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April 5, 2010 | Unity
I woke up feeling the sudden urge to drive to my hometown to see my family but talked myself out of it. I wanted the timing to be perfect, so I had to be very patient.
Upon checking my email, I received a message from Lee in Palm Springs stating that everyone was just fine. His email read, “Strangely, I was standing by Sam and a few other friends when the earthquake hit. Everyone is okay.” I was happy to know that everyone was safe.
After I got my morning started, I drove to a nearby restaurant for breakfast. I had this strange craving for a big bowl of grits. I couldn’t remember the last time I had grits. They were so delicious I ordered a second helping. After I had my fill, I returned to my campground to pay for another night, and to do some much-needed laundry. I decided to take everything out of my truck and clean it from top to bottom.
While my clothes were washing, I asked one of the campground attendants if he knew of any nearby bike trails, and he directed me to the Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage Plant, which was on top of Raccoon Mountain, just a mile up the road.
I finished my laundry and set out for a bike ride. When I got to the top of Raccoon Mountain, I looked out over the Tennessee River Gorge. It was quite impressive.
I then made a soul connection with one of the volunteers at the visitors center, and she and I talked for at least a good thirty minutes. I asked her if there was a way that I could perhaps volunteer for a day while I was in the area. She said I had to go through orientation and some extensive training so that it would take more than just a day or two. Disappointed, I decided to keep myself open for other volunteer opportunities during the rest of my journey.
I then set off on my bike ride around the reservoir. I believe the temperature was around 85 degrees, if not warmer.
At one point while I was biking on the road around the reservoir, a butterfly came up and flew beside me for at least fifty yards or so. Luckily, I was able to take the following photo.
Butterfly offers the following medicine:
- The power of the whirlwind
- Reincarnation
- Transformation
- Transmutation
- Magic
In addition to the paved road, they also had a ten-mile dirt trail around the mountain. I rode this trail for a while before getting back on the paved road.
At one point I came to this beautiful spot overlooking downtown Chattanooga.
And with that, I finished my bike ride and returned to my campsite.
Later that evening I drove into Chattanooga to do some exploring and decided that I would take another bike ride through the downtown area the following morning.
Before I went to bed, I did my daily meditation for the second time.
As I completed day forty-eight, I realized I had finished two-thirds of my journey. I was now on the homestretch.
An atheist friend of mine had sent me an email with the following tagline as his signature: “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” –Epicurus
Up until this point in my life, I had lived my life believing that there was this spiritual presence guiding my life and watching over me. For lack of a better word, I called that presence of God. I still could not figure, however, why this God would watch over me, and not everyone on the planet. After all, we’re all the same and equal, or are we? I had to come to realize that we were all walking different paths and needed God in different ways.
Since I had gotten so wrapped up in the memories of my mother I had neglected to truly focus on meditation number forty-five. Before I set out on the last twenty-four days of my journey, I took a moment to focus on this meditation with all of my heart and all of my soul.
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