Category Archives: Assistance

The Road to Diamond, Day 272: Sacred Space

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

August 27, 2025- A House of Worship should be a sacred space; so should a school. For that matter, a family home should be sacrosanct, as should any place where the occupants are engaged in service to the community-whether paid or unpaid.

It is a tradition, in several faiths, that the human body is the throne to the temple of the spirit. This, alone, is reason enough for each of us to hold self-respect and respect every other person with whom we come in contact. Mild humour aside, casting aspersions on anyone for physical attributes or harmless personality traits, is hardly a mark of respect. Besides, a joke is a joke only if the butt of the punchline is secure enough to laugh along. (I went through a few rough patches, being somewhat humourless at some stages of my youth and young adulthood. Gaining self-confidence erased that dourness.) Intentional physical and psycho-social assaults on another person will eventually boomerang on society-at-large.

These two aspects of life, the sacredness of so much in this world and the fact that many are cast aside or subjected to ridicule or marginalization, often lead to tragedies, mass casualty events, such as today’s horrific assault on a Roman Catholic congregation, in the middle of a worship service. There is never an excuse for wanton murder. There is likewise, no excuse for bullying someone because of personality features or social status.

Sacred is sacred.

The Road to Diamond, Day 271: On Hold

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

August 26, 2025- The morning after a slam-bang lightning show with matching cloudbursts, that made up for July Dry/Fry, was quiet. The air was still, and the action on a car part that I need for Sportage was even stiller. This will impact my honouring of a departed former co-worker, in another part of the state and likely delay my visit to Hopi, which I would like to make before departing for Europe. Whoever is slow-walking the delivery of the part (now in the last day of a 3-5 day delivery window), probably has their reasons. So, things are on hold.

I was able to cull cassette tapes and CDs that I will no longer use, and the last non-digital camera I had kept from the 90s. Other items are being separated, and still others will be recycled, tomorrow or Thursday. A lot of memories are being rekindled, with this process. All my loose old photos of married life and clippings of the major events of the 2000s and 2010s are consolidated in one box.

Then, there were the messages. One resulted in my reiterating my view of good and evil. This took about four repetitions, all calm but direct, and perhaps my points finally got across. This is one area where some have very deep-seated opinions and will insist on their views. I go more with common sense. The second was inquiring about the wisdom of moving to this country for the purpose of basic employment. In another time, that is something I would have encouraged and tried to abet. Nowadays, I steer the inquirer towards other countries. People with advanced, marketable skills still have a chance; labourers, not so much.

Experience shows that a day spent calmly on hold is followed by a day in which everything, everywhere, happens all at once. I will take progress on the car front and an uptick in control of four or five remaining fires in the back country. Every day brings treasure of a sort.

The Road to Diamond, Day 270: Two-Way Street

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

August 25, 2025- As we made our rounds at a gathering, this morning, a newcomer to the group asked each of us how we came to our present spiritual path. Each of the members briefly did so, with me being last. As I mentioned my story, one of the other members launched into a loud sidebar. I stopped speaking until she was finished, then explained to the new member that this happens a fair amount of the time. If a member is not interested in what another member is saying, then there is interruption. She wondered whether it is due to so many being hard of hearing. Perhaps. I still adhere to Mother’s Rule # 1: Never interrupt!

I used to shrink in the face of louder, more forceful people. Now, I have learned that, without descending to that level, it is okay to gently, but firmly, speak my truth. There is no need to be boorish, but generally what I share with others is fairly well thought out. I have the right to operate on a two-way street of communication.

I pondered this further, this evening, after watching a woman explain in a TED Talk about her experience with three good friends, in which she was steamrolled by the the three, who got carried away with their own experiences and left her out of the conversation. She at first processed her annoyance with them, while alone in her car afterward. Then, the light bulb went on and she realized that the two-way street applied to her also. She could have asserted herself-and they probably would have given her their attention.

I think about nature, and vacuums, and personal responsibility. In a different vein, from the time I woke this morning, there were messages, questions and calls to duty. I put my social group slightly first, with the Red Cross call and my job interspersed with the time spent in the group. You guessed it: The phone rang, twice, and I took the calls, getting back to the group with a brief description of the situation, so they knew it was somewhat urgent.

In the end, the emergency fizzled, the crew I had assembled went home and I was able to answer the unrelated texted question very simply and concisely, which made the questioner happy. Most times, life is a two-way street. Other times, it can seem like a three-branched artery.

The Road to Diamond, Day 269: Nomenclature

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

August 24, 2025- Someone has alternately pronounced me “mentor” and a short time later, announced that they were MY “mentor’. The situation is that we have bounced ideas back and forth, period. I do not consider anyone currently alive as a mentor. My father, father-in-law and a long ago athletic coach filled that role for me, in earlier times. My mother taught me a lot, also. I still hold all the lessons those fine people sometimes pulled their hair out, trying to impart to me. The rest of us just support one another the best we can, back and forth.

Other words tend to get overgeneralized, and over used. “Vacation” is one such. There are people here in Home Base I, who insist that any time spent not working and/or away from Prescott is vacation. They want to know why I am going to be out of the country, for an extended period of time, when I could be working here. I can say this: There will not be a whole lot of resting, relaxing and idling. I can do all those things right here. The tasks ahead of me are labours of love, in which I also engage here-but there are friends in the countries to which I will be heading. I have the opportunities to connect with them in real time.

“Girlfriend” (and its male counterpart) is tossed around well beyond adolescence. The woman I care for deeply is my dearest friend, and that is where it stands. She stopped being a girl, many years ago-probably maturing well before I did, though she is a decade younger than I. Maybe the oblique reference to childhood is a wish by those who use such terms, for their own continuous adolescence. As for me, I rather like being an older adult, albeit one who is in good health.

Finally, “omnipotent” is being tossed around these days, by those on various ends of the spectrum who see their personal heroes emerging and gathering power. Be careful: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”-Proverbs 16:18 I am willing to bet that each of the adulated ones is well aware of the above verse, and has many moments when wishing that admirers would calm down.

The Road to Diamond, Day 268: Empathy

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

August 23, 2025- I spent several minutes today, reading messages from someone who has an alternate view of the world. There are some points that were made with which I can agree, but the conclusions offered are rather far from what I have drawn. I will defend the right to come to those conclusions, but I also reserve my right to see the world through my own lens.
Some conservatives have recently called for a review of how empathy is processed. They say, correctly in my view, that empathy should not be a blanket endorsement of wrongful or injurious behaviour. I see this caveat as necessary, if our mission in the world is to elevate human behaviour and the level of choices made by those around us. Indeed, ‘Abdu’l-Baha cautions to “not show kindness to a liar, a thief or a selfish person”, lest those ill qualities be encouraged and strengthened. I have had to cut off contact with three people as well as advising a friend to do the same, for that reason.

There are plenty of opportunities to show empathy to those who are truly victimized, or are vulnerable and in need of support. I have been, and will continue to be, engaged in the betterment of life for all around me. Like our nation’s Vice President, I see my empathy as going first to my family (who are not, at present, in high need, but will be at the end of this year and into next), then to my community, and to the wider world. My sense of that progression is not, though, compartmentalized, as the needs of Home Base I right now are not so high as to take my attention away from, say, Dineh people who need help transporting water, or a friend in another state who is facing a serious medical procedure-or the World Central Kitchen’s efforts to feed people in traumatized regions across the globe-including right here in the United States.

There is room enough, in our consciousness and in our time frames, to care for both those closest to us and those a world away.

The Road to Diamond, Day 265: Telescoped

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Family, Matters of Faith, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 20, 2025- The Med Team at the VA Hospital called, in mid-morning, with “the bad news” that my appointment for next Monday would have to change, as Doc would be out of town. I informed them of my travel date, to which I got “We have a 2 p.m. slot today. Would that work?” Certainly! So, I went on over at that time, making the cancellation of a prior meeting that much more fortuitous.

I got a positive review of my health, at present. Doc, however, was telescoping into the future. Saying that I was only 74, he addressed a matter that could become an issue, when I am in my mid-80s, and offered a path to setting the stage for me to be a healthy octoperson, starting now. Being the proactive sort, I am going to follow his regimen, which will actually be less expensive than what I am doing now and seems to follow what I can see in the more rigourous research on the matter.

I have to do some telescoping of my own, vis-a-vis being more flexible on my upcoming sojourn than in previous journeys. I came to the understanding, in the various trips organized around Mother’s final years, that there was no sticking to a prior set schedule. It all worked out as it was supposed to. I want to keep that ethic, being more concerned with what is best for those I will visit, than just full speed ahead-my long time drawback. There is always room for a Plan B, which I also discovered last year.

The Road to Diamond, Day 264: A Primavera Day in Mid-Summer

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Hiking and Nature, Personal Values, service, Slow Food Prescott, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 19, 2025- There is no shortage of schools in Prescott that are in salubrious settings. One of these is Primavera School, located on the southwest side of town. It is, being in a forest community, geared towards a holistic education in an ecologically-oriented setting. The basics are well-taught, in small groups, and with room made for serendipitous moments. If a “book” lesson is underway, and one of the kindergartners, or third graders, happens to focus on a hummingbird feeding nearby, the class takes time to observe the animal and later discuss the scene-What was in the liquid that the hummingbird was drinking? Are there times of day that the birds prefer to feed? What other foods do hummingbirds take? There is realization that a book lesson is not sacrificed by a 30-minute observational activity.

“Primavera”, of course, is Spanish for “Spring”. Here were a group of us, at this school, in mid-Summer, helping to focus a new year for school gardens. The school’s name hints at an orientation towards every day being a new beginning, in some sense. With the daily awakening and enkindling of knowledge, children-any of us, actually- feel this new beginning. This afternoon, we did a poetic exercise, called “I Am From”, which looks at some of the many factors, past and present, which shape who each of us is.
Like anyone else, I could fill in the blanks in a number of ways, and shared one set of answers in the session. I will share a similar, and equally genuine, rendition of this poem below:

I am from

I am from corn on the cob

From 6 a.m. and cool, crisp air

I am from the cabin, cozy, warm, sweet-scented

I am from oak and bear,

tall and stout, strong and gentle

I am from family reunions and walks in the woods

from the beach and caves

From Kauai and wind-swept, craggy coastal bluffs

I am from Granite Mountain and holding my grandchild

and from “The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens”.

This poem is taken and slightly adapted from the website: http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html

It is used at Primavera, in teaching middle school students. Its efficacy with adults is equally apparent.

The Road to Diamond, Day 263: Pressing On

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

August 18,2025- The traffic at the junction of I-17 and Hwy 101 was backed up 1.5 miles, in the lane for entry to 101 East. It is not unheard, for commuters to be kept at a standstill in that and similar lanes, between 8-10 a.m. One problem is that lane jumpers go on ahead, in the I-17 lane just to the left and safety concerns mandate they be let in to the exit ramp, at the last minute. Everyone thus has to stop and make room. Fortunately, there are enough adults in the “room” to not force anyone to wait on the active highway itself. There were no accidents, as I edged my way towards “the 101” and a dental check-up-another fifteen minutes along 101 East, then Hwy 51 and into Paradise Valley.

I arrived nine minutes late, at the dental office’s temporary location. They, too, are pressing on, with their former office building now being converted into a center for autistic children. That also being a worthy cause, the dental staff has picked up stakes. There will be a larger dental office, soon, in the complex to which they have relocated. My clean bill of health affirmed, it was a good start to “Medical Week”.

Going back up to Prescott, after another errand and a stop at Penny’s gravesite, I found none of the traffic that we faced going in town. The only pressing on was getting a blood draw at the VA, with next Monday’s check-up being the last appointment for “Medical Week”. Helping Hiking Buddy with a couple of errands and pitching in at the Soup Kitchen rounded out the day.

The message of the day, overall, is that not being waylaid by difficulties will bring at least a modicum of the results one desires. It was a fine, if tiring, twelve hours.

The Road to Diamond, Day 262: The Face of God

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

August 17,2025- Yesterday, I came across several people who sang my praises. Today, the other side showed up. Their anger was muted and subtle, but still obvious. Life is a process of twists and turns, and one must, as my mother said, take the bitter with the sweet.

The strange energy that was everywhere yesterday was also muted today. I used the day to make sure Sportage is good for tomorrow’s drive to Phoenix and back, and to join four other Baha’is and a friend of the Faith for a devotional and light lunch. I also made further arrangements for the Swedish leg of next month’s journey.

‘Abdu’l-Baha teaches us to “see the Face of God in every person”. Further, if a person “has nine good qualities and one bad, focus on the nine. If there are nine bad qualities and one good, focus on the one.” Of course, we can hardly be expected to let those bad qualities work their ill, but He operates on the awareness that the person will come to see her/his good qualities as what will bring benefit, while the bad will be detrimental.

I pondered this, after reading a friend’s similar post, and in light of the various interactions I’ve had, over the weekend. Seeing the Face of God in one’s detractor is actually easier than it appears, at first blush. I have, over the past six years, taken the view of trying to glean self-improvement from negative encounters. ” What is the critic trying to teach me?” seems to work better than “What have I done to deserve this?” It has helped, in more ways than one.

The Road to Diamond, Day 261: Affirmed

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 16, 2025- The energy of the day showed its hand early. Sportage’s battery gave out, after four years of service. I had a new one purchased and installed, well in time to go to Farmers’ Market and assist in the breakdown. My co-worker also observed that the energy was a bit on the thick side and she wasn’t getting as much done, to her chagrin. I recalled that Penny was a lot about stopping and smelling the roses, where I had long been Mr. Full Speed Ahead. There is more of a mix between the two, these days, and I have my beloved departed wife to thank for that.

An old friend interrupted her braiding of her second daughter’s hair, and gave me a bear hug, letting me know that various acts of kindness over the years have been fully appreciated. I am constantly, she said, on her and her children’s minds. That the kids are furtive and shy does not mean they are any less appreciative. I will be sure to visit them over Labor Day weekend, a week before wheels up to Iceland, Sweden and other points on the European continent.

Another old friend needed my affirmation of her worth. She is a person who has suffered much and yet gets a good measure of happiness out of hard work. Facing the sometime harsh realities of capitalism has also not been very easy on her. She is facing an aggressive and not altogether ethical competitor, who seems to have the blessing of their collective landlord. I let her know that I have her back and will look for ways that she can innovate, and meet her competitor’s challenge in an honourable manner. My father taught that other people are most often well within their rights, even if they cross my path. I take that very much to heart.

In all the ups and downs of living alongside other people, it has long been my view that there is no daylight, when it comes to paying attention to those around us and helping them play to their strengths. We also, however, must take care of ourselves, not depending entirely on those around us. So my day started with car care and ended with an evening of listening to long-time friends playing a mix of 60s-00s rock and country classics. The hummus plate was fabulous, as ever.