United Souls of America for Sai - Commemorative Volume Celebration 85 years of the Divine Advent

Excerpts shared for educational and spiritual purposes with reverence to the author. This is a non-profit project dedicated to selfless service.

Jeff Justice is a motivational speaker/author and stand-up comedian. Diane Pfeifer Justice is a former country music singer/songwriter, chemist, actress and now cookbook author. They discovered Sai Baba in 1986 and during their first pilgrimage a year later, He arranged their marriage in an interview. They are longtime members of the Atlanta Sathya Sai Center.

Sai's guidance close at hand, no matter the distance over sea and land!

by Diane and Jeff Justice – Atlanta, Georgia, USA

As an American couple, we had the unique blessing of having an “arranged marriage” when Sathya Sai Baba told us to get married during our only interview in 1987. This unusual aspect of our relationship has given us special strength over the past twenty years but also demands a responsibility to uphold Sai principles here in the USA, which can be tricky especially for J. modem western family.

We have found Baba's maxims of “Love All, Serve All,” “Why Fear When I Am Here?" and "Love My Uncertainty” to be perfect guidelines for daily life. It seems any question or challenge that arises can somehow be answered and solved with one of these truths. Our two daughters have been comforted many times by these simple ideas when school or friend problems have troubled them.

In addition to the challenges of being Sai devotees navigating through western culture, both my husband's and my various occupations have involved the entertainment business. After years of performing as a stand-up comedian and tiring of the less-than-wholesome nightclub lifestyle, Jeff prayed to Baba for another career path which would still allow him to use his talent of humor. He had been teaching a stand-up comedy class but needed additional work. Within the next two days, two different friends approached him about facilitating corporate training and stress management seminars with humor. He accepted without hesitation knowing that Baba had provided the perfect answer, and he began speaking professionally to business audiences, incorporating Sai principles into his speeches in a humorous way.

One time Jeff was in a store, randomly pondering whether his comedy school was worth continuing anymore. He was asking Baba if it was really helping anyone and if he should focus instead on his growing corporate speaking business. Suddenly, a large man with a radiant smile spotted him and said, “I know you don't remember me, but I took your comedy class several years ago and wanted to tell you that every good thing that's ever happened in my life is a direct result of taking your class! My life has been wonderful and I just wanted to thank you.” He shook Jeff's hand and walked out of the store. Jeff looked up, envisioned Baba and said, “OK, I'll keep teaching it.” Jeff also signs all his correspondence with Baba's line, “Be Happy”.

My journey has been seeking Baba's help and learning to listen, then having the faith to implement the answer no matter how implausible. Besides arranging our marriage, He has clearly guided me in the most important decisions of my life with obvious signposts, usually accomplished in His ever-humorous fashion. I write cookbooks and had an idea when I was in California for a book using a southern US breakfast food- grits, which is coarsely-ground com. Having rarely cooked this grain, I was unsure about proceeding and asked Baba for a "big" sign as it is very time-consuming and expensive to produce cookbooks. Early the next morning, I was in a Hollywood cafe writing down possible recipe ideas when I heard a customer ordering grit. The waitress explained there was no such thing as “grits” in California and, after hearing the word three times, I got up and spoke to the customer, who turned out to be a very famous southern rock musician whom I admired. I wrote the cookbook and it has been a big success for my business for fifteen years.

Lastly, I would like to share a favorite dream. I had just returned from India with my then seven month old daughter. At the time, I was the registrar for an upcoming regional Sai conference. Every day I received many emails for very specific dietary needs, roommate changes, room location requests, transportation at odd times, etc. I complained to Jeff that some of the devotees were being too picky and inflexible. That night I dream that I was a student at Baba's college (that WAS a dream if I was that young again). I entered the cafeteria line and saw that macaroni and cheese was ten rupees, so I decided to order it. When I got to that section, the server was none other than Sai Baba! He was sitting and got up as if I had terribly inconvenienced him, “slopped” a mound of macaroni on my plate and as he turned to sit back down, reluctantly asked if I wanted anything else. I woke up laughing out loud at the dream; when I heard Baba's voice inside say very seriously, "SERVE HAPPILY!" I've had to remind myself of that dream many times when circumstances haven't gone smoothly and my first reaction is to complain.

Being raised in Christian homes, Jeff and I both found Sai's message to be the same, just a bit more universal. These are small examples of how Sai Baba has touched, graced and guided our lives. We are so blessed that we found Him and do the best we can to follow his principles in our family and business life.

Jeff, Diane, Jennica and Jianna Justice – Atlanta, Georgia USA