Good afternoon. My friends I have a story for you today, as it is a day of party, only for a short time of course. But I thought that as it is the last day of this session, I would give you something to think about, nevertheless something interesting. At least I hope so.
In our life we often come across friends and acquaintances, who like ourselves, are helping humanity in the spirit realms, and we often sit down together and ponder over problems. When I say ‘problems’ you know this already, when men and women come to us they are not prepared for our life. Some are so distressed. Some are so bewildered that we have a great difficulty in soothing their emotions. But sometimes we have the problems of deliberate denials of our teachings. You may ponder upon this if you would think that people when they have made the transition between death and life, I say ‘life’ purposefully because it is life. You think the change that is wrought would help them to understand at least that there has been change and it is not as they thought it would be. You would think that his would make them ponder upon the changes that are around them. But some people as you know are so hidebound, so determined to hold to that which they know, even though they see it, even though the area is different, even though their very eyes are telling the story, yet they deny it. You know people on earth can be very stubborn. Well we have them too. It takes time before they can become even a little tiny bit at ease with us. Well as you are aware, as we have said previously, we know how to deal with them, knowing their life, being able to read their past existence, so we have hit upon something that will touch them, to bring the change.
Now this story is about a gentleman who was such a person, very very stubborn. When he was in life, he was a good man. He attended church regularly. He said his prayers, and he helped according to his knowledge and his feelings. He led a life, we would think, a life that was narrow, inasmuch as he tried to be a very very good man, believing that he must tread the narrow pathway. So when he died, he came to a place that you know as the Summerland, a very lovely place, somewhat like today, warm, blue sky, everything balmy and nice. He found it very lovely, but he could not understand. Now we have talked about this previously, but those who are new do not understand , so we will go upon it again very briefly. When on earth you have no comprehension of our world. You hope, but you have not any idea, but you long for beauty. Those of you who think, do not want a world of idleness, and you do not have to be idle in our realms unless you wish to, but you are not going to find instant heaven, instant Nazarene being there to greet you, nor the Father God. No. But you will find the presence, in harmony, of the Father. In time you may meet the Nazarene, as he teaches the masses, and shows himself not to be God, but His son, as I am His son, and you are His children. We are all belonging.
So this man arrives and he sees sky, no clouds, of course, but houses, grass, flowers and trees. He sees what he was accustomed to seeing on earth, and he is content. He is not happy because he is denied the presence of Jesus. His every waking moment, he is always awake in those realms, every moment he is alive, he is longing, longing with a great desire that you cannot comprehend, unless you are a person who is deeply deeply religious. His longing was so great he could not think, only of the words he had heard on earth, the psalms, the hymns, all that he had been taught, and all that he had been taught to expect. These went through his mind, round and round and round. The poor man! He was bewildered. His friends, his relatives who met him, tried to make him understand, for some of them had been of the same faith, and through the same problems. They tried to reason with him, tried to show him that it would all work out, and he would understand later. Now to be happy, to come with them and they would show him around. No, we would not. So he stayed, rooted to the spot almost. He would not move. He was afraid to move, in case something would happen while he was away. So fearful, so he stayed there.
So it came to our notice through the channels that we use, and someone that I know went to help him. When he approached he came in light and then revealed himself, and when he did so, the man thinking it was Jesus, bent the knee and bowed down. The poor man really and truly did believe. When my friend went towards him, this poor man trembled, with love and expectancy. When my friend put his hand upon his head, he cried out. Such a cry! Full of love, yet full of fear, the kind you have for someone greater than yourself. My friend let him wait until he had calmed down, and then he told him “I am not he whom thou seeketh, but I am a servant of the Father. There are many such as I, and we labour to serve the Great Force of Life.
The man stared at him in unbelief. He could not comprehend. My friend tried to make him understand that there were thousands and millions of people higher and greatly higher before one came to the Great House of Love. This was not to his pleasing. He quoted the scriptures and he pointed out where he had been taught that he would be, there with the Nazarene and with God. He tried to prove it, and my friend showed him over and over how mankind has been misguided by words that man has given. Well, that was not successful, nor the next, nor the next;. Each time it was the same story, quoting from the Bible, pointing out over and over, he was unshaken. He was not moved from his feeling. We were not trying to take his belief from him in that sense, we were simply trying to show him that he could not be with the Nazarene. That was our aim, not to pull him down, not to make him afraid, not to take his belief from him, but hoping that it would work out gradually. We do not take from people, we try to show them piece by piece, bringing them along gradually so they are not hurt.
Finally we decided together, that we should go in a body. So a group of us appeared to him, in the same manner as the first time, and we were arrayed the same, and he gazed at us in wonderment. “Now,” said my friend to him, “now you see, we are the same. We come from the same area. We are light. Yet we are not the Nazarene.” he said, “You could be the disciples, the fore-runners.” We replied, “No, no, no.” “Well, I don’t know who you are, I don’t know,” and he kept to his way. That did not work either. So we left him for a time, and we thought, “He can think that over.”
He did but he could not see, because his truth held him in such bondage.
Many of his relatives were struggling to help him, but he did not change. He seldom moved away from the place where he had arrived. If he had he would have seen many many people. He would have seen a great deal of happiness, the joyous faces, he could have been all over the place, hearing music, hearing laughter, seeing children, seeing artists at work. He could have seen many things. He could have been to the great libraries that we have. Remember he is in one place, the place that he had earned. It is a beautiful place. Those who arrive there are so happy, but they soon realize that there are places beyond and beyond that beyond. There is no limitation to growth.
So we left him, and then we decided that if he must meet the Nazarene, then it must be arranged. So we left him for quite a period, we left him to his friends and those he would meet, hoping that he would come to the realization that the Nazarene could not be approached because he is in his own realm. Finally the day arrived when he felt an urge within himself that was so strong, he could not disobey it. He found himself taking steps, and he moved to a certain place, very very slowly, very very afraid. But he found himself in a large area of parkland, a great space. There many people were gathered. As he stood there on the fringe, he could hear them talking to each other. They were saying to each other, “I wonder why we are here. Perhaps we are going to have a message or sermon.” They know of course that it would be someone from the heights who was going to speak to them, for by this time most of them had met high beings. When everyone was gathered, and they were as far as could be seen, spread out far and wide, then there was a great fanfare of music, exultant and beautiful. There then appeared a radiant figure in a great blaze of light, clothed in gold, in a cloak of radiant blue, a blue you have never seen on earth, a large gem here, a diadem on his head, jewels flashing, beautifully arrayed, and he carried a lamb. As he stepped forth from this great light and was revealed, all knew instinctively that it was the Nazarene. A great cry went up and many bowed the knee. He waited until they were still, and then his voice was heard in their minds only, for in our world one has not to speak, but the mind when we are powerful can penetrate the minds of all before us.
“I am he whom you seek. I am the Nazarene, whom you gave adulation to. I am he whom some of you worship. But I beg you to rise and look at me, for I am the servant of the Father. The servant only. I am His son, His beloved, as thou art. Each and every soul before me is linked to the Great Force of Love, the Father Divine. See me not as He. But see me as a son who came to the Jews to teach them the love of God, to fear not, but to give love. Love to God, and to all around them. Not to visualize God as angry and demanding as man is, but to see Him as a pure perfect love, a serene and most perfect love.”
As his words penetrated their minds and seemed to burn there and take hold, the man who had come was unable to believe his ears, his mind I should say, to think that was the Nazarene and yet was unreachable, for he was in the atmosphere, where all could see. The Nazarene could read his mind, because he was also aware that this man was having a great struggle. So these words came. “On earth you have your ministers, bishops, popes; you have the heads of all churches. Usually they are unreachable. But you see those men as the earthly resemblance, a worker for God, and you have hope through each one. But you know that they are still man and not God. Yet you give them your respect. This is how I wish you to see me, as a worker for the Father. I have been always, and I always will. I hope that each one of you in turn will be workers, so that you in turn will be able to stand where I am standing.” There was a sound, a murmur of dissent, but he said, “That is true! You can each and every one be where I am. No man is denied. No man is denied if he makes the efforts, all can be where I stand and where these stand.” At that point a great array of people came around him, those from his own realm, and those from the realms above him. There was a great exclamation of disbelief. “These are my brethren and these are my brethren,” and then another array of men and women arrived, all higher and higher, in a great uprising of light. “These are my brethren and those and those. We are all linked to God. All strive and all grew. How can I be the only one, when all such are brethren?”
Time elapsed while this penetrated those who were listening, and then a sound was heard. A great cry and sobbing, a sound that seemed to swell and echo around the people. It grew. It was the realization coming into their bosom at last, that they had been misguided. That they had been living a life that did not bring them into the truth entirely, but in part. They were seeing finally after much struggle within themselves, they were seeing that the Nazarene was as themselves, linked to them as everyone is, linked to another and to God. The cries were within the breast, very very harsh upon some, and especially harsh upon the man who could not believe. He was so cast down. But when the Nazarene gave out the words, “Peace be upon you, my brethren, fear not. Realize that you are now free. Realize now that the bonds are broken. You can now realize that you are free men and women. You have the opportunity to grow. None will cast you down. You do not have to earn your daily living, but through service to one another you will be employed. There are many avenues of interest as some of you have found out. You will not be lonely, or very lazy and not occupied. But as you are aware, you may be if you wish. We do not bind you and tell you that you must labour. You have free-will as you had on earth. But within that framework of free-will is the law of cause and effect, which bound you upon the earth. That same law is with you here. If you live by that law you will do no harm to yourself. You have freedom to move around your own realm; it is very vast. You will find many things to interest you. You will find many very ready to help you. You will never be alone again if you do not wish it. But if you wish to be alone, you can find a lonely place, and abide there. If at times you have had enough of people, you can be alone in your own area, your own home. If you would, think of your life as you lived it upon the earth with your loved ones, your families, life in our realms is much the same, except that it is a realm of the mind. When you have learned our ways, how to move around by thought, many of you walked here today, but you could have moved here by thought.” He asked one of his brethren to demonstrate, and one by one they moved into the midst of them and stood beside some in the audience, and they demonstrated that all one had to do was to think where one wanted to be, and one was there. When one moves there is a flash of light, and one is there. “These are the ways of this land, and you will see that your thoughts are there before you. You will see them materialize before you. You will see and feel other people’s thoughts, so be careful. I am sure that you have found this out already. Your guardians who were with you in life have met you already, and are teaching you. So listen carefully, and learn, and be unafraid, and you will soon feel absolutely at home.”
Then he gave some more words of comfort and the music rose up again, and the singing, and all around the music of voice, and the music of instruments. The atmosphere was filled with peace and love and everyone felt the rain of power upon them. They felt it rain upon them, and peace filled their being.
When it was over, all dispersed to their own areas, and my friend went quickly to the man he had been trying to help, and found him very very quiet, very still indeed. He said, “Well my friend, my brother, how thinketh thou now?” He knew, but he spoke thus anyhow. The man lifted his head and said, “Brother, the scales have not yet fully fallen from my eyes, but I see dimly, and I see that I was too deeply into my own beliefs, and that they have held be terribly strongly. But today I felt as if a river was flowing through my body, washing away those thoughts that I had held so closely to myself. I know I will change, now I am less adamant. It will take me some time, but what I have learned today has been very shattering to me. I will have to heal, but I know with the help you have given me that it will happen.” My friend said to him “Brother thou speaketh truly, for I see you and read you, and it is good. For time, we have plenty of it here, and together we will walk slowly to your freedom from your thraldom, the creed and the dogma which bound you.” He looked at my friend, and his eyes filled with tears. My friend said, “Brother, be not afraid. You are not casting God or the Nazarene from yourself. What you are doing is freeing yourself, so that you see them as they should be seen. You are not throwing them away, you will see the Nazarene again. You will see God around about you, in the love that flows in these areas, in the very atmosphere.” He asked, “In the atmosphere?” “Yes, cease your fears. Feel.” The man was silent, and he seemed to listen, but he was trying to feel. Then he said, “Yes, there is something, something warm and lovely.” “Yes, it has been here all the time, but you were so blind, you could not feel it. Now rise up and enjoy it. Go forth with your friends, be happy. See the rest of your realm, see its manifold pleasures, and come again to this place when I call you, and we will speak again. I will not desert you, I will be your friend until you free yourself. Adieu.” He gave him his loving affection. And so the lesson was ended.
Now I am sure that many of you know these things already, as we have been through them many times, talks of the spirit world. But I thought I would take you with one man, and show you the difficulty we encounter. That day after day can be spent, and as these will be your labours when you arrive here, you may as well be acquainted with some of them.
Of course the challenges of life here are many. These teach you many things. So I am sure you will find the burdens of the heavens much much lighter, more a challenge to your ability, the challenge to the knowledge that you have acquired through all your lives. What you have gathered into your soul in the many times that you have travelled this planet and when you stay with us finally, and you are the sum total of all that you have been through, all your challenges, and you view the place where you finally come to rest, at least for a time, and your labours, after you have had a period of rest and after training, you will realize that every problem that comes before you, you have somewhat or other met before.
This is the reason for many many lives, because it is not possible to learn everything that must be, in one life. Many lives are needed until we have enough knowledge to be useful. So look to your life as a very useful challenge, that can be used to your advantage and to that of others later. Do not think your life is wasted. Not one little part is ever wasted.
Some wonder why they are here. Well, you are here to learn to grow, to find out, so that you will be useful in the hereafter. The hereafter is the reality, the true life. This is the school, the challenge. So I leave you, knowing that you have the summer before you. Many will travel, and many will stay here, but in all your ways I wish you well. I wish you every happiness and joy. And when you are sad, know that it will pass away, and that there will be sunshine again.
As I have told you previously, the sun must follow the shadow, the light after the darkness. It is the law, it must be. So do not fear the darkness, for the light will always follow. So in the light of this beautiful day, I bid you farewell. Farewell for a few months. I will be in my realm of beauty that you cannot imagine. I will join all my friends and have a wonderful time. They will be happy to see me again after such an absence. I will have met with the very high ones above me, and he will discuss this life, discuss my work, and we will together ponder upon it, and then I hope I will be told, “Well done!” I hope so, I do hope so.
So with that note I leave you with my blessing and my love. That will be with you, throughout every day, until we meet again. The Great Force who loves us all, who knows every grain of sand, and thus knows each one of us thoroughly through our guardians, the helpers, and all the servants. We are known, we are beloved.
So beloved, who are beloved by the Great Love, join together with me in thanks for all your lives, for all the knowledge that you have gained, for everything that has been given to you, for everything that will be given to you, for everything that you will have. See it dark or light, it is for a purpose, so thank the Great Force of Love that He understands us, and know that we need a great deal of time. There is always time; fear not, there is always time.
Let love encompass you about. Love upholds you, my brethren.
Good-day and goodbye.