Life Shift by Michelle Slee Read Free Book Online

growing twilight the light   that shone from the open church door and through the stained glass windows was welcoming. Christine walked to the door and stood in the foyer. She could hear voices inside. She saw a notice pinned to the inner door. “A Universe of Pure Potentiality – a talk by Dr Priestley.” Intrigued she opened the door and entered the church.

    There were about a dozen people sitting in the pews, occupying the first two rows. As quietly as possible she walked down the aisle and slid into a seat at the end of the third row.  

    The lecturer hadn’t started his presentation yet. The talking she had heard had been the audience members’ low murmurings to each other as they waited for him to begin. He was in discussion with one of the audience members and she saw him give the woman a pamphlet. He then shook her hand and walked over to the lectern. Shuffling his papers he coughed and then began.

    “It is with great pleasure that I’m here today in this wonderful St Mary’s Church. What a beautiful stunning building in which to discuss and contemplate the mysteries of the universe and the pure potentiality it offers us at every turn.”

    “Now you might be wondering what a physicist is doing giving a talk in a church. And you’d be right to wonder this. For this will be a lecture about physics, have no misunderstanding.   And it will not be easy physics.”

    A few nervous chuckles greeted this.

    “But this is the right place for this presentation. For what I will tell you today about the quantum mysteries of this universe and the existence – the undeniable existence – of multiple universes – is arguably proof of the wisdom of God.”

    Christine leant forward. Multiple universes. Her heart started hammering in her chest. She had studied physics in school but had covered nothing   like this.  

    She looked around and noticed something - something she should have noticed when she first entered the church. How could she have been so oblivious? This was the church. This was the church in that dream (memory?). The church in which she had married Matt - a man, she reminded herself again, that she hardly knew.

    She turned back to Dr Priestley. She had to listen to this lecture, she had to understand what he meant by multiple universes.

    “I am going to tell you today about a world only now observable by scientists, a world where multiple realities are possible and a world where time travel is a daily reality. I am going to tell you about the quantum world.”

    He paused and looked at the audience. He then moved away from the lectern and stood just a foot or so away from the front row.  

    “We now know at the quantum level that particles exist in multi-state conditions. At the same time they are both one thing and another. To all intents and purposes they exist in one universe and also in another. And there is an infinite number of these.”

    Some members of the audience turned   to look at each other, excitement and interest on all their faces. Christine knew how they felt. She was transfixed.  

    “Let me tell you about electrons. Some of you may know that electrons orbit the nucleus of an atom. But consider this – we know that they exist in multiple places at the same time.   This has long been known. It is only when we measure the position of an electron that we finally fix it in one place.”  

    “How can this be you ask and what does it mean to us – to you - here today? Can the message of this – the message of our physical universe - be a message we need to hear? Yes I believe it is. And it’s a message that applies to you, and you, and you.”

    At this he gestured to different members of the audience.

    “The act of observing fixes the multiverse so we only see the universe we are observing. Others may exist but we only ever see one, because the act of observing is the act that fixes. Do you understand that?”

    There were nods but questions were already forming in