Endings and beginnings always dovetail one to another—a birth leads to an end, and a closure opens a new door.  When we began this North American Pilgrimage we had a skeletal plan as to the course of our circumambulation of the continent. We were directed by God to seek out Nature’s Cathedrals, be led to places of saints and holy sites, look upon all people and situations as expressions of God, and explore the spiritual roots of the creation of this great American experiment proclaiming the rights of the individual and the audacious idea of popularly elected leaders.

A great wealth of this North American continent is her natural wonders. Pristine landscapes hold special meaning for each one: for the sightseer it is the rugged beauty of magnificent outdoors, for an artist it is a canvas of inspiration, for the mystic it is a profound feeling-vibration of a place and unveiled depths of realization—these being unrivaled by any other experience. We have journeyed from Utah’s Bryce and Zion Canyons, Nevada’s Valley of Fire to Glacier, Black Hills, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Redwoods, Joshua Tree, Palm Canyon, Borrego Springs Desert, New Mexico’s Gila Cliff Dwellings, Florida’s Suwanee River, Georgia’s Skidaway Island and Tallulah Falls, South Carolina’s James Island, North Carolina’s and north on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Greenbelt National Park in D.C., Maine’s Acadia National Park, Pemaquid Point Lighthouse and Bass Harbor, Michigan’s Mackinac Island, and Alberta’s Banff and Lake Louise. Though this reads on this page as a simple list, each of these places holds an experience for us—highlights in the body of God—genuine spiritual upliftment was felt at these wonderful Natural Cathedrals.

Besides these Natural Cathedrals we were privileged to have the darshan of man’s cathedrals and places of worship: Idaho’s Old Mission, Utah’s Mormon Tabernacle, Master’s retreat in Encinitas, Tucson’s Native Pow Wow and Mission San Xavier del Bac, San Antonio’s St. Joseph Church, Savannah’s St. John the Divine Cathedral and the Congregation Mickve Israel Synagogue, Daufuskie Island First Union African Baptist Church, The National Cathedral, Quebec City’s St. Anne’s Basilica, Montreal’s St. Mary’s and Brother (Saint) Andre’s St. Joseph Oratory. We found the vibration of God in these and many other places of worship powerful and uplifting.

For inspiration on spiritual roots of the making of a nation we had the opportunity of taking in the sites of Mt. Rushmore, the Little Big Horn, Huston Space Center, Forts Sumpter and Polaski, Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown battlefield, Monticello and Mount Vernon, Washington D.C. and the Smithsonian Museums and the Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, Pennsylvania’s Gettysburg, Massachusetts’s Concord and Connecticut’s Mystic Seaport.

I am such great gratitude for the opportunity for Carla and me to take this pilgrimage around this great continent and to take you with us in spirit and through these writings. Of course for all the places we went there are so many more that could be explored, but these are the places that God took us to, and are therefore perfect. Arriving back to Camano Island came in the natural course of our travels, but we both felt we could continue the life of nomadic pilgrims, always enjoying the starting of the engine after a stay somewhere, feeling the awakened interest, what will come in the course of our travels today? However, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” A time for pilgrimage, its completion, and a time for home.

Upon arriving we are once again in the saddle of service, a meeting in person with all those in our “virtual office,” those helping with putting Mother’s talks and transcripts into usable form and eventual books. Jerry and Lois are hosting a welcome home Service and potluck Sunday, and Monday we will say goodbye to our dear friend Win at a graveside service, then time with Kathy and family and hot fudge sundaes on the same day as a full solar eclipse (the last one was on my birthday in 1979 when Larry and I went to Eastern Washington to get a full view and experience of it). Then there is getting caught up on correspondence, the business of life, and spending time with Mother’s words preparing them for publishing, and whatever else God has slated–as I know He will fill the days and nights not only with His Divine Presence, but seva (service) to Him in all forms.

In any transition there are many things to do, sometimes there is a grinding of gears while shifting from one mode to another. It is good to be mindful of transitions in life, both small and big. Leaving or arriving home from work is a transition, going on vacation (there are many circumstances of those going on vacation getting sick, as if they can let down, and somehow that translates into the immune system letting down as well), there are those larger life transitions, sickness and death that cause even greater ripples and sometimes tsunamis in life. Through it all: to breathe, to be mindful, and to stay connected with God so that we are ever anchored to our true Self, not swept away in the many changes that life is constantly offering us. If we were very mindful, we will notice that even the tide of breath from in to out, and out to in is a transition. May you ever move into life’s new situations with a calm, knowing oneness with your Heavenly Father, Divine Mother ever with you, guiding you, and giving you inner assurance that no matter the changes, all is well, all is well.

Picture: Glacier National Park

While in Banff, Lake Louise and while heading west and south we have been party to an abundance of smoky skies, depending on the winds sometimes thick with smoke, sometimes clear blue skies. It is said that this is the worst year for forest fires in over half a century. Going down a canyon road we drive by a hill with multiple fires on the hill next to us; helicopters flying overhead with large dangling buckets of water going to their appointed tasks of dampening spreading flames; brave hardworking forest firefighters taking a break next to the road with smoke blackened faces.

Up at Williams Lake Dianne D. is performing seva (even while their own home may be threatened) by issuing vouchers to those who escaped from fast running fires, leaving their threatened homes, some with nothing but the clothes on their backs. For the forest’s sake it can be beneficial for the lightning induced fires to burn what they will, renewing the forest in its wake–surprisingly few animals are killed in a forest fire as they flee or find shelter. But it is a hard thing for those who have homes and property in the forest, to lose all according to the whims Agni, god of fire, that consumes one tree and leaves another next to it untouched. Our hearts and prayers go out to those affected by the fires, and for the safety of the firefighters.

As we motor further south the smoke filtered skies go with us–stretching across British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. From Osoyoos through the Okanagon and finally to Twisp, to one degree or another the gray residue of burning forests continues. Just 20 miles away from Winthrop/Twisp there is a fire growing in a wilderness area and we see the residue flowing in, then thinning to blue skies, only to darken once again depending on the wind direction.

Such is this creation, that preservation and destruction are intrical parts of the whole. When a little girl asked Meher Baba, “Why are there wars?” He asked her in return, “Why do you make stinky?” Not that wars are necessary to life, but when humankind lives out of harmony with natural and spiritual law then it is a predictable outcome. In a golden age when natural and spiritual law are observed and lived, then many things out of balance now will be brought into harmony. When a creation becomes so attuned to higher thought and vibrational living then a material world may simply transmute into pure spiritual Being–such things are possible and do happen. However, we are far from such harmony today–though we cannot discount that, like a rising flood, God’s power can sweep over this earth and make it new. How my heart yearns for such a lifting up of one and of all.

The constant rolling of wheels underneath us for the past weeks are currently silent. The river flows by and the earth hums quietly, bringing peace in earth’s flowing currents. It is a time to restore before making the last part of the journey. God has me in His all-powerful, blissful grip and is whispering to me, “Tell one and all to enter into their silent caves of meditation and feel My uplifting power. I yearn to give My devotees all they need to fulfill their heart’s desires, for it is in My power to do so. Tell all, ‘Come to me!’”

Win: While we are here in the Methow Valley Win Smith breathed his last breath. His heart has been pumping less and less life-giving blood. Win talked of living to 120, but his years fell short of that goal. Win has been a wonderful example of staying focused on the Guru through these past 65 years. He often said that Mother was the greatest person he had ever met, and never wavered in his faith in her. He has been generous to this work, giving regularly and generously. In the early 1980s I was injured at work and off of work for a year while I went back to school to finish my degree. One day Win came by with two large boxes of canned vegetables in thoughtful support at the time–I know he and Kathy have helped others as well. In kirtans Win sang with all his heart, he gave bone crushing hugs, and always had some witticism to offer, or a time-tested saying at the ready, and wished everyone well. I know that he is with Mother, and Mother is with him–a joy-filled, heart-filled reunion. I will miss him. It resounds in my mind his wish to all, as he smiles his smile, “Have a cheery day!”