Mesa Verde \u2013 Spiritual<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Soda CanyonI went to Mesa Verde hoping \u2013 expecting \u2013 to have a spiritual experience of one variety or another. As those of you who\u2019ve been reading this\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/07\/mesa-verde-spiritual.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mesa Verde \u2013 Spiritual\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Soda CanyonI went to Mesa Verde hoping \u2013 expecting \u2013 to have a spiritual experience of one variety or another. 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{"id":519,"date":"2009-07-18T14:25:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-18T14:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/07\/mesa-verde-spiritual\/"},"modified":"2009-07-18T14:25:00","modified_gmt":"2009-07-18T14:25:00","slug":"mesa-verde-spiritual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/07\/mesa-verde-spiritual.html","title":{"rendered":"Mesa Verde \u2013 Spiritual"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>Soda Canyon
<\/span><\/em>
I went to Mesa Verde hoping \u2013 expecting \u2013 to have a spiritual experience of one variety or another. As those of you who\u2019ve been reading this blog know, the last few months have been rather unsettled for me. Not necessarily bad, just unsettled \u2013 like I need to be doing something, but I don\u2019t know exactly what, or why, or how. I was hoping to find some sort of guidance, clarity, enlightenment \u2013 pick your term.<\/p>\n

A Native American site is probably not the best location for me to go looking for spiritual guidance. I don\u2019t buy into the PC obsession over \u201ccultural appropriation\u201d (borrow from the best, just don\u2019t pretend to be something you\u2019re not), but I tend to not resonate well with Native American practices. Still, I figured that whatever natural forces drew the ancestral Puebloans to Mesa Verde would speak to me as well. No humans are truly native to this continent \u2013 their ancestors just got here about 10,000 years before mine.<\/p>\n

So I went to Mesa Verde with high expectations. We drove to the visitors center, picked up some pamphlets to help us figure out where to go, bought the obligatory t-shirts, then headed into the park.<\/p>\n

We hadn\u2019t gone a mile when I saw a coyote trotting up the side of the road, coming toward me on the other side. He reminded me of a marathon runner out for an easy morning jog \u2013 moving quickly and efficiently, but like he could care less if there were cars on the road or not. I didn\u2019t have time to get a picture, and didn\u2019t know if I really wanted to or not. Coyote is the trickster, and the message I took was \u201cyou ain\u2019t getting what you want, so you better be open to what you get.\u201d<\/p>\n

We went on to Far View House, and I could sense a little energy, but as at Hovenweep, most of it had either dissipated or was overwhelmed by the spirit of the desert. I got the same thing at most of the other stops we made.<\/p>\n

At Spruce Tree House, it was difficult to open up because of the crowds (this was by far the most crowded place we went \u2013 everywhere else we were either by ourselves or with no more than 3-4 others). I was able to sense some strong energy when I went down into the kiva, but I wasn\u2019t able to stay long enough to really understand it.<\/p>\n

Then we stopped at this overlook. There was an older couple there \u2013 they took a few pictures and then left, in silence. Cathy asked if I was getting anything, and I couldn\u2019t answer. The wind picked up, so strong I pulled down my chin strap so I wouldn\u2019t lose my hat. I took a couple of pictures, including this one, but I stopped after I realized that what was important here couldn\u2019t be photographed.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t really describe what I felt. I wanted a vision or an audition \u2013 this was neither. There were no words and no pictures \u2013 just a sense of the wonder and power of nature. And in that moment, I felt right<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And then the moment passed.<\/p>\n

We went on from there to the Balcony House overlook, which involved hiking a little over a mile in what by then was close to 95 degree temperatures, at 7000 feet altitude. We had been in the park for about five hours and we were both exhausted. There was much we didn\u2019t see, but decided that was all we could do. We headed out of the park, and on the way out we had to stop for three deer in the process of crossing the road. One of them looked right at me \u2013 that was all the sign I needed that I had done what I came to do.<\/p>\n

It was a good day.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"