1763. The truly harmonious men receive equally the spiritual and physical elements: they are electrical conductors, whose attracting points bend downward as well as upward, dispensing, equally, thought and strength to their less harmonious fellows, with but little exhaustion.
1764. Men originate nothing: they have merely different degrees of receptivity; are merely more or less in magnetic relationship with the higher world. A principle, or truth, is not your truth, or my truth, but God’s truth; as much as a drop of water in the ocean, or a sand-grain in the great desert; as little a personal possession as the cloud above your head. If we look at it abstractly, we perceive the absurdity of all quarrels in relation to originality of ideas—water refreshes the thirsty traveller, whether drunk from his own cup or the cup of another; and if we can incorporate a new truth into our lives, it is unimportant whether we receive it directly or indirectly from the great fountain.
1765. The intellectual struggle of the student is but an education of the soul, training it to become susceptible to higher influences—an attempt to enter into unalloyed magnetic relationship with the spirit world.
1766. Prayer is a simple and natural method of becoming en rapport with higher beings and a higher world: yet no thinker ever believed that prayer would move the Divine Being to alter His eternal plans. As He is the fountain of all Love and all Wisdom, His designs must be without flaw—must be for eternal good: yet prayer is one of the most holy, beautiful, and useful of things; it is the earnest asking of the soul for comfort—whatever the words may be—and by the exaltation of feeling, we rise up from the earth-life into the higher spiritual planes, and become harmonized by the indwelling harmonies of those spheres. Prayer is aspiration. Prayer is the desire to embrace the Infinite. The form of prayer is unimportant; its power lies in the indwelling desire of good. Men should not have forms and times of prayer, but their whole lives should be long, unending acts of prayer.”
1767. It seems that the light of Spiritualism had begun to dawn in the mind of the author of the preceding passage. His language respecting prayer is in strict conformity with the doctrine of Spiritualism.
1768. As the author, to whom reference is thus made, was on terms of great mutual friendship with my late sister, as well as with myself, I have consulted her spirit as to the origin of the impressions which had been thus indited by our common friend. It appears from her reply to my inquiry, that these ideas were communicated to him by my spirit father, and that his conversion to Spiritualism had commenced prior to his decease, which took place about two years ago.
OF MATTER, MIND, AND SPIRIT.
Of Matter.
1769. It is a fact, that as we study more deeply the nature of matter, we find that we know the less about it. The crude impressions by which it makes us sensible of its presence are, of course, intuitively received, and are reiterated incessantly. Hence, the mass of mankind do not imagine that there can be any mystery respecting that ponderable matter which influences the scale-beam. The existence of any other matter, people generally are slow to admit. The electric fluid and caloric, the supposed causes of electricity and heat, were rarely believed in, out of the scientific world, but ponderable matter is the last thing of which any person would imagine himself ignorant. Yet we find that some of the most experienced investigators of nature, have not made up their minds as to what ponderable matter is.