Judge Frank D. Syrick Writes that He Has Progressed to the Seventh Sphere and Discusses Eugene Morgan's Work with Dark Spirits

December 21, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Judge Syrick.

Well, old boy, how are you tonight? I speak, thus, that you may know that I am feeling just as friendly as I did when on earth, and you may feel assured that I am more friendly than I was when I used to talk to you about the mysteries of the unseen. Now, of course, I know a great many things that were to us, at that time "mysterious," and know that the mysterious exists only in the minds of men, and that everything in our universe of truth and mystery is merely a convenient man-made word for hiding our want of knowledge.

Well, Padgett, I am glad that I can write to you again for it gives me much pleasure in being able to do so. Of course, I am with you very often listening to the conversation of yourself and friends, and the reading of the messages that you receive. There are so many spirits around you, all desiring to write, that I can only at times write myself and, as you have learned, we always give the preference to others whenever we know of their desires.

This is one of the things that we learn and apply in our life here as we progress. It is not only that: "We do unto others, as we would have them do unto us," but we do unto others as we know to be for the good of these others. We try to efface self and, as we advance in our possession of the Love, we find it less and less difficult to sacrifice self for the benefit of others; and the wonderful thing is that in doing this, we are the happier and realize that we should not live for self alone. Well, you will commence to think that I am a preacher, and in a way I am, but what I say I know to be true and not the result of any speculation.

I am progressing and am now in the Seventh Sphere, and if I were to attempt to tell you what this means, and could do so, you would think that I was either a storyteller surpassing the author of "The Thousand and One Nights," or that your imagination was running away with your senses. But it is a fact that the beauty and wonders of this sphere are beyond my ability to describe or your ability to understand.

Rose, of course, is with me, and we are so very happy. What a wonderful thing this soulmate love is! Now I realize that the happiness which is mine compensates for all the lonesome times of my old bachelor days on earth, and as I see that your friend (Eugene Morgan) is a poor, lonesome bachelor, I want to tell him that when he comes to the spirit world and has his soulmate to love and cherish him, he will forget that he was ever a lonesome bachelor on earth and will regret only that he had not become a spirit long before he entered that world, which so many dread to think of. Sometimes I have been present when some of his Catholic friends visited him and attempted to annihilate him, and although you may look upon us as sedate and pious spirits, yet we enjoyed the encounter very much and especially when we saw that these priests were worsted and lost all the fighting blood, as you may say.

While I did not know him on earth, yet I feel that I know him very well now, and I desire to tell him that he is doing a wonderful and exceptional work, and one that is doing and has done much good among these priest-ridden people. He may not know, but it is a fact that when he enters into these controversies with the priests, that they are not the only spirits present, for many of their followers accompany them to see the enemy of their church annihilated; and they hear what may be said and see the results and, as a consequence, many of them are caused to think and seek the help of the numerous high spirits who are always present, ready to give the help that they need; and many of these followers are, by the means mentioned, rescued from their purgatory and erroneous beliefs. I should like to write more on this subject and describe the actual scenes that accompany his encounters with these priests, if only to encourage him, but I cannot do it tonight.

Well, Christmas will soon be here, and we have the Christmas feeling, but it is not exactly as you have it on earth. We have the actual visible presence of Jesus and feel his love, and know that he was born and is now the living, loving, all-embracing Christ in his teachings and manifestations of the Father's Love. I wish you and your friend and Dr. (Leslie R.) Stone a Merry Christmas,and desire to tell you that many of your spirit friends will spend the day with you and bring as presents their love and prayers and best wishes for your happiness.

Good night, old friend, and God bless you,
Syrick

**********

Helen is glad that the Judge wrote.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, dear, I am glad that the Judge wrote you tonight, as you had not heard from him for some time, and he was very anxious to write. He is very happy and is progressing, and with his Rose enjoys bliss to the fullest.

The other spirits actually wrote, and the young mother is now a very beautiful spirit and feels a great sympathy for all mothers who die as their babies come into life. I will not write more now. So love me and pray to the Father with all your soul and longings for His Love.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Bishop John P. Newman Writes and Confirms Luke's Message About the Holy Spirit

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

Let me say just a word as I am very much interested in the truths of the message which Luke has just written you; and I was present at the church (Metropolitan Protestant Church, Washington D.C.) where the minister discoursed on the subject of Paradise, and Luke was also present. And as I realized that something that the preacher said suggested to Luke the subject of his message, and as I am very much interested in the people of that church, as I at one time was pastor there, I desire to add just a few words to what Luke has so truly and plainly expressed.

The doctrine that the preacher proclaimed tonight, I often declared when I was minister there and as I, at that time, believed those doctrines to be true and know the preacher is equally honest in his beliefs. But, alas, my beliefs were erroneous, and as it took some years of suffering and disappointment for me to unlearn these errors and learn the truth, so will he have to go through the same experience unless, before the time of his leaving the physical body, he learns the truth.

And so with many of his congregation who are earnest and honest seekers of the truth, many of them having in their souls the Divine Love of the Father. And the pity is that there is no way of reaching him or them with the truth, for I know that they would not give heed to what you might say to them and would look upon you as an imposter or crank.

But, nevertheless, in the future some way may open up that these truths may reach these people, and as I have their interests so at heart and feel that the influence of my teachings still linger in that congregation and produce only error and belief in that which is not true, I desire to add my confirmation to what Luke has said, and if his message ever reaches them, I hope my message may also come to them. It is part of my penalty for teaching erroneous doctrines that I should work to have my people unlearn their teachings of error and to be able to reach them in this way would give me not only great happiness, but relief from my penalty of regret.

I will not attempt to recite what Luke has said, for I could not make it plainer, but I do desire to say to my people that what he said is true and they must believe. Sometime I should like to come and write you a long message on a subject that has had the object of my consideration for a long time, and which to me and to many in the earth life is a very vital matter.

I will not write more tonight, and thank you for your kindness in letting me write. Well, I am in the Seventh Sphere and am very happy in my love and surroundings, but I realize that if I had known the truth as I now know it, I would be much further advanced. Oh, I tell you the hampering of the soul's progress by a lifetime of erroneous beliefs is a terrible thing. I will say good night and God bless you.

Your brother in Christ,
Bishop Newman

John D. Parker and Josephus Write Short Notes to Confirm that James E. Padgett is Receiving Messages from the Higher Spirits

March 14, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, John D. Parker.

Let me say a word, for I am interested in you and your work to a very large extent. I have not written you before and I want merely to say that you are receiving these messages from the higher spirits, and you must believe that you are.

I am a spirit who once lived in a country far away from where you live and was not a Christian man in an orthodox sense, but was a believer in God, though not in the God of the Bible, as I never thought that a loving God could be the wrathful and vindictive God that the Jews believed Him to be.

I have been in the spirit world for many years and am a follower of Jesus in his truths and teachings and am an inhabitant of the Seventh Sphere where only the followers of him live.

I will not write more tonight as I see that you are tired, and others want to write a little. So with all my brotherly love, I will subscribe myself

Your brother in Christ,
John D. Parker of Liverpool, England

**********

Josephus assures Mr. Padgett that he is receiving communications from spirits living in the Celestial Spheres.

I am here, Josephus.

I am Josephus. Yes, Josephus, the Jewish Historian who has written you before.

I merely want to say that I am interested in your work and that you are receiving messages from the high spirits whose homes are in the Celestial Spheres, and you must believe what they write you, for they write only the truth.

I see that you are sleepy tonight and that I must not write more, though, I would like to write you a long letter at this time; but I will come again and give you my views on certain matters in which you are interested.

Your brother in Christ,
Josephus

Abraham Lincoln Writes His Testimony and is a Follower of Jesus' Teachings

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

I am your friend in Christ and desire to write a few lines, but it will not be about religious matters, for I heard what the Master said, and he knows what is best.

Well, I am in the Seventh Sphere and am very happy and enjoy all the delights of a soul redeemed and am in the way of progress to the higher spheres where some of your band live. How beautiful must be their homes because, when they come to the lower spheres, they have such beauty and are so filled with the Father's Love that I know they must live in homes of transcendent beauty where happiness is supreme.

I am not one who knows all that there is in the Heavens provided by the Father, but I know enough to say that, "No eye of man has seen and neither has his heart conceived of the wonderful things that the Father has prepared for those who love Him and do His will."

In our sphere, the glory of our habitations and surroundings that we have are beyond all conceptions of mortals, and beyond all the powers which we have to describe. Your language is poor, indeed, when we attempt to use it to describe our homes and our happiness. Never a sigh, nor a thought tainted with the slightest flavor of unhappiness or discontent. All our wishes are gratified, and Love reigns eternally and without stint.

Never, when on earth, did I conceive that one man could love another as one spirit here loves his brother spirit. The mine and thine are truly the ours, and no spirit is so happy as when he is doing something to make another spirit happier; and then, love between the opposite sexes is so pure and glorified.

My home is not in any of the cities but is in the country among beautiful fields and woods where the purest waters flow in silver streams of living light, and the birds of paradise in all their glorious plumage sing and make merry the echoes of the hills and rocks, for we have hills and rocks as well as plains and beautiful meadows and placid lakes and shining waterfalls, all praising God for His goodness.

So why will not every mortal try to attain to this Heavenly condition of love and happiness, when it is so easy for him to do so? The Divine Love is waiting for all and needs only the seeking and the believing in order to make the mortal an heir to all the glories of this Heavenly place.

But the mind of man, in its superimposed importance and in the conceit of the wonderful powers of his reasoning faculties, keeps the simple childlike faith from making him a child of the Kingdom.

Oh, I tell you, if mortals only knew what is here ready for them to obtain and make their own, they would not let the supposed greatness of their minds, or the cares and ambitions and desires for earthly possessions, keep them from seeking this great and glorious inheritance, which is theirs by merely claiming it in the way made known by the Master.

And he - what can I say of him - the most glorious and beautiful and loving of all the spirits in God's universe. When on earth I looked upon him and worshiped him as God, sitting on the right hand of the Father - way up in the high Heavens, a way off waiting for the coming of the great judgment day; when he would separate the sheep from the goats and send each to his eternal place of habitation - whether to Hell or Heaven - only he knew, and I did not and could not until the great judgment should be pronounced.

But now, when I see him as he is, and know that he is my friend and elder brother, a spirit such as I am, with only love for his younger brethren, be they saints or sinners, and a great longing that all may come and partake of the feast which the Father has prepared, I feel that the loving brother and friend is more to me and my happiness is greater than when I looked upon him as the God of judgment having his habitation away off beyond my vision or reach. He is so loving and so pure and so humble. Why his very humility makes us all love him almost to adoration, and if you could only see him, you would not be surprised that we love him so much.

Well, my friend, I have written a little more than I intended, but I am so filled with Love and so happy in having such a friend as the Master, that I can hardly restrain myself. I will come again sometime and write you upon some spiritual truth, which I so much want you to know.

When on earth, I was not an orthodox to the full extent, but my early belief that Jesus was a part of the Godhead I did not succeed in getting rid of, although my mind often rebelled at the thought; but the early teachings of my mother lingered with me, and maturer thoughts and development of mind could never entirely eradicate this belief in Jesus as being part of God. Some have said and thought that I was almost an infidel, but this is untrue, for I always believed firmly in the Father and, as I have told you, in Jesus.

I was also to some extent a spiritualist, that is, I believed in the communications of spirits with mortals, as on numerous occasions I have had such communications and have acted on advice that I received through them. But I never learned from any of these communications any of the higher truths, which I now know and which are so important for mortals to know and which, if men only knew and taught, would make their religion a live, virile, all pervading and satisfying religion.

We are all interested in your work and are co-workers with you in revealing these great truths. May God bless and prosper you and cause you to see the realities of the great Divine Love is the prayer of your brother in Christ.

A. Lincoln

William Stone, Father of Dr. Leslie R. Stone, Writes That He is Dr. Stone's Guardian Angel

November 14, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, William Stone.

I am the father of the Doctor and I want to tell him that I am with him very often trying to help him and make his material affairs become more successful. I am also with him in his soul aspirations, for I can see that he is more in the way to learn the truth of the life in the spirit world and of the destiny of mortals after they become spirits. So if he will at times give me a loving anxious thought, I will be able to come into closer rapport with him and impress him more consciously as to what I think is wise for him to do or not do.

He may be surprised that I am here, but I have been present on several occasions when his soulmate and his mother and your wife have written to him and have observed the effect upon him of the communications as given and received. While his soulmate is with him so very much and is closer to him than any of us, yet, his mother and I have a great interest in him and love him very much.

I am his Guardian Angel and have looked after him ever since I entered the spirit world and became imposed with the duty of looking after him. I only wish to tell him this tonight. I am very happy and am in the Fifth Sphere and expect to soon get into the Seventh Sphere where his mother is, but I am afraid that before I do so, she will leave for the Celestial and so I will have to strive again to reach her. I have nothing further now to say tonight.

Well, his brother is in the condition that his mother told him and is suffering a great deal, but he will soon see the light and get relief. Some of your band who seem to love his mother so much are working with him, and he seems to be interested in them, and believe that they are really trying to help him.

I would prefer if he wait until I come again as this is my first attempt at writing, and I want to be in condition to answer any question that he may ask without confusion. So tell him that I will come again and will be willing to answer his questions. So bidding you good night, I will leave you both my love and best wishes.

His Father,
William Stone

St. Cornelius Writes on His Conception of the Soul

November 2, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.

St. Cornelius - the First Gentile Christian.

Let me say just a word as to the soul. I have heard what Matthew said, and it seems to me that he did not describe what the soul is as clearly as desirable.

My conception of the soul is that it is that part of the existence of man, which determines for him what his destiny shall be. It is the real thinking, willing and conscious part of man. The intellect of man may die - this may seem unreal, but it is true - and man cease to exist as a conscious thing - I mean if the intellect was the only faculty that he possesses to make him conscious of his existence. The soul, so far as we know, can never die, and it has as its qualities and elements all the perceptions and reasoning powers that the intellect has and many more. The soul is the only faculty or part of man that performs the mission of knowing and reasoning and determining after man has passed into the Seventh Sphere and, consequently, unless these soul qualities or perceptions are developed by obtaining into the soul the Divine love, a man or spirit cannot get into the Seventh Sphere, for he would be wholly unable to live there and understand or do anything in that sphere.

The soul needs no instructions from the mere physical senses because those senses are not suitable to be used in the operations of the soul's faculties and, hence, a man who never cultivates these soul senses, as I will say, is not capable of understanding the higher spiritual things of the Celestial Spheres.

I will not write more tonight, but will come again.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Cornelius

Professor Joseph H. Salyards Writes That He Has Progressed to the Seventh Sphere and is With His Soulmate

October 10, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Professor Salyards.

I heard your inquiries of your wife, and I was pleased that you expressed the desire to hear from me again as I most assuredly want to write to you. Since I wrote you last, I have been living in the Seventh Sphere with my soulmat, and in close proximity to your father and have been very happy in the Love, which I now enjoy.

I have seen so much of the effect of this Divine Love upon the souls of spirits who come into the possession of it, that I wonder more and more at the fact of its great power to make pure and truthful, souls who were in such darkness and torment. I have seen some very surprising conversions of souls steeped in sin and error, in souls with their sins last leaving them and happiness and Love coming to them in wonderful inflowing.

Since I have been in the Seventh Sphere, I have paid very little attention to things about which I wrote you when in the beginning of my soul development, because with me now the soul and its divine possibilities are the things that absorb my attention and efforts.

I am sorry that I cannot continue my writings on certain phases of the Laws of the Spirit World, but for the reasons stated I cannot as only this Great Love and the work of helping men and spirits to obtain this Divine Love and to become children of the Father, are possessing me and occupying all my time and attention. So you must not feel disappointed that I do not continue the writings that I speak of.

I can tell you about the Seventh Sphere and the life and inhabitants there and the wonderful happiness which we all enjoy. Our homes have been described to you by your grandmother and your wife and I cannot add to their descriptions, only to say that they do not tell half of the beauty and grandeur of these homes and of the joy of the inhabitants. I am in a home of that kind now and am with my soulmate and we are very happy. I do not know at this time of anything more to write about.

Well, you are not complimentary but you are right. I seem to have lost my desire for investigating and writing about these things that I first wrote to you about, and I have not yet prepared myself to write of these higher things. So I will stop tonight.

Your old friend and Professor,
Joseph H. Salyards

Professor Joseph H. Salyards Writes That He is Pleased With the Variety of Messages From Higher Spirits and Reveals He is Now in the Seventh Sphere

August 6, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your old Professor.

I wish to write a little tonight as I have not written for some time. Well, I have been watching the many messages which you have received and I have been much interested in the variety of the subject matter and the number and difference in the spirits who have written.

You seem to have received messages from spirits of all ages and from all nationalities and I am pleased to see that these messages were mostly of a higher order of communication. I was interested in the messages from the prophets and also those from the apostles and saints. And in them I saw that there were many spiritual truths disclosed and that they were very similar in their declarations as to the Divine Love of the Father and the New Birth. It is wonderful that you should get such corroboration of these truths from spirits who have had such a wide difference in experiences in the spirit world.

You are better tonight than you have been for sometime and we are all so glad of that fact and hope that you may continue in such a frame of mind and in the condition of your soul development.

I am now in the Seventh Sphere and am very happy. Your father is with me and we are so pleased at our progress that we never cease thanking God for His goodness and mercy. Mr. Riddle is still in the Fifth Sphere, but we expect that he will be in the Seventh very soon and we will then have a happy reunion.

My soulmate is with me and sends her love to you and says that she is much interested in you and tries all she knows how to help you in your material, as well as your spiritual, condition.

Very soon I want to write a long message on a subject that I think will be of much interest to you and to others who are interested in the things of the spirit life. I know that that will please all the band as we have missed writing to you and desire so much to continue our communications. Of course, the messages that you have received have been very beneficial and are intended to do good but, yet, we feel that we had stayed away, I mean refrained from writing for too long a time.

Well, I have been trying to help him (Roller) but his condition is such that I find great difficulty in doing so. He still thinks of the earthly matters and his appetite for the accursed stuff still clings to him and causes him to neglect the thoughts that would do him so much good. But we continue to try to help him.

Well, I will stop for tonight. With all my love, I am

Your old Professor and friend in Christ,
Joseph H. Salyards

Robert Colyer, a former Preacher, Writes That He Believes in Divine Love and the New Birth and That Jesus is Not God

August 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Colyer.

I was a preacher. I am now a preacher and my doctrines are those of Christ stripped of the creeds and dogmas of the churches. I was not an orthodox preacher, but was one who believed in God and in Jesus as the best and most spiritual man that ever lived on earth, and who taught the truths of his Father.

I am of the same belief still, and I have since being in the spirit world learned many things to confirm my belief. The orthodox doctrine as to his being God or one of three Gods is a pernicious one and against all reason and truth. He is just who he said he was - the son of God and the son of man - the first in a spiritual sense and the latter in the material or natural sense.

He never, as he has told me, claimed to be God, and his disciples never understood that he was such. The freedom of men's minds, from this doctrine of his being God, will do more to bring men to the truth and to believe in religious truths than can be conceived of. When his true mission on earth shall become understood, men will turn to the true worship of God and to a belief in the teachings of the Master, which will result in many a one being saved from their sins and in happiness and harmony and brotherly love being more firmly established on earth.

I am a believer in the Divine Love and the New Birth and am an inhabitant of the Seventh Sphere and am trying to progress to the Celestial Spheres.

I will not write more tonight as you are tired, but will come again sometime. So with all my love as a brother in Christ,

I am,
Robert Colyer

Henry Ward Beecher Writes About God's Divine Love and Immortality

July 5th, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.

I am your friend and brother in love and desire for the kingdom. I am the spirit of Henry Ward Beecher.

I live in the Seventh Sphere where your father now is, and, because of having met him there, I come to you tonight to write for a short time. He has told me of you and how easily you receive the communications of the spirits, and I want to let you know that, even though I am no longer the same as when on earth, I still have the desire to make known to men the thoughts that arise in me concerning God and the relation of men to Him and His kingdom.

I am now a believer in Jesus as I never was on earth, and it may surprise you to know that when on earth, no matter what I may have preached to my people, yet, in my heart, I looked on Jesus as a mere man of the Jews, and not very different from others of the great reformers who had lived and taught on earth the moral truths which tended to make men better and caused them to live more correct and righteous lives.

But since I have been in the spirit world and have had the experiences, which my life here has given me, and have found the way to God's Divine Love and to His Kingdom, I have learned and now know that Jesus was more than a mere reformer. He was not only a good and just teacher and lived the life of such, but he was the true son of God and His messenger in bringing to the world the truths of immortality and the Divine Love of the Father, and the way to obtain it. He was truly the Way and the Truth and the Life as no other teacher before him ever was.

I know it is taught, and I believed it when on earth, that many religions and pagan teachers asserted and tried to teach to mankind the immortality of the soul and, as men understood the meaning of the word immortality, these teachings were more or less satisfactory. But I now see that their conception of immortality was merely a continuity of life after what is called death. How different the meaning as, thus, taught and the true meaning of the word!

Immortality means so much more than a mere continuation of life. It means not only a continuation of life, but a life that has in it the Divine Love or Essence of the Father which makes the spirit who has that Love a Divinity itself, and not the subject of death of any kind. No mere spirit has this immortality just because it is continuing to live in the spirit world and cannot conceive that by any possibility that continuity of life can ever be arrested or ended. No such spirit knows that to be true, because never has it been demonstrated, as a fact, and cannot be until eternity has come to an end. Such spirit is no different in its essence and potentialities from what it was when enfolded in the flesh and has no greater reason for believing that it is immortal than it had when on earth.

A speculation and a proven fact are two entirely different things, yet, with some spirits, as well as with men, speculation becomes almost as much a certainty as does a fact demonstrated. But there is no justification for relying upon conclusions drawn from mere speculation, and the spirit or man who does, may, in the great workings of eternity, find himself not only mistaken but surprised beyond all conception at what eventualities such workings may bring forth. So, I say, that before the coming of Jesus, immortality had not been brought to light and could not have been, because for mankind - it did not exist.

I was as much surprised when I learned the true meaning of the word as men will be who may read this communication or hear its import. The hope of Socrates or of Plato or of Pythagoras was only a hope fortified by the reasonings of great minds and supplemented by much development of soul qualities. But when all is said, it was only hope - knowledge was wanting. And even if they had realized that the spirits of men departed did return and communicate to them that there was no such thing as the death of the spirit or soul; yet, such experiences did not prove to them anything beyond the fact that life was continuous for the time being. As change is the law in the spirit world as well as on earth, they could not, with the certainty of knowledge, say there might not be some change in the spirit world that would break or set aside the continuity of existence.

Take the young child, when its intellect has not sufficiently developed to understand that there is such a thing as the death of the physical body, and it believes, if it thinks at all, that it will continue to live forever on earth. And so with these philosophers who had the hope of a future continuous life and with the spirits who know that there is a continuous life - living after death - they think that, that living must be the fixed state, and must of necessity continue forever.

As I say, it has not been demonstrated that such life will continue forever; yet, on the other hand, it has not been shown that it will not and, hence, no spirit can say that it is immortal unless it partakes of the Divine Essence, and no wise philosopher or religious teacher, prior to the coming of Jesus, could be said to have brought immortality to light. While hope and speculation exist as the children of desire, yet, knowledge is wanting and certainty is not.

The immortality then that men believed in, and comforted themselves with believing in, was the immortality that hope created and speculation proved; and the experiences of men, in communicating with the spirits, showed that death had not annihilated the individual. But hope and speculation and experience did not create knowledge.

When Jesus came, he brought with him, not only hope but knowledge of the truth. Not many men have comprehended it, or understood the reason or foundation for such knowledge, and the reasoning faculties of men were not sufficient to show the true reasons of such knowledge. And strange as it may seem, the students and commentators of the Bible have never disclosed the true foundation upon which this knowledge exists.

I confess that in my life, while a great student of the Bible, I never comprehended the true meaning of how, or in what way, Jesus brought immortality to light. I thought, as many others do now, that his death and resurrection were the things that showed to mankind the reality of immortality. But these things showed no more, as I now see, than did the numerous instances recorded in the Old Testament and in the secular writings of the philosophers and adepts of India and Egypt that there was an existence after so-called death.

And many who dispute the fact that Jesus brought immortality to light, base their arguments on these other facts: that he was only one of many who had died and afterwards came to mortals and showed that they still lived as spirits. So I say, and as I believed not while on earth, the mere fact of Jesus' resurrection does not prove immortality.

Then what have I learned immortality to be since I have been in the spirit world? My reasoning powers are much greater now than when on earth; my perceptive faculties have become more keen and my experience in the laws of the spirit world have given me great knowledge; but all these would not of themselves have given me the knowledge of immortality, had not Jesus himself explained it to me and demonstrated it by his own condition and that of many spirits in the higher spheres. Now I am, because of my present soul development, the possessor of that knowledge.

Only the Father is Immortal, and only those to whom He gives His Attributes of Immortality, can become Immortal as He is. Love is the great principle of Immortality, and by this I mean the Divine Love of the Father and not the natural love of the creature; and he who possesses this Divine Love becomes as it were, a part of It, or It becomes a part of him, and in Its operations makes him like unto the Father. In other words, a spirit who possesses this Divine Love becomes a part of Divinity itself and, consequently, Immortal, and there is no possibility of his ever becoming deprived of this element of Divinity.

No spirit is immortal when there is any possibility of its being deprived of that immortality. Even God himself, if He could be deprived of that great quality, would not be immortal. And just as it is impossible to take from the Father this great attribute, so is it impossible for the spirit, who has once obtained this Divine Love of the Father, to lose its immortality.

So you see, immortality comes to a spirit only with the possession of the Divine Love, and that Love is not bestowed upon every spirit, but only on those who seek for it in the way shown to mankind by Jesus. Death does not bring to the mortal Immortality, and because his spirit survives his death, it does not follow that Immortality becomes a part of his existence as a spirit.

So I say, that when Jesus brought to the world the knowledge of the bestowal of this Divine Love of the Father upon mortals under certain conditions, and also showed mortals the Way in which that Great Gift might be obtained, he brought to light Immortality and Life, and before him had no man or spirit brought these Great Gifts to light.

I am now a partaker, to a certain extent, of the Divine Love, and have before me the possibility of obtaining it to its fullest extent as promised by the Master to all who may seek for it in truth and with faith.

I did not intend to write so long a message at this time, but as I am enthusiastic on this subject, I find that I have trespassed upon your time and kindness longer than I realized. So thanking you for your patience I will stop now, but hope that I may have the privilege of coming again at some time and writing. With my kind regards, I am

Very truly yours,
Henry Ward Beecher

Ann Rollins Describes Several Spheres and Their Character and the Object of Their Creation

June 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Well, my dear grandson, I am here and desire to write awhile tonight about some things that are true and show you the workings of God's Love among men and spirits. I have had a great deal of experience, although I have not been in the spirit world a very long time - as we count time, which we do not, but I merely use the expression that you may understand what I mean.

I am, as I told you, in the Second Celestial Sphere, where your wife and mother also are. In this sphere, all the inhabitants are spirits who have been redeemed by the Divine Love and great mercy of the Father, and by the great gift of immortality which Jesus wrote you about the other night.

I am now so developed in my soul qualities that I realize that I am a part of the Father's Divine nature, and that I have in me those qualities of His nature that make me immortal, and which immortality can never more be taken from me; and what I say applies to all the inhabitants of this sphere.

Of course, you will understand there is, yet, more Love which we may obtain, because our progress in the Divine Love never ceases, until we get into the very presence of the Father and are able to see Him with our soul perceptions. This phase you cannot possibly understand as you are now, but when you come to the place where I am, you will - and it is even possible for you, in a way, to comprehend it while in the mortal life, but not to the extent that you will when you become a spirit and live in this sphere.

Your mother and wife now have this quality of soul perception, but even among us there is a difference of comprehension of this, and I am told that as I progress higher and receive more of this Love, this soul perception will become clearer and more satisfactory to me. So when you hear us say we are redeemed and have as our possession a part of the Divine Essence of the Father, you must understand that it is a comparative thing, and that we are not perfect - even the Master is not perfect as God is perfect, so he tells us - but he is progressing in the acquisition of this Love and in the increased power of this soul perception.

Until we reach the First Celestial Spheres, we have not a sufficient quantity of this Love to make us partakers of this Divine Nature of the Father to the degree that all the natural loves are absorbed by the Divine Love; for all below that sphere have more or less of the mere natural love, which causes them to retain their worldly affections. I mean those things which tend to retard their progress. Of course, our natural love for our relatives or friends does not leave us even after we reach the Celestial Spheres, but when we become inhabitants of these spheres, we have no interest in the affairs of earth or its government.


Seventh Sphere:

The Seventh Sphere is the one that divides those spirits who have merely intellectual or moral qualities which are developed, as it were, to the highest degree from those spirits who, in addition to mental and moral development, have their souls developed by the Divine Love of the Father.

No spirit who has not this Love can become an inhabitant of the Seventh Sphere, so that when you hear of any of your spirit friends or acquaintances, or of any other spirits, being in the Seventh Sphere, you will know that these spirits have received the Divine Love to an extent a little short of that which enables them to enter the First Celestial Sphere and which makes them at-one with the Father and, hence, immortal.


Sixth Sphere:

The Sixth Sphere is one where the mental and moral qualities are developed to their greatest extent, and it is not necessary for the spirit to have this soul development to any great extent in order to become an inhabitant of this sphere. In other words, it is a sphere which is given more especially to those spirits who have given more thought to the improvement of their minds and their moral qualities than to the development of their souls by obtaining the Divine Love of the Father. This sphere is one of great happiness for these spirits of mental and moral excellence, and it is the highest that they can attain to in their progression in the spirit world.

Of course, these spirits may also receive this greater soul development - for the Divine Love is free and waiting for all of God's children; but my observation has been that when the spirits, who find their happiness in purely mental pursuits or in the development of their moral natures, get into this sphere, they seldom become dissatisfied enough with their condition of happiness to desire or seek for a greater one. In fact, the majority of them will not believe that there is any greater happiness that they can attain to and, hence, the deadening satisfaction which possesses them.

I know it may be a little difficult for you to understand this matter as I have attempted to explain it, but what I have said is true; and in the day of separation these spirits will realize that fact, but then it will be too late to remedy their neglect or want of the soul desire for the soul development that comes only by the inflowing of the Divine Love into the soul in sufficient abundance and which is necessary to permit them to become inhabitants of the Celestial Kingdom.


Earth Plane

Well, when a spirit enters the spirit world its condition of mental, moral or spiritual development determines where it shall first live. In the large majority of cases, the first home of the spirit is the earth plane, and in that there are a number of planes, respectively, higher or lower than others. So when the spirit finds itself in the earth plane, it also finds that its condition is not much different from what it was on earth. The same ideas of right and wrong, of beliefs, of affections and of desires obtain. Sometimes these conditions will last for many years, and again the change can come comparatively soon. This change of condition depends frequently upon the friends or relatives who try to help and instruct them when they come over.

If such spirit helpers are themselves developed in the line of intellectual pursuits, they will more naturally endeavor to direct the newly arrived spirit along the same line of thought and aspirations; and so with the morally developed helpers, they will make the questions of morality the important ones for the new spirits to give attention to.

And so with the spiritual helpers, or those who have received the Love of the Father in their souls, and to whom such Love is the most important thing in all the spirit world. Naturally they will endeavor to instruct the spirit in matters pertaining to this Love and the increased development of it. So you see, much depends upon the helpers which the new spirit finds waiting its advent into the spirit world, and the instructions which such spirit helpers give it.

But more will depend upon the condition of the spirit itself. As I have said, when it comes into the spirit world it brings with it all its beliefs, desires and affections, and these respective qualities will, to a more or less extent, influence the directions of its progress. It is much easier to influence a spirit who has had, while on earth, awakened in him a love of God even to a small degree, to pursue the thoughts that will lead him into spiritual ways, than to persuade one who has never had that awakening.

And so with the spirit who, while on earth, gave his studies and thoughts to mental pursuits, to the exclusion of thoughts relating to God or to religious matters. Such spirits will naturally be attracted to those things which it considers a continuation of its earthly thoughts, or which will enable it to pursue the development of those thoughts; and consequently, they are its "treasures" which necessarily have the most of its affections and from these affections will arise its desires which will, unless something greater intervenes, cause it to follow the course of these desires. And the same principles can be applied to every condition of the spirit - mental, moral or spiritual.

Now, to the point of your question. Such spirit, following the natural inclination of its condition as I have explained, will endeavor in its progress to get into that sphere where there are afforded the greatest opportunities for the development of the particular phase of its condition which constitutes its chief motive force. And this is in accordance with a spiritual law.

The spirit desiring above all else the development of its mental qualities will naturally seek that sphere where these qualities have the greatest opportunity for such development. And so with the moralist and the spirit of religious thought.

Now, God, in His great wisdom and goodness, has provided these several spheres and made them suited for the purposes of their creation; and all the spirits have the choice as to which they will enter and seek to live in. But, of course, not only one sphere of its kind is provided, but there are several so provided, so that there may be progression on the part of spirits who have these several phases of desires and attractions.

The Second, the Fourth and the Sixth spheres are appropriated for those spirits who have more of the qualifications and desires for advancement in their mental and moral pursuits, or rather for the development of those qualities possessed by them which pertain more to the mental and moral natures.

Of course, in their progress from the lowest to the respective higher spheres that I have mentioned, the spirit must pass through the intervening spheres; but they do not linger in them or seek to make them their homes, or stay in them for their development, because in these intervening spheres the qualities which these spirits are attempting to develop, are not given much attention, and these spirits would not be much benefited by remaining in these spheres. But the fact of passing through these intervening spheres does not indicate (for the contrary is true) that these spirits in so passing, in any degree, receive any additional love or development of their soul qualities. So that a spirit in the Third Sphere, possessing the Divine Love, may have more soul development than one who lives in the Sixth Sphere who has not the Divine Love.

And so in contrast to the Second, Fourth and Sixth Spheres that I have named, the Third, Fifth and Seventh Spheres are the ones appropriated to and specially prepared for the spirits who are seeking the development of the Divine Love into their souls; and in these spheres, Divine Love is the great thing that is sought for and acquired. The spirits of these spheres may be just as highly developed in their mental and moral qualities as are those before describe; and frequently they are more so - for with the soul development in the Divine Love, strange as it may seem to you, comes mental and moral development, but this development of the mind is not the chief thing for which these spirits seek.

Every desire and aspiration with them is subordinated to their great efforts to obtain this Divine Love to the highest degree, and ever and ever are these spirits seeking for it, and they have never become satisfied, in contrast to those who merely seek the mental and natural love development. As I have said beyond the Sixth Sphere, these merely mental or moral seekers cannot progress unless they seek for the Divine Love, and in this Sixth Sphere the mind's happiness is reached.

And the Sixth Sphere is a more prolific one of probation, in the sense that many of these spirits are awakened to the necessity of seeking this soul development, because after some of these spirits have been there for a long time, they commence to realize this limitation to their mental happiness. And, strange as it may seem to you, they frequently make their first start by calling up the recollections of their childhood days, when they were taught and believed that God loved them, and that His Love was the greatest thing in all the world.

So you see here illustrated, in a way you probably never have thought of, the saying of Jesus that, "Except ye become as little children, ye can in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven." But many of these spirits have no childhood recollections of this kind, and then comes the work of the higher spirits who have been redeemed by this Great Love of the Father.

In all this you will see how God recognizes and respects the independent will of His creature. He does not force them to seek His Love, but waits until they, by their own experience, learn that what they once thought was all sufficient for their happiness, is not sufficient; and realizing this insufficiency, they become dissatisfied, and with such dissatisfaction comes the wish to learn the great unknown of desire which, at last, causes them to feel their dependence upon a source of happiness not emanating from themselves.

And thus, my dear son, in my imperfect way, I have attempted to give you a description of the several spheres and their character and the object of their creation. You must believe what I have told you for it is true; and in believing you will see the great advantage in striving to enter the spheres of the soul or the Divine Heavens; for in doing so, you will not only gain your soul's development but also the development of your mental qualities and your moral nature also. And thus you will understand the great saying of the Bible: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

Well, I have written you a long letter and must stop. So with all the love of a devoted grandmother,

I will say goodnight,
Ann Rollins

Ann Rollins Writes about Soul Development by Receiving Divine Love and Describes Her Progress to the First Celestial Sphere

March 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your Grandmother.

Yes, it is I. I want to tell you of my experience in progressing in the spirit life.

Well, when I passed over, I was received in the spirit world by your grandfather and my own dear mother who had been in the spirit world for so very many years. She was then living in the Seventh Sphere and was a most beautiful and happy spirit. Now she is far up in the Celestial Spheres, and occasionally comes to see me and tells me of the great beauty of her home and of the wonderful spirits who inhabit the spheres where she lives.

She lives in a high sphere of the Celestial Heavens and is with many of the redeemed spirits who lived on earth many centuries ago. She mentioned some of them who were well known on earth, such as John Wesley and his brother Charles, and Luther and some of his contemporaries who were engaged in the great reforms of those days. Whitefield is one she named, and Bunyan, also. They seemed to have reached this sphere by obtaining the Love that we have written you of. So, when I think that, through gradual development and progression of my spiritual being, there are these high spheres for me to attain to, I feel that my faith and seeking for the Divine Love have a great deal yet to accomplish in the way of soul development.

Well, shortly after I passed over, I progressed to the Third Sphere and thought that there the very seat of Heaven must be, because my happiness was so much greater than I ever anticipated.

Well, when I first entered the spirit world, I confess I was disappointed, because I did not see the Father on his throne and Jesus sitting on his right hand, as I had been taught to believe. But it was not long before I realized that such a belief had no foundation in truth, and that God has no throne, such as the writers of the Bible had declared, but that His Spirit is manifested everywhere and in all places, and is a Spirit that has no form in the sense that I had been taught to believe.

After living in the Third Sphere for some little time and having received much information from spirits who lived in higher spheres and having received a great abundance of God's Love, I progressed to the Fifth Sphere and found a wonderful home of beauty and harmony among spirits who had experiences similar to my own, and who had received the Divine Love to a degree, which gives us all this great happiness that I tell you of.

In some of the planes of this sphere are many spirits who have not received this Divine Love, but who have attained to wonderful moral and intellectual qualifications, but they were not so happy as were those who had received the Great Love of the Father. They gave their thoughts and works more to things that pertain to moral and intellectual progress than to the soul development in the Divine Love.

It may seem strange to you that these spirits could live in an atmosphere where so much of God's Love was manifested by the numerous spirits who had received this Love and, yet, not realize that this Divine Love is the one great thing absolutely necessary for their further progress and greater happiness. But such is the fact and many of these spirits of the greatest intellectual development are still pursuing their studies of laws that have to do solely with things that relate to the operations of spiritual laws and the causes of phenomena that astonish both mortals and spirits.

I have wondered many times that they have not had an awakening to the real and grandeur truths of spirit life and to the causes of the development of the souls of those with whom they come in contact, who are so much more beautiful and happier than are these students of merely spiritual laws and causes that produce only astonishing phenomena.

Strange as it may seem to some, intellectual progression is not necessary to soul progression. But with soul progression, by obtaining the Divine Love, comes a wonderful knowledge of these other things that I speak of. I, as you know, was a person of just ordinary mental acquirements, yet in this spirit world I have left behind me many great minds possessed of wonderful intellectual information. I mean not only as regards the progress of my soul, but also as regards the attainment of knowledge that these men are devoting their time and work to obtain.

Strange, also, it may seem to you, that with soul development in the Divine Love there comes intellectual development, but to us who have experienced this fact it is not strange, because the mind is only an attribute or, as I may say, a quality of the soul, and as the soul develops in the Divine Love, the mind must necessarily also develop.

Philosophy is merely the conclusion of minds that have given thought and investigation to the subject matter of that philosophy and, when it is determined by the mere mind, it is still uncertain and subject to revision and change as the mind may change. The mind, in its development, does not necessarily learn the full and real truth and in this spirit life, among these men of purely great minds that do not possess the Divine Love, there is as much variety of opinion, and as many disputes as to what is the truth, as there are on earth. The mind, of itself, cannot always discern the truth, because it is not infallible, even when it is the mind of a spirit and that spirit a highly developed one.

But as the soul develops in the Divine Love, this development means that what comes to it as a fact, is a truth - the everlasting truth. The soul does not learn all truths at once, but the truth that it does learn is one that never changes, and lets no revision alter or set it aside. No, truth of the soul's discernment is never shown to be error, and no error ever becomes a part of the soul's discernment of truth. So, you see, the great road to the ascertainment of the realities of God is through, and only through, the development of the soul by the inflowing of the Divine Love. The eye of the soul is that interior perception which needs not reason from cause and effect to discern and forever establish the truths of God.

So, how very necessary that men and spirits should learn the great fact, that if they would learn the truth of spirit life, they must endeavor to develop the soul's powers of perception by seeking for the inflowing into their souls of the Divine Love.

I could tell you many wonderful things to illustrate these propositions, if I had the time to do so, but I have not now, but sometime I will go more in detail on this subject, and then you will more fully understand what I mean.

Well, after I had lived in this Fifth Sphere and learned the great and wonderful truths that are taught therein, I progressed to the Seventh and there learned what real happiness is, as I thought. No spirit who has not received this Great Love of the Father lives in this sphere, because the mind is, as it were, absorbed by the soul to such a great extent, that without the soul development, the mind would have no place of lodgment. I mean that the mind, as such, then becomes so subordinated to the powers and operations of the soul perceptions that it cannot exist as mere mind, independent of the soul's development. In this sphere all is grand and beautiful to an extent that I cannot describe, because you have no possible mental conception with which I can compare such beauty and grandeur.

Our homes are very harmonious and without stain or anything that emanates from things other than the soul's essence and power. No mere intellectual happiness exists, and no spirit who has not this Great Love could possibly be happy there. But yet, while all this happiness exists, I was told that happiness is far greater in the Celestial Spheres and, consequently, I was not satisfied to remain in the Seventh Sphere, although I could not realize how my happiness could be any greater than it was. Yet, as I say, I was not contented to remain in my home there. And I was also told that there was a way to get into this Celestial Sphere, and a way so easy that the mere statement of it caused doubt. But I prayed for faith and the Divine Love, and on an occasion my faith brought the Divine Love into my soul in such abundance, and I progressed to the first Celestial Sphere, where I now am.

The Book of Revelation in the Bible, in its most extravagant description of the New Jerusalem, gives no true conception of what the beauty and magnificence of this sphere are, and I will not attempt to describe them, for I cannot. But a man, or spirit either, who has never seen the wonderful beauty of this sphere, cannot conceive of what its magnificence is.

I am so very happy that it seems to me there can be no greater happiness and, yet, my mother tells me that there is, and that the Divine Love of the higher spheres is so much more intense and filled with so much more of God's Divinity that I cannot have the slightest conception of what it is.

I am now trying to reach these higher spheres, and am told that faith and prayer for the inflowing into my soul of the Divine Love are the only instrumentalities that will enable me to do so. My prayers are constant and my faith is growing, and I realize that when the Holy Spirit fills me with this Divine Love, as I expect it to do, I shall progress. So you see, one great element of God's method of making His redeemed happy, is to set before them a higher mark for which they may seek with the assurance that it can be attained.

Well, I have written you quite a letter and feel that I must stop now, as I need to leave the earth's atmosphere for awhile.

So with all my love and blessings, I am your Grandmother,
Ann Rollins

Helen Confirms that Jesus Wrote the Preceding Message and that She Now Resides in the Celestial Heavens

March 3, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well, was not that a wonderful message of the Master? It was so full of things that should make men think and work to get this Divine Love that he spoke of.

I am happy to say that I have it now to a considerable degree, and the more I get of it the happier I am. I thought that I was happy when I entered the Third Sphere, and more so in the Fifth, and then supremely so in the Seventh but, really, I did not know what happiness was until I got into my present home in the Celestial Heavens. And I suppose, as I go higher, the happiness of each succeeding progressive sphere will be so much greater than that from which I progressed.

But, of course, the Master has been the Great Teacher, whose love and power have helped me more than all the others. He is so wonderful in love and wisdom that I almost adore him, although, he says that I must worship only God, and I follow his directions.

My experiences here are so wonderful that I hardly realize what it all means. My time in the spirit world has been so short and, yet, the wonderful knowledge of spiritual truths and the great happiness that I have received, cause me to wonder in amazement that such things could be.

You have had a long writing tonight, and I think I had better stop. So goodnight.

Your loving wife,
Helen

Ann Rollins Describes Her Home in the Seventh Sphere

September 28, 1914
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your Grandmother.

You are too much troubled in spirit to enjoy my visit as you otherwise would, but I will try to help you to be more happy.

I am in a state of contentment and have my home in the Seventh Heaven and have all the blessings that my Father promised me when I was on earth, but I had no conception of them then.

My home is a wonderful mansion, built of the most beautiful material that you can imagine. There are flowers and beautiful pictures and lovely rooms filled with all kinds of furniture that you could possibly wish for.

I am not the only one that lives in my home, there is also a beautiful spirit that was on earth, a great follower of Christ and lover of her fellow man. Our home is full of the finest kind of everything that makes a home lovely. We have many friends who visit us and whom we visit.

We do the work of the Lord in helping the spirits in the lower spheres to see the truths of the Love of their Father. We are not singing all the time, but we have a great deal of beautiful music and laughter and love.

Goodnight.

Your Grandmother, Ann Rollins