make him listen and understand. There
you have it. It's the same thing, exactly.
Wake them up, mother. Hush their sobs.
The Everlasting arms are not failing. All
is well. "If it were not so I would have
told you. "



Thy Son Liveth 63

Don't argue. We cannot convince any
one against his will. Let him believe or
deny. You are only a messenger. One
accepts the heartease you offer, or he does
not. Perhaps by the time this page is
printed, the light-which-is-to-be will be
shining on the earth. Undoubtedly the
mystery that befogs us is likely to be soon
lifted.

The work of the young girls on the battle
field is a revelation. They are the same
kind of girls that you used to have out for
the week-ends : pretty and cultivated and
all that. But they have gone through some
sort of transformation while they are still
in the flesh. That is, the little, tinkly
garments of silliness have dropped away
and left fine spirit. But the women at home
are not doing enough. The sacrifice has
got to be made. Every one will be stripped
down to soul before this is all done. Don't
talk of houses and jewels and servants
and lands when men are rebuilding the
foundations of the earth with their bare
hands.

Yes. We sleep and waken refreshed,
I'm told we shall require food as we go on,



64 Thy Son Liveth

Jack's father and mother live in a house and
have food and water. I think we absorb
water, mostly. But when we pass springs,
I stoop to drink.

The instructor (angel) whom I told you
about is getting Charlie Spenser into line.
He has made it clear that there can be
no permanent separation of two parts of a
whole. It appears that every one is or will
be married. The twain shall be one spirit.
I judge from his statement that marriage
is consummated here.

You wonder how we stand the cursings
that we must hear ? I am told that all such
sounds are produced by the gasses of terror
and are a part of the crashing and rending
of tortured souls. I do not believe the
Divine Intelligence regards these explosions.
Of course we are punished for defiance of
law. That goes on in all parts of the spiritual
as well as the material worlds. But (and
I want to go cautiously here because I am
not sure that I have cinched the big idea)
some of our worst old sins show up small
in comparison with others that we have
been rather proud of, and referred to as
"faults." I can't say what they are. I
suppose each fellow knows his own.



Thy Son Liveth 65

Too bad that you are not able to convince
Cooper's mother that he is all right. He is
more than all right. And he may serve to
illustrate a point I indicated recently. You
know how weak he used to be, and dissipated ?
Rather worthless and all that? Well, he
is one of the most esteemed men here. Of
course, he proved that he had courage when
he hopped out of the trench with that gre-
nade and saved his company. I told you
about it. But he has a quality, a kind of
compassion for all men, that makes him tower
above the rest of us. It is hard to take the
measure of a man. There are so many
bewildering standards. It's rather easier
here. 1

Our use of the terms "here" and "there"
is likely misleading. At this stage, as I
have explained, we are not separated from
you ; I mean that we are not removed from
the influences and conditions of the earth.
I do not know how to search for expressions
that will convey the truth simply to all who
may read these letters. If we are going to
get to the people with this, we must take
some steps to interest a publisher. How

would it do to see ? Better think it

over. I cannot advise. My judgment is
no good.



Thy Son Liveth



We do not know when we are to be sent
on to some other field. You remember
we were once recalled when we had almost
reached an important port of departure
from this environment. The subject of
these points of egress interests me greatly.
It seems that there are certain defined
avenues of intercommunication. We do not
fly up and into some other sphere. We
travel by established channels. I am very
anxious to find out just what this means,
and I shall hope to let you know. There
must be some reason why, of all the millions
who have passed the lines, no one has defined
the boundaries of the unseen worlds. We
talk the matter over, here, and have about
agreed that language becomes inadequate,
or we enter upon untranslatable conditions.
Then, too, we may begin to count time by
the thousand-year schedule. With the reali-
zation that you will soon be with us, we do
not think to send you descriptions of what
you are to see. One thing we must not lose
sight of. This is the land of the living, and
the loved ones are safe.

I picked up a kitten in my tent. An angel
who was passing told me, quietly, to put it
down. There was something curious in



Thy Son Liveth 67

his look. I did not quite get it. You will
be interested in this. But help me to keep
our subject clear. It is easy to wander off
into mazes of danger, although there is a
perfectly straight, clean path to follow, if
one will. I think it important for you to
warn people of this danger. It is, I am told,
particularly apparent in this zone. However,
in any zone the soul carries its own means
of defense.

Souls are being fused in these flames and
purified. The bravery of men is applauded
by the angels. I have seen them rush to
welcome some little chap who has given his
life to save others. That is the Christ
quality the highest form of love.

No human power can stop the war. The
fighting may go on until the generations
now on earth are all transferred to the spirit-
ual worlds. God does not intervene. We
cannot know His purposes. We only know
that those who die yet live.

A lot of fellows in my tent were talking
about the peculiar agony of suspense that
mothers have to bear. Jack Wells spoke of
that night in Gethsemane when the dis-



68 Thy Son Liveth

ciples slept. But somewhere in that garden
was one who did not sleep. Mary watched all
the dark night. Mothers are like that now.

There is no method about inter-space
communication. The fuss of preparation
is unnecessary and confusing. We do not
need the material aids of paper and pencil,
as our minds converse. I recommend the
transcriptions because you are reporting
these notes for a purpose. We want them
as accurate as possible. Of course, I get
balled up. But we'll keep sight of the plan.

The fight goes on ceaselessly. We do
not share your feeling of appalling horror
and pain. We see, rather, the hosts of
clean young men coming to found their
true democracy. Perhaps, you had better
write "augment" in place of "found."

As we progress I find we are less inclined
to criticize the efforts or condemn the failures
of others. Something of truth must be in
the minds of even the fakers who try to
materialize spirits and set tables to jumping
about a room. Primitive people were taught
by means of crude spectacles. But now we
have a way more suited to our developing
intelligence.



Thy Son Liveth 69

I told you about my wireless work. It
seems to us to indicate a change in the plan,
a movement on the part of the Lord to
intervene. We have all wondered why God
did not sweep the Huns out of their wicked-
ness. But humanity is, we suppose, allowed
to exhaust itself before Divinity steps in.
What are the words in the Book? Except
the Lord stretch forth His hand, all flesh
will perish from the earth. Please look
up the exact wording.

Do not let us stop, now, to go over what
I have said and correct inconsistencies.
The way unrolls continually, and I get vari-
ous angles of vision. I am not seeing much,
as yet, that is so very different from the
earth as you know it. I should say that
the difference is chiefly in my new keenness
of perception.

Wells makes occasional journeys to the
place where his folks live. I quote him,
particularly, because you know him. When
I ask him how it is out yonder, he says for
me to wait and see for myself. This may
illustrate the point I have been trying to
make. I asked him about the marriage of
his older sister and her husband. I heard



Thy Son Liveth



that the married become incorporated in
one body. That is not just as it seemed
at first to be. The two who love and marry
are one in spirit and act and think as one
soul. But they are separable in form and
able to pursue their independent ways.

1 "have formed a friendship with Ann.
She is as playful as a child, and I like her.
But we are not mentally companionable.
You remember a poem you liked by Miss
Colson, about laughter in Heaven? Well,
there is laughter here all right. I could not
repeat a joke or any special thing that
might be labeled humorous that is said
or done. But there is a kind of joyousness
that finds expression in laughter.

Cooper has gone back to Blighty. I
missed him and asked Jack where he had
gone. I do not understand yet. Will let
you know. Am excited over news. Must go.

I have a delicate task here, mother.
Cannot speak of it without higher authority.
If I receive that, I know I can depend on
your judgment and good taste. I have con-
ferred with Wells, who is further advanced
than I am. Wait alone for this.



Thy Son Liveth 71

There are lots of wireless men here, and
we are busy. We are immensely improved
in our work, and are able to decipher any
code. The German operators cannot see
us when we are around. But a man can-
not be a wireless expert unless he has a
finely developed sense. They feel us, all
right. And they are afraid.

Mother, it is not a new thought, but it is
true that all forms of life are created dual.
We have spoken of the human and spiritual
only briefly, because I am crassly ignorant,
even yet. But Nature is also two-sided ;
material and ethereal. Everything is dupli-
cated, forest, stream, landscape. Does that
fact not make my place of residence more
tangible to you? I should have told you
sooner if I had heard of it.

Yes, I know what you are up against
trying to get this across. Poor little mother !
Her neighbors think she is a nut. But if
you can get a few to try to write they will
start things. Explain how simple it is.
A place, a pencil, a pad of paper and a heart
crying the name of a boy. That's all that
is necessary.



72 Thy Son Liveth

I have permission to tell you that Cooper
has, because of his understanding and com-
passion, been sent back home as an instructor.
His body, sustained by some life principle
which I cannot explain, has been all this
time in a reconstruction hospital back of the
French lines. You may see him with your
own eyes. And you will know that any man
who has crossed No Man's Land, and returned,
has a message to the world from God.

Wells is hurrying on with his preparations
to go. I do not know whether I am to go
with him or not. I rather hope I may.
And yet I do not want to cut off our line of
communication. I think after I leave this
environment, I shall have greater difficulty in
communicating. As I have said before, I
shall, perhaps, enter into less translatable
conditions. The common speech may be
inadequate. That, alone, may account for
the futile messages transmitted through
mediums. Still, the spirit is free to travel,
and it is likely I may find a way to continue
my letters to you and to give you such
information as may be permitted.

You hope I will not go, dear? Well, I
may hang around here indefinitely. Many



Thy Son Liveth 73

are coming in, however, and it looks as
though we might be transferred. One reason
makes me rather keen to go. Jack told
me about his younger sister last night. She
is, it seems, a tremendous favorite with
him. I said I wished I could see her. And
there she was ! A vision, really, in response
to my wish. I don't believe heaven has a
sweeter sight. I saw her plainly : dark-
haired, blue-eyed, with a face of great
brightness and fine color. Up to this time
that I am relating the circumstances to you
it has seemed miraculous, out of the natural
order of things, that I could conjure up
this girl's likeness. But I now realize that
faculty to be the commonest in the world.
You are exercising it, now, as you think of
me and of her. Here is a point, mother.
Maybe you can elaborate it. You project
your thought to any scene or you draw
toward you whatever vision you will.
Words, one-syllabled or many, unlock the
intelligences in all familiar ways. But the
faculties of the creature made in God's
own image are for the most part undeveloped,
inert. Think of this in very simple terms.
We are made in God's own image. Not
faint resemblances of Him, but images.
Look the word up in the best authorities.



74 Thy Son Liveth

We ought to be able to accomplish anything.
At first I tried to say that the inner ear and
the inner vision must be opened to make
communication as easy as it is natural.
Upon this, I am now sure, depend social
relations of the worlds. We shall see each
other, face to face, when we get rid of the
acquired films that shut out vision, and the
obstacles that impede the ways of sound.

A good deal of the old temper seems to
be sticking to me. I got in with some
Boches to-day on the battle field, and felt
a rush of hate and fury, impossible to de-
scribe. I rushed among the wounded like
a mad man. But He was there, ministering.
I hardly know how I came away.

I talked with Wells about this, later, in
my tent. He said we must give up thinking
of Christ as ours alone. He quoted His
words, as the mob howled around Him on
Calvary :

"Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do."

It may be that the peculiar conditions of
our work here make my judgments rather
one-sided. I fancy in other locations,



Thy Son Liveth



America for instance, the people who have
come out must see many things in alto-
gether different lights. They are dying
around you, every day. It should be per-
fectly simple to communicate with them.
We are dwelling on the military exodus for
the reasons we have outlined.

Mother, I often think of the days when I
was a little boy. How good, and patient,
you have always been to me. Don't forget
in all this striving to let other hearts have
comfort that the same old love is in your
boy's heart for you.

I got your wire calling my attention to
the scriptural statement that in heaven
there is neither marriage or giving in mar-
riage, and I do not know what to say. It
seemed (until you gave me this jolt) that the
Bible bears out everything that I have been
able to tell you. Perhaps the chronicler
got balled up in this particular quotation.
For love and marriage are certainly in bud
and flower here. I can see this fact with my
own eyes. Many things that I write you
I gather from others, relying on you to weed
out that which does not contribute to the
big plan, or any flagrant inconsistency that



76 Thy Son Liveth

may rob some soul of a crumb of comfort.
Don't bother about much else. This is a
message, and it requires haste.

Of course, there are false reports and re-
porters here. Not makers of lies, so much,
as natural dramatists who see all things
in an exaggerated and spectacular form.
Then, there are the symbolists who write
the revelations.

Any critic would have me on the hip,
and they will all be after you, if you can
scare up a publisher to take this. And yet
you will likely find a world more ready to
listen, openly, to such a message than it
has ever been before. Back in the human
consciousness has always been a belief
in spiritual things. The belief has been
mixed with the terror of the unknown and
denied because of that fear. Now the hand
of God draws His worlds so near that they
can whisper to each other.

Cooper will take up his old life on earth,
and his mother will have her son. But he
will not be the same. None of those who go
back will be the same. Angels, dressed in



Thy Son Liveth 77

stained and faded khaki, will walk the
familiar streets. Listen to them.

Dogs come and go freely, back and forth
across the invisible line. I am told this as
a fact. They do not need to leave their
natural bodies to associate with those who
have died. They often follow their masters.
Other animals have not quite these privi-
leges, but after dissolution they appear
here. I may not be clear. I often find a
certain embarrassment in saying things that
I, myself, would once have called bunk.
But I guess they are true, all right.

Try and remember, mother, dear, that
I do not know much more than I did when
I left you. That is, no wisdom has been
given me. I am, however, quickened in my
perceptions, and my natural bent is en-
couraged. I have every opportunity to
learn. I suppose arbitrary rules must under-
lie this harmonious system of living. But
they are not felt. None of us are fretted
by "shalt nots" or "shalls." We seem to
go along about as we please. But we please
to move with enthusiastic energy ; if we
did not, I suppose we might feel the sharp
stick.



78 Thy Son Liveth

We do not have classes in the ordinary
acceptance of the term. But men of like
interests gather and exchange information.
I have learned a lot about wireless that I
hope to communicate some other time;
through a technician, maybe.

I want to suggest to you to keep these
notes entirely apart from anything else I
write you. Do not make a big book. Let
it be only a few pages to hide in a mourner's
sleeve. Call it a sleeve book, if you want
to. I think that might convey an idea.
But in any case keep it free from subjects
or speculations outside the main plan, which
is : comfort for war-robbed humanity. Keep
after that! There is no death! and don't
let any attractive theory sidetrack you.
The firing is continual and terrific. I must
get on the job of guiding the boys through.
They will come without fear.

You feel the need for more definite informa-
tion about this existence before you go
out to talk of immortality. But you have
all that your untutored Bob can tell you,
and a thousandfold more in John. Read
the fourteenth chapter again. It is all
there : the whole plan of eternal life, con-



Thy Son Liveth 79

tinuous life, I mean. There are no mansions
here, that I see. But, as I have explained,
we form one of many special brigades or
divisions of soldiers, and are now in active
relief service in the war zone. We have
tents and equipment ; we talk and walk
and choose our companions. We love or
like, or avoid others, according to our own
impulses. We look as we did in the flesh.
It seems almost as though we had only slipped
out of our skins, as the snakes do. A nat-
ural process, familiar to simple people,
but too simple to be considered by those
butterfly hunters that try to net the soul.
Please cut that out, mother. You might
leave the comparison to the snake, however ;
I think that holds some truth.

The premise is all right, isn't it? You
have it clear? There is no death. Life
goes on without handicap or hindrance.
We are very busy. There is no talk of peace,
here. I gather from what the angels say
that the war will go until many more of
the valiant have come through this valley,
and have gone on to form a new democracy
on another plane. I am reporting impres-
sions, and have no authority for my con-
clusions, except the authority of my own



80 Thy Son Liveth

intelligence. Do not be terrorized even
should an invasion of America be made.
The easiest thing in life is death.

Jack Wells and I are very close friends.
His sister's name is Alice, and she has grown
up in the country beyond, where his folks
live. It seems all reach or return to maturity.
Youth blossoms and flowers, but does not
decay. I can call up her vision at any time.
But I want her near.

Christ walks among the wounded con-
tinually. The dying see Him, and the hurt
are healed by His hand. Many have told
me, and several times I have felt Him near.
Once, for a moment, I saw Him, I told
you.

Preserve an unemotional mind, dear. San-
ity and simplicity are essential to our pur-
pose. Do not go on any tangent of de-
scription, or undertake analyses. What is
here is here. Some people will find what
we have hoped to give them. Others must
find comfort in different ways.

You have understood, haven't you ? That
I no longer stop and dictate these things to



Thy Son Liveth 81

you? I talk to you as I perform my tasks,
or lie at rest, or march along my ways. It
is almost certain that we are to be ordered
on within a few hours' time. Destination
unknown. But wherever it may be, I
shall travel with eager curiosity. I shall
surely tell you all I can. It may be that
one returns to this boundary for purposes
of communication. That will develop later.

Take care of your health. You have a
task that you must not fail to accomplish.
You can bind up some of the most grievous
wounds in the world. Keep your strength
and go up and down the wailing places on
the earth, and say and know: "Thy son
liveth." That's your part.

Isn't it foolish to try to convince any one
of anything? What words are there to
prove or disprove that life was and is and
ever shall be? If one does not realize
now naturally and without argument that
he is an undying soul, he will come to realize
it some time. Why hurry him ?

I am on the march. And I am thinking
of you, and the eternal verities, and of the
wondering of a boy walking beside me, and



82 Thy Son Liveth

of the land that lies beyond our Jordan.
And through and over all these other thoughts
is something that permeates them with a
kind of thrilling fragrance. It is love, I
think, mother.

We are passing through a land laid waste
and yet triumphant. I felt immensely sur-
prised to see in all its beauty one great
cathedral that had been destroyed. The
angel said that all such buildings of prayer
and song are spiritual and beyond vandal
desecration. The bricks will be restored
to conform to the imperishable idea. I do
not want to get metaphysical (in the be-
wildering way). I just want to say that I
am improving in spiritual vision. When
we started out before, you remember, I was
only able to see the obvious : broken bodies
of flesh and of stone. To-day I see the
immortal structures.

It is so simple, dear. Here I am on the
open road that all humanity travels, going
toward the enlarged opportunities that await
me. I have been talking to the boy. He is
not more than fourteen. But he fought
his fight. Spenser has taken him under
his wing. I don't mean that literally.



Thy Son Liveth 83

None of us have wings. But that reminds
me of what I was going to tell you about
the messengers. Some way those old Greeks
must have been in touch with this side of
the world. Olympus must have pierced
the invisible. For instance, these messen-
gers wear little wings on then- feet. I do
not know whether they grow there or not.
One passed us a moment ago, treading the
air with incredible grace. Hermes reborn.
They are employed between some higher
command and our own.

Spenser is reconciled to wait for his girl
to join him. There is so much to do that
the time passes with much swiftness in and
out of light and dark. We have -the same
natural divisions that you have. Why should
this not be true ? We are still on earth. As
we pass, differences may arise that we are
not conscious of, but so far as I am able I
shall keep you informed.

We have now reached a river of surpassing
beauty. I have always felt, and I am more
impressed than ever with the feeling now,
that a river is more spiritual than any other
expression of physical nature. It may be
that this is our port of egress. It is. We



84 Thy Son Liveth

have been commanded to halt. One desire
seems to animate us all : that is to run down
and swim in this shining stream. We have
thrown away our outer garments and are
plunging in. Good-by for now. I am
running down to the water as I used to run
down to the old mill-stream, tingling with
joy. . . .



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