Spiritual Cleansing
Day Seventy-Two – April 29, 2010
On the last day of my journey, I woke up desperately needing to clean out my truck. After breakfast, I started taking everything out and storing it in a neat pile in my sister’s garage. I wanted everything to be in one place, just in case the road called my name again. I still missed Portland, Oregon, a great deal.
Later that morning, during an email conversation with Mark, the ninth participant in the 72 Days of God survey, he sent me the following message:
“In your post, you mentioned visiting the Bethel cemetery. Last week, I decided to start reading the Bible from cover to cover. I found a great translation that is written in plain modern English, and it reads like a novel. Your post reminded me of the passage (Genesis 28:16-22) where Jacob dreamed about the ladder to heaven, which I am sure is familiar to you. When he awoke, he realized that God had been in his presence, so he stood up the stone he had used as a pillow to create a place of worship. He anointed the stone with olive oil, dedicating it to God, and he called the place “Bethel,” which means “house of God.” The Metaphysical Bible Dictionary says Beth-el symbolizes a consciousness of God or conscious unity with God. Being that the cemetery seems to be a place where you found not only stone monuments but also such a strong realization of your connection with Spirit, it seemed like such an appropriate name.” I was extremely grateful for Mark’s insight.
As I continued cleaning my truck, I discovered a lizard sitting on the threshold of the door leading to my sister’s house.
Once again, the lizard brings the following medicine:
- Detachment from ego
- Power to regenerate that which is lost
- Facing fear
- Controlling dreams
- Moving in the otherworld
- Copyright – Animalspirits.com
Not long after seeing the lizard, I noticed a dragonfly buzzing back and forth in front of me.
Dragonfly offers the following wisdom:
- Mastery of life on the wing
- Power of flight
- Power to escape a blow
- Understanding dreams
- Power of light
- Breaking down illusions
- Seeing the truth in situations
- Swiftness
- Change
- Copyright – Animalspirits.com
I got online to publish a few additions to my site and discovered a final message from Casey.
She had written, “Thank you, Chris. I feel honored that you gave your Mother my small present. God’s blessings to you. Love, Casey”
She then included one last poem:
As the end of your journey drew nigh
The hawk, circled the sky
He has been your friend
Through your journey’s end
I think he was saying, ”good-bye.”
Not long after, a few family members began showing up to visit me. I spent a few minutes playing with my four-year-old twin great-nephews before another niece showed up to take me to dinner. I had a nice dinner with my niece, her husband, and her son, my fourteen-year-old great-nephew.
At 11:00 PM, I did my final 72 Names of God meditation, which I did several times throughout the day. Although the 72 Days of God chapter of my journey was complete, my spiritual journey was not over.
Several days later, I embarked on the next part of my journey.