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A Birthday Graduation in MSS-2, Philly

 

The MSS year 2 class of Phoenixville/Philadelphia of which I am a member is more than a class, it’s a family. So it wasn’t a surprise that we all agreed when Sherwood Duane, one of our classmates, suggested we all go Wegman’s for lunch to celebrate our last class.

(Wegman’s, for those of you who don’t know, is one of the 7 Wonders of the Grocery Store World. It has all the wonderful things that most grocery stores have in fresh and abundant supply but its main claim to fame is its takeout food section which is as big as the grocery section of the store.There are 4 serve-yourself aisles plus a sushi bar, 4 fresh soups, 6 different pizzas, a hot food section, a full bakery … You get the idea. This is the Alice’s Restaurant of grocery stores where you could get anything you want. It’s always busy.)

There was something for everyone, all within the PTS guidelines of no onions garlic and pork. It was an overcast but pleasant enough Spring day so eating outside was a definite at one of Wegman’s  many picnic tables.

That day was also my wife, Denise’s Birthday. Birthdays were a big thing for me and my family when I was growing up. Now to be recognized on my birthday is an important thing to celebrate. I recall when I was six my Mom decorated our basement to look like Sherwood Forest to celebrate my favorite TV show Robin Hood (Yeah I’m THAT old). The next year the basement looked like the OK Corral with paper mache cacti and cattle. So Denise knew some sort of celebration was in the works. The guest list was the easy part. It had already been made of our classmates and assistant, the dear Beloveds that we had spent the last 2 years with, discovering, exploring and amplifying the awareness of our Divinity.

Now to create a party using whatever copious resources Wegman’s could offer. I have learned in MSS the power of intention so my intention was set to maximum clear capacity as I began. While everyone else was carefully making their food selections, I went into party planner mode with the energy of the Warner Bros Cartoon character, Tasmanian Devil, and the intensity of Luke Skywalker about to blow up the Death Star.

Cake was too complicated with getting candles, plates forks, leftover cake etc. Then it came to me as I settled down to do SEs in class that morning…CUPCAKES. That major difficulty resolved, SEs went on without distraction. So off to the 100 yards of Wegman baked goods I went. I stopped dead in my tracks. I had found the perfect selection. 12 cupcakes generously decorated to look like the foods of summer; a hot dog, hamburger, and watermelon! Silly, ridiculous, artistic, colorful, PERFECT. The organic strawberries looked amazing so I threw them in the cart for those who weren’t eating sugar. Celebratory food DONE!

Now for party favors and a tiara for Denise. I had my heart sent on kazoos so we could all go into class tooting Happy Birthday. The universe had other plans because there were no kazoos in Wegmans. Ok! I moved to acceptance and gratitude and sure enough, I found that they did have bottles of bubbles so that was a definite addition to my cart. But there was only a package of six. I needed six more fun celebratory items and then I saw it; like a vision of an ice cream stand in the middle of a desert, a top hat covered in red, white, and blue sparkling bits and six red, white, and blue pinwheels. “Tiara” and party favors acquired. Mission accomplished.

At the food court, I put together a quick salad and some grilled chicken, paid for my treasures, and walked out to our friends singing Happy Birthday to you!

As I “crowned” Denise with her top hat. The class quickly joined in and the party began. The energy of loving, fun and mirth was perceptible as I handed out the cupcakes, strawberries and party favors. Joan Gilbraith, one of our classmates had made cookies for everyone and magic wands with blessings of Abundance, Peace, Joy, Awareness, and Divinity. She passed these around for us to pick our favorite. Although I didn’t know this was going to happen, it just amplified the fun!

As we were leaving to get back to class we saw four men with large signs that read “Remember London – Be the Change,” and an offer of free hugs. The terrorist attack on London had just occurred earlier that week. The blessing of this coincidence was too obvious to ignore. When these four fellow peacemakers met the MSS Peacemakers, friendly warm embraces and words were shared, photos taken and smiles exchanged. We could only guess why they were there, but God’s intention to share the blessings we have received in MSS was as obvious as the pinwheels, cupcakes and top hat tiaras of our party.

Our friendships continued to blossom over the summer as many of us gathered together at the home of Sue Walski and Lyn Hick to watch our classmates at MSS graduation during this past year’s conference and to celebrate our own graduation at Sue and Lyn’s home. Photos flew across the Internet from those celebrating on the East and West coast. Ah, technology! Sometimes I long for the days of radio but the fun that was generated as we swapped pictures and texts that day felt like we were all together again and the joy of the Traveler was rekindled.

Many of us are back for MSS Year 3 to explore and hopefully amplify what we have learne. We look forward to new members joining the MSS Philly Family! Who knew that school and finding the kingdom of God within would be so much fun!

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