“You cannot realize how intimately we work together still,” was one of
his assertions to her. “You are a fine force for progress. You are being
and teaching the things we all work for here. Teach, above all, unity
of purpose. Never mind the method. Look to the goal. Building, light,
freedom, faith—these are what the forces of construction stand for, the
way to the great purpose. The forces of disintegration are gathering for
a tremendous fight. The Great War is one of the crises of civilization,
but the battle to come still is one of the crises of eternity. It is
for that we are preparing now. This is what we must say to all dear to
us and, through them, to as wide a public as we can reach.... It is a
great message that is to be given. To-day I only want you to be sure
that I know all you feel and all you have suffered, and that the more
confidently and freely you reach out to me, knowing I am there, the more
easily and surely I can reach you.”
Like the others, this man used the circle, which we were beginning to
perceive must signify more than joy, as we understand the word. For
example, on this occasion it was used thus: “You will look for me now,
listen for me, feel me near you, and the (O) will be as near your life
as it ever can be there.” After telling her of the frequent use of this
symbol, I asked him whether it had not a deeper significance—perhaps
completion, perfection, consummate unity, something joyous of this larger
sort, to which he replied in the affirmative.
A night or two after this, Cass suggested that we must make an effort to
get into touch with David Bruce, but I said that we had asked about him
several times, and that if he wished or needed to communicate with his
family he would undoubtedly let me know. Aware of Mrs. Bruce’s interest
in psychic phenomena, I thought they might have established communication
in some way. Within a few minutes I was conscious of a summons to the
pencil.
First came Mary K.’s strong signature. Then, very quickly: “David Bruce
is here, and wa....” There it ran off into nervous, illegible waves. When
I said I could not follow, and asked that the message be more slowly
given, it was resumed where it had been dropped. “... wants to talk to
~E~ ... Bess.” His wife’s name is Elizabeth, and naturally was in my
mind, but having written E, the pencil balked, delayed, crossed out the
E, and finally wrote “Bess,” firmly.
“Thank you,” was the response to my promise to arrange the interview. For
the first time it occurred to me that possibly Mary K. had given over
the pencil, and I asked who was writing, to be told quickly: “D. B.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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