“…let the qualities of self interact in that nature on a friendly basis, on a warm and welcome state of esteem…”

The words above are found in an early portion of a reading done for me by Al Miner on December 10, 1984 (when I was 29 years old). It changed my life.

Al Miner is a channel for the Lama Sing Grouping. Al’s psychic readings have been a source of life-changing information since 1973. I did not know of Al at the time. He had been recommended to my sister, Renee, by Ursula Martens whom neither my sister nor I had met until Renee began to search for help for me beyond the established medical community.

My first occurrence of stomach pain manifested when I was challenged by several kids while I was in the 6th grade. I remember very distinctly being scared by my situation but even more fascinated by the fact that my stomach hurt as I tried to figure out some way to protect my 6th grade manhood.

The second occurrence of stomach pain happened in November, 1974 as I and several of my buddies from our college football team returned from an all-you-can-eat trip to a local seafood restaurant near Bristol, Virginia. As we returned to school, driving north on Interstate 85, my stomach discomfort grew. I distinctly remember wondering why my friends seemed unfazed by the food. Only my stomach was upset. I also remember being confused as to why this would occur when I was having so much enjoyment with friends. Why now?

The third event took place at the age of nineteen, in May of 1975. I sat at a stoplight, two blocks from a college math exam, waiting impatiently for the light to turn to green. I heard and felt an explosion. It rocked me and my car. Shocked, I looked from side to side to see which car or building had gone to meet its maker, but all was serene. I remember looking to the driver in the lane to my left and telepathically asking, “Didn’t you hear that?” As the light changed and he drove off it was clear that only I had “heard” this big bang. As it dawned on me that I could barely move, I felt as if I had hit a wall. I also needed to quickly locate the nearest restroom. Lacking the strength to push the car accelerator, I realized that it was I who had exploded. I literally heard an explosion, I shook, the car shook, and my life changed forever. I don’t remember how many times the traffic light changed before I summoned the strength to drive from the intersection, but I do know that I did not make it two blocks to the math exam.

A happy-go-lucky party guy no longer lived. I had been dating my future wife, Janice, for several months and at the time of the “big bang” I weighed a solid 195 pounds. I was in the best physical shape of my life. I loved Janice very much, knew that I wanted to finish college, and I wanted to become a teacher and coach. Janice and I were planning to marry, start a family and live happily ever after.

I lost 40 pounds in 30 days. I spent more than a few days in two local hospitals, first under the care of my family physician and then under the care of specialists. I was poked, prodded, x-rayed, surveyed, and examined in every way known to man (and a few that should not be known to man) with the same result. “We don’t know why each time you even think of food or sip water you must locate the closest bathroom. Perhaps you can learn to adjust to that pattern.” “Great…this should be interesting,” I thought in silence.

Too many tests to recount here (for your sake and mine) added up to the following. My stomach and large and small intestines were highly inflamed. The norm became chronic diarrhea, ever-present mucus, non-stop pain and frequent blood. After fluids or food I would be too sick to function. There were no ulcers yet the severity of my symptoms seemed to shock my physicians when an obvious cause did not appear on test results. My extreme symptoms seemed to indicate that I was in deep trouble, but what was the cause? I was told to eliminate “this food” and “that activity” to see which was at fault. As time went by I found that every food and every activity seemed to be the culprit, yet curiously, sometimes not. One day a certain food seemed to make me sick. The next day it did not.

I can go on and on here. For the next 9 1/2 years, I was practically incapacitated for 4 hours each time I ate or drank. Those of you diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s Disease or any similar gastrointestinal disorder know what that brings. Being sick, angry, on edge, embarrassed, unable to meet appointments or go to the mall. And God help you if you are determined to have dinner with someone you love and go to the movies. You shall be humbled. Every minute of every day must be clearly thought through to plot out one restroom stop after another. Did I mention to you that I enjoyed life before the “big bang?”

By late 1984, following an experiment with a drug that brought relief but ultimately had too many side effects to be continued, I was despondent beyond measure. I had become a burden to my wife, Janice, as I was angry more than I was not while suffering almost constant pain. After nearly a decade of this, I truly did not want to live if I had to go on in this fashion. There was too much to be done, too many experiences being missed, too many goals to be set and met to live like this. Yet, what to do? The medical community had not even been able to tell me what was wrong, much less why it was wrong. Their only diagnosis was that too much stomach acid seemed to be flooding my intestines and this was causing the problem. I wondered, “How is this fixed?” In reply I heard, “Why don’t you lay off milk, or maybe sugar, or maybe coffee or maybe something else? You’ll just have to learn to live with it.” Thanks, but no thanks.

Time moved on and my situation did not improve. As sick as I was, I began to give up. I truly began to wait for the day that they would find cancer and I could at least have a reason to stop letting others down.

My father had received a reading and a follow up from the psychic Edgar Cayce when he had been ill during his teens. He had later applied the same medical suggestions to overcome a similar illness when I was 12 years old and dad was in his forties. I was aware that Edgar Cayce’s works had helped many thousands of people but I knew that his work had ended with his death in 1945. I had not considered that there was another who might do the same for me. Thank God for my sister’s persistence.

When my reading from Al Miner and Lama Sing arrived in the mail, the first glimmer of true hope came with it. Keep in mind that Al and I had never met and he lived somewhere in Florida at the time. Amazingly, the tape recorded message psychically described me beyond a doubt. It described my illness and told me what to do to find relief. I was told that by temporarily following a certain diet and doing a couple of small things daily, I would find great improvement in three days with very significant improvement in three to five months. Those two small things... prayer and meditation. I can do that, I thought to myself. I already pray. I’ve heard of meditation. Those can’t be the keys. It must be the diet. How could that be, however? I’ve tried every food combination for years. How is goat’s milk going to do this? Watermelon seed tea? And how about the part that says, “Generally speaking, it is not a condition which needs to be lived with, it is rather a condition which causes thee to change thy life.” Change my life? How?

It didn’t take long to find out.