 All truth is
wonderful
“To you, this is a little room,” said Silver Birch. “To us, it is a grand
temple. These little walls have vanished. There is radiance, illumination
dazzling in its brilliance. Hundreds upon hundreds are assembled here,
each with a mission to perform; some to serve, some to be served.
“That vast concourse belongs to all peoples and nations, to the present
and to the past. There are prophets, seers, sages, wise men of the East
and the West, of high and low estate, philosophers of Greece and Rome,
Syria, Chaldea, Persia and Babylon, mingled with those of later
generations from Italy, France and Germany. They exchange their knowledge
and focus it all so that it shall be at your service.
“That is only one fragment of what is happening. There are your own, those
you know and the many whom you do not know in your material consciousness
but whom you do know in that larger consciousness in which you dwell for
fleeting moments.”
Earlier in the sitting, after Silver Birch had given some
information regarding healing, one of the sitters remarked, “That is a
wonderful truth.”
“All truth is wonderful,” replied the guide. “It is error that is so
foolish. And yet there are so many who would rather cling to error,
because they are familiar with error, even though they know it is error,
rather than seek the strange landmarks of wonderful truth.”
“They would rather be weak when they could be strong, they would rather
dwell in darkness with undisturbed faith built on error than seek the
light. The path of the truth-seeker is not an easy one, for the pioneer
does not achieve truth with ease.”
“The things that are most valuable and most highly priced are not lightly
earned, but only through perplexity and doubt, with earnestness, with
reverence, with the desire to know as your motto, can you achieve those
truths which mean so much.”
But always remember this also. The soul must be prepared. No truth comes
to you until the soul has earned that truth. Til then, your efforts are in
vain, for you are not ready and equipped. That is what was meant by
casting pearls before swine.”
Then a sitter mentioned an effort to revise the Bible that seemed
foredoomed for failure.
“Let them try,” said the guide. “Encourage all those who are on the side
of opposing vested interest. Let this new spirit of reform permeate where
it can.”
“Not all is achieved in a blinding flash of revelation. Sometimes another
method has to be employed - the little drops of water that drip away on
the stone until they wear it away.”
“Ours is a great task. We do not seek to perform wonders that will enable
ignorance to stare us with mouth agape and with wide-eyed astonishment. We
do not seek to convert masses in one instantaneous revelation.”
“Ours is the constant fight against selfishness, self-interest, the powers
that belong to all the darkness of life. Prejudice, superstition, error,
jealous, greed, avarice, hate - against these we are at war.”
“We seek to advance our cause wherever we can, wherever we find receptive
hearts, receptive minds, receptive souls.”
“For years it was with difficulty that we laboured. The opposition seemed
so gigantic, the obstacles insuperable, yet we toiled on unceasingly,
knowing always that with the power of the Great Spirit behind us and with
a few faithful, valiant hearts to co-operate with us, we could not fail.”
“You who live today can see the fruits of nearly a century of arduous
toil. All this is as naught compared with what shall be achieved, for the
tide has turned. Now we are marching forward to victory and nothing can
stop us ....”
“Just as calmly, yet as emphatically, do we declare we are marching
forward to victory. Light triumphs over darkness, knowledge defeats
ignorance, joy replaces sorrow and truth is the victor.”
Then obviously addressing Spiritualists the world over, the guide
said:
“I want you who are engaged in this task to know always that the power
behind you desires to serve you as you serve others.”
“How I wish that the blinkers were removed from your eyes, so that you
could see. How I wish that you could know as I know.”
“You would never despair. Gloom would find not even a tarrying place in
your beings, for you would realize the strength that surrounds you.”
Giving a hint of the system used on the Other Side to communicate
inspiration from the higher planes, Silver Birch explained that “ours is
an ascending ladder.”
“Each rung is joined to the one above,” he went on, “so that the lowliest
in your world of matter has access to the highest in the realm of spirit.”
“The ladder of Jacob was not a figment of the imagination, but the symbol
of an eternal reality, for up that ladder every soul can climb, rung by
rung. From earth to heaven it ranges, supported always by the power of the
Great Spirit.”
The guide devoted this particular sitting to conversation more
personal to the sitters than was his usual custom. He had been discussing
difficulties before he uttered the following benediction which is
applicable to all:
“When shadows cross your path, remember they are but shadows, not reality.
When clouds obscure the sun, remember they are but clouds. When beset by
trial and difficulty, remember these are but birds of passage that will
continue their flight when they have but rested for a short while.”
“The knowledge that you all possess is more priceless than all the
treasures of the world of matter. We do not bring you gold or silver,
diamonds or precious jewels. Rather do we seek to bring the priceless
jewels of the spirit, the greatest treasures that you can have.”
“Prize them. Put them in a setting of love and realize that these are the
gifts that the Great Spirit bestows you with loving care and divine
affection.”
“Look up always, not down. Realize that the mighty and majestic power
which brought you into being and breathed into you the life-giving essence
of its own spirit will uphold and sustain you day by day.”
“Incline your hearts to His, subdue your souls to His, fill your minds
with the wisdom that comes from His inexhaustible reservoir and know that
those who seek to give service and labour for the upliftment of the weak,
the fallen and the needy are protected by the mantle of the spirit.”
“Go forward, steady and sure in the knowledge which is yours. Use it
wisely and well. Remember your responsibilities as instruments of the
Great Spirit, who in our many ways we all seek to service, so as to hear
His benediction, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ may the Great
Spirit bless you all.”
The guide assured those in attendance, “You will all live after you have
‘died,’ and you will not realize until then what it is to live or to feel
the real glory of life untrammelled, free to rejoice in liberty of spirit
which your imprisoned souls cannot understand today.”
“How can a bird which has never been outside the cage realize what it is
to fly from branch to branch, to have no prison bars?”
“Why was the soul imprisoned in the body at all?” asked one of the
sitters.
“Just as the seed is put into darkness, there to gain strength before it
can burst into life, the seed of human life is put into darkness to obtain
the strength of human experience before it can burst into the life of the
spirit,” was the reply.
“All the experiences of human life are part of the great scheme. Those
experiences which you like least of all - the sadness, the bitterness, the
tears, the disappointments, the suffering and the pain - these are very
valuable for your souls.”
“But you cannot realize that at the time. It is only when you can look
back on the whole, and not judge by the part, that you can get a clear
picture of the values of life. Through all your adversities the character
is tried. Through tears and sorrow the soul is strengthened.”
“We look at life not through physical eyes but with the knowledge of
spirit life, where the true balance is struck. Those who live wisely are
the ones who seek to turn all experiences into advantage to their souls,
who do not try to flee from trial and temptation but seek to use the
innermost strength to face difficulties, for it is in that spirit that
character is evolved and strengthened. How very simple are these great
truths, so simple that they are beyond many of your intellectuals.”
Commenting on the fact that the circle was then composed mostly of young
people, Silver Birch said, “I rejoice that, whilst you have so many years
of physical life in front of you, you are enabled to appreciate the
realities of spiritual truth.”
“We regard it as a great privilege,” remarked one of the regular sitters.
“And as a responsibility,” said the guide. “That is the price of all
knowledge. You all have the greatest privilege in the world of matter, the
privilege of being able to use your knowledge for service. When all the
things that are counted great in your world of matter have passed away,
the service that you have rendered to one another will yield your eternal
progress.”
“We preach the religion of service, service, service, not of creeds, not
of rituals, not of doctrines - unless they make you serve. Ceremony,
observances, these are unimportant. What does count is that you exercise
your spirit - the Great Spirit that is within you.”
“What is your definition of religion?” asked another circle member.
“To me, it means but one thing,” said Silver Birch. “To serve the Great
Spirit by serving His children.”
This guide gave the complete answer to those who criticize
Spiritualists for “disturbing the dead” and, they say, “dragging them back
unwillingly to talk to us.”
“I cannot make you realize the pleasure it gives me to be able to talk
with you through this medium,” he said. “To be with you in the spirit is
no new experience for me, but to talk with you face to face makes me very
happy. Always remember, I am here to serve you. I am your friend, unseen
perhaps, but your willing servant. If at any time I can be of service, you
call on me. You disturb the dead!”
One sitter asked about an experience that had befallen a relative of hers.
He wondered whether it was an influence that was good or evil.
“You can all banish from your minds the thought that anything that is
unenlightened - or, as you would say, evil - can ever touch you,” the
guide said. “You live and move under the protection of the Great Spirit
and His laws.
“If there is no evil in your hearts, then only good can reach you, for
only good can dwell where goodness reigns. None but the servants of the
Great Spirit come into your presence. You need have no fears. The power
which envelops you, the power which supports and seeks to guide you and
inspire you is the power that emanates from the Great Spirit of all.”
“That power can sustain you in all your trials and difficulties. That
power can change your storms into sunshine, and bring you out of the
darkness of despair into the light of knowledge. Your feet are set on
pathways of progress. There is no need for fear.”
“Much that is regarded as important in your world is but a veneer that has
only a passing value.”
“True education is the growth of the soul,” continued the guide. “You
become educated as your soul-powers reach out and unfold their latent
divinity.”
“The mere acquisition of knowledge is of little value, and might be a very
selfish pursuit unless the knowledge is acquired to be of service to
others.”
“Do not judge by the outer semblance. The difference between us always is
that you judge from the outer manifestation while we who see with the eyes
of the spirit see motive and purpose, which are more important. Strive to
see the eternal realities behind the passing phases.”
“Rank, title, profession or calling, the colour of skins - what are these
in the sight of the Great Spirit? True wealth and true nobility are of the
soul, the spirit, the mind, for these are the eternal realities.”
“The Nazarene taught the same things: ‘The kingdom of heaven is within’;
‘Lay not up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust doth
corrupt.’ We teach the same truth for truth is truth and eternal
principles cannot change.”
“I know it is hard for you who are encased in matter to think in terms of
spiritual reality, but that is the purpose of your return, to try and help
you to adjust yourselves to get the true focus and perspective of life.”
“Remember that your world is but an infinitesimal fragment of your eternal
lives. Do not confuse the shadows with the reality.”
Silver Birch reminded the circle that, though they had grown accustom to
the teachings that he brought, to others - some of them very weary, some
of them sick at heart, some of them perplexed and full of doubt - the
spirit message came as “a breath of sweet, fresh, clean air that blows
away the lingering cobwebs and enables the mind to become invigorated.”
“Sometimes the soul has to travel through much perplexity and doubt,
through much sadness, weariness and disillusionment before it is ready for
the light of spiritual truth,” he continued.
“Our work is spreading - that much I know and can say with certainty. That
is why I always stress the note of optimism and tell you we are marching
forward to victory.”
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Edinburgh
