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 This
testimony is the outgrowth of the many queries that have resulted
from the publication of volumes I and II of the Messages from Jesus
and Celestials; which I first printed in 1940 (1941?), and which
have thereafter gone through three editions. On the publication
of this fourth edition of volume I, I am integrating all those questions
from interested readers into a new testimony, which will show how
it was that Mr. Padgett was able to perform the work of receiving
these remarkable messages. It tells how I met Mr. Padgett and my
reasons for believing that he was actually able to receive messages,
not merely from the spirit world, but from the greatest spirits
of the Celestial Heavens, whose Master is Jesus of Nazareth.
I was born on November 10, 1876, at Aldershot, Hampshire, England,
the tenth of thirteen children. I attended the public school there
and later completed courses at the Grammar School of Farnham, Surrey,
founded by King Edward VI. Thereafter, I worked in the saddlery
shop of my father, William Stone, at Aldershot, and later at London.
When business slackened, I emigrated to Toronto, Canada, in 1903.
On that occasion, my mother, who was a great believer in prayer,
asked the Heavenly Father to let her know what His Will was. His
answer was that I should go.
In Toronto, one day, I was attracted to a notice of a Spiritualist
meeting. Never having attended one before, I was curious and went.
The medium, who was giving messages from the platform, pointed to
me and said: "Your father, who says he is William Stone, is here,
and is glad that he is able to greet you." The medium then described
my father, such as I had known him. He had never been to the New
World and had died when I was seven years of age. Under the circumstances,
this woman could hardly have been able to give this information
without direct contact with the spirit of my father.
After this experience, I began to read many books on Spiritualism,
such as Nature's Divine Revelation, by Andrew Jackson Davis, also
The Great Harmonia by the same author. These books had a profound
effect upon me, for the faith in the religious doctrines which my
mother, a strong Baptist, had taught me could no longer interest
me as the repositories of the Truths. I believed in the existence
of a great spirit world and in the communication of mortals and
spirits. At the same time, however, Spiritualism, as it was being
taught, did not, I confess, completely satisfy my soul longings.
Not until I met Mr. James E. Padgett and read the messages which,
I am thoroughly convinced, came from Jesus and the Celestial spirits,
was I satisfied that at last I had really come to know the great
religious Truths, and that I knew the way to the Father and at-onement
with Him.
It took me eleven years after coming to the New World before I
met Mr. Padgett. Spirit guides advised my going to Detroit. There,
the production of automobiles was such that it was impossible to
maintain myself in saddlery work and, again on spiritual advice,
I moved to Buffalo. There, I worked and studied in a hospital for
seven years and finally became a graduate nurse. This period of
my life was, I feel, an important one in that it gave me that interest
in healing which later induced me to study chiropractic.
In Buffalo, I continued to be interested in Spiritualism, and received
another personal proof of spirit life. At one Spiritualist meeting,
I was seated next to a woman who happened to be a medium. She suddenly
turned to me and said, "Your mother is here with you." I replied,
"You must be mistaken, Madam. I had a letter from my mother quite
recently and she is in good health." The medium shrugged and replied,
"Your mother never lived in this country. She tells me she lived
in England and died a short time ago." She went on to report what
my mother presumably had died of, described the funeral, and mentioned
the names of those present. She told me that I had a sister Edith,
from whom I would receive a letter confirming what she said. The
letter arrived just as the woman had predicted, and corroborated
her statements. If I ever had doubts then as to the truth of spirit
communication, I lost them at that point.
As a matter of fact, I advanced in Spiritualism to the extent of
going into trances, wherein I am convinced that I have been able
to visit the spirit world. I know I have met my mother there, a
sister Kate, and a brother Willie who had passed on in 1908. I knew
I was in my spirit body and had left my mortal frame; and, indeed,
I had no desire to return to it. But my mother and sister insisted
that I had a spiritual work to accomplish in the earth plane, and
that I could not come permanently into the spirit world until I
had accomplished that task.
I could go on to relate many interesting and curious experiences
which I was privileged to have in the spirit world, but this is
not the occasion for it, and I shall proceed with the narrative.
During my work in the hospital, I had become interested in chiropractic
and, on the suggestions of spirits who communicated messages to
me through mediums at Lily Dale, New York, I studied at the Palmer
Gregory College of Chiropractic in Oklahoma City, and graduated
in 1912 after a two year course. Shortly thereafter, I became a
licensed practitioner in Washington, D.C. There comes to mind the
name of a Mrs. Bartholomew, a trumpet medium, and a Mr. Pierre Keeler,
a slate writing medium, whom I consulted while at Lily Dale. It
was through this gentleman's brother that I was able to obtain a
spirit photograph of my soulmate, Mary Kennedy. I shall refer to
this in more detail later.
On graduating, I went to Philadelphia with a view to opening an
office, but, on receiving messages from many of my relatives in
the spirit world through a medium named Mrs. Bledsoe, I opened an
office instead on the boardwalk of Atlantic City. I must say that
I was successful and instrumental in restoring many patients to
health. I remember distinctly a newsboy of about nine years of age
whose name was George Hutton. He suffered from paralysis in the
legs due to polio and used crutches to swing his legs. I offered
to give this boy treatment without charge, to which his mother consented.
The boy was able to walk again without use of his crutches in two
treatments, and an osteopath and M.D., Dr. Walton, came to see me
about it. "I saw the newsboy today walking without his crutches,"
he said, "and he told me you had treated him. I came to find out
if it is so." Later, George came in and confirmed the healing. I
have always felt that this instance of healing, as well as many
others that I cannot mention here, was due to spiritual forces operating
through me.
Although I was kept busy at my boardwalk practice during the summer
months, autumn found business so slack, due to the closing of many
hotels and departure of people, that I was compelled to find another
location. Again I went to Philadelphia and consulted Mrs. Bledsoe
who, through her spirit contacts, advised me to go to Washington,
D.C.
I arrived there in November 1912, and opened an office on Fourteenth
Street, N.W. There, I fortuitously met a gentleman with whom I had
become acquainted at Lily Dale. His name was William Plummer, of
Frederick, Maryland. He visited me at my office and told me he was
interested in procuring a copy of "Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist?"
by Nettie Maynard Colburn. He wanted to find the owner of the copyright,
for he wished to have the book reprinted. In his search, he had
found the name of a Mr. Rollison Colburn of Takoma Park, but was
informed that the latter was not related to the writer. The search,
however, had not been entirely futile, for the Rollison Colburns
proved to be interested in Spiritualism, and a common interest between
them developed into a close friendship. My Testimony - Part 2
I became acquainted with the Colburns through Mr. Plummer. I found
them very kind and lovable people who were greatly interested in
psychic experiences. It was through their son, Arthur Colburn, that
I first heard of the messages that were being received by Mr. Padgett.
I was introduced to him at his office in the Stewart Building, 6th
and D Streets, N.W., where he was practicing law. This was in the
early fall of 1914 when everyone was excited about the great conflict
that had broken out in Europe. Some people felt the period ushering
in the end of the world had come and that Jesus himself would appear
at this "end time." For me, it was the end of my travels and spiritual
search.
These "Messages from Jesus and Celestials", received
through the hand of James E. Padgett, are so extraordinary in concept
and contents (claiming as they do to bring to mankind the highest
spiritual teachings of Jesus as an epoch-making revelation from
the spirit world), that it is indispensable that, as the publisher
and firm believer in the Truths contained in these messages, I give
to interested readers and for future reference some firsthand information
regarding the man through whom these messages were received, and
how it was that he was enabled and selected to obtain these amazing
communications.
At this point, I must state that I was very often in Mr. Padgett's
room when he was receiving these writings, and that I am the eyewitness
to the formation and development of Mr. Padgett as the medium par
excellence through whom the Truths of the Heavenly Father and life
in the spirit world have come to mankind.
My first contact with Mr. Padgett was in September 1914. I became
interested in him at first because he seemed to be a fine gentleman
and, what was also important to me, a genuine medium. We became
friendly on the basis of Spiritualism and mediumship, and this became
a bond which, in addition to our mutual respect and brotherly love
for each other, which grew apace in the course of time, was never
broken in this life until his death on March 17, 1923. This bond,
I am convinced, continues to exist between us--his soul encased
in a spirit body and mine still in mortal trappings.
Mr. Padgett invited me to visit him regularly at his home at 514
E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., where, in the course of time,
I met Eugene Morgan and Dr. Goerger. Padgett told me that the messages
he was receiving were from his wife, Helen, who had died early that
year. She had written him many things about the spirit life she
was living, describing her experiences at the time of her death,
the sphere of her spiritual abode, and her love for her husband
in the flesh who, she had then discovered, was her soulmate. I was
thereafter very often present as he continued to receive these messages.
They came in a rapid sweep of connected words that obviously gave
no time for thought on the part of the writer, and, in fact, he
often insisted that he had no clear idea of what his pencil was
writing until he read the messages afterwards. It was in this way,
then, that he received from 1914 to 1923 some twenty five hundred
messages, many of them coming, I have not the slightest doubt, from
those highest spirits whose signatures were testimony to the personalities
they represented.
Interested as I had always been in Spiritualism, and in the possibility
of man's communicating with departed spirits, I asked Mr. Padgett
what were the circumstances leading to this mediumistic activity.
The facts, as he related them to me, were as follows: About six
months before I had met him, he had attended a seance held by a
Mrs. Maltby in Washington, D.C. She informed him that he possessed
the psychic power to obtain automatic writings from spirits, and
challenged him to make the effort. He did so and found that his
pencil moved automatically to produce what he called "fish hooks"
and "hangers." When this had continued for a short time, he at length
obtained a writing which he could make out as a message signed by
his wife, Helen. It was a short, personal note which stated she
was often present in spirit with him, and how glad she was to be
able to write him in this way. At this point, Mr. Padgett did not
believe the evidence of the writings that his dead wife had actually
communicated with him. In fact, he wanted to know what proof could
she offer, or was there, to show that a spirit was actually writing,
and, if so, whether that spirit was actually Helen. The writing
that followed provided incidents in their lives that could only
have been known to both.
Padgett thought even this could be explained as material coming
from his own mind, as well it might, except that the writings came
too quickly for his mind to formulate thought, and the messages
kept on insisting that it was not his mind but hers that was operating,
with emphasis on her love for him and the happiness she could obtain
by being with him.
With his interest in Spiritualism greatly aroused by these strange
writings, and anxious to set his mind at rest, he began to read
books on the subject. I remember his reading J. M. Peeble's Immortality,
and his frequent attendance at seances. There, he was given to understand
that spirits, if given the opportunity and under right conditions,
can communicate with mortals, and that apparently, in his case,
the writings he questioned came from his departed wife. He was advised
to continue to take messages while learning more about the spirit
world. Among those things he learned was that souls have their mates,
and that spirit life, contrary to what is taught by orthodox religions,
was one of constant progress through the various realms of the spirit
universe.
At the end of one of these writings, he asked what plane or sphere
she was in. He received the answer that she was living in one of
the planes of the Second Sphere, where a certain amount of light
and happiness is present, but that she had no desire to make progress
to other spheres, because she could at that time make contact quite
easily with him on the earth plane and write to him by controlling
his brain and hand. Padgett told me he could feel her presence intensely,
which produced in him a feeling of happiness that was alien to him,
except when she wrote.
Padgett confided to me that he would like to see Helen progress
and told her so. He informed her that, through his own spiritual
studies, he knew she could make her way to higher spheres and increased
happiness as a spirit. Helen replied she would find out from his
grandmother, Ann Rollins, who had been a long time in the spirit
world, what steps were necessary to make progress to higher and
brighter spheres.
I do not know why Helen turned to her husband's grandmother for
guidance in the spirit world. Many of Mr. Padgett's early messages
were destroyed because they were of such a personal nature that
he did not wish others to be acquainted with their contents. But
I do know that affinity of spirits in the other world is due to
affinity of the soul and not to any relationship one may have in
the flesh. And from what Mr. Padgett told me of his grandmother,
and from the messages which she subsequently wrote (some of which
I have inserted in these volumes), she must have been a very kind
and warmhearted woman. At any rate, Helen later wrote about her
meeting with Ann Rollins who, she said, was a glorious spirit dwelling
in the high Celestial Heavens. Ann Rollins, surprisingly enough
for Padgett and those of us who were present at the time, had informed
her that spirit progress to the higher Celestial Realms could be
obtained only by prayer to the Heavenly Father for His Love through
earnest longing of soul. In addition, Padgett's mother, Ann R. Padgett,
also in the spirit world, wrote through her son corroborating this
information. Both spirits were thus instrumental in giving Padgett
(and those like myself who used to be present at these writings)
the knowledge that soul progress to the Celestial Heavens was achieved
only through prayer to God for His Divine Love.
These sessions, held to obtain writings from Helen, had become
a channel through which a deep, religious note had been injected,
replacing the personal material. From the scores of messages from
Helen written at this time, and which are in my possession, we can
follow her rapid progress to the higher spheres. Helen took the
advice of these high spirits and prayed, and she found her prayers
for the Father's Love were answered, and that It came into her soul
in a way that caused a purification of her desires and thoughts,
with a corresponding change in her soul and spiritual appearance.
She said that her spirit body, reflecting the changing condition
of her soul, was becoming etherealized and brighter. She then wrote
that she had reached the Third Sphere where happiness was greatly
increased.
Shortly thereafter, she suggested that since she had done what
Padgett had wished, and had been able to progress to a higher sphere,
it was fitting that Padgett should seek to better his soul condition
as well. In fact, she suggested that we should all do so. She stated
that, since the soul is the same, whether in the flesh or spirit
body, it could be transformed by prayer to the Father for His Divine
Love--not by ordinary intellectual prayers that came from the head,
but from the heart and soul. Padgett refused to lend credence to
this information. The spirits insisted that, as inhabitants of the
higher realms, they possessed knowledge of this sacred Truth, and
that Jesus, himself, ever interested in bringing the Truths to mankind,
would come to corroborate their affirmations if Padgett would give
him the opportunity.
I do not know exactly when the first message signed "Jesus of the
Bible" was received, for as I write this, more than forty years
later, I cannot remember the date. Padgett evidently
felt it was absurd to believe that Jesus had written him and, alas,
threw away the message. As a matter of fact, Mr. Colburn, who up
to that time had formed a part of our fellowship, declared he could
not be persuaded that Jesus had actually written. However, his friends,
Dr. Goerger, Mr. Morgan, and I had an instinctive feeling that Jesus
had written a genuine message. The earliest message allegedly from
Jesus to Padgett which is in my possession, therefore, is dated
September 28, 1914, and refers to an earlier message written a few
days before. It is a long message, urging Padgett to pray for the
Father's Love, and stating that certain passages in the New Testament,
thoroughly believed in by Padgett, were false. The Master went on
to say that he was neither God, nor had he been conceived by the
Holy Spirit in the way taught by the preachers of the churches.
Further, that "...Neither is God Spirit only; a Spirit of Mind.
He is a Spirit of everything that belongs to His Being. He is not
only Mind, but Heart, Soul, and Love." The message urged Padgett:
"...Go to your Father for His Help. Go in prayer, firmly believing,
and you will soon feel His Love in your heart."
Padgett was doubtful. Though he was not entirely certain of the
genuineness of the family spirits, he felt the need of asking whether
Jesus had really written. In volume II, I have published some of
the messages which he received from Helen, Ann Rollins, his mother,
and his father, John Padgett, all corroborating that Jesus had written.
You will also find in this volume II some of the early messages
which he received from the Master. They tell Padgett to have faith
that he is Jesus, and they encourage him to pray; but they are simply
preparatory in nature and do not contain the wonderful contents
and information which came when Padgett had achieved that condition
of soul which enabled him to obtain them.
At this point, it came forcibly to Mr. Padgett and to me that such
messages could not possibly be the brainchild of his own heated
imagination. He had been, as I discovered, an orthodox Methodist,
and had for many years taught Sunday School in the Trinity Methodist
Church (5th Street and Seward Place, N.E.) in Washington, D.C. His
conception of religious doctrine was simply that which emanated
from this Protestant church. This view of soul progress was contrary
to what he had been taught. He had no idea of Divine Love in contrast
to the natural love, or what it might be, and realized that such
a conception was foreign to his thinking and never could have been
a product of his own mind. He therefore felt assured, and I agreed
with him, that these writings were actually not only from Helen,
Ann Rollins, his mother and departed spirits of mortals, but also
from the Master, himself. He decided to follow those instructions
which he himself had never entertained, and which by that very fact
had to come from outside intelligences which were communicating
to him in this way.
He - I should say, we - began to pray for the
Divine Love, letting our soul longings go out to the Heavenly Father;
and, in time, a feeling came glowing into the region of our hearts.
We felt this emotion grow stronger and stronger with continued,
fervid prayers; and, as we did so, our faith in God became solidified
and absolute. Never before had Padgett, nor I, felt so sure of the
real existence of the Father and His Divine Love and Mercy. The
cold, intellectual concept which we had entertained of Him had been
transformed, through prayers for His Love, into a warm, glowing,
living feeling of closeness, of at-onement with the Heavenly Father,
Whose Love and Mercy and Goodness we could sense were personal and
real.
The change in Padgett's attitude towards the Heavenly Father, through
the inflowing of His Love, motivated a message from Ann Rollins.
It recognized the effect which this Divine Love was having upon
his soul, which was now a receptacle for some Essence of the Father's
Divine Nature. It also reported on Helen's progress to higher spheres.
Helen, she said in her message, was now a much happier spirit, and
her spirit body shone with a radiance produced by the Father's Love
in her soul.
Message followed message now from Helen, Ann Rollins, and, above
all, from Jesus, encouraging Padgett to keep on praying and to obtain
increased portions of the Father's Love. As a medium, he might be
used to transmit messages from the highest Celestial spirits. At
length, Jesus himself wrote that, since Padgett had the ability
to receive writings from spirits, should Padgett's brain be sufficiently
transformed through soul development by obtaining more of the Divine
Love to a degree where he could receive high quality messages, he
and his apostles would come and write through him the Truths of
the Father, of his mission on earth, and on the New Testament and
Christianity! Only pray, and pray harder for the Father's Love,
urged the messages.
The Master wrote on October 5, 1914, stating that he had chosen
Padgett to do his work of disseminating the Father's Truths to mankind.
I quote the last part:
...Go to the Lord in prayer and He will remove from
your soul all that tends to defile it and make it alien from Him.
He is the One that will cleanse it from sin and error.
Only the teachings that I shall give you will tell
the Verities of my Father. Let not your heart be troubled or cast
down, for I am with you always and I will help you in every time
of need. Only believe that I am Jesus of the Scriptures and that
you will not be long out of the Kingdom. You are my chosen one on
earth to proclaim my glad tidings of life and love. Be true to yourself
and to your God and He will bless you abundantly. Keep His Commandments
and you will be very happy, and you will soon receive the contentment
that He gives to His true children. Go to Him in all your troubles
and you will find rest and peace. You will soon be in condition
to let the things of this world alone, as I need you for my service.
With all my love and blessings, and those of
the Holy Spirit, I am, Jesus.
Padgett was eventually convinced that he was being developed for
a task of mediumship whereby great messages of religious Truths
would be given to mankind through him. He prayed earnestly and frequently
and, for the next three months, not only did Jesus write but also
many of the apostles, especially John and James, who kept telling
him to keep praying for the Father's Love, but that the time had
not yet come for the delivery of the great messages. Padgett's brain,
while being changed in quality, had not yet reached that high quality
which would permit the passage of communications of the kind they
proposed. They continually urged him to seek for more of the Father's
Love through prayer to Him. Many times when I met him in his room,
he would say to me:
"Doctor, I feel the Divine Love in my soul in such intensity
that I don't think I can stand it anymore." He would say this
experience was always his when he had been praying for the Father's
Love prior to obtaining messages from Jesus and the Celestial spirits.
And I can in all sincerity state, if only for the purpose of corroborating
his experiences, that these feelings were mine as well, if perhaps
to a smaller degree.
While receiving these preparatory messages, it occurred to Padgett
to ask how it was that Jesus had selected him to do this work, and
what power, specifically, was there in the Divine Love which would
enable him to succeed. Inevitably, there came the reply--in fact,
one from John, the Apostle, and another from Jesus. John's message
deals with the Laws of Rapport in the spirit world which enable
spirits and mortals to communicate, and the workings whereby the
brain of the mortal is conditioned to receive various types of messages:
intellectual, moral, and soul. It is a message of great importance
to those who may be interested in developing mediumship or furthering
their mediumistic powers. But Jesus' reply is more direct. The message
is printed in volume I, and so may be read in its entirety. But
to summarize briefly here, Jesus wrote that two things are necessary
for a genuine medium to receive the messages of the Father's Truths,
which were to be given shortly. First, the medium had to have thorough
faith that the spirits of the Celestial Heavens, inhabitants of
God's Kingdom in Immortality, were actual beings who could, if the
medium achieved a certain condition of soul, actually control his
brain and write through him. If the medium did not have this faith
in his heart, then no contact could be made by the Celestial spirits
with him. Secondly, the medium must be willing to submit to the
conditions imposed by the spirits: He had to obey the instructions
of the spirits and pray to the Father for His Divine Love; for it
was this Love alone that had the power to transform the brain of
the medium so that it could be attuned to the thoughts of the spirits.
And this transformation of the brain could be achieved only through
the development of his soul. By prayer, said Jesus, the Father's
Love inflowing into the soul transforms the soul from the image
of God (with which man was created) into the Essence of God, so
that sin and error in the human soul could not exist. And the brain
of the mortal, thus purified of material thoughts and manifesting
in his thoughts the condition of his transformed soul, could attain
that condition which corresponded to the soul condition of the spirits;
and it was in that way that he could grasp their thoughts .
That was the importance of the Divine Love. Padgett, in short,
had to attain, through prayer to the Father, a soul condition approaching
to a degree that of the Celestial spirits in order for his brain
to receive their messages. Prayer had to be constant, for, otherwise,
renewed earth plane and material thoughts would naturally reimpose
their dominance, and the Love and the high soul condition would
become inactive. Thus, said Jesus, Padgett had not been selected
because of any particular goodness or freedom from sin, as compared
to other mortals, for there were many who were in better, and in
a higher, spiritual condition than he was, but because of his faith
that Jesus could come, and his willingness to obey the spirits and
pray for the Divine Love for a transformation of his soul so that
the conditions for receiving these messages could be met.
Furthermore, declared Jesus, he had tried for many centuries in
the past to thus write his messages, and he had found many mediums
who were far better gifted than was Padgett. But because they thought
Jesus was God, or because they thought it was impossible for Jesus
to write, or because of their religious beliefs and dogmas, they
had refused to submit to the promptings of the spirits. And since
man is endowed by his Creator with a free will, Jesus and the Celestial
spirits could not coerce them into submitting to a task to which
they were opposed and in whose efficacy they had no conviction.
For these reasons, Jesus stated, no other could be chosen except
Padgett.
Mr. Padgett was now thoroughly convinced that what he was receiving
was not only from the Celestial spirits but also from the Master,
himself. I think it is interesting to point out that he not only
confided his beliefs to his friends, like myself, Eugene Morgan,
and Dr. Goerger, but also wrote boldly about them. I have in my
possession a copy of a letter he wrote to a Dr. George H. Gilbert,
Ph.D., D.D., who had published an article on religion entitled "Christianizing
the Bible," in the November 1915 issue of Biblical World. This
article, which I have read, advocated less emphasis on the Old Testament
and its emphasis on a stern and punishing Jehovah, and more attention
to the teachings of the New Testament and the sayings of Jesus.
There was no suggestion of the Divine Love in Dr. Gilbert's article,
which anyone who procures a copy from the Library of Congress (or
any other library which contains it) can very readily discover.
Mr. Padgett's letter explains how, for quite a time, he refused
to believe the contents or origin of the handwriting (for, with
his legalistic turn of mind, he would accept only the most concrete
evidence as proof), but that he was finally and thoroughly convinced
of the Truths of the Messages and the source from which they came.
Here it is:
December 28, 1915
Dr. George H. Gilbert, Ph.D., D.D.,
Dorset, Vermont.
Dear Sir:
I hope that you will pardon me for writing you as I herein shall,
for your evident voluntary interest in a certain subject matter,
and my involuntary interest in the same, furnish the only excuse.
I have read your article, "Christianizing the Bible,"
in the November issue of the Biblical World and am much impressed
with the same, not only because of its inherent merits but also
because its demands and suggestions are very similar to those which
have been made through me in a way and manner which I can scarcely
expect you to give credence to; nevertheless, I shall submit the
matter to you, recognizing your right to consider what it may say
unworthy of your serious attention.
First, permit me to state that I am a practical lawyer of 35 years
experience and, as such, not inclined to accept allegations of fact
as true without evidencing proof. I was born and reared in an orthodox
Protestant church and, until quite recently, remained orthodox in
my beliefs; that a little more than a year ago, upon the suggestion
being made to me that I was a psychic, I commenced to receive messages
by way of automatic writing from what was said to be the spirit
world. And, since that time, I have received nearly 1500 such messages
upon many subjects, but mostly as to things of a spiritual and religious
nature, not orthodox, as to the errancy of the Bible.
I have not space to name, nor would you probably be interested
in, the great number of the writers of these messages; but among
the writers is Jesus of Nazareth, from whom I have received more
than 100 messages. I will frankly say that I refused to believe
for a long time that these messages came from Jesus because, God,
while He had the power, as I believed, would not engage in doing
such a thing. But the evidence of the truth of the origin of these
messages became so convincing, not only from the great number and
positiveness of the witnesses but also from the inherent and unusual
merits of the contents of the messages, that I was forced to believe;
and I now say to you that I believe in the truth of these communications
with as little doubt as I ever believed in the truth of a fact established
by the most positive evidence in court. I wish further to say that,
to my own consciousness, I did no thinking in writing the messages.
I did not know what was to be written nor what was written at the
time except the word that the pencil was writing.
The great object of these messages from Jesus, as he wrote, is
to make a revelation of the Truths of his Father. He asserts that
the Bible does not contain his real teachings as he disclosed them
while on earth; that many things that he said are not therein contained,
and many things that are ascribed to him therein he did not say
at all. And he wants the Truths made known to mankind. And I must
say that many of these Truths, which he has already written, I have
never heard of before, and I have studied the Bible to some extent.
One thing in particular impressed me, and that is what the truth
is of his bringing "life and immortality to light." The
Bible does not state it, and I have not been able to find an explanation
of it in any commentaries on the Bible. But enough of this. I merely
wrote this to assure you that I am serious in submitting the enclosed
copy of a message for your perusal; and I would not do this were
it not for the fact that the message comments upon your article
and also upon another article in the same issue of the Biblical
World.
On the night of December 24, 1915, I read your article and, on the
next night, Christmas night, I received a writing of which the enclosed
is a copy. You will observe that a portion of the message is personal,
but I thought it best to send it as it came to me. And though you
may not believe the origin of the message, yet, you may find some
thoughts therein for your consideration.
Trusting that you will pardon my intrusion, I
will subscribe myself,
Very respectfully,
James E. Padgett.
A few nights later, a message signed "Jesus" commented
upon Padgett's having sent a copy of the message, and referred to
his letter to Dr. Gilbert:
December 28, 1915
I am here, Jesus.
I came tonight to tell you that you did the right thing
by sending the message to the person who wrote the article upon
the subject of Christianizing the Bible, for I now believe that
he will appreciate it to a very great degree. He is not an orthodox
churchman, but is the preacher of a Unitarian church in the little
town in which he lives, and is a very broad-minded man.
He may have some doubts as to the source of the message
and may not feel inclined to accept, as true, your statements as
to how you received it, but yet his doubts will not be altogether
of such a nature that he may not have some hesitation in saying
that such a thing as your receiving my message could not be true.
At any rate, he will become interested in the subject matter of
the message and will find some thoughts that he never before had.
I fully realize that, when my messages are published,
the great difficulty in their being accepted will be the doubt of
the people as to their source. But you will have to complete the
book in such a way that the testimony of the numerous witnesses
will be so strong that the doubt will not be able to withstand the
overwhelming evidence of my being the writer of the messages. And
when men read the same, they will realize that the Truths which
they contain could only come from a higher source than mortal mind,
and that the Hand of the Father is in them.
So, I will continue to write and you to receive the
messages; and when the time comes to publish them, I do not fear
that they will not be, in time, gladly received. Very soon, I will
write you another which will be of importance to mankind. I will
only say further that I am with you trying to help you and to have
you believe with all your heart in the Divine Love of the Father,
in my mission, and in your work.Your brother and friend, Jesus.
By this time, of course, my original ideas about Spiritualism had
undergone a radical transformation. In the light of the messages,
Spiritualism could no longer simply be an effort to prove to one's
satisfaction, through seances repeating the same process and ritual,
that man did survive death and that his spirit, though devoid of
his fleshly frame, could appear from his spiritual habitat and give
evidence of his post-mortal existence. Both Padgett and myself now
saw in Spiritualism not merely belief in life after death and conviction
in communication between mortal and spirit, but in a great universe
of spirits seeking progress towards light and happiness through
purification of their souls, and the possibility of transformation
of these souls through prayer to the Heavenly Father for His Love.
Gone was my belief in vibrations, abstract intelligence, cosmic
force, astral bodies and other paraphernalia of a bare and cold
concept; and real Spiritualism took its well merited place as part
and parcel of that sublime religion which affirmed that souls were
alive, with or without the flesh, and that these souls could be
changed from the image of God, as originally created, into the very
Essence and Nature of God through His Divine Love. I did not have
to look further. My search for God had ended. I had found God through
the messages from Jesus and his Celestial spirits.
On this subject, a message signed by St. Luke was received December
5, 1915, in which it was pointed out how limited and sterile Spiritualism
was, unless life was breathed into it through faith in the Heavenly
Father and prayer to Him for His Divine Love and Mercy. At the time
of the first printing, I refrained from inserting St. Luke's message
for fear of wounding the susceptibilities of Spiritualists, for
it was to them that I first turned for the initial distribution
of the messages. On this fourth reprinting, however, I have inserted
the complete message, for its unmistakable stamp of authenticity
will appeal to those many Spiritualists who have now combined its
truths with the Master's teachings of the New Birth.
Before concluding, I want to write about my soulmate, Mary Kennedy,
and about some new messages through Padgett which I am inserting
in volume I. These messages include three from Jesus, the one from
St. Luke just mentioned, another from a member of the Sanhedrin
which condemned Jesus at his trial, one from Helen and two from
Mary. I am also adding photographs of Mary as she materialized in
the studio of Mr. William Keeler, brother of Pierre Keeler, who,
I have said, was a slate writing medium I had met at Lily Dale.
The Pictures were taken in Washington, D.C., in February 1920, where
I sat; and in one she appeared poised and calm, with certain spirit
lights about her head and partly across my body. Such illumination
blotted out the black tie I was wearing at the time. Yes, my Mary
is a glorious, living spirit of the Celestial Heavens. I have had
many writings from her through Mr. Padgett, and more recently through
an associate of mine. I hope you will enjoy the messages from her.
( Ed. Note: The additional messages referred to by Dr. Stone have
been incorporated into the present edition, with the exception of
the personal messages from Helen Padgett and Mary Kennedy, and the
photographs mentioned. It is the projected plan of the Foundation
Church of Divine Truth to include some of these latter, soulmate
messages in a future volume dedicated to Dr. Stone.)
The additional messages from Jesus include one received December
25, 1914, just prior to the writing of the great formal writings.
Another, dated December 15, 1915, states that, because of the Love
which I had obtained and my desire to help further the Father's
Truths, I had been selected by Jesus to do a work for the Kingdom.
This eventually turned out to be the work of publishing the Padgett
messages. I have since devoted my entire life to them and to furthering
the Master's task of disseminating the Truths to mankind. I feel
that I have made a beginning in my lifetime, and that the work will
be continued by my associates and friends everywhere.
Dr. Leslie R. Stone
See a current message from Dr
Stone.
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