In the Cab with Dream Queen

Welcome to the first broadcast from the “In The Cab, On The Road” series. This is a pre-recorded field interview with my neighbor Barbara Branche. Barbara shares her experiences as a peace/civil rights activist in the 1970’s to 2017. She offers wisdom on how to stay safe and live according to one’s own moral compass in a world and time when this may be unpopular and dangerous. We also welcome her partner Jerry Faires, who offers us two original musical compositions.

This episode is a meeting of words from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and Khalil Gibran. I read from selected sermons by Dr. King, melding them with the next topic from "The Prophet", by Khalil Gibran, "On Freedom." Very appropriate for the observation of Dr. King's Day. Please join me.

"The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Visit our Linktree to see the book club resources, including "The Prophet" downloads, and more! https://linktr.ee/inthecabradio. Here you will also find links to archived episodes of our book club reading of "A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr." edited by Clayborne Carson and Peter Holloran.

ITC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 13, "On Laws.” It is a piece addressing the notion that those who make laws are usually driven by their own Shadow, rather than what is Just. What of laws that are made only to bend otherwise Free Spirits to the will of the powerful?

I hope you will join me on the journey with this stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Visit our Linktree to see the book club resources, including "The Prophet" downloads, and more! https://linktr.ee/inthecabradio

ITC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 12, "On Crime and Punishment.” I consider this to be the first in a series of 3 poems on Justice. This is the longest poem in the book, aside from the introductory and closing chapters. In this piece, Gibran presents the idea that we are each responsible for the other, and for our own demise. I weave in theories of Collective Responsibility, Universal Law, and touch on the role of the “scapegoat” in our culture, with a little bit more of Luigi. This is only the tip of a very large, cold iceberg. Thank you for tuning in for the hard stuff, and as always, I try to give us a few laughs along the way. It is all as truly absurd as it is horrifying.

I hope you will join me on the journey with this stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Visit our Linktree to see the book club resources, including "The Prophet" downloads, and more! https://linktr.ee/inthecabradio

ITC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 11, "On Buying and Selling.” In this poem Gibran states about the marketplace: “Unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger." We go deeper into American culture’s relationship with greed, from colonization to overwork, to worth of self and others. This powerful piece reminds us that the Earth contains all that we need, if we but return access of Her bounty to all of Her children.

I hope you will join me on the journey with this stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Visit our Linktree to see the book club resources, including "The Prophet" downloads, and more! https://linktr.ee/inthecabradio

ITC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 10, "On Clothes.” “And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy, you may find in them a harness and chain.” Things get a little spicy here as the topic of clothing, modesty and privacy segue into a discussion of desire, women’s autonomy, the abusive nature of patriarchy and assault.

I hope you will join me on the journey with this stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Visit our Linktree to see the book club resources, including "The Prophet" downloads, and more! https://linktr.ee/inthecabradio

ITC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 9, "On Houses.” In this piece, Gibran illustrates the home as an extension of the dweller, and he also calls us back to consider the wild, loner nature of the deep self. I would be remiss to discuss houses without touching on the issue of housing and the houseless community members in our lives. Sanctuary, perceived security and comfort are also up for contemplation.

I hope you will join me on the journey with this stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Visit our Linktree to see the book club resources, including "The Prophet" downloads, and more! https://linktr.ee/inthecabradio

TC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 8, "On Joy and Sorrow.” This poem opens with the line: “Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.” It reflects the times this week in the US, as many took cathartic glee in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO. As nonviolence is often a topic on this show, in the light of our last book club selection, sermons by Martin Luther King, Jr., I touch on the topics in relation to this piece by Gibran. What makes an honorable Warrior? Who do we want to be? Can we make lasting change without becoming like our oppressors? What is “joy” and how can it sustain in the face of seemingly lasting sorrow?

I hope you will join me on the journey with this stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Download the free book here:

https://www.kahlilgibran.com/the-prophet/about-book.html

ITC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 7, "On Work.” One of Gibran's famous lines is, "Work is love made visible." How do we embody love in our work within a society where, for many, work is the source of tribulation? Can the joy found in volunteerism and creating art replace what cannot be exchanged in the construct of commerce? I ponder this and more, after reading the poem.

I hope you will join me on the journey with this stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Download the free book here:

https://www.kahlilgibran.com/the-prophet/about-book.html

ITC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 6, "On Eating and Drinking.” Coincidentally, this reading falls on the weekend before the biggest feast day in the States. As many gather to give thanks and partake, we are reminded that all beings are interconnected, life for life. Gibran advises: “…let your board stand an altar on which the pure and the innocent of forest and plain are sacrificed for that which is purer and still more innocent in man.” 
I also bring forth Coleman Barks’s version of “Chickpea to Cook,” as inspired by Rumi. I’ll discuss it in correlation to deep collective and personal transformation.

I hope you will join me on the journey with this stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Download the free book here:

https://www.kahlilgibran.com/the-prophet/about-book.html