Reading letters written by former family members of The Abode, flooded me with a tumult of memories from an era that re-shaped me, from moments when I literally felt my heart open like a flower, and I shall never cease being grateful for that blessing. It was painful, exhilarating and swept through my life like a tidal wave. When I first encountered Pir Vilayat at Wahid's Woodstock camp around 1974 I was 28 years old. When I heard Pir speak, I knew I had finally found a teaching that "rang true" in every part of my being - something I had hungered and searched for all my life, but had not found in the Christian church, where I was brought up.

Shortly after that camp I quit my job and traveled to Chamonix to attend Pir's Sufi Camp des Aigles in Chamonix, where I encountered many European seekers, hiked to the top of Mt. Blanc and heard Pir teaching (sequentially translating himself from English to French to German) and all those impressions deepened into a commitment to help locate the site for what he was calling the Promised Land. 

Returning to the states, I joined a small search committee, most of whom eventually moved to The Abode, as did I. We visited land on a high plateau. We hosted Pir Vilayat in a ramshackle little abandoned building in a farm field outside of Roanoke, so that he could see it himself. Then I went home and waited.

Not long after, I heard that a former Shaker Community in New York State had been purchased. I quit another job, sold my car and went, arriving approximately 3 months after it was first inhabited by Pir's followers. I lived in a tiny garret, as the rest of the large Shaker buildings were filled to overflowing. We were heading into a New England winter and many of the windows were cracked or busted, so, I learned to glaze windows, which blossomed into a profession I pursued for many years, namely, working with stained & leaded glass.

Rose (formerly Zehra) and I traveled from The Abode during a hazardous winter blizzard to visit the Shaker ladies residing at Sabbathday Lake. We parked our car by ramming it into a deep snow bank to get it off the road, and spent a good bit of time there helping shovel their walks. Most of them were rather elderly.They graciously hosted and fed us for about a week. We reciprocated by weaving and helping out as we could.  Zehra led us in a "Sufi dance" during one of their gatherings. I was very intrigued to find that they had a prophesy foretelling another spiritual group would continue their legacy - Hands to Work, Hearts to God.

Some may remember me as the one who married the eccentric, unforgettable Edouard. Some may remember or know of me as the creator of the stained glass window in the Meditation Hall. The window, assembled in Andy and June's barn, was installed over the altar the day of the marriage of Barcot and Anastas, around 1979. My intention was to put it on the opposite wall, in a window that no longer exists, but when it was hoisted into place there, the afternoon sunlight caused what I can only describe as an explosion of light, making it literally impossible to gaze upon it. Amazed and perplexed, I had it switched to the window above the altar, where it remains to this day, still, occasionally, exploding into light.

The inspiration to combine Shaker and Islamic art elements, came to me after a silent retreat in a little hut on the hill just above that building, where I discovered Murshid's quote, "Enter unhesitatingly Beloved, for in this Abode there is naught but my longing for Thee."

This window is my only child, with whom I am well pleased. Over these nearly 5 decades many have awakened to its message. I fervently hope that it will remain for future generations in this sanctuary for worship, inner inquiry and meditation.

If The Abode can be kept alive, I will come, as I know countless others will, to help with the work of rebuilding, and I shall continue making financial donations as long as I am able.