Click here to view the photo slideshow from the Q&A with John Morton & John-Roger on April 13.
Tuesday, April 13th, was a pleasant Spring evening, and a cool breeze off the Pacific set the tone for the Internet Broadcast at the 2101 Building in Santa Monica. Mostly familiar faces, and a few new ones, drifted upstairs to the Brentwood Ballroom, where beautiful yellow and white spring flowers graced the stage and the tables. With NOW Productions doing its usual terrific job, and the genius “techies” in the back room setting everything up for a global broadcast, things were going along smoothly.
And then, John Morton AND John-Roger walked in, and suddenly the room was all a-twitter. Those who customarily find seats in the back of the room went scurrying for seats up front, and a new level of energy kicked in.
The lovely Laura Donnelley-Morton took on the role of Mistress of Ceremonies for the event, along with her daughter Claire Morton. After a short explanation, Laura called in the Light, and we chanted Ani-Hu with a deep peacefulness. Laura introduced herself as the wife of John Morton, and she introduced Claire as their daughter. Laura was very welcoming to those new to MSIA and shared in such a natural and heartfelt way. She offered thanks to John for continuing to support these Internet broadcasts, to John-Roger for the pleasure of his company, to all the many volunteers who make these evenings possible, and to NOW Productions.
Laura gave a short description of MSIA in her own words, and said that Soul Transcendence is the heart of MSIA’s teachings. She gave a brief overview of Soul Awareness Discourses, and then prepared us for a few Moment of Peace videos from the Peace Labyrinth & Gardens at MSIA’s headquarters and from Kyoto, Japan.
Claire Morton sang for us, a cappella, a singular rendition of “At Last”, to a wildly enthusiastic audience. Laura made a few more charming remarks about MSIA study materials, including Soul Awareness Tapes which are coming out on CD in May. And she sweetly made an introduction of her husband, describing him as a husband, teacher, minister, and peace visionary, and a blessing in her life.
John Morton ascended the stage and mentioned many of the places where people were online participating in the Internet Broadcast, including: Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Comoros Islands (S. Africa), Ecuador, France, Mexico, Panama, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
John also mentioned a book that “showed up” in his mailbox called Voices of Ancient Bethlehem, by The Scribe. He read the Introduction to the book, and spoke about the information in the book being similar to the teachings of MSIA. Then, after acknowledging and thanking J-R for being in the room, John began the Questions and Answers session.
From Lockport, New York, a woman said that she had been going through a lot of changes lately, and wanted to know what was blocking her and how to get rid of it. John’s answer included that nothing blocks us unless we think it does.
From a young man in the Brentwood Ballroom, the question was:
