March 17th, 1915.
Received by James Padgett.
Washington D.C.
I am here, Helen.
I want to tell you of my experience in trying to show a spirit the way to God's Love, which I had a short time ago.
Well, I talked to this spirit of this Love, and told her that the only way to happiness and to the Celestial Kingdom was through prayer and faith, and that all spirits who were inhabitants of those spheres had received this Great Love of the Father only through prayer and faith; and if she wanted to become an inhabitant of these Heavens she must seek for this Love in that way. She said that she was told when on earth that if she only observed rules and regulations of the church, and devoted herself to doing church work and looking after the interest of the church, so that it might be sustained and fostered, she would go to heaven just as soon as she had left the earth life - that that would be all that would be required of her, and that no other seeking or striving after God's Love would be necessary to enable her to get into the Heavens where God and all His angels are. I told her that she must now realize that such performance, of what she considered to be her duty, had not been sufficient to carry her into these Heavens, and that she must realize that something more was necessary. But she still persisted, that her belief in what she had been taught in the church could not be changed, and that very soon she would become an inhabitant of these higher spheres. So I left her, because I saw that at this time her belief had so fastened itself upon her convictions that it was useless to try to convince her that she was laboring under an absolutely false belief.
So, I find that in this spirit plane there are many spirits in darkness and bigotry, which prevents them from seeing the truth and progressing to the higher spheres. I do not think that mortals, when they become spirits, have any better opportunity, for some time at least, to realize and accept these truths than they had when on earth, and the men or women who teach these things have a great sin to answer for. As Jesus said, cursed is he who believes and teaches these false doctrines. And I think he must have laid especial emphasis on the teaching as it affected not only the teacher, but many others who had faith in and accepted these teachings as true.
I am so glad that I, when on earth, was never fully convinced of these church dogmas: as I consequently found it so much easier when I came to the spirit world to believe the truths as they are. Of course, I was exceptionally blessed in having your mother and grandmother, who are so well versed in these things, to show me the way, and then when Jesus came to me and corroborated what they had said, I could not help from believing.
So you see the importance of learning these truths while on earth, for the greater our comprehension of them as mortals, the more easily will be our progression to the higher things of the spiritual life. Well, I thought I would tell you of this little incident as it shows you a great and necessary truth, and one which all men should know.
So with all my love I am your own true loving Helen