Life is a fascinating magical classroom and the wonders never end. If you want to encounter the miraculous in everyday life, spend some time with Reverend Betty Tatalajski, founder of The Temple of Universality – then hold on for the ride.
What an adventure! I flew from Seattle to London to connect up with Rev B. T. who flew in from a Peace Conference in North Korea. Our primary goal was to visit the White Eagle Lodge there, then catch a few of London’s highlights; and later, travel on to Iraklion, Crete to board The World Ship for a journey that would include Syracuse & Naples Italy; Valletta, Malta; Gozo Island; and Sousse, Tunisia.
On our first morning in London as we explored our historic hotel, the Langham - opened by the Prince of Wales in 1865 - we looked expectantly out the window and got quite a chuckle when we saw Betty’s initials on a tall spire right outside. – B. T. (British Telecom). “Okay”, I said to Rev. B. T., “that’s what I call validation”! Later, as we set out to find an ATM, Betty stopped briefly to retrieve a penny in her path – the first of many she would be given city after city for the next 30 days . . . gifts from her joy guide, Penny. This happened with such regularity that I was surprised when after several days in Malta, her usual penny still hadn’t appeared. On our last day in port, I stopped at a local bank in order to exchange my Maltese Lira back into US currency. When the teller handed me my US dollars, she also placed one copper coin into the palm of my hand. As I looked quizzically at the foreign coin, she explained that it was a Maltese penny. “Oh,” I said laughing, “I know who this is for”!
A special sign was waiting for me in Kairouan, Tunesia - the most holy city of North Africa. It was while visiting the 4th most holy mosque in Islam, the 9th century Great Mosque that I took a picture of a holy man. When I later looked at the photo I had taken, there was a mysterious symbol, written in light, floating near his head. Subsequently while searching the Internet for possible clues to the meaning of this symbol, I discovered Aramaic – the language spoken by Jesus. This led me to compare the difference between interpretations for various passages from the St. James Bible and an Aramaic Bible. One passage in particular has always concerned me. . . the last words of Jesus spoken from the cross. In the St. James version Jesus says “my God my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” I found small comfort in the realization that Jesus in his last hour doubted God. Consequently I found great consolation in the Aramaic interpretation which tells us that Jesus called out “God, God wherefore hast thou vouchsafed me.” In saying this, Jesus takes comfort in the knowledge that he is to rejoin his Father in heaven because his mission on earth is complete with the fulfillment of his destiny as the Son of Man.
At the end of our trip, on our last day aboard the ship, as we were packing and making preparations for travel into the Rome airport, the ship’s “Daily Announcements” (a two-page bulletin with local port information) arrived. The front page contained a story about a new archeological find - a cave, once thought to be mythic – that had been unearthed in Rome. A camera probe sent into the cave revealed a ceiling covered in shells, mosaics, and colored marble, with a White Eagle at the very center. "You can imagine our amazement - we almost screamed," said Professor Giorgio Croci, the head of the archaeological team working on the restoration of the Palatine. Upon reading this, Betty and I knew that the circle of our journey was complete, and we were thrilled at this very special recognition sent to us by White Eagle.
