INTRODUCTION
On May 19, 2010, a few weeks after completing the 72 Days of God chapter of my journey and chatting online with a friend in Portland, Oregon, I felt it was time to continue my journey. No sooner than I logged off my computer and stepped outside, I looked up into the sky and noticed a hawk circling above my sister’s house.
The hawk circled overhead for about ten minutes before flying out of sight. I hadn’t seen a hawk since Day 71 of the 72 Days of God journey. I took this sighting as a sign that I was being asked to continue my adventure.
That night, I performed a full moon meditation and asked my spirit guides and teachers to show me signs to confirm whether or not I should continue my adventure. I wanted to be entirely sure that it was something that I was supposed to do.
While driving through the countryside the following day, something unusual and mysterious occurred. I noticed a giant bird fly across the road in front of my truck. I slowed down to locate the bird and soon discovered it was a huge owl. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew this was the confirmation I needed. Seeing this mighty animal in broad daylight told me my spirit guides and teachers wanted me to continue my journey. (Notice the orb in the following photograph.)
The Navajo almost always shudder when there are repeated sightings of owls near someone’s home. They see the owl as connected with sudden death—often with little or no warning, and consider the sightings a bad omen.
The Zuni, on the other hand, believe that birds that visit the Pueblo are the spirits of departed family or friends and are considered good luck—especially owls, who represent the spirits of departed tribal leaders and religious teachers such as Caciques, who visit to make sure ceremonial practice is performed correctly, and also to bless the people.
I had no idea what it meant to see an owl during the day, but because it was a full moon, I got a little freaked out. The reason it freaked me out was that of a dream I had several months earlier.
My dream informed me that I would die in June 2010, which was just several weeks away.
I told a few friends about my owl sighting, and they comforted me and reassured me that the “death” that approached was not a physical one. I prayed that my “death” was some life transition.
As the end of May approached, I finally came to terms with the fact that I would continue my journey. I knew part of this next journey would be about facing my so-called “death” head-on.
As Chris looked up to the sky
He saw the hawks, up on high
Now there are owls,
(Night flying fowls?)
Telling him, ”time for ‘good-bye’”.
Five minutes after midnight, on June 1, 2010, after spending the evening attending a Memorial Day party at my best friend’s house, I was driving down NC Highway 61 back to my sister’s house. I passed a young man standing on a bridge in his underwear. Either he was about to take a midnight swim in a very dark, deep lake, which he wouldn’t have been able to crawl out of, or he was about to commit suicide.
Since I had no cell phone, I returned to my sister’s house and called 911. I told my sister what I had seen, and we drove back to the bridge to ensure the young man was okay. When we arrived back at the bridge, we discovered the young man surrounded by several police officers. He was putting on his clothes. He appeared to be safe. I went to bed wondering if I had saved this guy’s life. I also asked if this had something to do with the owl sighting.
On the morning of June 1, I received the following email message from my sister-in-law:
“I haven’t said much about your travels or thoughts, but I want to tell you how I feel about your sightings of owls. My Mother collected owls. Everyone knew my mother loved owls, so she had a good-sized collection of all kinds of owls. Your brother even began giving her owls way before we were married. She was cremated with an owl feather in her hand when she died. We have many owls around our house, and they can be heard any time, day and night. We see them often; they even had a nest with three babies close to the house. We talk back to them, and they answer all the time. Get your nephew to tell you about the white one that swooped down near him in Jamaica after his marriage. The day my brother died I was driving home alone and two owls swooped down in front of me. I am trying to say that I can’t see an owl as anything but a good sign and blessing. Hope you can see it that way”. – Sister-In-Law
That evening, I spoke with my sister and told her I would return to the West Coast within the next week or two.
As I prepared for the next journey, I decided that instead of going through all 72 Names of God meditation cards chronologically, as I did in my 72 Days of God journey, I would choose a different card each morning. That particular card would be my meditation for the day.
It was June 17, 2010, which just happened to be the nineteenth anniversary of my father’s passing.
As I prepared to begin my journey, I showed no signs of a physical death or any illness for that matter. Other than the plantar fasciitis in my left foot, I was in excellent shape for a 49-year-old man.
Before I began this new journey, I needed to check in with a few things to ensure everything was okay before I left my family and friends in North Carolina.
The first thing was my family. The most important thing to me was making sure that everything was okay between every single family member and me, and as far as I knew, everything was great. I truly loved being around my family at this stage of my life. I cherished our time together very much. However, I still had my own life to lead and experiences to live out.
The second thing on my list was my friends for over 30 years. As much as we all had changed over the years, we remained good friends. Although we all had evolved into very different people with different viewpoints, we still managed to love each other. I felt fortunate to have maintained these friendships for such a long time.
On June 12, under a new moon, I prepared for my departure. On June 14, my sister, brother-in-law, Uncle Seth, and I headed to Niagara Falls for a few days. My sister had never been to Niagara Falls, and I had promised to plan a trip there for her and my brother-in-law. Twenty minutes into our drive, a hawk flew across the interstate in front of my truck. It was a good sign.
Once we arrived in Niagara Falls, we checked into our hotel room. This photograph shows our view from our balcony.
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza, Ontario, in Niagara Falls, Canada.
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