god luck?

Josie is 35 and a happily married housewife with three children. When she was about eight years old she had an experience at school that convinced her she was especially chosen by God.

"I was at school one day when a supervising teacher came in and took over the class," explains Josie. "He was a frightful looking man and I took an instant dislike to him."

"He took the class roll book and picked names at random and asked each child he called to stand up and tell him all about themselves."

"I looked around at my classmates and just about everyone had their heads down - like I did - hoping he wouldn't pick them."

"I had never called upon God to do anything for me," says Josie, "but that day I begged Him to save me from this horrible man. I didn't just beg, I made a pact with God to do his work faithfully for the rest of my life if he would spare me."

"Before the recess bell rang and the supervising teacher left," confides Josie, "only myself and another girl had not been called out of a class of thirty children."

"I never asked her whether she had made a similar pact with God, but it was a day I will always remember. When I realized that God had kept his part of the pact I felt awed by the mammoth duty I had undertaken to keep mine."

"When I tell people this story they say it was just good luck that I wasn't called," laughs Josie, "but it has happened to me time and time again. Whenever I am in a bad situation I remind God of our pact and He always comes good."

"I believe that my life has been blessed by my belief in God and my unfailing duty to do His work. Good luck to me is nothing more than God luck - God looking after me."

"I am not a churchgoer," explains Josie. "I don't have a bible at home and I don't call myself a Christian - but I believe in God, or whatever you want to call Him."

"I believe that God exists to protect the good and punish the wrongdoers and because He has looked after me so well I have kept my pact with Him."

"When people ask me what religion I belong to - or believe in - I cannot answer them," laughs Josie. "I just tell them I am an independent child of God and do his work."

"Unlike other people who profess to believe in God I do not do his work by converting unbelievers or denigrating people who belong to - or believe in - different faiths."

"We are all children of God whether we believe in Him or not and as long as we live our lives well He will protect us. That's what I tell my children and that's what I live by."

"By doing God's work I endeavor to protect people who do not harm others and to punish those who do"

"In many respects that's what a lot of people do without even knowing they're doing God's work," says Josie. "It's the basis of civilization, isn't it?"

"The respect we have for the protection of the innocent and the punishment of the evil is a universal concept that came to us from God. All human beings respect this concept even if they are doing harm to others."

"God connected us with this universal concept, that's why we are all children of God - we are all related in spirit."

"Because we are related in spirit it is easy to protect the innocent and punish wrongdoers," says Josie. "We all have a conscience - a respect for the universal concept of good and evil - and by tapping into the spirit that connects us we can all do God's work."

"I do God's work in a more deliberate way than other people because I feel I was especially blessed by God to do His work," says Josie.

"My work involves sending protective messages to innocent people in trouble - and punishing messages to people who have done wrong - via the spirit that connects us."

"It sounds a lot like witchcraft, doesn't it? " laughs Josie. "But it isn't. I don't use potions and icons and mumbo jumbo. I don't need an altar or a special place. I don't need a photograph or a personal object of my subject and I don't even need to be alone. But sometimes to speed the connection I do use a photograph and prefer to be alone."

"Mostly, I just shut my eyes wherever I am and concentrate on making a spiritual connection with that person and when I have made it I send the appropriate message," explains Josie.

"I'm not putting a hex on anyone or dispensing justice arbitrarily according to selfish desires. I am calm and centered and totally reasonable when I do God's work."

"To receive my punishing messages someone must have committed a grave sin in God's eyes. He or she must have hurt with cold-blooded intention an innocent person or group of people. A simple offence or unacceptable act - to me or society as a whole - is not punishable."

"I cannot punish accidents or stupid unthinking behavior - and providing that they are executed with regret and respect for hurt feelings I cannot punish acts that are deemed necessary such as firing a worker because he or she is not longer needed or separating from a spouse who is no longer loved."

"I cannot punish my neighbor because she refuses to turn down the volume of her music. I cannot punish my aunt because she smokes in the presence of my children. I cannot punish my husband's boss because he didn't give my guy a pay rise, etc."

"I could punish people for these things - and so could anyone, and plenty of vengeful people do," adds Josie, "but to do so would be misusing God's gift, incurring his wrath and cursing myself."

"Inappropriate punishments always backfire in ways that nobody can explain."

"When I send punishing messages to people via the spirit that connects us I make absolutely sure that they are guilty of deliberate sins causing harm to others. If there is any doubt in my mind I will not send a punishing message."

"Doing God's work carries great responsibility," admits Josie. "In sending punishing messages I always make the punishment match the crime. I never wish more harm on someone than they caused to their victim - and if something terrible does happen to them subsequently I do not take responsibility for it but I do pray for the soul of the person who was responsible."

"In sins against God's universal concept for us - such as hurting an innocent child - it's likely that the enraged relatives of the victim wish for a terrible punishment on the wrongdoer," says Josie. "And sometimes it happens. The wrongdoer dies in shocking circumstances. This is not God's work."

"Not everything that happens in this world is God's work - He should not be blamed for the irresponsible actions of his children any more than any parent should be."

"And not every protective or punishing message achieves it's purpose," admits Josie. "Sometimes innocent people continue to suffer and evil people continue to flourish after I have performed God's work."

"I believe that if more people took time out of their busy lives and thanked God for their good fortune, and made a pact with Him like I did to do His work, that evil people can be kept in line," says Josie. "My husband joins me in doing God's work only when he feels very strongly about an issue - and that's okay - I don't push him to do something he doesn't feel called to do."

"One person sending messages can only do a small part of God's work - imagine what good ten, twenty or a million dedicated God's children can do!"

"We wouldn't have to worry about survival issues if more people were looking out for us than looking for a way to harm us. True?"