Canadian International Metaphysical Ministry
Fulfilling the highest expression of the Divine Presence within
Dr. John's Personal Page
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
You grew up fast and had to be hardy, in the 1930's in north eastern Saskatchewan.
Johnny, as his parents and siblings called him, was the youngest of seven children. Born at the beginning of the great depression, he was raised on this primitive Canadian farm.
A team of oxen and a plow were used to till the soil, to grow crops and a large garden. A well, dug by hand with a shovel and pick thirty feet into the ground, provided water. A wood burning stove was used for heating and cooking, coal oil lamps for lighting, and there was an outhouse in the bush.
Johnny (Dr. John), age twelve, on the family farm
There was no electricity, no running water, or indoor plumbing, and no phone or radio. There were a few cows for milk and butter, a small flock of chickens for eggs and meat, and a rifle to shoot prairie chickens, rabbits, and deer for food.
You might say this was roughing it big time, but when you don't know any different...it was home, where everyone shared with love.
There was no school or teacher available, until Johnny was nine, but mother Bright did what she could, with her grade five education. Father Bright, although uneducated, taught the children how to plant and care for the garden.
At age nine, Johnny started school. The school consisted of a small log building of one room housing forty students, from grades one through eight, all taught by one teacher. By age twelve, he'd been dragged through six grades, with a succession of seventeen different teachers. The teachers would stick it out for an average of two months each.
At age twelve, he was the only child left at home, and, when his parents were given a gift of train tickets to B. C. to visit relatives, he was left to tend the farm over the summer. His sister, then a school teacher, kept him company, and when they received a letter stating his parents weren't coming back, she put him on a train to B. C. on his own.
The culture shock was enormous, what with the big city life of Vancouver. Here schools were big, with one teacher per grade. Johnny was obligated to drop out of school in grade ten, at age sixteen, to help support his then unemployed father. Working full-time, he continued his education at night.
He trained to be a carpenter and cabinet maker, and by age thirty-two he bought into a factory. One year later he bought out his partner and operated the factory for the next decade. He then sold the factory and operated a construction business for the next two decades. At the age of sixty, he retired.
In 1991, Dr. John began his Spiritual journey and graduated from a six year R.S.I college course, in 1997. He graduated from the University of Metaphysics as an ordained minister, receiving his Master's degree in 2000, and his Doctorate in 2002. He also obtained a degree in Life Coaching and Spiritual Psychology. He founded the Centre for Awakening Spiritual Growth, in 1999, and the Canadian International Metaphysical Ministry, in 2005.
Dr. John married his childhood sweetheart, Iris, in 1951, and on May 4, 2011, they celebrated their 60th anniversary...just prior to Iris's passing, on May 23rd. They have three children, four grandchildren, and three great grandsons.