Thoughts: Try a little kindness…
Writings: (Don’t) be careful what you ask for….
“Be careful what you ask for…..”
Whenever I hear someone say this (is it true for you?) they’re almost always noticing something that turned out…the way it was asked for.
“Hope I get a promotion.”
So you do. With no raise.
“I always catch 4–5 colds every winter.”
Ah-chooooo.
OK, so we never really know how things are going to turn out. Cool enough – we can come up with a zillion examples of the surprises life can throw our way, both stuff we expected & things that went the other way. But lately I’ve been noticing how people articulate pretty clearly what they really want, and then just as articulately list the reasons they’re not going to see it happen.
“I want another job!”
So, go after one.
“I can’t. I need the benefits at this one, and the family would have to move, and my parents don’t want me to do that, and I have to feed the dog (someone actually told me that, and let that keep her from finishing updating her resume), and I’m scared and my wife has friends where I work now and my husband doesn’t make enough money and….”
You get the idea.
It’s time to take the leap. Take the risk, take the jump. Sure, be careful enough to not whack yourself or hurt someone or neglect the chance to love someone, but not so careful you pass up the chance to feel how wonderful it feels to do what you truly were born to do.
I met a guy who was conducting a tour at The Future of Flight factory in Seattle (it’s a Boeing operation – you see planes made), and since I saw him five times (I brough him tour groups), I told him it sure was fun to watch him give tours, because he seemed to be having such a good time, which in turn made it fun for the people.
He said, “My daddy told me, “If you do something you love, you never have to work a day in your life.'”
Wouldn’t that be great?
Be wise, be observant, use discretion…but don’t be so “careful” you can’t taste the thrill of doing what your heart sings for you.
Make it so, Number One.
– Brother Ian
Whales: Meet Ken & check in on the orcas, with Carl Safina
Carl Safina came to San Juan Island in Washington State to see what’s happening with the killer whales, and to hang out with the Center for Whale Research’s Ken Balcomb.
The state of the environment for the orcas: short on food, and decreasing numbers in the resident pods. It doesn’t help that the Navy does sonar testing in these waters, either.
Carl files this report. (click here)
Thoughts: I read the the news today, oh boy
Have you ever tried to not watch the the news?
The people who tell me that if I don’t have a television I’m missing a lot. I think they are.
– Brother Ian
Intuitives: Father Keating & centering prayer
Tonight I’m going to a meeting of folks in Tennessee (wandering monks usually pass this way) who are discussing & sorting out the practice of centering prayer. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Interested in meditation? Check this. Interested in exploring faith with interior silence? Check it.
Here’s a touch of CP, in a nutshell with Father.
– Brother Ian
Wordplay: The effect of language on spending; or, how you view the future & how it shapes your world
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.
Check it:
Thoughts: Morning really has broken….
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.
– Brother Ian
Thoughts: Alan Watts: “The more you give away, the more that comes back….”
“If you know you don’t understand, you truly understand….”
Here’s a little dose of Alan Watts for your morning:
When a glacier calves….this is the biggest, yet.
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!
Wordplay: Short & sweet
Someone told me once that poets who write haiku are lazy.
I don’t believe that. Hand me the pliers.
Thought: Let it bleed…
Ran into a friend who mentioned she admires Derrick Jensen, and that she has this on a stickie on her computer:
“Writing is really very easy. Tap a vein and bleed onto the page. Everything else is just editing.”
Derrick Jensen
Kinda reminds me of what Arlo Guthrie says:
“Song-writing’s just kinda like catching fish–you sit there and pull them out as they go by – though I think it helps to be upstream from Bob Dylan.”
Thoughts: Wise words from a wise monk…..
Whales: Watch a humpback in action (it’s like riding a whale….)
Here’s a story you’ll find fascinating: NOAA shares research showing how humpbacks manage their bottom-feeding, including eating sand lance (sand eels.) And you can watch, as they attach a “crittercam” to the whale to actually see it in action.
Funnier: Coming ’round….
Writings: A reminder: We just put it all together….
One of my favourite people in the world is Elliot Pemberton, who grew up in Friday Harbor, Washington in the USA, where I used to watch him play football & as we put out the school newspaper together. I’ve always thought St. Peter must have been like Elliot – whenever he speaks, people want to listen, which makes him a natural leader.
He’s living in Austin these days, and he tells this little story as he made breakfast for Kari & the kids:
This morning I proudly woke up and made Siri some French toast with homemade cinnamon bread (Kari made the bread earlier), fresh eggs from our backyard chickens and topped the french toast with local honey instead of syrup.
Siri loved it and I told her I was so glad she liked the French toast that I made. She then gave an all-knowing exasperated smile while shaking her head, put up her hands, took a deep breath and said, “Dad, you didn’t make it. Mom made the bread, our chickens made the eggs and bees made the honey… you just put it together.”
Elliot posted this, a little later on Facebook:
Whales: A friend, close at hand
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.