Category Archives: impediments

The Road to Diamond, Day 197: Facing The Lions

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

June 13, 2025- The simple matter seemed larger than it actually was. I needed to access an e-mail account that is not my personal account. Getting mixed up between Outlook and Edge, I toggled back and forth, until a co-worker advised sticking to Outlook. After a bit of playing with the site, I was in, and a mole hill that had been made into Sagarmatha was reduced to its actual size. Technology is sometimes a lion that, like any other large feline, needs to be faced.

For me, there are two basic lions: The number of different platforms, which as mentioned above, I get confused; the tendency of some sites to loop around and around, usually due to a glitch. I ran into one of those tonight, as well, on the site of a charity I have supported. A live person will no doubt respond to me, next week. It is just part of the period of adjustment, yet serves neither human nor AI. Glitches are the reminder that Artificial Intelligence, as a creation of mortal humans, will always have a certain level of flaw.

I have, essentially, come a long way in having the confidence to face challenges, even those that seem to be way beyond my level. I am not going to climb the actual Sagarmatha, or anything close to it in height-for both financial and familial reasons. There are other challenges ahead, which are most definitely within my bounds. These will be enough for this lifetime. You, the reader, will have a front row seat for as many as you choose to read; Stay tuned!

The Road to Diamond, Day 194: On Silent Wings

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, children, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

June 10, 2025- At the close of an online meeting of friends, marking the Strawberry Moon, one sister lauded a young man who had traveled to the border of Tibet and had laid a vase in the ground. This practice of interring ceramic vases in significant places has gone on for nearly a decade, inspired by the words of a Nepalese monk. The vases are found all over the globe.

The sister spoke of an owl, which graces the skies of her home in Alberta, “flying on silent wings”, and likened the young man’s journey to that of the great raptor-quiet, graceful and with mission.

There are many purposeful journeys being undertaken now. Across the globe, children looking to be born make their way towards the light, in their mother’s safe and loving wombs. The women themselves walk the hard road towards delivery, in most cases supported by loving companions. Those of us who are past the child bearing or child rearing age walk the path of self-reliance, of self-healing, for as long as our minds and hearts allow. Youths who are not yet ready to assume the mantle of adulthood make their way through the morass of discovery.

No matter how we walk, ride or fly; whether we are silent, or noisome, the journey continues. Sometime, it is in fits and starts. Other days, it is smooth and steady. There are those who press on, ever forward. Others, longing for a past that was seldom as idyllic as they imagine, push backwards. To me, those who, like myself, recall a rather happy and fulfilling childhood and adolescence, are not fearful of change. Those whose memories are dark and terrifying want a reset, if for no other reason than to experience some light in their life, which they can associate with childhood innocence, even as their bodies are aging. Then, too, there are those who seek stasis, a period of entropy. Both in physical and metaphysical terms, these are bound to face disappointment. In both the visible and invisible realms of the Universe, nothing stands still.

So it continues, the flight on silent wings.

The Road to Diamond, Day 191: Staying Dry

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

June 7, 2025- I did not immerse myself in the swimming pool at a Red Cross colleague’s gathering, this evening. The main issue was the blazing sun-which I have pledged to avoid directly, as much as possible, in situations where sunscreen is not permitted. The compound does not mix well in swimming pools, though some protection is certainly needed.

It was, overall, a lovely event, with uplifting conversations and great food, including one of the best home-made hamburgers I’ve had in the last thirty years. It was a fine cap to a busy, but satisfying day. Helping the Farmers Market set-up crew, with the last parts of their work, early this morning, got things rolling in the right direction. I went, a few hours later, to a Baha’i session, where a delegate to our National Convention, in April, presented the highlights of his visit. I will have more to say on some aspects of that gathering, periodically throughout the summer.

Baha’ullah refers to “being dry in the ocean”. This generally means to not be unduly affected by the changes and chances of this world, while working to keep self and others safe and focused on what matters. I can most closely adhere to this by taking stock of my actions, day by day-and paying close attention to the words and sentiments of my loved ones. There is no need to change, willy-nilly, in the face of anyone’s demands, but one must be fair and unselfish.

I was glad to have been able to pace myself and accomplish all that was presented throughout the day-and to feel the support of the Divine.

The Road to Diamond, Day 189: The Jacket

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

June 5, 2025- Over the past decade + of my work with the Red Cross, I have had the pleasure-and sometimes the challenge, of working with an often intense but generally loving man, a few years my senior. He has enjoyed covering the night shift at shelters, as long as his wife of 50 years has been by his side. He has enjoyed farm vacations, in his native state, in the upper Midwest. Most of all, he has enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing terrified, disconsolate people feel safe, while they are away from their homes during a disaster.

J has had to bow out of the work we have been doing together, these past twelve years, due to a slowly consuming disease. He is at the stage of looking back on his exemplary life, has had quality time with each of his children and some of those in his home state, whom he has known since they were kids. He and his wife have celebrated their wedding anniversary, with a chauffeured ride to/from a fine dining establishment. He is at peace.

When my time comes, I can only hope to have half as many memories as J has, and be at a modicum of the peace he seems to feel. I will, of course, be at his, and his wife’s disposal, during the rest of his earthly life, as will several of our co-workers, the members of our Red Cross family. Most importantly, though, I will wear the jacket he gave me a while back, and will wear the wisdom he imparted to me, inside.

The Road to Diamond, Day 187: Detached

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

June 3, 2025- The little card acknowledged what I myself realized, upon returning to Sportage, after exercising and picking up a couple of Tuesday Tacos at El Gordo: “You’re parked like an idiot”. The “gentle reminder” card, inserted by private security in various parking lots around the country, uses mildly caustic humour to help usually conscientious drivers remember that there is no holiday from courtesy. So, going forward, I am reminded to take the time to park properly-just as I remind myself to brush my teeth twice a day, make sure my shoes are tied and stay hydrated.

Age brings either heightened irritation with oneself and/or the doings of others, or a knowing acceptance of those behaviours and events that, in and of themselves, do no harm to self and others. Parking hurriedly, in a largely empty lot, is one of those one-offs that I can accept from myself-or from someone else, once in a blue moon. We all get tired, need to refocus and regroup, every so often.

Making decisions that immediately affect other people is another matter. “Big picture” folks often miss that aspect. Large scale decisions, from public budgeting to long-term construction projects cannot go without a reasonable (30-60 day) period of public input. Conversely, the public would do well to exercise the right to give input on these matters, by first looking at the proposal, then taking time to consider various ways in which an individual, her/his family and community will be affected-both short and long-term. The person then will be able to offer input, in a meaningful way.

Institutions, like their individual members, can get tired and need time to refresh and regroup. It is best that this is done from within-as revolutions, being often emotion-driven solutions of last resort, tend to overlook the small, but necessary, cogs and wheels that made the institution effective in the first place. This is one lesson I drew from study of the French and Russian Revolutions. Our own, having been more measured, has lasted longer, precisely because of the processes of amendment and regular public input.

It helps both individuals and institutions to remain emotionally detached from criticism, thus being open to what the critic is actually trying to convey.

The Road to Diamond, Day 183: Standing Tall

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

May 30, 2025- The smug administrator showed the two adolescent friends who was boss, by turning them against one another. This was one of the plot twists in a film “Out of My Mind”, a recent film that charts a few months in the life of a 12-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. Melody can not talk, but has a photographic memory. She is determined to succeed in school, despite the lowered expectations and “cringy” attitude of the adults in the school, which get transferred to most of the other students.

On a visit to a planetarium, with her parents and a few classmates, Melody gets bored and wanders into an auditorium, where Dr. Stephen Hawking is presenting, via video. Her father finds her, and notices Dr. Hawking’s Augmentative and Alternative Communication device. Her parents manage to obtain an AAC device, with help from Melody’s advocate at a nearby university. This leads to a chain of events that elevate Melody’s self-concept.

After a day of light activity, including attending the 50th anniversary of Prescott’s Central Library, I was moved to take my director’s chair over to the Community Film, an open-air event across the street. There, I was pleasantly surprised to see a former co-worker present a brief PSA featuring his younger sister, who has non-speaking autism and uses an AAC device. The above-mentioned film was then introduced,as the feature presentation. It was worth every minute, to see the love that the family, their next door neighbour, Melody’s advocate and, eventually, several of her peers, had for this extraordinary child.

Although Melody is wheelchair-bound, she stands taller than her detractors-a fact of life for all too many who “fall outside the box”, and end up shoved aside by those who can’t think outside their boxes. She alludes to this, in a final monologue to her teacher and classmates. Having been through a milder version of this in my younger days, I see the value of the long game, as well as knowing when to stand one’s ground. The latter presents itself more often than some may think.

Melody is a genuine hero.

The Road to Diamond, Day 182: Heaviness

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

May 29, 2025- It was hard, somehow, to maintain focus during a meeting I attended this morning and through the noon hour. It wasn’t the fault of the presenter, or of the subject matter. The air was cool, so it was not that, either. There was just a heaviness today, that stayed with me, requiring a more concerted effort to get what I needed from the Red Cross training session-for which I was an assistant commentator, to boot. It lingered, even as I purchased a dinner item from a nearby pizzeria, for evening consumption, and as I later exercised on a recumbent bike at Planet Fitness. It wasn’t a physical issue-my blood pressure read normal and I was breathing easily. There had to be some deeper cause.

In this late hour, I am reminded that today would have been the 61st birthday of my late youngest brother, Brian, who died in 1994, just shy of his 30th. He would have been proud of my service to the community, albeit at a very rudimentary level, as his disabilities made communication difficult. Nonetheless, there was a very basic love about the child, and later, the man. It was in our interactions with him that each of his four siblings developed a compassion for those less fortunate. That has informed our social and community behaviours, as much as any experiences we each have had over six or seven decades.

Those who have left us will communicate in various ways. I think now that the spirit of my baby brother was reminding me that sometimes, life takes a gargantuan effort, just to get through an ordinary day. The heaviness lifted, as I sat and read some pages of a book on the ancient Mediterranean world. Brian liked to pretend to read aloud. He would surely have approved.

The Road to Diamond, Day 180: The Self in Protected Mode

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

May 27, 2025- The words came, tersely, out of the mouths of two dining companions: “The (others) are just evil.” This is a fill-in-the blanks statement, all too common these days. In this instance, and in a good many others, the castigation has come as the result of feeling that a force somehow greater than oneself is invested in controlling everyone. The other is viewed as mining data, particularly financial information. Thus, the self goes into fight mode. The solution is seen as keeping information private-use cash, not credit, debit or phone-based transfer. That works for a while-until the very entities which one sees as saviours start to do the same thing. Data mining is, it turns out, the latest outlet for filthy lucre-along with the other cyber-mining: Cryptocurrency.
These two know no ideology, because they have no moral base. The sole foundation of cyber-mining is to amass financial wealth. That data mining will eventually become the grounds for investigation, both criminal and civil, is on the mental back-burners of those who think it merely depends on who’s doing the mining. ‘Gathering of personal information by ultraconservatives can’t hurt’, goes the reasoning, ‘because they hold to the same tried and true dicta that have held this nation together, for so long.’ On the other hand, ‘Gathering of personal information by progressives can’t hurt, because they will uncover nefarious plots by the Far Right to shrink the citizenship base’

There are morally sound people, all across the political spectrum. Donald Trump’s 2017 comment about “good people on both sides” was not altogether wrong, though it was horribly ill-timed. I have friends who honestly believe that a Ten Commandments-based society would result in the end of civil unrest. I have others who hold that a multitude of religious viewpoints, and non-religious ideas, are likely to make for a stronger society.

Each group, in turn, is joined by extremists and unsettled people, whose shrieking, verbal bomb-throwing and acts of violence distend the shape of those in their groups who are actual voices of reason-and who have no desire to actively silence opposing voices. The disquiet soul who wantonly murdered two employees of the Israeli government, last week, is no better than the Klansman who killed the peaceful protestor in Charlottesville, in 2017.

Tending the fire that inflames these violent people are the ideologues-the Stephen Millers on one side and the coterie of far-left university professors on the other, who are no better than those involved in cyber mining. Some may actually be in league with the others, as the whole idea is the amassing of power. It would not surprise me in the least, were it to be discovered that extremists are being essentially funded by cyber-crimes, including crypto schemes. Data mining, in turn, may become the basis for extortion and blackmail.

So, what is the most secure means of getting oneself in protected mode? I would say, “Start by thinking for yourself.” Then, look at all angles. Cash can be king, on many occasions. Secure use of credit and debit cards is largely possible. So, surprisingly, is phone app payment. The latter three can’t be done in full view of other people’s phone cameras or other data-gathering devices, so I recommend noting if skimming devices might be present, as well as blocking overhead or sideways views of a transaction.

Nothing is 100% foolproof, in a one-step ahead world, but reducing risk is always worth the effort.

The Road to Diamond, Day 177: The Thick and Thin of It

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

May 24, 2025- At Bellemont Baha’i School today:

In the midst of a pile of pine needles, my co-worker found a bright, shining earring. It seems to me that one of the campers last year did lose one, so that is probably the beginning of its reunion with its owner.

At lunchtime, part of the conversation was relative to the thinness and thickness of various piles that were raked up and ready for bagging. By 3:30, virtually all the piles were bagged and ready for next week’s removal to a dump site. Fourteen of us produced 85 bags of needles. That is no “thin” effort!

The connection between our little group and the growing Bellemont forest community is also getting thicker. Our closest neighbour, an ordained minister, has taken it upon himself to provide security for the camp, when no one is around. He also did an extraordinary amount of clean-up work-and over the past thee days. He will finish up the rest tomorrow. A good part of this is because he feels the spiritual energy of the camp.

Commitments can be thick or thin. I have, in the least popular of my posts, addressed the matter of home bases. My commitments to places in general, however, matter less than those I have to people in my life. There ought be no one “thrown under the bus”, as it were. So, while the “thickest” of my commitments are to my Faith, little family, beloved (who is halfway around the world), and community of residence, appeals for help from someone elsewhere also matter. My only caveat is that I have enough time and energy to meet that appeal.

That brings me to a broader place, with regard to commitments: My own are based on helping meet the actual needs of my loved ones, and not in feathering my own nest. Those in government, and elsewhere in public life, be they Right, Left or in the Center, whose every-other decision is based on self-enrichment are going to be found out, if that hasn’t happened already. Those whose public service is genuinely focused on the common good, be they Right, Left or in the Center, deserve our gratitude and support.

Be discerning, with regard to commitments, whether your own or those others have made to you.

The Road to Diamond, Day 176: Equanimity

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

May 23, 2025- Today was a day of celebration for us Baha’is, as on this day, 182 years ago, al-Bab revealed Himself as the Forerunner of a Messenger Who would unite the human race. This all may sound abstract, but one need only read the Baha’i teachings for self, and determine whether they are truth or not. https://www.bahai.org/

What has always appealed to me about this Faith is that everyone on Earth matters, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, gender or social group. Everyone is seen as essentially a spiritual being and as long as that spiritual essence is recognized, a person will grow in the sight of the Divine.

I have been led to be discerning, regarding both social and spiritual matters. In both cases, I see myself not as in any way superior or inferior to others, but regard the needs of each of us as equally valid with those of others. That leads me to take a long view of certain developments. A recent example is the funding of veterans’ health care. There are many military veterans who are disabled and deserve full medical care from our government. Others, like myself, are in relatively robust health and don’t require as much.

The present government is re-assessing each veteran’s case, and from what I can see, in a surprisingly efficient and judicious manner. There is a reasonable question as to over-reduction of staff, given that there are so many veterans in legitimate need. That imbalance, between recognized need and the desire to save money, will bottom out soon. Many healthy veterans, myself included, would take supplementary insurance, if it means that our medically needy comrades in arms can get more help. The assessors, though, have a duty as well-to not permanently cut off those who have suffered injury or disease as a result of their military service.

Equanimity, a foul word to some, is nonetheless an essential word-whether one believes in “everyone for self” or in common care for one another.