Notes from Bowen
sting wrote these lyrics about self love and wholeness...the union of male and female in one person...the yin and the yang...
The Secret Marriage
From the album Nothing Like the Sun (A&M)
by Sting
No earthly church has ever blessed our union
No state has ever granted us permission
No family bond has ever made us two
No company has ever earned commission
No debt was ever paid no dowry to be gained
No treaty over border land or power
No semblance of the world outside remained
To stain the beauty of this nuptial hour
The secret marriage vow is never spoken
The secret marriage can never be broken
No flowers on the alter
No white veil in your hair
No maiden dress to alter
No Bible oath to swear
The secret marriage vow is never spoken
The secret marriage can never be broken
i was very happy this week to meet Raffi, local hero of children everywhere, and have him agree to be on the board of an organization that i'm a part of: Business Alliance for Local Living Economy BC. as well as being a singer and songwriter, Raffi founded Child Honouring, a movement born to advocacy for a healthy life, a healthy planet for all children. in a speech to the New York Academy Of Medicine, he says:
It’s a little odd at times, being both a children’s troubadour and doing advocacy work. There are days at home, where in the morning I’m reading about toxic chemicals in our waterways, and a little later I’m playing my guitar and singing Six Little Ducks. Or I’m on the phone, talking about endangered beluga whales in the St. Lawrence, and later singing Baby Beluga.
The contrast between hearing about endocrine disrupters, and singing songs like This Little Light of Mine (I’m gonna let it shine), can be jarring. But the songs provide an uplifting balance, and a poignant reminder of what the advocacy’s all about.
A COVENANT FOR HONOURING CHILDREN by Raffi
We find these joys to be self evident: That all children are created whole, endowed with innate intelligence, with dignity and wonder, worthy of respect.
The embodiment of life, liberty and happiness, children are original blessings, here to learn their own song.
Every girl and boy is entitled to love, to dream and belong to a loving "village." And to pursue a life of purpose.
* *
We affirm our duty to nourish and nurture the young, to honour their caring ideals as the heart of being human.
To recognize the early years as the foundation of life, and to cherish the contribution of young children to human evolution.
* *
We commit ourselves to peaceful ways and vow to keep from harm or neglect these, our most vulnerable citizens.
As guardians of their prosperity we honour the bountiful Earth whose diversity sustains us.
Thus we pledge our love for generations to come.
my good friend michael herman posted from kathmandu yesterday at www.globalchicago.net. he included a quote from the breakfast table: ' it is uncertainty that makes everything possible'. later, i came across something on uncertainty from john ralston saul. he says that our ability to live with uncertainty is where the genius in humanity is released. He goes on to say ‘periodially, we seem to stare at this uncertainty in amazement, as if overwhelmed by such an unsatisfactory requirement. And then we turn back to the utilitarian manifestations of our thousands of talents and characteristics…organizing and measuring and executing…as if these talents were more real and we more mediocre…as if we were incapable of embracing what we are.’
i have a friend who's six years old, who called just now from her room. she was whispering.....her and her brother did something terrible that she doesn't want to talk about and she's now in solitary....she asks me 'penny, what would you do if you were in my situation and were completely bored?'...so i tell her to slide notes under the bedroom door...sprinkle them with hearts and sad, sorry faces....just told her how to spell 'help'...
Check out what friends Chris Corrigan, Carol McKinnon et al are gifting this Island with on Sunday nights…. an excerpt from Kathryn Thomson’s letter in the Undercurrent this week…
On Sunday I experienced something extraordinary – a choir of angels was singing in the United church. This choir must be Bowen Island’s best kept secret but this intimate music is too inspirational to be kept a secret for long.
The music is contemplative, consisting of plainsong (Gregorian chants) and hymns. The vocal harmony is beautiful – each voice responding to the others with great sensitivity, even delicacy. The simple service combines candlelight, silence and scripture with these simple chants to help build awareness of Spirit in our selves and in community. Alison Nixon explains “The chants are meant to be sung for at least seven minutes and ideally for 15 to 20 minutes. It takes at least that long for the chant to penetrate the heart.”
William Allen, Cantor of St. Barnabas Anglican Church explains Gregorian chant this way: “the vision of creation expressed in by this music is one in which the life of humanity is ever more surely becoming the divine life. It’s sound is unified, loving and merciful, pointing to healing and wholeness.”
As I listened to this music, I experienced a deep sense of the sacred and a mood of stillness and reverence. T.S. Eliot contemplated this experience in Four Quartets: “To apprehend the point of intersection of the timeless with time, is an occupation for the saint…for most of us there is only the unattended moment, the moment in and out of time, the distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight…or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply that it is not heard at all, but you are the music while the music lasts”.
Saturday, March 29, 2003 :::
The tables were cleared, windows were thrown open and Bowen Islanders danced to the music of Los Furios last night. La Mangerie is a favorite hangout that brings in local bands on Fridays and last night was a party. Thank you to proprieters (and talent bookers) Miriam, Remy and Julie for creating a place where people of all ages can burn up the dance floor together. Even the liquor inspector was discreetly tapping his toes. Riley Sparks (13?) won for best t shirt; scrawled in black marker across his back was 'there is no government like no government'(also happens to be a bumpersticker on the mayors car). The last thing spoken by the lead singer was 'Bowen Island rocks'! ...which is what I was thinking too.
More about the band from various sources:
Where have all the rudeboys gone? They're right here in Vancouver, skanking it up to the mad mad sounds of local-boys-gone-bad, The Skatomatics. Everywhere these rude ones bring their fast, fierce, and fun mix of ska, reggae, and punk, the party people are sure to follow.
Los Furios style is Ska, Punk, Latin and Reggae. Los Furios shows have attracted people of all ages from teens to 40 plus. It’s like watching a party on stage. Los Furios have a great stage presence with huge amounts of energy. With Latin breakdowns, catchy punk choruses, booty shaking ska, and reggae jams thrown about. You are sure to dance, cheer some beers, and sing a few lines.
Next up was a six piece Ska band who sounded like they actually rehearsed… this unique quality excited the crowd because they actually shouted and stomped for an encore. WESTENDER, March 6-12th 2003, Chad ‘Fuzzo’ Fraser.
They are currently working on a western Canada tour and later this summer the western seaboard (Vancouver to San Diego). Recent releases include the All Skandian Club 4 CD on Stomp Records (Montreal, PQ) and their premier CD being released April 2003. So if you see them playing your town, don’t miss the party. Peace.
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Just came across the following at Michael Hermans posting: 'A Critical Path'. http://www.globalchicago.net/wiki/wiki.cgi?CriticalPath.
Written by Buckminster Fuller, it says alot about how individual peace efforts matter.
''The political and economic systems and the political and economic leaders of humanity are not in final examination; it is the integrity of each individual human that is in final examination. On personal integrity hangs humanity's fate. You can deceive others, you can deceive your brain-self, but you can't deceive your mind-self -- for mind deals only in the discovery of truth and the interrelationship of all the truths. The cosmic laws with which mind deals are noncorruptible.
Cosmic evolution is omniscient God comprehensively articulate.''
