Finding Balance - by Michael Carroll (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

I was discharged from the Army In January of 1973 after convincing the military command that I was unfit to continue training to kill other human beings. My beliefs at the time about God, heaven and hell were limited to the teachings of the Catholic Church during the 50's and 60's. All I knew at the time was that there was more to life than what I had been taught growing up. The books Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Teachings of Don Juan, and Be Here Now, along with the music by the Moody Blues were my first teachers.

One night I was working the door at a small weekend music venue in Gainesville, Florida. That evening a band from Taos, New Mexico, the Heart Glow Trio, played. They spoke of their Teacher/Guru. Two years later I found my way to Taos and became a disciple of the Guru Herman Rednick, who taught The Christ Path of Love and Service.

There were a few rules and requirements: no meat, no drugs, no alcohol. Every Sunday we were given a lesson to ponder, and meditate upon. We were asked to write a short paper that we would read out loud in class on the following Sunday. Those short writing assignments appear in Part Three - Sunday Papers. This experience was a pivotal part of my spiritual journey. Herman passed in 1985.

Several years later I attended a shaman medicine ways workshop. The teachings and ways of the Medicine Wheel, vision quests, and journeying into the world of power animals spoke clearly to me. This was like the path of love and service, but in a totally different format. This became the next stage of my journey.

Seasons change and after 10 years with Herman and 15 years with the medicine ways my inner voice said, "it's time to integrate the two paths into one."

This book is my story.