Of ministry and the last 16 to 20 ive gotten at this particular store called sagrata. So i wanted to invite the owners of the store that ive gone to in oakland for all these years and its a privilege and a blessing to have the guests and the owners here this morning, and thats mary and carloobusby. Tell us. Why sagrata, the name, the history, its your 20th 20th anniversary next year. This year is 20 years, yeah. We began the story in what was a little horse stable at the turn of the century for the telegraph avenue street cars. These were the car barns and so sagrata was born in a stable, and the neighborhood that were in is the word for the sacred ceremonial sweat lodge, and so the land that were on is sacred ground so it makes sense that our store or someplace that honors the tradition of the sacred is in our neighborhood. The word sagrada is the spanish word for sacred and our theme is the sacred and we celebrate the sacred in many traditions. I see. Its been 20 years coming up this year. It will be 20 years weve been there, it started in a little place like mary described and three or four years into it we came to telegraph avenue. Which is where we met you. Now why by the way thanks for helping put food on our table for all those years. Its been great. A consistent customer. We appreciate it. I feel that as people are going to look at you every sunday you should have some color. You should have. Youve got it. They have some wonderful stoles here. I was wondering it seems like you expanded in so many areas. What made you expand into artifacts and crosses and as you say all different religious faiths are represented. Well, the idea was there from the beginning. It wasnt as expressed the way it is now. We were looking for a way to well, we started off in ministry together. We met through ministry and then we decided later that we wanted to provide a service to the community and that there was a sense that this area, the bay area is one with great diversity, so to respond to that, rather than be a narrowly focused store, we decided to serve people of all faiths. We werent quite sure what that meant, and so we started small, and we took a lot of suggestions from our customers. Theyre the ones that sort of inspired us, taught us, guided us and little by little we adapted and expanded and tried to express the various traditions and through our books and through other music and places of or items that can be used for a devotion. I see. So youre always working on that that. All the time. Its evolving like a garden. Not complacent about what youre used to. You just keep on looking for ways to expand. It changes in terms of what people and for, and so part of our job is to listen and to respond to that. Every time i come in, there is that sacred kind of space there thats so special. Are you praying . Are you conscious of that . It seemed like a very intentional about that. Arent you praying all the time . All the time. We are quite conscious of it. People come in sometimes and say, i just needed to come to my temple today. Oh, okay. But theres also a need for people who arent connected with any particular tradition or they dont have a sacred place to go besides their own home or a tree and they feel it when they come in, and i do feel that part of it is as when you go into a temple or a sacred place, the gathering and the residue of the devotion of people who come and the goodness that they bring with them is there. Lets talk more about that in the next segment. Thanks for being here. Thank you ron. Please join us with mary and carlos buzz bee at sagrada. Welcome back, if youve been following us, i have another stole on. The creators are with us either tell us where is your store located. Were at 4926 telegraph avenue in oakland near 51st 51st street. Right, and youve been there how many years now . Altogether 20. Beginning our 20th year. Starting. Right, right. We were talking earlier about how the store expanded into some of the Different Things that you do because of peoples needs and they asked and so forth. The books you have. You have some great books over there. Tell us a few and show us a few of those, why you went in that direction. One of the books is just to honor dr. Houston smith. Some of you probably know this title. Dr. Smith was sort of one of the inspirations for our shop because he wrote the came out around the time we were beginning, a little after. Hold it up so they can see it. Before we started sagrada and that t caught that spirit of honoring, respecting and trying to understand other religions as way of nourishing our own faith, so we actually displayed this book in our very first shop, and it became a center piece for us, and fortunately, mary, at our First Anniversary invited houston smith to come to visit us and he did, much to our surprise and honoring our shop. Mid90s now. He is in his mid90s and a wonderful contributor to Human Understanding and especially the appreciation of faith in many traditions. So we took him as our inspiration. Most of my books have gotten about him at your store, his autobiography and all the story, i think he practice hinduism and buddhism and christianity. It was wonderful having him back again bringing that circle around. Could he sing . He could sing. We sang his favorite song. What is that . How can i keep from singing which is one of my favorites. Wow, i didnt know that. We really had a wonderful time together. People stayed for a long time because he received everyone so personally and warmly, and people were there to see him that day. Wonderful. I did a funeral a couple of weeks ago, and the person loved music, and certain kind of music so i looked up all the music that they loved which was oldies in the 70s and 80s, and so i brought to the service some of the favorite songs of the person himself. It made the Service Really real and concrete for people, and the mother and the brothers and sisters and relatives said, oh, yeah, he would have loved those songs. Its good to know peoples favorite songs, yes. Tell us about some of the other youre the ones that do this. You do so many of these and i have so many. Ive brought a few here with me. You have a few. What led you to do some of these . Actually, the investment making was the beginning of our business, and it was what year was that. 93. 93. What happened was the current pope had come out with a statement that the conversation on womens ordination in the Catholic Church was closed, and it made me pretty fired up. I got pretty angry about that, and i thought, okay, what am i going to do now because i felt that conversation ought to be very much alive, and i said to carlo, i feel defiant. Im going to make vest. S for women, and so thats how the vest. Business, actually how the whole business began and we named it at the time companions of kiara, who was saint kiara, st. Ically, the contemporary of st. Francis. So claire is one of the patrons of embroidery and hand work so we named it companions of kiara and i began to create vestments for women that was traditional womens craft, embroidery and quilting. Another history. That was the very beginning, and i thought darn it some day women are going to need vestments and were going to start it now, and that was the seed that we planted. That opened up the door for me. What are some of your background, carlos you were a priest right . I was. I was a pastor in berkeley california and thats where i met mary. And she was and im a music person and worship. Thats how you met. Isnt that something. And we pursued our ministry in a way through this work. Once we couldnt continue it in the work we were involved in. And vestment making, so began and women from all different churches were hearing about these scapulars theyre called and stoles and so then thats how that all sort of evolved. Okay. And then we realized that that was not going to be enough to put food on the table. I think then we began and thought, well, maybe theres a need in oakland for a store that provided books and other devotional items, and there it wasnt anything like it that served across the board so. And then the design started becoming more artisting and elaborate and men started coming and other women ministers from other churches and so we realized that they were meeting unnetted. As these people started coming into the shop as mary was saying, they started looking for other items they could use in their ministry, good books to use for their ministry. Music. Music. Also devotional items, prayer books, things like that. So we tried to provide a Broad Spectrum of items that they can use in ministry but also for parishioners or members of communities to come and supplement their faith or strengthen their faith. Do you have one particular resource you go to get all of these . So many things there. It is like a garden, sagrada is, and so much of what we do is fostering relationships and so someone had told us about mary lou who does these beautiful i wore an example. Weve been selling mary lous stoles since we began. That was a connection someone helped. Continue to be with us. At farmers, we make you smarter about insurance. Because what you dont know, can hurt you. What if you didnt know that posting your travel plans online may attract burglars . [woman] off to hawaii what if you didnt know that as the price of gold rises, so should the coverage on your jewelry . [prospector] ahh what if you didnt know that kitty litter can help you out of a slippery situation . The more you know, the better you can plan for whats ahead. Talk to farmers and get smarter about your insurance. We are farmers bum pa dum, bum bum bum bum ive urged my colleague to go over to sagrada, but not just my clergy colleagues, lay people who always and me because theres so many things at sagrada store. Tell us about the symbols im wearing in between. These similar bombs symbols remit symbols represent a number of the major faiths in terms of the largest representation, so we start with the spiral which is represents the indigenous faiths throughout the world. And here we have the hindu olm symbol, the buddhist wheel, egyptian onk or the symbol for the define feminine faith, religion, the temple menorah, for judaism, the yin and yang for the eastern traditions, celtic cross for christianity, and the symbol for islam all brought together with the flame that units unites us all. I have at least five of them, i think. Off green one, two green ones, i have a purple one and a white one so ive always tried to reflect the colors along with the symbolism, and so its wonderful. People say theyve never seen. I had seen. I wanted to do something that was a multifaith robe because we have customers who are chaplains and who do that sort of ministry, and i had seen several similar designs. Theres a woman in alameda, Eleanor Wylie who designed a prayer wheel with symbols around it, and shes gone all over the world teaching peacemaking. I also saw ascian of an artist wahaba in hawaii and another one, and i was inspired by their art and i just adapted for our . Thats great to do that. At the Ordination Service last year i wore a robe and they said they had never seen anything like that. , and i said thats where i go to sagrada even though they were from all over the country. I said if youre in town please go over there and youll see something youve never seen before. Ive been pleased. Tell us some of the other books that you have that i think were one thing that perhaps we havent mentioned is that we have a wonderful childrens section, too. Like you were just saying about inviting the lay people to come and visit us, theres perhaps the best books on spiritualty right now that are happening are with childrens books because theyre usually very well done and simple to read and yet powerful lessons. This is just from the series of 4 that came out a cup of years ago now. They continue to add volumes but they use the hebrew and christian scriptures and illustrate them. For instance this one is about the psalms and each one has a beautiful illustrations. I tried to preach on the songs a half a dozen times a year. Be happy to show you the rest of it too, beautiful book and they followed it up one on the images of god, again from the scriptures and ill illustrate this time from a different author and has beautiful illustrations, very engaging for youngsters and us as well. That one over there with the god, what is that one . The love poems from god . Yeah. Poetry is another area weve expanded in the last two or three years especially, and this one is a very popular book that includes love poems from god. Theyre inspirational religious poems from a variety of traditions. And people love to have something to contemplate perhaps at night as theyre going to sleep. Thats good. Or in the morning when they wake up to guide their day. And this is the kind of book that we like to carry. We have a whole range of them, and people are finding that the theme of spiritualty as you know is a much broader theme than any one particular religion. These are the kind of books that can inspire and bring people together around that theme. What made me think also is that youve had some focus around one of my favorite thinkers and writers and spiritual giants of our past and i believe reverend dorsey blake was there for a celebration. Can you remind me of what that was . He did an event in our shop on the spirituals. We sang, and he used some of dr. Thurmans writings and he wore his robe. It was very special. Thurman of course for those who are listening of course he was here and found the church for the fellowship of all people back in 1944. Quite a unique church in the country. And he was here to well, he lived to about 89 years of age and i happened to go toes his his funeral. It was a four hour funeral and i enjoyed every moment. It had speakers and readers and scripture reading. It was a wonderful experience. We try to keep his books in stock. Hes a wonderful resource. Way ahead of his time. A lot of a lot of people reading some of the contemporary buddhist writings are seeing similarities with dr. Thurman. Thats right. Common ground. We have one more segment with these wonderful people here. So please join us and go out and find sagrada on 49th and telegraph. ,, [ male announcer ] progresso is so passionate about its new tomato florentine soup, it took a little time to get it just right. [ ding ] at first, it wasnt the perfect amount of tomatoes. Not ready. [ male announcer ] later, it wouldnt be the perfect amount of spinach. Not ready. [ male announcer ] then the sausage and pasta. Not ready. [ male announcer ] but finally it happened. Perfection. Yes [ male announcer ] at progresso, weve got a passion for quality. Because youve got a passion for taste. Im a lover of books, glasses, shoes, but id put stoles up there too, stoles and robes and this is another beautiful one made by mary. You have another book you want to share with me. Ron i wanted to mention for those who have come into sagrada theres a couple of areas in our store that are devoted to celebrate the define feminine, which is a very strong interest of many of our customers. We have an area that has books and devotional objects. Right. Celebrating Mary Magda Lynn and also a table on the goddess. This is ooh beautiful book of Janet Mackenzie trying to find an image to give your camera. She has just beautiful images and we have anointing balm made by my sister thats also a popular item. There you go. We have also a treasure in our neighborhood who has devoted her whole life to the creation of actually you might like to interview her sometime. Oh, okay. She has its called the suppressed history archives of womens images and goddess spiritualty from every culture. And max has been to our store a couple of times also with her amazing slide shows of her archives. I just wanted to mention that thats a richness of sagrada people enjoy when they come in. I mentioned, i remembered, also you had this huge cross, remember that. Did that ever sell . Probably not. The one from africa. Yes, thats such a beautiful piece. You have that one . We do. We usually bring it out during lent because it is quite a strong piece, a beautiful piece. Our shop really celebrating hand maid and theyre treated items so you often can find something really unique like that. Thats right. I have a few of your crosses but i cant quite wear that one. Its about 4 feet tall. We have just a few minutes left. Something else that we should say about sagrada that people should know, so i want people to go to this store are and appreciate the all that is there that ive experienced for 16, almost 0 years. Not long from now were going to have the holiday season, and we are almost transformed in the holiday season. We put in a huge tree with fair trade gifts on it and a lot of new items that come in that are beautiful. My sisters bees wax candles. Beautiful items that i think are inspirational. You have wonderful cards all those wonderful cards. Its local artists. Wonderful cards. I think i bought one some weeks ago and then also i even bought some socks there. You just have everything. I would say that in the bay area theres quite a bit of emphasis on eating and food, and sagrada would be a nice balance for that. Provide some food for the soul so come on over. Great idea. Thank you mary. Thank you so much rob. Great to have you here. Wonderful. Good to see you. See you next time. Im ron swisher and ive enjoyed this. Im glad they were available because their store is tremendous. We didnt mention the hours quickly. Tuesday through saturday 10 to 5. Thursday nights 10 to 7. Closed sundays and mondays except in december were open every day. Get there. I find it a tremendous joy, enwhen i dont buy anything. But i always buy something all the time. God bless you. Thank you for joining us. [ wind howling ] [ female announcer ] it balances you. [ water crashing ]. It fills you with energy. And it gives you what you are looking for to live a more natural life. In a convenient two bar pack. This is nature valley. Delicious granola bars made with the best ingredients in nature. Nature valley. Welcome to bay sunday. Im your host frank mallicoat. Go to kpix. Com, scroll down to bay sunday and hopefully we can hook up. Our first guests have a deep love for music, especially when it comes to jazz. Now it began in the south rather years ago and is now cherished by the world. The goal is keeping it relevant to our young people. The folks at oak town jazz have made it their mission, a nonprofit dedicated to kids to teach them jazz. Joining us from oak town jazz workshop, executive director robbie careon and one