An Average Joe's Search For The Meaning Of Life

By David Shaw

David Shaw sees himself as an Average Joe.

He grew up an average kid in an average neighbourhood in Ayrshire. Like many an Average Joe, he does ordinary things: goes to work, supports his local football team, puts the world to rights over a pint. But this Average Joe is anything but average. Styling himself ‘spiritcounsellor’, he shares with us an extraordinary journey through the twilight world.

Blessed with the ability to see and hear those who’ve passed on, and, helped by his spirit guides, Black Hawk and Mr Chung, David shares with us his extraordinary story of receiving messages from the other side.

Here is an Average Joe – an ordinary man with an extraordinary story that will fascinate and intrigue.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Dec 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781472055316

David Shaw

David Shaw works as a journalist for Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, as well as translating from several languages, including German, Dutch, Russian, and French. He lives in Berlin.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

I am just a guy who wrote a book. I’ve never been on television and, as far as I know, never slept with any footballers or pop stars. I haven’t climbed Kilimanjaro, and thankfully my parents weren’t sex beasts who liked to play ‘Dungeons and Dragons’.

So, who am I, and why would anybody even remotely consider reading about my life story? Well, I’m just an ‘Average Joe’ - a simple, ordinary Scotsman, who occasionally farts in the bath and may unthinkably leave the toilet seat up. Oh, but wait! Did I also mention that I’m a trance medium?

I guess I should have mentioned that earlier, but if I told you that I actively communicate with the spirit world through my smoke alarm then you would think I was a bit mental! By the same token, if I told you that there were a thousand voices in my head, all with a particular message for a grieving loved one, then you would exclaim: ‘Schizoid Freak’!

But that’s what happens to me every day and believe it or not I have become accustomed to this part of my life. I have accepted it and, thanks to my work through Trance Mediumship, I have more importantly come to understand it.

I witnessed many things whilst training to be a trance medium. I can vividly remember one particular medium take one single breath and holding it for over seven minutes – how can that be explained? I’ve also witnessed tables and chairs levitating up to the ceiling – while David Copperfield was nowhere in sight!

There is no doubt in my mind that the spirit world exists – I’ve had proof of that, but it is neither my job nor my intention to preach the virtues of spiritualism to you. I will only say that the spirit people who have kindly shared their wisdom through this publication are amongst the most knowledgeable people who have ever lived. In fact, I can guarantee that.

The fact that they have chosen to work with this little old ‘Average Joe’ is indeed an extremely humbling experience for me, for as I may have mentioned before – I am just a guy who wrote a book.

Chapter 1

EMILY ROSE – DEBT COLLECTOR

I could instinctively feel that there was someone or something behind the bedroom door. As it slowly opened, the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention like soldiers preparing for an almighty battle. Thankfully, a welcoming ray of brilliant white light slowly began to shine through the gap in the now ajar door, but it couldn’t disguise the fact that whatever was still lurking behind this door was evidently not of this earthly world.

Suddenly, my eyes were drawn to the time being displayed on the alarm clock beside the bed. It read 3am – the ‘witching hour’ – when all godless creatures were free to roam and pillage the frightened souls of the righteous.

Not surprisingly, I was now utterly terrified, and as I reluctantly awaited the perceived demon’s next move I suddenly decided that there was only one possible way out of this hellish nightmare. I tentatively reached down to the floor and grasped my only hope; a weapon that would surely send this monstrosity back to the world from which it originally came.

I slowly raised my weapon, my arm outstretched in front of me nervously holding this small rectangular box that held the power to almost certainly evaporate this foe, this unknown intruder, this curse from the dark side. Then with a devastating blow, I firmly pressed the big red standby button and sent this piece of Hollywood hokum to the trash bin.

Why, oh why, did I rent this utter nonsense from the DVD store? Oh yes – it’s apparently based on fact. Well, I’m sorry Emily Rose, but your exorcism surely won’t win any Oscars. Hands up those of you who thought there really was a demon in my room – shame on you both!

After carefully checking that my television set was now definitely switched off, I trudged upstairs to bed, still smirking at the audacity of the Hollywood filmmakers who consistently push this sort of material on the vulnerable and the naive. Not for me, a spirit medium with ‘bags’ more sense and knowledge, but who ultimately should have known better.

The film was still very much in my thoughts as I drifted off to sleep, albeit thankful in the knowledge that what I had just viewed was drastically over-exaggerated for the purpose of so-called entertainment!

When I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, sensing a strong spirit presence in my bedroom, I instinctively turned to view the time on my alarm clock – 2.59 am, but then quick as a flash it was 3am - the ‘witching hour’! I was up out of that bed faster than diarrhoea from a salmonella-fuelled bowel. My soldiers had once again loaded their guns and were about to recommence battle. But, oh my god – this time it was for real!

The commotion woke my wife, Anne, who then glared at me with that now familiar disgruntled look. ‘Ghosts in the house again, dear?’ she asked sarcastically. I nodded sheepishly before switching on my bedside lamp. A wry smile spread slowly over my face.

‘I’m being taught a lesson here,’ I thought to myself as I slowly climbed back into the virtual safety of my now lukewarm bed, before tentatively turning off the bedside lamp and belatedly asking my guides for spiritual protection.

Fortunately, I slept like a log for the remainder of the night, before waking up peacefully the next morning, yet still trying desperately to work out just what had transpired the previous night. I knew that I had almost certainly been crudely woken by spirit energy at the precise time of three o’clock in the morning, but I was also aware that this couldn’t have been the witching hour because there is no witching hour! Just as I also knew that Emily Rose was not possessed by the devil – there is no devil! I had simply been foolish enough to watch a film that could badly affect my energy and presumably my spirit workers were trying to prove a point – or were they?

So, what’s this got to do with the meaning of life, you may ask? Absolutely nothing whatsoever. It’s just a small insight into my world; a world where very little is ever coincidental, yet a world where nothing is ever really straightforward either. But it is a world that is frequently challenging, and rarely ever dull. It’s my world, but it could easily be your world. We’re all co-existing in various different cocoons of profound thoughts and experiences. But what does life really entail? Why are we here? What purpose do we serve? And, more importantly, just what is the true meaning of life? –the latter, being a simple question, but one that has baffled the greatest of minds for many centuries. But you and I are hopefully going to find out the answer!

In actual fact, I have been searching for the answer to this precarious question all my adult life and now I have been promised the answer. I have been unobtrusively instructed to write this book and all will be revealed in due course. Says who? Well, I will tell you very soon and then you can send for the men in white coats! Seriously though, don’t send for them just yet!

I would be deeply honoured if you would journey with me on this heroic quest and together we can hopefully find that purpose for which we live and breathe in this big, bad, wonderful world of ours. And who knows, if enough followers join us along the way then this book may go global and I can retire gracefully with a large yacht moored off my own private island. Or if we go straight to DVD then I can hopefully relax in the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, this publication could have changed someone’s life for the better. If that is the case then it truly will be job done!

First golden rule though, despite what I just stated about yachts and private islands – never judge a soul by what’s in their wallet; always by what’s in their heart. Now open up your heart and let love guide you on this fabulous journey that we are about to embark on. But saddle up; for it’s sure to be a bumpy ride!

Oh and incidentally, if you rather randomly picked up this book in the bargain bin – you know, the badly organised display in your local supermarket that usually contains books reduced to clear by ex-Big Brother ‘celebrities’ –then please don’t worry. You can still join the party – as long as you donate to charity the amount of money you invariably saved. If you don’t, then I’ll send round Emily Rose to do a bit of late-night debt collection!

Chapter 2

THE THREE WISE MEN

Before we go any further, I feel I should really introduce myself properly. After all we’ve been through already it’s only fitting that we should be appropriately acquainted.

My name is David Shaw, you can call me David, Dave, Davy, or by my professional name – Spiritcounsellor. When I say professional name, I really mean… Oh you know what I mean!

So, just who exactly am I? Well, I’m your stereotypical, run of the mill ‘Average Joe’, nothing more and nothing less. But, I’ve got a story to tell that will both shock and amaze you, and will hopefully leave you feeling that your own life has real purpose and value. For now though, this is the story of my life, and how I battled the demons within me in order to reveal my true destiny.

Well, if I’m going to tell you my life story, warts and all, then I must be as open and honest with you as I can possibly be. But before I begin this spiritual biography, there are a couple of people I must introduce to you – my two co-writers. Get the men in white coats ready!

But hold on, just before I introduce them to you, I must make a statement regarding the content of this book and who it should primarily be aimed at. This book is being compiled for everyone – not just spiritual people, not just those interested in the paranormal – but for everyone. I will give you the facts as I see and find them and the opinions expressed are entirely my own and should be judged by your own interpretation. Always remember that you must live your own life, and you alone have the right to make the decisions by which you will inevitably be judged.

Firstly, let me introduce ‘Mr Chung’. As the name might suggest, Mr Chung is from China. In fact he was born in China before becoming a Tibetan monk– wait for it – in the third Chinese Dynasty. Yes, he’s in spirit – a spirit guide in fact, who as far as I am aware has worked with me for about the last eight or nine years of my physical life. His wisdom is truly phenomenal and I feel extremely privileged to be working with him. Mr Chung will work ‘through me’ in order to deliver his words of wisdom. He will pop in from time to time and you will recognise his work by the philosophy that is given. If I were to give you a spirit reading, then Mr Chung would be in charge of the proceedings.

Secondly, I would like to introduce ‘Black Hawk’. Yes I know what you’re thinking – a Native American spirit guide and a Chinese monk! Who hasn’t got one of those? There is a good reason why these two spirits appear to me as they do. Simply put, they project an appearance of spirituality as Native Americans and Buddhist monks were, and indeed still are, extremely spiritual people. Both Black Hawk and Mr Chung undoubtedly lived many physical lives, but it is, as they appear to me now in this particular guise, that they were most at peace with their soul and spiritual self. Their appearance is not really that important – it’s their knowledge that is invaluable.

Mr Chung once told me that if you took the combined knowledge of all individuals living in the physical world today, it still would not compare to the universal knowledge attained by my two guides what a pair of bigheads!

So Black Hawk is a Native American, that much I know. But he’s a bit secretive about his past, and to be honest it’s totally irrelevant to me. All that really matters is that he has my respect and hopefully I will earn his. I know that Black Hawk has been with me all my physical life and for the spiritually minded – he is my ‘gatekeeper’.

A ‘gatekeeper’ is a kind of spiritual bodyguard. He protects me from negative energy in both the spiritual and physical worlds. Everybody has a ‘gatekeeper’ and we have all benefited from their presence at least once in our lives. You may have been walking down a dark alley one night and suddenly decided to turn back, sensing that something wasn’t quite right within the context of the road ahead. Your ‘gatekeeper’ will have warned you of impending danger. I can only presume that Emily Rose’s gatekeeper was down the pub!

Black Hawk has a distinct writing style. He will be direct and extremely informative about life in the spiritual realms. The information that I have received from Black Hawk has helped to shape the way I live my life today. It is true to say that without Black Hawk’s help I would not be alive in the physical world today – I will explain this later in the book.

So, just how is this going to work, three voices all sharing experiences and giving advice? It should hopefully work perfectly. You should realistically only notice a difference in the actual style of writing.

Let me explain. Can you recall the topical 1970s television programme That’s Life? Now, I appreciate if you are less than twenty years old, have only recently moved to the UK, or if, god forbid, we’ve gone global, then you will most likely be none the wiser – so I’ll explain further. That’s Life was a British television programme that dealt with serious news issues and also humorous side stories. There was also a section of the programme that gave out extremely valuable advice regarding health and relationship matters. Basically, it catered for the ups and down’s of life itself. My father used to hate the show because of the rather diverse content, but for most people the mix worked surprisingly well and the show was hugely popular.

A typical show would entail a report on the rising number of teenage pregnancies in Newcastle; we would then jump to the case of a rogue builder whose poorly constructed houses collapsed on top of disabled people, crushing them to death; and finally a talking dog from Barnsley who could say ‘sassages’ or sausages without the Yorkshire accent of course.

Well, retrospectively, Mr Chung would be reporting on the Geordie pregnancy scandal and dishing out contraceptive