Helen Writes About the Different Loves: Divine Love, Natural Love, Soulmate Love and Other Loves

November 26, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

After I passed over, I saw that I must seek a way to communicate with you in my spirit existence, and you may not know, but it is a fact that I was with you when you visited the mediums who informed you that you were a medium, being possessed of the gift of automatic writing; and I, having learned this fact from some of your spirit relatives, and principally your father, impressed these mediums to tell you of the fact of your mediumship. And when, at last, you made the experiment, I was present with you and exerted all my powers, and had the help of other spirits, in making your experiment a success. And when you commenced to receive the messages I cannot tell you how happy I was and thankful that the way was opened up that enabled me to tell you what, above everything else, I was so anxious to tell you. And if you will think for a moment of the nature of my communications, you will remember that the burden of all my messages was my love for you, and no matter how important other portions of the messages might be, yet in them was the continuous assurance that I loved you with all my heart and soul.

There are various kinds of love existing between humans and also between spirits and humans, each having its source in different conditions of fact and in varying causes; and of all these loves, only one is or can be the true and eternal one. The love of husband and wife is a beautiful thing, and may exist during the life on earth and bring much happiness to its possessors even though that love is temporary, and, in the workings of the law of attraction in the spirit life, may entirely cease its existence and become forgotten. And so, I may state, will be the destiny of the paternal and maternal, and brotherly and sisterly love. All these are based upon causes or conditions that are merely temporary - that is, may last during time and for a more or less longer period in eternity, but finally must end.

These loves, as I understand, are provisions of God which are necessary to enable mankind to work out their progress through the human life in the way that will produce the greatest harmony and happiness among mortals as they contend with the difficulties, cares and disappointments of the earth life. In the spirit world there is no need for these loves, for a greater bond of affection is provided, and is created or brought into operation by the great law of attraction, which causes the merely personal relationship that may have existed between spirits when inhabiting the earthly forms, to cease to be forgotten. This law of attraction is based upon the condition of the soul, whether that soul possesses the development created by the Divine Love or only that created by the purification of the natural love.

In the early stages in the spirit life the conditions of the earth life may remain for a time, because the spirit's state of soul and desires and affections may continue to be as they were when on earth; but as stagnation is not a quality of the soul in spirit life, these things which may have bound the humans together in the relationship mentioned do not long continue as they were, as there is no way of avoiding the workings of this law and its results. In order for this state to continue any great length of time, it would be necessary that all the spirits bound by these affections or conditions should remain without change in their souls, and that rarely happens, for in our world the individual becomes the individual in fact, and the real is apparent and spirits see one another face to face, and pretense or effort to hide the true condition of love or affection, or want of the same, becomes futile; so that, as is the real state of the spirit, so is his relationship to other spirits.

Again, this Law of Attraction operates in other directions than that of determining the mere affections, for men's mental conditions and aspirations are determining factors in establishing relationships among themselves. When men become spirits they are at the time of transition, and for a longer or shorter period afterwards, the possessors of the same knowledge and aspirations as they were immediately preceding their passage, with this difference: that to a more or less extent this knowledge and these aspirations, when in spirit life, are made apparent to others, not necessarily in words and professions, but by the power of seeing, which all but the very depraved spirits possess, so that, pretense and dissembling being absent or of no avail, these spirits, under the law, attract those affections arising from their human relationships cease to bind these several spirits, and they obey the law. The temporary love has fulfilled its mission and object, and to continue to exist under the circumstances mentioned would work injury and retardation to the progress of these spirits, no matter what may be the nature or cause of that progress.

Now, while what I have said is all true, yet there is another provision of the Father's law, designed for the happiness of men while mortals, that causes the love arising from the human relationship to continue with the spirit so long as the object of that love continues in the flesh, and no matter what the progress of that spirit may be or what its attractions are, yet it continues to love the mortal during his earthly career, and to watch over and help him, and all this even though this love which once existed for other mortals in the same relationship, and who have passed to spirit life, may have ended and been forgotten. This human love is subject to change and death, and those of earth life who console themselves with the thought that when they pass to spirit life they will meet their loved ones who have gone before, never to part again, will be disappointed, but not long distressed, for they will soon thereafter learn and experience the workings of the great law of attraction, and in that experience will be happy.

But there is another and differing love, not of the temporal, but of the everlasting, in its nature, and all humans have it, though probably unaware of the fact, but which at some period - and this may be for some time - in eternity they will become conscious of, and then never deprived of, for it is the perfect fulfillment of this law of attraction. I mean the soulmate love, of which I have written you so often. It was born before any man appeared in the flesh, and was a part of his very soul's creation, and of which he could never be deprived, though so often does it lie dormant in the souls and consciousness of man. I and others have written you as to how when the souls of men were created by the Father these souls were made male and female, though constituting only the one soul - two in one, the perfect one. And with their creation was bestowed upon them a love - not two loves, but only one - which was possessed equally by each part of the complete soul, and which will always remain one in its complete workings, although these two parts of the soul have to be, and are, separated in their incarnation in the human body, which incarnation is for the purpose of giving the male and the female parts of the one soul a separate individuality, without severing or disuniting this love, which through all eternity binds together these two parts as one.

The love of which I have first spoken is the love for time only; the soulmate love is the love for all eternity, and this great love which requires that at some stage in eternity these two parts of the one soul shall become one again, should be one of the most convincing proofs that all men, sooner or later, will come into harmony with the will of the Father and with the laws creating such souls. The fundamental law of the universe is that all things shall come into harmony with the will of the Father, and as the hells and all that they contain are out of such harmony, men may believe that in the ultimate working out of this law no soul will remain in the hells or in the condition or state of existence that primarily makes the hells, but that all souls in their perfected union will become inhabitants of either the spiritual or the Celestial heavens. And further, I must say, as you have been told before, that this soulmate love is the only love that can have a separate and individual existence in the Celestial heavens, where the Divine Love exists to the exclusion of every other love save the soulmate love; and the more the spirits - the united two in one - possess the Divine Love, the greater will be their possession of this soulmate love.

As you know, I am your soulmate and come to you so often in my love, and you realize the fact and respond, and at times are very happy. You have experienced on several occasions the depth and yearnings of my love to such an extent that your soul has come to me in my spirit world and enjoyed moments of unspeakable bliss; and as you may not know, left me with protestations against its return to your mortal body, and, if my love had not been wise as well as intense and wonderfully absorbing, your protests would have been heeded and you would have remained with me to enjoy the happiness which can be yours only when you come to the spirit world to find your home everlasting.

It has been said that the man in love is a fool, and that may be true in regard to the merely human love, but as to this soulmate love the more of it we possess the wiser we become and correspondingly happy.

I cannot tell you the depth and height and wonders of my love, and only say that it fulfills to the uttermost the great law of attraction, and there is nothing, save the Divine Love, in all the universe of being that can excel it or take its place, or make two souls so united that even death cannot sever it.

I will be with you as long as you continue to live on earth, in all the fullness of my love, and when the time of your passing comes, I will be present; and so much love will be around you that you will forget the dying and the awakening, and know only that your soulmate is with you telling you of love and happiness and the beauties of the life that will be yours, and showing you to a large degree how splendid and heavenly this love can make a spirit that possesses the Divine Love also.

Well dear, Baby is here and says she has read what I have written and is so glad that you have me for your soulmate. She is very happy and is growing all the time in beauty and in the possession of the Father's Love, and so wants you to seek more and more for this love, and says, "How rich Daddy is to have the soulmate love of my beautiful mother and the certainty of the great love of the Father, if he will only seek for it; and in addition, which may not count for much, he has the love of his own Baby, who is now so happy."

And Mary says that I must not neglect to say that she is here also, and has read my message with great pleasure, and wants me to tell the Dr. that if he will only substitute himself in your place and her in my place and read the letter he will know something of her love for him; that he is her soulmate and can never be another's and she is with him so very often trying to impress him with her presence and love.

Well dear, you have written a great deal and I will stop. I am so glad that I could write. Good night, my dear Ned.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Priscilla Stone Writes of Her Spiritual Progress and Confirms Leslie R. Stone's Visit to the Spirit World to Help Eleanor Meads

December 10, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, his mother, Priscilla Stone.

I am here, the mother of Leslie, and very much desire to write a few lines, as I feel that he would like to hear from me and receive an expression of my love. Well, in the first place, I desire to tell him that I am progressing and am in a sphere that is so beautiful and full of the Father's Love, that for me to attempt to describe it would result only in failure. But when I tell him that my happiness is so very great that even I, at a very recent time when in what I thought was the acme of happiness, had no conception of what happiness meant as compared to what I now possess.

All this is so wonderful to me, that it is difficult even for a soul that is filled with this Love to conceive what the Love of the Father in its fullness can be. And the great thing of wonderment is that as we progress, we realize that it is impossible to comprehend the heights and depths of this Great Love.

When on earth and I read that "God is Love," I had not a faint idea even of what the expression meant, for as you must know, my conception of love was based largely on what I knew or thought the human love was, such as my love for my children, which was to me the greatest expression of love. But, as I say, this love is not even a faint shadow of what the Love of the Father is: and the great beauty of it all is that, while this Divine Love is always the same, yet in seeking and obtaining it, I find that more and more is waiting for me.

We know of no cessation of progress and are never satisfied, yet never unhappy, because we realize that we are not the possessor of it in all its fullness. No, our happiness is in proportion to the amount of Love that we possess, and for the time that Love is sufficient for our complete happiness. I do not know that mortals can fully understand this, because, as you may know, when mortals are seeking the natural love of another and desire more and more of it, and they are happy in its possession, yet at the same time they have some pain or unhappiness, because they do not have all the love that their desires ask for.

Well, this is not the condition of us who have and seek this Divine Love, for it, of itself, seems to have the quality of causing complete, perfect happiness, without taking from us the desire and longings for more. I doubt that any of your philosophers can explain this apparent inconsistency, because they have nothing on earth to which they can make a comparison. A mortal who is satisfied with the love that he may have on earth has not the longings for more, and when he has the longings, he is not wholly happy in the enjoyment of that which he possesses.

And the same principle applies to the possession and longings of mortals for everything else of the natural or material. Ambitions for fame and power and position and the accumulation of wealth, and the love of a woman or man, are all subject to this Law of the accompaniment of pain and unhappiness. So you may in a short way understand what great qualities the Divine Love has in its operations, and how it differs from the mere natural love.

Well, my boy will think I am somewhat of a philosopher and have changed from my course of thought while on earth. And so I have, but he must not be surprised to know that as I receive the Great Love in my soul in increased abundance, there comes with it a knowledge of law and principles and the relationship of things that I have never studied or attempted to acquire by study. And this is one of the surprising results of the obtaining of this Divine Love. It seems to have in it, as a part of its qualities, knowledge and wisdom and understanding that is not dependent upon the mind or intellect of the natural man, but which is a part of the mind of the soul that is developed as the soul is developed in Love.

I thought I would write in this way tonight that Leslie may, in a faint way, comprehend what the progress of his mother means and comprehends. With Love there can be no ignorance, for Love is, of itself, wisdom and knowledge and understanding. And from all this you will see that the mortals whose ambition is that when they get into the spirit world, they will have the opportunity to pursue the studies which they loved on earth, and that during all the long eternity, there will be no cessation of opportunity to gratify their ambition. I say, you will see that these mortals will find themselves very poor, indeed, as compared with those whose ambition is to obtain the Divine Love, which brings with it all these things, and others greater and beyond conception of knowledge that these mortals can possibly have.

Well, I will not write further on this subject tonight, but some time, if it pleases you, I will come and write my boy a regular thesis upon some spiritual truth that may interest him very much.

(Mrs. Stone confirms Leslie's astral flight to help in the spirit world in the same way that he tried to do when the spirit was a mortal in order to help Eleanor Meads.)

I heard him tell of his experience of a few nights ago, in going out of his body, and wondering if it were really true. Well, it was true. He left his body, and he may be a little surprised to know that the great desire of that young spirit to have him come to her and tell her again of some of the things that he had told her on earth was the cause of his leaving his body. Her desires were so great that they actually drew his spirit to her. What he saw, he saw with his spirit eyes, and the persons who appeared to him were actually present; and the young spirit heard his conversation, and in it found some relief.

She brought with her to the spirit world some of the thoughts that he had conveyed to her during his earth life; and having the experience of not finding what she had been taught, when on earth, that she would find in the spirit world, she became disappointed and doubtful, and then recalled what Leslie had told her, and with these memories came the desire that he should come and repeat to her these explanations that he had made to her of the truths and condition of the spirit world.

She is now very much better and is seeking for the truth, or rather a corroboration of the truth that she learned from him. I was present, as he thought, and when he left her, I went with her and took her in my care and have been trying to help her into the light and to a longing for this Love. She is so young and her soul so susceptible to the influence of Love, without being bound very much by erroneous beliefs that were taught her, she will, I know, soon become convinced of the true way to happiness and redemption.

And her grandmother, who loves this young spirit so much, was with her and heard what Leslie said, and, of course, was shocked and grieved that he should try to teach the child such blasphemous things; and she shed tears and was very unhappy and wanted her child to go with her and not listen to what he said or was saying. But just here we interfered to a certain extent, and caused them to separate, and induced the grandmother to leave the child for awhile, though she did not want to do so.

And when Leslie said that he assisted her to a lower plane, he actually did so, for while she is a woman of a kindly nature, and a somewhat Christian character, as she understands, yet she is not fitted for the plane on which the scene related took place. And here let me say that the young spirit and her grandmother, because of the great Law of Attraction, are not suited to the same plane, and this grieves the grandmother very much, and also the child. But the regeneration of the child will, no doubt, have a great effect upon the grandmother, and when the time comes, that is, after the child has learned the truth and received some of the Love and goes to her grandmother to show her beauty and tell of her experience, we will go to the grandmother, also, and attempt to explain to her these truths and the error of her belief.

Well, I have written enough, and your wife says that I had better stop now. So with my love, I will say good night,

His mother,
Priscilla Stone

Elias Writes on the Subject: "Do the dead communicate with the living?"

April 1, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Elias.

I will write a few words in respect to the sermon that you listened to tonight on the question: "Do the dead communicate with the living?"

The preacher is a believer in what he enunciated and the only trouble with him is that he has very little knowledge of the truths of spiritualism and, hence, his ability to teach these truths is very limited.

The mere fact that the soul and spirit of man continue to live when they shuffle off the mortal coil, as he described it, is but the first truth of this great subject and is one that all spirits learn immediately upon their separation from the body no matter what their religious beliefs may be or whether they have any such beliefs or not.

This fact is one about which there can be no difference in knowledge. They all know, in a moment, as it were, that there is no such thing as the death of the soul - the real man. But this, as I say, is the mere beginning of knowledge and beyond the fact of this continuous existence, this knowledge serves no purpose as to the destiny of man.

The preacher was much interested in the book about which he was talking and found in it some statements that are confirmatory of the beliefs that he already possessed, and some statements that are new to him and which gave him somewhat larger views on the subject; but necessarily these views are not of the vital truths,  which a more complete or extended knowledge of spiritualism will give to him.

The spirit of whom he was talking knew little more than what appeared to his senses and, of course, these things are only those that come to the knowledge of the spirit when it first enters the spirit land. Its truths are not learned in a moment and frequently - not for centuries - and as to the higher truths are never learned by a great majority of the spirits. So that what is contained in the book referred to is very consoling to those who believe that their loved ones are waiting to meet them and will receive them when they cease to be mortals with love and affection and joy and, further, that these loved ones are with the mortals while on earth watching over them and trying to help them, yet no information as to the lives that these spirits must lead in the spirit world as soon as their status is determined by the great Law of Attraction and what the future may be and is disclosed to them and for the reason that the spirit communicant did not know.

But, as the preacher said, it is a glorious knowledge to possess that man after death still lives, and that his soul does not have to wait for some great resurrection day to realize that it has life and consciousness.

The preacher is still in the dark as to the conditions of spirits and their destiny, and as to the means provided to attain to the Heavens and become released from the Hells, by the Father's Love. To merely live is not the end of men or spirits, and the fact of living as a spirit of today, instead as a mortal of yesterday, does not demonstrate immortality; and the consoling thought that the preacher expressed from the fact of continued existence after death are merely the wishes of desire based on such existence.

The preacher has, at this time within his own soul, that which is freed from the limitations of his erroneous beliefs in many supposed truths would cause him to know that the life in the spirit world is something more than the mere living, and that this living is only a means to the realization and possession of that immortality that is so often preached about and hoped for.

He has much of the Divine Love in his soul, and that soul is struggling to expand and get in condition to receive more of this Love and is prevented from so doing only by the erroneous beliefs that he has imbibed and misconstrued by his long years of living in what he calls the truths of the Bible and the fear that if he loses such beliefs or questions the truth of the source of his beliefs, there can be no salvation for him. And this is not surprising, for he knows no source of correction of these errors of his beliefs, and as a wise man - and wise only because he does not know how to obtain greater wisdom - he holds on to his beliefs and reverences the source thereof - and his intellect is satisfied.

But the soul, the important soul, which can be fed only by its own perceptions, is like the imprisoned bird, panting and struggling to beat down the bars of its imprisonment and get out into the freedom of God's wide atmosphere. And his mind - the misguided mind - is the bars of his soul's freedom and prevents it from opening up its own perceptions. If the preacher only knew the truth and the way to open the doors to his soul's prison, he would long for that truth and seek that way with all the energies of his soul's powers and would then become free and progress towards the attainment of the certain knowledge of immortality.

But this I will say now, that sometime he will learn the truth and the way, and his beliefs will become in accord with the longings of his soul and the shackles of his mind's erroneous beliefs will be loosened and fall from him, and then he will realize that he is a true son of the Father privileged to partake of the Great Love without limit in his onward progress to the Celestial Spheres.

The church was filled with many spirits interested in the discourse, anxious to learn any truths that might be declared, but they learned nothing, for what he declared as truths, they already knew, notwithstanding that these spirits were of all kinds - wicked and dark and suffering and bright and happy, and mostly still men without the physical body.

Well, I thought it might be advisable to write as I have, so that if the preacher should ever hear this message, he will see the necessity for seeking the deep and real truths that disclose the conditions and destinies of the spirit of men. And besides, he will also realize the importance of his knowing these truths, so that he may teach them not only to men, but to spirits as well, who form the vastly larger part of his audience. I will not write more now.

With my love and prayers for the Father's blessings on you, I am

Your brother in Christ,
Elias

Jesus Writes Further on How a Mortal May Obtain the Development of His Soul Condition Without the Help of the Divine Love

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

I am here, Jesus.

I see that you are in better condition tonight, and it may be that we can continue the message.

Well, as I was saying, the only way in which a mortal may obtain the development of his soul condition, without the help of the Divine Love, is by attempting to exercise his will in the way that will cause the thoughts of evil and error to leave him, and to be replaced by thoughts that will bring his heart and soul into harmony with the laws of his creation as mere man. This can be done by his seeking for those higher things of morality, and the subordinating of the purely animal desires and appetites of the mortal to the aspirations and desires of the higher and nobler part of his nature.

As I have before told you, man was pure and good until he, by the exercise of his will following the suggestions of the animal desires, permitted himself to degenerate from the high and perfect condition of his creation. These sins and desires do not belong to his original nature, for his true nature was pure and in harmony with the Laws of God. And although he has lost it by the excessive and wrongful exercise of his will, obeying the desires of his animal nature; yet he can recover his condition of original purity and harmony, if he will get rid of these sins and errors, so that his nature may again become free from everything that defiles it, or places it out of harmony with the laws that created it.

So you see, it is not necessary for man to obtain, or add to his original condition, any qualities that were not his in the beginning, but merely to get rid of or eradicate from that condition those things which are mere excrescences or parasites - and thereby have his nature in the same condition that was his when he was created and was the perfect man.

So long a time has the nature or condition of the nature of man been in this state of defilement and alienation from the true condition of his creation, that the effort to bring about the restoration will necessarily be great, and he will have to use all his power of will that he is capable of to effectuate this object, and he will find in such efforts two conflicting forces, always fighting each other for the mastery.

The fact that he believes his present condition is the natural one, and that the state and purity and freedom from sin and error is one that does not belong to him naturally, but must be acquired by adding something to what he now has and always possessed, will make the fight more uneven.

Therefore, the first things that man must believe is that his present condition is not his natural one, and that he has nothing more or greater to accomplish than to relieve himself of those things which prevent his condition from becoming as it was when he was the perfect man. If he will get this belief firmly fixed in his mind, and assert that he was made by God, and that God never created anything impure or not in harmony with His laws, he, man, will have accomplished the first step towards his regeneration and towards success in his effort.

He must not consider himself to be a weak, low and unworthy creature of God, not being entitled to those conditions of purity and greatness which made him the beloved child of the Father. Of course, self-esteem and pride and everything of that nature must be eliminated from the estimate that he must have of himself, but on the contrary the idea that he is a degenerated and utterly helpless being must not be permitted to enter his mind. Such thoughts do not make him pleasing to God, as he has been taught they do, but only make him subservient to his masters - sin and error - and prevent him from asserting his own superiority to these things, which is necessary to exist in his conception of his true condition in order that he may obtain the ascendancy over those masters.

When he shall have assumed this position, then he will realize that these animal appetites and desires and evil thoughts, which arise from them and from the belief that he is by nature degraded and unworthy of a better and higher condition of nature, are really beings of his own creation and subject to his will and self control  and total destruction. And with such realization will come a consciousness that they are not parts of his nature, but foreign to it; and in order that his nature may become separated from them, he must look upon them as enemies and treat them as such, to be destroyed and utterly extinguished, and never more to be taken to his bosom and cherished as inalienable and dominant parts of his nature.

Of course, in treating them as such enemies, great watchfulness and determination will have to be exercised, for they are very insidious and will at all times and in all ways, whenever the opportunity arises, try to convince him that they are an integral and necessary part of his being, incapable of being separated from him. But by the exercise of this belief, based upon a right conception of what is and what is not a part of him as the perfect man, and by the exercise of his will power in accordance with this conception, he will be able to rescue himself from these unnatural appetites and desires and thoughts of error and sin.

As this belief becomes stronger and this conception clearer, and his will exercised in closer harmony with the two essentials, these excrescences will gradually and one by one fall away from him until, at last, he will rise again - the perfect man - with the pure and harmonious nature which God gave him at the time of his creation.

But this process will be slow and sometimes hardly perceptible, for the long years of misbelief in the idea of original sin, and that God created evil and error for the purpose of defiling man's nature and making a disobedient devil of him, without any inherent goodness or the possibility of becoming regenerated, unless by the operation of some miracle, will make it difficult for the acquiring of the true belief as to what he, and what his nature are and enable him to become the master and not remain the servant.

God is the Father of all, and loves all His children, and as He originally provided for their happiness, so now He desires that all may be happy, even though they may not seek for that Divine Love which makes mortals and spirits more than the mere perfect man.

Forgiveness is, in effect, forgetfulness; and when men in their efforts cause all these things of evil and sin to cease being a part of their nature, and only thoughts of purity and righteousness to find a lodgment in their minds, then these other things are forgotten and forgiveness has taken place. Man no longer is the slave of false beliefs and unrighteousness, nor is he their associates, and even in memory they become things of nonexistence; and when he gets into this condition of purity and freedom and in harmony with the laws of his creation, there exists nothing which can be the object of forgiveness, and he is the man of perfect creation.

But in all this man must realize that he does not exist by and for himself alone, for always he is surrounded by mortals or spirits or both, exercising upon him their influence for good or evil; helping him to turn his thoughts from these things of evil and sin into those higher things which are his by nature, or causing him to receive and foster these evil thoughts with increased intensity. He cannot get rid of these influences, of one kind or the other and, hence, he should seek the influence of those who are good and desire to help him in his efforts towards the recovery of that condition which is his by right of birth.

Among God's Laws, which never change and which work impartially, is the great Law of Attraction; and it works in the case of all mortals and spirits and never rests. And the great principle of this Law is that "like attracts like" and the "unlike repulses the unlike." So man must know that as he is - I mean in his state of mind and soul - so necessarily will be his companions of those who desire his association and, hence, he should realize this important truth and all that it implies.

If his thoughts and deeds are evil, he will attract those spirits or mortals who have similar thoughts and deeds, and who will not help him to higher things, but who will retard his progress towards his first estate; and if his thoughts and deeds are good, then his associates will only be those of like qualities, who can and will help him in his progress.

Every effort to create good thoughts strengthens the desires and will in that direction and assists the coming of other good thoughts, for with these efforts comes the help of these unseen influences and the repulsion of the influences of the retarding forces.

Man is a wonderful being and the highest creation of the Father, and yet his greatest master is his belief in the power and supremacy of these things of evil of his own creation. But beyond all this, a means to accomplish man's restitution to his perfect estate, is the help of the Father, which is never refused when man seeks for it in earnest sincere prayer. Always the Father is willing to respond to the true prayers of man, and by His instrumentalities, will make the efforts of man sure and effective, so that he can acquire that condition that will free him from all sin and error and slavery of false belief in the mastery of his evil creatures.

Man must believe in the love and help of the Father, in the manhood and greatness of himself, and in the utter error of his belief in the mastery of his own children of sin and error.

I have written enough and must stop as you are tired. So assuring you of my love for you and my care and help, I will say good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

**********

Helen Writes a Short Note.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, my own dear Ned, you have had a very entertaining letter from the Master tonight, and I am glad that you were in condition to receive it so well. He said that you were very successful and he is pleased.

Good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

**********

Martin Luther Writes a Short Message.

I am here, Luther.

I come tonight to say that I would like to write again very soon, as I desire to write further in the line of thought of my last message. I see that you are too tired to write tonight and I will not ask you to do so, but if you can soon give me the opportunity to write, I will be much obliged.

Yes, I know, and I enjoyed his message and believe that it will be readily understood. What a Master he is! So beautiful and powerful and loving.

Your brother in Christ,
Luther

St. John Writes on: "What does the spirit of man do when it leaves the physical body for eternity?"

May 29, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

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

I come tonight to tell you a vital truth, which I know you will be interested in. The question has often been asked: "What does the spirit of man do when it leaves the physical body for eternity?"

Many spirits, I know, have written you about this matter and some of them have described their personal experiences, yet in all the information that you have received, there are some facts that have not been referred to, and I will in a brief way describe them.

When the spirit leaves the body, there is a breaking of the silver cord, as it is called, and thereby all connection between the spirit and the body is severed for all eternity - never again can that spirit enter that body, and neither can any other spirit, although, I know it is claimed by some spiritualists that another spirit may inhabit the cast-off body. But this is all wrong, for no spirit ever enters the body, which has once been the home of another spirit and, hence, claims made by some of the wise men of the East that such a thing can be, have no foundation in fact.

When the silver cord is once severed, no power that is known to the Spirit World, or among spirits of the highest sphere, can again resuscitate that body and cause the manifestation of life and, hence, in the miracles mentioned in the Bible where it is said that the dead were brought to life, it must be understood that this tie between the spirit and the body was never broken.

In those ancient days, as now, there were persons who had the appearance of being dead, and so far as human knowledge was concerned were dead, but who were really in a state of what may be called suspended animation  with no signs of life appearing to the consciousness of men. Death was thought to have taken place, yet in no case where the supposed dead were raised to life had the.mortal really died.

As Lazarus has already told you, when Jesus commanded him to come forth, he had not died, and so of all the other supposed dead who were called to life. When this tie has been once severed, there are certain chemical laws affecting the physical body, and certain spiritual laws affecting the spirit, which absolutely render it impossible for the spirit to again enter the body; and as you have been informed, we all, mortals and spirits and angels as well, are governed by laws which have no exceptions and never vary in their workings. So I say, when once the spirit and body separate, it is for all eternity, and the spirit then becomes of itself, a thing apart, controlled entirely and exclusively by laws governing the spirit body.

With the spirit's entry into the Spirit World comes the soul, still enclosed in that spirit body, and to an extent controlled by that body, which latter is also, in certain particulars, controlled by the soul. The spirit body has not, of itself, the power to determine its own location or destiny as regards place for the Law of Attraction, which operates in this particular, operates upon the soul, and the condition of the soul determines the location of itself, and as the spirit body is the covering of the soul, it must go where this Law of Attraction decrees the soul shall abide.

While the mind and the mental faculties and the senses have their seat in the spirit body, yet the Law that I speak of does not operate upon these faculties, as is apparent to every spirit, which he knows from observation as well as from experience, that the combined power of all these faculties cannot move a spirit body one step in the way of progress unless such faculties have, in their influence upon the soul, caused its condition to change; and in the matter of mere mental or moral advancement this can be done.

So, I repeat, the condition of the soul determines the locality as well as the appearance of the spirit body, and this Law of Attraction is so exact, that in its operations, there is no opportunity for chance to interpose, and place the spirit body in a location which is not its by reason of the operation of this Law. So that when the spirit body enters the Spirit World, it must go to and occupy the place which its enclosed soul determines that it shall occupy. No interposition of spirit friends or love of parent or husband or child can prevent this destiny; although for a time, until the soul has really had an awakening as to its condition of severance from the mortal life, these relations or friends may retain the spirit body near the place of its entrance into the spirit life, even though that place be one of more beautiful surroundings and happiness than the one to which it is destined. But this situation does not last long, for the Law works, and as the soul comes into full consciousness, it hears the call and must obey.

And, thus, you see friends and loved ones in spirit life meet with love and kindness and consolation, the newly arrived spirit, but the parting must come, and every soul must find its home according as its own qualities have determined. And yet the consolation mentioned is a real one, for in many instances, if it were not so, the lonely spirit would experience fear and bewilderment and all the unspeakable sensations of being deserted.

Then there comes a time, when every soul must stand alone, and in its weakness or strength realize that no other soul can bear its sorrow or take from its burdens or enter into its sufferings and, thus, is realized the saying that: "Each soul is its own keeper and alone responsible for its own condition."

Of course, in many cases the loving friends may visit that soul in its place of existence and offer consolation and help and encouragement and instruction, but in some cases this cannot be, for as this soul is then laid bare to itself, all its deformities, and sins and evil qualities come before it and, thus, throws around it a wall, as it were, that prevents the good friends and loving ones from appearing to it.

And, thus, again comes into operation the great Law of Attraction for while these more elevated friends, cannot come to that soul, yet other spirits of like souls and qualities may become its associates and render such assistance as the blind can lead the blind in their movings about. And I wish here to say, notwithstanding what some of your spiritualistic teachers have said, that the soul has its location as well as its condition.

The above condition that I have described is the destiny of some souls shortly after becoming spirits, and it is a deplorable one, and you may think that such souls are deserted by the loving influences of God's ministering spirits, and left all alone in the dreary places of their habitations. But such is not the case, for while they are deprived of the presence to them of the higher spirits, yet, the influences of love and compassion are flowing from these spirits, and at sometime will be felt by the lonely ones, and as these influences are felt the poor souls commence to have an awakening, which gradually causes the wall of their seclusion to disappear until at some time, the higher spirits find that they can manifest their presence to these unfortunate ones.

And besides this, every spirit, no matter how fallen, has a work to do, even though it may appear insignificant, and among these spirits of similar conditions some are a little more progressed than others, and by reason of a Law which causes the more progressed to help the lesser, the latter are frequently helped from their low estate.

Now what I have last written applies, of course, to the spirits who are wicked and vile and without any soul development in the way of goodness, but a similar principle enters into the conditions of all the spirits in the earth plane, although the higher they are in that plane the greater opportunities they have for receiving help and progressing. Of these latter, and the operation of the mental thoughts and moral qualities upon the condition and progress of the soul, I will write you later.

I have written enough for tonight, and leaving you my love and blessings, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Professor Joseph Salyards Writes About Perfecting the Natural Love While on Earth

March 15, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Prof. Salyards.

Well, I was telling you of the object of man's life on earth, and the necessity for his doing certain things, in a general way, in order to bring to mankind the happiness which might be theirs while on earth. Now I desire to go into a little in detail with reference to these matters.

As has been written you before, there is only one way in which man can attain to the supreme happiness, which the Father in His goodness has made possible for man to attain to and which, when once obtained, can never be taken from him. But there is also another kind of happiness which is not in either its nature or results, the same as that which I have just referred to; and man may obtain it in a way and by a method which are different from those which are necessary to obtain the first kind.

Man was originally created good and pure and happy, and only by his disobedience did he lose these qualities which, when lost, finally made him approach somewhat the likeness of the lower animal, although the latter is probably not so unhappy as man became, by his fall from the state of the high condition of his creation.

When in his original state, he was happy in what we called, and what was, his natural love, which he fully possessed and needed nothing additional to make him happy. This condition made man his own master, as it were, and the Father's Divine Love was not necessary to develop him more as mere man than he then existed. He was pure and free from sin and in perfect harmony with God's Laws governing his creation.

But after the disobedience, he lost this harmony and in doing so lost also the power to preserve in himself the happiness which was his by right of creation; and he also soon realized that as this power left him, his dependence upon himself became less and less effective to keep him in a condition of purity and contentment and, as a consequence, he became less than perfect man and has been such ever since that time.

Now with the other qualities that were given him at the time of his creation, there was, and is, one that he has never been deprived of, and one that he has never realized his inability to exercise, although he so often exercises it wrongly; and that is the will, which is the greatest of the natural attributes that man possesses, for even God will not attempt to control that. I mean in the way of compelling.

And this quality is the one that, more often than any other, will help man to again attain to that state or condition in which he was the perfect man; but while this is true, yet it is also one of the greatest obstacles to attaining to that state.

Upon man himself, very largely depends the success of his regaining his pristine purity and harmony with the laws that govern his being, and he must understand this fact; for if he should believe, and rest in the belief, that other men, or other instruments controlled by men, can rescue him from his present condition of in-harmony and unhappiness, he will be disappointed and his salvation will be a long time delayed.

But the exercise of this will power in the proper direction will depend upon other things that he must possess in order to insure his return to his first estate. Among these are the necessity for his obtaining knowledge that will enable him to know himself and the relationship of himself to what is true and good. This knowledge will come to him as he examines himself and learns the difference between right and wrong, and this I mean in its general sense, for right and wrong mean harmony or in-harmony with the laws of which I speak, and not right and wrong according to the several circumstances of men, for these differ, and what may be right or wrong to one man will not be to another.

And man by proper contemplation and observation may learn the difference between right and wrong, in the sense in which I use the terms, and be enabled to embrace or avoid those deeds or thoughts that come within one category or the other. Again, he must realize that there is such a thing as the natural love being a part of him, and a thing which may be possessed and cultivated to such a high degree that all men will be brothers to him and the children of one common Father, who has Love and care for all alike who are content to remain the mere man.

Again, he must realize that he has a Father in God, his Creator, and that that Father has a love for him which will always bring to him happiness and peace, if he will only respond with his own love; for man must have an object of worship and adoration, even when he possesses only the natural love, and he must learn that his love must go out to the Father in faith and confidence. There are many other things that he may learn by contemplation and meditation as I have said.

Many qualities that are desirable will flow to man from the knowledge that there is a Father who loves him, and that he has or may have a love for that Father, and also for his brother man. In fact, from these two subjects of knowledge, everything else may come to man that will make him the perfect man in harmony with the laws of his creation and a pure happy and contented creature.

Now, when man obtains this knowledge - and here observe the distinction between knowledge of these things and the possession of them - he will naturally try to obtain all that knowledge shows him may become his to possess, and then will come into operation the great will power, and by its exercise there is nothing that can prevent him from arriving at the goal of his desires. In this way, one can, in a sense, be his own redeemer, but he will find the struggle hard, and the obstacles to be overcome, many and repelling.

There are many mortals who have a wonderful development of this natural love, notwithstanding the fact that they are living in sin and in in-harmony with the laws that I speak of, and who will find from that fact alone that their progress will be more rapid and easy when they come to the spirit world, on their journey to the state of perfect man. I do not believe that any mortal can ever attain to this condition while in the earth life, but he can lay the foundation for a rapid progress after he becomes a spirit. The temptations and desires that beset him as a mortal, at this time, are so great, that rarely can he become that perfect man while on earth.

But the time will come, I believe, when men will become perfect even while on earth and in this I have reference to his natural love merely. While, as I say, for man to obtain this state of perfection, he must depend upon himself to a very large degree, yet, it will be comforting to him to know, that there are hosts of spirit friends who are with him, trying to help him to obtain the knowledge of which I have spoken; and in his contemplations and meditations, they are with him suggesting to him and impressing on him the thoughts of truth that help him very much to understand the right from the wrong, and they also sustain him, in some degree, in the exercise of his will in the right direction.

So from this it must become apparent to man that a very important thing in the determination of this great problem as to what is right and what is wrong, is the kind of associates that he may have, and this applies to the mortal as well as spirit companions. And man must know this, that as his desires and appetites on earth attract to him companions of similar desires and appetites, so; also, does the same Law of Attraction operate in the case of his spirit friends.

Now, in all this, I have no reference to the redemption of man by the possession of the Divine Love of the Father, for such redemption and its way of saving man, are altogether different from those of redeeming him in his natural love. In the one case, when he has found the goal of his desires, he becomes a merely perfect man and nothing more. In the other case, he becomes an Angel of God, Divine is his nature, with no limitation to the progress that he may obtain and the happiness that may become his.

And - Oh, man! Why will you be satisfied to become merely a perfect man, when you may become a Divine Angel of the Father's Kingdom with immortality assured? Man may not know it, but it is a fact, that it is easier, and the way is shorter to become a Divine Angel, than to become a perfect man.

So my advice to all men is - and I speak what I do know from a knowledge that comes to me from experience and possession - to seek for the Divine Love of the Father with all their strength and efforts, and then they will become not only the perfect man, but will obtain that which our first parents never obtained, but which was theirs for the proper seeking, as it is all men's.

I have written enough for tonight and will close.

Your old friend and professor and brother in Christ.
Joseph H. Salyards

St. Luke Writes Further on the Development of the Soul in its Natural Love

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

I am here, Luke.

Well do you think you can take my message tonight? It looks like you may. At any rate we will try.

As I was saying, "In what way is a man to obtain this development of the soul in its natural love?"

In the first place, he must recognize the fact that he does not live to himself, alone; that what he conceives to be the workings of his own mind and will are not always the result of thoughts and desires that originate in him, but are largely the products of the influences of the workings of the minds of spirits who are around him, trying to impress him with their desires and wills; and. consequently, you will understand that it is very important to man as to what kind of spirit influences he has surrounding and working upon him. If these influences are good, the better it is for his progress in the development of this natural love; but if they are evil influences then, of course, such development is retarded.

Consequently, the first thing for a man to do is to attempt to attract to himself influences of the higher nature; and he can do so by trying to cultivate good thoughts and to indulge in good and moral acts. The great Law of Attraction, that we have written about, applies and works in such cases as this, as it does in every other relation of God's universe. If a man's thoughts are evil, there will always be attracted to him spirits of similar thoughts; and when they come to him, they attempt to and succeed in intensifying these evil thoughts of his, which attract them to him.

It must emphatically be understood in this regard, that man may and often does originate his own thoughts and desires, and it is not necessary that any influence of these evil spirits should be present and operate upon his brain or affections, in order that these evil thoughts and desires should come into existence. And again, man has a will power that is susceptible of being exercised, free from the wills of these evil spirits; and you will see how true this is when you remember that he can exercise that will power, free and independent from the Will of God Himself. So I say that these thoughts and desires may and do originate in man, free and independent of the wills or influences of these evil spirits; and as a fact, these spirits are attracted to him only when these thoughts that he has originated are evil.

Now, if man would have this progress that I speak of, he should endeavor to have good and pure thoughts and desires, and then he will attract to him spirits who are good and pure, and their influences will help him to a wonderful degree in strengthening and increasing these thoughts, and make it less and less likely that evil thoughts will arise in his brain, or evil desires in his affections; and as a consequence, his will power will be exercised in doing those things which are good and moral. Now, while man may originate these thoughts and desires, he must also know as a truth that this progress is not dependent upon him alone, for when he is in that condition to attract the good spirits, they will invariably come to him and render their help; and it will prove to be a wonderful and never failing help.

Now, man's thoughts and desires are not always, as may be supposed, the result of something that may be hidden within himself, and of which he may not know its existence. I mean not in all cases, and probably in only a minority of cases; for most frequently are these thoughts and desires the children of an objective influence, that comes to him by reason of objects becoming sensible to his ordinary senses, which create or suggest these thoughts or desires.

Without going into details, you will understand what I mean, but as a mere illustration: a glass of whiskey may and does suggest to a man who likes whiskey, the thought and desire that he should take a drink, and thereby bring into operation his will, which is followed by the act of drinking. And so with many other objects which a man meets in the course of his daily life. But these thoughts and desires arise not only from seeing objects, but also from feeling and tasting them.

And again, these objective suggestions, causing these thoughts and desires, arise and exist not only from the real object sensed, but also from words and thoughts which are expressed by other human beings in course of conversations or in books and literature. And when they come in this way, they are frequently more effective than in any other and, hence, as these objective words and thoughts enter the mind of man, they create similar thoughts, which frequently intensify and attract the evil spirits of like thoughts, with their degenerating influences. Hence, the importance of a man avoiding companionship where such communications take place and the books and literature where these evil suggestions are made.

It has been well said that, "Evil communications corrupt good manners;" and I may add that such communications corrupt good thoughts and produce evil desires and retard the progress of the soul in its natural love. For it must be remembered that this love is pure and free from all evil or taint of defilement when it is fully developed and anything that tends to defile it retards the progression of the soul in this particular.

So the plain lesson to be drawn from all this is that man must, in the first place, make the effort to have only good and pure thoughts and desires from his inner self, and next, he must avoid those objects and associations that tend to cause to arise in him these evil thoughts, and thirdly, he must learn the truth that when he has these evil thoughts, he attracts to himself spirits of evil who, by their influence, can and do intensify these evil thoughts and desires.

I know as regards this last mentioned truth, that the majority of men have no knowledge of its existence; but it is time that they should learn that such a danger to their soul's progression does exist and is always imminent. And they should learn this other fact that when their thoughts are pure and free from defilement, they have surrounding them the influence of good spirits, who work to increase and make permanent their good thoughts; and as these good thoughts continue, the natural love develops towards its pristine condition of purity, and man comes nearer to his designed condition of existence.

So you will see from this, that as man's thoughts and desires become freed from these things that tend to defile him, he naturally progresses toward that condition which is necessary, in order for him to have this development of the soul in its natural love. Again, the development may be helped very much by man thinking and doing acts of charity and kindness and observing the Golden Rule; for every act of charity and kindness and self-sacrifice for the sake of others has its reflex action in his own condition of love and soul and helps their development.

In short, the observance by man of all the moral laws, which are many and varied, tends to bring about the development of the natural love. And this must be remembered, that as this development proceeds, the tendency to indulge in the perverted appetites of the flesh, as they are called, will disappear; and as it disappears, this love, of course, becomes purer and sweeter, and brings man nearer to his state of perfection.

And again, the meditation upon spiritual things, and the out-flowing of this love towards the Father will cause the progression for while all men, as we have said, do not seek for the Divine Love, yet as all men are children of God, he helps them to the full extent of their desires; towards happiness, and the perfecting of this love in its natural pure state and with which he endowed them at their creation. Upon their will and aspirations depends the nature of the help which the Father gives to them; but always He gives his help and blessings and to the fullest. His great desire is that man shall become perfect in that love which they possess and which they seek for; and the natural love in its qualities may become as perfect in man, as may the Divine Love in its qualities. Each is just as much in harmony with God's universe in its respective qualities as is the other.

So I say, man is helped, and more than in any other way, by his meditations of the higher things of his being, and by prayer and aspirations to the Father, who hears the prayers of the man who has only this natural love, and answers them just as He does the prayers of the man who has the Divine Love in his soul.

Ultimately all sin and evil will be eradicated from the universe, and man in his mere natural love will become pure and perfected and happy.

I have tried in my inefficient way to show man how he may progress in the development of his natural love, and if he will follow my advice, he will succeed. For as man, by the indulging of these perverted appetites of the flesh, and the exercise of his will power, fell to a low degree of degeneracy, so he can by ceasing to indulge in these perverted appetites, and the exercise of that same will power, rise again to his condition of purity in his natural love.

And besides, he has the help of the Father and the good angels in his efforts to recover, and also the experience of the result of his fall, which he may not be conscious of, but which in his inner self has an existence and is continually working.

Well my dear brother I must stop; and I feel that you have taken my message very successfully. Read it over and correct errors of construction. I will come soon and write again.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Helen Writes About the Conditions Surrounding a Medium Who James Padgett Visited

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

I am here, Helen.

Well, sweetheart, we were somewhat disappointed tonight that we could not have the opportunity to write as we had agreed, and you were also, I know. I was with you at Mrs. Miller's and saw and heard what took place, and while there was nothing very edifying in the proceedings, yet it was a little enjoyable because of the great number of spirits who were present and their evident happiness in being able to communicate.

The spirit who was writing through you was one that I did not know, and who was of the lower planes, and had not much of the development. The guides of Mrs. Miller actually talked through her, and Minnie is a very cute and spiritual little Indian and is very faithful to her medium.

The other Mrs. Miller was much interested and the advice given her by Rolling Cloud is good, and if she will procure the medicine and give it to her mother, she will find some relief. These Indians know a great deal about healing and very often help mortals in their sickness. Yes, she was very anxious to hear about the prospects of her becoming a free woman and, while I can hardly blame her, yet, the spirits are not permitted or inclined to give much comfort to mortals who have in their souls the desires that she had.

I know the condition of Mr. Miller, and it is a very precarious one, for he may die at any moment. His heart is not in a good condition and his kidneys are very much diseased and worse than that, he is obsessed by a wicked drunken spirit who will not let him get out of their power if they can prevent it; and because of his circumstances and surroundings, it seems to me that they will be able to retain their control of him. Well, we have some power, but not all that you may think. Unless he puts himself in condition to accept our help, we can do nothing for him, for his condition is what gives these spirits the power to control him, and unless he makes some effort himself to break the rapport between him and them, we can do him very little good. Such is this Law of Attraction that I have written you about.

Well, she is a good-hearted woman, but not one that would benefit you in a spiritual point of view, for she is very worldly in her desires and thoughts and scarcely ever gives the future any consideration. I know this from not only what she said, but from the condition of her soul development, which shows that not often does she permit her soul to have any communion with the higher things of God's universe; and I tell you that the condition of the soul is a sure index of the thoughts and aspirations of the person.

Yes, of course, she has a soulmate, but who he is I don't know, and it is not important at this time to find out, for she is not thinking of soulmates, but of the material things of life, and her chief desire is to obtain money.

Well, I must not write more and you must go to bed. The others of the band will come at a later time and write you. So with all my love I will say good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen 

Jesus Writes Further There Was Never Any Lucifer, Devils or Satan Considered as Real Persons and Fallen Angels

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

I am here, Jesus.

I am with you tonight to warn you against letting any doubt enter your mind or heart as to our actually writing to you for we, and none other, are actually in communication with you.

The book that you read (Pastor Russell on Spiritualism) is a snare and a lie, for there are no angels who have become devils as the author of that book declares. Never were there any angels who through ambition or any other reason revolted against the power of government of God and thereby lost their estate as angels. Never was there any Lucifer, and never were there any angels who were thrown from the battlements of Heaven into Hell, as it has been written and as I told you before. There are no Devils and no Satan considered as real persons and fallen angels.

The only spirits in the spirit world are those who at one time were mortals and who lived lives on earth, shorter or longer, and whenever angels are mentioned in the Bible, or rather in the New Testament in places which contain my sayings or those of the apostles, and I mean those sayings which were actually said, the word "angel" always refers to the spirit of some mortal who had passed the line between life and death as commonly understood.

I desire to tell you of these things at large very soon and to instruct you as to who were the angels of God that are supposed to have had an existence prior to the creation of man and of the world; and who the inhabitants of Heaven were before the Spirit of God entered into man and caused him to become a living soul as the Bible says. But the time is not yet ripe for me to instruct you in these matters, because there are so many more important truths to be first taught you - truths which are vital to man's salvation and happiness to those on earth and in the spirit world.

But this you must believe that no Devils ever write you, or in any manner manifest to, or through, any of the numerous mediums who are used to show the existence of spirits of men in the spirit world no matter whether these mediums be good or evil. There are spirits of all kinds - just as there are mortals of all kinds - having all the traits and characteristics of mortals, and some of these spirits may be justly called wicked or evil spirits, and even devils; but they are nothing more or less than spirits, such as I describe.

l know that the belief of the majority of mankind is that there are such things as devils and that they are independent creations of God made by Him to tempt and inflict all kind of trouble and unhappiness on mortals, and because of the great number of years that these beliefs have existed, and the fact that many of the churches still teach that such devils do exist and are at all times trying to tempt and injure men, it is hard and will be difficult to induce men to believe that there are no such things as devils, which is the truth.

I know that the Bible, in many places, speaks of my casting devils out of men, and of men being possessed of devils, and of the apostles casting out devils, and of their not being able to cast out some of these devils, but I tell you now that the Bible is all wrong in this regard, and the writers and translators of the Bible never understood what the word devil, as used in these various instances, meant or was intended to mean. As I have told you, there was never any devil or devils in the sense mentioned and taught by the churches and, consequently, they never could have possessed mortals nor have been cast out of them.

It is true that by the workings of the Law of Attraction and the susceptibility of mortals to the influence of spirit powers, mortals may become obsessed by the spirits of evil; that is, evil spirits of men who once lived on earth. And this obsession may become so complete and powerful that the living mortal may lose all power to resist this influence of the evil spirits and may be compelled to do things that the mortal will not desire to do and to show all the evidence of a distorted mind and present appearances of a lost will power, as well as of the ability to exercise the ordinary powers given him by his natural creation. And in these instances referred to of casting out devils, wherever they occurred, and they did occur in some of the instances mentioned, the only devils that existed were the evil spirits who had possessed these mortals.

And this obsession obtains today just as it did then, for the same laws are in operation now as were in existence then, and many a man is in a condition of evil life and disturbed mind from the obsession of these evil spirits; and if there were any men of today in that condition of soul development and belief that my disciples were in, they could cast out these so called devils just as the disciples cast them out in the Bible days.

But men have not this faith, though there are many who have been blessed with the inflowing of the Holy Spirit; but they have not the belief that such work as the disciples performed can be performed by them now and, in fact, the most of them believe that it would be contrary to God's will to attempt to exercise such powers and, hence, they never attempt to do such work.

But when men learn that in all ages God is the same, that His laws work the same way, that mankind is the same so far as the soul's possibilities are concerned, and that the faith which God made possible for man to attain to may be possessed by him now - just as it was possessed by my disciples, then they will attempt this work of beneficence and will succeed, and the sick will be healed and the devils cast out, the blind made to see, and the deaf to hear, and the so-called miracles will be performed as they were in my days on earth.

There is not and never was such a thing as a miracle in the sense of having an effect produced by a cause which was not the result of the ordinary workings of God's laws, for these laws in their workings never vary, and when the same law is called into operation upon the same condition of facts the same results will always be produced.

So, let a mortal have in his soul the same amount of God's Divine Love, which the Bible writers meant or should have meant, when they spoke of being endowed by the Holy Ghost, and let him have the necessary faith that when he prays to God, He will give him the power to exercise this Love in a sufficient degree to produce the desired results, and then try to exercise the power of casting out devils or healing, etc., and he will find that success will attend his efforts. God is the same at all times and under all circumstances, and only mortals vary in their conceptions and conditions.

So I say, there are no devils as independent creatures of God, in contradistinction to the spirits of men who once lived on earth, and you must believe that there are not.

I tell you now that the teachers of such false doctrines will have to pay the penalties for their false teachings when they come to the spirit world and see the result of these false teachings, and no relief will be granted until they have paid the last farthing. To believe such doctrines entails results that are bad enough for any spirit to endure, but to teach others these beliefs and convince them of their truth, entails upon the teacher, whether he actually believes them or not, sufferings and duration of sufferings of which men have no conception.

I will not write more tonight but will, in closing, say that you have my love and blessings, and my promises I will fulfill, so that you will realize your expectations and be in condition to perform the work that you have been selected to do.

Well, you let doubt come into your mind and, as a consequence, your soul does not respond, although, strange as it may seem the Divine Love is there, but when this mental doubt exists, it is as if it were a covering which prevents the existence of the Love in the soul to shine forth and produce the great feeling of happiness and joy which otherwise you might experience.

The mental condition of the mortal, undoubtedly has a great influence on the consciousness of the man as to his possession of this soul development and the Divine Love and, consequently, there will have to be this continuous fight as long as life lasts on earth between the mental conditions and the soul's consciousness. But as the mental beliefs are brought into harmony with the soul's condition, more and more the fight will grow weaker and less frequent, and it is possible that they will cease altogether, and the mental beliefs become entirely and absolutely subordinated or rather absorbed in the soul's consciousness of its being possessed of this Divine Love of the Father.

So my dear brother, I will say good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

John B. Comeys Writes About Truths Pertaining to a Spirit's Progression in the Spirit World

December 22, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I desire to write you a short time to inform you of certain truths which you should know pertaining to the spirit life, and to what mortals who lead the lives of good and pure men may expect and be assured of realizing.

I am in the Celestial Spheres, but I shall not speak of these spheres, but only of the spiritual spheres, where men after they become disembodied spirits may live and experience a happiness which they on earth have no conception of.

When a spirit first enters the spirit world, it receives a welcome from some one or more spirits whose duties are to receive such spirit and to show the place where it is suited to live or exist.

Such spirit is then permitted to meet its friends and relatives and to commune with them for a short or long time and receive whatever consolation such friends or relatives may be able to give it; and in many cases, the gladness and happiness of these spirit friends cause the spirit to believe that it is in Heaven, or at least, in a place of great happiness.

But after this first interview, the spirit must, by reason of the Law of Attraction, go to the place where its condition of soul or its condition of moral growth or intellectual development fits it for, and there remain until such condition is made better and enables it to rise to a higher place.

No spirit, after it once gets into the place that is suited for it to live in, ever retrogrades, although it may stand still for a long number of years and never make any progress. But this is a truth not known to a great many mortals and spirits also, that the condition of the mortal at the time he becomes a spirit fixes his condition and place of living when he first enters the spirit world. After he is put in such place by the Law of Attraction as I have said, and when once that place is found and occupied, the spirit never goes to a lower place; but either will stay in that place for a long time, or will progress, and ultimately will in all cases progress.

Well, the evil spirits find these places of habitation in the earth planes, which are many and of varied kinds, having many different appearances suited to the conditions of the spirits who will occupy them. A spirit who is in the lowest of these earth planes is said to be in the lowest Hells, as all spirits who are in these planes where they suffer and encounter darkness believe and say they are in Hell. But this is merely a name used for convenience, for the Hells are merely places forming a part of the one great universe of God.

These hells, as you may imagine, are very numerous, for the conditions of spirits are very varied, and each spirit has a place in which to live fitted to its condition.

As the spirit becomes freed from some of these conditions, which as to them causes the Law of Attraction to work, he progresses to a higher and better place and finds that his surroundings are not so dark and painful. And as this progression continues, such spirit will ultimately find himself in the planes of light and comparative happiness, where the evil recollections have to a large extent left him and the good deeds, which he did on earth, then come to him and cause a happiness that makes him realize that he was not all bad, and that God has been good to him in relieving him from the sins and evil thoughts which bound him to the place from which he has progressed.

But after all this, he has not gotten into any of the spheres which are above the earth planes, and he may have to remain there for a great many years before he enters the Second Sphere, which is next in gradation to the earth plane. This latter plane is the most populous of all the spheres, for it has spirits coming to it in great numbers - in greater numbers than are progressing from it to higher spheres and, hence, it has a greater variety of sub-planes than has any of the other spheres and is filled with a greater variety and kind of spirits than are any of these higher spheres.

When a spirit has remained in the earth planes a sufficient length of time to put him in condition to go to the next higher sphere, he makes his progress and is never prevented from doing so. I do not mean to say that the spirit is compelled to remain in the earth planes any particular number of years before progressing, for this is not true; on the contrary, the number of years that he remains there is determined by his condition of progress, so that some spirits may go through these planes in less than a year and others may remain there many years.

In the Second Sphere, appearances are brighter and many opportunities are afforded the spirit to seek for and obtain happiness that he did not have before, and many spirits find great happiness in pursuing their intellectual studies and things of this kind and in obtaining a knowledge of the laws of the spirit world governing what you might call the material nature of this world and also of the earth world.

This sphere is not so well suited for the growth of the soul faculties, and those spirits whose desires and aspirations are for the development of their soul qualities do not stay in this world or sphere very long, for they do not find that the necessary provisions for such development exists and, as a consequence, they progress to the Third Sphere, where they find wonderful opportunities and surroundings, which enables them to progress in these matters of the soul.

Well, I see that you are tired, and I will postpone any further writing on these matters to another time.

So good night,
John B. Comeys

Swedenborg Writes About the Truth of the Hells and Describes Its Location and Appearance

December 17, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write a few lines as I desire to write you some truths about what you and your friend were discussing; namely: "Are there any such hells;" as are described in the messages contained in the book (Dr. Peeble's Immortality) that you have been reading tonight.

Well, you must know that in the spirit planes, hell is a place as well as a condition and that, as a place, it has all the accompaniments that make it a reality to the spirits who inhabit it. Of course, the conditions of the spirits who are in these hells are determined by their recollections worked upon by their consciences. But notwithstanding that these recollections are the things that cause their sufferings, yet, the appearances of the locations in which they live are due to something more than these mere recollections for, as you have been informed, all these spirits are in darkness - the degree of the darkness in which they live being determined by their recollections. I mean that when the spirit has recollections of deeds done or not done, which are not so bad as the recollections of another; the former spirit is in a place where there is less darkness than the latter.

These places have their own fixed condition of darkness and of gloom and many other attachments, which increases the sufferings that spirits have to endure.

There are, of course, no fires and brimstone lakes and devils with pitchforks adding to the sufferings of the spirits, but yet, there are certain conditions and appearances which are outside of the spirits themselves, which causes their recollections to become more acute and to work in a manner to produce a greater degree of suffering.

These hells may be places of caverns and rocks and barren wastes and dark holes and other such things as have been written about; and mortals must know that evil spirits do not live in pleasant places and suffer only from the punishments, which their recollections bring to them.

And while the hells of the orthodox are in their descriptions greatly exaggerated, yet there is some truth in the ideas, which these descriptions convey as to the fact that the hells are places in which are darkness and many accompanying appearances that add to the tortures of the spirits of evil.

I tell you this because I see you want to know the truth, and for the further reason that you do not believe that there are such distinctive places as the hells; and that the darkness, which the spirits in their communications to you speak of is, in your opinion, produced by the conditions of the minds and souls of the spirits who write.

But such opinion is not altogether correct, and it is best for men to know that the mere recollections do not include all of what the hells are.

You say you have your hells on earth sometimes, and that is true to a limited extent, and many men suffer very much from their consciences and remorse, but when they come into the spirit world, if they have not gotten out of the condition which these recollections and remorse place them in, they will find that there is waiting them that place or location, which will add to their sufferings that arise from the recollections of evil deeds committed while on earth.

These evil spirits live in communities for the Law of Attraction operates in these dark and lower planes just as it does in the higher spheres and causes spirits of like or similar conditions to congregate together and find consolation, or what they may at times think to be consolation, in one another's company.

These hells are on the planes nearest the earth, and these spirits are not confined all the time to any particular hell. They have the privilege of moving at will along this plane, but wherever they go, they find that they are in these hells, and they cannot escape from them, unless they accept the help from spirits who can instruct them (in) what they must do.

Well, when they come to you to write, they are not very far from these hells, because the plane in which they live is a part of the plane in which the inhabitants of earth live.

Of course, I don't mean to say that that portion of the earth plane that surrounds your earth is composed entirely of these hells, for that is not true, as the earth sphere has in it considerable light and some happiness. And you must further remember that there are many planes in this earth plane.

These spirits, while their habitations are in these hells, have the privilege of leaving these particular localities and wandering for a short time in and over other parts of this earth plane; but this is only for a short time, and they have to return to the places where they have been placed, and which this Law of Attraction, that I speak of, draws them to.

Well, there are thousands of millions of evil spirits, and there is never a time when some of them - thousands of them - are not surrounding and trying to use their bad influences on mortals. We do not know why this is permitted, but only know that it is so. And here again, the great Law of Attraction operates, for many mortals are in similar conditions of development and evil thoughts to what these evil spirits are and, naturally, these evil spirits are drawn to them and do come to them. And frequently it happens, that while visiting these mortals of similar conditions to their own, they attempt to influence mortals who are in a better state of moral and spiritual condition and sometime succeed in doing them harm.

But the great fact is, that these evil spirits have a place of living, where they have to remain until by the operation of the Law of Compensation, they are relieved from some of their evil tendencies and desires when they are permitted to progress.

My principal reason in writing you is to have you know that there are hells of places as well as of conditions, and that these places, by reason of what they contain and their appearances, add to the suffering of the spirits.

As I have written a long time I will stop and say that I am a Christian and an inhabitant of the Celestial Spheres, and one of the spirit band that is helping you in your great work of the Master. So in leaving you, I will subscribe myself,

Your brother in Christ,
Swedenborg the Seer

Helen Padgett Writes About the Effects on Babies Who Come to the Spirit World as a Result of Abortion and Babies Who Die Prematurely

November 13, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Yes, I was there and enjoyed the show. The pictures contain a very important truth that all women should understand and appreciate, for so many refuse to become mothers and perform the duties that God intends them to perform. I have no doubt that the pictures will have a good effect on many of them and make them think before resorting to that means of getting rid of the unborn babies.

In my investigation of the subject of babies who have come to the spirit world as a result of abortion, I do not find that they ever go back to their earth mothers for any purpose whatever. There are spirits who are specially designated to take care of babies, and in cases where the natural mothers have succeeded in cutting short the lives of these babies, these spirits who have charge of these babies in the spirit world never permit these babies to come in contact with their unnatural mothers or visit them. And this because the mother's love is not there to receive these poor little waifs; and where there is no mother's love, there is no attraction existing that will cause the return of the babies when they have once left their mothers.

But in the case of babies who prematurely die, or of those who die very young, these babies do return to their mothers under the guidance of their guardian spirits and receive from their mothers their love and feelings which are going forth to these babies.

The Law of Attraction operates here as well as in other matters and this is the law in reference to babies who die early. When there is existing a mother's love, the baby will return and receive this love and help from coming in contact with such mother. But when there is no mother's love there is no attraction, and the baby may never know its mother.

In many cases, the baby, before the mother comes to the spirit world, finds other attractions and, hence, there is no feeling of love or sympathy between the baby and its mother.

It frequently happens that when the mother comes into the spirit world, she finds the spirit of the unborn baby, and in a way has a uniting, but rarely is this love strong enough to keep them together. The Law of Attraction separates them and then each goes his own way.

I will not write more.

Your own true and loving,
Helen
   

Helen Writes About the Spiritual Conditions of Judge Syrick and Laura Burroughs and Explains that Family Ties Do Not Always Bring Spirits Together

March 29, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen

Well, you have received a letter from the Judge. He was so anxious to write that we thought it would do him good to try as it would make him realize more sensibly that he is now a spirit only and also strengthen him.

Well, you may not think so, but it is a fact. With many spirits when their surroundings are good and much spirit help is given them they can almost as soon as they leave the body overcome their functions of mind and do things that you little expect. The Judge was prepared, to some extent, to understand this power of communication and, when we all assisted him with our powers, he tried successfully to write to you. He is not yet very strong but soon will be and then I have no doubt he will want to write to you often but, of course, we cannot permit him to because he is not in rapport with our band. He has not very much spiritual development and the conditions that surround him are not such as would be in accord with our conditions, and, hence, we will have to refuse to let him write very often but he can communicate through some of us.

Well, he is dark in appearance as he necessarily must be until he gets more enlightenment of soul. He will undoubtedly suffer because of the sins he committed when on earth and will pay the penalty until he finds the true way to God's Love and forgiveness. Of course, he has one advantage over many spirits who come over bringing the results of their life on earth and that is that he has some idea as to the way to salvation. You and Dr. Stone told him when on earth that he must turn his thoughts to spiritual things and while he did not understand just what you meant, yet, such advice had some influence on him and will cause him to try to learn what was meant and, having Rose and the rest of us to enlighten him, he will progress more rapidly to these higher things and the more rapid his progress the sooner his suffering will leave him.

He is now commencing to realize that as he sowed so must he reap. While Rose is with him a great deal and loves him and tries to help him, but all that isn't sufficient to prevent his memory from scourging him because of the life he led on earth. But we all pray for him and try to show him the way and he is ready to believe and is commencing already to pray to the Father.

So you see, you must all sooner or later face this great crisis and the better prepared you are to meet it, the less will be your sufferings and the more happiness you will experience.

Yes, it was Laura - she is very unhappy. I had never met her before and your mother said that she had not either. You see in this world, family ties do not always bring spirits together. When the relationship is distant, the spirits loose interest in relations merely because they are relations and find themselves attracted to spirits who have like qualities and relations.

This relationship counts for very little in the spirit world of itself and when we meet our loved ones of earth, before they come over we stay with them for a while and then if there are no other attractions than mere relationship, we gradually separate. This is the Law of Attraction, and we are compelled to obey it. So that when on earth mortals sing of meeting again on the other shore to part no more, they will find that they are mistaken. They will meet but, unless conditions compel it, they will part again and may never meet ever in the spirit world.

Love is the thing which determines the relationship and place of living in this world, I mean similar loves existing between spirits. No spirit loves another after a little while merely because that other is a mother or father or wife or brother, but loves it because that spirit has a similar love of the beautiful and true that it has. So you see, relationship after the first meeting and living together a little while determines nothing.

Of course, while the child or father of mother or sister or brother remains in the earth life, the spirit relative will love them and watch over them and try to help them in every way. Especially will the mother - for ties among son or daughter, and this is in accordance with the "material" Law of Love. But when that father or son, too, becomes a spirit, then the Law of Love as it were changes and like loves like, be there a natural relationship or not. This, I know, seems contrary to what mortals usually believe and accept as a fact, but it is true.

When my children come over, my love for them will not be the same as it is now. Then they will find that their love will probably, after a time, turn elsewhere and it will be only another in memory for our loves may take entirely different directions. And this love, while for the moment may take entirely different directions. And this love, while for the moment may seem unnatural in its workings, yet it is not, for happiness comes with love reciprocated and love comes only reciprocate of its own kind.

We do not think that you will be forever with your children or parents or any other relative forever for that may not be so. If that relative has like attractions that you have then you may be together as long as that attraction lasts. But suppose that you make greater progress in your spiritual or even in your natural development, than the other spirit, it cannot be supposed for a moment that you will determine the results of your development in order to stay with that other spirit. No, that would be a violation of the Law of Progress and you could not and would not want to delay your upward movement.

So the idea that when we meet in the spirit world, we meet to part no more is not correct and is contrary to the laws that determine the condition and place of habitation of spirits.

I know this of my own experience. My parents are in a lower sphere than I am and have much less spiritual development, and while I visit them sometimes, yet they have not the attraction for me that other spirits to whom I have no relationship. And why is this, not because I do not care for my parents as such, but because the objects and extent of their loves are different from mine. The main fact that they are my parents does not cause me to want to be with them all the time. I could not so desire if, as you might say, I wanted to. Love is the attraction and love must demand a likeness in a spiritual sense of the objects of its love.

The time may come when I will never again see my parents and may forget that they ever had an existence. I say may, but I hope not, for I desire that sometime they will progress so that they may be in a similar condition to my own in spiritual development and then, of course, we will live in the same place and necessarily will meet and enjoy one another's company. But not because we are parents and daughter but because our loves are similar and our attraction are like.

This is a matter that few mortals understand and it may well be that they do not because the love existing between many relative is a beautiful thing and one that causes much happiness and self preservation. There is nothing on earth like the mother's love and no provision of God's blessings for mortals equals this great gift of Mother's love. And so with the other natural loves to a lesser degree.

But as Jesus said, "He that doeth the will of my Father is my mother and brother and sister."

So you must realize that that you and the natural love of relations is only for the earth life and a short time afterwards. Each individual is in and of himself a complete unit depending not on relationship to others and, as such, must find his place in the great eternity, which must be determined by the development and progress of his own soul in expectation of what may become of the souls of his earth relations. He is attracted only by souls of similar development and will find his home in the company of such souls irrespective of the question of natural relationship.

I have written enough for tonight and must stop. So with all my love, I am

Your own true and loving,
Helen