May 23, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I come tonight to say a few words that you may be encouraged in your spiritual condition and made to feel that I am with you in your doubts and despondency.
I was with you last night and realized just what your condition is and tried to influence you with my love and sympathy, and when you felt that you were all alone, I endeavored to impress you with my help and the power of the Love that I have received from the Father.
I know that while you are in the flesh and temptations come to you, there will be times when you will think that you are forsaken, or that the Father's Love is not in and about you in all its beauty and sustaining influence, and that then thoughts will come to you, such as Job speaks of in the book that you have been reading, and God will seem a long way off.
But, my brother, let me tell you with all the knowledge and love that I have that God is never a way off from you in his love and that he is always ready and willing to help and comfort you, if you will only have faith and let your longings go out to him for the inflowing of this Love into your soul. It is never absent from you, and awaits only your invitation for making itself real and consciously present with you. You only can prevent its coming into your soul and, if you will believe that this is true and endeavor to realize how close this Love is to you and how anxious the Father is that you receive it, you will be able to overcome these thoughts that arise from the weakness of the flesh or, rather, from the strength of the animal part of your nature.
So try to remember what I say, and whenever these thoughts come to you, look upon them as merely thoughts that come in the visions of the night and have no real foundation for their existence. As you may not know, real thoughts can arise only from that which is real, and when this Love of the Father comes into your soul, appetites and passions that arise from the perversion of the animal nature of your being cease to be real and are merely the recollections of what has been - a resultant of that perversion. This Love makes that - which aforetime was perverse - a genuine thing of truth in harmony with God and goodness.
Life is of God and, when not perverted by the will of man, is like unto the goodness from which it comes; and good and evil are conditions which are only, as in the one case God is real, and in the other, evil is not real as being a part of the creation of God. It, sin, is the creation of man, and that man disobedient and out of harmony with his own creation and the laws of his creator.
I write this to encourage your faith in the goodness of God, and in the inherent goodness of yourself, and to confirm your faith and knowledge in the truth that in God's universe all is good, and only that is sinful which man himself, in violation of the will of the Father, had created and afterwards cultivated and nurtured. So believe this, that when this Love comes into your soul you have the possession of that which will enable you to forget the creatures of your own will and make successful your efforts to cease the cultivation of this resultant of your own creation.
It is only when you, for the moment, forget or cease to realize that this Love is yours does the existence of the evil, which was as you may think to be naturally yours, become to you real, at least in your thoughts appear to be real. You have experienced the condition of soul when these thoughts had no place in your life, and were to you as if they had never been; and what you have thus experienced may, if you let live your faith in the possession of this Love continue to be your condition without intermission, and you be enabled to enjoy consciously the reality of its continuous existence.
And I further know that this state of freedom from thoughts of evil requires you to watch and, upon the first suggestion of such thoughts, pray to the Father for the increased expression of His Love and you will not be disappointed. As in the prayer, which I have given you, you are taught to ask that help may be given you to overcome all temptations of the flesh and the influence of the evil ones, so I repeat, let your supplications for this help ascend to the Father when first you feel the temptation, for so far as regards your condition of soul qualities, these temptations and influences are real.
The evil ones are with all mortals, and the condition of the soul determines whether they, the evil ones, can or not make a rapport with the mortals; and when this Love comes into the soul, such rapport is impossible. Then the secret of overcoming temptations is to have the soul qualities in such condition that the rapport cannot be made.
I know that men, sometimes, by their course of thinking of things good and pure invite this rapport, but this is not to be relied on as a sure preventive, for thoughts are changeable and the results of the appetites and emotions, and the natural, as I may say, tendencies of men are to gratify these appetites when not curbed by the higher development of their moral qualities, which qualities are very susceptible to the influence of the sensual natures of man.
I felt the necessity of writing to you as I have, for it is so important both for yourself, personally, and as my instrument for the work that has been given you to do, that you acquire more of this Love and the knowledge by which you may be helped so very much to overcome these temptations and influences. The more Love, the less the power of temptation and the possibility of thoughts that do not find their source in this Love. So I say to you: watch and pray.
Well, I will not write more tonight, and with my love and blessings will say good night and God bless you. I will come soon and write another message and hope that you may be in condition to receive it as successfully and correctly as you did my last one.
Your friend and brother,
Jesus
Showing posts with label animal nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animal nature. Show all posts
Monday, March 17, 2014
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Luke Writes on the Subject: "What is the most important thing for men to do to bring about the Great Millennium?"
November 30, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Luke of the New Testament.
Yes, I desire to write tonight a few lines upon a subject that has never yet been written on, and I know it will interest you. My subject is: "What is the most important thing in all the world for men to do in order to bring about the great millennium that the preachers proclaim will come before or after the coming of Jesus?"
Of course, in stating the question, thus, I do no intend to be understood as consenting to the doctrine that Jesus will come to earth in physical form on the clouds with a great shout, etc., as many of the preachers teach for that event will never happen because, as we have written you before, he has already come to earth or rather to men in the spiritual way that we have explained.
Neither do I intend to embrace in the phrase, "the greatest thing," the Divine Love, for that, of course, is the greatest thing in all the earth and in the Heavens, as well; but by this expression, I mean the greatest thing that men can do - independently of the assistance of the Divine Love.
Well, as commonly understood, the millennium is a time or period of a thousand years when peace will reign on the earth, and the devil, as is said, will be bound and not permitted to roam over the earth causing sin and destruction of souls and sickness and the other sins that now so generally beset mortals. Of course, there is no personal devil in the sense of a Satanic majesty, but there are spirits of evil, which abound in the unseen world and are constantly with mortals exercising upon them their influence of evil and suggesting to them thoughts and desires that eventuate in sinful and wrong deeds. But these evil ones are merely the spirits of departed mortals and are not beings of a superior kind in power and qualities.
Sin, as we have told you, was never created by God, nor is it the product or emanations of any of God's perfect creations but is wholly the result of the wrongful exercise of man's appetites and will, when the desires of the flesh are permitted to overcome the desires of his spiritual nature. With sin comes all the evils and discords and inharmonies that constitute man's manner of living his earth life, and until these things, which are not a part of his original nature but which are the creation of the inversion of that nature, be eliminated from his thoughts and desires and appetites, the millennium will never be established on earth, and neither will Satan be bound in chains and prevented from doing his work of soul destruction.
Now the converse of this proposition is true. And the possibility of its occurring, is also true. And the question is: "How can this be brought about?" For to bring this about is "the most important thing for men to do."
When the cause of the present condition of mankind in sin and sorrow and unhappiness is definitely determined, then will readily appear what is necessary to remedy the condition and remove the cause; and, hence, when the remedy is applied and removal made, the millennium will surely come, for this glorious time of man's desired and looked for happiness is merely one in which peace rules and discord does not exist, and every man is his own brother's keeper in love.
Then what are the causes of the present condition of existence on earth, marred and tainted and controlled by sin and error and disease?
These causes are two-fold: The one arising from man's fall from his created perfection of body, mind and soul in permitting and encouraging the animal nature to subordinate the spiritual and thereby, by the over-indulgence of the former causing the carnal appetites to grow and transform the man into a lover of sin and things evil; and the other arising from the influences which the spirits of evil, who are always endeavoring to make close rapport with men and exercise their evil influence over him.
While the personal Satan does not exist, yet the idea conveyed by the necessity of binding him in order to bring about this millennium is a true one and applies to the actual relationship of men to these evil spirits, except this: That in the case of the latter, it is not necessary or even possible to bind them, but to loosen them; that is, to loosen their rapport with or influence over men, for when that is done, men become, as it were, free and these evil spirits are as if they were not.
So you see, as a preliminary to the ushering in of this greatly desired time of peace and purity, men must cease to believe that it will come with the coming of Jesus in a manifested physical way, as a mortal conqueror might come with legions of followers and noises of drums and by force of arms or greatness of power subdue his enemies. This will never be, for no man is an enemy of Jesus, but all are his brothers, and he is not now making and never will make war on any human being, only on the sin and defilement that is within his soul. And this war can never be waged by power or force of legions of angels, for so great is the power of man's will and so respected is its freedom of action by the Father, that there is no power in Heaven or earth that can or will change a sinful soul into a pure one by force and threats and conquering legions of angels, even though they might be led by Jesus, which will not happen. No, the soul is the man, and that soul can be made pure and sinless only when that soul desires and consents that such a condition may become its own.
So it should not be difficult for men to understand that this erroneous belief - that Jesus will come in this semblance of a human conqueror and establish this great time of peace - is doing them much harm and delaying the actual time of the coming of this event. The effect of this belief upon the soul is that everything is to be accomplished by the work of Jesus, and nothing by themselves, except to believe in his coming and wait and be ready to be snatched up in the clouds, and then help the hosts of Heaven to destroy all of their late fellow mortals who had not believed with them and put on the robes of ascension, as they literally or figuratively designate such robes.
They, thus, believe and in their minds they may be honest, yet their souls may be disfigured and tainted with sin and the life's accumulation of sin, so that they could not possibly be in condition to enjoy a place of purity and freedom from sin. And some of them expect and claim that they will be the judges of others of their fellow mortals, because of the deeds done in the body and, yet: "in how many cases would it prove to be the blind and sinful judging the blind and sinful?"
But they further claim that Jesus, by his great power, and the fact that they believed that he would come again to earth and establish his kingdom, will in the twinkling of an eye make them fit subjects for his kingdom, and qualified to judge the unrighteous and help cast them out of his kingdom. No, this can never be the way in which the millennium will be established, and the sooner men discard this belief and seek the truth and the true way to purity and perfection, the sooner the hope and expectation of mankind will be realized.
Your brother in Christ,
Luke
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Luke of the New Testament.
Yes, I desire to write tonight a few lines upon a subject that has never yet been written on, and I know it will interest you. My subject is: "What is the most important thing in all the world for men to do in order to bring about the great millennium that the preachers proclaim will come before or after the coming of Jesus?"
Of course, in stating the question, thus, I do no intend to be understood as consenting to the doctrine that Jesus will come to earth in physical form on the clouds with a great shout, etc., as many of the preachers teach for that event will never happen because, as we have written you before, he has already come to earth or rather to men in the spiritual way that we have explained.
Neither do I intend to embrace in the phrase, "the greatest thing," the Divine Love, for that, of course, is the greatest thing in all the earth and in the Heavens, as well; but by this expression, I mean the greatest thing that men can do - independently of the assistance of the Divine Love.
Well, as commonly understood, the millennium is a time or period of a thousand years when peace will reign on the earth, and the devil, as is said, will be bound and not permitted to roam over the earth causing sin and destruction of souls and sickness and the other sins that now so generally beset mortals. Of course, there is no personal devil in the sense of a Satanic majesty, but there are spirits of evil, which abound in the unseen world and are constantly with mortals exercising upon them their influence of evil and suggesting to them thoughts and desires that eventuate in sinful and wrong deeds. But these evil ones are merely the spirits of departed mortals and are not beings of a superior kind in power and qualities.
Sin, as we have told you, was never created by God, nor is it the product or emanations of any of God's perfect creations but is wholly the result of the wrongful exercise of man's appetites and will, when the desires of the flesh are permitted to overcome the desires of his spiritual nature. With sin comes all the evils and discords and inharmonies that constitute man's manner of living his earth life, and until these things, which are not a part of his original nature but which are the creation of the inversion of that nature, be eliminated from his thoughts and desires and appetites, the millennium will never be established on earth, and neither will Satan be bound in chains and prevented from doing his work of soul destruction.
Now the converse of this proposition is true. And the possibility of its occurring, is also true. And the question is: "How can this be brought about?" For to bring this about is "the most important thing for men to do."
When the cause of the present condition of mankind in sin and sorrow and unhappiness is definitely determined, then will readily appear what is necessary to remedy the condition and remove the cause; and, hence, when the remedy is applied and removal made, the millennium will surely come, for this glorious time of man's desired and looked for happiness is merely one in which peace rules and discord does not exist, and every man is his own brother's keeper in love.
Then what are the causes of the present condition of existence on earth, marred and tainted and controlled by sin and error and disease?
These causes are two-fold: The one arising from man's fall from his created perfection of body, mind and soul in permitting and encouraging the animal nature to subordinate the spiritual and thereby, by the over-indulgence of the former causing the carnal appetites to grow and transform the man into a lover of sin and things evil; and the other arising from the influences which the spirits of evil, who are always endeavoring to make close rapport with men and exercise their evil influence over him.
While the personal Satan does not exist, yet the idea conveyed by the necessity of binding him in order to bring about this millennium is a true one and applies to the actual relationship of men to these evil spirits, except this: That in the case of the latter, it is not necessary or even possible to bind them, but to loosen them; that is, to loosen their rapport with or influence over men, for when that is done, men become, as it were, free and these evil spirits are as if they were not.
So you see, as a preliminary to the ushering in of this greatly desired time of peace and purity, men must cease to believe that it will come with the coming of Jesus in a manifested physical way, as a mortal conqueror might come with legions of followers and noises of drums and by force of arms or greatness of power subdue his enemies. This will never be, for no man is an enemy of Jesus, but all are his brothers, and he is not now making and never will make war on any human being, only on the sin and defilement that is within his soul. And this war can never be waged by power or force of legions of angels, for so great is the power of man's will and so respected is its freedom of action by the Father, that there is no power in Heaven or earth that can or will change a sinful soul into a pure one by force and threats and conquering legions of angels, even though they might be led by Jesus, which will not happen. No, the soul is the man, and that soul can be made pure and sinless only when that soul desires and consents that such a condition may become its own.
So it should not be difficult for men to understand that this erroneous belief - that Jesus will come in this semblance of a human conqueror and establish this great time of peace - is doing them much harm and delaying the actual time of the coming of this event. The effect of this belief upon the soul is that everything is to be accomplished by the work of Jesus, and nothing by themselves, except to believe in his coming and wait and be ready to be snatched up in the clouds, and then help the hosts of Heaven to destroy all of their late fellow mortals who had not believed with them and put on the robes of ascension, as they literally or figuratively designate such robes.
They, thus, believe and in their minds they may be honest, yet their souls may be disfigured and tainted with sin and the life's accumulation of sin, so that they could not possibly be in condition to enjoy a place of purity and freedom from sin. And some of them expect and claim that they will be the judges of others of their fellow mortals, because of the deeds done in the body and, yet: "in how many cases would it prove to be the blind and sinful judging the blind and sinful?"
But they further claim that Jesus, by his great power, and the fact that they believed that he would come again to earth and establish his kingdom, will in the twinkling of an eye make them fit subjects for his kingdom, and qualified to judge the unrighteous and help cast them out of his kingdom. No, this can never be the way in which the millennium will be established, and the sooner men discard this belief and seek the truth and the true way to purity and perfection, the sooner the hope and expectation of mankind will be realized.
Your brother in Christ,
Luke
Sunday, April 21, 2013
George H. Butler Writes About the Horrors of Hell and Describes His Home of Ugliness and Torment
January 5, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am a spirit who cannot tell you of the joys of Heaven, but I can describe the horrors of Hell. For just as these other spirits described to you their homes of beauty and happiness, I can describe my home of ugliness and torment. Do you wish me to do so?
Well, know then that when I lived on earth, I was a man of very considerable intellectual powers and acquirements and, also, of an intense animal nature; so much so, that it overcame my judgment and what moral qualities I had, and I became at last a slave to my appetites which were varied, especially my appetite for drink. I had many friends of position, social and otherwise, and I was considered a brilliant newspaper writer and had access to the inner political circles that were then in control of the government.
My weakness, or rather the effect of the strength of my animal nature, was known to many of my friends and they, in many ways, tried to help me and rescue me from my evil and destructive course of living; and, at times, I would succeed in reforming my conduct; but, alas, not for any great length of time, when I would again relapse into my deplorable habits and become the controlled victim of my destroying appetites.
Of course, human friendship and sympathy had their limits and, finally, my friends gave me up as lost and past redemption, and I surely and quickly sunk lower and lower in my moral condition and, at last, died a drunkard, unwept and unsung except for the evil that I had done. It was undoubtedly a relief to my friends and acquaintances when I passed over and forever relieved them of the shadow of my presence and the ghost of what I had been.
But such was my end and when I came to the spirit world, I found that I still was deserted by friends who had become spirits before me, except some who liked the flowing bowl as I did on earth, and who were inhabitants of the unattractive place that I found myself in when my habitation became fixed. I never, when on earth, thought much of the future life, except to convince myself that there was no Hell and if there was a God, He was not bothered about me, a mere man of many millions. But oh, the fatal mistake! And the unexpected realization of the fact that there is a Hell!
Whether there is a God I don't know, for I have never seen Him or felt His influence. But since I came to you tonight and heard the messages of those two spirits who described their wonderful homes and their condition of happiness and ascribed them all to the kindness and care of God, I have commenced to think that there may be a God, and that my mistake was greater than I have heretofore realized; but this is a digression from what I started out to write.
That there is a Hell; I know to my sorrow and sufferings. For I have been the occupant of one for, oh, these many years; and it is always the same place of horrors and darkness, except sometime it is lighted by the flame of lurid light that comes from the anger and sufferings of some unfortunate like myself.
In this Hell of mine, and there are many like it, instead of beautiful homes, as the other spirits described, we have dirty, rotten hovels all crooked and decayed with all the foul smells of a charnel house ten times intensified. And instead of beautiful lawns and green meadows and leafy woods filled with musical birds making the echoes ring with their songs, we have barren wastes and holes of darkness and gloom and the cries and cursings of spirits of damnation without hope. And instead of living silvery waters, we have stagnant pools filled with all kinds of repulsive reptiles and vermin and smells of inexpressible, nauseating stinks.
I tell you that these are all real and not creatures of the imagination or the out flowing of bitter recollections. And as for love, it has never shown its humanizing face in all the years that I have been here - only cursings, and hatred, and bitter scathings, and imprecations, and grinning spirits with their witch-like cacklings. No rest, no hope, no kind words or ministering hand to wipe away the scalding tears, which so often flow in mighty volumes.
No, Hell is real and Hell is here. We do not have any fire and brimstone, or grinning devils with pitch forks and hoofs and horns as the churches teach; but what is the need or necessity for such accompaniments? They would not add to the horrors or to our torments. I tell you my friend that I have faintly described our homes in these infernal regions and I cannot picture them as they are.
But the horror and pity of it all is that hope does not come to us with one faint smile to encourage us that there may at some time be an ending to all these torments and, in our hopeless despair, we realize that our doom is fixed for all eternity. As the rich man in Hell said, if I could only send Lazarus to tell my poor, erring brothers on earth of what awaits them, how gladly I would do so and save their souls from the eternal torment.
Well, I have written you a long letter and am tired, because it is the first time that I have attempted to write for many long years, and I find some difficulty in gathering my thoughts so as to be able to write in an intelligent and collected manner. So I must stop.
Well, I will say that you are the best friend that I have had since I became an outcast while on earth, and that I will do whatever you may advise, but you must not expect me to have much hope, not doubting your desire to help me, but merely your ability.
Well, I don't understand, but I will trust you and will try to believe what you say - only don't create in me that of which I have been deprived of for so long, I mean - hope - and have me disappointed. Well, I have looked, as you advised, and see some spirits who are so beautiful and so bright that I can scarcely look at them. Never before have I seen such spirits or imagined that such could exist. They must be gods, or why all the great happiness and beauty and love which they have. Tell me, what does it all mean! Is it a star of hope that has come to me from afar and bids me trust that these Hells shall not be my home forever? Oh tell me, I pray, you are they the spirits of real mortals who lived and died as I did?
Such love I have never seen; and they look at me with such encouragement and almost human eyes of love and beckon me to come with them. I have asked if Mr. Riddle is there, and one spirit comes to me and says yes, and that he is glad to have me come with him, as he knew me on earth and is acquainted with my sad life. And now I remember him, for he was a friend who lived in the same city as I did.
He says: "Come George, and I will try to show you the way to light and relief from your sufferings." And I am going, and as I go a beautiful, glorious spirit comes to me and lays her hand on my head and says: "God bless you my brother and may His Divine mercy be yours;" and she tells me that they all love me and will help me.
Oh, tell me what does it all mean! Am I dreaming? Are you real and are they real, or am I in one of the deliriums that I used to have on earth? Oh, so beautiful and heavenly. But they say no, that they are real spirits and once lived on earth - sinful mortals like myself.
How can I ever thank you? I am overcome and cannot write more, but I will come again. So my dear friend good night, for I am going.
G.H.B.
My name is George H. Butler, and I died in 1886.
* * * * * * * * * *
Helen Writes to Confirm Mr. Butler's Message
I am here, Your own true and loving Helen.
Well my dear, you have had a variety of writings tonight, and I have been greatly impressed with the last message that you received, for the writer was a very intelligent spirit and seemed to be without hope in his soul. He was a very dark spirit and did not seem to have any love in his soul, but was the picture of despair and grief. He firmly believed that his position in Hell was fixed for all eternity and, hence, the hopeless despair in which he was.
I am so glad that he came to you and described these Hells, for he was capable; and no one can describe them as he who has lived in them for many years and suffered and experienced all their torments.
He seems to be very grateful, and I think that hope has come to him. He has gone with Mr. Riddle, who is much interested in him. We will all try to help him to progress. So you must pray for him now. We all will. It is late, and I will not write more.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am a spirit who cannot tell you of the joys of Heaven, but I can describe the horrors of Hell. For just as these other spirits described to you their homes of beauty and happiness, I can describe my home of ugliness and torment. Do you wish me to do so?
Well, know then that when I lived on earth, I was a man of very considerable intellectual powers and acquirements and, also, of an intense animal nature; so much so, that it overcame my judgment and what moral qualities I had, and I became at last a slave to my appetites which were varied, especially my appetite for drink. I had many friends of position, social and otherwise, and I was considered a brilliant newspaper writer and had access to the inner political circles that were then in control of the government.
My weakness, or rather the effect of the strength of my animal nature, was known to many of my friends and they, in many ways, tried to help me and rescue me from my evil and destructive course of living; and, at times, I would succeed in reforming my conduct; but, alas, not for any great length of time, when I would again relapse into my deplorable habits and become the controlled victim of my destroying appetites.
Of course, human friendship and sympathy had their limits and, finally, my friends gave me up as lost and past redemption, and I surely and quickly sunk lower and lower in my moral condition and, at last, died a drunkard, unwept and unsung except for the evil that I had done. It was undoubtedly a relief to my friends and acquaintances when I passed over and forever relieved them of the shadow of my presence and the ghost of what I had been.
But such was my end and when I came to the spirit world, I found that I still was deserted by friends who had become spirits before me, except some who liked the flowing bowl as I did on earth, and who were inhabitants of the unattractive place that I found myself in when my habitation became fixed. I never, when on earth, thought much of the future life, except to convince myself that there was no Hell and if there was a God, He was not bothered about me, a mere man of many millions. But oh, the fatal mistake! And the unexpected realization of the fact that there is a Hell!
Whether there is a God I don't know, for I have never seen Him or felt His influence. But since I came to you tonight and heard the messages of those two spirits who described their wonderful homes and their condition of happiness and ascribed them all to the kindness and care of God, I have commenced to think that there may be a God, and that my mistake was greater than I have heretofore realized; but this is a digression from what I started out to write.
That there is a Hell; I know to my sorrow and sufferings. For I have been the occupant of one for, oh, these many years; and it is always the same place of horrors and darkness, except sometime it is lighted by the flame of lurid light that comes from the anger and sufferings of some unfortunate like myself.
In this Hell of mine, and there are many like it, instead of beautiful homes, as the other spirits described, we have dirty, rotten hovels all crooked and decayed with all the foul smells of a charnel house ten times intensified. And instead of beautiful lawns and green meadows and leafy woods filled with musical birds making the echoes ring with their songs, we have barren wastes and holes of darkness and gloom and the cries and cursings of spirits of damnation without hope. And instead of living silvery waters, we have stagnant pools filled with all kinds of repulsive reptiles and vermin and smells of inexpressible, nauseating stinks.
I tell you that these are all real and not creatures of the imagination or the out flowing of bitter recollections. And as for love, it has never shown its humanizing face in all the years that I have been here - only cursings, and hatred, and bitter scathings, and imprecations, and grinning spirits with their witch-like cacklings. No rest, no hope, no kind words or ministering hand to wipe away the scalding tears, which so often flow in mighty volumes.
No, Hell is real and Hell is here. We do not have any fire and brimstone, or grinning devils with pitch forks and hoofs and horns as the churches teach; but what is the need or necessity for such accompaniments? They would not add to the horrors or to our torments. I tell you my friend that I have faintly described our homes in these infernal regions and I cannot picture them as they are.
But the horror and pity of it all is that hope does not come to us with one faint smile to encourage us that there may at some time be an ending to all these torments and, in our hopeless despair, we realize that our doom is fixed for all eternity. As the rich man in Hell said, if I could only send Lazarus to tell my poor, erring brothers on earth of what awaits them, how gladly I would do so and save their souls from the eternal torment.
Well, I have written you a long letter and am tired, because it is the first time that I have attempted to write for many long years, and I find some difficulty in gathering my thoughts so as to be able to write in an intelligent and collected manner. So I must stop.
Well, I will say that you are the best friend that I have had since I became an outcast while on earth, and that I will do whatever you may advise, but you must not expect me to have much hope, not doubting your desire to help me, but merely your ability.
Well, I don't understand, but I will trust you and will try to believe what you say - only don't create in me that of which I have been deprived of for so long, I mean - hope - and have me disappointed. Well, I have looked, as you advised, and see some spirits who are so beautiful and so bright that I can scarcely look at them. Never before have I seen such spirits or imagined that such could exist. They must be gods, or why all the great happiness and beauty and love which they have. Tell me, what does it all mean! Is it a star of hope that has come to me from afar and bids me trust that these Hells shall not be my home forever? Oh tell me, I pray, you are they the spirits of real mortals who lived and died as I did?
Such love I have never seen; and they look at me with such encouragement and almost human eyes of love and beckon me to come with them. I have asked if Mr. Riddle is there, and one spirit comes to me and says yes, and that he is glad to have me come with him, as he knew me on earth and is acquainted with my sad life. And now I remember him, for he was a friend who lived in the same city as I did.
He says: "Come George, and I will try to show you the way to light and relief from your sufferings." And I am going, and as I go a beautiful, glorious spirit comes to me and lays her hand on my head and says: "God bless you my brother and may His Divine mercy be yours;" and she tells me that they all love me and will help me.
Oh, tell me what does it all mean! Am I dreaming? Are you real and are they real, or am I in one of the deliriums that I used to have on earth? Oh, so beautiful and heavenly. But they say no, that they are real spirits and once lived on earth - sinful mortals like myself.
How can I ever thank you? I am overcome and cannot write more, but I will come again. So my dear friend good night, for I am going.
G.H.B.
My name is George H. Butler, and I died in 1886.
* * * * * * * * * *
Helen Writes to Confirm Mr. Butler's Message
I am here, Your own true and loving Helen.
Well my dear, you have had a variety of writings tonight, and I have been greatly impressed with the last message that you received, for the writer was a very intelligent spirit and seemed to be without hope in his soul. He was a very dark spirit and did not seem to have any love in his soul, but was the picture of despair and grief. He firmly believed that his position in Hell was fixed for all eternity and, hence, the hopeless despair in which he was.
I am so glad that he came to you and described these Hells, for he was capable; and no one can describe them as he who has lived in them for many years and suffered and experienced all their torments.
He seems to be very grateful, and I think that hope has come to him. He has gone with Mr. Riddle, who is much interested in him. We will all try to help him to progress. So you must pray for him now. We all will. It is late, and I will not write more.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)