One morning he received a message from Alcar that Wolff wanted to paint a large canvas.

He did as Alcar had instructed him and ordered the canvas and all the other necessities.

When it was brought to his home in the afternoon, he was immediately taken over, and within half an hour Wolff had made a sketch of a rock in the sea.

For the next two mornings Wolff worked at the canvas, which measured four by five feet, and it was accomplished.

Wolff had worked on it for two hours.

How could such a large and beautiful painting possibly be finished within two hours?

Afterwards André got a message that this symbolized his own rock of life.

‘My rock of life,’ André thought, ‘what did I do to deserve this; surely this can’t be true?’

Had he understood Alcar properly?

No, it was too much for him, he couldn’t accept it.

He forgot about it and gave it no further thought.

It was a splendid painting and a present to be envied, but he wanted nothing to do with a rock of life.

He was too simple for that, too small, too puny.

No, no, he wanted none of this.

He had a fine frame made for it and at an exhibition many admired the beautiful piece of work.

But whenever he was asked what the piece meant he didn’t dare tell them.

It represented the sea and rocks and that was final.

‘But’, people asked him, ‘surely that rock has a symbolic meaning?’

All the same, he didn’t have the courage to tell them, because he was afraid they would think he fancied himself and that was something he could certainly do without.

One afternoon he was visited by a lady who came to look at his paintings.

When she looked at his rock and asked him what it represented, he wanted to get out of it and told her that it was a sea with rocks, but that didn’t satisfy her.

‘You’re the one to receive it’, she said, ‘so surely you must know what it means?’

Well, what could he say to that?

‘Surely that isn’t a rock’, she said.

‘It looks more like a church which we are all busy building.’

André thought she was rather close.

Should he tell her?

He didn’t quite have the courage; if she were to scoff at him or shrug her shoulders, what then?

It would hurt him; after all, he wanted none of this himself.

But she insisted and once again she began to talk about that rock, so he decided to tell her.

He carefully told her, but halfway he already regretted it, because he sensed that she doubted his words.

To be sure, he thought, that was once and never again.

People wouldn’t understand.

They ought to descend in the spirit and be able to link up with spiritual conditions.

Who would appreciate its greatness?

After all, it was unacceptable to them.

No being would ever wheedle it out of him again; the rock could be his a thousand times over, he could hardly believe in it anymore.

He thought he was vain and conceited, and he was merely imagining things.

It was a beautiful painting, and that’s all there was to it.

But was he really vain?

He thought it over for a long time.

No, he had never been vain. Anyhow, he refused to think about his rock again.

Months went by.

His leader didn’t mention it, yet Alcar would surely know how grateful he was for the beautiful present, and he wouldn’t want to grieve Wolff.

All the same, he couldn’t accept it as a ‘rock of life’.

One night he heard himself been called by his name, something which had happened many times before.

‘André’, he heard, ‘come over to me.’

He looked around and got a fright, as he was standing beside his physical body.

Who had set him free?

This hadn’t happened for quite some time, because his recent disembodiments had happened consciously.

It showed how far he had already developed.

Before him stood a spirit that went up to him and shed a beautiful light.

He was clearly visible to him.

‘Look’, the latter spoke, ‘I’ve come to fetch you because I have something to tell you.

Would you come along with me?’

‘Where to?’ André asked, as he didn’t see his leader around, yet at that same moment he sensed that all was well.

‘You will soon be told.’

‘All right, I’ll come with you.’

‘I have something to tell you about your rock of life.’

‘You?’ André asked, surprised.

‘Yes, my brother, I know about your rock; please follow me.’

They left the earth without delay and arrived in the hereafter.

André recognized the third sphere, which he had already visited many times with his leader Alcar.

There, on a high hill in a beautiful area, they sat down.

‘You know this sphere, don’t you?’

‘Yes’, he answered, ‘I often dwelt here with my leader.’

The spirit began to speak.

‘Listen, brother.

I must explain to you why I was called.

No one else but me is able to tell you about your rock of life.

In the days when I lived on earth I was once taken along to the spheres too, as I possessed the gift of disembodiment, and in order to do my work well and accurately I was presented with something in the spirit.

I did the same kind of work as you do now, and I was a medium for powers on high.

I wandered from village to village, from town to town, to proclaim spiritualism.

I healed the sick and was allowed to write, everything happened through those who guided me like they guide you.

Many became convinced, but there were thousands who could neither accept nor understand it.

I disembodied to receive spiritual lessons on this side and to get to know life after death; it was a task similar to your present one.

I was given support on earth to enable me to do my work, because, as you know yourself, it’s not so easy to serve higher powers.

I received spiritual support to lean on, whenever I needed it.

They gave me a staff to keep me upright in difficult times.

This all taught me to get to know myself, and I was allowed to leave a lot of the things behind which my helpers gave me on earth, in order to convince man of a life that continues forever.

I often dwelt here, and when I arrived back on earth I had to convey everything.

Life on earth was difficult, but my staff helped me along, and finally my end came too.

Only here did I sense the great mercy of being allowed to serve higher powers.

Only here did I see the good and the wrong I had done.

Oh, I thought, if only I were allowed to return, I would do things entirely differently.

Here I understood the full meaning of my work, and of the gift to be allowed to possess this on earth.

Especially to be allowed to depart from the body and to dwell in the spirit.

You won’t understand this richness either until you arrive here, because no more than a part, a mere fragment of the enormous totality, can be shown to us, as you would not be able to digest it on earth.

Only after you have passed from earthly life to eternity, will you know how great the gift of disembodiment is.

Here I understood that I could have achieved more if I had had a deeper feeling for my task.

That is why I want to warn you against certain things and explain to you what you will be able to receive in order to bring happiness to the people on earth.

I therefore asked your leader if I might inform you of all this, as I couldn’t find an instrument on earth to convey my impressions to you from this side.

They advised me to wait, and now we are together.

It will be clear to you that your leader refrained from giving you this proof, since I was allowed to tell you this, all the more so because I am acquainted with your life on earth, and because mine was the same as yours is.

Only on this side did I understand that it takes a lifetime to put the spiritual treasures which have been granted into practice.

Only here, brother, did I understand how much they had intended to give to me.

I will now show you a vision which will make all this even clearer to you.’

André focussed his attention on him and understood the meaning of his life on earth.

Everything became clear to him.

‘You see that everything could have been different.

It will support you and be a warning to you during your life on earth.

Now I ask you: Whenever you need help on earth, call me and I will come to help you.

You will also have understood that I wanted to make it clear to you how great your task on earth is, how great the treasures are, which they wish to give to the earth through you.

Remember, brother, that only one in a million possesses this gift.

One other thing.

The longing to be allowed to dwell here to the full also played up in me.

Seeing in the invisible world tends to complicate earthly life, which only few will understand.

The continuous returns, the renewed acceptance of matter, living down there, that’s the hardest part of your gift.

I know all about your struggle, I sense your longing to be allowed to enter spiritual life for good.

These feelings also hold your leader back, they are powers which counteract the ability to receive.

This is only known on this side; man on earth doesn’t know all these conditions.

Yet you are one of the gifted ones, and life here will mean nothing but happiness to you if you are able to hold your ground.

Now I will tell you the meaning of your rock.

After you have returned into your body and you link up with your rock, it will, especially when certain things are unclear to you and you must reach some decision or other, make it clear to you.

It shows you the level you are on.

You will be able to mirror your own life in it; it will show you the trend of your life, either ascending or declining.

Everything will waver if you don’t steer a straight course.

Your rock will glow in keeping with your own radiance.

In times of turmoil, pray to God to be permitted to receive the truth.

Attune your own life to your rock.

Everything is spiritual, just as your life on earth is, and you will receive nourishment in the spirit.

So, your rock will show you whether you did your work well or not.

You will fall and rise, continuously, to embellish your rock.

It’s obvious that it is a great mercy to be allowed to receive such a thing from this world.’

Now André felt ashamed that he had more or less flung away his own rock of life.

‘So I came to warn you against yourself.

Compare your life with mine; it will support you and give you strength, enabling you to still achieve a lot on earth.

You will convince many people of a life that continues forever, and those who acquire this wisdom and begin to live accordingly will possess light on this side.

You will get to know laws, which were shown to me too; you will visit spheres which are all even more beautiful than those you were already allowed to enter; in short, everything will be given to you to give the people on earth happiness.

You will receive the treasures of heaven.

I will be glad to know that my brother who still dwells in matter understands his work well, and I will support you with my prayer and with all my abilities.’

André reached out to him with both hands, which the spirit heartily shook, and they then set off for the journey back.

When he awoke in the morning, his first thoughts went to the spirit who had come to fetch him that night.

He had a clear recollection of everything.

He quickly got out of bed to take in his precious gift right away.

There was his rock, his own life, the symbol of his own self, which he had rejected.

How long would it take before he had reached that height.

He would have to get to the top, as far up as the cross; that would be the end.

It would take thousands of years yet.

How grateful he was to his leader that he had given him this precious painting, and he thanked Wolff too from the bottom of his heart.

How ungrateful he often was, when he didn’t understand spiritual matters.

But now everything was clear to him and he firmly resolved to dedicate himself entirely to his task.

In future, he wouldn’t want to be without the painting for all the money in the world.

He was now determined to use all his powers to benefit the things on high.

It was a marvellous day for him and he soon experienced what a great support the rock would be to him.

Some time later, he was faced with a difficult problem that baffled him because it concerned himself.

He didn’t know how to solve it and he hadn’t the courage to ask Alcar.

But one afternoon, as he was quietly sitting in his chair thinking things over, he was suddenly linked up with his rock.

Everything was wavering and he understood that if he acted the way he felt now, everything would go wrong and it would sadden him.

So he decided to go the other way, which would be hardest for him, but he also saw that it would put him on the right track.

You see, this was his support.

Who upon this earth was able to see his own life and had his mistakes shown to him?

There were only few; but he possessed this gift.

Now he had an even better understanding of the life of him who had been a medium on earth.

After he had acted as he must, he saw how the foundations had become even stronger than before.

It was splendid but difficult; and yet he wanted that difficulty, which would strengthen him spiritually.

Some time afterwards, Alcar presented him with additional proof that his rock was a spiritual gift and what it meant.

Alcar used his own mediumistic powers to give him this proof.

One afternoon he received a message telling him to take some photos.

He was to take spiritual photos, and this would require considerable time.

He got all the requirements from one of his friends and shortly thereafter he began.

The first things to appear on the plate were clouds.

Then there were figures, but it took him months to achieve this result.

Alcar told him that he would soon be printing something, as he had progressed that far.

Yet it still took months; he had already used up various plates, but he knew he was on the right track due to the impacts he felt and which differed every evening.

Suddenly gentle faces came through, which shaped themselves out of the ectoplasm and were clearly visible.

But he wasn’t satisfied yet and he calmly continued.

However, the proof came quite unexpectedly, which made him understand that just as in life, all the beautiful and great things in the field of occultism were given without notice.

One afternoon, while he was on his way home from a patient, he felt a severe impact.

When he arrived home, he wasn’t conscious of anything anymore, he fetched the apparatus and got everything ready without even being aware of it.

Afterwards he felt himself returning to consciousness, but the influence remained.

‘Call your wife’, he heard Alcar say, ‘she will serve as a subject.

Her powers are also needed.’

He called her and she was to sit underneath the painting.

Everything was ready.

At that same moment he heard a voice saying: ‘Open’ and he heard someone beside him counting, beginning at twenty, and at twenty-eight the voice said: ‘Close’.

The shot had been made.

He was then guided to the darkroom and again he sensed a heavy impact, a sign that he was being helped from the side beyond to develop the plate.

How astonished he was when a cross appeared.

This cross was not visible on the painting.

How was this possible?

It must be near to six feet high.

Neither he nor his wife had seen any sign of it beforehand.

He felt dead-tired, as if all his powers had been used.

Overjoyed with his success he heard Alcar say:

‘Do you now believe, André, that it’s your rock that has significance in the spirit?

This, my son, is proof of the spiritual truth.

It’s a holy, spiritual possession, hold it in esteem.’

For the time being he had to stop, because other conditions were to be explained to him; he would take it up again later.

André accepted, and he was happy with his rock.

All mediums will receive a support one day through spiritual help, when it becomes known on the side beyond that they accomplish their work in a good way.

He hopes to be allowed to receive much more from those who dwell behind the veil, and to achieve a lot through them.