Friday, August 23rd, 2013

On The Hour

Estevan, Saskatchewan

On the hour, local radio stations were announcing the trek across Canada. I was interviewed at their studios, so my voice came on briefly, but hourly. Facebook also went wild on the story. Responses on the road were tremendous.

One slim fellow pulled over. He caught the news. He showed me the photo of someone with a very prosperous frame at 350 pounds, “That’s me,” he said, “I had to get determined to lose all the weight.”

“That’s great. Now let’s try to decrease karma,” I said. He was right on board with my suggestion. Another motorist who had heard the news also pulled over at that point, and then another. We all got into deep down discussion. It was a huddle of sorts. One of the fellows was native. He had no trouble in accepting the concept of Creator, a higher power, a superior intelligence.

My response was, “Look at all this out here,” implying the beauty of the prairie as we stood at the edge of Estevan, known as the energy city, “when you walk through it all, all the 3D, all the smells, the colours and textures, it really enhances your appreciation for the artist behind it all.” Everyone there seemed to be on the same page.

“Do you guys accept Jesus?” asked the natives, “Is he the son of God?”

I began to respond, “If God’s the father for everyone… “ to which he completed the statement, “then we are also His son.” He got it. Even though the group of us were in the middle of going somewhere, in the middle of work you could say, we all seemed to be ready for a drum and mantra session. There was all this enthusiasm.

Being Friday afternoon, it has something to do with the good cheer in the air. The sun’s out, everyone’s making money (remember, it’s oil country here), and now there’s a novelty, a monk to excite a few folks. Roxie, was kind to let journalists from the local papers, The Estevan Mercury and Lifestyles, interview me in her new age store called “Soul Hideout”. An amiable gal she is. Journalists were super. As usual writers want to know about motivation behind the walk, and behind being a monk. So, I give my brief bio, which includes the inspiration of Beatles music, a fascination for anything East Indian, and a strong attraction for the mysticism within monasticism. Bhakti, devotion, is the goal – devotion to the great artist.

I feel that for people to sometimes take you seriously, you may have to do something to the extreme. That’s why it’s a cross country walk and a 4th one. It’s a matter of walking the talk, isn’t it?

30 KM