Last fall I led a “spirituality” retreat in the sacred (to the Native People) Black Hills of South Dakota. Each day we built our activities around a different theme.
As you might imagine the week was filled with sharing with each other the important spiritual experiences in our lives. One of the ladies told us that during several trauma and abuse filled points in her life, the totem power of an animal, the bald eagle, was the only thing that had been able to give her a sense of hope. She was here this week because she needed another dose of hope.
On the last day of the trip, we were headed to Bear Butte, one of the most sacred places in the hills. On the way, I mentioned that we were passing through an area where Bald Eagles could sometimes be spotted. Suddenly the lady sitting next to me pointed and shouted “There’s an Eagle!” I quickly glanced to my left and there, perched in a tree, not more than 50 feet away from the road, was a bald eagle, looking directly at us.
We stopped, all got out of the car, and stood along the side of the road watching (or was it being watched by) the eagle.
As we approached, the eagle began preening itself, suddenly pulling a tuft of its white breast feathers from its chest. We all stood silently as this bit of feather began floating like a leaf in a stream towards us. Unbelievably, we watched in awe as it floated right into to woman’s hand who had told us the story about how important the eagle had been in her life.
We all stood there, speechless and stunned having witnessed what we all knew to be a spiritual moment.
One of the benefits of getting my own financial life in order has been to be able to take advantage of opportunities that feed my spiritual soul. On that day, there was a connection between a spiritual moment and money.
