Rarely does any NFL subject give me a case of writer’s block. This one does.
A Monday article in the Austin Chronicle describes the curious link between the Ricky Williams Foundation and a group called Access Consciousness, a connection that apparently arose after a California hedge fund yanked $32 million in funding for the foundation after Williams retired from football after playing for the Saints, Dolphins, and most recently the Ravens.
After reading the article multiple times and listening to some of the accompanying audio, I still don’t know how to properly explain this one. Former NFL running back Ricky Williams “has transformed his foundation into an outlet for delivering the controversial teachings of Access Consciousness” to underprivileged children, according to Alex Dunlap of the Chronicle.
Per Dunlap, Gary Douglas of Access Consciousness believes he can “heal the wounded with his bare hands,” instruct others “how to read minds” and “speak with molecules.”
Some call it a cult. Whatever it is, it’s unconventional at best, downright bizarre at worst. And if their methods are being taught to underprivileged children, those children eventually could be persuaded to accept what seems to be a warped set of beliefs.
But judge for yourself. Along the way, you may be inspired to help persuade from several thousand miles away the sea of plastic trash floating in the Pacific Ocean to become something other than a sea of plastic trash, by telling the molecules to become something that they aren’t.