July 2017 – Page 3

As I Remember, Chapter 9

July 5, 2017July 5, 2017 Joseph Dewey

This entry is part 9 of 39 in the series Ted Bio

CHAPTER 9

We moved over to Caldwell, rented a nice little two room house and moved in. There was a service station in town that was for lease. The Texaco on the corner of Cleveland and Kimball. A guy by the name of Stewart Mackey was running the place. I bought the stock on hand, including the gas and oil and took over. There was a fellow by the name of Homer Brooks that worked for him. I would need one man, so I kept him on. I sold my truck and bought a cheap car, an old Star coupe. As the winter of thirty one approached, times really got tough. Every day business was dropping off. The only ones that stopped in for gas, didn’t have any money.

Homer Brooks knew a lot of people in town. All his friends run up a big gas bill. I began running low on money. And, Helen was pregnant. But we were sure tickled pink when our first little girl was born. We named her Alberta, after Alberta Canada, Alberta Lorina Dewey. We thought she was the cutest, sweetest, prettiest, little thing that ever lived. But there was one thing the matter. She had day and night turned around. A regular nocturnal. All day long, she would sleep. But when night time come around, she was wide awake. Helen and I got very little sleep. We were getting worn to a frazzle. But didn’t know what to do. Then one morning, after we had all been awake all night, I told Helen. “Why don’t you take the day off and go shopping. I am not working today. I will stay here and baby-sit. But don’t come back until dark tonight.” There was a puzzled look on her face. “And just what do you think you are going to do?” I pointed at down at that sweet little thing in her crib. “I am going to get this little girl straightened out. She has day and night turned around.” “What are you going to do about it?” “Very simple. Just keep her awake all day!” I think that this was one of the most trying days of my life. But my mind was made up. U stayed right there. A few times I had to sprinkle a little cold water in her face, I paddled her little butt with a sheet of paper, I tickled her feet, but when nightfall come, we were both still awake. That night after Helen had nursed this little rascal, she fell sound asleep. And didn’t wake up until morning. And so, neither did I.

As I Remember, Chapter 8

July 5, 2017 Joseph Dewey

This entry is part 8 of 39 in the series Ted Bio

CHAPTER 8

In the year of 1928, there was a big change in automobiles. There were big bill-boards everywhere with screaming headlines. WAIT FOR THE NEW FORD. The days of the model T had come to an end. Next would be the model A. Other cars were also coming out new models. Durant, the company that made the Star, also made a big change. I fell in love with a brand new model that was in the showroom in Emmett. It was a two tone green, four door sedan. Genuine leather upholstery and four wheel brakes. Also the engine had a lot more power. Dad also looked it over and drooled. Then we made a deal. We traded in both our old cars and bought the thing. I dug into my bank account and paid for half. He did likewise. That was the year Helen moved in with her Grandfather, Old man Woodruff, we called him.

We started going together. She was the girl of my dreams. And before summer was over, we were engaged. She was sixteen and I was eighteen. We began making plans. We realized that we were too young to think of getting married. Her mother was living in Nelson BC Canada and wanted her to come there. Which she did. I promised that the next fall after harvest, that I would come and see her.

The following year, I made a lot of boxes. My best year. I saved my money. I wanted to make a home for my bride. When the year passed and the harvest was over, I was ready to take that trip to Canada. There was only one problem, we had only one car. The partnership Durant. But Dad told me to go ahead and take it. He and Feldman had just bought a new International truck. He assured me that they could get by with that until I returned. Then suddenly, brother Ray wanted to go along. It would be a long trip all by myself, so I told him yes.

Helen had some friends in Spokane, Washington. She wanted to pay them a visit. I was to meet her at the Davenport Hotel. Then we would go on to Nelson together. And this we did. It was only a days drive up to this city. It was a very enjoyable trip, and we had a good visit. I met Helen’s mother and the rest of the family. They treated me very nice. There was just one thing that happened that could have spoiled everything. And it almost did. One morning at the breakfast table, we had just finished eating and Helen’s mother was reading the paper. Suddenly she laid it down and glared at Helen and me. “Why didn’t you tell me.” she asked. I looked at Helen. We both shook our heads. “About what?” Helen asked. Slowly she handed over a sheet from the paper. “Read that!” Helen read out loud. “A quiet, but pretty wedding took place last Sunday at the Davenport hotel in Spokane. Veril Edward Dewey, of Emmett, Idaho and Helen May Woodruff of Nelson Exchanged wedding vows.” Helen’s eyes were big and round. I couldn’t believe my own. And there was more. Much more. Brother Ray excused himself and went outside. The rest of us just sat there staring at each other. Not knowing what to say. I guess I recovered first. I took Helen by the arm. “Do you know where this paper is printed?” I asked her. She nodded. “Sure. The Nelson News. Let’s get going.” We got in the car and drove down to the newspaper office. We walked in together. There sitting at a desk was a man. In front of him was a plaque which read, EDITOR. I laid down the piece of paper. “Just where did you get this information?” I asked. He looked down at the paper then back at us. There was a big grin on his face. “Was it supposed to have been kept a secret?” I glared at him. “You had better give me some straight answers!” He turned a little pale. “Sure, Sure, it is no secret. The brother to the groom, Ray Dewey, gave us the story.” I couldn’t believe my own ears. Just why would he pull a dirty trick like this? I will never know and I don’t think he will either. But that is not the end of the story. When we returned to Emmett, the news had got here far ahead of us. He had mailed several copies home and the news had spread. I could of and I guess I should of, killed the guy! My popularity sure went to pot with all the local girls. Who wants to chase around with a married man? And Helen, she went through the same thing. Of course she would deny that she was married, but who would believe us after reading all about it in the paper?

Anyhow, I wasn’t looking for another girl. And we had made plans to be married sometime in the fall of the next year. This all happened in the fall of twenty nine. The winter of the beginning of the great depression. Here in Idaho, we couldn’t see much difference. Life seemed to go on just the same. But back east, times were getting really tough. I was keeping my eyes open. Looking for a place for me and my bride to be. Then one day, I found something that looked good. And it was something I could handle. The forty acres across the road from the house, could be bought. New dams had been built up the river and now more water was available for about forty five dollars an acre. I had the money and I went to see about it. There was one catch. They wouldn’t sell it to me because I was under age. You had to be a citizen and twenty one before you could get in on this deal. Then I got an idea. I went to Dad. I asked him if he would buy the place if I gave him the money. Then later he would give me the deed. He said it sounded like a good deal and he would go along. The place was all in sagebrush. It was virgin land. Also there were no buildings or fences. My work was really cut out for me.

That fall and winter I worked like a dog. I cleared, fenced, leveled and plowed ten acres. Next spring, it would be ready to plant. And what did I plant? Ten acres of apricot trees with watermelons in between. And boy did I have a crop of melons. This new ground really produced. When the melons were about ready to harvest, I made a down payment on a new Chevy truck. A 1930 ton job. I figured out later, that I harvested and sold an average of twenty ton to the acre. And had received an average price of about one cent a pound. All together about four thousand bucks! That fall, I paid for the truck and went right on clearing the brush from the rest of the place. Also fencing and leveling the land. My next project would be to build a house. I guess I didn’t have time to do everything but I was still set on getting married. Then one day I got a lucky break. Sam Bollinger and his wife, my next door neighbor, was moving to New Plymouth for the winter. There he run the apple drier for F.H. Hogue. This guy always liked me I guess. And said we could move into his house for the winter. I took him up on it.

Mel Vickery and Helen Whitely also were planning on getting married. The four of us got together and we decided to have a double wedding. There was over four hundred people there that night. There was a big dance after the ceremony. It was held at the old Mormon church at Letha. After the wedding dance, we moved into the Bollinger house. A few days later, we took a trip to Salt Lake City. Once more we exchanged wedding vows in the Mormon temple. We were a very happy couple.

About the time that we were married, brother Ray was courting Violet. He got her in the family way and they got married. He was only eighteen. I think she was about twenty. Cousin Mina was staying with the folks and I guess the bedrooms in the house were all full. I guess it was quite a problem to figure out where to put the newly weds. There was only one place left that was big enough to hold a bed. It was the little building that was used as the office for the ranch. It was about ten feet square. Into this, moved Ray and Violet. The following spring, I built a small house on the forty. It wasn’t anything fancy but it was bought and paid for. It was as I remember, twelve by twenty four. Just the right size, for a garage. We planned to turn it in to one, when we would later build a big new house. Anyhow that was our plans.

It was somewhere along about this time that the ranch had paid out. Dad bought him a new Studebaker car. A four door sedan with six wire wheels. It was a fancy one. He had traded in the Durant. Nothing was never mentioned about my half. Ray had suddenly taken up going to church. Mother had not learned to drive. He would haul her around where ever she wished to go. I went on clearing brush and improving the place. I planted another ten acres of watermelons. The great depression had been on now for about a year. We began to feel it here. Prices were getting lower, jobs were hard to find. Watermelons were worth half what they were the year before. Helen and I both worked hard that summer. But we were happy. When fall come, we had a pretty good chunk of money in the bank.

Violet was getting bigger every day. I don’t see how they ever managed to stay in that tiny space. I sure felt sorry for them. But Ray’s mind was busy. He was determined to find a way. I didn’t know it at the time, but he had been working on Dad and Mother. “Ted has everything.” he told them. “And I am entitled to that forty acres just as much as he is. I have stayed home here and worked for nothing. Besides he has had use of the land for the last two years.” I had a feeling that something was the matter. And I thought it was about time I had a talk with Dad.

I had the money to pay last year’s water assessment, also the taxes. I told him. “Dad, I have the money for the water and taxes. But before they are paid, I want my deed.” Dad had his answer already. He said. “I will give you a deed to the lower twenty where you built your house. Ray must have a place to stay. I will give him the other twenty and we will build him a house up there.” I couldn’t believe my own ears. Dad, giving away half my place. Dad had his speech well rehearsed. “While you have been working out making a lot of money, Ray has stayed here and worked on the ranch. He deserves that forty acres just as much as you do.” I remembered how Ray had worked. The wet shirt and the shovel trick. If he had ever done any work, I couldn’t remember when it was. I started to argue with Dad. “But the place is mine and I paid for it.” Dad’s words were final. “Your Mother and me has talked this all over. And we have come to this decision.” Then he got tough. “There is not a damn thing you can do about it. And if you don’t like my decision, you can just get your ass off there!” I went back to the house and talked things over with Helen. The next day, we loaded up our furniture in the truck and pulled. The day after that, Ray and Violet moved in. He had made his first big step in gaining complete control of the great Dewey Orchards.

As I Remember, Chapter 7

July 5, 2017 Joseph Dewey

This entry is part 7 of 39 in the series Ted Bio

CHAPTER 7

Although I never went to school after I was twelve years old, I did learn a few things. There was an old, retired barber that worked on the ranch. His name was Walt Woodvine. Every Saturday afternoon, he would cut all our hair. This fascinated me. I watched him closely. I had just begun to shave. I had bought a new razor and strap, also a hone. I learned to keep my razor sharp. Then one day, Woodvine went away and didn’t come back. All our hair began to grow long and shaggy. I decided to do something about it. I bought a full set of barber tools. I was ready. I think it was Dell that I tackled first. And as amazing as it may seem, I did a pretty fair job. From then on, it was a cinch. I not only cut all the family’s hair, but many of the neighbor’s. I never went into this as a profession, but always have and still do have a set of barber tools and now and then cut someone’s hair.

But I also learned another trade. And in later years, this one really did me a lot of good.. Cars and gasoline engines of any kind fascinated me. There were very few good mechanics in those days. The average person didn’t even know what made a car run. I will give you this illustration. For instance, let’s take a model T Ford. Most everyone owned one of them. The lever on the right of the steering wheel was there to regulate the amount of gas that the carburetor let into the engine. The farther it was pulled down, the more gas. The lever on the left regulated the timing. When pushed to the top, the spark was retarded. Firing after the piston had passed over dead center. When the lever was pulled down, this would advance the timing, giving the engine more power. The average didn’t understand this at all. He thought that pulling the lever down, gave the engine MORE spark. And the more spark you gave the thing, the harder it would kick when you cranked it.

My Baby Overland, The Puddle Jumper, I called it. I took this apart from one end to the other many times. By doing this, I learned exactly what made a car run. And what to do in case it didn’t. After I had it a couple of years, I traded it off and got me a 1923 Star Coupe. This was quite a classy little car. And there were many improvements. As time passed, I was getting to be quite a good mechanic. I did almost all the work for everyone on the ranch. I bought me a good set of tools to work with. Also many books on the gasoline engine.

There was a big blacksmith shop at Letha. A German from the old country operated it. His name was Henry Bower. In my spare time, I hung around his shop. He taught me how to weld. Time passed quickly. All us kids were growing up. Brother Ray who was about two and half years younger than myself, was as big as me. Del, who was always sort of a runt, suddenly began to shoot straight up and didn’t quit until he was six foot two. Jennie was turning into a beautiful young lady, Brother Bob was trailing along behind.

As much as I hate to, I guess I had better say a few words about brother Ray. Later, he would make a lot of changes in my life. As a kid, he was quite a problem child. For one thing, he had sticky fingers. He thought that everything he touched belonged to him. He had a mean streak. Every time Mother would attempt to punish him for something he had done, he would kick her on the shins and run. One day he had done something that Mother considered real bad. She took after him with a switch. To escape, he run down the stairs and into the cellar, which was under the house. He slammed the door and locked it from the inside. Mother’s patience had about come to an end. There was also a lock on the outside. She snapped it shut and I heard her say. “I guess two can play at this game.” She laid down her switch and walked away. I guess she left him in there for several hours. And I bet she never did that again. The place was a total wreck. Fruit jars were smashed. The whole thing was literally turned upside down. One of the worst things that he had done was to drain all the oil out the cream separator and pour in a quart of varnish, which was on a shelf. We thought we would never get it to run again. Mother used to say. “There is a devil in that boy!”

I don’t think that Ray ever learned how to do anything with his hands. Work was a nasty word to that guy. But he was a good pretender. Almost every Sunday, Dad’s partner, Mr. Feldman, would come over from Boise. He would get to the ranch real early. An hour or so before Mother and us kids took off for church. I never could understand why, but Ray was doing everything he could to make a good impression on this rich Jew. Here was one of his favorite tricks; When he would spot Feldman’s big Mitchell coming down the road, he would grab a shovel and run out into the orchard. He would take off his shirt and dip the top part of it in the water. Then put it back on again and wait. When the opportunity was just right, he would splash some water on his face, then come marching in. Right past Mr. Feldman, of course, with the shovel on his shoulder. And how he loved those flattering remarks made by the Jew. Such as: “Now there is a boy.”

The Seeker’s Guide to Soul Contact, Part 1

July 2, 2017December 14, 2018 Joseph Dewey

The Seeker’s Guide to Soul Contact

J J Dewey

Check out this introductory video HERE

Introduction

A Course in Miracles (ACIM) was an inspired course leading to the healing of grievances and the discernment of the real from the unreal. Since it was published there have been many others who have written about it plus several attempts to produce similar material.

Overall, though, ACIM remains the gold standard for this type of presentation.

As I was contemplating the course I realized that this basic method could be used to teach about a number of subjects and is especially applicable to anything related to the raising of consciousness.

During my many years as a spiritual teacher I have found that a subject that has raised many questions has been that of soul contact. Soul energy is that which is produced through the interplay of matter and spirit. Focusing on this midway point then opens the door to the kingdom of souls, where dwells our Solar Angel or the higher or God part of ourselves.

Many seekers desire strongly to be able to make higher contact, but just do not know concrete steps that can be taken to achieve this. Because the need is there it becomes obvious that a step-by-step course could fill the vacuum.

Unlike A Course in Miracles and other similar works this will not be a channeled book, though I will do my best to focus on my own soul contact as I write.

Perhaps a parable will illustrate the great endeavor ahead for those who seek true soul contact.

Parable of Soul Contact

Imagine in the beginning that there is one central broadcasting station for all programs and life experiences. This is called SPIRIT.

Then there is a medium through which all broadcasts are transmitted. This is called SOUL.

Finally, we have the possibility of instruments or vehicles which can pick up that which is transmitted.

When humans began their long period of evolution they started with no instruments at all except for a computer program that we call instinct, which is built into them. This computer program was created at the Central Broadcasting Station (Spirit) and planted in humans to make sure they can survive until they can consciously tune in and receive.

Individuals ran on this program for many lifetimes and slowly, by trial and error, began to realize that the program did not answer all of their needs. Meanwhile the Central Station continues broadcasting and the waves pass through them, but until they develop a receiving instrument they cannot clearly intercept the higher communication.

Then every once in a while, when the individual was still, he sensed that there was more than the program, that there is new material of which to become aware. In his moments of stillness he thinks he feels the vibration of the broadcast (soul) passing through his body. The feeling is so slight that the first few times he senses it he dismisses it as his imagination, but, finally, he becomes convinced that there has to be something more out there. He is now weary of just running on his preprogrammed material and reasons that if indeed there is a Creator out there then there has to be more to receive, or life would not be worth living and he should just self destruct.

As the seeker bumps into dead end after dead end, because of the limits of his program, he decides to take a chance and attempt to construct some type of receiving device to receive the Central Broadcast that he has dimly sensed.

Then for a long period of time he experiments with hundreds of mechanical listening devices that he attaches to his ear. Some of them amplified noise and regular sounds, and there were many times that he thought he was hearing from the Central Station, but time after time he learned that he was deceived. Several times his friends, who thought he was crazy, played tricks on him. Another time a charlatan passing through town deceived him and then there were many times that other men claimed to have made the breakthrough. These beastly men claimed that only they could receive from the Central Station and if anyone wanted to know what the broadcast was they alone could be trusted to reveal it.

The seeker continued to search but there were many times he doubted himself and thought that maybe he was crazy for trying to receive from the Central Station because of the ridicule he received from his friends and developing authorities who claimed that only certain appointed ones could ever receive.

The man made many mistakes and had many self doubts, but the idea of the search never completely left his mind, and one day, as he was in contemplation under a tree, he saw a tremendous bolt of lightening strike in the distance.

After the strike a large amount of electricity filled the air and it seemed to the guy that for a short moment he was sensing the broadcast waves. It seemed as if he saw things in his mind and heard things with his ears that he had never experienced before.

After the storm subsided the man roused himself with joy for he realized that he had found the missing ingredient for reception, which was electricity (soul energy).

The man went back to his workshop and gathered together all the physical materials that did not seem to work before and experimented by adding the element of electricity to them. Finally, after much work and frustration the man put together a primitive radio receiver. There was a lot of static, the sound was bad and sometimes it worked and sometimes it did not, but, finally, he was sure that he was receiving something, for the words were clearly meaningful.

He still did not trust his instrument completely because in the past he had been deceived by people playing tricks on him and perhaps this was another deception. He listened to the broadcast in private and tested it again and again and finally concluded that no deceiver could come up with such new and refreshing material that was not in his original program.

Upon concluding that he was truly receiving, he had so much joy that he decided to share his good fortune with his friends. He took his receiving instrument and showed it to his friends. They were curious and asked for a demonstration. The man turned it on and after some static he heard a couple of sentences come through.

“There it is! Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” said his friends. “All we heard was a bunch of noise.”

The man was beside himself. His friends must have not been paying attention. “There it is again!” he said.

“What do you mean?” said his friends. “All that is coming across is just noise. We think this quest of yours has scrambled your brain. Perhaps you need professional help.”

At this the man realized that only he could hear the words on the receiver, that for some reason the instrument was in tune with him and that each person would have to eventually create his own medium of reception.

Night after night the man listened to his new device and wrote down the information. Then after a period of time another idea occurred to him:

“I know how I can prove beyond any doubt that I am receiving from the Central Station. I will take some of the material I have received and share it with others. Then when they contrast the new material with all the other worn out programs in circulation, the people will become convinced that I am a true receiver. Then all they have to do is follow the plans I have for instruments and they can then receive everything I do without my help.”

He was enthused about this plan and immediately began teaching the words of Light to all who would listen.

But alas, he was alarmed and disheartened by the reception. Many of his closest friends thought that this new material was not as good as the old program and that even the charlatans had more to offer.

The man did not give up and he taught others, but their leaders pointed the finger of scorn at him and told their followers that he was an agent of the devil, and the people turned on the man and he was lucky to escape without injury.

Then the man retreated for a long period of time into his quiet chambers and concluded that if no one else was going to beneﬁt by his discovery at least he would. The first thing he did was to work on his receiver, and after a period of time he was able to eliminate the static and blank periods so the broadcast came through loud and clear on a consistent basis. But he did not give up here. He continued to experiment until he developed the equivalent of a primitive black and white TV. It had such a small screen and so much snow that images were difficult to make out, but he continued working until he had a larger screen with clear images and sound.

Then he realized that color would add even more beauty to his learning pleasure and that was also perfected.

Finally, everything was ﬁned tuned and the man learned and learned and learned until he felt he was about to burst at the seams with knowledge. He reached a point where learning was no longer important. What good was all this knowledge if he had no one to share it with?

The big question was with whom could he share his knowledge? Everyone seemed to be satisﬁed with either their original program or with the teachings of illusion. What was he to do?

The man sat silently for many moments in front of the TV contemplating the answer when he heard the Words of Light come through loud and true.

“There are others.”

The man perked up. Over his transmitter he heard the answer. Why didn’t he think of this before? There has to be others who have made some type of receiver and they have also retreated into a solitary space because of rebuke from their peers.

The man then went on a quest to find others like himself who have been receiving from the Central Station. “How will I find them,” he asked himself? And then a plan came to his mind.

“I will go forth again and teach things that do not conflict with the program of the ordinary people, yet I shall plant within these teachings higher knowledge that will pass over the heads of all but the other receivers who can also comprehend.”

The man then went out into the world and taught to all who would listen his parables of hidden meaning, and sure enough there were other receivers with eyes to see and ears to hear who recognized certain words and concepts they had themselves received from the Central Broadcasting Station. As they recognized that this man was no ordinary teacher, the other receivers began to gather with him. As they gathered they all discovered that they had all built receivers of different grades and qualities. Those with better receivers began to help and instruct their brothers and sisters so all who desired could receive with the quality and picture that was desired.

Finally a potency of force was built up so that even those with no receivers began to believe that reception was possible, and the numbers of the receivers began to multiply.

After a period of time, the unexpected happened. As the receivers were all gathered together in one body a message of great Wholeliness came to them all from the Central Station.

They heard a Master speak these great words: “The time has come that the sender and the receiver become One.” They then heard the words of most hallowed instructions that could not be written.

Those who followed the words blended with the Central Station and the Central Station Blended with them in Oneness. Now they discovered that it was no longer necessary to have an instrument of reception, for the Spiritual Center was now in them and they were in the Center. They could walk among humanity and teach all things or they could explore new worlds. All things were now theirs and their joy was full.

The Seeker’s Guide to Soul Contact

Day 1

Who or what am I?

Many there are who agree with the atheist scientific approach that all the ingredients of our makeup came from physical matter interacting with the various elements to produce our bodies, our feelings, our thoughts, self awareness, our personalities and intelligence.

For those taking this approach we merely seem to be our bodies, end of story.

A true seeker takes a different approach. He perceives that there is more to life than a physical body and the chemical reactions taking place therein. He knows he has feelings, his own thoughts, a distinct personality and is aware of self. Even without having a supernatural experience for verification, he seems to have an inner knowing that tells him that he is much more than a material body. When he looks within he senses that there is a dweller within the body which is his essential self, but what this dweller is seems a great mystery to many. Others go by cut-and-dried answers supplied by their religious authorities.

For the purpose of this lesson the student should drop every thought and belief that he has ever embraced, become as a little child and approach this subject as if he were learning of it for the first time. Go by the one thing you know for sure: within your body is a conscious intelligent dweller.

Today reflect on this dweller, what it is and what is its relationship with the parts of the whole. Keep this thought in your mind throughout the day. Whenever you get a moment to pause and think, dwell on this and contemplate the answer to the question: Who or what am I? Make mental, or even physical notes, of the thoughts that manifest.

NOTE: For further exploration on this subject read The Immortal, Book I, which explores this very question. You can read it free HERE.

For further reading on soul contact go to Google and paste this in for searching:

“soul contact” site:freeread.com

Day 2

I see my body for what it is

An important step is to realize that you are not your body. This realization goes beyond a mere acknowledgment of fact. Theoretically, accepting a fact in your mind does not always result in realization. To realize the truth behind a fact requires contemplation and thought, which leads to verification through experience.

Until realization comes, the seeker tends to over-identify with the body even though he may accept the fact that he is not the body.

The owner of a body is a little like the guy who invested all his savings in a classic car that becomes his pride and joy. He has placed so much attention on that car that it has seemed to become a part of who he is.

Many are like the classic car owner in that they over-identify with their bodies, even if they factually know there is life beyond the body.

Seeing your body for what it is will help move your thinking on your body to its proper place.

Like a car that is not you, but with which you may identify, your body is a creation, a vehicle that you use. When the guy in the classic car drives through the neighborhood everyone knows who the driver is the moment they see the car. Likewise when friends see your body they know who is inside directing it.

Your body is not you but is a great creation assembled by divine intelligence of which the real you is a part.

Scripture speaks of the body as a temple of God and indeed it is. Symbolism for the entire universe is contained therein and even the tiniest cell represents intelligence beyond that which has been manifested by scientists since the beginning of this planet.

You helped design the finished product, which is your body, and the changes in your consciousness since birth are reflected in changes in your body.

Your body represents the portion of your consciousness that incarnated here on the physical plane. Go to a mirror and look at your whole body. What you see is what your limited human consciousness has molded.

Next, look a your face. This reveals your intelligence and character.

Finally look deep into your eyes. This represents a doorway to the highest part of yourself. When you look into your own eyes you sense that, even though your body is a grand creation, you are something else. You are much more than a body. Indeed, the eyes are a window to the soul.

Your body is a vehicle that you are using, but it is not you any more than your car is you. Even so, it is a symbol of your intelligence and consciousness and can give you clues that will guide your consciousness back to your true self.

For today’s assignment try to arrange three times that you can be alone to look in a mirror for several minutes.

First look at your face and ask, “What kind of person am I? Am I friendly, loving, kind…? If I met someone like me would I like to be around them? What changes do I need to make?”

Now look as deeply as possible into your eyes. This should be your main focus of the day. As you look in your eyes see a divine presence of which you are a part. This presence is your true self and is much more loving and intelligent than you are in this limited condition. Look and feel that there is more, much more than the limited life you experience in the body.

Day 3

I see this world for what it is

Just as your body is not the real you, this world is not your real home. It is merely a vehicle for experience and exploration that you use in this limited existence.

You are not your body and neither is your home here. All true seekers feel their true home is elsewhere.

This world is a shadow, or a distorted reflection of your true home. In your true home everything is as it seems but in this world there are illusion, lies and great deception that permeate humanity. Distortion comes to you through your media, from your teachers and in your relationships with others as well as from your own self. Many things you have been told are not true. Many things that you believe are not true. Much of that which you see and hear today is not true.

This world requires constant vigilance from the seeker to sort out truth from error, but this is not the case in your true home. In your true home you have beloved friends who never deceive you. You have teachers who only want you to see truth in its purest form. There you see eye-to-eye with other souls and experience joy in relationships. No one seeks to distort and deceive.

In your true home lives a higher part of yourself who is linked to all other selves who are linked to God. In this world it appears the link is severed and we are on our own. This thought itself is a great illusion. This illusion exists because you are a reflection of a higher part of yourself who has forgotten its true identity and true home. You are like one in a dream who is not aware he is dreaming. If the dreamer becomes aware he is dreaming, he realizes that he belongs in a greater reality that created the dream.

You are a dream of the soul. It is not time yet for you to awaken, but it is time to become aware of your dream so you can see the illusions in your dream. When you see the illusions and are aware of the dream, you can then enjoy the dream and assist those who are deceived and depressed by the dream. You can help them understand that they are not alone, but are linked with their true self and other souls.

First you must secure this link for yourself. The memory is so blocked that it will require significant attention and effort on your part to secure it. This you can begin to do by using the power of your divine imagination. Today you will use this power not to extend a fantasy, but to see the real. When you imagine the real again and again the link becomes real and you will be aware of your true home and true self even as you live here in this world of distortion.

Here is your assignment.

Imagine a world where there are many colors brighter, living and more vivid than anything you have seen here. Imagine breathtaking beauty everywhere you look.

Imagine a world where it is impossible to deceive, a world where love abounds and serving your neighbor is as important as serving yourself.

Imagine a world where all are friendly, yet you have great joy associating with a circle of intimate and ancient friends who know you intimately and take joy in your progression. Imagine a reunion with them and embracing them with great love.

Imagine a world where you can communicate with complete understanding. No one will accuse you of saying that which you did not intend to communicate.

Imagine a world where teachers filled with light and love are always available to help and assist you.

Imagine a world where all knowledge is stored and you can access it when you are ready.

Now close your eyes and see a thread of light extending from your inner mind slightly upward linking you to this world. Now see that your consciousness can move upon this light and explore. Someone is there waiting to welcome you home.

Try to do this exercise three times today.

Day 4

I am not my feelings

We have established the fact that you are not your physical body. This is a fact fairly easy to accept for those who believe in an afterlife, but even for them it is difficult to let go of our attachment to the body. For instance, when sick the person may say, “I am sick” when the “I” is fine, but it is the body that is out of harmony.

Letting go of attachments to the body is difficult, but the problem is multiplied with the feeling or emotional nature.

Just like the physical body is a vehicle made of material matter, even so do we have an emotional body also made of matter but of a higher vibration. This emotional or astral body vibrates in and out of tune according to how it is played with the mind. When out of tune it will respond with anger, jealousy, hate, depression and other negative feelings. When in tune it will provide you with happiness, a sense of well-being, excitement, passion, carnal love and many other amplifications of desire.

When you feel these emotions it seems that they are you, but they are not you. They are sensations created in your astral body similar to sensations created in the physical. Just as you can be tickled to create a physical sensation your emotional body can be touched in different ways to create emotional sensations. One might say that when you tickle the emotional body with humor you get laughter or levity.

It is important that you not only see this truth on a theoretical level, but come to realization on it. The seeker must learn to see the feelings with detachment. The easiest emotion to do this with is anger. We are happy to identify with positive emotions such as romantic love and happiness, but some of the negative ones cause us to naturally distance ourselves.

Anger is a good example of this. Many times when people express more anger than appropriate they will have this thought: “This is not me.” In other words, many realize upon expressing too much anger that those emotions are not a real part of themselves for negative emotions do not represent their self-image.

Which leads us to this conclusion. If you are not your negative emotions, then you are not your positive ones either. Both sets of emotions are characteristics of a vehicle made of astral matter that you use in this life. It is your symbolic car that you use to navigate through the world of feeling. You are the driver, but not the emotion itself.

Since anger is a powerful emotion from which it is natural to distance ourselves let us create today’s exercise around it. Think back to a time when you were very angry. Go back in the past and try and relive it. As you do this you will sense the anger within you almost as if it were not you, but another life form trying to express itself. Even when your mind saw that the need for anger had passed you still felt that fire burning in your breast making you feel like screaming. It took self control on your part to not fully obey the emotion.

You did not realize it at the time, but that emotion was composed of elemental lives that have nothing to do with your real self. It is separate from you, but you have power to stimulate it or to quiet it down. You are the driver.

Sooner or later you will feel anger again. It may not be today, but the time will come. When it does visualize yourself stepping out of your body and becoming an observer of what is going on. If you truly become the observer you will not only see, but realize that your emotions are not you, but something you use to navigate in this world of illusion.

Day 5

I use my feelings; my feelings do not use me.

Your feelings seem to have a life of their own and in a sense this is true. This creates a competition for dominance in the body. Who is in charge? Is it you, the dweller, or is it the feelings pulling on the dweller?

The feelings and desires of the astral body are always seeking to have their way and do all in their power to pull you in the direction they want. The problem is that if you yield to the desire nature that it will always go to excess. It will make you eat too much and have no discernment as to what is good for you and what is not. It will cause you to express too much emotion at one time and then suppress too much at other times.

The feeling nature lacks your basic intelligence and power of judgment so turning your life over to it causes you to attempt to navigate the path of life with no steering wheel.

If the consciousness you see as yourself does not take control of the feeling nature then the feeling nature will assume control and produce such great static between you and the world of spirit that soul contact becomes difficult, if not impossible.

The assignment today is to ask and contemplate the answer to these questions throughout the day:

Who is in charge – me or my feelings?

In what areas of my life do my feelings dominate and where is it that I dominate my feelings?

Where am I weak and where am I strong?

Are my beliefs the product of my feelings or my thoughts?

How will my life change when I use my feelings instead of them using me?

Day 6

My feelings hide the light of the soul.

Visualize the earth on a sunny day basking in the rays of the sun. Then see times that storms arise with clouds, dust and mists that block the sun and turn the skies dark.

The earth is a symbol of you and the sun is the light of the soul. The storms are symbolic of your feelings.

This illustrates a truth that must be absorbed. No matter how often your feelings seek control and create inner storms that block the light, the light is always there and never fails – just like the sun continues to shine beyond the storms no matter how fierce they may be.

In the days of Jesus a great storm arose which blocked the sun and put great fear into the hearts of the disciples on the ship. They approached the Master exclaiming, “save us, lest we perish.”

He who had control over the emotions and had stilled them to perfect peace extended that peace and spoke to the out of control storm saying, “Peace … Be still.”

Had he not already spoken those words to his own feelings he would have had no power over the storm. The disciples had no power over the storm because their feelings were as disturbed as the storm itself.

To bask in the light of the inner sun the seeker must follow the example of the Christ and assume power over the emotions to the extent that he can command them to be at peace and to be still so they will not interfere with seeing the inner light.

Obtaining this power is not something the seeker will accomplish overnight, but it is important that he see the end result of this. If he knows that the reward is great then he will be motivated to become a master of his feelings.

Students who read this will be at various stages of mastery over the feeling nature, but all are subject to emotional storms that block the sun. Even Jesus allowed an emotional storm to manifest within himself as he chased the money changers out of the temple. This was not an unwanted storm but an example of right use of emotion. Nevertheless, in that state he could not have calmed the seas, but being a master all he had to do was withdraw and still himself again and in a short order he could have calmed the storm again.

Even so it is with us. No matter how advanced we think we are there are circumstances that can call forth powerful emotions. Sometimes it is right to allow them to manifest if the end is good. Usually it is best if they are controlled and remain still.

When your emotions are stormy for whatever reason it is important that you detach yourself from them, see yourself as the observer and speak to them saying, “Peace … Be still.”

In today’s assignment the seeker is to look within and examine his feelings and ask these questions.

Are all past storms within me stilled or are the waters still choppy? Are the winds still in motion and the sky yet overcast hiding the sun? Can a full-fledged storm beyond your control break out any moment?

Are you fearful about money, the political situation or some relationship? Do you hold hostile feelings toward another?

Tune into your feelings throughout the day and try to honestly assess their state and then say the words of Christ, “Peace … Be still.” Allow about ten seconds to lapse between the two affirmations.

After you say these words pay very focused attention to feeling the peace and the stillness.

Attempt to do this three or more times today.

Day 7

I will examine my feelings today

If the disturbed emotional nature obscures the light of the soul then it is a wise step to examine one’s emotions and discover any problems there. Those who identify with the feeling world make little effort to discover emotional blockages for they feel that their feelings are who they are and few want to change their essence.

When the seeker realizes that he is not his feelings, but they are merely a vehicle he uses then he is more likely to make changes for the better. After all, most would be happy to trade in their old car for a newer and better model.

To discover emotional blockages the seeker must look. Here are some feelings that can manifest and block out the light of the soul.

(1) Selfish desire love. This is a love that seeks to possess rather than to serve.

(2) Grievances held from lack of forgiveness or feeling hurt.

(3) Anger, irritation and resentment not harmlessly released.

(4) Fear – honestly face them all.

(5) Inflated self importance in relation to others

(6) The feeling of being a victim

(7) Jealously

(8) Depression and discouragement

(9) False humility

(10) Feeling overwhelmed, alone or abandoned.

This is not a complete list but merely presented to give you ideas of what to look for.

Your assignment to today is to examine your feelings from the viewpoint of the observer. Ask yourself which feelings are active and blocking the light of the soul and which ones are not.

The problem here is that the feelings that create the greatest problem are often the most difficult to truthfully face. Therefore, do your best to examine the whole range of your emotions and identify those that create the most interference.

When you discover a feeling that seems to create interference focus on it and say:

“The love of God radiates on this feeling and brings me peace.”

Again, three times a day is recommended, but be sure to get in at least one good review.

Day 8

I will find my grievances

All negative emotions can create internal stormy weather that can hide the light of the soul. Fortunately some of them are temporary, such as anger or irritation. You may become quite angry if you lose some important files on your computer, but will do your best to compensate and after a short while the anger is gone. While in the state of anger your power to focus on the inner light is greatly reduced. When the anger has passed then you are able to focus again.

Ideally the seeker would never get angry, but everyone does feel this emotion now and then. The important thing with anger and other negative emotions is to not let them get out of control and channel the energy in a harmless direction until it is diffused. It is important to avoid frequent negative emotions for if they reoccur too often the seeker will never have the peace necessary to establish soul contact.

A negative emotion that stands out from the rest is grievance. What makes it different is that, once embraced, the grievance has a continual effect. Anger, irritation, jealousy and others come and go, but once a grievance is held there is no relief. Even when you are not thinking of it this emotion continues working in the background of your feelings. The seeker will never attain the peace necessary for full soul contact as long as a grievance is held.

The seeker cannot neutralize grievances unless he realizes what they are so let us define what a grievance is.

A grievance is a hurt feeling that affects the emotional body. The hurt and pain manifests because of something considered injurious or wrong that someone else did to you. The wrongdoing could range from something small like a minor insult to something devastating such as a betrayal of a loved one.

It matters not that the cause is big or small for if a grievance manifests then the seeker has a major obstacle that blocks out the light of the inner sun. Therefore, we must deal with the finding and dispelling of all grievances.

The first step is for the seeker to find any current grievance within his breast. One of the problems with doing this is that many have held grievances for so long that the effect of it seems normal now. It seems to have gone, but perhaps your new normal has adjusted to it so, even though it lives on in the background, it seems to not be there.

In my college days I had a room next to a busy street. There was a constant noise from cars and trucks passing by and this really bothered me for a couple days. Then I adjusted to the interference so it didn’t bother me at all. But when I slept somewhere that was quiet I then noticed the difference.

Even so, the seeker may have adjusted to the interference of various grievances and seems to have adjusted to them. He will not realize the effect they have on him until they are faced and diffused. Then when he encounters real emotional silence he will be surprised at the difference.

Today’s assignment is to reflect on your life from your earliest memory to the present and recall all the emotional hurt that comes to your mind. As you find these grievances ask yourself if you have completely let them go or do they still have an effect on you. Is it still discomforting to reflect on them? If so maybe you have not let them go.

After you arrive at the present reflect on the people in your life now. Is there anyone who has hurt your feelings? Does that hurt still linger?

Identify as many grievances as possible so the next step can be taken.

Day 9

The Two Grievances

There are two kinds of grievances. The first is where the mind and emotions participate together and the second merely involves the emotional self, separate from the mind. When the mind does not participate then the grievance is accepted by the emotional self, but not the mental.

It is thought by many that the cause of all grievance is a lack of forgiveness and that by forgiveness the problem will be solved.

It is true that forgiving or realizing there is nothing to forgive will help to alleviate the first type of grievance where the mind is involved, but it will do little to help in the second.

The reason for this is that the emotional body has a primitive mind of its own and some of its feelings are generated independent of what your mind thinks. Thus deciding to forgive or let the grievance go will not work when your emotional intelligence will not cooperate.

To aid with understanding let us look at examples of the two kinds of grievances.

Grievance, Type One:

Jim was in a car accident where Bob was the driver. Bob took a corner too fast and they crashed landing Jim in the hospital suffering several broken bones. Bob just had a few scratches.

In that painful state Jim’s mind blamed Bob and calculated good reasons for doing this. In this case the emotions followed the reasoning mind and a grievance developed. Bob visited Jim and profusely apologized, but to no avail. Jim continued to blame Bob and held on to the grievance.

Grievance, Type Two

Jill just finished her first attempt at poetry. She put her heart and soul into what she thought was a beautiful poem. She visited her best friend Joan and read it to her thinking she would appreciate its depth.

Joan did not seem impressed at all and said it not only sounded a bit corny, but some of the English needed correction. She grabbed the poem, and made changes with red ink and handed it back.

Joan thought she was doing her friend a favor, bur poor Jill’s emotional self was devastated. She returned home without responding to Joan’s criticism and corrections.

Laying in bed that night Jill realized that her feelings were suffering a major hurt. She tried reasoning them away, saying to herself, “Joan was just giving me her honest opinion. She is entitled to do that. And her grammar corrections were spot on. She didn’t mean to hurt my feelings so they should not be hurt, but they are hurt and I can’t seem to let them go.”

In this second example the mind does not see any reason to hold a grievance, but a grievance is still held. Jill proclaiming that she forgives Joan does nothing. The grievance remains. The emotional body has taken control and decided to harbor offense and will not let the mind talk it out of the pain it is nourishing.

For your assignment today reflect again on all the grievances you can recall, past and present. As you review them attempt to figure out whether they fit into Type One or Type Two.

Meditate on how one can find release from the two types and how the approach will be different.

Day 10

I will change my mind today

Now that you have done your best to identify both types of grievances you must take steps to neutralize them. To do this the seeker must start with the mind for both types. The reason we start with the mind with Type Two (emotionally based grievances) as well as Type One is that the mind may hold a subtle, but unrecognized grievance. You may think you have forgiven your father for what he did to you but maybe there still lingers a residual grievance in both your mind and emotions. Maybe you have not yet justified forgiveness in your mind.

Therefore, the first step for any grievance is to make sure the mind is not harboring any condemning thoughts toward others.

Reprogramming the mind requires a logical argument in a new direction. One has to examine how it is thinking now and talk it into changing its mind.

Let us take the accident with Jim and Bob. Jim’s mind enhances the grievance because it is thinking like this:

“Bob was driving carelessly. If he had been paying attention the accident would not have happened. Bob knew better than to take that corner so fast. The injuries I suffer are totally Bob’s fault and he should suffer and pay. As it is, he only had a few scratches and is not suffering at all.”

Notice the general trend of thinking which is basically this: The guy who seemed to cause the grievance is not suffering enough and needs to suffer more.

Fortunately for you, your mind is programmed by your conscious self. You merely have to make definite decisions about the direction of the programming.

Suppose you are Jim and want to release your friend from your condemnation. What do you send to your mind to change its program?

First Jim would start with the obvious. Bob has apologized and feels bad about the accident. He didn’t mean for it to happen.

Jim then thinks of the times that he was careless but was lucky enough to not have an accident that injured someone. There were a number of times it could have happened and then someone would have a grievance toward him. Jim could have been in Bob’s shoes numerous times in his life.

This type of reasoning is helpful, but it often is not enough, so Jim must go further. He must explain to his mind that holding a grievance toward Bob, not only hurts Bob, but hurts himself. Nothing good is accomplished by the grievance. Not only does the grievance cause emotional hurt to Jim, but it is physically dangerous.

Why?

Because a grievance causes blockages of the vital life energy which can lead to all kinds of physical debilitation and disease. It is not worth holding it for this reason alone.

But most important for this course is that a grievance places dark clouds between the seeker and the light of his own soul. The heavens will seem to be tightly closed to him who holds a grievance.

The seeker has a lot of logical ammunition to convince the mind to let the grievance go. There is no benefit in keeping the grievance and many benefits to letting it go. When this is realized no mind can make a case for keeping the grievance.

The assignment today is to examine any grievance that may still have an effect on you and reason with the mind about it, similar to what we have done here. Then end with this affirmation:

“There is no logical reason to keep the grievance. I have everything to gain and nothing to lose by letting it go. I now release it to be gone forever.”

For successful reprogramming you may need to apply this exercise a number of times.

For more of this series click on the desired links below:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27

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As I Remember, Chapter 6

July 2, 2017 Joseph Dewey

This entry is part 6 of 39 in the series Ted Bio

CHAPTER 6

I could write for hours, about those days on the farm. But I won’t. There is just a few more things that comes to my mind, then I will move on. Brother Cecil didn’t hang around too long. He took off with the Pittman boys and headed for Seattle. Later, he would return and marry his sweetheart, Minnie Bork.

Everett Harvey, from Kaysville, Utah come to town. He was a brother to Dee Harvey. Who had married Dad’s sister, Aunt Ree. He had just returned from a Mormon mission, down in the Southern States. He was a walking bible and a fast talker. Oh yes, he had come in on a stolen motorcycle. But he could hold everyone breathless in church. All the old women set their daughters on him. Thinking that he would be a great catch. One of them was my mother. Yes, he was the dirty skunk that married my sweet sister, Afton. He didn’t have a job and no place to take her.

At the Doc Darrah ranch, the big new house was empty. Doc, a wealthy guy, had got tired of ranch life and moved to the city of Boise. Through Dad, who was a friend of the Doc, they leased this ranch. Everett and Afton moved in. There was one room in the big house that was locked up tight. Everett was to stay out of there. It was Doc’s private wine cellar. A little thing like a lock, didn’t bother this guy. Before the sun went down, he was inside that forbidden room. How do I know? I was there with him. I had helped him and Afton move in.

There was lots of equipment on the place. Including horses and harnesses. All this guy had to do was get busy and raise a crop. He made and attempt to plow some the land. When he would start out in the morning, a jug of the Doc’s wine was hanging on the harness of one of the horses. He didn’t get much plowing done. In fact, he was there for a year and raised exactly nothing. Maybe I shouldn’t say that. Afton was pregnant and would soon bear his child.

I made boxes all that summer. I averaged about ten dollars a day. That doesn’t sound like much now but considering that the going was twenty to twenty five cents an hour, it wasn’t too bad. I was only sixteen years old, and making as much as four or five grown men.

Harvey always managed to get himself and Afton to church on Sunday. Usually, he would preach a sermon. He was good at that. I don’t think he ever took Afton to a doctor for an examination. When the labor pains started, he called the folks and an old doctor out of New Plymouth. Afton and I were always very close. I also went down and waited. The doctor was there for several hours. A baby girl was born and she was alright. But Afton was in bad trouble. The old doc didn’t seem to know what to do. Dad got on the telephone and called one in Boise and told him to come over. Mother called the Bishop and he sent over a couple of the Elders. I was by her bedside when they gave her a blessing. I heard them say. “And you will live to raise many sons and daughters.” I crawled up in the big hay loft back of the house and cried and prayed. I stayed there for three days. No one knew where I had gone. Then Afton died. I come out of hiding and cleaned up for the funeral. Which was a big one. Everyone loved that girl. I was a very disillusioned young man. I began to wonder about a lot of things that I had taken for granted. But I guess that is just a part of growing up. Mother took baby Afton home with her. She raised her just like she was her own child. Afton hadn’t been buried a week, when Harvey was chasing the wild widows of the community. He was having a ball. It wasn’t long until he was married again. I think he was the most worthless guy I have ever known.

As I Remember, Chapter 5

July 2, 2017 Joseph Dewey

This entry is part 5 of 39 in the series Ted Bio

CHAPTER 5

Everything wasn’t always a bed of roses for me. It seemed like I was always getting sick. Bringing home something to the rest of the family. Like in Boise, when I had come down with the measles. Yes, there were other times, and I will tell about a few.

I was just fifteen when I bought my first car. A 1923 Baby Overland Roadster. THE PUDDLE JUMPER, I called it. About that time, I started courting some of the young girls. I always had plenty of money to spend, also a good car to drive. I guess I was quite popular. Every year in Emmett, during the peak of the harvest, they have what is known as THE CHERRY FESTIVAL. Emmett is known for it’s cherries. Also it’s beautiful girls. Every year the cream of the crop runs for ‘Miss Cherry Queen.’ One of the girls, her name I will not mention, was running for this honored title. She was very popular and later became the winner. She had been going with one of the high school Seniors. He was a star football player and very popular. Something happened to break them up and I moved in. Then come the night of the crowning of the queen. I was very proud to be her escort. Her former boyfriend was also a good friend of mine. Also, I will not mention his name. Anyhow, after the crowning was a big dance. One that I will never forget.

I had just got through dancing with the pretty, little Queen. Someone else had just taken her away and I was just standing there watching. Then, someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was the Queen’s ex-boyfriend. He stood there staring at me. “Hi.” I said, “How are you tonight?” The trace of a grin passed over his face. “Alright, I guess.” Then he walked over close to me and put his arm on my shoulder. “Ted.” he whispered. “You and I have been friends for a long time, right?” I nodded. I wondered what was coming next. He motioned toward the girl with the crown on her head. “We went together for quite awhile. I guess you know that.” I nodded. “And Ted, there is something you should know.” I was all ears. But I sure wasn’t ready for what was coming next. “And what is that?” His voice was low. “The whole damn family.” he whispered. “Has the seven year itch!” I was speechless, to say the least. I couldn’t say a word. But I couldn’t help but notice as he walked away, he reached down with his right hand and scratched where the legs come together. It was my last date with this little chick. A few days later, I was scratching all over. In about a weeks time, everyone in the family was scratching. It took gallons of sulfur and lard before we were cured.

I guess I caught everything that come along. In those days small pox was a very dreaded disease. And of course, I was the one to get it and bring it home to the rest of the family. At first I had terrible head aches and a high fever. For several days I almost died. Then one morning, Mother come into my bedside to take a look. One was enough. She let out a scream and ran for Dad. I guess I must of been a terrible looking sight. I was broke out in big blisters from head to toe. Mother and Dad rounded up the rest of the family and headed for Emmett. There, all of them were vaccinated.

I made it through this ordeal alright but I still bear many scars. And there were more. The chicken pox, mumps, I had them all. But there is one more that I would like to tell about. As I recall, it was in the fall of 1926. I was sixteen. After the fruit harvest, I began to feel lousy. Every afternoon, I got a headache. I lost my appetite. I was sick to my stomach. I didn’t feel like doing anything. I just laid around the bunk house. Finally one day Dad come in and looked me over. “Get up.” he said. “I am going to take you in to the doctor.” Old Doc Reynolds was the family doctor.” That afternoon, Dad took me up to his office, which was in the old Russell hotel. He was a rough, plain spoken guy. But I guess he was a pretty fair doctor. Dad told him. “Something is the matter with this kid. Can’t get any work out of him at all.” The Doc stared at me for a minute, then grunted. “Disrobe.” “What?” I didn’t understand. “Take off your clothes.” he said roughly. “And lie down there on that couch!” There was just the three of us there. I guess he didn’t have a nurse. I took off my clothes and hung them over a chair and laid down. He got out his stethoscope and listened to my heart. He thumped on my ribs and my stomach. Then he took my temperature. I didn’t like the way he kept shaking his head. I was scared. Then he said. “Get up.” I stood up and just stood there, waiting. He walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a small bottle about the size of a salt shaker and handed it to me. He then pointed to a door and said. “Go in there and bring me back a specimen.” “What?” I didn’t understand what he meant. I just stood there. Then Dad spoke up. “Do as he says!” I was sick and nervous. I walked over to the door, opened it and stepped inside. I was in a toilet. I still didn’t know what the Doc wanted me to do. But, I thought. “Being as how I am in here, I might just as well take a leak.” I did, then stepped back into the room. The empty bottle still in my hand. The Doc stared at it for a moment, then snarled. “Where is my specimen?” I looked down at the thing in my hand. “I don’t know what you want me to do.” The Doc didn’t hesitate. “Piss in it!” he shouted. Dad guffawed. I felt mighty embarrassed. But thank God I still had enough left for a sample. Soon we were out of there.

A couple of days later, the telephone rang. It was the Doc. Both Mother and Dad talked to him. When they were finished, I got the verdict. I had typhoid fever. There were a couple of different types the doc explained. And the one that I had was the bad one. The killer. Under doctor’s orders, I was immediately put to bed. And until my fever broke, if it ever did, I could eat nothing but liquids. For over a month, I lie there in bed. Every afternoon, my fever would rise well up above the one hundred mark. Each day, I grew weaker. I could hardly turn over in bed. But my mind was busy. All kinds of animals come to visit and entertain me. Giant spiders were crawling all over. The doc come by a couple of times and looked me over. He would always warn mother. “What ever you do, don’t feed him anything solid. His stomach is practically eaten up by the bug. It would kill him for sure.”

Every day, Mother would give me a sponge bath, brush my teeth and comb my hair. And speaking of hair. And speaking of hair, mine was coming out every day by the handful. Soon I would be as bald as a doorknob. I thought. Then one morning I woke up. For the first time since I had got sick, I had enjoyed a good night’s sleep. No animals and no spiders. My fever had broken. My head was as clear as a bell. But I was a long ways from being well. It would take months for my stomach to heal. It took a couple of weeks for me to learn to walk again. I was little more that a skeleton. My body was shrunken and withered. But every day I got a little stronger. A couple of weeks passed and I could get around by myself. Then along came Thanksgiving. As usual, we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Dewey in Emmett. I will never forget that day. I was still on a soft diet. But my appetite had sure returned. I stood there drooling, as I watched Grandmother and Mother set the table. It had been months since I had sunk my teeth into anything harder than a bowl full of Jell-O. Mother walked over and put an arm around my shoulders. “Are you hungry, dear?” she asked. I nodded. “Starved is the word.” I answered. Mother walked over to the phone and called Doc. Reynolds. “Is it alright if Ted eats a regular dinner today?” she asked. And Doc’s answer? “Sure, sure, give him all he wants. If you want to kill him!”

As I Remember, Chapter 4

July 2, 2017July 2, 2017 Joseph Dewey

This entry is part 4 of 39 in the series Ted Bio

CHAPTER 4

And now, back to the ranch.

Dad’s seventy five dollars a month was barely enough to keep us going. He and Feldman come up with a solution to this problem. They bought about ten head of milk cows. Cecil and I turned out to be the milk maids..

The days were always long. Even in the winter time. We would get up long before daybreak. Mother would cook breakfast while us kids milked the cows and separated the milk from the cream. The skimmed milk, we would feed to the pigs.

It was over a mile to the school house. We would bundle up with sweaters and overcoats, woolen socks and overshoes and take off. Those were the happy days, those school days and I was sorry to see them come to an end.

When I was twelve years old, I graduated from the eighth grade. Which was as far as I went in school. Cecil and Afton were both going to High school in Emmett. I would be the next one, or should have been. But it didn’t turn out that way. The folks couldn’t afford to send another kid to high school… So they said, I was needed at home.

I was always a great lover of music. I didn’t have a good singing voice, but there was nothing wrong with my ears. So one day, I come up with what I thought would be a solution to this problem. I told my folks, “If you can’t afford to send me to school, I could get myself a violin and take music lessons. That way I could stay here all the time.” Both Dad and Mother said that this sounded like a great idea. So, I forgot all about going to high school. But I didn’t have a violin and they cost money. Dad refused to put up any. But I was determined.

All that winter, in my spare time, I trapped musk rats and mink. Also some badgers and a weasel or two. Along about Christmas time, I sold my pelts and bought me a good violin. I inquired around and found a guy that would give me lessons. One lesson a week, and the cost would be five dollars a month. Once again Dad balked. “Five bucks was a lot of money.” he said. Then he added, “If you have any talent, you will learn to play the darn thing yourself. After all the first guy that learned to play one didn’t have any lessons.”

I tried. I guess the racket I made was hard on everyone. One day Dad told me, “If you are going to practice on that damn thing, get the hell out of here. Go at least a half mile up the road.” Then as an afterthought he added, “And make it a mile if the wind is blowing toward the house!” Shortly after that, as you kids know, I really learned to play. Anyhow, I never got to go to high school.

I was determined that I was going to make something of myself. As the years passed, I tried a lot of things. I even studied to be a magician. Took a full correspondence course. Although I never made a career of this, I have no regrets. I have entertained many people with my magic. Making coins disappear in front of their eyes. Many different card tricks and last but not

least, how to operate the old shell game. I still have a trio that I bring out once in a while.

I was always sort of a scrawny kid. Not very husky. A lot of kids my age could take me down and sit on me. Then, I took up boxing. I bought a book on How To Box. Written by Terry McGovern, former middle weight champion. This guy was a terrific boxer. Also he knew how to put it into words.

We always had a couple of punching bags hung up in the trees around the house. Also a set of boxing gloves. Kids for miles around would come up to our big, shady lawn and put on the gloves. Cecil and his pals did a lot of training. One time, at a dance in Letha, Cecil boxed Floyd Hunter and knocked him cold. Brother Cecil was considered one of the best in the neighborhood. And he sure could and did , knock me around. But I was a determined young man. I kept reading the book and learning all the right moves.

Also, I learned something else. I become a box maker. I learned this trade from a fellow by the name of Frank Noise. For years, he had been making all our boxes. It was fascinating to watch the guy. Everything in those days were put in boxes or crates and all of them had to be nailed together by hand.

Each year the trees on the ranch were getting bigger, bearing more fruit. Also new ones were coming into bearing each year. Whenever I got a chance, like at lunch while Frank was eating, I would go to his bench and practice. Also in the evenings after he had gone home. It was a tricky business and hard to learn. I could write pages on the subject but I won’t. But I kept at it. When I was fifteen years old, I could make a prune suitcase, we called them, in forty seconds flat. I would drive those twenty five penny cement coated nails with my eyes closed.

When I was fifteen, I made part of the boxes for the ranch. From then on until I left there, I made them all. I think my biggest year was in 1928. That year we shipped over fifty car loads of prunes and twenty car loads of peaches. And each car, (box car) railroad cars, each holding over twelve hundred crates. Now that was one hell of a lot boxes. And I was paid one cent each for making them. Of course it took me all summer long, but when fall finally come, I had them all made and ready to go. For my summers work, I think that I was the highest paid worker in the valley year.