Ben H. Swett
Upper Marlboro, MD
12 April 1990

I was called for jury duty, and spent most of a week sitting in the courthouse. Two or three times every day, I was sent to a courtroom as one of the preliminary panel for a jury, and then dismissed by the judge on request of the defense attorney. No reason for dismissal was asked for or given: the judge just thanked me and told me I was excused. I began to wonder what was wrong with me.

Late in the afternoon of the fourth day, I was standing at the courthouse bus stop, waiting for the bus to take me to my car in the remote parking lot, when a friend walked up to me and said hello. He was a lawyer, so I told him my sad story and asked him why I kept being dismissed.

He laughed and said, "No mystery there. Take a look at yourself. You look like you have it all together and know what you're doing. Very steady eyes. I wouldn't want you on the jury, either, if I had a guilty client."

I suddenly felt a wave of anxiety, anguish and despair, realized it wasn't my own, blocked it, and said to my friend, "I think there's a compliment in there somewhere. Thanks."

He clapped me on the back, said "You're welcome!" and walked away.

I was tired and didn't want to connect to the source of those negative feelings, so I rejected the feelings, held the source away from me, connected to God through Jesus, and said: "Lord, there's someone here who needs your help."

Angels came to me. Their presence made an interesting combination of feelings, like I was standing in a pit of anguish and despair up to my chest, with my head and shoulders surrounded by light and joy.

Because I wasn't connected to the source of those feelings, I didn't hear that side of the conversation. I just waited. After a little while I heard one of the angels say, "We know you sold your soul, but God didn't recognize the sale. Come on home."

The feelings around me changed immediately and dramatically -- from anguish and despair, to relief and hope and almost explosive joy -- and the source was gone.

I asked the angel team-leader, "Who or what was that?"

"A lawyer. Successfully defended too many guilty clients. Lied and deceived. Knew it was wrong, but did it anyway."

"What happens to him in the Light?"

"Counseling. To release the past, and find something good to do."

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