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March 21st, 1920.
Received by:James Padgett.
Washington D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
Let me write tonight as you are in good condition, and I desire
very much to write you in reference to a subject that is important
for men to know.
As I have before written you, there are two destinies for man in
the spirit life, and the one or the other of them may be just as
he desires and seeks for.
I was with you today as you listened to the preacher (Dr. Pierce)
expound the reasons why he is a believer in the faith of the church
(Unitarian) to which he belongs, and in which he is a leader and
teacher. He is undoubtedly honest and earnest in his beliefs, and,
so far as they go, they will afford him the happiness that he spoke
of, provided he puts such beliefs into actual, practical living
and makes them the dominating, dynamic influence that shall guide
and control him in his intercourse with humanity.
He said truly that there is a law that operates in wonderful power
in shaping men's lives, and which, when obeyed, will determine the
career not only of men but of nations; and that law is, that
when once a truth is ascertained or comes to the knowledge of men
it must be recognized and acted upon, or it will lose its beneficent
effect upon the lives of men. If he applies this law to his
own life he will experience a wonderful help in meeting the difficulties
and cares of life, and in overcoming the things that beset him as
a thinking man.
This is a wonderful truth, and so far as it pervades the life of
a man will result in making that life one of consistent goodness,
and cause harmony between that man and God who overrules the secret
things of the universe, and that man will enjoy a great happiness
even while in the flesh.
But this is not the important object and aim of what the preacher
calls religion, nor does it furnish the means by which a man may
come into a greater and closer harmony with the will of God. I know,
that to man this present mortal life seems a thing of the greatest
importance, and that the chief aim of man should be to act in that
manner that will make his life successful and happy, and, so far
as it is suited to make man the harmonious creature that is intended,
it is advisable to follow that course of living and loving. But
the preacher does not know of and cannot teach the great object
of man's appearance on earth, and the goal that is ever before him,
waiting to be reached and possessed.
As I have told you before, man's existence in the flesh is only
for the purpose of giving his soul an individualization, and all
other apparent objects are only secondary, as you may say, accidental
accompaniments of this process of individualization.
Hence you will observe that this great object is accomplished equally
in the case of the infant who dies young and in the case of the
man who lives to a ripe old age - in each case the object of the
soul's incarnation in the flesh is effected. The old man, of course,
has his experience - a longer and more diverse existence in meeting
and overcoming or submitting to the exigencies of his living than
does the infant, but the great object is not more perfectly accomplished
in the one case than in the other. The soul becomes individualized
the moment it finds its lodgment in the receptacle prepared by the
laws of nature in using the human father and mother as its instruments,
and time thereafter does not influence or have any determining effect
upon that soul so far as its individualization is concerned; and
neither does eternity, for that condition being once fixed never
can be changed nor annihilated, so far as is known to the highest
spirits of God's heavens. Of course, the soul as thus individualized
is subject to the various influences that surround it in its mortal
life, and these influences may be retarding, deadly or destructive
to the progress of the soul, but cannot possibly affect the object
obtained by that soul's coming into the flesh or ever require a
new individualization of that soul. Its identity and character,
as an individualized thing are established, and no condition of
the soul as to its goodness or badness can ever, in the slightest
degree, affect this character or identity. The soul once individualized
always remains the individual, even though the elements that enter
into and make up the form will always find itself being rebuilt
and continued by the operations of the law that preserves the individuality
of that soul.
Then, I say, the object of the incarnation of the soul is to give
it an individualization, and this in two appearances; first, in
that of the physical form which men by their perception of their
natural organs of sense can perceive, and secondly, a form that
is more sublimated and generally invisible to these organs; a spiritual
form.
At the moment of incarnation the soul takes the form which has
been prepared for it by the forces that exist in the parents and
retains that for during the natural life; and at the same moment
there is created for it or attracted to it, the form of the spirit
body, which then and ever afterwards remains with it. Both of these
bodies are of the material; one of the visible material of the universe,
the other of the invisible but still of the material.
As you know, that body which is made of the visible material lasts
for a little while only and then disappears forever, while that
which is of the invisible, and which is more real and substantial
than the former and exists all the time of the existence of the
visible, continues with the soul after the disappearance of the
invisible body; and while changeable in response to the progress
of that soul, yet the spirit body never in its composite form leaves
that soul. This we in the spirit life know to be true, just as certainly
as you mortals know the truth of the existence of the physical body.
And as you mortals may in the short space of the life on earth identify
the man - which is really the soul - by the appearance of his physical
body, so we in the spirit world identify the same man by the appearance
of the spirit body, and so this fact must be forever.
Then such being the fact, it must be conceived that the soul has
its existence in the physical body for an infinitesimal short time;
that is, its life on earth is only the breath of a moment, and then
it enters on its career through eternity, and after a few years,
as you may say, it may cease to remember that it ever had a lodgment
in the physical body.
The preacher criticized the religion that taught man to think of
and prepare for the future of the soul, and emphasized the fact
that their thoughts should be more of the present, and that duty
and good works towards their fellow man should be the object of
their living, and their religion. Well, I recognize the importance
of duty and good works and approve of them with all the knowledge
that I now have of the demands and requirements of God's Love, but
on the other hand must say, that their importance to man's future
destiny is also the importance of other privileges and obligations
possessed by, and resting on man, during the short time that the
soul is clothed in the physical body. Duty performed, and good works
will lessen the distress and sufferings of the mortal life, and
cause the man who performs the duty and does the good works to become
more in harmony with God's laws of mercy and truth, but will never
suffice to bring a soul into harmony with the will of the Father
as regards the higher destiny of man. These things will tend to
lead merely to the purification of the soul, and to cause it to
come into accord with the laws of its own creation and their end.
These constitute merely the exercise of compliance with the moral
laws, and bring only a moral effect. And when I say moral laws I
mean those laws that demand that, and by the observance of which,
man comes into the condition of the perfect man, which was his at
the time of his creation. He thereby obtains nothing more than belonged
to him when he existed as the perfect man and was in complete harmony
with God as such perfect man. He then loved God with all the capacity
of his soul in the exercise of the Love that had been bestowed upon
him, and could have loved his brother as himself.
And to this condition men are, to a more or less extent, now striving
to attain, and many precepts of the Old Testament as well as of
the New, will lead men to thus obtain, and if this were the only
destiny of man, then the religion of the preacher, which he says
is based on these moral precepts of love to God and love to his
fellow man, would be sufficient to obtain the goal sought, and love
and duty and service would be all that are required of men while
on earth as well as after they become spirits; and the exercise
of these graces by men while on earth would be just as necessary
and helpful as would their exercise afterwards in the spirit world.
These things of love to God and love to man, and service and sacrifice
constitute the true religion that leads to the perfect man, and
makes for that harmony with the laws of God governing the condition
of the perfect man, but not the Divine man.
These things should be preached by all ministers and teachers,
and practiced by men everywhere, for in their practice are happiness
and bliss unspeakable. As these things work to a finality, man again
becomes the son of God and obedient to His laws, and realizes the
meaning of "love God and love your brother". And so I repeat,
the preacher in pronouncing the basis of his religion, declared
the truths that will lead him into the condition of the perfect
man, in harmony with God's will as to man's creation.
Well, I see you are tired and so we will postpone the further writing.
I am very much pleased that you are in so much better condition,
and hope that we may continue our messages without further interruption.
Only pray more and believe that the Father will answer your prayers.
So believe that I love you and want you to be happy and free from
care.
Good night. Your brother and friend,
Jesus
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