Beyond Murphy's Law

By George Anderson

Everybody has had some paranormal experience...

Maybe a premonition, a dream that came true, a series of puzzling coincidences... Maybe even something more serious: a haunting, poltergeists, perhaps a genuine Close Encounter.

How d’you handle the supernatural? What are the do’s and don’ts, the rights and pitfalls?

The answer is tied in with Murphy’s Law:

“WHATEVER CAN GO WRONG, WILL”.

That’s life, for many people. The problem is - how to live BEYOND MURPHY’S LAW.

Five years on a Maori settlement, in gaol with a ghost, how to be a no-hoper. The anecdotes come thick and fast from George and Eileen’s personal experience, and are told with the tongue-in-cheek humour that has made their magazine articles and broadcasts so popular. An unusual book that carries the guarantee: you can live beyond Murphy's Law.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Peter Harris
• Release date: May 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301028580

George Anderson

About George Anderson and Sophie Brown: Before serving as a tour guide, they were full-time professors working in Auckland University of Technology. After having their first child in 1986, they have decided to pursue their long-hidden dream of exploring the world. Inspired by their life-changing adventure throughout the world, they have decided to serve as a tour guide. This happy couple has been serving as a New Zealand local tour guide for more than 30 years now. In their effort to show the world what New Zealand truly is, they have decided to write a book about it.

Book preview

Beyond Murphy’s Law

Volume Two of the

Beyond

Series

by

George and Eileen Anderson

Smashwords Edition

May 2013

Published by Eutopia Press.

Disclaimer by Peter Harris of Eutopia Press:

I am making an exception to my ‘Post-Christian’ principles in releasing this series onto the Web. All strange opinions (and/or revelations) herein are strictly the responsibility of George Anderson, an old friend who now resides safely beyond criticism, in the Great Beyond.

I feel OK about helping promulgate these entertaining, witty and challenging writings because they may just help someone just like you get free of the god of religion and begin testing out George’s theory that the real God is only to be found beyond religion. Which is something I agree with.

So George, this is for you, and for Eileen your faithful partner and wife.

First published in two parts by Small Cords Press. Volume One published 1984. Volume Two published 1985. Reissued in a combined edition 1985. Revised and enlarged 1986. Reprinted 1987, 1989, 1991. On disc 1994. In this format 2006.

Copyright George and Eileen Anderson 1984, 1985, 1986, 1994 and 2006.

Converted to ebook by www.ebookuploader.com , a division of Eutopia Press.

Everybody has had some paranormal experience...

Maybe a premonition, a dream that came true, a series of puzzling coincidences... Maybe even something more serious: a haunting, poltergeists, perhaps a genuine Close Encounter.

How d’you handle the supernatural? What are the do’s and don’ts, the rights and pitfalls?

The answer is tied in with Murphy’s Law:

WHATEVER CAN GO WRONG, WILL.

That’s life, for many people. The problem is - how to live BEYOND MURPHY’S LAW.

Five years on a Maori settlement, in gaol with a ghost, how to be a no-hoper. The anecdotes come thick and fast from George and Eileen’s personal experience.

CONTENTS

A BIT ABOUT GEORGE & EILEEN

INTRODUCTION BY JOHN HAWKESBY

PART ONE: THE REAL PROBLEM

1. HALLO, MR. MURPHY

2. ... AND GOODBYE, MR MURPHY

3. THE FRUSTRATION FACTOR

4. NUTS, BOLTS AND DOLLARS

PART TWO: MAKING IT WORK

5. IN GAOL WITH A GHOST

6. RAISING THE ROOF

PART THREE: HANDLING THE SUPERNATURAL

7. DAD, MEET A HOOKER

8. HE HAD IT WHEN HE CAME IN

9. PLAYING IT BY EAR

10. REAL ESTATE WITHOUT TEARS

11. DO-IT-YOURSELF FOR NO-HOPERS

12. FROM BOURNEMOUTH TO BROCHS

PART FOUR: CLEARING THE CLUTTER

13. ABSOLUTES AND...

14. ... STILL MORE ABSOLUTES

15. ISRAEL — WHERE ELSE?

PART FIVE: THE OPEN-ENDED KINGDOM

16. THE OBJECT OF THE GAME

17. GATEWAYS AND GRAVITY

18. ABOVE AND BEYOND

A bit about George and Eileen

From the early days of Christianity there have been those who have warned of heresies and of wolves in sheep’s clothing, and have sought to turn back the faithful to a direct relationship with God. ‘God as dad plus nothing’ (this volume, p.437). These reformers have often been shunned and spoken against from the pulpits. Such a one was George Anderson, with his brave and faithful wife Eileen.

I remember standing with my wife Penelope in the Andersons’ garage on the Maori settlement some time in the mid-1970’s as George told us of his belief that God was going to bring him into his full ministry when he turned forty. We couldn’t imagine what that might be – he had already done so much. But we believed him – he was not the kind of guy to make idle predictions.

Sure enough, soon after his fortieth birthday came the radical Small Cords, a hand-printed magazine which put a bomb under organized religion, and encouraged many to trust in their direct relationship with God rather than psychological hype and churchy ‘Magic.’ And to meet as directed by Him in homes or wherever they happened to be.

Small Cords was the beginning of a fruitful ministry in print which spanned over thirty years and saw over 20,000 copies of the six Beyond books printed on their small offset machine in the spare bedroom, collated on the kitchen table, hand-bound and sent to places ‘too numerous to mention’ throughout New Zealand and beyond - mostly sold by word of mouth, apart from a few brave bookshops!

In the nineties, after George had discovered (to his great joy!) that he had Jewish ancestry, George and Eileen had several exciting stays in Israel as volunteer workers under the Sar-El programme, sharing their experience of Jesus as Messiah whenever they could.

Around 2003 the Andersons went on the first of several trips to Fiji, where they proclaimed, in their unique, direct and powerful way, the message you can read in the six books of this volume.

When George found that he had cancer, he carried on a full life with his beloved Eileen, including the ‘doing up’ of two houses and a motor home.

Everything in the Andersons’ life seemed to fit together in wonderful ways, and even in death George’s faith had results. HE had wanted a plain wooden coffin, a box with rope handles. I was commissioned to make it, and was running late. Just before the funeral, one exactly fitting his wishes turned up at the funeral home. It had been made ‘on spec.’ by a young man calling himself 'the Carpenter's son', who was completely unaware of George’s request.

George Anderson, a man who did not ‘follow a multitude to do evil’ and was not afraid to stand as a lone witness to Truth, is now truly ‘Beyond Murphy’ forever! Read on, and you will find his words will grab and challenge (and bless!) you in ways you may not have imagined…

- David Foote with Peter Harris, from the Preface to the combined Beyond Series, print version, 2007

DEDICATION

To STEVE, KEVIN, TOM, ALISON who were here when most of this happened.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To John Hawkesby, Anchorman of TV3, Radio Hauraki newscaster, former host of TV’s It’s In The Bag, Top Half and the Tonight Show’s award-winning series Reflections - for writing the introduction to this book.

First published 1985 by Small Cords Press, PO Box 946, [now closed – ed.] Whangarei, New Zealand. Reprinted October 1985, Third printing October 1986, Fourth printing June 1988, Fifth printing December 1989, Sixth printing July 1991. On disk April 1994. This printing 2006

Copyright 1985, 1994 and 2006 by George and Eileen Anderson.

ISBN 0 9597816 1 7

INTRODUCTION

The Andersons write as they live...slightly off the wall, at times confusing, but always with vigour, enthusiasm and an unquenchable search for the truth.

In this book they have sought to unearth some of the mysteries and essences that too often are so elusive.

Like me, you may not agree with all they have to say. That may well be the book’s enduring strength.

Being prodded into examining and re-examining our own values, attitudes and prejudices is not a bad thing.

George and Eileen write as they live...and live as they write. It’s an endearing pilgrimage...one worthy of our attention.

JOHN HAWKESBY

PART ONE: THE REAL PROBLEM

HALLO, MR. MURPHY

Murphy’s Law is alive and well. Fat and flourishing. But...

You can live BEYOND MURPHY’S LAW.

That’s the object of this book.

You won’t join anything. Or start some elaborate course of studies. Let’s explain...

It was our first week in the Cook Islands. We were passing the evening in a Rarotongan cinema. Not in the main centre, Avarua. Where the tourists go. But on the far side of the island. In the makeshift surroundings of a packing shed.

Friday night, so every child for miles around was there to cheer and boo and shout and laugh. The seats were hard, backless benches and our backsides were anaesthetised. Lizards clung to the corrugated iron walls, catching unsuspecting mosquitoes. A large, friendly dog was soundly asleep across Eileen’s feet.

It Was One Of Those Evenings...

The film started off with the wrong lens, making Roger Moore a pudgy, overweight blob for a few puzzling moments. Reels two and three were shown in reverse order, so the plot was a trifle obscure. The sound had given up while the projectionist was outside enjoying a quiet smoke. And now we, and a couple of hundred others were sitting in total darkness while someone was sent out to find fusewire.

Murphy’s Law, I thought, wryly. Everything has gone wrong that possibly can. Which was par for the course, situation normal, in the Pacific islands.

But, I wondered, what about more sophisticated societies? Does all the effort, expense and expertise to make cogs mesh quietly and polished surfaces slide smoothly really achieve better results?

If not, why not?

And having determined why not - how do we get round the problem? Beyond the reach of built-in pandemonium and chaos that afflicts our waking hours.

At that point, the projector flickered into life, and Moore continued to manage masterfully with a hi-jacked oil- rig in the North Sea. Somewhat hampered by his image being split, with head and trunk on the lower half of the screen, and waist and legs striding manfully along the upper part.

We struggled to remember the plot.

But Murphy’s Law had begun to ring bells somewhere at the back of our minds. The question was - how to get beyond it.

Okay, it just makes a Rarotongan film show more amusing.

It’s different in other situations. Where things matter. Where everything depends on events dovetailing smoothly. And - that’s the problem, isn’t it?

It’s a big con. What is? Life is. Stare at it from any angle. Be honest with yourself. And you’ll see it’s jacked up. By others. For others. Not for you.

Take any aspect, any scale. Something simple, like pouring concrete for a garage base. Nothing to it - phone up three or four friends, tell them to keep Saturday morning free. Or let you know if they can’t make it. Book the readimix. Buy a carton of beer. And you’re all set.

Not on your life. Gary - the one who’s a wizard with the float - breaks a leg. Ted and Sally think you said eleven. The truck driver thinks you said nine. And at ten o’clock sharp a monsoon breaks overhead.

Switch to the other end of the spectrum. Like political theory. Any party, any system. Freedom. Liberty. Prosperity. All the good words. And the techniques. Building up the nation. Encouraging workers. Sharing benefits. Result - Utopia.

Just one little question dangles. From whence cometh all the yucky pogroms and secret police? Compulsory purchases and political prisoners? Bumbling, mushrooming bureaucracy and laws against any form of initiative? Corrupt, lying politicians and costly development schemes built in the wrong place at the wrong time, upside down.

What goes wrong in that shady someplace ‘twixt theory and practice?

Answer: Murphy’s Law. But don’t forget: you can live beyond it.

Now, before we start getting super-serious and tracking down the archetypal Mr. Murphy and wishing him good morning, let us offer the odd warning or two.

How prejudiced are you?

Or, to rephrase the question, what trick do you use for copping out when the situation starts to get heavy?

Non sequitur? Let’s explain. Prejudice - in any area - is a whole different box of bullets from opinion or conviction.

With the latter we are pretty relaxed about the belief in question. We regard it as reasonable. (Well, of course we would.) If we trip over someone who thinks the precise opposite, we’ll shrug and say fair ‘nuff. Or at worst, we’ll think the bloke must’ve escaped from the funny farm.

And if someone grabs a pencil to show us we’ve been off- beam all the time on that belief, we don’t up and bash them. We utter a mild oath and have a chuckle at how wrong we can be.

Not so with prejudice.

We have to defend it. At all costs. Anyone whose ideas diverge from ours by a hairsbreadth is criminally stupid. We give impassioned harangues. And throw tantrums if we are contradicted.

Because we are avoiding something. Running away. Insecure and uncertain. Hence the vehemence. The bad temper. The missionary zeal. The offence taken.

So, back to the warning. How prejudiced are you? On what? You see - prejudice eventually grows on you, until you will only read books slanted to your particular views. Only talk with people who see things your way. It’s safe. That way there’s no danger of having to switch lanes. Or do a U-turn. Like we said, it’s a cop-out.

You sit there reading. And after a few pages you slam the book down and exclaim triumphantly to spouse or whatever: Thought so! The guy’s a communist, catholic, flat earthist, transvestite, pentecostal, zionist, feminist... Or says shit or picks his nose.

Which proves - to your satisfaction - that he, she or it can’t possibly have anything worthwhile to say on any subject under the big yellow ball.

Right. If your religion conveniently happens to have it all. Or your politics are the answer to everything from sore noses to sweaty feet. Or if you only listen to people who belong to your arcane little group...

Either don’t bother to read on. Or grit your teeth, run a deodorant under your armpits and stay with it for a few more pages. And - note where you switch off or get offended. ‘Cos that’s where you’re wrong. Not because we say so; because at gut level you damn well know it.

And there’s a problem with this kind of book. It covers a fairly broad range of subjects - all of which are matters on which people tend to have strong opinions. Some of which have been responsible for impressive bouts of blood-letting in bygone days.

It isn’t a tidy book. You can buy any quantity of literature on - say - successful living. Or psychic research. Or theology. Neat, orderly books, with arguments and examples arranged systematically.

But this book’s about real life, the broad-spectrum, untidy sort. Where one moment you’re changing a flatty on the car; next moment you experience something totally other. Supernatural, they call it.

And you have to be able to handle both.

Okay, there are philosophies, religions a-plenty. Some are pretty comprehensive. Some are complex. Some - expensive. And they all suffer from the holy huddle syndrome - they produce a steady stream of remarkably similar-looking converts. All giving a similar-sounding party line.

We’ve been in