Waterfall

His belly hung over his belt and peeked out from beneath his t-shirt. Sitting in the shade, I watched him descend the winding trail in growing concern.

Debbie and I had left Phoenix the morning before, headed for the mountains to the north-east. We’d gotten a room in Peyson, on the edge of the Tanto National Forest, and spent the afternoon and evening exploring the region and the community.

It was at least twenty degrees cooler there, and during our visit never got above the low 90s. It even rained the first evening, catching us outside walking and drenching us with a cascade of huge drops. We took shelter, watched the lightning, and continued on when it had stopped.

The next day we drove northwest, up to the top of the Mogollon Rim, looking for a hiking trail. We stumbled across Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, which we’d heard about in Peyson, and decided to try that.

The sign at the trail head warned that the trail was strenuous, undeveloped over most of its length, involved rock-hopping along the stream bed at the foot of the canyon, and should not be attempted by anyone with a medical condition. Although we are both in adequate physical shape, as noted in a previous blog (Leaping the Stream), I am not as experienced in rock hopping as I once was. Nevertheless, we decided to make the descent. We could always turn back if conditions were too difficult.

The scenery was wonderful, with two spectacular waterfalls – one from the mouths of travertine caves, and another from the top of a huge natural bridge over the stream. We managed the entire hike, with only one scrape, passing beneath the bridge and continuing up the canyon rim on the far side.

While paused in the shade of a tree midway up the canyon, we were passed by an overweight, severely out-of-shape man following his two teenage sons toward the bottom. It was late morning, the temperature was climbing into the 90s, and he was already red-faced and winded.

Observing the potential for a heart attack, I focused in my heart and aligned outward, from the heart, to the heart and cardio vascular system of the hiker. Then I aligned upward, from the hiker, with the overshadowing angel of healing, and invoked the Light of Healing – not just for his heart, but for his self, and his resulting mental, emotional, and physical condition.

Once rested, we drank the last of our water and continued on our way.

Namaste,

Glen

Yay!

I turned right off of Greenway onto 39th, striding along at a good pace despite the unrelenting heat. Two young men exited the house on that corner, and one of them called out cheerfully. I stopped, on the sidewalk, in the driveway, to see what they wanted.

It was the evening of a hot summer day in Phoenix—which means a very hot day indeed. I’d gone for a walk despite the heat, and was circling back when Marcus and Yay called out to me.

They were very young (twenty), wore their caps at odd angles, and towered over me. Marcus had short hair and Yay had slender dreadlocks that hung toward his shoulders. They radiated a friendly cheerfulness and a simple desire for conversation.

After introductions and a brief opening conversation, I asked them what they were up to besides hanging out. Both replied that they were trying to discover who they were.

The words were said with simple sincerity, with feeling rather than intellect, as a search for awareness rather than a quest for knowledge. They spoke of God as being everywhere and in everything, of the various religions as simply holding no interest for them, and of their quest to find God as the basis for their lives.

They were two quite ordinary young men, indistinguishable in their dress, behavior or activities from others of their generation. They expressed no interest in finding any sort of “spiritual” path or discipline, and did not seem to categorize their daily lives those terms. And yet, there I was, called upon by them as I was passing by.

Recognizing that I was there to learn from them, as much as they were to learn from me, I focused in the heart. From the heart, I aligned upward, through the top of the head, with the consciousness of the one planetary life. Then I aligned outward, from the heart, to the consciousness of Marcus and Yay, and through them to that state of awareness they represented in their generation, and from that state of awareness, through the top of their generation’s collective heads, directly to the consciousness of the one life.

Concluding the conversation, I departed into the heat of the evening and made my way home.

Namaste,

Glen