DFO 1570London, 9/8/73

—After Rick Alford's Plane Crash in Texas, 1973.

1. WASN'T IT NICE THAT RICK ALFORD HAD TWO FAMILY BOYS TO GO WITH HIM? The poor boy needed a couple of guys with him so he wouldn't feel so bad. The churches make dying feel so utterly unrelated to life when it's not all that damned different! When I died that night it was just as real as I'm sitting here right now, except that right now I'm heavy & my flesh drags me down!—Whereas I just felt as light as air then with no more time & space drag! It's not so unrelated to this life that it's absolutely foreign. You're going to recognise each other & you're going to think! You'll be in another World, yes, but you can relate. It resembles life & in some respects this World.

2. I GUESS THE POOR BOY DIDN'T KNOW THE LORD TOO WELL, SO THE LORD KNEW HE NEEDED A LITTLE COMPANIONSHIP TO PULL HIM THROUGH! It would have been a terrifying experience to go through all that by himself! Who did he really know that knew the Lord that could have met him? Wouldn't he really have felt more at home to be with a couple of the fellows? (Tongues & Prophecy:) "That they might arrive together in the arms of the Father!"

3. DYING WAS A PRETTY SCARY EXPERIENCE! In a way I felt wonderful‚ but it's a spooky feeling to be sitting up with your legs still in your body & to look back & see your dead body lying there! The first worry I had was‚ "O Lord, where am I? Where am I going?" Because I had just said "no" to the Lord on something that He had definitely told me to do. (See No.679.)

4. YOU DON'T JUST WAKE UP SUDDENLY KNOWING EVERYTHING!—IF YOU DID, YOU'D BE GOD! What if he had crashed all alone? Well, the Lord might have sent an angel‚ but the poor boy wouldn't have known him! Who knows what is going to happen there in the U.S. soon? Maybe they're some of the blessed ones who get to escape! If I was going to die & had a mother & father who were denying God & didn't know too much about spiritual things, & I was suddenly ushered out of this life to wake up in the wreckage of a plane, I wouldn't want to be all alone! You still have feelings, you have sentiments, & it might have been a frightening experience if the other boys hadn't been with him. But there they were, all together! TTL!

5. WHEN MY FRIEND LAMONT ARRIVED IN HEAVEN‚ MY MOTHER SAW HIS SISTER MEET HIM! (See No.818.) The Lord sends somebody you know, a friend or a relative! (Tongues & Prophecy:) "O, the loving compassion of thy Father! He receives us with kisses!"—Like the Prodigal Son that came home & the Father ran to meet him & put his arms around him & kissed him! The Lord is concerned about how we feel, even how we die! Almost every major story I've heard about death or anybody dying‚ or what they could tell about it later, there were people greeting them. And in Space City, if Deb hadn't been with me holding me by the hand I might have been kind of scared.

6. EVEN COMING OUT OF THAT "GREEN DOOR" DREAM (NO.262)‚ I COULDN'T TELL YOU HOW MUCH IT MEANT TO HEAR THOSE BRITISH VOICES coming out of that house up the road. It was just a comfort to hear familiar voices! And I knew there were no cars in Heaven, so I had that reassurance that I was back! It was such a comfort to know I was back in this life rather than in Hell! I heard those voices & knew I was back. Apparently I needed that little bit of time to make the transition to get back. By the time I do go to Heaven, I will have made so many trips it'll be familiar!—Ha!

7. JUST AS CLEAR AS ANYTHING I SAW THOSE THREE BOYS RISING OUT OF THE WRECKAGE TOGETHER! It is real, Beloved, more real than this life! I'm sure the other boys would have understood what was happening & would have been able to explain. Rick Alford's father & mother didn't give an offering, so the Lord took a collection.—How about you?

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family