OUTLOOK ON THE UNIVERSE
What then is the conclusion of the whole matter? Or rather, what
effect have these investigations had upon my own outlook on the
Universe? The question is not so unimportant as it seems; because if
the facts are to influence others they must have influenced myself
too; and that is the only influence of which I have first-hand
knowledge. It must not be supposed that my outlook has changed
appreciably since the event and the particular experiences related
in the foregoing pages: my conclusion has been gradually forming
itself for years, though undoubtedly it is based on experience of the
same sort of thing. But this event has strengthened and liberated my
testimony. It can now be associated with a private experience of my
own, instead of with the private experiences of others. So long as
one was dependent on evidence connected, even indirectly connected,
with the bereavement of others, one had to be reticent and cautious
and in some cases silent. Only by special permission could any
portion of the facts be reproduced; and that permission might in
important cases be withheld. My own deductions were the same then as
they are now, but the facts are now my own.
One little point of difference, between the time before and the time
after, has however become manifest. In the old days, if I sat with a
medium, I was never told of any serious imaginary bereavement which
had befallen myself--beyond the natural and inevitable losses from an
older generation which fall to the lot of every son of man. But now,
if I or any member of my family goes anonymously to a genuine medium,
giving not the slightest normal clue, my son is quickly to the fore
and continues his clear and convincing series of evidences; sometimes
giving testimony of a critically selected kind, sometimes contenting
himself with friendly family chaff and reminiscences, but always
acting in a manner consistent with his personality and memories and
varying moods. If in any case a given medium had weak power, or if
there were special difficulties encountered on a given occasion, he
is aware of the fact; and he refers to it, when there is opportunity,
through another totally disconnected medium (cf. Chapter XXI, Part
II). In every way he has shown himself anxious to give convincing
evidence. Moreover, he wants me to speak out; and I shall.
I am as convinced of continued existence, on the other side of
death, as I am of existence here. It may be said, you cannot be as
sure as you are of sensory experience. I say I can. A physicist is
never limited to direct sensory impressions, he has to deal with a
multitude of conceptions and things for which he has no physical
organ: the dynamical theory of heat, for instance, and of gases,
the theories of electricity, of magnetism, of chemical affinity,
of cohesion, aye and his apprehension of the Ether itself, lead
him into regions where sight and hearing and touch are impotent
as direct witnesses, where they are no longer efficient guides.
In such regions everything has to be interpreted in terms of the
insensible, the apparently unsubstantial, and in a definite sense the
imaginary. Yet these regions of knowledge are as clear and vivid to
him as are any of those encountered in everyday occupations; indeed
most commonplace phenomena themselves require interpretation in
terms of ideas more subtle,--the apparent solidity of matter itself
demands explanation,--and the underlying non-material entities of a
physicist's conception become gradually as real and substantial as
anything he knows. As Lord Kelvin used to say, when in a paradoxical
mood, we really know more about electricity than we know about matter.
That being so, I shall go further and say that I am reasonably
convinced of the existence of grades of being, not only lower in the
scale than man but higher also, grades of every order of magnitude
from zero to infinity. And I know by experience that among these
beings are some who care for and help and guide humanity, not
disdaining to enter even into what must seem petty details, if by
so doing they can assist souls striving on their upward course. And
further it is my faith--however humbly it may be held--that among
these lofty beings, highest of those who concern themselves directly
with this earth of all the myriads of worlds in infinite space, is
One on whom the right instinct of Christianity has always lavished
heartfelt reverence and devotion.
Those who think that the day of that Messiah is over are strangely
mistaken: it has hardly begun. In individual souls Christianity has
flourished and borne fruit, but for the ills of the world itself it
is an almost untried panacea. It will be strange if this ghastly war
fosters and simplifies and improves a knowledge of Christ, and aids
a perception of the ineffable beauty of his life and teaching: yet
stranger things have happened; and, whatever the Churches may do, I
believe that the call of Christ himself will be heard and attended
to, by a large part of humanity in the near future, as never yet it
has been heard or attended to on earth.
My own time down here is getting short; it matters little: but I
dare not go till I have borne this testimony to the grace and truth
which emanate from that divine Being,--the realisation of whose
tender-hearted simplicity and love for man may have been overlaid at
times and almost lost amid well-intentioned but inappropriate dogma,
but who is accessible as always to the humble and meek.
Intercommunion between the states or grades of existence is not
limited to messages from friends and relatives, or to conversation
with personalities of our own order of magnitude,--that is only a
small and verifiable portion of the whole truth,--intercourse between
the states carries with it occasional, and sometimes unconscious,
communion with lofty souls who have gone before. The truth of such
continued influence corresponds with the highest of the Revelations
vouchsafed to humanity. This truth, when assimilated by man, means
an assurance of the reality of prayer, and a certainty of gracious
sympathy and fellowfeeling from one who never despised the
suffering, the sinful, or the lowly; yea, it means more--it means
nothing less than the possibility some day of a glance or a word of
approval from the Eternal Christ.