May 28th, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.
I am here, Your Grandmother
I will tell you to-night of a truth that may be of interest to you, and I know that it is of importance to all who may long for happiness in the future life.
As you know, I am now in the Celestial Spheres, in a place higher than the third Celestial Sphere, and where are no special lines of demarcation separating it from what you may call the higher planes.
In my plane, the inhabitants are those who have received the Divine Love in their souls to an extent that makes them know that they are of a nature that is Divine and in at-onement with that of the Father. Of course, those who have entered the first Celestial Sphere have the knowledge of having partaken of the divine nature, but they are not so filled with this love as we are who live in the sphere that I am in.
It is not possible for me to tell you of the extent of our happiness, because you have no words in your language that can possibly convey a faint conception of this happiness, and I will not attempt to describe it; but if you will combine all the emotions of joy and happiness which you have received or experienced in all the years of your life, you would not be able to realize the meaning of our happiness in the faintest degree.
I merely recite this truth to show to you and all mankind what is possible for you and them to obtain, if you will only pursue the course that the Father has provided, and the Master has pointed out in his messages to you.
The great instrument that causes this great happiness is love, and by this I mean the Divine Love of which we have so often written, and without which it is impossible for a soul to obtain this condition or to become a dweller in the Celestial Heavens.
Man, as you have been instructed, was not created with this Love, and could only obtain it by his own longings and aspirations being exercised in the way that the Father had provided - in no other way could these desires for this love be realized. But the great pity is that the first of the human race declined or rather refused to pursue this way, and thought that they were wise enough to know a better way; and in attempting to pursue this way brought about their own fall and the loss of the privilege of obtaining this Love; and in all the long years until the coming of Jesus, no man, after the first created, had the privilege, and hence, it was not possible for them to find any greater happiness than that which might come from their natural love.
At the coming of Jesus, men again had bestowed upon them this great privilege, and a possibility of the knowledge of the way in which the privilege could be exercised. This was not declared to all men, for the territory in which Jesus taught and proclaimed this important truth was very limited, and the great majority of men died without knowing that this gift had been rebestowed. But God in His goodness and love did not restrict the bestowal of this love to those who might be fortunate enough to learn of it from Jesus and his apostles, but sent His Holy Spirit to implant it in the souls of all men who might be in such condition of soul aspiration and longing as to permit this Love to enter their souls.
When spirits became possessed of this knowledge they commenced the work of trying to influence men in such a way that there arose in them a longing for a closer unity with God, and an opening up of the soul perceptions, and as a result many men, in various parts of the world, received this Love in their souls without knowing that it was this Divine Love; but it was, and when these men in their spirit forms entered the spirit world, they soon found that, to some extent, they were possessed of this Love, and it was not difficult for them to listen to the explanations and teachings of of those spirits who had received it, as to the truth of its existence.
Now all this may not appear to be of much importance to present man, and hardly worth attention, but my great object in writing in this manner is to show that God had no special or peculiar people, and that it was not even necessary that all peoples should learn from Jesus the fact of this gift, for in such a case, the great majority of mankind could not possibly have heard of this Love while they were yet mortals. No, this was not a necessity, but the knowledge which came to mortals through Jesus enabled them, who possessed it and believed, to the more readily pursue the way to obtaining this Love.
Many spirits had received the benefit of the rebestowal of this Love, or rather the privilege of seeking for and obtaining it, before Jesus came to the spirit world, yet they understood that the greater extent of the possession of this Love was in Jesus; and no spirit now possesses it to the degree that he does.
But whether the souls of mortals or spirits received the knowledge of this truth from Jesus or from the workings of the Holy Spirit in its ministrations, they all know that the seeking for and getting this Divine Love are the only means by which the soul may become an inhabitant of the Celestial Heavens.
I realize that what I have written conflicts with the orthodox belief that it is only through the death and blood of Jesus that men can be saved from their sins and become children of God and at one with Him.
If this belief were true, then by Jesus' sacrifice all men would he saved, irrespective of their obtaining this Divine Love, or only those would be saved who had heard of Jesus and accepted him as their saviour. Neither of these propositions is true, for without this Divine Love entering into the soul of a man, it would be impossible for him to partake of the divine nature of the Father, and become fitted to occupy a home in the Celestial Spheres. This love in the soul, whether it is a result of the workings of God's ministering spirits, causing a real soul longing, in conjunction with the Holy Spirit, makes the man of a nature divine, and a redeemed child of God.
Now from what I have said it must not be inferred that the mission of Jesus, and his work on earth and in the spirit world are not the great things connected with man's redemption, for they are. It was not until Jesus' coming that this Great Gift was rebestowed, and it was not until his declaring this fact and teaching the Great Truth of the New Birth could either mortals or spirits receive this privilege. The ministering spirits could not influence the souls of men to seek for the inflowing of this Divine Love until they had first received it themselves, and understood its existence; and here let me declare a fact, that when Jesus preached to mortals on earth the necessity for the Second Birth, myriads of spirit beings heard these teachings and became possessed of this knowledge.
And to-day, men are attended by hosts of spirits of all kinds, and the sayings and teachings of men are heard by more spirits than men, and the influence of such teachings has its effect upon spirits as upon men, for the spirits of men which are existing in the earth planes are the same spirits substantially, that they were when on earth, and an earthly friend frequently has more influence upon them than do other spirits no matter how high their condition may be.
I am so happy to be able to write you again, and let you know that I have not forsaken you.
I am with you quite often and am trying to help you. Pray more to the Father, and exercise more faith and you will grow in soul development and happiness.
I will not write more now.
So with all my love and blessings, I am Your Grandmother
Ann Rollins.