I have experienced after-death contacts with Pat while awake or dreaming, via the usual senses. I can almost call these up by prayer and meditation. I become quiet and peaceful in both and that seems to bring Pat right there when I cry her name.

It has occurred to me as Pat’s presence within me grows ever stronger, I will lose seeing her with my physical senses. (Sheldon Vanauken’s second death or severe mercy.)  Souls do not use the physical senses or even words to communicate with each other. Our soul is who we are; it is the entity that unites with another in marriage and with the God within us. “You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” In other words, personhood is not based on having a body. A soul is what is required. It is eternal. The soul communicates on the ethereal/spiritual/astral level – feeling not speaking.

In marriage, the one entity created by God in the sacrament of marriage is also a soul for all eternity. In the Garden of Eden, there were three present, and there was joy. So, if God is central in a marriage today, there also will be joy. Without God, a true and full oneness is not possible. Pat’s 1970 anniversary poem says it all:

You love me royally, as I love you,

seated together in our garden Kingdom,

keeping up our silent conversation,

clothed in robes of joy of every hue.

For us, our royal love has had no parallel:

It rooted, grew, and like a miracle

spread to the garden where in now we sit,

Clothed in the fragrance of God in it.

 And this long miracle is to discover

the inmost me and you,

to nurse no longing for another,

to forge the soul and its desire together

gently, openly and forever.

Nothing grows but common flowers

outside our Kingdom’s wall.

Here alone the magic lies.

We ask nothing; we have all.

I find I feel Pat within me most when I am praying, meditating and during the sacrament. 1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? King James Version (KJV) I find Pat there with Christ and among the communion of saints. I know as her presence in me grows stronger I’m going to depend more on Christ and this communion of souls for her presence and for communication with her (also, on my dreams). Faith in Christ is a gift of God, and we can believe the gospel only when God gives us a new heart that is open to the preaching of His Word (John 3:5; Eph. 2:8). Christ himself is the only true Word of God and He is in our Heart. Of course, everyone who has been given such a heart and presence will finally trust in the wisdom of Christ alone for salvation and that our loved one dwells in us. Now THAT is C. S. Lewis’ meaning of a marriage coming to “God and Us.