30th annual dinner & fundraiser

Two days ago was the 30th anniversary of CNG/PH. The tradition of a crab dinner began before we had even incorporated as a school, in one of the student’s apartments, just as a fun thing to do. There weren’t very many students then, so we all got together and ate crab and had a great time. We continued having the crab dinner for a few years until it just sort of faded away until about 10-15 years ago when the idea was raised again because we needed to do some fund raising.

During the first few years before we incorporated I was teaching classes in my 4th floor apartment in the Fillmore, which had an elevator that kept breaking down, and then in my apartment in Noe Valley. I had taught quite a few classes and the only reason I decided to incorporate was because one of the students demanded that the classes she was taking have a name. To have a name meant to incorporate.

I had recruited a guy to teach with me by then, so he and I and another person he knew became the Board of Directors of the Church of Natural Grace and its seminary, Psychic Horizons. At that time, small churches were having a hard time getting incorporated, but when the incorporation papers finally came through, we were teaching in the basement room of a house of a friend of mine in the Sunset.

The problem with incorporating as a church is that you have to have church services. I had sworn when I left home I would never again open a Bible, so this presented a problem, as now we had a church and I had to do a sermon. So there was a little drinking before and after the first service.

When my friend moved, we moved into the whole house. That worked for a while until the neighbors in the residential neighborhood we were in decided we had too much traffic so the landlords said they would evict us. We couldn’t find a suitable location, even though we looked and looked and looked. We had found a place we liked, and we even knew that was our house, but the real estate agent said we were a cult and refused to rent us the house, and even refused to let the landlord know we were interested.

So we concocted this little scheme, unethical people that we were. A couple of us went to the real estate agent’s office and we asked him for something that we knew was out of the room. When he left the room to get it, we looked at his paperwork and found out who the owner was. He was an Iranian who had a rug business in Walnut Creek. Now fortunately I grew up in Iran and was familiar with Iranians, so we went to his business unannounced, found him and were able to convince him to let us rent the house on 4th and Geary.

The real estate agent was furious, so he only gave us that day to come up with a down payment. It was the weekend, and the banks weren’t open on Saturday afternoons then, and he had given us a deadline of 5 pm that Saturday afternoon. So a bunch of us raced to our respective ATM machines all over the city – ATMs were new at that time and there weren’t very many of them -- and withdrew as much cash as possible until we had barely enough money for the down payment. We walked into the real estate agent’s office at 5 minutes to 5 pm with the money. He was extremely disappointed that we made it and we were extremely gleeful.

We wouldn’t have left that place except that Kaiser bought that building and tore it down for their medical building at that location. So we moved here, and we have been here for nearly 14 years. This is a great location and a wonderful space and we are very appreciative to be here.

To me the way to measure whether Psychic Horizons has been successful over the years is by the quality of the students, graduates, and staff. All you have to do is introduce yourself to the people at your table and you will see the quality of the people here.

Plus, we have stuck to the core principles we started out with: integrating spirit with the physical, real self-communication, understanding how energy works, getting your own information, learning to be present, making separations from pictures and people in order to own and be who you are now, and learning how to heal yourself. Based on those standards, this school is a success. Even now, those of us on staff sometimes marvel at how wonderful and how deep these principles are.

The staff has also always been fantastic. I’m very proud of them and what they have accomplished for themselves and for the students and graduates here. They are fabulous teachers. Will the staff who are here please stand up so that you can be recognized.

You are all here because you have contributed to the financial well being of Psychic Horizons, as well as to the energy level here. Tithing and donations are a major reason that we have been able to survive all these years, so all of you are a part of what we are creating, and we are most appreciative and grateful to you.

Tonight is about celebrating, and having a good time with and appreciating each other. Please be sure to introduce yourself to people you don’t know. Tonight is also about enjoying some of the benefits of having a body. In this case, really good food. Rev. Tom Rippy is the executive chef, and he not only makes but donates this dinner every year, so after dinner please be ready to give him lots of validation.

Laura's blessing for the dinner

L et us join hands and give thanks.

Let us say hello to the presence of God among us, and acknowledge God’s presence within each one of us here tonight. Let us be aware of and be grateful for all the blessings in our lives.

Our relationships in all their various forms
Our health
Our ability to be happy
Our ability to grow and change
Our ability to be who we are
Our decision to be in our body at this time and place, and all the opportunities that gives us
Lur ability to recognize who we really are underneath it all
For the food and company tonight
Let us allow ourselves to receive our blessings. Let us live with consciousness and an attitude of gratefulness.

Amen