HE MADE ME PROMISE I WOULD TELL YOU!
- Cliff Jacobson
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
by Cliff Jacobson
It’s customary for authors to dedicate their books to a person they love or respect. I’ve followed suit in all of my titles, except one—“Camping’s Top Secrets.” Instead, there is this unusual Acknowledgment:
“In my book ‘Expedition Canoeing: A Guide to Canoeing Wild Rivers in North America’*, I wrote: Canoeing the wild rivers of the far north makes one understand why primitive man felt so close to God. I am not a religious man, but I have brushed with death often enough in the bush to appreciate the caring spirits who guide my actions. I have spent nearly a lifetime canoeing remote rivers in northern Canada and neither I nor anyone in my charge has ever suffered a serious illness or injury. I believe that I owe much of my good luck to a kindly spirit who watches my back and helps me make wise decisions. I often feel the presence of my ‘river angel,’ and I wish to say thanks.”
Here’s the story: It happened at a rustic scout camp set deep in the Minnesota woods. I was teaching an outdoor skills class for the Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul. There were about twenty-five adult participants, one of which was a woman in her thirties. The day was spent on hands-on skills like knife sharpening, fire building, rigging stormproof shelters etc., interrupted by occasional short lectures and (in those days) slide film presentations. Everyone was tuned into the program; everyone, that is, except one woman, who stared at me in what appeared to be a trance.
Wow! I thought, I must be some cool dude that she is so enamored with me. But strangely, she appeared not to be looking AT me but rather, looking THROUGH me. It was weird. She was very quiet, never once commented or asked a question during the day. It was a bit unnerving.
The day ended promptly at five pm and folks began to leave. The woman hung around in the shadows. She waited until everyone was gone, then quietly came up to me.
She said: “Cliff, He made me promise I would tell you.” I looked at her quizzically and she replied: “Cliff, I am a channeler.”
“Um, that’s nice, what’s a channeler?” I asked.
“I know this sounds crazy,” she replied, “But I can communicate with the dead. You probably think I’m nuts but the vision was so strong I had to tell.” Again, she said: “He made me promise I would tell you!”
I looked wide-eyed at her and quietly said “o..k..a..y.”
“Cliff, you have an Indian Guide.”
“What’s a Guide?” I asked.
“It’s like a guardian angel; everyone has one; some people have more than one. I don’t know how many you have; I just know this one. He is an Indian spirit and his name is… Sorry, his name just slipped out; it will come back to me. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have told you this, but his message was so strong I had to tell. He made me promise I would tell! When I looked at you, I didn’t see “you”: I was looking through you, and behind you I saw the spirit of the Indian man who is your Guide.
Again, she said: “He made me promise I would tell you!”
The channeler said, “Your Guide follows you on your canoe trips and keeps you and your friends safe. He helps you write your books and do your presentations. He has spent a lot of time protecting you and helping you and he would like to be acknowledged.”
ACKNOWLEDGED? “How do I do that?’
“I don’t know. I am just telling you what he said.”
With that, she politely walked away.
For a minute, I just stood there dumbfounded. I wanted to follow her, to ask her more questions, but my feet seemed riveted in cement. She had asked nothing from me. Nothing! I wanted to know more, but I just stood there, unable to move. I watched her drive away, wondering, wondering.
When I got home, I looked up her name on my Science Museum participant roster. I had her telephone number. I wanted to call her. But I didn’t. Why didn’t I? Something deep inside me said “No, don’t call. Just accept that she cared enough to tell me what my spirit said. To just believe, acknowledge, and let it go at that.
Over the years, I have had several close/possibly, near-death experiences that ended well—two of which were unquestionably bizarre. But those are stories for another time.
A final shout-out to the friendly spirit who continues to guard my back.
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*In 2015, an expanded full color 30th Anniversary edition of “Expedition Canoeing” was released and re-titled “Canoeing Wild Rivers.”
My flagship book, CANOEING WILD RIVERS, 5th Edition, contains a wealth of advice on how to safely canoe difficult rivers.
*My book CAMPING'S TOP SECRETS, 2022 revision, details practical camping tips and procedures that only the experts know. If you know just a few of these tricks, you'll be a hero to your friends!
*My teen book, JUSTIN CODY'S RACE TO SURVIVAL! mixes a fictional wilderness survival tale with practical outdoor tips everyone should know--a first for books of this type. Adults love it too! Now available as an audio book!
*My long out-of-print book, CANOEIST’S Q&A (available as an e-book) contains 25 true scenarios (plus FAQ's) that define the wilderness canoeing and camping experience--a great training tool for those who go beyond the beaten path - now available as an audio book under the new title PADDLER'S GUIDE: WHAT TO DO WHEN THINGS GO SOUR.
*CAMPSITE MEMORIES is long out-of-print. It is available as an e-book on my website and as audiobook.