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Chapter 38
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CONCLUSION Chapter XXXVIII "Mind is the builder." Edgar Cayce "Don't you think that we should wake him; he's groaning so." "No, dear; he may be having an important dream experience." I was just half conscious as I heard those familiar voices. I struggled to wake up quickly. It was early dawn and both Alice and her mother were standing beside my bed in their robes. I shook my head and braced myself up on one elbow. Blinking my eyes hard to focus them, I stared at Alice and Mrs. Karoll uncomprehendingly. "What were you dreaming, David?" "Dreaming?" I repeated in a dazed manner. Then, "Dreaming? Yes, of course, I must have been dreaming," I almost shouted. "What a dream! Oh, what a dream!" I reached one hand back to feel if the place where the rifle butt struck me was sore and then I let out a long sigh of relief. By this time Dr. Karoll had entered the room and was standing by quietly. He spoke his cheerful, "Good morning, David," with a smile and asked if I should like to tell the family about my dream. I was still wondering if I knew what was real and what wasn't, and so I didn't answer for a moment. Mrs. Karoll took this silence to indicate that I needed some time to gather my thoughts together. She suggested that we dress and enjoy a hot drink before breakfast while I told the family about my dream. It was about twenty minutes later when we gathered in the family room for an herb tea with a little wild honey and lemon. The dream had not faded from my consciousness and as I described it to the family the details stood out even more sharply. They listened spellbound while I gave minute details with vivid recall. I re-experienced the emotions that had shaken me so during the dream while retelling it. After I had finished my account, Dr. Karoll suggested that we should all remain quiet to have fifteen minutes of meditation upon the meaning of the incident. The meditation was closed with a simple prayer and we began discussing the implications of the dream. "How do you feel about your dream now, David?" asked Dr. Karoll. "The experience still seems so real to me that I am having difficulty thinking of it as a dream. I wonder if the dream experience was possibly the way things would have fallen out if Professor Darch had wakened me a month early." "Well," spoke Dr. Karoll seriously, "we know that all major events in a person's life are first previewed in dream experience. The individual makes choices and decisions on a soul level before he meets these situations in normal consciousness. It is possible that your dream was an accurate portrayal of the sequence of events that would have ensued, had you made the inner choice to be awakened at that time." "That is an intriguing thought," I mused. "Perhaps the choice presented to me was between the uncertainty of my future after an indefinitely extended time in the cave and the immediate hardship of violence of my dream. I'm certain that in any case I would have gone to great lengths to avoid the incident on the highway." "There is a distinct possibility that you made such a choice, David," Dr. Karoll nodded thoughtfully. "Our family is glad for the choice that brought you into our home. You have won our respect and our love." Alice sounded a little unnatural to me. It was as though the words she spoke had more emotion behind them than she was free to display. I looked full into her lovely eyes for an instant and, as once before, I experienced an emotion of such power and impact that it almost left me dizzy. I turned away for fear that I would embarrass everyone should my deep feelings toward Alice become noticed. No one appeared to see this but I could not help remembering how often a member of the family had spoken aloud to answer my unvoiced thoughts. I was grateful that I had been working at acquiring the control of my thoughts for several months and felt I had made much progress. My respect for Dr. Karoll's family and all the people I met gave me the incentive to pursue this difficult task. I wanted my every thought to be so in harmony with my ideals that they could always be exposed to public view. In Dr. Karoll's household, I was not sure but that my thoughts were constantly like an open book. At that moment, Dr. Karoll stood up and suggested that we should have breakfast. I was grateful to have this distraction just then. After breakfast was over, he said that he wanted to discuss some things with me which concerned my further preparation to take a place in society as an active citizen. After all, he commented, it was going to be necessary for me to earn the right to vote and to take my part in society as a responsible individual. "I know that you have been giving this question a lot of thought, David," he commented. "Yes, sir, Dr. Karoll, I have been looking forward to the challenge, as well as the opportunity to acquire the education to become an active citizen like yourself. The privilege of being with your family is a blessing beyond description but it is altogether out of character for me to be in the roll of a dependent." "You have high aspirations for yourself, David, and we admire you for this. It would not be fair to have you think we are unaware of your feelings toward Alice. Memories out of the far distant past cause you both to be drawn to each other. But there is much work that you must accomplish upon your own self before such an association could be taken up again. Hardly could you choose a higher goal than to desire to make yourself worthy of Alice. You must become physically, mentally, and spiritually her equal for such a union to be approved by the Centuria." "I should have known that everyone in the family knew, sir, and yet I felt too sensitive to admit this to myself. It is quite a shock to realize that I am in the midst of a situation that compels forthrightness in my every thought. I think that it is beyond my present ability to achieve this." "One can train himself to be straight forward in his thinking just as he might train for an athletic event. These are times when we know how to bring a person's intuition, his intellect, and his will power into harmonious cooperations. The real decision you face is between giving up all personal ambition to dedicate your life to service to the race or to put off such a sacrifice to another time, possibly another life. Alice has made the highest choice. If you would wish to have her stand by your side, then you must choose the same path." "Your words are music to my ears, sir. It is my single desire to serve the race. The story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table stirred this ideal in my heart when I was a child. That I might pursue such a course and, in addition, become worthy of Alice is a goal beyond my most fanciful dreams; I can conceive of no more joyous a challenge." Dr. Karoll outlined the tentative program for my training; the development of my physical body, of my mind, of my psychic faculties, of my will power and character. I would select a specific branch of learning in which to make practical application in service to others. I might choose one of the many fields in medicine, science, or engineering. I would develop a highly organized mind in the process of mastering my educational requirements. The evaluation that had been made of my potential assured that I could achieve the goal set before me. The choice to discipline my body and mind was for me to make and to renew daily. "To achieve the status that will enable you to ask Alice to become your companion will require several years," Dr. Karoll informed me solemnly. "You will regain the physical health and stamina of youth and learn to maintain this youth for whatever length of time you choose to spend on earth in a physical body." "Sir, do you think that your beautiful daughter might wait, possibly for years, while I am striving to become qualified to ask for her hand?" I asked, hardly daring to hope for an affirmative answer. "If she loves you, David, she will wait as long as necessary." "How can I hope that she might love a person so inferior to her as myself?" "She has memories of you when you set an example for manliness that is still remembered and honored. Alice does not feel you are inferior. If you and she were associated in the past, then she may know you better than you know yourself. The questions you are asking should be taken up with her." "After my dream experience of last night, I am hardly sure whether or not I'm dreaming now, but the challenge set before me is irresistible. The hope and aspiration set before me to achieve citizenship in your society, and to serve it with Alice as my companion, exceeds any dream of heaven that I have ever entertained." "Dreams are realized through effort and discipline, David. You have everything before you, if you are willing to pay the price." I stood up and walked over to the window thoughtfully. The example set for me by Dr. Karoll included two years as a Noble-Contender, and I already had more than an inkling of what this could mean. As I was turning these thoughts over in my mind, I saw Alice through the window which overlooked the garden. She and her mother were starting toward the tennis court with rackets over their shoulders. Alice turned as though she felt my glance and waved with a smile. In that instant I could see there was only one path that I could choose and for me the future was as sure as the will of a man could make it.
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