MARCH 27, 2023 - MY 36th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

TODAY IS OUR 36th ANNIVERSARY!

The story bears repeating.

(English is a strange language. "Bear" is the name of an animal. It also connotes something one cannot endure..."I can't bear this pain any longer," or "He bore his burden until he couldn't bear it anymore." In this case, "bears repeating" means something is worthy to repeat. Therefore....)

The story bears repeating. At least, for me, it does.

36 years ago I was a professional storyteller. I was single. I had a dream to develop a duo act using puppetry combined with a live performer. I wanted to travel this nation with that partner and present our shows in schools, malls, churches, events, and wherever we could. And, since I was to be with that partner constantly, I wanted intimacy with a woman.

So...a woman storyteller with whom I would share intimacy, huh? How do I go about finding such a woman? Do I put an ad in the paper, post notes on laundromat bulletin boards, or pass out flyers on street corners??? I literally considered everything I could think of until I came to this conclusion..."she can only be found in the Spiritual World, so leave it up to Spirit/the Universe/Destiny/God."

Treasure Mapping/Visualization/Goal Setting...whatever one wants to call the process...is a powerful thing. So is meditation/prayer. I developed a "Treasure Map" upon which I placed images of puppets, traveling, acting, and "happiness," for want of a better term. I also meditated/prayed for the perfect partner to manifest. I developed a "routine of meditative prayer" twice a day, morning and night, and intently focused upon this routine daily. Along with my meditations, I visualized shooting out my "spider webs" from my wrists like Spiderman and drawing my partner to me. I began this routine at the beginning of February 1987. Never before nor since have I had such a concentrated, focused, intense span of "prayer time." I pray daily, but that span of time was somehow different. I was living with a dear friend in Seattle at the time.

On Sunday, March 27, 1987, I took the bus from my friend's house and went to church services in downtown Seattle. For some reason, I decided not to return to my friend's house after morning services like I ususally did. That Sunday I decided to catch a bus at the stop next to the church and "see Seattle" via that bus route. I reasoned if that bus picked me up by the church, it would make a round trip and drop me off there.

It was a nice ride. I "saw Seattle" from a different perspective, and the bus returned to my drop-off point at 5pm. Evening services of Vespers began at 6pm. I thought, since Vespers was only an hour away, I'd just go to that evening service and then catch a bus back to my friend's house. There was a Seattle City Park across the street from the church. So I went into the park, sat on a bench, and began my meditative prayer routine for my perfect partner.

I began to feel a most Powerful Energy coming towards me. I cannot explain it in words. There are no words for it except for a Powerful Energy coming towards me. It completely filled me. There have been other times that a "Powerful Energy" moved me to "Fate's Fulfillment," but those are other stories and don't belong in this one.

Somehow I knew that Energy was the woman for whom I was praying coming toward me, and I KNEW that she was coming to church that evening. I was convinced with no doubt that it was her. I was absolutely filled with that conviction.

So I went into the church sanctuary, sat at the end of the 3rd pew from the front on the right side, and left a space beside me on the end for her to sit. I sat and studied my program, and I "felt" a presence standing at the end of the pew beside me. I KNEW that "presence" was the woman for whom I prayed. I looked at my program an instant longer, and then I looked up at her and said, "I saved you a seat."

36 years ago on Sunday, March 27, 1987 at 6pm Vashti sat down beside me at the end of the 3rd pew from the front on the right side of the sanctuary.

Our "coming together" was not like meeting a new person for the first time. It was more like finding an old friend again from whom there had been a period of separation.

And we did travel this nation as "The StorySingers," and we entertained and touched thousands of people with our stories, puppets, and music. Vashti was an accomplished musician, award-winning singer, and songwriter when she sat down beside me. She awakened the "music within my soul," and I helped her develop her storytelling talents. We developed a radio show, "The World's Wonderland," on Seattle Public Radio, presented our original substance abuse show for elementary schools, Holiday shows, adaptations of classic fairy tales, original stories and songs, and performed coast-to-coast on venues from flatbed truck beds, malls, churches, schools, and performing art centers.

To get a "commercial" in, besides song-and-story writing we also co-authored books under Vashti's titular authorship. Please review loveshinebooks.com.

These have been extraordinary 36 years! "Extraordinary" means remarkable, astonishing, unusual, surprising, bizarre, uncommon, amazing, exceptional, astounding, marvelous, wonderful, incredible, unbelievable, spectacular, memorable, and indeed these years have been all of those and much, much more.

"Extraordinary" also means miraculous. Perhaps that similar word is the defining root of what these years have been and continue to be...Miraculous.

A miracle happened for me 36 years ago today at 6pm in a Seattle downtown church when she sat down beside me.

Yes, the story bore repeating.