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The Power of Prosperity
Day Forty-Five – April 2, 2010
I don’t know why I woke up at 5:30 in the morning, unable to go back to sleep, but I did. I lay there for a few minutes until I finally decided to get up and hit the road. I had a long drive ahead of me.
As I crawled out of the back of my truck, I took a minute to change my shirt and pants, and that’s when two police officers came out from nowhere. They parked their police cars directly in front of my truck and greeted me at the back.
With one hand on their gun holster, the two officers approached me and asked if I had been to the Horseshoe Casino. Since I was barely awake and wasn’t sure which day it was, much less which casino they were talking about, I told the officers that I had not been to any of the casinos.
My truck fit the description of a vehicle driven by someone who had done something at one of the local casinos. They apologized for bothering me and left almost as quickly as they appeared. Once they went, I wondered how long they had stalked my truck, waiting for me to come out, and I asked if that was why I could not go back to sleep.
It was 6:00 AM and completely dark when I hit Interstate 20 and headed east. I spent the next few hours watching the sunrise and change from night to day. At 9:00 AM, I crossed the Mississippi River and the Mississippi state line.
Right after I crossed into Mississippi, my hawk appeared. This time, he glided across the highway directly in front of me. I didn’t see him flap his wings one time as he crossed the road. I just smiled and said, “Good morning!”
I arrived in Jackson, Mississippi, about 45 minutes later, and began searching for a place to eat. I couldn’t find anything healthy or semi-healthy, so I pulled into a grocery store. I needed to get some bottled water, milk, and ice, and I figured I would get a bite to eat at their deli.
They had just put out their lunch items, so I ordered a baked chicken breast and leg with turnip greens, candied yams, and a piece of fresh cornbread. It looked so good and reminded me of my mother’s cooking.
I sat down to eat lunch and suddenly saw my mother’s face smiling at me. It was like a flash that went off. I first thought how happy she would be to find me eating something that she enjoyed cooking. It was about that time that the tears began to fill my eyes, causing me to almost choke on my food. I sat in the middle of the grocery store, crying my eyes out, trying to cover my face with my ball cap. The strangest thing was that I could not stop crying. And then, I got angry because I knew that my mother would not be there to greet me when I got back to North Carolina. And that just pissed me off. It was only one of the reasons I had a difficult time visiting North Carolina.
I eventually pulled myself together, finished my meal, and went grocery shopping. I got back on the interstate and continued my drive east.
After a hop, skip, and jump across Louisiana, Mississippi, and half of Alabama, I arrived at my destination approximately nine hours after my early morning departure. I took exit 166 and headed north up Highway 231 (notice the numbers?) to a campground I had found online the night before.
An excerpt from their ad: “An adult, 21 and over, gated and secure clothing optional members-only retreat on 44 acres in the Appalachian mountains for those with an active lifestyle and an open mind. Located atop Chandler Mountain, the resort has over twenty waterfalls, two springs, three large natural swimming holes, 80 to 100-foot bluffs for repelling and bouldering, three caves to explore, and is surrounded by historical Bluff Creek Canyon and Privett Burke Creek. The campground is in the middle of three hundred acres of undeveloped land, yet is only fifty minutes from Birmingham. The camping area has RV sites with 30/50 electric, rustic campsites, and sites with electric for tents, shower houses, outside showers, and camping cabins.” It sounded like heaven to me.
I pulled into the campground around 5:00 PM and, by 6:00 PM, had settled into my campsite for the night. It was on top of the hill, surrounded by gorgeous, tiny, and petite flowers.
That evening, I joined all of the campers by a bonfire and listened to them tell jokes and talk about this and that, the whole time thinking to myself, What’s a boy from North Carolina doing hanging out with a bunch of people from Alabama? They were no different.
Completely exhausted from the long drive, I mosied back to my truck, sat out and looked at the stars, and then crawled in the back for another night’s rest. I was in Alabama, y’all!
I received my sixth response to my 72 Days of God survey. Date of Reading: April 2, 2010
Participant’s Name: Chad
Chad’s Birthdate: 2/24/1970
Chad’s answers to the 72 Days of God questions:
1) Do you believe in God? If so, based on which religion or spiritual practice? If not, why? Absolutely! But not based on any religion per se. I have studied A Course in Miracles extensively, but have also spent lots of time exploring lots of other spiritual teachings or paths- Buddha, Tao, transcendental meditation, etc. I am currently really getting a lot out of the books by Dr. David Hawkins and highly recommend them.
2) What does the concept of God mean to you? Honestly, I really try to avoid conceptualizing God at all. I doubt that a full understanding of God could be accurately held in my limited mind much less verbalized. However, I often wonder if it wouldn’t be very beneficial for people to look at all the concepts they may have inherited about God. If they don’t include perfect love, peace, infinite aliveness, vitality, happiness, and the ultimate sense of “at home”ness they might be missing the mark.
3) What do you feel is the purpose of life on earth? Ultimately- I think it’s a big kindergarten (maybe even preschool) for the spirit so it can learn to evolve. Right now, for me, it just feels like I am killing time. If I am honest about it.
4) What are you most passionate about and what do you wish to accomplish with your life? Part of me wishes I could say I was passionate about more things. But I am not and I guess that is ok. Passion can sometimes lead to a lack of balance. I am deeply touched by life- by acts of kindness, loving gestures/people. What do I want to accomplish- I just want to be happy and in Love with life.
5) What do you truly believe happens when you die? From what I read and what rings true to me- I think its probably just a relief most of the time. Like shedding an unwanted skin. You just wake up outside your former body. No longer have to worry about work, eating, taking care of the body, dying, etc. But I would guess we generally come back sooner or later until we “graduate.”Thanks for participating in my journey, Chad! I appreciate your response. Thanks for sharing your views on God.