In the late 1800's or early 1900's, families from the beautiful isle of Ireland began to flee the troubled land in search of brighter futures for themselves and generations to come. These ancestors braved sailing the fierce noreasters of the North Atlantic, risking their lives and leaving all behind, in hope of new fives in this new land of the Americas. Upon arrival they entered into the New York Harbor with the Statue of Liberty seemingly floating on the waters, then on to Ellis Island to be processed into US citizens. One of these families, later to form the Thorntons, made such a journey from Limrick, Ireland. They found themselves deposited in Jersey City, NJ This devout Irish- Catholic family had a history of law enforcement officials that developed into three generations of Jersey City police officers. An interesting point is that another family of David K., the Kelly's, followed a similar journey to Jersey City, which will play a role in the future of this story.

A boy by the name of Jeff T. was born into this family of dedicated policeman, and one of his earliest childhood memories is a picture of himself with his fathers police hat on his little head. Unfortunately, this became an unpleasant memory after his father came home wounded one day from work, Jeff T.'s fear set in and never wanted to be a police officer after that day. Jeffery grew up aiming towards a completely different destiny than that planned out by others. Because of this fearful dragon and altered destiny he was slowly slipping from the light that God had instilled in him as a child, without even realizing it. Jeffery began getting involved with the wrong crowd to fit in, and before he knew it, he was involved with illegal activities, drug use, and problems with the local law agencies, which of course were dealt with lightly for now because of the family ties to the agencies.

Eventually, Jeffrey's dragons caught up with him and once again he was offered what seemed a lighter alternative, a "nudge from a judge" into the military organization of Jeff s choice, the U.S.Marine Corps. During this particular time frame of the 60's the Viet Nam War was raging, and Jeffery served two and one half tours of duty there. Jeffery went into this as a brave warrior leaving the darkness of his problems behind and entering into a whole new chapter of his life's journey, that would affect with him for many years to come. The use of substances had halted during the service and Jeffery fought fearlessly and courageously in mission after mission until his conscience could no longer bear the guilt and shame of senseless killing. God had plans for Jeffery and returned him to base each time safely. Many times he would return without his friends, who he witnessed die in battle. He could not understand why such men were perishing and his life was spared, he felt his dragons fire heating up with low self-esteem, guilt, and shame. After watching children and families wiped out in villages against his will, Jeffery could only scream out, "No! Not the children". The dragons heat became insurmountable and Jeffery joined the cooling movement of the Viet Nam Vets Against War Association, (V.N.V.A.W.A.) and the shift from warrior to protester was made while still in the military. Once again God smiled down on Jeffrey knowing that this was the beginning of the end for Jeffrey's darkness, and allowed him to practice his self-will.

Upon returning home to New Jersey, Jeffrey immediately began self-medicating his painful memories and feelings from the war. Another challenge now awaited him at home. His father who still wanted him to become a police officer so that he could pass his badge down to him, as it had been for three generations, made Jeffrey a bet that he could not pass the police exam. The challenge was accepted, even though Jeffrey knew he couldn't pass the urinalysis if his life depended on it. The exam was passed, but his fathers plan failed and the badge and number were retired never to be worn again.

Quite conversely, Jeffrey's darkness deepened into a life of organized crime and drugs that furthered his distance from a productive lifestyle. During this time Jeffrey had met a friend in the same type of lifestyle by the name of David K. God had plans for Jeffrey and David and let them continue on their path, for more wisdom was to be gained by these lessons, and Jeffrey "survived" more years of darkness, but did not "live".

On a "business trip" across the country to California in his car, Jeffrey broke down in Phoenix, AZ. The car would not make the trip so he got a motel room and in his state of depression took a lethal dose of barbiturates to end the insanity. God had plans for Jeffrey and sent an Angel to intervene. In the middle of the ordeal almost in a comatose state, Jeffrey opened his eyes to see a person standing there. The person asked him, "what are you doing"? Jeffrey's response was, "I don't know" and the angels light immediately replaced the darkness and the effects of the drugs were instantly gone, and so was the person. Jeffrey couldn't believe what happened, ran outside to the balcony, no one was there. He then went to a place called LARC for detox on Jefferson St. in downtown Phoenix.

Darkness had ended for now, Jeffrey learned from some other addicts that he never had to use drugs again no matter what, and slid into the grass roots development of a God given fellowship in the Valley of the Sun, that would prove to change hundreds of lives in this community. God smiled down upon Jeffrey as his plan went into action, and tears of joy and love poured down God's face as Jeffrey asked for knowledge of Gods will, and to free him from his own self will. Those tears washed the window to Jeffrey's soul and allowed him to be available for others instead of just himself. While in this fellowship in Phoenix, two-thousand miles from New Jersey, Jeffrey and David K. crossed paths once again, both of them in this fellowship for a new life. As this went on for years a young girl came into the picture who was pregnant with a boy and Jeffery felt compelled to rescue them and offer them a life, possibly due to feeling obligated because of what happened in Southeast Asia. They married and a boy Danny was brought into the world as the son of this couple, this was kept a secret that Jeffery was not the real father of this child. Another child was born out of this marriage named Sean. Shortly after Seans birth Jeffery was diagnosed with a liver disease and believed his days were short on this earth.

Once again the dragons reared their ugly heads and the whirlwinds of fear and doubt crept back into Jeffrey's life. Jeffrey wanting to leave his family well off financially was of utmost importance, so he took his self-will back and engaged in a scheme to illegally obtain a large sum of merchandise and arranged for the sale of it. This grand scheme was pulled off, but due the greediness of one of the participants they were caught after the fact, and the individual turned states evidence against the rest of them. Jeffrey's loyalty was with the others involved and refused to co-operate with authorities. This decision cost him 4 1/2 years of federal prison time and his wife returned to the world of darkness. During this time Jeffery arranged from prison for the kids to be "kidnapped" so to speak, from their mother due to her dysfunctional lifestyle with no electricity or water in the home. She didn't mind because this gave her more time for herself and her lifestyle. The children stayed with family members for the time being.

After Jeffrey's release, his humility, and his love for life has grown immensely. The arrogance has lessened and while in the walls he carried a message of hope to those addicted in the prison. Since then Jeffery has still been presented with many challenges, like Danny finding out Jeffery really wasn't his father. When Danny asked why he wasn't told, Jeffrey's response was, I never viewed you as anything but my son". The grace with which Jeffery handles his challenges is totally different from the previous ways. He lives in the light today practicing God's will for him to the best of his ability. Jeffery has been a hero in my eyes for many years, but more importantly he has become his own hero conquering the inner demons that try to destroy his life, and in the process bringing hope to others. You see, 23 yrs. later, he still has never used drugs no matter what, and as long as that is done their is always hope for the future. I shared a room with Jeffery recently at a convention in Prescott, I awoke in the middle of the night to the sounds of, 'NO! Not the children", as I looked over to see Jeffery in his bed wrathing about in the nightmares of his past. The next day was a whole new day, and he was grateful to be alive. The future of this hero is unknown and is taken one day at a time, but one thing is for sure, the contagiousy of his love, hope, and service to others will continue to be spread throughout the world because of dedicated, not addicted people, like Jeffery. God's plan for Jeffery came off without a hitch at just the right time as it always does. This is the story of an individual hero that was formed as a result of other heroes before him. We are all heroes in our own ways, but to follow the "dharma" set for us is truly a gift to cherish. Jeffery continues to grow spiritually, and knows that the only way he can keep what he has is to give it away. This formula is rewarded by God tenfold each time it is practiced, which makes it impossible to ever pay back the debt owed to others or to God, but it sure is a beautiful thing trying to. Maybe some of us will never attain monetary or material wealth, but the spiritual wealth attained can never be compared to. It is Jeffrey's dream that the world live in harmony and peace, and he continues to be a grain of sand on the beach of the universe trying to make it a better place to live by his dedication to sponsoring, touching and helping as many people as possible by being a free and open channel for God's love. He is sometimes criticized for sacrificing his time for others, even misperceived in his motivation by others, but that is their loss. This final short story reminds me of Jeffrey and his continuing dedication:

One day a small boy by the name of Jeffrey was at the shore on the beach when the tide had rolled out, leaving behind the starfish scattered all over to dry out and die in the sun, Jeffrey began picking them up one by one, hurling them back into the water. A man witnessing this, approached Jeffrey and asked, "What are you doing lad? you can't possibly save all those starfish, why bother?" Jeffrey bent over, grabbed another one and threw it into the water and responded, "It mattered to that one Mister." Society sometimes leaves humans washed up on the shore to dry out and Jeffrey is still there trying to keep them alive, as many as he can.