There was no group actually, there was only me. But I wanted it to sound like something of
substance. And I acquired quite a few clients within the next few months, including a man
running for Congress as an independent candidate whose name did not even appear on the
ballot. Ron Packard was the former mayor of Carlsbad, California, and became the first man
to win a seat in Congress on a write-in vote in this century—and I helped him do that.
But, with the stunning Packard victory the notable exception, my days in marketing and
advertising once again proved vacuous. After working with Elisabeth, helping someone sell
weekend hotel stays, restaurant food, or home remodeling was singularly and predictably
unsatisfring. I was going crazy again. I had to find some way to return meaning to my life. I
poured all of my energy into volunteering at Terry’s church. I spent days, evenings, week-
ends in church work, letting my business (forgive me, I can’t resist this) go to hell. My energy,
enthusiasm, and creativity quickly brought an offer of full-time employment as Director of Out-
reach. That’s church-ese for public relations and marketing.
Terry left her denomination shortly after I’d gone to work for her, however, feeling, she told
us, that formal religious affiliations were often limiting, confining, restrictive. She formed Terry
ColeWhittaker Ministries, and her Sunday services were eventually televised in cities across
the country, expanding her “congregation” to hundreds of thousands.
As in my time with Elisabeth, my connection with Terry provided me with invaluable training. I
learned much, not only about dealing with people, including those facing emotional and spiri-
tual challenges, but also about non-profit organizations and how they best functioned to meet
human needs and send spiritual messages. I didn’t know then how invaluable this experience
would prove to be—although I should have guessed that my life was once again preparing
me for my own future. I see now that I have been led to just the right people at just the right
time, in order to continue my education.
Like Elisabeth, Terry spoke of a God of unconditional love. She also spoke of the power of
God, which she said resided within all of us. This included the power to create our own reality
and to determine our own experience.
As I’ve said in the introductions to all the Conversations with God books, some of the ideas in
that trilogy are ideas I have been exposed to before. Many, including some of the most
startling, are not. They are insights that I’ve never heard anywhere, never read anyplace,
never before entertained, or even imagined. Yet, as CWG has made clear, my whole life has
indeed been a teaching, and that is true for all of us. We have to pay attention! We have to
keep our eyes and ears wide open! God is sending us messages all the time, having a
conversation with us every moment of every day! God’s messages are coming to us in a
variety of ways, from a variety of sources, in endless profusion.
In my life, Larry LaRue was one of those sources. Jay Jackson was one of those sources.
Joe Alton was one of those sources. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was one of those sources. And
Terry ColeWhittaker was one of those sources.
My mother was one of those sources, too, as was my father. Each taught me life lessons,
and brought me life wisdoms that have served me to this very day. Even after I “threw out” all
the stuff that I got from them—and from other sources—which did not serve me, which did
not resonate with me, and which did not feel like my inner truth, there was still plenty of
treasure left.
In fairness to Terry, who I am sure would want this stated for accuracy sake, I need to point
out that she long ago closed her ministry. She has since embarked on a different spiritual
path, distant from traditional Judeo-Christian constructions, but distant, too, from the largest