‘He was always in search of something, but God knows what.’ These are the words of Terry Hicks, spoken during an interview four years ago, about his now infamous son David. They highlight the fact that before his capture in Afghanistan in December 2001, David Hicks had an inner longing that he couldn’t seem to satisfy.

David’s story appears to go like this. As a teenager he got caught up in drink and drugs, and he was expelled from school at the age of 14. He went on to various jobs, including work in a meat factory, and was fond of solitude. He would spend weeks at a time in the outback, alone with his horse and a bedroll.

At one stage David met an Aboriginal girl. They had two children together but split up five years later.

David then travelled to Japan where he worked training horses. Through Japanese television he heard about the war in Bosnia and Kosovo, and he went to join the Kosovo Liberation Army. That war ended before he saw combat.

David returned home to Adelaide where he attempted to join the Australian army, but was rejected. It seems his journey then took a more spiritual turn. He attended Bible studies in a local church. He went on to study Islam, and ultimately converted to that faith.

In November 1999, Hicks travelled to Pakistan. He told his father and stepmother he had two goals in mind: to learn more about the Koran, and to travel the Silk Road on horseback. However, it was in Pakistan that he linked up with the guerrilla organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba to fight in Kashmir. These fighters trained at Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, and in January 2001 Hicks was sent there for training. There he undertook three courses in which he was taught about weapons, landmines, explosives, guerrilla warfare, sniper training, and kidnapping and assassination techniques. Two days before the September 11 attacks he travelled to Pakistan again, but returned to Afghanistan a day later. It was there that David Hicks was ultimately captured, and his five year stay at Guantanamo Bay began.

Much has been said of David Hicks’ case. Questions remain about the legitimacy of the legal system that’s heard his plea. But apart from the legal aspects of his story, the great tragedy is that a twenty-something man on an ultimately spiritual search could end up training with guerrillas.

Next week we’ll again celebrate Easter. A shopping bonanza for some, a long weekend holiday for many more of us, Easter’s original purpose was to remind us of the life and death of one man. A man who was also God. A man whose innocent death absorbed the punishment of every evil act every human being can do. A man who returned to life again. A man who forgives and transforms. A man who now provides meaning, guidance, liberation and belonging to all who ask.

It is said that David Hicks has renounced his Islam. Who knows if that’s ultimately true. If it is, his search has taken him through teenage substance abuse, human relationships, radical religious teaching and guerrilla training. Yet it seems he still he remains unfulfilled. It’s my prayer David will continue his search until he encounters the radical, transformational, peaceful love of Jesus.