The Shadows of the Conflict
Then I was shown the dense Shadow—the awful darkness that seemed an engulfing abyss: the scenes of the conflict now raging on Earth. That which I saw (then just begun), seemed, however, more to represent the spiritual and mental states of Rulers and Leaders than the physical scenes of battles. I saw the bright spots where the ministrants of mercy were rallying, regardless of nationality or “class,” to aid those physically wounded, to breathe a word of comfort to those injured mortally who were “passing on.”
Above the terrible scenes of battles I saw those in the “rank and file” of the armies and navies who were so suddenly wrenched from their bodies. Their first thoughts (as their last thoughts had been), were of those loved ones from whom they were suddenly parted when ordered “to the front.” They were aided to find the dear ones (alas where were the “homes”? now desolate. Many of the families scattered and in deepest suffering, great physical want, and greater grief.)
They tried, often without avail, to comfort and aid the dear ones, their own states of mind and grief over the separation preventing them from effectively ministering to their loved ones. They soon became aware that the aid could not be material, that spiritual strength and consolation must be from spiritual sources and that they might, if themselves strong in spirit, move upon the minds of others in human life to aid those dear to them.
It was a wonderful sight to behold the ministering spirits succoring, comforting, instructing those thus suddenly thrust into spirit states; none but those endowed with the Divine Gift of loving compassion—like a Florence Nightingale or a Clara Barton—could so successfully aid those spirits thus ruthlessly torn from their human ties and forms. It is an awful sight! Yet the spirit “Rescuers” are there! The “Red Cross” of the skies finds its way to those who need the help and guidance.
In a measure the Soldiers, all who must go to war on land or sea, are better prepared for the sudden change than those hurled into spirit life by “accident” of shipwreck or other disaster, or by volcanic or earthquake shock. The Soldier knows that he is to confront possible and even probable physical death—and being thus prepared often is less surprised and shocked when he finds himself “out of his body.” Yet, wherever the need may be, the “strong helpers” are there: above every scene of human sacrifice, whether Cataclysmic, “natural causes” or the result of human ignorance and neglect, or the self-seeking aggression of war, there are they—the dear ones, the strong ones, the saving ones!
All cannot be aided to at once perceive the new-found condition: everything must depend on the degree of spiritual preparedness, which is often greater among the humble and lowly—who have a line of simple life, simple love, simple duty to follow than among the more complex mental and moral states of the “leaders.” The real state, spiritually, determines the “condition” of the spirit in spirit life.
Nor were the “clouded” and “shadowed” scenes of Earth life found alone above the lines of battle. There were sometimes deeper shadows among the scenes of “pleasure” and “mirth,” mocking splendor of wealth and its opposite of want, squalor, misery, the toll of human sacrifice is not always in the “death” of the body. There are vortices more terrible than the volcano’s fiery breath or earthquake’s yawning mouth; the palace often seemed more densely shadowed than the hovel; while the dwelling, though a cottage, brightened with Love shone out like a star of splendor.
“Spiritual knowledge, the unfoldment of the highest from within, this alone can change the ‘shadowed states’ of Earth into brightness. Every life must be reached; every mind touched and awakened by the spirit; the ‘good’ that is within each must be brought forth.”