Beyond Heaven and Earth

by Steven H. Propp

  “What do you mean by ‘channelers’?” Jobran asked.

  Jana replied, “Channelers—although they actually prefer to be called ‘channels’—are people who serve as vehicles to transmit messages from beyond our planet, from a variety of entities: Ascended Masters, and holy Lamas; spiritual beings who have lived on this planet in enlightenment; beings from past civilizations such as Atlantis and Lemuria; beings from extraterrestrial civilizations. Even Jesus the Christ, and Mother Mary!”

  Light began to dawn in Jobran’s eyes. “So ‘Channeling’ is kind of like 19th century Spiritism, right?”

  Jana frowned a bit, then replied, “Well, I suppose you could look at it that way, if by ‘Spiritism’ you mean the Fox sisters, Daniel Dunglas Home, Eusapia Palladino, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, and people like that that were famous in the 19th century. Then there were mediums like Edgar Cayce, Arthur Ford, Betty White, Eileen Garrett, and Ruth Montgomery who sort of ‘bridged the gap’ between 19th century Spiritism and today.” Then she brightened, and added, “But frankly, modern channeling brings its messages much more directly—there is no reliance upon table levitation, rappings, automatic writing, and such things,” she said, laughing. “You get to hear a direct message from the spirit entity, in its own voice; it’s much more in tune with the spirit of the new Millennium. They tell us fascinating things about the ancient history of our planet, what other worlds are like, as well as many spiritual truths meaningful to us today.” Jobran made no reply, so she continued, “Jane Roberts and her entity Seth were probably the first of the modern generation of channels.”

  “Actually,” Jobran said, not wanting to follow her enthusiasm too far, “I suppose that I’m most interested in the question of ‘What happens when you die?’ ‘Is there a Heaven or a Hell?,’ and so forth.”

  “Ah,” Jana said, looking a bit disappointed (and probably relegating him in her mind to a much lower level of spiritual consciousness). “You probably would be interested in this section—it’s on Near-Death Experiences.”

  Jobran scanned through the titles, recognizing most of them. “I’ve read Raymond Moody, and Melvin Morse…and Elizabeth Kübler-Ross; Kenneth Ring; Michael Sabom; P.M.H. Atwater…but you’ve got some titles by them that I’ve never seen.”

  “Have you read Betty Eadie? Or Dannion Brinkley?” Jana asked.

  “Both of them.”

  “What did you think of them?”

  Jobran shrugged his shoulders, and said, “I liked Moody and Morse better.”

  Jana laughed gently, and said, her eyes sparkling with humor, “So you prefer the actual doctors, huh? You must be of the hard-headed, empirical, scientific-minded school, eh?”

  Jobran laughed at himself, and said, “Probably.”

  There was a ringing of the bells as the door opened. Jana looked around the corner, and said, “Oops, I’ve gotta go; let me know if you need help with anything.” She briskly walked off, and Jobran heard her ask, “Good morning; can I help you ladies find something?”

  Jobran was left to browse among the titles. Although he had felt that he had read pretty thoroughly in the area of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), he saw various authors he had never even heard of. Which is why it is an advantage to occasionally go to a “specialty” store like this one, instead of replying exclusively on the Internet and chain bookstores, I guess, he thought. He picked out several volumes, then began to study the section on Channeling. This shelf was broken into sections, based on the channeler (such as Kevin Ryerson and Elwood Babbitt), or upon the “spirit entity” that was being channeled (Seth, Ramtha, Michael, Lazaris, Emmanuel, Bashar, etc.). He picked up a few “general” books on the subject. Next, there was a large section filled with books, audiotapes, and videos devoted to Marianne Williamson and A Course In Miracles. There was also an extensive section on reincarnation, filled with authors that (except for Ian Stevenson and Joe Fisher) Jobran had never even heard of. Many of these books (such as You Were Born Again To Be Together) seemed to be focused on earthly relationships, and Jobran picked up several such volumes out of curiosity.

  Before long, Jobran had accumulated a considerable stack of books, and he mused, Oh, well; I guess I can always skip eating this month, and drink nothing but

  tap water, and he smiled. I’d better get out of here before I spend my rent money, as well as my food budget.

  Jana was working behind the counter as Jobran came to pay for his selections. “Did you find everything you wanted?” she asked pleasantly.

  Jobran replied with a rueful smile, “I found a lot more than I wanted—but I think this will hold me for the time being.” He nodded at the stereo behind the counter, playing soft solo piano music, “What’s this music? It’s nice.”

  She looked pleased, and said, “It’s Autumn, by George Winston; a real classic.” She indicated a stack of unopened CDs sitting nearby, and said, “A lot of the newer stuff we get is too much like Pop—complete with vocals—or else it’s too ‘World Beat’ and jazzy for me. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but to me, New Age music is supposed to stick to the ‘Four I’s’: it should be instrumental; improvisational; introspective, and inspirational. For myself, I’ll stick with George, Will Ackerman, and Steve Halpern. Would you like to get a copy of the CD that’s playing?”

  Jobran shook his head, and said, “I’m already way over my book budget for the week.”

  Jana looked at him, then at his stack of books, and picked up a CD and put it on top of his stack. “Compliments of the house, for being such a good—and knowledgeable—customer.”

  “Thanks,” Jobran said, earnestly.

  “It’s a retrospective ‘Sampler’ from Windham Hill,” Jana said, “With music from the 1980s, their best period—before they got into Hawaiian guitar, long harmonica solos, and stuff like that,” and she laughed gently. She looked with interest at each volume as she rang it up, then finally said, “You’ve got some excellent books, here; it seems like you’re mostly interested in these books with ‘scientific evidence,’ and ‘proof’ of immortality, right?”

  “Mostly,” Jobran admitted. “But I dabble in a lot of other areas.”

  “Have you ever read spirit mediums like Sylvia Browne?” Jana asked. “Or Char Margolis? James Van Praagh? Suzane Northrup? All of them are popular right now.”

  Jobran replied, “I’ve read very extensively from the early days of the Spiritualist movement in the 19th century. I’m also very much interested in the scientific psychical research of the 19th and 20th centuries: Oliver Lodge, Arthur Conan Doyle, Alfred Russell Wallace; the British and American Societies for Psychical Research, and so on. Then I’ve read a little bit of people like Edgar Cayce, Arthur Ford, and Ruth Montgomery, but I must admit I haven’t really gotten around to reading any of the more recent people.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh, and said, “Actually, I was sort of under the impression that the Spiritualist movement had died out after the sixties.” Seeing Jana’s look of complete unbelief, he quickly added, “So I was wrong, OK?” and he smiled.

  Pointing a long fingernail at him, she said, “Your whole trouble, Jobran, is that you only read old books. Don’t you ever watch the talk shows?”

  Jobran shook his head. “I used to try to monitor them, but I stopped, because it was just a waste of time and videotape; for every ‘serious’ show that devoted fifteen minutes to a subject that I was interested in—such as Near-Death Experiences—it seems like there were one hundred shows along the lines of, ‘Pregnant Lesbians With AIDS Confront Their Crack-Addicted Ex-Lovers’ Daughters,’ and so on,” and Jana laughed heartily.

  Carefully dabbing tears of laughter from her eyes with a tissue, so as not to smear her makeup, she said, “You’re right, that’s a definite problem.” Then she continued, “But you really should try the more recent psychic mediums. You complained that New Thought writers didn’t give you very much informa
tion about the afterlife; well, channelers and mediums give you a really good, detailed portrait of what’s waiting for us on the other side. It’s very beautiful; reassuring and comforting.”

  Jobran echoed, in a dreamy voice, “Comforting…”

  “My husband passed away suddenly almost four years ago, and their books really helped me,” Jana said in a soft voice. After a momentary pause, she quietly asked Jobran, “Is there…a particular person, that you’re interested about?”

  His eyes starting to well with tears, Jobran said, “Yes…my wife.” Trying to control his voice, he added, “She passed away last year.”

  Jana put her hand gently on top of his, and in a voice of genuine sympathy, said, “I’m very sorry to hear that, Jobran; I know how difficult of an experience that is,” and she squeezed his hand, and held it. Then her voice brightened, and she said in an encouraging tone, “But don’t worry, I know that she’s waiting for you on the other side—you’ll be together again soon.”

  “So I’ve heard—from some people,” Jobran said, in a weary voice. “But other people tell me very different things, however.” Looking at Jana, he said, “If you’d like to recommend another three or four books from the authors you mentioned, I’ll take them as well.” Jana looked pleased, and excused herself to go pick some out. Jobran waited, leaning against the counter, letting the soft music relax him.

  Soon, Jana returned, and said, “Here are three books that I think you’ll like.” She placed them on the counter, and said, “They’re all inexpensive mass-market editions,” as she added them to Jobran’s total. As a thought occurred to her, she looked under the counter, and brought up a small paperback book, which she placed on top of his others, and said, “Tell you what: You can have this one for free—it’s a review copy the publishers send us, to try and convince us to prominently display and ‘push’ the book. The author talks about how we may have known our spouses and loved ones in a previous lifetime.” She gave Jobran a small smile, and said, “In some cases, the roles are even reversed: She might have been the husband, and you the wife.”

  Jobran laughed, and said, “That would be an interesting change,” as he handed her his money. She efficiently made change, and handed it back to him.

  He looked at his watch, and said, “Well, I just missed one bus, so I’ve got another twenty-five minutes to wait.”

  Placing all of Jobran’s purchases in two bags, she said, “Would you like some herbal tea while you wait?”

  “Sure; that would be great.”

  She got two ceramic coffee cups, and held one up to show Jobran the inside, saying, “It’s clean; we don’t use styrofoam cups,” and he nodded. She returned with two cups of tea, and invited him to sit behind the counter with her. He sipped his tea in silence, as Jana waited on a few customers who came in.

  After the last customer left, she sat down to Jobran again, and said, “When my mother passed on, years ago, at first I was kind of upset, because my mother had been very troubled shortly before her death—she was very upset about the death of a child in her Christian Science congregation, when the parents refused conventional medical treatment.” Looking at Jobran directly, she added, “So I went to a medium: She was able to bring me a message from my mother, and the experience was very reassuring to me; to know that she was all right, and happy, in the next world.”

  Interested, Jobran asked, “How did you happen to hear of this medium?”

  Jana laughed at the memory, and said, “In the Yellow Pages, of all places— under ‘Psychic Consulting’!” Earnestly, she said, “But that was a while ago; it’s much easier to find a medium or psychic these days. Just go to any ‘Psychic Fair’ these days and you’ve got at least twenty. In fact, at my church, we have a young woman who is a very skilled medium.”

  Jobran was surprised, and asked, “You have a medium at a church? What kind of church is it?”

  Enthusiastically, Jana responded, “It’s a metaphysical Church; kind of like the Unity School of Christianity, except that we’re not organizationally allied with them—we’re an independent congregation—although we’re thinking about joining up with Unity, since our two ministers were trained by them. You’ve never heard of Unity?” Jobran shook his head, so she said, “They were founded by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore in the late 19th century, and chose the current name, ‘Unity School of Christianity’ in 1914, to emphasize that they wanted to focus on the common ground and the good in all churches, rather than concentrating on the differences. They’re called a ‘school’ rather than a ‘church’—well, I guess that they did eventually become a church—because they didn’t want people to drop out of their own churches to join them; they wanted them to stay where they were, and fertilize these other churches with positivity! They have a 24-hour-a-day prayer ministry called ‘Silent Unity,’ and they publish and distribute tons of literature from their headquarters in Missouri.” Seeing Jobran’s blank stare, she asked, “Haven’t you even heard of metaphysical churches before?”

  “I went to a Christian Science Church once,” Jobran said, tentatively, and she nodded, so he added, “Frankly, it was pretty boring; it seemed like they just read from books the entire service.”

  Jana laughed, and said, “They did. You should have gone to the Wednesday evening testimony meeting; it’s less formal. Then, they share testimonies of healings, and it’s a lot more lively.” She sipped her tea, and added, “My mother was originally a devout Christian Scientist, and raised me in it, so I got a lot of that in my younger years. I eventually dropped out, though.”

  “How come?”

  Jana wrinkled her forehead as she thought, then replied, “Because although I think that Mary Baker Eddy taught and wrote a lot of beautiful and helpful things, she took a lot of things too far. Take the whole ‘There is no Matter’ issue: I can see how she could write her ‘Scientific Statement of Being,’ saying that ‘there is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation.’ I mean, obviously a rock or a dirt clod don’t pray, or worship, or feel that they are sick—but to jump from there to saying that matter doesn’t even exist is going too far. And unfortunately, the anti-matter position led to their negative attitude toward modern medicine, which I strongly disagree with. I mean, let’s face it: Polio exists, Leprosy exists, AIDS exists—these aren’t illusions, and there are tiny bacteria and viruses that cause them, but that can be treated medically. If you were in a serious car accident, you would obviously want the services of a modern Emergency Room, and when you have a toothache, you would want a modern dentist; just calling everything ‘Malicious Animal Magnetism’ doesn’t really explain anything.”

  She took another sip of her tea, and continued, “Don’t get me wrong: I’m personally very much into Alternative Healing and Medicines, Herbology, and Naturopathy, Music Therapy, Aromatherapy, and everything else, but I think there’s a rightful place for modern medical techniques. The trouble is that medical scientists get too carried away with the ‘mechanical’ model of the human person. They treat the human body like a battleground, so that if you have one group of biological organisms that are causing problems, you have to send in a whole group of anti-biotics to try and kill these organisms; unfortunately, after this epic battle is over, you realize that the battle of Gettysburg has just been waged in your own body, and it’s much the worse for it.” She shook her head firmly, and said, “No, these scientists need to accept that the natural condition of the body is health, and work more with the natural healing mechanisms of the body to get it

  back into ‘normal’ condition.”

  “So that’s why you left Christian Science?” Jobran asked.

  Jana smiled, and said, “Actually, I came up with these ideas after I’d already left,” and she laughed. Then she added, “Mostly, I came to really dislike the rigid, authoritarian stance of the Christian Science church—how the
‘Mother Church’ controls practically everything, right down to the exact order of the service. Also, how they think that Mrs. Eddy’s writings are inspired—right down to printing Science and Health on thin ‘Bible paper’—but no one else’s are. Personally, I prefer churches that are a bit more open in their beliefs; that’s why I skipped around when I was younger, and attended groups such as Divine Science, the Church of Religious Science, and Spiritualist Churches, until I found my current church.”

  “Tell me more about the church you attend,” Jobran asked. “Is it like a Spiritualist church? That is, one associated with the National Spiritualist Association of Churches? I’ve read about them.”

  Jana shook her head, and said, “No, it’s just a place where ‘seekers’ from all sorts of backgrounds can get together to meet, meditate, and share ideas and experiences. We have former Christian Scientists, people from New Thought and Theosophical groups, not to mention a fairly large group of people who are still members of their ‘traditional’ churches, but who appreciate the positive message that we have.” She thought for a moment, then added, “It’s probably closest to a Unity church; I told you that we’re thinking about affiliating with Unity, and we probably will. The trouble is, we have two groups who are opposed: One faction—a lot of them former Christian Scientists, or Catholics—doesn’t want to get involved in a big ‘hierarchy’ again, even though Unity isn’t really like that. And the other faction is afraid that since Unity is a Christian movement—its full name is the ‘Unity School of Christianity’—that we’ll become too ‘Jesus-centered.’ I’ve tried to argue that, ‘Hey—Marianne Williamson is Jewish, and she’s now the Spiritual Leader of a Unity Church!’ but I don’t think I’m getting through to them.”

  “I can understand that,” said Jobran, thinking of Abraham.

  “Now, we do talk pretty often about developing the Christ Consciousness—that is, the Christic power that is available to all of us, and that Jesus demonstrated for us,” she clarified. “Would that be a problem for you, for example?”