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I AM HERE. St. John, Apostle of Jesus.
I want to tell you to-night about the things that spirits who have not received the Divine Love of the Father do, or have done to them, as you may say, in order to get out of their darkness and suffering and progress to a happier condition.
Well, when these spirits of evil or sinful life first come into the spirit world, they enter what is called the earth plane; and when I say the earth plane I mean those spheres which are nearest the earth and partake very largely of the material. They are received by their friends who may have been with them at the time of their passing, and are, to a certain extent, comforted and made familiar with their surroundings. This may last for a shorter or longer time according as the spirit is capable of understanding his changed condition from mortal to spirit. After this condition of consciousness is assumed by the spirit, these friends leave him, and some guiding spirit, whose duty it is to perform the task, shows or conducts him to the place or plane which he is fitted to occupy, and which by the workings of the law of equalization, he must occupy. In this place he is surrounded by and must associate with spirits of a similar condition of development as his own, until some change comes to him which fits him for a higher place.
Of course, this change may come in a short time, or it may require a longer time to bring it about--all this depending upon the realization by the spirit as to what his condition is, and the fact that there is a possibility of progressing. Of himself he cannot bring about this change, for the law which fixes his place or condition does not cease to operate until there is called into operation another law which permits and helps the change.
The only way in which this changed condition can be brought about is by the influences of other spirits of a more enlightened and higher position than that of the spirit whose position I have spoken of. These influences do not necessarily come from spirits who have received the New Birth, but may come from spirits who know nothing about it, and who have only the natural love, and even they may not necessarily be of a high order of development of either intellect or soul. But they must be in such condition that they know and are able to tell the lower spirit of the possibility of progress and the way in which it can be made.
Many spirits, who are themselves in a dark position or condition can help others who are in a darker condition, just as on earth a student of a lower class in school may not be able to teach all that is taught or may be learned in that school, yet he can teach those in a lower class than his own, things that he has learned in progressing to his own class.
All spirits have a work to do, and these spirits of little development are engaged in teaching those of lesser development the way to get in the same condition as those who teach are in. But of course these latter cannot teach anything that belongs to a higher condition than the one in which they are. In such cases the progress is very slow for many reasons, and it sometimes takes centuries for a spirit to progress from this very low plane to a higher one where only the lowest grade of happiness exists.
So you see, that in order to help these dark spirits, it is not necessary for the helping spirit to be one who has in his soul the Divine Love. But all this means that the spirit who is helped in this way cannot possibly progress higher than its natural love and moral conscience and intellectual endowments will permit--no progression of the soul to a realization of the Divine Love of the Father, or to the Celestial Spheres.
This is important for you and all mankind to know, for the reason that you and others may learn what the true soul development means, and how effectively spirits possessing this soul development may help all other spirits, good or bad. Aside from this you may suppose that the spirits who hear you talk at the seances, where all kinds and conditions of spirits congregate, and promise to help both mortals and spirits, may not be able to do so because some are in a dark and low condition themselves. Yet all spirits may help other spirits, to some extent, who are in a lower condition, and sometimes in the beginning of the progression, more satisfactorily, than can the higher spirits, because these dark spirits who try to help the darker spirits, are more in harmony with them, and the darker spirits will listen to them with more interest and belief that they can help them.
But this is a help that does not work in such a way as to cause the spirits who are so helped to lose their desires and recollections very rapidly and to progress into the higher planes, without the great suffering that you have been told of.
I thought I would write this to you, for the reason that you might not in your investigations and teachings of the spirit life, give due importance to the possibility of one dark spirit helping another. All the phases of mediumship, when honestly conducted, have their proper places and work in God's plan of redemption, and none of them must be considered as useless or without special design.
Of course, the above mentioned phase of assistance to spirits is of the lowest form and is merely preliminary to the great work which the higher spirits do in carrying out the great plan of redemption, which has been explained to you. The important work is that of the spirits who know what the Divine Love of the Father is, and what fits spirits and mortals for the enjoyment of the great happiness which obtains only in the Celestial Spheres, and also in the soul spheres, to a lesser extent.
WHEN A SPIRIT WHO IS DARK LEARNS OF THIS GREAT LOVE AND STRIVES TO OBTAIN IT, AND EARNESTLY PRAYS FOR THE HELP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHICH IS GOD'S MESSENGER OF LOVE, IT WILL PROGRESS MUCH MORE RAPIDLY, AND ITS SUFFERINGS AND DARKNESS WILL LEAVE IT SOONER AND GREATER HAPPINESS WILL COME TO IT.
But still I say, the work of these lower spirits, that I have spoken of, is a great work and must not be underestimated. So remember what I have written and give due credit to this work.
I will not write more, but will with all my love and blessings say good-night.
Your brother in Christ,
ST. JOHN.Vol. I, p. 321
