|
|
I was 25 when Katrina and I married, it
was what you might call a story book affair.
First we lived together on the tropical
beaches of Northern Queensland, Cape
Tribulation mostly. We hiked and sat around
giant campfires on the beach, we met new
people and we started to plan a life
together.
After we were married we moved into a tiny
Sugar Cane Barracks that had been converted
into a house. We earned money at the local
tourist market selling fruit and artworks
that we created, Katrina was a dressmaker
amongst her other talents, she could make
anything. I hand painted fabrics and she
made wonderful cloths.
At around this time we discovered A Course
in Miracles, we were walking past a church
hall in Cairns and posted on the flapping
wooden door of the hall was a tattered piece
of paper with the word "Miracles" emblazoned
across it. There were dates and times for a
meeting so I made a note to turn up to see
the miracles, I thought it was going to be
some sort of magic show.
We turned up at the appointed time and filed
in to the hall, it was a very simple scene,
a center isle with church hall chairs
arranged in neat rows on either side. There
was a long thin table facing the audience
that was covered by a green table cloth with
chairs behind it.
We all sat down and before long a procession
of very well dressed people walked into the
hall from somewhere behind the stage. They
were all Americans; the ladies had very big
hair and wore enough make-up to paint all of
Cairns.
"This is a Course in Miracles" one of the
ladies announced, she held up a blue book
with a gold embossed cover. I had no idea
what a miracle really was and here was a
Course in them, we listened to the talk and
became more confused but these strange
people from far across the sea had sparked
something in many of those gathered in that
rickety old church hall. We bought two
copies of the course, (in those days it
still came as a three volume set) and
we went back to our tiny house and started
to read.
It was confusing, the language was Christian
and yet it wasn't like any form of
Christianity I'd ever read. We joined a
study group, there was a lot of discussion
and very little actual reading of the
Course, I was still looking at the material
from the perspective of how it affected
other people's lives.
Soon we began the Workbook for Students,
much happened during those first years with
the Course. I had regular fights with the
person who ran that group about
interpretations and finally he kicked me
from his group. I was still not using the
Course personally so that event woke me up a
little.
Then we had our first child,
WOW I'll never forget it, we named her Hope,
because we saw her as the hope of the world.
We moved into a nicer house that had a mango
orchard so our income improved enormously.
As Hopie grew we planned everything around
her, she was the center of our lives and
what a kid, she has always been a rock.
We moved again to a tiny town called Kuranda
in the ranges behind Cairns, there we got
involved in the local amphitheatre and
markets. Before long our second child was on
the way, a boy, a blue eyed, blond haired
little ball of grace from God. He was a
perfect little thing and his mother and
sister adored him, they were like hand
maidens to a prince.
We lived our lives and studied the Course
for a few more years and then we heard about
a community that was to be established in
Northern New South Wales. We packed all our
belongings into a trailer and put the kids
in the car and headed South. It was a long
journey and things weren't quite what we had
expected when we arrived, so eventually
after living in a caravan and tent for a
while we moved to a nearby town and started
buying a house.
We lived there for a few years studying the
Course and raising our little family, I got
the opportunity to work with the indigenous
Aboriginals, that was a highlight of my life
indeed. Then I had a stroke, 10 years had
gone by since we were married, I was 35 and
totally knocked on my ass... |
|
Part 1 | Part 2 |
Part 3 |
Part 4 |
Part 5 |
Part 6 |
Part 7
|
|
|
|
|
.JPG)
