Days 11 and 12

Well, things were busier than I thought that they would be the last two days of the trip and so I wasn't able to get back to the blog until today.

We met with Samuel a second time on Thursday afternoon back at the lodge. The meeting began with Samuel opening it up for comments from the audience about the morning's working. From there he took more questions and answers from the group. I believe we had more Samuel time and more questions and answers this trip than on any other. The amount of information we received is amazing and something that I know will keep me busy for quite some time. Near the end of the meeting, Samuel gave us a break and then said to come back after the break for another 25 minutes. I thought to myself, maybe he's going to take us on another one of his great visualizations. Maybe he'll even give us another one of those "self-hypnosis" meditations that he did earlier in the trip. Wow, wouldn't that be the icing on the cake! :-) Well, we came back and people began raising their hands in order to be the first ones to be called on for questions. Samuel saw the hands go up and said smiling, "You're so predictable." He then said he wasn't taking any more questions and answers but wanted to give us a homework assignment, at which I point I said, "You're so predictable!" and everyone laughed! :-)

Honestly, I think we were all taken aback. Hours earlier we had just Activated the Dragon Force of the Mississippi River and the party was already over we were getting more homework? Samuel then began asking us rhetorical questions about laughter and orgasms. He asked us things like when was the last time we had had a good belly laugh and when was the last time we had toe-curling orgasms? It wasn't so much of a buzz kill, but it did seem to come from somewhere out in left field and was a little bit of a downer considering this was the end of the trip and we had just accomplished an amazing working—even by Samuel's standards. But, as we all know, Samuel is an opportunist and he saw an opening and went for it.

At Friday morning's meeting, Samuel asked us for insights we had gained from the assignment he had given us and several peopled shared things they had gleaned from answering his list of questions. Samuel talked considerably about the importance of being in the NOW and that belly laughs and toe-curling orgasms aren't possible when you're not in your now. It was a poignant and timely teaching. Instead of basking the glow of something great we had accomplished less than 24-hours ago, Samuel was saying, "Be in your now!"

He also spoke a lot about carrying the energy of the trip home with us and not to hide it. He talked about how many of us are not open about what we do spiritually and he encouraged us to be true to ourselves and not hide who we are from the world.

That afternoon we had a very special event—a bird release by the Wild Bird Sanctuary. Marlin Perkins helped found the sanctuary, the same person who founded the St. Louis Zoo, the Wild Canid Center (now called The Endangered Wolf Center) and host of the famous T.V. show that many of us grew up watching called, Wild Kingdom.

In the morning meeting, Samuel discussed the bird release. Here's what my notes say (please note that this isn't an exact translation but it's pretty close).

This creature has finally healed enough to go back to its life. Different than it was before, new, new territory—a new life. Kind of starting over and it's starting over filled with you. What a wonderful event this will be. What an incredible creature this will be and what a gift for you to be a part of that. What could be a better way to end this time together than to remind you that this is you. You were once broken and you have been healed. And you are healed by the help of many. And, many of those who are surrounding you even now, are all a part of the process. And as you leave here you are changed for what you have done and what's been done to you. You're going into a new place (even if it looks familiar) with a new mind, and a new way of seeing and doing. It might be quite like before but it can be much better. I think it's [the bird release] pretty perfect. I want you to be part of this.

These words from Samuel helped me see the metaphorical significance of the bird release, as well as the physical significance, and what an honor it would be for both us and the bird. At 5:00 p.m., two representatives from the Sanctuary met us at the lodge for a brief description of the Sanctuary's work and history of the bird being released. The bird was a 4-month old Barred Owl, called such for the bars of brown and white feathers on it's body. Barred Owls are non-migratory and mate for life. They usually lay 2 to 4 eggs in early Spring. If I understood correctly, the owl being release had been born in the summer from a second laying of eggs. Because the summer was hot, there wasn't enough food available to sustain it and the bird ended up at the Sanctuary malnourished. The Sanctuary restored the owl's health and it was now ready to be returned to the wild. Once their presentation was over, we all stood back to give the owl room for flight and Lea was taught how to hold and release the creature. When she released the bird it flew up into a nearby tree and sat there looking back at us. It seemed to not realize that it was free or maybe it turned to give thanks for the second chance at life. After a few minutes, it flew a bit higher up into the tree.  After another minute or so, without looking back, it took flight high over the lodge and disappeared from sight. It was definitely a magical moment and one I will long remember. You can see some photos of the owl and the release, as well as from the entire trip, on our photo gallery:
http://www.discoversamuel.com/gallery.html

After dinner, we all gathered around a large-screen TV to watch a slide-show presentation of the trip. Photos were taken by Frank, Greg and myself and with the help of David O., we were able to create a very nice presentation for the group of some wonderful trip memories. After that we shared many hugs goodbye and went to our rooms to pack and prepare for our journey home.

This concludes the day-by-day part of the blog, but I hope to add more posts with more details about the working we did and insights I've gained from being a part of this trip. I hope, too, that other trip participants will add comments to my posts and share this trip from their perspective.

As always, thanks for reading and for your continued love and support.

Stuart