Category Archives: Service Activities

The Road to Diamond, Day 283: Sendoffs

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

September 7,2025- There is much that I will miss about Home Base I, during the next seven weeks.

“It’s raining!”, the lady said, as she passed me on the sidewalk, this morning. It was not raining, so maybe her comment was sparked by my bush hat, which was meant (along with sunscreen) to guard my face and neck from UV rays. Such silliness is rare in Prescott, these days. Most people with whom I am even mildly acquainted have wished me safe travels, on the journey that starts tomorrow and will end the last week of October. There is much to be done, in those seven weeks. There are those who see it as an extended vacation-even though I am no longer working for wages, save a few chosen gigs in the schools. There are others who are confused when I say I will see them in two months, probably because they themselves just returned from a long trip. Most, though, have encouraging comments to offer.

I had a pleasant conversation with several fellow American Legionnaires at our usual breakfast this morning. Some are planning their own trips, across the U.S. and down to Mexico. Most will keep the home fires burning.

Another visit, to a couple who had recently gone on a night photography trip to the Navajo Nation, gave me an opportunity to see just how striking the Milky Way is, relative to the great monadnock ( single monolith rising from a surrounding plain) called Ship Rock. I have observed that sacred place many times, and photographed it from a fair distance. Our galaxy’s stars are most visible at night, from a southwest angle. In order to view it, one must be accompanied by a Dineh (Navajo) guide. This is what my friends did, and they had a great time. They were not among the recent travelers who seemed confused by my farewell. They have been to many of the places on my itinerary and wished me well.

A sizable group came to the last event of the day- a Spiritual Feast, which I was honoured to host, at the home of other friends. We had a lengthy and fruitful consultation about several matters. Then, most of the friends also wished bon voyage. The spiritual feast, a Baha’i institution, is always more special when a large group takes part. It is even more special when the assemblage takes on the nature of changes that are engulfing society, and works at discerning those events and processes that proffer good from those that bring ill. Our mission is to promulgate the good in individuals and in communities.

So, after all that, I have readied my backpack, and will have enough time tomorrow to pack my carry-on, by rising early. There will plenty of time to doze off, on the shuttle to Phoenix.

There is much that I will miss about Home Base I, and much that I will treasure about the places that lie ahead.

The Road to Diamond, Day 282: River of Love

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

September 6, 2025- “Get up and dance!”, said the guest of honour, at the second of today’s three important events. As I like dancing,I did so, fairly loosely and in rhythm with the music, just not to her liking, so when she turned and walked away, I sat back down. I learned, a long time ago, that life cannot be well-lived on someone else’s terms.

What, exactly, does it mean to flow on the river of love? I have been told, in recent weeks, that if I really loved someone, I’d give them the money I set aside for their well-being. Instead, I gave it to someone who will expend it on the other person’s behalf, in a judicious manner.

I have, conversely, been advised that living according to what is best for my own well-being is an act of love. Certainly, minding my health needs and keeping active is good, by extension, for my little family and for the good of those aspects of the community to which I am of the most help.

I think the the truth is more in balance. Too much emphasis on my own needs and wants can be distracting and take away from the genuine needs of the community. On the other hand, no one can meet the needs of all comers, without oneself becoming a ward of society. I do agree that love comes first, and material matter is no more than a tool, by which love for self and others can be manifested.

On Mondays, when I am here at Home Base I, I help serve a meal to destitute people. This evening, I helped tend to the needs of more well-to-do people, who are patrons of Prescott Farmers Market. My approach to both groups has been the same-just helping others enjoy a meal, in a safe and relaxed atmosphere. That, to me, is traveling on the river of love.

The Road to Diamond, Day 280: The Lone Deer

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Posted by on in Alternative Careers, animal and plant life, Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

September 4, 2025- The juvenile doe gingerly approached the front yard of the home on Copper Basin Road, the penultimate southernmost road that is headed east to west, in Prescott. It was not unusual to see a deer, or even a predator, along this road. Deer are very social animals though, so seeing a loner was out of the ordinary. I wondered if she were orphaned, or just cut off from her herd. Maybe they were already in the back yard. Even the most social of animals can have stragglers. I can pretty much surmise, though, that the doe was not alone by conscious choice.

We humans are almost unique, in that we can isolate ourselves by placing excessive demands on our families, friends and associates. I have known people, a few of whom are still on the periphery of my social circle, who follow up a contingent demand with yet another. Most, if not all, of their relationships are conditional upon their being treated with deference-and usually at the expense of someone else-of whom they are jealous, or by whom they feel threatened.

I’ve said it before, though, and still maintain, that life is not a zero sum game. There has been, and remains, enough of me to share with several people about whom I care. So far, holding that stance has caused the more skittish ones to stop and thank me for what has been done on their behalf, at least for a few days. In my earlier years, I often kept to myself, only going to join other neighbourhood kids when they came by the house. So, I know a little of what the loners are feeling.

In middle childhood and in adolescence, being with others became more important, so I went to school dances, joined in games and sports, even if I was terrible at them and hung out with others at friends’ houses or went to their families’ camps. This probably kept me alive and reinforced the social skills that my parents bent over backwards, trying to instill earlier.

It also gave me the sense that, after losing my wife of 29 years, staying active in the community-first in Phoenix and then in Prescott- was what was going to guide me back to health and well-being. Community service then indirectly led me to do Terra supplements and a more healthy diet. It ended my status as lone deer- and brought first a wider social circle here in Prescott, then across Arizona and more widely-nationally and internationally.

I thought of these things even further, after offering similar advice to someone in another state, who recently retired and is looking for ways to build a new life. I hope this person will follow a path of self-discovery and self-realization. Each of us has gifts that are far beyond our understanding. Service and fellowship can bring those out.

The Road to Diamond, Day 279: Heart Letter 1

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

September 3, 2025, Keams Canyon- The hill we used to climb,and lay on blankets under the stars, is still alluring. It seems diminished somehow, though, with the campground having been taken up for house lots and a fenced in playground . The park is a nice idea for the Keams community, though.

I could have bushwhacked a bit and gone up the hill, just to reminisce about those first fleeting days of our acquaintance, which became an enduring, if sometimes harrowing, love story. It wasn’t far from this spot that your trailer sat, and where I camped out in the snow, the first time I visited you. It was all to keep up a sense of propriety, for your Hopi and Mormon neighbours. It was worth the hassle, though, and I felt akin to the small Dineh children who were traditionally thrown out in the snow, to toughen them up.

Tonight, though, there is no snow or cold, just a light rain. I am not sleeping outside, but in the comfort of some new friends’ apartment. We had a lovely dinner of cod fillets, cauliflower over rice and steamed avocado/cucumber salad. I gave them a set of books about the Hopi and one about Dineh. They are resuming the work we did in the ’80s and ’90s, and will take it to the next level.

Hopi will always be special, even if my time here is fleeting, and only occasional. The people have shared their wisdom with the world, and deserve all our support and understanding. You knew that, back then, when you sought to calm my peripatetic self and got me to devote weekends to attending ceremonial dances, instead of going off into mountains and canyons.

That, ironically, is why I am here tonight, absorbing the gentle spiritual energy that lies within these mesa lands, just prior to my embarking on journeys of homage and transition. Soon, our first grandchild will be joining the world. I will not be surprised if she looks up and smiles at a space where no earthly being can be seen. I will know that she is looking at you.

The Road to Diamond, Day 276: “Peace One Day”

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

August 31, 2025- A young man set out to break the cycle of gratuitous and retributive violence, especially between nations. His idea was to establish an international day of ceasefire/commitment to peace, on September 21 of each year. The equinox, signifying harvest in the northern hemisphere and planting in the south, was seen as a fine date for getting nations to focus on the well-being of the masses.

It turned out to be a hard sell. One country, whose prior leaders had initiated a proclamation calling for A United Nations Day of Peace, decided to back away from the commitment. The young man continued his mission, visiting dislocated and suffering people in Somalia, Palestine and Burundi. He used his leverage as a British citizen to persuade the government of the United Kingdom to become primary sponsor of the International Day of Ceasefire and Peace. The other nation, which had backed away, agreed to join the U.K. as a co-sponsor of the resolution.

We see that the forces of discord and nationalism can act against this movement. Indeed, minutes before then-United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was to ring a Peace Bell, at UN Headquarters, al-Qaeda terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, on September 11, 2001. Several documents, and testimony from terrorist sympathizers, indicate that the timing was not coincidental.

The arc of history, however, is aimed towards an eventual peace and unity. Even the most nationalistic of governments are beginning to see that the way of warfare is a dead end. The actual course of resolving conflict is a lingering source of disagreement. As with any matter that seems intractable, however, the secret to resolution lies in not ever giving up. This was the real message of “Peace One Day”.

The Road to Diamond, Day 274: Redemptions and Deferments

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Family, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 29, 2025- The two-year-old boy spotted me from his place on his grandmother’s chaise lounge and told Nana to look up. His smile could light up Grand Central Station and his enthusiasm could carry a rocket to the Moon and back. His younger and quieter sister gave a slight smile and a nod, but she is more Nana’s girl. I was at the house to tend to a small business matter, which will help two parties, while I am away.

The day was largely spent in bringing some unfinished business to fruition. Sportage has a new oil pan, so no more drips. The trade-off is that there is a countdown to the next regular oil and lube. The Beast will be spending 7 weeks in carport, though, under the watchful eyes of my neighbours, so there is no great rush to get that done.

Then, there was the above-mentioned visit, concerned with relieving another family’s food insecurity. “Nana” is a local small farmer, so she can help with that. Lastly, there is a friend elsewhere who needs assistance in getting through a medical procedure, so that needs periodic contribution. Mostly, though, I am tending to my own needs, so as not to become “a destitute hero”, who would be no hero at all.

The upcoming journey involves reaching destinations and fulfilling promises that are anywhere from seven to fifteen years old. In meditation, the answer came back to focus on these, and there would be time down the road to fulfill more recent pledges. In the interim, I have commitments to my little family and to someone else I love most dearly. Those will take precedence over anything else.

Clear as mud? Things will be explained, as they happen. For now, it is a matter of redeeming old promises and deferring those of more recent vintage.

The Road to Diamond, Day 273: Jump Starts

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

August 28,2025- A call came at mid-morning: Sportage will get her new oil pan tomorrow, bright and early. Energized to move on other fronts, I went to a cloth wholesaler and picked out new material to cover my badly worn sofa. This is more of an investment in keeping the furniture out of the landfill, when it comes time for me to divest my furnishings, come late December. Of course, when a friend does the re-upholstering, at the end of October, I will be able to enjoy it in the interim. A section of the sofa is my prayer corner.

I have added a few more items to the Fall itinerary, which is looking more like the series of homages to which I am drawn, in between and after visits with friends. There is much to which I feel drawn in humility-more so than out of curiosity. Out of prudence, though, my whereabouts will be posted as they occur.

I am now three months away from #75. I celebrated the 74.9 marker with a case of alkaline water. Finally, the market has caught on here, and I’m finding this may well be a big deterrent to the dehydration that has been setting in this summer. Besides, I could use more alkalinity in my life.

Life is ever a series of jump starts and pauses. It seems, though, that a delay or block in one area opens the way for another thing to happen. I was unable to attend the funeral of a co-worker, in another city, due to the situation with the auto part. That paved the way for assistance to be given to another ailing friend here in town. This has been more the rule than the exception, over the past twenty five years. I have been exactly where I was supposed to be, at the given time-yet not necessarily by my own design.

The Road to Diamond, Day 270: Two-Way Street

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

August 25, 2025- As we made our rounds at a gathering, this morning, a newcomer to the group asked each of us how we came to our present spiritual path. Each of the members briefly did so, with me being last. As I mentioned my story, one of the other members launched into a loud sidebar. I stopped speaking until she was finished, then explained to the new member that this happens a fair amount of the time. If a member is not interested in what another member is saying, then there is interruption. She wondered whether it is due to so many being hard of hearing. Perhaps. I still adhere to Mother’s Rule # 1: Never interrupt!

I used to shrink in the face of louder, more forceful people. Now, I have learned that, without descending to that level, it is okay to gently, but firmly, speak my truth. There is no need to be boorish, but generally what I share with others is fairly well thought out. I have the right to operate on a two-way street of communication.

I pondered this further, this evening, after watching a woman explain in a TED Talk about her experience with three good friends, in which she was steamrolled by the the three, who got carried away with their own experiences and left her out of the conversation. She at first processed her annoyance with them, while alone in her car afterward. Then, the light bulb went on and she realized that the two-way street applied to her also. She could have asserted herself-and they probably would have given her their attention.

I think about nature, and vacuums, and personal responsibility. In a different vein, from the time I woke this morning, there were messages, questions and calls to duty. I put my social group slightly first, with the Red Cross call and my job interspersed with the time spent in the group. You guessed it: The phone rang, twice, and I took the calls, getting back to the group with a brief description of the situation, so they knew it was somewhat urgent.

In the end, the emergency fizzled, the crew I had assembled went home and I was able to answer the unrelated texted question very simply and concisely, which made the questioner happy. Most times, life is a two-way street. Other times, it can seem like a three-branched artery.

The Road to Diamond, Day 266: Reassurance

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

August 21, 2025- E carefully went over the appropriate areas of my skin, from scalp to abdomen, then my limbs and extremities. My sunscreen has worked, as has, for the most part, my bush hat-with its neck flap. A couple of freeze-ups, and I was deemed free of any danger marks. I only need to insert a pad of sorts in the bush hat, for extra scalp protection.

A few hours later, it was time for chiropractic, after a lengthy absence. What I’ve been doing, stretching, working out and having better shoes has kept the skeletal system in good shape also. The adjustments were minor. “Medical week”, overall, was a reassurance. Only small changes in my supplements are advised, and we’ll try those.

Most reassuring was what I was able to offer a friend, affirmation that each person’s mind is unique and there is no cause for alarm. I’ve had that sort of reassurance from different people, over the decades, so giving it back is an honour.

This week has been everything I could want, in terms of results and affirmations. So much is the result of positive energy being directed towards problems and concerns. That is an affirmation, in itself.

The Road to Diamond, Day 263: Pressing On

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

August 18,2025- The traffic at the junction of I-17 and Hwy 101 was backed up 1.5 miles, in the lane for entry to 101 East. It is not unheard, for commuters to be kept at a standstill in that and similar lanes, between 8-10 a.m. One problem is that lane jumpers go on ahead, in the I-17 lane just to the left and safety concerns mandate they be let in to the exit ramp, at the last minute. Everyone thus has to stop and make room. Fortunately, there are enough adults in the “room” to not force anyone to wait on the active highway itself. There were no accidents, as I edged my way towards “the 101” and a dental check-up-another fifteen minutes along 101 East, then Hwy 51 and into Paradise Valley.

I arrived nine minutes late, at the dental office’s temporary location. They, too, are pressing on, with their former office building now being converted into a center for autistic children. That also being a worthy cause, the dental staff has picked up stakes. There will be a larger dental office, soon, in the complex to which they have relocated. My clean bill of health affirmed, it was a good start to “Medical Week”.

Going back up to Prescott, after another errand and a stop at Penny’s gravesite, I found none of the traffic that we faced going in town. The only pressing on was getting a blood draw at the VA, with next Monday’s check-up being the last appointment for “Medical Week”. Helping Hiking Buddy with a couple of errands and pitching in at the Soup Kitchen rounded out the day.

The message of the day, overall, is that not being waylaid by difficulties will bring at least a modicum of the results one desires. It was a fine, if tiring, twelve hours.