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God's name.
    There are many religions in this world, preaching many things, but the one message they all share is that God is love. Put your faith and trust in God, they say, and He will protect you always. That is exactly what I have done.
    It is my belief that no one religion has got it absolutely right, not even spiritualism. I am not qualified to understand God's intentions, nor do I believe that there is anyone else on this earth who does. All any of us can do, and all, I'm sure, that He expects of us, is right thinking, in our own way, as individuals. To think loving thoughts, and to have a caring attitude toward our fellows, and to try to live in peace and harmony with each other.
    My firm belief is that this is what God's requirements of us are, and if we ask His help, no matter what religious label we have chosen, He will look into our hearts and make His judgment there.
    All these thoughts, and more, had gone through my mind after my first talk with Paul and Irene, and as we sat that first Wednesday evening I found comfort in the knowledge that Paul himself had been a practicing healer for over thirty years. He had trained as a young man, had met many mediums and healers, and had sat in many development groups. Sometimes he would tell me of his experiences, of the strange, often incredible occurrences he had witnessed over the years. How he had seen apports—gifts from the spirit world, such as flowers or small trinkets—appear, as if by magic, before his eyes. How he had played with ectoplasm—a kind of fluid that emanates from a trance medium—held it in his hands, seen mediums change their physical appearance, heard their voices change dramatically.
    Never have I met anyone as caring and gentle as Paul Denham. Although he has been involved with spiritualism for three decades, I have never heard him shout about it or push his beliefs onto anyone else. His quiet manner belies his strength of character and purpose, and his attitude toward others is one of gentle sincerity. His gift of healing is most obvious, I think, when he deals with animals, who take to him immediately. Even the most restless of them settle down under his loving hands. Animals get sick, too, and Paul has a special talent when it comes to giving healing to them.
    As we sat quietly, waiting, for what I wasn't sure, I could feel Paul's presence, warm and reassuring. And while I listened in that quiet room to the muffled ticking of the clock, my eyes began to close and I started to feel quite drowsy. Then, very slowly, I felt as if I were being drawn down into what I can only describe as a large black pit. At first it seemed so natural, and I was so relaxed, that by this time it didn't worry me. I seemed to be moving, floating, down, down, down. My body was stationary, but “I”—my mind—my senses—my being—had begun a “journey.” It felt comfortable and easy, not at all a new experience. I had been on “journeys” like this before, never with anyone present, and because I had assumed that this was part of my “craziness,” I had been afraid and had always at some point struggled for control of my mind.
    As I traveled, in a kind of dreamlike state, farther and farther into this dark space, my limbs became heavy and my whole body became a dead weight. Then, in an instant, and just in time, I realized what was happening. I was about to lose control of my conscious thoughts, to enter a trance state. My mind screamed out,
No!
and I jerked myself back forcibly from the brink of unconsciousness. Within seconds I was wide awake, and from then on I stayed alert, making sure that I didn't become drowsy again.
    Strangely enough, I was not even one little bit afraid, not in the way I had been before. I had, with effort, been able to pull myself back from the void, to stop myself from being carried away. I had known instinctively that it was important to stay as much in control as I could. In fact, it was imperative. And all these years later,