Here’s the latest….

Writings mktdaf

Writings: Shane & beating weapons into plowshares…really

That's a gun. Gonna be a rake. Gonna grow food.
That’s a gun. Gonna be a rake. Gonna grow food.

When I talk to friends in the United States about all the gun-related deaths in the country, they say, “That’s just the way it is.”

When I talk to friends in Canada about all the gun-related deaths in the US, they say, “That’s just the way it is, there.”

And I believe it. I reside in Victoria, BC these days, and I heard two veterans in line at the coffeeshop on Remembrance Day last year saying it’s too bad that weapons have been deified by some, as the answer & a necessary thing.

That’s why it’s wonderful to hear what Shane Claiborne (from Sojourners) says & does: They’re taking guns & forging garden tools & plows & farm tools out of ’em, and using them, and bringing life, in this way, from death.

Faith, he says, is about believing in spite of the evidence & with that faith, the evidence begins to change.

It will move you: Read Shane’s article in Sojourners here.

It will move you: watch this little video. It’s real & it’s the evidence we need to support our belief that the killing – our killing – must end. And can end. And will end.

Peace be with you. Make it so, Number One (you’re my number one!)

 – Brother Ian 

Funnier Thoughts mktdaf

Thoughts: Five cents, more or less

A nickel in hand is worth two in the bush....
A nickel in hand is worth two in the bush….

Some of the parables of the day center on who is wiser among us, and who is the better trickster. Here’s one:

Nickel Or Dime?

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 mktdaf

Thoughts: How Raven brought light to the world

1410793_10152001329884792_1330656047_oHow 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

Poetry of Music mktdaf

Music: Where the hell is Matt?

If you’re already in a good mood & smiling about how cool the day after the full moon feels
& how neat it is that Solstice is upon us (days get longer from here on out – wahoo!)
and you got a chance to hug somebody today (or are looking forward to him hugging you later)
& the coffeehouse people smiled at you
& the sun made those grey skies pink
& all that….
then add this to the pile. Bet you smile twice.

Matt notes (he travels & puts this together each year):

The dancers in Syria are blurred for their safety.

I got into North Korea with Koryo Tours. It’s not difficult or dangerous.

This video was made without a sponsor. I don’t need you to buy anything. Just remember we need to take care of each other.

Matt

Thought for the day…


"The agony of breaking through personal limitations is the agony of spiritual growth. Art, literature, myth and cult, philosophy, and ascetic disciplines are instruments to help the individual past his limiting horizons into spheres of ever-expanding realization. As he crosses threshold after threshold, conquering dragon after dragon, the stature of the divinity that he summons to his highest wish increases, until it subsumes the cosmos.. Finally, the mind breaks the bounding sphere of the cosmos to a realization transcending all experiences of form—all symbolizations, all divinities: a realization of the ineluctable void."
-- Joseph Campbell

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