For this author, life begins before birth, when someone chooses the parents who would provide an appropriate setting for the next phase of spiritual lessons in his karmic journey. Nwokogba offers vivid descriptions of his co-mothers and father, his boyhood initiation into a children's brigade and close brush with death during the Nigerian civil war, the dream that revealed hidden money that enabled him to continue his schooling, the powerful intuitions that visited him but that he did not always heed, and more. Each chapter includes thoughts on destiny, personal development, the nature of death or the Infinite Source that put such events into perspective.

Nwokogba's college years in America became dominated by depressing encounters with racist behaviors, which he eventually understood as a consequence of a previous life as a slave owner. With that insight, he found it easier to complete his education. At a crucial point, being held at gunpoint and escaping because of telepathic communication with a friend who arrived to rescue him gave him an unmistakable sign of the validity of his spiritual progress.

The lessons continued when he found himself stuck driving a cab, despite a master's degree. His faith that the right job would come along paid off when he had a vision of an office uncannily like the one where he soon received a summer internship that turned into a permanent position -- despite a critical supervisor. "Experiences have convinced me over the years that when I'm in great need, something always happens, without a conscious effort on my part, to satisfy the need," Nwokogba says in tribute to the power of the mind. Even apparent calamities like illnesses, accidents and unsuitable romantic attractions fit into this outlook.

America, Here I Come (ISBN 1-58820-104-X; paperback, list price $15.54) is now available through 1stBooks Library at www.1stbooks.com, 800-839-8640, online retailers, and bookstores nationwide.