Yes, it is true that the struggle for power and luxury among those best equipped for the battle is indeed a sad spectacle, only a little less sad than is the struggle for mere existence among the toiling millions of Earth's children. On the surface the strife between prosperity and poverty appears very unequal, but to those who see beyond mortal existence, and who know that it is the sum of mortal deeds that determines the condition of all on the Spirit Side, how pitifully small and mean are all the ephemeral dignities and luxuries for which men and women barter their best, their immortal interests!
We are not surprised that you now shrink from the thought of again returning into this seething maelstrom of human passions and misery, but remember that under all this strife and agony is the ever uplifting lever of evolution which unfailingly brings to the surface and perpetuates that which is worthiest. Cannot you yet conceive of the lofty devotion of discarnated ones, who, seeing their opportunity and their duty, hasten to the rescue of struggling humanity, sustaining the weak, restraining the wayward and consoling the sorrowful, thus fulfilling the Law of Love? Thus presenting to humanity higher views of Truth.
Ever the onward marching army of humanity is calling for leaders who shall direct their ways toward a better land, and ever the supply is equal to the demand; for ever the Angels of the Visitation are preparing the ways and making them straight for the advent of Saviors who are to be the Leaders and Teachers of humanity. At present the affairs of Earth's peoples are tending toward a most destructive culmination. It would seem that only the Infinite One can stay the mad strife for place, for power, for gratification of selfish greed, which, from day to day, grows fiercer and more aggressive. Almost certainly they are sowing a wind that will develop into a whirlwind whose destructive fury will efface so many landmarks that survivors will find themselves at a loss to discover their whereabouts. Those who are at the head of Humanity's Signal Service should heed the outlook. Will they? We think not. They and the accumulators and hoarders of the wealth that should serve humanity's needs are so besotted with selfishness that they are blind and deaf to the cries of suffering millions who know not where to turn for bread, and who now dumbly endure, but who, when the day of reckoning shall come as come it will, will hold their oppressors to an account of their Stewardship. At no time during the history of our Planet have the Rulers of the Nations been less humane, less selfish, less merciful, less just than at present. True, the Sovereigns of some of the more enlightened Nations do not, as in times past, indulge in wholesale or ruthless butcheries of their subjects, who have evolved too far to tamely submit to such cruelties, but it is a Truth as true as God that a sovereign or nation who idly, perhaps exultingly, looks on while another nation is being butchered for the crime of self-defense, are aiders and abettors of murderous crime. At this moment fear of consequences alone stays the hands of the leading Sovereigns of Europe from flying at each other's throats and sacrificing on the altars of their unrighteous ambition hecatombs of innocent, unwilling victims. Understand, Gentola̤, I am not finding fault with a condition, which, in the present state of evolution of the peoples of our Planet, cannot well be otherwise. I simply state facts and deplore their unwelcome existence.
Not only I, but all Spirits of right mind, long unutterably for an opportunity to say to mortals, if but this much: Learn to love one another. Learn that the good of one is the good of all. Learn that a cup of cold water from the hand of a friend is better far than a cup of choicest wine from a grudging hand. Learn that loving charity and pitiful mercy are as two radiant Angels whose brightness will lighten your pathway to the brink of the river beyond whose further shore you will reap the harvest whose seed you have sowed while on the mortal side of life. Learn that gentle words spoken and kindly deeds done are treasures laid up in the heaven of your own consciousness, and that throughout eternity they will be as precious jewels in your crown of endless existence. And learn, oh, learn that, above and beyond all else, Love is the fulfilling of the Law of the Infinite.
Yes, everywhere the processes of the progress of humanity appear to be much the same, and so advanced and harmonious are some of the peoples of some Planets of our and other Solar Systems, that compared with the unevolved, inharmonious peoples of our Planet they are as Gods. Yet so surely as on this height the Sun is shining, so surely will a period arrive when Earth's peoples will be as brethren living in perfect unity.
Courage then, my friend, courage. With such ointment as you may possess, anoint the worn and weary feet of your fellow travellers, and though on Earth's plane they may neither understand or value your service, be assured that on the Spirit Side their risen Selves will turn and bless you.
I have consumed so much time that only in the briefest manner can I reply to further questions. You desire to know if all mortals of our Planet have been Re-embodied? Yes, repeatedly. You think it strange that Spirits of a low plane of evolvement willingly become reborn under such conditions as inevitably must occasion them much wretchedness. I reply that Spirits seeking Rebirth are aware that they cannot re-enter mortal existence on a plane higher than the one for which their progress on the Spirit Side has fitted them, and gladly they take up their cross that thus they may earn their crown of Spiritual progress. At another time I will inform you as to how Spirits recognize their Spirit mates. Too long we have tarried on this pleasant height. Now we must hasten elsewhere. George, your sister awaits your assistance.
George—I have been taking a survey of this locality, and have learned that the proprietor of the surrounding estate, with his family and domestic assistants, occupies the nearby fine residence, to which is attached this attractive Istoira̤. On its eastern side the height gently slopes toward an extensive area of irrigated lands. When we rise you will observe the pretty village occupied by those who, with the proprietor, are engaged in their cultivation, which apparently is very successful. De L'Ester has informed you that on Ento seldom are laborers mere wage earners; all enterprises, of whatever nature or magnitude, being conducted on a co-operative plan.
I also have glanced into the residence and found it a finely appointed and luxurious rural home. I left Inidora̤ enraptured with Amilla, who sang a love song accompanying her voice with the soft, sweet notes of the harplike Loita̤. She is the only surviving child of parents quite past middle age, and she resembles her rather dark skinned father, though indeed she also resembles her mother, who is fair enough to be of the Quend race. In the Istoira̤, back of the altar, are tablets setting forth the family history of births and deaths. Ra̤imon Kenoida̤s is the father's name. Amilla bears the name of her mother.