"THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE MORNING"

"Father, once more we meet together to thank Thee for Thy protecting care and to ask that we may be lifted up above the world - its many trials and strains and the irritations which are on either side; to lift us up from them and out of them into the protecting care of Thy Arms where evil itself may be forgotten.

"This, O God, we ask tonight certain that Thou wilt listen to our prayers because of the promise Thou hast made to give Thy Presence when two or three are gathered together in Thy Name.

"It is enough for us to wish to be in touch with Thee for that perfect communion to be established; it is sufficient if we try to raise our minds from the world for Thou to do the rest - to separate us from the world, and to link us mentally and spiritually with the Bright Realms above.

"It is in Thy Name that we meet tonight, and it is to Thy service that once more we dedicate our lives and our future.

"Father of all, send down upon Thy children strength and healing and forgetfulness; blot out all that seeks to wound, and grant that the vision may come - that vision where no grief can find a place but only the Joy that is of Thee...

"...My little children, today has illustrated something that happens very often during life upon the earth plane. I will explain: Sometimes the morning dawns extremely fair; happiness seems in the air, and some of that happiness finds a responsive note within, and, for the time being, life is good and God in evidence everywhere.

"You all love these bright mornings, but experience has told you that sometimes they lead on to that which is closely akin to sadness itself. It seems a pity that such beauty should be marred, but I want you tonight to try and follow me in thought to the degree that you will be able to see even in the shade that is cast across the sunshine, nothing but the love of God. Today turned out like this and so this evening I choose this little subject for my opening words.

"That early morning happiness, dear children, is God-sent indeed, and it is sent for a definite and for a direct purpose. Once before, and more than that, I told you that many battles went on in the soul of which your physical minds were entirely unconscious. These battles are of a purely spiritual nature, in the sense that they are so closely connected with God that even the physical mind, which is part of yourselves, is too near the earth to be taken into the soul's confidence.

"My children, that brightness is even as the fresh armour and the clean weapons with which a soldier sets out for battle. Recall to your minds some of the pictures you have seen, especially those of the days gone by. Bright and decorative was the garb of he who set out for battle; his hopes were high, his equipment was complete - so far as the outward was concerned - and the cheers of the populace warmed his heart for the task before him.

"That is the first stage, and, of course, from the spiritual point of view, the least important of any.

"Follow your warrior through the day: How long does his finery last? Soon in the heat of battle, he is glad to discard this and that, finally leaving himself only with the necessaries for attack. And the end of the day shows a different picture altogether. He bears the marks of battle and sometimes those of defeat, but if he has fought a good fight, then even those of defeat are a glory to his country.

"I think you see the point I am trying to illustrate, and next time when the morning dawns so fair, you will remember the soldier of which I have spoken, and do your best to see that both your courage and your spirit is sufficient to carry you through the day.

"Today has been a day of triumph. I want to make this distinction quite clear - because a little sadness creeps in, that does not show in any degree whatever that the triumph has gone to the wrong side. Even the bravest soldier, after a day in the field, is worn and weary and footsore.

"Gather this simile a little closer still. What does tomorrow hold for the one who fights and conquers? - happiness and reassurance. For the one that gave up, not only loss of freedom but something akin to despair itself.

"The marks of battle - all my children bear these, and many, I find, are quite the reverse of proud of them because at times they show themselves in the form of wear and tear. To us over here it seems a curious way of regarding the ribbons of honour bestowed upon you by Christ Himself. Of course, dear children, you are bound by the physical view, you only see what to you represents ugliness and scars and wounds; you are not able to look beneath the surface and see the beauty and the constructive pattern which they have brought about.

"I carry the illustration a little further still: Who is there among you, who has not read with a thrill of pride and exaltation, the story of the brave achievement of this one or that who planted a flag on the enemy's ground? Of another who dashed forward and redeemed the very guns which had been stolen from them? Yes, it does you good to read about such deeds of valour, and when you read, way down in your heart there is the soul speaking to you, and the longing arises to have done that deed yourself.

"Again I turn to our point of view. Deeds far greater than these, sacrifices stupendous in their character, are taking place moment by moment in this great big little world in which you live. Unmarked, unheard of, unheeded even by the doers themselves, but noted and remembered for ever by the God who is the Father of us all.

"Once more I have to ask you to try and extend your vision - to look beyond the present and the personal, to dive down beneath the surface, and to fly up into the heights above - and from that point of vantage to look at the spiritual magnificence to which the mind of man can rise.

"There is no better message that I could give you tonight than this: To remind you again that you do not belong to those who are kept in safety and comfort behind the fortress walls. To some their position may seem one for envy but, after all, what are they? Captives and prisoners. And you are free to wander where you will. Where is the advantage in this, where the gain to be coveted? They are safe only so long as they remain entombed within. To you: the freedom of the sky, liberty and the will to do. Is it not worth the struggle - the struggle and the concentration? And I think of the two, perhaps the second is the hardest to those who are wishful to push on and see all that awaits them.

"Be strong, be of good courage - the end of sorrow is not so far off as you think; the daylight is at hand, and soon - with me - you shall watch with joy and amazement the Sun rising in its splendour out of what appeared darkness and night. This is God's will, and this is the future which neither the evil in the mind of man in your world, nor the powers and forces of evil in ours, shall hinder in its completion.

"That is my statement - absolutely in harmony with the purpose which is in the Mind of God; absolutely accurate in detail and in construction. It is of things far, far beyond your comprehension that I speak, but it is in the Name of Our Lord that I put it on record tonight.

"The door is opening and, as it swings slowly on its hinges, it is shutting out the darkness, pressing it to the sides, and finally swinging back, will banish it for ever more..."

"I hope I have not disturbed you, ladies... it was a tremendous struggle... I am one who is a name to you only but I am here... You spoke of the cold just now... the cold... It is Ernest Shackleton and tonight I have made a big effort to speak. I have done it in spite of forces utterly beyond your knowledge. It is for a great purpose that I come. Freed from the body, my soul was allowed to continue its quest and tonight this is one victory point... a victory point which was not mine during those voyages and journeyings into the great white unknown.

"I speak to this woman because we are linked together - linked together by what would seem to you, and certainly to me before I gained my freedom, by the slenderest cord there could be - a few words thrown across a third person in the midst of busy life; a chance - no, not a chance, but a God-given opportunity to make it possible to come back like this.

"It is of the regions of the Spirit that I wish to speak because, as your Leader told you once before, those who take the lonely way during physical existence in order to find out the unknown - these are permitted to cross vast tracts of glories and wonders when they come to the unlimited continent which is of God.

"How can I say in a few words all that is in my heart and mind tonight? You are out on a much bigger quest than ever came my way... I knew some of the dangers and the difficulties that lay in front; you, like little children, have gathered up your luggage - such as it is - and with no thought of weapons, have set out to find that which lies beyond. And to the children who go forward in faith and trust and ignorance, the help comes, the guidance is there - and all unconsciously to yourselves - One there is that walks behind with outstretched Arms, controlling, influencing, and seeing that you do not miss the unbeaten track. That One, as you know full well, is Christ... I shrink always from mentioning that Name because it is so dear.

"I draw your thoughts back again to my own experiences. You can visualise quite easily something of what they held. You can imagine the loneliness and the desolation, and you can picture the sore distress of mind and body which each one was too proud to tell the other... Just as we went on, many times blindly, absolutely incapable of judging whether we were right or wrong, so you have got to go on as well, and you shall find, even as we did, that the Presence is there which will guide you into a security which you thought for ever beyond your reach.

"How I wish I had known more, and yet out in the frozen wilderness, God seemed very close indeed - so close at times that I used to wonder whether I was still in the body or whether the cold had overcome me and I was free. You see out there you lose touch with everything except the one big thing, and that is to go on in spite of everything and not to fail.

"My last journey was taken from me, so the world thought, but to me it was the beginning of a series of such undreamt-of explorations that I never cease to wonder how the little ones - which seem so big to you - could ever have satisfied that longing within me to be up and over the horizon. Up and over the horizon of the world I went at last but instead, as in my past experiences, gaining a height only to see nothing but desolation and danger in front, when I reached that summit which you call death, the vision of the Eternal was unfolded before me in that degree that I could stand.

"I wonder what my friends would think if they knew that I had come back in this way - if they knew that my ambition now was to be counted amongst one of the workers in the great plan already unfolding; to do my bit - not as a leader this time - but as one of the outer crowd who has much to learn and is glad to do the humblest job there is.

"Oh, it is strange but so wonderfully true that I am here tonight, speaking to you and to many others who you cannot see - speaking to you of that greatest adventure of all - the knowledge of the Love of God, and in trying to understand the meaning of it all. I call it an adventure in the sense that when studying that which is Divine, it is the unknown always, for however much you explore and seek to understand, in front is Infinity itself...

"I will go now because there are others waiting to take my place, but that one rush of sympathy between two strangers is going to produce a lot..."

"Well, dear children, we have had quite a variety tonight. It has brought a lot of happiness to us, and into your own lives it has brought new interests and new influences - it has been a very constructive evening, and I am quite pleased with the result so far as it goes.

"I put in this saving clause because I don't want you to get the idea that this is either what I am working for or that it is the extent of the part which you are to take. These evenings are the preparation for the real work which is taking shape under God's Hand. It is the training process, and when you are learning you do not confuse your lessons with the great use and purpose which, later on, those lessons are to work out...

"I hesitated here, my children, because it does sound rather disconcerting to have more talk of preparation and of planning and of fitting in, when there has already been - to your minds - so much of this. It is a little chilling to be told that that is only the preliminary stage, and that the real thing lies in front.

"And yet, my children, the application of anything that you have learnt is, as a rule, far pleasanter than forging your way through the dreary stages which seem to produce so little, and even fail to appear clear to you as you learn.

"I want you to think about this because I am most anxious for you to get the broad view of life, and a bigger view of this work. I want you now to feel that the grinding, tedious portions are, in the main, past and safely disposed of. And then to go on from that to the laying out of those plans, and trying in each line to work in something of individual beauty, so that later on you may look down on your part with pleasure to recognise this thought or that endeavour, which really looks quite nice as it is fitted in by the Hand of Christ.

" - 'Let not your hearts be troubled for I will send you a Comforter' (John:14) I remind you of this again - of this beautiful promise, and what lies beneath it. Once more square the shoulders, take a good look at the opposing forces, tighten your wills and go on... go on, not to more sorrow, but to joy and achievement, and to that revelation which only the hard and upward road can bring you, and which only the soldier who is out to conquer can achieve - the revelation of the Spirit, when each one is at liberty to divest himself of the body and its hindrances, and to meet us free and untrammelled, and to see something of that unfoldment of Divinity which is the possession of all who have tried to love and serve the Saviour. The unfoldment of Divinity - you cannot take it in but try to build up something, so that the necessary impetus may be found within to send you on without a backward glance, and to take that chill from your heart, and to make it a journey of rejoicing.

"Goodnight, my children, God's blessing is upon you, and you are as the flowers of the field in His sight... Goodnight, my children, be at peace."

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