Hello Everyone!
I hope this email finds all of you well and eager to begin another year with new endeavors. I started work on a thirty-day devotional called, A Closer Walk with Christ, from my blog A Tree Firmly Planted (https://atreefirmlyplantedblog.wordpress.com), which I write under another name. After that, I am going to polish my novel called Snake Oil. I’ll give you more details on that book as the time draws closer to publication. Meanwhile, Between Us is still available on Amazon. Look out for a countdown deal in a couple of weeks, and pick up a copy for $2.99 during that time.
While perusing the internet, I recalled a story about the feud between Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle. Many of you remember Houdini as the great escape artist and Doyle as the author of the infamous Sherlock Holmes novels. Well, in real life, Doyle believed in spiritualism and heartily advocated the practice.
Spiritualism is the belief that when someone dies, their souls continue to interact with the living. Mediums (those who practice séances, read Tarot cards, use Ouija boards, and the like) seek out the dead and open themselves up as channels for the two parties to communicate.
When the two men met, Houdini also had an initial interest in spiritualism. However, Doyle insisted that Harry had magical powers and the universe gifted him with the positive energies to perform his act. Houdini denied all claims of magical influences but failed to convince his friend. In time, Houdini pronounced spiritualism as fraudulent and spent his last years trying to convince the world, and Doyle, of its dangers. The disagreement between the friends heightened, and Doyle set out to prove Houdini wrong.
When Harry’s beloved mother died, Houdini agreed to attend a séance where Doyle’s wife acted as the Medium to contact his mother. After a few minutes, Doyle’s wife fell into a trance, and Houdini’s mother took control of her hand and wrote a letter to her son. In the end, Doyle and his wife proudly presented the letter to Houdini, who read it with contempt. It appeared that Mrs. Doyle wrote the letter in English, yet Houdini pointed out that his mother spoke only Yiddish! The two men felt betrayed and never spoke to one another again.
Years later, Houdini made up a secret code and told his wife, Bess, never to share it with anyone. If he could communicate after his death, she would know it was him. Although Mrs. Houdini tried several times to reach Harry, she never heard from her husband again.
Interesting bed-fellows, huh?
Well, that’s all for this month! Don’t forget to LIKE my page on Facebook and post anything of interest to you.
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May God bless you in 2021, and always!
Harper