On through the early morning I trudged, and it was getting really, really cold.  Respite for me came in the form of an establishment that was to “save me” on a number of occasions in the near future:  a U.S. Post Office.  This one was a cute little number in Resaca, Georgia, and yet it – like all of its counterparts – was open 24 hours a day, AND it – like all of its counterparts – was climate-controlled!  I gratefully stepped inside, lay down on the warm floor, propped my aching feet up on the wall, and fell fast asleep.

Though thankful for the warmth the post office had provided me, it was really not the venue for Peace-full sleeping – being that it was pretty bright, and being that it was frequented by postal employees in the wee hours of each morning; postal employees who were generally less than fond to find a “homeless man” like myself sleeping there.

Such was the case this morning, and I went back out into the early dawn – still tired, and yet thankful for the few hours of rest I had received there.

As it started to get lighter outside, I started to get hungrier.  And this hunger had me on the lookout for eating establishments.  I spotted one soon enough – a Hardee’s – and started to go in to possibly get something to eat, when I remembered the Mission once more.  I was not walking this Road to be fed in order to “get there” … I was walking this Road to give as many people as possible the opportunity to remember how amazing it feels to be truly Kind to another; to give to others who will in all likelihood give nothing in return.  With this mentality in mind, I entered Hardee’s and asked for my glass of water, saying nothing else and desiring nothing more.  My attitude had shifted from “I wonder if I’m going to be fed” to “I wonder if anyone is going to receive the Joy of giving to me” to “I am thankful to be alive, and I will beam that Gratitude to all I encounter herein.”

As was so often the case on this Pilgrimage (and as is so often the case during Life), no sooner than I had let go of my desire to obtain something for myself than that very thing was given to me.  In this case, it arrived in the form of a Hardee’s biscuit placed in front of me by a kind gentleman.  After doing so, he mumbled something about wishing me Godspeed on my Journey, and then he disappeared.  This was this morning’s first “angel” … for indeed (in-deed!), that is exactly what we all are in those moments when we give to another desiring nothing in return.

The second such “angel” came in the form of Anna, an employee of a local hydraulics distributor (with hydraulics ironically being based in “fluid power”, a term which perfectly describes any successful pilgrimage).  This was the third day of the Trek, and I felt it was time to check in with everyone “back home”.   I was not blind to the fact that quite a few folks were more than a bit worried about me taking my little “stroll”, and I figured it would be a nice service to let them know that I was OK.  I didn’t come across a local library, which was where I originally intended to find internet access, so I just started walking into businesses along the way and asking them to use theirs.  I was rejected only twice before Anna matter-of-factly agreed, and I sent the following terse but gentle communiqué:

Greetings Friends!

Well, after two days of long-walking, I am currently in Calhoun (Georgia), making way south towards Marietta.  As I am borrowing a business computer at a local hydraulics distributor, I will not provide too many details (I’ll probably be blogging it all “after the fact” upon my return).  Still, it is safe to say that this Trek has already been the most arduous task I have ever undertaken — and also the most rewarding; and this after only two days!

I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get back online, but feel free to email any questions you might have as to the particulars of the Journey, and I will be sure to get to answering them for you at some point.

Love & Peace to you all,

Scaughdt

(a.k.a. the Numinous Nomad)

Buoyed by this short-but-sweet letter (imagining how relieved some must feel to now know that I am indeed still alive), I headed back to the Trail – which was still quite chilly.  My teeth were actually chattering a bit as I walked along the Highway, and it wasn’t long before I pulled into a small diner to warm up and get some rest.

It was here that I had another epiphany that was to serve me well for the rest of my Journey.  You see, in this small diner was the first time I encountered an apathy that bordered on hostility.  Ok, I had been scowled at by folks in cars and that one guy had even flipped me off on the very first day, and yet everyone up to that point with whom I had actually spoken had been polite – with the interactions ranging from disbelief to disinterest to outright kindness.  But I had yet to directly experience hostility until today.  Now the proprietors of this particular diner weren’t verbally abusive with me, and yet they made it quite clear that theirs was not an establishment where Peace Pilgrims were welcome – certainly not Peace Pilgrims who weren’t going to buy anything.  Undaunted, I simply thanked them for the glass of water that I was indeed offered, and then sat at one of the tables near the back corner of the room.  Alright, it wasn’t really that I was undaunted or brave or resolute – I was simply freezing and exhausted and I didn’t really care whether these folks liked me or not!  And for the record, I did not intend to fall asleep there and drool all over their table … It just happened that way on its own.

Upon waking and departing that establishment, I was feeling pretty down.  I mean, I hadn’t expected the trip to be easy by any means, and yet I had anticipated being received with much more warmth than had been the case so far.  I guess what was really bugging me is that I didn’t feel like I was reaching anybody – I didn’t feel like I was making much of a difference.

And that’s when it hit me – by actively and sincerely Caring for the very folks who were rejecting me and my Mission of Peace, I was serving a greater cause; I was energetically sending energy that was in harmony with the base-resonance of the Universe; in essence, I was furthering “the Will of God”.  On top of that, the latent physicist in me knew that every encounter between any two beings leaves them both changed forever; that I was doing Good for these people, even if I couldn’t see any direct evidence of the same.  This Pilgrimage was going to “work” whether other folks accepted my message outright or not.  Indeed I knew at that point that every act of Kindness that I extended from now until my death would have at least some positive affect — not only on the objects of my affections, but also on all who witnessed those good deeds.

Basically, at that point I stopped looking for “angels” …

… and chose instead to become one.

My purpose renewed, and my spirits refreshed, I sauntered onward with a smile on my face and a new warmth in my Soul …

Filed under: Peace Pilgrimage #01: Adventures of a Numinous Nomad (2011) by Scaughdt