On Friday, September 20, authors John-Roger and John Morton participated in a warm and intimate booksigning event filled with peace and blessings at Borders Bookstore in Goleta, California.

With a full complement of displays positioned throughout the store, books by John-Roger and John Morton caught many eyes. In the afternoon hours before the event, friendly shoppers asked Borders staff, “Who’s coming tonight?” Many folks stayed on and sipped tea and browsed books while they waited for 7:30 p.m. start time to roll around. By the time John-Roger and John Morton arrived, the store was humming with the laughter, hugs, and voices of more than a hundred people.

Many of the Borders staff members had been at the store during last year’s book event with John Morton & John-Roger, and the Borders staff greeted the crew from NOW Productions and Mandeville Press as the friends we are.

Borders Regional Event Coordinator, Sue Zussman, came to the store to introduce J-R and John, and opened the evening speaking spontaneously from her heart, welcoming everyone to an evening of celebration. Sue noted the contagious joy and peace present in the store, and introduced John-Roger and John Morton with humor and love.

Here is some of what one happy reporter experienced and heard during the evening:

John Morton started the night off with a lovely blessing, and John-Roger expressed his gratitude to be present with everyone at the “cathedral of Borders.” J-R and John began the evening with some jovial banter, sharing their love with each other and with everyone.

Throughout the evening, John and J-R took turns speaking and sharing with the audience. The evening was highly interactive, with both J-R and John inviting people in the audience to participate in experiencing peace and blessings in the moment.

People raised their hands, and either responded to a passage and exercise from John-Roger’s book “Loving Each Day for Peacemakers”, or thought of a disturbing situation and then randomly chose a passage in “Peacemakers” or in John Morton’s book “The Blessings Already Are” to find the peace and blessings present in the issue. When people randomly chose selections from “The Blessings”, the same passage showed up twice (!) — a quote from John-Roger, stating:

It is necessary to keep in mind that perfection is not achieved on the physical level: With the physical body, no one is perfect. In Soul expression, you are already perfect; everyone is. In the consciousness of the body, emotions, and mind, you are working to bring yourself into balance so you can more readily see the Soul’s perfection.

It was beautiful to witness people sharing their experience of moving to peace and blessings in the moment, as a direct inner action. It almost seemed as if the glow on people’s faces radiated through the store, and the atmosphere in the store grew both softer and brighter as the evening progressed.

J-R and John encouraged everyone to keep a positive focus in life and in the face of events like the anniversary of September 11, the stock market, and world affairs. John-Roger also noted how helpful it is to spend time with nature, with babies and puppies, to help us connect with our hearts and inner peace, and he closed the evening with the question, “What payoff do you get for not being loving to yourself?”

When Sue Zussman took the floor to bring the evening to a close, J-R noted the lovely energy of the store, and how nice it was to be there. Sue jokingly responded, “Are you sure you didn’t bring it with you?”

As J-R and John went on to sign books for a long, happy line of people, it was clear that they had brought many blessings to the store, and that people had chosen to participate in kind, love adding to love to fill the room and many hearts. It was a sweet evening indeed, with many demonstrations of living love in the moment, and sharing blessings with all.

Baruch Bashan (which means, the blessings already are).

Please tune in for the next Internet Q&A webcast with John Morton on Tuesday, October 8, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. PST. The Q&A will be held at 2101 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA and broadcast live on the Internet at www.msia.org/live. Peace be with you!