Category Archives: Matters of Faith

The Road to Diamond, Day 234: Identity

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

July 20,2025- This evening, I spent a few hours watching all I cared to, of the 2010s series Blindspot. It begins with a woman who has been injected with drugs that lead to her total amnesia. Of course, nothing of the sort lasts forever, and through snippets of triggered memory, helped in part by her having been tattooed in specific manners, over her body, she is soon faced with two DNA paths, as to her real identity.

I may get back to the series at some point, but this week will be focused on three aspects of my own identity: Red Cross documentation, study of Baha’i guidance, and a friend’s need for transportation. Today was just focused on the leisure aspect of who I am. Breakfast with friends, exercise at Planet Fitness and light reading, followed by crossword puzzles and the aforementioned program.

I have a much firmer grasp of my identity and purpose now, than I did in certain parts of years past. There has never been any doubt as to my family, or the love of my late wife. Any gaps in understanding have more or less began and ended with my own being at peace with self. There are things that seem to have been kept from me, by extended family who have gone on-but none of that has any bearing on who I am now, so bygones are bygones. I’ve elaborated in other posts about the various parts of my life, and the people who are important in those elements. What matters most now is what I am going to do with those parts, as I approach the next quarter century, or whatever part of it I may be given.

There is no amnesia, or conflicting paths, as to who I am or what I represent. That’s what matters most.

The Road to Diamond, Day 233: The Raven Feather

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

July 19, 2025- The feather lay on the asphalt, as I left Sportage and went towards Rafter 11, this evening. Remembering the significance, to First Nations people, of a feather lying on the ground, I glanced back and saw that the wind was carrying it towards the edge of the lot. Figuring it would not be run over and therefore safe, I went across the road to indulge in some hummus with pita and vegetable sticks and to enjoy a cover artist’s collection of country and folk rock tunes. Once I took my seat, glancing down, I saw the same feather that had been across in the parking lot. The breeze had picked up during the time it had taken me to cross the street and get situated, so this did not surprise me.

Dineh, Hopi, Apache (Inde) and other First Nations peoples regard a feather on the ground as a gift from the sky, establishing a connection between the receiver and the bird from which the feather came, by extension another link to the Creator. We live in a time when there is an increasingly tenuous connection between Man and the Nature of which he is a part. I have been in various natural settings, from sandy desert to deciduous urban parks; from Ponderosa and Douglas fir forests to high grasslands and desolate peat bogs; from the middle of the ocean to a Vietnamese rain forest. In each, there is a sign of nature.

Usually, that is something like a heart-shaped rock, of which I have encountered many. So have thousands of other people who are observant. Many of us have also seen animals that appear real, only to not be visible in a photograph, when they were present in the view finder, even as the shutter was pressed. I have been gifted with bird feathers by First Nations friends, over the years, and have carefully placed them in a web, attached to a dowsing stick that was given me by a Dineh friend, twenty years ago. The stick itself has two falcon feathers and a wild turkey feather attached. I also have an eagle feather that was given me by another Dineh friend, and which is attached to a wicker heart that Penny devised, in the early 2000s. I placed the raven feather opposite and slightly underneath the eagle feather.

Whilst sitting and enjoying hummus and strumming, I placed the raven feather in a planter next to my table. I found myself considering the matter of Labor Day weekend, six weeks away. I recently received an invitation to attend a Baha’i school in Colorado Springs. Having attended it three times in the past, it was on my mind this evening. With spiritual energy that I can only sense as coming from the feather, I pondered what is happening here at Home Base I, that weekend. I was reminded that my friends at Farmers Market will be busy preparing for the Farm-to-Table Dinner, a week later and that there may be only three of us who can work the market breakdown on August 30. I was also reminded, earlier this afternoon, that a Peace Day will likely take place on August 31. Then, too, after the Farm to Table Dinner, it’ll be off to Europe, and possibly east Africa ( safety permitting), during September and October.

At the risk of overthinking, I am staying put here, over Labor Day. I love the eastern Colorado friends and will pray fervently for their school’s success. I love the friends here, too.

The Road to Diamond, Day 230: The Water Is Clear

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

July 16, 2025- We each have a responsibility to investigate truth for ourselves. This is all the more urgent, given the generation of informational pieces, using artificial intelligence. While AI can be useful in graphic design and outlining programs, it also is woefully inadequate in writing factual stories. I have found several such tall tales, involving popular figures. I missed the fallacy in a story regarding a disabled person, until someone presented me with several similar stories about the same disabled person. Stories cannot really be written by algorithm.

This morning, I woke to see an angry emoji apparently sent by a dear friend, with no real context. Upon writing back and forth, it became clear that she had pushed the wrong button on her phone. No harm, no foul. The clearer message was that we were in a good place.

Following through on a plan to shelter concession workers from the North Rim, I was able to arrange tentative lodging. An hour or so later, word came that the employer was going to find more suitable housing for the workers, on its own dime. A shelter will not be needed. That also frees me to take care of other matters.

Procedural matters that were unclear around noon became transparent in mid-afternoon, through information provided by a third person in the discussion. In another context, procedural matters and someone’s dissatisfaction with my work will need further clarification. I’m sure those waters will get clearer, as time goes on.

What started out as “one of those days” actually became a good one. Happy conversation with a dearly loved person, across the ocean, being able to help another friend in the same region with concerns, getting the sheltering issue resolved, and pleasant visits with two friends here in town are not going to be negated by one rather terse encounter,at a business meeting later in the day. The waters of my river are running clear.

The Road to Diamond, Day 227: Thoughts While at Rest

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

July 13, 2025- Today was an auspicious day. It is the birthday of my twin sisters-in-law. It is the anniversary of the beginning of a thankfully brief journey down a dark rabbit hole. It is also the anniversary of the passing of a good friend. In brief, July 13 is a mixed bag.

Today here in Prescott and at Bellemont was a peaceful day. The third day of camp was, by all accounts, splendid and people worked together to get the camp broken down and deep-cleaned. Here, I took care of the cats and did scant else, regrouping after yesterday’s full schedule and looking carefully at the fire reports from the North Rim of Grand Canyon. The news was terrifying: Grand Canyon Lodge, the North Rim Visitor’s Center, staff lodging and various cabins were destroyed. Fortunately, all workers and guests had been evacuated before the fire hit.

I never stayed in the Lodge, but enjoyed its lobby’s art and wandering around the neo-Victorian structure. The hotel was a rebuilt version of the original, itself lost in a fire in 1937. It will take time, but the likelihood is that the Lodge will be rebuilt.

I thought a lot today about where I am in the world. How much good am I actually doing? A project I had sponsored in the Philippines, in the first area I visited in that country, has fallen victim to thieves, who took building materials that were intended to improve a children’s school. So many people in this world look back on their own childhood, tell themselves that they were deprived and therefore, it’s okay for them to steal from the children of today.

I was raised to take the bitter with the sweet and to not expect to be put above anyone else. This is not a lesson that is universally taught, and thus we are in a hard place, as a species. Those who place themselves above the rest should not be at all surprised, when in the end, deprivation rears its head and takes back from them what was never due them in the first place. That is just a general observation on the way things tend to transpire.

It has been largely a restful day, but also one that has been bittersweet.

The Road to Diamond, Day 226: Through A Synchronous Day

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

July 12, 2025- The cats began and ended my day, letting me know that they were not happy with the heat, even as it is mitigated by their comfy home’s AC. Animals can feel what lies beyond their enclosures. We all will get through the current heat wave, and will enjoy the rains, when they return in the middle of next week.

Two picnics, not far from one another, were planned to be simultaneous. They appealed to two different interest groups-and me. The Red Cross gathering was on the lawn of County Courthouse. The event was graced by the presence of a former President and First Lady of the Navajo Nation, and their two sons. This was auspicious, as RC has been strengthening its partnership with Dineh, supporting the Nation in its handling of a recent wildfire. Dineh handled the sheltering themselves, and we provided logistical support.

After twenty minutes with the Red Cross group, I headed over to a Slow Food gathering, in Granite Creek Park. This event was meant to highlight organic and heirloom foods. I brought spigarello, marinated in lemon lavender juice. Spigarello is an Italian green leafy vegetable, related to the broccoli plant. Its leaves are mild-tasting, lending themselves to being used in place of collards, or mixing nicely with tangy juices.

The Slow Food gathering was also a chance to offer healthful foods to some of the unhoused people, who have learned that many groups who hold events at Granite Creek are concerned for their welfare, and thus will include them in the gatherings. So it was today.

There was scant daylight between the Slow Food event and my regular shift at Farmers Market, so I got to work off the meal, and managed to get most of the tents, furniture and weights put away, before a quick trip to HB and a change of clothes. Our Baha’i Feast took place at 2 p.m., and I was the last one to arrive. No matter, everyone knows of my work at Farmers Market, and the time frame it entails. The Feast of Kalimat (Words) was a full house, and a much-needed break from the activities of earlier in the day. Our fellowship afterwards ran the gamut from a friend’s visit to the Mid-Atlantic region, with some grandchildren, to the inner atmosphere of a nuclear submarine. The foundation of all this, though, is love.

It was that love, flowing towards me and back outwards, that got me through this frenetic day, and will see me through many more.

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 223: Sacred Blood

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

July 9, 2025- Al-Bab, the Messenger of God who challenged the power of entrenched Muslim clergy, in the mid-19th Century, was put to death at the age of 30, 175 years ago today. Jesus the Christ, the Messenger of God who challenged the power of entrenched Judaic clergy, in the First Century, was put to death at the age of 33, 1992 years ago this past April.

Both Teachers shed human blood for the sake of humanity and with Their selfless lives, They offered redemption to those who led, or still lead, dissolute lives. This is the mark of a loving Creator, offering the Spirit of Youth, indeed Jesus as His Son and al-Bab as the Gate to Baha’ullah, Who Himself offers a path to genuine world unity.

As a purposeful human tends lovingly to that which s(he) creates; as a parent lovingly rears a child; so does the Divine offer to guide us back from ways of division and selfishness. He will repeat this lesson, as often as needed, yet the sacrifices of strong, forthright and youthful Beings ought be sufficient to lead us aright.

I have no claim to sanctimony or sainthood, to put it mildly, but I do note the similarities between the Ministries of Christ and al-Bab, as wake-up calls for all of us. Another friend has compiled these similarities in a succinct manner, below.

The Martyrdom of the Bab and Jesus Christ

The Road to Diamond, Day 213: Triage

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

June 29,2025- As I was about to leave for a long-scheduled Baha’i gathering of youth and other community members, at a local Clubhouse, the phone rang with an urgent message from the Red Cross, requesting immediate action. As I had been told my presence at the gathering was needed a half hour prior to the start time, I let the caller know that I could tend to the other matter in two hours’ time. The caller said the matter would be handled by others, in the meantime.

As it happened, the matter, which was a contingency plan in case a wildfire evacuation gets more intense and needs Red Cross intervention, was handled by the caller. A standby team was assembled and I was able to connect digitally with all concerned, after the gathering ended. The wildfire evacuation is being handled by other agencies at this point, anyway. I will keep watch on the situation, over the next few days.

This week is likely to be full of several synchronous events, as we segue into the second half of this riotous calendar year. We mere mortals will have to prioritize, and use triage. Matters which are brought to my attention, with great fanfare, hubris and warnings will get a careful hearing, but if they come in the face of prior commitments to more vulnerable people, I will ask, as I did today, for the matter to fall to someone else. It’ll be amazing how well the matters are handled. I am just past the point in my life where anything, other than family emergencies, will rattle my cage.

The gathering at the clubhouse was spirited, uplifting and well worth the two hours. I can say the same for every other activity that has been fulfilled, even in the face of competing or synchronous demands for my attention. Commitment brings rewards.

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 207: Stalwart

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

June 23, 2025- My Mondays have predictable bookends-a morning coffee group and a late afternoon in the serving line at a Soup Kitchen. More fluid is being part of a leadership group in the Red Cross’s Sheltering Team. We were prepared to open a shelter in a remote area of the Navajo Nation, fortunately being able to call this off, this morning. Taking its place are several administrative tasks and completion of documents, which will occupy this week and part of next. There are also faith-related activities, again fluid-with some activities being on the wish lists of some friends-in-faith and others fairly regular on our community’s schedule. The former group sometimes can be brought to success; sometimes not-especially if they conflict with prior commitments.

I continue to live for making a difference in whatever community I happen to live. It is also important to cultivate those who can continue the work that has been started. Besides my age, 74, there are also familial and other matters of the heart that might take me from this Home Base, as early as next year.Thus, building Red Cross Sheltering Survey and Staffing teams is a priority. So is recruiting and orienting a camp manager for our area Baha’i retreat property, at Bellemont.

It is not so much my “legacy” that matters, as the fact that life goes on for others, once one leaves a particular place. If that life is not better for those people, when one has left, then how can there be any true feeling of satisfaction? A wise woman, well northeast of here, made a remark that people in her life are not friends, but family. This was in light of a significant recent event in her life. She sees them as stalwart; steadfast.

It is crucial to me, that my large family, both biological and social, know that I am stalwart-as they are to me.