10 ... Gabriel Morrispatiently in neat rows, expectantly awaiting the arrival of the com-
munity leaders: the founder and his wife. The two of them entered
through a side door and took their seats on a slightly raised platform
at the head of the room, as the entire audience of devotees stood up,
bowed and chimed in unison:
“Good morning, prince and princess!”
A select chorus started off the service with an uplifting spiritual
song, written by the leader, who gave me a brotherly wink as he
recognized me as a newcomer. The rest of the community chimed in
and, not knowing the words, I contented myself with looking around
the room in fascination at their apparent devotion. There was some-
thing about it that was just too orderly, too altogether positive, and
too contrived. I found it impressive, as well as somewhat disgusting.
They seemed to be keen on proving something to someone, either to
themselves, the rest of the world, God, or likely all of the above.
The leader then followed the song with an enthusiastic, lengthy,
and self-congratulating spiritual discourse. The followers listened
with rapt attention to his preaching against the various evils of so-
ciety, as well as his affirmation of their own actions and practices as
righteous in the eyes of God. Gabriel of Sedona, as the leader was
known (not his real name—in fact, no one used their real names), had
a colorful and personable style, a charismatic presence that reeked
of the message, “I’m a likable guy, who you can be assured knows
what he is doing.” He came across as a fiercely moral man, but not
one constricted to the standard fundamentalist religious ideals that
can seem so dry and colorless. His vision was one of a world of great
creativity, music, harmony with nature, and abundance, yet all with
a humility of spirit, and thankfulness for the blessings of life.
It was a vision that, to some degree, I shared. I too wanted to live
in a world of creative expression, beauty and love. Intellectually at
least, he had some good ideas. But there was something about his
message and his presence—such as the way he had winked at me—
that felt too much like a con man selling a miracle cure. As I looked
around the room, and later spoke with some of the other members