Category Archives: Inspiration

The Road to Diamond, Day 224: Full Moon Crunch

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

July 10, 2025- Cat 1 put her whole face in the food bowl, eating for about five minutes-and consumed about 1 1/2 out of 4 teaspoons of food. She would eventually take 2 1/2 tsp of the meal, during the course of the day. Cat 2 was full-on voracious, or maybe he had “help” from Cat 1, but his bowl was licked clean. He’s a “boy” after my own heart. I have been in the Clean Plate Club, 99.9% of the time, since I was about 8. I never had a helper though.

The day illustrated the complex, and at times chaotic, nature of the energy that has arisen since July 1. A fire emergency rose, got everyone’s attention, led to several calls to Red Cross team mates, then the fire was brought under control. I then was able to focus, fully, on setting up Bellemont Baha’i School for this weekend’s camp. Though I am not going to be on-site for more than a few hours tomorrow, the prep work involved counting and setting aside supplies, then running to a hardware store for extra push lights and strike plates for electrical outlets. All that was accomplished, with the help of a couple of team members.

In both the Red Cross and Baha’i matters, there was a blizzard of text messages and phone calls. Some of us reflected back on how such things were done, pre-cellular and Instant Messaging. It just took longer, with more time sitting by land line phones-and the use of telegraphs. Many younger folks have no concept of telegrams, or even of the FAX machine, which was the tool of the connected, in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The synchronicity continued this evening, as another fire emergency arose, just as I was headed into a community room to give a presentation on Red Cross to residents of a small village, 30 miles east of Prescott. The emergency waited until I could get back here and e-mail a group of about 18 people, to ask their help over the next several days. (Clarity: The fire is a long way from the village where I made the presentation.)

The heavy energy will continue, tomorrow and Saturday, even without the fire to face: Camp, the cats, and two simultaneous picnics on Saturday, along with the Market and a Baha’i Feast. Ah, the joys of retirement! 🙂

The Road to Diamond, Day 222: Standing Alone

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

July 8, 2025- The clever cat waited for her food, then moved away from it-thinking that she might help herself to the food I was about to set out for her male fellow feline. After psspssing her away a couple of times, I brought her over to her dish, from which she ate a bit, then moved away. It was time for me to go to another appointment, so it was up to male cat to get up and eat. Cats tend to be loners and I will see how the feeding process has gone, when I return for more pet watching, tomorrow morning.

Earlier in the afternoon, I found myself the sole person left out of small groups, during a Shelter Manager class, instead having brief conversations with each of the moderators. We were thus able to touch on a few esoteric matters, as well as a couple of the questions posed to some of the small groups. The relationships that Shelter Managers have with those above and below them came up. Managers tend to be well-regarded by shelter staff, clients and regional brass alike, provided we devote ourselves to the well-being of those being sheltered and those tending to them. There are a few, typically special event staff and some facility security, who tend to regard a Red Cross shelter as an intrusion. These are the ones who are best handled with kid gloves, though never to the extent that those being sheltered are accosted or bothered in any way by those with agendas that are at odds with the Red Cross mission.

The course of this week, laden with service activities that overlap in places, still finds me standing (or driving) alone, frequently. It’s fine-as I can take the time necessary to do paperwork, whilst in an online meeting; get up early and tend to friend’s cats ( a fifteen-minute drive), returning for round two in the evening-of course, in between both long-distance and local engagements. I need to take time alone to do things about which I lack confidence. There were too many people, in my earlier days, who reveled in seeing me, and others, make a mess of things. I won’t give them the satisfaction, anymore, of seeing me blow it. Mom taught me to be comfortable in my own skin, and here I stand.

The Road to Diamond, Day 221: Prince Among Dragons

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

July 7, 2025- Thirty seven years ago, when that was also my age, a little boy was brought into the world, in the midst of a Year of the Dragon (Chinese zodiacal figuring). Since we were living in South Korea at the time, there was much ribbing from my colleagues about this being the outcome of a “dragon dream”, all the more auspicious because of the year we were in.

People born in that year are said “to be ambitious, confident and charismatic. They possess an abundance of energy and enthusiasm while also displaying exceptional intelligence and power. They are naturally lucky and gifted, often accomplishing their endeavours with exceptional standards of excellence.” Son certainly has grown into embracing all of these traits, and has kept a high bar for himself, especially over the past twelve years.

Soon, he will assume the role of fatherhood. I hope he leaves me in the dust, in that department, and in just about every other facet of life. A mutual friend commented, yesterday, that wanting a child to excel over the accomplishments of parents is the hallmark of parental love. That certainly is an admirable goal. Here’s this grandfather’s take: Let the child absolutely soar. Son wants the same for his daughter-and for any other child who may come along.

For now, he is focused on doing the best possible job, in each facet of his life. That is all I can ever ask. He is indeed a prince among “dragons”.

The Road to Diamond, Day 220: Second Thoughts

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

July 6, 2025- The somber air, across the country, has many wondering whether the slashing of disaster response programs at the Federal level was done in haste. It’s not surprising; indeed, it was only a matter of time. That the horror should have struck in the heart of Texas, on one of the two most significant national holiday weekends, is breathtaking, but it, too, is not surprising. The sheer scale, and speed, of the flood would have overwhelmed even the most state-of-the-art warning systems. Only a 24/7 monitoring of the state’s, indeed the nation’s, many river systems can hope to prevent a repeat of the damage caused by the rampaging Guadalupe. The DOGE cuts to FEMA only proved to be salt in the wound. The funds that were cut would not, in and of themselves, have saved the 82 people who died in the flooding.

Still and all, it is time to have second thoughts as a nation, with regard to planning for disaster response. The lives of innocents, especially of children, cannot be sacrificed for the sake of anyone’s financial portfolio or for the sake of bigger, more powerful weapons. No foreign adversary is going to come into the United States and find a docile populace. No well-heeled American is going to go broke, anytime soon. Mother Nature, however, is in an escalating state of turmoil -and disasters like Kerrville, or the January fires in the Los Angeles area, will only require more of our national resources.

Congress and the President have had their “Big Beautiful” moment. They have shown us their power. Now, let’s see that power used for the safeguarding of communities, and the healing of hearts that have once again been devastated by nature’s ravages. I recommend establishment of a National Endowment for Protection and Recovery. That would help build systems designed to fend off fires and floods, as well as being the funding basis for FEMA.

The Road to Diamond, Day 217: Fulfillment

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

July 3, 2025- It was not as hard as I thought it could have been. Getting beds of pine needles off several roofs at Bellemont Baha’i School was a two-person operation, with a third helping to rake up and bag the piles. I did not have to climb ladders, this time. The man who will take my place as camp manager, the week after next, was glad to take ladder duty. I was able to do a fair amount of needle removal from the ground level, thanks to our fashioning a tool consisting of a leaf rake inserted into a hollow aluminum pole. The tool also worked from the ladder, and he was able to carefully manipulate it, so as to remove small beds of needles from higher points on two of the roofs.

Yesterday, a team delivered supplies from the Red Cross to Navajo Nation officials who are managing two shelters for people and one for animals, in response to a wildfire that is about 13% contained. The importance of inter-agency teams in this sort of situation cannot be understated.

With the Federal government stepping back from several aspects of meeting the needs of destitute or under-privileged people, the importance of such co-operation across social institutions is sure to skyrocket. Problems do not disappear, by dint of official proclamations. They still need to be addressed, by people interacting in a co-operative manner. Thus, will promises continue to be fulfilled.

It was because people of means from France, the Netherlands and Germany kept their vows that the desire of British colonists to forge an independent country was fulfilled. It was not a perfect nation, by any means, and still isn’t-but 249 years ago tomorrow, the idea of a nation making a stab at a government based on the will of its people was born in earnest.

We have yet to fulfill the rest of the promise, but the work goes on.

The Road to Diamond, Day 216: Moving Towards Control

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

July 2, 2025- Four good men spent their Wednesday bringing supplies to a collection point in Window Rock, AZ, for transport on to the two shelters at which people dispossessed by the Oak Ridge Fire are staying. By nightfall, the blaze itself is 6 % contained. Several other fires around northern Arizona are not presently posing a threat to communities, so we end the day with a sense of control, however tentative it is in this Fire Season.

Working for safety, and for justice, is an ongoing process. There will always be natural threats, in a complex environment and there will always be those who would take things away from others to feather their own nests, so to speak. Life is not a zero sum game, though, and the people who are expected to suffer the loss of health care coverage, and even the right to vote, in silence, are very unlikely to accept that state of affairs. I am not among those who would suffer, but that does not mean I think it is right to take things away from those who are vulnerable-especially children, the disabled and the infirm elderly.

Each of us has a choice to make, every single day-to exercise self-control or to indulge self, at the expense of others. That choice-making affects everything from what we put into our bodies to how we interact with others. Those choices, in turn, will determine the quality of our lives-and may affect how long those lives are. One can be self-centered or inclusive of those around.

I know what my choices are, in various aspects of life-and prefer to include others, in both planning and in activities. I also have come to prefer proactivity and discernment, over reactivity and inattention. The difference that has made is immeasurable.

The Road to Diamond, Day 215: Everything, and Nothing

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 1, 2025– Happy Canada Day, everyone!

Today has also seen a burst of activity, on the two major fronts of my summer. Two wildfires have been top of mind for me, these past few days. A major blaze has been consuming the pinon forest between Window Rock and Ganado, on the Navajo Nation. The Dineh have been able to manage shelters, staffing-wise, and will have Red Cross logistical help, by tomorrow noon. They have plenty of government and private enterprise help, in fighting the blaze. Some friends are among those displaced, and I hold out hope that their homes will survive.

Another blaze, closer to Home Base, also led to us gathering a standby crew, but it has since been largely contained and the crew dismantled. There are all manner of small blazes, underscoring the poignancy of the Twelfth Anniversary of the Yarnell Hill Fire, which led to the deaths of 19 wildland firefighters. Over the weekend, in northern Idaho, a transient was asked to move his vehicle by wildland firefighters. He responded by shooting at them, killing two commanders and wounding an engineer. He later killed himself.

That last incident highlights a fringe element, those who believe that their priorities and their privileges supersede everyone else. We used to call them sociopaths. Now, many of them see themselves as ascendant-even to the point that there is an active movement called Accelerationists, who want to replace elected government with all-powerful Boards of Directors, headed by Chief Executive Officers, who can run roughshod over everyone else, in the name of “efficiency”. This is a huge step away from the workings of the customary publicly-owned corporation, which has a charter, a mission statement and a code of conduct. It, to me, is a system built for sociopaths. (Indeed, Elon Musk recently made a statement that empathy is a weakness of Western countries.) There is little difference between such people and the Idaho shooter.

That brings me to the second overarching concern of the summer: Baha’i gatherings. On Sunday, about forty youth and adults gathered for a lively session of songs and devotions. There was no egotism and no one-upmanship. Yesterday, some of the same youth spent the day visiting adults in their homes, sharing prayers and inspirational stories. Over the next two weeks, various gatherings will be held in the Phoenix area and at Bellemont Baha’i School, for further activities along those lines. These inspirational and collaborative activities are in direct contrast to the self-absorbed depredations described in the last paragraph.

I draw reassurance, also, from conversations with friends here, conservatives and liberals alike, who may not agree on much, policy-wise, but who will stand together against any forces that try to deprive us of the freedom and traditions that we have cherished for 250 years.

He would take away everything is likely to be left with nothing.

The Road to Diamond, Day 214: Proactive

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

June 30,2025- A year ago, I was sitting aside the woman who gave me life, as she took her last breath. The moment was a bookend. She had worked very hard to make sure that I survived a rough birth, and that I overcame many obstacles, some self-imposed, in order to at least enjoy a long and fairly well-lived life. Her overriding instructions were “Don’t take yourself too seriously” and “Stay ahead of the game”. Mom’s approval mattered far more than either of us sometimes realized, and the struggles I had with self and others, over the year, largely were brought to a close when I reverted to what she had tried to instill, so often and so selflessly, over the decades.

I can never think of a time when her rejoinder “Poor baby” was callous or misplaced. A child of the Depression, who lost her father to cancer in its midst, and saw her four oldest brothers off to war, in the 1940s, and her younger brother as well, in the Korean conflict, was nonetheless shaken when I headed off to VietNam, for what was a mercifully non-troubling ten months of rear echelon duty. She was a paragon of persistence.

In a generally love-filled marriage, that lasted 37 years, she would often find herself facing her fears about her youngest son, alone. It took some constant communication to get her loved ones to understand just how much she wanted for the little boy, who became a disabled man. We each grew into compassionate adults, who would ourselves fight for the well-being of the least among us-and who would give anything for our children and, in my siblings’ cases, grandchildren. I know the latter now, anticipating a grandchild’s birth with a heart that is bursting with love.

Mom is now with so many of the souls she loved, and is looking out for the rest of us. I can count several times, in the past year, when there has been that one extra push to get me over the threshold. It has made some rather tall orders shrink down to hurdle level.

I only hope I have continued to make her proud. God knows, a reciprocal pride has welled in me, for as long as I can remember.

The Road to Diamond, Day 212: Volunteer Shoots

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

June 28, 2025- The young lady was hesitant at first, picking up a few signs and long traffic cones that were light of weight. I didn’t say anything, figuring she may have back problems or other issues. The fact that she was even there at the Market and was proactive was a boost in itself. Any help I get, especially in the heat, is more than welcome. After seeing this old man lift the tent weights and other items, she decided that she could lift them also. That warmed the heart of the market manager, who had recruited her, a few weeks ago. It is always a joy to see someone display more self-confidence.

When gardening, it is exciting to see plants that had not been intentionally sown spring up and often reveal a mix of species, a hybrid. Purists are bothered by this, but the hybrid has a purpose. It may be more nutritious; more disease-resistant and more suited to changing climate.

New arrivals in an enterprise, in a community, in a nation often bother purists. They have a purpose, however. In the activities in which I have been volunteering, for five years or more, others are showing up, to lend a hand. From the Farmers Market, the Red Cross and Bellemont Baha’i School, to Slow Food and the American Legion, there will be no loss of mission because new faces are taking on the challenge. I will be going on to another calling, towards the end of this year. It will take up the lion’s share of my time, and that is a blessed thing.

The same is true of those who are arising to take on leadership roles, at the community and national levels. Their ideas may not be those espoused by the established order or those ideas to which many have become accustomed, but they may be what are needed for changing times. Yes, there are constants-the virtues, like trustworthiness, honesty, integrity and industry-all based on love. Those are as likely to be found among the new arrivals as among the best of the long-time members of the community or citizens of the nation.

All deserve a hearing.

The Road to Diamond, Day 210: The Real Network

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

June 26, 2025- Towards the end of today’s work session at Bellemont Baha’i School, a tentative connection was forged with the local Fire Department-with the chance to build ties with a Federal agency’s local office, as well. It was noted that this networking is a win-win, as the agency needs a training site and we can use the high level support.

Anyone who knows about trees knows that they themselves network, communicating through root systems. Information is exchanged about moisture levels, changes in soil chemistry and invasive species that are harming a given tree or grove. The clandestine nature of this communication has only recently been noted by we, whose own exchanges tend to be loud, open and sometimes not carefully thought out. Trees cannot afford to be anything other than careful.

There has been much made of globalization and wide international governmental communication. There is a place for all this, of course, but humanity cannot afford to rely on top-down or inter-elite networking alone, for anything of long-lasting value.

Largely underneath the high-level interactions, wide communication between individuals and between groups of private citizens, across intranational and international boundaries, is the networking whose value will truly reorganize and reorder the fortunes of the human race-and of every space, both earthly and on any other body that we may occupy. This person-to-person communication has always existed, but only with intensive technology, and a renewal of integral morality, can it have a chance at succeeding in its purpose, which is to establish peace.

I look forward to this network getting all the more intense and well-organized, one heart to one heart, at a time.