My gratitude for this moment does not depend on what is going on in this moment; it is the moment, regardless of what is going on, that I am grateful for.
My gratitude for this breath is not about the breath. It’s that I am breathing,
that I recognize it comes from a higher source, and that I am alive.
– John-Roger, DSS
Dear MSIA Family,
As the Northern Hemisphere deals with an unprecedented very hot summer, let’s take a moment to send the Light to all those of our MSIA family being affected by fires, wars, and numerous other challenges.
Hopefully, things will cool down when John Morton begins his travel to Europe at the end of August leading him to participate with events in Bulgaria that include the Peace Awareness Training (PAT III) in Bansko, Bulgaria, Building the Strength of Spirit Within (Sofia, Bulgaria) on September 4, and a Seminar for Discourse Subscribers the next day.
Following that, the PTS trip to Turkey begins on September 8. But wait there’s more! John and Leigh then travel to Madrid, Strasbourg, and London. Wow. Light to their travels and to the staff that join and support them.
On the home front, we have been working assiduously for the past few months on replacing the MSIA online store. This will help make the MSIA website a bit faster and improve the ease of subscription renewals and store purchases. When it is finished, you will have two options when you click the link for the store – the subscription portal or the MSIA store. There will be some kinks to sort out as we transition the store. Stay tuned for more details.
We had a few technical problems at MSIA in the past month. The August SAT seminar did not show up in the SAT Library section of the MSIA app after we had sent a reminder that it was available. (It was available in That Which Is in the app under “This Month’s SAT”). It turned out that a computer server that died a couple of days before was the culprit because it handled the access for SAT subscribers.
This past LA Global ministers meeting we had a glitch with the meeting reminder emails that threw some people for a loop. That turned out to be human error, and we used it as a wakeup call to be more attentive. Even though there is an over 96% success rate for ministerial online renewals every month, anywhere from one to five ministers experience a problem each month. The issue varies widely from situation to situation, but we always fix the problems that arise and learn from them. We are working to get 100% success.
MSIA is a small but mighty organization. We do our best to get issues resolved and prevent them for the future. There is constant work behind the scenes by our developers to ensure our systems are solid and easy to use. For example, we will be adding a problem reporting button to the ministerial renewal page so the few problems that arise can be addressed more quickly. We appreciate your patience when things don’t work perfectly. And it is appreciated when you let us know something doesn’t work and send Light.
As always, there is so much going on with HeartFelt and HeartReach. The latest initiative is HeartReach’s Care Partners Support Group: Navigating Cognitive Issues. The Care Partners Support Group is for MSIA students (SAT/discourse subscribers) who are navigating caring for a loved one who has cognitive impairment or dementia. Whatever stage of your journey you are in, if you currently have a loved one who is experiencing significant memory or cognitive changes for any reason, you are welcome to join.
Our HeartReach Care Partners Support Group: Navigating Cognitive Issues will meet in August on Thursdays from 4:30 to 6:00 P.M. (PT). The support group is available in two formats: On the first and third Thursday of each month, Joanie will host Caring Conversations, where people can be in conversation to share our experiences and learn together. On the second and fourth Thursday, Arlene will again offer the format Light for the Journey, where individuals have a focused time to share authentically about the ups and downs of caregiving while the others hold the Light and bear witness.
To subscribe to the Care Partners mailing list and receive weekly reminders with the Zoom link, please email Arlene Stepputat at arlene@dyingingrace.com. Please share this information with anyone in MSIA who might benefit from this support.
People sometimes ask who to contact at Heartfelt. If you have a general inquiry or would like to volunteer with Heartfelt (or become a Heartfelt representative), email us at serve@heartfelt.org. If you have a service story you can email it to stories@heartfelt.org. For anything else related to the HeartReach Bulletin or Circle of Light for someone nearing their transition, the best email to use is Light@heartfelt.org.
As you can see there is plenty going on, and we look forward to updating you as things develop in the Traveler’s work.
Thank you to all of you 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.” The times are calling us all to stay in the loving!
God bless you,
Sherie, David, Vincent, Paul, Mark, and Jeffrey
