Of all the opening lines I’ve ever heard, I think the words spoken by John-Roger — when I first met him at a Neva Dell Hunter Conference in Flagstaff, AZ back in August 1966 — have to be the most enticing. He stood up, looked lovingly into my eyes, and said “I remember you, you killed me on Atlantis.” That was the start to a beautiful friendship that was to result in the first MSIA seminars that would happen 19 months later at the home of my friend Muriel Engle in Santa Barbara.
Back in 1993 Muriel, Robert Waterman and I were the MCs at a J-R seminar in Santa Barbara where we briefly shared some of the history, but that was only a very small part of the story. Thus I wanted to give a very complete account of the story.
It took a long time to research and to gather all the information needed. I didn’t get some of the old photos until earlier this year when I was making a concerted effort to do as J-R told me in a 1968 Light Study: “You have writing talent” and “You need to put the seat of your pants on the seat of your chair.”
So, at the end of last year and earlier this year I did that, and, with the help of several of you—especially John Cawley who formatted the e-Book—we got it done.
To tell the story of how those first MSIA seminars came to be, I had to go back and tell how I came to meet J-R in Flagstaff. When talking with Lee Clausen earlier this year, I learned a fascinating tidbit about that meeting. Spoiler alert—J-R intentionally went to that Flagstaff conference to meet me. Perhaps J-R knew that I would be the connector for bringing those seminars about. As the connector, I’ve thought of myself as the linchpin for the creation of those first seminars. Thus, the title of the e-Book is Linchpin: the Story Behind the Creation of the First MSIA Seminars.
Back in the early days, J-R used to think of those few of us as “non-joiners.” That certainly described me. Fortunately the great blessing of my life was to know J-R as a friend and to know who he was and what he could do. When he personally told me that he wanted to be talking to groups, I took it as a mission to make that happen, and it did …starting on May 3, 1968.
Many people, both in and not in MSIA, have read and emailed me positive feedback on Linchpin. Here is the link to the e-book. Feel free to share this story with anyone if you so choose. If you’d like, you can contact me at j@communityplanet.org
Light and Love,
Jack Reed
Thanks Jack. Enjoyed your Linchpin. JR has been a blessing in many of our lives. For me fifty years of that blessing. Our time together at Prana in the 1970’s is a great memory for me. JR’s live seminars at Prana always a treat, and in the earlier times Christmas Eve with him there still sit in my heart. Miss him these days, but I know we will all meet again in Spirit.
Thank you so much for sharing your story Jack. It has been a real page turner for me and I have been completely mesmerized by it. I thank you for being the linchpin for MSIA seminars.
God bless,
Thom Storm
God bless you, Jack and thank you for sharing! Loved every word! Being a relative late-comer (1996), I love the early stories! J-R is still a very active member of MSIA and we are so blessed! Thank you!