THE GROWTH PROCESSES OF THE HUMAN SOUL.
It is pitiful to think of all the woe and sorrow that have been shed abroad in the hearts of men and women, and even of little children, by the teachings of ignorant and designing beings anent Death. Fortunately, all our modern cults are emphasizing the fact that it is the fear of death that is the "last enemy" of humanity that is to be put down and shorn of its terror. Physical death is only a step in our evolution. It cannot be otherwise than a progressive motion of the spirit. It recalls the spirit from the make-believe, and misunderstandings of its earthly environments, and experiences, and shows up the real and true status of life. Vast numbers of human beings, passing out of the chrysalis of the fleshly embodiment leave with the body sins for which they have been condemned, and idiosyncrasies for which they are not accountable: there are, too, packs of people who have been so bamboozled by orthodox teachings, so set up in their egotism, that they die believing in their superior claim to recognition by the gods, but who find themselves elected to a long sit down in purgatory, or devachan—or whatever the place is—while they get acquainted with themselves as they really are. The most deplorable state is that of the souls who cannot rise from the earth conditions with which they are loaded down. They fill the atmosphere; they walk the earth dismayed and helpless; their whilom friends and beloved ones will have none of them. Even if one such is fortunate enough to find a medium through whom he can communicate, he gets little or no recognition or welcome, unless he can absolutely conform to the wishes of the purblind folk, who, knowing nothing of spiritual law, try to insist upon making conditions, and getting tests which are so outside of the law that even the Creator could not meet their demands. For those who have no aspiration toward the spiritual life, the only way is to plunge back into matter through another incarnation in the flesh. There are no new souls created and relegated to this planet. Their number is fixed. They pass and pass, and come again; good, bad and indifferent all come under the same, the only law of evolution. The gates of life are crowded with such as these who, weary of prowling to no purpose, seek re-embodiment on this plane of existence. The process through which they thus pass is of itself one of refining and of readjusting to changed conditions, which means growth for the soul; for throughout the universe, the Great Law, the law which holds all things in equilibrium, is the law of progress, evolution, unfoldment.
It must be remembered always that back of all the recognized greetings, and the assurances of the continued, conscious life of our spirit friends, back of all the lesser gods, who were human beings, like unto ourselves, back of all the inspired teachings of all the seers and prophets is God, "our Heavenly Father," in whom we live and have our being.
Through his appointed teachers is vouchsafed to his earthly children a knowledge of his love and wisdom. It is boundless and free for all, and there are no "chosen people." He is the source, the fountain head from which flows all life, and all sustaining power. The heavens declare the glory of God—the Creator; and the arisen souls of men proclaim his wondrous and unfailing interest in all his created beings.
NECESSITY FOR PHENOMENA.
Some people are born so spiritual-minded that the proper adjustment of the several functions pertaining to the moral or religious nature stand clearly defined. Their immortality is never doubted, their faith in the unseen never obscured by clouds of passion, or dimmed by pressure of material necessities. These are the beacon lights in the world's progress. These are the mariners to whom has been given a sure guide and compass. The others are those who have little or no perception beyond what is seen to befall animal life, and their growth into a finer possibility must be slow and tedious. It is in fact necessary that many should "rise from the dead" and jam tables and chairs and things around their apartments, ere they can fancy the possibility of any existence separate from this material life.
The most abominable of all egotisms is that which forever studies to limit the possibilities of the Creator, to announce firmly that there is no further consciousness, and no need for human faculties after this life is ended. The most dignified attitude would be to give him the benefit of the doubt, to admit that He has the power to continue, and remould, and readjust through all time and all eternity. But this is not a class of subjects which can be settled by logic. It is based upon a conviction of the inner soul, and the most that anyone can do is to place himself as nearly as possible in harmony with some one law, and this will form a center around which a perception of more shall come, and revolve around it grandly and in perfect time, thus completing the rounding out—the fullness—of the character of the individual man or woman.
WILL.
Will, human will, is the result of concrete perceptions of the conscious mind. Its development depends upon the experiences of the individual soul, and its expression upon the environment, the education, and spiritual discipline of the individual. Having its foundation in the functions necessary to the sustainment of the mortal life of man, it naturally overrides all considerations outside of the objects of its own pursuit. It is the quality par excellence, the power of the gods, but only as it comes to relinquish all its selfish determinations, and yield obedience to the all-pervading Higher Will, the will of God, in whom all life has its source and continuance of being can it march along the royal highway that leads to perfection. This must be so eternally; for there can be no division of purpose or of interest in the divine Mind.
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