Echo Bodine - Look for the Good and Youll Find God: The Spiritual Journey of a Psychic and Healer

Copyright 2008 by Echo Bodine

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

The authors experiences used as examples throughout this book are true, although identifying details of some of the people portrayed, such as name and location, have been changed to protect the privacy of others.

Chapter 14, Journey to the Other Side, originally appeared in a slightly altered form in Echoes of the Soul 1999 by Echo Bodine.

Edited by Yvette Bozzini
Text design by Tona Pearce Myers

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bodine, Echo L.

Look for the good and youll find God : the spiritual journey of a psychic and healer / Echo Bodine.

p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-57731-597-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Bodine, Echo L. 2. PsychicsBiography. 3. Spiritual biography.
4. Spiritual healing. I. Title.
BF1027.B55A3 2008
133.8092dc22[B]

First printing, November 2008
ISBN 978-1-57731-597-1
Printed in the United States on 50% postconsumer-waste recycled paper

New World Library is a proud member of the Green Press Initiative.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Learning the Truth
about God

EVER SINCE I WAS A LITTLE GIRL, Ive known that I came here to serve God and to serve people. My journey toward understanding my path has been anything but boring. Ive had some amazing experiences that have shown me some very important truths about God:

God is not the enemy, is not something to be feared, does not delight in our misery. God wants to help us as much as possible. God has lots of helpers, is very creative, and definitely has a sense of humor.

I didnt learn these things by reading books or going to church, though I tried those things first. I studied religion in college, trying to understand what God was all about, but all this did was give me head knowledge. I still didnt feel like I was getting to the truth about God.

This book is about the journey Ive been on since I was a young girl trying to figure things out. Who is this God Im working for? What does He/She* want me to do? How do I do it?

In my work as a spiritual teacher, Ive found that my students enjoy learning from real-life stories. Thats what Ive put together for you the real, and really amazing, experiences that have taught me what I know and brought me to where I am today. (Ive compiled photos for this book on my website, www.echobodine.com, so that you can see some of the people in the stories.) Grab a cup of tea, put your feet up, and let me take you on a journey.

Id like you to get yourself a brand-new journal to bring along on this journey. At the ends of most chapters I suggest some activities that Id like you to participate in, as well as some topics to think about. Reading and writing, youll learn a lot about yourself and more than a little about God. Before you know it, youll be looking for the good and finding it in all of your amazing experiences.

* When I was younger, I always thought of God as male. But once I started meditating, I began to hear the voice of God, and sometimes it was a womans voice. Since then, Ive come to understand that God is a perfect balance of male and female energy. In this book, I refer to God sometimes as He, sometimes as She, and sometimes as He/She.

ALBERT EINSTEIN IS WIDELY QUOTED as having said, I want to know Gods thoughts. The rest are details. Im no Einstein, but thats exactly how Ive always felt. For as long as I can remember, Ive had a deep yearning to know God and hearing Bible stories in Sunday school did not meet that need.

I grew up the oldest of four kids. Both of my parents were alcoholics, which made life unpredictable and scary. I was taught at an early age to always say my prayers at bedtime, so I did. I used to pray that my parents would quit drinking and for God to break all the whiskey bottles in the world. When this didnt happen, I got discouraged with praying. What was the point of prayers if they werent answered?

My fathers mother was a very religious woman and a member of the Womens Christian Temperance Movement. She talked about hell a lot, saying thats where drunks went when they died. She made God sound so scary. This was the guy I was supposed to be praying to every night? In spite of what Grandma said, and even though my prayers were unanswered, I still had a desire to know the real God. I wanted the truth and somehow knew there was a whole other story than the one I was hearing.

I remember my parents taking us to see Fiddler on the Roof. I was deeply affected by the main male character, who would go outside and talk to God all the time. I felt a yearning to be just like him, no matter how long it took.

I went from feeling discouraged to being mad at God for not answering my prayers. I decided to pray to Peter Pan instead. I figured if nothing else, he might come and take us to never-never land. Then I wouldnt care if God didnt break all the whiskey bottles. Peter never did show up, so I went back to saying my prayers at night, pleading my case to God.

Thankfully, when I was fourteen, my prayers were answered and my parents got into recovery. Life took a wonderful turn, and I felt like we were finally becoming a normal family. Mom and Dad both got on a spiritual path and taught me everything they were learning. I was like a person who had been in the desert for years; I soaked up everything they could give me. They would tell us really cool stories about God that they had heard at meetings, and this just made me want to know this guy even more. My father was an avid reader, and I would read his spiritual books, such as Emmet Foxs Sermon on the Mount and books by Norman Vincent Peale and Catherine Ponder, when he finished them. I could not quench the thirst I felt and knew I had to go even deeper, although I didnt know what that meant.

By the time I was seventeen, life was going very well. We all seemed to be healing from the previous years and were getting on with our lives. I was in my last year of high school and got accepted to the University of Minnesota. I was looking forward to becoming a social worker, a mortician, or a minister a strange combination of interests, I know. But I felt drawn to helping people with their pain, working with the deceased, and helping people know God.