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Word Gems
exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
Alfred, a British soldier killed in WWI,
experiences a different "special classroom"
return to the main-page article on "Hell"
Rick Ricards was a direct-voice medium, allowing Spirit-Guide Abu, the former Egyptian priest, to speak to our world.
However, Rickards also facilitated messages from other spirit-persons. One of them was a young man named Alfred, a British soldier who died in battle during WWI.
We have learned that sometimes "detention" can take the form of particularized "classrooms"; for example, the man caught behind the wall of money, or my great-uncle consigned to endlessly walk his acreage.
The story of Alfred is especially instructive for us, in that, essentially, he was a decent guy - not too serious about life, though, somewhat immature and irreverent, and not shy about looking for a good time.
Here's his story, which I shall condense and paraphrase.
- Editor's note: The following information was given by Alfred himself, via Rick Rickards, and tape-recorded. I received a CD of Alf's testimony from James Webster.
Alf and several buddies had been holed-up in a trench. However, they suffered a direct hit by a German shell.
Alf said that he didn't hear anything or feel any pain! All he knew was, the next moment, he and his buddies were walking on a nice country lane on a perfect summer day.
Immediately confused about the sudden change of scenery, they assumed they'd been knocked silly by some bombardment and had ambled away from the battlefield. But, they heard no gunfire and were at a loss to find their way back to duty.
And so they just kept walking. By and by, they came upon a pub and decided to enter for a beer. A young "mademoiselle," Alf reports, was behind the bar and served them. The jolly group enjoyed this pleasantry for some time.
They decided to leave the pub and head back in the direction from which they came. One of the mates, however, who was a little more educated than the rest, suddenly blurted - "Hey, you know what! We're dead!"
The other guys jeered and scoffed at this idea. How stupid can you get! What d'ya mean dead!
But the first fellow persisted; said that he'd read about things like this, and that their situation was feeling familiar. But this did not stop the insolence from the others.
Having given his opinion, and feeling himself drawn to a new reality, he announced, "You see that light over there? I think that's for us. I'm going for it!" - at which point he separated from the others and trekked off.
The remaining group held to its own views and continued walking. They walked a long time and seemed to be getting nowhere. Finally, one of them announced that maybe there was something to what the first buddy had said.
The group began to disband, leaving Alf alone. He spotted a large tree and made his way to it, and lay down on the soft grass, luxuriating in the moment, happy to be away from war and also feeling good about not having to do anything.
Alf rested under that tree for a long time. He didn't know what to do, and was not motivated to do much of anything. And so he continued to lollygag about, just resting, putting his feet up, trying to sleep, gazing at the clouds, not worried about much, or caring to lift a finger for anything.
In his testimony via Rickards, Alf explained that it's very easy to lose a sense of time in that twilight-zone environment. There was no day-and-night, just an endless nice afternoon. Eventually he began to feel disoriented with so much lollygagging. Later he would learn that he had spent 35 years in this state of bumming around, doing nothing! He had no idea so much time had passed!
What was the purpose of Alf's "special classroom"?
A time came when Alf began to feel very fed-up with doing nothing. Even so, he didn't know what to do about it, but, he knew, if he were given opportunity, he would change his life.
When he made that decision in the silence of his mind, he discovered that he had a visitor, a very nice lady came to him under his tree. And she asked him if he'd like to leave this world of inactivity. He immediately agreed and set himself on a path of spiritual improvement.
Editor's note: See the Charlotte Dresser books for many channeled reports from the other side on what happened to people when they crossed over.
I think what we learn from this and the other stories is that so-called "Hell" is a particularized place of trouble. Depending on one's character flaws, the "special classroom" might manifest in any number of ways. Alf was a "good time" guy, hadn't really applied himself much in life, and just enjoyed loafing.
When he got 35 years of it, though, snoozing under the oak tree, he'd had enough, and was psychologically ready to enter a productive life in "the real world."
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