Monthly Archives: April 2025

The Road to Diamond, Day 143: Resilience

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 20, 2025- Some 1,993 years ago, when His tormentors gave Him up for dead, those who rolled back the stone at the designated tomb of Jesus the Christ were astonished to find it empty. He had business to which to attend: His followers were in need of reassurance, encouragement. Only Christ could provide that impetus to resilience, and so He did.

Each of us, given what we are to do in this life, has a need for resilience, on many occasions. The first time most of us experience this is when learning how to walk. Falling doesn’t faze most infants. They instinctively know that falling is part of learning, and so they keep on, until able to take step after step, ideally to the cheers and hugs of loving family members.

As life goes on, either we accept failure as a means to learning, as we did when edging towards toddlerhood, or we take it as a sign of inadequacy. The former is a burnishing of a can-do mindset, a harbinger of future success. The latter may, if not corrected, become the spark of learned helplessness. I have experienced both, over the years. Guess which one felt better, and which one I embrace now.

Communities, and nations, can face the same choice. Debate can see a case made for either option. It is true that collective failure is less easily fixed than is that of individuals, but it is also true that an honest conversation and civil commitment, to what is actually best for the community as a whole, can lead to reconciliation and true social progress-of the kind that doesn’t play favourites or institutionalize scapegoats.

We are at a crossroads, as a nation. Can we be discerning enough to take the best ideas of social progress and the best ideas of social conservatism, and reconcile the differences between the two? National survival has always been dependent on finding a balance.

The Road to Diamond, Day 142: The Long of It

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 19, 2025- Today was the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which are seen by many as the beginning of the American War for Independence from Great Britain. It is also the twelfth anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing, by which two men and a woman tried to make the claim that the American Experience was ignoring the plight of Muslims in Western and Central Asia, and thus Americans deserved to suffer.

A conservative friend recently pointed out that the basic conflict in our society is between those who believe good actions should be the result of free choice and those who believe that good actions often have to be coerced. I believe that most people start out the socializing portion of their lives (around age 4) wanting to please the people who are most closely in their view (parents, siblings, grandparents and, if they are lucky, extended family like aunts, uncles and cousins). Friends begin to be made around that time, as well. If that love is not reciprocated, for whatever reason, the person will devise other means of obtaining goals. Thus, greed, aggression and devious behaviour (such as lying or fantasizing) take root.

So, until such time as the spiritualization of the entirety of the human race is realized, we need some governmental safeguards, to serve as prompts, in moments of feckless, antisocial or exclusionary activity. We needed government to put a stop to slavery, then to two-tiered education systems and institutionalized racism, then to the same discriminatory practices regarding the treatment of women-and by extension, homosexuals. We needed government to protect workers from the excessive greed of employers. To some extent, we still need these laws, to guard against backsliding.

Freedom is never going to be free, so if we as a species want to be able to function without coercion, there is only one long term answer, the development and maintenance of self-discipline. My life has only become freer since I made a disciplined lifestyle my reality. I am quite certain that the same is true of anyone else who truly feels personal freedom.

The Road to Diamond, Day 141: Good Friday

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Posted by on in Education, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 18, 2025- The day was marked here by rain, throughout the day, and snow in the early evening. As I sat with friends at American Legion Post 6, enjoying a fish fry, the snow continued to fall, adding a rather surreal touch to what is, for many, a solemn day.

When I was a child, in a Roman Catholic home, the day marking the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus the Christ was the saddest day of the year. I didn’t feel like there was any reason for mirth or celebration, of anything, on Good Friday. As a teenager and young adult, I would invariably turn down invitations to join my friends, in whatever routine Friday night celebration they had planned. Even Catholic friends viewed my stance as sanctimonious, but I felt it deep in my heart.

As a Baha’i, I still view the Sufferings and Death of Christ as a tragic rejection by humanity, of His Message of peace and spiritual reconciliation. The day was spent in service, albeit in the covering of a Band class at a local intermediate school. Despite the odd weather and the approach of Easter weekend, students maintained a certain focus and kept on with their tasks. It did help, though, that it was a shorter day.

In the scheme of things, I continue to wonder: “How might our world be different, if the powers of the day had heeded Christ’s Message, and followed Him, at the time of His pronouncements?”

The Road to Diamond, Day 140: First Dibs

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Family, impediments, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 17, 2025- I checked online, about a request that I made to be relieved of a volunteer slot at an upcoming charity event. The request was denied, due to a shortage of other interested volunteers. I could very well take the stance that it’s my time, something more important, further afield, has come up and life is just too bad sometimes.

I will do nothing of the sort. My word is good for a lot more than convenience. The event in this community will benefit a lot of children and teens. The event for which I might have traded my time would primarily benefit only me, with Kathy getting a video of a place which I have already taken several photographs. So, the edge goes to Home Base I.

There are several choices that will need to be made, both on an individual and on a collective basis, over the next several months, and likely well into next year. I can only control what choices I make, so here it is: With Baha’i Teachings as my road map, my little family and Kathy come first, followed by extended family, then this community-including Baha’i friends and finally, all those across the continent and the world. I guess I put myself somewhere in the middle of it all, yet I will survive just fine.

I know, in each situation, who gets first dibs.

The Road to Diamond, Day 139: Continuity, and Shifting

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, impediments, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 16, 2025- Unsurprisingly, but happily, I got a clean bill of dental health again today. There are a couple of things I can and will do to improve the situation-yet, all in all, it’s one less cause for concern. Red meat, which I have loved over the years, also has to be cut back. It’s just my own conclusion, and truth be known, I am naturally more given to eating healthier, over the past four years.

Honouring friends across the political spectrum entails pointing out simple facts, rather than editorializing. So I have come across a few “inconvenient truths” that challenge both orthodoxies and have gently approached a few of the adherents to those positions. I won’t dwell on those here, except to say that things are seldom exactly as they seem, in a world where deception is far easier than it used to be.

With respect to the next few weeks, I have had a request to go back down to Desert Rose next weekend. There are, however, things going on here, for which I am locked in. So, after some back and forth online, I will be staying put and fulfilling promises to this community. It all reminds me of the old Donovan song, “There is a Mountain”.

Those are just some ruminations, on this topsy-turvy, but ultimately reassuring day.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&channel=entpr&q=first+there+is+a+mountain+donovan#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f5d2e100,vid:XcMM5-zBCEc,st:0

The Road to Diamond, Day 138: Biology and Belief

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Hiking and Nature, impediments, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 15, 2025- A strange dream, just before I woke this morning, presented me with an alternative version of my late twenties. I was tooling around a remote area of the Great Plains, and connected with a young lady, much more easily than I actually did, back then. When I awoke, it occurred to me that, while the dream was pleasant, I would not give up one minute of the life I actually ended up having, for even such a comforting revision. The idea of not having my Faith, Aram and my twenty-nine years with Penny is really beyond my comprehension.

This morning, I brought a friend to inquire about getting an appliance, at one of the area’s thrift stores. For one reason or another, though the appliances in question had arrived last Thursday, I was only able to help her today. All the appliances were sold. This, she quickly determined, was the result of inherent bad luck and the system being stacked against her. My take was, “first come, first served”, though I recognized how painful it must feel to her, to have drawn the short straw, again. We found ourselves hitting every red light, at the intersections going back to her house, another indication that there was a “conspiracy afoot”. Well, no-it is just a day when I paid the universe back for all the other days when I caught every green light, from here to Spring Valley.

I have seen self-loathing or a victim mentality draw the worst energy, from random mishaps to disease. The latter, of course, perpetuates the dark energy, to the point where the poor soul often ends up being socially isolated. Many of the emotionally down and out of my past have died prematurely. This is all the more reason why I have cast aside my own self-loathing, with a view towards living several more years, to the fullest, in good health and surrounded by family and friends.

So, after this morning’s errand of mercy, I joined Akuura on another exploration of the Williamson Valley trail system. This time, we found the previously elusive water tank, that is a landmark for the trail to petroglyphs that lie somewhere atop a hill. We will have to locate the ancient scripts on another adventure, but here are the things we did find this afternoon.

Williamson 1
Akuura and a boulder
WV 2
Rock Madonna
WV 3
Dino Head
WV 4
Bowling Ball, or dinosaur egg?
WV 5
The elusive water tank

The upshot of the hiking story, as regards biology, is that this hobby is one of the factors in my own relatively good outlook on life. Of course, good friends, a healthy diet and maintaining a realistic view of both good fortune and misfortune, have their places in the game plan of longevity.

The Road to Diamond, Day 137: Infamy at Passover

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Posted by on in Assistance, Community, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 14, 2025- On Saturday evening, as the Governor of Pennsylvania, his family and close friends were concluding their celebration of the onset of Passover with a festive seder (feast), a disgruntled individual made his way into the Governor’s Mansion, a house of the people of Pennsylvania and set the building afire.

The suspect had reportedly written several messages on social media, expressing anger at various politicians. Two days ago, he appears to have escalated his behaviour. Some feel that stochastic (indirect) terrorism is at work, with the suspect merely acting at the instigation of other actors. The official investigation, alone, will have to establish that. Speculation by lay people may only serve to add fuel to the figurative fire, and possibly spark even more mayhem. In the final analysis, the person or person who committed this crime are the ones responsible for their actions. Blame cannot be passed along to those of either greater or lesser stature.

We are in very unsettled times. Those entrusted with power are variously embarking on untried courses of action or are passing the baton of their own statutory power to the more intrepid ones, “to keep the peace”. The attempt on the life of a sitting elected official, regardless of party affiliation or of ideology, is reprehensible. It is a slap in the faces of the people who voted for that official, as well as an attack on the concept of the State. I felt this way at both of the attacks on then-candidate Donald Trump, and at this most recent incident.

I hold out hope that the full weight of the Federal justice system will be brought to bear on anyone who seeks to wreak havoc on any part of our Democratic process. This, in addition to the resources of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania-or any state, District or territory that may experience subsequent acts of terror.

The Road to Diamond, Day 136: Little Bridges

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Posted by on in American Legion, Assistance, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 13, 2025- Three new people joined our breakfast group this morning, After introducing ourselves, the conversation went, as it usually does, to our places of origin. The gentleman next to me said he was from Iowa, so I called over another Post member who is from that state, and after a bit, he called yet another Iowan, who turned out to be the new guy’s classmate, graduated 1959! The two old chums conversed and a bridge was built.

A second newcomer, hearing I was from New England, and with a French-Canadian surname, said that he, too, was of French-Canadian descent, but that his ancestors headed west-to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. My ancestors were roofers and farmers. His were lumberjacks. Another bridge was built.

After breakfast, I went to take care of an administrative matter, which entailed going to visit another Baha’i couple at their home. The simple five minute task relaxed into a two-hour visit, with our conversation running the gamut from a large man’s service as a security guard at the Baha’i World Center to mutual friends’ experiences in New Mexico and Montana. Of course, medical stuff was part of the discourse, as it always is for people of a certain age. The bridge was strengthened.

Back at Home Base I, I found trash strewn on the side of the street, at the home of a neighbour who was away for the weekend. Grabbing my push broom and uprighting the trash bin, I began the process of separating recyclable material from items that could be donated to a thrift store and putting the unusable stuff back in the bin. I was joined by my landlord, and the task was finished in five minutes. The bridge was cleaned.

As the sun rises and sets each day, so are there opportunities to connect one to the other. All it takes is awareness, real awareness, of one’s surroundings.

The Road to Diamond, Day 135: An Overdue Reunion

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

April 12, 2025- The cousins had not seen one another for forty years, though they have spoken by phone on several occasions. Their embrace was timeless and classical, reflecting the universality of family and of the human need for continuity.

Reunited
Bobot, Thelma and Celeste after dinner, with a “stealth selfie” of yours truly.

Coming from large families, on both sides, I thoroughly appreciated what was transpiring, in this well-appointed home, on Phoenix’s far south side. The Filipina cousins re-cemented routes that had never really been severed, over a delectable meal of chicken adobo and steamed kalabasa(squash). I will hopefully meet with some of my own cousins next month, though our parting has not been anywhere near as long.

The day began well, with visits to Prescott Farmers’ Market and Zeke’s Eatin’ Place. Each of my local friends were gracious and welcoming to Babot and Thelma. The visits afforded them free samosas and enough food from Zeke’s to keep them for another day or so.

We next drove down to Desert Rose Baha’i Institute, in Eloy. There was a great temperature difference between there and Prescott, so we kept our outdoor time to a minimum. The caretakers were busy with another matter, so after brief conversations with them,we conducted our own tour. I made what I thought was a comprehensive video, using my i-Phone, only to later find that it had somehow jammed and ended up recording nothing. (Note to self, next time use the camera. It doesn’t depend on cell towers.) I have photos from a January visit here, and Bobot took his own video, which I hope turned out better. In any case, my friends enjoyed this little bit of Baha’i property.

The last journey on my watch, from Eloy to Phoenix, was marred by neither dust storms nor heavy traffic. We found the house easily, and after showing my friends that the best way to get someone to let them in to a house was by pressing the doorbell, rather than relying solely on the phone, the joyful reunion was complete.

I drove back to Home Base I, a bit tired, but happy that the week has been a fair success.

The Road to Diamond, Day 134: Twin Greetings and A Little Victory

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Entertainment, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

April 11, 2025- Macy’s European Coffee Shop, a cornerstone of Flagstaff’s Near South Side, was quieter than usual, in late morning. I was pleased that the shop’s owner, Tim Macy, was present and able to meet Bobot and Thelma. They enjoyed-we enjoyed-a light breakfast and fine coffee. Under ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s watchful gaze, a spiritual bond between America and the Philippines extended to Flagstaff.

Eyes of the Master
Bobot, Thelma and the Master
Macy's European Coffee House 2
Bobot and Thelma in front of Macy’s

The next stop was a persistent and generous pool: Montezuma Well remains the repository of a spring-fed stream, holding its own, despite an infusion of algae, along its rim. A limestone sinkhole that receives 1,500,000 gallons of water a day from the spring, it was a source of sustenance for the Southern Sinagua people, in the first millennium A.D./C.E., and is a source of inspiration for the people of the Upper Verde Valley today.

Montezuma's Well
Rim of Montezuma’s Well

What was sweetest about this visit is that, for the second day in a row, Thelma overcame her acrophobia and approached the rim, then walked down a flight of stone steps to the closest approach still available to the source spring. The counselor in me still celebrates people overcoming their fears.

MZW 2
Thelma and Bobot near the source of Montezuma Well

Our small celebration of this step forward came at another of my favourite spots: Rafter Eleven. I have been going there, pretty much since Dawn Wasowicz opened the establishment. Dawn has developed the restaurant and tasting room, as a venue for local artists and a community gathering place, over the past eleven years. She was also pleased to meet my two friends and they found the ambiance-and their scones, quite pleasing as well.

A brief shopping trip (for Bobot) ended their last full day in northern Arizona. Tomorrow, we will stop at Farmers Market and Zeke’s, then head south, to Desert Rose Baha’i Institute, and back up to Phoenix, where I will bid my friends farewell, and they will enjoy some extended family time, before leaving for other parts of the U.S.

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