According To Henry

I didn't believe in angels and ghosts and leprechauns any more than the next guy. Sure, I'd seen the movies, and they were entertaining, but they weremovies.. I particularly remember Claude Rains in "An Angel On My Shoulder," and more recently, John Travolta in "Michael." Of course Hollywood's real shot was George Burns as God, Himself. Anyway, I, like the majority, viewed these as strictly fun stuff and never took them seriously.

I felt that way until I was fifty and would probably have thought the same until a hundred and fifty had a most peculiar thing not happened the day after my birthday. I must quickly say that all the talk about angels and Elementals and free-floating spirits means nothing, right? It's alltalk.. It, like everything else, is all words until you experience something first-hand with your eyes wide open and you're sober and it's not April first. Well, that's the way I was on the evening of May 21, 1986.

That evening I found myself talking to an angel. There were no celestial chimes or harps or blazing lights or burning bushes, no thunder, omnipotent voice, nor ethereal visage of any kind. The angel didn't present itself that way at all. It came out of the clear blue and with no accompaniment while I was making a bacon-tomato-lettuce sandwich.

It was as if the speaker had been inside me all my life so he and I were

already bosom buddies. Only now he'd decided to speak. He simply asked, "What are you doing?"

And just as naturally and spontaneously, I answered, "I'm making dinner, what does it look like?"

"I mean," responded the voice, "with your life."

"I'm doing --- no, I'm living. I'm taking one step after the other like every other human being. What do you mean, what am I doing with my life?"

Still not alarmed that I was talking to myself out loud --- how was I to know it was an angel? --- I munched the bacon strip that hung lazily between the slices of Wonder Bread. Then I asked respectfully since the voice was the epitome of honorableness, "Since you seem to know so much, why don't you just tell me what Ishouldbe doing?"

"Well said," spoke the voice. "But before that I'll tell you what youshouldn'tdo." And with that, my angel --- I don't know what else to call it --- allowed me to see my life in a flash. Like just before you die. And, frankly, my life all added up to a bag of barf.

As I licked the mayonnaise off my finger I said, "Two divorces, a business that went bankrupt, having become a master at cheating the IRS and unguessing the stock market, and presently living on the decreasing interest my investments are making. Hmm, sounds like a sponge-sucker out for everything that's free."

"Barney," said the voice, "isn't it time you got yourself together and did something with your life? For the sake ofbothof us."

The word both caught me. I wondered if that meant that if I didn't straighten up,hemight not go upstairs but down in the basement. The thought made me serious. This was no movie.

"Look, everything I do seems to bomb out. I'm like King Midas in

reverse: Everything I touch turns to grunge. If I knew what I was doing or had control of its outcome, I wouldn't be doing what I am. So help me, why don't you, instead of passing judgment."

"I'm not passing judgment," said the voice. "I'm only letting you see what you've become. It's up to you to want to change. To want to change."

"You don't think I want to change? Why, I'd gi ... " I caught myself before I said "give anything to change." I know the Mephistopheles come-on was literature and movies, but what if this voice wasn't a white angel but a black one? Like the Devil himself? I finished the sentence with, "...I know my life sucks, but I don't know what to do about it, Henry." I gave him that handle just to round out the sentence. I was tired of talking to myself, even though the voice wasn'tme..

"Indeed," said Henry. "We all know what you've become. That's why I'm here."

I realize that all this must sound like so may old movies. Or worse, trite, quaint, typical dialogue everyone hears once in a while. Like your conscience speaking as the credits roll by before the movie starts. But like I said, everything's talk unless you experience it yourself, and this I experienced. Anyway, I was clear-headed enough to know that I hadn't lost my marbles no matter what anyone might think, so I asked on.

"Henry, please tell me what I'm supposed to be doing."

That, as they say, was the beginning of the end. It seemed all Henry needed was for me to accept him as real, bow to his superiority --- his and whoever he represented --- and he'd do all the rest. And do he did. From the moment I said go we were off to the races and I don't mean horses.

Now that it's over, I have absolutely no regrets whatever. If I'd been in a cloud maybe I'd be shaking my head. But like I say, I was clear-headed

all the time, so I feel qualified to pass on what happened. Who knows, maybe it could do others some good.

I hope you don't feel I'm going to give you a lecture, sermon, or even advice now. Everyone knows each life is valid unto itself, that what works for one person isn't necessarily right for another. On the other hand, I know -- whether you'll accept them or not --- that the insights I gained are universal and do apply, in principle at least, to everyone. So here goes.

First, if you're in a rut, one that you're so accustomed to that you KNOW there's nothing better than what you're doing, then you're a prime candidate to go on an angel ride. The guys up above don't want things to go status quo forever. They're all about change. That's right, it's the ones who are Hell-bent (interesting word, isn't it?) on maintaining their lifestyle who are so blinded that they can't see they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing --- namely, what God has in mind --- they're the ones who need help the most.

Second, contrary to popular belief, the ones who sense something's wrong with their lives and resist or search, they're the ones the Spirit stays away from. Mind blower, isn't it? But that's what Henry told me, and he got it straight from the Man (or Woman) Above. He said that the grumblers, the seekers, they have the notion that things are supposed to be better and want to capture the ideal so they take their fate in their own hands and try to bring about Perfection. What they don't know, says the ones On High, is their efforts don't mean diddly. In fact, all they do is keepfromgetting what they want. According to Them, it's the blind ones, those who have given up thinking they can bring about change, who have the best chance of meeting God.

In case you think these are thoughts I had with my ego or id, know that Henry didn't tell me these things bywords.. Instead, he dragged me

through a thousandexperiences.I levitated, had Xray vision, and walked through walls. I made millions as a CEO and Board Director. In fact, after my surrender to Henry's reality, Idideverything. He called all the shots and all I did was go through the motions. And what motions! And whether anyone believes me or not, I experienced everything in the flesh and never dreamed or fantasized a thing.

So let me ask you. Are you skeptical about angels and leprechauns, ghosts and fairies, gnomes and maybe God, Himself? Have youneverheard a voice inside, seen a burning bush, heard celestial chimes, or been visited by a real-live angel? Then welcome to the crowd, though many actually have. As for me, it came when I was making a BTL, when my life had hit bottom and I didn't care anymore so I just plugged along one day and one minute at a time.

According to Henry, no matter what you do, what you think, or how you set your life up, the way everything falls together angel-wise is thatfirstyou dream, fantasize, or wish. What I never knew, and that's why Henry instructed me to write this, is that by fantasizing you're programming the Above to manifest what you want; He does the rest.

The angelic truth, then, according to Henry, is that dreamers rule.