by Joan R. Pope
In 1960 I drove to Florida from Pittsburgh and moved in with my parents. Later–the year was 1965–I was working five days a week at the local newspaper. My boss, the Senior Vice President of our department, called me into his office and said: “This young man here would like a proper introduction to you.” We started dating later that week, and soon he took me to meet his family.
His mother worked daily. All her children (other than her son) were in high school… and, they needed the money. Her husband was my young friend’s stepfather and worked as a day cook…
My new friend’s mother was quite attached to her only son, and she was keenly aware of his interest in me… She told me one day that she frequently visited a local fortune teller and asked whether I would accompany her soon. I deliberated what I should do. I was not yet a baptized member of the Church of God, although I listened to Mr. Armstrong on the radio as frequently as I could. At the same time, I was receiving the Plain Truth and Good News magazines and the various booklets published by the Church. I was aware of most, but not all of God’s judgments, commandments and precepts. However, I still was not sure what to say to my new friend’s mother without hurting her feelings.
One day my friend dropped me off at her house as she had again invited me to lunch. Afterward she said: “While you’re here, we may as well go see my dear friend the ‘fortune teller.’” We got in her car and drove the short distance to the fortune teller’s small home to get my fortune told. She knocked on the door several times and declared to me that she had an appointment and wondered why there was no answer to her knock. While standing on the porch, I noticed a curtain move in the front window. Still, no one came to let us inside. So we went back toward her house, and she conveniently dropped me off at the newspaper office.
The following week, she again invited me to her home for lunch. Afterward, she once more said she had another appointment with the “fortune teller.” I was afraid that I was going to have to go through with it this time. However, when we arrived at the fortune teller’s home, the same thing occurred; we knocked, and we knocked, and no one ever came to the door. I was soooooo relieved as in the meantime I was discovering more and more in the Bible as to what GOD says about staying away from sorcerers, palm readers, fortune tellers and the like.
To this day I’m firmly convinced that GOD prevented me from a situation that was seemingly out of my control; though it really wasn’t, as I could have begged off. But, I was still learning and cognizant of the fact that my friend’s mother wanted to find out what I was all about. We did become friends, and she never mentioned the situation ever again. I still thank GOD for His divine protection from the demons I might have encountered behind that unanswered door.
