Day 7.

An ancient philosopher once said, “Life is not to know all the answers but to understand the questions.” These are the seeds my father planted within me. He once said to me “Life is a question that demands an answer.” James 4:14 says our lives are like the mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

I remember, as I watched my fathers coffin lowered into the crematorium, how his words about life rang in my ears and for four and a half years I wandered and looked and searched for the answer to the question that demands an answer. I realized that my life was wasted unless I spent it searching for the answer to life itself. I used to go to the pub with my friends, we would be laughing and having a good time doing the wine women and song routine but inside I was crying out and saying “there must be more to life than this!”

I had a good friend at university whose mother was a spirit medium. On one occasion her and I were hitch-hiking to Auckland from Palmerston North. We got stranded in the dark on the Desert Rd that passed the smoking sides of MT Ruapehue. It was freezing. Two young fellows, traveling the other way, got stranded in the same town right opposite us. Because of the temperature and dark we all decided to go ¼ shares in the motel we were standing in front of. As we sat around the table with hot drinks our conversation went to spiritual things and we found ourselves setting up a ouija board on the table with letters in a circle and an upturned glass. We each placed a finger on the upturned glass and Debbie proceeded to ask questions. The glass began to move. I, at the time, believed she was pushing it. I now know better.

On another occasion I was hitch-hiking alone. As is the case, drivers are often looking for company on long trips. We got into a spiritual discussion. His testimony was that he was once into all that spiritualistic stuff, but he came to the realization that if you believe it, then you have to believe in the devil, and he was on the wrong side!