A night to remember.

In my earlier posting, I have revealed about my being a monotheist. I have also written about the power of the mind. Here is a story which shows how protective God is. It also tells that with God in my mind, I found peace in a house in Alor Star, Kedah, on one lonely night.

In the 1960’s I was a bachelor renting a three-room house with five other bachelors. We had a jolly good time then. Of course, it was lonely during the weekends when usually the other five journey home to Penang Island. During the two day weekend I would have the whole house to myself.

It was during one of those weekends, that I had my first experience. As the night was warm, I took my camp-bed, a bed made with wooden supports and a canvass top, and slept near a window in the hall. In the middle of the night, I heard voices passing by near the foot of my bed. I opened my eyes, looked towards the voices but saw nothing! I blinked my eyes a few times but there was nothing. The voices faded into the distance. I looked towards the window and saw the street lamp outside. I realized I was awake. It was no dream. I thought about it for a while. Eventually, tiredness helped to put me back to sleep.

The second night of the weekend, it happened again. Again, voices were heard. Again, nobody was seen. The outside street lamp confirmed I was not dreaming. This time, it took a little longer before I could go back to sleep.

I welcomed my house-mates back with such great relief. With them around, nothing happened and peace returned to my nights. Just as sure as the sun would set in the evening, the weekend came.

As usual, I slept in the hall under a fan. This time I heard voices and then, oh my gosh!, something sat on my chest. I could not move. It was heavy and suffocating! I had to get up! I could not. I kicked at the chair beside me. The chair’s legs grated against the floor. I quickly opened my eyes, looked around but the voices were gone. I did not sleep the remainder of that night.

The next night, I stayed in my room. I had it locked. Nothing could come through. Then I turned to God. I asked God for help. I could not think of a Buddhist symbol. I remember the Christian symbol. So, I drew a cross on the wall above my head. With that, I believed I had ensured god’s presence there to look after me.

Believe it or not, I just surrendered my fears to God. I did sleep well and woke up refreshed as nothing came in the dark night to disturb my rest. With the assurance of God’s presence, I knew I was safe.