July 8th, 1917
Received by James Padgett.
Washington D.C.
I am here, John.
Well, I was with you tonight and you did not learn any truth from the preacher's (Terry) discourse that is vital to the salvation of men. He does not know the truth, and consequently, cannot teach others. You could readily see his want of knowledge when he declared that Jesus was not different from the other teachers to whom he referred, or did not teach any truths that they did not teach. No, I am sorry to say, he does not know the truth, and his opportunity is so great to teach the truth for the majority of his hearers do not believe in the orthodox creeds, and their minds are open to a reception of the truth.
His conception of the relationship of man to God, and of man's own constitution as regards spiritual things, are all wrong, and he will not be able to learn the truth from the investigation of Spiritualism as he is now studying it, for all he knows is that men when they become spirits continue to live and have the power of communicating with mortals, and also that spirits are all happy or very shortly after their entrance into the spirit world may become so by their own exertions by the development of the "divine spark", as he calls it, that exists in all men's souls.
He may learn the truth before he comes to the spirit world, and he may not; for there is no way other than through the information contained in your writings by which he can learn these truths. His advising his hearers to pursue the course of conduct that the moral teachings of the great teachers of light, as he denominates them, show, to men, will not give them the truth and the light and the liberty of which he so loudly discoursed.
There were many spirits present and some of them communicated to their friends, as the preacher told them, for he is a psychic and has the gift of clairaudience and also of clairvoyance to some degree, but he also is a man of quick perception and readily grasps the conditions of the mind and desires of those who are so anxious to hear from their departed friends, and sometimes he uses the information which he gathers by the exercise of his quick wit to describe to the people, the presence of those in the spirit life that they are anticipating will make their presence known by communicating. But aside from this he receives many messages from the spirits and he tries honestly to deliver them to the hearers for whom they are intended.
Now, while all this is true and affords consolation to many of these anxious ones, yet the meetings do you no good as we have told you, for the influences of the spirits who attend these meetings are not helpful to the development of your soul qualities, and it is not desirable that you come in contact with these spirits who always try to make a rapport whenever the opportunity occurs.
There were also some spirits of the higher order present who were interested in their relatives and friends, and tried to get in rapport with these persons for the purpose of helping them; but generally their efforts were not very successful as the conditions prevailing did not enhance the probability of making the rapport or permitting the influence to be felt.
Well, I see that you are feeling better tonight and more hopeful and realize the result of the prayers that you offered to the Father and the increase of your faith in us. If you will continue to pray and exercise this faith you will find yourself helped to such an extent that the troubles you have will not worry you very much, and in addition, such a condition of mind on your part helps us to more effectively perform our part of the work in bringing to you those things that you so much desire. You may not understand the philosophy of this, but sometime I will come to you and make clear the operation of the laws that are brought into use in bringing these results. Only believe and pray, and you will not be forsaken.
Well, I will not write more, but soon I must come and write a message, and if you improve, I will be able to do so in a very satisfactory way. So try to get in this condition. Remember that I love you and am with you very often, trying to help you spiritually and materially, and that you will be so helped. With my love and blessings I will say good night.
Your brother in Christ,
John.