Helen Confirms the Message from Caesar as Well as Other Spirits

December 20, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, my dear, you have some messages tonight, which show you what the love has done for some of the spirits who were at one time in darkness and suffering. I wanted Mrs. Riddle to write, as she has never written to you and she was very pleased that she could. She is now quite a bright spirit and happy and is seeking for more of the Love and is believing in the Father.

Col. Root was also very happy that he could write, as he says he is progressing and receiving the Love. He seems to be in much earnestness in his longings for the Love and, while he had a great many sins to get rid of yet, they are falling from him and I do not think it will be very long before he is in light.

Caesar was very anxious to write and tell you of his progress and he seems to realize so very deeply the change in his condition and the power of Love to make him a new spirit. He almost idolizes your grandmother and believes her to be the dearest friend in all the Spirit Heavens. He will come in a short time and write you. He is a very intellectual spirit and will no doubt write you an interesting letter.

I was with you tonight at the show and you felt my presence as the music played. I was in your lap with my arms around your neck and kissed you many times. I was very happy and saw that you were and that your thoughts as to my being with you were correct. It was a very pleasant evening.

Well, I see that you are feeling better and relieved and I am so glad. Baby feels very much better and is happy. She is a dear girl and now is very anxious to get with you in a home, which she will soon do. You must love her with all your heart and watch over her, for she is the only one you now have who needs your care. She loves you very much.

I will come very soon now and write my letter, as I am so very anxious to do so, and tell you some things that you should know. So keep up your courage and love me with all your soul. Give me my kiss and say good night.

Your own true and loving
Helen

Julius Caesar Writes that Ann Rollins Opened Up for Him a Whole World of Love and Truth

December 20, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am Caesar.

Pardon me for coming so soon after my message of a few nights ago, but as I am a grateful spirit even if I was an awful sinner.

I want to tell you that I took your advice and went with your grandmother (Ann Rollins) and had opened up to me a whole world of love and truth. Oh, what a wise and magnificent spirit she is and what love she has, and she treated me with such kindness and was even like Brutus of old. For in her kindness, she gave me a stab that killed all my old beliefs and feelings of greatness and made me in truth a mere nothing and at the same time the greatest being that I had even been in all my existence, for it showed me that I was a real child of God and the object of His Love and care, and one that had all the possibility of becoming in my soul even Godlike. She is my true friend and when she comes to me it seems that my soul, which had for so many centuries remained dead and cold, opens up with a flame of life that her influence brings to me.

I will not write more now. I thought that you were so interested in me that you would rejoice in knowing that now I have started on the way to the attaining of that which you told me of. I will come sometime when I have received more Love and write you a long letter, which I hope will be interesting, for it is a fact that at one time Caesar did write interesting letters.

So, my friend, pray for me and send me your kind thoughts and believe that they will not be misplaced as now I am so anxiously seeking for that which was not in me for so many centuries. Good night,

Your friend,
Julius Caesar

Helen Writes About the Recent Spirits Who Wrote Through Her Husband and Soulmate, James E. Padgett

December 17, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Well, sweetheart, you are tired and must not write more now. I will say, though, that the spirits who wrote you tonight actually are the persons they represented themselves to be. I was with you at the various meetings and these spirits were there and became in rapport with you.

The Indian was in truth an Indian and was in the condition that he declared himself to be. He was a very bright spirit and lives in the highest Spiritual Heaven. He went with your grandmother.

Mrs. Eddy was very anxious to write, and I am sorry that she could not finish, for the burden on her mind is great, and she wants so much to write the truth. I will have her come soon. She is in the Seventh Sphere and has much of the soul love, yet she sees the possible injurious results of her teaching, and her work is before her; and she says that the only way in which she can remedy the wrong is through the channel that she so bitterly denounced, and that she sees the difficulties are so much greater than it would be but for this grave mistake.

Pastor Russell is also very anxious to write and he will soon come. I feel real sorry for him. His shock was so very great.

Well, so it is. I must give my time to telling you of other spirits. But that is my work and yours and we must not complain. They are all the Father's children. So my dear, take courage and believe, and all will be well.

Yes, Jesus was with you at the morning service and may write to you about the same, but I am not certain. His love was with you though, and he seems to want to be with you whenever he is not elsewhere. He loves you and is caring for you.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Mary Baker Eddy, Founder of Christian Science, Writes About the Error of Her Teachings

December 17, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write a few lines, as I am so anxious to declare some facts, which when on earth were not facts to my understanding and beliefs. And oh, the pity of it all.

Today, I was present at the church where the preacher discussed and criticized my teachings and me, also, and I am compelled to admit that some of his criticisms were true and justified.

I am Mrs. Eddy and the founder of the sect which bears the high sounding name of Christian Science, and the doctrines of which are neither Christian nor science as I now know from actual experience in the spirit world, where many of my teachings are shown to be not in accord with truth and so misleading.

I now realize that my mind and soul were not in accord as regards the truth while I lived a mortal, and that my mind was superior in causing me to have certain beliefs, which I left to the world in the form of doctrines contained in my text book and my other writings.

My soul possessed a considerable degree of the Divine Love, as that Love has been explained to you, and when I came to the spirit world, that Love was my salvation, notwithstanding the errors of many of my teachings as to mind and matter and non-reality of sin and evil.

I am too weak to write more, but I will soon come for I must declare the truths.

Good night.
Mrs. Eddy

Lamlestia, an Ancient Spirit, Writes that He Thinks He May Be Wrong in His Beliefs of Reincarnation and Theosophy

December 17, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I was an inhabitant of India when that country was not known of to modern nations, and I lived near the great Himalaya Mountains on a plain that was then fertile and peopled by a vast number of inhabitants who worshiped the Gods of whom the later Brahmans have written in their sacred books.

It may seem surprising to you that I should come and write you and the explanation is that I became in rapport with you tonight at the meeting of the Theosophists. I saw that you were psychic and that I could communicate to you through the medium of the pen. There were many spirits present who, when mortals, lived in that far away country and were and are now believers in the mysteries of the occult as claimed to be known now by those who profess to be leaders of the Theosophical movement. A number of their names were mentioned by the lecturer; and these spirits were attracted to the meeting by reason of the similarity of beliefs which the mortals present possessed and they, the spirits, possessed.

I, also, was present because of that attraction, for when on earth I was a great believer in these doctrines, and especially those that teach reincarnation and karma, and I still believe in these things. Although I have been a spirit for many centuries, yet these earth beliefs cling to me and hold me to the binding force of their truths, as I conceive these truths to be.

Many of those present, whose minds I could read as they thought, believe in these doctrines, but very few of them have any conception of what are the truths taught by such philosophy. Even the lecturer has a very slight comprehension of the scope and import of these teachings, and her attempt to explain the objects and workings of the principles of true Theosophy was a very inefficient effort, for in order for her to be able to teach these doctrines, it is absolutely necessary that she have a knowledge of the same, which she does not have.

No, the knowledge that she, and many others like her, have as to the fundamentals of this philosophy or religion, if it may be called such, is very superficial, and the fact that it is a system of mysteries, of which they have discerned in a few instances, the explanation causes them to conclude that their grasp of the scope of this philosophy is greater than it really is and affords them a kind of satisfaction that arises from the consciousness that some mysteries, which the world knows not of, they know.

She spoke about the great Masters being in India, who have a full knowledge of these mysteries and, in certain conditions or circumstances, will be able to and will initiate the searcher into the esoteric meaning of these great truths. Well, these Masters know something of mysticism and of occult powers and principles, but such knowledge is not sufficient to qualify them as teachers of the great truths of Theosophy, as I understood and now understand these truths.

We have in the spirit world and have had for long centuries, communities of Theosophists, who believe and teach to whomsoever will listen to these doctrines, and many of these spirits attempt to teach mortals by impressions and thought transference these truths of ages, but with indifferent success; and, hence, for most of those who think they would like to understand this philosophy, the great attraction is the mystery, which they believe, because of its being a mystery must contain the truth.

The progress and understanding in the search for the key to the opening up and solving of these doctrines, and the supposed mystery in which they are shrouded, is very slow, and we who have been, as I said, for centuries engaged in this great effort have never had demonstrated to us the existence of our supposed truths; and we are still plodding the weary way, supported by the faith that at some time light will come to us, and that which has so long been enveloped in darkness will come into the pure light of understanding and comprehension.

But as yet, very few of these mysteries have been solved, and the truths supposed to be concealed therein been manifested, and to some of us doubt has commenced to rear its head and cause disappointment. Such being the case with us, what can these mortals who are groping in speculation and discord expect to succeed in disclosing?

Tonight, I heard the lecturer declare that man is God potentially, and that when he develops into perfection he will become God. Never was there a more delusive and untrue declaration of a supposed fact ever uttered for we, who have lived in this invisible world long enough to have had come to us the realization that we are gods, all know that we are only and merely the spirits of men who lived on earth many years ago, and believed that when in the far distant future by our own exertions in renunciation, we would become gods. No, such is not the fact, and while we have renounced many of the sins and errors of our mortal lives, yet we are still spirits with all the limitations of mind and souls that spirits are by nature bound.

And this I must say, that in all the centuries of my spirit existence, never have I known a spirit or the soul of a spirit to reincarnate, and in this my disappointment has been grievous. Many spirits of our association have become perfect through renunciation, and yet they have remained spirits and progressed to the highest Heavens of our possibilities (the Sixth Sphere). Yet, strange as it may seem in view of this experience, we still, to a more or less degree, cling to our old beliefs in reincarnation, thinking that there is something else, that we know not of, to be done in order for reincarnation to become the destiny of our souls.

Sometimes I think that my beliefs in this particular must be wrong, for in comparing the condition of mortals, the most advanced in their mind and soul development, I realize that they are not in a small degree the equal of us in development, and then I wonder and, wondering, cannot understand what good could be accomplished or what improvement made in our condition for progressing should we again enter mortal bodies.

As true Theosophy taught, as we conceived it, reincarnation was a supposed process of purification, and necessary in order that the spirit could attain to a state of perfection and freedom from everything that defiles his soul and prevents that soul from arriving at the blissful state of Nirvana, which means only that condition of soul where no longer reincarnation is necessary or possible; and when I know that many of our spirits - one time believers in these doctrines - have arrived at that condition and entered a state of perfect happiness, I hesitate longer to believe and only hold the faith because I fear that the experience mentioned may be the results of special circumstances. But if I cease to believe these teachings, what shall I believe? No one can tell me that this reincarnation will not take place, and I fear to surrender the belief.

I further believe that in order for the workings of karma, as the doctrines hold, reincarnation is necessary - that only in the mortal body could I do the reaping that my sowing demands, and yet, I see and know that karma has been and is working in this spirit world to the extent that the reaping has all been accomplished, and the spirit made perfect, and this without any reincarnation; for as I have said, never have I known or heard of the reincarnation of a spirit or of anything that is connected with or represents the spirit.

Of late, I have been much in cloudland as to these beliefs, and in my desire to find the light, I have visited the meetings of the Theosophists in all countries, and especially in India where the Masters, who are supposed to have the full knowledge and enlightenment live, and in hope of finding the light, but all to no avail. My desires and longings cry for the light, but none can be found.

Tonight, I was attracted to the meeting where I saw you, and realizing that I could express to you my feelings and doubts, made a rapport and came home with you for the purpose of doing what I have done. I know from your condition of mind that you do not believe in these doctrines of the Theosophists, and that your beliefs are of a different kind, and are new to me, although I have heard of the doctrines that are the objects of your faith. There are spirits with whom I sometimes come in contact, who attempt to tell me of another way to a higher Heaven than the one that I know of, but as they are mere babes in comparison to my ancient existence, I do not listen to them and, hence, I am not acquainted with their teachings.

I must not write more tonight and thank you for your kindness. Well, you seem to be very kind, and I thank you for your interest and under the circumstances must accept your offer and will, I assure you, listen attentively to what may be said to me.

I have looked and there comes to me a beautiful spirit who says she is your grandmother, and that she has heard your invitation and will be glad to show me the way to love and light and truth. She seems so bright and beautiful and loving that I must go with her. So I will say good night and go.

Good night.
Lamlestia

Mary Kennedy Writes that Her Soulmate Love is Like a Consuming Flame

December 16, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mary Kennedy.

Well, I will not be left tonight as I was a few nights ago when Kate wrote her message of love to her brother (Dr. Leslie R. Stone), for while I really enjoyed Kate's message of love, yet I was a little disappointed that I could not say a few words.

Well, I know of no more interesting subject to me than that of love and I could write of it until you might become very tired. I mean physically tired, but I will not do so now, for while you may think I am selfish in this particular, I really am not, and you will understand me when I tell you that this love is with me in such intensity that it is a consuming flame. I mean that it is the one great love outside the Father's Love that forms a part of my existence.

Of course, you must not infer from this that I have not love for all mortals and spirits, be they relative or friends or not, for I have, and my work is in trying to help them in their unhappiness and sufferings. But as you have a soulmate who loves you and you have some of that soulmate love yourself, you will understand that it cannot be divided by any other love, and that it is only a little less than the Divine that can make two soulmates completely happy.

Well, I heard you and I admit that I have it bad - and am glad of it - and would not lose one iota of it for all the world. Just you wait until you get it bad and then you will understand that I am not expressing to any very great degree how bad I have it.

Well, as we are all in one boat, as the saying is, in this matter, I will not think that your expression means anything more than an approval of my feelings.

I have enjoyed your conversation tonight and I am so happy that there is so much Love in your souls and that you are seeking for more. Persevere and you will not be disappointed, and you will find that it is not mere speculation but the great truth of the universe, or rather, the Celestial Spheres.

Helen says that she agrees with all that I say and that she is glad that I told you the truth when I said that she loves you with all her heart and soul. Well, I will not write more now.

With my love,
Mary

Priscilla Stone Writes About Dr. Leslie R. Stone's Trip to the Spirit World

December 16, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, the Mother of Dr. Stone.

And I want to write just a few lines for it does one so much good to tell him of my love and my nearness to him. I want him to believe without doubt that what Mary wrote him as to his coming to the spirit world in his spirit body and meeting us is true. For he did come and to his mother's eyes, he was more beautiful than he appears in his physical body, and why not? When I remember that his soul shone through his spirit body, and we could see that he had much of the Father's Love in his soul.

I was so happy that I could not help shedding tears, and I took him in my arms and hugged and kissed him as I once did on earth, and he kissed me in return and said he was so very happy, and that he now knew that what his mother had written him about his still being alive, and his own loving mother was all true, and he told me of his love for me, and he longed, at times, to have me with him and feel the inflowing of my love. He really met his father and sisters and brothers who all happened to be present, though some of them could not stay very long, for they were just not suited to remain with us, but their love had drawn them to him and they were benefited by meeting him.

Of course, it is needless to say that Mary was there but like the good and loving girl that she is, she stood back until his family had embraced him and told him of their gladness, and then she came to him in all her love and in the purity of her feelings, threw herself into his arms and cried great big tears of joy, and wept as if her very heart would break for gladness, and he looked at her and put her from him, and looked again, and then embraced her with all the strength of his love and cried, too. It was a happy time and we left them to themselves, and they were truly lovers and became oblivious to everything but themselves.

I cannot express my great happiness and the beauty of the scene, for I had never before seen a spirit, and the spirit of a mortal meet in the spirit world, and there were many others looking on in wonderment and appreciation of the evidence of love, but they soon recognized that they should not longer stay and left.

He stayed with her a long time, and Mary said he did not want to return to earth again, but she told him it was not time yet to remain with her, and she promised that he should come again. It is all so wonderful that I can scarcely realize that it was not a dream, but I know it was not, for I felt his arms around me, and his kisses upon my cheek, and his tears upon my face. Oh, how good the Father is to those who love Him and long for the happiness which only He can give.

I must not write more now and thanking you, I will say with all the love for my boy a fond good night.

Your sister in Christ,
Priscilla Stone

Mary Kennedy Writes About Taking Dr. Leslie R. Stone to the Third Sphere

December 13, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mary.

Let me write just a line and I will feel better, for I am so anxious to tell the Doctor (Leslie R. Stone) that he is such a dear boy and needs me more than he thinks. Of course, this is in a kind of humorous vein, but still humor sometimes contains much truth.

Helen says that I might write a short letter, and I know that when she says so you will have to submit, but I know that you want to favor me anyhow. I understand from what he has said to you that he has no recollection of his experience, and I am very sorry for if he could only recall just a little of what he saw and felt when he was with me, he would never doubt for a moment that I am his true soulmate, and that his Heaven is all that he has had described him.

It was a very happy night for me and for him, too, if I may judge from what he said. He did not want to return and said that there was no special reason for his returning and that he was so happy with me, that he felt justified in requesting that he may be permitted to stay with me, but I reminded him that could not be as he had been chosen to do a work among mortals, and that until that was finished, he could not come to the spirit and remain, but I promised that he should come again as a visitor, and that his happiness would be just as great as he was then experiencing and that possibly he might at some time be able to recall some of the experiences of his visit.

Well I had him with me and we were in the Third Sphere, where everything was so suited to our love feast, and we were happy, I must tell you. He met his father and mother and sisters and some other spirits who were interested in him, and they were all so happy to have him with them, especially was his mother very happy for she took him in her arms and kissed him and cried for very joy.

They stayed with us for a little while but soon saw that we were anxious to be alone, and they left with their blessings. But Helen said that she did not intend to leave, for fear that I should get in such a condition that I would forget that he was still a mortal and do something that might prevent his return to his body. She said I was not responsible and that she thought too much of the Doctor to leave him alone with such a lovesick and foolish girl as I was, and asked him if I was not right, and if he did not think it best for her to stay, and he said that, of course, he appreciated her anxiety on his account, and he knew that she did not want anything to happen to him, but that he was quite a brave man and was willing to run the risk of being left alone with me, and then she gave me a kiss and hug and left us.

I would like to tell you of some of the things he said and did, but I have not the time tonight but only say it was a time of happiness and bliss and a forerunner of what is in store for us when he comes over never to return to the body. I will come soon and try the experiment again, and I suppose again, for the joys of our being together are so great that I know that I will not be able to resist the temptations of having him with me.

Helen says that I must stop as you are tired. So thanking you, and with my love to Leslie, and in the hope that he will soon be with me again, I will say good night.

Your loving sister,
Mary

**********

P.S. The day following the information received from Mr. Padgett that his Helen and my soulmate Mary were going to try and take me out of the body as they had written about three weeks before, I felt a wonderful influence of Love that seemed to take possession of my whole being, and it lasted for three days and made me feel so happy.

Mr. Padgett had a similar experience after going to the spirit world in the Third Sphere a few months previous to my experience and said that he felt much Love present in his soul after the event.

Leslie R. Stone

Samuel Writes on "What causes the souls of men the unrest that now exists in the world?"

December 13, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Samuel.

No, I have not written for a long time, although I have been with you quite often and seen the other spirits write, and heard the conversation of yourself and friends on many occasions as you discussed the truth of things spiritual, and commented on the messages that you received on the sermons of the preachers who attempted to explain what they called the Bible truths.

Tonight I desire to say a few words on the subject: "What causes the souls of men the unrest that now exists in the mortal world?"

This is a subject, I know, that of late has been widely discussed and many causes given and tried to be explained as the basis for such conditions of men, individually, and as comprising nations. I realize that it is a large and comprehensive question and to discuss it in all its features would require much more time than we have to devote to it tonight and, hence, I will call attention to only a few of these causes.

In the first place, man is so created, or rather he has brought himself into such a condition that self love or selfishness - and I mean the purely human selfishness and not that of the higher and proper kind - has become the mainspring or active principle of all his motives for doing or not doing a thing or things and, in so acting, the rights of others are considered only in a secondary or subordinate sense.

If the recognition of these rights does not involve any sacrifice of what he considers is for his own advantage, then these rights may be recognized and admitted and permitted to be carried into actual enjoyment; but if there be any conflict between his conception of what he is entitled to and the actual rights of his brother or friend or stranger, he will see only the justice of his own rights and his consequent action will be based on that conception.

And having this motive of selfishness predominant and controlling in his actions, it seldom occurs that the rights of these others are fairly recognized and, consequently, there arises injustice and harm and the desire of conferring those things which would naturally arise from the conception of the rights of these brothers is ignored.

Your brother in Christ,
Samuel

Elias Writes on "The hope that all mortals have in a future destiny of freedom from care and unhappiness"

December 13, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Elias.

I desire tonight to write a few lines upon a matter that I have been thinking might be of some interest to you, and that is: "The hope that all mortals have in a future destiny of freedom from care and unhappiness."

I know that a large majority of mortals, who believe in the Christian doctrines, believe that for a very considerable number of mankind, there is awaiting an eternity in the Hells of continuous torture and torment, and that in order to avoid such a destiny or future state, men, while on earth, must believe in certain doctrines and conform themselves to such beliefs, for after death there can be no possible opportunity for being saved from such a fate.

Of course, these beliefs are the results of the teachings of those who claim to have the ability to interpret the Bible, mixed with a little of divine inspiration and mysterious power and wisdom that are conferred upon those who have the careers of ministers of the Gospel; and men, because of long years of training or of inheritance from those who for long years believed in these teachings, naturally exercise very little independent thought and accept the declarations of these ministers as being almost the divine expressions of God Himself.

Such doctrines have caused in their workings much harm to the mortal and much unhappiness to the spirits of men in the spirit world, because beliefs accompany the latter in their existence as spirits and keep them from learning the truth for a long time after they become spirits. It is a great pity that men can be bound by such false and damnable beliefs, and generation after generation continue to become servants to the teachings of misguided instructors. And I wish to say that all these beliefs are untrue and have no foundation in fact, and the sooner mankind knows this, the better it will be for their happiness on earth and their welfare in the world to come.

It is true that there are Hells and punishment, and that the majority of men when they become spirits will have to go into such Hells and suffer such punishment; but the element of eternal or everlasting does not enter into the duration of such state or condition, for there is no punishment inflicted on the spirits of men for the purpose of causing them to pay a penalty that can never be satisfied through all eternity. This punishment is only for the purpose of purification, and when it is accomplished, for the particular spirit who has suffered the same, the Hell ceases to exist and the punishment ceases to have any necessity for its existence; and, ultimately, the condition of every man will be that of a purified spirit, free from sin and defilement and the necessity for Hell or punishment.

I know that what I have written has in various forms been written before, but I felt that I must say just this much and in the way that I have done. I am glad that you are feeling better tonight, and I want to assure you that, if you will pray to the Father, you will continue to grow in your spiritual development and, as a consequence, feel better in every particular.

With my love I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Elias

Julius Caesar Writes of His Progress and is Praying for Divine Love

December 13, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Caesar.

Well, I merely want to say that since I last wrote you, I have followed your advice and have listened to the advice of the high spirits to whom you sent me, and I have been praying as they instructed me, and now I am in a much better condition than I was and the view that I now have of life in the spirit world is very different.

I am still in some darkness, but light is breaking into my soul and consciousness, and I am commencing to realize that my fate - as I have for so many years conceived it to be - is not fate at all, and that my conception of what my fixed state was is all wrong and was the child, if I may so call it, of my condition of mind and beliefs that came to me when I came to the spirit world and realized that the fact of my having been what the world called "a great man on earth" did not fit me for any greatness in the spirit world.

I was then so disappointed and shocked by finding myself a naked spirit of qualities that brought me into darkness and suffering that I tried to avoid the association of all other spirits and nursed my disappointment in isolation and the belief that for me, there could be no change in my condition or possible progress out of the awful lonesomeness and weariness of my soul.

And now, when I know how different the truth is, I feel that all these long years of my spirit life have been wasted, and I bewail the fate that held me so long in that condition of stagnation and pride and resentment and utter hopelessness. I am now so thankful that I came to you when I did and told you of my condition; and when I realize that my coming to you was more a matter of curiosity to be satisfied - that I could communicate with the mortal world - than because of any hope of receiving any help or benefit that could possible come to me, I thank my curiosity.

When you told me the things that you did, I thought that you were an idle dreamer and the recipient of some of the harmless vices that existed among the men of my earthly days, who used to declaim upon the glories of the spirit world. I had no faith in them, and I had none in you; and it was only when I realized that you were so earnest in what you were declaring to me, and when I came in contact with the higher spirits that you called to my assistance and saw that they had in them something that I had not - and which I had never seen in any other spirit - did I commence to think that what you had told me might have some foundation of truth.

And I also thought that I could not make my condition any worse by listening to these spirits and learn what they had to tell me as to what they declared was the truth of spirit progress; and the more I listened the more interested I became. After a while I was convinced that there might be some truth in what they so earnestly asserted to be true and, as an experiment, I concluded to follow their advice and seek for this wonderful Love that they told me would not only relieve me from my darkness and suffering but would make a new spirit of me in body and soul.

And oh, the wonderful surprise and experience that came to me; for I am no longer the gloomy, despondent and isolated Emperor, but a mere spirit who recognizes that death is the great leveler, and that rank and position and greatness of earth do not in one iota determine the status of the spirit for position of exaltation. I am now in my consciousness a plain spirit having those qualities only which the condition of my soul gives me and realize that I must pursue the same course and suffer the same purgatory as must other spirits in the same condition of soul be they princes or peasants.

Well, as I said, I am so thankful that this knowledge has come to me, for now I am rid of pride and ideas of superiority and all those things that had caused me to believe that the Almighty had treated me unjustly in not recognizing my earthly qualities and giving me a position which, as I believed, my greatness entitled me to. I resented all this and in my resentment, I became a spirit who fed on my imaginary injuries and thoughts that I would be sufficient unto myself and not seek the favor of such a God. So you see what can be the effect of arrogance and pride and a self-glorious estimate of one small mind upon the possibility of a spirit's happiness and progress.

But now these things have left me and I realize that I am a nothing, except that I am a child of God and the object of His Love, as your spirit friends have told me and are telling me. And in my humility - and I am humble, for I want to tell you that my fall was great and the consciousness of my littleness extreme. I know that I need the help of the Father in order to become in the least degree a spirit of light. And I am praying and longing and seeking, oh so earnestly, for this Love.

Caesar, the once mighty, is now Caesar the most humble and weak but the most hopeful. I realize the greatness of God's mercy and the great possibility of its making me one of these glorious angels that came to you so often with their messages of truth and salvation to mankind.

I was considered on earth a man of brilliant mind and wonderful intellect, and what of this I had, I still possess; and now that the way has been shown me, I am exercising these qualities to the best of my ability to help me in my search for truth and light.

I thought that I would write this tonight, for I know that you are interested in my advancement and, besides, it does me much good to tell you. I am praying and longing, and these spirits are praying with me; but as yet, I have not very much of this Love in my soul, but enough to know - I say know - that it is real and that it makes the hard, unbelieving soul open up to the inflowing in greater abundance of its Divine Essence. The Father is good, and I am trusting Him; and with all the possibilities of my soul, I am longing for its filling with this Love and the getting rid of all these century-old doubts and hardness of heart and unbeliefs.

I know the way and now I will never relapse into the state of mind that was mine for so many centuries; and I can say that Caesar has seen the beacon light of hope and the great sun of knowledge that these things which the loving spirits tell me are true. I must stop now, but as I progress I should like to come to you and describe my progress. I will say good night, and subscribe myself.

Your friend and well wisher,
Julius Caesar

Jesus Writes What Men Should Do in Order to Become Again the Perfect Men

December 12, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write a while tonight as I desire very much to again come into communication with you in reference to the truths of God that are so important for men to know. Tonight I desire to write for a short time on the subject of: "What men should do in order to become again the perfect men as was the condition of the first parents before their fall."

I know that many doctrines and beliefs have prevailed in the world of human experience as to what is necessary to bring about a return to the original condition of the created soul of men before the fall, and that many of these beliefs have been preached and efforts made to live the life that will produce this happy state; but in all this experience and belief, men have rarely attained to the perfection that they sought for, notwithstanding the fact that they have been taught that as their Father in Heaven is perfect, they should become perfect. No, this goal has always eluded men while living on earth, and for a long while to come and until man's ideas of his own created condition changes, man will not succeed in reaching the condition of perfection.

While the created soul of man is pure and perfect, and man must realize that fact, yet because of the long ages of living in and nurturing sin and its resultants, man has covered over that pure soul with such a deep and fallacious covering that they have never yet been able to get a correct idea of what that soul really is. As it appears to them in all its frailties and ugliness as it really is, and in addition to this, so long has man been accustomed to see that soul as it appears in its false covering that he has concluded and had no other thought than that it is really what it appears to him to be.

But never was a greater mistake made and never has man been so little successful in discovering the truth of things as in this matter of the true condition of the hidden soul waiting only to be relieved of its covering in order to shine out again in all its purity and truth.

So you see, the first thing for men to do is to realize the true condition of their own souls, and then make the effort to rescue such souls from this false and unnatural condition, and let it appear again clean and pure and beautiful.

Many teachers have appeared in the world and endeavored to lead men to this discovery, and also attempted to show them the way by which this original condition could be recovered or brought about, and success more or less has accompanied their endeavors; but the trouble has been that with these teachings have been mixed things of such irrational character that have had a retarding and baneful effect upon such teachings and, as a consequence, men have lost the principles of the true teachings and found themselves enthralled in the scheme of public benefits that men so forcibly presented to those who followed these doctrines instead of the true teachings.

It seems so strange that these beliefs and practices should be given over to so much importance to acts and beliefs of men, and that the one true principle that lies at the basis of all efforts to regain the purity of the soul, as it originally existed, should be neglected.

Well, the rapport is weakening, and I will write later. So, good night and God bless you. I see that you are in better condition than for a long time, and I am glad. I will come soon again. Good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

**********

Helen Confirms Jesus' Message

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, dear, I am so glad that the Master could write again tonight, for it tells one that you will be able to receive His messages right along and very satisfactorily.

Your own true and loving,
Helen 

John Writes About the Glories of the Third Heaven (Third Sphere)

December 8, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. John, Apostle of Jesus.

I desire to finish my comments on the preacher's (Dr. Ratcliff) sermon on Heaven.

As I said, these apocalyptic writings (Book of Revelation) were made for the purpose of encouraging the people of those days to believe that God would intervene in their behalf and save them from their sufferings and persecutions, and in the one case establish a Messiah's kingdom on earth that would cause the Jews to become the ruling nation of the universe and, in the other, to establish a Kingdom in Heaven where the Christians would find rest and happiness in becoming inhabitants of that Kingdom and children of the Father, and participants in the glories of Christ's reign as king and priest. Well, as the subject of the sermon was that Kingdom or Heaven and the preacher endeavored to tell his people what that Heaven is, I will consider that subject.

In the first place, as I have said, that Heaven is not one universal place where all the Christians, irrespective of their soul development go, but in that Heaven are many Heavens or spheres in which the spirit of mortals will find homes and also happiness according to their soul development or their spiritual development. And in order that there may be no misunderstanding, I must say that the soul development comes only through and by the operation of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual development involves only the result of the correct workings of the moral faculties of a man and the purification of his natural love which, of course, comprehends the development of his soul so far as the same may be developed by this purifying process. The results of each operation is very different and lead to a perfection and relationship to the Father, which is in harmony with the laws controlling the respective Heavens - for the place of final habitation of each may be called Heaven.

But my object tonight is to describe to you the appearance and condition of one of these Heavens, and as mortals have heard more about the "Third Heaven," which we in our information to you have called the "Third Sphere," than of any of the other Heavens, I will confine my description to that place.

Well, it is occupied by the spirits of mortals who have received considerable of the Divine Love, as well as by those who have progressed to a great extent in the purification of their Natural Love and the expansion of their minds and intellects, though the latter do not remain very long in this Heaven, but progress to the Fourth where there are more opportunities and more instructions in those things which have to do with the mind's advancement. While those who have made progress in the soul development and those in the intellectual are all in the Third Heavens, yet they occupy different and distinct planes in that Heaven, for those things that attract the one class do not attract the other, and there is very little intermingling of these spirits except that those who know that the Divine Love is real sometimes attempt to show those who do not the desirability of obtaining it and the happiness that it brings to spirits.

As we have already told you, the condition of the soul - not of the mind - to a large degree makes the Heaven of the spirit, and in the providence of the Father, He has made the surroundings and the appearances of the environment suitable to the condition of the soul and fitted to increase the happiness of those spirits who may, because of their soul progress, be attracted to the particular places in which they find themselves - their homes.

The appearance of this Heaven to those who have this Divine Love in their souls is far excelling the capacity of your mortal language to explain, even if I had the ability to describe the same. But in one general statement I may say that for these spirits there is everything to make them happy to the extent of their capacity to receive and enjoy. There are trees and flowers, and hills and dales, and rivers and lakes, and beautiful landscapes, and above all the wonderful atmosphere, as I may express it that is created by this wonderful Love of the Father, and a glorious light that illuminates and gives life to all who live in it, which comes from this Love of the Father. It is the sun, moon and stars, and sunrise and sunset, and summer clouds, and evening shadows and morning glories. Your material sun and moon and stars do not appear in this Heaven for the effulgence of the light from the Father's Love eclipses and eliminates the light of these material creations of the mortal world.

And then there are homes of the grandest splendor and beauty suited to the conditions of the various spirits, which have in them everything that will tend to cause happiness and joy to their occupants and visiting friends: musical instruments and books, and paintings, and furniture of every kind fitted to bring to the spirits contentment and joy, and a realization of peace and rest from the cares that you mortals have with you all through your earth life. And above and more important than all, a wonderful atmosphere of Love which makes all these spirits realize that they are the children of the Father and brothers of one another and lovers of all humanity.

And, in addition, the social life is beyond all conception. The spirits have their times of visiting as well as those of staying in their homes; and many pleasures as well as of work and helping spirits and mortals; of singing and music and laughter as of prayer and contemplation of deep spiritual truths. Yes, in the lighter social pleasures as well as in the solitary meditations and aspirations of the soul's progress, there is happiness and enjoyment and freedom from those things which defile or make inharmonious the thoughts and heart's desire of these spirits. All is gladness and there are none who have solemn downcast countenances, that many of earth imagine portrays the truly righteous and redeemed of mortals. No, Love knows no sadness, and as the soul speaks, its condition by the appearance of the spirit body's countenance, the soul being so full of gladness and joy, the countenance can express only those emotions of the soul. This is the result of the law which declares nothing can be hidden, and every spirit must show forth the truth of its condition.

There are no walled cities or streets of gold or pearly gates or other of the material things, which the book ascribes to me sets forth, so that man can get some conception of what Heaven is. These things in Heaven would not be gold or pearls or diamonds or jasper, for when they are compared to the real beauties of the things which it contains, they are as the faint light of the candle compared to the light of your noon day sun. Truly the mind of man cannot conceive of the glories that await the lovelit soul when it comes to its Heavenly home.

There is another misconception that the preacher had following the teachings of Revelation, and that is that the Kingdom of Heaven is a walled city, the New Jerusalem, in which all the spirits of the redeemed live, singing their loud hosannas to God. There are cities of which your earth cities may be called correspondences, but there are also villages and hamlets and homes in the country, as you would say, surrounded by green fields and shady vales through which run rivers and streams of silvery hue and clear as crystal, and also placid lakes, which afford the pleasures of boating and sailing and other amusements. For each spirit is provided the place that is most attractive to him and it is optional with him where his home shall be. But all love and worship the Father and endeavor to make their neighbors happy and help the development of the soul towards a progression to the Heavens, which are higher yet. All spirits are controlled by law, but that law is the Law of Love, and that love is the Love Divine: the essence of the Father's Divinity.

I have written enough for tonight, and I hope from what I have said that you may catch some faint conception of what the glories of this Third Heaven is for those who have found, to some extent, this Love and possess it; and then, when as you must know there are many Heavens above this, each successively possessing increased glories and happiness and beauties of place as well as beauty of spirit, you may imagine what the Master meant when he said, "In my Father's house are many mansions."

I know that my attempted description may be unsatisfactory to some mortals, but it is the best that I can do, because mortal words cannot convey and mortal thoughts cannot conceive the realities; and man in his imaginings may better get a spiritual view of these things. I will not write more tonight.

I am with you quite often, throwing around you the influence of my love, and endeavoring to help and encourage you. Let your faith in us and in our communications increase, and believe above all that the Master wrote you the prayer, which you received a few nights ago. Study it deeply and grasp its spiritual meaning, and let your longings and aspirations go out to the Father as suggested by the prayer, and you will find a wonderful and satisfactory response to them. We are praying for you and your friends, and you must believe that the Love is coming into your souls. So with my love and blessings, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Edwin Forrest, an Old Friend of James E. Padgett, Writes that He is Praying for Divine Love

December 6, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am Edwin Forrest.

I merely want to say a word. I know it is late, but I have been listening to your reading and conversation tonight, and I have been much interested, for you have read and said many things that I had no knowledge of. I was especially interested in the Prayer, which you say Jesus wrote, and I tried to commit it to memory, for I believe that if it will be helpful to you, it will be helpful to me, also, and I need help so much, although I am not in the awful condition of darkness and suffering that I was in when I first wrote you.

It is wonderful to me how you have these bright and high spirits come to you and write such messages as you receive. I am present many times when you are writing and can understand what you are receiving, but strange as it may seem to you, I cannot see these spirits unless they specially reveal themselves to me.

I know, though, that they are writing, for I can sense an influence that comes only when these spirits are present. I know this because sometimes they show themselves to me, and then I see that they are beautiful and bright spirits; and when they are so present, I always sense the influence that I speak of. And besides, your wife sometimes comes to me and tells me that such spirits are present.

I have learned many truths, since your wife has been trying to instruct me, and I am praying and seeking for the Love, which she tells me of, but it seems so difficult to get it. I don't know just why, but I shall continue to strive for it, for your wife tells me that it will come to me when I get in proper condition to receive it.

I am happier than I have been, and my hope is increasing, and my faith also, and I am determined not to cease praying and striving until I receive the freedom from my condition that I am informed is just a little ahead of me.

Well, I thank you, and I will try to follow your advice and help these other spirits whenever I can.

L_____ is still in much darkness. He does not seem to desire to get out of his condition, and still associates with spirits like himself, and visits these low places of earth in the belief that he is getting some pleasure in his imaginary drinking, etc.

I have not seen M_____ lately, but suppose he is still in the condition that he was in when I last saw him. I know that he needs help, and while I do not feel that I can help him much yet, I will try.

Yes, I am interested in all my folks on earth, as well as those in the spirit world, and I sometimes visit my old home and try to make them feel better, but I can make but little impression on them, and I see that it will be a difficult undertaking to cause them to think of anything pertaining to this life other than what their beliefs cause them to think. They are Catholics with all their hearts and minds and would not doubt what their priests say to them for anything in all the world. But I shall be with them, and when they come over will meet them.

I have seen some of my folks here who are in darkness and still believe in the doctrines of their church  waiting to get out of purgatory. I have never spoken to them upon spiritual matters, for I have never felt qualified to do so; but as soon as I progress a little, I will try to enlighten them. Well, I find that she is not anything to me more than a friend. I have no special affection for her, but will try to help her if I can. I must stop. Remember me in your prayers and believe that I am

Your friend,
Edwin Forrest

Helen Writes and Encourages Mr. Padgett to Learn the Prayer for Divine Love Given by Jesus

December 5, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, my dear, the spirits who desire to write to you of the higher truths did not think it best to attempt to write tonight and, hence, you got no response from them. They say that you were not then in condition to receive their messages and that it was not advisable to try to convey any to you. But many of them were present trying to throw around you their influence of love and help, and I know that as the evening progressed you felt their presence.

I am glad that you have the Master's Prayer to help you and open up your soul to the inflowing of the Love of the Father. It is a wonderful prayer, and as you repeat it with all your sincere soul desires, you will find that peace will come to you and the very presence of the Divine Love will be felt in your soul. So try to learn the prayer and offer it up to the Father, not only at night when you are ready to retire, but during the day, and especially when you feel gloomy and downcast for the results will do you much good. It will bring to you the presence of this Love and, also, the higher spirits who possess so much of it, and the rapport will enable you to realize that there are spirits hovering around, and such spirits as will cause you much happiness and peace. So remember what I advise and give your aspirations to the offering of the prayer and to the hope that with you may abound this Love in all its fullness.

Oh, my dear, when I think of how blessed you are in having conferred upon you this great mission, I can hardly realize that it is true, yet I know that it is, and that you should feel so thankful to the Master, as I do. No other has had such a privilege conferred upon him and, of course, no other has such a responsibility; and when this latter is considered, it seems that you will have to have the sustaining influence and power of all the spirits who are in your higher band to enable you to do the work and not faint in its performance.

Jesus is with you and you will not be afraid that you will not succeed. The way and the means will be provided, and the great truths will be given you, and through you to the world; and in the long future, men will learn the truth and thank the Father that it became possible for His truths and the knowledge of His Great Love to be revealed through the instrumentality of a mortal.

You may be forgotten, but your work will live forever, and men and nations will experience the benefit of it and come closer to the Father and closer to one another, as brothers. The nations will necessarily be what the individuals who compose them are and love and peace will reign on earth, as the Master promised long years ago, and as he promises now. All will be fulfilled, and as the old prophet said, the desolate places will bloom and blossom as the rose, but better than this, in men's hearts and souls will come such Love that every man will truly become his brother's neighbor, and the great leaders of mankind will realize their dream of the brotherhood of man.

In the near future, the Master and the other spirits, who have been writing you the truths of the New Birth and of the higher things that pertain to the souls of men, will write you as to the moral precepts, and as to those things that will cause the development of the natural love of men. And their teachings will be very interesting. I have heard them talk of these things, and know that these truths and teachings which relate to the moral development of men are a part of the plan to be made known to you.

So you see, you yet have much work to do, and you must not think for a moment that you will not get in condition, materially and spiritually, to do this great work to its completion.

It has been decreed that you shall finish this work before you come to the spirit world, and there will be no failure. It will be that some obstacles will be met with, such as you are now encountering, but after a little while they will disappear, and you will be free to do your work without hindrance and in the way that you have so often thought about.

Well, sweetheart, I have written a long letter tonight and I think it best to stop, but before I do so, I desire to say to your two friends that their work is of like importance, and that the great powers that are looking after and directing you are also looking after them, and that their work will have to be done also. It is a part of the great desire and plan that they shall perform their missions, and that ways and means shall be provided by which they will be enabled to accomplish the task set before them. So tell them to take courage and believe what I here write, and know that the Master and the higher spirits have decreed that they, also, shall have a part in this glorious plan for the salvation of mankind, and that nothing will be permitted to interfere with, or defeat, them in their labors. They will have to remain mortals until their work shall have been accomplished, and by that time they will have such knowledge of the glories of the Heavenly life that they will be anxious to hear the, "Well done, good and faithful servants," and enter into the joys of the homes which have been prepared for them. And when that time comes, there will be many in the spirit world who will meet them with hearts full of thankfulness and love and words of appreciation and greeting.

So tell them to keep up their faith and courage, and let not doubt enter into their minds as to the fact that they are the chosen ones also. I must stop now. So with my love, good night.

Your own true and loving
Helen

Esau, Son of Isaac, Writes on the Beliefs of Some Ancient Jews in the Spirit World Haven't Changed Since Their Earth Lives

December 4, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Esau, son of Isaac.

I was the son of Isaac and the brother of Jacob, and the one whom the Jews regarded as having sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, but I was misrepresented in this regard, as I did only that which necessity compelled me to do. But all that is long past, and now I am an inhabitant of the Celestial Heavens, for in the world of spirits all things are made right, and I became a possessor of the Divine Love after I had received knowledge of its rebestowal at the coming of Jesus.

Many of the characters of the Old Testament have never yet realized this great transformation, because in their conception of self righteousness are contented in that conception and worship God as they did on earth, although they have ceased to offer sacrifices of animals, because they have none in spirit life to offer, yet they still have the belief that sacrifice is necessary, and in their imaginations, they offer what to them is symbolical of the offerings that they made in the earth life.

Yes, that is quite a natural supposition, but you must know that mind and the beliefs of mortals continue with them when they become spirits and who will not permit themselves to be convinced of the errors of their conceptions of Deity, and many of these spirits of old are in that condition now. They refuse to believe or even listen to the truths of existence and their relationship to God, as they did when on earth. They have eyes but they see not and ears but they hear not, and enveloped in the darkness of their beliefs, they decline to let in the light, or to permit the truths that are so apparent to others to illuminate their souls. A mind that is shut in by bigotry and intolerance is just as persistent after the mortal becomes a spirit even though a change in its surroundings in what you might call its physical existence and in its possibilities for learning the truth, yet many of these spirits absolutely refuse to recognize any change, or possibility of change, in their spiritual condition.

It is not surprising that you may not understand how it is possible that these spirits of the kind mentioned could live all this great period of years, as you estimate time, in this condition, surrounded by spirits who have found the truth and display that possession in their appearances and happiness, and especially by some of their old associates who have entered into the light and not be influenced by these appearances and the experiences of these associates but, nevertheless, it is true, and the difficulty of converting these bigoted spirits seems to grow the greater as they advance in their progression of mind and natural love. They are happy in a relative sense and in their beliefs they can conceive of no other belief or cause of progress that could bring to them greater happiness and, besides, they are firmly convinced that they are doing the will of God in their manner of worship and in their symbolical sacrifices.

These ancient spirits, as you call them, but who are young as compared to many in the spirit spheres, have their synagogues and temples of worship, and their priests and servants and worshipers according to their old beliefs. And the ceremonies attending their gatherings for worship are very little different from what they were on earth. They have all their vestments and attire and other accompaniments that on earth distinguished them from the common people, and they say their prayers in public and delight in appearing as holy spirits, the specially chosen of God, just as they did on earth, and as they are developing more and more in their natural love and taking on the condition of perfection, so far as the perfection of the first parents as they existed before the fall, they may remain in this condition of belief as to their relationship to God and as to their proper and only way to worship Him throughout all eternity.

They decline to receive the knowledge of the truth of the New Birth, and as that is a thing that is optional with them and its rejection does not prevent them from becoming the "perfect man," as you have had explained to you, there is no absolute necessity as they think they should be Born Again in order to enable a restoration of the harmony of that condition and relationship that they may have to the Father.

Of course, until the day of the consummation of the Kingdom of the Celestial Spheres, they will have the opportunity to become recipients of the Divine Love and the transformation into Angels redeemed, but it is doubtful if very many of them will ever elect to accept this great privilege.

I am glad that I could write to you tonight, as it is a new experience with me, but one that gives me great satisfaction, and I will come again, if agreeable to you, and write further.

I wish to say in closing that I know the difference between the spirit who has in his soul the Divine Love, and one who has not, and that the mere time of a spirit's existence in the spirit world does not necessarily indicate that the spirit possesses the Divine Love. As Jesus said when on earth: "The first shall be last, and the last shall be first." And I may add that some will never be first or last, but only the reminders of what might have been. I will not write more.

Your brother in Christ
Esau

Cornelius Writes About the Prayer for Divine Love and the Great Number of Spirits Present at a Sermon

December 3, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Cornelius.

I will write only a line or two, as I see from your condition of mind that you are anxious to study the prayer, that the Master wrote you last night. Well, I am not surprised for it is a wonderful prayer and one that, when earnestly breathed to the Father, will bring into your soul this Great Love, which is the only thing necessary to make you at-one with the Father.

As I have before told you, I am the happy possessor of this Love and know that it is real and causes the soul of the mortal and the spirit to partake of the essence of the Father, and in a manner become Divine itself.

I should like to write you a message tonight about some of the truths of the teachings of the apostles, which are very pertinent to the subject upon which the preacher discoursed tonight. I was present, as were also many other spirits - orthodox Presbyterians - and those that have been freed from their creeds and erroneous beliefs of earth life.

You might be surprised, if I should tell you the great number of spirits who listened to the sermon with interest and in expectation of learning something that they could accept as truth. The preacher had a vastly larger audience of spirits than of mortals and among a great many of the former, his teachings were received just as they were by the mortal hearers.

But I must not write more now. So hoping that I will soon have the opportunity to write, I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Cornelius (First Gentile Christian )

Robert Ingersoll and Helen Padgett Confirm that Jesus Wrote the Prayer for Divine Love

December 2, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Ingersoll.

I am here, and desire to say with all the emphasis of my words and soul that the Master wrote you and gave you the Prayer, which he said is the only prayer that is needful to bring into the souls of men the Divine Love.

He was glorious, and it is not surprising that you felt the influence of his presence and Love, and I, who have so recently experienced what this Love is, tell you that your feelings were real and that that Love is present, and that we spirits feel it, as well as you two mortals.

Astonishing to us, as to you, is the power of this Love and the greatness of the Master, for with him seems to come the influence of the very Father, Himself. How ever thankful I am that I found the way to this Love, and it found its way to my soul! What a loving Father and what a tender Master to teach us of this Great Gift!

I could not restrain myself from writing, as the opportunity came to testify of this Love and of the Master, and I felt that, as I had so often declared on earth that there was no such thing, I must now and always when the opportunity arises declare the truth of the Divine Love and the Holy Spirit, and the glorious Jesus.

I must not write more tonight. So believe that it is I who write, and that I can with all the certainty of Love declare that I am your brother in Christ,

Ingersoll

**********

Affirmation by Helen Padgett

Well, I will and I am glad that you have even one page more.

I am happy tonight, for I see that you have had an experience that has caused your soul to open up to this wonderful Love of the Father.

Oh, my dear, it has been a glorious evening and the Master seemed to breathe out the fullness of the great Love that he possesses.

Your own true and loving

Helen

Jesus Writes the Prayer For the Inflowing of the Divine Love

December 2, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I merely want to say a word for the benefit of you and your friend, and that is, that I have listened to your conversation tonight and find that it is in accord with the truth; and the influence of the Spirit is with you both. Continue in your line of thought and in prayer to the Father and, also, in your making known to others whenever the opportunity arises, the importance of seeking for and getting the Divine Love.

As your friend said, the only prayer that is necessary is the prayer for the inflowing of this Love; all other forms, or real aspirations, of prayer are secondary, and of themselves, will not tend to produce this Love in the souls of men.

Let your prayer be as follows:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, we recognize:

    That Thou Art all holy and loving and merciful, and that we are the children of Thy care and not the subservient, sinful and depraved creatures that our false teachers would have us believe.

    That we are the greatest of Thy creations and the most wonderful of all Thy handiworks, and that we are the objects of Thy great Soul's love and tenderest care.

    That Thy will is that we become at one with Thee and partake of Thy great Love, which Thou hast bestowed upon us through Thy mercy and desire that we become, in truth, Thy children; and not through the sacrifice and death of any one of Thy creatures, even though the world thinks that one Thy equal and a part of Thy godhead.

    That Thou will open up our souls to the inflowing of Thy Love, and that then will come Thy Holy Spirit to bring into our souls, this, Thy Love in great abundance until our souls may be transformed into the very essence of Thyself; and that there may come to us faith - such faith as will cause us to realize that we are truly Thy children and that we are one with Thee in very substance and not in image only.

    Let us have such faith as will cause us to know that Thou art our Father and the bestower of every good and perfect gift, and that only we, ourselves, can prevent Thy Love changing us from the mortal to the immortal.

    Let us never cease to realize that Thy Love is waiting for each and all of us, and that when we come to Thee with faith and earnest aspirations, Thy Love will never be withholden from us.

    Keep us in the shadow of Thy Love every hour and moment of our lives and help us to overcome all temptations of the flesh and the influence of the powers of the evil ones, who so constantly surround us and endeavor to turn our thoughts away from Thee to the pleasures and allurements of this world.

    We thank Thee for Thy Love and for the possibility of receiving it and believe that Thou art our Father - the loving Father who smiles upon us in our weakness and is always ready to help us and take us to Thy arms of Love.

    We pray, thus, with all the earnestness and longings of our soul and trusting in Thy Love give Thee all the glory and honor and love that our finite souls can give.

~ * * * * * * ~

This is the only prayer that men need offer to the Father. It is the only one that appeals to the Love of the Father, and with the answer, which will surely come, will come all the blessings that men may need and which the Father sees are for the good of His creatures.

I am in very great rapport with you tonight and see that the Father's Love is with you, and that your souls are hungry for more. So, my brothers, continue to pray and have faith, and in the end will come a bestowal of the Love like unto that which came to the apostles at Pentecost.

I will not write more now. In leaving you, I will leave my love and blessings and the assurance that I pray to the Father for your happiness and love. Good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Judas Writes to James E. Padgett to Help Him Stay in Rapport the With Higher Spirits

December 1, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Judas.

I will say only a few words tonight, as I see that you are not just in condition to write a long message.

I wish to say that whenever you let the thoughts of your material mind control your spiritual consciousness, the result is that you suffer a darkening of the soul's faculties and a consequent impossibility to get in rapport with the higher spirits and their condition of exalted truth and the happiness that necessarily accompanies the association of such spirits with your spiritual essence. So you will understand the importance of keeping the purely mental thoughts that are created by or arise from the exercise of the five senses and the reasoning powers, in subordination to the perceptions of the soul that arise from the condition of that soul being in harmony with the truths of the Father.

I know that at times the cares and worries of life will cause the mental faculties to so operate as to obscure or make almost non-existent these faculties of the soul, which alone can perceive and comprehend the spiritual truths of God, that are the only truths that can make men really happy and fitted to enjoy the blessings that the Father is bestowing upon them. I make these abstract suggestions that you may apply them to your own condition of mind, as it has existed for the past few days and making such application, you will realize the force of what I say.

Your worries and dread of impending distress and failure to be able to satisfy the demands upon you, have alienated you, to a large extent, from the higher truths and the rapport that you have heretofore enjoyed and possessed and have caused much unhappiness to come to you. But being mortal, and realizing the demands that are made upon you as a mortal, it may be quite natural that you should get into that condition of worry and dread and not be able to realize that these higher spiritual conditions are the more desirable, and the only ones that will bring you happiness and freedom from worry.

I know that so long as you are a mortal, the cares of life will be a part of your living, and that they will be of sufficient weight to exercise a powerful influence on your thinking and acting, and that you will scarcely be able to cause the spiritual thoughts and happiness that always flows from them to set aside and make unreal this material condition. Yet such a thing is possible, and you can bring about this so desirable condition if you will only follow the advice that has been given you by your spirit friends. Pray to the Father and believe.

No, that is true. This desired condition will not of itself bring to you these things that you speak of, but it will help you to endure their absence to a greater extent than you can possibly imagine. Neither does the fact that your worry and fret bring these things; and when you have this need and, in addition, the condition of mind that worry and dread bring to you, you have a double burden and one which does much harm. So let me advise you to make every effort to get into that condition that these spiritual acquirements will place you in and trust to the promises that have been made you as to the material things.

I desire to write merely this tonight to encourage you, and to assure you that you need not let the worries and fears of the future, as to these material wants, take possession of you and deaden the spiritual contentment that may be yours. You will not be abandoned in the particulars mentioned, and you must rely upon the promises that have been made you, and you will find that you will not be forsaken. So think of what I herein say and give your thoughts to the Father's Love and to the promises of the spirits who are so much interested in you.

I will not write more now. With my love and assurance that what has been promised, you may expect, I am

Your brother in Christ,
Judas

Luke Writes on the Subject: "What is the most important thing for men to do to bring about the Great Millennium?"

November 30, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke of the New Testament.

Yes, I desire to write tonight a few lines upon a subject that has never yet been written on, and I know it will interest you. My subject is: "What is the most important thing in all the world for men to do in order to bring about the great millennium that the preachers proclaim will come before or after the coming of Jesus?"

Of course, in stating the question, thus, I do no intend to be understood as consenting to the doctrine that Jesus will come to earth in physical form on the clouds with a great shout, etc., as many of the preachers teach for that event will never happen because, as we have written you before, he has already come to earth or rather to men in the spiritual way that we have explained.

Neither do I intend to embrace in the phrase, "the greatest thing," the Divine Love, for that, of course, is the greatest thing in all the earth and in the Heavens, as well; but by this expression, I mean the greatest thing that men can do - independently of the assistance of the Divine Love.

Well, as commonly understood, the millennium is a time or period of a thousand years when peace will reign on the earth, and the devil, as is said, will be bound and not permitted to roam over the earth causing sin and destruction of souls and sickness and the other sins that now so generally beset mortals. Of course, there is no personal devil in the sense of a Satanic majesty, but there are spirits of evil, which abound in the unseen world and are constantly with mortals exercising upon them their influence of evil and suggesting to them thoughts and desires that eventuate in sinful and wrong deeds. But these evil ones are merely the spirits of departed mortals and are not beings of a superior kind in power and qualities.

Sin, as we have told you, was never created by God, nor is it the product or emanations of any of God's perfect creations but is wholly the result of the wrongful exercise of man's appetites and will, when the desires of the flesh are permitted to overcome the desires of his spiritual nature. With sin comes all the evils and discords and inharmonies that constitute man's manner of living his earth life, and until these things, which are not a part of his original nature but which are the creation of the inversion of that nature, be eliminated from his thoughts and desires and appetites, the millennium will never be established on earth, and neither will Satan be bound in chains and prevented from doing his work of soul destruction.

Now the converse of this proposition is true. And the possibility of its occurring, is also true. And the question is: "How can this be brought about?" For to bring this about is "the most important thing for men to do."

When the cause of the present condition of mankind in sin and sorrow and unhappiness is definitely determined, then will readily appear what is necessary to remedy the condition and remove the cause; and, hence, when the remedy is applied and removal made, the millennium will surely come, for this glorious time of man's desired and looked for happiness is merely one in which peace rules and discord does not exist, and every man is his own brother's keeper in love.

Then what are the causes of the present condition of existence on earth, marred and tainted and controlled by sin and error and disease?

These causes are two-fold: The one arising from man's fall from his created perfection of body, mind and soul in permitting and encouraging the animal nature to subordinate the spiritual and thereby, by the over-indulgence of the former causing the carnal appetites to grow and transform the man into a lover of sin and things evil; and the other arising from the influences which the spirits of evil, who are always endeavoring to make close rapport with men and exercise their evil influence over him.

While the personal Satan does not exist, yet the idea conveyed by the necessity of binding him in order to bring about this millennium is a true one and applies to the actual relationship of men to these evil spirits, except this: That in the case of the latter, it is not necessary or even possible to bind them, but to loosen them; that is, to loosen their rapport with or influence over men, for when that is done, men become, as it were, free and these evil spirits are as if they were not.

So you see, as a preliminary to the ushering in of this greatly desired time of peace and purity, men must cease to believe that it will come with the coming of Jesus in a manifested physical way, as a mortal conqueror might come with legions of followers and noises of drums and by force of arms or greatness of power subdue his enemies. This will never be, for no man is an enemy of Jesus, but all are his brothers, and he is not now making and never will make war on any human being, only on the sin and defilement that is within his soul. And this war can never be waged by power or force of legions of angels, for so great is the power of man's will and so respected is its freedom of action by the Father, that there is no power in Heaven or earth that can or will change a sinful soul into a pure one by force and threats and conquering legions of angels, even though they might be led by Jesus, which will not happen. No, the soul is the man, and that soul can be made pure and sinless only when that soul desires and consents that such a condition may become its own.

So it should not be difficult for men to understand that this erroneous belief - that Jesus will come in this semblance of a human conqueror and establish this great time of peace - is doing them much harm and delaying the actual time of the coming of this event. The effect of this belief upon the soul is that everything is to be accomplished by the work of Jesus, and nothing by themselves, except to believe in his coming and wait and be ready to be snatched up in the clouds, and then help the hosts of Heaven to destroy all of their late fellow mortals who had not believed with them and put on the robes of ascension, as they literally or figuratively designate such robes.

They, thus, believe and in their minds they may be honest, yet their souls may be disfigured and tainted with sin and the life's accumulation of sin, so that they could not possibly be in condition to enjoy a place of purity and freedom from sin. And some of them expect and claim that they will be the judges of others of their fellow mortals, because of the deeds done in the body and, yet: "in how many cases would it prove to be the blind and sinful judging the blind and sinful?"

But they further claim that Jesus, by his great power, and the fact that they believed that he would come again to earth and establish his kingdom, will in the twinkling of an eye make them fit subjects for his kingdom, and qualified to judge the unrighteous and help cast them out of his kingdom. No, this can never be the way in which the millennium will be established, and the sooner men discard this belief and seek the truth and the true way to purity and perfection, the sooner the hope and expectation of mankind will be realized.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Helen Confirms the Message from Goliath that There is No Such Thing As Reincarnation

November 25, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well dear, you have had a somewhat astonishing letter tonight, I mean astonishing when you come to consider the person who wrote it, but it is true, it was really Goliath who wrote, and I may say this because I have met him before, and besides the higher and even some evil spirits have told me that he is.

Well, he made a very strong argument and I hope that it may be very effective some day in convincing men of its truth. I could have written on the same subject based on the knowledge that I have, but I would have said, and what I should have said, would have been just as true in a few words thus; there will be no such great teacher as these people expect and there is no such thing as reincarnation.

Once a spirit, always a spirit.

But I must not take the time to write on this matter. I am very glad that you are feeling better tonight as it makes me able to get closer to you and more in rapport with your condition. I am very happy and want you to be and I am praying for you and asking the Father to bless you with a greater inflowing of His Love.

Mary (Kennedy) wants me to say a few words to the Doctor (Leslie R. Stone) for her. She says she is happy, too, and sees that the Doctor is; and that she is progressing more and more and that even her progress does not keep her from being with him quite often. She has asked me to let her write a long letter to the Dr. and I have promised and very soon she will do so. She says she will go home with him tonight and stay with him until he goes to sleep and will then try to take his spirit with her and give him a taste of the happiness of a sphere that he has never been in, and I will help her and I believe that she will succeed and tell him to prepare for the experiment. And if we succeed, we promise to bring him back to his body, which will be the only reincarnation that he will ever experience!

So with our love to you both, I will say good night. God bless you both.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Goliath of the Philistines Writes There is No Reincarnation After the Death of the Mortal Body

November 25, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Goliath.

I have been present for some time and have listened to your conversations on the various sects who are expecting a great teacher, and others who look for a reincarnation. And if it were not so serious to the welfare of mankind, it would be very humorous. But the matter is too serious to deal with in a humorous vein and I will say a few words as to the utter falsity of both of these beliefs.

There will appear no such great teacher as is expected. Of course, many may appear on earth claiming to be such a teacher and they may declare some moral truth that may be beneficial to mankind but these teachings will not be such as these people may expect a great teacher to make known and the result will be that if the world had to depend on such teachings, it would be very little, if any better, than it now is.

For there is only one course of truth, and in order for any great teacher to teach such truths, he necessarily will have to have a knowledge of such truths. And here I want to say that there is only one means of learning such truths and that is through the help of Jesus Christ and his followers, who know these truths and the Holy Spirit that speaks to all men if they will open their souls to its silent voice of truth and love.

So I say that these people who are expecting some earthly teacher to arise and come to them with a knowledge of truth will be greatly disappointed, for it is impossible that any man will ever come in some mysterious and godlike way be endowed with this knowledge. The souls of these people are longing for the truth and not having a knowledge as to how it may come about are willing to conjure up in their minds some being that may possibly burst on the world and enlighten them in those truths for which their souls are longing and wishing. No, they will never in all time and eternity learn what they so anxiously desire from any great teacher of the kind that I have named and they expect.

As to the others who are equally misguided and who believe that their salvation or future condition of happiness and perfection depends on reincarnation, I must say that they are now, and will be, disappointed just as will the first class that I mention. This doctrine of reincarnation is a false and misleading one and will never enable any man or spirit to live the second time in the body as a mortal.

It is so utterly absurd that it is astonishing that men can believe that such a thing can be and besides, if they will only think seriously for a moment, they will realize that there is no necessity for man to live again on earth, for the surroundings and things that prevent the progress of man to perfection are so detrimental to his progress that it would not assist him one particle in acquiring such progress to have to undergo a second incarnation.

When the spirit leaves the body, its possibility for progress then becomes greater than ever existed on earth, though some spirits for long ages do not take advantage of such possibilities, yet they exist, and earth life can afford no means equal to them for making this progress towards what these people call "Nirvana." Some day the truths will become so plain and easily understood by mortals that these beliefs will of their own weight, and I mean weight that absurdity gives them, that they will cease to exist.

You may be somewhat surprised that I write on these subjects, but you must know that I am an Angel of the Celestial Heavens and have a work to do, and being present, I requested the privilege of writing and it being granted, I did so.

I know what Divine Love means and what progress means, as I came from the lowest Hells and found no necessity for reincarnation, and you may be assured that if my condition of suffering and darkness could have been gotten rid of by reincarnation, I would have reincarnated centuries before I was relieved of my awful condition. I have met spirits who said they believed in the doctrine, but strange to say, none of them had ever been able to reincarnate, though they persisted that they felt assured that other spirits had who were just in that condition that permitted it, and that they would when they became in a condition that was suitable, but I have noticed that these spirits never got in that suitable condition, but progressed in the spirit world and now say that they were mistaken and are thankful that there is no such thing as re- incarnation. Well, the race will die and a new race will arise on earth, but in the new race there will not be any who have been reincarnated.

I want to stop now, so thanking you, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,

Goliath of whom men may think a mythical person. but who really lived and died, even though he may not have been killed by a slingshot of David as the Bible relates, but yet a real living mortal who followed the ways of other mortals in sinning and dying and gone through hell and is at last redeemed.

Paul Writes About "Hell: What It Is and What Its Purpose Is"

November 21, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul.

I desire tonight to finish my message on: "Hell: What it is and what its purpose is."

As I said before, Hell is a place as well as a condition and, the man who believes that it is nothing more than a condition of his mind or soul will be wonderfully surprised as well as disappointed. I know the condition of mind and soul to a very large extent creates a man's Hell and is the chief source of his suffering and the darkness that surrounds and envelops him; yet, this condition is not the only source of that suffering or of darkness in which he finds himself.

Hell is a place; and a place that has all the appearances and ingredients that are in exact agreement with his state as produced or caused by the condition of his mind or soul and is not a place of universal character and fitted for the habitation of souls, irrespective of conditions of degrees of defilement and sin and darkness.

It is not a single place forming a common home for all fallen souls, but is composed of many and different places and as has been said, there are many Hells having gradations of appearances and surroundings that are suitable for causing additional sufferings which souls may have to endure.

The expression, "The lowest depths of Hell," is not a meaningless one, but portrays a truth, a real existing fact that many spirits are now experiencing the reality of. In its broadest sense, Hell is every place outside of Heaven, and Heaven is that place where everything entering into it - its appearance and qualities and its inhabitants - is in perfect harmony with the respective Laws of God and His will concerning the same.

And this statement involves the fact that there are several Heavens, because the Heaven of the redeemed, or those who have received the Divine Essence in their souls and become of the Divine Nature of the Father, is a distinct Heaven from that wherein live those who have been restored in their natural love to the perfect condition that the first parents possessed before the fall - the condition of the restitution to mankind of that perfection which was lost by the disobedience of the first man and woman.

Mortals usually believe that Heaven is a condition, and the Bible, in which so many believe, attempts to describe this Heaven with its streets of gold and pearly gates, etc., and as a fact, it is a real substantial place having all the elements and appearances of a home of bliss, which help to bring to its inhabitants happiness and joy in addition to the happiness which their soul perfection and development cause them to have.

Then as Heaven is a place having real substance perceptible to the spirits that inhabit it, why should not Hell be a place of real substance, also, with those qualities and appearances exactly suited to add to the unhappiness of those who are fitted for it? The spirit world, both Heaven and Hell are places of substance having their planes and divisions and limitations of occupancy and not mythical, invisible conceptions of mind as you mortals ordinarily conceive ghosts to be. The spirits of mortals are real and more substantial than are the physical bodies of mortals, and these planes and divisions, whether of Heaven or Hell, have a more real existence than have the mortals in their places of habitation or confinement in the earth life.

The Hells are places of darkness and sufferings but in them are no fires or brimstone, etc., as have been so commonly represented by the preachers and teachers of the orthodox churches, because there is nothing therein that would feed fires or that fires could affect, and there are no devils or Satan, though there are evil spirits of men that are more wicked and vicious and horrifying than have ever been pictured of the devil and his angels.

In your communications, you have had some very realistic descriptions of Hell from those who are actually living therein and are realizing its tortures and realities, and I will not take the time here to attempt to describe it in detail and will only say that as it has not entered into the minds of men to conceive the wonders and beauties of Heaven, neither have they ever conceived of the horrors and sufferings of Hell. But from all this, men must not understand that the punishment and darkness which the spirits of evil endure in the Hells are specifically inflicted by the Father because of any wrath that He may have towards these spirits, or to gratify any feelings of revenge, or even to satisfy any outraged justice, for it is not true.

Man, when he becomes a spirit, is his own judge and executioner, submitting to and receiving the inexorable results of the Law that: "Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap." This is a law that is necessary to preserve or bring about the harmony of God's universe, which, of course, is absolutely necessary, and while it may appear to man, at first sight, to be a harsh and cruel Law, yet in its workings and results, even to the individual spirit who may suffer in the reaping, it is a most benign and beneficial law, for the darkness and sufferings of a few years, as you mortals say, bring about an eternity of light and happiness.

The Law must rule; and in all the apparent harshness and suffering and want of mercy, the Great Divine Love of the Father overshadows the sufferer and finally makes the defiled and wicked soul become one of purity and goodness. Men may never have thought of the fact; that if it were possible for these evil spirits to live in Heaven, their sufferings and unhappiness would be greater than what they endure by living in the place that is more in agreement in its surroundings and appearances with their own distorted conditions of soul. So even in their Hells, the Father is Merciful and Good.

And regarding the second proposition of the preacher (Dr. Ratcliff) in his sermon, namely, the duration of suffering or of the life of the spirit in Hell. His conclusion was that this duration of the spirit is eternal, everlasting and without end. How it must have hurt and violated the teachings of his soul and his conception of the loving Father to come to such a conclusion! But, yet, being bound by his creeds and the domination of his belief that the Bible is the sole authority upon Hell, as well as Heaven, in the conviction of his mind - and here I want to emphasize mind, for his heart was not in agreement - he declared that the duration of the sufferings and life of the Hells is eternal and the saying of Jesus proved it to be, not only because it was in the Bible, but because the true meaning of the original Greek word can have no other translation; not knowing, or if knowing, not recalling, that Jesus, even if he used such expression, did not speak in Greek, and that back of the Greek word, in order to obtain the true meaning of the word used by Jesus, he, the preacher, must go to the word as it was uttered by Jesus and its true meaning.

So many preachers and commentators on the Bible attempt to determine a most vital truth by a shade of meaning that they conceive a particular word in its original, may have, when they are not justified in concluding that such word had at the time used, such shade of meaning, or that the original as they conceive it to be, was the original word actually spoken or written. They seem to lose sight of the fact that the writings of the Bible, I mean the manuscripts, to which they make reference to prove the correctness of their conclusions, are far removed from the original writings, and that by reason of the copying and recopying of the word upon which they rely, and the shade of meaning that they give it in their interpretations may not have been the word originally used. Of course, they have no way of learning this fact and, consequently, they have to resort to the best authority that they can have access to. But under such circumstances, it is not a justifiable thing to have a vital question of man's future and destiny determined by the shade of meaning that may be given to one word or more words, without reference to other declarations of the same Book having relation to the subject matter of the inquiry.

The preacher said that in his conclusion as to the question, he must be governed by the Bible alone and had no right to indulge in speculation of the philosophies of other men and, that in the Bible, he could find nothing that would justify him in coming to any other conclusion than that the duration of punishment in Hell is eternal. Well, he was not honest with himself, for if he had searched a little more deeply and have given as much credence to other parts of the Bible as to the passage that he quoted, he would have found a strong statement to the effect that the evil spirits in Hell have the possibility of leaving it, and not only that but that a part of the great mission of Jesus, upon whose supposed declaration the preacher based his conclusion, was to show the way and induce these spirits of evil to leave their Hells.

This was the Master's first work after he became a spirit, and he would not have attempted to preach to these wicked spirits in Hell, so wicked, according to the Bible, that God because of their great sins when mortals, punished them as He never punished any other of His children, for their disobedience, utterly destroying them as a race and His only living human creatures from the face of the earth, by one great catastrophe, leaving only Noah and his family as a reminder of the great failure of God in His creation - the most perfect and the "very good." So I say, if the preacher had searched the Bible, he would have found that the Hell that contained the spirits of all the human race that was living at the time of the flood, except Noah and his family was not in its duration eternal.

And again, had the preached searched further he would have found that the Master Himself declared by necessary implication, that, at least, for some of the wicked who became inhabitants of Hell, there was possibility of release and certainty upon conditions. I refer to the declaration attributed to him where he said, "He that sinneth against the son of man, it shall be forgiven him, but he that sinneth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come." (Matt. Chapter 12--Verse 32)

Now, to any reasonable man there is only one interpretation of this declaration and, that is, that for any and all sins, except that against the Holy Ghost, there is forgiveness in the next world as well as in the mortal world, and that being a fact, it is an irresistible conclusion that the Father would not compel a spirit to remain in Hell after He had forgiven that spirit's sins.

No, the preacher had not searched the Scriptures, as he was in duty bound to do, else his conclusion, could he have ridden his mind of the beliefs that the creeds of his church had driven into his intellect, and of the teachings of the ancient fathers, and of the churches that had taught such false and damnable doctrines for so many years, would have been very different. The preacher repudiated the old teachings that there would be physical suffering in Hell, or fire or brimstone, etc., and expressed his commiseration for those preachers and others who had taught such doctrine and for their awful responsibility and accounting, and his commiseration was needed and appropriate. But l want to say here that he needs as much, if not more, commiseration for the preaching of his false doctrines, as did those preachers to whom he refers. He has more light, or may have, and his accounting will be correspondingly greater.

I have written a long letter, and you are tired and I must stop, but before doing so, let me declare the truth to be that:

"Hell is not a place of eternal punishment; that all the Hells as well as other parts of the spirit world are places of progression and the privilege of probation is not taken from any spirit no matter how wicked, for all are God's children and in His Plans for the perfecting of the harmony of the universe, and man's salvation, all the Hells will be emptied and the Hells themselves destroyed."

But men must not think from this that the duration of suffering in these Hells is necessarily short, for that is not true; some of the evil inhabitants of these places have been in such darkness and suffering for centuries, as mortals count time and may be for centuries more, but the time will come when they will have the awakening to the fact that they may become children of light, and then when they make the effort to progress, they will succeed. The sooner that mankind learns that Hell is not a place of punishment to satisfy the wrath of an angry God, but merely the natural and necessary living place of the spirit, whose condition of soul and mind demands, and that condition changes, and it will change, the Hell of its habitation will change until finally for that spirit all the Hells will disappear.

You are tired and I must stop. So thanking you, and leaving you my love and blessings,

I am your brother in Christ,
Paul