Preface: When friends who knew something of my history and experiences suggested that I ought to write about them for the benefit of the Brotherhood, I at first demurred lest I should be engaged in what  the Apostle Paul described as “the foolishness of boasting”. When, however, I reflected upon the way in which, from my youth up, “the good hand of God” had guided me in peace and in war, and had kept me in the Way, I decided that, if it would help especially the young to trust in their Heavenly Father in life’s journey, I would tell what happened to me.

The fact that my story covers nine decades during which the most rapid changes in human society took place adds both piquancy and relevance to it, including: the slump before the war, the war itself, the slow recovery that followed, the “swinging sixties”, the decadence thereafter, the “never had it so good” years that financed it – all of which presented problems for those whose faithful adherence to the Truth was their constant endeavour.

My readers will not venture far, however, without realising that my title lacks breadth it is really about the pilgrimage of two people, not just one, who came face to face when attending a class for Sunday School teachers before the war. Without the love and loyalty of that person who became my “helpmeet” I could scarcely have survived.

Furthermore, in all that I have written I stand shoulder to shoulder (or should I say ‘behind’?) Brother Paul himself in confessing that I also am a sinner, wholly dependent on the mercy of God and the sacrifice of His only begotten Son for the hope that I have of a place in the Kingdom of God.