June 10, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Mary.
Let me write a few lines to my dear one, as you disappointed me when he was last here. I thought that certainly you were going to let me write and when you did not, I just couldn't help telling Helen that you were real mean, but you know I did not mean it - for you have been very kind to both the Doctor and myself. So I hope you will not feel bad, because of what I said. You see, we are not very different here from what we were on earth when something interferes with our love-making.
I noticed also a side remark of Helen, and I want to say that she was only jealous of me or very antagonistic for me to write. Of course, she did not know what I was going to write about and I will prove it!
Well, the Doctor knows how much I love him and I know how much he loves me, and it is not always necessary to write of this, but thinking of my messages, I believe I do always say something of love and I am glad of it.
But last night when he was with you, I wanted to say something else and I will tell you now what it is. I know that he is much interested in the progress of his own folks and their happiness. I wanted to tell him that his father and sisters are in the Celestial Spheres and know to the extent that this makes their certainty of immortality and a home in the Father's house that can never be taken from them. His father has been so very earnest in his prayers and longings for the Love that it came to him in such abundance that he found himself an inhabitant of the Celestial Spheres where his mother is, and Kate is with them. So that now we are all safe in the shelter of the Father's Love and know that forever and ever, we will abide in the Heavens of the Father. We are all so glad, that we had a regular old-fashioned love feast and praised God for His goodness and mercy.
I have been with Leslie a great deal lately and feel that he, too, is getting more of this Love in his soul, and if he could fully realize what it means, he would feel like shouting as the old Methodists sometimes do. I sometimes wonder at what all this means, and why we should be privileged to possess this Love and have the corresponding happiness; and this I know, that no matter how much men are disappointed in the earth life or spirits in the spirit world, the Father never disappoints them who long for the Love that is free for all, but how few realize what this freedom means. Only those whose Love from God enters and takes possession of the soul can have a possible realization of what God's free Love means.
I am so glad that day by day this knowledge is coming to my soulmate. And when I say knowledge, I mean something more than a mere intellectual knowledge. This latter, of course, is necessary, but it is not the knowledge that comes to the soul.
Tell the Doctor to pray more and more and believe with all his soul that there is no limit to the inflowing of the Divine Love to become his. I have written enough for tonight and notwithstanding Helen's remarks, I am going to tell him that I love him with all my heart and soul and will never leave him until the time comes for him to join me, and not then, of course.
I thank you very much for permitting me to write tonight, and you must believe that I love you as a sister, and would not for all the world call you hard names or make you feel that I am not your true, loving sister. His parents send their love to him and the assurance that they are helping him with all their powers and love. Good night and God bless you both, and in the end lead you to one of the glorious mansions that are waiting for you.
Your true friend and the only true love of the Doctor.
Mary
Showing posts with label spirit world. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spirit world. Show all posts
Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Jesus Writes on Immortality
June 2, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
Let me write tonight on a subject that is of importance to mankind and should be fully explained, that they may know the truth that will show them the way to immortality and light.
I know that men have debated all down the centuries the question of man's immortality and have attempted to prove the reality of its existence by various arguments and by reference to the analogy of the workings of God's universe in the fulfillment of His designs as displayed by the various creations of animate nature. In all these discussions they have not succeeded in definitely and satisfactorily established the fact of immortality. And why? Because they have not, in the first place, understood what immortality means and without a correct conception of that which it is desired to prove, it becomes very difficult to successfully prove the existence of the thing sought for.
I know that at times some idea of what immortality is has been conceived of and almost understood by some of the writers on the subject, and their efforts have been directed to show that by man's inner consciousness, as well as by the appearance of those things in nature which die and live again, man is justified in inferring that man himself is immortal, or was intended by his Creator to be immortal.
But the inner consciousness of man, meaning the knowledge of the possession of certain desires and aspirations, as well as the realization that his life on earth is too short to enable him to accomplish those things that his efforts and strivings attempt, and that what he really accomplishes in the way of his own mental and moral development, if they end with the physical death of men would mean only a useless exercise of the faculties and powers given him by God is not sufficient to prove the immortality of the real man. Neither is it evidence of the uselessness of man's creation, though he is in one moment deprived of all the learning and other benefits of a developed intellect, as well as of moral progression.
There is a difference between the state and condition of a human soul that continues in the spirit world - the life that it had when embodied in the flesh - and the state that not only continues this life but makes the extinction of this life an utter impossibility even by God, who in the beginning of man's existence created that soul.
True Immortality then, is the state or condition of the soul that has knowledge that because of the essence and qualities of itself, it cannot ever cease to live - the impossibility of it's ever ceasing to live being known to it and a fact.
It has been said that whatever has a beginning may have an ending - that which was created may be dissolved into its elements. And the possibility of this is true, and no man or spirit can deny the truth of the assertion. In your earth life, you find that all things have an ending; that is, in their individual and composite form; and in the spirit world, why may not the same fate attend created things? The fact that there are things in the spirit world that exist as a continuation of things of earth does not mean that they shall endure forever.
The mere change, caused by the death and disappearance from the vision of men, of things that were once alive does not establish the fact that as they continue to live in the spirit world, they must live forever. Death, which is looked upon as a destroying angel, is merely the result of the change from that which is visible to the invisible and does not in any way determine the everlasting existence of the thing changed.
The soul of man, while in the flesh, is the same soul as to its identity and individuality, as it is when it becomes an inhabitant of the spirit world, and if it is immortal while in the spirit world, it is also immortal while in the body; and if it may cease to have an immortal existence in the one state, it may in the other.
Suppose that men by their arguments of the nature mentioned show that the soul of man does not die when the physical body dies but that it continues its existence in the spirit world as the identical, personal soul, and then I ask, does that prove immortality as I have defined it?
Death of the body and the continuing life of the soul thereafter do not work any change in the qualities or essence of that soul. It is still the same created soul that it was in the beginning, and why may it not be true, that being a thing created, it may have an ending? This is logical and not unreasonable.
Then I say, even if men by their arguments prove to the satisfaction of many, that the soul after the death of the physical body continues to live in the spirit world with all its faculties and powers in active operation, they do not prove, nor do all the facts possible for them to discover and marshal prove, that that soul is immortal. The soul of man did not always exist - it is not eternal, self existing or independent of everything else, but dependent upon the Will of God that called it into existence, and why is it not reasonable to infer that in the long period of time to come, it will have served the purpose of its creation and be disseminated into the elements of which it was created?
But I will say here, for the benefit of those mortals who believe in the immortality of the soul that from the time of the creation of the first man to the present, no spirit in the spirit world has any knowledge of any human soul that has ceased its existence and been dissolved into its elements. And further, that there are myriads of souls in the spirit world that are in just the condition of perfection that was the condition of the soul of the first man when created and God pronounced His creation: "Very good."
But as mortals have no assurance that at some time the life of their souls will not end, so also spirits who have gained the perfect condition of their creation have no such assurance. They have hope and belief that such may be their destiny, and also a knowledge that their progress as the perfect man has ended. They are in that state which limits their progress as the perfect man, although their enjoyment as such is not limited. To them in God's universe, there is always something new and unknown appearing. But yet they have not the knowledge that they are immortal and realize that they are dependent upon the Will of God for their existence, and to many of these spirits, immortality is as much a subject of concern and speculation as it is to the mortals of earth.
Men in their meditation, study and arguments of this question of immortality do not start from the foundation of the subject. They have no truthful premises from which they can draw a correct conclusion and, consequently, their arguments fail. They reason that because of the existence of certain things in and outside of man - all things of mere creation that tend to show God's intentions and plans as regards man, therefore, in order to carry out such intentions, man must be immortal. They do not consider or lose sight of the fact that all these things that they use as the foundation for their conclusions are things dependent and not self existing, and at one time or another the objects of God's creation. What God has called into existence He can also declare shall exist no longer. And knowing this, man cannot, or spirit either, rightfully conclude that the soul is immortal.
But there is a way in which the immortality of the soul, or some souls, can be proved and which, assuming the facts that enter into the argument to be true, necessarily establish the conclusion without possibility of refutation.
Then in commencing the argument, what is the only reasonable way to approach the subject? First, to discover and establish that which is immortal, and next to search for and find that which though not immortal, yet by reason of certain operations and effects upon it of that which is immortal, becomes itself immortal. Only from the immortal can immortality be acquired.
Well this is a good place to stop as you are tired; I am well pleased with the way in which you have received my message. Have faith and pray, and all will be well. Good night my dear brother, for you are in truth my brother.
Your friend and brother,
Jesus
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
Let me write tonight on a subject that is of importance to mankind and should be fully explained, that they may know the truth that will show them the way to immortality and light.
I know that men have debated all down the centuries the question of man's immortality and have attempted to prove the reality of its existence by various arguments and by reference to the analogy of the workings of God's universe in the fulfillment of His designs as displayed by the various creations of animate nature. In all these discussions they have not succeeded in definitely and satisfactorily established the fact of immortality. And why? Because they have not, in the first place, understood what immortality means and without a correct conception of that which it is desired to prove, it becomes very difficult to successfully prove the existence of the thing sought for.
I know that at times some idea of what immortality is has been conceived of and almost understood by some of the writers on the subject, and their efforts have been directed to show that by man's inner consciousness, as well as by the appearance of those things in nature which die and live again, man is justified in inferring that man himself is immortal, or was intended by his Creator to be immortal.
But the inner consciousness of man, meaning the knowledge of the possession of certain desires and aspirations, as well as the realization that his life on earth is too short to enable him to accomplish those things that his efforts and strivings attempt, and that what he really accomplishes in the way of his own mental and moral development, if they end with the physical death of men would mean only a useless exercise of the faculties and powers given him by God is not sufficient to prove the immortality of the real man. Neither is it evidence of the uselessness of man's creation, though he is in one moment deprived of all the learning and other benefits of a developed intellect, as well as of moral progression.
There is a difference between the state and condition of a human soul that continues in the spirit world - the life that it had when embodied in the flesh - and the state that not only continues this life but makes the extinction of this life an utter impossibility even by God, who in the beginning of man's existence created that soul.
True Immortality then, is the state or condition of the soul that has knowledge that because of the essence and qualities of itself, it cannot ever cease to live - the impossibility of it's ever ceasing to live being known to it and a fact.
It has been said that whatever has a beginning may have an ending - that which was created may be dissolved into its elements. And the possibility of this is true, and no man or spirit can deny the truth of the assertion. In your earth life, you find that all things have an ending; that is, in their individual and composite form; and in the spirit world, why may not the same fate attend created things? The fact that there are things in the spirit world that exist as a continuation of things of earth does not mean that they shall endure forever.
The mere change, caused by the death and disappearance from the vision of men, of things that were once alive does not establish the fact that as they continue to live in the spirit world, they must live forever. Death, which is looked upon as a destroying angel, is merely the result of the change from that which is visible to the invisible and does not in any way determine the everlasting existence of the thing changed.
The soul of man, while in the flesh, is the same soul as to its identity and individuality, as it is when it becomes an inhabitant of the spirit world, and if it is immortal while in the spirit world, it is also immortal while in the body; and if it may cease to have an immortal existence in the one state, it may in the other.
Suppose that men by their arguments of the nature mentioned show that the soul of man does not die when the physical body dies but that it continues its existence in the spirit world as the identical, personal soul, and then I ask, does that prove immortality as I have defined it?
Death of the body and the continuing life of the soul thereafter do not work any change in the qualities or essence of that soul. It is still the same created soul that it was in the beginning, and why may it not be true, that being a thing created, it may have an ending? This is logical and not unreasonable.
Then I say, even if men by their arguments prove to the satisfaction of many, that the soul after the death of the physical body continues to live in the spirit world with all its faculties and powers in active operation, they do not prove, nor do all the facts possible for them to discover and marshal prove, that that soul is immortal. The soul of man did not always exist - it is not eternal, self existing or independent of everything else, but dependent upon the Will of God that called it into existence, and why is it not reasonable to infer that in the long period of time to come, it will have served the purpose of its creation and be disseminated into the elements of which it was created?
But I will say here, for the benefit of those mortals who believe in the immortality of the soul that from the time of the creation of the first man to the present, no spirit in the spirit world has any knowledge of any human soul that has ceased its existence and been dissolved into its elements. And further, that there are myriads of souls in the spirit world that are in just the condition of perfection that was the condition of the soul of the first man when created and God pronounced His creation: "Very good."
But as mortals have no assurance that at some time the life of their souls will not end, so also spirits who have gained the perfect condition of their creation have no such assurance. They have hope and belief that such may be their destiny, and also a knowledge that their progress as the perfect man has ended. They are in that state which limits their progress as the perfect man, although their enjoyment as such is not limited. To them in God's universe, there is always something new and unknown appearing. But yet they have not the knowledge that they are immortal and realize that they are dependent upon the Will of God for their existence, and to many of these spirits, immortality is as much a subject of concern and speculation as it is to the mortals of earth.
Men in their meditation, study and arguments of this question of immortality do not start from the foundation of the subject. They have no truthful premises from which they can draw a correct conclusion and, consequently, their arguments fail. They reason that because of the existence of certain things in and outside of man - all things of mere creation that tend to show God's intentions and plans as regards man, therefore, in order to carry out such intentions, man must be immortal. They do not consider or lose sight of the fact that all these things that they use as the foundation for their conclusions are things dependent and not self existing, and at one time or another the objects of God's creation. What God has called into existence He can also declare shall exist no longer. And knowing this, man cannot, or spirit either, rightfully conclude that the soul is immortal.
But there is a way in which the immortality of the soul, or some souls, can be proved and which, assuming the facts that enter into the argument to be true, necessarily establish the conclusion without possibility of refutation.
Then in commencing the argument, what is the only reasonable way to approach the subject? First, to discover and establish that which is immortal, and next to search for and find that which though not immortal, yet by reason of certain operations and effects upon it of that which is immortal, becomes itself immortal. Only from the immortal can immortality be acquired.
Well this is a good place to stop as you are tired; I am well pleased with the way in which you have received my message. Have faith and pray, and all will be well. Good night my dear brother, for you are in truth my brother.
Your friend and brother,
Jesus
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Nita Padgett Writes of Her Experience in Passing into the Spirit World and Progressing in Divine Love
May 25, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Nita.
I am so glad that I can write to you again. It has been a long time since you let me write and I have been so anxious to tell you of my progress and love. Why, Daddy, I thought that you loved me so much that you would not keep me waiting so long to tell you of my love and how happy I am, but mother told me that you were not in condition to receive my message and that I must wait until conditions are different and I understand, but thought it strange that anything should interfere to prevent me from writing to my Daddy.
And now I want to tell you of my progress and how the Love of the Father has changed my soul so that now I am in a sphere from where I may soon expect to go into the Celestial Heavens where mother is.
When I first came to spirit life (June 20, 1918) as you know, mother met me and took me in her arms and was so loving and tender with me, that I had no fear because of the change in my condition, and with her were other beautiful and loving spirits who gave me their love and assured me that now I would soon find a home that was so different from my home on earth and would experience a happiness that I had never before felt. And I was not afraid and did not want to go with my body again, as I was told so many newly arrived spirits desire to do when they first come over.
I was satisfied from the first, and how could I not help being so, when I had such a beautiful mother to enfold me in her arms and assure me that never more would I have to undergo the cares and disappointments of an earth life. How glorious this was and how I thought that if Heaven should have all spirits as lovely and grand as was here, what a happy place it must be. Mother was with me for quite a while and also Grandmother Padgett, who was also beautiful and bright, and who told me that I had nothing to fear, but to believe that I was in the truly spirit world when later I should find everything to make me happy and contended.
But how badly I felt when the parting came, for you must know that this parting was necessary. Mother lived in a higher sphere to which I could not go and she could not remain with me all the time, as I wanted her to do. But she told me that she would be with me quite often to comfort and love me; that under the Law, I would have to go to the place that my soul fitted me for and from thence I would have to pray and work for my own progress; that she could not determine for me where I should live; and that only my own soul's condition must fix my place; and so as I say we had to part.
I soon found myself in some darkness and suffering and did not quite understand why this should be so, or what was the cause of my darkness, but after a little I found that my recollection of my earth life came to me in wonderful clearness and that my conscience was causing me some suffering. I was awfully lonesome and wanted my mother so much, but found out that I had to bear my own burdens and obey the laws that fixed my condition. I know you would want to be with me if you could, to comfort and love me and protect me from my sufferings, but this was impossible for this Law that I speak of knows neither mercy nor forgiveness until it is satisfied.
It is stern and unrelenting, and from the very necessity of things, must be so, because only through its workings can a soul be made purer and enabled to progress from its first condition. But thanks to my dear mother, I had with me the hope that such condition was only for a moment and that soon the Love would come to me and take me out of the workings of the Law (Law of Compensation) and set me free and enable me to get into light and more happiness. Oh! how I prayed and prayed for this Love and tried to believe that it would come to me and dispel the darkness and the recollections of the evil things that I had done and thought when on earth. And mother and grandmother prayed with me, and encouraged me with their sympathy and love and the assurance that this Love would come to me and that the Father would answer my prayers.
While in this condition and on one occasion when I had been praying with all my soul, and when my faith seemed stronger, there came to me a beautiful spirit all tender and loving and said:
"My daughter, the Father will hear your prayers and soul longing and call you to higher service and brighter surroundings and greater happiness, for I know that he never fails to answer the prayer of an earnest soul and besides you are the very child of His Love and care and nothing pleases Him so much as when His children call on Him for His Love and help. And I am praying for you also and my faith makes it certain that you will soon receive the answer, only let your very soul breathe out its longings for His Love."
Oh! how beautiful and grand he was and how tender his love, which seemed to flood all my surroundings and to give me such hope and encouragement that I felt that I surely must be a little weary in brain while he was talking. He then told me that he was Jesus and was so glad that I had come to the spirit world with so much love surrounding me and also told me how he loved me and sympathized with me and wanted me to get out of my darkness and into the light.
I cannot express to you how I felt as he talked to me and how I wondered if he were not really God. But he could not be God, for he was so human and humble and seemed to think that he was a mere child of the Father of whom he spoke. When leaving me, he said that he would come again and talk to me of the Father and His Love and blessed me and said:
"You are a child of our Father and just as dear to Him as I am, and He loves you just as much as He does me. Believe in His Great Love and you will be happy."
Well, daddy, you can imagine what my feelings were and how much I was helped. I will not stop to tell you now of how this Love came into my soul, little by little, until at last it seemed to fill my whole being. Oh, how happy I became, and how beautiful my surroundings appeared and what beautiful bright spirits I found myself in an association with. I was satisfied and my home became to me the most glorious and happiest place imaginable.
But this was only the second sphere of which I have written, and even that sphere surpasses all conception of man and would satisfy the most hopeful and extravagant man as his house of bliss. But I continued to progress and more and more of the Love came into my soul, and strange as it may seem to you, as I rose higher and higher, grandmother was with me so very much, became more beautiful and glorious than ever before.
I understand now why that was. As she came to me in the different spheres, and as I rose higher, she approached nearer her home and took in more of the beauty and glory that are really hers in her sphere of living. But I have written enough for tonight, and besides you are tired.
Now I am happy beyond expression and love you with a greater love than I ever had on earth, and know what love really is, and one of the happiest things that I now have before me is to wait until you come and meet you with all my love and goodness. Oh, daddy, won't it be glorious when you come over and we can all be together in love. You thought that you had a beautiful Helen on earth, but when you come to us and see her in her glory, your very eyes will be dazzled at her appearance.
We are with you a great deal, loving you and trying to help you and you must believe that we will never leave you, till you reach the Heaven where we now are. And not then if you want us with you. So daddy, believe that I am your little Nita and that I write you and love you with all my heart and soul.
Your,
Nita
**********
Helen is very happy that Nita wrote of her progress and happiness.
I am here, your own true & loving Helen.
I am so glad that Nita had the opportunity to write you as to her progress and happiness and I am so glad that she could do so. It makes her feel better to know that now somebody knows just what her condition is and how happy she is. She is a beautiful spirit and is progressing all the time and very soon now, she will be in the Celestial Sphere, where everything is divine and beautiful. She is hugging me now and says that she is so happy and I feel the influence of joy.
Well dear as you have written a great deal tonight. I will not write more. Love and believe that we love you and are with you very much. I will close and say good night.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Nita.
I am so glad that I can write to you again. It has been a long time since you let me write and I have been so anxious to tell you of my progress and love. Why, Daddy, I thought that you loved me so much that you would not keep me waiting so long to tell you of my love and how happy I am, but mother told me that you were not in condition to receive my message and that I must wait until conditions are different and I understand, but thought it strange that anything should interfere to prevent me from writing to my Daddy.
And now I want to tell you of my progress and how the Love of the Father has changed my soul so that now I am in a sphere from where I may soon expect to go into the Celestial Heavens where mother is.
When I first came to spirit life (June 20, 1918) as you know, mother met me and took me in her arms and was so loving and tender with me, that I had no fear because of the change in my condition, and with her were other beautiful and loving spirits who gave me their love and assured me that now I would soon find a home that was so different from my home on earth and would experience a happiness that I had never before felt. And I was not afraid and did not want to go with my body again, as I was told so many newly arrived spirits desire to do when they first come over.
I was satisfied from the first, and how could I not help being so, when I had such a beautiful mother to enfold me in her arms and assure me that never more would I have to undergo the cares and disappointments of an earth life. How glorious this was and how I thought that if Heaven should have all spirits as lovely and grand as was here, what a happy place it must be. Mother was with me for quite a while and also Grandmother Padgett, who was also beautiful and bright, and who told me that I had nothing to fear, but to believe that I was in the truly spirit world when later I should find everything to make me happy and contended.
But how badly I felt when the parting came, for you must know that this parting was necessary. Mother lived in a higher sphere to which I could not go and she could not remain with me all the time, as I wanted her to do. But she told me that she would be with me quite often to comfort and love me; that under the Law, I would have to go to the place that my soul fitted me for and from thence I would have to pray and work for my own progress; that she could not determine for me where I should live; and that only my own soul's condition must fix my place; and so as I say we had to part.
I soon found myself in some darkness and suffering and did not quite understand why this should be so, or what was the cause of my darkness, but after a little I found that my recollection of my earth life came to me in wonderful clearness and that my conscience was causing me some suffering. I was awfully lonesome and wanted my mother so much, but found out that I had to bear my own burdens and obey the laws that fixed my condition. I know you would want to be with me if you could, to comfort and love me and protect me from my sufferings, but this was impossible for this Law that I speak of knows neither mercy nor forgiveness until it is satisfied.
It is stern and unrelenting, and from the very necessity of things, must be so, because only through its workings can a soul be made purer and enabled to progress from its first condition. But thanks to my dear mother, I had with me the hope that such condition was only for a moment and that soon the Love would come to me and take me out of the workings of the Law (Law of Compensation) and set me free and enable me to get into light and more happiness. Oh! how I prayed and prayed for this Love and tried to believe that it would come to me and dispel the darkness and the recollections of the evil things that I had done and thought when on earth. And mother and grandmother prayed with me, and encouraged me with their sympathy and love and the assurance that this Love would come to me and that the Father would answer my prayers.
While in this condition and on one occasion when I had been praying with all my soul, and when my faith seemed stronger, there came to me a beautiful spirit all tender and loving and said:
"My daughter, the Father will hear your prayers and soul longing and call you to higher service and brighter surroundings and greater happiness, for I know that he never fails to answer the prayer of an earnest soul and besides you are the very child of His Love and care and nothing pleases Him so much as when His children call on Him for His Love and help. And I am praying for you also and my faith makes it certain that you will soon receive the answer, only let your very soul breathe out its longings for His Love."
Oh! how beautiful and grand he was and how tender his love, which seemed to flood all my surroundings and to give me such hope and encouragement that I felt that I surely must be a little weary in brain while he was talking. He then told me that he was Jesus and was so glad that I had come to the spirit world with so much love surrounding me and also told me how he loved me and sympathized with me and wanted me to get out of my darkness and into the light.
I cannot express to you how I felt as he talked to me and how I wondered if he were not really God. But he could not be God, for he was so human and humble and seemed to think that he was a mere child of the Father of whom he spoke. When leaving me, he said that he would come again and talk to me of the Father and His Love and blessed me and said:
"You are a child of our Father and just as dear to Him as I am, and He loves you just as much as He does me. Believe in His Great Love and you will be happy."
Well, daddy, you can imagine what my feelings were and how much I was helped. I will not stop to tell you now of how this Love came into my soul, little by little, until at last it seemed to fill my whole being. Oh, how happy I became, and how beautiful my surroundings appeared and what beautiful bright spirits I found myself in an association with. I was satisfied and my home became to me the most glorious and happiest place imaginable.
But this was only the second sphere of which I have written, and even that sphere surpasses all conception of man and would satisfy the most hopeful and extravagant man as his house of bliss. But I continued to progress and more and more of the Love came into my soul, and strange as it may seem to you, as I rose higher and higher, grandmother was with me so very much, became more beautiful and glorious than ever before.
I understand now why that was. As she came to me in the different spheres, and as I rose higher, she approached nearer her home and took in more of the beauty and glory that are really hers in her sphere of living. But I have written enough for tonight, and besides you are tired.
Now I am happy beyond expression and love you with a greater love than I ever had on earth, and know what love really is, and one of the happiest things that I now have before me is to wait until you come and meet you with all my love and goodness. Oh, daddy, won't it be glorious when you come over and we can all be together in love. You thought that you had a beautiful Helen on earth, but when you come to us and see her in her glory, your very eyes will be dazzled at her appearance.
We are with you a great deal, loving you and trying to help you and you must believe that we will never leave you, till you reach the Heaven where we now are. And not then if you want us with you. So daddy, believe that I am your little Nita and that I write you and love you with all my heart and soul.
Your,
Nita
**********
Helen is very happy that Nita wrote of her progress and happiness.
I am here, your own true & loving Helen.
I am so glad that Nita had the opportunity to write you as to her progress and happiness and I am so glad that she could do so. It makes her feel better to know that now somebody knows just what her condition is and how happy she is. She is a beautiful spirit and is progressing all the time and very soon now, she will be in the Celestial Sphere, where everything is divine and beautiful. She is hugging me now and says that she is so happy and I feel the influence of joy.
Well dear as you have written a great deal tonight. I will not write more. Love and believe that we love you and are with you very much. I will close and say good night.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Monday, August 18, 2014
A.G. Riddle Writes that Heaven is a Real Place of Matieral Substance as well as a Condition of the Soul
February 27, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
Let me write a short time tonight as I see that you are anxious to hear from some of your friends in the spirit world.
I have not written for a long time, though, I have been desirous to do so, and tonight will say only a few words in reference to my progress and happiness in my condition as a Celestial Spirit, for I am now in the Celestial Heavens, and know the truth of many things that have been written you.
It is a little difficult for me to recite to you the wonders of these Heavens and the perfect happiness that is enjoyed by those spirits that have found their home and abiding place in the many mansions that Jesus spoke of while in the flesh. You must know that Heaven is a place as well as a condition, notwithstanding the fact that so many of the spiritualists teach that it is only a condition or state of the soul. No, this is not all of the truth, but is a great part of the truth; for the condition of the soul determines just what Heaven it shall occupy and find its harmony and happiness in; but the all-loving Father has provided that the soul shall have a place corresponding to its condition in which it may live and progress.
If Heaven were only a state of the soul, then it would not be a real, existing thing, with the substance and reality that the soul, even in its state of bliss, must have as a necessary accompaniment to the enjoyment of what the Father has provided for its true condition of living. Heaven, as a place, is real and independent of the state of the soul, though it is necessary for the soul to be in a corresponding state in order that it may enter into this Heaven and fully realize that it is a home suitable for its condition and enjoyment.
If it, I mean Heaven, were not a real objective and perceptible place, then the soul would be limited by its own condition that would be very narrow, as I may say, and confined to the limits of its own state and separated from the states of other souls and without the social intercourse that makes Heaven a place of such happiness and contentment. Every soul would then be in the condition of the ascetic in human life, and introspection and contemplation would be the source and only means of possible bliss, and knowledge of those things that are spoken of as beyond the heart of man to conceive of, and which are truly and certainly provided by the Father's Love for the continuous and never-ending progress of the soul towards higher and greater enjoyment would have no real, conscious existence in that soul.
As man, in his earth life in which condition of the soul determines his Heaven, is provided with those surroundings and material things that are intended to make him happy or miserable, so in the Heavens things material are provided to enable the soul of man to better enjoy its own condition. The things of Heaven are not all spiritual, as conceived by so many men, but are partly composed of the material of the universe and are so constituted and formed as to supply the desires and wishes of the soul with that which will satisfy the soul's longings for beauty and harmony and perfect enjoyment.
In the several Heavens are homes, real and substantial, suited to the states of the souls and differing as those states differ in their requirements. These material things are not subjective as so many mortals teach, but are objective as are things of earth and are the objects of sight and touch and of the other spiritual senses.
When I desire to go into a city, and indulge my desires, I find a city with streets and avenues and houses and other things that belong to a city, just as do you mortals of earth when you visit your cities; and so, when I desire to go into the country and enjoy the fields and hills and streams and gardens, they are all here, real and existing, and not the subjects of mere thoughts or state of my soul; and when I am absent from city or country, that city or country continues to exist in all its beauty and magnificence just as truly as when I am present.
Men must know that the soul in its Heavenly life requires these material things and has them, just as a soul when enveloped in a body of flesh requires the material things of earth. While the condition of the soul determined its place of living, yet that place is also existing and real and awaits the coming of that soul in a condition of harmony.
In these Heavens, there is nothing nebulous or impalpable or only a reflection or image of the soul's condition, but everything is real and substantial and lasting as the eternal hills; and when the soul finds a habitation, it is not the effect of its own condition, but a place already prepared for the habitation of that soul and in accord with its true condition. Otherwise, Heaven would be a place of confusion and of appearances and disappearances, with no stability or abiding qualities, and the many mansions, spoken of by Jesus as existing in his Father's house, would have no real, permanent being, but depending for their creation and existence upon the mere state of the soul. The mansions are there and change not, and whether or not they shall have occupants depends upon the harmony of souls in their correspondence with the harmony of God's Laws creating these mansions.
l have written you this short description of the Heavens, as based upon my knowledge and experience, devoid of speculation or metaphysical musings. I am glad that I could write you again.
I am very happy and know that the Divine Love of the Father is a thing real and transforming, and the all sufficient thing to create in the souls of men, and of spirits, that state which will enable them to have and enjoy the mansions of the Father in the Highest Heavens. I will not write more now. Good night.
Your friend and brother in Christ,
A.G. Riddle
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
Let me write a short time tonight as I see that you are anxious to hear from some of your friends in the spirit world.
I have not written for a long time, though, I have been desirous to do so, and tonight will say only a few words in reference to my progress and happiness in my condition as a Celestial Spirit, for I am now in the Celestial Heavens, and know the truth of many things that have been written you.
It is a little difficult for me to recite to you the wonders of these Heavens and the perfect happiness that is enjoyed by those spirits that have found their home and abiding place in the many mansions that Jesus spoke of while in the flesh. You must know that Heaven is a place as well as a condition, notwithstanding the fact that so many of the spiritualists teach that it is only a condition or state of the soul. No, this is not all of the truth, but is a great part of the truth; for the condition of the soul determines just what Heaven it shall occupy and find its harmony and happiness in; but the all-loving Father has provided that the soul shall have a place corresponding to its condition in which it may live and progress.
If Heaven were only a state of the soul, then it would not be a real, existing thing, with the substance and reality that the soul, even in its state of bliss, must have as a necessary accompaniment to the enjoyment of what the Father has provided for its true condition of living. Heaven, as a place, is real and independent of the state of the soul, though it is necessary for the soul to be in a corresponding state in order that it may enter into this Heaven and fully realize that it is a home suitable for its condition and enjoyment.
If it, I mean Heaven, were not a real objective and perceptible place, then the soul would be limited by its own condition that would be very narrow, as I may say, and confined to the limits of its own state and separated from the states of other souls and without the social intercourse that makes Heaven a place of such happiness and contentment. Every soul would then be in the condition of the ascetic in human life, and introspection and contemplation would be the source and only means of possible bliss, and knowledge of those things that are spoken of as beyond the heart of man to conceive of, and which are truly and certainly provided by the Father's Love for the continuous and never-ending progress of the soul towards higher and greater enjoyment would have no real, conscious existence in that soul.
As man, in his earth life in which condition of the soul determines his Heaven, is provided with those surroundings and material things that are intended to make him happy or miserable, so in the Heavens things material are provided to enable the soul of man to better enjoy its own condition. The things of Heaven are not all spiritual, as conceived by so many men, but are partly composed of the material of the universe and are so constituted and formed as to supply the desires and wishes of the soul with that which will satisfy the soul's longings for beauty and harmony and perfect enjoyment.
In the several Heavens are homes, real and substantial, suited to the states of the souls and differing as those states differ in their requirements. These material things are not subjective as so many mortals teach, but are objective as are things of earth and are the objects of sight and touch and of the other spiritual senses.
When I desire to go into a city, and indulge my desires, I find a city with streets and avenues and houses and other things that belong to a city, just as do you mortals of earth when you visit your cities; and so, when I desire to go into the country and enjoy the fields and hills and streams and gardens, they are all here, real and existing, and not the subjects of mere thoughts or state of my soul; and when I am absent from city or country, that city or country continues to exist in all its beauty and magnificence just as truly as when I am present.
Men must know that the soul in its Heavenly life requires these material things and has them, just as a soul when enveloped in a body of flesh requires the material things of earth. While the condition of the soul determined its place of living, yet that place is also existing and real and awaits the coming of that soul in a condition of harmony.
In these Heavens, there is nothing nebulous or impalpable or only a reflection or image of the soul's condition, but everything is real and substantial and lasting as the eternal hills; and when the soul finds a habitation, it is not the effect of its own condition, but a place already prepared for the habitation of that soul and in accord with its true condition. Otherwise, Heaven would be a place of confusion and of appearances and disappearances, with no stability or abiding qualities, and the many mansions, spoken of by Jesus as existing in his Father's house, would have no real, permanent being, but depending for their creation and existence upon the mere state of the soul. The mansions are there and change not, and whether or not they shall have occupants depends upon the harmony of souls in their correspondence with the harmony of God's Laws creating these mansions.
l have written you this short description of the Heavens, as based upon my knowledge and experience, devoid of speculation or metaphysical musings. I am glad that I could write you again.
I am very happy and know that the Divine Love of the Father is a thing real and transforming, and the all sufficient thing to create in the souls of men, and of spirits, that state which will enable them to have and enjoy the mansions of the Father in the Highest Heavens. I will not write more now. Good night.
Your friend and brother in Christ,
A.G. Riddle
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Helen Padgett and Mary Kennedy Write of Their Love for their Soulmates on Earth
February 16, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, your own true and loving Helen.
Well, dear, the Master will not continue his messages tonight as you are not so well and he does not feel it best to draw upon you as he would be compelled to do if he were to continue, or attempt to continue, the message of last night, and so I will write you for a short time and tell you of someone here and very anxious to communicate with her soulmate.
Of course, I mean Mary, and she is all aquiver with excitement, as you mortals might say, at the prospect of writing to the Doctor (Leslie R. Stone); and so I will let her come and write, but you must be careful and not let her write too long, for what she has to say would require you, in order to receive it, to write for the balance of the evening.
**********
Mary:
I am here. Mary.
Well, I am here and want to say a great deal, but as Helen has warned you, I will not trespass very long, and Helen did me an injustice when she said I would want to write all the evening. I am as considerate of you as is possible and notwithstanding my opportunity, I realize your capacity.
Tell my dear one that I have waited a long, long time to communicate with him, and that although I have the advantage of him in that I can see what his thoughts are and know just how much he loves me, yet I also desire to tell him of my love for him, and how much I am interested in him and want him to know it. He is my own true lover, and I realize that no other woman can come between him and me, even as to any earthly love that he may have. And just here let me say that I am not reflecting on you, for I know the circumstances in your case, and how it is best that you should have someone to comfort your last years on earth. But Leslie does not need such a one, and I shall always be sufficient for him, as he is for me. Tell him that I am very happy in the knowledge that he is all mine, and that my love for him is always increasing, and that my efforts to make him happy never cease.
I am now in a higher sphere than when I last wrote him and realize what the wonderful Love of the Father means more than ever. Also with this increased Love in my soul, I have greater love for him. I am with him more often than he is aware of and am pleased that he thinks so much of me and loves me as he does. His life will at the longest be very short and then I shall have him with the full consciousness that no earthly pleasure or condition can ever for a moment separate us, and that the bliss which I have will be nearer his than he can imagine. I really believe that when he comes over, it will not be very long until he will find his home with me and enjoy the happiness of my home - a wonderful home, not like anything on earth, or that has been conceived of by man.
No, it is beyond description and the nearest approach to a description that he can understand is that the Father's Love is in and about it to a degree that renders everything beautiful and grand. He must not despair of coming to me, for he will come as surely as your sun will rise; and then he will know what happiness means in the experience of actual enjoyment.
I am so very happy that I can write to him tonight and encourage him with the knowledge that all these things will be his and forever. He, I know, is not surrounded by those things which ordinarily make men happy, but he has greater wealth than these things can possibly give him, for he has much of not only the Father's Love, but the love of a soulmate who is all his and ready to give him the real true happiness that only a union with a soulmate in the Celestial Heavens can give. He must continue to pray for an increased inflowing of the Father's Love, and as that shall come to him, I shall be able to see that the soulmate love for his Mary will increase also.
I would like to write of many things that are here in such reality and grandeur, but as you must not write much more, I must forego the pleasure. But this he must know, that my love is all his and the many mansions spoken of by the Master will prove to him to be a reality, and not the mere hope that so many mortals rely on. I send him a kiss, yes, many kisses, such as only angels can send, and if his soul be opened up to their coming, he will realize what it means.
Good night, I thank you and, with my love to him and the assurance that I am watching over him and sympathize with him in all his earthly worries, will sign myself his loving Mary.
**********
Helen:
Well dear, she has written and says she feels much better, and I know she does, for she looks very happy and grateful for the privilege. I am with Mary in her expressions of love and hope and certainty, and you must believe that these things that she has spoken of will be yours when you come to join us. Why dear, you cannot appreciate what all this means to you and to us! We are truly thankful to the Father for the privilege of knowing that we have on earth a soulmate - the very necessary part of ourselves with whom we can talk and communicate the innermost feelings of our souls.
It is a privilege that not many mortals enjoy, and it is no wonder that men and women are earnestly seeking a way by which they can come into communication with their loved ones, even if these are only their loved ones for a short time.
If they only knew what it means to be able to talk to a soulmate and have that soulmate tell him of her love and the wonders of it all, they would become more anxious than ever, and the faith that they now have would cease to satisfy. But this cannot be so at this time, and it may be well that men and women generally are not fitted for such an experience.
You know how much I love you and what this love means, and that there is no other love in all the spirit world, except the Father's Love, that can so satisfy and make happy.
I must stop now, for you have written enough. But do not forget that Baby (Nita Padgett) is anxious to write, and you must give her the opportunity to do so before long. You will soon feel well again and be in condition to perform your work, which to you just now is the important thing. So I will say good night.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, your own true and loving Helen.
Well, dear, the Master will not continue his messages tonight as you are not so well and he does not feel it best to draw upon you as he would be compelled to do if he were to continue, or attempt to continue, the message of last night, and so I will write you for a short time and tell you of someone here and very anxious to communicate with her soulmate.
Of course, I mean Mary, and she is all aquiver with excitement, as you mortals might say, at the prospect of writing to the Doctor (Leslie R. Stone); and so I will let her come and write, but you must be careful and not let her write too long, for what she has to say would require you, in order to receive it, to write for the balance of the evening.
**********
Mary:
I am here. Mary.
Well, I am here and want to say a great deal, but as Helen has warned you, I will not trespass very long, and Helen did me an injustice when she said I would want to write all the evening. I am as considerate of you as is possible and notwithstanding my opportunity, I realize your capacity.
Tell my dear one that I have waited a long, long time to communicate with him, and that although I have the advantage of him in that I can see what his thoughts are and know just how much he loves me, yet I also desire to tell him of my love for him, and how much I am interested in him and want him to know it. He is my own true lover, and I realize that no other woman can come between him and me, even as to any earthly love that he may have. And just here let me say that I am not reflecting on you, for I know the circumstances in your case, and how it is best that you should have someone to comfort your last years on earth. But Leslie does not need such a one, and I shall always be sufficient for him, as he is for me. Tell him that I am very happy in the knowledge that he is all mine, and that my love for him is always increasing, and that my efforts to make him happy never cease.
I am now in a higher sphere than when I last wrote him and realize what the wonderful Love of the Father means more than ever. Also with this increased Love in my soul, I have greater love for him. I am with him more often than he is aware of and am pleased that he thinks so much of me and loves me as he does. His life will at the longest be very short and then I shall have him with the full consciousness that no earthly pleasure or condition can ever for a moment separate us, and that the bliss which I have will be nearer his than he can imagine. I really believe that when he comes over, it will not be very long until he will find his home with me and enjoy the happiness of my home - a wonderful home, not like anything on earth, or that has been conceived of by man.
No, it is beyond description and the nearest approach to a description that he can understand is that the Father's Love is in and about it to a degree that renders everything beautiful and grand. He must not despair of coming to me, for he will come as surely as your sun will rise; and then he will know what happiness means in the experience of actual enjoyment.
I am so very happy that I can write to him tonight and encourage him with the knowledge that all these things will be his and forever. He, I know, is not surrounded by those things which ordinarily make men happy, but he has greater wealth than these things can possibly give him, for he has much of not only the Father's Love, but the love of a soulmate who is all his and ready to give him the real true happiness that only a union with a soulmate in the Celestial Heavens can give. He must continue to pray for an increased inflowing of the Father's Love, and as that shall come to him, I shall be able to see that the soulmate love for his Mary will increase also.
I would like to write of many things that are here in such reality and grandeur, but as you must not write much more, I must forego the pleasure. But this he must know, that my love is all his and the many mansions spoken of by the Master will prove to him to be a reality, and not the mere hope that so many mortals rely on. I send him a kiss, yes, many kisses, such as only angels can send, and if his soul be opened up to their coming, he will realize what it means.
Good night, I thank you and, with my love to him and the assurance that I am watching over him and sympathize with him in all his earthly worries, will sign myself his loving Mary.
**********
Helen:
Well dear, she has written and says she feels much better, and I know she does, for she looks very happy and grateful for the privilege. I am with Mary in her expressions of love and hope and certainty, and you must believe that these things that she has spoken of will be yours when you come to join us. Why dear, you cannot appreciate what all this means to you and to us! We are truly thankful to the Father for the privilege of knowing that we have on earth a soulmate - the very necessary part of ourselves with whom we can talk and communicate the innermost feelings of our souls.
It is a privilege that not many mortals enjoy, and it is no wonder that men and women are earnestly seeking a way by which they can come into communication with their loved ones, even if these are only their loved ones for a short time.
If they only knew what it means to be able to talk to a soulmate and have that soulmate tell him of her love and the wonders of it all, they would become more anxious than ever, and the faith that they now have would cease to satisfy. But this cannot be so at this time, and it may be well that men and women generally are not fitted for such an experience.
You know how much I love you and what this love means, and that there is no other love in all the spirit world, except the Father's Love, that can so satisfy and make happy.
I must stop now, for you have written enough. But do not forget that Baby (Nita Padgett) is anxious to write, and you must give her the opportunity to do so before long. You will soon feel well again and be in condition to perform your work, which to you just now is the important thing. So I will say good night.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Jesus Writes about the Incarnate Soul
February 15, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I am here as I promised last night and will write on the subject of the Incarnate Soul.
You may have observed in your studies of the different theories of the creation of man that always the question has arisen as to the relationship of the spiritual and physical; that is, as to the soul and the material body. I know that many theories have been set forth as to how and when the soul became a part of the physical body and what was the means adopted by the Laws of Nature, as they are called, for the lodgment of the soul into that body, and the relationship that one bore to the other. Of course, this applies only to those mortals who believe that there is a soul separate in its existence and functionings from the mere physical body; as to those who do not believe in the distinctive soul, I do not attempt to enlighten but leave them to a realization of the fact when they shall have come into the spirit world and find themselves existing without such body, but really existing, with the consciousness that they are souls.
When the physical body is created, it has no consciousness of its having been created, for it is merely of the unconscious creations that are of the other material creatures of nature and does not feel or sense in any degree the fact that it is a living thing dependent upon the proper nourishment of its mother for its growth and continued life in accordance with the Laws of Nature and the objects of its own creation. The father and mother, being necessary to the creation or formation of this merely animal production, know only that in some way there has come into existence an embryo thing that may eventuate into a human being like unto themselves.
If this thing were allowed to remain without the soul, it would soon fail to fulfill the object of its creation and disintegrate into the elements of which it is formed and mankind would cease to exist as inhabitants of the earth. This physical part of man is really and only the result of the commingling of those forces that are contained in the two sexes, which according to the Laws of Nature, or of man's creation, are suited to produce the one body fitted for the home of the soul that may be attracted to it to develop its individuality as a thing of life and possible immortality.
The result of this commingling is intended only as a temporary covering or protection for the growth of the real being and does not in any way limit or influence the continuous existence of the soul, and when its functions have ended, the soul, which has then become individualized, continues its life in new surroundings and in gradual progression and the mere instrument used for its individualization is disseminated into the elements forming its appearance and substance. As this body was called from the elements for a certain purpose, when that purpose shall have been served, it returns to these elements.
This body, of itself, has neither consciousness nor sensation, and in the beginning has only the borrowed life of its parents, and then when the soul finds its lodgment, it has only the life of the soul; for the human life can exist only so long as the soul inhabits the body, and after such habitation commences, the borrowed life of the parents ceases to exercise any influence, or directing force, on the body. This, then, is really the true description of the physical body, and if it were all of man, he would perish with its death and cease to exist as a part of the creation of the universe of God.
But the soul is the vital, living and never dying part of man - is really the man - and the only thing that was intended to continue an existence in the spirit world. It was made in the image of God, and there is no reason for its existing for the continuing companionship of the physical body. And when men say or believe that the body is all of man and when it dies, man ceases to exist, they do not understand the relationship or functioning of soul and body and know only the half truth, which is visible to their senses; that the body dies and can never again be resuscitated. This is a determined fact and all arguments by analogy to show that man must continue to live notwithstanding the death of that body are not apposite and very inconclusive.
All these analogous appearances only show that the objects of the analogy ultimately die, and thus fail to prove that these objects are eternal, just as much as if there had never been any change in their condition or appearance. The final demonstration is that they die, and when this analogy is applied to man, it must show that he dies also and is no more. But the questions are asked:
"Whence comes the soul? By whom created? How does it become incarnated in man and for what purpose, and what is its destiny?"
First let me state that man has nothing to do with the creation of the soul, or its appearance in the flesh. His work is to provide a receptacle for its coming - a mere host, as it were, for its entry into the flesh, and existence as a mortal or in the appearance of a mortal. But his responsibility in this particular is very great, for man can destroy that receptacle, or care for it so that the soul may continue in earth life a longer or shorter time. And while this receptacle is the creation of man and without him it could not be brought into existence, yet the soul is no part of his creation and is independent of the body; and after the earth life in the spirit world, it will cease to remember that it was ever connected with or dependent upon the creation of its parents. The soul, in the spirit life as a truth, is so separated from and dissociated with that body, which was its home while in the earth life that it looks upon it as a mere vision of the past and not a subject for its consideration.
As has been told you, the soul was created by the Father long before its appearance in the flesh and awaited such incarnation for the purpose only of giving it an individuality, which it did not have in its preexistence, and in which it has a duplex personality - male and female - that is needed to be separated and made individual. We, who have had this preexistence and incarnation in the flesh and have obtained this individuality, know the truth of what I have here stated.
There is a law of God controlling these things that renders these preexisting souls capable of knowing the desirability of incarnation and they are always anxious and ready for the opportunity to be born in the flesh and to assume the separate individuality that they are privileged to assume. As men provide the receptacle for their appearing and homing, as it were, they become aware of the fact and take advantage of the opportunity to occupy the receptacle and become ostensibly a human being with the necessary result of individuality.
I am glad that you are in a better condition and will continue the messages as we have been desiring to do for some time. I shall be with you and help you in every way and hope that you will keep up your faith and prayers to the Father. Good night and God bless you.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I am here as I promised last night and will write on the subject of the Incarnate Soul.
You may have observed in your studies of the different theories of the creation of man that always the question has arisen as to the relationship of the spiritual and physical; that is, as to the soul and the material body. I know that many theories have been set forth as to how and when the soul became a part of the physical body and what was the means adopted by the Laws of Nature, as they are called, for the lodgment of the soul into that body, and the relationship that one bore to the other. Of course, this applies only to those mortals who believe that there is a soul separate in its existence and functionings from the mere physical body; as to those who do not believe in the distinctive soul, I do not attempt to enlighten but leave them to a realization of the fact when they shall have come into the spirit world and find themselves existing without such body, but really existing, with the consciousness that they are souls.
When the physical body is created, it has no consciousness of its having been created, for it is merely of the unconscious creations that are of the other material creatures of nature and does not feel or sense in any degree the fact that it is a living thing dependent upon the proper nourishment of its mother for its growth and continued life in accordance with the Laws of Nature and the objects of its own creation. The father and mother, being necessary to the creation or formation of this merely animal production, know only that in some way there has come into existence an embryo thing that may eventuate into a human being like unto themselves.
If this thing were allowed to remain without the soul, it would soon fail to fulfill the object of its creation and disintegrate into the elements of which it is formed and mankind would cease to exist as inhabitants of the earth. This physical part of man is really and only the result of the commingling of those forces that are contained in the two sexes, which according to the Laws of Nature, or of man's creation, are suited to produce the one body fitted for the home of the soul that may be attracted to it to develop its individuality as a thing of life and possible immortality.
The result of this commingling is intended only as a temporary covering or protection for the growth of the real being and does not in any way limit or influence the continuous existence of the soul, and when its functions have ended, the soul, which has then become individualized, continues its life in new surroundings and in gradual progression and the mere instrument used for its individualization is disseminated into the elements forming its appearance and substance. As this body was called from the elements for a certain purpose, when that purpose shall have been served, it returns to these elements.
This body, of itself, has neither consciousness nor sensation, and in the beginning has only the borrowed life of its parents, and then when the soul finds its lodgment, it has only the life of the soul; for the human life can exist only so long as the soul inhabits the body, and after such habitation commences, the borrowed life of the parents ceases to exercise any influence, or directing force, on the body. This, then, is really the true description of the physical body, and if it were all of man, he would perish with its death and cease to exist as a part of the creation of the universe of God.
But the soul is the vital, living and never dying part of man - is really the man - and the only thing that was intended to continue an existence in the spirit world. It was made in the image of God, and there is no reason for its existing for the continuing companionship of the physical body. And when men say or believe that the body is all of man and when it dies, man ceases to exist, they do not understand the relationship or functioning of soul and body and know only the half truth, which is visible to their senses; that the body dies and can never again be resuscitated. This is a determined fact and all arguments by analogy to show that man must continue to live notwithstanding the death of that body are not apposite and very inconclusive.
All these analogous appearances only show that the objects of the analogy ultimately die, and thus fail to prove that these objects are eternal, just as much as if there had never been any change in their condition or appearance. The final demonstration is that they die, and when this analogy is applied to man, it must show that he dies also and is no more. But the questions are asked:
"Whence comes the soul? By whom created? How does it become incarnated in man and for what purpose, and what is its destiny?"
First let me state that man has nothing to do with the creation of the soul, or its appearance in the flesh. His work is to provide a receptacle for its coming - a mere host, as it were, for its entry into the flesh, and existence as a mortal or in the appearance of a mortal. But his responsibility in this particular is very great, for man can destroy that receptacle, or care for it so that the soul may continue in earth life a longer or shorter time. And while this receptacle is the creation of man and without him it could not be brought into existence, yet the soul is no part of his creation and is independent of the body; and after the earth life in the spirit world, it will cease to remember that it was ever connected with or dependent upon the creation of its parents. The soul, in the spirit life as a truth, is so separated from and dissociated with that body, which was its home while in the earth life that it looks upon it as a mere vision of the past and not a subject for its consideration.
As has been told you, the soul was created by the Father long before its appearance in the flesh and awaited such incarnation for the purpose only of giving it an individuality, which it did not have in its preexistence, and in which it has a duplex personality - male and female - that is needed to be separated and made individual. We, who have had this preexistence and incarnation in the flesh and have obtained this individuality, know the truth of what I have here stated.
There is a law of God controlling these things that renders these preexisting souls capable of knowing the desirability of incarnation and they are always anxious and ready for the opportunity to be born in the flesh and to assume the separate individuality that they are privileged to assume. As men provide the receptacle for their appearing and homing, as it were, they become aware of the fact and take advantage of the opportunity to occupy the receptacle and become ostensibly a human being with the necessary result of individuality.
I am glad that you are in a better condition and will continue the messages as we have been desiring to do for some time. I shall be with you and help you in every way and hope that you will keep up your faith and prayers to the Father. Good night and God bless you.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Spencer Writes About Spiritualism and the Planting of Seeds Before the Messages of Truth are Published
June 18, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Spencer.
And want to say just a word to your friend who is so much interested in the discovery of the truths of the spirit world and of the facts that exist in that world.
Well, I have been with you as you discussed these prospects, and also the writings of the men who have become converted to spiritualism, and saw that you are not satisfied with what the writings contained, and wished that these men might know the truth that they could declare it to the world.
Well, you must wait content until your messages are finished and in shape to publish before these truths can be made to the world. These men who are having the experiences of which they write are doing a good work in publishing accounts of the same in this: that they are preparing the minds of their readers to accept the truth of spiritualism whenever the same shall be published. They are breaking up the fallow ground and making it ready to receive the seeds of truth as they shall become scattered over the soil that was so lately barren and unfitted to receive and nurture these seeds. The work is one that will result in much good and will gradually lead man to accept as true and coming from the spirit world, what they would not otherwise receive.
I merely wanted to write this little message so that you and your friend may not think that the publications, such as you have read tonight, are worthless and without a function in causing men to believe in the lower truths of spiritualism. They are very valuable to mankind in general and to those philosophers and scientists who are more interested in the physical aspect of the study. They must be encouraged and you must not think that their appearing is merely a waste of time or effort. They are the ABC's of spiritualism and must be learned before you can expect the higher or more spiritual truths to be received.
Well, I will not write more now. Good night.
Your friend,
Spencer
I was a scientist when on earth and supposed agnostic, but I know better now.
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Spencer.
And want to say just a word to your friend who is so much interested in the discovery of the truths of the spirit world and of the facts that exist in that world.
Well, I have been with you as you discussed these prospects, and also the writings of the men who have become converted to spiritualism, and saw that you are not satisfied with what the writings contained, and wished that these men might know the truth that they could declare it to the world.
Well, you must wait content until your messages are finished and in shape to publish before these truths can be made to the world. These men who are having the experiences of which they write are doing a good work in publishing accounts of the same in this: that they are preparing the minds of their readers to accept the truth of spiritualism whenever the same shall be published. They are breaking up the fallow ground and making it ready to receive the seeds of truth as they shall become scattered over the soil that was so lately barren and unfitted to receive and nurture these seeds. The work is one that will result in much good and will gradually lead man to accept as true and coming from the spirit world, what they would not otherwise receive.
I merely wanted to write this little message so that you and your friend may not think that the publications, such as you have read tonight, are worthless and without a function in causing men to believe in the lower truths of spiritualism. They are very valuable to mankind in general and to those philosophers and scientists who are more interested in the physical aspect of the study. They must be encouraged and you must not think that their appearing is merely a waste of time or effort. They are the ABC's of spiritualism and must be learned before you can expect the higher or more spiritual truths to be received.
Well, I will not write more now. Good night.
Your friend,
Spencer
I was a scientist when on earth and supposed agnostic, but I know better now.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Francis Bacon Writes on the Continuity of Life after Death
May 26, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
Let me write a few lines tonight upon a subject that has recently been discussed by a spiritualist, a preacher, a philosopher and a scientist, and that is the continuity of life after death of the physical body. Each of these writers approaches the subject from a different viewpoint, but all arrive at the same conclusion based upon different means of argument and, that is, that life continues after death.
The subject is one in which mankind is vitally interested and is worthy of consideration by the greatest minds of investigation and research, and should be studied in the light of nature as well as in that of actual demonstration by the experiences of those who have by their experiences proved to mankind that the spirits of their departed friends and acquaintances and of others of more or less distinction when in the physical life, do actually live and communicate to men their existence and the possession of the mental faculties and thoughts that were theirs when mortals.
The proper study of man would demonstrate this fact, and logically doubt would cease to exist, but the difficulty is that men do not understand man or his creation and faculties and his relationship to things of life known as the material or matter. It is a common belief that matter that is now existent, or rather that what men see and know of the material is all that is knowable, and that when that which is merely physical, as commonly understood, ceases to exist, no further or other knowledge of it can be obtained or understood by the finite mind of man.
But this accepted assumption is not true, and if man would only think for a moment of what matter or the material is, they would comprehend the possibilities of its workings and functionings and, also, of what use may be made of the same by the minds of the spirits operating upon it in the spiritual world; that is in the world beyond the comprehension of the five senses of men, which are only the means of the spirits working in the ordinary purview of the physical life.
Matter is eternal, and exists in all the spheres of the spirit world just as it does on earth, although in different forms and attenuations, and in conditions that may or may not be the objects of the physical senses, or of the senses of the mind, which are superior to or exclusive of these mere physical senses. Matter is, in its essential nature, the same, notwithstanding the fact that it assumes different forms - some visible to the ordinary senses of men and some entirely outside of that view or sensation, and as to these senses wholly nonexistent, yet to these other senses of the mind just as real and tractable and subject to the influence of the workings of the mind, as the merely physical matter is to the five senses of men.
The world in which men live is composed of the material, and the world in which I live is also composed of the material, of the same nature, but of different consistencies and objective qualities. The material of the universe is always material, whether or not it be cognizable by man and subject to his thoughts and inventions and uses; and as man progresses in the study of the same - I mean the practical and experimental - he will discover that there are things of the material in nature which to him are being developed and made known, and which a few years before he had no conception of their existence. Such is the discovery and use of electricity, and the workings of the Laws of Nature which enables him to make possible the effects of wireless telegraphy. These discoveries and workings of forces of the unseen are nothing more or less than a certain kind of knowledge controlling the same as to his consciousness has become apparent. But in all these operations, matter is the thing made use of and not any spiritual power as commonly understood by men. So you see matter, whether in the grossly physical of earth or in the more attenuated and invisible of the spirit world, is that which is used to produce effects and is operated on by the mind, whether or not it be tangible and understandable or not.
The mind is an entity indivisible and united, and is not separable into the subjective and objective as men frequently teach, except in this: that in its workings, that part of the mind which controls the brain in the ordinary affairs of life may be called the objective, and that part which is suited for and used in controlling the material after it has been transformed into the purely invisible may be called the subjective. But it is all one mind and exists in man while on earth, just as it will and does when he becomes a spirit.
Man in his journey through life, and I mean when in the earth existence as well as in the eternal part of his existence, is always of the material, that is his soul has a material covering and appearance, and while this material covering changes in its appearance and quality as he progresses in the spheres, yet the gross physical of his earth life and the sublimated spiritual of the eternal part of his life, are both of the material - real, existing and tangible - and used for the purpose of their creation, namely: the protection and individualizing of the soul which they contain.
Now this being so, you can readily understand that man, when he gives up the coarser physical of the human body does not cease to be of the material but becomes an inhabitant of the finer and purer material of what is called his spirit body; and this body is subject to the laws governing the material just as was his physical body subject to these laws; and the spirit, which in this sense is the real man clothed in the material, controls and uses that material more effectually than it did when on earth, bound in the physical. All the material of the spirit world is used and formulated by the spirits according to their degree of intelligence and development as the occasions for such uses may arise, and such use or the effects of the same are or can be made known to man according as his limitations admit.
Ordinarily, man's understanding of the effects of the spirit's control of the material of the invisible world is limited by the capacity of his five senses to comprehend, and as these five senses were created for the purpose only of permitting or helping the spirit to manifest itself with reference to those things which belong to the wholly physical of earth, it rarely happens that men can perceive the invisible material or the workings of the laws controlling the same.
Now in what I have said, this spirit is merely the mind of man - the same indivisible mind that he possesses when on earth, but which because of the limitations of the physical organs, he was not able to function as regards the invisible material, so that man could understand that functioning and its results.
Man when he dies is thereafter the same being in all his faculties, desires and thoughts and in his ability to use the material as he was before his death, except that the purely physical organs of his own being are no longer his, and as to them he is dead; but strange as it may seem to you he can and often does control the physical organs of another man who is living in the flesh, if that man will submit to that control. And when you think for a moment you will realize that there is nothing remarkable in this. The mind of the spirit remains just the same as it was before his departure from the body, having all its powers and thoughts and consciousness, and if it can obtain control of that which is necessary to manifest itself to the consciousness of men, there will be no difficulty in its doing so, and nothing unusual or supernatural. Its own organs of brain and nerves and the five senses having gone, and the brain of every other mortal being subject to the control of its own mind, so long as that mind claims the exclusive use or control of these organs, the mind deprived of its own physical organs cannot control, because it is a Law of Being that no mind in its normal state can be intruded upon by another mind, and unless the mind whose seat and functioning are within the spirit body which is enclosed in the physical body possessing these organs, consents to the control of such organs by the other mind, it cannot use such organs. But the power is in the disembodied spirit or mind; only the opportunity is wanting.
When the spirit desires to control the invisible material, it is limited only by its intelligence and knowledge of the law governing such control, and its progress in the spirit spheres.
Well, I have written enough for tonight, but will come again and amplify my message. Thanking you, I will say, good night.
Your friend,
Francis Bacon
**********
Helen affirms that Francis Bacon wrote on the continuity of life after death.
I am here - your own true and loving Helen.
Well dear, I am glad that you are in condition to again receive the messages of the spirits who wish to write you in reference to things spiritual.
The spirit who wrote you was very anxious to do so, and we permitted him in order that you might gain some conception of what the material of the universe is, and the power that spirits have over such material. But this is not the nature of the messages that we wish to convey to you, and we will not permit ourselves to be interfered with very often in this particular, and until our messages are all delivered you must not think of such things.
The Master has been with you today and is well pleased at your way of thinking, and says that you will soon commence to receive the higher messages again, and we are all anxious to write. Keep up your prayers to the Father and your thoughts about the higher things of the spirit world.
As you have been drawn on a great deal tonight, I will not write further now and will only say that we all love you and will be with you to help you in your thoughts. So love us and say good night.
Your own true and loving
Helen
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
Let me write a few lines tonight upon a subject that has recently been discussed by a spiritualist, a preacher, a philosopher and a scientist, and that is the continuity of life after death of the physical body. Each of these writers approaches the subject from a different viewpoint, but all arrive at the same conclusion based upon different means of argument and, that is, that life continues after death.
The subject is one in which mankind is vitally interested and is worthy of consideration by the greatest minds of investigation and research, and should be studied in the light of nature as well as in that of actual demonstration by the experiences of those who have by their experiences proved to mankind that the spirits of their departed friends and acquaintances and of others of more or less distinction when in the physical life, do actually live and communicate to men their existence and the possession of the mental faculties and thoughts that were theirs when mortals.
The proper study of man would demonstrate this fact, and logically doubt would cease to exist, but the difficulty is that men do not understand man or his creation and faculties and his relationship to things of life known as the material or matter. It is a common belief that matter that is now existent, or rather that what men see and know of the material is all that is knowable, and that when that which is merely physical, as commonly understood, ceases to exist, no further or other knowledge of it can be obtained or understood by the finite mind of man.
But this accepted assumption is not true, and if man would only think for a moment of what matter or the material is, they would comprehend the possibilities of its workings and functionings and, also, of what use may be made of the same by the minds of the spirits operating upon it in the spiritual world; that is in the world beyond the comprehension of the five senses of men, which are only the means of the spirits working in the ordinary purview of the physical life.
Matter is eternal, and exists in all the spheres of the spirit world just as it does on earth, although in different forms and attenuations, and in conditions that may or may not be the objects of the physical senses, or of the senses of the mind, which are superior to or exclusive of these mere physical senses. Matter is, in its essential nature, the same, notwithstanding the fact that it assumes different forms - some visible to the ordinary senses of men and some entirely outside of that view or sensation, and as to these senses wholly nonexistent, yet to these other senses of the mind just as real and tractable and subject to the influence of the workings of the mind, as the merely physical matter is to the five senses of men.
The world in which men live is composed of the material, and the world in which I live is also composed of the material, of the same nature, but of different consistencies and objective qualities. The material of the universe is always material, whether or not it be cognizable by man and subject to his thoughts and inventions and uses; and as man progresses in the study of the same - I mean the practical and experimental - he will discover that there are things of the material in nature which to him are being developed and made known, and which a few years before he had no conception of their existence. Such is the discovery and use of electricity, and the workings of the Laws of Nature which enables him to make possible the effects of wireless telegraphy. These discoveries and workings of forces of the unseen are nothing more or less than a certain kind of knowledge controlling the same as to his consciousness has become apparent. But in all these operations, matter is the thing made use of and not any spiritual power as commonly understood by men. So you see matter, whether in the grossly physical of earth or in the more attenuated and invisible of the spirit world, is that which is used to produce effects and is operated on by the mind, whether or not it be tangible and understandable or not.
The mind is an entity indivisible and united, and is not separable into the subjective and objective as men frequently teach, except in this: that in its workings, that part of the mind which controls the brain in the ordinary affairs of life may be called the objective, and that part which is suited for and used in controlling the material after it has been transformed into the purely invisible may be called the subjective. But it is all one mind and exists in man while on earth, just as it will and does when he becomes a spirit.
Man in his journey through life, and I mean when in the earth existence as well as in the eternal part of his existence, is always of the material, that is his soul has a material covering and appearance, and while this material covering changes in its appearance and quality as he progresses in the spheres, yet the gross physical of his earth life and the sublimated spiritual of the eternal part of his life, are both of the material - real, existing and tangible - and used for the purpose of their creation, namely: the protection and individualizing of the soul which they contain.
Now this being so, you can readily understand that man, when he gives up the coarser physical of the human body does not cease to be of the material but becomes an inhabitant of the finer and purer material of what is called his spirit body; and this body is subject to the laws governing the material just as was his physical body subject to these laws; and the spirit, which in this sense is the real man clothed in the material, controls and uses that material more effectually than it did when on earth, bound in the physical. All the material of the spirit world is used and formulated by the spirits according to their degree of intelligence and development as the occasions for such uses may arise, and such use or the effects of the same are or can be made known to man according as his limitations admit.
Ordinarily, man's understanding of the effects of the spirit's control of the material of the invisible world is limited by the capacity of his five senses to comprehend, and as these five senses were created for the purpose only of permitting or helping the spirit to manifest itself with reference to those things which belong to the wholly physical of earth, it rarely happens that men can perceive the invisible material or the workings of the laws controlling the same.
Now in what I have said, this spirit is merely the mind of man - the same indivisible mind that he possesses when on earth, but which because of the limitations of the physical organs, he was not able to function as regards the invisible material, so that man could understand that functioning and its results.
Man when he dies is thereafter the same being in all his faculties, desires and thoughts and in his ability to use the material as he was before his death, except that the purely physical organs of his own being are no longer his, and as to them he is dead; but strange as it may seem to you he can and often does control the physical organs of another man who is living in the flesh, if that man will submit to that control. And when you think for a moment you will realize that there is nothing remarkable in this. The mind of the spirit remains just the same as it was before his departure from the body, having all its powers and thoughts and consciousness, and if it can obtain control of that which is necessary to manifest itself to the consciousness of men, there will be no difficulty in its doing so, and nothing unusual or supernatural. Its own organs of brain and nerves and the five senses having gone, and the brain of every other mortal being subject to the control of its own mind, so long as that mind claims the exclusive use or control of these organs, the mind deprived of its own physical organs cannot control, because it is a Law of Being that no mind in its normal state can be intruded upon by another mind, and unless the mind whose seat and functioning are within the spirit body which is enclosed in the physical body possessing these organs, consents to the control of such organs by the other mind, it cannot use such organs. But the power is in the disembodied spirit or mind; only the opportunity is wanting.
When the spirit desires to control the invisible material, it is limited only by its intelligence and knowledge of the law governing such control, and its progress in the spirit spheres.
Well, I have written enough for tonight, but will come again and amplify my message. Thanking you, I will say, good night.
Your friend,
Francis Bacon
**********
Helen affirms that Francis Bacon wrote on the continuity of life after death.
I am here - your own true and loving Helen.
Well dear, I am glad that you are in condition to again receive the messages of the spirits who wish to write you in reference to things spiritual.
The spirit who wrote you was very anxious to do so, and we permitted him in order that you might gain some conception of what the material of the universe is, and the power that spirits have over such material. But this is not the nature of the messages that we wish to convey to you, and we will not permit ourselves to be interfered with very often in this particular, and until our messages are all delivered you must not think of such things.
The Master has been with you today and is well pleased at your way of thinking, and says that you will soon commence to receive the higher messages again, and we are all anxious to write. Keep up your prayers to the Father and your thoughts about the higher things of the spirit world.
As you have been drawn on a great deal tonight, I will not write further now and will only say that we all love you and will be with you to help you in your thoughts. So love us and say good night.
Your own true and loving
Helen
Friday, August 8, 2014
Dr. Arbelee's Father Writes a Message to His Son About Divine Love and Life in the Spirit World
April 24, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, your father.
Let me write for I desire to tell my son (Dr. Arbelee) that I am with him in his sickness and am trying to help him and make him feel that there is more in life than the merely physical living.
I know that he has often felt that I am with him in my love and desire to help and encourage him in his afflictions, and his feelings are true, for with me there has never ceased to be the love and affections that were mine when in the flesh, and so long as he shall remain a mortal my love and care will be with him in all their fullness.
I am in the spirit world, which is very close to his world and am not very different from what I was when on earth, except that now I have not a fleshly body and cares and distractions of my physical living to disturb my happiness. I am in the Fifth Sphere, where all is so beautiful and bright, and where the Love of the Father is so abundant that we are happy all the time and enjoy that bliss which Jesus told his followers was in store for them when they should give up the ghost and enter into their rest, which is a rest in action and work.
I was with you last night when the gentlemen called (Mr. Padgett) and explained to you the truths of the existence of a soul that has been transformed by the Love of the Father and brought into at-onement with Him, and I want you to believe in this Great Love. Your days on earth, at the longest, will be very short and then you will have to come to the spirit world and leave behind you all the ambitions and accumulations of your earth life, and if you have not laid up your treasures in Heaven, you will be very poor indeed. Oh my son, realize that the pleasures and desires and efforts of earth life are but fleeting and for a moment only, and that then comes the great problem of living in eternity, and that the thoughts and deeds of that earthly existence comes with you to condemn or make you happy.
The great law of "whatsoever a man sows, that shall he reap" is in full force and exacts every part of the penalty that the life of a man for good or evil imposes upon him. There is no exception to the workings of this law and the full penalty must be paid until forgiveness comes, and then the demand ceases, and the soul emerges from its condition of suffering and darkness, a purified and redeemed soul. But forgiveness is not the mere release from or remission of these penalties, by the mere arbitrary dictum of God, as you are so often taught by the preachers, but it is forgetfulness.
That is forgetfulness - an oblivion as it were - of the acts and deeds that bring into operation the great law, and men when they become spirits must work into this forgetfulness in a slow and laborious manner. I say men must work, for on themselves depends to a large extent, their own redemption. No miracle will be performed, for as is said, the mills of the gods grind true but they grind exceeding small, and the spirit will have to pay the last penalty; and this must be so, as you will readily see, for the soul must in order to get into the condition of harmony with the laws of God, become purified and relieved of everything that would make it inharmonious. No soul can live in a purer state than its own qualities possess. And here let me say that no mere belief or sacraments or observance of church dogmas can bring about this purification. It is a work within the soul, and man must do the work.
Now, my son, I write all this to show you how inexorable is this great law of which the Master spoke when on earth, and which in its exactions never change. It has no mercy and admits of no shortcut to the goal of the purified soul. How few of mortals really understand the workings of this law, but in a careless and complacent manner depend upon the forgiveness of priests and preachers and the mysterious workings of some assurances of the church's dogmas.
So you will see the necessity for men to commence as early as possible to practice the renunciation and turning away from these things that contaminate and defile the soul; but, alas, as their lives on earth continue, most men, instead of renouncing these things, accumulate and add to them and come to the spirit world all burdened and filled with thoughts and acts that defile. And as they are the accumulations of many years of earth life, so many years will be required for these men, when they become spirits, to get rid of these things and false hopes and beliefs will not help them in the slightest, but frequently seem only to retard the purification of their souls.
If this were men's destiny, implacable and irrevocable, men would be in an almost hopeless and unforgiven condition. Indeed, forgetfulness would come only in a slow and sinuous way, and they would shed many tears and suffer much groaning before they could feel themselves forgiven. And this will be the lot of most men, but in the end forgetfulness will come and they will find happiness.
But my son, thanks be to God, the Father of us all, there is another provision of the Father which exists and is freely given to all men who will seek for it, and that is the Divine Love of the Father, in which are forgetfulness and mercy and oblivion of the thoughts and acts of earth, and which is greater than the great Law of Compensation, of which I have just written. When this Love comes into the soul of man, with it comes forgetfulness, which is the only forgiveness in the economy of God, and the demands of the Law of Compensation cease, and the soul becomes freed from the law. As Paul has said, then is a man without the law.
And with this Love comes a happiness and joy that no man can conceive of, and the possessor of it knows that he has become a part of God's divinity and immortality. Now, this Love does not come all at once in its fullness, but as a still small voice, it tenderly and timidly answers the call of the heart that cries for it in earnestness and faith, and as it is nurtured it grows stronger and more soul-possessing, and makes its presence felt to the supplicant. Unless it is earnestly sought for, it never comes into the soul but passes by unseen and in silence because the soul will not seek its possession.
You, my son, heard the way in which it may be obtained, and I urge upon you, with all your strength and longings of soul, to seek for it, and if you do, it will not refuse to enter into your soul, and you will know it, and then your start will be made not only towards forgiveness and forgetfulness - but towards the transformation of your soul into the very Love and Essence of the Father, and a progress that will last through all eternity.
I am the possessor of that Love and know whereof I speak, and to me comes the great assurance of a life continuous and never dying, filled with the bliss of angels and the joy of a redeemed soul. Oh, I do so much want you to obtain this Love and become one of us, who know that when death left us life took its place, bringing to us a knowledge that immortality was ours.
Well my son, I must stop writing. I have written in this way because I am more interested in your immortal soul than I am in your mere physical body, which will perish and be no more. But the soul, the great wanting, loving, hating, happy, suffering thing that it is!
I will be with you very often in my love and try to help you, and if you will think of me intently, I will impress you with my presence. I must stop now as the rapport is weakening. Good night,
Your father,
Arbelee
**********
Helen affirms that the father of Dr. Arbelee wrote to him, giving advice.
I am here, your own true and loving Helen:
Well dear, I am glad that you received a letter from the father of the sick man. He wanted so much to write and was here ready to do so as soon as you gave him the opportunity. He is a spirit who is in Fifth Sphere and has in his soul much of the Divine Love, and is so anxious that his son shall receive the benefit of the Great Gift of the Father and live the life that only those who know what Heavenly joy and immortality is. He was very thankful that he could write and he says that sometime he wants to come and write of his experience in becoming awakened to the truth of God's Love and his acceptance as one of his children.
So love us all and believe that we love you. Good night,
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, your father.
Let me write for I desire to tell my son (Dr. Arbelee) that I am with him in his sickness and am trying to help him and make him feel that there is more in life than the merely physical living.
I know that he has often felt that I am with him in my love and desire to help and encourage him in his afflictions, and his feelings are true, for with me there has never ceased to be the love and affections that were mine when in the flesh, and so long as he shall remain a mortal my love and care will be with him in all their fullness.
I am in the spirit world, which is very close to his world and am not very different from what I was when on earth, except that now I have not a fleshly body and cares and distractions of my physical living to disturb my happiness. I am in the Fifth Sphere, where all is so beautiful and bright, and where the Love of the Father is so abundant that we are happy all the time and enjoy that bliss which Jesus told his followers was in store for them when they should give up the ghost and enter into their rest, which is a rest in action and work.
I was with you last night when the gentlemen called (Mr. Padgett) and explained to you the truths of the existence of a soul that has been transformed by the Love of the Father and brought into at-onement with Him, and I want you to believe in this Great Love. Your days on earth, at the longest, will be very short and then you will have to come to the spirit world and leave behind you all the ambitions and accumulations of your earth life, and if you have not laid up your treasures in Heaven, you will be very poor indeed. Oh my son, realize that the pleasures and desires and efforts of earth life are but fleeting and for a moment only, and that then comes the great problem of living in eternity, and that the thoughts and deeds of that earthly existence comes with you to condemn or make you happy.
The great law of "whatsoever a man sows, that shall he reap" is in full force and exacts every part of the penalty that the life of a man for good or evil imposes upon him. There is no exception to the workings of this law and the full penalty must be paid until forgiveness comes, and then the demand ceases, and the soul emerges from its condition of suffering and darkness, a purified and redeemed soul. But forgiveness is not the mere release from or remission of these penalties, by the mere arbitrary dictum of God, as you are so often taught by the preachers, but it is forgetfulness.
That is forgetfulness - an oblivion as it were - of the acts and deeds that bring into operation the great law, and men when they become spirits must work into this forgetfulness in a slow and laborious manner. I say men must work, for on themselves depends to a large extent, their own redemption. No miracle will be performed, for as is said, the mills of the gods grind true but they grind exceeding small, and the spirit will have to pay the last penalty; and this must be so, as you will readily see, for the soul must in order to get into the condition of harmony with the laws of God, become purified and relieved of everything that would make it inharmonious. No soul can live in a purer state than its own qualities possess. And here let me say that no mere belief or sacraments or observance of church dogmas can bring about this purification. It is a work within the soul, and man must do the work.
Now, my son, I write all this to show you how inexorable is this great law of which the Master spoke when on earth, and which in its exactions never change. It has no mercy and admits of no shortcut to the goal of the purified soul. How few of mortals really understand the workings of this law, but in a careless and complacent manner depend upon the forgiveness of priests and preachers and the mysterious workings of some assurances of the church's dogmas.
So you will see the necessity for men to commence as early as possible to practice the renunciation and turning away from these things that contaminate and defile the soul; but, alas, as their lives on earth continue, most men, instead of renouncing these things, accumulate and add to them and come to the spirit world all burdened and filled with thoughts and acts that defile. And as they are the accumulations of many years of earth life, so many years will be required for these men, when they become spirits, to get rid of these things and false hopes and beliefs will not help them in the slightest, but frequently seem only to retard the purification of their souls.
If this were men's destiny, implacable and irrevocable, men would be in an almost hopeless and unforgiven condition. Indeed, forgetfulness would come only in a slow and sinuous way, and they would shed many tears and suffer much groaning before they could feel themselves forgiven. And this will be the lot of most men, but in the end forgetfulness will come and they will find happiness.
But my son, thanks be to God, the Father of us all, there is another provision of the Father which exists and is freely given to all men who will seek for it, and that is the Divine Love of the Father, in which are forgetfulness and mercy and oblivion of the thoughts and acts of earth, and which is greater than the great Law of Compensation, of which I have just written. When this Love comes into the soul of man, with it comes forgetfulness, which is the only forgiveness in the economy of God, and the demands of the Law of Compensation cease, and the soul becomes freed from the law. As Paul has said, then is a man without the law.
And with this Love comes a happiness and joy that no man can conceive of, and the possessor of it knows that he has become a part of God's divinity and immortality. Now, this Love does not come all at once in its fullness, but as a still small voice, it tenderly and timidly answers the call of the heart that cries for it in earnestness and faith, and as it is nurtured it grows stronger and more soul-possessing, and makes its presence felt to the supplicant. Unless it is earnestly sought for, it never comes into the soul but passes by unseen and in silence because the soul will not seek its possession.
You, my son, heard the way in which it may be obtained, and I urge upon you, with all your strength and longings of soul, to seek for it, and if you do, it will not refuse to enter into your soul, and you will know it, and then your start will be made not only towards forgiveness and forgetfulness - but towards the transformation of your soul into the very Love and Essence of the Father, and a progress that will last through all eternity.
I am the possessor of that Love and know whereof I speak, and to me comes the great assurance of a life continuous and never dying, filled with the bliss of angels and the joy of a redeemed soul. Oh, I do so much want you to obtain this Love and become one of us, who know that when death left us life took its place, bringing to us a knowledge that immortality was ours.
Well my son, I must stop writing. I have written in this way because I am more interested in your immortal soul than I am in your mere physical body, which will perish and be no more. But the soul, the great wanting, loving, hating, happy, suffering thing that it is!
I will be with you very often in my love and try to help you, and if you will think of me intently, I will impress you with my presence. I must stop now as the rapport is weakening. Good night,
Your father,
Arbelee
**********
Helen affirms that the father of Dr. Arbelee wrote to him, giving advice.
I am here, your own true and loving Helen:
Well dear, I am glad that you received a letter from the father of the sick man. He wanted so much to write and was here ready to do so as soon as you gave him the opportunity. He is a spirit who is in Fifth Sphere and has in his soul much of the Divine Love, and is so anxious that his son shall receive the benefit of the Great Gift of the Father and live the life that only those who know what Heavenly joy and immortality is. He was very thankful that he could write and he says that sometime he wants to come and write of his experience in becoming awakened to the truth of God's Love and his acceptance as one of his children.
So love us all and believe that we love you. Good night,
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Helen Writes about the book, "The Life Beyond Death," that Mr. Padgett was Reading
April 19, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, your own true and loving Helen.
Well my dear, I see that you have been very much interested in the book (“The Life Beyond Death” by Yogi Ramasharaka) that you have been reading, and also in many of the truths that it contains, as well as in many untruths that are set forth.
The writer of the book knows not as a fact the things that he has therein written, but has compiled the statements from other works that were written, long ago by men who were of the oriental religions, and who wrote as they conceived the truth of existence to be, both in the earth world and in the spirit world. They were possessed of a combination of concepts that came to them in their moments of meditation and in their moments of being wide awake to the conditions of the present life, I mean the earth life. They are not authority, and while they have many of the truths of the other side of life, yet they must not be relied on for definite and authoritative information.
I will come soon and write to you on the subject of the rebirth or reincarnation, and show you that it has no foundation in fact or in the economy of God's creation of the human soul. Man, when he once gives up his earth life, never returns to it again in the way described in the book, but only in his spirit form, as I am now doing.
Well, dear, you are in better condition tonight, and the higher spirits will soon come and write you. The Master is not here tonight,1 as he has gone to the Celestial Heavens, where he may not hear the praise and worship ascend to him as God, and the redeemer of the world by his death and resurrection, subjects which are wholly untrue and very distasteful to him.
If men would only understand the true resurrection, how much they would be benefited and progress in their soul development. He arose from the dead while yet living, and when his physical death took place, the resurrection had already occurred, and the truth of the resurrection from the dead had already been demonstrated. He will soon come and write you.
I will not write more now, and with my love will say, good night.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, your own true and loving Helen.
Well my dear, I see that you have been very much interested in the book (“The Life Beyond Death” by Yogi Ramasharaka) that you have been reading, and also in many of the truths that it contains, as well as in many untruths that are set forth.
The writer of the book knows not as a fact the things that he has therein written, but has compiled the statements from other works that were written, long ago by men who were of the oriental religions, and who wrote as they conceived the truth of existence to be, both in the earth world and in the spirit world. They were possessed of a combination of concepts that came to them in their moments of meditation and in their moments of being wide awake to the conditions of the present life, I mean the earth life. They are not authority, and while they have many of the truths of the other side of life, yet they must not be relied on for definite and authoritative information.
I will come soon and write to you on the subject of the rebirth or reincarnation, and show you that it has no foundation in fact or in the economy of God's creation of the human soul. Man, when he once gives up his earth life, never returns to it again in the way described in the book, but only in his spirit form, as I am now doing.
Well, dear, you are in better condition tonight, and the higher spirits will soon come and write you. The Master is not here tonight,1 as he has gone to the Celestial Heavens, where he may not hear the praise and worship ascend to him as God, and the redeemer of the world by his death and resurrection, subjects which are wholly untrue and very distasteful to him.
If men would only understand the true resurrection, how much they would be benefited and progress in their soul development. He arose from the dead while yet living, and when his physical death took place, the resurrection had already occurred, and the truth of the resurrection from the dead had already been demonstrated. He will soon come and write you.
I will not write more now, and with my love will say, good night.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Thursday, July 31, 2014
John D. Rogers Was Attracted to Mr. Padgett at the Seance He Attended and Seeks Help Out of Darkness
March 23, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
Let me write a line, John D. Rogers.
I was with you at the meeting and saw that you are mediumistic, and I felt that I should like to communicate with you for a short time.
I am one of the spirits who frequently attend the meetings of the medium (Mrs. Kates) whom you heard speak tonight and give to some of the people the messages from their loved ones, and I was very anxious to communicate also, but had not the opportunity. I am a man who was known to several of the persons present and would have been recognized had my name been mentioned and would have been gladly received.
I am very unhappy in my present condition and surroundings and want to learn the way to get out of darkness and unhappiness. I know that the friends of mine who were present think that I am a happy spirit and can come to them and help them in their worldly affairs, when the fact is, that I cannot, and that they can help me more than I can help them; and I wish that they would do so. It is terrible to be left in the condition in which I am, with no light, or the way to get into the light left open to me.
I never know when to ask for help, for something always comes forward to interfere with my efforts, and I am relegated to my awful condition of darkness in which I have been since I came to spirit life. It is a mistake for mediums to believe or teach that we all are in a happy condition when we come to the spirit world, for such is not the case and many a spirit comes to his relatives and for the purpose of relieving them of any fear as to his condition, tells them that he is happy, when he is not.
Well, I came with you hoping that you might help me some, if only by your sympathy and kind thoughts, which do so much good to spirits situated as I am; and I believe that you would probably send up a prayer for my relief. I was not a very good man when on earth and am now paying the penalty for my evil thoughts and deeds.
My friends thought that I was good, but in this they were mistaken, and many a man who considers himself good, as men generally go, will find that in the storehouse of his memory are the records of many thoughts and deeds that he had forgotten, but which when he comes to spirit life will come upon him in all their nakedness and horror to be atoned for in the way that the laws of God require. I am not a Christian, though when on earth I believed in the creeds of my church and considered myself a very good church member, and was certain that I would be among the redeemed when I should come to meet the great revealer of things as they are, I mean death.
No, the truth cannot be hidden by belief, or anything but truth itself. We must all face the great revelation, and when it comes, it will not show us to be free from sin and defilement, as I thought when on earth. I must pay the penalty, and the great law will work in my case as certainly as that the sun will rise on your world tomorrow morning.
I have seen such spirits, but only as you see ghosts as you believe. I have never had any conversation with them and do not know that they can do me any good, or that they desire to help me. But why do you ask?
Well, I see a spirit, and he is exceeding bright and beautiful and comes to me and tells me that he will help me if I will only believe what he tells me and follow his advice. I am going with him and do my best to do as he advises. He says that I will find relief and light. I must go, so good night.
Your friend,
John D. Rogers
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
Let me write a line, John D. Rogers.
I was with you at the meeting and saw that you are mediumistic, and I felt that I should like to communicate with you for a short time.
I am one of the spirits who frequently attend the meetings of the medium (Mrs. Kates) whom you heard speak tonight and give to some of the people the messages from their loved ones, and I was very anxious to communicate also, but had not the opportunity. I am a man who was known to several of the persons present and would have been recognized had my name been mentioned and would have been gladly received.
I am very unhappy in my present condition and surroundings and want to learn the way to get out of darkness and unhappiness. I know that the friends of mine who were present think that I am a happy spirit and can come to them and help them in their worldly affairs, when the fact is, that I cannot, and that they can help me more than I can help them; and I wish that they would do so. It is terrible to be left in the condition in which I am, with no light, or the way to get into the light left open to me.
I never know when to ask for help, for something always comes forward to interfere with my efforts, and I am relegated to my awful condition of darkness in which I have been since I came to spirit life. It is a mistake for mediums to believe or teach that we all are in a happy condition when we come to the spirit world, for such is not the case and many a spirit comes to his relatives and for the purpose of relieving them of any fear as to his condition, tells them that he is happy, when he is not.
Well, I came with you hoping that you might help me some, if only by your sympathy and kind thoughts, which do so much good to spirits situated as I am; and I believe that you would probably send up a prayer for my relief. I was not a very good man when on earth and am now paying the penalty for my evil thoughts and deeds.
My friends thought that I was good, but in this they were mistaken, and many a man who considers himself good, as men generally go, will find that in the storehouse of his memory are the records of many thoughts and deeds that he had forgotten, but which when he comes to spirit life will come upon him in all their nakedness and horror to be atoned for in the way that the laws of God require. I am not a Christian, though when on earth I believed in the creeds of my church and considered myself a very good church member, and was certain that I would be among the redeemed when I should come to meet the great revealer of things as they are, I mean death.
No, the truth cannot be hidden by belief, or anything but truth itself. We must all face the great revelation, and when it comes, it will not show us to be free from sin and defilement, as I thought when on earth. I must pay the penalty, and the great law will work in my case as certainly as that the sun will rise on your world tomorrow morning.
I have seen such spirits, but only as you see ghosts as you believe. I have never had any conversation with them and do not know that they can do me any good, or that they desire to help me. But why do you ask?
Well, I see a spirit, and he is exceeding bright and beautiful and comes to me and tells me that he will help me if I will only believe what he tells me and follow his advice. I am going with him and do my best to do as he advises. He says that I will find relief and light. I must go, so good night.
Your friend,
John D. Rogers
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
George Butler Writes of His Progress From the Hells to the Third Sphere
March 15, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, George Butler.
I would like to write a few lines tonight, if you are agreeable. A long time ago I wrote you describing my condition and that of the hells in which I was then living, and you were kind enough to help me and bring me in association with some bright spirits who were willing to show me the way out of my awful condition, and who since that time have been helping me with their love and sympathy and prayers; and now I am happy to tell you that I have gotten out of my darkness and am progressing towards the heavens, which a development and transformation of the soul by the inflowing of the Divine Love leads to.
Tonight, I desire to express to you my thankfulness and gratitude for the great service you did me and to say that in all the spirit world, there is not one who feels more conscious of the truth which your advice leads to in the salvation of his soul and the redemption from an existence of darkness and suffering, than do I.
I cannot convey to you any conception of what this redemption means to me, or of the wonderful difference of condition in a soul that has experienced the possession of this Love, and one that remains in ignorance of the blessings that it confers. What I wrote you then, I now repeat, that the hell of a soul which is all tainted and permeated with the results of an earth life of sin and error is wholly true and the contrast between souls in the two states of existence is impossible of description.
When you spoke to me of the probability of my release from the hells and told me that this Great Love would work out my deliverance, I confess that I had very little faith in what you told me, and thought that you were trying to impose on me some of the old nonsensical beliefs of your church doctrines, of which I had heard a great deal when on earth; and when the bright spirits came to me and confirmed what you had said and offered their services in accordance with what you had advised me was the certain way to my obtaining a new state of living, I thought that it was an illusion or delusion, and that no results could possibly come to me by pursuing the course that they told me would surely lead to a change of my condition. But they were so earnest and so anxious that I should listen to them and seemed to have so much love for me and my welfare, which was a new experience for me since I had been in hells that I commenced to think that such evidence of friendship and anxiety for my betterment must have some foundation of truth, and that I would not lose anything by heeding their advice and making the effort to pursue the way pointed out to me.
And so I commenced to pray for the Love, and they prayed with me, and in a little while their Father appeared to me in a new light - not just real, but as something that might have a potential existence. I continued to pray and listen to their prayers, and my emotions were aroused, and I felt a kind of happiness that I had not before felt, and a feeling of hope that there might be some efficacy in their prayers, but had not much faith in my own; and notwithstanding my incredulity, I realized that I felt better in the atmosphere of their presence and in the influence that their prayers seemed to bring around me. They were very kind and sympathetic, and so wonderfully patient, and impressed me with the feeling that my soul's salvation, as they termed it, and the deliverance of me from my unhappy and suffering condition were to them matters of personal interest and importance; and, of course, with such feelings I soon commenced to think that if these beautiful spirits could have such interest in me, I should have interest in myself sufficient to earnestly seek for the relief that I so much needed.
Well, I then put more desire and longings in my prayers and tried to look upon their Father, as possibly my Father also, and so my longings became more real and intense. I prayed and called upon the Father to give me this Love and to cause me to have faith in prayer and in the Being to whom my prayers were offered. I will not tell you how earnestly I continued to pray and how the first faint realization of the answer came to me and with it the consciousness of a hope that might be fulfilled. After a while, this Love came to me and with it a feeling of happiness that I had never conceived of, and also the conviction that these spirits were showing and helping me on the true way to a redemption of soul and body, also, for as you may know, I had then and have now a body more substantial and real than the one which I possessed when on earth.
I will not here describe my progress or the different experiences that I had, nor the faith nor doubts that came to me in succession. I persisted, with the encouragement of these spirits, and after awhile found myself out of the darkness and sufferings and the hells, real and terrible, and an inhabitant of a brighter sphere and in the association of brighter spirits, who, though not like the beautiful spirits who had so lovingly worked with me, yet, were very different from those whom I had left in the darkness and the hells.
I am now in the Third Sphere, and if I had the time, or rather if I felt justified in consuming your time, I would describe to you as best I could, what this sphere is, and the wonderful beauty and happiness that belongs to it. Sometime, I hope to have the opportunity to attempt to portray the wonders of this sphere, and more particularly of my home and surroundings.
Tonight, as I have said, I merely desire to express to you my gratitude and to assure you of the truth and the results of what you told me was the true way to light and happiness. Never through all eternity shall I forget your kindness and the great help that you gave me, nor shall I cease to remember you in my prayers to the Father, whom I now know is a true, real, existing and loving Father. Oh, the difference in the condition of the Butler in hell and the Butler who is now writing you is beyond all description, and this Love, which is the greatest thing in all the universe and the greatest gift to mortals, is the cause thereof.
I must stop writing, although I should like to write longer, for I have already intruded too long. So remember my gratitude, and also that I am now a very happy
George Butler
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, George Butler.
I would like to write a few lines tonight, if you are agreeable. A long time ago I wrote you describing my condition and that of the hells in which I was then living, and you were kind enough to help me and bring me in association with some bright spirits who were willing to show me the way out of my awful condition, and who since that time have been helping me with their love and sympathy and prayers; and now I am happy to tell you that I have gotten out of my darkness and am progressing towards the heavens, which a development and transformation of the soul by the inflowing of the Divine Love leads to.
Tonight, I desire to express to you my thankfulness and gratitude for the great service you did me and to say that in all the spirit world, there is not one who feels more conscious of the truth which your advice leads to in the salvation of his soul and the redemption from an existence of darkness and suffering, than do I.
I cannot convey to you any conception of what this redemption means to me, or of the wonderful difference of condition in a soul that has experienced the possession of this Love, and one that remains in ignorance of the blessings that it confers. What I wrote you then, I now repeat, that the hell of a soul which is all tainted and permeated with the results of an earth life of sin and error is wholly true and the contrast between souls in the two states of existence is impossible of description.
When you spoke to me of the probability of my release from the hells and told me that this Great Love would work out my deliverance, I confess that I had very little faith in what you told me, and thought that you were trying to impose on me some of the old nonsensical beliefs of your church doctrines, of which I had heard a great deal when on earth; and when the bright spirits came to me and confirmed what you had said and offered their services in accordance with what you had advised me was the certain way to my obtaining a new state of living, I thought that it was an illusion or delusion, and that no results could possibly come to me by pursuing the course that they told me would surely lead to a change of my condition. But they were so earnest and so anxious that I should listen to them and seemed to have so much love for me and my welfare, which was a new experience for me since I had been in hells that I commenced to think that such evidence of friendship and anxiety for my betterment must have some foundation of truth, and that I would not lose anything by heeding their advice and making the effort to pursue the way pointed out to me.
And so I commenced to pray for the Love, and they prayed with me, and in a little while their Father appeared to me in a new light - not just real, but as something that might have a potential existence. I continued to pray and listen to their prayers, and my emotions were aroused, and I felt a kind of happiness that I had not before felt, and a feeling of hope that there might be some efficacy in their prayers, but had not much faith in my own; and notwithstanding my incredulity, I realized that I felt better in the atmosphere of their presence and in the influence that their prayers seemed to bring around me. They were very kind and sympathetic, and so wonderfully patient, and impressed me with the feeling that my soul's salvation, as they termed it, and the deliverance of me from my unhappy and suffering condition were to them matters of personal interest and importance; and, of course, with such feelings I soon commenced to think that if these beautiful spirits could have such interest in me, I should have interest in myself sufficient to earnestly seek for the relief that I so much needed.
Well, I then put more desire and longings in my prayers and tried to look upon their Father, as possibly my Father also, and so my longings became more real and intense. I prayed and called upon the Father to give me this Love and to cause me to have faith in prayer and in the Being to whom my prayers were offered. I will not tell you how earnestly I continued to pray and how the first faint realization of the answer came to me and with it the consciousness of a hope that might be fulfilled. After a while, this Love came to me and with it a feeling of happiness that I had never conceived of, and also the conviction that these spirits were showing and helping me on the true way to a redemption of soul and body, also, for as you may know, I had then and have now a body more substantial and real than the one which I possessed when on earth.
I will not here describe my progress or the different experiences that I had, nor the faith nor doubts that came to me in succession. I persisted, with the encouragement of these spirits, and after awhile found myself out of the darkness and sufferings and the hells, real and terrible, and an inhabitant of a brighter sphere and in the association of brighter spirits, who, though not like the beautiful spirits who had so lovingly worked with me, yet, were very different from those whom I had left in the darkness and the hells.
I am now in the Third Sphere, and if I had the time, or rather if I felt justified in consuming your time, I would describe to you as best I could, what this sphere is, and the wonderful beauty and happiness that belongs to it. Sometime, I hope to have the opportunity to attempt to portray the wonders of this sphere, and more particularly of my home and surroundings.
Tonight, as I have said, I merely desire to express to you my gratitude and to assure you of the truth and the results of what you told me was the true way to light and happiness. Never through all eternity shall I forget your kindness and the great help that you gave me, nor shall I cease to remember you in my prayers to the Father, whom I now know is a true, real, existing and loving Father. Oh, the difference in the condition of the Butler in hell and the Butler who is now writing you is beyond all description, and this Love, which is the greatest thing in all the universe and the greatest gift to mortals, is the cause thereof.
I must stop writing, although I should like to write longer, for I have already intruded too long. So remember my gratitude, and also that I am now a very happy
George Butler
Sunday, July 27, 2014
St. Luke Writes on the Erroneous Teachings of the New Thought Movement
March 9, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
St. Luke.
Let me write a few lines tonight as you are in better condition, and I am able to make a rapport with you and deliver my message.
I was with you today at a meeting of the New Thought people and saw the impression made upon you by the speaker in his efforts to show that God is within man, and that only the opening up of the soul or mind of man to the development of that God is all that is necessary to bring that man into a perfect at-onement with the truths of God's Will.
Well, I have to say that this speaker, when he comes to a realization of himself in the spirit world, will find that God is not in him or in anything that he may have possessed in his earth life; and that his development of the kingdom within him, as he termed it, was a mere delusion and a snare to the progress of his soul in its career through the earth life, as well as through the Heavens or spirit world.
He is mistaken when he announces that the Kingdom of Heaven is within him, or that he has that within him which can, by its development, lead to the condition of the perfect man, in the sense that he spoke of. He is following a false way, and all the efforts that he may make will not lead him into the paths that end in the perfect man that partakes of the Father's Divinity.
He is also mistaken when he asserts that God is everywhere - in the flowers and in the thoughts of men and in the heart - for God does not find his habitation in any of these things, and men do not live and move and have their being in Him. He is a distinct and individual entity and is not spread over all His universe, as the preacher proclaimed, and can only be found by the longings of the soul followed by a development of that soul in His Love. No, God is in His Heavens, and man can reach Him only by the persistent longings of that soul for the inflowing of His Love.
These things that the preacher declared were the presence of God are only the expressions of His being, and they do not declare His presence in any other sense than as the evidence of His existence - in His habitation, from which these expressions flow and make known to man His presence, as these things reflect it.
I am sorry that this speaker has not more knowledge of the true God, and of His seat of habitation, for then he would realize that these things upon which he places so much belief as being the very God, Himself, are but the expressions that flow from Him.
Man has within him that which has in itself wonderful possibilities - I mean the soul. And it may, by the observance of the way that transforms it into a Divine Angel, become Divine itself, or it may only by the slow process of renunciation become merely the perfect man with his natural love in a pure state, which was the condition of the first parents. If men will listen to the call to their souls, they will realize this possibility and receive this Divinity, and with it, immortality; but without this transformation they never can become other or greater than the perfect man.
I know that men teach that there is implanted within the souls of all men, that which is capable of being developed into an existence like unto God, that man needs only this development in order to become a God, and that there is nothing else necessary to make a human soul a part of the Soul of God. But in this teaching men are mistaken and will find themselves, at the stage of their highest development, nothing more than the perfect man.
Man has within him only that with which he was created and can of himself add not one thing that will change him from this condition of his creation. It is true that he can by a right course of thinking and living renounce those things that have tainted his soul and alienated it from the Father and made it sinful and disobedient; but when this is done, he is still only the perfect man, and nothing of the Divine is in him.
Jesus was the perfect man and, as such, was an exemplar of what all men will ultimately become; and if Jesus had never become more than the perfect man, he would not now be an inhabitant of the Celestial Heavens and the beloved Son of the Father. Yet he became more than the perfect man, and it was only after he attained to this condition of excellence, that he could say, "I and my Father are one," for it was then only that he possessed the Divine Love to that degree which made him at-one with the Father.
Only he is at-one with the Father that realizes that he is possessed of the very nature and Essence of the Father, and there is only one way in which this can be obtained, and that is by the inflowing into the soul of the Divine Love. Jesus could not say to the multitude that they were at-one with him and with the Father, for they had only the natural love and had not experienced the transformation of their souls; and such sayings as this were addressed only to his disciples, or to those among his hearers that had received this Love.
The speaker spoke of the New Birth, but had no conception of what it meant and, like many other teachers in and out of the churches, believes that a mere condition of the purification of the natural love constitutes this New Birth, and that that is all Jesus meant when he taught the necessity of being Born Again. There is only one way in which this New Birth can be brought about, and that you already know.
As to the moral truths taught by the Master, such as are referred to in the Sermon on the Mount, undoubtedly they will, if observed in the heart, bring about a regeneration of the soul that will lead men to the glory of the perfect man and make him at-one with the laws of his creation. This condition is devoutly to be wished for and sought after by all men, and when they attain to this condition they will experience the beatitudes that are mentioned in the sermon; but this is only the state of the perfect man and nothing of the Divine enters into their condition.
"New Thought," as it is called, has in it something that is an improvement on orthodoxy, and men will be the better if they will embrace some of its teachings. The great stumbling blocks of the Trinity, and the vicarious atonement and the blood would be moved from the worship of men, and they would then rely on the moral truths in the development of their souls for salvation, and would not rest supinely in the belief of the efficacy of the vicarious atonement. But some other things that it teaches are all wrong, and its followers will find when they come to the spirit world that there is a God to be worshipped, and that man has not within him that God to be developed by his own thoughts and deeds.
I know that according to the orthodox teachings too little is thought of the natural goodness of man, and too much emphasis placed in his innate depravity, and that nothing in man is worthy of the release from the sin and disobedience in which he is now living; and that of himself he can do nothing to bring about his purification and restoration to his original condition of the perfect man. This is wrong, for very largely upon man's efforts depends his redemption; "and as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." He is naturally good, and his present condition was brought about by his permitting his soul to be contaminated with sin, and to become again good he needs only to pursue that way that will remove sin and its consequences from his soul.
Man created sin, and he will have to remove sin, and the process will be slow, but ultimately it will be accomplished, and by the efforts of man himself. He will be helped by spirits who are God's ministering angels in these efforts, but upon him depends the removal of that which he created and imposed. And here let me say, that unless man wills it, he will forever remain in sin, and God will not, contrary to man's desires, make him a pure and undefiled being; and man's belief, unaccompanied by striving and seeking, will not be sufficient to bring about this remedy.
The speaker is a good man, and has experienced to a large degree the workings of his own will upon the conditions of his soul, and knows that his own efforts have caused him to renounce many things that tended to defile him and cause doubt, and in this condition realizes much happiness, and thinks that he is of himself sufficient to attain to that which will bring him into a perfect unison with the God that he thinks is within him. In this he is deceiving himself, for what he thinks is God is only an unusual condition of soul development in its natural love, that gives him a happiness which causes him to believe that God must be in and a part of him.
As you have been told, the happiness of the purified soul is beyond all conception of humans, and the nearer a man approaches to that condition of purification of his soul, the greater becomes his happiness, and the belief that God must in some way be in that happiness and form a part of it, when the fact is that this happiness is only that which was bestowed upon man in the beginning. As the soul becomes purer and relieved from the defilement of sin, man becomes what he was in the beginning and has regained only that which by nature is his. He does not receive any part of the Divine, nor does the Father bestow upon him anything that was not his at the creation, and he must realize that by the removal of sin, his soul becomes more and more in harmony with the will of God, and less and less in harmony with his own perverted will.
Let "New Thought" progress until men may realize that they are at-one with themselves, their created selves, but let it not teach them that what they experience as a removal of sin from their own souls by their own efforts and thoughts, is evidence of a development of any supposed God within them, for it is not true; but is merely the development of their own natural created selves, freed from that which defiled and made them unnatural.
The speaker said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within all men, and needs only for men to realize that fact, and declare its truth, and that then they will become pure and like unto God, and find themselves in the presence of God, and see Him face to face. Well, in this he is all wrong, for the Kingdom of Heaven or Celestial Kingdom is not within men, though it may be, and neither is God in their souls and capable of being seen face to face. These men - who teach purification of their natural love and a superior state resulting from that purification and nothing more - will never see God, and they will always remain in the mere image in which they were created, a merely purified man made in the image of God, and nothing more. The Father will then be the same unseen Creator as he is now, and men will worship Him in faith only, for their soul perceptions, which are the only eyes of the soul that can see God, will not exist, and to them God will still remain the unseen and unknowable being that exists today in the knowledge and belief of men.
Well, I have written enough for tonight, but saw that you were somewhat interested in the teachings of the day, and thought it best that I should write you as to the truth of the subject of which he discoursed and evidently believed.
With my love to you, and the hope that our messages may now continue without interruption, I will say, good night.
Your brother in Christ,
Luke
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
St. Luke.
Let me write a few lines tonight as you are in better condition, and I am able to make a rapport with you and deliver my message.
I was with you today at a meeting of the New Thought people and saw the impression made upon you by the speaker in his efforts to show that God is within man, and that only the opening up of the soul or mind of man to the development of that God is all that is necessary to bring that man into a perfect at-onement with the truths of God's Will.
Well, I have to say that this speaker, when he comes to a realization of himself in the spirit world, will find that God is not in him or in anything that he may have possessed in his earth life; and that his development of the kingdom within him, as he termed it, was a mere delusion and a snare to the progress of his soul in its career through the earth life, as well as through the Heavens or spirit world.
He is mistaken when he announces that the Kingdom of Heaven is within him, or that he has that within him which can, by its development, lead to the condition of the perfect man, in the sense that he spoke of. He is following a false way, and all the efforts that he may make will not lead him into the paths that end in the perfect man that partakes of the Father's Divinity.
He is also mistaken when he asserts that God is everywhere - in the flowers and in the thoughts of men and in the heart - for God does not find his habitation in any of these things, and men do not live and move and have their being in Him. He is a distinct and individual entity and is not spread over all His universe, as the preacher proclaimed, and can only be found by the longings of the soul followed by a development of that soul in His Love. No, God is in His Heavens, and man can reach Him only by the persistent longings of that soul for the inflowing of His Love.
These things that the preacher declared were the presence of God are only the expressions of His being, and they do not declare His presence in any other sense than as the evidence of His existence - in His habitation, from which these expressions flow and make known to man His presence, as these things reflect it.
I am sorry that this speaker has not more knowledge of the true God, and of His seat of habitation, for then he would realize that these things upon which he places so much belief as being the very God, Himself, are but the expressions that flow from Him.
Man has within him that which has in itself wonderful possibilities - I mean the soul. And it may, by the observance of the way that transforms it into a Divine Angel, become Divine itself, or it may only by the slow process of renunciation become merely the perfect man with his natural love in a pure state, which was the condition of the first parents. If men will listen to the call to their souls, they will realize this possibility and receive this Divinity, and with it, immortality; but without this transformation they never can become other or greater than the perfect man.
I know that men teach that there is implanted within the souls of all men, that which is capable of being developed into an existence like unto God, that man needs only this development in order to become a God, and that there is nothing else necessary to make a human soul a part of the Soul of God. But in this teaching men are mistaken and will find themselves, at the stage of their highest development, nothing more than the perfect man.
Man has within him only that with which he was created and can of himself add not one thing that will change him from this condition of his creation. It is true that he can by a right course of thinking and living renounce those things that have tainted his soul and alienated it from the Father and made it sinful and disobedient; but when this is done, he is still only the perfect man, and nothing of the Divine is in him.
Jesus was the perfect man and, as such, was an exemplar of what all men will ultimately become; and if Jesus had never become more than the perfect man, he would not now be an inhabitant of the Celestial Heavens and the beloved Son of the Father. Yet he became more than the perfect man, and it was only after he attained to this condition of excellence, that he could say, "I and my Father are one," for it was then only that he possessed the Divine Love to that degree which made him at-one with the Father.
Only he is at-one with the Father that realizes that he is possessed of the very nature and Essence of the Father, and there is only one way in which this can be obtained, and that is by the inflowing into the soul of the Divine Love. Jesus could not say to the multitude that they were at-one with him and with the Father, for they had only the natural love and had not experienced the transformation of their souls; and such sayings as this were addressed only to his disciples, or to those among his hearers that had received this Love.
The speaker spoke of the New Birth, but had no conception of what it meant and, like many other teachers in and out of the churches, believes that a mere condition of the purification of the natural love constitutes this New Birth, and that that is all Jesus meant when he taught the necessity of being Born Again. There is only one way in which this New Birth can be brought about, and that you already know.
As to the moral truths taught by the Master, such as are referred to in the Sermon on the Mount, undoubtedly they will, if observed in the heart, bring about a regeneration of the soul that will lead men to the glory of the perfect man and make him at-one with the laws of his creation. This condition is devoutly to be wished for and sought after by all men, and when they attain to this condition they will experience the beatitudes that are mentioned in the sermon; but this is only the state of the perfect man and nothing of the Divine enters into their condition.
"New Thought," as it is called, has in it something that is an improvement on orthodoxy, and men will be the better if they will embrace some of its teachings. The great stumbling blocks of the Trinity, and the vicarious atonement and the blood would be moved from the worship of men, and they would then rely on the moral truths in the development of their souls for salvation, and would not rest supinely in the belief of the efficacy of the vicarious atonement. But some other things that it teaches are all wrong, and its followers will find when they come to the spirit world that there is a God to be worshipped, and that man has not within him that God to be developed by his own thoughts and deeds.
I know that according to the orthodox teachings too little is thought of the natural goodness of man, and too much emphasis placed in his innate depravity, and that nothing in man is worthy of the release from the sin and disobedience in which he is now living; and that of himself he can do nothing to bring about his purification and restoration to his original condition of the perfect man. This is wrong, for very largely upon man's efforts depends his redemption; "and as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." He is naturally good, and his present condition was brought about by his permitting his soul to be contaminated with sin, and to become again good he needs only to pursue that way that will remove sin and its consequences from his soul.
Man created sin, and he will have to remove sin, and the process will be slow, but ultimately it will be accomplished, and by the efforts of man himself. He will be helped by spirits who are God's ministering angels in these efforts, but upon him depends the removal of that which he created and imposed. And here let me say, that unless man wills it, he will forever remain in sin, and God will not, contrary to man's desires, make him a pure and undefiled being; and man's belief, unaccompanied by striving and seeking, will not be sufficient to bring about this remedy.
The speaker is a good man, and has experienced to a large degree the workings of his own will upon the conditions of his soul, and knows that his own efforts have caused him to renounce many things that tended to defile him and cause doubt, and in this condition realizes much happiness, and thinks that he is of himself sufficient to attain to that which will bring him into a perfect unison with the God that he thinks is within him. In this he is deceiving himself, for what he thinks is God is only an unusual condition of soul development in its natural love, that gives him a happiness which causes him to believe that God must be in and a part of him.
As you have been told, the happiness of the purified soul is beyond all conception of humans, and the nearer a man approaches to that condition of purification of his soul, the greater becomes his happiness, and the belief that God must in some way be in that happiness and form a part of it, when the fact is that this happiness is only that which was bestowed upon man in the beginning. As the soul becomes purer and relieved from the defilement of sin, man becomes what he was in the beginning and has regained only that which by nature is his. He does not receive any part of the Divine, nor does the Father bestow upon him anything that was not his at the creation, and he must realize that by the removal of sin, his soul becomes more and more in harmony with the will of God, and less and less in harmony with his own perverted will.
Let "New Thought" progress until men may realize that they are at-one with themselves, their created selves, but let it not teach them that what they experience as a removal of sin from their own souls by their own efforts and thoughts, is evidence of a development of any supposed God within them, for it is not true; but is merely the development of their own natural created selves, freed from that which defiled and made them unnatural.
The speaker said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within all men, and needs only for men to realize that fact, and declare its truth, and that then they will become pure and like unto God, and find themselves in the presence of God, and see Him face to face. Well, in this he is all wrong, for the Kingdom of Heaven or Celestial Kingdom is not within men, though it may be, and neither is God in their souls and capable of being seen face to face. These men - who teach purification of their natural love and a superior state resulting from that purification and nothing more - will never see God, and they will always remain in the mere image in which they were created, a merely purified man made in the image of God, and nothing more. The Father will then be the same unseen Creator as he is now, and men will worship Him in faith only, for their soul perceptions, which are the only eyes of the soul that can see God, will not exist, and to them God will still remain the unseen and unknowable being that exists today in the knowledge and belief of men.
Well, I have written enough for tonight, but saw that you were somewhat interested in the teachings of the day, and thought it best that I should write you as to the truth of the subject of which he discoursed and evidently believed.
With my love to you, and the hope that our messages may now continue without interruption, I will say, good night.
Your brother in Christ,
Luke
Thursday, July 24, 2014
John Writes About the Difference Between the Natural Love and the Divine Love
February 19, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, John.
Let me say just a word. I was with you today when you were talking to your friend, (Mr. Colburn) and heard your conversation and saw the utter want of comprehension on the part of your friend as to the truths of the spirit world and, especially, of the laws that divide the mere perfect man from the Divine man or spirit. He is so engulfed in the conceptions that he has of these loves arising from his experience in life that he can only see the existence of one love, the natural, and his mind is not capable of seeing the other Love and, of course, his soul has not that development which would assure him of the reality of the Divine Love.
The mind itself is capable of informing him of the existence and working of the natural love, and as this is the only means that he possesses of understanding what love is, he cannot possibly understand this Love, and that soul developed to a degree by the very Love itself. He may argue to the extent of the capacity of his mind and he will never be able to comprehend the Love that requires a perception of the soul, and he may remain satisfied and convince himself that the natural love is the only love and that when it becomes developed to a certain degree it becomes the Divine Love, and then find that he is far away from the truth.
He must know, and I mean it is necessary for him to know, that only those who have the Divine Love to some degree are capable of knowing that the Divine is a thing of itself, and not the development of the natural love and has in it not the qualities of that love. The one is of God; that is, partakes of His very nature, while the other is also of God, but does not partake of His nature, but is only a creation intended to make man happy and perfect in his condition of the mere man - the merely created existence.
I thought that I would give you these short comments on your conversation in order to show the grave and important mistake under which your friend is laboring. He will not easily believe these things of truth while in the flesh, and when he comes to spirit life, the difficulties will be just as great, and it may be that he will always be content to remain the possessor of this natural love only. I wish that it might be otherwise, and that he might let go his intellectual belief and harken to the call of the soul, which when not trammeled by these beliefs is continually longing for this Greater Love.
Believe that I am your friend and interested in you to an extent that you cannot now comprehend, but which some day you will understand and wonder that such a thing could have been. Good night.
Your brother in Christ,
John
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, John.
Let me say just a word. I was with you today when you were talking to your friend, (Mr. Colburn) and heard your conversation and saw the utter want of comprehension on the part of your friend as to the truths of the spirit world and, especially, of the laws that divide the mere perfect man from the Divine man or spirit. He is so engulfed in the conceptions that he has of these loves arising from his experience in life that he can only see the existence of one love, the natural, and his mind is not capable of seeing the other Love and, of course, his soul has not that development which would assure him of the reality of the Divine Love.
The mind itself is capable of informing him of the existence and working of the natural love, and as this is the only means that he possesses of understanding what love is, he cannot possibly understand this Love, and that soul developed to a degree by the very Love itself. He may argue to the extent of the capacity of his mind and he will never be able to comprehend the Love that requires a perception of the soul, and he may remain satisfied and convince himself that the natural love is the only love and that when it becomes developed to a certain degree it becomes the Divine Love, and then find that he is far away from the truth.
He must know, and I mean it is necessary for him to know, that only those who have the Divine Love to some degree are capable of knowing that the Divine is a thing of itself, and not the development of the natural love and has in it not the qualities of that love. The one is of God; that is, partakes of His very nature, while the other is also of God, but does not partake of His nature, but is only a creation intended to make man happy and perfect in his condition of the mere man - the merely created existence.
I thought that I would give you these short comments on your conversation in order to show the grave and important mistake under which your friend is laboring. He will not easily believe these things of truth while in the flesh, and when he comes to spirit life, the difficulties will be just as great, and it may be that he will always be content to remain the possessor of this natural love only. I wish that it might be otherwise, and that he might let go his intellectual belief and harken to the call of the soul, which when not trammeled by these beliefs is continually longing for this Greater Love.
Believe that I am your friend and interested in you to an extent that you cannot now comprehend, but which some day you will understand and wonder that such a thing could have been. Good night.
Your brother in Christ,
John
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Robert Dale Owen Writes about His Book on the Phenomena of Spiritualism and Says He Never Heard of Divine Love
February 11, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Robert Dale Owen.
Let me say just a word, for I am interested in your work and in the phenomena of spiritualism. I have been with you as you read the book, which attempts to show the truth of spiritual manifestations, and the instances mentioned of spirits showing themselves in the garb of humans are true. I was then an investigator of the question and had only the knowledge, which I received from my own observation and, hence, was an outsider, as it were, of these spiritual phenomena. I mean that I was not one of the gifted ones of earth, who can have the power of receiving or communicating with spirits by reason of the fact that they possess the power of seeing or feeling or hearing the presence of spirits. I was not so gifted.
I am now an investigator of things spiritual, but not of the possibility of communicating with the spirit world, for this I know to be a fact, and beyond all question, and men who doubt the fact are in the condition of those who will not learn, because they do not believe in the first principles of the phenomena and are willing to let their prejudices or their indifference lead them away from the truth.
The phenomena, which I have portrayed in my book, are very simple and of the lower order of spiritual phenomena, and yet men will not believe because they fail to approach the subject with open minds and desire to learn the truth even though the search for the same leads them along lines of investigation that are so foreign to the course of study that they are pursuing in their various vocations. Of all the bigoted and hardheaded investigators of truth, the preachers are the most difficult to teach the truth of spiritualism, and their periscope is one that enables them to see only in a straight line that has been laid down to them for ages and holds them in its iron grasp.
I would like to come to you sometime and write you a long description of the spirit world and its phenomena, although it may not surprise you very much, considering what you have had revealed to you.
Well, you have asked me some questions, which I cannot answer in one breath. But I am in the Third Sphere, where many spirits are pursuing their studies of things which pertain to the laws of the spirit world, as well as to the laws of the earth.
I have not heard of the Divine Love, except as we call all love divine, and it must be so, for it leads us to the spheres where those who are sinless and in harmony with the Father reside. I am a true believer in the things of God and in the redemption of all mankind, sooner or later. My intellect is only part of my existence in the spirit world, and above and greater than that is the love that causes me to become in harmony with the laws of God, and at-one with him. These are the answers to your questions, and I should like to write you at length upon the truths of what I have so briefly stated. I know that you are very busy in receiving communications from the spirit world and have little time for communications from strangers, yet I should like to write at least one letter in reference to my condition and knowledge of things as I have found them.
I say what is true, for I have never heard of the Divine Love in the sense that you have spoken of. I have never talked with spirits who claim to have this Love, and to be better than are the spirits who are progressing in the love which they have, and as to immortality, I only know that death merely sets the soul of the mortal free and enables it to enter onto its progress towards the higher spheres, where truth and goodness are.
Let me wait a moment in my astonishment, for I see more spirits who seem to be of a different order of spirit from me, and are brighter and more beautiful, and are willing to tell me of the Divine Love, for they all claim to know it. But I do not understand and I am sure that if they are possessed of this Love, it is only another form of belief. I am all confused and cannot think for the moment. I will come again. I must go. Good night,
Robert Dale Owen
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Robert Dale Owen.
Let me say just a word, for I am interested in your work and in the phenomena of spiritualism. I have been with you as you read the book, which attempts to show the truth of spiritual manifestations, and the instances mentioned of spirits showing themselves in the garb of humans are true. I was then an investigator of the question and had only the knowledge, which I received from my own observation and, hence, was an outsider, as it were, of these spiritual phenomena. I mean that I was not one of the gifted ones of earth, who can have the power of receiving or communicating with spirits by reason of the fact that they possess the power of seeing or feeling or hearing the presence of spirits. I was not so gifted.
I am now an investigator of things spiritual, but not of the possibility of communicating with the spirit world, for this I know to be a fact, and beyond all question, and men who doubt the fact are in the condition of those who will not learn, because they do not believe in the first principles of the phenomena and are willing to let their prejudices or their indifference lead them away from the truth.
The phenomena, which I have portrayed in my book, are very simple and of the lower order of spiritual phenomena, and yet men will not believe because they fail to approach the subject with open minds and desire to learn the truth even though the search for the same leads them along lines of investigation that are so foreign to the course of study that they are pursuing in their various vocations. Of all the bigoted and hardheaded investigators of truth, the preachers are the most difficult to teach the truth of spiritualism, and their periscope is one that enables them to see only in a straight line that has been laid down to them for ages and holds them in its iron grasp.
I would like to come to you sometime and write you a long description of the spirit world and its phenomena, although it may not surprise you very much, considering what you have had revealed to you.
Well, you have asked me some questions, which I cannot answer in one breath. But I am in the Third Sphere, where many spirits are pursuing their studies of things which pertain to the laws of the spirit world, as well as to the laws of the earth.
I have not heard of the Divine Love, except as we call all love divine, and it must be so, for it leads us to the spheres where those who are sinless and in harmony with the Father reside. I am a true believer in the things of God and in the redemption of all mankind, sooner or later. My intellect is only part of my existence in the spirit world, and above and greater than that is the love that causes me to become in harmony with the laws of God, and at-one with him. These are the answers to your questions, and I should like to write you at length upon the truths of what I have so briefly stated. I know that you are very busy in receiving communications from the spirit world and have little time for communications from strangers, yet I should like to write at least one letter in reference to my condition and knowledge of things as I have found them.
I say what is true, for I have never heard of the Divine Love in the sense that you have spoken of. I have never talked with spirits who claim to have this Love, and to be better than are the spirits who are progressing in the love which they have, and as to immortality, I only know that death merely sets the soul of the mortal free and enables it to enter onto its progress towards the higher spheres, where truth and goodness are.
Let me wait a moment in my astonishment, for I see more spirits who seem to be of a different order of spirit from me, and are brighter and more beautiful, and are willing to tell me of the Divine Love, for they all claim to know it. But I do not understand and I am sure that if they are possessed of this Love, it is only another form of belief. I am all confused and cannot think for the moment. I will come again. I must go. Good night,
Robert Dale Owen
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Francis Bacon Writes on the Limitations Which Mortal Man Places Upon His Perception of the Laws Governing the Universe
January 6, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Francis Bacon.
Let me write just a few lines, as I desire to tell you of a thing which may be of importance to you.
I see you are a little disturbed over what a man said to you tonight as to his want of belief in the identity of the spirits who profess to manifest themselves through mediums. Well, this need not disturb you one particle, for the identity of the spirit is just as real and certain as is the fact that a man can and does identify another after an absence, more or less long, from the latter's appearance, voice, and so forth. In the case of his identification, he depends on the operation of certain of his senses, such as his sight and hearing, and through them he satisfies his mind that the man identified is the identical person that he may claim to be, as you may say, he would be a very silly man if he would not accept such identification as convincing and determinate.
In the case of the identifying of those who are in the spirit, and who come with the powers and with the presence of spirits only, he cannot, of course, use his senses for the purpose of identification; and if he had to depend upon these organs alone, he would never be able to conclude that the spirits who present the phenomena are those who profess to be his friends or acquaintances. Most mortals do not have the gift of perceiving, or receiving the impression of, the presence of spirits, and in such cases are in the condition of the blind and deaf man with reference to the things of earth. The latter has no means of identifying his closest friends, and yet it would be just as reasonable to contend that these friends are not existing and present, and the same day after day, as for mortals to say that the spirits of those who once lived on earth are not existing and present, because the mortals have not the faculties of seeing and hearing them.
There are things in earth life as well as in spirit life that can come to the knowledge of some men only through information given them by other men who have superior powers and faculties for seeking for and obtaining this information.
Some mortals have eyes and faculties not material, as usually understood, for seeing and hearing and receiving knowledge from the spirits, and who render what is thus seen, heard and received just as real and certain as are real and certain the presence of mortals and material things to those who have their physical organs of sight and hearing; and the identity of what is seen and heard and received is just as truly established in the former as in the latter case. All men who are wanting as to the non-material organs mentioned can identify the things of the material world and are satisfied of the fact; and make their mode of such identification the standard by which they must and only can become convinced of the identity of the things of the spirit world: and when they insist upon such method of identification they, of course, can never be convinced, except perhaps in those phenomena as are manifested in materialization and spirit photography.
When the merely physical powers or means of ascertaining the existence and identity of things or humans are used, then those who confine their search for truth and the discerning of the identity of claimed existences to the use of such physical organs will never be able to see, hear or receive that which might convince them of the identity of the things existing in the spirit world.
This is the result of the eternal laws of the universe in their operations; and no desires or efforts of man can change this result. Man is unfortunate when he assumes the position that unless these laws can be or are changed in order that he may - by his physical organs - see or hear or be able to identify the things of the spirit world, he will not believe that there is identity existing among the spirits who come to men and in various ways manifest their presence.
When a man stands on the compliance with this condition as necessary to convince him of the identity of those friends of his who have passed to spirit life and who come in psychical phenomena and manifest themselves, it is useless to try to convince him, because of the very necessities of the laws governing such phenomena. And those who do believe, and those who know of this identity, will only waste time and effort in trying to convince men who assume the position of depending entirely on the physical means which they may possess.
There are many humans today who are truly convinced, and have all sufficient grounds for their convictions as to the identity and presence of their spirit friends, and they are not deceived, but enjoy the happiness that comes to them from such knowledge.
In my observations of the workings of human minds upon this question of the existence and identity of spirits, I learn that such evidence as would satisfy their minds, under the strictest requirements, as to material things, is brushed aside as wholly inadequate, and sometimes not even worthy of consideration, to satisfy them as to these spiritual things; and it seems that the greater knowledge they possess of the nature of and laws controlling material things, the less credence and consideration will they give to the nature of and laws controlling spiritual things. Every other explanation of psychical phenomena is put forth and accepted, rather than the simple and natural one; and if men only knew what nature really is, and its laws, they would realize how little they now know of nature. Generally, nature is only that consciousness of things material which comes within their limited cognition. They do not know that the larger part of nature, if it can be separated, is beyond the things or conditions which they have knowledge of as being the material of the universe.
Well, as I said, the identity of the spiritual cannot be and must not be expected to be established by the operations of the merely physical organs of man, except perhaps in those manifestations appearing in the phenomena of materializations or spirit photography, and even they are not accepted as real or true by many men who accept what are called scientific deductions from supposed facts connected with the manifestations of what these men consider to be natural.
And so the proof of the presence and identity of spirits will have to depend upon the results produced by the operations of laws controlling the spiritual existences and the psychical powers and gifts of certain humans, Sometime it may be that these gifted persons will be accepted as honest and truthful and not self-deceived, and the manifestations resulting from the exercise of these powers as the effects of the efforts and intelligence of spirits who at one time were human beings.
When men come to realize that the change called death does not destroy identity and consciousness and powers of mind, as well as what may be called powers physical - for the material of the universe is used and operated by spirits - but on the contrary, intensifies these possessions and powers, then they will accept the truth that the presence of the spirits of their departed friends is a variety, and that the identity of these spirits is eternal.
Well, I have written as much as I think best to write tonight, and thank you for your indulgence. With kind regards, I will say good night,
Your friend,
Francis Bacon
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Francis Bacon.
Let me write just a few lines, as I desire to tell you of a thing which may be of importance to you.
I see you are a little disturbed over what a man said to you tonight as to his want of belief in the identity of the spirits who profess to manifest themselves through mediums. Well, this need not disturb you one particle, for the identity of the spirit is just as real and certain as is the fact that a man can and does identify another after an absence, more or less long, from the latter's appearance, voice, and so forth. In the case of his identification, he depends on the operation of certain of his senses, such as his sight and hearing, and through them he satisfies his mind that the man identified is the identical person that he may claim to be, as you may say, he would be a very silly man if he would not accept such identification as convincing and determinate.
In the case of the identifying of those who are in the spirit, and who come with the powers and with the presence of spirits only, he cannot, of course, use his senses for the purpose of identification; and if he had to depend upon these organs alone, he would never be able to conclude that the spirits who present the phenomena are those who profess to be his friends or acquaintances. Most mortals do not have the gift of perceiving, or receiving the impression of, the presence of spirits, and in such cases are in the condition of the blind and deaf man with reference to the things of earth. The latter has no means of identifying his closest friends, and yet it would be just as reasonable to contend that these friends are not existing and present, and the same day after day, as for mortals to say that the spirits of those who once lived on earth are not existing and present, because the mortals have not the faculties of seeing and hearing them.
There are things in earth life as well as in spirit life that can come to the knowledge of some men only through information given them by other men who have superior powers and faculties for seeking for and obtaining this information.
Some mortals have eyes and faculties not material, as usually understood, for seeing and hearing and receiving knowledge from the spirits, and who render what is thus seen, heard and received just as real and certain as are real and certain the presence of mortals and material things to those who have their physical organs of sight and hearing; and the identity of what is seen and heard and received is just as truly established in the former as in the latter case. All men who are wanting as to the non-material organs mentioned can identify the things of the material world and are satisfied of the fact; and make their mode of such identification the standard by which they must and only can become convinced of the identity of the things of the spirit world: and when they insist upon such method of identification they, of course, can never be convinced, except perhaps in those phenomena as are manifested in materialization and spirit photography.
When the merely physical powers or means of ascertaining the existence and identity of things or humans are used, then those who confine their search for truth and the discerning of the identity of claimed existences to the use of such physical organs will never be able to see, hear or receive that which might convince them of the identity of the things existing in the spirit world.
This is the result of the eternal laws of the universe in their operations; and no desires or efforts of man can change this result. Man is unfortunate when he assumes the position that unless these laws can be or are changed in order that he may - by his physical organs - see or hear or be able to identify the things of the spirit world, he will not believe that there is identity existing among the spirits who come to men and in various ways manifest their presence.
When a man stands on the compliance with this condition as necessary to convince him of the identity of those friends of his who have passed to spirit life and who come in psychical phenomena and manifest themselves, it is useless to try to convince him, because of the very necessities of the laws governing such phenomena. And those who do believe, and those who know of this identity, will only waste time and effort in trying to convince men who assume the position of depending entirely on the physical means which they may possess.
There are many humans today who are truly convinced, and have all sufficient grounds for their convictions as to the identity and presence of their spirit friends, and they are not deceived, but enjoy the happiness that comes to them from such knowledge.
In my observations of the workings of human minds upon this question of the existence and identity of spirits, I learn that such evidence as would satisfy their minds, under the strictest requirements, as to material things, is brushed aside as wholly inadequate, and sometimes not even worthy of consideration, to satisfy them as to these spiritual things; and it seems that the greater knowledge they possess of the nature of and laws controlling material things, the less credence and consideration will they give to the nature of and laws controlling spiritual things. Every other explanation of psychical phenomena is put forth and accepted, rather than the simple and natural one; and if men only knew what nature really is, and its laws, they would realize how little they now know of nature. Generally, nature is only that consciousness of things material which comes within their limited cognition. They do not know that the larger part of nature, if it can be separated, is beyond the things or conditions which they have knowledge of as being the material of the universe.
Well, as I said, the identity of the spiritual cannot be and must not be expected to be established by the operations of the merely physical organs of man, except perhaps in those manifestations appearing in the phenomena of materializations or spirit photography, and even they are not accepted as real or true by many men who accept what are called scientific deductions from supposed facts connected with the manifestations of what these men consider to be natural.
And so the proof of the presence and identity of spirits will have to depend upon the results produced by the operations of laws controlling the spiritual existences and the psychical powers and gifts of certain humans, Sometime it may be that these gifted persons will be accepted as honest and truthful and not self-deceived, and the manifestations resulting from the exercise of these powers as the effects of the efforts and intelligence of spirits who at one time were human beings.
When men come to realize that the change called death does not destroy identity and consciousness and powers of mind, as well as what may be called powers physical - for the material of the universe is used and operated by spirits - but on the contrary, intensifies these possessions and powers, then they will accept the truth that the presence of the spirits of their departed friends is a variety, and that the identity of these spirits is eternal.
Well, I have written as much as I think best to write tonight, and thank you for your indulgence. With kind regards, I will say good night,
Your friend,
Francis Bacon
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