Chapter 13

Back To College

In the Fall of 1979, John attempted college again at Iowa State University. The dorm floor was the same. John was now walking down a more sober path and seeking for others who knew My Cross and Sacrifice.

John started attending to a Catholic church. He had, had two former girlfriends who were catholic. John felt comfort from the love and care of the catholic Father. That Fall John attended a Catholic retreat celebrating Antioch. John called himself the token protestant, yet he was well received. John did not know a lot about the Faith, but was still searching.

At the retreat John went to a special Mass, where he learned about confession and Catholic communion. As John went forward a floodgate was open. So many tears and hurt were released. The emotions were so deep that all John could do was ask God to please forgive him. Although John was not a Catholic he received communion anyway. One remembrance that was special to John was when the Priest sent him out, alone, to talk to the Heavenly Father.

The Winter Semester at ISU started and John was still exploring the Catholic faith. John took a course called Catholic Faith For Adults. All of the Fathers were kind, but John became mentally ill. He was lead away from this relationship by the need for hospitalization.

Just before Christmas break was started, John suffered a high. A severe snowstorm starting. John's parents suggested for John not to come home that night. John's high over rode his common sense. John thought he could beat the storm and took off. The roads were extremely bad and John drove about 45 miles per hour. However, this was not slow enough and half way home John slid down a deep embankment and taking out a fence. I kept him from hitting a tree that was close to where he finally stopped.

John went to a house about a half a mile away. The people were very nice and received John warmly. John remembers sharing some of his recent poems with them. I blessed John with their friendship. This friendship would also continue until they moved out of state.

John's hasty actions convinced John's parents that he needed to be hospitalized again. Even though John had looked into the Catholic faith, he was also intrigued by a Chinese religion called Taoism. This is a religion of proverbs-like teaching. Little did John realize non-Christian teachings would lead him into delusional and occult teachings that I had to cast down with the Word of God.