Category Archives: Matters of Faith

The Road to Diamond, Day 100: Compassion in Action

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

March 8, 2025, Phoenix- The tall, silver-haired man stepped forward, as the wiry younger man with intense eyes walked up to a pair of young women who were working the management table at Farmers’ Market were doing their wrap-up work for the day. The ladies had noticed the bronzed military veteran walking about and talking to others, in a manner that seemed to make people uncomfortable. They were quite perturbed that he was still there, when there were only a few of us workers left.

The older man calmly helped one of the women, his daughter, in folding tablecloths, and when the ex-Marine asked if he might have one of the cloths to use as a blanket, replied that it was already needed for the table and, in any case, would not be very warm. For my part, I engaged the fellow veteran in conversation for a few minutes, letting him know where he could get a meal during the week, while I folded up a few tables. It was the father, keeping a careful, but calm eye out for his child’s safety, who showed the most compassion, getting the younger man a bag for the groceries he’d purchased or been comped and fetching a loaf of bread for him to take along. It was this which finally prompted the ex-Marine to leave.

We have many among us who are mentally ill, to some degree or another. I have had my own challenges, in that respect, and though I have come to function at a high level, cannot cast aspersions on those who are worse off. Of course, we need to hold other people to a modicum of civility, and not allow for abusive or overly intrusive behaviour. Women and children need to feel, and be, secure. Especially after the wanton murder of a young woman outside Mesa, a few weeks ago, my mind is all over keeping a safe environment. The man in question seemed to merely want company and to engage in conversation, even if it were in a looping manner. It was just not the right time and place for him to engage the women.

After he left, a group of us helped one of the vendors who was agitated for an entirely different reason, and took down his tents, while he tended to the matter at hand. It is always a matter of regarding people as family.

Once this was all in the rear view mirror, I got things together and hopped in the Sportage, heading down to a gathering at the home of an old friend. About thirty people gathered for dinner and a wide range of conversations about everything from spirituality to the modern circus. The ambiance, as always at this house, was one of universal compassion and love for mankind. After seeing people I had not seen for several years and meeting many new friends, I have retired to my room for the night, satisfied that it will remain compassion, rather than self-interest, that will carry the day.

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 92: Plotting Course

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Education, impediments, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

February 28, 2025- Just before waking, this morning, I dreamed that I was climbing up a ladder made of tree branches. At a certain point, a key rung in the ladder snapped off. Unable to safely continue up the ladder, I got off and followed a dirt path, that wound around towards my home. I was walking contentedly along the path and came upon two groups of youths who were tussling and wrestling, in front of a primitive lean-to, thatched roofed house. I felt composed and detached from what was going on, and kept walking-at which point I woke up.

I now feel somewhat composed and detached, regarding the current back and forth between liberals and conservatives in our nation. I know that I am not willing to kowtow to anyone who seeks to impose their will, in an ad hoc or ex-oficio manner. I have noticed people on both sides, “yelling” online-typing responses in capital letters and cursing at people they deem to be not meeting their expectations. That is the mark of a desperate soul, expressing fear of the “other side”. I have also seen people on both sides expressing their opinions in a calm, but firm, tone of voice, not yelling-but not giving way, either.

I covered a few small classes today, with little to do other than take roll and remind one or two people to not use their cell phones during class. While the students were working on their Chrome Book lessons, I read some initial chapters of a book on the German Army, 1933-45. It was instructive to find that Adolf Hitler did not, initially, take the full reins of control over the Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) and that he initially trusted the commanders to build up their own fighting force, even pushing aside his paramilitary force, the SS. He seized control, of course, around 1938, and the result was the horror that the world experienced, until 1945.

Technology,and the pace of events, has quickened in the past 80 years, so it is unlikely that we will see any leader bide time and leave matters to chance. The course of human events, moreover, will proceed at a rapid clip, in some ways, and whipsaw back and forth, in other areas. This is why it is best to keep an open mind on many issues, and not assume that those expressing points of view other than one’s own are somehow to be taken sharply to task and fiercely set straight. We do ourselves an injustice by plotting our own courses using a route of fear and trepidation.

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 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.

The Road to Diamond, Day 80: Two Views of Life

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

February 17, 2025, Manila- I left an umbrella at Glorietta Greenway Mall, in Makati. Someone who needs it will be out of harm’s way. I am not leaving my heart here. Out of the blue, K told me, this evening, that she thinks I need to serve the American Red Cross, which means staying in northwest Arizona. I will not make a knee-jerk decision on the matter of my future, yet. That will wait until the time between March 1-16. Part of the deal is that I need to prove to myself that I am able to set up a shelter from scratch, in the simulation exercise on 3/15.

The reversal of my relationship here is nothing new. On the one hand, I have not really felt really accepted as a life partner, completely, by anyone. It took a long time and a lot of work to secure my marriage, and only after 20 years or so was it a fait accompli. I wouldn’t have ever given my wife less than my all, and I never once considered abandoning her. This time, not much is lost, though it would be awkward to return to Manila to live permanently.

The other side of the coin is, unrequited is unrequited. There are women to whom I have not reciprocated a romantic interest, so maybe this is all a trade-ff, or cosmic payback. Most of them have, over time, remained my friends, and K, after a fashion, will likely see me in the same light, albeit from a distance.

Some people, usually men, see their partners or spouses as servants, chattel, part-time interests or outlets for frustration with life. Such people don’t show much in the way of self-respect, so it stands to reason they would not know how to treat others in a decent way. That doesn’t make it right. I have at least built an ethic of standing firm for the rights of others, even if they hold me in disregard or disdain. The Divine, not mortal man, has infused each creature with worthiness. We have yet to approach that sense of worthiness, in our views of one another.

I will head back to the United States, tomorrow evening, by way of Hong Kong. Chapter Two of this unnerving, but vital, year, will start fresh, on Wednesday morning.

The Road to Diamond, Day 77: Heart House

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

February 14, 2025, Manila- This woman I love looked appreciatively at the roses I had given her for Valentine’s Day-and gave one each to two of her friends who had not received flowers of their own. This is the mark of a human who has the true sense of what matters most in the world: No person needs to be left alone. This is but one example of why I am so close to leaving a comfortable life of fourteen years’ duration and adopting a simpler, but still salubrious, life, halfway around the world.

Anywhere K is, is a heart house. A group of six of us went to visit the home of the construction engineer, who managed the renovation of Manila Regional Baha’i Center. It was an exquisitely- crafted lunch of stewed barbecued chicken, with potatoes and eggplant. There was also a creamy dish of salmon belly, which I had never known was a dish. White rice, of course, was present, but neither K nor I took much of it. She was much more thrilled to have fruit cocktail in chilled milk curd, which I rather enjoyed as well. Earlier, K had asked me about three workers in the project, who were not riding with us to the event. Lo and behold, the three men showed up on their own, having been invited by the boss.

She leaves no one out, ever. After touring the boss’s home, we all went over, at K’s request, to visit a Baha’i friend who has been hospitalized. He was thrilled to see everyone and we spent almost an hour, before the Head Nurse announced it was time for him to rest. K and our hosts went to a nearby Jollibee and bought our friend his favourite chicken, as well as a dozen bananas and some over the counter medication that was approved by the Nurse.

Tomorrow, a small group of us will visit museums that are associated with Malacanang Palace, the residence of the President of the Philippines. Since I have never been in the White House and only on the grounds of Palais de L’Elysee, this will be yet another milestone that I’m sharing with the resident of my Heart House.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

The Road to Diamond, Day 74: Options Arise

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

February 11,2025, Manila- Someone with experience in condominiums looked at the sheet which outlines amortization and pointed out everything that one gets when purchasing a condo. He then offered an alternative, the details of which must remain private, for now. Suffice it to say, the option would be completely above board, fair and would meet my relatively simple needs. It also met with my loved one’s approval. (She was less than thrilled with the condo idea. To be clear, the living arrangement on which I am working now is for me alone. My friend has her own place and any change in our status would be after I get established.)

It is said that any problem that arises contains the seeds of its resolution. The above is a case in point. It is my nature to consult experts, when confronted with something that leaves me like a deer in the headlights. When I’ve followed that practice, novel situations have turned out well. The few times I’ve tried to muddle through on my own have been disastrous. My gut always knows the difference.

I have also learned to practice consultation in relationships-be they platonic friendships or more intimate. Penny taught me that skill. Most of my relationships since have gone well. The few that imploded went south either because I was delusional or the other person had a hidden agenda-or two. K is the real deal, so our consultation is spot on, each and every day. Consultation always generates options, as well.

Some will be disappointed in the choices I make, but in case of the business matters, they will have factored in the possibility of getting ‘No’ for an answer. In the case of the people who want me to take on one task or another, I will work with them to make sure someone else of capacity is able to take on the duties. No one of us is irreplaceable.

Stay tuned. Dull moments are rare, this year.