"You have always been a very good young man, haven't you, Aaron?"
"Yes. I've tried."
"You know that sometimes I test people for my own reasons and ask them to do things which might seem very strange to them - like I did with Abraham when I tested him with his son Isaac."
"Yes."
"If you are going to be a leader of men, the highest of the high, it is important that you can understand the feelings and the problems of other people. You must identify with them so that you can sympathize with them."
"I guess so."
"For example, your brother, Chris. You don't understand him, do you?"
"No."
"What does he do that you don't understand or like?"
"He skips school."
"Yes. But what else does he do that you don't understand why he does it? Something that you are always bugging him about."
"He smokes."
"Yes. And how long have you known that he smokes?"
"About a year."
"And how did you find out."
"I started smelling it on him and outside his room when I went by the door. I started seeing him in the Smoking Yard after school.."
"And how do you feel about him smoking."
"I hate it. It's so stupid and bad for you. And it smells bad,"
"In other words you don't understand why he continues to smoke - you can't feel for him, can you?"
"No."
"I am going to put you to your first test, Aaron. Are you ready."
"Yes."
"You will not let me down and suffer the fire of hell."
"No."
"I believe you and I trust you, Aaron. God believes you and he will help you. I want you to learn to understand your brother Chris and the many others like him. Only by experiencing the need that they have can you ever help them or sympathize with them. To help them you must become like them. In a moment I will place the hands of God on your head, and when I do, you are going to start to experience what they do. You are going to start to want a cigarette - very badly. I will help you, though. You will find the taste of the cigarette very pleasant - like the taste of your favourite thing. I am placing my hands on your head now and you can feel my power come into you. Every second now you want a cigarette more and more. It is as though you have been smoking for a very long time." I paused to light a cigarette. My hand was shaking.
"You can smell a cigarette burning now and you want it very badly, don't you.?
"Yes."
"What do you want?"
"I want a cigarette."
"Have you ever smoked before?"
"No."
"But what do you want?"
"I want a cigarette."
"You want one so bad that it's beginning to hurt, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"In a moment I am going to give you a cigarette. When I tell you, you will be able to open your eyes, but you will still be very deep asleep. The only thing you will see is that cigarette. You will take the cigarette and smoke it - inhale it - and you will like it very much. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"What do you need?"
"A cigarette."
I held the cigarette in front of him and told him to open his eyes. They opened and stared at the cigarette. "Now take the cigarette in your right hand." He did. "You want it very badly and it's going to taste so good. I want you to smoke the cigarette now."
Aaron raised the cigarette to his mouth and drew in on it. The first time he didn't inhale it, so I helped him along.
"Take a little of the smoke in your mouth. That's right. Now take in some air and swallow it.. That's right. Now you feel really good. You can feel the cigarette working on you and you feel really relaxed. You're really enjoying it, aren't you."
"Yes."
After he took four or five drags I decided not to push my luck and make him sick. That would ruin the whole thing. The plan that I was rapidly formulating was too exciting to screw up.
"I am going to take the cigarette from you now. You don't want to give it up. You want to continue smoking it because you love smoking and the taste of it and you want more. But your eyes are closing again and I am taking the cigarette."
A scowl crossed his face.
"What is the matter, Aaron.?"
"I want a cigarette."
"From now until I take the feeling away from you, Aaron, you are going to want a cigarette all the time. You will come to understand how hard it is for people to quit smoking and how much they like it. When you wake up you are going to want a cigarette all the time. You will only be really happy when you are smoking. Your brother's smoking will not bother you. In fact, you envy him now because he has cigarettes, don't you?
"Yes."
"What do you want right now, Aaron."
"A cigarette."
"Do you have any cigarettes, Aaron?"
"No."
"How does that make you feel?"
"Bad."
"How can you get some cigarettes, Aaron?"
"My brother smokes. Buy some."
"And how do you feel about your brother smoking, Aaron."
"Great. I can get cigarettes from him."
"Does he know you smoke?"
"No."
"When are you going to start smoking and let him know?"
"Tomorrow."
It was more successful than I ever could have imagined.