Category Archives: collaborating

The Road to Diamond, Day 276: “Peace One Day”

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

August 31, 2025- A young man set out to break the cycle of gratuitous and retributive violence, especially between nations. His idea was to establish an international day of ceasefire/commitment to peace, on September 21 of each year. The equinox, signifying harvest in the northern hemisphere and planting in the south, was seen as a fine date for getting nations to focus on the well-being of the masses.

It turned out to be a hard sell. One country, whose prior leaders had initiated a proclamation calling for A United Nations Day of Peace, decided to back away from the commitment. The young man continued his mission, visiting dislocated and suffering people in Somalia, Palestine and Burundi. He used his leverage as a British citizen to persuade the government of the United Kingdom to become primary sponsor of the International Day of Ceasefire and Peace. The other nation, which had backed away, agreed to join the U.K. as a co-sponsor of the resolution.

We see that the forces of discord and nationalism can act against this movement. Indeed, minutes before then-United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was to ring a Peace Bell, at UN Headquarters, al-Qaeda terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, on September 11, 2001. Several documents, and testimony from terrorist sympathizers, indicate that the timing was not coincidental.

The arc of history, however, is aimed towards an eventual peace and unity. Even the most nationalistic of governments are beginning to see that the way of warfare is a dead end. The actual course of resolving conflict is a lingering source of disagreement. As with any matter that seems intractable, however, the secret to resolution lies in not ever giving up. This was the real message of “Peace One Day”.

The Road to Diamond, Day 275: Reading the Road

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

August 30, 2025- Waiting until the row of traffic, in the lane I was about to enter, had cleared, I then pulled onto the road. Lo and behold, I heard a horn blare, from a few cars back and to the left. It was from someone honking and yelling at the pick-up driver who had moved into the “empty” lane and who was now having to brake, because of yours truly. Nothing further happened, we all went on our merry ways, but it goes to show, one never can be too careful.

I have learned to “read the road” quite well, and often will wait until the light up the road turns red, before going onto AZ 69, which many drivers treat as their personal race track. It seems there are many such roads, across the country, and even across the continent. (Canada has its share of oblivious motorists and the lands south of the border are even more chaotic, in many places.) Across the Pacific, I don’t think I’d want to drive in the Philippines, mostly due to the many motorcyclists who dart in and out, everywhere. I have learned to read the road there, too, as in many spots, there are no crosswalks and one must inch forward to cross a road, when traffic slows just a bit.

My father thought I was a bit too cautious, when I first learned to drive. There was a reason: I was more of a menace, with a short attention span and tendency to daydream. It took a few months to learn to focus, and I did manage to go nearly 48 years without an accident. There have been a few rough patches, since 2014, for different reasons- Sabotage, an overzealous driver zipping over a blind hill and a driver on medication who fell asleep. The first two saw me get cited for “partial culpability”, which is more a statutory requirement than actual proof of wrongdoing.

Nonetheless, I am determined to get through the next week or so without any mishaps. For seven weeks thereafter, my mode of transport will be the airplane, the train, the bus and a friend’s vehicle. Reading the road will be more as a pedestrian, in the countries I will find myself. Tonight, though, was a caution-there is never a break from driving defensively.

The Road to Diamond, Day 274: Redemptions and Deferments

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Family, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 29, 2025- The two-year-old boy spotted me from his place on his grandmother’s chaise lounge and told Nana to look up. His smile could light up Grand Central Station and his enthusiasm could carry a rocket to the Moon and back. His younger and quieter sister gave a slight smile and a nod, but she is more Nana’s girl. I was at the house to tend to a small business matter, which will help two parties, while I am away.

The day was largely spent in bringing some unfinished business to fruition. Sportage has a new oil pan, so no more drips. The trade-off is that there is a countdown to the next regular oil and lube. The Beast will be spending 7 weeks in carport, though, under the watchful eyes of my neighbours, so there is no great rush to get that done.

Then, there was the above-mentioned visit, concerned with relieving another family’s food insecurity. “Nana” is a local small farmer, so she can help with that. Lastly, there is a friend elsewhere who needs assistance in getting through a medical procedure, so that needs periodic contribution. Mostly, though, I am tending to my own needs, so as not to become “a destitute hero”, who would be no hero at all.

The upcoming journey involves reaching destinations and fulfilling promises that are anywhere from seven to fifteen years old. In meditation, the answer came back to focus on these, and there would be time down the road to fulfill more recent pledges. In the interim, I have commitments to my little family and to someone else I love most dearly. Those will take precedence over anything else.

Clear as mud? Things will be explained, as they happen. For now, it is a matter of redeeming old promises and deferring those of more recent vintage.

The Road to Diamond, Day 273: Jump Starts

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

August 28,2025- A call came at mid-morning: Sportage will get her new oil pan tomorrow, bright and early. Energized to move on other fronts, I went to a cloth wholesaler and picked out new material to cover my badly worn sofa. This is more of an investment in keeping the furniture out of the landfill, when it comes time for me to divest my furnishings, come late December. Of course, when a friend does the re-upholstering, at the end of October, I will be able to enjoy it in the interim. A section of the sofa is my prayer corner.

I have added a few more items to the Fall itinerary, which is looking more like the series of homages to which I am drawn, in between and after visits with friends. There is much to which I feel drawn in humility-more so than out of curiosity. Out of prudence, though, my whereabouts will be posted as they occur.

I am now three months away from #75. I celebrated the 74.9 marker with a case of alkaline water. Finally, the market has caught on here, and I’m finding this may well be a big deterrent to the dehydration that has been setting in this summer. Besides, I could use more alkalinity in my life.

Life is ever a series of jump starts and pauses. It seems, though, that a delay or block in one area opens the way for another thing to happen. I was unable to attend the funeral of a co-worker, in another city, due to the situation with the auto part. That paved the way for assistance to be given to another ailing friend here in town. This has been more the rule than the exception, over the past twenty five years. I have been exactly where I was supposed to be, at the given time-yet not necessarily by my own design.

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 267: Needful Things

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 22, 2025- The girls were forthright in asking for help on their writing assignment, asking me to help, instead of one of the regular staff. They were crestfallen, when I told them I had to take care of other business on Monday-but that they would not be left alone. I trust that a caring soul will be on hand, and tend to their needs. I was able to meet those needs today, so it was a good day.

A friend shared memories of childhood; of witnessing lynchings-the sort described by Billie Holliday, in her song, “Strange Fruit”. This is something that no child should ever have to witness. Another friend shared the news that a young man had taken his own life, shattering her immediate community. This is something that no youth should ever need to contemplate. In my own work, keeping children safe from both external and internal trauma was a major focus of time and energy. It had to be done with regularity, and without judgment as to what the urgency level may have been.

I was not able to prevent all suicide. No one can know for certain what the turmoil is. inside another soul. The first friend has never spoken of what was seen, until now. The young man did not share his pain, even with his closest friends.

I am fortunate, in life here in Prescott and in the various places I have been honoured to visit, over the past fifteen years. Rarely has there been a closed door, and then only because of my own shortcomings or faux pas. With that good fortune has come a fair amount of responsibility. So, I don’t think of time spent anywhere as “vacation”, even though to those whose life commitment is to stay put and focus on one community or one neighbourhood, any time spent not working-or not spent “blooming where planted” is a lark.

So be it. I will wake each day, no matter where I find myself and make the same commitment to the well-being of those around me, as I did in schools and communities, across Arizona and in South Korea, for 46 years. Some of that will be in schools; other will be on the road or in communities where I might be expected to relax. It will be what appears to be needed.

The Road to Diamond, Day 266: Reassurance

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 21, 2025- E carefully went over the appropriate areas of my skin, from scalp to abdomen, then my limbs and extremities. My sunscreen has worked, as has, for the most part, my bush hat-with its neck flap. A couple of freeze-ups, and I was deemed free of any danger marks. I only need to insert a pad of sorts in the bush hat, for extra scalp protection.

A few hours later, it was time for chiropractic, after a lengthy absence. What I’ve been doing, stretching, working out and having better shoes has kept the skeletal system in good shape also. The adjustments were minor. “Medical week”, overall, was a reassurance. Only small changes in my supplements are advised, and we’ll try those.

Most reassuring was what I was able to offer a friend, affirmation that each person’s mind is unique and there is no cause for alarm. I’ve had that sort of reassurance from different people, over the decades, so giving it back is an honour.

This week has been everything I could want, in terms of results and affirmations. So much is the result of positive energy being directed towards problems and concerns. That is an affirmation, in itself.

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.