My Really Loud Conversation with God


By Summer Bacon

My boyfriend, Don, and I were in Las Vegas this week for a couple of days. We saw Donny & Marie Osmond  perform at the Flamingo. It was Don's birthday present to me, at my request. I wasn't a big fan of Donny & Marie, but somehow they always touched my heart when I saw them, and I really wanted to see their show (which was totally awesome, and professional, by the way). And, my Dad, who was a Director for ABC-TV for 35 years, knew The Osmonds when Donny was just a little boy, and my Dad always talked about what wonderful people The Osmonds were, so I guess his respect for them rubbed off on me. So did Donny Osmond's performance in "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat." Man, oh, man what a voice Donny has. If you haven't watched this movie/stage production, rent it quickly on Netflix or Blockbuster, or, heck, just go ahead and buy it, because, if you have any heart at all, and a love for music, you're going to love it, and will play it again and again.

Okay, yeah, I've watched it probably over a hundred and fifty times and counting. So much so that my daughters smile and groan when they hear that I've watched it again. My Personal Assistant, and bestest friend, Bev Scott, introduced me to "Joseph," and it has helped me through many a sleepless night, stormy day, heartache, and faithless moment.

So, because Don purchased the tickets for the Donny & Marie show months in advance, we were fortunate to be seated right next to the stage, literally. In fact, we were so close, that at the end of the show, Donny Osmond stepped down onto our table as part of the show's grand finale! And, that's when I had "the moment." Ahem. Let's just say, "I'll never wash my hand again," as Donny gave me a high five...or, rather, a low three...as he returned to the stage. He ran back to the stage across our table, and as he did I put out my hand, and he gently touch my thumb, forefinger, and middle finger with his fingers, and it was like...touching the history of my family. It might sound silly, but I'm so oddly, bizarrely, sentimental about life and my own history, I felt like, well, I was touching my father's past. And, my brother's past, too. Donny did some recording at the recording studio my family owned in the late 70s and 80s, and my brother, Britt, and my Mom, got to know him pretty well at that time. I never met him before.

Okay, so what does this have to do with God? Well, for me, a person who is attempting to connect the dots of life all of the time, it has a lot to do with God. I mean, we were in Las Vegas of all places; a strange town where there is so much silicone that, if the west coast should fall into the ocean, Las Vegas will still float. And, there are sweet families with children, walking the streets with the prostitutes, as people who are trying to earn an honest living hand out playing card sized ads of naked women advertising "girls delivered in 20 minutes." And, there are drunks, and old (and young) homeless gamblers looking for a handout, and people trying to earn an honest living by selling "Ice Cold Water!" bottles for a buck a piece.

And there are optometrists (Don), and trance mediums (me), walking side by side with all of the wonderful, colorful, weird, characters in that town, drooling equally at the possibility of just maybe winning that $11,000,000-plus jackpot on the penny slots. (Yeah, right. But, SOMEBODY has to win, uh, right?)

And then you have Donny & Marie grinning down at the strip from the biggest "billboard" in Vegas, i.e., the side of the Flamingo hotel where they were performing. And, if you look closely enough, you'll find that the Psychic Medium, John Edwards, is performing in Vegas, too. Sadly ironic, considering the recent death of Marie's beloved son, Michael Blosil, who presumably committed suicide in February 2010. I wonder if Mr. Edwards has offered Marie any sort of consolation via messages from the "other side."

I mean, God HAD TO BE THERE in Vegas when Marie got back on the stage to perform so soon after her son's death. I know He was there when she spoke onstage about how her faith was tested more than she ever realized it would be this year. Yes, she choked up, teared up, then made a comment that her young daughter told her, "Mom, please don't cry on stage...it's gross." I laughed, and understood, a lot. I understood about having a daughter who thinks that crying on stage in front of an audience is "gross," and I understood about how that's the way a young daughter keeps her Mommy going when the going gets tough. And, I understood how Marie didn't want to lose it on stage, because she had a job to do, and wanted her audience to have a happy evening, but also knew that, regardless, she wanted to honor her son, and her remembrance of him. I understood a lot. And, frankly, I think she, on some level, felt it from me, too. She looked at me a lot, and made off-mic comments to me, which were just friendly audience gestures, I suppose. But, maybe, just maybe, her son was standing by, hoping we might connect, knowing that Dr. Peebles could talk to her about him, and that the Mormon leader, Brigham Young, who was friends with Dr. Peebles on earth, was also there by Dr. Peebles' side.

Oh, yeah, but getting back to God.

I was watching people in Las Vegas, and wondering about their lives, their souls' journeys, and wondering why, oh why, have I been returning to Vegas over and over again, for the past year, i.e. four times since 2009. I'm not a gambler. But, frankly, Vegas is an inexpensive vacation place, and fairly close to Sedona, so the drive and the getaway time is easy to afford. And, Don takes me to see the wonderful shows.

So, I talked to God in Vegas. I said, "God, why am I here? Why do You keep sending me back here? What is this part of my journey?"

And, God responded, "BECAUSE, YOU ARE NEEDED HERE."

The response was SO LOUD! It was as if God was screaming His Loving lungs out!

It might seem silly, but I so, like, giggled at God's loudness.

I looked up at the heavens and I said, "Um, God, you are really LOUD here. Of all places, why is it so easy to hear you in Vegas?"

God's response?

"BECAUSE, I AM NEEDED HERE."

And, it dawned on me that, yes, amidst the silicone, superficiality, greed, fame chasers, girl gawkers, and all the rest, God was needed in Vegas. And, in fact, maybe, just like this silly trance medium from Sedona, maybe, just maybe, those people who were trying to find fulfillment through eleven million dollar payoffs from penny slot machines, were PRAYING.

Sure, God is in our hearts, our homes, our churches, synagogues, and at the Sedona Community Center when I hold my Open Sessions each month. But, where God's love is needed most, IT is there LOUDLY. When prayed for (requested), God answers LOUDLY.

In the time I spent in Vegas, I felt myself becoming downtrodden, comparing my 50 year old self to the beautiful twenty-something dancers in the Donny & Marie show, and feeling inferior to the endless stream of gorgeous blonds, stunning brunettes, and ravenously beautiful redheads that strutted everywhere. But then, I remembered God, and something inside of me changed. And, I felt it change in the middle of the night, and I remembered what being on this school called planet earth is all about.

I awakened to go pee-pee, as I do most nights, and was in the dark hotel room bathroom when I heard a young man's voice asking me for help. At this point I hadn't thought of Marie's son, but by the time I got back into bed I realized it was him. I won't tell you what he said, but I will say this, he is doing very well, and his mother would be extremely proud of him. He made it over to heaven quite safely, and is in good company.

So, maybe God was right. Maybe I was in Vegas because I was needed there. Maybe when Marie and I repeatedly connected eyes from my stage-hugging seat, something happened that transcended this world, and connected another. Maybe there was a healing for her and her son. Maybe. Just "maybe," is fine with me. I'll never really know, but I'd like to think it is true.

Which brings me to my point, God wants to speak LOUDLY through all of us all of the time. I think this is why we are asked to smile at strangers, and be patient in the line at the grocery store, and considerately let someone in the traffic line, and (as my hero, Joyce Meyer, would say), why we are asked to return our grocery basket to the grocery store, instead of shoving it into the planter, or leaving it to roll in the wind to dent someone's car door.

Want to be a lightworker? Take God's challenges each day, and fulfill His requests. Be kind to your neighbor. Forgive and forget. Love and allow for yourself to be loved. Give God life through you.

And, don't worry if you are suddenly called to Las Vegas. Maybe God just needs you there.

Fortunately, when it comes to God, although He "happens in Vegas," and He might also "stay in Vegas," He always comes home with, and through, you.