Thoughts: It’s in the small steps….
Thoughts: A little note from Rumi…
Your face is a beautiful sunny day;
More beautiful than the brightness of the day.
Brighter than the day.
Wine is good, but the cupbearer
Is better than the wine.
Every hidden thing opens today.
The heart reaches endless wishes.
Like a falcon catching a pigeon.
Every lover gets his deserved
Blessing from the Beloved.
Everyone who is thirsty
Sits by the side of Kevser.
Every moment, the Beloved offers
A new glass and says,
“Today our assembly is open,
Give this to the lovers.”
It is such a thin glass that
It appears as if the wine has become the glass.
Rumi
Thoughts: Over & over, with joy
When we complain of having to do the same thing over and over, let us remember that God does not send new trees, strange flowers and different grasses every year.
When the spring winds blow, they blow in the same way.
In the same places the same dear blossoms lift up the same sweet faces, yet they never weary us.
When it rains, it rains as it always has. Even so would the same tasks which fill our daily lives put on new meanings if we wrought them in the spirit of renewal from within–a spirit of growth and beauty.
— Helen Keller, from an Easter Message to the Boston Community Church, 1932
Thoughts: Hold on, but not too tight….
The lessons are all around us, and it’s neat to have a friend that catches them. I love this picture of the way things work, caught by my friend Ingrid in the post-winter solstice sun:
I was out in the yard the other day while my landlords were landscaping and planting saplings in anticipation of spring and the returning light.
Once in the ground, the young trees needed to be staked and my friend said, “Don’t stake them too tight. They need some support, but also need to be able to bend in the wind. If they are held rigid, they won’t grow strong enough roots to stay upright on their own.”
I reflected on how this is both true for trees and human saplings as well. We all need care and encouragement to sink deep stable roots in our lives. Roots that will feed compassion, love and community. But too much support can also leave us fragile and unable to bend when adversity or even change threatens to blow us down.
Life always seems to be seeking this delicate balance between holding on and letting go.
Ingrid Gabriel
Thoughts: Five cents, more or less
Some of the parables of the day center on who is wiser among us, and who is the better trickster. Here’s one:
There’s a little fellow named Junior who hangs out at Tim’s Grocery Store. The owner Tim doesn’t know what Junior’s problem is, but the boys like to tease him.
They say he is two bricks shy of a load, or two pickles shy of a barrel. To prove it, sometimes they offer Junior his choice between a nickel and a dime. He always takes the nickel — they say because it’s bigger.
One day after Junior grabbed the nickel, Tim got him off to one side and said, “Junior, those boys are making fun of you. They think you don’t know the dime is worth more than the nickel. Are you grabbing the nickel because it’s bigger, or what?” And Junior said, “Well, if I took the dime, they’d quit doing it!”
Thoughts: Rumi, with both sides, now
Try not to resist the changes that come your way.
Instead let life live through you.
And do not worry that your life is turning upside down.
How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?
Rumi
Best of the season….happy new year!
Share & heal. Magic words, for magic people. You’re part of the magic in the coming year. Step up!
Happy New Year!!!!!!!!
Thoughts: How Raven brought light to the world
How Raven brought light to the World
According to a Haida story, in the beginning the world was in total darkness.
The Raven, who had existed from the beginning of time, was tired of groping about and bumping into things in the dark. Eventually the Raven came upon the home of an old man who lived alone with his daughter. Through his slyness, the Raven learned that the old man had a great treasure. This was all the light in the universe, contained in a tiny box concealed within many boxes. At once the Raven vowed to steal the light. He thought and thought, and finally came up with a plan.
He waited until the old man’s daughter came to the river to gather water. Then the Raven changed himself into a single hemlock needle and dropped himself into the river, just as the girl was dipping her water-basket into the river. As she drank from the basket, she swallowed the needle. It slipped and slithered down into her warm belly, where the Raven transformed himself again, this time into a tiny human.
After sleeping and growing there for a very long time, at last the Raven emerged into the world once more, this time as a human infant. Even though he had a rather strange appearance, the Raven’s grandfather loved him. But the old man threatened dire punishment if he ever touched the precious treasure box. Nonetheless the Ravenchild begged and begged to be allowed to hold the light just for a moment. In time the old man yielded, and lifted from the box a warm and glowing sphere, which he threw to his grandson.
As the light was moving toward him, the human child transformed into a gigantic black shadowy bird-form, wings spread ready for flight, and beak open in anticipation. As the beautiful ball of light reached him, the Raven captured it in his beak!
Moving his powerful wings, he burst through the smoke-hole in the roof of the house, and escaped into the darkness with his stolen treasure. And that is how light came into the universe.
A Haida Legend
Posted by Lady Abigail
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.