Pree 'n Pree

American Apparel Track Shirt 50/25/25 $20 suggested donation. All donations used for the purpose of Pree 'n Pree 501(c)3. Tax deductible receipts available by request. Calligraphy by Mish Bennett Moore. 

Nikko, The Sun Bodhisattva C. 800s Japan Helen Period (794-1185)

A bodhisattva is one who has reached enlightenment, only to return to help others on their path to enlightenment. Buddha was a bodhisattva. Jesus was a bodhisattva. 

A icon of the rebel, the reformer, the iron-willed opposer of unjust power, the sacrifice. Cool Hand Luke is cast as an unlikely Christ figure.

Film: Director Stuart Rosenberg, 1965

Book: Donn Pearce, 1965

Hanshan (Chinese: 寒山; pinyin: Hánshān; literally: "Cold Mountain", fl. 9th century) was a legendary figure associated with a collection of poems from the Chinese Tang Dynasty in the Taoist and Chan tradition. No one knows who he was, or when he lived and died. In the Buddhist tradition, Hanshan and his sidekick Shide are honored as emanations of the bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra, respectively. In Japanese and Chinese paintings, Hanshan is often depicted together with Shide or with Fenggan, another monk with legendary attributes.

I traded a new piece of cardboard and magic marker for this genuine article. I received consent from the original owner to use the sign in an art installation of homeless signs. 

Farmer, essayist, poet, activist, conservationist.

Six eggs from our backyard hens - Providence, Rishikesh, and Mayflower. 

Great song - I think Jesus was a Pisces. 

Monthly Pree 'n Pree invites are hand carved and stamped.

John Steinbeck's East of Eden grappled with the meaning of timshel, the Hebrew word found in the story of Cain and Abel. Steinbeck's novel revolves around the importance of the meaning thou mayest, indicating that we all have a choice in life. This is a provocative idea. Do we have choice in life? Certainly we have some. I'm choosing to type these words right now, but how much choice do we have? I didn't choose the weather today, but I can choose my attitude. I didn't choose my son, but I did chose my wife. Or did I?      

Swept away and filled with silt from the Big Thompson River during the great flood September 2013.

The subject for the evening had something to do with contemplation becoming the mover for one's life. 

Top of Vail Pass early November at Chuck's Place. 

Departing from Chuck's Place. 

The Irish elk is an extinct species of deer in the genus Megaloceros and is one of the largest deer that ever lived. Its range extended across Eurasia, from Ireland to northern Asia and Africa.

At Pree 'n Pree we believe it is important to consider the wide range and breadth of life on Earth. It is important to keep in mind those species that have gone before us, those species that are now extinct. It is important to remember that we are one species amongst many, living in one thin slice of the Earth's history. May we live with humility and give dignity to the other animals and habitats of our shared home. 

In Amritsar, India, the Golden Temple is the holiest place for Sikhs. Pilgrims journey here to bathe in the waters of the temple and eat from the community kitchen, where food is prepared and enjoyed for free by all who visit, pilgrim and tourist alike. 10,000-30,000 people are served every day through volunteer labor. 

C. 1400 Western Tibet, Yongie (1403-1424)

A beautiful sculpture of the Enlightened One. Buddha brought reform, and something altogether new, to the tradition of his Hindu culture. In the same way, Christ brought reform, and something altogether new, to the tradition of his Jewish culture. When I see Buddha, I see Christ. When I see Christ, I see Buddha.  

This lino-cut was representative of a statue that an artist made of a horse in a gas mask and haz-mat suit to protest a housing development being built on the boundary of Rocky Flats, a decommissioned Federal plutonium trigger manufacturing plant near Boulder, Colorado.  

The Hill of Crosses is a site of pilgrimage about 12 km north of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania. 

The origins of Presbyterianism began in Scotland during the Reformation. St. Giles Cathedral is perhaps the most iconic Presbyterian building, with a prominent position on a hill at the center of Edinburgh.  

Stain glass windows tell the story of scripture visually, especially important when illiteracy was more common than it is today. Stain glass also serves the function of transcendent beauty, pointing to the transcendent way of being in God.  

Jesuit Missionary to China 16th Century. Ricci was committed to solidarity with the Chinese, adopting their customs and culture rather than imposing his own. Rather than wearing a Catholic priest's robe, Ricci adopted the traditional dress of a Confucian scholar. He spent years mastering the Chinese language. Ricci Is an amazing example of respecting the other who is completely foreign to your own understandings, and yet a fellow human being to be respected and cherished. Ricci reminds us that imposing ourselves on the other, is perhaps nothing more than self-love.  

Pree 'n Pree is a community of communion. While the words of institution are often go unspoken at a service, each service we break the bread and eat, symbolic of Christ life and our lives broken for the sustenance of the oppressed and threatened. In the same way, we pour fermented drink into cups, and we drink as sign of Christ's life and our lives poured out in forgiveness to those who wage violence and destruction. Christ was executed because he was willing to speak to and act against the powers on behalf of what was right(eous). We are called to have our lives broken and poured out in the same way. What are the powers that bring destruction and death in our day? These are the powers we need to be confronting with our lives, the way Christ did in his day. As we eat the bread and take the cup, we remember Christ who went before us in the work we are called to do as disciples, followers, and friends, inspired by the same spirit of truth and justice. 

Invitation for 5/31/15 Pree 'n Pree.