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Received by:James Padgett
Washington D.C.
I am here, W____
Let me write a little. I need your help and believe that you can
help me, as I have been told that you have helped others before
me.
I am a spirit who has spent many long years in darkness and despair.
I was a very bad man, but I never knew it until I came to the spirit
world and saw clearly just what kind of character I had. No man
really knows his own condition until he has shuffled off the mortal
coil and becomes a transparent spirit. Then every inmost thought
is apparent, and he becomes, as it were, a mirror of his true self.
My life was not what the world would call an evil one, and I tried
to live, as I thought, correctly in the sight of God and man; but
it was all outward appearances only. I mean that I was deceiving
myself. My soul was not involved, but merely my intellectual condition,
as to what was right and wrong. The Beatitudes were not mine - and
soul religion was not mine. I was a strict church member and conformed
to all the conventions and dogmas of the church so far as their
outward appearances are concerned - and was at the same time not
of the true soul worship of God. I thought that by observing the
dogmas and creeds of my church I was doing God's will, and that
nothing further was necessary. I was baptised and confirmed by the
proper dignitaries of the church, and was told that I was a child
of God, and was certain of salvation. And when as I grew to manhood
and became, as you may be surprised to know, a clergyman, I found
a deep consolation in administering the services of the church and
receiving and confirming applicants into membership.
But all this did not bring me true communion and at-onement with
the Father, for I had not the Love of the Father in my soul. My
intellect was all Christian, but my soul was not in unison with
the Father's Love. How often I thought what a great and satisfying
thing it was to be within God's fold. I mean His church, which had
been established by Jesus and had come down to us in apostolic succession.
But what a mistake! Apostolic succession is in and of itself a meaningless
church government, and no such succession can confer upon any priest
or clergyman power to bestow upon the souls of men the Love or Mercy
of the Father. This I have learned to my sorrow, since I became
a spirit.
So I say, let those who think that any priest or bishop can bestow
this Love of the Father, or can make the soul of man the recipient
of this Love, awaken to the fact that no such power exists in these
church ministers. Only, as I now believe, can God Himself do this
great work.
So when I came into this spirit life, and found that I was not
in my Father's Kingdom, as I had believed, I was sorely disappointed;
and in my disappointment commenced to think that the whole of the
Bible teachings were merely fairy tales, and that God was not, or
if He existed, He had deceived His church by having it believe that
the members of such church were the specially redeemed children
of the Father. I had been in this state of doubt for a long time,
and only recently I commenced to see the truth and to know the way
to God is through the bestowal of His Love upon the soul - not through
the churches as such, but only through the true and earnest aspirations
of the soul. That no mediator is necessary, but that God is waiting
and willing to bestow this Love upon whomsoever may truly ask it.
No priest or bishop can relieve a soul from sin, or forgive the
sinner; and no man can reach the Father's Love or favor except through
his direct, individual supplication to the Father. The priest may
show the way if he knows how, but so few know, for the reason that
they not only teach but believe that all a man has to do is to conform
to the church's demands, and that when he does so, God is ready
to receive him into His Kingdom. But let all such men know that
if they depend alone on such conformity to duty they will be disappointed,
as I was, when they come into the world of spirits, where only truth
can prevail and where all that is hidden on earth is uncovered here.
Now, I am not to be understood as decrying the churches or the
good which they do, for many of their members, notwithstanding the
dogmas and creeds, have received this true soul union with the Father,
and many preachers have declared truths in their sermons which have
been the means of leading their hearers to a true understanding
of the Father's Love. What I intend to convey is that the churches
in their dogmas and creeds emphasize too much the necessity of conforming
to these dogmas and creeds, and neglect to show men the true way
to the Kingdom.
The only prayers that reach the Father's Heart are those which
carry the true aspirations of the supplicant to the Throne of Grace.
Men may repeat the written prayers for a whole lifetime, and if
the prayers do not express the aspirations and desires of the supplicant,
they have no more effect than would the repeating of the multiplication
table. And if men will consider for a moment, they will see that
this must be true - only the soul of man can receive this Great
Love of the Father and when these written prayers are repeated without
the longings of the soul entering into these repetitions, the soul
is not open to the inflowing of this Love, and hence man can receive
no possible benefit.
So I say, let men learn to know that religion is a matter purely
between God and each individual soul; and no church or priest or
bishop can, because of any claimed warrant (power) existing in it
or them, save a man's soul from the sins of life, or make such soul
at-one with the Father. All that such priest or bishop can do is
to show the way, if he understands it, and when he does that he
has performed a greater service to mankind than he may realize.
I now see the falsity of my depending on the performance of my
duty to my church merely as a duty. I performed my duties, but I
starved my soul - not intentionally, but because I thought that
the performance of duty was all that was necessary. Some day I hope
that men will learn that there is only one way to God, and that
through their earnest, personal prayers, with faith. Well, I have
written enough.
I was a clergyman of the Episcopal church in Lincoln, Nebraska,
my name was W__ and I passed over in 1871. I am now learning the
way. I came to you for help because I saw that you are surrounded
by bright and beautiful spirits who must have this Love in their
souls to a great degree; and I thought that if I could meet them
and have them tell me of what this Love means from their personal
experience, I might be benefited.
Well, I have acknowledged the introduction, and I certainly feel
myself fortunate in meeting them - they are so beautiful and lovely.
I thank you very much, and sometime, with the permission of all
of you, I will come again and write.
So, with my best love, I say good night.
W____
This message is a composite of two, being published
in Volume II on page 47 and Volume IV on page 262. For more details
see this page.
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