Roy Bourque was raised Roman Catholic. He has been exposed to mysticism and Eastern religions, possesses knowledge of physics and chemistry, as well as psychology, and is familiar with the Bible.

The inquisitive and undaunted Bourque challenged his Mother Superior, which led to a spiritual experience Bourque had when he was 9. The nun he approached was receptive, urging him to persevere in his pursuit of God, but his catechism teacher, whose beliefs were more dogmatic, persecuted Bourque, he explains, calling him demon-possessed.

Unlike Handel, who composed the “Messiah,” and Leonardo da Vinci, who painted his rendition of the Last Supper, Bourque’s revelation was more technical, something out of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” he says.

Although the popular TV show takes place in the year 4100, Roy Bourque feels that society will achieve much of the technology depicted in the show over the next 300 years.

Bourque has training in the nuclear power field of the U.S. Navy, developed by MIT. He believes in intelligent design, and calls himself a nondenominational Christian.

He considers Heaven and Hell as being a “state of mind” and the afterlife is where God “needs you.” He asserts that people “find what they are looking for.”

Bourque’s 216-page book called “We Believe” is about perspective. In his book Bourque’s quest for answers about God includes New Age philosophy, cosmology, and the occult. He provides his own interpretation of scripture, expounding on the Old Testament (Israel’s relationship to God) and in the New Testament (Christ Conscienceness).

He acknowledges that God is evident in the spiritual world and is apparent in nature.

He has learned that God is love.

Lisa Shasha lives in Norwich.