Then Jesus asked, “What is the Kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree and the birds of the air perched on its branches.” Luke 13:18-21
John-Roger left us with very little outer direction on how he wanted MSIA to be run when he passed. Perhaps he figured that since we had over 100 years’ experience of being in staff between us, we should have some clue as to what to do. Even though we pushed him on the matter his answer was that “Spirit would let us know when the time came, at least let’s hope it does.”
So it was a happy day when J-R told Mark, Vincent, and PK to be, “Johnny Appleseeds”.
(Johnny Appleseed (real name John Chapman, 1774–1845) was famous for planting apple trees throughout the Midwest. He never waited to see them yield apples, but always moved on planting more.)
John-Roger added that we would not, “live long enough to see the harvest.”
We took his words to heart and consider our main job to be planting seeds (making the teachings available to those who are looking for them) in as many places and in many ways we can.
It is just two months out from the 2023 MSIA Conference — The Power of Living Love starting June 21. The annual conference buzz has begun, along with the final planning for the PTS Travelers Holy Land Tour of Israel that begins on July 16. Let’s all send the Light ahead for this sacred journey and One Accord PAT Retreat.
The expansion of HeartFelt continues to be a major focus for us. We wish Skyler all the best as she completed her role as HeartFelt director at the end of April. The second HeartFelt/HeartReach Town Hall took place a couple of weeks ago where Jeffrey Morgan, David Bransky, Joanie Clingan, and Andreina Garban led the continued discussion and sharing about where HeartFelt/HeartReach are going and how we can all engage in that process. There was simultaneous translation in Spanish so all could participate. The group was guided through a reflective process and shared together about how Spirit calls each of us to serve. Paul shared about an ongoing conversation HeartFelt leadership continues to have about the power of small acts of service we can all do on a daily basis. John Morton joined and participated as well, sharing with the group at the end and bringing forward a blessing on the process. We are so grateful for John’s continued engagement, blessing, and partnership in this next phase of HeartFelt.
One fun project Jeffrey has been championing is the collection of service stories — an intention to assemble and distribute a digest of some beautiful acts of selfless service that are done or received in our MSIA community. It will be called “Living in Service – Answering the Call.” With this we envision an echoing joyful melody of heartfelt service throughout our global community. Please send us a short write up or blurb of a beautiful act of kindness you have witnessed in our MSIA community. You can send your stories to stories@heartfelt.org and we will continue to develop this as a recurring burst of joy for you to read from time to time. Thank you all for demonstrating heartfelt service in all the ways that you do.
We have made a lot of progress on a new feature on the MSIA.org web site to find Soul Awareness Seminars around the world. It is not fully ready for promotion yet as our developers are finishing the seminar entry management so seminar leaders can create/edit their own entries. It is live in the Find a Soul Awareness Seminar link if you want to see a preview. The seminars there are available, and we plan to add many more. If you are an MSIA seminar leader, stay tuned for an announcement when the feature is ready for access to publish your seminar.
Another new improvement to MSIA.org is the addition of a Help Center. The Help Center is the place to get answers on how to use the online store, That Which Is, the MSIA app, and other MSIA areas. There are tutorial videos that walk you through things like how to make an online donation, manage your email subscriptions, or send a seeding card. You will see the Help Center at the very top menu of msia.org, as well as in the quick links and in the footer of every page.
God Bless you and thank you for participating in MSIA and for all that you give in so many ways. As J-R would constantly remind us, “It is the loving that makes all this work.” We love and appreciate you!
The MSIA Presidency – Paul, Vincent, and Mark
MSIA Presidency Succession – David, Jeffrey, and Sherie