Photos by Doug Gibson
Long before the evening began, word spread in the Los Angeles MSIA community that this was going to be something different, something new. And, we all love something new and different. The big consideration was, do I stay home (in my bunny slippers) and listen on my computer? Or, do I get myself dressed, trot over to the 2101 building in Santa Monica, scramble for parking, and be there in person, among the throng?
Walking into the ballroom at 2101, I could feel the electricity in the air with folks bustling around as the hour approached when the Travelers would be LIVE with the first MSIA worldwide Q&A on the Internet. Those who stayed home and those in the ballroom were gifted with a Question-and-Answer Seminar by John Morton, who was introduced first by John-Roger, and then by Laura Donnelley-Morton.
Laura Donnelly Morton fulfilled her role as Mistress of Ceremonies quite beautifully and introduced her husband and our beloved friend and Traveler, John Morton, to the world. She dedicated a moving poem, written by Emerson, with love to her husband and to J-R:
“Soul, whose organ he is,
would he let it appear through his actions,
would make our knees bend.
When it breathes through his intellect, it is genius;
when it breathes through his will it is virtue;
when it ploughs through his affection,
it is love.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
J-R was at his jovial best, teasing Laura and John with great affection. While John was at the front of the room speaking, Maria Teresa Kelber and Laren Bright were seated at the back of the room with laptop computers, from which they read (and translated) questions sent in by those online around the world.
One of the most amazing moments was when John asked for a question from one of the online participants in South America. Maria Teresa translated into English a question from a woman in South America, and read the question to John. John began answering and then J-R asked a question back to the woman in South America, who was then able to respond to J-R’s question online and have Maria Teresa translate her response into English and read it to J-R. All that through the grace of internet technology.
While the children in the back of the ballroom focused on their toys and games, the “bigger” children were treated to a lot of loving camaraderie between John and J-R. Those who were called on had their questions answered in full (sometimes by both J-R and John), and the questions covered a wide array of subjects, including tithing, seeding, illness, death, dying, loving, the process of Peace, and the Middle East.
Now Productions and the Internet broadcast team did their usual incredible job handling technical logistics. Nora Valenzuela did an excellent job translating the seminar into Spanish for the Spanish speakers in the room and online. Michael Mogitz, Ross Goddell, Jack Favor, John Forrister and Alicia Landa manned the tech support phone lines, helping those who were having difficulties tuning in online by computer. There were about 200 participants in the ballroom, and there were listeners online in more than 60 locations around the U.S., and in Spain, France, Austria, Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, and Australia. There was a new level of immediacy, such a presence of the Spirit, it felt as if our whole world was in the room participating.
From Janet Caminite, who was present at the 2101 building for the event:
“I’d like to share what Spirit brought forward during the evening to me.
John shared Spirit’s message with us in a most loving way. I walked away with an intention to live in my authenticity, to find what I love to do and to do it for the love and not for the money, to have a willingness to help people, and that when I do this as the work of Spirit, I will be blessed in more ways than I can realize. I heard John say that there’s always a side to life that could be darker or worse and that everything we’re going through is a blessing if we’re just open to receive it. I also heard him say that if you reach past the pain into your joy, the truth is inside and that each of us is bigger than any condition — and who is that? God.
Dealing with some of my own challenges in the past months, I received John’s and Spirit’s message quite sincerely. I felt lifted, and taken care of, and understood, and peaceful, and loved. The perfection of what I heard told me that I am on the right Spiritual path, with the perfect Spiritual family, and participating in the perfect Church. I am so blessed, and I felt the loving of the Travelers with us all last night.”
From Maryann Belding who listened online with her family and friends:
“My life is packed full of responsibility and events right now. I clearly had no time to drive up to LA for the live event and I would have loved to be there. What did I do instead? I invited some friends over and tuned in to the Live Internet Broadcast.
It was awesome. John Morton and J-R were talking to the crowd, fielding questions from around the world, and for me, it was as if I was in the embrace of the Traveler. I felt that I was interacting. That the Traveler had me in on the “real time” event. It was not different for me than those times of being in the ballroom except I had the surrealistic quality of my own surroundings around me. I seemed to be in a different place.
As I listened to the seminar, I could feel myself “filling up”. I had been feeling spent by the busy events of my life. It was like a lifesaver to have this precious and direct time with the Traveler.
We are so blessed and I whole heartedly thank every technical person that ever had anything to do with this wonderful opportunity!!”
UPCOMING INTERNET Q&A EVENTS
If you missed this awesome event, you really missed something special. But, you’re in luck. There are more internet Q&A events with John Morton, and J-R is invited!:
DATES:
Tuesday, September 18
Tuesday, October 23
Thursday, November 15
LOCATION
2101 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica, CA and worldwide on the internet
TIME
7:30 p.m. Pacific Time
REGISTRATION
Registration at the door begins at 6:30 p.m. To pre-register call Genie Ford at MSIA at (323) 737-4055. No registration is necessary to listen to the event on the Internet.
For more information on how to listen on the Internet, go to http://www.msia.org/live
Also, if you missed the first internet Q&A, we will be making it available for listening over the next 30 days at MSIA’s web site at http://www.msia.org Look for a pop up window on the MSIA web site homepage.
