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February 27th, 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 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
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