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New Day Herald

A Picnic Celebration at Windermere Ranch

In the land we locals call Paradise, the sun was shining and the weather warm when volunteers started gathering at 8:30 on the morning of Saturday, October 19th. Calling the Light forward for our day ahead, we noticed the land radiating peace and joy. That day was a very special occasion, for we were celebrating and honoring IIWP Founder John-Roger’s 50 years and Spiritual Director John Morton’s 25 years as our beloved Travelers. Excitement and gratitude were definitely in the air.

Over 200 folks participated at the Ranch! As our guests started arriving, there was a lot of laughter and hugs and reconnecting. Guests enjoyed tours of the property, horse ‘schmoozing’, activities for the children and delicious barbeque and desserts. People enjoyed beef ribs, tri-tip, chicken and hot dogs and, of course, some of our favorite cakes and pies. The day just flowed so easily and gracefully.

We were also joined by over 90 participants online this year, and NOW Productions handled our online technical needs with their usual expertise and open hearts. We were especially blessed to have J-R join us via Skype so he could see our group and we could be blessed by his presence.

Lawrence Caminite offered logistical information about the Ranch and day’s events and then introduced our beautiful MC, Leigh Taylor-Young to be our host for the afternoon’s program.

To start out, IIWP Rep Kay Turbak presented information about the many benefits of the Adopt-a-Horse Program and other tid-bits about the Ranch. (Click here for more information about Adopt-a-Horse.) Our entertainment this year was a group of talented folks leading us through a bhajan, and we all joined together singing “Peace, be still. Bringing our hearts together. Peace, be still.”, as well as the song Amazing Grace.

At that point, Leigh introduced John Morton for a few hours of glorious sharing – always inspirational and uplifting. Thank you John!

At the end of his sharing, John invited everyone to join him around the Island Pond for a special blessing on the land, including our new Peace Pole and park benches at the pond to commemorate J-R’s 50 years and John’s 25 years as the Traveler.

We gathered around the Peace Pole, and John started out by reading the two lovely peace quotes on the etched plaques adorning our new benches. The bench honoring John-Roger includes his quote “Peace is the cessation of againstness.”, which is also one of the two quotes on the Peace Pole nearby. The plaque on the bench honoring John has his words “Each moment that one individual chooses peace inside, the whole of humanity moves forward.”

For the blessing on the Peace Pole, John was joined by a Chumash elder, Art Cisneros. Art provided a blessing in his native language of Chumash – one of the eight languages on the pole – and he invited each of us to walk in peace. Then John knelt by the Peace Pole followed by those present, and he brought forward a blessing that seemed to open a portal to a new realm of peace.

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE BLESSING BELOW

Watch live streaming video from msia at livestream.com

It was a very moving and touching time for everyone, and the peace and loving were definitely present. The blessings of the land and those brought forward by John and Art were profound. It may be that generations past and generations to come joined in this healing and expansion.

In the years ahead, visitors will be able to sit on the benches for a time of reflection and to enjoy the Peace Pole, ponds, beauty of the land, and the many blessings present at the Ranch.

It truly was a glorious day with the Travelers experiencing the heights of love and the depths of peace.

Thank you John-Roger for giving us the gift of Windermere Ranch.

For a full account of planting our Peace Pole at the Ranch, click here.

Testimonials from participants…..

It was a beautiful day at Windermere, and it was great…. all of it…So glad I went!
~E.G., Santa Barbara, CA (in person participant)

It was awesome and sweet. I was in joy every second of my time in Windermere it was the perfect day. Thank you all that put things together to make the picnic so good!!!
~E.L., Los Angeles CA (in person participant)

What a fantastic event the picnic was. I was online. Just so moving at times. The native Indian guy was phenomenal. Such profound, important work.
~M.S., London, England (online participant)

WOW!!! I was online and found it sublime, brimming with Peace, JOY, Grace and Loving. Sooo touching and absolutely Beautiful…. Feeling sooo Blessed to be part of MSIA with a heart Full of Love for everyone who makes this possible… Love, Love, Love!!!
~D.W., Sydney Australia (online participant)

What a beautiful seminar – of course I always love to see and hear John. I loved hearing the history and see the sacred blessing of the land and Peace Pole. The peace pole is beautiful and stand proud for Peace on Windermere.
~I.H., Victoria, Canada

1 thought on “A Picnic Celebration at Windermere Ranch”

  1. How amazing is this?!!! I was there in person, and bending on my knees before the peace pole was profound. I hope you guys can come up to the Ranch & place your blessings of Light and love there. You are more than welcome. If you have questions on visiting the Ranch just contact me at peace@iiwp.org. Love you!

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