Click here to view a photo slideshow by David Sand from Thanksgiving at Prana on November 23rd, 2006.
More than two hundred people came together on Thursday, November 23rd, to celebrate Thanksgiving Day at Prana, the Home of the Traveler. And we were blessed to have John-Roger with us physically: J-R came and joined us, and his presence set a tone of living love and joy that lilted through the day. We had a beautiful, blessed, sweet, happy day here, filled with good friendship, loving God, eating good food, listening to music and comedy, more good food, and spending time with each other.
Dinner was scheduled for 2:00pm, and guests started arriving to register around 1:00pm. The Prana Events Staff Team and a cadre of volunteers were at the ready, poised to serve, support, and laugh. Hats off to the Prana Team, too—these folks have events down to an art & science. Everything was so well-organized, so well-considered, so kind and generous that the day flowed like a Tai Chi master gracefully dancing through a form.
David & Kelly Funk flew in from Seattle to make Thanksgiving Dinner, and there’s no way to describe the meal without understating it. There was so much LOVING in the food: turkey, roast beef, cornbread stuffing, gourmet brown rice, cranberry sauce & chutney, sweet potatoes with a tangerine-sage glaze, a mashed potato medley featuring red & Yukon gold potatoes, baked acorn squash, roasted carrots with lavender & pistachio (say what?!?! Simply incredible!), sumptuous gravy, artisan breads, signature salads. To give a representative sample of the beauty and caring in the food, check this out: “Tempeh Waldorf Salad, with cashews & sunflower seeds in a vegenaise dressing with a hint of agave.” Every item had an elegant placard noting all of the ingredients and whether dishes contained dairy or wheat. There was truly something for everyone at this feast of living love.
Nature’s bounty gave us a Vivaldi “Four Seasons” kind of day in terms of the weather: a little bit of spring, some moments of summer in the afternoon, and shades of fall & winter with turning leaves (yes, even in LA!) and nips of cold to make us snuggle in. We gathered as a family in the courtyard by the meditation pool to call in the Light, with Paul Kaye serving as MC and invoking God’s grace and the Traveler’s presence. The Prana Team had suffered either a stroke of insanity or genius when they designed the processional route to the dinner buffet: People processed into the courtyard through the rear of the dining room, and the first thing people saw upon walking in was—you guessed it—the dessert table. An instant Spiritual Warrior challenge to patience, gradualness, and delayed gratification! Nobody seemed to mind once they saw the buffet, though. And who could complain when, at the end of the line, you came to receive your turkey or beef hand-carved by a loving Minister of Light? Heaven never needs to wait.
Folks congregated in the main dining areas or outside on the terrace. The foyer and seminar rooms at Prana had been transformed into elegant banquet halls, with table settings that were artful and giving: flowers and fresh fruit that people could take home with them at day’s end. Everywhere you looked you could see happy faces—people smiling, gasping with tastebud delights, laughing, eyes shining. There was so much simple love and beauty everywhere. This must be what Jesus meant when he said we’d know the measure of our discipleship by how we love one another.
Patience paid off, and dessert did come. That table was filled as well with treats to meet every palate. The staples were in abundant supply—pumpkin pie, and variations on chocolate (Chocolate Mousse! Chocolate-Pecan Pie! Oatmeal-Raisin-Chocolate Chip-Walnut Cookies!), wheat-free cranberry-raisin-walnut cookies made by Chef Claudie Botte, naturally sweetened apple crumble, and Elaine Kitchell’s universally acclaimed biscotti (just the right texture and hardness for either dunking, holding elegantly between thumb & forefinger with coffee, or outright crunching, as the spirit moves you). Urth Caffe organic coffees and teas provided the perfect complement, along with more smiles, laughter, relaxing and giving and receiving love.
Next up: Entertainment, family style. We gathered around the stage area in the Large Seminar Room, and Paul again called in the Light to make another transition in our day. Paul Kaye and Shelley Noble took the stage for a husband-and-wife MC combo that was, as always, part of the entertainment in itself. What did we have? Marjorie Eaton started us off by reading Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation—a nice way to thank him for establishing Thanksgiving as a national holiday in the United States.
Then we had music, sweet music, from Nat Sharratt, who treated us to tunes from his newly released second album, “This Life.” Diana Spirithawk read a Native American story to us, Valerie Mikita shared a song inspired by her experience with Insight III & J-R’s ever-present smile, Clara Beatriz Jamarillo and Milo Page shared songs of love and humor, Barb Wieland comically mused about the benefits of gratitude (have you ever noticed that people don’t get citations for being too grateful?), Karen Hassett played piano, hubby James played guitar, Kevin McMillan and Angel Gibson gave us a lovely duet with Barb accompanying on piano, Sylvia Giussani shared a sweet adaptation of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” to the Ani Hu, Jsu Garcia sang songs from the movie soundtrack for “Spiritual Warriors” (coming to CD players everywhere next year)… If you imagine looking around the room, seeing people looking like children, enjoying the effects of good digestion, chanting sacred tones, laughing, relaxing in chairs with arms draped around each other, a few final nibbles and sips here and there—that will give you a good feel of things.
And J-R was with us the whole time. In fact, he stayed with us through most of the dance of cleaning up and resetting the rooms. Everything felt so smooth, so easy, so graceful and free. It was a beautiful team effort, with everyone pitching in to clear tables, move furniture, help the kitchen team with leftovers (mercy!), etc.
Before long, the house was back to its pre-dinner state, with an added harvest glow. If you’ve ever seen the ceiling in the foyer of Prana, it is a celebration of the harvest. It’s kind of neat how that artwork reflected what was happening on the ground: as above, so below. Beauty and love above, beauty and love below. Thank you, God. What a lovely Thanksgiving! Thanks for joining us, and sending your love and Light.
From our hearts to yours, God bless you and your families. Be well, all ways.
Baruch Bashan
The Blessings Already Are
