December 10th, 1917
Received by:James Padgett.
Washington D.C.
I am here, his mother, Priscilla Stone.
I am here, the mother of Leslie, and very much desire to write a few lines, as I feel that he would like to hear from me and receive an expression of my love. Well, in the first place, I desire to tell him that I am progressing and am in a sphere that is so beautiful and full of the Father's love, that for me to attempt to describe it, would result only in failure. But when I tell him that my happiness is so very great that even I, at a very recent time, when in what I thought was the acme (The highest point, as of achievement or development) of happiness, had no conception of what happiness meant as compared to what I now possess.
All this is so wonderful to me, that it is difficult even for a soul that is filled with this Love to conceive what the Love of the Father in its fullness can be. And the great thing of wonderment is that as we progress we realize that it is impossible to comprehend the heights and depths of this great Love. When on earth and I read that "God is Love" I had not a faint idea even of what the expression meant, for, as you must know, my conception of love was based largely on what I knew or thought the human love was, such as my love for my children, which was to me the greatest expression of love. But, as I say, this love is not even a faint shadow of what the Love of the Father is: and the great beauty of it all is that, while this Divine Love is always the same, yet in seeking and obtaining it I find that more and more is waiting for me. We know of no cessation of progress and are never satisfied, yet never unhappy, because we realize that we are not the possessor of it in all its fullness. No, our happiness is in proportion to the amount of love that we possess, and for the time that love is sufficient for our complete happiness. I do not know that mortals can fully understand this, because, as you may know, when mortals are seeking the natural love of another and desire more and more of it, and they are happy in its possession, yet at the same time they have some pain or unhappiness, because they do not have all the love that their desires ask for.
Well, this is not the condition of us who have and seek this divine love, for it, of itself, seems to have the quality of causing complete, perfect happiness, without taking from us the desire and longings for more. I doubt that any of your philosophers can explain this apparent inconsistency, because they have nothing on earth to which they can make a comparison. A mortal who is satisfied with the love that he may have on earth has not the longings for more, and when he has the longings, he is not wholly happy in the enjoyment of that which he possesses.
And the same principle applies to the possession and longings of mortals for everything else of the natural or material. Ambitions for fame and power and position and the accumulation of wealth, and the love of a woman or man, are all subject to this law of the accompaniment of pain and unhappiness. So you may in a short way understand what great qualities the divine love has in its operations, and how it differs from the mere natural love.
Well, my boy will think I am somewhat of a philosopher and have changed from my course of thought while on earth. And so I have, but he must not be surprised to know that as I receive the great love in my soul in increased abundance there comes with it a knowledge of law and principles and the relationship of things that I have never studied or attempted to acquire by study. And this is one of the surprising results of the obtaining of this divine love. It seems to have in it, as a part of its qualities, knowledge and wisdom and understanding that is not dependent upon the mind or intellect of the natural man, but which is a part of the mind of the soul that is developed as the soul is developed in love.
I thought I would write in this way tonight, that Leslie may, in a faint way, comprehend what the progress of his mother means and comprehends. With love there can be no ignorance, for love is, of itself, wisdom and knowledge and understanding. And from all this you will see that the mortals whose ambition is that when they get into the spirit world they will have the opportunity to pursue the studies which they loved on earth, and that during all the long eternity there will be no cessation of opportunity to gratify their ambition. I say, you will see that these mortals will find themselves very poor indeed as compared with those whose ambition is to obtain the divine love, which brings with it all these things, and others greater and beyond conception of knowledge that these mortals can possibly have.
Well, I will not write further on this subject tonight, but some time, if it pleases you, I will come and write my boy a regular thesis upon some spiritual truth that may interest him very much.
(Mrs. Stone confirms Leslie's astral flight to help in the spirit world in the same way that he tried to do when the spirit was a mortal.) I heard him tell of his experience of a few nights ago, in going out of his body, and wondering if it were really true. Well, it was true. He left his body, and he may be a little surprised to know that the great desire of that young spirit to have him come to her and tell her again of some of the things that he had told her on earth was the cause of his leaving his body. Her desires were so great that they actually drew his spirit to her. What he saw, he saw with his spirit eyes, and the persons who appeared to him were actually present; and the young spirit heard his conversation, and in it found some relief.
She brought with her to the spirit world some of the thoughts that he had conveyed to her during his earth life; and having the experience of not finding what she had been taught, when on earth, that she would find in the spirit world, she became disappointed and doubtful, and then recalled what Leslie had told her, and with these memories came the desire that he should come and repeat to her these explanations that he had made to her of the truths and condition of the spirit world.
She is now very much better, and is seeking for the truth, or rather a corroboration of the truth that she learned from him. I was present, as he thought, and when he left her I went with her and took her in my care, and have been trying to help her into the light and to a longing for this love. She is so young and her soul so susceptible to the influence of love, without being bound very much by erroneous beliefs that were taught her, she will, I know, soon become convinced of the true way to happiness and redemption. And her grandmother, who loves this young spirit so much, was with her and heard what Leslie said, and, of course, was shocked and grieved that he should try to teach the child such blasphemous things; and she shed tears and was very unhappy and wanted her child to go with her and not listen to what he said or was saying. But just here we interfered to a certain extent, and caused them to separate, and induced the grandmother to leave the child for awhile, though she did not want to do so.
And when Leslie said that he assisted her to a lower plane, he actually did so, for while she is a woman of a kindly nature, and a somewhat Christian character, as she understands, yet she is not fitted for the plane on which the scene related took place. And here let me say that the young spirit and her grandmother, because of the great law of attraction, are not suited to the same plane, and this grieves the grandmother very much, and also the child. But the regeneration of the child will, no doubt, have a great effect upon the grandmother, and when the time comes, that is after the child has learned the truth and received some of the love and goes to her grandmother to show her beauty and tell of her experience, we will go to the grandmother, also, and attempt to explain to her these truths and the error of her belief.
Well, I have written enough, and your wife says that I had better stop now. So with my love I will say good night,
His mother,
Priscilla Stone.