Jesus Writes About the Spiritualist Medium, Mrs. Kates, and Advises Mr. Padgett to Tell Her About Divine Love

March 30, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write a few lines, for I am anxious to tell you that you have not been in good company today, as the meeting (Mrs. Kates' seance held in Washington, D.C.) was filled with spirits who are of the earth plane and know not the truths that will lead to a knowledge of the things that are necessary in order to secure a home in the Celestial Heavens. Many spirits were those of men who, when on earth, lived immoral and licentious lives, and who are in the same condition as they were when on earth. They have not yet answered to the Law of Compensation and, of course, you will see that their influence is not of the kind that tends to develop those soul qualities that lead to the Heaven of the followers of me, in the true sense.

The medium, with whom you conversed and who delivered the messages of some of the spirits who were so anxious to reach their friends of earth, was influenced by spirits who are in a condition of more or less darkness and alienation from God; and, consequently, suffers from her association and the influence to which she was subjected. She has long been in this work of demonstrating to mankind the fact of communication between the spirits in the flesh and those who have passed the mysterious border line; and her work has been strenuous and served to demonstrate the fact for which it was intended, and she is satisfied with the reality of the fact of the continuity of life after so-called death.

This has been a phase of mediumship that was necessary to be performed, and she has done her work faithfully and well, and is now entitled to be relieved of this work that pertains to the lower order of spiritualism, and should be freed of this great burden and be permitted to come into a knowledge of the higher things of spirit life. I am glad that you will soon have the opportunity to tell her things that await her as a reward for all the sacrifices that she has been compelled to make.

Now, do not misunderstand me. Her work was necessary as a preliminary to the conversion of men to a belief in the truth of spirit communication and the fact that there is no death, and to the consolation that comes to men from the knowledge that their loved ones are with them, seeking to help and be helped in their conditions that the great Law of Cause and Effect imposes upon them. Many a sad heart has been comforted by her ministrations and many a spirit has been helped by having opened up to them the way to make known their presence to mortals.

But she has from the very nature of her occupation been more or less injured in her spiritual progress, and the time has come when she shall have the opportunity to attend to and obtain her own soul's progress. She is naturally a good woman, and when she told you that she had a longing for something for which she did not understand, she was uttering a great truth of her soul, and one that has been present with her since she was a little child, for her soul has been calling to the great soul of the Father for His Love and the happiness that comes with the knowledge that the Father's Love is ever ready and anxious to respond to her longings. Her knowledge of spiritualism does not teach her what this Love is, even though her soul feels its presence, and in her under-developed longings realizes that there must exist that which will draw her closer to the Great Love of the Father.

So I say, tell her the truths that have been revealed to you, and of your experience in seeking for and obtaining this transforming Love, and she will listen and seek and obtain, and with such obtaining will come a happiness she has never before experienced. And when she has believed in this Love and obtained it to a degree, she will become a powerful instrument in converting men to a belief in the only way to the Celestial Heaven and to immortality. Then will she have back of her the influence of the hosts of Celestial Angels to inspire her and qualify her to preach the true Kingdom of God; and her faculties of clairvoyance will be opened up to see the things of the Celestial Heavens and the wonderfully bright and glorious spirits, who will come to her with their messages of truth and knowledge of the glories that belong to those who know that the Divine Love of God is the only thing that can transform the human soul into an angel of light, and the immortality that I came to earth to teach, and which I did teach, but which, alas, was so soon lost to the knowledge of men.

I am particularly interested in her, not so much because of her own soul, as because she has in her those qualities that can be used by us in making known to the world the truths which we of the Celestial Spheres know will set them free from the false and damning teachings of the orthodox churches and making my coming to earth and living - not dying - the way to the Truth and the Life. She may think that her knowledge - I mean intellectual - is all that needs to be known, but when she lets her soul's longings go to the Father and receives the response, which she will certainly receive, she will then know that spiritualism, as she conceives it to be, is the mere forerunner of that which will make all men at-one with the Father, when embraced by man and lived.

The meetings, such as was held today, while as I have said was filled with spirits who are in darkness and suffering, yet also attracted many spirits who are bright and progressing in their natural love, and who tried to help those to whom they came and communicated, and to that extent did good, and also served to convince the unbelievers of the truth of the mere passing from the body of flesh into the spirit body - a continued existence, without changing of condition of happiness or misery. The great Law of Compensation - as you sow so shall you reap - is taught at the meetings, and there is no truer or greater law in all the universe of God, and man must realize that it works without exception and to the last farthing, and that there can never be forgiveness until forgetfulness takes place.

Well, my dear brother, I must stop as the power is weakening, but before closing let me entrust you to tell the medium that I, Jesus of the Bible, as I called my disciples when on earth now call her to do the work which is so important to mankind, and that she must prepare herself by seeking for this Love. It is utterly impossible for a soul out of unison with the souls of the spirits who come to it to receive their communications and transmit the same to mankind. Her soul must respond to the souls of the spirits, and it will be so easy for her to get into the condition that will make this possible. Like attracts like, and this law applies to rapport and to other things of the spirit world, and of the earth as well.

I see that you are in better condition tonight, and I am pleased, for I will soon come and write another message with reference to the higher truths. With my love and blessings, I will say good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Jesus Writes that He is Not God, but a Mere Spirit - a Child of God

December 26, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Well, my dear brother, I am glad to find that you are in so much better condition, and I know that very soon now I will be able to resume the delivery of my messages.

Well, I have no vicar on earth (in answer to question by Mr. Padgett). In the first place, I am not God, but a mere spirit - a child of God - and one that worships Him with all the devotion of my soul, praying for an increase bestowal of His Love and for a complete unity with Him, and with the longings to progress eternally in the development of my soul.

In the second place, the Pope is a mere man, and he can only represent God to the extent that he has in his own soul the Divine Love and the consequent soul development. The mere fact that he is the head of the Catholic Church gives him no greater privilege, or no greater commission to represent God on earth, than is possessed by any other man with the same amount of soul development. His claimed infallibility is a delusion and a snare, and he is just as much subject to sin, and sinning, even as Pope of the Church, as is any other mortal; and this claim, which is an attribute belonging only to God, will be one of the sins for which he will suffer very much when he comes to the spirit world and has his soul opened up to the truth.

At some time, I intend to write you in detail as to the Catholic Church and its erroneous dogmas, beliefs, and teachings, and as to its destiny. But this I will say that the worship of me as God is a blasphemy, and a thing that is so blasphemous that I care not to remain in the earth plane and hear the prayers of these misguided Christians.

I know that this will sound surprising and un-Christian, to many, and they will continue to believe in their faith in me as God, and also to worship me. But it is a very harmful untruth, and these people will have to realize it sooner or later in the spirit world. And this is one of the errors that my messages are designed to eradicate.

Well, my dear brother, have faith.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Mrs. Horner Writes to Reveal that She and Her Husband, a Friend of Dr. Leslie R. Stone, are Soulmates

December 16, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mrs. Horner.

Let me say only a few words, for I am so anxious to write a few lines and have been for some time. Many times I have been with you (Dr. Leslie R. Stone) and my husband, as you conversed of things pertaining to the spiritual world and I was very hopeful that he would believe what you said to him and turn his thoughts to an investigation of the truths that he would surely find and thereby give me the opportunity of coming to him in my voice, at least, and telling him that I am not dead but very happy and always watching over him to comfort him.

I know that I have been away from him, as he has thought, for a long time, and that other things have intervened in his life to cause him to forget me to a more or less degree, and to think that it was all of life to live on earth and find his happiness there. This, of course, was quite natural, and I was not hurt, as you mortals say, because of the fact that he had, as he thought, given his affections to another; for I knew the conditions of his heart, better than he himself knew it, and saw that his real love was mine, and that no other could take it from me or, as he may be surprised to hear, he could not give it to another.

I have heard you talk to him about the soulmate love, and he has some conception of it, and I want to tell him that this is the love that is binding us together; and nothing in all the universe of God can sever that bond. I should like to tell him what this bond means and sometime, if you will indulge me, I will do so, but tonight I will not take your time.

But tell him this that I thought when on earth that I loved him, and I did, but now I realize how faint that love was as compared to what I now have for him, and what will always be his. He may not believe that I am writing to him or that my love for him is as I write it is, but as certain as his friend, death, at some time will come to him, so certain is it that when he comes to the spirit world, he will find this love waiting for him, and also his soulmate, just at the entrance of his real home.

Well, I must not write more, but kindly tell him that I am a very happy spirit, with my home in the Fifth Sphere, and that I am bright and beautiful in appearance, as they tell me. When I left the earth plane all darkness of race* left me, and I became one of the shining ones; and every spirit associate, that I had, was and is my true brother and sister, and the Father is my Father, and I am His child.

As my soul progressed and developed in Love, I became nearer like unto the Father, and my spirit body and appearance showed the purity of my soul. And such will be his destiny, if he will only follow the way that the Father has provided for him by which he can obtain one of the beautiful mansions of these spheres.

I will tell him only one thing more before I stop writing; and that is, that as my soul developed in Love, my intellect and knowledge also developed, and I became very wise without having to study as you mortals do on earth; and now I see that many of your so-called wise men are, in their wisdom, very foolish, and in their understanding very ignorant. I write this because he may think that now I am the same person in my intellect and knowledge that I was when we were happy together. And we were happy for a short while, for I loved him with all the fervor of my young life and trust, and was so sorrowful when I had to leave him; but God knew best, and now I know that it was for the best.

As I said, I still love him, but with a greater and more fervent love than ever; and sometimes I love him so very intensely that I draw him to me and enjoy a spirit communion with him, although he may not realize it.

Pardon me for writing so long. With my love to him, I will say good night. I was Mrs. Horner when on earth for a short time, when he gave me the fine love of his youth, and I will be his for all eternity.

Mrs. Horner

*Mrs. Horner was an African American.

Priscilla Stone, Mother of Dr. Leslie R. Stone, Writes of Her Love for Him and His Brothers and Sisters on Earth

April 19, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mother of Leslie.

I came to say that I am much pleased for this opportunity to write to him (Dr. Leslie R. Stone) once more. Of course, I have been with him a great deal and he has felt my presence, but it is so much more satisfactory to write him and tell him in words of my love and solicitude for his welfare.

I am now in a higher sphere of the Celestial Heavens and correspondingly happy and I find that as this great love comes to me, it seems that I love him with a greater intensity. I wish that I could describe the glories of my new home so that he might have some idea of what the Heavens constitute in which his mother now lives and what it means. He has heard described some of the spiritual spheres, which transcend all conceptions. But those descriptions are very inadequate to convey the true portrayal of what the Heaven, which is mine, contains.

But I am also happy in that his father has also progressed and is so much happier and has so much more of the Love in his soul. We are in the earth plane a great deal of the time trying to help his sisters and brothers who have their many troubles and moments of unhappiness and if we could only get in rapport with them like we can with Leslie, they would be much happier. But as it is, they do believe in our presence as their true loving parents and are conscious of us sometimes when they need our help. But this they cannot understand and their thoughts do not often turn to us and, as a consequence, we are not able to get as close to them as we desire.

The girls are more interested in earthly matters, than in those pertaining to the spirit world, and are very largely absorbed in the war and its possibilities. Well, this is quite natural, but yet if they could only know that the other things such as the spirit are more important and if they would only turn their thoughts more to the spirit world and think of their parents more often, they would receive an influence and help that would add so much to their happiness even though they could not understand its source.

As you know, we are controlled by law and no matter how great our desires may be to come in closer contact with our children and cause them a greater happiness, but if they do not want to respond to our feelings, they can prevent our doing so. Of course, they do not understand what possibilities are theirs and what a little thing keeps them from us or rather permitting our influence to come to them as it otherwise would. Let them have a real yearning for our presence or a wish that they could have us with them and it will lift the veil that keeps us from making our presence conscious to their soul's perceptions.

We are hoping, though, that someday or rather someway, they will have an awakening so that we may come closer together. Tell Leslie to write them to think more about their mother and send out a desire that they could have her with them and then I will be with them and they will know that it is true although they may not realize the fact.

Yes, I sometimes visit the scenes of battles and it is also possible that I do not stay very long, except at some time when I have the opportunity to help some poor spirit who has suddenly found himself in the spirit world and is in great confusion and apparently all alone. I am also with my son, who is in the army, and try so hard to reach his consciousness, but with very little success and while I do not know when he may be called to battle and suffer the dissolution of life, yet I am with him waiting to help him should the end of life come to him. My love draws me to him and my love will keep me with him until he either becomes a spirit or returns to his home. Oh! What a terrible thing is war and if mortals would only understand what it means to the individual spirit, they would try to bring an end to its ravages and destruction.

I have written considerably and must stop. But I wish to say that Leslie's father is also here now and sends his love and blessings and wants him to know that the signal which he spoke of is the one that his father uses to notify him of his presence. Also tell Leslie to continue to pray and believe for in doing so, his prayers ascend to the real living and loving Father and his beliefs are of the truth - of the great truth that leads to God and redemption and immortality.

Thanking you I will say, good night.

Priscilla Stone,
Mother of Dr. Stone

Ann Padgett Writes to Assure Her Son, James, that They are Really the Spirits They Represent Themselves To Be

February 13, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mother.

Let me say just a word, as I have heard the Master's message and I am glad that he has given you the assurance that he has, for his love and care means to you so much more than you can possibly realize. He is so very loving and gracious and powerful and, when he comes to you, he means to bring with him a glory that is not with him ordinarily as he works in this earth plane.

Well, I love you too, with a greater Mother's love, which now fills my soul and makes me so happy and contented in the knowledge that I am an immortal child of the Father. I know that sometimes you feel discouraged and almost believe yourself alone and that we are possibly not what we tell you we are and then we try the harder to reach your soul and consciousness with our love so that these feelings may leave you and we generally succeed and are happy when we do so. Many of your friends are here tonight and you have around you a wonderful amount of love and effort to make you realize that you are not alone and you must try to believe what I say.

I am very happy and progressing all the time for I am now higher in the Celestial Heavens than when I last wrote you and so is Helen, bless her dear heart and, of course, your grandmother has progressed and she has become a wonderful spirit all glorious and shining. The spirits who sometimes write about her and who live in the lower spheres, of course, never see her as she really is for they would not be able to withstand her glorious appearance. But she brings her love with her to these lower spheres and these spirits can feel the influence of that love and do so.

She says she will come soon and write you a message of truth. All send love and, of course, your mother gives and leaves with you her love in all its abundance. And I am happy also, my dear boy. Keep your faith and trust and even though you may live the years that you have been told you, yet they will be short and then you will be with us and your happiness will be great.

Good night and God bless you,

Your loving,
Mother

John B. London Writes a Short Note About the Law of Compensation

January 15, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, John B. London.

Let me say a word, and I shall feel better for having done so.

I am a spirit who lives in the earth plane and see spirits of all kinds and conditions and know from observation and experience that in this plane is darkness as well as light, and that many, many spirits are in the dark places paying the penalties which the great Law of Compensation compels them to pay.

These planes are of various degrees of darkness, all suited to the condition of the spirits who occupy them. Some of them are called Hells and some purgatories, but they are all really connected, and the only difference between them is the condition of darkness and suffering which the inhabitants there are compelled to undergo.

I have been through the Hells and am now in purgatory trying to rid my soul of suffering and get into the light of freedom and peace; and oh, there are so many here in that condition and without much hope. Our progress is slow and we have to pay the minutest demand that this Law of Compensation calls for.

I hope that you will pardon me for having intruded, but I felt that if I could communicate with you, I should feel better, and so I do. I will bid you good night.

Your friend,
John B. London

Wm. E. Gladstone, a Former Premier of Great Britain, Writes that He is in the Earth Plane and Still Believes in Jesus

November 6, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Gladstone.

Yes, I was the Premier of Great Britain and I merely want to say that I desire to come to you sometime and write a message containing some of my views on the war that is now scourging the countries that were supposed to be Christian. Oh, the horror of it all! And how blind the rulers are to the welfare of humanity!

But I must not write tonight, as I have not sufficient rapport with you and my comments and intense feeling on the subject are so great that I doubt if I could continue at this time. But if you are willing, I will come again soon and write you.

I am in the earth plane, but not in darkness. I was, as you may know, a churchman and defender of the faith and still am, and I believe in the doctrines of my church, but strange, as I sometimes think, that I am not more advanced in the progress to the higher spheres. But I suppose I must develop and that I am striving to do; and I attend to the duties of my church and worship as I did on earth and have the same hope in the sacrifice of Jesus and the efficacy of his atonement. I rest in his promises and am with many of my friends of earth who worshipped with me when a mortal. I still believe in Jesus, my Lord, and feel that in his good time I shall go to him in his Heaven of bliss.

I shall be glad to listen to you, for I have always found that something may be learned from others, no matter what their standing or condition is.

Well, I am glad that this way has been opened to me to communicate, for my country needs my advice, as I see that many errors of judgment have been made by those in authority. So thanking you, I will say good night.

Your friend,
Wm. E. Gladstone

Helen Writes of Her Work in Revealing Soulmates to Higher Spirits and Teaching Lower Spirits God's Plan of Salvation

October 28, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, my dear, I am here as I promised you today and will try to write my letter, although I hesitated about doing so, as there are some spirits here who are very anxious to write, but I told them that I had made the engagement with you, and that they must wait until another time to write and, of course, they very willingly acquiesced. Well, I want to tell you that I was with you tonight at the meeting and saw that you enjoyed some of the soul love and influence that were present. These people have a great deal of this love and attract many spirits of the spiritual kind and receive a great amount of the Divine Love for the Holy Spirit is present with them doing the work of the Father. But I did not come to write of them, so I will not write more.

As your father just wrote you, I am in the higher planes of the Celestial Heavens and I am so happy that I hardly know how to express myself to you, for your language has no words adequate to express what I should like to tell you. All the descriptions of my several homes that I have heretofore given you, if combined, could not faintly describe the home in which I now have or the happiness which is mine.

As I go higher, the things of earth gradually fade away from my memory and only my love for you and the children remain in its strength and realness. And if it were not for this love, I do not think that I would often come to the earth plane, for my special work, as you know, is among the spirits of the higher spheres in revealing to them the soulmates that they have and in bringing to them the consequent happiness. But as I have told you while you remain on earth, I will never be able to remain away from you, as the great attraction which our love creates would not permit me to do so, even if I did not desire to come, if you can imagine such a thing to be possible.

The Father is so loving and good that He never prevents his spirits of the Celestial Kingdom from indulging in those things that will make them happy and contented and, consequently, there are more of the spirits in the earth planes doing their missions of love than might be expected, when the happiness that their homes gives them is considered. But these spirits know not selfishness in the sense of desiring all this happiness for themselves. Of course, it they have no attraction on earth - if love for the mortal does not call them to earth, then they live mostly in the spiritual or Celestial Heavens doing their work, but always work for others.

These spirits are never idle, indulging their own pleasures in such a way as the majority of Christians may believe. They have their harps and their music of various kinds and all these things that are commonly conceived by the Christian mortals to exist in the Kingdom of Heaven, yet they enjoy them only in the moments of cessation from their work in helping other spirits to progress towards the fountainhead of the Father's Love.

I am also now working in teaching the spirits of the lower spheres the plan of God for the salvation of their souls, and it is a glorious work and the reflected happiness is beyond all explanation. As we give our knowledge and love to these spirits and realize their happiness and joy, this Love that streams down upon us from the higher planes seems to fill our souls with increased abundance, and we realize the saying, that the more we give the more we receive. Never are we made poor by giving and never cease to give when the opportunity presents itself. Only are we disappointed when those to whom we try to give our love and share our happiness with, refuse to receive these gifts, and this frequently happens especially in the lower spheres and in the intellectual spheres, for you must know that these spirits of the Divine Nature spend much time in the intellectual spheres, endeavoring to lead the spirits of these spheres in the way that will bring to them this Divine Love and endless progress.

But strange as it may seem to you, these intellectual spirits - whose natural love has become to a great degree purified - are the most difficult to convince or even interest in the great plan of the Father for their souls' redemption and entrance into the Celestial Spheres. They are comparatively happy as they progress in these intellectual and moral spheres, and they do not desire anything until they arrive at the limit of their progress and then many of them have an awakening to the fact that there may be something beyond their present powers of acquiring, and that the Celestial Spirits may know a way to greater progress and happiness.

We, of the Celestial Spheres, all engage in this work, for we know the importance of it, and the certainty that at some time the Celestial Kingdom will be closed but we do not know when our work with these spirits will have to cease, and then they will be left through all eternity to the limited happiness and ended progression. The more experience I have in this work, the more I am astonished at the great and wonderful power of the human will, and when I say this I include the will that these pure spirits of the natural love have. It seems to me that they approach nearest the greatness of the Father in this will power and in the untrammeled exercise of it.

I know of no power or function that these spirits of the natural love have, that the spirits of the Celestial Spheres cannot control or subordinate, except this great will power, and as to that we are as helpless as babes so far as compulsion is concerned. When we try to influence them with love as our weapon and, unless love can work its way, our influence is almost hopeless. Of course, persuasion of their intellects is also necessary and reason must be taken in the account, but as I say, the approach to persuasion and reason must be through love, which is the power that moves and governs the spirit world.

Well dear, don't you think I have written enough for tonight? You are somewhat exhausted and I think it best to stop.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Helen Writes About Edwin Forrest and Her Increased Soulmate Love for James E. Padgett

October 12, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well sweetheart, at last I have the opportunity to write my letter, and I am so glad that I can.

I thought it best to let Forrest write you as he was so anxious and seems to realize so much pleasure in doing so. He is progressing some and commences to see that there is some virtue in prayer, for he prays very earnestly and very often. We are helping him as much as possible and he seems to have great faith in me and in your grandmother, who appears to him to be something more than the spirit of a mortal. He seems to be awed by her presence when she first came to him, but she talks to him with such love and sympathy in her voice and has so much of the Father's Love beaming from her eyes that he soon forgets her grandeur, as we call it, and listens to her with all his soul and seems to drink in her words of comfort and love. She has a wonderful influence over him and is helping him very much. Well, I must not write more on these matters or I will not have time to tell you what I so much wish to say.

Since I last wrote you of my progress, I have gotten into higher planes of the Celestial Spheres and am correspondingly happier and surrounded by more beautiful scenes and brighter and lovelier spirits. My home is also more beautiful and is filled with a greater atmosphere of love and happiness. And I further find that with all this progress and increased happiness, my soulmate love for you increases and a more wonderful vista of what our happiness will be when you come over and progress to my home and become my soulmate in actual living together unfolds itself.

I am so often with you, that if you knew how often, you might think that my home is not so attractive to me as it should be from my reference to its beauty; but you would be mistaken, for it is more attractive and has more happiness for me than any home I have yet had in the spirit life, and when I am in it, no mortal can conceive of my joy and bliss. But yet, I love you so much that I cannot stay away from you for any great length of time, and some of my spirit friends wonder at it. But it is not to be wondered at so much when it is known and it is a fact that my actually being in my home is not necessary to my great happiness, for when I come to you, my soul, which is really I, comes too, and in it is the great Love of the Father and from that Love proceeds my great happiness.

So you see how the Father blesses me and all others who have His Love. Because we have our love for the mortal and leave our mansions of joy and light and go to the earth plane of darkness - where sin and error are - our great soul's love and happiness are not left behind. And why should it be? The homes which we have do not make the soul's happiness, but the soul's possession of love makes the homes. And this Love is ours for all eternity and cannot be taken from us. It can grow greater but never less. This is a law or the result of a law in the Celestial Heavens. And what a wonderful law it is!

I come to you bringing all the love that I have in my Celestial home and throw around you its influence and essence, and just to the extent that your soul is receptive do you absorb it and feel its presence. So in a faint way you can realize the great fortune of those mortals who have come to them spirits of the Celestial Spheres.

Have you ever considered what it means to you and your friends to have surrounding you the love and presence of the Master and of the other high spirits who are so often with you? Very few mortals have such love breathing upon them so often. If you will think of this, you will realize how favored you are and what your possibilities may be. But when I come to you, I bring not only the Divine Love which possesses my soul, but the lesser, though very intense love of the soulmate, a love which had its beginning before we were mortals and which will never have its ending in all eternity.

When I think of the goodness of the Father in all these things to make His mortals and spirits happy, I can only wonder at His Love and wisdom and never cease to thank Him! But astonishing also, man can have these blessings as he wills or not to make them his own. In this way, he determines his own happiness or misery, when God wishes him to be only happy.

Well, sweetheart, I will not write more tonight as you have written enough. But this I wish to tell you, that I love you with a love that is only yours and always increasing with no possibility of dying. And as the years of your pilgrimage on earth go by, this love will be with you and around you in greater abundance, and you will realize it more and more; and your heart will grow younger and younger until the earth life will become something more than the shadow of what awaits you when you come to me.

I will say good night. Give me my kiss and know that I am

Your own true and loving,
Helen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your brother in Christ,
John

Clara Barton, Founder of the Red Cross Society, Writes and is Still Interested in it

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

I am here, Clara Barton.

I was the woman who founded the Red Cross Society, and I am still interested in it, although I am a spirit.

I saw that others were writing through you and I thought that I would like to try and so with the permission of your wife, I took hold of the pen and am now trying to express a few thoughts to you.

Well, I see that my society is very busy now in the great war, and is doing a great deal of good, and needs all the encouragement that it can get. It also needs to have an increase in its membership in all parts of the world, for I see additional scenes of action where its services will be required; especially in Mexico, for very soon your nation will be at war with that nation, and many a poor soldier will need the services of the Red Cross.

I will not write more tonight, but will come sometime and write more fully, if I am permitted to do so.

I am in the earth plane, they tell me. I am not very happy nor yet unhappy. I have the association of some very good and lovely spirits who are interested in humanity as I am. We are trying to help men wherever we can. Yes, I have met some of these beautiful spirits, and they have been very kind to me trying to help me, but I am so interested in the work of my society that I have not given much attention to the advice of these high spirits. But why do you ask the question as to my having seen these spirits?

I have listened to you with great interest, and I am impressed by what you tell me. I have never thought of myself in the particular which you mention, but now I see that what you say must be true, and that I should seek my own development as well as try to assist my late associates. I will do as you advise and seek one of these high spirits and ask her help and instructions.

I see a number of high spirits here now, brighter and more beautiful than I have ever seen, and your wife brings one to me and says that she is interested in me and loves me and will help me in the way that you suggest. I am going with her and will seriously listen to her and seek for all the benefits that I may obtain. I thank you for your interest and kindness and will come sometime and write you of my experience.

So thanking you I will say good night.

E.R. Hay, a Brother Lawyer of James E. Padgett, Writes that He is Now a Spirit and Happy that He Can Communicate with Him

March 19, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, E. R. Hay.

Yes, I am, and I am so glad that I can write you. I learned only recently that spirits could write through mortals. When I came to make inquiries, I found that you are the mortal through whom they write and I was surprised. Why, my dear fellow, you certainly are favored to have such a power, and I know that many spirits are very thankful that you permitted them to write.

Well, let me see, what shall I say. Well, well, what a wonderful thing, and I am right here to participate myself. I know you don't care to hear from a spirit like myself, as you have so many of the beautiful and bright spirits write you. But say, old fellow, I have met your wife here and she is a beautiful spirit, and so loving and kind. I have talked to her, and she has tried to help me, and she has. Oh, what a favored man you are to have such a wife! Not only so beautiful, but so powerful and majestic! She comes from the Celestial Spheres and is so filled with what she calls the Divine Love, that I can scarcely look at her at times.

What does all this mean, anyhow? It has not been long since we were both on earth, and yet there is such a difference between her and me. I was a church member and attended to my duties very conscientiously, and I don't know that she did more, and yet, the great difference. I wonder if going to church and conforming to its creeds and ceremonies amount to anything. There must be something else.

She has told me the cause of the difference, but I don't quite comprehend, and I find it hard to turn my thoughts to the things that she has told me of; for the beliefs of my earth life cling to me and hold me just where I was on earth.

Of course, when I died, I did not go to Heaven, and I have not seen God or his throne and the angels that we used to sing about, and it causes me to think that there must be some mistake in what I believed with regard to these things; yet I am afraid to let go my beliefs.

I have seen other spirits than your wife who have told me of what they call this Divine Love, and the necessity of having it in my soul in order to progress, but, yet, I doubt, and can't make up my mind to seek for it. It certainly is strange. I wonder what the church is for, if its believers find no more realization of their expectations than I have found.

I am in what is called the earth sphere and not happy, although I try to make the best of it, there is considerable darkness and some suffering, and I don't appear to find any associates, except those who are unhappy, too. I know that if I were on earth, I would not associate with such people, but here I can't help it and don't seem to be able to find any other kind. And I tell you, when your wife and several others who are bright and beautiful come to me, it gives me the greatest joy imaginable.

Yes, I have seen a number of our old lawyer friends, but they are just about as I am; some may be a little happier, but the most of them are just in my condition; and some, I am sorry to say, are in greater darkness and seem to be suffering intensely. There is one who killed himself. He is in a terrible condition, and I believe that he would like to kill himself again if it would put him out of his misery. I feel sorry for him, and wish that I could help him, but what can I do? I can't tell him of the consolation of my church creeds, for I have not found any consolation in them myself.

Well, I have listened to your advice, and I must say that in some particulars, you astonish me; but as you say it is all true, I must try to follow it, at least, until I find that it is not true. It certainly is wonderful that some of the spirits that you name could get in the condition of happiness that you speak of. I will try to do as you say, and as I understand the first thing is an open mind, I will try.

Yes, I see some bright spirits and among them your wife, and she is smiling at me and now comes to me and says, believe what you have told me; and now she says, "Here is an old acquaintance of yours," and brings Mr. Riddle to me, and my stars, what a beautiful man he has gotten to be and so bright and lovely. Well, I am astonished!

He says he remembers me and is glad that he can be with me, and says, that he has some things to tell me which are true and vital to my happiness and invites me to go with him. And notwithstanding I feel such happiness in being with you and writing to you, I will have to go with him, for I may find what you have told me I can find, if I will only follow the advice that may be given me.

Well, I am certainly glad for this opportunity to write, and I thank you for your talk. I will go now, but I should like to come again sometime and write.

With my kind regards, I will say goodbye.

E.R. Hay

Robert G. Ingersoll Writes About His Progress Since Obtaining the Divine Love of the Father

February 18, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Robert G. Ingersoll.

Well, my friend, I come tonight to say a few words, for I have been very anxious to take advantage of your kindness and communicate a few thoughts that have come as the result of my progress here in matters spiritual. As I told you in my last communication, I am a thoroughly convinced spirit as to the truths of Christianity as taught by the Master - not as set forth in the Bible, but as I have been instructed by him and your grandmother,* and other bright spirits, since I have had my understanding and soul opened to these great truths.

I have progressed very much since I last wrote you and have received into my soul a wonderful abundance of this Divine Love of the Father, which you first called to my attention when I thought that you were a foolish and deceived man. But I now know that you were not foolish, nor deceived, for this Divine Love is a real, existing thing, and is obtainable by all God's children, whether on earth or in the spirit world, who may seek for it in the way that the Master teachers.

My mind, as well as my soul, has opened up to the truth of these teachings, and I now realize that I was in great darkness on earth in my own beliefs and teachings, and that man is not of himself sufficient to bring about his own salvation, but must seek for and believe that his salvation is dependent very largely upon the help that will come to him from the spirit world. I mean, that such help is necessary whether he seeks the Divine Love of the Father or only the purification of his natural love and the happiness that will arise therefrom.

Of course, man's own will and desires are important factors in obtaining this salvation, and he may go on for his whole mortal life, and for a long time after he comes into the spirit world, and never obtain this salvation unless he realizes the fact that he needs this outside help and that it is ready and open to him for the seeking.

I know that many may be astonished and refuse to believe that I am now in this condition of belief; but as I when on earth sought only for the truth, so when I came to the spirit world, I sought for the truth, and when I found it, as I have, I believed and accepted it and made it a part of my faith with the result that I am now convinced beyond all doubt that I am the possessor of a knowledge that has its foundation in truth which never changes.

I am in the earth plane yet, but in a very bright and beautiful location and free from the darkness and sufferings that I first endured when I came to the spirit world.

Life is a thing that is lived on earth only for a short time, and man is given the opportunity to make of it the great means of his salvation and progress to the higher spheres of light and happiness and immortality that those bright spirits tell me of; and when men fail to make the most of the opportunity which the mortal life affords, then they lose that which, when they become spirits, would help them beyond all conception to progress to the higher realms. I know that in the case of many thinking men, as in my own case, it is impossible for them to believe the teachings and dogmas of the churches and the interpretations and even many of the precepts of the Bible and, as a consequence, men turn entirely away from these things, though there are many truths in the Bible, and become seekers of knowledge which science and their own reasoning powers afford them.

But the trouble here is that science does not teach things spiritual and their reasoning powers must be based very largely upon what their senses tell them to be true; and these senses can only learn what naturally comes to them, which necessarily is of the material. As a consequence, men discard entirely all things spiritual which they cannot understand and thus render impossible any development of their soul qualities, except that they do realize the great qualities of their natural love and, in many cases, develop it and in that way gain a progress that does help them in their condition of light and happiness both on earth and here.

Well, as you suggest that you are tired, I will stop, but will soon come and finish my communication. Yes, and I am glad that you feel that way about it. You have many spirits here who desire to write and some of them are such elevated and wise spirits that I feel that their writings will benefit you more than mine.

Yes, I am with her quite often, and she is a wonderful spirit in love and wisdom and has such deep and wondrous knowledge of God and His Love. I almost adore her and feel that if I had not met her, I probably would not be where I now am. I tell you, I am thankful that I came to you that night.

Yes, I see your wife quite frequently and she is a wonderfully beautiful and happy spirit, and makes so many other spirits happy by her goodness and help. She is a very positive spirit as well and she lets nothing stand in the way of her work and mission.

So, my dear friend, I will say good night and God bless you.

R.G. Ingersoll

*Ann Rollins

Stephen B. Elkins Writes That He Was Helped by Mr. Padgett and Has Progressed Out of Darkness

February 11, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Stephen B. Elkins.

I have written you before, and I merely want to say now that I am in a better condition than when I last wrote you. I acted on your advice and went with your grandmother, who is so very beautiful and good, and listened to her explanations of the way to get out of my darkness and sufferings and tried to follow her advice; and, as a result, I find that much of my suffering has left me and I am in more light. I tell you, the relief that has come to me is beyond description, and the hope that I now have helps me to see that there is complete salvation for me, and that I may attain to the happiness which she tells me of.

I want to express to you my thanks for your assistance, and for directing me to those beautiful and bright spirits who compose your band, and who are doing so much good to the spirits in darkness and torment.

I now realize how unimportant were all the things of earth. I mean the material things, such as money and position and fame, and if I could only tell my children and wife and the others of my family what are the important things for them to do, I would be so happy; for notwithstanding the fact that I am no longer a mortal, I love them with all my heart and soul and want to see them happy.

But, of course, I don't know how I may reach them, for they do not believe in spiritualism, or that I can communicate with them, or even that I am in a position to realize the real life of the spirit world. They are thoroughly orthodox and are resting in the security, as they believe, of their faith in the teachings of the church to which they belong. I am so helpless in this particular, and I see no way by which I can benefit my loved ones, except as I may be able to influence them by my presence, which is with them almost continuously.

Yes, I know you would help them if you could, but I fear it is as you say, and your informing them of my having written you would do no good. So I will have to try to influence them as you say, and in their moments of weakness or unhappiness, when their longings for higher things assert themselves, try to make my presence and influence felt by them as a reality. But I will not despair, for God, in his mysterious workings, may at sometime turn their thoughts to the things of the soul, and then I feel that I will be able to get nearer to them.

I am now in the earth plane, but in a place so much brighter than when I first entered the spirit world. My associates and surroundings are so very different, and my soul seems to have expanded, so that I am commencing to understand what this Great Love that your grandmother and others talk to me about, means. If I had only known when on earth, what are the real things of existence, and how the soul is everything, how much happier I would be now, but that is past and I am striving now to work for the future.

I want to say this, though, that you are a most favored man in the matters pertaining to the soul development, and in the great number of exalted spirits who seem to be with you so often, and write you such wonderful messages of love and truth. I often come to your room when these spirits are present and hear what is written; and when the greatest of all spirits write you, I am almost overcome with the glory of his presence and the love that he seems to cast upon you and all about the room. He is a most beautiful and loving spirit, and his advice has shown me that only the Divine Love of the Father can bring to mortals or spirits the great happiness which I see that these exalted spirits possess.

I, of course, when on earth was not a believer in these things of the soul, or in any Jesus or even in a God in the sense that I now realize exists; and when I came to the spirit world, you cannot understand how ignorant and poor I was. But now I know that there is, and was on earth, a Jesus, and that he is the most wonderful of all the spirits that I have ever seen and, as I tell you, I have seen very many from the Celestial Spheres. But I must not write more, for you have been very kind in receiving this long letter. I again wish to express my thanks to you for your great help.

Well, I understand, but the worry that you have in that particular is only for the moment. It will soon become a thing of the past and disappear from your mind; for I must tell you that you will not be left to worry much on this subject. You have the help of a powerful band of spirits helping you in this way as well as in other ways, and sooner or later you will realize the results of their assistance. So don't let this matter worry you very much. I wish that I could help you, but I cannot, and can only try to encourage you by telling you what I have.

So I will say goodbye and hope that I may have the privilege of writing again. With my best wishes and kindest feelings, I am

Your friend,
Stephen B. Elkins

Albert G. Riddle Writes About His Soul's Progression from the Earth Plane to the Seventh Sphere

January 19, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your old partner, Albert G. Riddle.

I desire to write to you tonight upon a subject which I think will be interesting, but it is so late now I hesitate to do so. Well, as you think it will be all right, I will do so. I want to write on the subject of the soul's progression as I have experienced it.

As you know, when I first came into the spirit world, I was an unbeliever in things pertaining to the soul, except that I thought that the soul, which in my then opinion was the equivalent of that part of man which survived death, would continue to exist, and progress as the mental qualities of the man should be developed. That the mind was the great and only thing in the future existence and, as the mind was developed more and more on earth, the condition of the man in his progression would be determined.

I had no conception of the soul as a distinct and independent existence from the mind, and I thought that all the qualities and attributes of the mind were those which belong to the soul, and that I had none others. And so I say, I entered the spirit world and did not change my beliefs until a long time after I became a spirit.

But as I continued to live in the spirit world in this belief, I found that the mental faculties and their development did not bring to me the satisfaction which I had anticipated; and also, met some of my friends of earth, who had preceded me by long years, men of great mental acquirements. I found that their condition was not as satisfactory a nature as I had led myself to believe that they should be, for many of these friends were only in the earth plane and some were in darkness, which was wholly contrary to what they should be if my theory of the 'allness' of the mind was true. All this caused me to think and in thinking, I commenced to realize that there might be something wrong in my theory, and that the soul might be a distinct thing from the mind in its nature and functions.

I did not find that these intellectual friends of mine had any very great happiness nor were they satisfied with their condition, and yet they could not by the exercise of any mental progress get out of their condition of darkness. Of course, they were engaged in pursuing studies of one kind or another, and such studies gave them considerable happiness and satisfaction, yet, notwithstanding all this, there was some restraining force that prevented them from going to spheres higher than they were then living in.

I found that there were higher spheres where the mind was developed to a much greater degree and where many spirits, who believed in the supremacy of the mind, lived and enjoyed the pursuits of their studies. At times, some of these spirits would come to our plane and tell of the wonderful development and happiness in these higher spheres and urge us to make the effort to progress and become inhabitants of them, and you may be assured we were willing and anxious to make such progress. But try as I would, and as my friends would, the efforts produced no visible effect and we continued in darkness.

Being of an inquisitive nature, I sought for the reason of our inability to get out of the darkness. At last I found that the mind was not everything, but the development of the moral qualities were necessary to enable us to progress as we desired, and that in order to develop these qualities, something more than the mere exercise of the mental faculties were required.

Conscience must be satisfied and our recollection of evil deeds on earth must be gotten rid of, and our qualities of soul, which determined our position and condition in the spirit world, must be so adjusted to the demands of the Laws of Harmony, so that we could be able to advance in our progress to that place which such adjustment would entitle us to occupy.

I further found that the darkness in which we lived was not created by any defective condition of the mind, for many spirits whose minds were highly cultivated and possessed of unusual knowledge were in just as much darkness as were many spirits of very meagre mentality and information.

All this knowledge came to me and caused me to seek a way to improve my moral nature and to get rid of the recollections of those things which tainted and darkened such nature, and I sought very diligently, but it was slow work and the efforts required were great.

But some progress was made, and if I had continued long enough and used my will powers in urging the cultivation of kind thoughts and love for the truth and affection, etc., I would undoubtedly have progressed from darkness.This had been the experience of many spirits who believed as I did, that the mind was the thing and depended upon their own will and exertions to bring the desired results.

But while in this condition of struggle and slow progress, I would occasionally meet spirits who seemed to be of a higher order and more beautiful than was I, and naturally I wondered what the cause was, although strange as it may seem to you, I never made the inquiry until one day I met some of our folks who had this beautiful appearance and seemed to be so perfectly happy.

Naturally in our conversation, I asked them the cause of their happiness and when they told me, I was so surprised that I gave very little credence to what they said, because what they told me was so similar to what I had heard on earth in the orthodox churches. I supposed that these friends had brought with them their old orthodox faiths and emotions and were deceiving themselves as to the cause of their appearances, and that the probable cause was that they were more moral than I, when on earth and, hence, their recollections of earthly sins were less and conscience was not so severe on them and, therefore, they had gotten out of their darkness into light with the resultant appearance of beauty and happiness. I would not at first accept their explanations of the cause of their conditions and continued for sometime longer in the effort to improve my moral condition and advance in my mental acquirements.

But there was one other thing I noticed and, that is, that while these beautiful friends had not the mental development, apparently, that some other spirits who had progressed out of the darkness into the higher spheres of light, yet the beauty and seeming happiness of these friends were so much greater and of a different nature from the happiness and appearance of those more highly mentally developed spirits.

And again, I thought and concluded that even moral and mental development could not explain the cause of the difference between the appearances and happiness of these friends and those of these more mentally developed spirits; so I again determined to seek the cause and, as a consequence, I sought these friends with the intention and desire to listen more seriously to what they might tell me and to open my mind to the secret as it was to me.

Well, I listened to them and they told me that their progress and condition was caused by the soul development which they had received in seeking for and obtaining the Divine Love of the Father. That the soul is the great and important part of being spirits; that the condition of the soul development determines the position and appearance and happiness of the spirit; that the spirit body and mind are both subordinate to the soul, and whenever the mind submits to the control of the soul and the will of the mind, as you may say, to the will of the soul, that then the progress to the highest sphere will commence, and the spirit who is thus progressing will show the state of his advancement by the appearance of his beauty and happiness.

They further explained to me the nature and power of the Divine Love and its great developing potentialities and the absolute necessity of its entering into and possessing the soul in order for it to make its greatest progress; that as this Divine Love became more and more a part of the soul's possessions, the soul took on itself the Divine Nature of the Father, and all these things which had a lodgment therein, and which tended to make it dark and sinful, disappeared and as these things disappeared, the soul mounted to higher spheres and became happier and more beautiful, and the spiritual body correspondingly manifested this happiness and beauty.

All these things and many more, these friends told me and urged me to seek for the Divine Love of the Father and offered in every way to help me. At first I could not understand what seeking this Divine Love meant, but they took great pains to instruct me, and told me that only through prayer and faith would it come to me; that while this Love was waiting to fill the soul of every spirit and anxious to do so, yet only by earnest, sincere seeking would It enter the soul and fill it with Its Great Essence.

At last they persuaded me to pray to the Father and then prayed with me, but it was hard to have faith in that which my mind did not understand and could not grasp. But they said, the soul has its faculties and is not dependent upon the mind for this faith, and upon my exercising these soul faculties would depend the question of my receiving this love and this faith, for as Love came, faith would come also, which faith was not a mere mental belief, but something greater and different.

Well, I continued to pray for this Love and after awhile, I felt a sensation which I had never felt before within my soul and, as I prayed, this feeling increased and faith in a small degree came to me, and I realized that there was a Love possessing me that was never with me before. I continued, thus, to seek and pray until at last this Great Love came to me in great abundance flooding, as it were, my whole soul and happiness unspeakable came to me and, as these friends said, light and beauty also.

Well, you can imagine that my longings and desires became insatiable. The darkness disappeared. My recollections of the evils of my life became fainter and fainter and suddenly I found myself in the Third Sphere, which then appeared to me to be the very Heaven of Heavens and the very fountainhead of beauty and happiness.

Now during all this time, and it was not accomplished in a day, I gave no attention to the development of my mind, or to the acquiring of knowledge of the material things, as I might say, of the spirit world, but when I found myself in the beautiful sphere that I have mentioned, it seemed to me that my mental faculties had expanded beyond all possibilities of belief and knowledge of things, that I had never before heard or conceived of, came to me with wonderful clearness.

But the soul - and not the mind - was the thing! And Love - this Divine Love of the Father - made happiness mine and everything beautiful and satisfying. He, who seeks only the development of the mind and lets the soul slumber, is poor indeed; but he who seeks the development of the soul finds that as his soul develops his mind does also, and rich he is beyond compare.

Well, I continued in this soul development and in the increased happiness and the attainment of great brightness, and more than all the possessions of this Great Love, until I passed through the Fifth Sphere, where everything was much more beautiful, and Love so more abundant than in the Third Sphere, and entered the Seventh Sphere, where I now am. I will not attempt to tell you the glories of this sphere, for I feel that words are inadequate to do so. Then in a faint, unsatisfying way have I attempted to rehearse to you the soul's development and the wholly sufficient thing that it is.

And my advice to all mortals, based on my own personal experience, is to seek with all their might and earnest efforts the development of the soul, and that of the mind will follow. This they can commence while yet on earth, and they will find that progress after they have crossed the border line will be much more rapid and easier.

Well, it is late and I have written long enough. But I wanted so much to write to you tonight upon this subject of the soul development as I see its vital importance to the future happiness of man and to his immortality.

So with all my love and blessings, I am

Your brother in Christ,
Albert G. Riddle

Samuel C. Mills, a Former Lawyer, Writes that He is in the Earth Plane but He is Now Learning the Truths that Jesus Taught

December 9, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your old friend and brother Lawyer, Samuel C. Mills:

I have been waiting for some time to have an opportunity to write to you, as I have so often waited and seen other spirits write their messages. Yes, your band, or rather that beautiful wife of yours, told the Indian Guide that I should write, and he consented. He seems to take a great interest in you and is protecting you from the harmful spirits.

Well, I am in what is called the earth plane and I am not very happy, as I have my recollections of so many things that I did on earth which were contrary to the laws of God, and for which I am now suffering some. But I have been fortunate enough to have the help of some very loving and beautiful spirits, who seem to take so much interest in me and in showing me the way to progress out of my darkness and sufferings.

While on earth I was not a very religious man, yet I always reverenced God and things pertaining to religion and believed that there was a better place for those who were truly good to go to.

Of course, in the short time that I have been here, I have learned a number of truths, and as I am very anxious to get out of my condition of darkness, I made a great effort to believe what these good spirits said to me and to learn all that I could about these truths.

I am now believing that Jesus is the saviour of us all by his teachings and love and the great influence he has with the Father.

You certainly are a favored man to be able to receive all these communications from the high spirits who come to you. When on earth I never believed in spiritualism, and I certainly would not have believed that Jesus and his Apostles would write to you, as I now see them do. But how limited is our earth knowledge of these things that pertain to the spirit or, as some say, the unseen world. The opportunities here to learn the truths are so much greater than on earth, if the spirit really desires and makes the effort to learn.

I thank you very much for having permitted me to write and renew my acquaintance. It is a glorious thing to be able to do this, and know, as I know, that only a thin veil of flesh separates mortals from their loved ones. I will not impose longer tonight, but will say with my best love,

I am your old friend and brother,
Samuel C. Mills

St. John Writes That the Spirits Who Have Little Development of Soul Can Help Those Who Have Less Development Than Themselves

November 23, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

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

I want to tell you tonight about the things that spirits who have not received the Divine Love of the Father do, or have done to them, as you may say, in order to get out of their darkness and suffering and progress to a happier condition.

Well, when these spirits of evil or sinful life first come into the spirit world, they enter what is called the earth plane; and when I say the earth plane I mean those spheres which are nearest the earth and partake very largely of the material. They are received by their friends who may have been with them at the time of their passing, and are, to a certain extent, comforted and made familiar with their surroundings. This may last for a shorter or longer time according as the spirit is capable of understanding his changed condition from mortal to spirit.

After this condition of consciousness is assumed by the spirit, these friends leave him, and some guiding spirit, whose duty it is to perform the task, shows or conducts him to the place or plane which he is fitted to occupy and which, by the workings of the Law of Equalization, he must occupy. In this place he is surrounded by and must associate with spirits of a similar condition of development as his own, until some change comes to him which fits him for a higher place.

Of course, this change may come in a short time, or it may require a longer time to bring it about; all this depending upon the realization by the spirit as to what his condition is and the fact that there is a possibility of progressing. Of himself, he cannot bring about this change, for the law which fixes his place or condition does not cease to operate until there is called into operation another law which permits and helps the change.

The only way in which this changed condition can be brought about is by the influences of other spirits of a more enlightened and higher position than that of the spirit whose position I have spoken of. These influences do not necessarily come from spirits who have received the New Birth, but may come from spirits who know nothing about it, and who have only the natural love, and even they may not necessarily be of a high order of development of either intellect or soul. But they must be in such condition that they know and are able to tell the lower spirit of the possibility of progress and the way in which it can be made.

Many spirits, who are themselves in a dark position or condition, can help others who are in a darker condition, just as on earth a student of a lower class in school may not be able to teach all that is taught or may be learned in that school, yet he can teach those, in a lower class than his own, things that he has learned in progressing to his own class.

All spirits have a work to do, and these spirits of little development are engaged in teaching those of lesser development the way to get in the same condition as those who teach are in. But, of course, these latter cannot teach anything that belongs to a higher condition than the one in which they are. In such cases, the progress is very slow for many reasons, and it sometimes takes centuries for a spirit to progress from this very low plane to a higher one where only the lowest grade of happiness exists.

So you see that in order to help these dark spirits, it is not necessary for the helping spirit to be one who has in his soul the Divine Love. But all this means that the spirit who is helped in this way cannot possibly progress higher than its natural love and moral conscience and intellectual endowments will permit - no progression of the soul to a realization of the Divine Love of the Father, or to the Celestial Spheres.

This is important for you and all mankind to know, for the reason that you and others may learn what the true soul development means, and how effectively spirits possessing this soul development may help all other spirits, good or bad. Aside from this, you may suppose that the spirits, who hear you talk at the séances where all kinds and conditions of spirits congregate and promise to help both mortals and spirits, may not be able to do so because some are in a dark and low condition themselves. Yet all spirits may help other spirits, to some extent, who are in a lower condition, and sometimes in the beginning of the progression, more satisfactorily than can the higher spirits, because these dark spirits who try to help the darker spirits, are more in harmony with them, and the darker spirits will listen to them with more interest and belief that they can help them.

But this is a help that does not work in such a way as to cause the spirits who are so helped to lose their desires and recollections very rapidly and to progress into the higher planes without the great suffering that you have been told of.

I thought I would write this to you for the reason that you might not, in your investigations and teachings of the spirit life, give due importance to the possibility of one dark spirit helping another. All the phases of mediumship, when honestly conducted, have their proper places and work in God's plan of redemption and none of them must be considered as useless or without special design.

Of course, the above mentioned phase of assistance to spirits is of the lowest form and is merely preliminary to the great work which the higher spirits do in carrying out the great plan of redemption, which has been explained to you. The important work is that of the spirits who know what the Divine Love of the Father is, and what fits spirits and mortals for the enjoyment of the great happiness which obtains only in the Celestial Spheres, and also in the soul spheres, to a lesser extent.

When a spirit who is dark learns of this Great Love and strives to obtain It, and earnestly prays for the help of the Holy Spirit, which is God's messenger of Love, it will progress much more rapidly, and its sufferings and darkness will leave it sooner and greater happiness will come to it.

But still I say, the work of these lower spirits, that I have spoken of, is a great work and must not be underestimated. So remember what I have written and give due credit to this work.

I will not write more, but will with all my love and blessings say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
St. John  

John Critcher, a Former Lawyer Who Knew James E. Padgett, Writes About His Disappointment on Entering the Spirit World

November 7, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, John Critcher. 

You must remember me for I had my office in the same building with you, when I practiced law.

Well, I am in a condition that gives me considerable happiness and, yet, I am not in that state of happiness, which I expected to have when I was on earth.

As you know, I was an Episcopalian and tried to observe strictly the doctrines and formalities of my church and expected when I died to go to Heaven and find rest and nothing to make me unhappy. But I was mistaken in this, and I found myself in the earth plane of the spirit world and had to undergo some suffering and darkness and did not find the Heavenly rest that I expected.

But I have progressed since I came over and am now happier and in more light.

I was passing, when I saw the light that comes from your room, and looked in and saw you, and asked permission to write, and your band consented and so I am writing. No, thank you, only sometimes you can give me a kind thought and good wish?

So thanking you, I am

Your friend,
John Critcher

Peter D. Buerly, James Padgett's Old Schoolboy Friend, Writes His Testimony and Asks for His Help

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

I am here, Peter D. Buerly.

I am the spirit of your old schoolboy days, Peter D. Buerly. I have been here several times when you were writing and have been much interested in what I saw and heard, and when cousin Sally came last night and wrote and recalled old times, I felt that I wanted to write also, so I am trying.

As you may have heard in the long years after we left school, I became quite a dissipated man, given to drink and other things that I need not mention and continued these habits up to the day of my death. I caused Nannie much unhappiness and, in fact, almost broke her heart, for she was a mild, loving girl, and my treatment of her was such as to give her many weary and suffering hours of anguish. Oh, how I have repented for this since I came into the spirit world, and how I have suffered and undergone many, many years of darkness.

But repentance was earnest, and I am commencing to see the light. And, besides, since she came over, she has been with me and forgiven me all my harsh words and neglect and bad treatment of her. So you see, there is nothing in the world like the pure, forgiving love of a noble and sympathetic woman - and she was such.

We do not live together for she is a much purer and elevated spirit than I am, but she comes to me and tries to cheer and encourage me with her love and beautiful words of promise. She is, she says, in the Third Sphere, where she tells me much happiness is, while I am in the earth plane, yet, but in a much brighter condition than when I first came over.

But I want to express my surprise that you can receive communications from spirits as you do. I don't quite understand it. When on earth I never knew anything about such phenomena, and I have only recently heard of your being so close to us and so easy to communicate with.

I wish that I could get with my Nannie, for there I know I would be so happy. Some of these spirits say that you can help the spirits in these lower planes and if that is so, I would like for you to help me.

Well, I have looked, and I see a number of very beautiful spirits, but do not know any of them, and I wonder who they are. I have done so, and I'll be damned, if there ain't Professor Salyards. Why? What does it mean? Well, he has come to me and shaken my hand and says that he is very glad to see me and wants me to go with him. He has introduced me to a beautiful spirit, who he says is your wife. What beauty and love. You must be glad to have such a wife.

I have told her, and she says she is so glad to meet me, and that she wants me to go with her after the Professor has finished his conversation, and I am going with her. But, tell me, what does it all mean? I can't understand. I must stop.

Goodnight,
Peter D. Buerly

John Bunyan, Author of "The Pilgrim's Progress," Writes That He is a Follower of Jesus and Resides in the Second Celestial Sphere

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

I am here, John Bunyan.

I am the writer of "The Pilgrim's Progress," and I want to tell you that I am an inhabitant of the Celestial Spheres and a follower of Jesus. I am now a Christian who knows that many of the things that I wrote in my book as allegory are truths.

Of course, my belief in Jesus as God and as having made a vicarious atonement is all wrong, for now I know that there is only one God, the Father, and that every other living being, either in the earth plane or in the spirit world, is his child - son or daughter of the Father.

Jesus is the brightest spirit in all God's universe, and possesses more of the Divine Love than the other spirits and, consequently, is nearer the Father, with whom he has his spiritual communions.

My belief in God and in His love and mercy is stronger than when on earth, and I want every man to believe and understand that the great thing to be acquired is the Divine Love of the Father and His Grace.

I am so very happy that I cannot tell you of its extent, and when I think of the troubles and sufferings that I endured when on earth, it makes me believe that I acquired the wonderful Love at a very small cost.

I will not write more tonight, but will come again soon and write you more at large.

I am in the Second Celestial Sphere where your folks are - I mean those who write to you. I want to tell you also that you are a very highly favored man to have been selected to do this work. I know the fact that Jesus is with you so very often, and that his great love and power will be with you and you will feel their wonderful influences.

So remember that I want to write again.

Your brother in Christ,
John Bunyan