Get me to the church on time

A Venture in Immortality, by David Kennedy, is a 1973 memoir about a series of after-death communications from the author's wife. The book is out of print and available only from used booksellers. I'd never heard of it until it came up on Michael Sudduth's Facebook timeline; Dr. Sudduth seems to have a good opinion of the book, so I decided to track it down. I'm now about 60 pages into it, and I agree that it's well worth reading. 

David Kennedy was an engineer who, in middle age, became a minister. He and his wife Ann were intelligent, well-educated people whose idea of an enjoyable evening was to read passages from Plato to each other. They regarded each other as soulmates, and their happiness persisted despite Ann's chronic health problems, stemming from an incurable heart condition. After Ann passed away, David was understandably grief stricken, but before long he began to receive some remarkably evidential messages via mediums.

What makes the book so worthwhile, beyond the author's obvious intelligence and sincerity, is that both he and his wife had a longtime interest in psychic phenomena and life after death. They were thoroughly familiar with the investigations of the Society for Psychical Research and had plowed through back issues of the SPR's journal from 1906 forward. As a result, Kennedy is in a good position to evaluate the evidence that comes through, distinguishing between solid hits and more neutral statements that might apply to any number of people. He is also open to the hypothesis that mediums rely on telepathy and clairvoyance rather than communication with the dead, and he is always on the lookout for communications that would strain the ESP hypothesis to the breaking point.

Here are two interconnected episodes found early in the book that especially impressed me.

Sunday, 15 March was my Communion Sunday and in the Church of Scotland Communion or the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is only celebrated twice or three times a year in most churches. It can mean two long and exhausting services, each lasting for 1 1⁄2 hours with interviews between each service and a hasty snack in the church. One may arrive at the church at 10 a.m. and return home at 4 p.m. literally exhausted and depleted of nervous energy.

Normally, when my wife was alive, I would stretch out on the sofa and sleep deeply in total exhaustion for about an hour and a half. Then at about 5:30 p.m. Ann would come through from the bedroom and awaken me in preparation for going out at 6 p.m. for my evening service.

On this particular Sunday, March 15, I came home as usual at 4 p.m. exhausted. Rather foolishly I lay down on the sofa and in minutes I was deeply asleep. So deeply asleep that I am certain I would have slept for hours blissfully removed from the prospect of an evening congregation assembled and no minister arriving to conduct the service. I was deeply asleep. Gradually I became aware of the intrusion of a bell continuing to ring. The ringing continued and I slowly awakened to the fact that the telephone was ringing.

I staggered from the sofa, still half-sleep, picked up the telephone and heard a woman's voice say, "Is that the Reverend David Kennedy? My name is Mrs. Lexie Findlater. I am telephoning from Grangemouth (a town 40 miles away). Your wife is impressing me so strongly that I have to telephone you now. I have tried to write a letter and put off this feeling but I am being told that I must telephone you now, now, she is so insistent, yet I have no idea why. Your wife is simply saying, 'Get out now and use the old notes'. I don't know what it means but I had to do this."

Now Mrs. Findlater, it will be remembered, was the medium whom I had met in the two private interviews described earlier, the first one two weeks after my wife's death. She only knew my name and not my address. She had to find my address and telephone number from directory enquiry. It took amazing confidence and courage to telephone a person who was almost a total stranger and then say that she did not know why she was telephoning except that my wife was impressing her that she had to do this.

I thanked Mrs. Findlater for telephoning and explained to her that if she had not telephoned me at this moment I would have slept right through the time of my evening service – it was 6 p.m. when she telephoned. I just had time to grab the notes of an old sermon, rush into my car and arrive at the church, get into my robes and 'make it' for the 6:30 p.m. evening service.

Now here is a case where my wife claimed that she saw me sleeping deeply, likely to miss my evening service. It was her habit to awaken me. There was only one way to get me to my church in time. She could not herself impress me, so she impressed strongly a more sensitive person, this woman 40 miles away, and got the thought across that she must telephone me. In other words, Ann managed to do for me what she had always done, awaken me on this particular Sunday. I had always relied on her to do this. If there is a better example of loving concern and intervention from our dear ones on the other side, it would be difficult to find.

Yet this is not the end. Three days later Albert Best [another medium, who, unlike Mrs. Findlater, was a personal friend of the author – MP] telephoned me and after an amazing message from my wife, concluded by saying "And Ann says, 'For heaven's sake get an alarm clock and don't sleep in again at the end of the week'."

Now comes the amazing evidence of that telephone call from Albert Best. Before the telephone rang I was in the middle of the kind of job a man has to learn to do for himself when he is living alone. I decided that my yellow pullover was in need of washing. I knew the general rules about washing woollens carefully and gently in warm water and soap flakes. I'm afraid I was overindulgent with the soap flakes. Anyhow, in a short time I had the basin overflowing with soap suds in a rich lather while I squeezed away at my yellow pullover.

Just then the telephone rang. Albert Best on the other end. "Are you shampooing, I mean not your hair, something woollen? I see lather, suds overflowing and something woollen in the basin. Your wife is saying that she was watching you doing this." I told Albert that I was actually washing a pullover in soap suds when he interrupted me. He replied, "Well, your wife is saying, 'Put in the black pullover while you're at it, the one with the egg stains on it, it needs washing badly'." Then followed the remark about getting an alarm clock which I have already referred to. Needless to say there was a black pullover, with egg stains, which I had forgotten about and which badly needed washing.

What does one make of this? Is it a fantastic form of telepathy in which an ordinary ex-postman has powers which would make him a fortune on stage or television? In which he knows not only exactly what I am doing, but the contents of my linen cupboard? Or is it the more reasonable explanation that my wife, who was always fussy about my dress and appearance and also insisted on doing these washing jobs right to the end, is still close and still aware and still concerned and because of the unique situation of my being in touch with a gifted medium, is able to show that same concern from beyond the barrier of death? [Pages 44-46, 1987  trade paperback edition]

Comments

[Art]

Thank you for sharing this blog Michael. It made me smile. We've been married for 44 years and my wife does all the laundry and is very particular about clothes, and I am not, so I could easily see my wife doing something similar.

It's a funny thing about "life after death" stories. I can read a really good book about it and be impressed, uplifted, and comforted, but it's like the power of it fades over time and I need another fix, meaning more stories, about life after death later on. You'd think my brain and memory would be full of these stories by now and I wouldn't need to be constantly reminded of the many life after death stories that are out there to be read?

Thanks again for sharing. Good stuff!

[Eric Newhill]

Good stuff. I got the same kind of commos and level of detail from Georgia re; a recently deceased parent. So I believe it.

No mentalist is able to do this sort of thing, despite their constant bragging that they can easily replicate what mediums do.

[Amos Oliver Doyle]

After one has read many stories of after-death communication additional anecdotes fail to be impressive. Eventually one realizes that although interesting they provide no new information about the afterlife and they all begin to blur into one same old, same old story. Often questions come to mind about the authenticity of the reports, possible alternative methods used to obtain the information and motivation and motives of those who write the book. I do continue to read them however hoping I will find something new. Thanks Michael for the book reference.- AOD

[Art]

A.O.D. you want some more detail about the afterlife? Read "The Universe as a Hologram"
http://www.earthportals.com/hologram.html

And then read Mark Horton's description of his NDE.
http://www.kuriakon00.com/celestial/nde/mark_horton.htm

The connection between them is obvious and not easily explained away. It's a matter of consilience. Mark Horton's NDE is not the only one I have read that seems to parallel or corroborate what Michael Talbot wrote about the holographic universe.

What it says to me is that we are living in some kind of holographic projection and that the other side, the place we call "heaven" is the original holographic film that our Universe is projected from. That means that the physics of the place we call heaven is the physics of holographic film, where "all that is" exists, where time goes both ways, where everything is interconnected and "one" and everything interpenetrates everything.

What it also means is that everything that is "here" is also "there." Whatever we focus our attention on is what we experience. Time and space are fluid and we live in the eternal "now." It is very different from what we normally experience here but also similar. The main difference is that the physics we will experience in heaven will be the physics of holographic film.

[Amos Oliver Doyle]

Art,
Thanks for the two references. I am familiar with them both as I think you referenced them in previous posts and I read them at that time. I have read "The Holographic Universe" by Michael Talbot which you reference. I would also recommend "The Paranormal is Normal" by Alastair Bruce Scott-Hill as he also makes some allusions to holograms as a basis for the reality we perceive. - AOD

[ChrisP]

Not even death could stop her nagging.

[Bernardo Navarro]

I don't think we will ever have proof of God or afterlife. I have been listening to many scientists like hawkings who argue against the existence of the supernatural and they make a lot of sense 😕

[Michael Prescott]

Did Hawking have any knowledge of SPR investigations and other empirical research? Most scientists who dismiss claims of postmortem survival know nothing about the actual investigative work that’s been carried out.

It seems to me that Hawking opining on life after death (if he did) would be like me opining on black holes.

[Paul]

@bernard - Perhaps in the general sense, you are right - we may never have unequivocal incontrovertible general evidence of survival. There are however, many many people, and the above story is a good example, who certainly do have unequivocal incontrovertible evidence of survival – for them.

Although it’s probably true that reading reports of other people’s experiences, however convincing, may not lead to full conviction of survival, they can be very difficult to dismiss – particularly reports such as the one mentioned by Michael in the above article.

It may be that as individuals we are never fortunate enough to have an experience that would prove to us beyond doubt that we survive physical death. In my opinion (and experience) there is sufficient evidence for a person who has looked at it properly to conclude that survival, if not certain, is certainly a possibility and perhaps even probable.

As for Stephen Hawking’s opinion on the subject, I agree with Michael; if a person has not studied the subject then their opinion on it is of little value to those who have. In fact it is difficult to enter into productive discussion with people who have not, or will not, consider the body evidence with an open mind.

It’s rare that I quote the bible but this seems to fit “He that gives an answer before he hears is a fool,“ Proverbs 18:13. :)

[Bernardo Navarro]

Thank you for your responses. I have been searching for something to give me faith but it's difficult. I have been listening to debates by guys like Stephen Barr and moody with renowned physicists and it's tough to argue with science. I am very skeptical with many of these books because I believe they are money grabs.

[Art]

\\"I have been listening to many scientists like hawkings who argue against the existence of the supernatural and they make a lot of sense." - Bernardo//
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I learned a great word from one of Michael Prescott's earlier blogs. The word is "consilience." Here is the definition, "In science and history, consilience (also convergence of evidence or concordance of evidence) refers to the principle that evidence from independent, unrelated sources can "converge" on strong conclusions. That is, when multiple sources of evidence are in agreement, the conclusion can be very strong even when none of the individual sources of evidence is significantly so on its own. Most established scientific knowledge is supported by a convergence of evidence."

You see the evidence we have for life after death is not one clear concise piece of evidence, but a whole lot of smaller pieces of evidence that are in agreement. This is what I'm talking about when I keep harping on the holographic universe theory. I find it very strange that thousands of near death experiencers describe what they experienced on the other side in terms that are in agreement with what Michael Talbot wrote about in his book The Holographic Universe theory.

The evidence for life after death is like a great big giant puzzle with numerous different kinds of evidence that all seem to fit together and paint an amazing picture that something of who we are seems to survive the death of our physical bodies. It's not "one" thing, it is many different things, and like information stored on holographic film, it is all interconnected and spread out among numerous different evidential things.

Near death experiences, deathbed visions and nearing death awareness, some mystical and transcendental experiences, and the work of a few gifted Mediums, quantum physics and the holographic universe theory all work together to paint a picture that life has meaning and purpose and we are here for a reason and that when these physical bodies wear out something of who we are survives and transitions to some great holographic "heaven."

[Paul]

@bernardo. Well I guess you have to form your own view. I doubt that book made any money for the author and I am convinced Arthur Findlay didn’t from his which included his own experiences amongst other things (On The Edge Of The Etheric was discussed on this blog quite recently I think).

Of course scientists do what they do for money don’t they? Where do you draw the line?

[Ian Wardell]

@Bernardo Navarro

What has Hawking said about the "supernatural" that makes sense? He might have been a good physicist and cosmologist, but it doesn't seem to me he says anything remotely sensible regarding the possibility of afterlife. So I'm curious.

[Matt Rouge]

Great post, Michael!

Bernardo,

Consensus consciousness is a powerful thing. For the longest time, the media and the scientific elite have treated the paranormal as *obviously* untrue. But that narrative is showing significant wear and tear around the world at this point.

[Michael Prescott]

"For the longest time, the media and the scientific elite have treated the paranormal as *obviously* untrue. But that narrative is showing significant wear and tear around the world at this point." - Matt

On a related note, the recent mainstream reports on military investigations into UFOs (including military videos released for the first time) make it very hard to dismiss that phenomenon as nothing but hoaxes and mistaken observations.

[Art]

\\"On a related note, the recent mainstream reports on military investigations into UFOs (including military videos released for the first time) make it very hard to dismiss that phenomenon as nothing but hoaxes and mistaken observations." - Michael Prescott//
---------------

My own only reserve about UFOs is that they seem to have so little to do with my everyday life? It's not like they land on the White House Lawn and have tea with the President? When I hear stories about UFO's what pops into my mind is "so what?" What has this got to do with me?

At least with life after death stuff is that I know I'm going to die one day. My body is falling apart fast so I know that probably in the not so distant future I'm going to be dead and so I'm curious if all the stories I've read are anywhere near true? All the "pieces of the puzzle" and how my mind has put them together - is it true?

It is useful information in the same way that if I were planning a trip to Florida and I needed to know how to get there is useful information. A lot of people I love have died and so I'm curious if I'm going to see them again one day? This is useful to me. It directly affects my life. UFO's? So far not so much.

I know people who are fascinated with UFOs and can go on and on about them but so far it hasn't affected my life one bit. Until one lands and an alien walks out of one and I see it on the regular news and the government shows a video of Donald Trump shaking hands with an alien... it has very little do with my day to day life.

[Marcy O'Rourke]

It is very difficult to believe in the afterlife for anyone, and I sympathize with all of the above comments. It was proved to me by my late husband, actor Tom O'Rourke, Justin on the soap opera the Guiding Light, and recurring character for 15 years on all the Law and Order TV shows. He made sure I had lots of evidence that he was still himself and still active in my life. It was necessary that his scientifically trained wife believe, because he had a terrible confession to make. He'd cheated on our marriage for 35 years, which I had never known or even suspected. He was an actor and good liar.

What he eventually showed me in various ways about his afterlife fate is rather new, let's say an expansion on many of the things I have learned from near death experiences, and reading psychic's books, as well as from religious texts.

His story is very dramatic, but he was an actor and actors sometimes come from very compromised family situations.

I wrote a book now on kindle called Bedeviled https://amzn.to/2JYoV2m

[Matt Rouge]

Art wrote,

||My own only reserve about UFOs is that they seem to have so little to do with my everyday life? It's not like they land on the White House Lawn and have tea with the President?||

The two main theories are that UFOs are "real" nuts and bolt craft with ETs inside, and that they are something else. Jacque Vallee, who has been a prominent researcher for decades, believes the latter:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Vall%C3%A9e#Interpretation_of_the_UFO_evidence

So do I. There may be real ETs visiting earth, but I think they would be sophisticated enough not to be seen. If the ETs are *not* sophisticated enough, then there needs to be an explanation as to why they are unintentionally seen but only to a degree that is *just so.* If they are intentionally being seen but only just so, then the motivation needs to be explained, and further evidence is required to prove that they are not just probes of some sort. That's my argument on that.

As for how it affects you, if the UFO phenomenon is accepted as real by the media/scientific elite, then the dike is broken open for all paranormal phenomena. That alone would completely overturn our understanding of science, whether it is nuts and bolts craft or a non-physical phenomenon at work. Nothing would ever be the same after that.

[Art]

I seem to recall in reading Michael Talbot's book The Holographic Universe that he believes UFO's are holographic projections from the collective unconscious. Similar to the Medjugorje Virgin Mary sightings and sightings of angels and what not?

UFO's as holographic projections sort of make sense because they are able to do things that normal matter simply can't do? Accelerate instantaneously and make right angle turns, which if you were an occupant in a UFO the G-forces would rip you apart? But light is able to do those things?

Keeping in mind that if we live in a Universe that is itself a holographic projection then perhaps there are beings that are able to slip in and out of the matter state and do things that matter can not do but that that light can? Switching back and forth from one to the other? Of course the question then becomes "what exactly is matter?" If we are to believe Niels Bohr, the founding father of modern quantum physics, "everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real."