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

Helen Writes that God's Divine Love Can Blot Out Sins While We Are Still Mortals

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

I am here, your own true Helen.

You didn't think I could change the announcement of my coming, but you must know that I can do anything to please you, my dear Ned.

Yes, you have, and I have been so very happy. Well, sweetheart, I must tell you that I am very happy and am progressing very rapidly. I don't expect to remain in this sphere very much longer, for my love and faith are so great that I feel that I must get closer to God's fountainhead in the Celestial Spheres. Doesn't it seem like some fairy dream? But it is all true, and I am so happy. I will soon be with you in a long letter telling you of this Great Love, and how much I love God and you.

No, you won't, for you are progressing, too. You may not realize it, but it is true, and if you should come over now, you would be surprised to find yourself in a high sphere. Well, I know how you feel, but you must believe that I can see your spiritual condition better than you can.

Well, that may be so, but when you get this Great Love in your heart in sufficient abundance, and you have much of it now, your sins will be blotted out. This is the Law of Regeneration, otherwise, the man who continues without this Love, and the man who receives it, would be in the same condition, and the New Birth would mean nothing. So do not think that this Great Love is not sufficient to cleanse the soul of the results of the sins of earth life and, best of all, it cleanses while you are a mortal.

I know that the spiritualists quote and proclaim the Law of Recompense or Compensation, but there is a higher law that nullifies that law; and when Love, this Divine Love, comes into the soul of a mortal, the Law of Compensation is removed from the scope of its working, for Love is the fulfilling of the Law. So do not let that stumbling block make you believe that this Great Love is not sufficient to remove all sin and error, and to purify your soul so that you may become fitted to live in the Kingdom of the Father and become one with Him.

No, the Love is for the vilest sinner, and no man can by a mere act of restoration fit himself for the inflowing of this Divine Love. It is waiting for the sinner as well as for the saint; and even though your sins be as scarlet they will be made white as wool. I mean that you will not have to wait to make recompense to mortals before this great Love can do the cleansing work; else what is the use of having this Great Love provided for man? If he shall first make himself pure what is the necessity for the work of the Holy Spirit?

Only pray for this Love and have faith, and you will get it. God is the judge of what a man shall do to render justice and restitution, and when He says that this Divine Love, with all its cleansing power, is for the sinner who seeks for it by true faith, who has the right to say that the sinner must first do what man may think is justice between himself and his fellow man?

I know whereof I speak, for the experience of many spirits who have been redeemed by this Love show that they were sinners, and had not "paid the last farthing," when they received this Love. God is the judge, not mortals nor spirits.

So, my dear Ned, do not let the idea that you must render to every man that, which you think he may be entitled to, keep you from believing in the mercy and Love of the Father.

Oh, how I wish I could be with you a little while in my bodily form, and tell you face to face what this great Love means to you and to me and to all of us.

So sweetheart, believe me when I say that even though you may be a great sinner, yet the Father's Love is sufficient to remove all those sins just as soon as you can receive it. Such is the Law of this Great Love.

Faith and prayer can open the very heart of the Celestial Spheres, and Love will flow down into your soul as the avalanche of snow that feels the warmth of the sun's bright rays rushes from its mountain heights when winter leaves with its chilling gloom and blasting breath for other climes. Love is not only warmth, but it is the very burnings of the soul's great storehouse of God's Divine Essence.

I am not only the possessor of this Love to a large degree, but I realize that as I advance to higher spheres, there is a greater abundance awaiting to fill my soul with its great undying fires of never-ending burnings - burnings so great and free from everything that makes for unhappiness and discontent.

I must stop now. So my own dear and precious Ned, love me as I love you and we both will be so very happy that Heaven will be with us, and in us, even while we are writing in the earth surroundings.

Your own,
Helen