Chapter 5, Searching for the Answers When Joyce Arrived
I left the fundamentalist church with my love for Christ totally intact, and with a stronger desire to know the truth about him and all aspects of spirituality. I already had one Bible, but found myself buying another, one in which the things Jesus was alleged to have said were highlighted in red. Over a span of several months, I read the New Testament, about Christ and what he said, over and over, trying to come to conclusions.
While I was examining what Christ was about, I re-examined my decision numerous times to leave that fundamentalist church. Each time I did, I came to the same conclusions. I could not lie to myself and tell myself that we live once and once only. It made no sense to me from a logical or a feeling perspective. There were other reasons why I left, but if I had to name the main one, it would be the fundamentalist lack of tolerance and understanding of reincarnation.
It was the early summer of 1981 when I met the person who has been the greatest influence in my life. I was working for Sears selling home improvement products when she called Sears for a roof estimate. I was one of a handful of people who sold roofing for Sears that potentially could have been sent to her house. Her name was Mary Joyce von Cappelen Kruse, a very spry 81-year-old who was still driving in the daytime. She lived by herself in a simple wood house in the middle of the city, without a lock on the front door. No lock on her front door was my first clue that she was different from most people.
I was standing in her yard discussing the merits of selecting a light green shingle, over the all-white shingle, when she looked over my shoulder into the distance and started saying something that really got my attention. She told me, "You have a son who is about ten years old, who lives with his mother up around the Tennessee area." (My son was ten, and living with his mother in Tennessee at the time) She continued on, "You and your son are old souls, who along with other old souls, have chosen to come to Earth at this time to aid humankind in the spiritual changes that will take place in your lifetimes." When she got through speaking she acted as though nothing had happened, but I was left speechless! Since she acted as though nothing had taken place, and I was totally at a loss to know or explain what had just taken place, I too acted as though nothing out of the ordinary had taken place. I finished writing up her roofing order and left as quickly as I could. It wasn't as though I was scared or threatened by her or what she said; I was totally perplexed and clueless as to what had just transpired. The word dumbfounded also comes to mind.
I went back to Sears and asked if anyone had been asking questions about me, and was told, “No.” The roofing estimate card, with Joyce’s name and address on it, had been shuffled together with about seven or eight other people’s cards seeking an estimate from Sears for a roof estimate on that day. They were then shuffled and given out to me and my fellow estimators on a random basis. I tried to forget what had happened, but could not forget the words that had been spoken to me and, again, “How in the world did she know that my son was ten and living in Tennessee?” The very next day I found a neatly hand-written note underneath my apartment door when I got home. (My name and address were listed in the phone book) The note thanked me for being courteous and taking care of her roofing needs and she also said that she had enjoyed chatting with me, and oh by the way, “Could we be friends?”
When I met Joyce, I’d never been to a psychic or channel and had zero understanding about such things. I also had no knowledge about what the so-called “devil” was that the fundamentalists were frequently talking about, but surmised that since I’d left the church maybe this nice acting woman was actually sent from the devil or was the devil itself. This may sound like an over reaction to some of you reading this today, but please flash back to 1981, there were no computers in the hands of the public, and metaphysical things such as psychics and channels hadn’t hardly gone mainstream in those days. Also, add in the fact that I had only left the fundamentalist Christian church a few months before meeting Joyce.
I was very baffled and concerned about the entire situation of having met Joyce and what she had told me. I didn't know what to think. For several days I pondered and wondered what had happened, and couldn’t stop asking myself, “Who is this woman?” I was way beyond curious and wanted to know how she had known what she knew, and why she said what she had said to me.
Now, before I tell you what I made of all this, I have to tell you that I have learned through my many years of spiritually seeking that there really aren't any significant coincidences in our lives! Spirit can and does communicate with us in some very subtle ways and sometimes in ways we might even consider as strange. I also need to add that all my life whenever I've wanted to know the answer to something with enough desire the answer usually has come to me within a few days of my asking the question. I was to learn about ten years later in The Law of One material that this is exactly how the system is supposed to work, that one receives answers in direct proportion to the amount of seeking for the answer that the person does. The answers won't always come in words, but sometimes in a combination of words, thoughts and feelings.
While still wondering how Joyce could know about my son, who was living at the time in Tennessee with his mother and step-dad, I went out one evening to a piano bar with a buddy of mine. At that piano bar I met a woman and was talking with her for only about a minute when a thought came into my head that was extremely strong, and I found myself with this tremendous urge to blurt this thought out! For about a minute I fought the impulse to exclaim the thought in my head for fear this woman I’d just met was going to think I was some kind of a nut case. Another minute later and I found myself still wanting to blurt the thought out and couldn’t fight the impulse any longer, so I did.
I said to this woman I'd just started talking with, "Your name is Jane and you're a Pisces." She gave me a very startled look and said to me, "How in the world did you miss guessing my name by one letter and know my astrology sign?" I was just as shocked as she was because her name was Janet, and she was indeed a Pisces. I knew the mathematical odds of guessing her name and her astrology sign were astronomical, and besides, I hadn’t been trying to guess either!
The next morning as I was waking up I got a stream of thoughts given to me. What came to me very clearly was that my choice of Christ, and the things that he stood for and expounded upon, were never going to leave my life as long as I lived. Reading the red lettered words that were attributed to Christ for those months after I’d left that fundamentalist Christian church had overwhelmingly cemented my belief in Christ and what the individual stood for. I knew that in my heart that regardless of whether the people at the church I’d left didn’t know me now, or didn’t return my calls when I’d left messages with my former buddy to offer to play tennis, that none of that mattered to me anymore. I knew that morning, while still lying in bed, that a permanent change had taken place within me and that nothing in this world was ever going to shake my faith in Christ, let alone the value system of love and forgiveness Christ taught.
It was still lying there in bed when I further felt and consciously realized, that if I possessed the belief system that I did, and was able to receive the telepathic information (Jane and a Pisces) that was beyond my understanding at the time, that this was some kind of “sign” from God that it was okay to be friends with this very interesting woman who wanted to be my friend. As I explored that thought, a further thought started occurring to me, that the entire encounter with Jane had been the “good guys” demonstrating to me that it was all right to receive psychic messages within one’s own head. Up to that point, I’d always assumed that receiving messages probably was the work of a supposed devil figure I’d heard about.
I picked up the phone and called Joyce and my life was never the same afterwards, for I was about to enter a beautiful and loving world that I didn’t even know existed.