Luke Writes that the Divine Love of God Brings Immortality

April 17, 1922
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write as I desire to say a few words on the question of immortality of which you have been thinking so much during the past few days.

I was with you today as you listened to the discourses of the preacher upon the subject of immortality, and saw that you realized he did not have a true idea of what the term means, and thought how much you would like to inform him of your knowledge of the subject. Well, I understand just how you felt about the matter, and am in sympathy with you in your desire and hope that sometime you may have the opportunity to converse with him on this subject and give him your conception of the truth.

It is the subject of so many sermons and theories preached by preachers and others, and yet not one of them has the true understanding of what immortality is. They understand it only in the sense of continuous life, and in addition, try by argument and inferences to attach to it the idea of never ending - that is of the continuous life being so established that it can never be ended - and in this they satisfy their longings and desires. But you see, this inference is merely one that is drawn from the desires of the preachers - that they have no true basis upon which to found their conclusions, and as to the ordinary things of life they would not be willing to risk the important things of life upon a basis no better established from which they could draw conclusions that would cause them to act.

No, mankind do not really know what immortality is, and all the arguments that they can put forth to establish the true immortality, are not sufficient to convince the clear, cool and unprejudiced mind as to its being a fact.

As is said in the message that you have received from Jesus, immortality can be derived only from that which is immortal, and all arguments that merely tend to show that a thing must be immortal because of the desires or intentions of God, do not suffice.

All the facts that may be established as premises, are not sufficient to logically prove the conclusion desired to be established and men cannot depend upon such method of reasoning.

It is utterly impossible to derive immortality from anything less than that which is immortal in itself, and to attempt to do so by argument or inference is a mere waste of time by the exercise of the reasoning faculties.

As has been said, only God is Immortal, and that means that the very Qualities and Nature of Himself is Immortal; and if it were possible for Him to have any qualities that are not of a nature that partakes of the Immortal, then these qualities would not be Immortal, but subject to change and dissolution. Among the Qualities of His Being is the great and important one of Love and without It God could not be. His existence would be less than that of a God; and that being a fact, this great Quality of Love must be Immortal, and into whatever this Quality may enter and form a part, that thing is necessarily Immortal, and in no other way could it become Immortal. Then this Love of God brings Immortality in the true sense of the term and when It enters into the soul of man and possesses it, that soul becomes Immortal, and in no other way can Immortality be acquired.

Not all things of God's creation are immortal, for in a shorter or longer time they perform the object of their creation, and their existence is no longer required and they become dissolved into the elements of which they were composed. Man's physical body for this reason is not immortal, for after a short life on earth it dissolves and is no more. His spirit body is primarily of this evanescent character, and it may be that in the course of eternity it will have performed its mission and cease to exist. We do not know this, neither are we assured that it is not true, because it is dependent upon the continuous existence of the soul for its continuous existence, and not all souls will receive a part of the Father's Divine Love, which is the only thing that has within itself this immortality; and it may be that at sometime in the future, this soul without the Love may cease to exist and become no more a creature of the Father.

But this we do know, that whatever partakes of the Divine Love has in it that which is necessarily immortal, and can no more die than can this Love itself; and, hence, must be immortal. So that when men speak or teach that all men are immortal, they speak that which they do not know - only God, Himself, knows that fact - and from the mere exercise of the reason men are justified in saying, that such men or souls that do not obtain the Divine Love are not immortal.

Now while this question of man's immortality is in doubt, and has never been demonstrated to be a fact, yet we do know that, that portion of mankind whose souls have received this immortal, Divine Love, are immortal and can never cease to exist; and the great comfort and blessings to these souls that this possession brings, are that they know that they are immortal because they possess that quality or nature of God that is immortal, and as the latter can never have an ending, neither can that into which this immortal Love has entered and found a lodgment have an ending.

The preachers arguments were strong, and in the ordinary workings of men's minds and reasoning powers, may convince men that immortality is a proven fact for all mankind, but when properly analyzed and the true rule of search for immortality is applied, it will appear that the arguments are not conclusive - hope is stronger than fact, and men have not the assurance that for them immortality holds out its desired arms of certainty.

Well, I thought I would write you this short message upon the question that you and the preacher have been meditating upon, in the hope that he might not depend upon the strength of his argument for the establishing of the fact of immortality, but would see and become convinced that the only way to ascertain and acquire the true immortality is by seeking for and obtaining the Divine Love, and thereby having his soul transformed into the very Essence and nature of God in Love.

I am glad that I can write to you again, and that your condition is so much better than it has been, and permits the rapport to be made. Pray more to the Father and believe, and you will get in a condition that we so much desire. I will not write more. Good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Jesus Writes that God Delegates Spirit Angels to Answer Prayers for Material Things

September 19, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me say a few words tonight as I see that you were disappointed in the sermon that the preacher delivered tonight.

Well, you must not be so disappointed because he knows only that which he could deduce from the teachings of the Bible and while what he said was true, yet it is not all of the truth for he discussed only one of the attributes of God and that is the loving care that he has for and exercises over the children of earth. To most men, this view of God is satisfactory and gives them much comfort and assurance in the security that arises from the knowledge that there is such a loving and caring Father; and to these men, this assurance is of wonderful blessedness and comfort, and it is well that men can have this conception of God - a Father who is always solicitous for their happiness and welfare and to whom they can pray in the faith that he will hear and answer their prayers.

But as we have written you before, the things that men generally pray for, and expect to receive in response thereto, are not the things that God in his own personality bestows upon men in answer to such prayers. His great gift is His Divine Love, and these things of the material - or earthly in themselves - he leaves to his ministering spirits to bestow, or in other words, He delegates His Angels to so come into contact with and influence the souls of men that they may feel that their prayers have been answered, as they have.

The preacher's conception of God does not extend beyond these attributes that in themselves are sufficient to answer men's wants and make them better and happier. I will come soon and write you of God's attributes and hope that you will get in condition that I may make the necessary rapport.

It has been some time since I have written you of these higher truths that are so important to men, and regret that such is the fact, but now that you have had your vacation, and feel that you are willing and anxious that our communications be resumed, I will try to assist you in getting in that condition of soul that will enable the messages to be written you. But as you know, much depends upon yourself and you must try with all the energies of your soul to obtain a greater inflowing of the Father's Love, for only from it can come the condition that is necessary. Pray more and think deeply of the spiritual truths that have already been written you, and we will come together in closer communion and be able to give and you receive the messages.

I am glad that you have thought more of these things during the past few days, and hope that your thoughts will continue and that your longings will flow more to the Father. You cannot now appreciate the necessity for this condition, and if you could, I know you would give all your thoughts and longings and energy to the accomplishment of the work.

Well, I will not write more tonight, but will be with you and pray with you and try to influence you in the efforts to perform the mission that has been given you. Have more faith and believe that you will succeed and you will not be disappointed.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Mary Kennedy Writes that Dr. Leslie R. Stone's Parents and Sisters are Now Living in the Celestial Heavens

June 10, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mary.

Let me write a few lines to my dear one, as you disappointed me when he was last here. I thought that certainly you were going to let me write and when you did not, I just couldn't help telling Helen that you were real mean, but you know I did not mean it - for you have been very kind to both the Doctor and myself. So I hope you will not feel bad, because of what I said. You see, we are not very different here from what we were on earth when something interferes with our love-making.

I noticed also a side remark of Helen, and I want to say that she was only jealous of me or very antagonistic for me to write. Of course, she did not know what I was going to write about and I will prove it!

Well, the Doctor knows how much I love him and I know how much he loves me, and it is not always necessary to write of this, but thinking of my messages, I believe I do always say something of love and I am glad of it.

But last night when he was with you, I wanted to say something else and I will tell you now what it is. I know that he is much interested in the progress of his own folks and their happiness. I wanted to tell him that his father and sisters are in the Celestial Spheres and know to the extent that this makes their certainty of immortality and a home in the Father's house that can never be taken from them. His father has been so very earnest in his prayers and longings for the Love that it came to him in such abundance that he found himself an inhabitant of the Celestial Spheres where his mother is, and Kate is with them. So that now we are all safe in the shelter of the Father's Love and know that forever and ever, we will abide in the Heavens of the Father. We are all so glad, that we had a regular old-fashioned love feast and praised God for His goodness and mercy.

I have been with Leslie a great deal lately and feel that he, too, is getting more of this Love in his soul, and if he could fully realize what it means, he would feel like shouting as the old Methodists sometimes do. I sometimes wonder at what all this means, and why we should be privileged to possess this Love and have the corresponding happiness; and this I know, that no matter how much men are disappointed in the earth life or spirits in the spirit world, the Father never disappoints them who long for the Love that is free for all, but how few realize what this freedom means. Only those whose Love from God enters and takes possession of the soul can have a possible realization of what God's free Love means.

I am so glad that day by day this knowledge is coming to my soulmate. And when I say knowledge, I mean something more than a mere intellectual knowledge. This latter, of course, is necessary, but it is not the knowledge that comes to the soul.

Tell the Doctor to pray more and more and believe with all his soul that there is no limit to the inflowing of the Divine Love to become his. I have written enough for tonight and notwithstanding Helen's remarks, I am going to tell him that I love him with all my heart and soul and will never leave him until the time comes for him to join me, and not then, of course.

I thank you very much for permitting me to write tonight, and you must believe that I love you as a sister, and would not for all the world call you hard names or make you feel that I am not your true, loving sister. His parents send their love to him and the assurance that they are helping him with all their powers and love. Good night and God bless you both, and in the end lead you to one of the glorious mansions that are waiting for you.

Your true friend and the only true love of the Doctor.
Mary

Nita Padgett Writes of Her Experience in Passing into the Spirit World and Progressing in Divine Love

May 25, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Nita.

I am so glad that I can write to you again. It has been a long time since you let me write and I have been so anxious to tell you of my progress and love. Why, Daddy, I thought that you loved me so much that you would not keep me waiting so long to tell you of my love and how happy I am, but mother told me that you were not in condition to receive my message and that I must wait until conditions are different and I understand, but thought it strange that anything should interfere to prevent me from writing to my Daddy.

And now I want to tell you of my progress and how the Love of the Father has changed my soul so that now I am in a sphere from where I may soon expect to go into the Celestial Heavens where mother is.

When I first came to spirit life (June 20, 1918) as you know, mother met me and took me in her arms and was so loving and tender with me, that I had no fear because of the change in my condition, and with her were other beautiful and loving spirits who gave me their love and assured me that now I would soon find a home that was so different from my home on earth and would experience a happiness that I had never before felt. And I was not afraid and did not want to go with my body again, as I was told so many newly arrived spirits desire to do when they first come over.

I was satisfied from the first, and how could I not help being so, when I had such a beautiful mother to enfold me in her arms and assure me that never more would I have to undergo the cares and disappointments of an earth life. How glorious this was and how I thought that if Heaven should have all spirits as lovely and grand as was here, what a happy place it must be. Mother was with me for quite a while and also Grandmother Padgett, who was also beautiful and bright, and who told me that I had nothing to fear, but to believe that I was in the truly spirit world when later I should find everything to make me happy and contended.

But how badly I felt when the parting came, for you must know that this parting was necessary. Mother lived in a higher sphere to which I could not go and she could not remain with me all the time, as I wanted her to do. But she told me that she would be with me quite often to comfort and love me; that under the Law, I would have to go to the place that my soul fitted me for and from thence I would have to pray and work for my own progress; that she could not determine for me where I should live; and that only my own soul's condition must fix my place; and so as I say we had to part.

I soon found myself in some darkness and suffering and did not quite understand why this should be so, or what was the cause of my darkness, but after a little I found that my recollection of my earth life came to me in wonderful clearness and that my conscience was causing me some suffering. I was awfully lonesome and wanted my mother so much, but found out that I had to bear my own burdens and obey the laws that fixed my condition. I know you would want to be with me if you could, to comfort and love me and protect me from my sufferings, but this was impossible for this Law that I speak of knows neither mercy nor forgiveness until it is satisfied.

It is stern and unrelenting, and from the very necessity of things, must be so, because only through its workings can a soul be made purer and enabled to progress from its first condition. But thanks to my dear mother, I had with me the hope that such condition was only for a moment and that soon the Love would come to me and take me out of the workings of the Law (Law of Compensation) and set me free and enable me to get into light and more happiness. Oh! how I prayed and prayed for this Love and tried to believe that it would come to me and dispel the darkness and the recollections of the evil things that I had done and thought when on earth. And mother and grandmother prayed with me, and encouraged me with their sympathy and love and the assurance that this Love would come to me and that the Father would answer my prayers.

While in this condition and on one occasion when I had been praying with all my soul, and when my faith seemed stronger, there came to me a beautiful spirit all tender and loving and said:

"My daughter, the Father will hear your prayers and soul longing and call you to higher service and brighter surroundings and greater happiness, for I know that he never fails to answer the prayer of an earnest soul and besides you are the very child of His Love and care and nothing pleases Him so much as when His children call on Him for His Love and help. And I am praying for you also and my faith makes it certain that you will soon receive the answer, only let your very soul breathe out its longings for His Love."

Oh! how beautiful and grand he was and how tender his love, which seemed to flood all my surroundings and to give me such hope and encouragement that I felt that I surely must be a little weary in brain while he was talking. He then told me that he was Jesus and was so glad that I had come to the spirit world with so much love surrounding me and also told me how he loved me and sympathized with me and wanted me to get out of my darkness and into the light.

I cannot express to you how I felt as he talked to me and how I wondered if he were not really God. But he could not be God, for he was so human and humble and seemed to think that he was a mere child of the Father of whom he spoke. When leaving me, he said that he would come again and talk to me of the Father and His Love and blessed me and said:

"You are a child of our Father and just as dear to Him as I am, and He loves you just as much as He does me. Believe in His Great Love and you will be happy."

Well, daddy, you can imagine what my feelings were and how much I was helped. I will not stop to tell you now of how this Love came into my soul, little by little, until at last it seemed to fill my whole being. Oh, how happy I became, and how beautiful my surroundings appeared and what beautiful bright spirits I found myself in an association with. I was satisfied and my home became to me the most glorious and happiest place imaginable.

But this was only the second sphere of which I have written, and even that sphere surpasses all conception of man and would satisfy the most hopeful and extravagant man as his house of bliss. But I continued to progress and more and more of the Love came into my soul, and strange as it may seem to you, as I rose higher and higher, grandmother was with me so very much, became more beautiful and glorious than ever before.

I understand now why that was. As she came to me in the different spheres, and as I rose higher, she approached nearer her home and took in more of the beauty and glory that are really hers in her sphere of living. But I have written enough for tonight, and besides you are tired.

Now I am happy beyond expression and love you with a greater love than I ever had on earth, and know what love really is, and one of the happiest things that I now have before me is to wait until you come and meet you with all my love and goodness. Oh, daddy, won't it be glorious when you come over and we can all be together in love. You thought that you had a beautiful Helen on earth, but when you come to us and see her in her glory, your very eyes will be dazzled at her appearance.

We are with you a great deal, loving you and trying to help you and you must believe that we will never leave you, till you reach the Heaven where we now are. And not then if you want us with you. So daddy, believe that I am your little Nita and that I write you and love you with all my heart and soul.

Your,
Nita

**********

Helen is very happy that Nita wrote of her progress and happiness.

I am here, your own true & loving Helen.

I am so glad that Nita had the opportunity to write you as to her progress and happiness and I am so glad that she could do so. It makes her feel better to know that now somebody knows just what her condition is and how happy she is. She is a beautiful spirit and is progressing all the time and very soon now, she will be in the Celestial Sphere, where everything is divine and beautiful. She is hugging me now and says that she is so happy and I feel the influence of joy.

Well dear as you have written a great deal tonight. I will not write more. Love and believe that we love you and are with you very much. I will close and say good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Jesus Writes that Many who Think They Have Received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit Have Only Advanced in the Purification of Their Natural Love

May 10, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write for a short time upon a subject that will be of interest to you and to those who may read my messages.

What I desire to write upon tonight is the condition of those who think they have received the inflowing or baptism of the Holy Spirit, when the fact is that they have received only that advancement in the purification of their natural love and a harmony with the laws of their creation that causes them to believe that what they experience must be the result of a bestowal of the Love which the Holy Spirit brings to mortals.

In this mistake, so many humans indulge and in the satisfaction, or rather happiness which their experience, growing out of such an increase in the harmony brings to them, they fully believe that the Holy Spirit has taken possession of their souls and caused the happiness. But in thus concluding, they are deceiving themselves and will realize their mistake when they come to an awakening in the spirit life.

The Holy Spirit is that part of God's Spirit that manifests His presence and care in conveying to men's souls His Divine Love. This Love is the highest and greatest and most holy of His possessions and can be conveyed to men only by the Holy Spirit; and this appellation is used in contradistinction to the mere Spirit, which demonstrates to men the operation of God's Soul in other directions and for other purposes.

His Creative Spirit, and His Caring Spirit and the Spirit that makes effective His Laws and designs in the governing of the universe are not the Holy Spirit, though equally part of God's Soul, and equally necessary for the manifestations of His powers and the exercise of the energies of His Soul. These deal with the things of the universe that do not have interrelationship with the Soul of God and the souls of men, and whenever the Holy Spirit is spoken of, it should mean only that part of God's Spirit which transforms the souls of men into the Substance of the Soul of God in its Quality of Love.

I heard the preacher discourse Sunday night on the work of the Holy Spirit as portrayed in the contents of the New Testament, and saw that his conclusions from these contents were wholly erroneous and apart from the truth. As he said, the effects of the workings of the Holy Spirit are shown in more ways than one, and not everyone upon whom it is bestowed is filled with the same powers of displaying its presence and possession. Now in all these evidences of its existence in the experiences given, it must be understood that it is limited in its operations to those conditions and manifestations that have their source in the Divine Love of the Father, that was bestowed upon mankind at my coming in the flesh, and that those evidences of the existence that have no relationship to this Love are not evidences of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

As mentioned in the New Testament, when it was bestowed upon my disciples at Pentecost, it came as with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, which has before been explained to you, that shook the room in which the disciples were assembled and filled them with its powers, which means only that this Divine Love came into their souls in such abundance that they were shaken in their souls to such an extent that they thought the building in which they were assembled was disturbed. But in this, they were mistaken, for the effect of the presence of the Holy Spirit is not to affect the things of inanimate nature, but is confined to the souls of men.

And the preacher must know that because men are possessed with powers to accomplish the mental or material things of their living, they are not necessarily possessed with the Holy Spirit. Much of the physical healing of mortals is caused by powers that are bestowed upon men, or some men that are not connected with or proceed from the Holy Spirit. That there is evidence of this, men will recollect that the Old Testament is full of instances where men were healed of their diseases, and other wonderful things performed, at the time that the Holy Spirit was excluded from man's possession. Yet these marvels, as then considered, were performed by men claiming to be endowed with the Spirit of God, which is working for the good and happiness of mankind, and which will continue to work until men shall become in harmony with themselves as first created.

I understand the object of the preacher in attempting to show and convince his hearers, that because they have not those powers that the Bible describes as having been possessed by my disciples after the bestowal of the Holy Spirit that, therefore, they must not believe and conclude that they, his hearers, have not this blessing. His intentions and efforts were commendable and arose from the desire that his hearers should not become disheartened and disappointed in their efforts to obtain the inflowing of the Love that the Holy Spirit brings to men; but on the other hand, his teachings were dangerous and misleading to these hearers, for the natural consequence of such teaching is to lead men into the belief or persuasion that they possess this power and Comforter, when they do not, and thus prevent them from seeking for an obtaining this Comforter in the only way in which it can be obtained.

The Holy Spirit, primarily, has nothing to do with great mental or physical achievements, and to say that because a man is a great inventor or philosopher or surgeon who does things without knowing where the inspiration or suggestion to do the things comes from, therefore he is possessed of the Holy Spirit, is all wrong and misleading.

All things, mediately or immediately, have their existence and operation and growth in the Spirit of God, and only in that Spirit, and which Spirit is evidenced in many and varied ways in men's experience; and hence, men say that they live and move and have their being in God, meaning only that they live and move and have their being in God's Spirit. This Spirit is the source of life and light and health and numerous other blessings that men possess and enjoy - the sinner as well as the saint, the poor man as well as the rich, the ignorant as well as the enlightened and educated - and are each and all dependent on this Spirit for their being and comfort. This is the Spirit that all men possess to a great or less degree, and the brilliant preacher or teacher or orator, possessing this Spirit to a greater degree than his less favored brother, depends upon the same Spirit. It is universal in its existence and workings, is omnipresent, and may be acquired by all men in this sense to the degree that their mental receptivity permits.

And this further demonstrates the fact that God, through and by this Spirit, is with men always, in the lowest hells as well as in the highest Heavens of the perfect man. It is working continuously, ceaselessly and always at the call of men, be that call mental or spiritual. It is the thing that controls the universe of which man's earth is an infinitesimal part. This is the Spirit of God.

But the Holy Spirit, while a part of the Spirit of God, yet is as distinctive as is the soul of man distinctive from all other creations of God; it is that part of God's Spirit that has to do with the relationship of God's Soul and man's soul, exclusively.

The subject of Its operation is the Divine Love of the Father's Soul and the object of Its workings is the soul of man, and the great goal to be reached by Its operations is the transforming of the soul of man into the Substance of the Father's Love, with Immortality as a necessary accompaniment. This is the great miracle of the universe; and so high and sacred and merciful is the transformation, that we call that part of God's Spirit that so works, the Holy Spirit.

So let not teachers or preachers teach, or their hearers believe that every part of God's Spirit that operates upon the heart's and thoughts and feelings of man is the Holy Spirit, for it is not true. Its mission is the salvation of men in the sense of bringing them into that harmony with God, that the very souls of men will become a part in substance and not in image merely of the Soul of God and without this working of the Holy Spirit men cannot become in such union.

I have written you before as to how this Holy Spirit works and the way in which it can bring men the Divine Love of the Father, and what is necessary for it's inflowing. The way described is the only way, and men must not believe and rest in the security of such belief, that every working of the Spirit of God, is the working of the Holy Spirit.

Except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, and such attainment is possible only by the working of the Holy Spirit.

Oh, preacher, upon whom a great responsibility rests, learn the truth and then lead men into the way of salvation. I will not write more now, but will come again and deliver another message. Believe that I love you and am

Your friend and brother,
Jesus

Helen Writes of Praying that God Would Pour out His Holy Spirit upon Mr. Padgett

May 2, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, dear, I am so happy that you are in such good condition to receive the messages, and that you have again realized the presence of the Love in your soul, and have turned your longings and desires to the Father for an increase of His Love.

I cannot tell you how solicitous I have been for you and have prayed to the Father that He would pour out His Holy Spirit upon you and call you again to the work that you must do. How different you are when in the condition of Love from what you are when indifferent and cold and shut in, as it were, to your thoughts of the material. If you could only fully appreciate what it all means to be in this condition of indifference you would try with all the powers of your soul and mind to never let the condition come over you. There is nothing in all the universe that can possibly compensate for the loss of this feeling of the possession of the active Love in your soul, and you must realize it.

I am so glad that the Master wrote you as He did and hope that you will remember what he said and become in unison with him and the work that he has given you to do. Be true to him and to yourself and you will arrive at the state of will that will make and keep you very happy while on earth and give you the certainty of a home in the Celestial Heavens.

Well, dear, you have written enough for tonight, and I must stop. But believe that I love you with all my soul and want you to be very happy. Many spirits are anxious to write. So, good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Jesus Writes that the Divine Truth Must Be Declared to all Mankind

May 2, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write for I am anxious to tell you that you are in a much better condition than you have been for a long time, and your thoughts of today and especially of tonight have put you in a spiritual condition, and if you continue in these thoughts and longings, you will soon enable us to make the rapport by which we can continue our messages with greater frequency and with exact expression of what we desire to convey.

I have been with you a great deal today and have tried to exercise upon your soul and mind an influence that will cause you to more fully realize the responsibility that rests upon you and the importance of the work that you are to do. I was with you at church this morning and saw the impression made upon your mind by the preacher, when he asked the question - if anyone had anything to offer that would show him that he had not grasped all of the truth as to the spiritual things, as he called them, that would cause men to aspire for and obtain a higher course of living - and also saw that you realized that your work, if carried to its conclusions, would answer that question.

And so you must think of this question and try with all the powers that have been given you to learn these truths, so they can be made known - not only to the preachers of the so-called Christian Churches but to all mankind. You already have truths enough to show this minister that he is not preaching the true Christian spirituality that I came to the world to teach, and did teach, and that he must not rest satisfied with his knowledge of spiritual things but must seek for more light and truth, and then make them a part of his own possessions, and teach them to the world of men, and especially those to whom he has the opportunity of ministering.

I am much pleased that you are in so much better condition of soul, and want you to persist in your efforts to obtain more of the Love of the Father, and then you will be able to bring true enlightenment to the unthinking and unknowing world, of the truths that are so vital to their salvation.

I was also with you tonight and saw the impression made on you by the preacher when he set forth Samuel as he then was, as an example to be followed by the true seekers after the important things that lead to spiritual regeneration and perfect manhood, and was glad that you could appreciate how far the character of Samuel fell short of what is necessary to make a man the Divine Angel, or even the perfect man. The preacher does not experience the truth of the Divine Love in his soul, and in fact has not even an intellectual knowledge of its existence and operations. He believes that I am God, and that my blood washes away the sins of all men who believe in me; and thus thinking, he is satisfied to rest upon the promise of the Gospels, which he accepts as the true teachings of me.

Samuel is now here, and was with you at the church, and realized how devoid he was, at the time spoken of by the preacher, of that thing which was necessary to his salvation. And that his demand upon the people to behold him, and then bring any charge of unrighteousness that they could against him and his conduct as a servant and prophet of Jehovah. This is a very pretty story and to a certain extent contains in it a teaching of the moral laws that works for good, but it is not more important than many other things contained in the Old Testament. Samuel will come sometime and write you of his life on earth, and his ministry as a servant of Jehovah.

Well my dear brother, I will not write more tonight, but will soon come and write an important message, which I know will not only benefit but interest you. Well, I will write on the subject that you suggest, for this is an important thing for men to know, as so many think they are doing God's Will in their various courses of living and in their various forms of worship. His Will is one that corresponds with all the laws that affect man in every way, and men must know what this Will is.

I will come soon and write on this subject and hope that you may be successful in receiving my message as I intend to deliver it. With my love and blessing, and the assurance that I will be with you in all times of need and try to direct you in your thoughts, I will say good night.

Your friend and brother,
Jesus

Mary Kennedy Writes of Her Happiness that Dr. Leslie R. Stone Now Has a Picture of Her

March 24, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mary.

Let me write, as I am very anxious to say a word to my beloved. I listened to his mother as she wrote on the photographs and felt that, while what she said was true and must be believed, yet I could not feel satisfied until I could write him of the happiness that I have in the knowledge that he has a picture of me, though not a satisfactory one, so far as I am concerned. But, yet, he has one and will not now have to depend entirely upon his imagination to conceive what his soulmate may look like! If I could only have appeared to him as I really am, or to an extent, at least, that he could see without any inconvenience, I would feel so much happier and the more satisfied.

I love him so much that I could not restrain myself from writing, and I asked Helen to impress you to take the pencil in hand and give me the opportunity; and as she is in such rapport with you, I knew that she could succeed in causing you to do as I wished. I am very grateful and can only repay you by throwing around you my best influence and helping you whenever possible.

Oh, the wonder of it all, and how thankful I am to the Father that one little insignificant spirit such as I am, viewing all the hosts of spirits by whom we are surrounded, can enjoy such a blessing! Tell him that he must try to appreciate our privilege also, for it is the cause of a happiness that very few, comparatively, possess.

I am now in the Celestial Spheres, higher than he can imagine, and yet I have these pleasures of joy and bliss to come to him and tell him of my love and enjoy his presence. What a wonderful thing the soulmate love is and how it makes a spirit who possesses the Divine Love happier, in that it has a knowledge that this love of ours is not inconsistent with the Father's Love, and is the object of the approbation of the real, true Father. So you see, He is not a jealous God, as so many believe, but is anxious that all His children shall love and enjoy those things that He has provided for them, the least of which is not the soulmate love.

You have been very kind, and I will not write more now, only to say how much I love him and want him to be happy. Helen is here and says she will write you and tell you of her love and the things that await you when you come to the spirit world.

Your sister in Christ,
Mary Kennedy

Dr. William Ellery Channing Writes that the Unitarian Doctrine, Which He Taught on Earth, Does Not Furnish a Basis for Progress to the Celestial Heavens

March 21, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write just a line, as I merely desire to say that I have listened to what the Master has written and can testify that the love to God and love to our fellow man are not all that man needs for a basis of his religion.

I was, when on earth, a minister and taught the same doctrines (Unitarian) that the preacher of the day taught, and believed that they were all that man needed, and died in that belief; but, alas, I discovered after many years of darkness, and of happiness in my natural love that they would not furnish a basis for my progress to the Celestial Heavens - to the condition of the soul transformed by the Divine Love. I merely wanted to say this.

If agreeable to you, I should like to come some time and detail more at length my experience in learning the basis of the true religion.

I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Dr. Channing.

Jesus Writes of the Great Importance of Mr. Padgett Being in Condition to Receive the More Truths

March 7, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write a line for I see that you are desirous to hear from me and obtain the encouragement that always flows from my communications. I have been with you tonight, as during many nights past, with the desire to write you upon subjects important to the work that you are to do and was prevented from doing so only by the condition in which you were that prevented me from making the rapport.

As I have told you before, we are governed by law in regards to the kind of messages that we may communicate to you and unless you are in condition that will permit these laws to be complied with, we are powerless to use your brain for the purpose of delivering our messages. You also know what the remedy is for the defect that may exist at any particular time and we have urged upon you to seek this remedy and thereby get in the proper and necessary condition that will enable us to make the rapport.

But you have not been successful in applying the remedy, not because it is not available to you, but because of your course of thought and failure to pray to the Father for an inflowing of His Love into your soul and thereby causing the proper influence to be caused upon your brain, which will enable us to take possession of its functioning and deliver the messages that we have to communicate. You are in better condition tonight than you have been for some time and I hope that you will continue to think of these spiritual truths and pray to the Father and if you do this, we shall soon succeed in writing to you many of the truths that we are so anxious to communicate.

There are very many of these truths yet to be revealed to you, some of far greater importance than you have already received except those relating to the Divine Love, and we are anxious that you receive them as rapidly as possible for they are needed by mankind and many souls are longing for the truth that can only be made known through you.

So my brother, think deeply of what I have said and let your work be to you the most important thing in your life. As you know, you have only a few years yet to live and, if you do not do our work, it may be that a lifetime will elapse before we may be able to get another who shall have the qualifications that are required. You sometimes, I know, realize the importance of your work but lately and more often you let your thoughts turn to and become absorbed in things that are of the mere mortal life and as a consequence the greater things are put aside and neglected. I like (trust) that this may not continue. We will be with you and give you all the help that is possible for us to give and hope that from now on it may be successful.

Tonight I will not write upon any subject of a formal character and wish to say that we are ready to continue our messages and are dependent only upon you getting in the condition that will enable us to do so.

So think of what I write and pray earnestly to the Father and you will be able to overcome this inclination to lower your thoughts to these material things. We understand just what you need to enable you to turn your life on earth and as we have told you, these things shall be provided and you will not be compelled to suffer for anything of this nature that is necessary for your comfort or living. Only trust in us and do the work instead of thinking of these things.

I will come soon and write another message that will be of importance and far reaching with its effect upon the belief of men. Many spirits are with you watching over you and ready to help. You must believe this and act on that belief.

Well, as I have said, it is because of your want of condition and the spirit who moves your pencil are those who merely have the desire to write and are not presently to do so. Your guide, the Indian, is a very careful guardian and will not permit many of them to intervene but occasionally he does let one write so that you may know that there are many spirits surrounding you ready to take advantage of the opportunity to write.

But until our work is accomplished this kind of spirit will not be permitted to write. You will remember that sometime ago we suddenly stopped the spirit in darkness from writing you and asking your help. This was done not that we did not want these spirits to get all the help possible, but because the work that we are doing just now is of more importance to humanity as well as to spirits, and every other kind of communication must be stopped in order that our work shall proceed. Then you will see how important the work is for ordinarily nothing is of so much importance as the rescuing of a soul from sin and ignorance. I will not write more tonight.

Yes, I will pray with you and I hope that you will let all the longings of your soul enter into your prayers for the greater the longing the greater will be the abundance of the Love received in answer to your prayers. I will come soon. Good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

**********

Jesus is anxious to reveal the Truth that he knows for the good of humanity.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen:

Well, my dear, I am glad that the Master wrote you tonight as he did for I must tell you that he was much in earnest in what he said and I hope that you will think of what he said and try to improve your condition as he suggested. He is so anxious to reveal to you the truth that he knows and which he realizes will be for the good of humanity.

He is so loving and if you could only see how tender and sympathetic he is when writing to you, you must not for one moment doubt his love or think of anything and be very impatient, or having him with you in all his love and influence. Try to realize what this means.

Only believe that I love you with all my soul and am with you very often trying to help you and make you happy. Good night, my own dear husband,

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Helen Padgett and Mary Kennedy Write of Their Love for their Soulmates on Earth

February 16, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, dear, the Master will not continue his messages tonight as you are not so well and he does not feel it best to draw upon you as he would be compelled to do if he were to continue, or attempt to continue, the message of last night, and so I will write you for a short time and tell you of someone here and very anxious to communicate with her soulmate.

Of course, I mean Mary, and she is all aquiver with excitement, as you mortals might say, at the prospect of writing to the Doctor (Leslie R. Stone); and so I will let her come and write, but you must be careful and not let her write too long, for what she has to say would require you, in order to receive it, to write for the balance of the evening.


**********

Mary:

I am here. Mary.

Well, I am here and want to say a great deal, but as Helen has warned you, I will not trespass very long, and Helen did me an injustice when she said I would want to write all the evening. I am as considerate of you as is possible and notwithstanding my opportunity, I realize your capacity.

Tell my dear one that I have waited a long, long time to communicate with him, and that although I have the advantage of him in that I can see what his thoughts are and know just how much he loves me, yet I also desire to tell him of my love for him, and how much I am interested in him and want him to know it. He is my own true lover, and I realize that no other woman can come between him and me, even as to any earthly love that he may have. And just here let me say that I am not reflecting on you, for I know the circumstances in your case, and how it is best that you should have someone to comfort your last years on earth. But Leslie does not need such a one, and I shall always be sufficient for him, as he is for me. Tell him that I am very happy in the knowledge that he is all mine, and that my love for him is always increasing, and that my efforts to make him happy never cease.

I am now in a higher sphere than when I last wrote him and realize what the wonderful Love of the Father means more than ever. Also with this increased Love in my soul, I have greater love for him. I am with him more often than he is aware of and am pleased that he thinks so much of me and loves me as he does. His life will at the longest be very short and then I shall have him with the full consciousness that no earthly pleasure or condition can ever for a moment separate us, and that the bliss which I have will be nearer his than he can imagine. I really believe that when he comes over, it will not be very long until he will find his home with me and enjoy the happiness of my home - a wonderful home, not like anything on earth, or that has been conceived of by man.

No, it is beyond description and the nearest approach to a description that he can understand is that the Father's Love is in and about it to a degree that renders everything beautiful and grand. He must not despair of coming to me, for he will come as surely as your sun will rise; and then he will know what happiness means in the experience of actual enjoyment.

I am so very happy that I can write to him tonight and encourage him with the knowledge that all these things will be his and forever. He, I know, is not surrounded by those things which ordinarily make men happy, but he has greater wealth than these things can possibly give him, for he has much of not only the Father's Love, but the love of a soulmate who is all his and ready to give him the real true happiness that only a union with a soulmate in the Celestial Heavens can give. He must continue to pray for an increased inflowing of the Father's Love, and as that shall come to him, I shall be able to see that the soulmate love for his Mary will increase also.

I would like to write of many things that are here in such reality and grandeur, but as you must not write much more, I must forego the pleasure. But this he must know, that my love is all his and the many mansions spoken of by the Master will prove to him to be a reality, and not the mere hope that so many mortals rely on. I send him a kiss, yes, many kisses, such as only angels can send, and if his soul be opened up to their coming, he will realize what it means.

Good night, I thank you and, with my love to him and the assurance that I am watching over him and sympathize with him in all his earthly worries, will sign myself his loving Mary.


**********

Helen:

Well dear, she has written and says she feels much better, and I know she does, for she looks very happy and grateful for the privilege. I am with Mary in her expressions of love and hope and certainty, and you must believe that these things that she has spoken of will be yours when you come to join us. Why dear, you cannot appreciate what all this means to you and to us! We are truly thankful to the Father for the privilege of knowing that we have on earth a soulmate - the very necessary part of ourselves with whom we can talk and communicate the innermost feelings of our souls.

It is a privilege that not many mortals enjoy, and it is no wonder that men and women are earnestly seeking a way by which they can come into communication with their loved ones, even if these are only their loved ones for a short time.

If they only knew what it means to be able to talk to a soulmate and have that soulmate tell him of her love and the wonders of it all, they would become more anxious than ever, and the faith that they now have would cease to satisfy. But this cannot be so at this time, and it may be well that men and women generally are not fitted for such an experience.

You know how much I love you and what this love means, and that there is no other love in all the spirit world, except the Father's Love, that can so satisfy and make happy.

I must stop now, for you have written enough. But do not forget that Baby (Nita Padgett) is anxious to write, and you must give her the opportunity to do so before long. You will soon feel well again and be in condition to perform your work, which to you just now is the important thing. So I will say good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Jesus Writes on the Importance of Knowing the Way to the Celestial Kingdom and the Plan of Salvation

October 18, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write a few lines for I must tell you of an important truth that is necessary for men to know in order to reach the Celestial Kingdom, and a knowledge of the plan of salvation.

I know that the Bible contains many sayings attributed to me in reference to this plan, and many of my alleged sayings are believed in by those who claim to be Christians, which are not true, for I never said them and they are contrary to what I received from the Father as to the true plan of men's redemption from sin, and as to the only way, by which, they can obtain the true at-onement with the Father and a knowledge of their own immortality.

Many of these sayings were written by men who knew not the only way to a oneness with the Father, and were the results of the teachings of the manuscripts that then existed and were received by the Jews as the revelations of Moses, and of many of the prophets who had no knowledge of the Divine Love or of its rebestowal upon humanity. These men made me say those things that accorded with their ideas of what was necessary to a salvation or possibility of their becoming at-one with me and with the Father, and in writing their ideas confused the truth with what they supposed was the truth as contained in the Old Testament; and much harm has been done by attributing many of these sayings to me, because of the supposed authority that is thereby attached to them.

My disciples never taught and never understood that their salvation, or that of any man, depended upon faith in me as the son of God or that I, the mere Jesus, had in me any virtue to forgive sin or to ensure an entrance into the true Kingdom of God or that, I, as the man Jesus, was a son of God in the sense that the Bible teaches. They knew that the Father had revealed to me the truth, and that I had in me that Love, which to a large extent made me like unto and at-one with the Father; that my teachings of the rebestowal of the Divine Love was true and that when they, or any man, should possess this Love to the extent of that possession, they would become at-one with the Father, and also with me, who possessed it to a greater degree than any man. I say, they knew this and taught it to the people as I had taught it to them; but when the compilers of the present New Testament came to declare my sayings and teachings, they knew not of this Love and, hence, could not understand what many of my true expressions meant and gave them an interpretation so far as my real sayings were concerned, that would comply with their knowledge.

No, I am not correctly quoted in many of these sayings, and I may say in the large majority of them, for when they were written, as now contained in the New Testament, men had lost the knowledge of their true meaning, and out of their own minds recorded that which they thought was what I had really said.

I do not see how these false sayings can be corrected, except to take each saying and show, by its incompatibility with what I now say, its falsity. This would take too much time and expend much energy that could the better be employed in declaring what the truth actually is. But this I will say that whenever these sayings impart that I claim to be God, or that I could or did forgive men of their sins, or that whatsoever should be asked of the Father in my name would be received, are all untrue and has greatly misled the true seeker of knowledge of Immortality.

My disciples were close to me and understood better my sayings than all others, and yet they did not understand all the truth, and left the mortal life with many expectations that were not fulfilled and in the very nature of the same could not be fulfilled. They were in certain non-essentials influenced in their beliefs and expectations by their training in the teachings of these Old Testament manuscripts and were very largely Jews in belief when they died. They understood the vital things that determined their relationship to God and to their existence in the future world, but as to many of the non-essentials, they retained the faith of their fathers and were not able to receive all the truth, which I could have taught them.

I must not linger to correct these alleged sayings of mine, but must occupy my time and yours in declaring and revealing the Truth as it exists now and existed then, and you and the world may know that wherever and whenever these Bible sayings of mine conflict with what I have written and shall write you, they are untrue and were never said by me. Thus, in this general way, I will make plain to men that the Bible must not, in all particulars, be relied on or believed in as containing the Truth or my declarations of the Truth.

I will soon come and write a message on a vital truth and hope that you will be in condition to receive it. I will now say good night and God bless your efforts and keep you safely in His care.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Jesus Writes that People Who Believe in the "New Thought" are on the Wrong Track

June 15, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write just a line for I desire to tell you that I was with you tonight at the convention of the New Thought people, and saw the impression made upon you by the discourses, and am pleased that what they said only confirmed your faith in our teachings. They are sincere in their efforts to obtain a knowledge of the truth, but the difficulty is, that while they are free from many of the orthodox teachings of the church, yet they have only the natural love and perceptions of the intellect, and to some extent, of the awakened soul in its natural condition.

They know nothing of the Divine Love or the way to the true Kingdom, and are depending entirely upon the spiritual feelings that come to them with the consciousness of an awakened soul, in its conflict with the things that prevent its purification and development into the perfect man.

These people are to be encouraged in their efforts and teachings so far as they disclose the true natural condition of man and the possibility of his becoming in harmony with the will of the Father in their natural love, and to that extent they are progressing beyond the old orthodox ideas of what the real man is, and what is incumbent upon him in order to get into the condition of happiness that comes with a purification of his love, and a longing in harmony with the laws of God governing that purification.

It is to be wished that these men will proceed in their teachings and thus give to mankind a knowledge of what man really is, and the possibilities that lie before him when he exercises the inherent powers that exist within. For concerning sin and inharmony, until the great truths of the New Birth and the transformation of the soul and the wonderful Kingdom of the Celestial Spheres are made known to men through our teachings of these things, these greater truths which lie beyond the knowledge of men at this time will not be his.

In their search for God, they are on the wrong track and will never find him, if they pursue the search in the way indicated by their discourses. God is not within men, nor do they live and move and have their being in Him, nor is He everywhere, waiting to be developed by men as they grow better and purer. No, they are mistaken in their thought as to God and His habitation and will learn when they come into a knowledge of the truth, that God is not in man or in everything that surrounds him, but is separate from him and from the environments in which they live and move and has His locality in the Highest Heavens, where He works out his purposes, and makes Himself and the evidence of His existence known to men by the energies that control the universe in which men exist. He can only be seen by the soul perceptions of a soul that has been transformed into the Divine Angel; to men in every other particular He is unseen and unknown, except as His laws and the effect of their operation disclose His being.

Well, I merely wanted to write this short message, and I am glad that you can receive it. Good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Helen Writes About the Preacher's Sermon on the New Thought, which is Natural Love Purification

May 11, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving, Helen.

Well, my dear, I see that you are happy tonight, and I am also, for I heard you read the messages and saw the effect that they had on your soul, and that they caused you to love both the Father and me more. You must not cease to love as you do tonight for there is no other happiness that can supply the peace which this love brings to you.

I was with you tonight at the meeting and heard the preacher (Glaze) speak of the source of the greatest joy, and I was sorry that he did not know that source. He talked of a happiness that came to him from a knowledge that he thought he had of God, and he was in earnest, but he did not realize the real joy or the source thereof. His joy is that which comes from a great degree of the purification of his natural love, which must necessarily bring to him increased happiness, and I am glad that he talked in the way he did, but so sorry that he has not experienced the Real Love that is the only source of the greatest joy.

Well, sometime men will know what the source means, and how different it is from the mere purification of the natural love and, in addition, will learn the way to obtain this Divine Love and keep it as the greatest thing in all the universe.

The talk of the preacher is very beneficial to many of his hearers and causes much searching of their souls, and a better condition of living and an experience that makes them very happy. I would advise you to attend his meetings occasionally, for the influence is good and you may have the opportunity sometime to tell him of the higher truths.

There were a number of spirits present with you desiring to hear and learn something that might render them happier and enlighten them as to the true way, but some things that he said did not help much. He placed too much emphasis on the necessity of making life on earth the great object of their efforts and aspirations, and rather discountenanced the thought that in the spirit life there are heavens and conditions to be longed for and enjoyed. Yet, as I say, his preaching will do good; for the better men become in their thoughts and aspirations, even though as to a mere cleansing of their natural love, the better it will be for them and will tend to make the earth life better and more in harmony with the laws of man's creation.

I am so glad that I can write you again and tell you of my love and assure you of the truths that have been already revealed to you. Well I will not write more tonight. We all love you, and so with my love I will say, good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Dr. Arbelee's Father Writes a Message to His Son About Divine Love and Life in the Spirit World

April 24, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your father.

Let me write for I desire to tell my son (Dr. Arbelee) that I am with him in his sickness and am trying to help him and make him feel that there is more in life than the merely physical living.

I know that he has often felt that I am with him in my love and desire to help and encourage him in his afflictions, and his feelings are true, for with me there has never ceased to be the love and affections that were mine when in the flesh, and so long as he shall remain a mortal my love and care will be with him in all their fullness.

I am in the spirit world, which is very close to his world and am not very different from what I was when on earth, except that now I have not a fleshly body and cares and distractions of my physical living to disturb my happiness. I am in the Fifth Sphere, where all is so beautiful and bright, and where the Love of the Father is so abundant that we are happy all the time and enjoy that bliss which Jesus told his followers was in store for them when they should give up the ghost and enter into their rest, which is a rest in action and work.

I was with you last night when the gentlemen called (Mr. Padgett) and explained to you the truths of the existence of a soul that has been transformed by the Love of the Father and brought into at-onement with Him, and I want you to believe in this Great Love. Your days on earth, at the longest, will be very short and then you will have to come to the spirit world and leave behind you all the ambitions and accumulations of your earth life, and if you have not laid up your treasures in Heaven, you will be very poor indeed. Oh my son, realize that the pleasures and desires and efforts of earth life are but fleeting and for a moment only, and that then comes the great problem of living in eternity, and that the thoughts and deeds of that earthly existence comes with you to condemn or make you happy.

The great law of "whatsoever a man sows, that shall he reap" is in full force and exacts every part of the penalty that the life of a man for good or evil imposes upon him. There is no exception to the workings of this law and the full penalty must be paid until forgiveness comes, and then the demand ceases, and the soul emerges from its condition of suffering and darkness, a purified and redeemed soul. But forgiveness is not the mere release from or remission of these penalties, by the mere arbitrary dictum of God, as you are so often taught by the preachers, but it is forgetfulness.

That is forgetfulness - an oblivion as it were - of the acts and deeds that bring into operation the great law, and men when they become spirits must work into this forgetfulness in a slow and laborious manner. I say men must work, for on themselves depends to a large extent, their own redemption. No miracle will be performed, for as is said, the mills of the gods grind true but they grind exceeding small, and the spirit will have to pay the last penalty; and this must be so, as you will readily see, for the soul must in order to get into the condition of harmony with the laws of God, become purified and relieved of everything that would make it inharmonious. No soul can live in a purer state than its own qualities possess. And here let me say that no mere belief or sacraments or observance of church dogmas can bring about this purification. It is a work within the soul, and man must do the work.

Now, my son, I write all this to show you how inexorable is this great law of which the Master spoke when on earth, and which in its exactions never change. It has no mercy and admits of no shortcut to the goal of the purified soul. How few of mortals really understand the workings of this law, but in a careless and complacent manner depend upon the forgiveness of priests and preachers and the mysterious workings of some assurances of the church's dogmas.

So you will see the necessity for men to commence as early as possible to practice the renunciation and turning away from these things that contaminate and defile the soul; but, alas, as their lives on earth continue, most men, instead of renouncing these things, accumulate and add to them and come to the spirit world all burdened and filled with thoughts and acts that defile. And as they are the accumulations of many years of earth life, so many years will be required for these men, when they become spirits, to get rid of these things and false hopes and beliefs will not help them in the slightest, but frequently seem only to retard the purification of their souls.

If this were men's destiny, implacable and irrevocable, men would be in an almost hopeless and unforgiven condition. Indeed, forgetfulness would come only in a slow and sinuous way, and they would shed many tears and suffer much groaning before they could feel themselves forgiven. And this will be the lot of most men, but in the end forgetfulness will come and they will find happiness.

But my son, thanks be to God, the Father of us all, there is another provision of the Father which exists and is freely given to all men who will seek for it, and that is the Divine Love of the Father, in which are forgetfulness and mercy and oblivion of the thoughts and acts of earth, and which is greater than the great Law of Compensation, of which I have just written. When this Love comes into the soul of man, with it comes forgetfulness, which is the only forgiveness in the economy of God, and the demands of the Law of Compensation cease, and the soul becomes freed from the law. As Paul has said, then is a man without the law.

And with this Love comes a happiness and joy that no man can conceive of, and the possessor of it knows that he has become a part of God's divinity and immortality. Now, this Love does not come all at once in its fullness, but as a still small voice, it tenderly and timidly answers the call of the heart that cries for it in earnestness and faith, and as it is nurtured it grows stronger and more soul-possessing, and makes its presence felt to the supplicant. Unless it is earnestly sought for, it never comes into the soul but passes by unseen and in silence because the soul will not seek its possession.

You, my son, heard the way in which it may be obtained, and I urge upon you, with all your strength and longings of soul, to seek for it, and if you do, it will not refuse to enter into your soul, and you will know it, and then your start will be made not only towards forgiveness and forgetfulness - but towards the transformation of your soul into the very Love and Essence of the Father, and a progress that will last through all eternity.

I am the possessor of that Love and know whereof I speak, and to me comes the great assurance of a life continuous and never dying, filled with the bliss of angels and the joy of a redeemed soul. Oh, I do so much want you to obtain this Love and become one of us, who know that when death left us life took its place, bringing to us a knowledge that immortality was ours.

Well my son, I must stop writing. I have written in this way because I am more interested in your immortal soul than I am in your mere physical body, which will perish and be no more. But the soul, the great wanting, loving, hating, happy, suffering thing that it is!

I will be with you very often in my love and try to help you, and if you will think of me intently, I will impress you with my presence. I must stop now as the rapport is weakening. Good night,

Your father,
Arbelee

**********

Helen affirms that the father of Dr. Arbelee wrote to him, giving advice.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen:

Well dear, I am glad that you received a letter from the father of the sick man. He wanted so much to write and was here ready to do so as soon as you gave him the opportunity. He is a spirit who is in Fifth Sphere and has in his soul much of the Divine Love, and is so anxious that his son shall receive the benefit of the Great Gift of the Father and live the life that only those who know what Heavenly joy and immortality is. He was very thankful that he could write and he says that sometime he wants to come and write of his experience in becoming awakened to the truth of God's Love and his acceptance as one of his children.

So love us all and believe that we love you. Good night,


Your own true and loving,
Helen

Jesus Writes on the Errors of the Preacher's Sermon about God

April 8, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me say a few words tonight.

I was with you again at the services and listened to the preacher (Dr. Swain) as he expounded the truth of God and the truth of man as he conceived these truths to be, and I am compelled to say that if his future state of happiness depended upon these supposed truths, he would be a very unhappy spirit in one of the million heavens of which he spoke.

I am sorry that men can conceive of such notions of God and man and teach them to other mortals. But so it will be for many years, and until my teachings, through you, are accepted and believed by men, great darkness and error will prevail in the earth. It is hardly necessary for me to attempt to analyze many of his erroneous statements, for they are so many and so erroneous that it will take too long a message to review them all.

But I will say one thing, and that is, that when he attempted to show that God's energy and man's energy are one and the same, he was all wrong, and knew not what he said. God is a being who is infinite and omnipotent and as to his energies there is no limits, while man is a mere creature of God and cannot possibly have any greater or other energy than he was created with; and this energy is controlled by the soul - that is man - and is subject to all the limitations of that soul. Well, I will not write more tonight, but hope 'ere long to write you one of my messages of truth.

I see that you have been somewhat in doubt as to the reality of the truths of the messages that you have received, and as to the power of the Divine Love to make you a child of God, in the sense Divine. You must not let such doubts enter your soul for one moment, for they are the breeders of other things that are most harmful and tend to alienate you from the Father. As you are aware, God's Love is all around you, and may be in you, and if permitted to flow into your soul, with faith accompanying it, you will find yourself growing in at-onement with the Father and realize that fact. So my brother get rid of your doubts and come to God in the faith that is childlike and dependent. He will not disappoint you. I will be with you and try to help you in your desires.

Pray more to the Father, and believe that His Love is yours; only for the longing and seeking. I will not write more tonight. Rest assured that my love is with you in all its fullness and believe that you have a work to do.
Good night.
Jesus

**********

Thomas B. Monroe comments on the preacher's discourse.

Let me say a word, as I was also present at the meeting tonight and listened to the preacher as he unfolded what he thought to be the truth of God and man. Well, I will not stop to discuss many of the errors of his teachings or the workings of his mind, but only say, that if God is as he considers him to be, he would not be the God, which we know to exist and who Loves us and whom we can call Father. The all-enfolding energy is not the God of Love and mercy, and the preacher cannot possibly find in such a God, the Father that is calling for and caring for his children.

I merely wanted to say this. I am an inhabitant of the Celestial Kingdom and will say good night.

Thomas B. Monroe

**********

Helen comments on the preacher's sermon.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well dear, I see that you are not very much enlightened by the preacher's discourse tonight, and I do not see why you should be, for he has no true conception of either God or man and gave no help to those who are searching for the true God, the Father.

I see that you may feel that you are benefitted though by the negative lesson that his discourse teaches. He tells of what he thinks God is, and in telling this, demonstrates that he knows nothing of the true God. You may hear the full course of his lectures and you will not learn much that will benefit you in an affirmative way. But attend the same, and then meditate upon them, and you will find that you have listened to a man who knows nothing of God or the spiritual world of which he pretends to speak.

We all love you and want you to love us. Good night.

Your own true and loving
Helen

Jesus Writes About God and His Personality

April 7, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write a few lines. I see that you were much interested in what the preacher (Dr. Swain) said tonight about God and His personality, and that you gave him several questions, which he could not answer. This must be expected, for to men is not given ordinarily a true conception of God, or who or what He is, and only by the development of their souls by the Divine Love can they obtain any conception of His being. As their souls thus develop, they become a part of His Divinity, and their soul perceptions become opened up to a realization of who God is, to a small degree at least, and then they know that He is something more than an all enveloping energy, supplemented by a purposeful will.

The preacher has not these soul perceptions and cannot conceive of God, the Soul, but can only express to you the truthfulness of the evidences of God's existence, such as the energy that he spoke of.

As you know, this energy is His Spirit, although the preacher has not the exact conception of what this Spirit is or how it operates. He confuses the soul and spirit, and makes the mere instrument by or with which God expresses His energy to be the real true substance of God, the Soul. He is right when he says that he cannot go back of this energy to find God, for his soul perceptions have not yet been awakened to a cognition of that from which the energy proceeds, or which is the very source from which flows all the manifestations that, to his mind, constitute God.

He is like the theologians and philosophers, who believe that these manifestations and energies and forces are the only God, the only personal God; and he may be shocked to hear that his teachings amount to only this. But it is true, and to him there is no more personal God than to the others, with this exception; that he attempts to believe that in some manner and in some way connected with this energy, there is a Will which has in it a purpose of love or kindness or fatherly care; but the real personal God, with his Great Soul of Love which is being always bestowed upon the individual man, he does not conceive of or make his own.

God is Soul, and only Soul, which has in it all the attributes of Love and wisdom and thought for the welfare of His creatures. He is a thinking and seeing God, and all the energies of His Soul are used to make men better and happier. As is the natural father of the man a personal father, so is the Great Soul of God, a Personal Father to all His children; and men when they have the development of their souls in the Divine Love will know that God is personal - something more than an all enveloping energy or force or mere manifestation of His existence.

The preacher says, in substance, that God is everywhere, and His presence may be realized by all who are willing to receive that manifestation, and that whether they are or not willing, that presence exists just the same. This is pantheism, toned down a little by his beliefs in a more personal God, but still pantheism, and wholly wrong and violative of God's being.

The source of things can never be the things themselves, although the things as they flow from the source have some of the qualities of the source itself, and so these manifestations of God's existence, while they are of His qualities, yet they are not equivalent of His presence or the source from which they flow. God is not everywhere, but in His Heavens, and all these expressions of His powers and will and energies are merely evidences that there is a source from which they all come, and they are not that source itself.

And again, the preacher said that God created the body of man and not the spirit, as he calls it, meaning the soul, so that the body is a creation by itself and cannot contain in it the spirit or the spirit body, but that this spirit is outside of the human body and is, in a general way, a part of one Great Spirit that is universal and everywhere and that, therefore, all men, no matter what their conditions may be in the earth life or in the eternity part of life, are brothers, and God is the Father of them all.

Well in this the preacher is mistaken, for every man has his own individual spirit and soul, and on the state or condition of that soul depends the happiness or misery of the man; and he is merely the brother of other men because he is a creature of God and made in his image, and not because he is a part of the universal spirit, which the preacher believes permeates everything and exists everywhere. And God is the Father, because these children are His creatures, the objects of His creation, and individualized, each working out his own destiny. As we have told you, some of these children will always remain the merely created children, while others will partake of His Divine Love and become a part of His divinity and inhabitants of the Celestial Spheres.

The preacher has many things to learn, and as he believes in the search for the truth, if he will let the Divine Love flow into his heart and transform his soul into the very essence and substance of the Father's divinity, he will be able to learn many things spiritual as well as of things material are governed by law, and unless the soul gets into a condition that enables it to see and realize the higher truths of the spirit world, it can never obtain knowledge of things spiritual, and one of the objects of such knowledge is God.

Well, I have written enough and will stop. With my love, I will say good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

George Butler Writes of His Progress From the Hells to the Third Sphere

March 15, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, George Butler.

I would like to write a few lines tonight, if you are agreeable. A long time ago I wrote you describing my condition and that of the hells in which I was then living, and you were kind enough to help me and bring me in association with some bright spirits who were willing to show me the way out of my awful condition, and who since that time have been helping me with their love and sympathy and prayers; and now I am happy to tell you that I have gotten out of my darkness and am progressing towards the heavens, which a development and transformation of the soul by the inflowing of the Divine Love leads to.

Tonight, I desire to express to you my thankfulness and gratitude for the great service you did me and to say that in all the spirit world, there is not one who feels more conscious of the truth which your advice leads to in the salvation of his soul and the redemption from an existence of darkness and suffering, than do I.

I cannot convey to you any conception of what this redemption means to me, or of the wonderful difference of condition in a soul that has experienced the possession of this Love, and one that remains in ignorance of the blessings that it confers. What I wrote you then, I now repeat, that the hell of a soul which is all tainted and permeated with the results of an earth life of sin and error is wholly true and the contrast between souls in the two states of existence is impossible of description.

When you spoke to me of the probability of my release from the hells and told me that this Great Love would work out my deliverance, I confess that I had very little faith in what you told me, and thought that you were trying to impose on me some of the old nonsensical beliefs of your church doctrines, of which I had heard a great deal when on earth; and when the bright spirits came to me and confirmed what you had said and offered their services in accordance with what you had advised me was the certain way to my obtaining a new state of living, I thought that it was an illusion or delusion, and that no results could possibly come to me by pursuing the course that they told me would surely lead to a change of my condition. But they were so earnest and so anxious that I should listen to them and seemed to have so much love for me and my welfare, which was a new experience for me since I had been in hells that I commenced to think that such evidence of friendship and anxiety for my betterment must have some foundation of truth, and that I would not lose anything by heeding their advice and making the effort to pursue the way pointed out to me.

And so I commenced to pray for the Love, and they prayed with me, and in a little while their Father appeared to me in a new light - not just real, but as something that might have a potential existence. I continued to pray and listen to their prayers, and my emotions were aroused, and I felt a kind of happiness that I had not before felt, and a feeling of hope that there might be some efficacy in their prayers, but had not much faith in my own; and notwithstanding my incredulity, I realized that I felt better in the atmosphere of their presence and in the influence that their prayers seemed to bring around me. They were very kind and sympathetic, and so wonderfully patient, and impressed me with the feeling that my soul's salvation, as they termed it, and the deliverance of me from my unhappy and suffering condition were to them matters of personal interest and importance; and, of course, with such feelings I soon commenced to think that if these beautiful spirits could have such interest in me, I should have interest in myself sufficient to earnestly seek for the relief that I so much needed.

Well, I then put more desire and longings in my prayers and tried to look upon their Father, as possibly my Father also, and so my longings became more real and intense. I prayed and called upon the Father to give me this Love and to cause me to have faith in prayer and in the Being to whom my prayers were offered. I will not tell you how earnestly I continued to pray and how the first faint realization of the answer came to me and with it the consciousness of a hope that might be fulfilled. After a while, this Love came to me and with it a feeling of happiness that I had never conceived of, and also the conviction that these spirits were showing and helping me on the true way to a redemption of soul and body, also, for as you may know, I had then and have now a body more substantial and real than the one which I possessed when on earth.

I will not here describe my progress or the different experiences that I had, nor the faith nor doubts that came to me in succession. I persisted, with the encouragement of these spirits, and after awhile found myself out of the darkness and sufferings and the hells, real and terrible, and an inhabitant of a brighter sphere and in the association of brighter spirits, who, though not like the beautiful spirits who had so lovingly worked with me, yet, were very different from those whom I had left in the darkness and the hells.

I am now in the Third Sphere, and if I had the time, or rather if I felt justified in consuming your time, I would describe to you as best I could, what this sphere is, and the wonderful beauty and happiness that belongs to it. Sometime, I hope to have the opportunity to attempt to portray the wonders of this sphere, and more particularly of my home and surroundings.

Tonight, as I have said, I merely desire to express to you my gratitude and to assure you of the truth and the results of what you told me was the true way to light and happiness. Never through all eternity shall I forget your kindness and the great help that you gave me, nor shall I cease to remember you in my prayers to the Father, whom I now know is a true, real, existing and loving Father. Oh, the difference in the condition of the Butler in hell and the Butler who is now writing you is beyond all description, and this Love, which is the greatest thing in all the universe and the greatest gift to mortals, is the cause thereof.

I must stop writing, although I should like to write longer, for I have already intruded too long. So remember my gratitude, and also that I am now a very happy

George Butler

Abraham Lincoln Writes on How Man Can Come into Harmony with the Laws that Govern Him as the Created Man, Without Obtaining the Divine Love

March 13, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Abraham Lincoln.

Let me write a few lines tonight as you are in good condition to receive my message. Well, I see that you have been thinking a great deal about spiritual things and have longed for the Love of the Father, and by such thoughts and longings, you have come unto a condition that enables the spirits to make a rapport with you.

Tonight, I desire to write for a short time on the subject of how important it is for man to learn the truths of God in reference to the plan which He has prescribed for man's salvation, and his coming into harmony with the laws that govern him as the created man.

As you have been told, in the beginning man was created perfect and in all the constituent parts of his being made in harmony with God's laws controlling man as a perfect creature, and if he had never disobeyed the precepts of the Father, he would have always remained the perfect man.

Now this condition of man is a fundamental one, and the soul is in itself just as capable of that perfection as it was when created, and only by the sin of disobedience was it alienated from God and made the possessor of those things which tend to contaminate it and cause its pure condition to be overshadowed and dormant as to this perfection.

All of God's universe is perfect and subject to the workings of His perfect laws, and when that condition exists which shows that some one or other of His creatures are not working or being in harmony with these laws, it only means that in order for the restoration to the harmonious existence, man must renounce and get rid of these foreign things that have the effect of interfering with the harmony of His creation.

There is no such thing as total depravity or original sin, or the existence of any condition of the soul in this sin that cannot be remedied by the application of the proper treatment and the removal of the incubus. Man, in order to become perfect again as he was before the fall, is not required to be recreated or have imposed upon him that which will make him a new or different being from what he was in the beginning. The perfect man is still in existence, but is hidden from the sight and consciousness of men, and needs only his revealment by eliminating from him the covering which now hides his real self. Nothing new is needed, but only the riddance of the soul from those things which do not belong to it, and then the soul will appear just as it was created: a perfect soul made in the image of God, but not formed from any portion of the Great Oversoul of the Father.

For a long time now, man has remained in this condition of having his soul covered over by those things that are merely the results of the perversion of his appetites and the animal part of his nature, and it is only by a process of renunciation that these encumbrances can be gotten rid of, and man stand forth a free and glorious being, as he was before the burden of sin came upon him.

In this process, he needs no one to pay any supposed debt to the Father or to make an atonement for him, but he must himself, by his course of thinking, and consequent doing, remove the things that cause him to appear to himself and to others, the outcast from God's favor. And in order to accomplish this, he must first renounce the idea that he is a vile being and not worthy of the favor of the Father, and assert his belief that he, as the man, is the perfect creature of God, and can of himself regain the estate from which he has fallen, and let sin and error be removed from his present apparent existence. In doing this, he will be helped by the spirits of men, who from their own experience know that sin and error has no real existence in the economy of God, but in the living of man on earth, and in the spirit world as well, have a reality that has prevented men from finding their true selves.

The renunciation is not so much a matter of the intellect as it is of the moral nature of man; and he, while he must use his mind and its attributes in working out this renunciation, yet must try earnestly, and certainly use the moral faculties of his nature; for the perversions of these faculties are the foundation of his present condition of sin and error. This renunciation may take a long time to be accomplished, as men look upon time, but it will finally come to pass, and the harmony of God's universe will be restored. But in the meantime, men will suffer, for this renunciation is always accompanied by suffering, not so much as a necessary ingredient or penalty of the renunciation, but as a consequence of the changing of men's wills and desires in the process of reaching again the condition of the perfect man.

I will stop now, as the rapport has ceased, but will come again. Good night, I am your friend and well wisher.

Lincoln

**********

Helen comments on Abraham Lincoln's message on man's progress in his natural love.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, dear, you have had a communication tonight from Lincoln, who thinks it advisable to write you as he did. He is now in the Celestial Spheres and knows what the Divine Love is, but said he wanted to write you a short message on man as he is, and as he may be; and he has told you just what the condition of man is, and how he is still the perfect man in his true self, and needs only an uncovering to stand forth as the being created in the image of God.

Good night, my dear husband.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Ann Rollins Writes on the Importance of Knowing the Way to the Celestial Kingdom

March 12, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write a line. I am not going to write a long message but one that is very short. You are now in condition to receive our messages, and I wish to write for a while on the importance of knowing the way to the Celestial Kingdom, which has been written you before, but I wish to add to what you have received.

You have been told that the only way to obtain that Kingdom is by the Divine Love coming into your soul and changing it into a thing Divine, which partakes of the very Essence of the Father Himself. Well, this is a correct explanation of the operation of this Love on the soul, but in order to get this Love there must be earnest supplication on the part of the seeker, and a mere mental desire for the inflowing of the Love will not suffice.

This is a matter that pertains to the soul alone and the mind is not involved except, as you might say, to start the soul's longings and prayer. When you think that you are longing for this Love and have a mere mental desire for its inflowing, the Love will not come, because it never responds to the mere mind and must always be sought for by the soul's longings. Many men have the intellectual desire for the Love of God, and upon that desire rest and believe that they have the Love and that there is nothing further for them to do; but they will find themselves mistaken and that, instead of possessing this Love, they have awakened only the natural love, and in a way, started it towards its goal of the purified soul, like the first parents before the fall, and will not experience the transformation that comes with the possession of the Divine Love.

It is no easy matter to have these longings possess the soul, and men should not remain satisfied with these mere mental desires, for they will not be benefitted by such desires, except as I may say, in the way of having their natural love purified. The longings of the soul comes only from a realization that this Love is waiting to be bestowed, and that the soul must become active and earnest in its endeavor to have this Love come into it, and then the transformation takes place.

From this you will see how utterly impossible it is for the devotee of the church to experience this Love or to have the longings of the soul which are not aroused by the observance of the church's sacraments, and the duties which it imposes upon them. They may be ever so zealous in their attendance upon the church services and in complying strictly with its requirements as to doing those things which it prescribes. It is with them all a mental process but the soul is not affected. They may think that their desires are from the soul, and that a response will come, but in this they are mistaken and the soul lies dead. Only when the soul's longings are started into activity are prayers of the worshiper answered.

So you will see that a man may be apparently devout and full of zeal for his church and the teachings of his creed, and yet will not be benefitted so far as the progress of the soul is concerned.

Let not your desires be only of the intellect, but try to bring into activity the longings of the soul, and do not rest satisfied until a response shall come, and it will certainly come, and you will know that the Love is present working its transforming power upon the soul. This is all I desire to say tonight. I am pleased that you are now in condition to receive our messages and hope that your excellent condition will continue. With my love, I will say, good night.

Your own loving grandmother,
Ann Rollins