Chapter 15 - Year 1971 part 1/2

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The next took place on Pietarinkatu

  At that time, the third, HTOL's final year of study and the spring season at the college had begun. At the beginning of 1971, I had alone come home from school. Exceptionally, I came home before my school friends and when I opened the front door of the apartment, I noticed a piece of paper that had apparently fallen behind the door, almost hidden, behind the floorboard.

  The widow lady's daughter had not noticed it, though she usually handed the mail to us at the tables in the room. I picked up the paper and saw it as a flyer. Its front page had no text at all, only an image of a big bitten red apple against a light green background. At first I thought it was an advertisement.

  When I opened it, there was only one chapter of the Bible inside in the quotation marks, namely 1 Cor. 13 and it looked like this:

”1 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don't have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don't have love, I am nothing. 3 If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don't have love, it profits me nothing. 4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn't envy. Love doesn't brag, is not proud, 5 doesn't behave itself inappropriately, doesn't seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; 6 doesn't rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; 10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain-these three. The greatest of these is love."

  As I began to read the text, I felt the mighty Grace and the Spirit of Love come upon me, and slowly I read through the text as tears flowed from my eyes. I immediately knew the text was directly from the Bible. I read it four times.

  I did read it so many times because I always felt heavenly love flowing inside me as I read the text. I realized Yehowah Elohim was talking to me. After all, my innermost had been very restless, and I had been unhappy in my heart for the third year, having to read subjects I had no interest in.

  The biggest reason for my studies was that I didn't want to remain the lathe worker all my life. It was noisy, dirty, sweaty, poorly paid and also very stressful because it was a contract work and in many companies two shift work. It was also unhealthy.

  Studying mere technical subjects without more humane subjects is an internally exhausting, continuously study of dead knowledges. Humans are not created for such work! People also need more human-oriented activities in their studies.

  For the past 2.5 years, I had felt overwhelmed also because I was far too ambitious. Most of my schoolmates took their studies much more relaxed and regularly went to a pubs. I rarely went, because luckily I had no money enough for it.

  When I read that back page of the folded flyer, it read:

"You may have guessed that the text you read is from the Bible, the whole chapter of 1 Cor. 13. If you knew when you read that the text spoke to you, then sign up for our free Christian Bible Letter Course, "The Light of Life," by mail. It deals with the Gospel of John."

  I ordered that course. I studied through it and I think it was very enlightening, as its name implied. After that, I decided to start reading the Bible once and for all. I had read some passages from the Bible before, but not from beginning to the end.

Yehowah reminded me!

  Whenever I read the Bible just before I went to bed, I noticed that I had deep rest and peace in the night too. Also, I was better at school than before. One late night I came to Isaiah 40 in the Bible. I had read chapter 39 that night and my roommates were both asleep. 

  Even though I was already tired, I decided still read chapter 40 in the light of my bedside lamp. I slept far from my friends. When I came to verses 30 and 31, it felt like they were jumping in front of my eyes very big and alive and waking me up! Then I awaked and realizing something wonderful was happening in that moment! They read:

>>30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 but those who wait for Yehowah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.<<

  Then I remembered exactly what I had experienced 10 years earlier when I had made a promise to Yehowah Elohim at the age of 12! That night in Siuntio came to my mind as if it were a movie film, even though I'd forgotten it for years. Yehowah had said to me that night: "You get the power. You lift your wings like eagles. You run and you don't languish. You're wandering and you're not tired!
  
  I also remembered how I had asked him to remind me of my promise after I have moved out of my home to my apartment and graduated to my profession. Now, that night 10 years later, he reminded me! How wonderful and faithful he is! I also came to know that the promise I received was directly from the Bible, just for me.

  From that time on, it has been easy for me to believe that the entire Bible is a book inspired by the Holy Spirit and that he lives and works through his Word. Then I came by faith to KNOW that the Bible is a holy and trustworthy guide for people and that it has been given to us as a guide to the way of heaven!

  Later, I came to know that all translations and versions of the Bible contain translation errors and several misspellings, which our Creator has not made! 
  Therefore, it is wise to be critical enough when reading different versions and translations of the Bible and not believe everything in them as Yehowah Elohim's words!

I was laughed at

  As I went through that literal Bible course, I had to replace my entire name in John 3:16 with the words "the world" and "none." I also had to learn to memorize it. Then that verse reads as follows:

  >>For so Elohim has loved Leif Paulus Sigfrid Norrgård that he gave his only begotten Son that Leif Paulus Sigfrid Norrgård, who believes in him, will not perish but have eternal life.<<

  When I learned to memorize it, I wondered why it feels so shameful, even though I believe it is true? I asked my roommates the same and after hearing the verse, they yelled with laughter. But they couldn't explain why it felt so shameful, almost comical.

  It was an unreasonable sense of shame that the devil gave us! I later remembered one case that resembled the same case. It was as follows:

Descriptive geometry

  This projective geometry was taught by a very peculiar teacher. He used to choose from each class someone to tease him. He targeted me because of my strange name. At the beginning of each hour he asked, "Leif Paulus Sigfrid Norrgård, tell us what is the definition of a circle?"
 
   I told him it at the beginning of about five different hours. Then I added emphatically, "Now this is enough!" Then he ended teasing. Probably my roommates combined that case with John 3:16. That's where my full name was used too, which was just "von" missing. Heh-heh!

Grade rating

  Concerning descriptive geometry, that very original teacher called me beside the desk to evaluate grades and said, "Your workbook is neat by the way, but your neat handwriting is so powerful that the text appears on the cardboard cover. It's hard for me to decide which grade I would give you. What would you rate yourself?" 

  What a question! I said, "I appreciate what is right and fair." He said, "Great answer. I'll give you 9." I also got it in my school certificate. 

I was successful in everything

  That last semester season was difficult due to several lectures and exams. I always noticed in the evenings when my friends were asleep and I read the Bible that I gained supernatural power and wisdom to do better at school, even though I didn't read more for exams than my friends. 

  I was a best in my class. The second best certificate holder was, on average, 0.4 digits below mine. I had it 8.55 and he had 8.15.

  Meteorologist Erkki Harjama taught us geometry. He was a really humble gentleman. That is why I became enthusiastic about the subject because the personality of the teacher influenced me a lot and my desire to learn.

  His tenderness and humility were well illustrated by the fact that I got a full 10 points in the exam he organized. As he went through the test questions, he said that he himself did not understand the task of proving certain angles to be complementary angles.

  Then he said, suddenly, "Student Leif Norrgård, please, could you explain it to me and others, because only you knew how to solve the task correctly." I replied, "Thank you very much." Then I went and explained it to them.

  I received two scholarships in addition to the graduation ceremony and my father received a third scholarship for me at home village after he applyed for it. Thanks to him!

  A very good job was waiting for me right after school at Strömberg Company, where I had a job training 1 year earlier at Asynchronous Machine drawing department.

  In the next chapter, I will tell you what was really wonderful during the school spring term, Easter Week. It was the biggest highlight of my life up to then, I had never experienced before!

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