"THE GREAT CHAIN OF LIFE"

"O Great Instructor, help us to grasp something of that mighty Truth which Thou art waiting to bestow upon Thy children. Teach us how to look out on the beauty of the physical world and to see in it a reflection of that beauty stored for us in the by-and-by. Grant that from the coming of new life, from the emerging out of that which seems the quiescent stage of waiting, that these, Thy children, may read the parable of their spiritual life and being.

"Father, knowing so little we come to Thee with humble hearts, and we ask Thee to expand the boundaries of our thoughts, to release us from that which binds, and to show Thy children that before them and all is that unlimited wisdom of the Spirit, waiting, as they strive, to be made their own. Grant that we may learn how to get closer to Thee, how to keep closer to Thee, and how to draw others into that same sweet communion with Thy Love.

"Thanking Thee for all Thy many good gifts, for the brightness without and for the greater brightness within, we commence our work this night, handing ourselves over into Thy loving care.

"...My children, it seems perhaps that this little room is somewhat shaded from the light of the physical world, that you have shut out that which is beautiful, that which is inspiring; for lo, in Nature there are some of the thoughts of God materialised for man to see. Yet, I should be allowing a mistaken idea to remain in your minds if I did not say that the brightness of the physical world is as dimness to us; and, again, the blossom, the new life, all that wealth which Nature bestows upon the children of the earth so lavishly, all that is but a pale reflection of the beauty, the created life, the power that is built up, when two or three meet together in God's Name and seek to fasten to themselves something which is of Him.

"Therefore, my children, you have not only the best but you have that which shall remain. In the physical world, sunshine is followed, perchance, by cloud and storm, and one day, so desirable to the heart and mind, ends, and another is heralded in which causes a chill and a lowness of the vitality of the body.

"Transient, passing, as all things of the physical and material world; but oh, remember ever that though surrounded by the material, though held by the physical, you are Spirit, and you can build that which is permanent for ever. You build for yourselves but ten thousand times more, for another; for lo, at this moment you are drawing on the power of those who went before.

"Those who stumbled over the same stones that you stumble over, who quailed as perhaps you quail at the difficulties and obstacles to be overcome; those who had their sorrowful days, those who lost sight of the Love of God because the pangs of the body were so great - such as these passed the self-same way before you, a little while ahead; and out of the experience gained, out of the remembrance of that past, so they send back, aye, and they come back to give you the strength and the courage which they, in turn, drew from the pioneers in front of them.

"This is the glorious gospel of God, and tonight, my little ones, I want to speak to you as to: 'The Great Chain of Life', and as to the long, long hill which leads to perfection in the end.

"For you assembled here, have upon your shoulders that yoke which symbolises the missionary spirit; you are not content to take alone, but you seek to give. And so I use that which you provide, and the Beloved of us all has sent down into this little room that which is of Himself, because the Lord God of all is the Great Teacher, and was the Great Missionary in a time far, far beyond that known by man. Never forget that your Father and Mother God typifies in completion, the missionary spirit which all, in time, must adopt, must make their own.

"Tonight then, dear children, because I have opened out those other conditions to which I referred when last we met in this way, I speak not only to you but to many who are far less released than yourselves; who, as it were, were worsted in the fight, who found the hill too steep and the temptations too strong to be resisted. To these - and there are countless numbers beyond the mind of the body to grasp - to all these I send out my love and your love, and I bid them take heart for a way has been made for them to rise, a way has been made by the One who loves them best...

"Little children, it seems to you so wonderfully like God that the early teachers - those who of old showed to their world that Spirit was stronger than body, that good was stronger than weakness - it seems to you so like God that they should be permitted to come to you upon earth and speak to you as brothers, as sisters, and to adopt the role of guide and helper, even over the mundane tasks of physical life.

"Some there are, ignorant of the laws of the Spirit, who say that this is impossible, that the barrier of conditions prohibits the pure from mingling with the half-pure; and they dismiss this gracious gift of the understanding Father because it is too big for their physical minds to grasp. To such as these I say: Take care as to the limitations you impose upon your Creator. The Mind of God is so infinitely greater and higher than the mind of man, and the Love of God reaches and covers and overrules not only one creation, not only this little planet which you call the earth, but the Love of God has gathered in those mighty worlds and conditions which are beyond the radius of that knowledge which is man's at this stage; beyond the knowledge of man because man forgot to go to his Creator to be taught. Rather, the individual had more faith in that which was drawn out of the minds of others cabined in a similar way as himself.

"How amazing is this fact when looked at under the Light of the Holy Spirit, which can and will lead us into all wisdom. How strange it seems that man should have so much greater faith in man than in the One who brought into being the wonders which are all around...

"These pioneers you name 'holy ones', and I would not say you nay, for, by the fact that you so venerate the release of the Divine within, you - the little children of the earth - you have sent them farther on, you have helped them to get nearer to Perfection, nearer to the God who they adore.

"Oh, hold fast to this mighty Truth, for it has bearing on that which I would pass on this night: The power in each one, however undeveloped they may be, to aid those who seem indeed as 'children' of God by the effort they have put forth. Such is the law of God.

"My little ones, those who see the Master, feel within them that great urge to serve, to help, to construct, to retrieve. When the body is no more, and you stand before All-Love and come under those rays which pour out from Him, your one desire will be: 'Oh, to be more like Him'. And that urge within, that overwhelming desire, must be satisfied in the measure that you understand. And as you grow, so that urge will become stronger, so your vision will open out, and so you will comprehend a little more and a little more of the great, great Saviour who is determined to save all His creation, wherever they may be and whatever that creation may represent.

"So, dear children, can you not understand how those you name the holy ones of God, are inspired to come to you and to all those who will allow them to penetrate into their conditions? And this is an important point. I want you to realise the responsibility of shutting out those pioneers - the prophets, the disciples, the martyrs, who passed the earth way in the long ago.

"I want you to realise that the individual has it within his power to send from him those who represent a development which he has not reached himself; for lo, free-will cannot be tampered with, and our only mode of approach is by love, and if love is rejected, if this child or that says and means: 'I want none of them', then, my little ones, we have to use other means, many go-betweens; yes, and these, because they do God's work in part, are blest by the Father, and, in turn, their own progress is hastened on.

"The Divine law of mutual help - yet, I must underline that those on earth who say: 'Unworthy though I may be, I love the bright ones and I would that they might guide me and protect me from myself'. Such as these bring to the servants of God a joy inexplainable in language; aye, a comfort - a comfort, dear children, for love to us is life indeed. It is as the sweet rain which releases that which is Divine within, that symbolical rain which can bring out of that which is closed in, the flowers with their beauty and unfoldment. You, my children, by holding out your minds and your love to us, you can minister to us and bring a joy which nothing else has the power to make our own...

"But I must not pause at this, for I am speaking to those who feel that the barrier is too great to be overcome, who are conscious of discord and distress. They say: 'Give me another of my own kind or a little better, because they can understand how I feel and the difficulties which surround me'.

"And, so, my children, it has been planned by the All-Mighty One that those in what you name the depths - bound in hideous bondage, unconscious of the spirit within - aye, blind to God in their life - that such as these can, and do, put into motion one of God's laws, and in the measure that they act, so in that measure, their release draws nearer to them.

"In those planes which are darkened by self, which indeed hold nothing that reflects the Love of God because the individual rules out those gifts so lavishly bestowed - in those dark planes, so influence is brought to bear through a million sources; and the one who, perchance, has a flicker of compassion for another, that one is indeed a missionary of the God whom he spurns in thought.

"Cannot you understand how amongst the 'buried', in those who are a little less bound, there is this instinct to retrieve and restore? And in physical life today you have it illustrated on all sides. A man or a woman may be weak, may seek that which is alien to God, cleave to the earth and to that which is coarser than the earth; but now and again, something is roused within, and it has been known that such as these have raised an animal out of danger, that such as these in looking on another still more bound than themselves, have been constrained to drag them to a shelter out of harm's way, and have watched by them until some measure of physical consciousness has returned.

"And even those you call the 'vile' have sought to protect another a little less vile; and even those who have denied God in act and thought and in every way that is apparent, such as these have been known to give a cup of water to another. And has not Christ said that in the giving of the cup, so indeed refreshment has been brought to Him?

"My little ones, you cannot understand the ramifications of God's Love, but mark you, that that flicker of humanity in those so bound, as it were, has come a long, long journey, passing through countless numbers; has come from those removed, so it would seem, from the outcast and the blasphemer, but they are removed only by the will of man.

"The will of God is that the power within each one should be put to its rightful use; and in that flicker of Spirit-consciousness in the poor prisoner so indifferent to the softer side of life, you get a transference of effort on so gigantic a scale that neither you nor I can grasp it, for those things are hidden in the Mind of God, but that flicker of consciousness is the result perhaps of years of work.

"But oh, think not of the waste of time, of the pouring out of power unclaimed, for lo, that which is of the Spirit cannot be wasted, cannot be lost; and in the effort so entailed, all the many used as mediums, as channels, have thereby got a little nearer to the God whom, perchance, they so little understand...

"And then, dear children, we come to that which Our Lord, when upon the earth, tried to explain to His listeners, and which His listeners, so intent, so longing to grasp, failed to comprehend, failed to interpret in words so that the meaning might be clear to others. I speak of the steward and the Master, of the one who made friends with the unrighteous, and, so the Word runs, was commended in so doing by his God (Luke 16:8).

"Listen, dear children, and try and gather in that law of the Spirit which Our Lord sought to unfold. We could not understand, for the conditions of our day were so different. We were hedged in by prejudice and caste; divided by a thousand barriers both religious and secular; blind indeed, yet knowing not our blindness; bound with many chains, yet out of the childishness of our minds, congratulating ourselves on the freedom which was ours because we listened to Love and Love called us His own...

"Little ones, it was the missionary spirit that the Master tried to teach. There are many who cannot be approached directly by those who understand God's will, and thus it is that others are needed; yet those others, they have cheated the Master in turn. Dishonest servant they may be, but in looking round on those in their vibrations, out of their very weakness, they can, as it were, reassure those others and pass among them as a friend...

"Hold clear in your minds the story and confuse it not. Those who make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, are those bound by the earth and conscious of nothing but self. Yet, these in time to come, in turn, will be used to help those weaker still. Though hedged in by weakness and misunderstanding, out of their weakness and misunderstanding, they can help others whose weakness and misunderstanding is greater than their own.

"In time to come, dear children, I will go over that little narrative point by point, and I will show you that it was to teach the missionary spirit amongst all temperaments, all classes; it was to illustrate how the weak can help the weak, how those who are alien to God, those who have been false to the Divine within, can unconsciously - aye, even unwillingly - do God's work on earth...

"But I return to those states which are far from your consciousness now; and those among you who long to work for God and yet find not that channel which opens out and absorbs your gifts and your holy desires, to such as these I speak: I tell them that we are using them as go-betweens, that we are using that desire to help, to minister, to retrieve not only for missionary work upon the earth plane, but also - again through other channels, through those less highly evolved, less spiritually awake - we are getting at the ones who are bound indeed.

"This great law of God has been put into action so that humanity may be saved in spite of itself, so that the weak may, all unconsciously, bring to themselves a little more strength, a little more of that stamina, which is essential for the great climb which lies in front.

"Out of their fleeting compassion for one even worse off than themselves, so we get the link, and so that link is held and held; and so at last, point by point, opportunity by opportunity, concentrating the power of love upon that which is as granite in repulse, another link is added and another and another; and these links, because they are of the Spirit, they, in time, make not only the rope by which they climb, but provide the steadying power for those others, who, as yet, are unreached by us, because the barriers erected by them are too great...

"My little ones, it is difficult to speak of those conditions which are so hidden from you, but I would refer to that (visions) which has come to two present this evening (Mr. Gregory and Mrs. Whittaker). The depths and the steps and the helping on; yes, and the dire necessity for receiving help yourself. And then I speak of that great condition in which there were those who sought only the material when upon earth. And those seek still the material, aye, and find that as they seek so they must seek still more... Bondage to the earth and all it means; pouring out effort on that which ever eludes them as they work.

"Those two conditions seen by you, they are as a faint reflection of the darkened planes of thought which indeed exist in very truth. But oh, dear children, if only the good and only the pure were able to help, to retrieve, how long delayed would the spiritualisation of humanity be? If only those who loved God could work for God, think of the countless millions untouched, allowed to wander still farther away. No, the weakest, in time, will be one point less weak, and the moment that point is reached they become, unconsciously, missionaries of the Most High, for even by example they teach the weakest that there is something better, something a little more attractive than themselves...

"So, my little ones, when you look on this little world of yours, wide and vast as it seems to you, gather to yourselves the inner meaning of the exhortation to 'Judge not'. When you see those as you would name it, sunk in vice, remember God, and that God cannot be defied; that even these, at times, have worked for Him - yes, worked for the All-Mighty, All-Powerful Creator. They have contributed their mite to the great plan of raising the fallen and bringing back the strength which has been thrown away.

"Oh, remember ever that such as those, though they pass out into twilight planes or even into those conditions blackened by their own thoughts, that these will find another a little less bound, or another will observe that they are not so bound as themselves; and once again, God is demonstrated in utter darkness and a little Light is found...

"These facts have not only never been grasped by man but man, out of his limitations, has forever sought to impose limitations upon his God... Man knows not the length and the breadth or the height of the Father's Love.

"So, my children, I bring you back to that word: 'Influence', and your part, not only in physical life, but in the purpose and the plan. To some it seems denied that great work which they long to do now. Denied? Why, the spirit within cannot be denied - it is its right; and the spirit within long since has been working on a pattern too big, too beautiful, for the physical mind to grasp.

"Oh, spread it far and wide that the missionary spirit has been endowed to all by God. Oh, place not dependence upon the world's view or that which has been laid down by the narrowness of the many who could have known better had they so desired. They cannot look at any one in the physical world and say: 'No sign of God is here'. They cannot look at the so-called lowest or vilest and say: 'There is no resemblance to Christ at all'.

"These have their moments, and those moments, ah, they are of such great import that no estimate of them can be voiced in words; for at times, in spite of the physical mind, in spite of the conditions which hold them down, the Divine within is demonstrated. Yes, in so tiny a part, but it is of God, and God claims it as His own.

"The barrier of conditions - it exists not to the Master; how then can it exist to His servants? The barrier of conditions is felt by the weak, but the mighty Mind of God has found a way round, and even though such as these may repulse Light in any form, unwittingly, at times, they create a little Light themselves... The miracle of God's Love at work.

"And so, my children, though perhaps what I have said this night seems a little impersonal to some, indeed it is vitally personal to you all; for long since you have been contributing to the great whole. Long before the physical body was donned, you sent your power to those who were weaker than yourselves, and they sent their power to those weaker still; and you and they have put into motion a law of the Spirit which has been in operation since the beginning of creation and will remain for ever...

"That future I cannot explain at this stage, but the gift of creating is housed within us all, and when you are indeed sons and daughters of the Most High by striving and desire, so, in turn, you will, out of yourselves, give life to that which I will name another creation, another type of being... That is beyond your horizon now, yet it is as one speck of God's unlimited Truth.

"So, dear children, in thinking of your lives, take the wide view, the long view, and give out of yourselves Love and Light; for even though you may be alone, so it seems to you, there are others, unseen, waiting to gather up your gifts and to pass them on to another, and many wait in vain.

"Yes, and there are those, who, in turn, are hungry for love and understanding, who have not released the Divine within even as you have yourselves; and these are attracted to you but you heed them not. Depression may fall upon you, you are conscious of conditions not in harmony with your own; you long for the bright ones, for those who minister to you, but around you are those waiting to be ministered to, in turn.

"Much of the sadness, much of the sense of isolation which creeps over the sensitive soul, is caused by this. They are as a light to those whose conditions are as half-light, and they swarm to the light; and in the measure that you withhold love and interest and sympathy from them, they go hungry for that light; and so, dear children, that mighty spiritual law is hindered in its perfect working.

"I speak to many, and I impress upon them that this statement is true. Let them not be disquieted in thought; let them not regard those who approach as enemies to themselves. Enemies, dear children? Why, when you have succoured them, they have been friends in very truth, for you cannot help another without doubly helping yourself...

"Hold on to this thought, for you, my little ones, and those who try to make the wisdom of God their own, you are as beacons, and for what is a light but to guide, to show the way. If you, as light, only attract light, then, dear children, your little light could be dispensed with for the greater light is there.

"But you, as a little taper shining in dark conditions, what do you show? You show yourself - and those others, out of the instinctive desire within, rush to you, and you are overwhelmed by that which is alien to yourself. But you are as a light, and a light, if it is a light, it is there to show to those without a light that such a thing is possible, and that there is a path in front.

"Keep your vision clear. No child is left to struggle alone with those who are alien to themselves. Your light could not last a second in such conditions if it were not that you were drawing power from those who represent a stronger light, a greater light. And they, dear children, could not supply light to you if it were not for the One Great Light from which all draw that which they have - aye, draw everything that they are.

"The Light of the World, the great, great Source, delights in giving out unlimited Love and Light to all those of His creation... He is not only aware of you, but directing - having created that law of the Spirit - directing that you should be as a beacon to others; and they, because they found the strength and the desire to get to the Light you represent, they, again, by example are helping others...

"Oh, to all I speak, yet especially to the teachers and the preachers, for many have not grasped what the missionary spirit means in the God-sense. On earth, one here and there is set apart to lead and guide, but that is not God's way. God's way is the universal. He has set that law into being so that the frailest, in their little measure, can work for Him, and in working, ah, work doubly for themselves...

"Let your attitude be ever thus: Divide none, make no separations as to the good or the bad, as to the careful or the indifferent, but focus on Christ. And when you see the follies of another, remember that that folly perhaps hides a good deed done in secret, a kind thought and withholding of judgement of others. And as you send your sympathy towards them and desire that they should be a little wiser than they are, so you are not only making it possible for that one to have that extra strength, but you are passing on strength through them to others, and through those others to countless numbers beyond.

"And forget not this: That as the thought arose in you to help them, so you have bestowed a gift on those who are a little farther on than yourself, and they in turn have given of the gift to another still more released; and so it goes on and on, and at last the gift comes back to God.

"Oh, mighty is the Mind of Love, unfathomable to man, aye, to us all. But when we have grown a little, so, laid out before us, we see the working of the purpose and the plan, and seeing, bow our heads in thankfulness to the One who understands us so well, to the One who has loved us over the aeons which have passed.

"And now, my children, I will leave you. We shall continue according to the Divine will; and you, little ones, will give, because you know the secret of the treasure, the possession which lies in 'giving'; and how, like a fan, it spreads, and the rays go out; and as they go out they contact with the other rays; and, again, you draw back to yourselves that power attracted to you, for like cleaves to like, and a little power gathers much power. And so, in the end, you not only have the treasure of giving, but even as the miracle of the loaves and fishes, greater volume than you can understand. Another mighty law of the Spirit put into action by the One who loves us best. And now, my children, I will go..."

"...It is Cecilia, not the 'saint' I would implore. I have come to speak to my own child again (Mrs. Gregory), and tonight it has been laid down that I shall tell you a little as to my life on earth... Forgive me, child, but the wings are all around, I find it difficult to speak. These wings of power I would fold around me, yet I should be taking and not giving, as is God's will.

"Child, when I was in the body in a far distant day, so it seems to you, there was that in my life which provoked me to rebellion. I was as a child, yet in my mind and in my heart I was a woman. In the home from which I sprang, there was not only sorrow but a tragedy of a sort. My mother and my father were of humble origin, so the world would class them. I loved them well but death came all too soon, and first the mainstay was removed and then the mother so dear to my heart. That was my childhood - tragedy and poverty and seeming failure in the end; but when I was free, I saw that I had been blest indeed; for the humble are often the great, and again the poor from the world's point of view, many of them are rich in the treasures of the Spirit...

"I passed into a confinement not as the convents of today, yet it kept me apart; but, in that far-off time, the women were as the mice which overran the floor and caught the crumbs that had fallen and were overlooked. I speak of the hardship as you would call hardship, I speak of persecution as you would describe persecution; yet, although it is all so plain, I cannot go back on that time because of the vision which holds me now. In poverty we learnt, in silence we worked, and in the dim hours of the night we prayed.

"The body complained a little and then complained no more; the mind, as a bird, at first it fluttered in its tiny cage, but soon its wings were folded and its song was stilled... We learnt to suffer in a silence which was profound.

"Child, I tell you this simply to make a bond between us. That life of mine, so curiously detached from me now, it matters in no particular except that it gave me power, and when the body was taken from me at an age a little older than your own, I passed out of the greyness and the dimness of the physical world into a radiance past all expression. There, by my side, I found the parents that I loved so well - they were as angels; angels - for their eyes shone and their garments were pure white, and they took me by the hand and they led me where I dare not ask, for the silence imposed upon me by long practice could not be broken in a second; and even now, dear child, I struggle hard against that habit of a far-off time. The words they cannot take their place, for while the body held, speech died away and even the mind scarcely thought in words...

"Those who were as the angels of God, they took me by the hand - I trembling and much afraid - and when I raised my eyes I saw before me a form which I will try to describe in words familiar to you; but remember, dear child, I am obliged to translate as I go even that little language which I had, into the terms of the present day.

"Before me there stood, so it seemed to me, a wise and kindly stranger. I looked upon him with awe, because not only had he the angel aspect of my parents, but around his form there were colours so varied and so beautiful that they dazzled my eyes. But the stranger I knew not, yet he held out his arms to me as I knelt at his feet, and then I saw the mark of a wound in his foot. Terrified, I looked at the other foot and it was marked as well...

"I raised my eyes to see the hands, and likewise the wounds were there, and at last I faced my Christ. Child, He was only a stranger to the limited self which had lived upon the earth plane for a few years, and then was free again. In my fancy, I had thought of God in other terms, in a way so divorced from that, that indeed a stranger did He seem to me; for remember, the women of my time were as the mice that hid from the crushing heel, and God was God.

"I wonder, dear friends, if you can send your minds back to the attitude which was so general in that far-off time? God was man's Master; how then would He deal with us? (women). We had the memory of Christ, but it was accepted that the Christ on earth was turned into the God of power at the Ascension; and that God of power ruled my life and I expected no mercy from Him. Punishment I was prepared to meet; but love and understanding, such a thought never flashed across my mind.

"Forgive me for taking so much of the time, but my purpose in coming is simply to show you, my child, the wonderful gap in understanding which has been covered since I was upon the earth. You, today, know something of God; you have had shown to you not only the love of Christ but His intense loveableness; and out of it all you have gathered this: That the Christ-way is the Love-way, and the Holy-way is the Love-way, and in that Truth you have a foundation from which you can climb and climb, with no barriers in between, out of the physical into the spiritual, and once the threshold is crossed it is on and on and on.

"Now, my child, one word to you before I take my departure: The spirit is willing and the holy desire within it is, as it were, fed by the knowledge which you are gaining now. Have no fear that the channel will not be opened (spiritual healing), many channels are open even at this stage. The future is tense - tense with great things, and the time is coming when God will say to you direct: 'Now is the time to act' - and the joy will surge through your being. The waiting has been the preparation, and you will put into physical representation what you have been doing in the Spirit for so long.

"Oh, all of you, don't think of me as an angel, but a woman like yourselves. My life was so different, yet I have learnt much since I have known not only the sorrows of life but I have tasted many of its joys, its compensations, the passing on and taking of love. And I am here, once more, not only to demonstrate God's Love, but to demonstrate that capacity for love which God has bestowed upon us all.

"The future is fraught with meaning; the past has put in a firm foundation, and we are going on and on, upward and upward. When the body is no more, it is to be my gift to take you to the Master, and then, dear child, you will see something of what Love can mean, something of that comprehending Love of the All-Mighty All-Powerful Being who, to us all, evinces a humility impossible to be described. I raised my eyes to the Saviour and I found there not forgiveness, not merely love, but a gladness which astounded me. I found that my God was glad to welcome me home.

"Forgive me, I am speaking of things beyond your understanding, but the time will come when you will comprehend my difficulties tonight; how I am held, how I am appalled by my inability to pass on more than a fragment of the wonderful Life which is mine and yours and that of every one, for God is Love.

"Goodbye my child; I shall come again not so very far ahead. Keep your eyes on the future as represented by Christ, and Christ alone, for the future is going to bring us all if not our spirit's desire, then as much of that desire as we can hold at this stage. Goodbye, my child, and pass on my dear love to the one you name Mrs. Kendall. There is something that could be given to her in these prepared conditions, something for which her spirit craves. Goodbye, and never forget the future which is Christ's..."

"...Well, my dear friends, it is a most unexpected visitor; it's poor old General Booth, and I hope you won't mind my coming. You see, it is part of the purpose and the plan of this evening. Mrs. Moyes, you will remember how much that rescue work was in my heart and mind. It seemed to me, as I looked out on the wicked old world, that Satan was getting things far too much in his grip, and my instructions to all those under my care were: 'Strike hard for God!' And perhaps in some cases, although we struck hard, we didn't get on the nail itself.

"Still I want you to be certain that my mistakes of judgment and perhaps my rather bigoted views on some points, that these were understood by my Creator. Yes, but all the same, they had to be readjusted, yet because I wanted to be a missionary, so, when I was free, the Master struck off my chains and said: 'Now set to work'. And I've worked, and thank God, praise God, I've brought souls to Him...

"My dear Gregory, I know you well, and if you will not resent it, I should like to say that you've worked with me in the sleep state considerably. Mrs. Moyes, when we are on earth, we have our own little class, our own little sect, and we hold together. 'Unity is strength' - yes, but we overlook that the bigger the unity, the greater the strength.

"And so I've looked round and I've been given the chance to gather in this one and that, to help me to do what others have instructed me to do. Now that word 'instructed'. You call the teaching of the holy one who speaks to you - and you don't need me to tell you that he is holy, yes, in a way un-understandable by anyone on earth - you call the teaching 'instruction', and that word 'instruction' is another way of expressing the gift of Explanation. So when I say I am instructed to do this or that, it means merely that someone with greater vision, nearer to God, has explained a condition which I did not grasp before, and up come my tools and I'm off and away.

"Thank God the missionary spirit is not thwarted here. And so, my dear Gregory, I am quite certain you will be content at times to put your arm in mine and to give me another link with those on earth. For remember this: The fact that any two work together in the sleep state, means that when the spirit is back in the body then that link holds good; and the one who is free, by the link provided, can use the one who is still in the body, and so the good work goes on.

"But tonight, I want to speak a little more definitely than that. You see, my dear friends, the point which is not forced upon the human consciousness is this: We are not weak, driven sheep, foolish as they are when they try to stray, but within us there is a mighty, thinking, creative, loving power; and that which is bound within us is something of the Christ...

"I want, tonight, to call out from all, the strength, and not to say I understand their weakness. It's the strength we've got to emphasise. Weak we may be, weak we are, but within us - in some cases untapped - is God.

"And if today I was in a physical body with my extra knowledge, I should go to the harlot and I should say to her: 'My child, the you within is pure'. I'd go to the drunkard: 'Come along, my man; don't starve the Christ within'. To the thief: 'Why you have stolen your own goods; laugh at yourself and start again'...

"Yes, when we are a little older and a little wiser, we see how much better we could have done, but I thank God that He has let me go amongst those who are weaker than the weakest on earth, and I've wrapped them in my arms. They've tried to strike me from them but I've held them: 'You belong to me and you belong to God'. And, my dear young people, I want to impress upon you the power which comes from holding on. Those without even a resemblance to human form, they have been won back - won back by will, because that will has been given up to God...

"And so this old man has been able to turn a few sods. The faded, rusty grass has been turned to the earth, and out of the new soil flowers have come instead. This is how God understands His children and their longing to work for Him.

"So, my dear fellow, you can be sure of one thing: That today, yesterday and tomorrow, every ounce of force in you has been used, will be used and is being used. Economy is the law of the Spirit; waste is the law of the earth, but economy is the law of the Spirit.

"And so my last word is this: Keep the banners flying; don't trouble about a motto or a text or a title or a sign, but only the one word: 'CHRIST'. And there will be no mountain too high, no pass too dangerous, no storms too fierce, to keep you back. It's Excelsior, nearer to God! There are millions climbing or trying to climb, and we are all missionaries because we cannot help ourselves.

"And that is my last word - I come back to the power of the Divine within: 'You poor weak child who has never heard of God in the God-sense, don't you know that you've got to work for Him? You belong to Him; you are part of Him. Come along, my dear, join the procession - the climbers and the stumblers - they are all going the same way; don't talk to me about weakness, don't speak to me about your wickedness. Within you is God, and you can't disgrace the God within'...

"I'm afraid, my dear young people, I've been rather violent. It is so difficult when you are back in the body (full control of medium) to get rid of the old habits, but, believe me, there is no roughness in my heart now, just love, love and - please God – humility.

"Goodnight, and God bless you for your kind thoughts, your sympathetic thoughts towards the members of the old Army which, by the grace of God, I started for the glory of His Name. Thank you very much; you make me very happy over your sympathetic understanding of what I wanted to do. God will finish what I so imperfectly began. Goodnight, and God bless you all..."

"...Now, my children, we will close this night on that high and yet so understanding note of 'happiness for ourselves and others'. I want you never to lose sight of this one great fact: That you were meant by God to be joyful - to give out joy and to draw joy to you in turn. And the only way - the only way, is by loving each other and teaching each other that love is an unlimited gift.

"So, dear children, reminding you as to the missionary spirit, I underline that the short way and the Christ way of releasing that which is holy within is by that Love endowed by God - Love unquenchable, inexhaustible, aye, and in many cases as yet undrawn upon for humanity at large.

"Therefore, dear children, fix your minds on Love and disdain not even that love which fails to come up to that standard which you so desire; for have I not told you that even an inferior love is better than no love at all? It represents the first stages, and the first stages lead on to the second and the third; and lo, as, you climb, that love which is pure, and that purity which is love, shall be made your own for ever and for ever...

"Once again I send out over the vibrations a call to the lonely, to the broken-hearted, to those sore distressed by the enemies of the body. I say to them: Be of good cheer; you are surrounded by that which is beyond your understanding - unlimited Love.

"To all who suffer, to all those who despair, to all those who have lost heart and feel they can fight no more, to all I say: Be of good cheer. Your Father and Mother God will never let you go.

"And so, dear children, I bless you once more with the missionary spirit, for Love's sweet sake. I bless you with that wide, wide sympathy and comprehension of the needs of others, and that shall bring conviction that God understands your own necessities as well.

"Rejoice in your gifts. Give thanks for that which has been bestowed, and ever as you strive, so the strength shall come; and so that peace, that sweet content which is of God, shall draw close and abide with you until the daylight of Spirit-consciousness is made your own. Then it will be joy with sight, and sight brings that deep, deep understanding which indeed is of the Divine within...

"With the missionary spirit for Love's sweet sake, I bless you in the Name of Christ. Amen.

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Download 9 chronologically-ordered digital books of earlier Zodiac Circle sittings (1923-1928)