Although we travelled with the speed of light, it seemed a long time before we reached our destination. On the way, our angel talked to us and at last he said that we were to visit ‘by angels’ power’ the Mountain of Worship.

‘However, you have been there before,’ he added surprisingly.

‘When?’ Janet and I spoke together.

‘Many times. Do you not recall your visits to the Hall of Audience?’

We looked at him in astonishment. ‘How can it be both?’ Janet asked.

‘It is the Hall of Audience according to men and the Mountain of Worship according to angels,’ he explained. ‘When you visited the Hall you saw, at first, a great dome with an atmosphere of colourful mist. Remember?’

‘Yes. Later we had clearer vision and we saw that the mist came from the light pouring through angels’ wings.’
‘Then what of the dome? Can you explain that?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘I thought is was just the nature of the ground.’

‘So it is! It is the peak of the Mountain of Worship. You saw only the great dome. We angels see the whole mountain.’

‘Then that is why people seemed to walk over a rim when they went away from us!’ Janet exclaimed. ‘We never suspected that.’

‘You only see that which you are ready to see,’ our angel reminded us. ‘Now that you are visiting the Hall on angels’ power you will see much more.’

‘How thrilling it is!’ I cried. ‘What shall we do there? Shall we see anyone receive a Star or a Flower. . or a Virgin’s Crown?’

‘No, that joy is to come. This time you will be able to join the angels in their worship of the Father.’ His voice dropped. ‘Here we are lifted up by love-songs toward the Eternal Throne.’

We were silent a moment and then I asked: ‘What do you mean by being lifted up by love-songs?’

‘The love-songs are psalms,’ he explained. ‘The real object of the singing is that it increases the vibration of the heart and each one is thus enabled to soar up toward the Father’s Love. The flight is not an actual one, but is a lifting up to a higher degree. Your robes will tell of your visit later on for the design of their borders will change to silver. Then angels who see you will smile joyfully, knowing you have joined with them in worship of the Great One.’

‘I shall love the psalms,’ Janet mused.

For some time, as we had travelled downward, I had glimpsed the vague outline of the mountain. Now, as we drew near, Janet and I cried out in wonder at its beauty. We alighted on a kind of plateau. It was on the top of such a very high mountain that we were wreathed with clouds. As far as we could see on every side were other mountains, but these were all dwarfed by the one on which we were standing. Mist and clouds swirled about their tops so that we were looking down upon them and then up to a sky of deep, dazzling blue. There was such a sense of vastness and grandeur about it all that for a time we could not speak. We just stood still, taking great breaths of the rare, keen air.

Presently we were joined by little groups of angels, coming up over the rim of the mountain-peak. Some came with particularly joyful faces from a region where a light blazed. I knew than that these angels had been in special communion with the King of Love and the Great Mother. Some of them still carried flowers in their hands from which there stole an exquisite perfume. A few at a time, the angels came to swell the group where Janet and I stood, until there was a vast multitude.

Then they began to sing! At first it seemed like a confused outburst of praise, but gradually I began to hear the words. I knew then that they were ranging over the psalms, mingling many together in one great song of worship. Janet, too,
realised this at the same time for she started to sing. As I joined with her I found that, by an unknown power, I knew just what verse would be chosen next so that I was able to sing with as much confidence as the angels.

‘In the Lord put I my trust,’ went ringing and echoing over the mountains, ‘how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in Heaven! Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle, who shall swell in Thy holy hill? He that walkest uprightly and workest righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech and night into night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun. His going forth is from the end of the heaven and His circuit unto the ends of it and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, 0 Lord my strength and my Redeemer!’

No words of mine can describe the beauty of this mountain music. Janet and I stood with our guide, set about with the great company of angels; as the volume of sound swelled and throbbed around us we each had the curious sensation of being lifted up. Lighter and lighter we seemed to grow, until it seemed that our feet were above the earth and that we were soaring high in the air, like larks in the midst of their song.

Far above us a great shaft of golden light cleft the blue of the sky and inwardly we knew it came from the region of the Eternal Throne.

Still the psalms rolled out! We were filled with a power and an ecstasy never before known; the shaft of light green wide and deep until we could see right into it…

Far, far above us we glimpsed the myriads of Throne angels in all the glorious rainbow hues of their robes.

Suddenly the music lifted and rang even higher. There was a movement in the crowd and then our King of Love stood within this circle of angelic praise. A blinding white light poured from Him. He was robed entirely in white, too, so that it was impossible to see whether He were clothed in a garment or with light alone. His radiance flowed out to touch us all, increasing our bliss to a hitherto unknown intensity. He seemed to sweep us all up in His embrace and to carry us with Him an immeasurable distance into the sky.

Higher, higher, higher sank the worshippers of God. The throbbing notes seemed to form a mighty stairway to the feet of the Father, and down that stairway of our love-song came the Song of His Love.

Then, when we had reached the height of unimaginable bliss, the singing died away. There was a hush; deep, unfathomable! We seemed to be poised in the blue vastness of the sky, held in our Beloved One’s arms.

Over the mountain-tops came a whisper, sweet and thin. Slowly it circled among the peaks, gradually increasing in volume. Entranced, we followed it with yearning ears. Full and round it grew until it filled all the sky; and then we heard it! It was one, single Word.

At that Word all Heaven was hushed to stillness. In my heart I knew that this Word was a knowing of the Father, that at last, after all my wanderings, my sins and strivings, my hopes and longings, my penitence and reparations, my growing into knowing, I had contacted Him. Like a child I was being held up in the everlasting arms, even unto the radiance of the Father’s light, unto the adorable splendour of His Love.

We were mute in rapturous awe…

THE END

Janet had been looking at the houses with interest as we went on our way.  ‘I notice that every one is different,’ she said at last. ‘Why is that?’

‘It is for two reasons – and for both the classes of people. These babes have often longed for a house different from all others. Here they choose their own and take great delight in it. Then, those who are here to learn or renew their clarity of vision need only one house of each kind.’

‘Do the people build the houses for themselves?’ I asked.

‘No, for they have not the skill. These houses are built by those who have always worked at that trade on earth and whose Heaven it is to do so here. Once more, you see, each unconsciously serves the other.’

I had been seeking an elusive thought for some time and at last it came to me.

‘What purpose is served by people looking at houses and seeing clearly, as you have explained? Of course, I realise that it must be interesting but how is the knowledge used afterward?’

‘Ah,’ cried our angel, ‘I see you realise that nothing is wasted in Heaven’s realm.! These people are of great value to mankind on earth.’

‘How is that? Do they go there?’

‘No, but the guardian angels do! These men become advisers to the angels. Remember that angels have no experience of earth-life except in what they observe. Without the consultations with these clear-seeing ones they would be handicapped on earth. Now suppose there is an architect earnestly labouring in the world, with a good dream in his heart. His guardian angel may come here to observe and also to consult the men who understand these matters. Then, fully armed with the necessary knowledge, he will return to his charge on earth. That architect will succeed beyond his dreams and when questioned will probably say, “It just came to me.”‘

‘How lovely it all is,’ Janet said. ‘There is no end to the Father’s thought for men.’

While we talked, we had passed into a broad road where there were smaller houses than we had seen before. Almost all of them had a perambulator at the door. Some of them had washing hanging on lines just glimpsed at the back. Janet and I could not restrain our laughter at this and our guide smiled with us.

‘It is amusing to you, I know, but it is not in the least so to these people. It is what they have secretly expected Heaven to be. They could conceive of no greater bliss and, since Heaven is fulfilment, it gives to each the highest joy which they are capable of conceiving. Think of the meaning of the word “conceive” and all will become clear. It means both to “become pregnant” and “to imagine, to visualise the meaning of something.” Now the word “pregnant” itself means both “to be with child” or “to be full of meaning.” Do you see the connection?’

‘A little.’

‘These babes have formed a mental picture of Heaven, while on earth. They have “conceived” it in the mind. It has become “pregnant” with meaning for them. Their expectation of Heaven has been the “child” of their brain. Now what happens? When they pass through death’s door and come to eternal life this “child” also “comes to life”. They see outwardly the very picture they have built up inwardly. Thus every man is a creator in his imagination. This is why he himself forms his own Heaven or hell.’

‘It is wonderful, yet so obvious when you are shown,’ Janet said.

‘There again, a dictionary on earth could have unveiled the wisdom,’ our teacher pointed out. ‘Most of the great truths are there all the time, but men do not look with seeing eyes.’

As he spoke, we passed a house where people were chatting together. When they saw us approaching they instantly darted inside and closed the door.

‘Why did they do that?’ I asked in astonishment. Our guide smiled.

‘Angels did not form a part of their mental picture! Thus they resent our presence and will not speak with us. However, they “grow out” of that after a time and then we teach them.’

Another door opened and this time a little family came out. A young man and woman with two children clinging to their hands. They were laughing and when they caught sight of us, greeted us gaily.

‘Good day, sir!’ The man touched his forehead in a quick salute, the woman dropped a little curtsey. The two children smiled placidly at us. When they had passed by Janet said:

‘Do they always call you “sir”?’

‘Mostly. We are merely teachers or advisers to these people. We take the place of official ministers of earth in their eyes. You will come across many of these babes when you begin to collect material for your book! Then you will understand more fully.’

‘How interesting it will be,’ Janet cried. ‘We will see the Heaven that is fulfilment to them all – we will see the “children” of their mind-pictures of earth. It will take a long time, though.’

‘You could spend all eternity and still not see the “mansions” of their dreams.’

By now we have left the streets behind and had followed a narrow pathway into a wood. Soon our guide halted in a little glade.

‘This will do nicely for the receiving of your power.’

‘I had almost forgotten it,’ Janet confessed. ‘Those people interested me so much that I wanted to begin on our book right away!’

‘This power will be indispensable to you nevertheless.’ ‘You will be able to observe, then, instead of merely forming an impression.’

As we stood before him he lifted up his hands as though in blessing and began to breathe deeply. Immediately that drowsiness I had known before began to steal over me. I sank down on the grass beside Janet, looking at the light reflected in a pond nearby. This light, I dimly realised, poured from our angel’s uplifted hands. I too, began to breathe deeply and slowly.

Presently we came to ourselves. Our teacher was sitting on the grass with his back against a tree. He was watching us smiling.

‘So you are awake! Well, now you must try out your new power.’

‘What shall we practise on?’ Janet asked, looking around with interest.

‘Why not choose?’

‘Well I would like to take up a drop of water in the palm of my hand and look at that.’ She went over to the pond and our teacher followed.

‘Then you will love its life-story,’ he assured her. ‘It will have much to reveal to you. You will be carried for miles in your mental-vision, gushing over rocks, joining up with little streams, then flowing into a river and out to sea. You will be drawn up into the clouds and look down upon the darkening earth.’

I remembered the story that was being told in the Hall of Orators, and asked: ‘Is that how “A Drop of Water” came to be written?’

‘Yes, one came here to receive the power and later practised on a drop of water.’

Janet was kneeling by the pond, gazing with a rapt expression at the water in her palm. The angel turned to me.
‘What will you choose?’

I pulled off a sliver of wood from a nearby trunk. ‘This.’

Immediately I began to look at it I fell into a kind of absorption of spirit. Sinking down on the grass I bent my gaze on to the atom of wood. It seemed to expand, to reveal itself as a fast-moving mass of cells. Then I saw in its depths, as though it were a living illustration, a tiny seed deep down in the soil. I watched the vital forces alive within the tiny ‘womb’, saw them moving, striving the one with the other, finally bursting from restraint so that a slender shoot appeared. Fascinated, I watched both root and shoot creep out, displacing the soil. The mechanism of it all thrilled me. So small, and yet having more organisation that the mightiest machine of earth!

Presently the little plant rose above the ground but still I could see its activity beneath the surface. In addition, I saw as in a mist-picture the whole outline of the full-grown tree. I watched its exploring shoots spread out, gradually filling up the ‘mist-pattern’. Taller it grew, and taller, putting forth leaves, then fruit, then seed. I saw season after season go by, while the tree filled out to the girth of its pattern. At long last I saw a man approach the now broad trunk. He seemed vaguely familiar, Then in a flash I recognised myself! I watched the sliver of wood detached… and glancing up, beheld Janet and my angel beside me.

‘Have I been here an immeasurable length of time?’ I asked.

‘What is time?’ said our angel, exactly as Stephen had said it in the Circle of Prayer long ago.

‘Can we see everything in this way now?’ Janet asked.

‘You can see all things like this at will,’ our teacher assured us. ‘Henceforth you have this power at your command. Look!’ He pointed to our robes.

At first I saw that an intricate design had appeared on the edges of them. Then, on closer inspection I perceived that the central motif was a tiny, opened eye!

‘Even the designs on the robes speak, you see,’ smiled our teacher, ‘Thus we know the exact progress of all. Come now!’ he said suddenly, ‘our tour among the spheres is ended.’

With one movement he caught us to his sides and a moment later we were wheeling above the houses. Very soon we had left the sphere behind and then we began to cleave downward through the void.

‘Are we going back to the Broad Field?’ I asked as we watched star after star flash upward.

‘No.’

‘Then where?’ Janet asked.

The angel smiled down at us.

‘You will see!’

‘Where do we go now?’ I asked happily. We had had so many adventures that each destination was a new delight and I pressed against our angel gratefully. How patient he had been with us, teaching us deep mysteries, step by step, so that we could understand!

‘It is the joy of my eternity,’ he answered my thought, and Janet said: ‘Tell us-  what is our next joy?’

‘We are on our way to the Place of Vision.’

‘We have already experienced that,’ I murmured, with a reverent thought for the majestic Figure in the Paradise of Saints.

‘I do not mean that kind of vision. I refer to the act of seeing. We are going to look at plants and trees-.’

‘Is that all?’ Janet interrupted. ‘But we have seen them everywhere.’

‘Seen them?’ The angel laughed deeply at this, ‘You have received but a hazy impression of them. What do you know about a plant or a tree?’

Suddenly I remembered how my angel-guide had taught me long ago, concerning the restricted vision of men. She had asked me to describe a tree and had then asked how it remained upright when I did not include its root!

‘I know what you mean! An angel told me that in Heaven’s realm one sees the whole of a tree or plant at once.’
‘It seems very difficult to understand,’ Janet commented.

‘It will not be so when once you have visited the Place of Vision,’ our angel promised. ‘After that you will be able to roam over the power planes with truly seeing eyes.’

‘I thought it was only in the Place of Vision we would see.’

‘No. Have you not realised, my children, that when you visit these spheres you come away with something of the power you found there? That is why you were not allowed to enter some of them. You were not ready to receive the power.’

We were very interested and began to think back over our former visits. No wonder our teacher had been so careful to explain the nature of each, to us. Presently he said:

‘Remember that there is no “standing still” in Heaven’s realm. All the time men are learning and growing. Even your stay in the Plane Between was part of your training. As each man acquires information he makes it a part of himself so that it becomes a power.’

‘Then we shall be able to enjoy this wonderful clarity of vision,’ I marvelled. ‘What a lot we shall learn.’

‘It is another step upward, children! You will never lose your joy in this power for by it many mysteries of nature will be revealed. You will be able to investigate the smallest and the greatest of nature’s glory, both appreciating the beauty around you and knowing its cause.’

As he spoke we increased our speed, cleaving upward through a vast darkness to a shining far beyond. Very soon we alighted on the sphere and began to look around with interest.

My first thought was that there was nothing new to see! It looked like an ordinary landscape on earth. A field lay before us with waving grass upon it and an occasional bush. The ground rose gently at one side and sloped steeply at the other. Beyond we could see a valley and – yes, the roofs of houses and a church spire!

‘What an extraordinary thing,’ Janet said. Our teacher laughed.

‘It is much more extraordinary than you think! Your surprise comes because you thought it ordinary.’

‘Yes, I suppose so.’

‘Let us walk down into the valley and we will talk as we go.’

We began to stroll over the grass and as we descended a homely sight met our eyes. There were actually streets, with here and there a house set in a garden standing back from the path. People were moving quietly about. Once I saw a woman come to the door and shake a cloth as though she had been dusting! In one of the gardens a man was prowling among some rose trees, while children played round his feet. Our angel watched our surprise and smiled.

‘Well, ask your questions,’ he invited.

‘Who are these people?’ Janet demanded.

‘The ones you see in the houses are those who could not enjoy Heaven at present in any other way. They have dreamed of little homes and gardens all their earth-lives. Some have been poor and lived in crowded districts. Others have been taken up with business affairs.’

‘Are they ready for the Place of Vision?’ I asked in surprise. ‘Oh no.’

‘Then why-.’

‘Children,’ our teacher interrupted, ‘do you remember what I told you about the “railway journeys” and the “stations”. Here is another “station”. People are often in very high spheres, far beyond their understanding, but because they are not Purple-gowned, none of the powers are possible for them. Thus they walk among the deep mysteries with unseeing eyes. They may be likened to an earth-baby being taken to a museum. How much would he see? Yet all is open to his vision.’

‘Then these people cannot see the secrets of nature revealed?’

‘They see little more than they saw on earth. Yet if you asked them about a Heaven outside this sphere they would look at you in astonishment, saying: “This is Heaven. There is no other.”

‘What of the children?’ Janet asked.

‘It is different in their case. They are not able to receive deep wisdom yet. Therefore, they have the freedom of most of the planes. On earth, people often speak of deep matters before young children because they know they are unable to understand. It is so, here.’

‘Do these women dust and sweep?’ Janet asked, remembering the woman with the cloth.

‘Yes-and cook,’ smiled our angel. ‘Here they live a life very closely resembling earth. It is the fulfilment of their desires, you see. Gradually, they come to wish for more knowledge. Then people are there to teach them. They have classes, both for the adults and the children.’

‘How do they come here?’ I suddenly remembered the angel who had guided me on my Term of Reparation. ‘My guide said I could not climb to higher planes but that she would have to visit them for me.’

‘Ah, that was because your eyes were beginning to open! Once you began your Term of Reparation you were no longer a “child” – you had begun to “grow up” and could not be likened to an earth-baby visiting a museum!’

‘Then none of these people are on their Term of Reparation yet?’ Janet asked.

‘They do not think there is one. They are perfectly content in what they think is all of Heaven.’

‘Do they never wish to see the King?’ I asked wonderingly. ‘Oh yes, in a way they do; but they only see Him as they expected to-as a great Teacher. Sometimes they gather in the church and then He comes to them. They see Him only as a wise and tender Man. Usually, angels conduct the services and lead the singing, and they are quite content with this.’

‘How strange,’ Janey mused.

‘They are but babes-they will learn.’ Our angel looked so confident that we were quite reassured.

We had walked down a long street during this conversation, and now we came upon a small park where women were sitting talking while their children played. On three sides of this park the gardens of houses could be seen, each having a small door in its back fence so that the occupants could step at once on to the lawns.’

‘See how it is planned,’ our guide pointed out. ‘Some architect has been here who was never able to realise his dreams on earth.’

‘Was he one of the babes, too?’ I asked.

‘No, he came to receive the power of vision. There are both classes of people here. Those who are the babes and those who are ready for the Power.’

‘Why are they classed together then?’

‘Well, each unconsciously serves the other. The babes need the houses of earth-life to fulfil their desires and the others need the buildings as subjects for their study. Here both men and angels come to receive or renew their clarity of sight. When they have it they are able to look at, say, that house’ – he pointed across the park – ‘and see not only the building but its foundations, not only its exterior but its interior. Then, looking at the stone of which it is composed, they can see the moving cells of its texture. They can examine the texture of everything within the house, look at the plants in the garden, watching them in all their phases of growth at once, search into the soil seeing, highly magnified, the wonderful colours of the minerals hidden there. This is but a small portion of their sight.’

‘What a wonderful power!’ Janet and I spoke together.

‘Yes. So you see how the two classes of people serve each other! It is a plan often followed in Heaven’s realm.’

‘Yet we have never noticed the babes among those of the higher planes,’ I marvelled.

‘You had not reached that “station” on your “railway journey”, our guide smiled.

Far into the void we continued our adventurous way. Now we had a vast array of stars to look down upon. Some appeared mere specks in the darkness, others were nearer and their brilliance lit up the surroundings in a blinding radiance. Here and there we passed swift-moving chariots of angels, or single guides conducting two or three visitors on a ‘courtesy-tour’ among the spheres. There was an immensity about this void that entranced me. I recalled how, many times on earth, I had gazed up at the sky, delighting in the stars, wondering about them, filled with the thrill of the night-glamour of it all. How weak my imaginings now appeared, compared to this reality! I looked around at the millions of star-lights within view, and reflected that each represented something to the inhabitants of Heaven, each a place of meeting, learning, refreshing, or having some purpose far beyond my understanding as yet. The vastness of it all set my heart singing. Janet felt it, too. She leaned forward with radiant face to smile at me.

‘Do not think. I cannot understand,’ he said suddenly. ‘I, too, find constant delight in the vast grandeur. That is     one of Heaven’s joys. No-one ever grows tired, or loses the early zest of wonder. It is ever-new. Our very life-strength is being constantly renewed.’

‘How?’ I asked. ‘Do you mean that you are conscious of it?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Just as creation is by breath, so is re-creation. We angels who constantly pour out our benediction-ray need to be continually renewed with the Father’s power. I am on my way now to the place of renewing.’

‘May we come, too?’ Janet asked in. surprise.

‘Yes, but you will only be able to rest on the fringe of it, even in your doubled power. I shall leave you there while I go to renew my strength.’

‘Is this place of renewing only for angels?’

‘No for some of the Holy Ones are among men also. When they rise to great heights, they begin to pour out a mighty power when they pray for men. Many of them spend untold ages in this work alone. Oh, if the world but knew the prayer-power that pours down from Heaven upon them! This power is so great that it would quickly be expended if these Holy Ones did not continually renew their strength. There are wise men on earth, too, who have learned a little of this great secret. These withdraw often into the closet of the silence of the heart. Such men have a wonderful uplifting power as they move inconspicuously among their fellows.’

As our angel taught us, we continued to cleave upward through the darkness, sometimes passing close to a brilliant star, at other times travelling great distances when only a faint glow here and there could be seen. At last we turned in the direction of a sphere that was not so bright as the others. Indeed, as we drew near we saw that it was more like twilight, and this was further suggested. by the perfume that stole forth from it.

‘It is like a garden at eventide,’ I commented.

‘It is a garden,’ our guide explained. ‘It is called the Garden of Breath.’

Smoothly we alighted on a lawn flanked on all sides with flower-beds. Janet cried out in delight at this.
‘I did not know flowers could grow on these spheres!’

‘You are thinking of atmosphere again,’ our angel smiled. ‘Have I not said that earth-people could not come, here, nor earth-flowers grow? Why, if it were possible for men in physical bodies to approach to these heights they would see nothing at all of this garden-nor of you, for your bodies are composed of a substance finer than all the imaginings of earth-people.’

This filled us with wonder again, as though the angel had taught us nothing of the bodies of men! Janet and I reached out to feel the substance of each other. It was incredible that men could not have seen us, solid as we were!

‘It is hard to realise,’ our teacher smiled. ‘How many times I have seen men do just what you have done! Nevertheless, solid as you are, earth-bodies are far more earthly and earth eyes are far too dim to see you now.’

He led us on to the lawn where we found comfortable seats set beneath some flowering bushes at one end. The fragrance of this garden was such that we continually drew deep breaths of joy, and our angel, perceiving this, said:

‘Even here, on the fringe of the Garden of Breath, you will receive something of the Father’s power. Remember, “They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.” Rest here, then, until I return.’

He gave us a swift blessing, parted the bushes and disappeared from sight. Janet and I, sitting at ease in the garden, felt that we should not mind in the least if we remained here forever! Every moment and every breath was a joy. People on earth who are recovering strength after an illness, do so slowly. being almost unaware of the process. Here, though we were in perfect health before, a zest and alertness poured into us with such power that we were conscious of it all the time.

Unable to contain my ecstasy, I burst into a psalm and Janet joined with me. As we sang, we inhaled deeply of the fragrance and the very flowers seemed to bow in sympathy.

‘I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever! With my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness… And the heavens shall praise Thy wonders, 0 Lord, Thy faithfulness also in the congregation of Thy saints. For who in the Heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?’

As we sang we became aware that a third voice had joined with ours and as our last notes died away, the bushes parted and a man appeared. He was so majestic in his attitude and so shining with inward light that we leapt up and fell on our knees before him.

‘Children!’ he chided us. To my amazement, he put his hands upon us, raising us up. His touch sent a thrill through me. I ventured to look up into his face. What beauty I beheld! His glance was keen, but deep in its tenderness. His lips curled into a smile. All around his head and indeed, his whole outline, shone a mellow light.

‘Children’ he said again. ‘You must not kneel to me. Have I not but newly knelt to Him?’

‘But-the light,’ I stammered.

‘Ah, it is His light! Now I constantly dwell within it, but once, on earth, I was covered with His shadow.
‘Tell us,’ Janet pleaded.

‘I was one of the crowd when the King of Love passed by. They were striking Him, driving Him along to the place of execution. I had never seen Him before, but I knew Him. As He passed, I fell on my knees, praying that His shadow might fall on my head… My life was changed from that hour. I sought them out at last – His followers, and they made me one with them. Then, when I passed through the gates of death, the King remembered me. On earth, He had covered me with His shadow. In Heaven, He covered me with His light.’

As he spoke, we had gazed up into his face. Now, despite our reverent awe, we felt we could not let him go. We laid hold of his robe and drew him to the seat. Smiling, he suffered it. And then we plied him with questions. Ah, how much we wanted to know! He had seen the King on earth…

Long after, when all our questioning was stilled, he sat silently between us, bathing us in his benediction-ray. Thus our angel found us and one glance told him all. The Great One rose, then, and clasped us each by the shoulder in farewell. Very soon we were winging our way through the velvet darkness of the void.

Presently were aware that our movement had ceased. Our angel was poised a little above the sphere, holding us to his sides. He gazed steadily into the great light without anything to veil his eyes and I thought that angels’ sight must be adapted for such radiance. True, our eyes were covered with a portion of our guide’s robe but even then we seemed to be so bathed in flaming splendour that every pore and cell and vein was saturated with it. There was a curious quality about it, too. At first I could not define it and then Janet pressed it into my mind. It was the quality of bliss.

Such joy, contentment and satisfaction poured from the sphere that my heart thrilled to it. I seemed to break forth into a great singing that went ringing through the void, but whether this was so or not I cannot say.

‘Heaven is fulfilment,’ our angel reminded us. ‘That is the theme of this great happiness. Heaven fulfils the highest aspirations of all. The saints differ from men in that they have higher aspirations – hence greater fulfilment.’

‘Is that all the difference between saints and ordinary men?’ I asked in amazement.

‘Yes,’ our guide assured us. ‘The saints aimed higher from the moment of their dawning reason on earth. True, there are many who have exalted wishes, but this is like a man who drives a carriage and hopes that the horse will take the right path. The wise man takes a firm hold of the reins and so guides the horse into the road he himself chooses. This is the way of saints as compared with the ways of men.’

‘Do the saints always remain here?’ Janet asked.

‘Oh no. They have the freedom of all the planes of Heaven’s realm. Some of them remain on the higher planes, others veil themselves and mingle with the men of the lower planes in order to teach them. All live a life of great power and happiness, but inevitably there comes a time when their highest aspirations draw them to fulfilment which can alone be accomplished in this paradise.’

As the angel spoke, the light that had come to rest behind the sphere began gradually to enter into it. We watched the Great Shining withdraw from the void so that the sphere began to glow with even greater splendour. When the light had entered wholly into the sphere, there burst forth. such a power of joy that my heart could scarcely contain it. A strong fragrance stole up to us like the incense of a million flowers at eventide. Simultaneously came the rolling notes of a great organ, throbbing in ecstasy, filling the outermost regions of the void.

Then, while we gazed spellbound, a mighty Figure appeared within the radiance. It filled all that we could see of the great sphere, the outstretched hands touching east and west, the head and feet reaching to north and south. So luminous was this mighty Figure that it threw a shadow behind it and this shadow was the shadow of the Cross. Upon the palms of the hands, the insteps of the feet and over the region of the heart were gaping wounds, but these wounds were most beautiful to look upon. Like rivers cleaving the tree-clothed valleys, they gleamed in surpassing splendour and from them poured out torrents of sweetness, of wisdom and comfort beyond all comprehension. Around the forehead was a crown of crimson roses… And then I knew that the fragrance had stolen forth from this mighty crown and the beauty of the organ was the music of His voice.

‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.’

Oh, the tenderness, the drawing-power of those glorious words! My whole being answered them. I dared to look into His eyes and what I saw there thrilled me with rapture.

‘Master, my Lord, my King, my God?’ I cried in my spirit, and I drew nearer and nearer to Him until His arms enfolded me and I leant upon that mighty heart of Love…

Never have I known such bliss, such glory, such an absorbing of knowledge; for now I knew that when He spoke of
‘labour’ He meant all that striving toward perfection from the earliest day on earth to the highest attainment in eternity,
and when He spoke of the ‘heavy-laden’ He referred to all the burdens of ignorance, of ‘not-knowing’ that men held and gradually discarded on their way toward the Heights.

‘Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.’

Then I knew that Heaven-life was but a continuation of earth-life in its growth, that to grow in knowing was the meaning of all life from its humblest form to its highest achievement.

‘Come unto Me!’

Ah, so this was Heaven. To come to our King, to grow in a knowing of His Love, to come nearer and nearer to that which He is…

Strongly the angel held us to his sides. All at once I found myself looking down on the splendour of the sphere. Janet’s mind, reaching out to mine, told me that she also had seen Him and had answered His invitation of Love. She was afire with exultation and reverent joy. Our angel, too, showed forth his bliss and he whispered into our ears:

‘Such is the Paradise of Saints, as far as you can comprehend it now, for thus all find Him, even to the fulfilment of their highest aspirations. His voice died away. He turned and wheeled off into the great void, cleaving upward toward a distant glow which we knew to be another sphere.

When we came to ourselves in the Broad Field our angel was sitting beside us with his wings drawn around his head. We sat silent for we knew that he was in meditation. Janet and I had much to occupy our thoughts. We went over all our meetings with our King, repeating to ourselves all He had said. When, therefore, our angel began to speak, he merely continued our thoughts.

‘”A little while”,’ he murmured, quoting from the earth words of the Lord which endure for ever in Heaven’s realm, ‘”and ye shall not see Me and again a little while and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father… I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice and your joy no man taketh from you.”‘

‘Is it so with angels, too?’ I asked softly.

‘Yes,’ he answered very low. ‘We of the lower orders cannot follow Him everywhere for we are not free of the highest planes as are those of the exalted order of angels. Thus it is that He speaks into our hearts also, saying: “A little while and ye shall not see Me, and again a little while and ye shall see Me because I go to the Father.” It is then, when He goes to the Father, uniting with and merging with the might of Him, that we cannot follow.’

Suddenly I remembered our talk in the Plane Between. I pressed my thought into Janet’s mind and she answered me by asking:

‘Is that what is meant by that wonderful text, “The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see”!’

‘It is even so.’ There was a reverent pause. Then he added: ‘If we of the lower order of angels cannot reach Him, how can men?’

‘Yet in the exalted order of angels-‘ I broke off, not daring to voice my question, but our teacher understood.

‘We do not know,’ he whispered. ‘Sometimes they go from us but when they return we dare not look into their faces because of the brilliance of light revealed. Veiling our eyes, our lips also are sealed. It is too holy, even for angel-speech.’

Presently Janet ventured: ‘You can follow Him a long way?’

Our guide smiled, then, in that tender, ‘giving’ way of our King:
‘Yes, I enjoy the freedom of the stars. Quite apart from my journeyings in the planes which interpenetrate one another and which may be reached by the Causeway of Consciousness, I can travel as I will among the stars and planets-.’

‘Those very stars and planets we saw from earth?’ I broke in amazedly.

‘You glimpsed but a small minority of them. Far beyond earth and all the lower planes of Heaven, a vast expanse of voids is broken here and there by spheres unknown to men.’

‘Does He visit them?’ Janet asked.

‘Did He not create them? “All things were made by Him and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” Yes, He is ever careful of that which is His.’

‘Who dwells on these unknown spheres?’ I queried. ‘Do tell us all about them.’
Our guide laughed deeply then.

‘All about them!’ he echoed. ‘If 1 were to do that all eternity would not be sufficient. Besides, I too have not learned more than a drop of the vast ocean of knowledge concerning the spheres.’

‘Then tell us a little,’ Janet pleaded.

‘I will do more than this, children. Have you not followed Him through the lower planes? I will take you under my wings. You, too, shall enjoy, for a while, the freedom of the stars.’

We were so amazed and thrilled by this prospect that we could do nothing but gaze wordlessly at our angel-guide. He looked deeply into our eyes and that now familiar drowsiness began to creep upon us. The light seemed to grow dim, the Causeway to drop swiftly out of sight. A strange, whirling sensation filled my mind…

Presently I became aware that I held to the angel’s side, that his left wing overshadowed me. I knew that Janet was on his right side and for a time I rested in a peaceful security.

When at last I opened my eyes it was dark. At least, it seemed so at first. But gradually my vision grew accustomed to it and I could see. Below us an occasional glow lit the void. It was strange to be looking down on them instead of upwards to the stars.

‘Those are some of the spheres we have already passed,’ explained our guide.

‘Then we must have been travelling for a long time?’ Janet asked.

‘Yes,’ was all he said.

Far to our felt another great sphere shone out of the void, and above us we saw a host of them, some seeming to be quite near, others mere points of light an immeasurable distance away. From time to time chariots of angels passed us, some looking like falling stars, others like a streak of brilliant flame. All this time we had no sense of movement but the angel said we were travelling rapidly. He explained that we could not realise it because there was nothing nearby with which to measure our speed, but that when we drew near to one of the spheres we would see how rapidly it appeared to grow larger. Once, a chariot of many angels passed close to us and then it was no more than a lightning flash.

‘We are moving just as swiftly as they,’ our angel said.

‘Can you tell us the names of any of the spheres?’ I asked.

‘If I did you would hear nothing.’

‘Are they named in the Heavenly language then?’

‘They are like our own names, for most of these spheres are inhabited by our higher orders. Men who come to the lower planes of Heaven see only those angels who have contact with men and they think those are all. However, there are higher orders who never contact men at all, even the highest of them.’

‘What do they do?’ Janet asked.

‘It is not necessary to do, but to be. How hard it is for men to realise that! Those great ones exist in the power of the Father, absorbing His light and pouring it upon us-.’

‘Upon men?’ I interrupted.

‘No, upon the angels who are of a lower order. We lesser ones-lesser brethren if you like,’ he broke off, smiling down at us – ‘visit these spheres to bask in the benediction-ray of the great ones-.’

‘Just as we men bask in your benediction-ray,’ said Janet.

‘Yes. We consult the higher orders, too, concerning life on the lower planes, and they give us of their wisdom…’

His voice died away and we felt a thrill pass through his arms. Looking up, we suddenly saw a great light appear in the void, growing rapidly larger. It sent out such piercing rays that they seemed to light up vast pathways in all directions. The luminous shining of a distant sphere grew pale in comparison; a passing chariot of angels were revealed in every line and detail. Brighter grew the light until Janet and I tried to cover our eyes but the angel stopped us.

‘I will veil you.’

Swiftly he drew some portions from the neck of his robe and bound it about our foreheads so that a thin covering dropped over our faces. Instantly the glare of the light was made less and we were able to look about us once more. The great shining had come to rest behind a far-off sphere, bathing it in its radiance. It was a wonderful sight! The sphere glowed like fire while the beams of light cut through vast tracts of surrounding darkness.

‘What is it?’ I whispered at last.

‘Children,’ our angel murmured, ‘you are blessed indeed. The King has gone to visit the Paradise of Saints.’

‘Then it is not an angels’ sphere?’ Janet asked.

‘No, it is used by some of the Holy Ones among men. You little ones may not enter but I will take you near that you may behold a little of its glory.’

Tightening his hold upon us, he winged his way toward the Great Shining.

We were thrilled with our experiment and poured out all the details to our dear teacher. He listened attentively and when we had finished he asked us once more where we would like to go.

‘Why, may we travel again already?’ I asked in surprise.

‘You are going to travel a great deal,’ he assured us. Then he went on to explain that since we had been made free of the planes we must use our new powers in order to make them for ever our own.

‘You must choose our next visit,’ I told Janet. She at once decided to look up Rose and Greig so we sent out messages to them. Very soon we were with them in the Hall of Books!

Reg was our next choice but we found it difficult to reach him with a mind-message.

‘Where can he be?’ said Janet. ‘He must have his mental veil very firmly drawn.’

‘I wonder whether we can get a message to him by Robbie,’ I suggested.

We began to concentrate again while our angel sat silently beside us. Presently Janet touched my hand. We had contacted Robbie together! He replied to our enquiries happily and even across the vast distance we sensed his especial joy. It appeared that he and Reg were together in the Hall of Audience and that they had just returned from the Plane Between where they had been united for Eternity!

‘Reg and Robbie!’ Janet cried gladly. ‘I never guessed,, did you, Bernard?’

‘No; but what wonderful news. I remember how happy they were in the Hall of Adventure when they wrestled together on that rock… No wonder Reg did not receive our mind-message though, since they have just arrived in the Hall of Audience.’

‘Can we go there at once?’ Janet asked longingly. ‘We are sure to see our King of Love there-.’

‘Janet,’ I interrupted, ‘I have a great suggestion to make. Suppose we visit those planes where He is? Suppose we follow Him from Hall to Hall – would you like that?’

She turned with radiant face to our angel who had been listening with a smile to our talk.

‘May we, dear angel?’

‘Of course, children. Remember, the Master never sleeps.

That is the secret of our joy in Heaven’s realm. Once we have learned how to travel, how to function in all our different bodies we may follow Him at the time, never letting Him out of our sight, as it were.’

‘Really?’ Janet’s face glowed with happiness. ‘Oh angel, I have felt a little bit sorry, sometimes, when He has left us. To think that we may follow Him wherever He goes-.’

‘Not quite that, little ones,’ our angel corrected tenderly, ‘for you are only made free of the lower planes, as yet. However, He is often there.’

‘Then we will be there, too,’ I declared. ‘How shall we know where to go?’

‘I will direct you,’ he promised. ‘I have been with Him
constantly while sitting here in The Broad Field. I very rarely let Him out of my sight.’

‘Oh!’ we cried out in one breath and drew closer to our dear guide. Sometimes his homeliness blinded us to his grandeur. At other times a chance remark revealed him and we longed to bask in his benediction-ray. To be with our King so often, constantly communing with Him, knowing where He was, what He was saying and doing… to be able to sit in a field in meditation and yet follow the Beloved through the planes – how exalted he was!

‘Children,’ he chided us, breaking in on our thoughts, ‘I am but of the fourth order. Do not be so awed. There come and draw close within my arm and we will rest awhile and talk of our King.’

One on either side we pressed against him and he put his arms round our shoulders. Then, while we all looked out over the Causeway to the distant hills, he followed the Master with his inward sight (which is not quite the same, he explained, as functioning in another body and walking with Him) and told us what he saw.

A long time passed in this way and then our teacher sent us off to meet Reg and Robbie in the Hall of Audience and, when we returned very happily from this visit, he directed us to many other planes. How busy we were! We soon become quite accustomed to the donning of ‘cloaks’ for ‘winter’ regions and the discarding of them for ‘summer’ visits. It seemed incredible to us that we had not known, that we had thought of Heaven as a number of distant places instead of a ‘here and now’ (as the angel said.)

In all our wanderings we met our Beloved King but the visit that gave us the greatest joy was the one to the Haven of Prayer. Here, on the fringe of the forest we walked by His side and here He explained many wonderful things to us, revealing to us also the full significance of our bronze seals. He told us that these would later be replaced by silver ones and later still, by gold. Then He called to our minds the presentation of the flowers of purity, telling us that those who had a flower growing in the Garden of the Lord would one day find it fastened beneath the golden seal.

Many more things He told us during that walk in the forest and when at last He dismissed us we went with light hearts knowing that we would often follow Him through the planes. He knew it, too; He smiled at us and murmured:
‘A little while…’.

‘Now WHERE would you like to travel?’ asked the angel.

‘Is it an unpleasant sensation at first?’ I asked, doubtfully.

‘Why, you have experienced it many, many times-without even knowing!’ our teacher assured us and so we fell to talking – Janet and I – deciding where we should go.

Suddenly I remembered Marie who had been my very first friend’ in Heaven’s realm. I sent out a quick mind-message to her, asking her if she would like me to come. It happened that her mental veil was drawn but Isobel received it and she quickly told her companion. In a moment came a hearty invitation from the Hall of Children!

Janet was delighted with this arrangement so we quickly composed ourselves as we had been shown. Standing, we clasped hands, said farewell to our angel and then directed our wills…

We had been looking toward the Causeway which was scarcely visible in the half-light, Now, as we watched, the focus of our vision changed. The scene before us grew blurred, the light grew brighter and brighter. At the same time a sense of lightness came upon our bodies, followed immediately by a feeling of suddenly-increased weight. We felt as though we were travelling rapidly downwards in a lift and yet this was by no means unpleasant. I was reminded of the birds which swoop down from great heights to the surface of the sea and felt something of their exultation. All this occupied no more than a flash while the light steadily grew brighter. Then, as our vision cleared we saw that the Causeway had become a path through a vast parkland and that children were romping around our feet.

‘This reminds me of the baby-angels’ playground,’ said Janet, looking round with keen enjoyment.

‘Yes. Only these infants are not quite so plump! I expect some of those baby-angels were the little earth-guides of those children. I wonder if they ever meet?’

‘Why not ask them?’ Janet suggested.

I sat on the grass, looking invitingly at a small boy of about three. He had great eyes and tiny curls and a very wide smile! Before I could speak he had pushed me backward and with one bound was astride my chest.

‘You are a horse,’ he declared, bouncing up and down. ‘I am going to ride a long way!’

I looked up into the grey eyes. ‘What is your name?’

‘Sammy. I know what yours is.’

‘You do?’

‘Yes. It’s “Friend”.’

‘No. My name is Bernard.’

The child stopped bouncing to look at me wonderingly.

‘It is Friend,’ he insisted. ‘My Heaven-Mummy said everyone
is a friend here.’

‘Of course,’ I said hastily. I stole a glance at Janet. She was sitting quietly beside us and she pressed upon my mind what to say. ‘Tell me about your Heaven-Mummy!’

‘Oh, she’s lovely’! he cried, his eyes shining. ‘When I came here I wanted my earth-Mummy. I looked everywhere for her but, of course, she wasn’t here because this is Heaven. Did you know that this is Heaven?’

‘Yes.’ Janet and I exchanged a quick smile. ‘Go on, Sammy.’

‘Well, I did not know that this was Heaven when I first came. Then a lady came and sat beside me and she seemed to know what I wanted without me telling her anything at all. She said that Heaven was like the big sky at night, all shiny with stars and that earth was like the room with the blind down, just before you went to sleep.’

‘That was lovely, Sammy,’ Janet murmured, and he went on, accompanying his words with a bounce:

‘That’s why I couldn’t see my Mummy-because the blind was down. But in the night when she was fast asleep. . .’ and here his voice dropped to a mysterious whisper. .. ‘my little angel flew down and drew the blind. Then he took my hand and flew right up to the stars with her! That’s why I’m not lonely for her any more. I see her often.’

‘Well, you are a lucky little boy,’ I commented, ‘having two Mummies!’

‘I am lucky because I am in Heaven,’ he said solemnly. ‘All the day my Heaven.-Mummy loves me, too. I mean, she plays with me and gives me things I want to eat and answers all my questions. That’s what I call loving.’

‘A very good description, too,’ I agreed, and Janet asked: ‘Are there a lot of Friends here?’

‘Oh yes,’ said the child, taking a fistful of my hair to act as a rein. ‘All the big people are called “Friend” except for your own Heaven-Mummy. Some of them play with us and some teach us, but best of all is our Jesus-Friend.’ He looked as though he were about to say more but in a moment his rosy lips closed into a smile. Dreamily he gazed away over my head. His bouncing ceased, his fingers fell from my hair. Looking at his rapt expression we scarcely dared to breathe. How dear he must be to his Jesus-Friend!

All this time the other children were playing nearby. They had been rolling on the grass and their merry laughter rang out constantly. In the distance we saw other groups, one small crowd enjoying a splash in the lake. It was so pleasant that we thought we could stay here for ever. Presently we heard some quick steps on the grass.

‘Bernard!’ cried Marie’s glad voice.

I rolled over, tumbling Sammy into Janet’s lap. In a moment I had Marie’s hands in mine and we were exchanging a joyful smile. She was robed in golden-yellow and her sash was almost of a bronze hue.

‘What!’ I cried, ‘have you met The One?’

‘Yes, my friend – and you brought her to me. Isobel and I are to walk together for all eternity.’

Her joy was so great that I could do nothing else but take her to Janet to be hugged! They made friends instantly and who could have resisted Marie’s radiance then? In a few moments Isobel appeared and she, too, came in for her share of congratulation. We were a very happy group as we talked over our adventures in this land of endless joy…

‘I see you have met my Heaven-son,’ Marie said at last, nodding towards Sammy.

‘Your Heaven-son?’ I queried, gazing at the little fellow. He had fallen asleep with some daisies in his hand, the dark lashes curling on the lightly-flushed cheek.

‘He is a lovely child,’ Janet said softly.

‘And you only know the littlest part of him,’ Marie exclaimed. ‘He is our treasure, is he not, Isobel?’

‘Yes.’ Isobel dropped on her knees beside him, softly stroking his curls. ‘We count it a great privilege to have the care of him. His mother idolised him before he died – indeed, she thought of little else and had no interest at all in religion. Since she has been meeting him in sleep, however, she has grown nearer and nearer to the eternal truth. Of course, she remembers no details when she wakes, but the impression remains. He talks to her of his Jesus-Friends’.

‘Shall you remain here a long time?’ I asked.

‘Only until Sammy’s mother comes,’ Marie explained. ‘Neither know it yet, but they will be together very soon. The mother’s earth-life was drawing to its end but she had only earned a place on one of the lowest planes. Sammy would have been out of her reach. But because she had brought him up to know the King of Love by reading to him books that she herself did not understand, He gave her her reward. Sammy was sent on in front to be a little messenger, to tell her all about his Jesus-Friend. Now she is almost ready and, when she comes, the first one to greet her will be her little son!’

We sat talking for a long while and our hearts were full of praise of our Beloved. Presently, without being aware of any sound or movement, I knew that He was in the Hall, coming towards us across the park. I turned to awaken Sammy, but his eyes were opened wide.

‘It is my Jesus-Friend,’ he said in an enraptured whisper.

Springing up, he raced off over the grass. We saw the beloved Figure come into view, open His arms and enfold the boy. There was a long pause. Then they came to us together.

Sammy was holding His hand and looking up adoringly. We had all made to rise but our Beloved signed to us to remain where we were. Quietly He came and sat in our midst with the child on His knee.

Without saying one word He looked at each of us with such tenderness and such infinite giving that we knew not how to hold our joy. We all pressed toward Hint, touching His robe, filling our eyes and hearts with the sight of our King.

In all that long, joyous time no word was uttered, yet He seemed to have communed with us unceasingly and each had much to treasure in his memory. When at last He rose to go, He once more signed to us to remain. Then He put Sammy into his Heaven-mother’s arms, blessed us and went on His way across the park.

‘It gives me no pain now, to see Him go,’ Marie murmured at last. ‘Is He not ever with us in our hearts?’

While we sat with them, the light drew dim. Then the focus of our vision changed and, turning, we beheld our angelguide.

‘So you have returned from your first journey!’

‘Just as you needed to concentrate upon the narrow pathway,’ our angel began, ‘so those who cross the Causeway need to concentrate upon their way. The Causeway of Consciousness is the link by which we pass from one plane to another as I have previously explained. Thus you could go from here (without moving the body in which you are functioning at present) to many of the planes that are lower than this, or you could from this field climb higher to other planes beyond this one.’

‘Has this field any name?’ I asked, glancing behind me at the featureless plain.

‘Yes, it is called “The Broad Field”. Here it is possible to leave behind the present body when climbing to higher states or to draw from the existing cells sufficient matter for a new body in which to descend to lower states. These “bodies” are like the “luggage” of a long earth-journey and suggest a broad platform in contrast to the narrow track.’

Janet and I looked around involuntarily at the empty field.

‘Where are all the bodies that have been left behind?’ (I spoke for both.)

Our angel laughed.

‘It is difficult indeed to give wisdom to babes! In stating one fact alone there is so much adhering to it, so many shades of understanding…’ He paused and continued: ‘Here again it is something like an earth-journey. As the train speeds over the narrow track the passenger sees one station after another flash past. Here in Heaven we see truth in its entirety so that all the “stations” or facts are visible to us at once. Then, when we begin to explain we have to mention one fact at a time, with the result that at times a ludicrous impression is given!’

‘Is it so very foolish to expect to see the discarded bodies in the field?’ Janet asked, smiling with our dear teacher. (For all he said was so tender and kind that we could not be offended at his mirth.)

‘It is indeed. Can you picture The Broad Field under these circumstances?’

‘It would be somewhat strange,’ I agreed. ‘What happens to the bodies then?’

‘They are but cloaks which are discarded on the way,’ said the angel, ‘as though a man of earth threw off his heavy clothing as summer advanced or took upon himself more garments with the approach of the winter. Think of the higher planes as the summer and the lower planes as the winter and you will more readily understand. Now just as your book “vanished with a breath” as the angel-student said, so do the bodies (or cloaks) that are discarded. They return to the original cells from which they came. Then just as your volume will be ready for you the instant you want it by simply drawing the invisible cells into the “mould” of your thought-picture, so will your “cloak” be ready when you return.’

‘Do you mean,’ I gasped, ‘that we continually make our own bodies here?’

‘Yes. Just as a man builds himself a car or an aeroplane before he makes his journeys of earth – or causes an expert to build them for him. Bodies are vehicles, too, remember.’

We were so amazed at this that we were silent, turning it over in our minds. At last Janet said: ‘Is that why the angel-student taught us?’

‘Yes,’ smiled our teacher. ‘You see, you were nearly ready to be made free of some of the planes.’

‘Yet we have travelled before,’ I pointed out.

‘Did I not speak of experts of earth who build vehicles for the travels of men? This is the work of many angels in Heaven. They build the “vehicle-bodies” for the younger ones of the realm to travel in.’

‘Yet we did not know,’ I marvelled. ‘We thought we were travelling alone for much of the way.’

Our angel’s eyes twinkled as he said gravely: ‘There are still some things you do not know!’

‘It seems to me,’ I commented, ‘that it is almost everything that we do not know.’

‘Remember my simile of the journey,’ said our teacher. ‘We angels see all the stations at once, but you see first one station, then two at a time, and so on, as you advance.’

‘Do men ever attain to the complete vision of the angels?’ Janet asked.

‘Now there again it is difficult to reply clearly. Angels, too, are in graded orders so that some see much more than others, but I have heard.. .’and here his voice took on a great solemnity, ‘that some of the Great Ones among men see quite as clearly as some of the Holy Ones among the angels. Indeed, they see more clearly in some respects since men have had the experience of earth-life.’

We fell into a silence again, musing on the stupendous nature of the growth of Heaven. Absorbing the angel’s thought I reflected that it was like a spiral so that we circled the whole of the lowest plane and then, without breaking the continuity of eternal life, rose up to the next plane and so to the next and the next. What a vast prospect it was! And yet, far from discouraging us with a sense of our littleness (for Janet, too, was thinking on these lines) it seemed to fill us with the peace of security like a house on a firm foundation inspiring the certainty of endurance.

We felt, too, that with our growth came ever a closer drawing to our Lord for, although for a long time we had not seen Him (as it were) bodily, yet we never ceased, now, to see Him in our secret inwardness. It was as though He held us constantly to His Heart, communing with and encouraging us always. This did not take away from our delight in seeing Him walking in Heaven’s realm but simply gave us the promise of greater joys for ever in store.

As we sat in meditation the grey clouds above the distant hills had grown darker and the light was fading. With it we seemed to sink into a drowsiness which neither wished to disturb. We had no more any idea of the passing of time, nor of any sense of monotony. We might have rested there for the space of an earth-hour or for centuries of time. It was all one to us; we were content.

Presently our angel’s voice came faintly to our ears as though he were speaking on a mere breath.

‘Children, I have now given you all the knowledge you need to make you free of some of the lower planes. Henceforth you may travel in those planes as you will.’

Then, with a sense of surprise I realised that he had been teaching us all the time and that we knew how to create or discard our ‘cloaks’ and how to travel to the ‘winter’ and the ‘summer’ zones. It all seemed so simple and natural that I marvelled we had not known before. Janet, too, held her knowledge placidly as though it were an insignificant fact that had been casually mentioned in her presence. Once more I realised the extremely gradual growth of the realm and loved the peace of it.

‘See that you speak of this to no man,’ cautioned our guide, ‘for each is made free of the planes when he is ready.’

Leaning towards us he touched us each on the lips, murmuring:

‘Receive the seal,’ and then we knew that we should never speak thoughtlessly of the precious secret. At first I thought the ‘seal’ was only a symbol but happening to glance down I perceived that our brown robes were now crossed on the breast with silver bands and that they were held in place with a round, bronze seal.

After we had walked for a while we crossed a lawn set about with shapely bushes, having tapering tops and casting deep shadows on the ground. In the midst of this lawn was a well where we paused to drink of the water from its cool depths. As we rested on the stone edge, drinking from tiny cups the angel gave us, he said that this was called ‘The Well of the Water of Life’ and that to drink from it was to preserve the doubled power.

‘Why do angels drink of it, too?’ Janet asked, watching our guide sipping from the cup.

‘We, too, need constantly to feed upon the Father’s power,’ he explained. ‘We thus renew our youth perpetually.’

‘Is this the way?’ I queried, looking reverently at the water in my cup.

‘It is not the only way. There are others – but you will hear more of this subject later on.’

As I sipped the crystal liquid I felt delightfully invigorated. A keen desire for further adventure crept upon me and I noticed Janet’s eyes shone brightly as they met mine.

Presently the angel rose and we followed him across the lawn and into another wood. Here there was a narrow pathway edged with golden bracken. The trees rise out of it, like reapers knee-deep in corn. The great boughs swept down, decked with leaves, blossom and fruit in a mingled abundance as though every season lived as one in this eternity. As we walked, brilliant birds leaned down to peer at us and tiny ones of every hue alighted on our shoulders. The singing of all these feathered ones mingled in an exquisite psalm of joy.

‘Truly “the time of the singing, of birds had come,” ‘ I murmured to Janet and she, turning to our guide, said:
‘I thought birds were only on the lower planes.’
‘They have the freedom of the realm,’ he explained. ‘Of all the lesser brethren they are the purest and so we never lose our sight of them.’

As we walked on, the space between the trees widened so that we could glimpse an expanse of open, hilly country on either side. There was a faint chill in the air which lent a particular joy to breathing. I took deeper breaths, looking up to the grey clouds beyond the tree-tops. Soon the wood had been left behind. Our steps still followed the narrow path, but now on either side a steep bank sloped down. This gradually deepened so that we were walking up, high on the pathway. It appeared to have narrowed still more, but our guide said this was not so.

‘Have no fear,’ he enjoined us. ‘Keep your eyes on the path. Concentrate upon it and you will walk in safety.’

We obeyed him, Janet close behind the angel, and I following, and in this way we covered a great distance. The banks on either side had now reached the proportions of a mountain-side and our pathway seemed perched on a dizzy height. As our guide had promised, however, we made our way in perfect safety. Concentrating upon the pathway made us feel drowsy, but with it came a sense of deep peace.

At last we stepped on to a field, curiously flat and featureless. It seemed to stretch away into an immeasurable distance without sign of hill, tree or wood. Turning, we looked at the pathway over which we had come. It looked a mere thread thrown carelessly on the top of the mountain-range and we marvelled to think we had experienced no fear.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

Our guide stood beside us, following our searching gaze.

‘It is the Causeway of Consciousness.’

We both cried out in delight at this. ‘What a lovely name,’ Janet added.

‘Names are very important in Heaven,’ our angel said. ‘They are part of the music of it all. Harmony and beauty are ever present.’

‘How do they come by their names?’ I asked, feeling that I was not making myself very clear but knowing of old that the angel would understand. They always understood – that was the joy of it.

‘Names come from the outfiowing thought of Heaven’s realm,’ he said. ‘When the angels look upon the loveliness of the Father’s creation, their delight in it and their praise of Him seem to unite. Of this union is born a name. Do you remember how Adam named all the living creatures that the Lord had made? It is like that.’

He sat down in silence when he had finished speaking and we settled ourselves beside him. Together we looked out over the hills to the far horizon where the summits seemed to touch the dark clouds.

Presently he turned to us and smiled as though to say: ‘Now you may ask me anything you like.’ We took instant advantage of it for we both cried in one breath: ‘Do tell us about the Causeway of Consciousness!’