I May Have Encountered Two Angels in 1974

I May Have Encountered Two Angels in 1974

In April of 1974, I was hit with the light. Staying with friends in Vancouver, I went down the stairs, encountered Jesus and experienced the love of God. I came back upstairs and said, “Hey Guys, I just met Jesus.” I have recounted this story elsewhere.

Two weeks later, as a brand-new Jesus Freak, I began hitchhiking for St. Thomas, Ontario where my fundamentalist, evangelical, Baptist family were eagerly awaiting the return of their prodigal.

I remember I was wearing a white lab coat and a grey fedora with a gaily coloured band and a small feather. I was one cool looking dude or freak as we liked to call ourselves those days. I took a bus to the outskirts of Van and was hitching on an entry ramp to the highway. It wasn’t a very good place to hitch as the ramp was quite short. The clouds were heavy and it was threatening rain.

A young woman in a Volkswagen pulled over and I ran up and climbed in. It wasn’t unheard of for single women to pick up hitch hikers but it was a pleasant surprise to get such a ride. The first thing I noticed when I got into the vehicle was a big sticker on the glove box that said: I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO JESUS Oh wow! Here I got picked up by a Christian, someone who could understand this wonderful experience that had just changed my life and set me on a new course.

She said she was just going to Whistler, about 80 miles east. That was a great start on my cross-Canada hitch. We talked about Jesus and the Lord all the way to Whistler. When I got out, she said, “Do you need any money?” I said, “No, the Lord has given me enough to get me back to Ontario. But thanks a lot.” It meant a lot to me that she cared enough to ask. She drove off and I continued hitching.

(Now that I think about it, if I had realized she was an angel, I could have asked her for some real cool stuff!)

I don’t know whether she was a supernatural being sent to encourage me on my way. Doesn’t really matter whether she was earthly or heavenly in origin. She was sent by God to speed me on the road I was supposed to be on. I took the motto I learned from her, I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO JESUS, and made it my own. To this day, whenever I write my name in a book that I have purchased, I write: “Daniel Bennett -- I am eternally grateful to Jesus.”

Fast forward about three months, August, 1974. I am discouraged. I am living with my parents and younger brother and have a job working in the family business. I am attending a small Baptist Church where my dad is the lay pastor. I don’t wear ties to church and I don’t like shining my shoes. I think my hair is “fashionably longish,” but not the beautiful people golden locks I used to sport. My parents are trying to accommodate me and my ideas. They’re thrilled that I’m following the Lord but they really don’t get what I’m going through. I’m really feeling the pressure to be something that I despised in the past and am trying to come to grips with now. I am a confused mixture of Christian, Straight and Wild Man Hippie Revolutionary. I need help. God sends it.

The following photos from 1973 (preJesus encounter) and 1974 (postJesus encounter) illustrate my situation and my thinking.

The photos on the left, taken in 1973 illustrate the ideals of a man who wants to break free from every social norm including sanity. He is having the time of his life as he is on a journey to find truth and God, if he exists.

The photos on the right, taken in 1974 illustrate a man who is in the process of joining a Christian community that has a high value for conformity. He is trying to fit in but is feeling squeezed and pressured. Top photo, he is wearing his fedora but he has removed the bright green band and feather. Photo 2, he holds up a Bible, symbol of his new Christian life. The expression on his face is a little glum. Photo 3, he gives the One Way sign, a contemporary signal of new and youthful Christians. Photo 4, he flashes the hippie peace sign which he hopes and believes is compatible with Christianity. God help the poor bugger.

Back to August 1974. I have an argument with my mother. She’s objecting to a Jesus-people button that I am wearing. It says something like One Way Jesus. I get angry, pull the button off and throw it on the floor. Immediately my conscience is smitten and I retrieve the button and put it back on. I leave the room. Frustrated as h. I don’t use the hell word any more but I feel like it.

That weekend, I hitchhike to Toronto, looking for a group of people that I have heard about called Jesus People or Jesus Freaks. I have heard that there is a Jesus Commune living at Rochdale College and I make my way to the College in downtown Toronto. When I get there, however, I hear that the commune has just moved out that weekend. I am unable to find out where they have gone. Bummer.

I spend Saturday, hanging out in Toronto and spend the night at the hostel called Stop Over at the YMCA. I had stayed there many times when I passed through the city. In the morning I went to a church that I heard was a cool church. I think it was probably the famous Jesus People church called the Catacombs but I’m not sure. There were dancers helping to lead the worship. I didn’t really make any contact with people there and after the service, I headed out on the subway for the highway back home to St. Thomas. An unsuccessful journey to find Jesus Freaks. Seemed like I had wasted my time.

Out on the 401, a big Buick pulled over, a woman driving. Chatting, I told her I had been to Toronto to try and find Jesus Freaks and been unsuccessful. She said, “Well, I’m going to a meeting in London where there’s Jesus People. If you want you can come along.” She took me to the Jesus Rap at King Street United Church.

They were playing guitars and singing Christian folk songs. They were sitting on the floor. The girls were beautiful in long skirts and colourful clothing. Many of the guys had long hair. They were excited about Jesus. I was excited about finding them.

I began attending the Jesus Rap regularly on Sunday nights. It was about fifteen miles from my home in St. Thomas. My dad and brother came too. I had found my Jesus Freaks.

I never saw the woman who brought me there again. An angel?

The Jesus Rap lifted me out of my discouragement and helped me learn of worship, witness and service. I had my first Christian girlfriend there and survived my transition from Hippie to Church-going-Christian. I am still eternally grateful to Jesus. I still sing out of the Jesus Rap Songbook.

There they are: the Jesus People of 1974

Written Nov, 14,  2018