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Travels with Gale

Travels with Gale

Talks for this quarter are to have a common theme, Unity Principles. So when I was asked to speak, I said I would if I was not held to having to talk about Unity Principles. I have long been feeling the inspiration to tell some stories about my travels, so I was grateful when I was released from having to talk about Unity Principles. But I thought that I should at least check on the Unity Principles and was surprised to find that they fit what I had decided to say. It was even more of a surprise when I discovered that Meghan's talk last week also fits right in. So when Michael called on Thursday and told me about the songs that he would like to sing, I was not surprised when they also fit right in. (As did the daily word.)

In today's talk I will describe events as accurately as I can. However when travel takes place on different levels sometimes all I can do is offer my opinion and my Best Guess. These may change with time.

I would like to start by updating an image that we unconsciously share. When you shoot an arrow, the goal is to hit the bull's eye. You pull back the string on the bow, aim at the target, and let go. Missing the bull's eye was called a sin. So hitting the goal is a result of sinning and then making adjustments to your aim.

A more accurate image might be that of a self-guided missile shot at a moving target. The guidance system takes a look at the target and then adjusts the trajectory of the missile to hit it. New picture, new adjustments; new picture, new adjustments …this is repeated over and over again. So as the missile approaches the goal, the guidance system continues to make adjustments until it hits the goal. I find that this is a more accurate image of the process that I go through. I need to keep adjusting my trajectory each time I get a better picture of the goal.

Trip to Nepal in 1998

This trip started when three Tibetan Monks showed up in our bedroom in the middle of the night. They seemed to be calling me to Nepal or Tibet. Now I want to make it clear that I did not see them. That is simply my Best Guess from what I felt and experienced. Over many months I came to the conclusion that I was possibly being called to go to a monastery, in Nepal, somewhere on the way to Mt. Everest. That was my Best Guess and I decided that sometimes Best Guess is as good as it gets. (After the talk, MJ reminded me that she was in the bedroom below ours and she saw the monks. I had forgotten this. I is a good illustration of how valuable a spiritual family can be - it is even more valuable when they are also part of your church family.)

One of the things that helped me decide to go was when I confided in one of my mentors, said that he had a similar call to go to Amdo province in Tibet. I said, so what happened when you went there? He replied, I don't know because I never went. In that moment, I realized that if I did not go, that I would wonder the rest of my life what would have happened. So I decided to go.

At this point, I would like to mention a phrase that I often hear. If it is meant to happen, it will. If I had taken that phrase to heart, I would not be standing in front of you today, nor would I have been to places like Nepal, South America, or Texas.

Instead my thought is maybe it will happen, but not to me and not now, unless I make it happen.

Last Sunday, Megan Smith introduced us to the Essential Elements of Goal -Setting and I would like to address how those applied to my trip to Nepal.

CAST ASIDE YOUR LIMITATIONS - I did that.

 

OPENING YOURSELF UP TO POSSIBILITY - I did that too.

 

BEING SPECIFIC IS CRUCIAL- I was specific about going. but I was not specific as to what would happen. I was specific that I would follow what I thought was GOD's will for my life.

 

LETTING GO OF SELF-JUDGMENT - I did not question if I was worthy - that is up to GOD. However, I was open to the possibility that I did not know what was going on - like a self guided missile.

 

BECOME COMPLAINT FREE - I want to differentiate between negative thinking and areas to consider. I see fear and concerns as places for me to consider action.

 

ESSENTIAL TO ACT “AS IF” you already have achieved your goal - I took Tibetan Language lessons and studied about Nepal and traveling before I got the time off from work.

 

AND, FINALLY: WE MUST BE WILLING TO STEP OUTSIDE OUR COMFORT ZONE! Amen

Once I make a decision like this, there are often Gentle Tests that come along to see if I am serious. I have often seen people take this as a sign not to do something. Here is a list of the Gentle Tests from my journal:

I did not have enough money for the trip. I had inherited my parent's house and the renter moved out, so I sold it.

 

One daughter (we had three) totaled our car so we had to buy new one.

 

I found that one daughter was not at home one night and when confronted, she said, “I can do whatever I want to.”

 

One boy friend left a derelict car in our driveway.

 

MJ was living with us and needed help.

 

We had problems with our horses.

 

There were urgent projects that needed to be done, including concrete around our barn.

 

One daughter was stressed because she did not have a job and then she was stressed because she got a new job.

 

Our future son-in-law did not get in the Coast Guard and moved to our condo in Montana to sort things out.

 

The weather was the best in years and fall is the best time to get things done outside.

 

I started to get sick and was having trouble walking (I would have to trek to find the monastery).

 

NW airlines was on strike (I had a NW ticket to Bangkok and back)

 

As it was becoming a reality, I was getting apprehensive about the trip.

 

Here is what I wrote about my thoughts in bed the day I was waking up to leave for Nepal:

 

What am I doing? I am leaving for Nepal in search of a monastery that I am not sure exists and I only have a rough idea of where it might be. I am flying to Kathmandu. Just the name invokes a feeling of the exotic. I have never been to Asia and I am going there by myself. Alone. I am leaving my familiar, comfortable, and safe life for the unknown. I have a loving wife, three wonderful daughters, an amazing grand daughter, a great job, good income, a large old house and acreage in the country. I have everything that I have always wanted. Looking out the window I can tell that it will be a beautiful Fall day. This is the kind of day that I love to spend at home.

What am I doing? This is not a trip with a tour group and knowledgeable guide who knows the languages and customs. I am not staying in five star western style accommodations with safe meals in proven restaurants. It is 42 days on my own. Well almost. Assuming that I survive two nights in Bangkok (where I passed up staying at the Hotel at the airport because it cost over $100 a night) and make it to my reservation at the Hotel Tibet in Kathmandu (I picked it from an ad in a newspaper), my friend Kevin and his girlfriend Marsha (who I have not met) will meet me and help me get orientated. That is, if they survive their two month trip in India. They plan to meet me in Kathmandu on their way home. I haven't heard from them since they left, almost two months ago. I don't know if that is a good sign or a bad sign. The apprehension that I am feeling does not go away.

What am I doing? (With a positive feeling.) I am going to Kathmandu. I am going to seek the monastery. I am going to find out if God is really calling me. Today I start on a great adventure! Resolve starts to replace apprehension and I roll out of bed.

In Nepal I did not find the three monks, but I did find the monastery. One of the things that happened was I really developed and came to rely on my intuitive skills. That was the only way that I had to navigate though the unknown. There are many amazing stories that I could tell about that trip. Here is one story that happened on the way home:

On the way over, I had spent two nights in Bangkok because I had scheduled a day between changing flights. These were magical. I stayed at a great place in Bangkok and I wanted to repeat that experience. However on the way home, my flight arrived late in the evening and left very early in the morning. I knew from experience that I would not have time to go anywhere. I would have to stay at the $100 a night hotel at the airport or sleep in the terminal. So in the days before I left Nepal, I meditated and asked what should I do? Should I change my flights, should I book a room at the hotel, should I ask for help? The answer was always the same - that I should do nothing. For me that was really difficult.

I had bought a lot of things in Nepal so much that I could not carry it all. I had even bought a portable altar because I had a Vision of it with a statue of the Buddha and other spiritual objects. (I brought these to church because this was my Vision. The statue of the Buddha is as I saw it in the vision. I had to look long and hard to find it. It is called the meditating Buddha. How deities are depicted in Asia is significant. The most common statue is the medicine Buddha.) I finally found a way to pack everything up and as I arrived at the desk of the Hotel Tibet in Kathmandu, the manager (my friend Tsering - an amazing women) asked if I would mind if some doctors shared my transportation to the airport. I said that would be fine. It turned out that there were three doctors that had been volunteering their time in Nepal and they were flying home, with all of their equipment. Two of them jumped in the car with a driver and me from the hotel and the other caught a taxi and put all of their equipment in it.

When we arrived at the airport, they hired some young men to take their equipment to the check in area and just added mine in too. While waiting for the flight they asked where I am staying in Bangkok. I admit that I don't have any place and they say why not stay with us? They have rooms at the $100 a night hotel! We sit separately on the plane, and I think that they will probably be very busy with all of their stuff and forget about me. But when I get off the airplane, they are waiting for me and tell me how to get to the hotel. They take a different route because they checked their baggage straight through to the states while I take my luggage via an elevator. When I arrive at the desk, I experience something amazing. The staff asks them to fill out forms, makes copies of their passports, etc. But the staff acts as if they don't even see me. As we are leaving, one doctor says, “we will need a key for Dr. Gale too.” So they hand him another key.

Since there are three doctors and they have two rooms, it works out perfectly. The rooms were already paid for, so I stay the night, my roommate wakes up early and helps me with my bags. The overnight stay costs me nothing. This experience solidly confirms my confidence in intuition and how following intuition can lead to amazing adventures.

My first trip to Nepal was a magical adventure that changed my life. I not only became a Mystic and gained valuable knowledge and intuitive skills; I now realize that I crossed a bridge from one World to another: the bridge from the World of logic to the World of the Mystical.

Here are the two Unity Principles that match my story:

4. Through prayer and meditation, we align our heart-mind with God.

5. Through thoughts, words and actions, we live the Truth we know.

A few years ago I was sharing some of the story of my trip to Nepal with a college class. One of the students said, You were just meant to go to Nepal. I thought of all of the apprehension, gentle tests, preparations, and just plain hard work involved and I said, No, I was meant to have the opportunity.

Trip to South America 2008

This was a trip with our meditation group to Peru and Bolivia. The purpose of the trip was to travel with a shaman and learn the traditional teachings of the indigenous people.

However for me there was an entirely different level. I have not believed that Extra Terrestrials (ETs) have physically been on the earth. On this trip I became convinced that they have. Here is how it happened:

One place that we were headed in Peru was Machu Picchu. I was not that interested in going there. I had never felt called to go there. (Not when MJ went, not when Don Hill went, not when anyone I knew went.) The way to get to Machu Picchu is by train but there was the possibility of a strike. I was OK with that, as my feeling had not changed. It turned out that we did go and it was a significant experience for me. I hope that you will remember this the next time you, or someone you know says that they do not feel called to go somewhere or to do something. That is not always the way that GOD speaks to us.

What I found in Peru was that there are three distinct types of stone technology. (I showed a photo of Carole at Machu Picchu where you can see all three.) The lowest layer looks like the stones are poured into place. They are irregularly shaped but fit so close together that there is no space between them. The second layer which starts one row above the bottom of the windows are more square and appear to have been shaped. The top rows appear to be stones that are generally unshaped and are chosen to fit together. In some places, this technology involves the use of mortar. It is interesting that this photo is typical of what I observed at Machu Picchu and similar ancient sites in Peru.

The technologies are in reverse order of sophistication. This indicates that the ancient people had technology that later generations did not have. Such a difference can be explained by concluding that ETs came to the area and brought advanced technology, which later generations lost.

From Peru, we went to Bolivia. There in a museum, we saw a number of skulls. While I had seen photos of similar skulls in the past, somehow seeing them in person was different. I immediately knew that these were skulls of ETs. (I showed Carole's photo of the skulls.)

Trip to Texas 2011

Here are two levels that I experienced during this recent trip.

One level was that I experienced different energy at several key locations. These were a vortex at Joshua Tree National Park, a huge crystalline rock mass in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and areas like these where there was no 60 HZ energy from the electrical grid. These changed my energy and I believe have changed me. For example, apparently we have shields that we carry with us to protect us from 60 HZ energy and probably harmonics above and below this. When I dissolved my shield where there was no grid, I was able to connect up with the natural energy at these frequencies.

Another level was the development of The Mystical Didgeridoo. In the past, I have generally just played the didgeridoo with maybe one or two intensions in mind. I had an inspiration to develop a workshop where I would introduce all of the methods that I have found, so that people can find what works for them. I started out in Oregon with the first workshop and conducted workshops in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, and Montana. As a result I gained practical experience and the number of methods grew from five to seven.

On July 24, after the service by Grandfather Roy Wilson, I will present the workshop here for the first time in Washington.

I returned from this trip only two weeks ago, so I am still processing the experience. I expect that I will figure out more with time including what will work for others.

When I review these travels, I see a common theme. That I might set out thinking that I know what I want, but like a self-guided missile, I need to keep making adjustments as I get closer.

I have not been comfortable with the term co-creator. However, this morning I realized that this is what I seem to be doing: the process that is like a self-guided missile. (After I gave the talk, I realized that this is another Unity Principle: 3. We are co-creators with God, creating reality through thoughts held in mind.)

A song by the Rolling Stones has been my theme lately. The song is, You can't always get what you want:

You can't always get what you want, No you can't always get what you want, But if you try sometimes, You just might find, you get what you need

If I try I find that I get what I need.

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