PART ONE: THE MIDWEST

The MSS classes in Kalamazoo, Michigan and in St. Paul, Minnesota put out the call to the Traveler – come visit anytime! John Morton heeded the call. Was he going to wait to the balmier spring months? No way! What better time to visit Michigan and Minnesota than to go in January and get the full taste of winter. I came along to do initiations and ordinations and I reaped many blessings along the way.

Dressed in our winter togs we headed first to Grand Rapids (the nearest airport to the location of the Michigan MSS Year 2 class) via Chicago. The temperature was 14 degrees and going down when we arrived — yep, downright nippy for us southern California types. The snow crunched under our feet as we made our way across a snow banked rental car lot, making tracks in the snow with our hand carry luggage behind us. The adventure was underway. Some of the wonder of traveling like this is exploring new areas and their history. And, asking for Light to be where we are. We went to dinner at a lake restaurant named Roses that stood on the site where Mr. Rose had provided caramel popcorn (among other goodies) to visitors to the lake. The restaurant continued the tradition by offering caramel popcorn on the menu. As we drove back to our hotel, the beauty of the snow on the trees grabbed me. I just kept thinking of all those Currier and Ives winterscape scenes.

Time to turn in because tomorrow – Saturday – would be a long and full day. By 8:00 a.m. we were checked out of the hotel and on our way to visit the Michigan MSS Year 2 class at Larry and Kay Stolsonburg’s home. They live halfway between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo in a town called Middleville. We grabbed some homemade muffins and some Starbucks coffee and took to the country roads. The landscape here is open fields and farmland – barns, big houses with front porches, and snow everywhere especially beautiful on the trees. An incredible morning sunrise in reds, purples, oranges and a special white light in the form of the cross spread out in the sky in the east. We arrived at Kay and Larry’s home just before 9:00 a.m. John got right to what he was there for. Sitting in front of the class in a cozy room whose big picture window framed a huge ice-covered and snow-surrounded lake, John took sharing for over 2 1/2 hours with the grateful class members. There was something very sweet and awesome at the same time watching this Traveler love and tend to all of us there.

Stretching the sharing time until we really had to go, John finished with a blessing and gathered with the class for a group picture near the steaming Koi pond under the tree in the snow in the front yard. Our next air flight was set to leave at 1:45 p.m. and we had a full 50 minute drive to the airport, so without further ado, we were on our way with not a lot of margin for error. Wouldn’t you know that, just a few minutes later, there we were on a single lane country road behind a line of barely moving cars – one of which was a police car flashing its lights. Hmm, what to do?! Take a detour. Must be that good ol’ Traveler instinct that John tuned to because he navigated us around the road block and to the airport in perfect timing to make our flight to Chicago to connect to St. Paul.

When we arrived in St.Paul/Minneapolis, it was a delightful 22 degrees – ah, a heat wave! The locals were remarking, as we road down the airport escalator, that it was going to be unseasonably warm for the next few days -almost 40 degrees. An added blessing for me. We had just enough time to drop things in our hotel rooms and get right back in the car to get to the St. Paul MSS Year 1 class. Kathy Kornblum, the Minnesota Rep, greeted us and led us to the class location on top of St. Anthony Park Bank. Three ordinations were first on the schedule – what a treat. And, it was the first time ever that all of the Minnesota ministers had come together which made this evening extra special.

Next it was time for sharing. John was right there, present for the class, for two hours. Loving, warmth and gratitude filled this room. John closed the evening with a blessing for the class. And it was back to the hotel for a late dinner, some emails and a short night’s sleep before heading back to Los Angeles to prepare for the next trip – to the Pacific Northwest.

PART TWO: THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST (Portland and Seattle)

Portland
Just a week before Vincent Dupont and I were due to arrive, Portland was closed down (airport too) with snow and ice storms. Well, this somehow seemed perfect to me having just been out in the land of snow and ice the weekend before. Why not have a little more! However, on Wednesday, when we got to Portland, all that remained of the storms were piles of snow at the airport and along the roadway. It was rainy and cool, in the 40’s which actually felt almost comfortable. On arriving at our hotel we were warmly greeted by Connie Rawlings-Dritsas and her husband, John, who made sure we were settled in and had everything we’d need to do MSIA services over the next few days. I went off with Connie and John for a little tea time and catch-up at Coffee People, a fun coffee shop down the corner. Along the way I noticed there were some lovely examples of turn-of-the-century architecture, and a coffee place on every corner and in-between. Makes sense since it gets pretty damp and cool during the fall and winter up in Portland. Our hotel seemed a happening place as we also had staying there the Phoenix Suns basketball team, and then a few days later, the Dallas Mavericks. Lots of huge tall guys walking around!

And, an aside from John Morton: “What about when Tom and I arrived to valet parking to find Bono of U2 waiting for his car? Did you notice the ropes outside the front door of the hotel for the adoring fans to stay behind?”

Twas great to touch in with the MSIA old-timers, many of whom remembered their days with Seleta, who just loved J-R to pieces. And, there were some new people getting their first services too. All were very excited to meet and hear John Morton at the coming seminar. Friday brought John, Roger Wakefield (of NOW Production fame) and Tom Boyer (who we dubbed Mr. Philharmonic over our walkie talkies), friend and driver for John for this trip, AND the sun.

Saturday morning we jumped into the van and headed to Jill Orevik’s apartment for John to take sharing at the Portland MSS Year 1 class. Larry Hamblen and Carene Davis-Stitt facilitated the schedule for the class to be with John. We got very cozy in Jill’s pink living room as they squeezed us staff in. John started sharing about his first ever marathon that he did in Portland back in the ’70’s.Time flew by as John and the class shared for over 3 hours. Again I had that experience of witnessing the Traveler so lovingly and in a humble, simple way tend to those that called for him. Then we all drove back into the city and took in a few moments of “culture” as we walked to lunch at old Jake’s Grill (complete with curtained booths, mounted deer heads, and dark brown wood beams) in downtown Portland. There was just enough time for setting up the sound and video, and for a few services, and then the Open seminar program started.

BJ Castleman shared her wit and tenderness through singing “Depths of My Soul” and an original song, and then John spoke. His words touched in many different ways to “What is MSIA?” and “What kind of people get involved with MSIA?” and he ended the evening with a beautiful blessing for those present and the world. After the seminar, folks stayed and helped us pack up the equipment – thanks especially to Nan and Jess. They hugged us and shared how grateful they were to have had the Traveler physically be in their midst this day.

Seattle
I loved driving from Portland to Seattle, seeing the tall green pine trees along the way. Seattle is fun. For me it is a combination of a little San Francisco (with its hills), a little Portland, and a dash of Vancouver, British Columbia. There is the famous Pike Street Farmers market down by the river, an underground city, lots of good restaurants, totem poles, and lots and lots and lots of coffee places (I got to visit the original Starbucks – a tiny shop with wooden floors and original mermaid logo in brown).

Right after checking into our hotel, Vincent and I walked to the farmer’s market where there is the fish stand made famous in the book “FISH”. Even though it was almost closing time there was a crowd gathered to see the camaraderie of the workers at this stand who so enthusiastically entertain and interact with the crowd tossing around crabs and fish over the heads of the crowd, all the while selling fish. At one point they were tossing back and forth a huge fish, and then threw a large fish into the crowd. The crowd gasped and jumped back, the poor fish flopped to the ground – but then with great relief and laughter the crowd realized that it was just a play stuffed fish. Though I have seen this interplay before on previous visits to Seattle, I still get a lot out of watching these guys having fun at their work and giving good customer service. At one point I looked around for Vincent and found him re-living his days as a jockey in France. He seemed to be in complete control and still was demonstrating excellent form.

Faith Murphy, the Seattle MSIA Rep, did an excellent job of coordinating all the logistics of our trip. Michael Rhodes ably supervised our services schedules. It was his first time and he did well. The open seminar and Q&A was done in Issaquah, a town neighboring Seattle. When we arrived we saw that many people had come from all over the northwest to be at this seminar. Ina Carbajal, Kevin McGuinn, Rose McGinnis, Corinne Kidd and more came from Vancouver, B.C.; Jill Orevik and friends came from Portland. And the Seattle gang was there too. Lucy Dickinson sang “Amazing Grace” with a styling that went right to our hearts. John started with the special touch of doing a baby blessing with baby Charlie Isabella Diesen, mom Danielle Diesen and grandmom Candy Diesen and friends standing in. Baby blessings have the most wonderful way of connecting us to loving and John took off from there. During the seminar John spoke about his own early days in MSIA with John-Roger. He touched on the importance of attuning to the Inner Master and Traveler within, and how important it is always to get to the loving in all ways. And there was much, much more and it continued with John answering questions from the group and crowning the evening with a blessing for all gathered and the planet.

As we flew back to Los Angeles from Seattle, I reflected on the loving, joy, and pure devotion that I experience during these visits with John, the staff and those that come to be with us and participate at these events on the road. There is such gratitude and caring expressed over and over. I was deeply touched and humbled again by one person who drove for 7 hours to go to the seminar and receive their service in Seattle, and then turned around and drove back the seven hours to their home right after their service. This time with the Traveler and the Light was beyond words for them!

Thank you, Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo, St. Paul/Minneapolis, Portland and Seattle for preparing the place for the Traveler and all the blessings!