Category Archives: Inspiration

The Road to Diamond, Day 98: Dribs and Drabs Again

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

March 6, 2025- There was about an inch of snow that fell here, this morning. Dribs and drabs, and gone by noon. There is a better chance of accumulation tomorrow, so we’ll see. I stopped by a coffee shop that offers a hang-out for teens, just to see what it looks like. School was in session, so there was a lone young man staffing the counter and there were a couple of ladies running the office. Three workmen were doing repairs on a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC). I got a cup of joe to go and moved along, saving the coffee for later and getting lunch at a downtown bagel shop that has several nice sandwich options. It was a good day for lox and cream cheese, with capers.

The Red Cross monthly meeting provided all the information I needed, in order to set up and run a shelter simulation-a week from Saturday. My team is poised and ready, and we will finalize the preparations next Friday. As for my acting as Sheltering Lead for this area, that will be decided next Friday, also.

I sat in on the Prescott Indivisible chapter meeting this evening. It focused on civics- helping those in attendance brush up on state government. This is something that everyone ought to know, so it was time well spent. There was not a whole lot of counterproductive bickering about personalities, which was gratifying. I see that the Governor of California has come out as opposing boys playing in girls’ sports. Personally, I think there are probably enough transgender athletes that they could compete against one another. On the other hand, there are times where girls take part in traditionally “boys-only” sports, like baseball and tackle football, so I think such matters need to be weighed carefully-on a case by case basis.

I ended the day by proofreading a paper by a Baha’i student from Indonesia, who I had met whilst in the Philippines, last month. It focused on an ecumenical ceremony hosted by some Buddhists, using traditional Javanese spiritual practices. I found the whole premise quite enlightening. It is called Ruwatan and is a means for fostering respect for diversity.

Sometimes, a day full of dribs and drabs works out quite well.

The Road to Diamond, Day 97: Ties That Bind

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

March 5, 2025- Today marked the 14th anniversary of Penny’s passing. I kept a low profile, mostly reading, talking with Aram on the phone, then gratefully getting and replying to a message from Kathy. In the afternoon, I joined a couple of friends in prayer, then watched an interesting podcast, an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience that focused on those who communicate non-verbally, either by spelling out words on paper or through telepathy.

The presenter, Ky Dickens, is also known for her series, The Telepathy Tapes. She has worked with several non-verbal people, both high school students and adults. Ky described her experiences in verifying her subjects’ telepathic abilities. One student was able to read Portuguese and Japanese, without having actually studied the languages. The student could also decipher hieroglyphics, with accuracy verified by an Egyptologist. Another could accurately describe what Ms. Dickens was thinking, on several occasions, from a distance of ten miles.

Joe was quite intrigued by the evidence that Ky Dickens offered, allowing plenty of room to consider the ties that bind us, as an energy field. We ourselves are likely energy fields, not dissimilar to gravity and magnetism. The discourse branched out from that comparison, to the subject of animal awareness. Joe, an avid hunter, noted what he has observed deer and wolves. Mule deer have evolved as a species of alacrity, ever alert to the presence of mountain lions, their primary predator. Wolves have developed a strategy of one of the pack chasing predators while one or two others lie in wait further along the way. Any dog or cat owner knows that animals have a sensitivity to the energy emitted by their humans. Horses, likewise, have a multitude of sensitivities to magnetism and electricity.

There was finally a consideration of how society could develop sensitivity to the non-verbals, and draw out their talents, not regard them as mentally deficient, as has often been the case in the past. Joe also cautioned against allowing people with telepathic sensitivities to be manipulated by unscrupulous forces.

Both he and Ky agreed that unity is the most basic manifestation of love, and that non-verbal people show a greater capacity, in that respect. Having worked with autistic and Downs Syndrome children and teens, I heartily concur with their assessment. Ky also welcomes viewers to watch her series, and to ask reasonably skeptical questions, in order to research the subject on their own. I think Penny would agree.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-telepathy-tapes/id1766382649

The Road to Diamond, Day 95: Un-central

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

March 3,2025- The Department of Homeland Security is exploring a policy of having its staff members fan out over the country, with considerably fewer people stationed in Washington, DC. This would seem to be a far saner course of action, than the scorched earth approach being taken by so many other agencies and departments, in seeking to save taxpayer dollars.

In the few executive positions I have occupied, in my educational career, it has been my greatest joy to meet people in the various communities I served. Spending some time in the office, or with my supervisors at headquarters, can hardly be avoided, but when I noticed co-workers playing Solitaire on the computer or having paper airplane tossing contests, it just confirmed to me that it was best to get out and visit people where they lived.

There were a couple of agencies where my getting out of the building was neither approved nor appreciated afterward. Those particular supervisors had need of a coterie of supporters, seated and waiting for instructions. It did not surprise me, when they found themselves being ushered out the door by the Governing Board.

With that, I would say that our nation is best served by the Federal government in a less-centralized manner, overall. Federal law enforcement, the IRS and FEMA would be much better understood and more appreciated on the ground, rather than viewed, and speculated about, from afar. This is similar to the model of community policing, and while it, like the neighbourhood cop, is something to which it would take some time for people to adapt, it is the best antidote to conspiracy theories, which arise when people don’t have a sense of transparency from their government. Constant contact also offers the opportunity for those who might feel alienated to be consulted, as to ways in which government service might improve.

The day will come when there will be a worldwide executive. That body will need to have a strong decentralized support system in place, well before it is established. The time to begin decentralizing is now.

The Road to Diamond, Day 93: Ruby Road Beckons

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Posted by on in collaborating, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

March 1, 2025- The tall, strapping man with a strong, pleasant voice and a genial manner kept about sixty of us captivated for two hours, with songs and stories. Tom Chapin has done this for over fifty years, sometimes alongside his late brother, Harry and younger brother, Steve. Towards the end of last night’s session, Tom mentioned that he would be celebrating his eightieth birthday, in two weeks.

That sparked a chord in me, being nine months shy of 75, and keeping on a relatively straight and narrow health regimen-not really cutting out anything, besides highly processed food. ( I guess that counts for a fair amount). I have an overall game plan of service (continuing here in Prescott, at least for the next six months and wherever I may be, after that) and of travel (Europe, and maybe East Africa, in the early autumn; a project-centered return to the Philippines in December-February; some parts of Latin America for a few months, later next year and wherever I feel directed, after that).

For the longest time, I’ve looked at my potential ninth decade of life as a cypher. Seeing so many, admittedly more sedentary, friends and family become less active and facing health issues has given me pause. That I have met someone who means a great deal to me, even if she is no more than a dear friend, is an incentive to stay active and keep my health regimen. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind reaching the century mark-provided my quality of life is at least close to what it is now. That is not necessarily a pipe dream. Mom made it to 95.5. I hold her own wish to live to see 100 in my heart.

So, one day at a time-yes; but for Kathy, Aram & Yunhee (and any children they may have), my siblings and their children, and for all my dear friends, I look to the diamond mark, then to ruby, granite and 10-Carat Diamond. Whatever is the Will of the Divine.

The Road to Diamond, Day 91: The Way Home

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

February 27,2025- I spent part of this morning talking with a community member who is looking to head back to her previous place of residence. Grandchildren are the impetus, making it feel like home. They are certainly a powerful draw and I would have to strongly consider being close to any grandbabies who might bless my life.

A few online friends have somehow gotten fed up with my meanderings and have cut ties, after saying they hope I find what I’m seeking. That is somewhat reasonable, since “seeker” is part of my site name. To the extent that search is my primary motivator, though, home is not the object. Truth is certainly an object, and it may be found anywhere-whether one wanders or not. Friends are a motivator for search, whether meeting with those who are online chums or re-visiting long real-time friends. Whatever the reason for a journey, there is always something to be learned.

The thing about the word “home”, for me, is that it is a place of mind, as well as heart. I am not searching for home, since it’s everywhere. The “way” home is as simple as relaxation and as intense as focus on what is right in front. It is also a matter of realizing where one is most needed, and wanting to be there, more than anywhere else.

Those facets of my being have determined where I’ve been, on any given day, pretty much since 2011. There have been a few brain burps and hiccups, where I haven’t quite gotten the location, or the mission, right. Those have been corrected in relatively short order, and with as little damage to self and others as possible. That is what I aim to continue, no matter the challenges that lie ahead.

The Road to Diamond, Day 88: Our Elk Are Still Bugling

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 24, 2025- My friend at Zeke’s mentioned having seen a young bull elk, on the hill across from the shopping plaza where the trusty diner is located. Despite the work on creating a “much-needed” travel center, on some of the roadside property on the north side of AZ Highway 69, there is a considerable wildland that is presently off-limits to development, especially the hill above the travel center site. That hill is where the elk, and other wildlife, reside.

The male elk are still bugling. So, too, are the citizenry who don’t wish to have their lives dictated by a small elite-either of the Right or of the Left. We are keeping watch on the present headlong rush towards cutting staff, “in the name of efficiency”. My take: If two people are indeed doing the same job, and it can be effectively done by one person-then make the cut, in as humane a way as possible. Finding an alternative job for the one who is being let go would be the best of all possible options. Slashing costs for the sake of cutting taxes for the uber-wealthy, on the other hand, is NOT a relatable choice. Most people I know bring in $250,000 a year or less. Is there anything in this for us? So far, I haven’t seen it.

It’s been said that man has an infinite capacity to rationalize. This capacity has been put to full use by partisans of every President, since I’ve been reading and watching the news (that is, since 1956). It has been used to excuse everything from Project Wetback, in the 1950s, to the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol. The upshot is “If our guys did it, it’s being blown out of proportion by the other side.” I heard this, tonight, and from someone who is living on the streets, but worships the ground our current President treads.

My siblings and I were raised with a conscience. When we did something wrong, Mom and Dad accepted no excuses and certainly didn’t offer any on our behalf. They defended us against legitimate threats, but otherwise expected us to behave responsibly. Now that we are on our own, we hold each other, and our children, to the same standard, and on it goes.

I can recall, when the Watergate scandal was brewing, in 1973-74, raising the issue of misfeasance at my godparents’ kitchen table. They were Republicans, and while my aunt kept her opinion to herself, uncle was furious that I would criticize the President of the United States. I was cordially invited to leave. That was in October, 1973.

In August of the following year, uncle remarked to my father that I had been right all along. He felt betrayed by Nixon-and Agnew, as well. He was not sympathetic when President Ford pardoned his predecessor. We had long since made our peace, mind you, but it was quite a revelation.

We the People will continue to speak out, as we see fit-and that goes for all along the political spectrum. Those who see no problem with what is going on across the country have a right to their viewpoint, but should the decisions being made affect them adversely, there is a safe space waiting for them-across the way. The bugling will go on, in the meantime.

The Road to Diamond, Day 87: Home Stretch

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Family, Hiking and Nature, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Slow Food Prescott, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

February 23, 2025- “Are you having fun yet?”, asked the random man standing at a corner, as if on guard. “All night long!”, I replied, “Have a nice night”, and kept walking, as someone striking up a conversation in the dark usually wants one of two things-neither of which is good. “Good answer”, he called from behind me. Hearing no footfalls afterward, I continued on to Home Base I, at an unhurried pace.

Days and nights, in general, around here offer a consistency. One accomplishes as much as one wants, with as much, or as little, help from others as is welcomed. That is the measure of a proper Home Base. It is a village that raises children. It is a safe place for those whose only wish is to grow old in peace. It is a forum for Right and Left alike. It is the recipient of my attention, for much of the next six months, as we anticipate a particularly challenging fire season, followed by a monsoon period, the strength of which has yet to be determined.

I will have journeys during this time: Southern California (March 10-13); Nevada (March 25-30), part of which will most likely be spent with Filipino friends who plan on visiting; eastward (May 5-23), to visit with family and friends, in the Midwest, Northeast and South. The rest of the time will be spent with my teammates in Red Cross, Farmers Market, Slow Food-Prescott and my faith community. I will get in more hikes and, given the cutbacks in National Forest personnel, be more given to taking drives to monitor abandoned campsites- shovel and jerry can on hand, to put out any lingering smolders. I will be at Coffee Klatsch most Monday mornings and Soup Kitchen most Monday evenings.

Our national government is, by default, summoning more of us to focus on the well-being of our local communities, and it may be quite surprised at just how many people care deeply-and how much they care. The last time I was this focused on Home Base was in 2020, during the midst of COVID, and I had a lot of company, between here in Prescott and in Alexandria, Louisiana, (the latter due to hurricanes that didn’t care there was a pandemic afoot.)

September will bring the seal to this Home Stretch: Farm-to-Table Dinner is returning on September 6. I will be there as a volunteer, before (world conditions permitting) heading to Europe, and possibly East Africa, for the rest of September and most of October. In the meantime, my focus is as described above.

The Road to Diamond, Day 85: Worn Out Phrases

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

February 21, 2025- “Woke” is worn out. So are “MAGA”,”DOGE”; and “Long live the king”. For that matter, “DEI” could use a vacation-as a slogan. Abraham Lincoln said “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. A country is like a house and for that matter, so is the human race.

Let’s look at the above-mentioned words and acronyms. Woke is the past tense of To Wake. It is also a term, taken from the Ebonics spoken by enslaved African-Americans and their descendants, to mean “aware of surroundings”,”paying attention”, and so on. That’s all it means and being “woke” does not, in and of itself, make one superior to all others. It just means that one is not easily fooled.

MAGA-“Make America Great Again”-catchy phrase, this-if one has been fooled into thinking that the change which this and other countries have been undergoing, in a time of global ferment, is somehow foreign to the human experience and thus should be resisted and counteracted. The United States of America has achieved several measures of greatness, precisely because of our diversity. White, male capital has needed the polyglot work force to bring its dreams into fruition. An educated work force is far more productive than a conglomerate of human oxen. This is one reason why Andrew Carnegie, no egalitarian by any means, nonetheless saw fit to relegate a hefty part of his fortune to a system of free public libraries, which became a model for such institutions the world over. The United States of America has never stopped being great. There is no “again”.

DOGE-“Department of Government Efficiency”: Here, we have taken our penchant for compartmentalizing aspects of our collective being to the next level. Efficiency, the good stewardship of what we are given, is somehow to be viewed as separate from every other element of our being. My parents, grandparents, parents-in-law- in short, everyone who survived the Depression, and before that, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Gilded Age, World War I, Influenza of 1918-must be spinning about, underground, to the extent that a 9.0 may be in the offing!

Every day of my formative years, I was told to count my dollars and cents, to know how much I earned per newspaper I delivered and to look about for further opportunities. I was taught to plan my day, each morning and to take stock of what had transpired, at day’s end. Efficiency has never been separate from any other aspect, of any enterprise that I have ever seen be successful. It falls to every entity to practice efficiency, in and of itself. We compartmentalize at our peril.

“Long live the king!”- That’s fine for Charles III or for Sultan, of Saudi Arabia. Kingship is their job. In a constitutional republic, kingship is a ludicrous proposition-even if the term is tossed out half in jest. No one man, or woman, can carry on alone. The above-mentioned monarchs know this-and thus, each has his Cabinet, his Prime Minister/Crown Prince, Parliament/Council of Elders. Only a lunatic actually believes in his own omnipotence. Shakespeare wrote King Lear, in reflecting on the reign of Henry VIII, for this very reason. No one of good will wishes death upon another person, but long life does not need to feature untrammeled obedience from one’s fellows.

DEI: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. When I was 17, I was taken aback, momentarily, by the sight of a person of colour in a small rural community in Massachusetts. Looking back, it is obvious how silly my reaction was. This planet has been a diverse community since Day One of living things. Sameness doesn’t exist in nature. It does exist in monoculture, to an extent, and we can see that monoculture ends up choking itself out of existence, in fairly short order.

Why, then, should we pursue either a forced uniformity or a contrived, artificial diversity? The former brought about the latter, true-but it is time to relegate both to the scrap heap, and let mature humans pursue their natural inclination towards diversity. This means allowing all who seek to join in a given activity or enterprise, the chance to take part. Inclusion is a natural process, not a feature of statute, to be enforced by fiat.

Equity? When my parents were raising us, my youngest brother needed things that the rest of us did not He was given what he needed, to the best of our parents’ ability to provide. I did not begrudge him this. He, in turn, was not given driving lessons, or expected to get a part-time job, in his teen years. Opening the way for a human being to meet individual or small group needs is not discrimination against all others. Helping People of Colour to overcome, in specific ways, the effects of institutionalized bias is not a travesty. It is true that none of us alive today are responsible for establishing elements of bias. Why, then, do we act like we have such vested interest in them?

DEI, as doctrine, should not even be necessary. Nor should MAGA, or DOGE, or rule by fiat. In this day, each of us is responsible for living an integrated, well-balanced life. Why, then, do we choose to compartmentalize?

The Road to Diamond, Day 84: Mixed Messages

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

February 20, 2025- On the one hand, Doc says that I have the constitution of a 45-year-old. I’ll take that for as long as I can keep it. On the other hand, my skin needs a few tweaks. I will go through the process of getting those treated, though thankfully, I don’t have anywhere near the horror blotches of the 2010s. Just a few small bumps is all.

We all go through the day and get some mixed messages. I got a few during my recent time in the Philippines. Now, though, I am getting much more clarity from my friend. We are still messaging back and forth-and the messages are straightforward, both ways. As with friends here in North America, our communication is honest, caring-and yes, loving. I feel blessed that everyone on my radar screen has my best interests at heart, and I, theirs.

Mixed messages come about when the messenger is not sure of self, let alone about feelings towards the recipient. There is, more essentially therefore, a primary duty to not send mixed messages to oneself. I have had to face this as often as anyone-wanting things that aren’t there, in an imperfect, phenomenal world. The solution to the latter is to get to work, and so I have.

Coming full circle, maybe this is the reason for my clean bill of general health. Proactivity reflects one’s work ethic.

The Road to Diamond, Day 83: True Friends

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

February 19, 2025- The ride back to Prescott had a nice twist of an ending. I was let off of the shuttle closer to Home Base I, as the driver was “running late” and my normal rendezvous point was out of the way. It helped that the driver was a former co-worker, who remembered me from one of the schools.

The person who was my prime reason for having gone to the Philippines, these past two visits, is the biggest fan of my work with Red Cross-and that is what matters most. She stands with me, the way so many in this town stand with me. She is keeping track of my experiences during these next six months.

I was welcomed back, by two friends in Phoenix, who have invited me to their home, early in March. These are people I have known for thirty-five years. One of them is Javanese, related to Filipino, and wants to hear more of what I experienced this past visit.

These are but three of the countless true friends who have stood by me, some for decades, others for the past fourteen years and still others of more recent vintage. True friends are not transactional or conditional with their loyalty. They are not sycophantic with their devotion. For me, thankfully, they are my source of heart wealth. They are found all over the globe.