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

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

I am here, Stephen B. Elkins.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your friend,
Stephen B. Elkins

Helen Writes that Red Fox Will Be Eugene Morgan's Spirit Guide

February 8, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well, you need a keeper, for you never know when to go to bed. I mean that you must not let your interest in us or our writing interfere with those things which are necessary for your physical welfare.

I will say only a word more and, that is, that I love you with all my heart and soul and am with you all the time that I can spare from my work. Yes, he told me what you said, and I will try to find him sometime and bring him to answer for himself. I see you object, and it may work all right, I don't know.

He says he was there and gave Mr. Morgan* a guide - a very powerful Indian of the more civilized tribes. He is something like White Eagle and will be a great benefit to Mr. Morgan. Yes, White Eagle says his name is Red Fox.

So with all my love, I am

Your own true and loving,
Helen

*Eugene Morgan

Professor Joseph Salyards Writes that He is Very Thankful to Have Met James Padgett as a Student

February 8, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your old Professor.

I merely want to say that I desire to finish my discourse of some weeks ago and am ready at any time that may suit your convenience. Well, I will come one night this week and try to finish. I see that you are in a very good condition now, as your brain is working very well.

The message that you have received from Paul is a wonderfully deep message upon the existence of the resurrection, and as I understand and have experienced the resurrection is a true explanation of its meaning. Paul is a very logical and clear writer, and I am glad that he finds such little difficulty in making use of your faculties. He is very much pleased at the success of the experiment and his estimate of you is very great, as are the estimates of all the higher spirits who write.

Well my dear boy, I often think of the wonder of all this experience, and sometimes let my mind return to the days when you were my dear pupil; and I think how wholly we were in want of any conception that such a thing could be. And I can't tell you how glad and thankful I am that we ever came in contact with each other, for I will frankly and assuredly say that if I had never met you, I doubt if I would have had the privilege of meeting such spirits as your grandmother and mother and of having received the benefits of their advice and the influence of their love, as well as the companionship of your father and Mr. Riddle. I often think of how a mere accident as your coming to my school should have brought about such momentous results, and in thinking I am so grateful to our Heavenly Father. So my boy, keep up your good work and you will find a wonderful happiness when you come over.

The dark spirits whom you help are so very grateful to you and are all lovers of you and your friends are ready at all time to protect you from the evil that might come to you from the influences of the many evil spirits who have their habitations so near your earth. Yes, more than you can imagine, I want to say this further thing and, that is, that very many spirits who don't have the opportunity to write to you are influenced very much by what they hear you tell others and act on the advice that you give to those who write. And small wonder at the confidence of these spirits have in you and the influence you have with them. So many are being helped, and our work is made so much easier because they listen to us and believe so much more readily when you advise them to do so.

Well, we are very happy and progressing all the time. Oh, I wish I could tell you how beautiful she is and how loving and how much she thinks of you. She is with you quite often and is trying with the rest of us to help you in every way. We know when you pray for us, and it does help us more than you can conceive of, for your prayers are sincere and I know ascend to the Father, who answers the prayers of the sincere and trusting.

So I say, we all love you very much and feel that we cannot do for you what we should like to; but you must believe in us and know that we are with you and have more power than you may think to help.

I have written too long already, and your wife says, "Professor, I don't like to be discourteous, but I must suggest that you stop and let that baby boy go to bed, for he will sit up all night if you continue to write." What a beautiful and loving wife you have and how we all love her for her goodness. So my dear boy, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Prof. Salyards  

St. Paul Writes Further About the Truth of the Resurrection that Jesus Taught

February 8, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul, of the New Testament.

I desire to continue my message tonight. As I said in closing my last writing, there is a resurrection that is vital to the salvation of men, which Jesus taught and which, after the death of his followers and believers of the early centuries, the knowledge of was lost to the world and to those who assumed to teach the doctrines of the resurrection that he came to declare and teach.

You and all mankind must know that the resurrection which is the foundation stone of Christianity is a resurrection from the dead and not from the mere existence of a man as a spirit in the physical body on earth, and not as a resurrection of the soul from its environments and limitations that the earth life placed upon it.

Then what is the resurrection that Jesus referred to when he said: "I am the resurrection and the life"?

Now in order to understand this resurrection, it is necessary to understand what is meant by the death of man, that is the real man - the ego, - that part of him in which the breath of life exists, no matter whether he is of the physical or the spiritual.

As has been explained to you elsewhere when man was created, his creation was of the physical body, the spiritual body and the soul and, in addition, the most important part of his creation - the potentiality of becoming so at-one with the Father in His nature and certain of His attributes that he, man, would become so possessed of some of the Divine Essence of the Father and a portion of His Divinity that would cause him to be immortal, so that death could never deprive him of his existence; and not only that, but he would realize the consciousness of his immortality.

This potentiality then was a part of his creation and, as we have explained elsewhere, the only part of his creation that died as the result of his disobedience; for it is very apparent from the mere knowledge that man has, or may have, from the ordinary investigation of the qualities of his being, and from the truths of psychical research of modern days, as well as from the understanding of the many instances related in the Bible of the appearance of departed spirits on earth and the manifestations of their existence, and also from the many occurrences of the appearances of spirits related in what is called secular history, that the soul and spirit body of man never died, and that his physical body lived for many years after the day on which the sentence, because of his disobedience, announced that he should die. And as I have said, this mortal body - not man -  but merely the vesture of covering for the real man.

This potentiality then being the only part of the created man that died, and as Jesus' mission was to teach the resurrection of man from the dead, it necessarily follows that the only thing that was intended to be resurrected was this potentiality of becoming a part of God's Divinity. This is the only real and true resurrection, and upon this resurrection must rest the faith and truth of Christianity - and by Christianity, I mean religion which is based upon the true teachings of Jesus the Christ.

There are contained in the Bible some things which, if properly understood, would show to man that no resurrection of the body was intended as the thing which Jesus came to earth to declare and teach.

When he said, "I am the resurrection and the life," he did not say or mean, wait until I die and then I will become the resurrection; or when you see me ascend to Heaven, then will I become the resurrection and you will know it; but his declarations, not only in the instance mentioned but at all times, were that he was the resurrection while living. And these declarations did not refer to the man Jesus, or to any disposition that he might make of his body, either physical or spiritual, or to any apparent ascension of his physical body, which never took place, or to any ascension of his spiritual body which did occur. In these particulars, he was essentially no more or different from other men that had died or should die.

But the meaning of his saying and his mission were that, as by man's disobedience, there had occurred the death of the possibility of his becoming at-one with the Father and partaking of his Divine Nature, and as that possibility had never been restored to man in all the intervening years, and man had remained in this condition of death during all the long centuries, if man would only believe in him as the true Christ and in his teachings as to the re-bestowal of this great privilege of again becoming at-one with the Father and of obtaining immortality and would follow his advice as to the way in which man could realize the benefits of this great privilege, then he would become conscious that Jesus was the resurrection from the dead. Not Jesus the man or teacher or the chosen and anointed one of the Father, but Jesus the impersonation of the truths which he proclaimed as to the re-bestowal of the great gift. Only in this way was Jesus the resurrection and the life.

He, himself, had received the great gift and realized his at-onement and the consciousness of his immortality and the possession of the Divine Nature and knew that he had been lifted from death into life and, therefore, if men would believe his teachings as to the resurrection these teachings, and not the man Jesus or even the fact that he had been resurrected, would draw all men unto him, that is, into the condition of life and consciousness that he possessed.

Then the resurrection that Jesus promised to man was the resurrection of this great potentiality which he had lost at the time of the first disobedience and which had never been restored until the coming of Jesus.

Now let it not be misunderstood as to what was meant by this resurrection. As I have said, after men were deprived of this potentiality they were in a condition of death and it was not possible for them to get out of this condition. They were possessed of only what is called their natural love without any possibility of obtaining the Divine Love, which was necessary in order to give them any portion of the Divine Nature and a consciousness of immortality. When the great potentiality, which was as to them as if it had never existed, was re-bestowed, then men were again placed in the position of the first man before his fall and were no longer actually dead, but were possessed of this potentiality to become that which had been forfeited by the first parents.

But as we have told you, the gift of this potentiality was not of itself the bestowal upon man of those qualities which such potentiality merely made it possible for them to acquire by aspiration and effort. Before this re-bestowal, men could not by any aspirations or efforts on their part obtain the conditions and qualities which this potentiality made possible, no matter how great the effort might be; as to them men were simply and absolutely dead. After the re-bestowal, the impossibility - which this death had imposed - was removed, and then men received, not the full fruition of what was possible to obtain because of such re-bestowal, but the privilege of arising from death to life of the resurrection from death to the glories of immortal life.

And while this privilege had become a part of man's possession, yet, if he had remained without consciousness of that fact, he would, in effect, have remained in his condition of death and have never received the benefit of the re-bestowal of the great gift. So to reveal to man the vital truth, Jesus taught and demonstrated in his own life the possession of those qualities that became his because of the existence of the gift.

And he also taught while men had the privilege spoken of, yet, unless they sought for and prayed to the Father in sincerity for the gift of His Divine Love the potentiality, which had been bestowed upon them, would not bring to them the resurrection from the dead, and they would continue in their lives as mortals and as inhabitants of the spirit world, as if they were still under the doom of death.

I may here state that this potentiality, which was lost by the disobedience of the first parents and was re-bestowed by the Father and revealed by Jesus to mankind, was the privilege of receiving and possessing the Divine Love of the Father which, when possessed, would give to man certain qualities of divinity and immortality.

So the resurrection from the dead, that the master taught and which is the one foundation of the Christian faith, arise from the fact that God re-bestowed upon mankind the privilege of seeking for and receiving His Divine Love which would make the mortal one with Him and Immortal; and upon the further fact that man must, in order to obtain the resurrection, seek and find this Divine Love and thereby become a child of the true resurrection - a resurrection that was never known to prophet or seer or reformer or teachers of faiths, no matter how excellent their moral teachings and private lives may have been before the coming of Jesus.

Truly he was the Resurrection and the Life and I, Paul, who am the recipient of this resurrection and know whereof I speak and have knowledge of the fact that those inhabitants of the spirit world who have never received this resurrection are still in a condition of death so far as obtaining the Divine Love of the Father and the consciousness of immortality are concerned, and so I declare unto you what I have attempted to describe as the resurrection from the dead is the True Resurrection.

I will stop, as I have written a long time. So my dear brother, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

Jesus Writes Further on the Origin of Life

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

I am here, Jesus.

I come tonight to resume my discourse of several nights ago. As I was saying, man is the creature of God made in perfection and - instantaneously - as it were - not having a slow growth as other creations. And when he was created, he needed no evolution or additional attributes to make him the perfect man. His physical body was perfect and also his spiritual body and his soul.

He had, in addition to these three constituents a "Gift," which by his disobedience he forfeited, and which was never restored to him until my coming and, which when possessed by him, made him more than mere man. As to those things which were made constituent and absolute parts of him, they were perfect, and no evolution was necessary to give them any increased perfection. Man then was a more perfect being than he is now, or ever has been since his fall from his condition of perfection.

After his disobedience and the consequent death of the potentiality of partaking of the Divine Nature of the Father, which is the "Gift" above mentioned, man was left in a state where he depended exclusively upon the qualities, which he then possessed for his future happiness and freedom from those things which would cause him to lose the harmony that then existed between him and the Laws governing his being.

The greatest of all the qualities bestowed upon him was that of the will power, which was wholly unrestricted in its operations. Although, when exercised in a manner which brought this will in conflict with the Laws controlling this harmony, man had to suffer and pay the penalties of such violations. But notwithstanding that these perversions of the exercise of the will brought the sins and errors, which now exist on earth, God did not place any limitations on this exercise.

Man, in his creation, had bestowed upon him appetites and desire pertaining to his physical nature, as well as desires of his higher or spiritual nature, and they were all intended to work in harmony and not in antagonism; and in such workings, man was kept pure and free from sin - which is merely the violation of God's Laws of Harmony. But after the first disobedience, which is the greatest demonstration of the power of man to exercise that will, even when God had forbade him to do so, and after man lost this great potentiality that I speak of, succeeding disobediences became easier; and as these disobediences occurred, man lost to a great extent the desires for the spiritual things, and the animal or physical part of his nature asserted itself, and then, instead of exercising these appetites which belonged to the physical nature in such a wise way that no in-harmony would ensue - and here let me say that even after the fall it was possible and even expected that man would exercise these appetites in the way mentioned, he indulged them beyond their proper functions, and increased such indulgence, until he commenced to find, as he thought, more pleasure in such indulgence than in the thoughts and exercise of his higher nature and the aspirations which belonged to it.

This deterioration of man was not sudden, but gradual until, at one time, he became in a state or condition of being - bordering on that of the lower animals and, in fact, because of this increased indulgence of these appetites, he seemed to be transformed into the lower animal; but yet he remained man, a being created in the image of his Maker.

And from this position of low degradation or degeneracy, man slowly commenced to progress towards the attainment of his original condition before the fall. Never, in all this time, was his freedom of will taken from him, nor attempted to be controlled by God - but always the Laws of Compensation worked, and man suffered as he continued to create sin and evil.

But as man on earth continued to degenerate and to permit, what is sometimes called his animal nature to dominate his spiritual nature, many men died and continued to die, and their physical bodies went back to the dust of which they were created, and their spiritual selves became inhabitants of the spirit world, where they were freed, in a longer or shorter time, from the desire to exercise these animal appetites and the spiritual part of man again asserted itself, until many of these spirits became free from sin and evil and in harmony with the Laws of God controlling their natures and conditions as they existed before their degeneracy and before the disobedience commenced.

And these spirits, thus, made free and in their spiritual dominance commenced to try to assist men while living on earth to direct his will in such ways as to rid himself of submission to these appetites, and to become again a true man as in his creation state, minus the potentiality that I have mentioned. But these efforts on the part of spirits have been slow in their effects, and while men in individual cases, have been almost regenerated, yet as whole the progress has not been as rapid as is desirable - sin and evil still exist in the world, and men's perverted appetites and desires still control them to a large extent.

Of course, this progress from the bottom of degeneracy has taken place in some parts of the earth, faster than in others and, hence, you have your distinction between the civilized and the uncivilized races or nations; but this does not necessarily mean that the civilized people, as individuals, have made greater progress in the manner indicated, than have the individuals of some of the so-called uncivilized nations, for it is a fact that among some men of the former nations are perversions and manifestations of perversions of these appetites that do not exist in the latter nations.

Advancement in the intellectual qualities do not necessarily mean progress in the spiritual asserting itself over the perversions of these appetites, for will is not a thing entirely of the mind, and neither are these appetites and desires, because back of the mind are the affections usually called the heart's desires, which is the seat of these appetites, and from which these desires arise; and as they arise, the will is influenced by them and as the will is influenced come positive thoughts and deeds.

It is not surprising that your scientists believe and preach the doctrine of the evolution of man from a lower species of animal, or from an atom or from something that they cannot just understand or give a name to, because in their studies of the history of mankind, and of the created world, they find that man has developed and progressed amazingly from what appeared to have been his condition in some ages past.

But history does not extend to the time when man was in this lowest condition of degeneracy and, hence, all the conclusions that these scientists reach are based upon facts, sufficient unto themselves, which show the progress of man only after the turning point of his degeneracy. They have no facts and, of course, when the word "facts" is here used, it refers exclusively to the material things of nature showing them the gradual decline of man from his state of being a perfect man to that when his retrogression or degeneracy ceased, and his progress of return to his former estate commenced.

So, if the scientists will believe and teach that man, instead of evolving from an atom or some other infinitesimal something, or from a lower species of animal than man, evolved from his state or condition when he was at the bottom of his degeneracy, to which he had descended from the perfect man, then they will believe and teach the truth, and their theory of evolution will then have as its foundation or basis, a fact, which now it has not - only a speculation.

This in short, is the history and truth of the creation of the universe of man - of man's fall and degeneracy, and evolution and progress. And through all this creation and subsequent existence runs life, permeating it and always with it, and the origin of Life is God.

I have finished and I hope that you will find some instruction as well as entertainment in what I have written. I will come again soon and write you another truth.The fact that you waited for sentences to be formulated to express my thoughts, merely means that I was manipulating your brain so that the proper expression or idea could be conveyed to your hand as I wrote it.

You have my love and blessings, and I am more interested as time passes in you and your work. Keep up your courage and your desires will be fulfilled.

Your friend and brother,
Jesus

Helen Writes a Short Note that the Master is Anxious to Finish His Message

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

I am here, your own true and loving Helen:

Well dear, I see that you do not feel like writing much tonight and will say only a few words.

The Master was anxious to finish his message, but he saw your condition and was not displeased that you did not write. But get in condition by tomorrow night.

Well, I have been with you today at your office, and also at church, and was loving you with all my heart, and soul, and tried to make you feel my presence and love.

I think if you soon go to bed you will feel better in the morning.

Well, I will do so, and tomorrow night he will come and tell you what is best for you to take. While he has not written you for a long time, yet he is with you quite often looking after you. I will tell him your desire and I know that he will do what is best.

So sweetheart, keep up your courage and faith and pray, and you will be happier and realize your desires.

Good night, my own dear husband.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Luke Writes About Truth of the Development of the Soul in its Natural Love Wherein the New Birth is Never Experienced

February 3, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke.

I come tonight to say a few words concerning the great truth of the development of the soul in its natural love wherein the New Birth is never experienced.

I know that men think that this natural love has in it a part of the Divinity of the Father's nature, and that as they develop in the way of purifying it and ridding it of those things which tend to impair its harmony, they will realize that there exists in their souls this Divinity of which we have written. But this is not true, for this natural love partakes only of those elements which the Father implanted in it at the time of man's creation, and in none of these elements is any of the qualities of the Divine Nature.

It is difficult to explain just the distinction between the Divine Love coming from the Father, and the natural love also coming from Him, and yet, not having any of the Divine Nature or qualities; but it is a fact. The natural love may become so purified that it may come into perfect harmony with the Laws governing its condition and composition, and yet, fall far short of having in it any of the Divine Love. And so, as we have explained to you, the soul may obtain this Divine Love and thereby become a part of the Father's Divinity.

I will now try to explain how the natural love of man may be developed, so that his soul may come into harmony with the Law of Love - the natural love - and make him a very happy, pure and contented being.

In the first place, I wish to say that there is no such thing in the world as original sin or evil, and that God did not create them or permit them to exist, except as He permits man to use his own will without limitation; and I mean by this that He does not say that a man, in the exercise of this will, shall do this or do that; and as respects this will, man is untrammeled. But He does say, and His Laws are inexorable in this particular, that  man, when in the exercise of the great power of free will, causes that will to come into conflict with the will of God, or to violate His Laws, he, man, must suffer the consequences.

This may be illustrated by your natural laws declaring the freedom of the press. Man may publish whatsoever he pleases, and so long as he does not thereby violate the rights of others, or of decency, he may make his publications without fear of the law; but when, in the exercise of this freedom of speech, as you call it, he violates the law, then he must suffer the consequences of this violation.

So it is with the mortal who, in the exercise of his free will, violates the Will of the Father, or the Laws limiting its exercise by the mortal. He must suffer the consequences, and the results of this violation are sin and evil created and in no other way. And surprising as it may sound to you, man is the creator of sin and evil, and not God, who is only good.

Then the question arises, "How can sin and evil be eradicated from the world?" And every thoughtful man will have the same answer and, that is, by men ceasing to violate the will of God, or His Laws, which restrict the exercise of the wills of mortals to that which, in its right exercise, will not produce sin or evil. In other words, when men by the wrong use of their wills bring about in-harmony, they can by the right use of their wills not disturb that harmony, which when it exists, leaves no room for the presence of sin and error.

So you see, the one thing necessary in order for men to become happy and free from everything that defiles them, or causes unhappiness or discord to exist, is to develop their souls in this natural love, until this love comes into perfect unison with the Laws that control it and, thus, may be applied the oft quoted expression that "Love is the fulfilling of the Law," but this means love in its purest and most perfect state.

Now how can this development of the natural love be accomplished by men?

The mind, while a powerful helper in this regard, is not of itself sufficient to bring about this great desideratum. It is true that with every mortal there is a constant warfare between the appetites and lusts of the flesh, and his higher desires; and, hence, it is said that these appetites and desires are sinful, and the cause of evil and the in-harmony that exists in the lives of mortals. But this statement is not altogether true, for as man was made with spiritual aspirations and desires, so also was he made with appetites and desires of the flesh, and the latter of themselves are not evils.

The failure to make the distinction between the fact that these appetites and desires of the flesh are not evil, and the fact that only the perversion of them brings evil, is the great stumbling block that stands in the way of man's developing this natural love in the manner that I have indicated. These, what are sometimes called the animal appetites and desires, may be exercised in such a way as to be in perfect harmony with the Laws that control them, and in such exercise not interfere with or prevent the development of this natural love to perfection.

But man, in the free exercise of his will, has in his wanderings gone beyond the limitations which the Law of Harmony has placed upon him, added to and increased and distorted the appetites and desires of the flesh which were originally bestowed upon him and, hence, has himself created those things that are not in harmony with the creation of himself.

So you see, man is a creator as well as a creature. As the latter, he cannot alter or change any of the effects of his creation; but as the former, he can alter and change and even abolish the effects of his own creation, for as the creator, (he) is greater than the things that he created - although these things of his own creation have held him in bondage and unhappiness, to a more or less extent, ever since he became their creator. The strength of this apparent paradox is that the creator, man, has for all these long centuries believed it and submitted to his creations and still does so.

So what is the remedy?

Simply this: man must awaken to the fact that he is greater than his creatures; that they are subject to his will, and that whenever, by their existence and workings, they bring discord and unhappiness, and cause his will to be exercised in opposition to the Will of the Father, then they must be destroyed and never be permitted to come into existence again. Let men become the masters of their creatures, and obedient to the great Will of their Creator, and they will realize that sin and error and unhappiness will disappear, and their natural love will come into harmony with the Laws of its creation, and earth will indeed become a Heaven, and the brotherhood of man established on earth.

If men will only think and - thinking - believe that all sin and error and the resulting unhappiness and sorrow in the world are children of their own creation, and not the children of God, and that in the economy of His universe, He leaves the control and management and even the existence of these children to the will of their parents; they will understand why evil exists, why wars and hatred and misery continue on earth to blight the lives and happiness of mortals; and why, as some say, and especially the so-called Christians, God permits all these things to exist and flourish and apparently contradict the great truth - that He is good and the fountainhead of all goodness.

The universe and the inhabitants thereof and the greatest production of His power - man - were all created by God; but sin and error and their awful followings are the creatures of man. The Laws of His universe work in harmony, and all is good; and even the apparent in-harmony, which man has created, does not affect that great harmony, but is confined in its workings to man, himself. Only man is apparently in in-harmony, and that is caused by man, himself.

Suppose, for a moment, that man's will was working in accord with that of the Father; can you imagine that there would be any of these creatures of man's perverted will in existence? Would there be any evil or hatred or disease or suffering known to the consciousness of man? I tell you, no.

Now I say man, their creator, must destroy these inharmonious creatures. Man must kill and bury deep and forever these children of the perverted exercise of his will, and until then, sin and error and all their concomitants will continue to live and flourish and torment their creator.

And I say here with all emphasis and with a full realization of the great significance and responsibility in the sight of God, which I assume in saying it, that man can destroy these bastard creatures of his will so perverted and discordant. His natural love, if permitted to assert its God-given powers and functions, is sufficient to bring his will in accord with that of the Father and turn his thoughts away from these children of his, and to make him conscious of purity and truth. The dead desires and dead appetites will bury their dead children, and man will come into his own again.

But then comes the question, "How is man to accomplish this great end, so devoutly to be wished for?"

Well, it is late now, and I will write upon this important feature of this development of his natural love in my next message. So with all my love I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke