On the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria this morning at sunrise, as dreams wove into the fog across the water….photo by Ian Byington.
i thank you god for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any–lifted from the no
of all nothing–human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
Coming together on a sea of change…looking over the ocean from the westside of San Juan Island, Washington State, across from Victoria, British Columbia….photo by Ian Byington
If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.
This is a little story from the Wake Up Project,that my friend Elaine passed on to me & you.
What would you have done?
Jessica
Jessica Eaves from Guthrie, Oklahoma (USA) recently had her wallet stolen by a man while she was grocery shopping. Most people in that situation would immediately get the authorities involved, but she found a way to resolve her problem herself.
“I saw this gentleman down the aisle from me,” Jessica tells us. “He walked behind me, and when I got a couple of aisles over, I realized my wallet was gone.”
“I spotted him in a crowded aisle and approached him,” she continues. “I’m a pretty out-there personality, but I was quiet and calm.”
“I said to him, ‘I think you have something of mine. I’m gonna give you a choice. You can either give me my wallet and I’ll forgive you right now, and I’ll even take you to the front and pay for your groceries.”
The alternative? Jessica reporting him to the police.
“He reached into his hoodie pocket and gave me my wallet,” she recalls, adding that the man was extremely grateful for her help and forgiveness.
“He started crying when we walked up to the front,” she says. “He said he was sorry about 20 times by the time we went from the pickle aisle to the front. He told me he was desperate.”
She spent $27 on his groceries, which included milk, bread, bologna, crackers, soup and cheese. “The last thing he said was, ‘I’ll never forget tonight. I’m broke, I have kids, I’m embarrassed and I’m sorry.'”
“Some people are critical because I didn’t turn him in, but sometimes all you need is a second chance,” says Jessica.
She adds, “My brother and I lost my dad to suicide when I was seven, and I remember him telling me years ago that no matter what I become in life, to always, always be kind.”
My good friend Mary Wondra lives near the village on Lopez Island, and has a keen eye for the subtle & the sublime. She posted this little observation about how the inside of what makes it autumn sometimes shows on the outside:
Had a lovely Lopez moment this morning. Sitting on the porch with my sweetie, drinking coffee, doing the x-word puzzle. It’s spider season, so there are webs EVERYWHERE on the vegetation, catching the early slanting sun on their dewy designs. In the apple tree, a spider drowsing in its web when suddenly, another spider appears and shakes one of the connecting strands.
The sleepy spider awakes and heads out to protect his/her home. Thus ensues spider wrestling, name calling, etc. while the two contend for mastery of the early morning construction. We watched for 20 minutes – no clear winner.
But I thought, wow, if I lived in the city, I would never have noticed this momentous battle going on. I’m grateful to be here this morning.
This is one of the more influential TED talks I’ve seen, with more people responding to it when I’ve posted it than any other.
Brené Brown studies human connection — our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity.
There. Told you what this is about….here’s the deal: I promise you will look at the rest of the day & the things you say differently, after you digest this little rendering of a seemingly counter-intuitive thought.
The sunrise yesterday morning over Chattanooga, Tennessee in the States….that’s the gold of morning separating the blue sky above & the foggy, low clouds below, from an early hike on Lookout Mountain. Photo by Ian Byington.
The morning, most days, is so beautiful that it’s really a good thing that it fades into the clear day….otherwise we wouldn’t get anything done! The morning’s colours fade, easily & gently, into that special place in our hearts where the embers warm us, through the morning hours & the rest of the day.
Robert Frost says, “Nothing gold can stay,” but I think that’s true only on the morning’s horizon. The gold of remembered dreams, the golden fire of waking to the magic we can do in the world, and the blaze that accompanies our burning desire to share & to heal each day – these never go out.
Here’s a little morning song for you from the Incredible String Band (click here to hear, you hear?)
May the longtime sun shine upon you All love surround you And the pure white light within you Guide your way home.
Check this out – I’m pretty sure you’ll be amazed at the power of the planet when you see the ice fall away in Antarctica in this short, well put together piece – check it out!
You’ve read Thomas Merton, hey – “The Seven Storey Mountain” is a must read for anyone….Father Louis (his monastic name) made his transition in 1968…..
She posted this about a week ago, and it’s been echoing in my head ever since….I kept catching myself wanting to understand the past before I felt I could move ahead with the task at hand.
Whenever I get in an emotional jam, there are different ways to re-think, re-feel, re-program….and sometimes they work!
Sliding into a place of mindfulness is always handy for any situation, and this little video by Mike Evans from Totonto might help nudge you in that direction. It’s fun, too (I like cartoons!)
The trick isn’t the baggage – it’s how you handle it.
It was just a year ago I was visiting with a friend of mine.
She was telling me about all the problems she was having with her boyfriend: He was terribly attached to his mother; he couldn’t finish certain tasks, ever; he always forgot the clothes in the dryer; he hasn’t gotten over his first girlfriend. “Damn,” she said, “he sure has a lot of baggage. I don’t know if we can make it. I just can’t handle it.”
She’s seventeen. Now.
Fast forward a week, and I’m having the same conversation with a head-shaking, confidence-shaken buddy of mine, who tells the same story. Substitute a father for a mother, clothes in a drawer, forgetfulness for mild disrespect…same plotline.
He’s forty-five.
Seems to me that there’s a key to managing this story. Because we all share this story, no matter how young/old, wise/inexperienced, smart/clueless, brave/scared, and the great range in between. And it begins with ditching the notion that life will finally be OK when we meet someone perfect, who doesn’t have any baggage.
Seems to me that’s not where the problem lies. But there is a two step map to happier days.
First, do what you have to do to be accepting of the baggage. Maybe he IS still anchored in memories from three relationships back, but is that balanced by other things? Maybe she picks her nose, but also picks up the kids after school. Maybe he forgets to feed the dog but remembers what you like after a long day at the office. Maybe she complains a bit more than you like, but don’t let that drown out the appreciation, when it comes.
The second step is that successful baggage-handling has to be a two-person team project. Finding the words & the time & the love & the togetherness to visit about the “baggage”… it gives you a chance to handle it together. Treat it like baggage, with agreements about where it goes. Like any old bag: Leave it at the thrift shop. Put it in the storage locker. Agree to talk about it in private but not in public. Maybe even agree to let the other carry it every day, after you both sort out that it’s not gonna just disappear. Agreeing that there’s something that’s bugging you is tons better than wishing it would all go away.
And it’s a chance to show the world that your love & ability to love & the confidence you place in your love is bigger than some random bit of baggage.
So do it.
Thought for the day…
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." -- Jesus, in the Gospel According to St. Matthew
About Brother Ian
Over the centuries, Brother Ian has been collecting stories & information & discourses for the purpose of elevating the human condition as needed, dissecting it when necessary, and building the case for hope.
In the spirit of noting that organized crime, organized baseball, organized labour, and organized religion tend to engender controversy & occasional discord, I promise to be neither organized or critical of those who are.
Over the centuries, Brother Ian has been collecting stories & information & discourses for the purpose of elevating the human condition as needed, dissecting it when necessary, and building the case for hope.