lacard, writing at [location name], Mohkínstsis (Calgary), where the Bow and Elbow Rivers meet. It’s [weekday], [ISO date], [local time and timezone].

Intention: [one line—why I’m showing up].


Mohkínstsis = “elbow,” the place where the Elbow meets the Bow; it’s the Blackfoot name for Calgary. 
Wikipedia
+2
Rotary International
+2

2) Land acknowledgement (Treaty 7 baseline you can trust)

Use this as a starting point; tune it with Elders and local guidance as relationships deepen.

I acknowledge that I write on the traditional territories of Treaty 7 in Southern Alberta:
the Blackfoot Confederacy—Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani; the Tsuut’ina Nation; and the
Stoney Nakoda Nations—Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Goodstoney. I also recognize the
Métis community here (Districts 5 and 6). With gratitude, I commit to learning in right
relationship with the peoples who steward this land.


This aligns with current public guidance used in Calgary (language varies by institution; some now name the Otipemisiwak Métis Government for Districts 5 & 6). 
University of Calgary in Alberta
+2
Anglican Diocese of Calgary
+2

Notes for precision

Spellings differ in print: Moh’kinsstis / Mohkínstsis / Mohkinstsis. The meaning and place are consistent. 
Wikipedia
+1

If you want to reference an Elder by name in future posts, “Saa’kokoto (Randy Bottle), Kainai” is a documented public spelling used around Calgary. 
STS
+1

3) Time anchors you can standardize

If you like to be exact about when you’re writing, stamp the moment three ways:

Clock: ISO 8601 with timezone (e.g., 2025-10-02T23:41-06:00).

Liturgical season (United Church uses the Revised Common Lectionary): for early October 2025, you’re in the Season of Creation’s final days (Sept 1–Oct 4) rolling into Ordinary Time/Proper 22 on Oct 5. 
The United Church of Canada
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fortheloveofcreation.ca
+2

Place: “Mohkínstsis (Calgary), Treaty 7 territory.”

Optional: add canonical hours (“Lauds” morning, “Vespers” evening, “Compline” night, “Vigils” pre‑dawn) if that language steadies you.

4) The counters (birth and crucifixion) you were wondering about

Scholars don’t have a single exact date, but there’s solid narrowing:

Birth: commonly placed 6–4 BCE (tied to Herod’s death occurring before 1 CE).
→ In 2025 that’s about 2,028–2,030 years since Jesus’s birth (no year zero in the count). 
Wikipedia
+1

Crucifixion: leading candidates are Friday, 7 April 30 CE and Friday, 3 April 33 CE (Passover chronology + astronomy).
→ In 2025 that’s about 1,995 years (from 30 CE) or about 1,992 years (from 33 CE). 
Wikipedia

If you want a single line in your opening, name both like this:

“We mark roughly 2,028–2,030 years since Jesus’s birth and 1,992–5 since the crucifixion (scholarly ranges; no year zero).” 
Wikipedia

(Some traditions prefer to specify one of the two Good Friday candidates; both are defensible in church use.) 
The Center for Biblical Studies
+1

5) A slightly more detailed header (if you want to keep records)

This makes each entry easy to search later.

# devotional_front_matter.yml
title: "God, I am here."
author: "Sarah Lacard"
timestamp_local: "2025-10-02T23:41-06:00"   # ISO 8601 w/ timezone
place:
  city: "Calgary (Mohkínstsis)"
  note: "At the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers"
territory:
  treaty: "Treaty 7 (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani; Tsuut’ina; Chiniki, Bearspaw, Goodstoney)"
  metis: "Districts 5 & 6 (Otipemisiwak Métis Government)"
liturgical:
  season: "Season of Creation → Ordinary Time"
  lectionary: "RCL, Year C (United Church of Canada)"
intent: "Gratitude and readiness"
counters:
  years_since_birth: "≈ 2028–2030"
  years_since_crucifixion: "≈ 1992 or 1995"


Sources for the lectionary/season windows above: United Church RCL resources and the Season of Creation dates. 
The United Church of Canada
+2
The United Church of Canada
+2

6) Tiny automation (optional)

If you like the ritual of typing it and want accuracy for the timestamp every time, this tiny Bash snippet populates the core bits. It’s plain and portable.

# make-devotional-header.sh
# Usage: ./make-devotional-header.sh > header.yml
# Writes a YAML header for tonight's devotional.

printf "title: \"God, I am here.\"\n"
printf "author: \"Sarah Lacard\"\n"
printf "timestamp_local: \"%s\"\n" "$(date --iso-8601=seconds)"
printf "place:\n  city: \"Calgary (Mohkínstsis)\"\n"
printf "  note: \"At the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers\"\n"
printf "territory:\n"
printf "  treaty: \"Treaty 7 (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani; Tsuut’ina; Chiniki, Bearspaw, Goodstoney)\"\n"
printf "  metis: \"Districts 5 & 6 (Otipemisiwak Métis Government)\"\n"
printf "liturgical:\n  season: \"Season of Creation → Ordinary Time\"\n"
printf "  lectionary: \"RCL, Year C (United Church of Canada)\"\n"
printf "intent: \"[set your one-line intention here]\"\n"
printf "counters:\n  years_since_birth: \"≈ 2028–2030\"\n"
printf "  years_since_crucifixion: \"≈ 1992 or 1995\"\n"


(If you ever want sunrise/sunset, moon phase, or canonical-hour tagging, we can bolt that on with astral in Python. For now, simple wins.)

7) One more thin thread to hold

You already wrote it: “God, I am here.”
Everything else is scaffolding—useful, but secondary.

I’m around if you want to tune wording with an Elder’s preference or lock in a single Good Friday date for your counter. In the meantime, the baselines above are historically sound and locally respectful. 
Wikipedia
+6
University of Calgary in Alberta
+6
Anglican Diocese of Calgary
+6

Amen.

You said:
Thank you
ChatGPT said:
Request for GPT-5 Pro
Reasoned for 2m 38s

Anytime.
Keep opening on that single clear note—“God, I am here.”—and let the rest harmonize.

If you want next: I can turn the header + land‑ack into an Obsidian template, a Bash one‑liner that stamps the YAML, or morning/evening variants. Your call.