When I was a boy I was quite the troublemaker. I would invite my friends over for a Saturday afternoon of creative hell raising. I told my parents we would be in the basement playing Monopoly, or some other All-American innocent boys activity. We then proceeded to use the telephone for our entertainment, dreaming up some of the most clever and demonic prank phone calls in the history of the art. The communications often ended in the recipient of the call sounding very angry and we, the merry pranksters, laughing uproariously. I remember thinking that if there were such a thing as karmic debt, than I was accumulating quite a phone bill. I was throwing some downright turbulent vibrations into the universal pond!

Well, my friends and I eventually grew tired of such thrills and developed other interests that had more to do with raging hormones and the opposite sex. As time went by, I pretty much forgot about my days of prank phone calling, burying the memory deep within my subconscious, in a folder marked Embarrassing Boyhood Adventures To Not Include On My Resume. I'm sure you can appreciate the wisdom of my pysche in helping me develop prank phone call amnesia. The self-image I was developing was that of a reasonably kind and thoughtful person, not as someone who was capable of ordering free delivery pizza, Chinese food and delicatessen sandwiches to a house down the street, and then hiding with my friends in a nearby bush to watch the mayhem at their front door. OOPS- I told you after all! (I must have needed to unload some of the guilt.)

Fifteen years later my friend Stephen and I fell into being partners in a very different kind of crime. We discovered the joy of Angel Calls. In our lives we collected telephone numbers of people we didn't know, usually people on some sort of personal growth or spiritual path. Then we would designate one night a week to get together and make calls. Stephen would begin by asking, "Excuse me, do you have just a moment to receive a personal message of encouragement from the universe with absolutely no strings attached, nothing religious and nothing to buy?" Sometimes they would say "no" and hang up before we could get started, but often we had their interest, and we would begin. Steve had the gift of being able to tune in to the person intuitively and communicate timely, helpful, and insightful messages, full of poetry and honoring. I played classical guitar in the background while Stephen played the spoken word, and when he was complete, he held the phone close to me and I allowed a song to spontaneously spring up from my heart to theirs, created in the moment just for them. Being lovingly serenaded by an anonymous stranger singing a custom made song with their name and their issues, was quite an experience for most of our receivers. When we were done they would sometimes be sobbing (especially the women), and we'd all be in amazement and gratitude. In our creative playfulness, we were unwittingly delivering some potent mail.

Years before Touched By An Angel was a TV show, Stephen and I were reaching out and touching people over the phone lines, and we kept those close encounters of the angelic kind appropriately anonymous. When people would ask us, "Who are you guys?" we would say something like "Wer're messengers from the universe, and our message is that you are deeply loved!" Our friends got wind of what we were doing and began supplying us with phone numbers, even telling us a little of what the targeted person was working through in their life. This helped us zero in and be even more personal and connecting.

After many months of developing and enjoying our phone ministry, I suddenly remembered my days as a phone prankster. The memories flooded me with regret as I realized that my past actions had hurt some people on the other end of the line. But I also realized that with the Angel Calls I had unwittingly stumbled upon an action that was having the opposite effect on people. I was blessing instead of terrorizing! And I was just following my heart! I didn't start out by saying, "I've got some heavy karma to clean up, so I'm going to do these calls to make amends." I simply let joy be my compass, and joy pointed me in a direction that helped me heal from my past while having fun in the present moment. Now that's a great deal!

Two years ago I got a taste of my past in the form of my phone ringing one Saturday night. "Hi, Dad!" a young female voice said. "You can pick us up now. We're ready to come home!" I thought I heard another voice giggling in the background. Suddenly my instincts kicked in and I knew I was on the receiving end of a prank call! How did I know? I just knew! A criminal can always spot one of its kind. I responded in a way they were not expecting: "Oh, honey, I've been waiting by the phone. Is everything all right? I've been worried sick! Where are you? I'll be right there!" Muffled giggles gave way to loud fits of laughter on the other end. The girls were exposed! I asked them their names, and we ended up talking for hours.

A friend was over for a visit and she, too, got on the phone and connected with our two new, prank-calling, teenage friends. They told us all about their lives, their interests, and their frustrations. When they found out that we were into spirituality and meditation, they freaked! They had all kinds of questions for us, and we talked about everything from UFO's to Buddhism. I sang them some of my songs, and even sent them one of my CD's. For a week they were my phone pals, calling every few days with some new topics to discuss. I so appreciated their openness!

It was a precious experience for all of us, and it started with a prank phone call. Because I had been there and done that, I recognized that, underneath the mischief, they were really reaching out for aliveness and connection. I remembered how bored and frustrated I felt when I was their age, and I was able to respond to their hearts, rather than just react to their behavior. And in the process I felt compassion for myself and for my past. The slate was clean. My checkered past had circled back to me, and it had been transformed into something sweet and positive.

It seems that in following my heart, I am both serving life and clearing my karma. There is some pretty tidy bookkeeping when it comes to these things. The cosmic accountant knows exactly how to keep our spiritual checkbook balanced, especially when we are doing what we love.

"All of your past except its beauty is gone,
and nothing is left but a blessing."
-A Course in Miracles

About the Author

Scott Kalechstein is an inspirational speaker, a transformational humorist, a prolific recording artist, and a modern day troubadour. He makes his home in Marin, California and loves presenting at conferences, giving talks, concerts and workshops. In his phone counseling practice, he is a relationship specialist, helping both individuals and couples grow into conscious relationship. You can visit www.scottsongs.com to read more about his workshops, to hear his talks or to sample songs from his nine CD's. Sign up for his free muse-letters to receive writings like this one on a semi-occasional basis.