Here’s the latest….

Thoughts mktdaf

Thoughts: A blessing

May the light of your soul guide you.
May the light of your soul bless the work you do with the secret love and warmth of your heart.
May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those who work with you and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in the bland absences.
May the day never burden.
May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected.
May your soul calm, console and renew you.
Anam Cara, a blessing written by John O’Donohue
Art by Javier Pardina
Thoughts mktdaf

Thoughts: How you see it

This photo is amazing!
At first glance, it seems like someone’s reading in the water, but when you zoom in, you realize there’s no person, no book, no study—just an illusion.
Life is much the same; it appears one way, but beneath the surface, it’s entirely different.
Photo: Christina Willis
Emperor's New Clothes Writings mktdaf

ENC: When they talk about THIS, it keeps you from hearing about THAT

In this section of The World According to Brother Ian, called the Emperor’s New Clothes, we take a peek at the things around the world that people don’t seem to know about, but should.

Just a few years ago on the CBC, someone was asking Gore Vidal in Montreal if he thought the divisive politics in the States would lead to a revolution. He said people have to be truly angry to have a revolution, and that he felt that Americans are, in his words, “Merely grumpy.”

I would tend to agree…and a big player in what you & I see in the chart below.

I’m pretty sure if folks knew, with certainty, what GMO food is doing to their guts, what pesticides are doing to the plants & bugs we need to have a sustainable shot at a planet that can continue to feed our kids & their kids, that we’re running out of drinkable water, that continued population growth is crowding out our chances to make enough food, that we have more than a few very-fixable problems….I’m pretty sure people would work hard to make it change, make good things happen.

You can only be grumpy if you don’t really know. Grumpy won’t get the job done. The social will, the political will, the community will to change this will come from yelling, at the top of your voice – “This IS important!” and to tune out the silliness on the right hand side of the chart.

But you can’t make it happen if you don’t know there’s a problem.

It starts here. Now.

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Poetry of Music Thoughts mktdaf

Poetry: Open me, close me

Opening of the day, closing of the night, and the awakening of the light within me....early morning at the ferry terminal in Anacortes, Washington, USA
Opening of the day, closing of the night, and the awakening of the light within me….early morning at the ferry terminal in Anacortes, Washington, USA, with the sun behind Mount Baker. Photo by Ian Byington.

 

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands

~e. e. cummings

Doing Business Funnier mktdaf

What you see is what you get….sometimes.

Yep, nothing there. Cartoon by xkcd.com, used with permission.
Yep, nothing there. Cartoon by xkcd.com, used with permission.

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.

 

Thoughts mktdaf

Thoughts: An open door to clarity….

“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

Funnier Writings mktdaf

Writings: Remember to celebrate (maybe this will help)

Get it write the first time....
Get it write the first time….

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!”

Writings mktdaf

Writings: Sometimes, you come in first, together. Right, Sara?

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.

Writings mktdaf

Writings: Lighten for a moment, with Sarah Norrad

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

Mount Baker sunrise – photo by Ian Byington
Thoughts Writings mktdaf

Thoughts: A voice singing, without words

 

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

Thought for the day…


"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
-- Jesus, the Christ, in The Gospel according to St Matthew

About Brother Ian

brother ian in actionOver 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.

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©2013-2025 • Ian Byington • Friday Harbor, WA USA & Victoria, BC Canada