Category Archives: Assistance

The Road to Diamond, Day 40: Cherishing

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Historical, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

January 7, 2025- The animated teacher spoke of a calamitous event in our nation’s recent history. He wanted to remind the adolescent students, themselves only vaguely aware of that particular incident, just how fleeting such memories can be, and how easily they can be manipulated by those with ulterior motives. This conversation will continue tomorrow, and perhaps for several more days.

The freedom we have in this country is worth cherishing. So are the love and friendship that have been built, sometimes over decades. So are the gifts that the Divine has imparted to each of us. I thought of these things all day, as once again, I was placed in a setting where I could focus on one or two students at a time, and key in on the boy or girl and specific needs. I will do this for the next two days, as well. Part of the task is to support the teachers in their explanations and foci. Thus do I go forward.

In an evening orientation, for a Baha’i family who are moving to one of the Native American communities where Penny, Aram and I once lived, I also focused on what is cherished by First Nations people. There are friends in that area who I have not seen for several years and others from whom I hear, every so often. The reality, though, is that were I to return to the place, I would be at least welcomed by some, as if I had never left. That is what I wish for this new family, provided they open their hearts to the people.

I will likewise always cherish the friendships I have made here in the Prescott area, over nearly fifteen years. Regardless of what transpires, these next several months, this will always be a Home Base of my heart. The same will be true of the Philippines, no matter how things turn out on my next visit.

Life is for the cherishing, not for the expectancy.

The Road to Diamond, Day 35: New Song

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Posted by on in Assistance, Community, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

January 2, 2025- The family enjoying lunch across the dining room from me extolled the virtues of the four-man crew who were tending the counter and kitchen. State 48 Barbecue’s owner was delighted at the good review, and pointed out that the men were hired, while working on rehabilitation. She makes it a point to place trust in those who are making an effort, in that regard.

I am most heartened that there are places that give people who have struggled a second chance. The bar, of course, must be held at a consistent level, and seeing the joyful, grateful attitude of the crew, I think they will make a go of it. Each of them is singing a new song, one of fortitude, and compassion for self and others. That attitude is reflected in the name of the home where they live. It is also reflected in the quality of the food. The owner herself sings this song of fortitude and compassion.

The reflection of one’s work as an act of service, indeed of worship, is a central tenet of many faiths and is continued in Baha’i tradition, as well. It has certainly made any work I’ve done, in the past forty years, a lot more meaningful. I struggled on occasion, to maintain focus, but on balance, the song has been one of harmony. Seeing this in the well-regarded businesses, where both workers and patrons are valued, just reaffirms my own commitment to keeping the bar high.

The Road to Diamond, Day 30: Whimsy and Well-Being

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Posted by on in Assistance, distraction issues, Family, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

December 28, 2024- I have had pipe dreams, throughout my life. I once fantasized about walking across the globe. Then, I read of various women and men, including Paul Salopek (who is still at it), and thought of all I would be leaving behind, if I set out on such a venture. At the age of 74, doing such a thing would be little more than performance art. Other whimsies involved the Colorado Fourteeners (peaks that are 14 K feet or above); traveling from Utgiagvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska to Cabo de Hornos, Chile; the Appalachian, Continental Divide and Pacific Crest Trails and, for a few fleeting moments, Uelen, eastern Siberia to Cape Agulhas, South Africa.

As the years have passed, I found fulfillment in “lesser” pursuits. I have traveled a lot, yes, but with more of a purpose. Mainly, I found that being closer to family, taking part in a community over time and serving my Faith were more satisfying than always being alone. I learned from nearly thirty years of marriage-thirteen of which were spent caring for Penny, to one extent or another, that life never feels fulfilling, unless there is a deep connection with another soul. She’s been physically gone for nearly fourteen years, but is not gone. I sense her spiritual hand is behind my meeting another love, little more than a year ago. I got a message from K this morning, in fact. She’s as busy as I am, each in our own Home Base. It could come to pass that we have the same Home Base, but we’ll see.

My main reason for not being preoccupied with the stuff of whimsy, though, is that this is the age of working for peace, through group efforts. I’ve done more good this way. Even going through the torment that accompanied watching the declines of my first two loves (Mother and Penny) is preferable to living a dissolute existence. So will my work continue.

The Road to Diamond, Day 29: On Wanting More

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

December 27, 2024- The famous scene, in “Oliver Twist”, where Oliver asks for an extra portion of food and is ridiculed by the overstuffed overseers at the orphanage, has frequently been quoted by both those who regard themselves as gatekeepers against greed and those who see society as a place where the needs of all should be met.

I see the requests for more time, more money, more personal attention as reflective of two things: Lack of transparency and lack of preparation. Communication, between businesses and insurers, is often incomplete-and as a result, the consumer is asked to pay what, at first blush, is an “add-on”. It isn’t, but what has happened is that there is rather rushed, or lackadaisical, dealing with the responsibility for meeting the total cost-of health care, automobile repair or replacement of lost or stolen household items.

Either the insurer’s representatives do not give the matter the time it takes to examine costs/reimbursements or the provider does not offer complete information, and has to backtrack, before sending out an invoice to the consumer, with little information other than-“You owe this extra amount.” Before payment is made, though, the consumer is bound to ask for further explanation. No one wants to look upon their health care provider(s) as greedy or as grifters.

Another area in which there is frequently a disconnect is in the scheduling of time. I have had people ask me for “30 minutes” or “an hour” of my time. If it is just between the two or three of us, that is usually kept on track. If there are more people involved, I prefer to request that the time frame be open-ended, or extended. The reason is simple: Afterthoughts, questions and answers, pregnant pauses followed by further expounding all come into play, and it is often unfair to the person(s) raising these, to insist on a cut-off, exactly at the broadcast end point.

This last came into focus this afternoon, when a simple reading of two paragraphs into a cellular microphone, in a sound-proof room, took nearly an hour-instead of the fifteen minutes that had been anticipated. The production manager simply wanted as close to perfection as possible-a reasonable request, common in the world of audiovisual activities. Fortunately, the reader was patient, as was I, the monitor. The producer was satisfied after three readings of each paragraph-and I got in my afternoon nap, at the production site.

My whole point is this: In planning an effort, take some time to consider potential “unforeseen” scenarios. Having contingency plans for time, energy and other resources will go a long way towards avoiding misconceptions, as to the motivations of those asking for more.

The Road to Diamond, Day 28: A Not Boring Day

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

December 26, 2024, Santa Fe- A passing reference to this day being “the most boring day of the year” was made last night, as our Christmas celebration was winding down. It turned out to be anything but dull.

I drove across northeast Arizona and western New Mexico this morning, stopping only at Glenn’s Bakery, in Gallup, to get one of his exceptionally tasty red chili breakfast burritos, with no potatoes and lots of bacon and scrambled egg. The red chili salsa, cooked inside the burrito, makes all the difference.

Driving straight to Santa Fe, I found my friends at King’s Rest Court Inn were just getting finished cleaning the rooms, having been left high and dry by their regular cleaning crew. My room was, however, ready in five minutes’ time and a fine rest ensued, making up for last night’s long drive. There was then a small errand-purchasing new razor blades, after the one that I brought with me had broken at its clip. It is possible to use a safety blade with no handle. I did so this morning, but did not want to make it a habit. So, I drove through the interesting and chaotic parking lot near Target, finding that Santa Fe drivers hold their own in the aggression department. Carefully making my way into the store, I found it was almost as chaotic inside. Several confused people were in and out of each other’s way. No boredom here. I got my Dollar Shave Club razor 6-pack and headed back to King’s Rest.

On the way, a call from an old friend set up tomorrow’s agenda, for a project that will be tomorrow’s centerpiece. After talking with him and messaging the person for whom the project is being done, I went to The Pantry, owned by a large Spanish Land Grant family, who have become friends over the past five years. The hot burrito plate was perfect for this rather chilly day. Two burritos in one day will last me a while.

In the evening, I joined a Zoom call, to study the spiritual foundation of a Baha’i institution. After that meeting, there came yet another message, that a Baha’i is moving to the Hopi Nation, to serve as a medical professional. This brings a matter full circle, as one of the most active Baha’is in that area, when I first worked in Tuba City (1981-86), worked as the chief of the field in which the new practitioner will be serving. He died young, of natural causes. Now comes another, who I will be honoured to help orient to that unique and long-surviving culture.

2024, a year of intense activity, is not winding down. It will go out with a few bangs.

The Road to Diamond, Day 27: A Simple Beauty

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

December 25, 2024, Winslow- I came upon the midnight clear, or close to it, into this small but vibrant community, which Jackson Browne once chose as a surrogate for nearby Flagstaff, in his song “Take It Easy”. Flag already had a lot going for it, being the Snow Capital of Arizona, and Winslow seemed to be both more “poetic” and in need of a boost, so “Standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Arizona…..”. it was. Besides, anyone who has ever driven along Route 66 in Flagstaff knows that the girl wasn’t slowing down on account of ol’ Jackson. She was merely stuck in the city’s legendary traffic.

Anyway, back to Christmas. In Home Base I, and across the Southwest, anyone looking for snow was out of luck. Christmas, and its antecedent, Yule, for that matter, does not depend on snow and cold to be truly meaningful. That hype simply has made a nicety out of the sheer terror that a hard winter can bring. In that regard, it is no different than the Ice Festivals and Winter Carnivals held in Quebec-Ville, Sapporo and the depths of the forest in the Saami lands of Scandinavia. Man carves joy out of adversity, and we survive to face a sometimes kindly, and other times frightful and tornado-riven, Spring.

What makes Christmas meaningful is the promise that the great Teacher, Whose birth is celebrated today, made in His ministry: “The Kingdom of God on Earth will come”. It’s taken a long, perhaps an excruciatingly long, time. We’ve approached peace among ourselves, only to scurry back to the shadow lands of conflict and warfare, countless times since the Day of Resurrection-and well before it. It will take a few more centuries, perhaps, but achieve peace, we will. Astrologers say the Aquarian Age will arrive sometime in the 26th Christian Century, sometime around 2534 AD/CE (591 Baha’i Era). I’ll be off weaving new planets, or whatever the Divine has in Mind for me, and my descendants will be of the sixth or seventh generation, by then. In any event, this theory squares with Baha’i Teachings, that the Golden Age, the Most Great Peace, will be in full flower around that time. How difficult a process that is will be determined by us, as a species.

I attended two gatherings today, that could be seen as harbingers for the sort of peace that humanity can build. In early afternoon, eight of us gathered at the grave site of a much-loved wife, mother, grandmother and friend. Her husband sang prayers, and sacred music that he had composed. The rest of us offered prayers for spiritual progress, healing and the well-being of humanity. Marcia was, no doubt, very pleased.

Later in the afternoon, thirteen of us gathered in the Spirit of Christ, at a friend’s home in the forest of Prescott’s west side. We shared the simple beauty of home made chili and cornbread, salad and three very rich desserts. Hot chocolate took the edge off the cold that came with nightfall. The toddler son of a young couple entertained us with his harmonica-each extended one-note generated applause from the adults, bringing his little face to radiance. His little sister was just glad to be in the loving arms of at least one of her parents, or grandmother, or aunt. We talked of everything from the operation of a dog-boarding facility to the approaching travels of two of us-a young lady to Costa Rica, for her first journey outside the U.S. and me, on my third visit to the Philippines. Both have elements of joy and promise, and elements of uncertainty. Undertaken in faith, though, the right thing will prevail.

Christmas is best observed as a day of simple beauty-and so it was today.

The Road to Diamond, Day 23: Longest and Darkest

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

December 21, 2024- When love is freely given them, the children always love back.

Six little girls danced continuously, as the family band, Galactogogues served up the contents of their 13-song album. When the tempo was fast and vibrant, the children pranced, tumbled and bounced around the dance floor, under the watchful eyes of their mothers and grandmothers. When the music was quiet and subdued, the girls offered rather elegant interpretive steps. (The aging security guard glared and grumbled, but that’s another story.) There was love between parents and children.

I thought of the times when my generation’s youthful energy alternately got approval and admonition, from our elders. The same happened when my son’s generation did things that were harmless and delightful, or when they came close to harm’s way. Invariably, the generations understood each other, because underneath it all, there was love.

Today, in the northern hemisphere, featured the longest and darkest night. Here, it was a thing of beauty. The stars twinkled above, and there was a sense of camaraderie among the fans of Galactogogues. The band played all our favourites from its various club dates of the past five years and a few new tunes from the Bohrman’s son and daughter. At the end of the evening, as Meg Bohrman credited her children, Cosimo and Opal, and percussionist friend, Zach Dominguez, Opal did not let her mother go uncredited. When love is freely given them, the children always love back.

Far across the Pacific, another family reunited, a few days ago. I know the mother. She gives enormously of herself, for the sake of each of her three children. They, in turn, are protective of her as well. The same hold with yours truly, and my little family. We are a unit built on love.

When love is freely given them, the children always love back.

Here is the family, about ten years ago, offering their reworking of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken?”

The Road to Diamond, Day 21: The Spot

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

December 19,2024- As she served my coffee cake muffin, warmed with butter, I exchanged Thanksgiving stories with the proprietor of the small coffee shop, on the first floor of Prescott Antiques. A gentleman entered, and after a bit, the conversation turned to jukeboxes. He is a collector of the appliances, and was preparing to take ownership of the Wurlitzer model that had sat in the corner of the shop, for about three years. It seems, unsurprisingly, that there are over a dozen brands of the machine. Wurlitzer is the brand that I have seen most often.

When he and his team removed the jukebox, there was a white area on the mostly yellow wall. The barista fretted a bit about the appearance of the spot. Before long, the store’s owner came down and also noted that the area was two-toned. He got some yellow paint, a medium brush and some newspaper, and painted a small test area. I told him it looked a bit brighter than the rest of the yellow, but that is the difference between fresh and faded. So, he continued to paint the rest of the spot.

I left the coffee shop, after finishing my muffin and drink, and went upstairs to the minerals area. The owner and his wife were still discussing the paint job. I felt it was fairly routine, but to them, it was the center of the morning’s activity. My center was picking out two emerald green stones to bring to my friend, in late January. Everything is relative.

So, on we go, inching our individual and collective ways towards a Christmas that appears to be an after-thought, or an impediment, to many in positions of civic responsibility. Governments, at the Federal, state, local and even tribal levels, are fighting among themselves over matters that are even less important, at their level, than the bare spot in the corner of a ground floor room is to the owners of the business.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, in the small French city of Avignon, an indomitable woman, who had been assaulted by no fewer than 52 men, over a period of ten years, won her case against them, with the support of her children and siblings. He former husband and his partners in crime were found guilty of all charges. This is what really matters, in the larger scheme of things. May the case of Michele Pelicot resound worldwide, as loudly as the Dreyfus case did, in 1906.

In times of confusion, priorities can be scrambled. Clear-headedness, then is all the more vital. The people in the antiques store tended to their fairly small task with dispatch. The court in the Rhone Valley took longer, but sorted the details and served justice to the unwavering victim and her family. Will our governments here in the U.S.-and Canada find their bearings?

The Road to Diamond, Day 19: “And Here We Are”

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Entertainment, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

December 17, 2024- On the now-shuttered television police procedural, “Blue Bloods”, the lead character, Police Commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck, Magnum, P.I.), would frequently acknowledge the situation he faced-with friend and foe alike, using the simple phrase “and here we are.” He then went on to find some sort of solution to even the stickiest of issues, mostly by the end of an episode.

December brings that phrase to mind, quite often. Here we are-in the cold, the dark, the period of least light, and in many years, the worst month for those with investments-as it is the month for “house cleaning”, divesting of funds that have run their course, before figuring out the final tax bill for the calendar year. Here we are also, in days of conviviality and gift giving; in days of group celebrations: Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa. (Chanukah’s first day falls on Christmas Day, this year.)

So, we are, as is often the case, faced with a choice. The challenges won’t go away, so we can face them in the days to come. Celebrations, if passed over, will go away. To me, it’s better to enjoy the merriment, and restore positive energy, then face the cold, the dark and any financial woes, in a renewed state of emotional strength.

It is always advisable to recognize a problem, while forming a game plan with a solution which will have a good chance of making the situation better.

The Road to Diamond, Day 18: The Crick

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

December 16, 2024- With two quick movements, Dr. Robert soothed a crick in my neck, that had bothered me for nearly a month. I had kept it from being too bothersome, by applying Deep Blue oil blend. Chiropractic, though, is what tended the stiffness and restored my range of motion.

This evening, I pondered one of my mental cricks. I got a query from Penny, asking if I thought that I felt stuck with her, in the next life. My response, looking at her picture, was “Absolutely not. I love you and always will.” I then got a message that this beloved spirit was happy.

My mental crick came from the notion that two souls, and only two souls, can be together for eternity. However, nowhere in the Baha’i Writings does it say that, specifically. It does say that two souls bonded together in this life will be together in all the worlds of God. This does not preclude bonding with other souls, in the event one outlives the other. A letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi explains that:

“There is no teaching in the Bahá’í Faith that ‘soul mates’ exist. What is meant is that marriage should lead to a profound friendship of spirit, which will endure in the next world, where there is no sex, and no giving and taking in marriage; just the way we should establish with our parents, our children, our brothers and sisters and friends a deep spiritual bond which will be everlasting, and not merely physical bonds of human relationship.

“There is nothing against a person remarrying, the implication of unity in marriage being meant as a spiritual bond which will be everlasting, and not a sexual thing, in the quotation you cited.” – Written to an individual believer, in December, 1954.

The bond between Penny and me is an eternal, spiritual one. The bond between me and any other person can also be an eternal, spiritual one. I feel relieved by this meditation.

So often, we look at such matters solely from the standpoint of the temporary, physical reality. Those with whom I feel the strongest bond, however, are so much closer to me in a spiritual sense. I see that is true of every other pair of people who are truly united.

Two cricks are thus relieved, this evening.