ed zerbe took me to a new age bookstore 'rainbow bridge' 1985. after having moved 3 times in 2 years with 25 boxes of books i swore not to buy anymore. while ed talked to his friend the manager i browsed. passing down aisles and shelves of books one jumped off behind me. earth stewards. being a read-a-holic i read the jacket and considered the bible advising mankind to be earth stewards. not masters or conquerors but stewards. holding the earth in trust. i bought the book.
i devoured the book thinking how nice. if only. i was in the middle of getting divorced and putting my life back together. years later on a sunday after church i went to a friend's house on our way to lunch. rose living off southwest expressway apologized she forgot it was her group's monthly meeting. she invited me along. when she said earth stewards we were both amazed. she drove us to a park across from the oakland estuary on a perfectly beautiful day. we parked the car and crossed the playing field to some trees and wooden picnic table benches. half a dozen people coming from the opposite end of the park greet us recognizing me from a dream i had maybe 6 months before. in this dream i'm up in a tree over the bench seating 6 men and women. the woman on the end elbows the man sitting next to her glancing up at me says "she has such an unquenchable thirst for knowledge." i woke myself up laughing it was so like me. the six people all recognized they'd seen me before asking what chapter i belonged to and other meetings i'd attended. none. my first only physical contact.
they discussed their exchange program with russian families on a purely informal civilian basis. i believe they brought down the berlin wall. people meeting people. learning prejudice and ignorance are the enemy not people.
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