Since coming back to England and listening to Andy again, it's all starting to make even more sense to me."
Emily smiled. "You know, Eric, I have met many people, so many I couldn't begin to count them, who have found happiness beyond their wildest dreams, simply because they found the slightest glimmer of insight about how the power of Thought guides them through life."
Emily's face lit up, and she broke into a broad grin as she said, "What if I were to tell you that Andy has predicted that the '70s will bring about a new kind of therapy such as humanity has never seen before? He says it will be a psychology that will differ from most present-day concepts in that it will help individuals to realize the mental health they already have inside them."
"Wow! That's quite the prediction," I answered.
"I can't believe what I'm hearing," Janet declared. "Why did Andy say this new psychology will be so different from what is now practiced?"
Emily's eyes danced as she answered, "When I asked Andy that very question, he said, 'Because such a psychology will be spiritually based, and its healing powers will be beyond anything known to date.'" Janet smiled at Emilys words.
Emily said that Andy assured her that it was written and it would come to pass—and when it did, no one would be able to stop its progress because the new psychology would be renowned for its results.
Janet, astonished by Emily's words, asked her, "How can Andy know that such a prophecy will ever be fulfilled?"
"That, my dear young lady, I can't explain," Emily admitted. "But that's only half the story! Andy also maintains that even untrained people who understand what is being said will jump the boundaries of time and forge ahead of some of the archaic theories of today."
Janet said, "I'm getting those goosebumps again! This is almost like being in a fantasy movie where you never know what to expect next. Tell me, Emily, does Andy always talk in such a mystical manner?"
"I know what you mean, Janet," Emily said, "and the answer is no. Andy is a very quiet and private person, and he rarely talks to anyone the way he has been talking with you doctors. When I first met Andy, it took me quite a considerable time to realize just how deep his knowledge really was. Andy doesn't think like you or I. Believe me, Eric, what happened to you and your patients is nothing new. And I can assure you that Andy does know what he is talking about."
I told Emily how wonderful I felt about my work, and that a lot of thanks should go to Andy for sharing some of his philosophical views with me. "Each day I'm starting to realize more and more why Andy put so much emphasis on how we use our thoughts. Sometimes I'll find myself in the office when my whole mind seems to be in knots, just having one of those days when everything goes wrong. Then suddenly I'll realize that I have been allowing my own thoughts to create certain situations and bad feelings in my life, quite often needlessly. Since my last visit, this has happened to me quite a few times, and each time it happened it was like magic. My mind completely calmed down and I could quite clearly see the solution to my problem. This connection to Thought inspires me as a psychologist and brings life back into my work."
A beautiful smile spread across Emily's face as she said gently, "I hope you realize that Andy isn't talking about psychology as you do. He talks to you four doctors using the terminology and language of psychology only because he knows you are psychologists. If you listen very closely to what Andy is saying, you'll see that he always talks in the impersonal, and the impersonal suits every person on earth."
"What do you mean, Andy speaks of a different psychology than we do?" Janet asked.
"My dear, I just told you," Emily said with a soft laugh.
"Please tell me again," Janet urged.
Flinging her arms wide, palms upward in a gesture of mock helplessness, Emily replied, "My dear, you are asking a lot and I'm afraid it's beyond me to answer all of your questions. All I can suggest is that you listen to Andy very carefully, and you will see he isn't talking about personal truths and specific psychological problems as you may have been taught to do in your psychological training. Andy talks of a wisdom before the creation of what you call psychology or psychiatry, and what he says really has no connection to the beliefs of Freud or anyone else. He is speaking about another dimension of thought and psychology altogether. As a matter of fact, if you listen to him very carefully you will see that he is talking about a universal psychology that is both a cure and a prevention. I certainly couldn't begin to explain that to you!"
"That's quite the statement," Janet said. "But Emily, after living with Andy all these years, surely you must understand him pretty well by now."
"Pretty well," Emily acknowledged. "But what he knows and how he knows it is just as much a mystery to me as it is to you. In all our years together, I have learned many very beautiful things from Andy." There was a long pause, then looking straight into my eyes, she concluded, "All I can say is that our life together has been like a marvelous, mystical dream."
Janet said that during her entire profession as a marriage counselor she had never heard anyone describe their marriage quite as Emily had just done. "Emily, if you feel I'm getting too inquisitive, please just say so. But I'd love to know how you and Andy met."
Emily smiled. "Let me see... it was two years after the First World War, the spring of 1920 to be precise. I had moved to the outskirts of Torquay, in Devon, to take up the position of teacher at the local primary school. Andy was the handsome young manager of a farm called Heavenly Meadows. It was a happy place where all the employees were treated like one big family. He had his hands full keeping it running because of the shortages and the other problems brought about by the war. I had been teaching for about six months when Andy and I were introduced to each other at a friend's house one day, and that was it. We fell in love, four months later we were married, and here we are."
At this point, Tom and Andy returned from their walk and Janet asked if they had seen any fish.
"Yes," Tom said excitedly. "We saw quite a few beautiful trout, but you should hear the nonsense you have to go through just to get permission to fish in an English river. It's a complete rip-off!"
This set Andy on another round of laughter so infectious that we all joined in. It was several minutes before the laughter subsided as we joked and carried on boisterously about the size of the fish. Our hijinks even managed to wake up Peter, who had drifted off to sleep in the shade of the oak tree. Shaking off the last traces of his nap, Peter said, "Hey, I'd love to see those enormous trout."
With that, Peter joined Tom and Andy, and the three of them wandered back down to the river's edge to have a look at the fish, leaving Emily, Janet and me to our conversation.
Chapter 17
About Love and Marriage
After Andy and the other two men had left, Emily told Janet and me, "My husband thinks both of you are very wise people. And believe me, Andy doesn't throw compliments like that around to just anyone."
Turning to Janet, she said, "Andy tells me you're a marriage counselor, and from what he said about you, I imagine you must be a very good one."
"I try my best," Janet said with a smile, "but like most people, I have my bad days along with my good. Perhaps if Andy knew me better he would reconsider his praises. Tell me, Emily, what is the secret to a good marriage in your opinion?"
Emily replied, "There really isn't any one secret. Andy and I were lucky; we found something very special in our lives, something that bound us together."