[scott snedeker]

I am awakened by a prickling sensation behind my neck. The fire has died down and the stillness in the dark of night is now replaced with a low throbbing. It's time to leave. The predators are claiming their due. I will pay a dear price if I remain where I do not belong.

I grasp the unburned end of one of the long sticks from the fire and wander away from the site using starlight to guide my path. My bare feet, now toughened and experienced after weeks of trodding on all manner of terrain, show their awareness of the Right Path.

My physical possessions number only a few items: My naked body, a goat skin given to me, a hunting knife, and ancient flint in a small pouch. These few physical items allow me to carry the great weight of the ancient wisdom given to me weeks ago.

As the pre-dawn reveals the lanscape once more, I stop to listen to and appreciate the gift of a new day. I sit on a smooth rock placed eons ago for this moment, and close my eyes.

My heart sings in harmony with the intense grand loving chorus of the life energy that surrounds and infuses everything. As my mind allows the joy in this moment to enter my heart it expands beyond the mountain range to flowing waters and grassland and upward into the sky.

I open my eyes and immediate regret doing so when the chorus suddenly mutes to a barely perceptible whisper. I close them again and wait, but the chorus fades away leaving me alone and disconnected. I open them once again, stand and continue walking.

A shap pain throbs as my left foot misssteps and smashes my great toe on a rock. I stop, close my eyes and I allow the pain to enter my body and my heart. I flood myself in its awareness. I allow deep compassion to infuse an envelop my heart my body and my toe.

The pain begins to be drowned out as my Awareness allows the song of the chorus to enter my Heart once more. I appreciate the precious gift of wisdom that Finicia gave me when She relieved me of my shoes before leaving me here deep within the Ancient Forest.