CHAPTER VI

SPECIAL RELATIONSHIPS

IT must be evident that the work upon which I have lately been engaged is of such a nature that it has brought me into contact with many grief-stricken people.

I have not emphasised the fact in this short record, owing to my belief that their first natural and inevitable sorrow should be gradually and sympathetically directed towards the brighter outlook upon death and separation which the study of spirit-communication is designed to give.

It has been noticeable throughout the war that the bereaved, faced suddenly with the loss that death entails, have been in many cases unable to derive comfort or strength from any of the ordinary sources. Religion and philosophy alike failed to touch them at such a time, and it is in these instances that The New Revelation (aptly named by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) has met and relieved their great need.

It may be that the Giver of all comfort permits those whose loss has created the gap of separation, to be the very means of bridging over the gap; the following instances at least appear to point in this direction.

The first instance given concerns the message sent by a son, killed in the war, to his mother, in the first shock of her distress. He sent four very short, careful messages, which we reproduce here in the order in which they were received.

The first read as follows: "Be brief, as mother's mind is so stunned."

Next, "Try and be very cool when you see her."

Next, "Say I, Gilbert, have been with her all to-day."

Next, "Say I, Gilbert, am alive indeed."

Next, "Say I, Gilbert, am always near her."

Next, "Say I, Gilbert, am in a very happy place, with my great chum."

Next, "Say I, Gilbert, am always with her and father."

"Mother, you must believe this.

"Gilbert X-."

The second message was sent on the day following:

"I, Gilbert, have been with you all to-day.

"I, Gilbert, have seen your grief and understand.

            SPECIAL RELATIONSHIPS 75

"I, Gilbert, am alive indeed.

"I, Gilbert, have not left you.

"I, Gilbert, am not dead in any sense of the word.

"I, Gilbert, am happy, very happy, except for your grief.

"I, Gilbert, hope to bring you comfort.

"I, Gilbert, love you just the same.

"Mother, believe.

"Gilbert."

With reference to the expression used above:

"I am not dead," he added an explanation:

"I, Gilbert, am alive. There is no death really. We are only out of the fleshly body, and this new body is not unlike the old one, but infinitely more beautiful, more easily moved about, and more alive to all the life of the whole universe.

"Gilbert."

.The following day he wrote: I, Gilbert, send yet a third message to you, mother.

"I, Gilbert, never leave you.

"I, Gilbert, am alive indeed.

"I, Gilbert, am happy, except for your sorrow.

"I, Gilbert, will be able soon to make you feel me near, you do now, but you will be perfectly sure soon.

"I, Gilbert, love you more than ever. Death cannot touch our love.

"I, Gilbert, make an appeal to you. "Mother, believe.

Gilbert."

Two days later the following, message was written:

"I, Gilbert X., send yet another message.

"I, Gilbert, see all you do.

"I, Gilbert, saw you pray to-day by the open window (Correct).

"I, Gilbert, help you not to cry.

"I, Gilbert, see you and love you more than ever.

"I, Gilbert, am happy with Jim, my chum. Take comfort, mother.

"Mother, believe.

Gilbert."

Note.-Gilbert X- was a complete stranger to me; I had not previously known of his existence. The reference to his friend is correct.

The same consideration is shown in the case of a son for his father, an old man, left terribly desolate by his son's death. He had been reported "Missing," and I had been asked if I could get definite news from a relation (deceased).

The information came direct from the missing son, who asked me to send it to his father, adding the following comment: "Poor old chap, he is hit this time."

His next message was: "My love to my father. We are very near him, and helping, tell him this. He may be useful with you on earth yet, and so must bide his time."

In answer to. written questions from his father, he wrote:

"I am decidedly the gainer. I see that. More scope. General ways of communication more open here. You, father, will appreciate great minds here. You can get glimpse into some. My great discovery was to find God everywhere. It is rather a staggerer. I mean, one has to get used to it...it was painful at times."

He wrote later: "One thing, father, I should be pleased if you did it. Consult Dr X- about yourself, and do not get run down. Live well to the end, and don't give up the game, play it right out. All is well with us.

Your son."

Another time he wrote: "I am quite convinced, father, that death only shifts the fulcrum...shifts.... I see you walk up that lane back of house as clearly as I saw you of old. I wonder in the mornings if you will take to a stick. Better do so, father.

I am giving you insight...look up a bit more...no mist hangs over the place in reality. My very will is bound to lift you. I will. Age...age...it is the flesh only. Bear that lightly, and take it as a very warm and comfortable coat with holes, and don't feel ashamed of a well-worn coat. Hold on to the end with as much courage as a man may muster in a rough and tumble world as you think it, it is not so really. I say, you know, I am very fit and well and happy, and would not come back, save to give you an arm over the latter stiles."

A letter from the father confirms the above as follows:

"What Dick said about seeing me go up the lane at the back of the house is particularly appropriate, as the lane does go up, and I have stopped and wondered if he saw me as I walked ft."

Note.-In this case also I was dealing with complete strangers, living in a place unknown to me.

The following messages are from a private, killed in the war, to his fiancée, written in 1917, several months after his death.

His early communications showed that he realised her grief very deeply, and he wrote with much agitation: "Has she felt no love reach her?... Have I any right to bind you still? I have so often wondered, and turned it over and over.... Has your beautiful love for me grown? I. feel it has. Shall I vanish out of your mind? I feel not.... I mean, can you remember how. I looked, quite as much as ever? just tell me you can, and I will be very happy. I am remembering...it is good to remember...no one can take that away.... I am happier since I spoke to you. I am indeed. I am easier in my mind."

The above was given on different days; some months later he wrote:

"I am permitted to stay very near you, as love binds us closely.... Don't feel sad, I am so very near. I only wish you could see me. I believe I look just the same. I feel you quite close at times, and even touch you. How faithful to me you are, and death leaves such traces on your dear face. Mine is the less affected.

Death is kind to us, so very kind, and help is always at hand here. Never forget I am here by you to the end of time. If I cannot often write, still I am here; and speak often to me, I hear all, and reply.... Be brave, as you have been. Life here is before us both...wait a little while and we will be together."

Note.-The communicator was quite unknown to me, but I was acquainted with his fiancée; I have not reproduced the evidential matter in his messages, which was considerable, and was verified by her.

The following messages were sent by an officer to his fiancée, the first written a few weeks after his death; it ran as follows:

"We will love each other, though we cannot actually see each other. Go and live your life bravely. We will be together a glorious day in the future...will you wait for me? I will wait for you, and prepare for you...we will be united...have faith, for death cannot touch our love."

Later he wrote: "She is as precious to me as gold in the process of being refined.... I think verily that love transforms as nothing else can. He himself is a changed man indeed. John is not worthy of her, as he knows. John...call me always that...it means loveable. John the beloved disciple is an ideal one may well bear in mind, Love is nothing if not steady. We cannot get a lofty enough conception. There is an old Italian legend.... Ah, the old book of mine. If I could turn up the page and show you.... Well I recollect.... Love there is an old man, and rightly. I am leaving now with the thought

            (crown)

LOVE--> spotless.

This must be our ideal, lest love fail in its object. Given such a gift, let us penetrate to its very heart, and love will then overflow and enrich the ground. All share in true love.

John."

Note.-In this case also there was a considerable amount of evidential matter; I knew the fiancée, but the communicator was unknown to me. Both "John" and his fiancée have given permission for the publication of these messages, in the hope that they may bring comfort to others who have suffered the same loss.

The other fiancée has generously given leave, for the same reason.