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The winter weeks following Miss Annabelle's second school board confrontation were not only good weeks for her, but surprising ones as well. Each week, more teachers at Duncan Elementary School approached her to offer their support. Furthermore, more and more teachers showed genuine interest in her successful teaching methods and even complemented her lectures.
Miss Annabelle was deeply surprised by this support. In fact, she had no idea that teachers were actually listening to her tapes. She knew some of the progressive general lectures were too much for those adults to begin to comprehend after exposure to a lifetime of illusions. But, they obviously sensed something wonderful.
During these winter weeks, Miss Annabelle learned more about adults than in her previous 35 years. She observed these supportive adults trying to comprehend some of her radically different ideas. They tried hard to cut through illusions to the essence...to what is. ...They're good people, Miss Annabelle thought, but they're guided along by the matrix of illusions created by the small minority of bad people.
That observation would, of course, prove to be her fate at Duncan Elementary School. She pondered how just one person with power, in her case, Hammerschmidt, could create and successfully carry forth illusions that would have destroyed her career if she were not so unusually effective at defending herself.
She thought how just one person with power can cause extensive damage, for ordinary good people cannot pierce through the matrix of illusions on their own to the essence of things...because they put authority outside their own minds. That's the problem, she thought. Until people make the "jump" to the approaching, new mentality -- the God-Man mentality in which people no longer look outside themselves for authorization from external "authorities" and instead turn to their own minds for authorization by seeing what is -- until their jump to that approaching God-Man mentality, they will ultimately give their power to and follow their external "authorities". Those external "authorities", like Hammerschmidt and like most politicians, are dishonest people who thrive on usurping people's power.
During Miss Annabelle's extensive readings, she had come across Dr. Julian Jaynes' research on the Bicameral Age over 3000 years ago when man hallucinated voices of the gods emanating from objects of worship, telling him what to do. She knew that today's mentality -- putting authority outside oneself into the command of external "authorities" telling us what to do -- was a remnant of our bicameral past.
She also knew that mankind was on the verge of "jumping" to a new mentality, the God-Man mentality where the authority resides in man's own mind. She could see the change coming by the way more and more people rebelled against authority, particularly against the politician. These people, she noticed, were not just complaining about specific politicians, wanting them replaced by other politicians. Instead, a growing number of people were rebelling against the idea of the politician, period. People were beginning to turn down external "authorities".
Of course, the basis of her educational program was to teach her students to seek no further for authorization than their own minds honestly integrating reality to see the essence of things and know what is. She thought about how the majority of people, on the other hand, inherently know they do not see through to the essence of things and cannot integrate knowledge needed to guide their lives with any degree of power. Therefore, they turn their guidance system and broadest decision making over to the companyities -- the external "authorities". Her students would never do that. They saw through to the essence of things and were beginning to integrate knowledge needed to guide their lives with power. Indeed, they had the power and would never turn it over to someone else. They would never be dependent upon and would never accept external "authorities", for her students were already jumping to the God-Man mentality.
But, she wondered, why are my peers showing interest and support? They have sunk so deeply into the quicksands of illusions. ...Why do they seem to want this?
*
About a half dozen teachers actually started joining Miss Annabelle with the students for lunch. It was during one of these lunches when Miss Annabelle got her second glimpse since the parents' support at the second school board meeting at why these adults were drawn to her and her ideas. Ian Scott was talking when she got this second clue.
"All that enormous data that's been collected on our Universe has always been studied while assuming mass and energy were the controlling factors," Ian said to the amazement of the group of teachers. "But, what if we look at all that enormous data while asking another set of questions based on: `What if human-like consciousness controls the Universe?' Physicists might find a whole new set of answers."
Miss Annabelle felt that same jolt of euphoria that she had when Teddy told his story about his burgeoning fire-alarm business. Ian has started building his knowledge-puzzle, too, she realized. ...The fascinating thing about this God-Man mentality, she thought, is that a person, using his own mind as his guide, can build these knowledge puzzles; he or she can see out further and further by piercing through illusions to the essence, lassoing and pulling together common denominators into growing success puzzles...a new way of thinking that she witnessed in Teddy and now in Ian, which she called Neothink.
One of the teachers, Mr. Melbourne, a healthy-looking man originally from Australia, had a strong interest in physics; he turned to Ian and asked him what made him, in the first place, think intelligent life controlled the cosmos. Ian elaborated on the talk he and Miss Annabelle had during the year before about how intelligent life naturally and very quickly takes control of nature and then reaches out into space exploration and space colonization, cultivation, and control of the cosmos. Ian explained how, given the logistics of the Universe, intelligent life has existed for millions or billions of years before earthlings. Rapid technological progress would tend to intercept the cosmos and, a long, long time ago, taken control of the dynamics that control the Universe.
Mr. Melbourne became fascinated with this hypothesis. The two of them talked the entire half-hour left to the lunch period. As Miss Annabelle watched them, she noticed how Mr. Melbourne seemed like an excited kid again -- full of enthusiasm and wonder. He seemed to have rekindled his child of the past. That child of the past so full of life and wonder has died long ago in most adults, killed by the adult world of lost dreams and stagnant routine ruts. But here she saw the beautiful wonder of the child fill Mr. Melbourne's expression, and she knew this wonder is what draws these adults to her.
"It's that child of the past within," she thought, answering why these teachers were drawn to her. "Those adults see me as their bridge to the child of the past buried within every adult. I'm their hope; their bridge to that lost child of wonder and happiness."
While Miss Annabelle was making this observation, suddenly Mr. Melbourne turned to her and asked, "Can I get a copy of that lecture of you and Ian last year? I want to listen to it and talk to Ian some more on this."
"Why, sure you can," she said. And for that brief moment, his eyes and hers locked; they both felt something urgent inside, like a tugging feeling. A wave of energy from some unknown source swooped through Miss Annabelle.
*
That evening, Miss Annabelle went for a walk just before dusk. During her walk, she saw in her mind's eye that moment again...his eyes. Whatever was drawing him to me, she thought, was drawing me to him. What is it about him? Is it his good looks? she wondered. No, she realized quite to the contrary, she had become very suspicious of good-looking men since she broke away from her abusive ex-husband, who had exceptional looks. If anything, John Melbourne's healthy outdoorsman looks backed her off. So, what was it, she wondered, that tugged at me during that moment when I looked into his eyes?
She relived the moment in her mind. She gazed into his blue eyes, again. Yes, it has to do with his eyes. Oh, the innocence in those eyes, she thought; they're like a child's eyes. But, then again, his eyes carry the strength of a man who's been around the world, figured it out, and has no fear. Then, all over again, the feeling of attraction rushed through her.
She stopped walking. "I like his innocence and strength," she confessed out loud. "I see in him beautiful life; he hasn't been pulled under by the negative forces around him. He's too strong."
Suddenly she laughed at herself, thinking about a man. She was still too wary of romantic relationships to acknowledge the romantic feelings stirring within her. On the surface, she thought she was simply admiring his character.
"Why did I just laugh?" she asked out loud, amused at herself. She didn't admit it, but it felt good. She involuntarily laughed again, and as she laughed, she saw John Melbourne's face smiling at her.
*
Another blissful week passed; Miss Annabelle arrived to school early Thursday morning. It was an unusually cold day, but she forgot about her chill when she approached her desk and saw the envelope with her name on it.
Many thoughts raced through her mind: Sally's mother, another summons, a private note from one of her students. ...She took a deep breath and opened it.
What she saw made her gasp and place the note back on the table. John Melbourne had listened to the lecture about the cosmos. He wrote,
"Miss Annabelle, I was intrigued by your lecture. I have a thousand questions. Will you be my guest for dinner Saturday?"
Her heart was pounding; her palms were sweating. She felt nervous. She was gathering her thoughts when she heard a light knock on her door. Before she could answer, her door cracked open and John Melbourne poked his head in and said in his soft-spoken Australian accent, "Good-day, ma'am."
Not knowing what to say, she managed to echo his greeting, "Good day," she said gently.
"Well, will you have dinner with me?" he asked, flashing a handsome smile that, like his eyes, carried innocence and strength.
Miss Annabelle decided to say "no". Besides, she thought, my life is devoted to my twelve students and to preparing my lectures for them. She had no time for distractions, particularly with the growing possibility that this could be her last and only year as a teacher here. She had to equip her students with the ability to forever, without her future help, see through the matrix of illusions to the new world of what is.
Her mind was made up that she would not join Mr. Melbourne for dinner; she looked directly in his eyes and said, simply, "Yes."
*
Moments later the click of the door handle turning brought Miss Annabelle out of her daze. The door opened, Miss Annabelle saw a beautiful girl and realized it was Cathy. Cathy was still a little chubby, but beautiful and headed toward gorgeous.
"Come here, you pretty thing," Miss Annabelle commanded in an elated voice. "Look at you!"
Cathy grinned with poise and confidence. Miss Annabelle could hardly believe her eyes. She remembered how just a few months ago Cathy couldn't even smile. Now she smiled effortlessly.
"Miss Annabelle," Cathy said, her smile not yielding, "Is it possible to be, you know...in love at my age?"
"By the way you're glowing, I'd say it must be possible!" They both laughed and talked for twenty minutes. Miss Annabelle loved this moment with Cathy. The little girl had become alive and interested in life. Miss Annabelle soaked up the little girl's giggles as precious gifts.
Cathy, too, had been starving for conversation with someone who cared about her. Her parents were not interested in happy subjects. They got excited over long-winded complaints.
After the 20 minute chitchat, Cathy gave Miss Annabelle a hug. Just then the door opened. The stern faced principal stared at Miss Annabelle as if she were caught doing something wrong.
"Yes, may I help you?" Miss Annabelle asked.
"Certainly you can, Miss Annabelle, by following school policy. You keep your door open when you have a child in there with you, henceforth!"
"Oh? I didn't realize that was a school policy," Miss Annabelle said.
"It is now!" Ms. Minner snapped back.
*
The sun had gone down; it was Saturday evening, and Miss Annabelle noticed she was getting nervous. Her date would arrive in less than fifteen minutes, and she had tried on four different outfits and was still trying to decide what to wear.
While putting on makeup, she stopped and looked in the mirror into her own eyes and, for the first time, asked herself, do I like him?
She confessed to herself that she was attracted to him. Yet, wise from her first marriage, she knew her feelings were but an initial attraction.
She calmed down a little and looked forward to their dinner together...just in time, for the doorbell was ringing. She put her lipstick on in three smooth strokes and went to the door.
"You look stunning," John Melbourne said. His comment was a genuine, knee-jerk reaction upon seeing Miss Annabelle. She was wearing a one-piece red sweater-dress that contoured her small, curvaceous frame. He was helpless to stop his eyes from roaming over her body. Her auburn hair belonged with this dress; her purple eyes radiated with feminine mystique. The dress seemed to shrink around her tiny waist. Then, looking down, he saw the dress stop about four inches above her knees, revealing just a peek at her slim thighs.
"Miss Annabelle, it's just that I've never seen you so...so ravishing." He was speaking in all sincerity of a man taken aback by a woman's beauty.
"Thank you, Mr. Melbourne..."
"Please, call me John," he said, not sure whether to be embarrassed by his reaction or whether she took it as a compliment.
"Thank you, John," she said, "and call me Jennifer."
She gestured for John to come inside and went to get her purse. When she pulled her coat from the closet, John took the long white overcoat and helped slip it over her shoulders. Outside on the steps Miss Annabelle nearly slipped on the ice. John grasped her arm firmly to keep her from falling. They both laughed, which broke the nervous tension, and enabled them to relax.
They drove about twenty minutes to a restaurant with a "down-under" theme. When they walked through the front door, two pleasing sensations greeted them: the relief of warmth from an open, circular fireplace crackling right in the middle of the restaurant, and the sweet smell of fresh baked bread. The dark wood tables and walls glowed with reddish reflections from the big fireplace and the individual candles on each table. It was rustic and romantic inside. She was excited to sit down and get to know him better.
The hostess sat them at a table close to the fire. Miss Annabelle looked radiant in her red dress, the red sequins sparkling in the fire's glow, her auburn hair blending with the warm wood furnishings, her purple eyes reflecting the fire itself. They ordered steaks and a bottle of cabernet.
"I was so impressed with your lecture, Jennifer," he said. "I'm going to listen to all of them, and I'm compelled to tell you something I've never told anyone but one other person. First, I've done a lot of reading, research, and writing over the years..." Miss Annabelle loved his intense eyes and sexy accent. "And I've concluded that everything we do originates from one of two fundamental minds: from man's mind functioning as it did in the distant past or from early glimpses into man's mind functioning as it will in the future."
Miss Annabelle's eyes suddenly ignited. She knew exactly what he was saying.
"In fact, the basic structures of civilization today like education, religion, politics, business, science, marriage, and the arts were built by our mind of the past, but I can see that all changing over the next few years."
Miss Annabelle leaned forward in her chair and rested both arms on the lacquered wood table. The flame from the candle illuminated the beauty of this woman's face when interested in a man. For the first time, she sensed that this man saw the world from a much wider perspective than she ever suspected, possibly surpassing her own perspective.
"You're the first, Jennifer, from all that I've read and seen, who's taking education to the next structure...for the mind of the future."
He stopped talking, catching Miss Annabelle off guard. She was just starting to let herself feel her physical attraction for him and was noticing his full lips, masculine jaw line, sandy hair and matching whiskers, and soft blue eyes...when he suddenly stopped talking. She had to momentarily gather herself and her thoughts.
Miss Annabelle pulled back a little and said, "Tell me, John, what is this mind of the future like?"
He leaned forward and looked into her eyes. "Jennifer, you know what it's like. Humanity never stopped looking for a voice to guide us. All structures of civilization today are set up that way -- for us to be guided. But you teach children to guide themselves. They use their own minds to pull together and structure knowledge like structuring a map. They build a knowledge map and use that mental map to guide themselves. They sidestep outside guidance. They see, as you say, what is. They guide themselves. Outside voices can never control your students now...or ever."
If a man could ever get Miss Annabelle's attention, he had just done it perfectly, but sincerely. Miss Annabelle felt pure joy in hearing this reflection. "That's why they've begun building new ideas that will affect the world," she said proudly.
"Yes, I know," Mr. Melbourne said, "like Ian and the amazing hypothesis he's putting together. He's advancing into the mind of the future that integrates and builds knowledge to lead himself and create new knowledge which is what happens with the mind of the future. Most people do not know how to lead themselves or create new knowledge, but I believe the day is coming when everyone will shift to that mind of the future, and we'll live to see the day. All the structures of civilization will change."
Miss Annabelle could not believe what she was hearing. First, here was someone who knew, as she did, that a new mentality existed. Second, here was someone who possibly could see even beyond herself into what this new mentality would mean to humanity. And here he was, living in Cheektowaga and teaching at Duncan Elementary!
"How will the structures of civilization change?" she asked as calmly as she could.
"Politics, religion, business are fundamental structures of civilization, and currently they tell us what to do and how to live. Imagine politics not telling us how to spend our money and run our businesses. With us running our own lives, the government would reduce to one of protection only. Progress and prosperity would be phenomenal.
"Imagine religions without a `higher' authority, a guiding voice telling you how to live. Instead, your own mind becomes your guide and god by efficiently integrating knowledge together into pictures of the future. Suddenly, religion would focus on the greatest value in the Universe -- human life in the here-and-now.
"Imagine businesses without external `authorities' dictating our work day, such as one's routine-rut delegated down from management above. Instead, with integrating minds like Teddy, the entire business structure would have to change to something radically different to accommodate so many self-thinking entrepreneurs.
"I don't have clear answers to how those new structures will function, but I know they'll be far superior to what they are today. In fact, I predict your students will discover some of those new structures. For example, Ian's ideas about the Universe, at nine years of age, are the most exciting ideas I've heard or read in years. And his ideas are very sound. His whole concept of humanlike consciousness controlling the Universe and intercepting the course of nature is fascinating and logical. In fact, I can't find a flaw in the logic. All the existing and new data will have to be looked at again, as he said, asking a different set of questions. Some completely new understandings will come out of that data, a superior understanding than we have today...because of that one little boy using this new mentality, bringing us a whole new structure of the cosmos."
When Mr. Melbourne brought her here, she just thought he was going to ask some questions about the lecture she and Ian had about God. She had no idea...
"And there are other things on the horizon like your discussion about medicine and the plight of poor Sally's mother. A superior structure of the medical world will come when the external `authorities' like the FDA are gone.
"Jennifer, your students are starting to make absolutely startling breakthroughs. Ian and Teddy have gone beyond any nine-year-olds I've ever been aware of. They both, frankly, shocked me with their reach of concepts...and it takes a lot to shock me. ...I would not be at all surprised to see others in your class break through, too, to the mind of the future."
Miss Annabelle knew all along he was right, but it felt good hearing it from him.
"I see the media structure changing from power in the elite few external `authorities' to power in the hands of everybody." Mr. Melbourne continued. "I even see the arts changing from power in the hands of a few key players or external `authorities' to the marketplace of consumers. Again, I cannot tell you how it's all going to change. I just know that the mind of the future will no longer let external `authorities' guide our lives. Therefore, everything has to change."
"And what about love?" Miss Annabelle asked with a twinkle in her eye, feeling very comfortable with him and very attracted to him. She had never had a conversation like this with a man, and she never thought she would.
"Ah, love," he said, not missing a beat. Instinctively, he knew the conversation was turning personal, and he said, "You're the expert on love...you're the beautiful woman. You tell me."
Miss Annabelle felt her heart thumping. "I...I'll tell you. But...I love listening to you talk." She suddenly felt vulnerable, "Would you please go on?"
"I know that people will be much happier with the mind of the future and its new world," he said. Then he added, slowly, "And I know happy people are the most romantic people and the best lovers." He stopped. They locked eyes, and she felt that rush of energy go through her again.
"Are you a happy person?" she asked sensuously, her eyes involuntarily looking down slightly at his lips then back to his blue eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her gently, yet with a firmness that gave away his yearning for her.
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