Graham Turner was a journalist for nearly 50 years. His book 'That Other Voice' is based on conversations with people who believe they have heard God speaking.
I wasn't interested in religion and I certainly didn't believe in God – so the events of that evening in Singapore came as both a considerable shock and, in the end, a delightful surprise.
My fellow-officer in the RAF suddenly asked whether I would like – as he put it – to listen to God. I told him not to be ridiculous, since I had no interest whatsoever in his deity.
He wasn't in the least put off. 'That', he said crisply, 'does not affect his situation at all.'
He then gave me a piece of paper and a pencil, suggested I keep in mind the absolute moral standards of Jesus – honesty, purity, unselfishness and love – and simply write down whatever came to me. I was, frankly, too stunned to argue and sat down, expecting nothing.
To my astonishment simple thoughts – none of which I'd ever had before – poured into my mind.
One example: 'You became a snob when you went up to Oxford, write and apologise to your parents.' Another: 'You are a dictator on the cricket field, apologise to your team.'
As I say, these were entirely new thoughts. They had not been previously on my conscience in any way. The thoughts came from inside but they were not mine.
By the end of that 15 minutes of silence, I had been given directions which, if obeyed, would effectively put my life into new hands. Oddly enough, I felt light of heart because it was perfectly clear to me that there was, somewhere in the universe, a force which cared about me and which knew me better that I knew myself. I'd been brought up to call that force God.
I did exactly what I'd been told. I didn't feel just apologising to the team was enough – so I told them that God had told me to apologise. That, understandably, produced both silence and an embarrassed shuffling of feet, but the team's performance improved quite dramatically and several of its members started telling me about their personal problems. Just as strikingly, the three Australians in the team began calling me 'Sir', a courtesy they didn't normally extend to Pommie officers.
I was so astonished by that first 'quiet time' that I have made a practice for the last 50 or so years of spending time in silence every morning just trying to find out whether God has anything to say to me. The only times when things have gone seriously wrong in my life are when I've stopped having 'quiet times' or failed to obey what I have been told.
For two of three years when I was at the BBC I put career first and the price was a heavy one. I ditched the 'absolute standards', starting fiddling my taxes and expenses – and, with my tail between my legs, I eventually had to go back to listening to God, and try to put all that right. So I know the cost of disobedience!
That's what That Other Voice is about: the stories of people who reckon that God has spoken to them in quite remarkable ways and the effect that it has had on their lives. None of them is obviously barmy. They include the present Dean of Christ Church in Oxford. They also include Hindus and Muslims who firmly believe that God has spoken to them. There is also a chapter about the fact that the vast majority of Jews believe that God spoke directly to them in the books of the Torah but has no need to speak any further.
That Other Voice, I believe, will take all of us a great deal further than mindfulness, which can be wonderful in helping to relieve stress but is only, I believe, the hors d'oeuvre before the main course.
'That Other Voice: In search of a God who Speaks' is published by DLT, price £12.99.
