When at last I was summoned to meet Reg again I noticed a great change in him. He was quieter, yet he held a suggestion of strength and secret joy that I found most attractive. As we sat together with our backs against a convenient tree, he said with a twinkle: “You think I am altered, don’t you?”
I was astonished, for up to now Reg had shown scarcely any ability for the receiving of thoughts. “How do you know that?” I countered.
“Just felt it. Must be something to do with that exchange of thought one of the boys described. Couldn’t get the hang of it until flow.”
“That is because you are growing. As you learn and grow, these gifts of Heaven come to you naturally. When I say ‘gifts’ I do no mean that you win them by an effort of your ownthey are for everyone! You just grow into them, as it were.”
“Well, it is very pleasant. Feels companionable, you know.”
“Yes. On earth people suffer all kinds of sorrows and pains because they cannot understand the other fellow’s point of view. Words do not always make it clear. Consequently, many feel isolated. That is the effect of the barrier of the physical body which shuts them off from all other physical bodieslike water in a number of bottles
Here the water flows together in one bowl”
“And yet there is the mental veil. I heard about that.”
“Oh, yes. Heaven would not be a peaceful place if everyone’s thoughts intermingled whether they wished it or not. The mental veil is voluntary, though, and can be lifted at any time.”
On the way, Reg explained that he had to visit one of his mates Robbie. It appeared that Robbie had lent him some money during their military training. In the excitement of being moved up to the front and the subsequent fighting and fatigue, Robbie had forgotten the loan. Reg, thinking himself fortunate, said nothing more about it; then Robbie died.
“It gave me a shock to see how that had stained my robe.”
“It is one of the sad aspects of earthlife. Men think that if they can evade a debt it is smart business.’ How mistaken they are! If they did but know it, the ‘smartest business’ is to try to avoid any staining of the robe and to try to help in its cleansing by making amends whenever they can.”
“I suppose they are only thinking of the earthlife. Then what happens there seems more important than what will happen here.”
“That is it,” I agreed. “They choose to forget that time on earth is strictly limited and time in Heaven is unlimited! Yet how clearly the Master has taught them.”
“Tell me what He said.”
I quoted: “‘Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth, where the rust and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven; where neither the rust nor moth doth comsume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal’. “I wonder why men pay so little heed to that?”
“Possibly because ‘where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also’,” I rejoined.
We were silent after that while Reg looked about him in great interest. As we drew near to the Hall of Adventure, we caught sight of the great mountain up which I had seen so many climbing, long ago. Even now I could see a few figures, and I drew Reg’s attention to them. He was delighted to find that he also could use his extended Heavensight.
“It is like having a magnificent pair of fieldglasses. I can even see the faces of some of them. How they are enjoying their climb.”
Later on we passed over a desert, the sun on the vast expanse of sand being almost dazzling to our eyes. Then we skirted a storm and Reg was amazed to be able to look down on the black thunderclouds and flashing lightning without being in any way affected! After passing over a great forest, so dark that we could not even glimpse within, we came to a mighty ocean which, at its nearest point, lay smooth and shining, and at its farthest was lashed in tremendous, foaming waves. Very soon we began to alight, and then Reg cried out in wonder.
“There are people walking on the sea!”
]]>“First of all we will take you to the Hall of Reception to meet your angels again,” I explained. “Then they will take you to the Gates so that you can see the exact state of your robe.”
“That is awful, isn’t it?” Reg asked with a pitiful look.
“It is not easy,” I admitted, ” but think! Whether you see your robe or not does not alter the fact of the stains. If you are humble enough to face them you have taken the first step towards the cleansing.”
“Yes, I see that… Then what happens?”
“Well, after you have seen, as it were, a review of all the faults and offences of your whole life the angels have a conference with you. They go carefully into each and decide what can be done to give good for evil. Thus, if there is a man you have wronged, you go to the Hall where he is and there offer him your services or do him some kindness. When you have made what amends you can, you have ‘used the water in the pool’ (to go back to our early illustration). Then the stain is washed from your robe.”
“Suppose the man is not in one of the Halls? Suppose he is still on earth?”
“I thought you would ask that. Well, then the man angel, who is called the ‘earthguide’, goes to earth and imparts an angelic benediction in place of the good you wish to do.”
“Oh! Then what if the man is very advanced and has gone beyond the Halls?”
“You are thinking hard,” Janet put in approvingly.
“Well, I have already talked a little with the angels and with Gordon.”
“In the case you mention,” I replied, “the woman angel, who is called the ‘Heavenguide,’ visits the man in your stead. Usually, the Heavenguide goes with you through the Halls on your Term of Reparation, but, in gratitude to the angels, I have offered to take you myself.’
“I say, that is good of you! Somehow, I have grown so used to you; and then, having that feast in your house and the grand swim afterwards, has made me feel that I belong.”
“So you do,” Janet agreed. “You are our own special charge, and we feel privileged to be able to serve you.”
“Why?”
I could not help admiring his humility and said:
“We have not forgotten that you willingly laid down your life for your friends on the battlefield.”
“Oh, I was not the only one,” Reg protested, and Janet said quickly:
“No; and every one of them will be rewarded. ‘Love covereth a multitude of sins’.”
“That is what the angels said.”
“You are going to be so happy!”
“What, while I am on the Term of Reparation?”
“I felt just as surprised, but you shall see! Remember that a penitent one is a very beautiful sight to Heaven eyes. The text says, ‘There shall be joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth.’ Oh, you are going to be happy indeed and your joy will grow and grow!”
Reg relaxed then and mused smilingly on all that was to be. Janet and I respected his silence and we did not speak again until the great sweep of the Hall of Reception was visible beneath our feet. Gradually, the river, which had appeared like a mere thread, lay broad and shining across the valley, and with my extended Heavensight, I could clearly see the angels waiting to welcome us.
“Here we are.” He looked around eagerly and we began to walk across the grass.
“How familiar it seems, yet how far I have travelled since I saw it last,” he exclaimed, adding with a twinkle, “I mean that I have travelled in learning as well as in distance!” Laughing, we came up to he two angels.
“Greetings!” They clasped us each. on the shoulder in turn, and then, while we walked among the flowers up the gentle slope out of the valley, I told them that I had prepared Reg and would leave him in their charge.
“Aren’t you coming too?” he asked a trifle wistfully.
“No, old man. Janet and I are going visiting, but the instant you are ready for me, I shall come to you.”
“I know how you will get the message!” he laughed. “By thought. I have learned about that.”
“Splendid!” I gave his shoulder a friendly squeeze, and Janet hugged him.
“It won’t be long,” she whispered. “Remember you have all eternity to enjoy the happiness that is to come.”
“I know. I am just beginning to realise that.” He set off with his angel guides.
“Suppose we take one question at a time,” I suggested. “Of course, the Love of God won us a place in Heavenif we believe that and accept it.”
“How can we accept it, even if we do believe?”
“Suppose you were sitting by a pool of water and you were splashed with mud. Just sitting there would not make you clean, would it? You would have to use the water and wash in it.”
“Yes …”
“That is what we do about our divine inheritance “, I explained. By believing in it and accepting it, we are allowed to come here”.
“But that doesn’t make me clean,” Reg protested.”Then how?”
I glanced at Janet and she said quietly: “You have not made use of the water in the pool, yet.”
Reg looked into our faces, his own expressing alternate puzzlement and hope.
“Do you mean there is anything I have to do?”
“Yes,” Janet continued. “The fruits of the inheritance are there for all. Each one has to partake of them by making reparation – by making amends, as it were. For every wrong he has done to another or to himself he tries to do or give some good in its place. In this way we unite ourselves to God and share in His perfection. When all our reparation is done, our robe is clean.”
“Oh, now that is something I can understand! It seems so right, so fair, so just what He would do.”
“Ah, you are beginning to see Him as the King of Love,” I exclaimed. “It is His Love that gives us the comfort of giving good in the place of evil. He takes us, as it were, into His confidence.” There was a silence, and then Janet quoted:
“‘Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be made as white as snow; and if they be red as crimson, they shall be as white as wool’.”
“You are giving me hope ” Reg was smiling now. “Somehow I thought all that applied to our lives on earth, but that when we came here there was nothing to be done.”
“Remember always that you are here because of His worth not because of your worth. So those words do apply to our lives on earth. If we do not accept Him in our hearts while we live on earth, how can we acknowledge Him as our King in Heaven? There are many who have not thought very much about their God while on earth, yet in their hearts they have accepted Him. Those He receives.”
“And then He lets them help to cleanse their robe,” Reg marvelled. “Oh, now I see what you mean by His love! But what of those who have never accepted Him, even in their hearts?”
“They have cast away, for the time, their robe, their wedding garment,” I said sorrowfully.
“Oh, is that the robe you speak about? “Reg asked. “I remember hearing that story … Now tell me how I can help to get mine clean. You can never guess how eager I am to begin.”
“I think we can. If you really want to make up for lost time we can start our journey to the Flail of Receptionwhere you have to begin. Then, on the way, we can outline the plan to you.”
“Oh, that will be capital.” Reg sprang up, eager to be off. I could scarcely recognise the unawakened newcomer in this vital lad. He took a last look at his beloved sea and then we sped off once more toward the great Void. As we passed into the great expanse of blue light, Janet and I began our unfolding of the plan, and Reg listened with deep attention. First we described our own arrival and how we each had desired to meet the King; then the pause before the Gates and the revelation of the stained condition of our robes.
“It is not that you cannot enter through the gates,” Janet explained. “They are opened wide; but with the knowledge of your stained wedding garment, you do not want to enter.”
“Suppose I still wanted to?” Reg queried, and I recalled that I had asked this same question of my angels. Reaching out for the memory of their reply, I quoted:
“‘You would be allowed to enter if you desired. Some do enter, even with robes more stained than yours, but then the Holy Ones are only partially discerned, as though clothed in many veils, for purity is the only perfect vision there is. Gradually, these come to realise their blindness, and then, making enquiries of their guides, they learn the cause. It is not long before they too wish to leave the gates ‘.”
“Was that why I could not see the Master when He visited the Plane Between?” Reg asked.
“Yes.”
“I thought you said that seeing was measured by love?”
“It is.”
Janet made it quite clear by adding:”If we love Him very much we want to be clean, so it is our love that makes the clear vision possible.”
“I see.” Reg pondered awhile and then said, “Tell me how I begin my Term of Reparation.”
]]>Thus we continued our talk. It was a great pleasure to have Reg’s company and the plan forming or infused in my mind was very much to my taste. Janet, who could of course follow my thoughts, thoroughly approved. Reg, all unconscious, talked on, or lay with his hands under his head, gazing out to sea.
“That is one of my special joys,” he said at last, pointing to the beach. “I have always been a strong swimmer. Shall I be able to swim here?”
“Of course you will,” Janet assured him, adding, with a glance in my direction, “Why not have a dip now?”
“Really?” Reg leapt to his feet.
He looked like a boy just out of school, and I nodded my agreement at once. “Off you go, old man!”
He did not wait for a second invitation, but dashed down to the beach, threw off his tunic, and dived in. There was a ripple, and then no sign of him for quite a while. Just as we were beginning to look about in bewilderment, his head broke the surface a long way out, and a gleaming arm rose high to wave to us.
“It’s great!” His young voice rang in the air joyously.
I cupped my hands round my mouth and shouted:
“Stay as long as you like, Mister Fish. We shall be waiting!”
With a final wave he was off, and we watched his head moving swiftly.
“He is a dear boy,” Janet said with a maternal air. “Do you think he is beginning to awake?”
“I am sure of it.”
For a long time we said nothing. Looking out over the sparkling sea, our thoughts intermingled. In that restful time, the plan was built up between us, each of us adding a little, so that when Reg returned we were ready and waiting.
We saw his gleaming body rise out of the sea a little way down the beach, and presently he came springing up the slope, his tunic flung negligently around him, and lay down at our feet with a deep sigh of content.
” I have been thinking,” he said drowsily. “Out there, one’s thoughts seem to flow so easily as easily as the sea, in a kind of rhythm.”
“Reg, are you poetic? “Janet teased.
He laughed, and tossed the damp hair out of his eyes.
“No but seriously, I have been thinking.”
“Tell us if you wish,” I invited.
“Oh, I do want to,” Reg sat up and clasped his hands round his knees. “It has been growing in my mind ever since I met Goody Gordon in the Hall of Friends” He broke off abruptly and I said gently:
“What has been growing?”
“The wish to see Him… It was awful” he turned to me impulsively, “kneeling beside you on the green, knowing you could see Him and I could not. Why, even the children could see Him.”
“The children more clearly than any,” Janet agreed. “They are simple and innocent, you see. Remember? ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’.”
“Oh, I do want to be pure!” Now there was an urgency in Reg’s voice that almost bordered on panic. “Only”
“Well, you can be, old fellow,” I said quickly.
“Can I?” He looked puzzled, but hopeful. “But if I haven’t been… if there are things I have done”
“They are stains on your robebut robes can be cleansed, you know.”
“How? And what do you mean by robe? And do you mean that we are cleansed without us doing anything?” His words tumbled over themselves in his eagerness.
Silently, we three walked across the green, and there, where the waves left a gleaming line on the golden sand, we turned toward our house. All was peace. The mellow green light filled the little sanctuary. The pink chestnut, perpetually in bloom, brooded over the roof and graced the verandah where we settled for our talk.
Reg, sighing with content, flung himself down on the yielding softness of the floor, turning his head so that he could look far out to sea. “How lovely this is! Almost, I could believe I had earned it, and could stay here. I wish” He broke off, musing.
“What do you wish, Reg?” Janet asked softly. She had not joined us yet, but was moving about inside. I heard the chink of the fruit bowls, and knew that she was preparing food for our guest.
“I wish it could be hurried,” he confessed at last. ” Seeing everyone so happy even those who still have no degree, who apparently are not fully appointed yet makes me realise that there is nothing to fear.”
“Love reigns,” I explained.
“Yes! That makes everything so different. Sort of changes all one had ever thought about sins and the reckoning. Then, my mates.” He flushed. They could not even understand why I wanted to see them first !” I saw the poor fellow was hurt and said hastily:
“That is natural, Reg, if you come to think of it. To them, you are in a privileged position. You have passed through death’s door, not merely looked through it. You are like an explorer who returns from a foreign country and says he saw nothing of the beauties and wonders because he spent the time sleeping !” Reg laughed and I watched his hurt melt away with thankfulness.
“Oh, I see what you mean! Yes, I suppose they would find it hard to understand.” After a moment he added, “What a fool I have been.”
“It is so hard, sometimes, to let go of earth when first coming here,” Janet observed placidly, adding in a matteroffact tone, “Now we will eat and forget all problems for a while.”
Reg looked astounded, springing up to help her bring in the bowls of fruit.
“Why, do you know, I haven’t eaten anything since I came and I haven’t noticed it! I ought to have been famished. Why was that?”
“Food is not an essential in order to sustain life here,” I explained. “It is just a refreshment.” Janet handed me a pile of breadstems and I put them down beside the fruit. “What about something to drink?”
“I have it here.” She brought out a great jug of crushed fruit juice and three sparkling glasses. Reg surveyed the feast with delight. If it is as good as it looks”
“It is better,” I smiled. We all three settled down companionably.
“Help yourself!” Janet poured some of the fruit juice into the glasses and we each took one. I held mine up to the light.
“You never seem to tire of doing that! “Janet teased. She and Reg were already sipping theirs.
“No.” I turned the glass slowly round and watched the colours separate and merge again. “It always fascinates me! How can the different juices separate like that and yet be one liquid? But perhaps they do not really separate, perhaps it is merely the colours.”
“Merely the colours!” Reg laughed. He was holding up his half-emptied glass. ” I have never seen anything like it!”
“What colours can you see?” asked Janet with interest.
“Well, I think I can see the deep purple of the grape”
“Yes.”
“A kind of ivory tint, that might bea nectarine?”
“Yes. Go on. You are doing splendidly.”
“Then I can see a thick, creamy colour … Now what could that be? ” We waited a while, and then I said:
“Banana.”
“Oh yes. Yet surely the juices of fruits do not keep their characteristic colour so clearly?
“That is why I said the colours separate and merge againnot the juices. I think, perhaps, the colours of Heaven are more livingevery tint being visible to the eye. Oh, what a place for artists Heaven is.”
“You are right.” Reg still held his glass before his eyes.
“Go on,” Janet urged.
“Slave driver!” I was delighted to see Reg so much at his ease.
“Well, there is a deep ruby here. I should say raspberry or one of the rich plums.”
“Both are there, though only a little plumjuice in comparison with the raspberry.”
“Any red currants?”
“Yes, that is the light, almost scarlet tint, and the pinkish tone.”
“Strawberry!” Reg cried in triumph.
“Yes, but what of the golden shade? “Janet asked, “They are much more difficult to recognise.” Reg puckered his brow.
” I can see one almost the colour of your sash. Might be melon or pineapple”
“I say, you are good at colours. That is pineapple one of those very ripe ones, almost dripping with juice. Any more?”
“Wait a minute.” Reg began to examine his glass again, but Janet said laughingly:
“What a shame to tease you! That is the end of the recipe.”
“So you have recipes here?”
“They perfect them in the Hall of Food. There, all those who have the creative instinct and the desire to prepare, arrange and perfect food, work there as long as they like.”
This apparently reminded Janet of the fruit, for she offered the bowls to Reg, saying gaily: “Make your choice!”
Reg gazed at the fruit in wonder.
“It’s perfect.” He touched the bloom on a great purple grape, rubbed his fingertip against the glossy skin of a red and gold apple, gently pressed a huge peach, and finally picked up a melon. “It looks like the sun on a winter’s morning!”
“So it does.” Janet chose a brilliant red apple with fine ivory streaks running downward. I started on the raspberries. For a while we ate in silence, watching the soothing ebb and flow of the waves. A tree, leaning from the cliffs, swayed gently, and the golden sand took on a deeper hue where the tide receded. The sky was the deepest blue I had ever seen it here; the sea even deeper, but near the shore it faded into that peculiarly pale tint of green, like spring leaves only halfunfurled. What a riot of colour it was! Earth seemed a drab, cold placewhen one could bring one’s mind to think of it at all.
Presently we offered Reg some of the breadstems. He declared that they were just like the crisp, brown rolls that his favourite cafe had made “at home “. When we explained that they grew everywhere and only needed to be snapped off, he was astonished.
“It hardly seems necessary to cook anything here !”
“It is not necessary at all,” I explained.
“Do you mean that nothing is ever cooked?”
“You sound regretful,” I smiled.
“Well,” he confessed, “I’ve always loved cookingsmells ! That is, coming in hungry from a long tramp and opening the kitchen door you know.”
Janet gave a little smile. “Well Reg, you can have your cooking if that is all you want! In the Hall of Food it is quite easy to raise the temperature at certain spots. Here, many savoury dishes are prepared. These are for the childrenin the Hall of Children, you knowin certain parts of the Hall of Friends, and, of course, for anyone who wants them! After a while, of course, when we have climbed towards the Heights and have degrees, we lose our interest in food, except for very rare occasions. I suppose we become too busy and happy to remember!”
“Oh, I can quite understand that,” Reg agreed. “But just at firstmakes one feel at home, you know . . . However, this feast would take a lot of beating!”
]]>CHAPTER ONE THE KING’S VISIT
I could not keep the eagerness out of my step as we made our way toward the green, but, swiftly as I walked, Reg kept pace with me, glancing up at me at intervals with a troubled look. Searching into his mind, I saw the reason.
Poor fellow! He was doubting his ability to see the King, doubting the “measure of his love.” I threw out a mindmessage to Stephen, explaining that 1 would take charge of Reg myself. Janet, I knew, had already sensed it and was walking with Rose. Stephen replied that he and James, together with Gordon and Derek, would take care of the others between them, and they quietly formed into two small groups as we stepped on to the velvet grass. The avenue had already formed, so, linking arms, I led my companion to the end of the double line, signing him to stand before me.
No one spoke. All were listening for the familiar, wellloved sounds. Although it was by no means new to me, my heart thrilled with exultation even as it had on that first occasion which now seemed so long ago.
What a wonderful scene it was ! Many of the people were clad in white, but here and there were tunics of purple, green, gold and blue. One tall fellow looked splendid in a robe of leafybrownlike an autumn shade of earth. It was heavily embroidered with an intricate design in gold I made room for him respectfully, grateful to be near one of such high degree.
As for the children, they were dressed in every pastel shade I had ever seen. They looked like busy little angels, for they ran lightly up and down the avenue, scattering appleblossom until they had prepared a thick, fragrant carpet to welcome their King.
Presently, a faint sound of music came to our ears. Instantly, everyone was alert. The children ran to take their places in the front line on either side and Reg turned to question me with an awed, excited glance.
“He comes!”, I whispered.
Gradually, the volume of sound increased. Four angels appeared, taking up a position on the corners of the green, and lifting up their gleaming instruments, they sent forth mighty bugle notes. At this signal, a great throng of angels surged forward, coming two by two and spreading out behind the ranks of people. They were chanting, and the joy in their ringing tones set my heart beating hard with loving expectation.
Suddenly, the sound ceased, and in the silence one of the angels cried, “Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven!”
Then all the angels chanted, “He suffers the children to come unto Him, for He is the King of Heaven’s Realm !”
A moment later, the whole multitude fell upon their knees, for He whom they loved had come… Ah, beloved Master! Never shall I grow tired of seeing Him walk down the flowerstrewn avenue. I feasted my eyes upon Him; even Reg was forgotten.
Robed in crimson, He came slowly down between the ranks of kneeling people, His hand raised in blessing. Once more the bugles sounded; then the angels began to sing again:
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts; Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory…”
As He reached them, the people bowed low, raising their heads when He had passed, to join in the angels’ song.
“Holy, holy, holy …”
A little child stretched out a hand to Him and He presssed it between His own. Passing, He ruffled a tiny, curly head.
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts …”
Would He never come? My gaze never left Him; I stored in my memory every gesture, every shade of expression, every smile. I watched Him pass Janet and Rose. I saw one of the children pick up a handful of petals, press them to her lips, smile, and scatter them under His feet.
At last, I too bowed low. I heard the gentle swish of His garments and felt the strong currents of His love … Glancing up, I saw Him look at Reg, bless him and pass on. My throat ached with the intensity of my song!
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts; Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory!”
I stood motionless after the Master had gone, gazing into the wood where I had last seen a glimpse of His robe, Now all was still. The angels had gone; the people were drifting away in little groups. Reg pulled at my sleeve, drawing my attention to himself.
“Did He really come? It seemed kind of holy like being in Church.”
“Was that all, Reg?”
“I felt comforted and strong but oh, if only I had seen Him!”
The hunger in his voice filled my heart with joy, and I cried warmly:
“Cheer up, old man! You have taken the first step toward Him today.”
“How?”
“By responding to His Love. Have you not heard? He draws us with cords of Love.”
From the edge of the green I saw Janet waving farewell to Rose, and I at once started off in her direction.
“Come along, Reg, and see our house now!
Reg had been so absorbed in their conversation that he had ceased to notice the great void, but now he saw that the strange blue light had given place to a grassy hilltop. The three of them stood together, gazing down a winding path into a valley far below. Everywhere were masses of brilliant flowers and as his eyes travelled over the scene, Reg saw his friends approaching.
“Go to meet them!” One of his guides gave him a little push and with a gay farewell he set off across the sloping hillside. They met amid the laughter and the cheerful greetings of the young, and Reg, responding heartily, could scarcely believe that he had died and that this was actually the other side of death. He linked arms with Gordon and Johnn.ie and the chattering group strode swiftly into the valley, making little of the long distance with their light, swinging step.
They went surging onto the green where many were engaged in sports, or with a companion in earnest talk. On the three sides of the green were the little houses of the Plane Between, with their hospitably open fronts and their great trees drooping over the slatted roofs. Reg noticed the exquisite motherofpearl of which they seemed to be composed and exclaimed admiringly. Everyone was delighted to show him round and he went in one house after another, thrilled, adventurous and eager.
Several of the houses were occupied by the Purple Gowned, who resembled Gordon. These were quickly introduced, and all invited Reg to visit them whenever he liked. Here he met Derek, a very special friend of Gordon’s, and there was a house occupied by Stephen and James, who were being visited by their friends, Bernard and Janet. Reg noted that these four were robed in green and wore golden sashes. The room looked very gay with such a variety of colour and he felt almost a child in his simple white tunic. The only other wearer of white was a quiet woman named Rose. She made room for him beside her and he soon forgot to compare the clothes of his companions, so absorbed did he become in the talk around him.
He felt like an explorer in a strange land (as indeed he was). The most amazing places were discussed as though they were just around the corner, and these people seemed to live a life of constant adventure. Breathlessly listening, he heard of the delights of the Hall of Hobbies, of the lovely bowls they made in the Hall of MetalWorkers.
Others said they had just come from the Hall of Gardens, another from the Hall of Sleep, and one enquired for Richard whom apparently he had last seen in the Hall of Audience. It sounded thrilling!
In a very short time, or so it seemed to Reg, the little group broke up. There were some temporary farewells, and then Gordon came to take him to see his “mates”. He was very silent as he walked through the wood with his friends. All around him they were laughing and talking, but he was going over in his mind all he had heard. He felt excited and eager, yet strangely “left out” as though he had missed something that all the others enjoyed. All the same, he had entirely revised his ideas of Heaven; it had become a wholly delightful place
His musings were interrupted when they came out on the other side of the wood where the creamy waves roared up the golden beach and the sparkling sea went out to meet the sky.
“There they are!” said Gordon. At the same moment Reg caught sight of them, sitting on the sand with their backs against a broad rock.
“Oh, let us get to them quickly ! he cried eagerly, but Gordon pushed him gently forward alone.
“You go, Reg. It is you they wish to see.”
“Won’t you come too?” Reg looked up appealingly, feeling suddenly embarrassed, but Gordon shook his head.
“No, off you go, old man. Look, they have seen you.” Even as he spoke, the men rose to their feet, and stood smiling uncertainly. He went slowly forward to meet them.
Silently they gripped hands. Then one of them laughed nervously.
“We don’t quite know whether you are an angel or a man,” he confessed.
“An angel !” Reg protested. “Far from it, I am afraid. What made you think of that, Paul?”
“Well, you have died, I suppose?”
“Yes,” urged Greig; while Ronald and Guy drew nearer, “that is what we want to know!”
“Oh, I can tell you that,” Reg said with relief. “Sit down, chaps, and let us have a talk.”
They all settled down again, leaning against the rock. The waves rolled lazily up to their feet. “This place is not Heaven and it isn’t earth,” Reg began ” It is called the Plane Between. Here, people who have died can meet those who have not died, but have only left their bodies in sleep”
“What, after going into a trance?” Guy queried. “I always thought that was just rot”
“No, in ordinary sleep, I mean. That is what sleep isthe soul going out from the body and sometimes people can come here.”
“I thought you said only the soul came here?” Ronald looked puzzled.
“But the soul is the person,” Greig put in. “Haven’t you heard that?”
“Yes, that’s right. The body is a kind of envelope, and when it is left behind, either in death or in sleep, people can meet here,” Reg exp1ained.
“Why?” Ronald still looked puzzled.
“They come because they have a strong wish to see somebody, or jecause there are things it is good for them to know. Then it prepares them for death, a ‘little death’ the angel said.”
Who said?” Paul shot out the question in amazement; the others stared dumbly.
“The angel,” Reg repeated, and then he laughed in embarrassment. “Oh, I know it sounds strange, but you have no idea how friendly they can be It seems angels are close to men all the time, to guard them while they are on earth and guide them in Heaven.”
“I say, you have learned a lot!” They looked at him with awe, and Reg said hastily:
“Tell me about yourselves.”
“It all seems so far away.” Paul gazed out to sea abstractedly.
When we were there, that little bit of ground we were fighting on seemed the only world there was. Now it seem swell, just a little halting place on the way here. Knowing Heaven really does exist makes it different, somehow. Sort of worth fighting for.”
“Perhaps that’s what we had to come here to learn,” Greig suggested.
“Makes you feel a bit uneasy, though,” Ronald confessed. “I guess there are a good many things I wish I had not done, now. What about sins?
“Well, there has to be a reckoning, you know.”
“Yes,” Ronald agreed soberly. “Was yours very bad?”
“It hasn’t come yet.”
“Not come?” Two of them spoke together. Greig said diffidently;
“I thought a judgement was necessary before a man could have the Lord’s approval. .. What happened, then, when you saw Him?” There was a pause, tense and expectant.
“I have not seen Him yet. You see, I wanted to see all of you first. How could I let you go on fighting, not knowing anything?” They gazed at him solemnly, and Reg flushed. “Well, how could I?” he asked defiantly.
“Of course, it was decent of you to want to know about us old man,” Greig said slowly, ” but…
“But how could you?” Paul interrupted urgently. “If I came to a kingdom and it was possible, I should want an audience with the King first.”
There was another pause while Reg prodded the sand miserably. Ronald leant over his shoulder to suggest reassuringly, “I think you could have helped us more by going straight to Him, Reg. You see, we are further away from Him than you are. If He loves us, He would want us to get the reckoning over quickly and come to Him, wouldn’t He?”
“Yes, I suppose so.” Reg looked more unhappy still, adding in a burst of confidence, “But I don’t know Him!”
“Never mind,” Paul said, “He knows us. Perhaps, Reg, when we come next time, you will have seen Him?”
“Oh, I do hope so!” Reg was surprised at his emphasis, but he suddenly realised why he had had that feeling of being left outhe was the only one of his Heaven friends who had not sought an audience with the King!
In the silence that followed, Reg thought over this new desire. What had Gordon said? “We are chained to our wishes.” Then, if he wished very hard to meet the Lord, he would be chained to that wish. Surely that would be a good thing? Surely that would link him to the Lord? … Musing, he tried to picture that majestic One who walked with the fishermen so long ago. The Figure seemed misty. He wished he had tried to love Him a little on earth. That would have made Him more familiar now. He was so lovable, really, so strong, gentle and wise; so sympathetic when people were miserable or ill or poor. Why had he never loved this One who was so worthy of love?”
“My friends.” A quiet voice broke into his thoughts and he looked up to see Bernard in their midst. He smiled upon them indulgently. “Follow me, for the time has come when the King visits His people.” They all sprang to their feet in a kind of astounded panic.
“Does He come here?”
“Shall we see Him?”
“But this is only the Plane Between!” Their questions and exclamations tumbled out confusedly.
“He comes to His people every evening,” Bernard explained. “Yes, here in the Plane Between. Let us join the people in the avenue and wait for Him.”
As they walked, Reg drew nearer and plucked at Bernard’s sleeve. “Shall I see Him?” he whispered. His companion smiled.
“My son, the measure of our seeing is the measure of our love.”
]]>“Tell me more about going to this Plane Between in sleep,” Reg asked.
“Well, man prepares for death in this way. If it were not for sleep, death would have the terror of the unknown”
“But is has!” Reg interrupted. “At least, to a great many people.”
“No.” Both the angels were emphatic. The man guide continued, “Death only has terrors for some when it is viewed from afar. Even when it draws near, some still retain it, but in death, no one is afraid. At the moment of death, every soul enters into the clear vision of Heaven’s Realm and so death is seen as just a door to pass through. It is as simple as that
“You speak of Heaven as though everyone goes there after death,” Reg said soberly. “Surely that cannot be?”
“In using the term ‘Heaven’ I use it in its broadest sensewhich means ‘the other side of death.’ Heaven has many planes, many mansions, and there are many degrees which determine where a man shall be. On the other side of death’s door, however, there is always this clear vision.”
“Even for the greatest sinners?”
“Particularly for the greatest sinners. It is for them to see clearly the stained surface of their souls and all the pitiful handicaps their pride has imposed upon them. In these cases, of course, their clearseeing brings anything but peace, but I do not teach you of those who have deliberately, calmly and knowingly defied their God. I speak, for the most part, of those who have lived ‘ordinary’ lives, ranging from ignorance to wisdom, from indifferent to earnest effort.”
“Then the majority of men visit the Plane Between?”
“From time to time yes, but the regular visitors are those who really desire to learn the thinkers and triers, you know. Sometimes, too, a strong desire will bring them, as, for instance, when they have been parted by death. Mothers and fathers will be drawn to their children, husbands to wives, and your mates, you see, to you.”
“Why! ” Reg was delighted. “Do you mean my mates want to meet me?”
“Oh, yes. You see, you had made good friends with many of them, and the sharing of the hardships and common dangers of warfare had drawn you closer. Then, seeing death so often around them, men think and wonder, striving to follow in their minds the journey and experience of those who have gone before them. The physical body is material and acts as a wall or compartment to divide, but the soul is spiritual and so, leaving the body either in death or sleep, it is more easy to make contact.”
“Do you think it is all right for anyone to try and make contact?”
“It is always dangerous to force anything, you know,” the woman guide put in gently. “Men forget that. Buds that are forced open never come to flower. Besides, according to man’s progress and development, he is destined for various planes, and men on these planes cannot intermingle. That is, they cannot leave their own plane to visit othersunless it is that the higher (who have learned never to force or grasp) can reach and help the lower.”
“How is that achieved?”
“Let us suppose that, on earth, a woman spilt some caraway seeds into a bag of peas !” suggested the manguide, smiling. “She would take a sieve and pour all into it. The sieve would catch and hold the peas, but would allow the seeds to pass through.”
“Yes, I see that”
“Well, those on the lower planes of Heaven have to remain in their own planes; they are like the peas But those who are on higher planes can pass through and visit the lower planes where they often act as teachers; they are the seeds ! Understand now?”
“Oh yes, you do make it clear! And it is interesting.”
“It is life. It is a continual interest this living. From his earliest consciousness, when a man awakes to the fact that he is, he proceeds to grow and develop by experience. With each victory over selfor the insistent demands of his lower naturehe enters into a greater freedom. This freedom grows and becomes a source of intense joy to him. He feels like a god, a conqueror, a king as he lives his life in a deeper degree of freedom with every passing phase. Oh, life is interesting.”
“I always thought life practically ended when one died,” Reg confessed. It is hardly begun,” smiled the angel, adding, “Look our journey is done !”
]]>“Can I really? I suppose you have all seen them already?”
“I have,” replied Gordon. “The others have been too busy as yet.” He turned to them. “Well, fellows, are you ready?
There was a chorus of assent; Reg felt a hand on each shoulder and in a moment he seemed to be speeding over the ground, sometimes drifting in a kind of cloudy haze, at others barely skimming the purple sides of mountains or drifting far above the sea. For awhile they all talked casually, pointing out to Reg places they had already visited, and then they gradually fell into silence. Reg followed their lead and was silent, too. A deep, dreamy peace began to steal over him, and, remembering his former weariness, he drifted into a kind of sleep. On, on, on, they travelled, the easy movement lulling him into deeper slumber, until at last a slightly colder atmosphere awakened him.
Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see little wisps of white cloud about him, and watching, he saw them left behind, fading into mere puffs in the far distance. He looked down lazily and then became instantly alert. The ground beneath him had vanished. Only a strange, blue light broke the monotony of this great void. For a moment he felt startled, poised in that timeless space, like a man who has jumped from an aeroplane and counts before pulling his parachute cord.
“Only I have no parachute,” he thought.
“All is well,” said a calm voice beside him. He turned to his friends and found only his angel guides.
“When did you come?” he began, “and where”
“We are with you all the time,” said one of them reassuringly. “Sometimes we will that you do not see us … Later, you shall see your friends again.”
Are they going without me?”
“Oh no. They will meet you at your destination. We are here to prepare you for your first visit to the Plane Between.”
“The Plane Between! How strange unearthly that sounds.”
“It is neither of earth nor Heaven, but is a plane poised between the two. There, souls who have left their bodies in sleep and in death, may meet.”
In sleep and in death,” Reg said musingly. “I don’t understand that very well.”
“Of course, you do not understand!” exclaimed the woman guide. “It is all so new to you … You see, sleep is a ‘little death’. Sleep results from the soul of a man going forth from his body. Thus the body is enabled to relax and rest. Sometimes, it remains very near, but there are times when the soul goes forth from earth in its characteristic search for its Creator.”
“Why do you say ‘characteristic’?”
“Because every man hungers for his God.”
“But that is nonsense” began Reg, breaking off confusedly to mutter, “I am sorry, ought not to have said that.”
“Well, you are assuming a greater knowledge and wisdom than you possess ! “smiled the manguide, adding, “Every man hungers for his God.”
“But I cannot understand it,” Reg urged. “Why are people so indifferent? Why don’t they show the hunger? Why is there so much evil in the world?”
“Because the lower nature of man constantly wars with the higher. When man begins to respond to this inherent hunger, he finds that every effort to rise means a sacrifice of the desires and instincts of his lower self. For instance, before a man can even reach out to his Creator in prayer, he must say in effect, ‘I am Thy creatureThou art my Creator.’ This implies humility, a prostrating of the whole soul before a high, unknown, mighty Power. That is when man’s lower nature steps in. ‘What!’ says Pride, ‘are you going to admit that you are a child and not the king you always supposed? Are you going to believe that there is a higher Power that can give you birth and death?’ ‘No,’ cries man, clutching at this tempting Pride, ‘I alone shall rule !’ And so,” finished the angel, sadly, “the war continues and evil results.” Reg mused, impressed despite himself.
“It is this lower nature,” said the man guide, “that is often referred to as ‘self’. Remember? ‘Deny thyself and take up thy cross and follow Me’.”
“I always thought that was kind of hard and unpleasant.”
“It leads to the greatest joy that man could imagine. By denying the desires and instincts of his lower self, man rises to the dominion of his higher self, there to enjoy the dignity of a son of God. ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him’.”
Reg’s face had grown grave as the angel spoke so solemnly, and now he turned to them with new purpose in his eyes.” I believe I am beginning to understandto sense the ‘inside story’ of this religion business. Oh, forgive me speaking so crudely, but it is all so new to me. How strange, though, that I never guessed. Religion seemed a giving up of freedom, not a getting of freedom”
“Yes,” assented the man guide, “but remember, the spirit within you hungered, all unknown to your lower nature. ‘For what man knoweth the things of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him? So the things also that are of God no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God
“If I had only studied these teachings,” Reg said regretfully. “Somehow it seemed just for kids and dreamers.”
“True dreamers are true climbers, Reg, for a dream is in reality a reaching forth of the desirea planning of the way.”
]]>Gordon rose from the seat and stood looking out over the park. “Want to meet some of the fellows now?”
Reg sprang to his feet. “May I really? Somehow I think this will all seem proved when I have spoken to the others. Just now, it is half a dream.”
“A dream that is going to last a long, long time,” Gordon agreed. You are only on the fringe of it now, but how happy you are going to be when you know.”
They began to walk quickly along the path and Reg silently absorbed his friend’s thought, being still unconscious of this Heavenly power. He realised that Gordon spoke of “knowing” things that were beyond his perception at the time, but that as he grew, he would come to “know” more and more wonders, and sink deeper and deeper into divine truths.
“One day the Father will not seem far away,” Gordon summed it all up quietly, “and you would not exchange your Heavenly home for all the earthly pleasures that there are.”
Reg gave him a quick smile. “I believe you are right! Already I feel different, somehow”
“You look it, too!”
“How?”
“Why. You don’t look weary any more, or half starved. You look young and fit and happy … Hallo!” he broke off.
“Here’s Garth. And there’s Johnnie and George.” The three lads came running up, flushed and laughing.
“Gordon !” one of them cried, “Where have you been all this time?” The tall, dark man reached out a hand and clasped Gordon’s shoulder in a friendly gripand then stared. “Not PurpleGowned already, old man?”
“Yes.” There was a little pause, while the others preserved a deferential silence. They seemed to have withdrawn a little in awe of him, so Gordon said quickly: “Well, it is good to be together again! Here, pay your respects to Reg. He’s only just arrived.”
“Welcome, boy! I say, we’ll have great times. Hope it wasn’t too bad after we went.”
Reg greeted two of the men warmly, but drew back in confusion from the other. “What is the matter?” Gordon asked. “Come, this won’t do.”
“George never did like me,” Reg muttered. At this the young man laughed.
“Why, I thought you did not like me!”
“You did?” The two men looked at one another, then began to smile.
“Guess I thought you were the best shot in our unit,” George said quietly.
“And I have never seen anyone run like you did when you picked up that wounded chap under fire!” They both began to laugh, then, and stepped forward to exchange a friendly clasp.
“What fools we’ve been!” said George. “Often and often I wanted to talk to you, but you looked so cold and unfriendly”
“And I thought you were too proud even to notice my existence half the time!” Laughing, the little group walked on, until Gordon asked:
“Where’s Robbie?”
“I last saw him on the way to the Hall of Adventure,” said Garth. “There was a chap he had to meet there… I came here to offer my services to a woman I had treated rather shabbily at home. I’m glad that stain is gone, anyway.”
“What are you talking about?” Reg queried. The other men exchanged a glance.
“Isn’t he on the Term of Reparation? “Johnnie asked.
“Not started yet,” explained Gordon.
“What is all this mystery?” Reg broke in. The others laughed.
“You’ll know soon enough! Just make the most of this little party, now, for we may have to break up very soon.”
“What! Won’t I see you any more?”
“Oh yes. Just send out a thought to any one of us, and if we are not so busy we cannot possibly get away, we will come to you at once.”
“A thought! Can you get thoughts here?”
Johnnie fell in step beside him, saying eagerly, “It’s simply great! Any information you want comes to you by just thinking about it. It is called ‘reaching out’. If you are ready for it, you can receive it easily, but, of course, if it is beyond your understanding, it just doesn’t seem to be there. When you want to be alone in your thoughts, you just close uplike an oyster, you know! It is called ‘drawing the mental veil.'” Reg was much impressed.
“Then no one is cut off from anyone else ever even if they are apart?
“No. Everyone is in touch, if they want to be.”
“Well, that is good news! One of the things I have dreaded, is loneliness.”
“Loneliness ! “Johnnie laughed. “There is no such thing here only, perhaps, in the Hall of Adventure.”
“What is that? Sounds interesting
Johnnie turned to Garth. “Here, you must answer that one. You are the only one who has been there, as yet.”
Garth strode along in the centre of the group.
“It is the place where people go who have always had the spirit of adventure on earth. There is every imaginable sport for them there, and when they grow tired of that, there are mountains which they can climb alone, if they wish, and rivers to cross; huge deserts, too
It is the only place where the weather changes. You may get terrific storms, gales or floods, intense heat or cold !”
“What a queer taste,” George commented, adding thoughtfully, “Yet people do journey thousands of earth miles just to battle with those very conditions”
“But what is the use of it? “Reg interrupted.
“What is gained?” You still have your earthstandards, young man,” Gordon put in, giving his shoulder an affectionate squeeze. “You see, we do not live to gain any praise or prizewe live to grow, learn and ‘climb’. If a man has a strong desire still unfulfilled, he is not entirely free to learn, because we are fastened to our wishes. So Heaven is the fulfilment of our wishes and this sets us free for greater learning.”
“I see,” Reg said slowly. “That is very wise.”
“Well, there is another lesson learned that Heaven is ruled by wisdom!” Gordon exclaimed, adding, “Now would you like to meet the rest of our mates the ones we left behind? “
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