Here we stand, you and I, gazing with wonderment at the heavens not realizing the breadth and depth of what we humans call “reality,” defined by our dictionaries as “fidelity to nature.” As a species, Homo sapiens, in Latin “wise person,” has been the end result…so far…of a grand evolutionary experiment that has taken 4.54 billion years since the earth formed and our hominin species arrived 100,000-200,000 years ago, migrating from the Rift Valley of Africa, approximately 60,000 years ago, to populate the earth. So, why do you and I exist? Is existence, or conscious awareness, ephemeral; disposed of in a mere blink of a cosmic eye like a newspaper read and then discarded? Or rather, does human consciousness surrender its fleshy tomb to continue on a journey to a dimension housing a continuum beyond the current understanding of man? Physicists and astronomers continue a slow and deliberate trek to attempt to unmask the composition and complexion of “reality.” In their quest to reconcile Einstein’s general relativity, the world we live in, with the quantum world, the subatomic building blocks which make life possible, scientists have been met with seemingly insurmountable obstacles defying attempts to untangle the grand enigma of existence in order to construct a “Theory of Everything.” Adding to the confusion, religious dogma desperately clings to tales of fiction intent on impeding man’s search for the “truth.” Emerson Alexander Weiss, in The Hand, admonishes us “not to walk through life with a blindfold shielding us from the illuminating light of enlightenment!” His quest to understand himself, and to unravel the mysteries of the universe, plots a course that is intended for Homo sapiens to contemplate in earnest in a quest to find eternity’s gate!
Etched into man’s understanding of the creation of life is the foreboding prospect of death… surrendering one’s mortal flesh to the earth to decay for eternity. But is this apprehension misplaced? Yes! Why? Because it seems that human consciousness survives, once a heart no longer beats, to live on in a place that the co-authors have come to call Beyond the Beyond. There are a selective few who have been blessed with the “gift” of being able to receive the frequencies and words of those passing through Eternity’s Gate to dwell Beyond the Beyond. And Lynn Van Praagh-Gratton, a nationally-renowned psychic-medium, is one such person; the beneficiary of a “gift” inherited from her maternal familial line…great-aunt, grandmother, and mother—and now passed on to her son, Dennis Jr. In the architecture of their collaboration, Lynn and Brett have been inspired by a message conveyed two thousand years ago by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, a Roman philosopher and statesman, who wrote: The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity. And, through a combination of two books with an interwoven narrative, they seek to offer understanding, healing, and hope to those who have “momentarily” lost touch with loved ones. In The Hand (Part I)…A Young Man’s Search for Eternity’s Gate, Brett Stephan Bass introduces us to Emerson Alexander Weiss who interrupts a promising career as a theoretical physicist to fi nd a deeper spiritual meaning in life that dispenses with conventional teachings of science, religion, and philosophy. In The Hand (Part II)…A Young Man Discovers What Lies Beyond Eternity’s Gate, the co-authors advance meaning to the phrase “Life After Death” in order to bring hope to those despairing of optimism...wisdom to wipe away confounding confusion…and healing love to those grieving the loss of one no longer present. Although the co-authors, at times, employ elements of a fictional sequence of events, the body of both works lies in personal experiences and reflective beliefs designed to leave in the reader’s mind that: (1) There is a unifying “oneness” in the composition of the universe fed by the vitality of “light and love”; (2) Death is an illusion fed by misguided fear; (3) Passing through Eternity’s Gate is a beginning and not an ending; and (4) Life on Earth is intended to prepare us all to live in a domain presently hidden from view called Beyond the Beyond where we will be embraced by the Source, the universal repository of all-knowing and all-loving.
THE BENCH... Waiting patiently for the arrival of company, it offers respite for those who are tired and weary. THE BENCH... A place to reconnect with Nature's beneficence-the sun's warmth settling on the cheek; the fragrance of a fleshly mowed lawn; starlight dancing in the eyes. THE BENCH... Offering solitude in a world that violates the speed limit set by serenity. THE BENCH... Where your mind can recapture stored away memories and emotions confiscated by time. THE BENCH... A quiet place to pierce the veil which conceals the future, unmasking your hopes and fantasized dreams. THE BENCH... A seat to share with a stranger and together experience what it means to be human. THE BENCH... A sanctuary where SOLOMON ALFRED MORROW found purpose in life! BRETT STEPHAN BASS is an attorney-at-law who began his professional career specializing in corporate litigation and appellate work. Leaving an active legal practice to become a business entrepreneur, he retired at age 50 to study science, art, literature, religion, and philosophy, to travel the world with his wife, Rosalind, to hone his skills as a photographer, and to write extensively about a variety of life experiences. He and his wife reside just outside of New York City.
The Puritans, who called themselves "the Godly," left England for a nineweek voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to a land that offered new beginnings. During the "Great Migration," 1630-1640, more than 20,000 would arrive in Colonial New England seeking to establish communities that strictly applied their version of civil law and their interpretation of God's commandments. Nathaniel Darling, a farmer, and John Wilmont, a humble toolmaker, were third generation New England Puritans, each having a wife and children, and both living in Salem Village, Massachusetts. Fate would test their courage and their wisdom and would unexpectedly force them to come to grips with the madness that had infected their patch of earth in 1692, when "the Godly" became "the Ungodly" and accusations of witchcraft and the fear and stench of death infected their community like an outbreak of deadly smallpox. The outcome of their entangled and unfinished stories would live for three centuries and would not find resolution and redemption until 300 years later in the small towns of Mattituck, Long Island, New York, and Salem, Massachusetts. With the help of Dr. Emanuel Kanter, a psychiatrist, and Cynthia Copely, a psychic, the answer would at last be found and a soulful journey would find its ending. BRETT STEPHAN BASS is an attorney-at-law who began his professional career specializing in corporate litigation and appellate work. Leaving an active legal practice to become a business entrepreneur, he retired at age 50 to study science, art, literature, religion, and philosophy, to travel the world with his wife, Rosalind, to hone his skills as a photographer, and to write extensively about a variety of life experiences. He is the author of Eulogy and he and his wife reside just outside of New York City.
Diana and Hal Thornton fell in love in an interval of a heartbeat and lived a life so full that it seemed to escape the measurement of time. Together, they... celebrated the romance of love, embraced the gift of family, enriched the lives of strangers, circumnavigated the globe, extracted understanding from science, drew inspiration from Renaissance paintings, trespassed into the metaphysical world, welcomed hope, vanquished fear, and searched for the most important treasure hidden from the vision of the human eye- the immortality of two souls. Diana and Hal Thornton lived a blessed life, never knowing that destiny had entwined them in her silken threads for a greater purpose. They thought that they were the masters of their dreams, but they were not! It was beyond the realm of man where their fate was decided and true wisdom resided. Venice, a city of desire on a carpet of water, mysteriously beckoned to Diana and Hal, leading them to a doorway that promised a life of endless tomorrows. Could they enter? Would they enter? The answer resided with their niece, Aubrey Winston-Bennett, and their nephew, Glenn Winston, who were chosen to bring them the key that might unlatch the door. BRETT STEPHAN BASS is an attorney-at-law who began his professional career specializing in corporate litigation and appellate work. Leaving an active legal practice to become a business entrepreneur, he retired at age 50 to study science, art, literature, religion, and philosophy, to travel the world with his wife Rosalind, to hone his skills as a photographer, and to write extensively about a variety of life experiences. He and his wife reside just outside of New York City.
Folklore has a long-recorded history that advances the tale that a seventh son born to a seventh son before a daughter arrives will be endowed with the gift of healing and the power of prophecy. William Gist, a seventh son, lived with his wife, Mary, in Chillicothe, Ohio and they were expecting their seventh child in November 1866, having already welcomed six boys into the world. Chillicothians were poised for the birth of the seventh Gist child, wagering whether it would be a boy, or at long last, a girl. Gossip and whispers spread through town like a swarm of locust. Everyone, except one, wondered if the child would be a "blessing" or a "curse." The one who knew the answer was a runaway slave. They called her "Mama Jama." She had a Jamaican mother and a slave father and after the Civil War broke out she escaped southern tyranny and the Underground Railroad brought her to Chillicothe. At age forty-three, her only talents were those of a cotton picker, midwife, and a teller of fortunes who used 7 stones to predict the future. Mary Gist had a bursting curiosity about the baby that she carried in her womb and she called upon the fortuneteller to forecast the future, revealing its gender and its destiny. The predictions that Mary sought, however, would prove unsettling-for they were mysterious, haunting, and contained a warning about mankind's future! BRETT STEPHAN BASS is an attorney-at law who began his professional career specializing in corporate litigation and appellate work. Leaving an active legal practice to become a business entrepreneur, he retired at age 50 to study science, art, literature, religion, and philosophy, to travel the world with his wife, Rosalind, to hone his skills as a photographer, and to write extensively about a variety of life experiences. He and his wife reside just outside of New York City.
Loyce Freeman was one month shy of his 70th birthday on June 13, 1952, and all of Charleston, South Carolina, planned to turn out for a public celebration to honor him. There would be speeches, fireworks, and a special dedication ceremony. Abandoned at an orphanage several days after his birth by an unwed teenage mother, fate appeared to have dealt Loyce Freeman a crushing blow. But destiny had other plans for the dynamics of his life. Loyce Freeman would be become the wealthiest man in Charleston's storied history, and one of the richest men in the nation. Living in a stately Charleston mansion with a staff of ten servants to dote upon his every need, Loyce never had an interest in taking a wife or fathering children. Rather, accumulating money, power, and adoration became the aphrodisiacs that infused emotion into his life. Loyce Freeman seemed to have it all. What more did he need to find contentment and fulfillment? But did he really have it all? Apparently not! One month before he would be feted by a community that was both loving and envious, Mr. Freeman did the unthinkable, and it would take a private investigator with guile and courage to try to discover "WHY" before an innocent black man was blamed for something that he clearly didn't do and was dragged to the "lynching tree" to satisfy a burning public outcry for revenge. BRETT STEPHAN BASS is an attorney-at-law who began his professional career specializing in corporate litigation and appellate work. Leaving an active legal practice to become a business entrepreneur, he retired at age 50 to study science, art, literature, religion, and philosophy, to travel the world with his wife, Rosalind, to hone his skills as a photographer, and to write extensively about a variety of life experiences. He and his wife reside just outside of New York City.
The biblical story of Cain and Abel was horrific in its implications, and it would foretell a future for mankind when evil would stalk the earth on a mission to destroy goodness. What began as envy departed from the realm of reason to become enraged jealousy, a jealousy that dispensed with compassion and led to cold-blooded murder. Fratricide... Cain, ruthless in his intentions and deprived of a conscience, killed his arch rival, his brother, Abel. And no amount of tears shed by Eve and Adam could rescue them from their throbbing grief. Identical twin boys, Kyle and Kevin, were born to Elizabeth and John Cummings in Springfield, Missouri, on March 15, 1956, the Ides of March, exactly 2,000 years to the day when Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BCE at a meeting of the Roman senate. A soothsayer had warned Caesar to beware of the Ides, but he foolishly scoffed at the prediction. Elizabeth and John Cummings were unmindful of the event that led to the death of an emperor. Did the birth of twin boys on a day of historic infamy portent another future tragedy? Would the story of Cain and Abel be repeated leaving another set of parents to endure bleeding heartache? Had they consulted a seer on the Ides of March immediately following the birth of their sons, an ominous warning would have arrived to their disbelieving ears, and a word would hauntingly terrorize Elizabeth and John for the balance of their lives..."fratricide!" BRETT STEPHAN BASS is an attorney-at-law who began his professional career specializing in corporate litigation and appellate work. Leaving an active legal practice to become a business entrepreneur, he retired at age 50 to study science, art, literature, religion, and philosophy, to travel the world with his wife, Rosalind, to hone his skills as a photographer, and to write extensively about a variety of life experiences. He and his wife reside just outside of New York City.
REINCARNATION...a discernible truth borne of a spirituality that transcends mysticism? There have been countless documented accounts of very young children reliving past life experiences which, when retraced through an examination of the historical records, have resulted in verification of memories recalled. An "old soul" occupying the womb of an expectant mother has been said to have arrived after birth with conflicted emotions. There are nightmares that shatter the tranquility of the home's quietude. There are fears that border on the unusual and the unnatural. There are reminiscences that emerge which consistently are tied to the distant past...usually married to a tragic and, oft-times, violent ending to life. Psychiatrist Ian Pretyman Stevenson, (born, October 31, 1918), from the University of Virginia, has investigated many reports of young children who claim to remember having had past lives. He conducted more than 2,500 case studies over a period of 40 years and published 12 books. His conclusion...past life memories are real! Brandon Lawrence Miller arrived to the loving embrace of his excited parents with a tortured psyche. Incessant crying, night terrors, and phobias would haunt young Brandon until he could confront a stalking demon returning from another lifetime. How could he liberate his tormented eternal soul? Only one way...through REDEMPTION! BRETT STEPHAN BASS is an attorney-at-law who began his professional career specializing in corporate litigation and appellate work. Leaving an active legal practice to become a business entrepreneur, he retired at age 50 to study science, art, literature, religion, and philosophy, to travel the world with his wife, Rosalind, to hone his skills as a photographer, and to write extensively about a variety of life experiences. He and his wife reside just outside of New York City.
With the first breath of life, we embark upon a journey of self-discovery. Whether our future is written in the stars or we are the true architects of our own desires, we aren't meant to know. But what is known is that there are 12 transcendent life lessons that, when mastered, perfect the human experience. They are LOVE, BEAUTY, FAITH, and...? Benjamin Austin Bryan IV, in the tradition of his father, grandfather, and greatgrandfather, has become a lawyer. But before he steps into a courtroom, fate sends him on a one-year journey of self-discovery to learn all 12 seminal life lessons. The places that he visits are fascinating, manicured by geology and by history to tempt us all to follow in his footsteps. They include, the Tibetan Himalayas, the Rift Valley of Africa, the Andes mountains, and...? In Benjamin Bryan's quest for enlightenment, destiny has handpicked 12 extraordinary people to transform his outlook on life. They embrace an eleven-year-old mystic, a Jain nun, a fossil hunter, and...? Their personal stories are so powerful that they will attach themselves to your heart, and you will beg them never to leave. Taken together, they will alter your understanding of life's meaning! So, pack your "emotional" and "intellectual" bags and join Benjamin Austin Bryan IV on The Journey, the journey of self-discovery.
Here we stand, you and I, gazing with wonderment at the heavens not realizing the breadth and depth of what we humans call “reality,” defined by our dictionaries as “fidelity to nature.” As a species, Homo sapiens, in Latin “wise person,” has been the end result…so far…of a grand evolutionary experiment that has taken 4.54 billion years since the earth formed and our hominin species arrived 100,000-200,000 years ago, migrating from the Rift Valley of Africa, approximately 60,000 years ago, to populate the earth. So, why do you and I exist? Is existence, or conscious awareness, ephemeral; disposed of in a mere blink of a cosmic eye like a newspaper read and then discarded? Or rather, does human consciousness surrender its fleshy tomb to continue on a journey to a dimension housing a continuum beyond the current understanding of man? Physicists and astronomers continue a slow and deliberate trek to attempt to unmask the composition and complexion of “reality.” In their quest to reconcile Einstein’s general relativity, the world we live in, with the quantum world, the subatomic building blocks which make life possible, scientists have been met with seemingly insurmountable obstacles defying attempts to untangle the grand enigma of existence in order to construct a “Theory of Everything.” Adding to the confusion, religious dogma desperately clings to tales of fiction intent on impeding man’s search for the “truth.” Emerson Alexander Weiss, in The Hand, admonishes us “not to walk through life with a blindfold shielding us from the illuminating light of enlightenment!” His quest to understand himself, and to unravel the mysteries of the universe, plots a course that is intended for Homo sapiens to contemplate in earnest in a quest to find eternity’s gate!
The Puritans, who called themselves "the Godly," left England for a nineweek voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to a land that offered new beginnings. During the "Great Migration," 1630-1640, more than 20,000 would arrive in Colonial New England seeking to establish communities that strictly applied their version of civil law and their interpretation of God's commandments. Nathaniel Darling, a farmer, and John Wilmont, a humble toolmaker, were third generation New England Puritans, each having a wife and children, and both living in Salem Village, Massachusetts. Fate would test their courage and their wisdom and would unexpectedly force them to come to grips with the madness that had infected their patch of earth in 1692, when "the Godly" became "the Ungodly" and accusations of witchcraft and the fear and stench of death infected their community like an outbreak of deadly smallpox. The outcome of their entangled and unfinished stories would live for three centuries and would not find resolution and redemption until 300 years later in the small towns of Mattituck, Long Island, New York, and Salem, Massachusetts. With the help of Dr. Emanuel Kanter, a psychiatrist, and Cynthia Copely, a psychic, the answer would at last be found and a soulful journey would find its ending. BRETT STEPHAN BASS is an attorney-at-law who began his professional career specializing in corporate litigation and appellate work. Leaving an active legal practice to become a business entrepreneur, he retired at age 50 to study science, art, literature, religion, and philosophy, to travel the world with his wife, Rosalind, to hone his skills as a photographer, and to write extensively about a variety of life experiences. He is the author of Eulogy and he and his wife reside just outside of New York City.
Etched into man’s understanding of the creation of life is the foreboding prospect of death… surrendering one’s mortal flesh to the earth to decay for eternity. But is this apprehension misplaced? Yes! Why? Because it seems that human consciousness survives, once a heart no longer beats, to live on in a place that the co-authors have come to call Beyond the Beyond. There are a selective few who have been blessed with the “gift” of being able to receive the frequencies and words of those passing through Eternity’s Gate to dwell Beyond the Beyond. And Lynn Van Praagh-Gratton, a nationally-renowned psychic-medium, is one such person; the beneficiary of a “gift” inherited from her maternal familial line…great-aunt, grandmother, and mother—and now passed on to her son, Dennis Jr. In the architecture of their collaboration, Lynn and Brett have been inspired by a message conveyed two thousand years ago by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, a Roman philosopher and statesman, who wrote: The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity. And, through a combination of two books with an interwoven narrative, they seek to offer understanding, healing, and hope to those who have “momentarily” lost touch with loved ones. In The Hand (Part I)…A Young Man’s Search for Eternity’s Gate, Brett Stephan Bass introduces us to Emerson Alexander Weiss who interrupts a promising career as a theoretical physicist to fi nd a deeper spiritual meaning in life that dispenses with conventional teachings of science, religion, and philosophy. In The Hand (Part II)…A Young Man Discovers What Lies Beyond Eternity’s Gate, the co-authors advance meaning to the phrase “Life After Death” in order to bring hope to those despairing of optimism...wisdom to wipe away confounding confusion…and healing love to those grieving the loss of one no longer present. Although the co-authors, at times, employ elements of a fictional sequence of events, the body of both works lies in personal experiences and reflective beliefs designed to leave in the reader’s mind that: (1) There is a unifying “oneness” in the composition of the universe fed by the vitality of “light and love”; (2) Death is an illusion fed by misguided fear; (3) Passing through Eternity’s Gate is a beginning and not an ending; and (4) Life on Earth is intended to prepare us all to live in a domain presently hidden from view called Beyond the Beyond where we will be embraced by the Source, the universal repository of all-knowing and all-loving.
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