One week after MSIA’s “Conference of Service,” Prana opened its doors to family, friends, and visitors for “a One-Day Service & Rejuvenation Retreat with Paul Kaye.” John Morton, our Spiritual Director, was one of our visitors. He graciously took time from a Saturday with his family and joined us for lunch. Then he did a question and answer session, lovingly answering questions from our guests about service and other things.
This is the first in a series of monthly service and rejuvenation days Prana will be hosting. “Come relax and rejuvenate yourself at Peace Awareness Labyrinth and Gardens while deepening your relationship with Spirit. And discover how through service to yourself and others at the Traveler’s home, you can be refreshed and re-energized” read the advertisement.
We had time to walk our labyrinth and gardens. We did spiritual exercises together. We spent two-and-a-half hours participating in various service jobs for MSIA. We listened to excerpts by John-Roger. We amply served ourselves and each other as we talked, laughed, “worked.”
And we were served. We enjoyed freshly brewed gourmet iced teas and “spa water” available throughout the warm summer day. Of course, we had a delightful, healthy lunch — offered free of charge. We listened to music. The pace was gentle, sweet, relaxed. Paul Kaye spoke briefly about the focus for the day, of taking care of ourselves, each other, and of holding a sacred focus while being of service. Luckily, sacred doesn’t have to mean serious, so we absolutely had fun while “serving.”
Some guests went straight to the service job of their choice, other guests; new to Prana and MSIA, gently wandered the property exploring what we have to offer, or talked with assistants as they “checked things out.” People were free to stop at any time and relax, do more spiritual exercises, or perhaps listen to the beautiful piano music a guest graciously played as we worked. But most guests enjoyed the “service” portion of the day and happily wanted to complete their jobs. Justin Jayne, Manager of our Products and Service Department, led a “Discourse party” and many volunteers assembled a large number of Discourse sets. Other guests completed a PTS mailing for Marsha Scott, announcing some upcoming PTS workshops. You may be receiving these soon and now you’ll know how these got to you. For the outdoor or hardy types, there were gardening or window cleaning jobs.
This type of day is particularly close to my heart because I love the idea of sharing with others the abundance of sacred and spiritual energies I experience at Prana. We had a chance to attune to these energies — and to the loving, sacred energies inside ourselves and each other. Sharing the loving of Spirit that flows through each of us as we gather just works for me — and helps me attune more to the loving of God that is so precious! Somehow these events spark a greater loving in me, and help me extend that out more.
I think I recall hearing something about a few basic ways to grow spiritually, which are to focus on being loving, being of service, and doing spiritual exercises. We did all of that, plus got a lot of relaxation, good food and fun in as well.
We ended the day with tea and desserts and had the added treat of being served in our newly renovated dining room. This room was not “officially” open yet, but we were able to serve desserts and gourmet teas there, so our guests had the fun of a sneak preview and being the first to “inaugurate” this inspiringly beautiful new facility. Paul spontaneously asked guest Michael Hayes to lead us in blessing and dedicating our new facility. People had so much fun they hung out in the dining room for a long time.
Here are a few “true” statements quoted from our guests on an evaluation form:
“I got up this morning feeling exhausted and in physical pain, but did my hours of service quietly. By the end of the service day, my pain was gone, my Spirits were high.”
“I loved it! I got to experience the loving that surrounds Prana and its residents in a very real way.”
“It was a service to myself! Thank God I choose to come here today. It was a holiday! Soul holiday!”
“Thank you for your loving which has contributed to the
