Software for Serenity

My eye was caught by the shiny gold box sitting on the folding table. I was shopping at the First Congregational Church’s thrift sale. I opened the delicate  box. The paper read: 

The GOD-BOX Insight Cards. Thank you for your willingness to receive the GOD-BOX Insight Cards into your life.

These Insight Cards are sparks – “Re-Mind-ers” – designed to trigger and awaken greater Joy, Abundance and Serenity in our lives. They work through the principle of Synchro-nicity: all minds are joined, and all events are interconnected. When we “tune in,” we attune to the Whole. Some of the Insight Cards are affirmations: simple, positive state-ments to uplift us. Some are meta-phors: powerful images designed to trigger internal processes. Some are seeds, to be planted now, to be har-vested in years to come. Many of them are multi-level: they have deep and multiple meanings, continuing to ripple and resonate deep within our minds as we use them. “To heal, is to make happy.”

The GOD-BOX Insight Cards may be enjoyed in many ways:

• A Thought For The Day: Choose a card in the morning, and meditate on its meaning several times throughout the day. Notice how the events of your day deepen its meaning for you.
• An Oracle: Clear your mind completely, and ask your Higher Power/Higher Self for guidance. In stillness ask your question. Wait until you feel a sense of inner peace, then select the “right” card. (The card you select is always the “right” one.)
• A Re-Mind-er: Choose and read a card whenever you need a quick “pick-me-up” or instant inspiration. Send a card to a friend! 
• Dessert Cards: The perfect way to end a meal or a meeting. Pass the box around, and everyone reads a card aloud for “dessert”!
• The GOD-BOX Insight Cards are a tool to use, a toy to play with, and a Gift to share. We hope you receive as much joy & as many blessings from them as we have. 

Please request our catalog of fine gifts. To re-order, send $7.98/set + shipping ($1.00/ 1st box + .50/ea. additional) (3 or more: $6.98/set + free shipping) (in AZ add 7% sales tax) to:

Software For Serenity
John and Rebecca Freedom
3038 N. Mountain Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85719
602-881-1314

My first thought, “Clearly John and Rebecca Freedom were cult leaders.” I bought the box for $1—way cheaper than their pre-order asking price of $7.98. After a peek through the deck of wisdom, I needed to call the phone number. No answer. I googled the address. Turns out, the location is a new home: 2 beds, 2 baths, 1,215 sqft, sold in 2023 for $299K. (God, so cheap)

I’m getting the sense that this box is from the ’70s, thanks to its cool vintage typography. There’s no trace of my gold GOD-BOX on the internet. “But I did find one reference to “Software for Serenity” (sickest name) and John and Rebecca Rizzo Freedom – they made Music, guided meditations, and there’s a cassette, from 1983.  This all still checks as a love-making, mind-melding cult (thank God.) My investigation will continue, and with this column now published online, I am filled with faith and hope to learn more about the origins of the oracle GOD-BOX. How did the box journey from Tucson, AZ  to Rockaway Beach?

Caption 1: Here’s a taste of the treasure. Follow my Instagram (@theglorifiedtomato) every morning to see how God speaks to me through the “right” card I pull during my morning coffee. Re-Mind-er: all minds are joined.