John Padgett Writes That He Finds Soulmates in the Book of Lives and Allows Two of James' Friends, Who are in Darkness, to Write Messages

December 31, 1914
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your Father.

I am very happy and am glad that you seem to be also.

Yes, because of your experience the other night in loving Helen and her loving you. You certainly were filled with love and you must be perfectly happy to have had such a demonstration of love and the realization of the actual sensitive presence of your wife for I tell you that she was with you and was so filled with her love for you, that we all wondered at her love. She is a spirit that seems to have no limit to her love for you. Not many spirits seem to have such abundance of love as she has for you. So you must consider yourself a very blessed man to have such a wife and a soulmate.

Yes, as I told you many years ago, there is of record in the Heavens a Book of Lives, as I might call it, which contains the names of those who are decreed by God to be one through all eternity. And when I want to know who is the soulmate of one who desires to know his or her soulmate, I consult that book, and there I find who the soulmate is.

I am not permitted to give the name of the soulmate, if he or she is on the earth life, for it might create discord or unhappiness to the living, but if the soulmate is not married then there is no restriction upon me, but if the soulmate is married then I must not tell the name, such is the law of God in this particular.

The reason is that I have that duty assigned to me, and as Helen has told you, I have taught her to perform this duty and she is now engaged in it and is most successful in the performance of her mission. She seems to have a wonderful ability or, you might call it, intuition for locating the soulmates in the spirit world as she never fails when she undertakes to find one. She also finds great happiness in doing this work and in seeing the happiness that comes to them who ask her to perform this task. I do not engage in it with so much enthusiasm as she does, but I do the best that I can, and I am rewarded also by seeing the happiness of those soulmates when they are brought together.

No, not if they are not assigned to do this work. It is one of the provisions of the spiritual world that each person has some work of a certain kind, or several kinds to do, and in that way are helped by the higher powers or, as we believe, the love of God to perform.

A spirit who is assigned to do a particular work, such as helping the spirit when it first enters the spirit world, will not attempt to engage in other work of a wholly different kind.

Yes, as to attempting to awaken a spirit to a conception of the love of God that is waiting for it, all spirits may do this, and when a spirit succeeds in causing a darkened or blinded spirit to feel or realize that God's love is waiting for it, then the spirit who has caused that awakening is most happy.

Of course, it is only the spirit who has had that awakening himself, who can cause or lead another spirit to that desire for spiritual enlightenment, that will finally cause it to get this love to his full and complete happiness. I am not yet in a condition to be fully able to do this with much success, but your grandmother and mother are very powerful in this particular, and they are the cause of many spirits becoming reconciled to God and His salvation.

So you see, the one great thing to obtain, either while on earth or after you come here, is this great awakening and love of God in your own heart. It is of all things necessary - the greatest. I know to a considerable degree what it means and the happiness that comes from it, but I am not satisfied and am striving to obtain more of this love and to rise higher in the Kingdom of God. So you must try also, for you need not wait until you come over.

She has it to a degree that almost enables her to go with your mother, and I think that in a very short time she will leave us and rise to the higher sphere, and we will miss her very much.

Yes, he (Mr. Riddle) is becoming more in condition to receive this love and believe in what your mother tells him. She is the one that is trying to show him the way, more than anyone else. He seems to have great confidence in her and in her love.

He is also progressing very fast, and I expect that he will soon be with me in this sphere. So you see, we all are doing well in the way of progressing and your prayers help us very much.

I have seen him (Taggart) very recently and he is in the same condition as when I wrote you first about him. He does not seem to realize that he needs any assistance to help him to become happier or to progress to a better condition and it is difficult to convince him. I tried several times, but he said that I was mistaken in what I told him, and that he knew that he was just where it was intended that he should be, so I have not tried lately.

No, I do not, but I can find him (Mackey) if you desire that I shall, He might want to say something to you, but only through me, as you must not get into rapport with these strangers to our band, for it will do harm, and we must not run the risk.

We are here. Mr. Mackey and Mr. Taggart. They say that they are very glad that you have given them the opportunity to say a word.

He (Mackey) says that he is much happier than when he first came over, as he has commenced to see the things that are necessary to make him happier. He says that he wants you to tell him of your experience with some of the other spirits with whom you have come in contact, as he says he has recently learned from earth sources that you have had considerable experience with spirits who have been in a condition of unrest and spiritual blindness and have helped them some.

He says that he is in the earth plane and, that when he came over, it was a very dark and dreadful road that he traveled, that he was all blind and left alone after he first entered the spirit world, and that only recently has he commenced to see a ray of light, that his condition now is not one in which he receives much happiness, and he is not very hopeful of ever becoming very happy, as he sees nothing around him but darkness and depravity, and evil spirits who delight in trying to make everyone around them feel that there is no hope for any spirit, but that their lives must be spent in a condition of suffering and unhappiness. In other words, that they are in hell and have no hope of getting away from it.

He says that he has gotten some little light from a spirit who has been telling him that there is hope and a better place if he will only believe it to be so, and let his soul open up to the better influences, but that he cannot believe that there is any God or any Saviour or any better place for him. He says that if there is a better place or any reason to believe that there is a God or Saviour he wants to know it, and if you can help him any to please do so.

He says that he has not seen Mr. Riddle and did not know that he is in the Spirit World. He says that he will try to find him and maybe he can get some help.

He says that I am much more beautiful than Mr. Taggart and more happy looking. He further says that I am not so very different, as he sees it, to cause him to ask that question, but as you request it, he will do so. He has asked me and I told him that my appearance and happiness was caused by my having gotten the love of God in my soul, and the realization that God is my Father, and loves me so very much that He wants me to be His child and become one in thought with Him.

He says that that may be true, but he does not understand it, and that if it is the cause, he would like to know the way, for he certainly wants to be rid of the awful darkness and despair that is with him almost continuously. Because, as he says, that you are his friend and that he will try to do as you suggested, but he says that he cannot yet believe that there is a God who can help him to get out of his awful condition. He says that he will try to pray and try to believe and that if there is anything in what you say, and you really believe what you say, that you must pray for him also.

He says that for the sake of what you say, that if any of these spirits that you speak of should come to him, he will listen to them, even though he may not believe - that he cannot promise to believe.

He says that he will come to you tonight and try to pray as you say, but he doubts that it will do any good, but he does not think that it can do any harm. He is willing to pray and will try to believe, you must not feel bad if, when he does so, he tells you that he don't believe in prayer or God.

He says that he is not willing to run the risk of having his conscience lash him or of his suffering any more than he is now. He does not believe that he can do so and live.

He says, that what you say sounds as if there might be some truth in it, and he will think about it, that is, if his happiness or future state depends upon his will, he will very soon determine that question, for if what you say is true, then he will be a big fool to remain where he is, when by the mere exercise of his will he can get into places of happiness and light. So he says, he will think of what you say.

He says that what you say may be all true, but the difficulty is that he can't understand and, therefore, can't believe.

He says that he can say what you have just said and mean it, and he is ready to do so now.

"If there be a God, and if that God has a love for me, and is ready to fill my soul with that love and make me happy and full of light, and whether I receive that love or not depends upon my will, then if this is all true, I will that God give me this love with all my strength and desire."

He says that he is feeling some strong sensation now, and that he will repeat this and pray to God and ask for faith and will continue to repeat it, as you have taught him, and he hopes that he may receive this love and light. He says that you have shown him that there may be some such thing as this love of God, and that he is willing to pray, and if his receiving it depends upon his will, he is willing it with all his heart. He says that as you seem to have such faith in this love and in prayer, that you do not forget to pray for him.

Yes, Mr. Taggart has heard it all and he says, that you certainly did put it up to Mackey to try the experiment, but that he is very doubtful if you will see any good results flow from it. He says that he will wait and see what effect it has on Mackey, and then he may be willing to consider the matter. He does not believe that prayer is anything more than a mere wish that emanates in and goes no higher than mind and that, consequently, there is no God to answer, for if there was, the prayers of all the people of the warring nations would bring about such conflicting answers that confusion would be worse confused.

He says that he never thought of it in that way but if, as you say, the prayer should be that this love which you say would make men love not only God but one another and make every man strive to make happy every other man, then if that prayer should be answered, the war would soon stop and the nations as nations and as individuals would undoubtedly be happy and peace would reign over all the land. And if this is the love that you are trying to tell us about, then I am not so certain that it is worth striving for.

You are a very ingenious reasoner, and I commence to see that there may be some logic in what you say, but how am I to attempt to do that in which I have no faith? I know that I ordinarily, when on earth, required everything to be proved, and unless things were proved I was not willing to accept conclusions, and I have not changed in that particular since I have come to the spirit world and I find it hard to change but, as you say, I should be reasonable enough to let my mind be open to a conviction, if such conviction can possibly be brought about by any means, whether they arise from the knowledge that I gained when on earth, or whether they arise from things connected with this spiritual world of which I have very little knowledge.

So after all I guess Mackey is not such a big fool to try the experiment and having confidence in you as a friend that has at heart my welfare, I will do the same as Mackey has promised to do. So you can pray for me, too, and I will pray also. But, of course, I will not be able to have any belief that my prayers will be answered. So you see, I am not only hard headed, but hard hearted, also.

Yes, I am if it depends on my will, I am more than willing. Not only that, but if there be a God and the love that you speak of, I will forever thank that God for taking me away from this condition of blindness and unhappiness.

Yes, I am willing to pray to God to help me to believe and, if that will bring relief, then there will be no difficulty, for I will make such a prayer with all my heart.

You are the most persistent man that I have ever met in these spiritual matters and if what you say happens, I will certainly thank you with all my heart and soul, for I can conceive of nothing more desirable than to have the great blessings and possessions that you tell me about. So I will keep faith with you as I said. When next you give me the opportunity to write, I will frankly tell you what the result of my experiment is.

Yes, and I appreciate what you have done and I say to you that this violation of your law, which the band you speak of has prescribed, has caused me to think more deeply of your interest in me and what you said, than I can express.

So goodbye for the present. The next time I come, I will try to observe your law and write through your father, if he will permit me to.

[John Padgett resumes writing.]

Yes, you certainly did give the gentleman a struggle to get away from what you said to them, and I believe that you have impressed them to such a degree that they will be lead to learn the truth.

You are tired and must stop.

Your father, John H. Padgett

Helen Confirms That Professor Joseph Salyards Wrote

December 18, 1914
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

You certainly did write a long letter. Prof. Salyards is very much interested in you and you must believe that he wrote you for he did. I was here all the time that he was writing and got very impatient for I wanted to say something myself.

He was telling the truth and you are real mean to have me think that you doubt that I do. So be a good boy and listen to what I have to say.

You are not so worried tonight and I am so glad of it, for if you had continued to be so, I fear that you might have become sick. You see that everything is coming all right, just as we told you. You were so worried that even Jesus condescended to assure you as he did last night.

Jesus was certainly good to you to talk to you so kindly and lovingly. He told you that he would always look after your welfare and he will. I do not believe that any other human has ever had that assurance direct from him since he came into spirit life. He is the one that you must believe in and if you do, there is no telling to what heights you may rise for he seems to love you so much that I believe he will do whatever you may wish if it be not contrary to his ideas of what is good for you. So only trust in him and I tell you that you will never want for anything, either in the earth life or in this. He is now trying to help you in your spiritual nature so that you can do his work and when you become a better man in that particular he will write you the message that he told you he would. Let me help you to believe fully in his promises.

Be my own true Ned and you will be a most happy man.

Yes, I know, but they will soon pass and then you will realize what it is to have a God and a Jesus and a little wife love you. I am least, but I love you with all the love that I have and you must realize it.

Yes, you may.

He has never tried as I suppose, for if he had he would have found her. The fact is that he did not think of soulmates until he became more in contact with us and then I suppose that he did not give sufficient consideration to the matter. I do not know, all spirits do not find their soulmates at once. Some of them not for long years as I am informed.

Yes, I will and the next time that he writes, he will tell you that he has found out who she is, for I will search in that Book of Lives that you know about and find out and tell him and then he will know and tell you.

He is still in doubt, but I think that he is commencing to see the light and you must continue to pray for him. Do not let the thought that he is not praying himself disturb you for he is and your mother is trying her best to convince him that he is in the right way by praying and that soon he will see the light, which will guide him to God's Love. He is a wonderful spirit in his earnestness and desire to learn of the things of this life and just as soon as he is convinced of the truth of the New Birth, he will progress very rapidly, for he will not rest until he gets whatever is possible for him to obtain.

Let your best and most loving thoughts go to him.

Yes, sometimes, but he is not so very much convinced as to what I may know of the necessity of his learning to give his heart to God as he is as to what your mother and grandmother may know, and so I do not talk to him on this matter very often, yet he seems to think that I must have experienced something that makes me look so different from what I did when he first saw me in this life.

Yes, he told you just what your father said and what your mother told him in reply. Your father was a spirit that liked the things of earth to a great degree and enjoyed looking on at the pleasure of the earth life as the Professor told you. Yet, he was also so good that he realized to a great extent the love of God and could write you about it very effectively. But he did not enjoy it as much as you might be led to believe from the way he wrote. But now he knows and when he writes you again and tells you of the love of his Father, you may believe that he experiences what he is writing about.

He is my own dear daddy and I love him very much. He is so kind and loving that I do not wonder that his soulmate loves him so much, and I believe that you must take after him for I love you more than she does him.

She may not agree with me, but I can't help that and still stick to what I say.

I have seen his poem and I know that he has written it, but I do not understand why he cannot write it to you without your learning to love him more. It does seem unexplainable to me, for I do not see how the want of more love on your part can possibly prevent him from writing the poem to you. He must not be ready to do it now or he may feel bashful in doing so, but I will talk to him and urge him to do so. Maybe he does not think it of sufficient importance now that he has arisen to the higher sphere, but I will find out and let you know. I will tell him what you say.

Nothing more tonight except that White Eagle says that you do not seem to want him to treat you any more as you do not make the opportunity for him to do so. He says that you are all right and that he will treat you tonight after you are through reading. He is very anxious, so do not disappoint him.

Your own loving, Helen