2002-6-9 12:06:00
Saturday Morning
Transcribed by Mindy
The Gathering
Singing two of the songs written by JJ Dewey
Artie getting to know the group
We're going to start out today by singing a song or two then doing the Song of the 144,000. Then Artie will take the floor for about an hour and interrogate some of you folks so you can see what I go through every day. She's going to get to know you a little better. We won't have a lot of time for each individual but some that have traveled a long distance like As'af, who she might spend more time with. So I'm going to leave it up to her to take about an hour to get to know everyone a little bit better.
We're really going to miss Margaret. Margaret has been at the last two gatherings with her guitar and leads us in singing. I don't think we have a person of that talent here that I know about. If there is, now is the time to speak up. We'll have to wing it on our own. Margaret, we're all irritated with you for not being here. (Laughter) I'm going to send her a copy of this so she can listen to it. So, you better come next time Margaret.
We'll start with "Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men" since a lot of you already know it.
PEACE ON EARTH GOODWILL TO MEN
Peace on earth, Goodwill to men It's got to happen; If not, what then? Peace on earth, Goodwill to men Goodwill, Goodwill to men.
There will be Peace on Earth, Good will to men, It's got to happen again, again. Peace on earth, Goodwill to men Goodwill to men.
There will be Peace on Earth and Brotherhood Kindness all over and Sisterhood. Once and for all its understood We will, We will, We will,
Not forget Peace on Earth Is our one goal It's at the heart of every soul For a thousand years it will unfold It will unfold.
There will be friendship all over every nation They'll join hands in cooperation Setting up a warm vibration We feel, We feel, We feel,
There will be Peace on earth, Goodwill to men, When it comes we'll be happy then The whole world will be basking in Goodwill to men.
There will be peace, Peace on Earth Goodwill to men We'll fulfill all the things our Fathers dreamed of. Peace, Peace on earth. Goodwill to men, The whole world will soon be filled with Love.
Love and kindness We'll see them everywhere Brotherhood and friendship, The nations all will care. They will, They will, They will. Copyright By J J Dewey
THE KINGDOM OR NOTHING
All join hand for he Kingdom of God, The kingdom of prophesy. I'll think and dream of the Kingdom of God, The Kingdom I want to see.
I'll sing the Song with a joyful heart and focus my eyes in Light The fires of love play their part As the Kingdom comes into sight.
Chorus The Kingdom of God for me, The Kingdom of God for me The Kingdom or nothing The Kingdom or nothing The Kingdom of God for me.
We are one in God as we sing the Song The power within its wings We see the kingdom rolling along As thousands all rise and sing.
Chorus
Through you and me many will see a light And feel the God of Love. All join hands with Purpose bright Yet harmless as the dove.
Chorus
The Kingdom will be a mountain of peace To fill the whole of earth The art of war will then cease As love is given birth.
Chorus
The Song of the 144,000
We thank you Father that you have revealed to us your protective universal light; that within this light is complete protection from all destructive forces; that the Holy Spirit of Your Presence permeates us in this light, and wherever we will the light to descend.
We thank you Father that you fill us with your protective fires of Love; that within this love is complete protection from all destructive thoughts and feelings; that the consciousness of Christ is lifted up in us in this love, and wherever we will the love to be enflamed.
We thank you Father that you are in us and we are in you; that through us Your Will is sent forth on wings of power; that Your Purpose is accomplished on earth as it is in heaven; that through us Your Light and Love and Power is manifest to all the Sons and Daughters of Mankind. Ommmm, Ommmmmm, Ommmmmmmmmmmmmm, OM, OM, OM, OM, OM, OM, OM, OM, OM, OM, OM
(note these songs were written by JJ)
OK, we're going to turn some time over to Artie now.
Artie: Hi, I wanted to spend a little time today getting to know you a little bit better. Last night we hurriedly went through and gave our names. I also wanted to recognize the supreme sacrifice many of you went through to be here financially, time-wise, family-wise. First I wanted to start out and get the people who are here from foreign countries and have you come up. People currently living in foreign countries, come up here. Some of you are from Poland but live here. I'm not talking about you but about those who actually traveled here from foreign countries. Get over here, come on.
I thought we had a fellow from Denmark. Is he not here? (background conversation discussing who is from where) Is everybody here who came from foreign countries? If you're not here, raise your hand.
As'af, say your name, how it's pronounced. As'af: As'af Friedman. I'm from Israel, Bnei Brak which is a city in the vicinity of Tel Aviv.
Artie: Can you tell us a little bit about Israel and what it's like compared to the US, the people, the culture.
As'af: I don't know how it is in the United States so I don't want to compare this. It is my fourth time here but each time was for a very short period of time.
Artie: What's your first impression? What did you understand while you were in Israel from the media and that kind of stuff? Did you have any ideas?
As'af: There is a lot of simplicity, naivety. Things can be black and white and simple compared to the complexity of the shades of gray in Israel and Europe. The good thing about it is that it's like a child who is vital and eager to learn and experience.
Artie: So you have a very old culture and you come here and see we have a very new culture. We're like babies?
As'af: Yes, basically that's it.
Artie: Naive in some ways and like a toddler who gets in trouble and being rambunctious and being just out there. . .
As'af: What is rambunctious?
Artie: anyone care to explain rambunctious?
Response: full of life, imagine a sailor on leave! (Laughter)
As'af: I didn't see that.
Artie: I was in Hungary once and I talked to some people and asked their impression of Americans. They said they can see on the faces that they're very open and extroverted and friendly, where these people were more guarded, I wouldn't say withdrawn but very cautious. They said the American language to their ear sounds like WAH WAH WAH.
As'af: It sounds like you are trying to speak while having a hot potato in your mouth. I read that once in a book. (laughter)
Artie: For that you get an American flag!
As'af: Thank you! (applause)
Keith: I don't really consider myself a foreigner.
Artie: You're from what country?
Keith: Canada
Artie: Where about?
Keith: just outside of Toronto
Artie: And have you lived there all your life?
Keith: I was born in England. I came to Canada when I was about 5.
Audience: you don't have much of an English accent left
Keith: No, it went in about 6 months.
Artie: Can we hear you say 'about, out, ey.' Do they say 'ey' a lot? I haven't heard you say that.
Keith: I do sometimes. It's true that we do say ey. All the time.
Artie: You've never lived in the States?
Keith: I've just been here for weeks at a time.
Artie: Do you have any impression you want to tell us about the United States?
Keith: I was just thinking about the 51st state. The first time I came down to the States was with my parents when I was about 10 or 11. We were driving through Georgia and we pulled into a gas station for gas. The gas jockey gets up off his chair and walks around the car before he puts the gas in. He looks at the license plate and says, "Ontario, so what state is that anyhow?" That was my first impression. Then when I got to Florida one of the waitresses in a restaurant comes up said, "So, you're from Canada. Do you live in igloos?" So we indulged her and said yes.
Artie: Have any of you ever seen Jay Leno and the Jay in the Street interviews? Jaywalking or whatever they call it? This sounds like what Keith is talking about. Thank you for coming and you get an American flag too. (applause)
Cindy: I shouldn't talk because I'm really a Texan.
Artie: Go ahead and tell us where you're from now and what you've been doing.
Cindy: I'm living in Australia now, western Australia. It's a little town outside of Perth called Calmunda. So there I am. I met an Australian a couple of years ago in Ireland. We met on a tour of sacred sites and we ended up getting together after much turmoil. It took over two years.
Artie: And you're opening a bookstore?
Cindy: Yes, I've just bought a little metaphysical bookstore in which I have The Immortal prominently featured.
Artie: What do you think about Australia so far?
Cindy: I love it. The people are very welcoming and very kind. They hate the crocodile hunter there. I was shocked about that. They don't even show it in Western Australia.
Artie: Crocodile Dundee?
Cindy: They hate him too. They think they're stereotypes and reflect badly upon Australians.
Artie: In their opinions of Americans, is there anything you've heard derogatory to you or complimentary?
Cindy: They seem to like Americans, generally speaking. Politically, they like to wrestle with our politics. Their politics are really in a lot of turmoil as well but generally speaking, they like Americans.
Artie: Great. Thanks. You get a flag too. (applause)
Next I was kind of fascinated by where everyone is from. I was looking at my atlas. It seems we have a lot of people from Illinois here. I wonder why. But first, before we do that I want to go through briefly and see how many are from where. Our furthest point west is Hawaii with Lorraine. Lorraine started out in Boise then moved to Hawaii to go to school. So she made a supreme sacrifice to get here.
Then moving further west, do we have anyone from California? How about Oregon or Washington? No. How about Utah? Wow, we have quite a few from Utah. Are all of you Mormons? All of you? Ex-Mormons or full pledged Mormon? You're not ex-Mormons, do you go to the temple and all that?
Nevada now. We have a gal from Las Vegas. Formally from California, San Diego Area.
What's next? Kansas. Idaho. From Idaho we have James, Gloria and is that it? We have five from Utah and four from Idaho. So far Utah is winning. What's next? New Mexico? Arizona? No one from those. Then Texas? We have Larry and Robin. It looks like 10 people from Texas. Are you all from the pan handle area? Or the Southern area or spread out all over?
Response: Mostly central and northern.
Artie: We asked about impressions of the US. Now for impressions of Texas. The signs are all backwards, as JJ mentioned yesterday. North should be South and East should be West. We were trying to travel and couldn't figure out why we were going south when we were supposed to be going east or west or north. So we figured you guys are a little messed up on your signs. (laughter)
Response: As they say in Texas Artie, "We're a fixin to fix that."
Artie: The thing that really impressed me, and I've never seen this before, that when you go to pass, people move over to the shoulder. They're driving sometimes in the dirt. I've never seen that before. In Idaho you can be going up a trail and winding up and have a string of cars and the guy will just sit there going 15 mph and he won't pull over for anything.
Response: Well there isn't anywhere to pull over to.
Artie: But I'm talking about the times where there are pull-outs. You're supposed to pull over if there are three cars behind you. That really impressed me about Texas.
Audience: Speed in important in Texas.
Artie: Another great thing about Texas is the climate. When you get old and wrinkled the humidity bathes your face so all your wrinkles just seem to disappear. Have you noticed that?
Audience: Your hair puffs too.
Artie: but I wouldn't want to live here. I don't like humidity. So where else do we have? We covered Texas. Oklahoma. We've got one from Oklahoma. We've got Iowa. One from Iowa. Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota. Anyone from those states? Montana? We don't have anybody from those states. We're to Illinois now. We have how many from Illinois? Wow! It looks like seven. Texas is first and now Illinois. What brought you all? You're mostly from Chicago area? What brought you here? Are you all friends? Two of you are. Mindy, did you have anything to do with this? No? So you never knew Mindy and she didn't know of you? Seven from Illinois? That's amazing. That's a long way. Ok where next?
Wisconsin. We've got one from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Anything further east? Georgia. One from Georgia. And Maryellen is from Massachusetts. So Maryellen is from the furthest east? And the furthest west is Lorraine. Anybody we missed?
Audience: I'm surprised we have no one from Pennsylvania and New York or from Michigan. They're big states.
Artie: I have a little prize for the one who came the farthest. That would be someone from a foreign country so who would that be? Australia seems to be the farthest so come on up here Cindy.
Cindy: I think it should go to As'af since he's genuinely from another country.
Artie: So you want to turn over your prize to him?
Response: Well what is the prize? (Laughter)
Artie: That reminds me of when I invite my daughter's friend over for a meal and she asks, "Well, what are you going to have?" This is a fabulous, fabulous prize and I know you're going to want to share it. This is a little froggie with soap so he can wash off that traveling dust. (applause)
And I'd also like to recognize those who have made all three gatherings. Raise your hand if you've been to all three. It looks like six.
Now I'd like to get a little bit into the story of the cast of players here. We have people here who are on the Keys list. Does everyone know what the Keys list is and the Keyster Gathering and why we're here? I know some of you aren't on the Keys list but you do know what it's about, right? And you've been given information so you know about us.
Audience: Somebody is saying no right here.
Artie: You don't know about the Keys? Okay, Rick, you come up here. He's the founder of the Keys. You can tell us about the Keys and what got you into it.
Saturday Gathering part 2
Rick: I'm Rick and I'm to blame. I was on an email list on SpiritWeb. A fellow on the list went to freeread.com and started posting chapters on our email list, from The Immortal. I got about two chapters into it and thought, "This is pretty cool. I'm going to read the whole book." So I went back to the first email and got the address then went to freeread.com and downloaded the book. I got off the internet then sat there and read book I until I finished it about 4 o'clock in the morning. Then I wrote an email to JJ and made some comment about a teacher I'd had before who had said something weird about one of the things JJ said so I had some doubts about it. Otherwise I liked the book. I thought he probably wouldn't write me back, that he was probably the latest new age huckster and I'd just be one fish that got away.
But the next day when I got off work and checked my email, sure enough, his letter was right on top. He said that when you give authority to others, you give power to the beast. It hit me like cupid's arrow. It was so true. So I wrote back and said, "Yea, that's right. You got it. I need to find out what happens in book II so I'm going to go to the store and get a money order. I'll send the money order and you can send book II. I got book II within a week. I was determined to make this book last. I managed to make it last for a weekend. I was reading as slow as I could but it only lasted a weekend. So I get back and write him another email. I said, "This is really cool and I like it all." Of course I'd been on several email lists and I wanted to get on JJ's email list. So I asked if he had a newsletter or a mail list. "No, we haven't had the time to do that yet." I asked, "Do you mind if somebody does?" JJ said, "No, I guess not."
So I'm thinking all these people on this other email list that are enjoying The Immortal chapters, one of them surely knows how to create an email list so I'll talk them into starting a list then I'll jump on it and become a member. Then I got to thinking what am I asking somebody else to do so that I can enjoy it. So I went to SpiritWeb and researched it. There was a form to fill out. What kind of a list was it going to be; open forum or moderated. What were you going to call it? What were you going to talk about? Then you had to give them 12 names and email addresses of people who would join this list if SpiritWeb started it there. So I went on these other lists I was on and said we were going to start an email list for The Immortal and all I need is 12 people and their names and email addresses.
Within 45 minutes I had a dozen names back in my email. So I sent the application in. So within 2 weeks of reading The Immortal I was the founder of the Keys of Knowledge. I work for JJ. He didn't really know at first how he was going to use this medium for teaching. He wasn't familiar with the email lists so we talked back and forth. He told me what to name it. I suggested, "Why don't you just get on there and teach us stuff. So he came up with the way to do it and he let me run with it. We started, I think our first post came out in November of 98-end of October-so we've been at it about 3 1/2 years since the first post that hit the list. I think we've gotten from JJ alone now, about 1700 posts. People keep asking, "When is he going to write book III?" I tell them, "He's working on it but in the meantime you've got about four books worth of stuff in the archives. So if you're waiting for book III, read the archives first and that will keep you busy while he writes book III."
When I started it I had these ideas. I'd been on email lists on topics I was interested in. There was this dynamic where they'd grow then they'd kind of fizzle out. People have a certain idea of how a list should be and what their philosophy is and if you don't go by that philosophy, suddenly you're getting flamed by every body. So I put these little seed thoughts in from the beginning. I said, "We're going to be like a classroom. But we're going to be like friends in this classroom and we're going to hang out together. We're going to be like family. We're all going to be real friendly. We're going to stick to the business but we're also going to have a lot of fun doing this. We're not going to be too serious. We're going to be good buds." I left it like that and everybody picked that up and what they turned the Keys into was greater than what I ever could've made up myself.
I never had to say, "Thou shalt not do this. Thou shalt do that." And if somebody got out of line and people said you're not doing it right. It's like these little seeds. We're going to be friendly and a classroom and everybody just picked it up and made it into the greatest little email list. And it keeps getting bigger. I don't think it's ever going to die down. For the population, right now we have about 380 members, for our size, there are different levels of activity and we stay very active. I tell people about joining the group, "Well, if you don't like a lot of email, get the digest because someday there are 20-30 people who jump on the bandwagon and have something to say. We have every religion and philosophy in there and the whole idea is that everybody is accepted and we're all there to learn together.
People sometimes think, "You're like JJ's right hand man and you guys must talk every day." We really don't. He touches bases with me every once in awhile but I'm just another one of his students in the class. I just happen to be the guy at the door, or the barker, saying, "come on in."
The basic rules are if it's not on topic; if it isn't in response to something JJ has written about, we ask people to put OT for off topic. And just be friendly to everybody. It's like not everybody came from the same church or is the same religion or same philosophy. Give those people some space because they may have some good ideas in what they've learned that never occurred to you in the philosophy or religion that you were brought up in. When you start mixing these together and everyone has this common goal of becoming more and better; of becoming. We'll all profit by it. It's more than anybody could've ever dreamed at the beginning and it keeps getting better. I'm glad y'all did it. (applause)
Artie: We do have a moderated list at this point. Diane is one of our list moderators. Do we have anybody else? Rick, and Travis and JJ also. So we have a triangle of these moderators. Tell us a little bit about why we went to moderators.
Rick: We had some members that were disruptive, that didn't want to follow the classroom and be friendly and stay on topic. There was one in particular down in Tasmania that was giving everybody a lot of problems, trying to take over and teach his own style of philosophy. People began to complain. We've got to have more control. I have the ability from my computer to excommunicate anybody by pushing a button. I didn't want to do that. Basically I've been wanting to keep it democratic in the true sense of the word. It's everybody's list. So the people in Triads kept saying, "We should change this to a moderated list so we have a little bit more control." I drug my feet knowing it would be so much more work for me. I finally said, "Y'all vote on it and if you want it to be moderated and it's a unanimous vote I'll change the set-up. So everybody voted on it. It was pretty much unanimous. They wanted it moderated.
So I contacted SpiritWeb and they said, "This is what happens. You have to be the moderator now." That meant I would have to check every piece of mail that comes before you ever see it on the list. So I went back to Triads and said if this is what we're going to do, I'm not doing it by myself. I'm not necessarily always going to be there. I might be seeking thrills somewhere else. I might be working overtime. And it shouldn't be one person's responsibility to decide what's right or wrong. So like everything else, that were my views, I've kind of shared, in keeping with the whole democratic thing and making sure it's everybody's list and not mine. So we ended up with me and three other people doing moderating. Of those, Diane, our insomniac, has become the main man. She's the main moderator and we have her to thank for all the mail. She keeps it flowing so you don't have to wait very long between posting and seeing it come up on the list. Big thanks to Diane. (applause)
Artie: Diane is pretty gentle so if you ever think you want to post something and wonder if she didn't agree with you would she kick it out? No, it's not the point of the whole thing. Do you want to explain about that a little? What's policy about what get kicked out and what doesn't?
Rick: Basically, she probably wouldn't pass something with bad language. If you haven't switched off HTML, which is like what you'd use to program web pages, SpiritWeb doesn't let that pass through. When it comes through SpiritWeb you get all this HTML code in the email and it looks like gogglygook and the length. By rights, she should be able to just cancel that and not pass that one through. But what she often does is that she will copy it and edit it and repost it for the person so it gets through anyway. If you've posted something and it doesn't look like it did when you wrote it it's probably because Diane fixed it up for you and sent it in.
Rather than her contacting you to tell you it's wrong, she'll just go ahead and fix it and forward it for you. If you are responding to something or introducing a new topic that has nothing to do with the topic that JJ introduced, you need to put the capital letters, OT, in the subject line to show it's off topic. That way people who are trying to follow the flow of the classroom and the lessons, if they're not interested in the OT stuff, they can skim right by it and maybe come back later or just delete it or whatever. If they're just there for the classroom and the lessons then they can concentrate on it. So if you are talking about Maharishi somebody or other giving lessons in Philadelphia next weekend and you're all invited to come, you need to put OT in the subject line. Otherwise it's just going to go into cyber Neverland. There is no reason she should have to rewrite it for you but if she wants to she can put the OT in the subject line then pass it through. Otherwise we're pretty open.
We try to stay friendly. If you get on there and disagree with something someone else has said and start calling them a no good so and so it's not going to get past her. She might let you stick your foot in your mouth once in awhile and say something stupid. She's written me before me before and said someone here is on the rag and I said, "Well, let's let them stick their foot in their mouth because they need to learn something and we're interfering with their lesson. Sometimes you need to cut yourself or burn yourself on the back burner or whatever and figure out that's a fax paus." If it's a minor thing and you're just sticking your foot in your own mouth, we'll let you do that.
Artie: We're like family. If you get a family gathering sometimes you get a few people who can get a little jerky and that's all part of loving in a family. We're not all perfect but we all love each other. We understand that it is a medium where you can't sometimes, and this has been brought up quite a bit, that you can't communicate what you really mean sometimes. The body language isn't there. You're not there in person. That's one of the reasons we meet here. It's all done in writing so sometimes the words fail the meaning. So people get upset or say something that offends and that starts some bad feelings. But we've been, gosh for a long time, very peaceful and great energy on the list so it's been wonderful. Listen, tell me how we came up with the name. If you look at that banner in the back you'll see the name and of course we want you all to sign it. This has been signed twice before. Keysters Gathering. Where do we get the name Keysters?
Rick: I'm to blame for that too. Right up front, within the first couple of months, I started saying, "As this group grows and the philosophy starts being talked about by people in the world, at some point they're going to want to start calling us something. What is it, the Latter Day Saints they call the Mormons and who is it that's the Holy Rollers? And the Shakers became the Shakers because of the way they act when they're praying. We really ought to think about this up front and come up with something that we like to be called so that when they start calling us that we'll say, "Yea that's us." Instead of being called something we don't necessarily want to be called. I said it could be something like Keysters and the name just stuck. Everybody seemed to like that and started calling themselves that so that's where the Keysters came from.
At the very first Gathering, I think there's a picture in that album back there, when we were in McCall Idaho, in the dining hall they had, all the different groups that had met there had left plaques on the wall. Everybody in their group had signed their name on this plaque and it had the name of whatever their group was. Some of them were very nice. They were done on pieces of wood. I love to do carving, relief carving and sculptures and stuff like that. I'm thinking, "Oh I could do that. I could carve and we all could sign but I didn't bring any of my exacto knives or chisels or anything." But my mind started going a hundred miles an hour and I went out to the wood pile and I found this piece of wood about so big and nice and smooth with no knots in it. So I needed a knife or something. There was this bent nail in the tree and I start wiggling it out of the tree and I got me a log and bent it straight. I walked over to the concrete foundation and sharpened it up. Then I found a block of wood and I used that to tap in a carving. I'd have to see a picture again to even remember what that first one was. I think I called it, "Keys First Light" then everybody signed it. I think it's still sitting in the dining hall. You can go back and get that anytime.
I think the tradition we're working up to is that the person that hosts will end up keeping it. Last year after having done that, everybody kind of liked that, so last year before coming I thought ahead and carved one with some cross keys. It was the second gathering so it had two keys on it. It was Gathering Two at Temple Hill. Everybody signed that one. Susan was the hostess of that one, it was her resort. Then they sold the resort so I sent her an email saying Keep the plaque, go back and get it, don't sell the place with the plaque so Susan has plaque two. When I finally figured out that I was going to make it come hell or high water, I had to do a plaque. So I ran down to MJ design and got me a piece of wood and did this year's. It says Gathering Three and I've got the state of Texas with a heart in the middle and a triangle incised into the heart. Down here it says, "Deep in the Heart." I left out the word 'Texas' because it's obvious that's it's deep in the heart of Texas but also there is hidden meaning in this because I think there is going to be something deep in the heart this time. There's going to be something really special with number 3 and the triangle in the heart. The idea is that before y'all leave this weekend, everybody sign. There are a lot of people this year so make sure you leave enough room for everybody to sign. We'll leave it with Robin and Larry to do with as they see fit.
Larry: You know when they were doing Super bowl two and three they had no idea. It's coming down the road.
Rick: This is this year's and everybody thinks it's one of the best ones. I had a little bit more time and sandpaper.
Artie: This reminds me of McGyver. I've got a nail and a piece of wood and I made a plaque. I also want to recognize the person who is responsible for initiating this whole idea of a gathering. Lorraine, you want to come up here? (applause) We're real lucky to have Lorraine. Lorraine, tell us your story now.
Lorraine: Well, we're all on the internet together and we've never been able to meet each other and we're all from different parts of the world. When you post on the net you feel really close to some people. You can just automatically feel a sister. You just know someone's name and you feel good when they post because it's them again. You read every word they write but you never had the opportunity to meet anybody. So I used to live in Boise and JJ was there so I said, "Can we meet? Can we gather together? I'm a very kinesthetic kind of person. I have to experience something to learn it and I want to meet these people." He said, "That's a good idea. Why don't you do that?" (laughter) Alright I will! So we did it, we gathered together.
I found a place in McCall that is actually beautiful up there on the lake. We just put it together and it just fell into place. A gathering seems like a lot of hard work from the outside but when you're actually doing it (I don't know if this was your experience) for me it fell into place and was so easy. It was like a labor of love. I had lots of curveballs but that's part of it. It's part of the learning of it and growth. It's wonderful. Then when you actually meet these people in person it's so much different. They're not what you think they are. They're not as anything. You get a picture of them in your mind because you read the words on the page but they're not what you think they are. You have no idea how sweet someone is and you have no idea how insecure someone is. You have no idea of how big someone is and I don't mean physically. Or how much of a teddy bear someone is. You just don't know until you meet somebody. The words on the page won't express that. You have to meet someone in person to truly know them and get a feel for them. That's why the gathering was so important to me. That's why I wanted to have a gathering, because I like people. (applause)
Artie: I want to recognize those who are on the Keys list. Would you stand up so I can see you from those who just read the book. Okay everyone who is NOT on the Keys list stand up. These are people who are not on the list. Are you going to get on the list now? Do you all have computers? We have archives of all of the writings. JJ's writings are here. It's been going on 3 years and to catch up with that would take a long time but you can go back and read the things that have been posted in the past. If you wait until you're caught up you'll never get through so just read as you go and join in. For those of you who aren't real computer literate or don't know how to join maybe you could get together with somebody who has been on the list for awhile. We have a lot of experts here who can give you advice on what to do and how to get in. There is a membership but that takes only a few minutes. So get together with somebody who knows.
There are some interesting stories about what got people here. Would anybody like to share?
Response: Lorraine did it. She's the one who got me involved. We worked together.
Artie: First let me start with the people who aren't on the Keys list and who haven't been part of the family for awhile. I heard Dyanne had a good story. Dyanne, would you tell us your story?
Dyanne: No. Actually my roommates tell a better story.
Artie: We want yours. Dyanne! Dyanne! Dyanne! We want your story.
Dyanne: My friend gave me the book and I came!
Artie: tell us what you had to overcome to get here.
Dyanne: Nothing
Artie: Do like the people?
Dyanne: I love the people.
Artie: And how do you like sharing your room?
Dyanne: I love sharing my room.
Artie: Do you often share your room?
Dyanne: No, I don't often share my room.
Artie: Do you ever share your room?
Dyanne: I don't like sharing rooms with anyone!
Artie: So was that difficult to overcome?
Dyanne: No, for some reason it wasn't. I didn't care about coming and sharing a room with however many people. I even wondered if I was going to have to share a bed but it didn't matter.
Artie: Because it was that important for you to be here?
Dyanne: Yea, I don't know why but yea. (applause)
Artie: Again, those people who aren't on the Keys list, what brought you here? You're just reading a book then what gets you to spend the money and time to come here to this gathering? Is there anybody who was impressed to come by the spirit? Do you want to come up here real quick?
Ellie: I heard about this from a friend. I don't know whether she's part of the Keysters, but probably not. When she told me about it I said, "I know I'm supposed to come because I hear the spirit immediately, nearly always." I don't usually change but like everyone said, I had all kinds of things happen that would've kept me from coming but I knew I was supposed to come. The one thing that impressed me, I think, was that I had a dream several years ago. In this dream my best friend had left and she had not given me the keys to my car and I could not catch up with her. I was supposed to follow her. I hollered loud enough that she heard me and she stopped. When she did stop we got out of the car and she tossed me the keys. It was a large key ring and there was probably a dozen keys on this key ring. They fell all over the sidewalk and some ornery little boys, juveniles about 13, got my keys and they were starting to leave with my keys. The Holy Spirit or something stronger than them, all I did was hold out my hand and each one of them had to give me the keys. There was not one key missing when they left. So the Keys had a lot of impact. There were at least 12.
Artie: What about other stories? Sofia?
Zofia: I just read the book. I read the first chapter and I was so interested that I ordered the book and I read the book and I knew that I had to come. Later I wrote to JJ in an email and asked about the next books because I wanted more. He gave me the information about the gathering. I got it on my internet. So I gave the book to Sofia and she read the book and we decided both to come.
Sofia: I almost didn't come because there were too many obstacles. I'm on radio and couldn't find somebody to substitute my hours besides me. When you have a radio program you have to be on. Anyway, when I read the first book on the internet it really caught my attention. Then the second book I read with such intense excitement. The first on when I was 16 years old was "Gone with the Wind" in Polish. After this I read a lot of books, good and bad, but this one I read in two afternoons no matter how busy my afternoons are. I was reading, next page, next page, next page. I said, "Well, this must be something." And it is very interesting and I would like to read the second part so I ordered it from the bookstore and I found out there is an "Immortal" book written by somebody else when I was ordering. I said, "No, that's not the one." So I ordered this one and about a week later it came.
Anyway when I found out she was going I said, "Let her go." But she went to Poland and we didn't make reservations in time. I couldn't make reservations without her coming back because I didn't know what days were best for her and how I could arrange these things. Then the price of the tickets went up and was almost $400 round trip and I said, "Wait a second, for a few days it's not worth it for that much money. For that money we could go to Hawaii for a whole week." So, we almost didn't come but then we found something on the internet again. We found some cheaper tickets and said let's go. So that's how we got here. So far it's interesting. I'm strongly Catholic and have a lot of friends being on the radio and being with the priests in Chicago. I gave the first book to one of my friend priests to read. I said, "I would like to know your opinion. What do you think about it?" But he didn't finish yet so he didn't give me an opinion. I told him I'm going to the gathering and he said, "Watch out, you're going to come with new things in your heart." I said, "I don't think so. I just want to listen and find out what it's all about and meet some interesting people then I'll tell you what it was about." That's my story. (applause)
Artie: You have your own radio show? Do you ever advertise "The Immortal" on there?
Sofia: I wasn't because the show is in Polish for Polish people and it isn't in Polish.
(conversation too difficult to discern clearly)
Artie: Are there any stories from Keysters? What prompted you to get on the list of anything special about coming to the gathering. Any special stories that you want to share with us?
Melva: I can tell you about Mindy. It took her two years of saying, "Have you read "The Immortal" yet? I'd be on the Keys then I'd get off the Keys but I never posted and she would say, "Have you read that book yet?" No, I'm too busy, I don't have time. Then one day I reached the point where I needed something new and I was bored, I don't know if that sounds flattering or not, but I was just really really bored and I picked up "The Immortal" and I just could not believe it. I thought, "Mindy!" This was the most amazing book I ever read and so much of my life started to make sense. All these little pieces started coming together; random things that had happened started fitting into a whole picture. It was just the most amazing thing. Mindy and I were talking and we decided we must've had a pre-life agreement that she would keep reminding me until I read it because I can be very resistive. One thought was I wish I had read it two years ago. I'd be so much further along. Mindy and I live about two miles apart and we met on the internet. We were on the Lemuria list with Rick and that's where I met Mindy. I recognized her email address as being a local one. The internet has really brought a lot of people together.
Artie: Any other stories?
Gloria: As I was reading the book, I didn't realize it until I was reading the book but I had met JJ before when I was in business for myself and we had done business together. So as soon as I realized that I hit a connection. Then as I was reading the book I knew these places. I know Albertsons on 17th and State. I know Denny's. It just nailed it in for me because I'd been to all those places and I met JJ. As I was reading I thought this is really real. This doesn't seem like fiction to me because it's just so there. I read the first book then I had to get the second book. After I read the second book I had to find out where they Keys list was because somebody told me about the Keys. The next thing I knew I was on the Keys and reading the archives and knowing there is more here. Let's get some more. Once in awhile I have to go out and actually work and not have as much time to read but I think I've been pretty steady for the 2 years with the Keys. I don't post a lot but I do post from time to time and sometimes I go in spurts and it seems like I'm posting everyday. It just resonated with me when I was reading the book that I need to know more. There was some soul contact there. So that's it for me.
Sofia: It's a big influence on my health because when I started reading the first part of the book I was talking to Zofia who is very spiritual. She's open to every book and new idea and she says, "You're generally a healthy person. Why are you suddenly sick?" I have diabetes. She said, and I think this book influenced her, "I was wondering why you got the sickness. It's probably because you didn't let go of the feelings after you got divorced." It was a very dramatic divorce. My ex-husband married my ex-friend. She was working for us. We had a bar and she was a barmaid. My ex-husband let her go three times and I hired her back because they need money and they need work. She was taking different action. She decided to be Mrs. Boris. When I found out it was too late. I was very angry for a long time. It happened in 1982 and I was still angry until this year. Zofia said, "You have to let go, you have to do something. Don't let it hurt you anymore. It happened. It's gone. Let it go. Get free of this feeling."
I was talking to my ex-husband and find out he's sick. He has cancer. He's got tumors in his brain and MS and Alzheimer's and everything. He's not very old and he's very sick. I had just come back from the funeral of my father in Poland and was telling him that I don't have any bad feelings toward him and if he needs any sort of help and if his present wife left him or whatever, if he needs cared for I'll be glad to do it. Of course it wasn't like it was before. He was my first love and it was very difficult for me to overcome the feeling. People help me and I feel much better now. I decide to go on special diet so my diabetes is much better now. I've been able to go without insulin. With this diet I'm controlling my diabetes perfectly. I think the book influenced us through Zofia so I've been able to do something good about it. (applause)
Copyright 2002 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved