
Attestation
of the Scribe
My father was a minister, a man who sincerely believed and practiced his faith. I never had any reason to be at odds with his teaching, yet from the age of seven or so, I questioned. Eventually I became disillusioned with ‘organized religion’ and rejected all of them.
It was not until age 34 that I began to feel the hunger to know my Heavenly Father. There were many experiences between that time and the time the first word of this book was put to paper. I will save the account of those experiences for another time, if there are any who may be interested in knowing of them.
Even though the ‘burden’, or commission, to write was placed on me in January 1987, the first words were written in 1990. It took until today, March 24, 1998 for the last word to be typed. Many times I had time to work on this, and wanted to, but could not. At other times, I was dead tired and had so desire to even think about this, but was drawn to my computer so irresistibly that I worked for hours. I never knew what I would type. I would sit down at the keyboard and it just came. As I wrote, I ‘saw’ the events, and characters, in my mind. These people are real to me, as though I knew them personally and shared their experiences along with them.
The most unusual part of this experience is that, when I read what is written here, I seem to have no connection to it. It is as though they are words set down by someone other than myself.
I am touched and inspired every time I read it, often feeling electrifying ‘goose flesh’. I am brought to tears every time I read the funeral of Hetmot in Chap. 84. The wedding ceremony, in Chap. 79, joining two families as well as the bride and groom is always inspiring in its’ reality.
There are times when I had, and have, no doubt of the guiding hand of the Guidon. At other times, I felt just plain foolish about all the work I did. At times, I still struggle against the tendency to reject all that cannot be verified by the five senses. I suffer, as did Kalnaka in Chap. 72, with “pride.” But, as he, I continue to follow the quite stimulus, nevertheless.
So, I can promise you only that I set these words to paper, as I felt compelled to do so. I consulted no experts, nor did I try to follow any ‘story line’. Typing these last words, I feel that I have, as last, fulfilled a task from which I did not choose, in the end, to escape.
As to the true source of these words, and their worth to you, that, my friend, is for you, and you alone, to decide.
May the Guidon ever be with you!
THE SCRIBE