Numbers Game

I'd been thinking about gang members and how their lives are really a dead-end to despair. I'd seen a show about the lifestyles of gang members, and while I lived in Denver I came into close contact with some of their ways. I was hoping somehow I could make a difference.

I addressed God with my desire, telling Him I'd like to help if I could. That I'd like to help specifically the gang members in Los Angeles. This wasn't meant to be a limit, but just what was on my mind at the time. And I told Him that I'd like to help them see that there IS potential to live their lives without fear of being shot, and without the guilt and dread of living that futureless life.

Several weeks after I told Him I wished to help (and felt his affirmation as a chill), I was laying in the tub enjoying a relaxing bath. I hadn't been feeling very well, so it was time to unwind and try to care for myself. Other than my sinus headache, I was completely at peace at the time. I guess I was ready, and the time was right.

A vision literally filled my view. The prior sight of my toes in the water was slowly replaced with another. The vision grew darker and more apparent and I was able to make out small points of golden light against blackness. The environment seemed cool and damp.

Then came God's voice, saying, "Hi Jeff. As I once told you, I want you to help me touch others, but only when you really wish to do so, and when you have it to give. I can see that now is that time. What would you like to tell them?"

Somehow, I wasn't concerned about either the vision or the very apparent voice heard from within my being - not through my ears. I also knew just what and who He meant by His inquiry. I had a simple knowing.

I heard my mind in reply formulate the statement I wished to deliver to all the gang members in L.A. It went something like this:

"I want to tell them that they don't have to live in the ways they do, with violence and danger. That there is so much more to life than drugs, fights, rivalries, death and loss of their friends. That there is no future in this path. No path but fear and death. And that most of all, if they could find a view of their potential *away* from this life, they'd see a future that had more potential for happiness. That perhaps this future would be filled with love and accomplishment achievable because of their own actions. That a college education could take them places. Places filled with an inner pride for who they are. And that when they saw such a future for themselves, they could make it happen! That the path to starting over was firmly grounded in *this* very moment. That God would help, but only if they wished to take such a path. And that no matter what, God loves them anyway."

It was really based in thoughts that surround these words - sort of like all the stuff that we sometimes try to say, but only mere words are available to represent the ideas. There was also a distinct passion behind my plea to the gang members of L.A.

"Ok," He said in reply. "We will tell them all what you want to relate. Right now. Are you ready?"

"Yes," I heard my mind reply. And we were off.

I looked around in the vision still hovering and floating in my sight, with my toes still visible at the edges of the vision soaking in my bathwater. The vision slowly started to move, and I finally realized what I was really seeing. It was a movie of hovering over L.A. from about 30,000 feet, facing directly downward. We began to move closer to the points of lights below.

The pace picked up each second, moving twice as fast as the moment before, until we were moving toward Earth at an incredible speed. Then, as we were perhaps 1,000 feet above the city and could easily make out the buildings, we began to slow. Again, each moment that passed, the pace was slowed by two. Just as we were a few hundred feet above the streets and buildings, I saw people below.

Five young men were standing in a circle, looking around here and there, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. We settled directly above them. Then I felt some sort of communication from God, as He apparently reached out and touched them, like a finger on each person's shoulder.

One and all of the five jumped in a start, looking around to discover what had just happened. One of the bunch looked directly into my eyes, while the others just crawled in their skins and tried to will the experience away. I didn't look away from the young man's gaze, as I looked at him lovingly through God's eyes.

Then I heard my own mind's voice begin to deliver my message, with the same passion and delivery as I'd given earlier when God asked what I'd have to tell. It was a perfect recording, in my voice. I hadn't realized that my message would be delivered in *my* voice, but it was. Wow! How cool! I heard the thoughts from my mind, but I didn't think them this time. God was playing a pure recording or my earlier thoughts.

As soon as my message was complete, we were on the move again. We rose up in a graceful arch above the city, heading toward the next stop on the itinerary. Swooping down again without waste of a single movement, we hovered over the next group. This time, all the scene was delivered to me two times as fast as had been the case before. Again, I watched them all jump and look, and heard my plea delivered, but not of my own accord. I just watched, fascinated with what I saw.

Into the air we rose again, twice as fast as before reaching the next group - repeated until we'd touched every gang member in L.A. At the pace of doubling our speed with each group we met, by the time we'd touched perhaps our 20th group of people in various settings, the movement was just a millisecond bounce off of each group we visited, but all the details were present - nothing skipped. By the time we reached the last group of people, the travel time itself lasted only a partial moment.

Now I know what is meant by Godspeed: Only essential actions, moving very rapidly and with perfect focus!

I am telling you this rather personal and true story because there are several things to understand that this story illustrates. I know that some will think me "off my rocker," but that doesn't matter to me. As I see it, the lessons are these:

First, that God does really move at the speed of light or perhaps more and that He is everywhere. Secondly, that we should give *only* when we really feel we *wish* to give and really have it to give. Otherwise, the giving doesn't come from the heart, and resentments build. Thereby, the power of that moment to help and heal is clouded and lost, with perhaps tainted reminders left behind for all concerned.

Thirdly, be very thoughtful about that which you ask for. The way He "limited" my visit to those living only in L.A. was because that is how I worded my request. I asked with passion and meant it at the time, but limited the scope to those in Los Angeles with my own thoughts. In any case, the meaning and strength behind your desire is a vital key to this sort of God given magic. Everyone can experience what I have experienced, and much more.

God later told me that I made a difference in two lives. That one in particular heeded the message immediately. That this man would return to the streets of L.A. in four years, after graduating from college with honors, and would quietly find one of his friends still involved in the gang of his past. That this man would tell his friend of the changes in his life. He would *show* him the differences with quiet confidence, happily married with a child on the way, a new job earning him in excess of $40,000, a new fairly conservative automobile nearby and life balanced and full from within.

Thereby, this next person too could change his life. His long lost friend would convince him by saying something like, "Do you remember that night when something weird happened? I heeded the advice, and look where I am now. You too can do this. I will help you if you want me to." As God put it at the time, helping people is a numbers game.

Incidentally, the man who's life I helped change most that night was one of the members of the very first group we visited. The group I had the most time to observe, and when the experience was freshest to me. He is the one I remember the best. It was the man who looked me straight in the eyes while my message was delivered.

Written by: Geoffrey D. Nickerson Copyright (c) 1998, Mullen Corporation. All rights reserved. You may send this to others if you like, for non-commercial purposes only, with this notice included. Thank you.

Telling of God's Assured Love,

Jeff--