I hope you find new people & new ideas & new ways to see the way it all works….good place to start (if you don’t know him already) is Randall’s xkcd webcomic….he gets it, and has fun getting there.
Here’s the link to the one above, and his site….be careful, you’ll get lost in the archives, or just hitting the ‘random” button, which is poetry in & of itself.
“Being vulnerable doesn’t have to be threatening. Just have the courage to be sincere, open and honest. This opens the door to deeper communication all around. It creates self-empowerment and the kind of connections with others we all want in life.
“Speaking from the heart frees us from the secrets that burden us. These secrets are what make us sick or fearful. Speaking truth helps you get clarity on your real heart directives.” ~ Sara Paddison
Art by Denise Daffara
www.denisedaffara.com.au
It was fun to run into this list of 20 words that are rarely (mostly never) used any more.
Most of them sound like the idea they convey, I think – see what you think & feel when you hear these (click on the picture, to start):
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak….
~ Mary Oliver
I know you think monks just sit around thinking up jokes & stories to make their point, which is hard because they don’t get out into the world enough (some monks, you know).
But it’s really not like that – here’s one of my faves:
+++++++
A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript.
So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up. In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies.
The head monk says, “We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son.” So, he goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are held as archives in a locked vault that hasn’t been opened for hundreds of years.
Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot. So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him. He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing, “We missed the “R”, we missed the “R”. His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably.
The young monk asks the old abbot, “What’s wrong, father?” With a choking voice, the old abbot replies, “The word was CELEBRATE!”
Sara Tucholsky isn’t gonna forget.
It was cool to hear this story from a few years ago – heard it then & want to share it now – that shows what happens when the right people do the right thing at the right time. And don’t tell me you’re not a softball fan – this story is for people-loving people fans, too.
Way to go!
See if you agree.
Lighten for a moment beautiful one.
Place down those shackles, tethers and bounds.
Allow all your responsibilities to release too.
For this special moment,
just be free.
The sun has risen and is touching us with her light.
We have grown and are touching the world with our own.
Lighten for a moment dear one.
This work is done more easily,
if we saw it not as heavy but as light.
Place down those shackles, tethers and bounds.
Let the wrestling match with life become a sweet dance instead.
For the sun has risen and is touching us with her light.
And we have grown and are touching the world with our own.
~ Sarah Norrad
Listen intently to a voice singing without words. It may charm you into crying, force you to dance, fill you with rage, or make you jump for joy.
You can’t tell where the music ends and the emotions begin, for the whole thing is a kind of music—the voice playing on your nerves as the breath plays on a flute.
All experience is just that, except that its music has many more dimensions than sound.
It vibrates in the dimensions of sight, touch, taste, and smell, and in the intellectual dimension of symbols and words—all evoking and playing upon each other.
– Alan Watts
A father said to his daughter “You have graduated with honors, here is a Jeep I bought many years ago. It is pretty old now. But before I give it to you, take it to the used car lot downtown and tell them I want to sell it and see how much they offer you for it.”
The daughter went to the used car lot, returned to her father and said, “They offered me $1,000 because they said it looks pretty worn out.” The father said, now “Take it to the pawn shop.”
The daughter went to the pawn shop, returned to her father and said,”The pawn shop offered only $100 because it is an old Jeep.” The father asked his daughter to go to a Jeep club now and show them the Jeep.
The daughter then took the Jeep to the club, returned and told her father,” Some people in the club offered $100,000 for it because “it’s an iconic Jeep and sought by many collectors.”
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.
