More Musings by Maisie

Can we really know what any infant thinks? When the infant is born into a special race of people, she is capable of thinking many things. But what would you think if you were simply dropped two hundred years into the future? This is what Maisie thought about being born in the 1970's.

As the time of her baptism approached, Maisie Everett was developing an ever greater awareness of the world around her. It was rather ironic because at the time when she was most fully aware and ready to interact with the world around her, her ability to know all of her past lives would be gone. She could not fully engage in her present life, if she was consciously aware of all that had happened to her soul before. But that was the way that it was.

Those such as Trelawney actually had access to some of those memories and feelings. That was because her simple, uncomplicated mind was open to them. It became a problem in Trelawney's case because this gave her an ability to subconsciously put the past and present together to understand the future. And Trelawney, being who she was, was prone towards impulsively blurting out what she knew or slipping into one of her states and letting it be known.

Maisie loved Trelawney very much, but she was glad that she was not like her in this regard. The fact that she and Trelawney had been able to communicate since she had been conceived and that Trelawney had been aware that she was waiting to descend had already caused enough problems. Still and all, life was not entirely about Trelawney and there were many good things to be said about it.

Maisie was enjoying life, as it presently was very much. Living in such a big family made things very interesting. It had been a quite bit of time since her last lifetime on earth and things had certainly changed. The house where she lived seemed enormously large, but the family was not wealthy, at least that was what she had discerned from the things that they said. However, compared with the way that she had lived during her last lifetime, over two hundred years ago, things were quite luxurious.

All of the sudden, fire was no longer quite so important. In fact, there was no fire burning anywhere in the house. There was a hearth in the living room, but she had never seen it lit. It was most peculiar. The center of the home, providing heat and cooking ability was quite clearly no longer the hearth. In fact, she had not quite figured out where the center of the house was.

One no longer saw lamps lit using fire or candles burning in all places. A click of a button and the lamps popped on right away, glowing from a funny little "bulb" inside. Of course there was no need for heat since it was so hot in this place. But Mummy did not need to light a fire in the stove whenever she wanted to cook. She simply turned a dial.

Even though it was so warm, it was no problem to keep things cool. There was a funny metal box (with a light inside) that kept things cool. No one had to go out to the well for water or even use a hand pump. Mummy simply turned a handle and the water came out, hot or cold. It seemed as if Mummy and Daddy were always clicking buttons and switches and turning a lot of handles and dials.

She would have thought that all of it was magic. But she knew that it couldn't be. No, these were machines that humans had invented to make their lives easier. And humans could most definitely not do magic. It was most terribly peculiar. Whoever had ever heard of a world run by dials and handles before?

These machines were all very noisy. The two machines that cleaned the laundry and the dishes both made a terrible racket. And then there was a big sucking machine that Mummy used on the floor to clean up the dust and mess. Sometimes when she had to dry her hair quickly, she had a small (and loud) device that she held in her hand that blew hot air at her.

And then there was a box that the children liked to watch that showed pictures. It could be very loud. (Until Daddy yelled and then it wasn't quite so loud.) And there was another box that played music. Voices talking came out of the box sometimes as well. And another funny machine that her brothers put black disks on that played music. And all of these machines of course had switches and dials and handles to turn. Maisie had to wonder how they could remember what each of them did.

Most interesting of all was that most of these devices had to be connected to the wall so that they could work. They had ropes that could tie them into the wall. However they really weren't tied. There were little holes in the wall into which little spokes attached to the end of the ropes went. But she couldn't understand what the purpose was. It was almost (but definitely not) magic. Maisie knew that there was no magic in the walls of the house, but there had to be something in the walls that made all the machines and devices work.

There was another machine that was plugged into the wall that Mummy and Daddy talked into. In fact, it almost seemed as if they were talking to people who weren't there. But how could that be? And sometimes when a bell rang, Mummy would pick up the handle of the machine and say into it, "Everett residence," and then talk and talk. Maisie realized that during her time in heaven, many, many changes had happened on earth. But she had not seen those changes being made. It was not allowed.

She knew that when she learned to talk and lost her knowledge of her past lives, that she would grow up like any other child learning about the world into which she had been born. Then the dials, buttons, switches, and handles would all make sense. She had done it before. But then she returned to the other side and discovered that all of the changes were about something called "human progress."

There was a funny thing about this human progress however. The things they built might become bigger and better, but people stayed the same. They loved and they fought. They were happy and sad. Children and parents both made mistakes, but they all loved each other in the end.

It would probably be better to call it machine progress. After all, the humans had succeeded in actually improving those. But for the most part (from what she could see), the humans had not improved at all. When the humans themselves actually progressed, they would need to have a name for it. Therefore calling all of this human progress was really quite ridiculous.

And then there was the food. The food was very, very different from any that she had ever seen before. She had never known a place where one did not get milk from a cow. And they didn't even have a cow. One bought it in a bottle in the store.

And they had no chickens in the yard, just the rooster named Sebastian. Now that really made no sense at all. What good was having a rooster if you had no chickens? Of course here they didn't need chickens for eggs. They bought them in funny little boxes in the store.

And one never saw any animals killed for meat. The meat came in little wrapped packages and was stored in the cold metal box. And Mummy didn't bake bread everyday. That too came in packages. It was even already sliced. In fact during this lifetime, it sometimes seemed like everything came in a package.

During Maisie's last lifetime, much of the food they ate, they grew themselves out in the kitchen garden. There was no kitchen garden here. There was a yard with flowers and the trees where Mummy liked to work, but it grew no fruits or vegetables to eat. To be able to devote one's land simply to growing flowers was most wasteful. It was something that she had only heard of rich people doing before. And so the family had to buy all their fruits and vegetables.

In the part of the market where they sold the vegetables and fruits, it looked somewhat like the old market stalls. But there were so many new vegetables and fruits to be had! Maisie had never seen many of them before. There were also some that came in cans. And then there were others that were frozen solid. But when they were boiled they became normal again, well somewhat normal. They actually looked rather mushy.

The food store was called a "supermarket." This was a very good name for it. The store was so large and just went on forever. And there were other stores too, where people bought clothes. In fact everyone bought clothes. Nobody ever made them in this place, well, almost no one. As far as she could see, no one did any spinning or weaving. Of course in order to do that, one would need to have sheep to grow the wool. She never saw any sheep anywhere. They must be with the cows and chickens.

And it seemed as though making clothes was most unusual, even with a machine to do all the dull and difficult bits. And people had so many clothes. Why her sister Prudence had closets and drawers just stuffed with clothes. And she didn't even wear most of them. And her brothers and sister had so many toys. She didn't see how they could play with all of them.

But most impressive of all were the books. There seemed to be stacks and stacks of books in the house. There were big books and little books, colorful books and black and white books, books filled with pictures and books without any pictures at all. And everyone could read. Why, she would never have imagined it! Even little Prudence could read!

She could still not believe everything she saw when she looked around. In fact, she had been alive for over three whole months and every day there was something new to see or she heard some sound coming from the most unlikely places. Sometimes one heard the birds and other sounds of nature, but not much. She knew that nature still must be out there in this world. There just didn't seem to be very much of it.

But the oddest, the oddest thing of all was the smell of this time period. Where were all the smells? Of course all of the privies were indoors, but even so, there was no smell. One just had to pull a lever and whoosh! Everything was gone with a very loud noise. And the people didn't even smell like people. They took baths every day. They were just so clean. And the animals that lived in the house, like the dog Waldo, also had baths. But the most noticeably absent smell, was the smell of manure.

Maisie had looked and looked as hard as she could, but there were no vehicles drawn by horses or oxen. In fact, nothing drew these vehicles. They just went all on their own. It was more magic that really wasn't magic. Mummy would put a key in the dial and with a very loud noise. Then the vehicle would start and go. Maisie had to admit that traveling in these cars was very nice.

There were no bumps or ruts in the road, so the ride was very smooth. And the cars were so large. In fact their car was so large that it fit Mummy, Daddy, and all four children with room to spare. They did have a smell that came out of the back, but it certainly wasn't a manure smell. It was made by black smoke.

All in all, Maisie could see that many things had changed while she had been in heaven. Of course, it wasn't until she returned here that she even realized that she had been in heaven for such a long time. For you see, there is no time in heaven. There is no need for it.

People like Meg and Owen and Helen who had made their final journeys home were aware of time because they could see the earth and the people there. But those such as Maisie, who would eventually be coming back, weren't allowed to see the earth. There were many things that she must not know when she returned for her next lifetime. Therefore, there had been no time in heaven for Maisie.

Maisie loved her Mummy in this lifetime ever so much. Mummy brought her everywhere she went. In her previous lifetimes, her mothers had been too busy doing chores to go anywhere. Or if they were too rich to do chores, Maisie went to a wet nurse. Then Maisie had a wet nurse and never saw her mother.

Chores were another funny thing in this time. Her big sister Prudence complained when she had to do chores, but she hardly did any work at all. And Prudence also got to go to school. And she knew how to read and write. And she didn't have to do nearly as many chores as Maisie had once done. And Maisie had never gotten to go to school.

And her brothers got to go to school, even Hal, who should have been too old. Why at one time they wouldn't have gone to school at all either They would have worked on the farm or somewhere else to help support the family. And if they were rich, they would have had tutors. In this lifetime, her Daddy worked, but he was a teacher at university. That was quite nice for him. But it was very odd that he did not have to wear his black gown to work. Like everyone else he wore lots of funny clothes. And he had lots and lots of clothes too.

When she could, she would ask Trelawney about all of this. However, even though there were many things that Trelawney could know that others couldn't, she did not always know about this. She also found some of these things confusing and she had been born in this time period. And poor Trelawney was so sad sometimes. Yes, poor, poor Trelawney was very sad these days indeed. But it was a secret from everyone else. Only Maisie knew how truly sad her darling Auntie was.

Poor Trelawney could not understand what had happened to her dear friend Topher. She had talked to her dolls, Mimsy, Tansy, and Daisy all about it, but they could not help. They only had the words that were hers, and she did not have the words to describe it. And so she could not understand why she felt so sad about the way that he had changed. Maisie desperately wanted to comfort her. She knew why poor Topher had changed. But she couldn't tell Trelawney. It was most certainly not allowed.

It was knowledge that she had gained from previous lifetimes and her time in heaven. Or so she thought. She knew that she knew it, but she didn't always really know how. She was a more powerful child of light than either Topher or Trelawney. Part of her work, when she was old enough, was to make sure they came together.

They must come together. Trelawney had been born for Topher, and Topher for Trelawney. It was not the first time that their souls had occupied the same time and place, but it would be the last. It was their last chance. It was quite important that this time they come together and therefore she bore a heavy responsibility.

Maisie had always known that Topher was a child of light and that he was meant for Trelawney. But until recently, no one else did. Maisie thought that he himself probably knew, but he didn't know that he knew. Or if he knew then he didn't know how he knew. It was such a muddle.

And because he did not understand who he was, he couldn't do anything about it. None of this had been revealed yet. Maisie wished that she could see what the outcome was, but it was not allowed. Instead she had to let poor Trelawney suffer and it was really entirely Mummy's fault, but even she didn't know it.

Mummy had not known until a few days ago that Topher was a child of light. The Angel had told her. But he couldn't tell her anything else because even he didn't know. She did not know that Trelawney and Topher had much important work to do in the world. She did not know that they could only do it together. She only knew what she knew and she knew that those such as Trelawney were not betrothed. And it did not matter whether it was to a child of light or not, or so she thought. Mummy knew that Trelawney had been given to her by her own Mum to raise.

She did not know that Trelawney did not have to live with her forever. But that was because Meg had not been able to tell her. She had run out of time. It was something that Meg had deeply regretted. She and Owen had been quite bereft that they had not had the time tell Mummy that once she had raised Trelawney, perhaps she could live apart from her. She would still need to be close, but they didn't have to live in the same house. They knew that it could ultimately create great unhappiness for both their lovely daughters. Yes, this was truly a muddle of the highest order.

But Maisie had been sent from heaven to help them. It was only a part of her important work, but it was the very first part. She would only be a child, but she knew that she could do it. She was very clever and very crafty. She could make things happen, but no one would know it was her. Of course all of them could do it. Mummy did it all the time, and so did Sylvia. Emmeline could have, but she never bothered to. That was why she had many more lives to live.

The matter of Topher and Trelawney was an extremely sticky one. For many lifetimes, the dark forces had worked to keep the souls of Trelawney and Topher apart. Now in this lifetime, Trelawney and Topher had actually been brought together in the same place at the same time so that they knew each other. And of course the instant that they met, they knew it. But they hadn't known that they knew. And they only knew now because of the night when Maisie was born and Topher was revealed as a true child of light.

For only a true child of light would have had the strength of character and goodness to try to save a soul as thoroughly evil as Cholmondeley's had been. To offer forgiveness to one who had committed such a very great offense was a most superlative action indeed. Especially when the innocent party to this harm was one whom you loved above all others, even if you didn't know it yet.

The forces of light had won that round and the forces of dark had lost. And this sweet moment of victory for good had occurred at almost the very minute of her own entrance to the world. Yet it really shouldn't have happened this way at all.

Who knew what would have happened if Trelawney had not come to California and then all if the other lovely coincidences that brought her together with Topher had not happened? Such kismet was very nearly unbelievable. Since this was most definitely Trelawney's last journey, why . . . They might never have met at all! It was really quite astounding come to think of it. The dark forces would have won completely.

But Topher and Trelawney were really such an odd pair. He was so brilliantly scientific and logical while she was so wonderfully musical and a little fey. She was made of fairy dust, while he of cells and atoms. She was so ethereal, he so down to earth. They were drawn together in a very powerful, yet very pure, way.

They knew it, but they didn't understand it. Trelawney was still a little girl. She thought of Topher as her perfect hero. Topher loved Trelawney as his little golden angel. He too thought that she was perfect. Topher could never love any other woman in that way. Trelawney could never love any other man in any way at all. Their perfection might only be in each other's eyes, but that was all that really mattered anyway.

This much was certain. Together, they were a perfect Jungian syzygy, two incomplete halves that only felt complete when joined with the other. But they didn't know it. They only knew the very deep longing within each of their souls for the other. Mummy and Daddy had been the same. They had not known it either. The same odd twist of fate that brought Trelawney to America had brought Mummy and Daddy together. In fact, it was really Trelawney who had brought them together. And that was because of all of their past lives.

Grammy had known about Mummy and Daddy's syzygy. She was quite smart about these things. But in this case, she missed it. Everyone was so busy thinking about why Topher and Trelawney must be apart, that they didn't even realize that they should be together. It was a very great pity that Maisie could not tell them, but it was not allowed. Things could never be too easy for humans, especially the children of light.

Thus Maisie must never tell Trelawney this. The Angel knew some of the things that she had already let slip to her and he was most cross because of it. Trelawney was too young now to know of their fated love anyway. And when Trelawney was old enough to know, then Maisie would no longer know. The knowledge would have slipped from her consciousness as the power of speech burst forth. Trelawney and Topher must find each other in the right time and place, because that was how these things worked for the children of light.

Yet, one thing that Maisie had never understood completely was why children of light had to suffer so much. They all did. Mummy had suffered as well. She had found her perfect other half, but had thought that they could never be together. That was why Trelawney had to come here. She had set Mummy free, so that she could marry Daddy and there could be a Maisie. And if there was a Maisie, there could be a Trelawney and Topher, and then . . . But she dare not even think about that. If she let that slip, the Angel would be more than cross with her. He would be angry.

There were those who believed that it was necessary for the children of light to suffer so that they would understand the pain and suffering of those they came to help. Their power would be greater if they felt empathy rather more than sympathy. It also kept them humble. They might be children of light, but they were not golden children to whom much was given and nothing expected.

Of course the children of light were given many things, just not the kinds of things that most people would have expected. Children of light never had such earthly things as money or fame. It wouldn't have helped them in their work anyway. For, to who much is given, much is expected, as Luke 12:48 says. And this is how it was. The gifts that one was given quite naturally determined the expectations of them.

The children of light who were born of their race were given a very high degree of prescience and second sight. They could discern thoughts and motives in others. They were highly talented in individual areas, Mummy with children, Trelawney in music, and Topher in maths. Topher was not of their race, so he did not quite have all the gifts that they did. And Maisie was still too young to have demonstrated her savant quality.

However, the children of light were still human and thus cursed with the imperfections that curse all humans. Her dear Trelawney was a little fey and also very impulsive. Mummy never took herself into account and that created difficulties for her. And Topher was so smart that he thought that he knew everything. This arrogance made him blind sometimes.

Therefore, nobody ever said that it would be easy to be a child of light. And to a large extent, Topher, well, in many ways had had it easy until now. He was born to loving parents in a solid Christian home. His temperament, like that of all children of light, was kind and generous and mild-mannered. He was loving and caring, in the example of his parents. He was talented, not only in science and technology, but music as well.

His talents had been recognized and nurtured over the years. He had been praised and encouraged. He had even won awards. He had been fortunate to come into contact with others who would guide him through the difficult bits of life. He had been drawn to Trelawney from the moment he had met her, as she had been to him.

To the outsider, it would seem that two loving hearts had simply found each other. But Maisie knew it was more to it than just a fairytale come to life. There were archetypal elements, all part and parcel of the universal consciousness, in play. That made the difference.

Trelawney was the fair maiden, weak and fragile and greatly in need of a knight in shining armor. In his youthful enthusiasm, Topher had embraced that role, convincing himself that he was merely playing a part in a little girl's game. But a few months ago, the game was suddenly no longer a game. Using his wits and reckless courage, he had saved her Daddy, her Grampie, and Butch from a potentially disastrous situation.

Next he had come face to face with the great evil, at that time embodied first by Aunt Henrietta and then by the unicorn. He had stood up to this great evil and faced it down, attempting to claim another soul for God. Together, he and Trelawney had defeated the dark forces that threatened their family, not once but twice. But thus far, neither they nor anyone else in this world knew of it. And they probably never would.

And because no one could know it, when Topher quite naturally wished to confirm his connection with his other half, he had been slapped down, first by Pastor Jason and then by Mummy. Pastor Jason had an inkling of it. But Mummy had none. And suddenly, the knight in shining armor was wounded and did not know where to go or what to do. And thus the evil enchantress (another tool of the darkness) had pounced.

For if Trelawney was his lovely, perfect positive transformative aspect, this singer Jeannie was his negative transformative. Like the Sirens of old, she sang her song for the young hero and he was now nearly dashed upon the rocks as he pursued it.

And he had no faithful companions to lash him to the mast of the ship. In fact, his companions encouraged him to swim to her. Topher had conquered the old witch to save dear Trelawney, only to fall under the spell of the young witch. There must be someone who could free him from her spell. But who?

Maisie believed that perhaps even Topher was punishing himself because he thought that now he was no longer worthy of Trelawney. Maisie had seen it, oh, so many times before. The gallant knight loses the fair maiden and then in his anguish ends up in the clutches of the wicked enchantress. If only she could explain this to Trelawney! Still, it was not allowed. Although Topher would never understand, certainly Trelawney should be able to understand. But what would she do, even if she did know?

Presently, Trelawney could not understand the full importance of Topher to her future. It had not been revealed and it was not the right time for it to be revealed. Topher only scarcely understood the importance of Trelawney in his life. That too had not been fully revealed. They only felt an attraction that neither could understand. Fate could be so cruel sometimes!

They were both too young. It was very sad. Trelawney suffered from the absence of her hero. And Topher suffered from the absence of his muse, his little golden angel who inspired him to goodness and greatness. It was a cruel trick of fate and had weakened them both. Maisie wanted desperately to help.

The little butterfly no longer happily flitted about. If they were not careful, she would weave herself a little cocoon in which to hide herself through this winter of her life. And the knight in shining armor had lost his high ideals and fallen prey to the cheap, easy folly, and vanity of the world. Why he had put money of all things above all else. While she retreated into her faith, he retreated from it. But all was not lost.

In order that they might be prepared to fulfill their destinies, they must first each find the strength within themselves to press forward. They must be joined strength to strength, not weakness to weakness. Before becoming the pair that they were destined to be, they must become powerful individuals. But the road before them was not easy. If either one should fall, it would mean disaster for the other.

So as she passed her days in infanthood, young Maisie mused. She mused while she was able to. With the first word she spoke, this wisdom would be silenced in her mind forever. And those that she loved best would suffer, even as the others in her life lived happily. They had passed through their own dark shadows into the light.

Mummy and Daddy no longer had to be afraid that the unicorn would return. Hal and Prudence were happy with their lives. Even grumpy Butch was happy in his way. She knew that Grammy and Grampie had many good things coming their way. Maisie had brought this light into all of their lives. And someday, she would bring the same light to Trelawney.

But for now, she was contemplating a most important milestone in her babyhood. Upon whom would she bestow her first smile? Should it be Mummy? Of course she was most special, but Maisie had already decided that her first word would be "Mummy." And she couldn't give Mummy two important firsts now, could she?

Should it be Daddy? But she had also decided that he would be the first one that she would walk to. Then there were all the obvious ones, her brothers and sister and Trelawney and Grammy and Grampie. But time was growing short. She must choose soon. And she knew that she must choose correctly.

She did not know how she knew, but she knew that this first smile was most important. But now it was not yet time to smile. It was time to be baptized and welcomed into God's family in this world. Ever so many people were coming together for the occasion from both sides of her family. Even if she couldn't smile, it promised to be most amusing.

To be continued . . .