The condition of such spirits as these in the spiritual world is not an envious one. For a time they are unaware that they have left the material body. Dependent upon gross matter for their thought, study, labor, and research, they do not gravitate above the earth, and for awhile they continue their investigations and experiments in the laboratories of their former earthly associates.
But the laws they pursue fail to explain to them the causes of existence, or of the variation and mutability of form, the origin of mind, or the source of power. The facts presented before them from time to time cannot be reconciled with the theories they have entertained. Important links in the chain of scientific evidence concerning the nature of things they fain would forge, as they are wanting here and there. These learned (?) spirits, with all their splendid endowments of mental ability, erudition, and conservative thought, become restless, dissatisfied, and unhappy. When they discover that they are not dependent upon a mortal body for their existence, they are amazed, and even annoyed, to find their preconceived opinions and conclusions concerning earthly matter refuted by the one great fact of continued conscious life after the dissolution of the physical form; and they do not feel prepared to accept the spiritual life that opens before them. Ask such a being of the beauty and peace of the higher life, and he would declare to you his inability to find such conditions,—that to him all appeared confusion, disorder, fleeting, and unsubstantial. The reason of this is clear to a thinking mind. The spirit who has hitherto held the utmost confidence in his own mental powers and ready discernment; who has believed his own position on any subject incontrovertible; who has thought his opinions and conclusions to be unquestionable, and who has been accustomed to lay down his propositions and theories with the secret feeling that they must demand attention and an early acceptance from all others, suddenly becomes aware that he has been treading on dangerous ground, that those things, ideas, and conclusions that he thought so weighty and undeniable are but fabrications of his own mind; that he has followed false lights, because he has recognized but a small portion of the universe and believed it to be the whole, and has understood the operations of but a few of its laws, and thought they were the great network of all force and power.
No wonder that this being cannot see clearly before him; that his surroundings appear chaotic and disorderly, and that the ground seems slipping from beneath his feet. His mental condition determines the character of his external state, and he perceives naught but the reflection of the conflicting emotions that surge through his being.
THE DAWNING OF SPIRITUAL LIGHT.
After a time the mists will cease to obscure his vision; possessing an intelligent mind, he will begin to reason and reflect upon this state of things, and desire to reach the truth concerning them. Then he will perceive that, though much of the work he thought he had performed must be taken up and remodeled, that many of the opinions he held were unsound, and the platform of theory he occupied untenable; yet he has obtained a sufficiency of solid fact; has discovered truth, derived knowledge, and accomplished labor enough to form a new foundation upon which to build a structure that will remain enduring for all time.
Then the shadows will clear away; the spirit will gaze around him and behold smiling order and harmonious design. The new life will present an appearance of peace, plenty, and thrift to his sight. He will then inform you that the higher life is one of beauty, happiness, and power, filled with pleasant homes, contented people, and active employments. The conditions belonging to the crude, undeveloped state of his being have been overcome by the spiritual part, and he is now enabled to behold the spirit world in its true likeness and imagery.
Before this change can take place in the surroundings and interior life of the spirit, he must outgrow the arrogant pride in his own powers that has hitherto possessed him; he must be ready to doff the teacher’s gown, and to don the pupil’s cap,—be eager to become the patient scholar, and to forego the pleasure of propounding his personal opinions to other minds; must, in brief, become a child of humility, recognize his shortcomings, his mistakes and failures, and be willing to repair them. There is no necessity for him to lose sight of his former achievements, or of the good work he has wrought out for mankind; the memory of his labors may be retained to inspire him on to greater exertions for the future, but not allowed to magnify itself to such proportions as to influence the mind with pride and vain-glory.
THE LIBERAL-MINDED SCIENTIST.
I have also witnessed the spiritual condition, which, in my experience, always determines the surroundings of the individual in the spirit world, of the man of science, or of general learning, who, when in the body, was willing to consider other opinions than his own, was tolerant of other people, and ready to adopt any practical suggestion emanating from the mind of another, whose attitude toward spiritual things was respectful, even if it were not reverential. Such a personage may find himself astonished at the revelations of immortal life, but they do not annoy him; they rather gladden his soul, for they open before him opportunities for study, investigation, and spiritual growth that he has felt the need of, but could not hitherto grasp their supply. He is eager to at once begin a new line of scholarship, and to ask the assistance of those masters of science and philosophy who for ages have been acquiring knowledge and wisdom in the schools of the higher life. Such a spirit is willing to sit at the feet of his teachers, and to follow their instructions. He listens humbly to the suggestions that are made to him, follows the line of argument presented, and pays attention to the explanations, experiments, and researches his instructors open before him. Thus he comes into sympathy with the wise ones around him, and can readily comprehend their labor and its vast results.
In a little time such a spirit becomes qualified to follow his labor and pursue his studies unaided; he grasps a comprehension of the laws that govern them, and can experiment in any particular department of scientific inquiry he desires, certain that his researches cannot fail to yield him a good return. By-and-bye he will be competent to return to earth and seek out some organism, some mind similar in construction to his own, through whom he can transmit his ideas and a knowledge of his discoveries and inventions for the benefit of struggling mortals. It may be that his instrument will be unaware of the presence of a spirit moving and directing him, would even scout such a thought were it presented before him; but such non-recognition does not lessen the efforts of the earnest spirit. He is bent upon expressing the results of his labors, or manifesting some spiritual truth to ignorant humanity, and he will not falter nor be turned aside from his mission.