Seeking God:

My Life through the Years

(Part No. 2)

Age 16 to 21

As we came to the end of our first installment, let me mention this. I had been baptized (immersed) in the little stream (we called it a “creek” or, in Pennsylvania, we called it a “crick”!). I was now a baptized (so I thought) young man of sixteen, My life was before me and I began to read, pray, and study as never before. This was only a week or so before eleventh grade in high school and I approached this with much trepidation.

I probably won’t discuss much of this time but will (in the next installment) go into the period that follows. If I had it to do over again things might be different. If I had truly known Jesus as the crucified and risen Savior and if I had been part of a vibrant assembly of believers, I might have lived differently. Life could have been more exciting. But this never happened. I was alone.

My life in high school was somewhat uneventful (whereas I could have and should have been active in sharing my faith and God’s great salvation). I got good—but not excellent—grades. Sadly, I devoted very little time to homework. I did begin to read Scripture with some devotion. For instance, I read the Bible every day and memorized many passages of Scripture. I began to go to a local college (Geneva College), some ten miles away in Beaver Falls where “chapel” was required plus regular Bible courses. Thus, I studied the Old Testament and New Testament, including the Gospels and Epistles. I think that I had “Doctor” Vos (the son of “Doctor” J. G. Vos) and “Doctor” Wilcox for these.

Also, it was at this time that I began collecting and reading additional books on the Bible and on Biblical topics. Besides the Bible (my basic text), I read all of the book Halley’s Handbook (an introduction to the whole Bible). Also, I was given Cruden’s Concordance as a gift from my parents. An older couple in town took me to a little church nearby and I think it was this couple who gave me Johnson’s New Testament which I read thoroughly. Further, I began to collect other books that I read assiduously. This began a life-long quest for knowledge of God’s will.

Perhaps it was the end of my twentieth year or during my twenty-first year I lost my job (at “Dustproof Mattress Cover Company”). The employees voted together to invite a labor union to enter Dustproof and we had one month to join this organization. As a Christian, of course, I objected to such an association as a Labor Union, thus I was out of Dustproof and the Union was in! Of the 100 or 150 employees, I was the one who objected.  I could find no work but I did devote myself to an earnest study of Scripture. I read carefully the whole Bible (perhaps this was also done earlier). And, of course, I read many additional books and memorized verses of Scripture. Although this was a searching time, I wasn’t sure what God had in mind for my future. I believe that you can see what I mean.

This was during the time of the Vietnam War which loomed before me. Soon I was “called” to serve in some capacity. If you know your American history, during the First World War, men were inducted and had to go to prison for two years (as I recall my history). During the Second World War, men were placed in certain “Camps” to fight forest fires, do conservation work, and the like.  But during the Vietnam War the government of the United States made provision for  men to work in hospitals and similar institutions for some two years. (This means that few women served in the military for this was before radical feminism became prevalent, as at present, with women serving in the Armed Forces as combatants.)  I was told by the local draft board that no one had ever requested exemption from the military in my district (New Castle, Pa), but I was given the job of finding work that would last two years. Imagine that participants were able to find their own employment!

I found a job opening about 250 miles to the East in Lancaster, Pa, thus that winter I took a long trip to the Lancaster General Hospital for an interview. I was given the job! However, I would need to wait for some four months until the position became available. Of course, during this time I studied continually. Also, I wrote my first book (about 100 pages, mimeographed), entitled “Know Your Bible.” Thus, I waited and waited for this job to become available.

I might add here that in my first year after college began I took at trip to Miami, Florida. I thought that I would find work (in some way) that would be interesting and remunerative. This never happened and, alas, I returned to Dustproof. A year later I drove the whole way to the West Coast to look for work but found none. I did travel to exciting California as well as Oregon and places to the East and this served to broaden my view of the country. Obviously, I was sleeping in my car  alone and this may not have been the best arrangement—but it worked well for the time. But once again I needed to return to Pennsylvania and Dustproof.

You may notice that much of this time I was alone—not by choice but by the nature of the case. Actually, I do love people and want to both learn from them and share with them, but this was not to be. I think that I’ve had a problem with shyness and this has had an effect on the ability to reach out to people around me who need Christ. And, of course, I needed them too.  Soon the job in Eastern Pennsylvania became available.

This brings me to the time of waiting for the hospital work to begin. This was an entirely new experience for me since I had never moved away from the protection and guidance of home. Further, it was a new time of working in a rather large hospital of some 6 floors and 600 beds. I had to close another chapter of my life and begin a new one. I was somewhat young (at age 21) but knew no one in the new location toward the east. God had something for me and I wondered what it might be!

–Richard Hollerman