WE had made a brief pause in our labours, and we were enjoying what in our earthly days we should have called a 'day-off.' By 'we,' I mean a small company consisting of some artists and musicians, all of them masters of their craft; my former religious superior, who was a prince of the Church; my father, who was also a noted prelate of his times, but of a denomination opposed to mine; and lastly, my good friends and present colleagues, Edwin and Ruth. We formed a most pleasant company of companions.It would have done the hearts of advocates for religious unity on earth the greatest good to have observed my father and my former superior themselves in complete unity! They have become fast friends in these lands, and frequently meet beneath my roof. Indeed, my father has upon many occasions expressed his gratitude to my quondam superior for his care of me during the latter part of my earthly life, when he, as it were, stood in loco parentis.
On the occasion of which I am now speaking, we had all of us temporarily abandoned our work, not—I would hasten to add—from any causes of disaffection, but by a prearranged plan we had so disposed our various activities and made the necessary provision where we were closely engaged, that we could in company recreate ourselves according to our particular whims and desires. And so we disported ourselves in all manner of ways, called in a body upon other friends, and generally passed hither and thither with no special object in view but that of enjoyment in recreation.
The musicians and painters, though music and art is their principal work, also direct their labours into other channels. Consequently, they are full of business and bustling affairs, as we all are.
Now we were seated in comfortable chairs beneath the trees upon the lawn of my house, breathing the sweet scented air, with the beautiful gardens round about us, free of every care, chatting merrily upon a wide variety of subjects, and exchanging experiences of every kind. Their range was extensive, as you can well imagine, among such a mixed company whose earthly and spirit-world activities were so diversified.
Of the whole of our gathering, perhaps the worst off were the musicians, for they were called upon to provide music for our entertainment. The painters, however, by virtue of their profession, claimed instant exemption from any active performance, and they at once became extremely self-satisfied upon the strength of it! As one of them remarked, he would be delighted to paint a picture for us there and then, but as it would take some time to do, since a picture cannot be painted in a moment, it would be as well to make ample provision for someone to carry on our work for us, while we made ourselves as comfortable as possible in preparation for an extremely long session for he was an extremely slow workman, and tended to become even slower when working in the presence of others!
For our further entertainment we were offered a course of sermons by our clerical friends upon a number of subjects, all of which we resolutely declined without thanks. It seemed therefore that our musicians were the most handicapped of us all, but they enjoyed themselves heartily none the less.
We were seated thus when Ruth's quick eye perceived two men in the distance evidently coming in our direction. As they proceeded, they paused here and there to look at the flowers, until at length they were sufficiently near for us to identify them. One was a man of commanding presence whose most marked feature was his raven-black hair.
I first introduced him and his constant companion to you in the very earliest of these writings as the Chaldean and the Egyptian. Since my early days in spirit lands, they have both been my kindest friends, always ready to help and advise upon every occasion and to give me the benefit of their experience gained through a long, a very long, life in the spirit world. At once I went forward to greet our two visitors, who were equally well known to the whole of our present company.
We were naturally delighted beyond words that they should have chosen such a moment for their visit. My friends rose in a body upon the approach of our visitants, and there was a free exchange of the most cordial greetings. In the meantime, Ruth and one of the men had disappeared indoors, reappearing shortly after with a special chair which we reserved for such guests. It was a very substantial oaken armchair, heavily carved, and was altogether a great favourite. With many warm expressions the Chaldean seated himself in it, with Ruth at his right hand and the Egyptian at his left.
The Chaldean had come, he said, upon business as well as pleasure. At the mention of the word business, our friends made a movement of withdrawing, thinking that he would wish to discuss whatever matter it may be, without other auditors. But the Chaldean would not hear of it, and bade them all be re-seated.
He understood, he said, that a vast deal of talking had been going on during our assembly, and therefore he felt that a little more would do no harm whatever. The Chaldean, I should add, is a man whose sense of humour is keen, and that to be in his presence is always a mental tonic. He is a living testimony to the fact that those who dwell in the highest realms do not lose their light-heartedness and humour.
It was a pity, he said, that we had refused the excellent offer from our colleagues of listening to a sermon or two as he could see, he added, that the whole company would be none the worse for a little extra spiritual tone!
After a further exchange of pleasantries, the Chaldean turned to me and spoke of our prospective writings, of which these present are the accomplishment. He then made the suggestion that perhaps I would favour the insertion of a chapter upon a theme which he had to offer. I expressed my willingness and delight to be of every possible service to him. He voiced his pleasure, and proceeded to outline to me the subject he wished discussed. I was to use my own words, he merely supplying a conspectus.
We listened with interest while he set forth the various points of his narration. Some of our company, who were not so conversant with earthly matters as others of us, were saddened by what the Chaldean had to recount. At length the matter was disposed of, and the conversation became our own once more.
Our party resumed its lighter temper after the gravity of our visitor's discourse, and being pressed to remain as long as possible, our two visitors joined with us in our mild conviviality, to which the Chaldean's jocundity and wealth of experiences added greatly. Thus we continued.
So, before our present company disbands, as it were, each upon his own particular occasions and without further preamble, here is what I was bid to discuss with you.
Upon every day, of every week, of every year on earth, the ejaculation goes forth that was reputed to have been made so long, long ago by an angelic host in a little corner of the earth: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.
For how many hundreds of years has that sentence been uttered? And upon how many occasions has the earth's peace been shattered? The pages of history books are stained with the blood of human beings shed in the countless wars that have assailed the earth, each of them growing more intense, each of them producing an ever increasing number of victims. With the multiplication of scientific discoveries upon every hand, it seems to have been inevitable that wherever possible those discoveries should be turned to mortal account upon the advent of war. The weapons of war have, in some measure, ceased to be used individually, and have been turned into instruments of wholesale slaughter whose sufferers are counted in thousands of thousands.
These are matters upon which you, my good friends, are only too well informed through your own bitter experiences of a recent past, and I thus lay them before you, not to waste your time nor try your patience by telling you of something of which you are fully aware, but because a plain statement of the obvious is sometimes advisable in order to make a chosen theme perfectly clear.
Life upon earth has become hazardous. My friends have doubtless asked themselves why it is that, seemingly, war has always existed on earth, and, further, why cannot wars be ended for all time? You would be answered by your neighbour that that is precisely what the leaders of the whole world are now so sedulously trying to do.
Now here I want to make a declaration that is as plain and unequivocal, as unyielding and spiritually indisputable, as the words of language can make it. It is a spiritual truth, the profundity of which few leaders on earth have ever bothered to consider with any degree of real seriousness, but which is nevertheless to be found within the prayer books and incorporated in the services of at least one state church. This is it: Thou shalt not kill. Look in your prayer-books, and you will find that it is placed fifth, fifth, on the list of God's commandments!
What is the spiritual law governing human earthly life in this respect? In other words, what does the spirit world say? It says just what I have said to you, but in any list of spiritual prohibitions it allots a far higher place than fifth.
By what right does man on earth assume to himself the power over 'life and death,' as it is termed? It is the custom on earth to legitimatize the killing of human beings by the passing of enactments. (You have witnessed at least one country which dispensed with such legalities in favour of verbal instructions, or the briefest of hand-written documents). So that by incorporating into the laws of a country official permission to kill human beings, that act is made right and proper, is not that so? It matters not whether the case concerns the individual or whether it concerns a whole nation as a militant force. It is the nature of governments—and of many state-aided Churches as well—to regard the people over whom they have assumed authority to consider those people only in relation to the earth world.
The earth is essentially—to them—the real world, the material world. It is life, the only life that is known, but scarcely understood. Death of the physical body is, of course, inevitable, they will concede, but with that they are not concerned. It is the Church's duty to look after that in the way it deems best, and subject to whatever control and influence the state may exercise in its direction and the appointment of its ministers and dignitaries.
There may be a nominal combination of Church and State, but the latter has little or no interest in the former. The Church is all very well for the pious and other religious-minded folk, and the members of a governing body may say some formal prayer before any official proceedings are opened. It is done as a matter of custom, and little if any significance is placed upon the action. They may pray for guidance in their deliberations, but in the end, they prefer to rely upon their own sage judgement.
By every spiritual law, as we are familiar with them in the spirit world, it is wrong to legalise in any form the power of terminating the natural period of any person's life upon earth. To employ the terms of part of an enactment that was responsible for ecclesiastical dis-unity in my own native land, 'no prince, person, prelate, state or potential spiritual or temporal' has the right 'to exercise a manner of power, jurisdiction, superiority, authority, pre-eminence or privilege' over spiritual law of which thou shalt not kill occupies a prominent position.
What does the law of earth say in this connection as applied to the individual and to whole nations? In the case of the individual, it says in effect: This person has committed a breach of the law by killing another person. We therefore have no further use for him in this world. We know nothing whatever about the laws of the next world, but the next world must take him and have him. He is too bad for our world. We have judged him, and found him guilty. God will now do the same, albeit we commend his soul to God's mercy. Ostensibly we do this as a deterrent to others, but in truth we wish to be rid of him, because that is the cheapest and most satisfactory way of dealing with him.
In the case of nations, it is the custom to settle international disagreements and arguments, where words and negotiation have failed, by a recourse to arms. The nations meet one another as circumstances dictate, and the armed forces of the nations, that is to say, its citizens, who are human beings, will proceed to kill each other by such means as may be suitable or available or according to the exigencies of the place and time.
This method of dealing with international disputes, failing all pacific means, is a custom established through such a long period of years as to have no date assignable for its actual incipience. The armed forces have the power given them to kill the enemies of the state. You see, my friends, I am setting down literally the method used by the rulers of your earth to settle the earth's quarrels. It is: go to war, and kill, kill, kill. Hunt the enemy, and kill him.
Before I go a step further you will exclaim to me: 'That's all very well, but what was to be done? You have seen for yourself—or, at least, we presume you have done so—to what extremes we were forced at the outset of the recent hostilities. We have tried to preserve the world from becoming one vast slave state, and its inhabitants from every kind of bestiality. We represented right as opposed to might. We had to defend our very lives and homes, and try to keep safe a decent world for ourselves and our children.'
That is your situation as you would describe it to me. Then let me say to you that with it we, of the spirit world, have the fullest sympathy. That you were battling with the worst evil that has yet assailed the earth there is no disputing whatever, and any man who would do otherwise is just plainly a fool.
Do not forget, my friends, that we saw more of this evil than ever did you, though you yourselves may have been in the very thick of the fighting. We were able to perceive what forces, unseen by you, and in most cases never dreamt of by you, were at work striving upon the side of wrong. But let me say again that it is still wrong—and ever will be—for man to kill fellow-man, for any reason whatsoever. Whatever the reasons, whatever the provocations, it is yet wrong. We must not go against the law of God, which is the spiritual law.
There is an old saying, with which you are very familiar, that two blacks do not make a white. That is an everlasting truth, and no new discovery, or other and further spiritual revelation, can alter it or dispose of it, or in any way upset it. But in the case of war, it has become the order that the end justifies the means—a dangerous doctrine.
How do wars come about? The history books will inform you upon the political situations that finally led to the outbreak of each war. It is not happy reading, and fully reveals the spiritual blindness of the earth world. Some folk say that if only the teachings of the great soul who is named the Prince of Peace were put into practice absolutely and without default, then wars would end for all time on earth.
How is that to be done? Through the influence of the Churches? That would seem to be the obvious way. But what of the misdeeds that have been, and are, done in God's name or in that of Holy Religion? History also tells of those. Have heretics never been burnt at the stake? True, it was the secular arm that actually did the burning, not, of course, the church. The latter only condemned. That is what the church would have you believe. The Church could, however, have cried aloud against such barbarities, but did not, because it thought nothing could be too awful in the way of punishment for a heretic.
The Church once had powerful jurisdiction. It can do nothing now but utter moral condemnation, which it seldom does. When it does, it is never heeded. The Church must bow to the State—which is, perhaps, just as well when burnings at the stake are called to mind.
In turning to the Scriptures for a code of moral behaviour, you must carry in your mind the diversified interpretations of those Scriptures which have resulted in Christian disunity. You will perhaps say that the commandment, Love one another, needs no interpretation, and you would be undeniably right. This subject of scriptural interpretation has already been discussed with you elsewhere.
All that I will say now upon this point is that the Scriptures do not contain all that the great teacher spoke, and that the great bulk of his teachings are not contained within the covers of the book which is universally used on earth at this day. Had the full text been retained and omissions supplied, perhaps a very different story might have been told of the earth's subsequent spiritual journey through the ages.
War under any designation must for ever remain spiritually condemned, whether it be punitive, aggressive, or for other causes that need no enumerating. In many directions is the earth spiritually blind, but in none so hopelessly as in resorting to arms as a means of settling disputes. Here you see the results of the Church's teaching, or the lack of it.
If the Church had possessed any spiritual truths at all, this gross undervaluation of human life on earth would never have taken root and endured for centuries, as it has done. The laws concerning human life on earth are based upon crude theology and error. The laws of a nation must be respected in the sense that they must be obeyed, but no nation has the power, divinely speaking, or the right of mandate to shorten by one second of time the natural tenure of man's life on earth. The council of the nations think otherwise, but in that they are disastrously wrong.
Let me now turn to another aspect of this subject. You must know that no person of whatsoever social position or spiritual status is ever left unattended by us at the moment of his dissolution, whether that passing is taking place on the land, or in the air, upon the waters, or beneath them.
Whether we can approach that individual rests upon his own spiritual state or condition. If we are able to approach and offer our assistance, we do so without fail. Our advances may be scorned or spurned; the passing soul may be so steeped in evil as to make approach impossible. Nevertheless, someone will be at hand to do whatever is humanly possible. If we see that we can do nothing, we reluctantly withdraw.
In normal times on earth our work goes steadily on as the passage of folk to these lands takes its regular course with its customary numbers. With the advent of modern warfare, these numbers are prodigiously increased and their rate of entry into these lands vastly accelerated. To so many still left on earth, these souls, civilians or soldiers, have 'gone hence,' and that is all that can be said for what has overtaken them or how they fare; no man knows, no man can guess. That is the general attitude of those who have no real spiritual knowledge.
Early in these present writings I have spoken to you of the changes that have occurred in these and other realms consequent upon two wars, and I have also touched upon the enormous amount of extra work which has to be undertaken when such wars break out on earth. We have seen the last frightful conflict from a side that was impossible to you yet incarnate.
We, in these lands, have seen, among other things, all the loathsome hatred that has been inspired by the thwarting of evil men's base designs, hatred, moreover, that has been carried into the spirit world hard and fast upon the miscreants who were harbouring it in their dark souls. Of those I will speak in a moment.
I have reminded you that our works of service were so increased that the word 'colossal' becomes almost insignificant with which to define their magnitude. How many persons, would you say, have passed into these lands whose passing was caused by this last war? Their number has been moderately computed by your earthly chroniclers as thirty millions. That is an understatement.
For many it was a release from inexpressible horrors and barbarities and tortures, committed upon them by the followers of the most evil of all men of modern times. His followers themselves were no less evil, but the chief inspirer of the abominations was himself inspired from the darkest realms of the spirit world.
By whom are these dark realms inhabited? They are inhabited by people who formerly lived upon earth. It is not the spirit world that has made them what they are, nor placed them where they are—in the uttermost darkness. It is their life on earth that has fitted them for it. Some of them have been sent there prematurely by the laws of the earth plane; others have gone there eventually at their normal passing; and the wars have helped to increase their numbers. Therefore would I ask you to remember that it is the earth life that has caused the spiritual descent of these souls, not the subsequent life in the spirit world.
The last great war was brought about by an overflowing of these sunken souls on to the earth plane where, all unseen by you, they found that by a combined effort they could easily inspire an evil-minded man and his evil-minded supporters and cohorts.
That hideous war was not sent by God as a punishment for the earth's sins. That is a stupid fiction invented by stupid churchmen whose 'understanding' of the Father of love is begotten of their crude, pagan theology. To believe and affirm that God inflicted such torturing punishment upon incarnate mankind is a defamation of the grossest description, for it drags Him down to the level of some pagan tribal god.
The incarnate instruments of evil took the path of ruin, and proceeded headlong down it. It might be asked: if these people on earth were inspired by the denizens of the dark realms of the spirit world, how is it that they were so successful, up to a point? Why was not their initial success followed by a complete and final victory for evil?
The answer is that these infamous creatures of the dark realms are interested in their incarnate instruments only to the extent of fulfilling their desires, and it is part of their scheme that their instruments shall be brought to ultimate downfall. It is not their aim to provide victories for anyone, but only in as much as it serves their present purpose. Their last purpose is to bring ruin upon all who have any dealings with them, to drag down others to their own low and obscene level.
They themselves have seemingly sunk so low that it is impossible for them to sink any deeper. They have nothing to lose, but much to gain in the devilish delight which the sight of human downfall can afford them. Terrestrial conditions were such that this enormous eruption of evil from the dark regions was made possible. Step by step, the wicked plan was built up, with what results it is needless for me to remind you.
After great travail the evil forces were banished, and now, what remains? Are you at peace? Many of you—indeed, most of you—will say you are very far from it, for upon every hand and in almost every part of the earth there is unrest and economic turmoil. Naturally, you will expect some time to elapse before a full return can be made to those conditions of life which you all envisage belonging to 'peace-time.'
So many years of energy being devoted entirely to war pursuits have denuded the earth of so much that is now sorely needed, alike for bare necessities as for ordinary comfort. But that apart, there is at this moment too much unrest. That is not surprising. The nations of the earth are exhausted from a military point of view, even as they are exhausted in their physical bodies from the years of toil and strain and bad nourishment. Nerves that are frayed make tempers short. But there are other reasons for this unrest. We will come to them in a moment.
I would ask you to bethink yourself of what I have mentioned to you regarding the fifth commandment. You have witnessed a group of evil men being brought to the bar of earthly justice to answer for their monstrous crimes against the whole earth. That they should have been so brought is meet and just. Writers upon the subject have given it as their opinion that only time will prove whether this was a good thing to do or a bad thing.
As we see matters in the spirit world, the company of nations have done right in causing these inhuman beings to be brought before them, and condemning them before the whole world. The verdict of guilty was a proper one. None other could have been brought with true justice—of which the earth knows so little. But with the condemnation of a number of them to be despatched forthwith into these lands of the spirit, the people of these realms and of every realm of light above us and below, are in absolute and total disagreement.
What has been done beyond any question or doubt? The earth is rid of these men, and you feel that you can now breathe more freely. You feel that the root of the trouble has been dug up, and systematically and finally destroyed. The arch-perpetrators are no longer on earth, and therefore they can cause no more trouble. Can they not? Can they not indeed?
What has actually been done, then? This: instead of keeping all these monsters of iniquity, or as many of them as did not take their departure for the dark realms by their own hand, where you would know them to be, where you could always find them, and where they could do no more harm; instead of keeping them in close confinement, the leaders of the earth have set them free. They are now here in these lands of the spirit world, free.
Free to exert their wicked wills upon any whom they can find. Free to unite, as they were united on earth; free to return to the earth unseen by you, there to stir up every manner of trouble where they can discover any who will listen to their base promptings. They are free to roam the whole earth unperceived by you, and by the weight of their numbers bring further and worse, infinitely worse, disasters upon the people of earth.
Why have the Churches so failed to give to the world the spiritual truth that all these ghastly cataclysms shall be forever banished from off the face of the earth? It is because they know not the truth, and what is so heart-rending to us here, they do not want to know it.
Those in authority upon earth found at least one of their civil laws upon a dreadful misconception of the nature of 'the life after death.' We in the spirit world have had to stand by helpless while a combination of international authorities commits a fatal blunder. What does it matter, these people say in effect, so long as these detestable criminals are off the earth altogether, where they will never trouble us more? Death is the supreme penalty, the worst punishment that could be meted out to such sub-human creatures who cared nothing for the sanctity of human life. Therefore, let it be death for them. God will deal with them as we never could do. God will show them no mercy, but they will be doomed to spend eternity in Hell, their only sure and right destination.
What folly to suppose that they have been comfortably and tidily and finally disposed of, because their lives have been quickly terminated under judicial sentence. Had the earth known one tithe of spiritual truths, wars would have ceased long ere this, but mankind adds one false step to another, and commits this latest culminating blunder.
It is not my purpose, I would ask you to understand, to appear as an 'alarmist' nor is it my intention to exaggerate the present or future case. My friends of old will, I am persuaded, know me better than that I should attempt so doing. What I am trying to do is to show you how, for years, the earth as a whole has existed in a state of spiritual ignorance, with the resulting chaos.
Religion, properly so-called, is not a matter of Church buildings and pleasant, picturesque services, with lights and ornaments, and organs and choirs: something to be thought about upon a Sunday, and little heeded for the rest of the week, except by the professional religionists, the clergy.
True religion is not a matter of pious exercises and grandiloquent prayers spoken in a false, affected voice, and containing little that is of practical spiritual value. Organised religion should know the truth about two worlds, the earth world and the spirit world. Instead, it utters mild rebukes, and tolerates what is patently wrong. It teaches and preaches a tissue of spiritual errors so far removed from the truth as to be fantastic and ludicrous.
The Church has tried to suppress the light wherever it shone forth as a gleam of truth, and preferred to go upon its old way steeped in error. Is it any wonder that the earth, with the Church's teaching to go upon, has done things and said things which in due time have led to terrestrial disasters?
When certain evil men were about to be ejected from the earth, did the church loudly proclaim that such a course was strictly against that commandment which stands fifth upon the list? It preferred to maintain a rigid silence and complete aloofness. If that is God's commandment, there can be no argument about it. The Church, with one voice, should have condemned the breaking of it in this and in all cases. The Church has many voice—all different.
Is it supposed that all of the wicked men, or even a substantial proportion of them, who have come to these lands have, upon their dissolution, 'turned over a new leaf,' and while in no sense becoming angels, at least shown some signs of repentance?
It would be the height of foolishness to think so. The very nature of their passing has in so many instances served to intensify their hatred, and now their aim is to seek vengeance wherever and whenever it is possible. The leaders are here in the spirit world, a fine concentration of evil.
Perhaps someone will ask: Why does not God prevent it? The answer is: for the same reason that He did not prevent the outbreak of war in the first instance. Man commits his egregious blunders, and calls upon God to clear them up. The Church prays for guidance, and provides no channels whereby it may be given. Is not that the summit of folly and ignorance?
The earth has been—and is—walking in the darkness, proud of its achievements, its material progress, its social advances; proud of its scientific discoveries, and its noble efforts for the welfare of man. Now you cannot walk in the dark for ever without one day colliding with something heavily, and sustaining accident and injury. As the ways become more intricate, so the obstacles and the snares become more frequent and dangerous, and the casualties increase in numbers. Finally, a fatal tragedy occurs. So has the earth been moving all these years. For this last conflagration, if I may so term it, the inflammable material has been accumulating for long years. In the end it wanted but a spark to fire it, and the spark came.
There is a phrase that has been constantly brought to your notice in the past in connection with your domestic services. It has been treated with derision by some, but all, or a large number of you, have suffered beneath that which the phrase connoted. And that phrase is: shedding the load.
That is what the earth has done. It has shed the load of evil on to us in the spirit world, for not only have you sent us the evil men themselves, but we in these lands will have to help to put matters right with you.
What right has the earth to evade its responsibilities and cast them upon the shoulders of the people of the spirit world? Upon what divine law is the procedure founded that whenever an individual commits a particular offence he shall be ejected from the earth into spirit lands? Would not the whole earth be horrified if, supposing such a thing were even remotely possible, we returned every single person to the earth whom we, of the spirit world, deemed undesirable to live in these lands?
We could quickly clear the dark realms of its denizens by such direct methods, and so forever abolish the realms of darkness, realms of which we are not the least proud, but in which the earth can have no reason to rejoice, for they are solely inhabited by people who once lived upon earth. How would the earth like us to throw back to it all the evil that has been despatched to us here? Yet certain kinds of undesirable citizens are forcibly hurled into these lands in pursuance of certain mundane laws.
Authority on earth fondly believes that by so doing it has, with remarkable cleverness, removed a source of evil from its midst into a place where it can no longer be operative or effective or exert any more influence. What unutterable madness to believe that such is really the case! What stupendous folly! What monumental self-satisfaction! And there is none to say nay to this madness and folly and self-satisfaction but a comparative handful of folk whose voice, though peremptory, is not heeded.
There is not one soul who is in direct communication with us who would not be able to point with unerring precision and exactitude to this as a terrible breach of spiritual law, where, by the decrees of a nation, authority can take it into its own hands to terminate abruptly a man's tenure upon his earthly life.
And so, my friends, by the superior wisdom of the earthly leaders, and by the carrying out of certain judicial sentences, the people of earth are vainly hoping that they have overcome the evil forces on earth at last, whereas, in good truth, what has been done is to cause a concentration of all that evil in the spirit world. Those evil men are here, make no mistake about that. They are alive, make no mistake about that also. The whole earth is fearful for the future, as well it may be; dreading another and infinitely worse deluge of blood, loss of earthly lives, rending of homes, the destruction and desolation of towns and cities upon a horrifying scale, and the diabolical results and after-results of vast annihilating power. The people of earth have every reason to be frightened.
So—a friendly reader may exclaim to me—you have done a great deal of talking, perhaps you can say what is the remedy for all this? Indeed, yes. It is one of those remedies, simple in themselves, that are so effective if properly applied. But the application of the remedy must be done thoroughly, comprehensively, one would say, ruthlessly.
It is this: the whole earth must undergo a complete and radical change of heart and mind. And what precisely do I mean by that, you may ask? Just this. Every soul on earth must come to the full realisation of the fact that, throughout the brief period of his life on earth, his duty is to his neighbour, as his neighbour's duty is to him. As an ancient writer has expressed it: do to none other, but that ye would were done to you.
The native of a country thinks of everyone outside his own land as a foreigner. That is wrong. There are no foreigners in the spirit world. We may have belonged to any nation upon earth: here we belong to one land, the huge world of the spirit.
Why should your infinitely smaller world divide itself into these narrow 'watertight compartments' of nationality?
The earth has thought that, in the main, it has done nicely for itself, whereas it has blundered and blundered, erected false barriers and distinctions in its social life, and through contentious religious organisations has disseminated spiritual falsity among its people. If the earth desires peace, it must make a fresh start by learning the spiritual truth, and that must be done in the high places wherein are vested the governments of the nations.
Man must know that though the spirit world and the earth world are two separated bodies, yet are they interrelated, and closely so. He must realise that we of the spirit world can and do communicate with our friends on earth, and that even as we communicate, so can the great ones, the mighty ones, of the highest spheres of spiritual existence also communicate, and from their own great treasury disburse rich stores of knowledge and wisdom. These exalted beings are ready and eager to help the leaders of the earth in all their difficulties and trials, so that by the application of proper and adequate measures eternal peace and prosperity can be brought to the weary earth, with security for the future for all time.
But how is the change of heart and mind to be brought about when the leaders of the nations are spiritually blind? There is too much selfishness upon earth, my friends, and not nearly enough selflessness. A change of heart is revolutionary, but only such revolutionary methods will save the earth from future calamity.
Wars increase in violence, intensity, and proportions with each fresh outbreak; they do not diminish in their powers of inflicting devastation, desolation and ruin. There must come a time when a 'saturation point' is reached. Many on earth have expressed the opinion that that time has already arrived. Upon the outset of the next war, they affirm, the world will be annihilated by the stupendous power of the new destructive force. If the earth is to survive, they add, something must be done.
Thus is the light beginning to penetrate in the places where it is darkest and most needed—among the leaders of the nations, for it is they who bring wars upon earth, whatever the causes or provocations. The congregation of evil men in the spirit world, who have been sent here by the earth, are not now idle or impotent. They are extremely active and powerful. It is for the people of earth to afford them no opportunity or channel for the fructification of their evil intent. While the leaders essay to pursue fugitive plans for peace upon earth, the evil men are doing their utmost to disrupt those plans, to interpose their malevolent powers in every way possible.
And where, it may be asked, are the 'angels of light' during all this? Are they standing idly by, powerless to stem the flow of evil, powerless to effect any good upon earth? No, they are not standing idle, by any means. But whether the people of the spirit world can influence the minds of the earth world's leaders and their underlings rests with both the latter.
We try strenuously to impinge upon their minds the right course to take. Some may hear us, and be thoroughly convinced that the thoughts that have 'come into their heads' are the only sound and safe and sure solution of some particular problem. What happens? Such folk are a minority; one voice, perhaps, crying in the wilderness'—and what a wilderness! It may be heard—there are true prophets upon earth—but most assuredly it will not be heeded. There are other influences at work, theories to be tested, interests to be protected and served at all costs, money to be thought of, petty rules and tortuous modes of procedure to be observed, and prejudice, pride, and pure idiocy to cause obstructions.
Indeed, no; the people of the spirit world will never abandon their brothers upon earth, whose need is more imperative now than ever it has been throughout the course of time and history. If only man would heed the voices from these exalted realms of the spirit of which I have spoken. It makes us weep to see the earth slipping deeper and ever deeper into the morass of world disorder.
Great days of national prayer, my friends, are of little or no avail. What is being prayed for, would you say? Guidance, perhaps? Just so. If the guidance is given, what then? Will any attention be paid to it? That guidance has already been given without reference to any impressive assemblies of important personages in a grand display of religious fervour. Praying for mercy because the church pronounces the people of earth to be all 'miserable sinners,' and reciting long and most inappropriate prayers, will produce no results whatever. It would be better if these important folk were to meet in their own chamber, and with earnestness in their hearts and with a deep and sincere resolve to act upon their impressions utterly regardless of preconceptions or prejudices, and to pray: 'Great Father, through your ministers of light show us what to do, and whatsoever it may be, that we promise to do unfailingly.'
That, my dear friends, would produce far grander results than all the exaggerated solemnity of any 'calls to prayer'—and such prayer, too. Does the Father of the Universe like His children to cringe to Him? Would you, my friends, who have children of your own to whom you are devoted, would you like them to cringe to you? Of course not. You would be revolted by the spectacle and wonder what was amiss with them—or with yourself—that they should so behave.
Then, would I say to you, be forthright in manly and womanly fashion, and in simple unaffected terms, such as you would employ amongst yourselves in your own homestead, address the Father of us all, and ask Him to help your old earth out of its deep troubles and miseries. We shall unite in all efforts that are truly directed towards that one goal of peace on earth to men of good will. For true peace is not a matter of signatures upon documents. With universal good will peace is in sight.
The earth has already vanquished the forces of evil with the untiring and ungrudging help of its unseen friends of the spirit world, but the earth, by its present blunders, has shifted the power of evil from its own world into ours. It has banished the evil in physical form, but it still remains active in spirit form, having gathered more force in its wicked career. Help us, then, to help you, to prevent any further irruption of evil upon earth. Those evil forces cannot hurt us in these and other realms of light, but they can hurt you, hurt you dreadfully, and again bring abomination and desolation upon the earth.
And now, my friends, the time has come for me to close these present writings. We have covered a little ground together, and I hope the journey we have taken thus has not been tedious to you. If there are things we have not discussed, it is because space, though unlimited in the spirit realms, is very much limited when we visit the earth and speak through the medium of words printed on paper! We must therefore cut our coat according to our cloth.
That tranquillity and prosperity will again be your pleasure is the profound wish of us all in these lands, and with God's help, through His able though unseen ministers, both will be restored to you. And in all your strivings towards that happy end, I would say:
Benedicat te omnipotens Deus.