"THE LIGHT THAT CHANGES DARKNESS"

"Beloved workers in the Vineyard, love has drawn us together, and I want you to know how great a blessing rests upon each one who shows the spirit of service by endeavouring to help the work of others. Sometimes this point is overlooked: there are many who state that they cannot spare the time - that they carry their own heavy burden and their own responsibilities. Yet the inner voice - the Voice of Love - bids them to give a helping hand to other strivers.

"Remember that as you give to those in need, surely from others in the flesh to those in the World of Spirit you receive in turn. So when the test comes as to giving up the comfort of the home or the duties in it, remember my words and also that it is more blessed to give than to receive. You have already been through many tests and there must always be the discipline and the training.

"All is not well with the world. This is apparent to everyone and because the world as a whole is suffering from the malady of selfishness and lack of understanding, it has repercussions upon the individual. At times you feel that unnecessary burdens are placed upon you, that too much is expected from you, and that those with power and authority should have a wider view of life. They should be able to enter into the lot of the true worker, who with patience carries on day by day, month by month, very seldom receiving any praise at all. For the most part what they do is taken as a matter of course; they have always been patient and long-suffering, and so fresh burdens are thrown upon their tired and weakened shoulders.

"This brings to those who are free of the flesh true sorrow of heart, because it is not the Father's Will. The Father's Will is that the willing, those obedient to the Voice of Spirit, those who delight to serve others, should reap the happiness to which they are entitled. So often the one in the home who makes the greatest sacrifices, is the one who is least considered, and the one in the home who has the most wayward character seems to be the one to take control. Again and again I have underlined that this is entirely wrong. The one who should lead in every home, in every community, in every church, and in schools, and in the State, is the one who has the highest sense of duty, who is nearest to the Christ Love and with the desire to serve.

"So at once you see what is wrong with the world. You find ambition, love of possessions and position taking first place. Those who have the Divine qualities are pushed into the background by those who have self-confidence, even though it may be linked to lack of experience. This trend of the time is a serious trend, for great empires and great peoples should have great leaders.

"Yet there is comfort to be had. You cannot alter things as they are, not in the main, but you can contribute something that is of first importance. You can in your small degree be a light to lighten the darkness of others. You can be the one who shows courage and faith and understanding over those things that are not according to God's Will, but which arise from the misuse of human will.

"I beg you, when you find that bitterness is arising in the heart among those who are around you, speak the work of comfort to underline to them that those who suffer today, those who are driven back in the great battle of life, because they are victims, in time to come they will be the gainers and numbered amongst those who have not only brought light to the earth but they are contributing light to the Spirit Realms.

"There are so many different kinds of darkness: the darkness of poverty, the darkness of loneliness, and the darkness of pain, which are all very hard to bear. It appears at times to the sufferers that God has turned away His Face from them, and to those who concentrate in prayer upon the sufferers that something has gone wrong because the help does not come in the way that the human heart and mind desire.

"But you are living souls with a wonderful inheritance. The past has been a long, long past. You have had lives in uncountable worlds with different kinds of bodies from the one you now use, and as promised in the Sacred Book, when you pass out of this stage of limitation, that which is corruptible will be changed for the incorruptible; that which is limited will be changed for the unlimited; that which is frail will be changed for a body not only with a wonderful strength but with the power to pass on strength to other sufferers, because the lesson has been learned.

"In all humbleness of heart, think upon these words. You know that the light that lightens our darkness is love, and without love we are bereft of everything that makes life worthwhile. So think of the highest expression of love, or our Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ, and how, although we may turn from Him when the darkness encompasses us, although we may misunderstand Him when the troubles of life fall so thick upon us, His love is unchangeable.

"God first loved us, and by the strength and patience of His love, in time we shall be able to love Him as children should love their Father, and all will be well in the Eternal Home.

"In the meantime, we are face to face with darkness in many forms. The darkness of war may be passed but as you have found, there is darkness associated with peace which was not anticipated by you. It is this darkness that seems almost harder to bear than the darkness of war, for then you were banded together to fight against a common enemy. There was comradeship, a sense of all being equally treated, a consciousness that you must sink or swim together for the sake of the coming generations and the preservation of civilisation.

"This brought to everyone a wonderful support which was able to control weariness, fear and those weaknesses to which you have become accustomed in the past. Many were surprised in the hour of danger that their weaknesses fell from them. Where had they gone? They had stepped out of the darkness of misunderstanding of the past, and although they may not have realised it, by that very act they were a light, a light to illumine the path of others; their courage stirred up the waning courage of those around them; their faith made others wonder at their own lack of faith, and their endurance drove others along the path of duty and made them ashamed to fail.

"So many, in time of trial - and this relates to those of past generations as well as today - have been as light to lighten the darkness - the darkness of self-centredness, the darkness of wanting to be first, the darkness of feeling that the heaviest burden had fallen upon themselves. In these days of so-called peace be very much on your guard. Do not be influenced by the common cry. Do not be deceived by those in authority over you. But extricate yourselves from the tangled wood that seems to have grown up so quickly and represents the weeds of earth to entangle and encompass man. Try to step out on to the Highway of the Lord, and to realise that although others may do wrong, may be swayed by personal ambition or may seek to deceive the ignorant, that is not the way for you.

"You are linked to the light that lightens your darkness. As you raise your eyes to the heavens, although they may be clouded over and the sun hidden from your eager gaze, realise that within you is a greater sun than anything that the earth can show; the sun of that Divine Spark of Divinity that can shine through the flesh and bring - by its radiance - a power and a peace and a wonderful strength to all who contact you. Allow them in turn to be as a light to lighten the darkness of this physical world that is going through another form of tribulation, which to some may appear to be still more trying because it lacks the spiritual impetus of that great and terrible war that man as a whole was determined to fight in the name of humanity and truth and justice.

"I would like the children to listen to me. When you are young there is only passing darkness and yet it is very real. There is the darkness of disappointment - something you planned to do was not possible, perhaps the weather intervened or circumstances, perhaps it was not possible for another to fulfil a promise given in faith. During that time the world around you seemed to have gone dark with disappointment.

"It was not much that you asked, it was only a simple pleasure that you craved, but somehow it was not to be. The thought arises in your mind why God did not make it possible. We all go through that stage, and it is necessary to realise that it is a part of the essential discipline to fit you for life when you grow older and when there are more serious disappointments to be encountered.

"Children, do not be depressed, because as you grow strength will grow with you, but realise that for the tests that come today - and they are generally the tests of disappointment - there is something being given in exchange, and that is the capacity to bring light into the darkness of the disappointment of others; to stem the word of complaint; to find a laughing explanation; to search your minds so that a joke, which may distract, may come from you. The funny things that you think of, remembering something amusing that happened before, is often brought back to your mind by inspiration, brought by a Bright One who is standing close to you, trying to comfort you so that you may not feel the present disappointment too much. It is quite true that if you are able to cheer another you are also at once encouraged yourself.

"Children are greatly loved, and in the Spirit Realm there are high hopes for the children. Sorrows that come into their lives may seem very small in comparison with those endured by adults. But they are real sorrows. Always remember, dear children, that there are those unseen standing by you trying to stem your tears or to take the pain out of your heart or the rebellion out of your mind, because they want to prepare you so that in time and in turn you may be as a torch to lighten the darkness of the earth plane.

"What of the mothers? Many have grown weary. Daily duties seem so heavy and sometimes the young forget the weariness of those who are growing old. It is a test of faith. It is a test of courage. Wondering comes to the tired mother as to whether all the sacrifices she has made have been worthwhile, for they scarcely seem to have been appreciated. That is only the physical point of view. The Spiritual point of view is that it is gain, glorious gain all along the way.

"Time comes when the weariness of the flesh is no more; when the wonderings of the physical mind are laid aside, never to be taken up again; the time comes when with strength and joy you will look back over the past and see that for every heartache there were flowers of healing springing forth, that for every disappointment there was a strength that will give you, when in the Spirit World, not only strength but that precious gift of experience.

"You will find that there is not one thing in your mundane everyday life that caused you suffering that was not justified up to the hilt. God has His tender Hand over each one struggling up the steep hill road to reach Him. If they feel at times that they can climb no more, never fear, the mere fact that they have the desire to climb means that unseen hands are drawing them on, out of the darkness into the light of sweet understanding of the Divine purpose and the plan.

"This is a personal message, for you have all had your tests and strains, and you know that those tests and strains must be faced in other guises in time to come. Yet you have the light within you - the light that can lighten up the darkness and send you on your way, if not rejoicing, with patience and faith, certain that what God has ordained for you in the sweet by-and-by will bring compensation in full.

"There are many aspects of darkness with which those from the Spirit World have to grapple. There is the darkness that comes to a man who has worked all his life and then as old age comes along he finds that no longer is his toil required. First there is the shock, and then a sense of rebellion, and then the wondering as to the future. It is a terrible experience and it has been endured by millions and will be endured by millions.

"But I want to bring light to the darkness of each one who suffers in this way; to emphasise again that what they lose in this life must necessarily be what they gain in the Life to come. When this short life is over - and in the Spirit World physical life seems so short in comparison with Life in its finer form - there will be such a compensation and a power, such an illumination and a strength, that they will thank God that when the flesh held them they went through that experience, although it nearly broke their heart.

"Old age is a sorrowful time for many. Sometimes this is their own fault. Sometimes it is brought about by force of circumstances. But I want you to remember that whatever age you reach you always have the power to give out love, and unless you give out love you cannot receive love from those around. It is like the door that opens out of the darkness of old age into the light that never fades.

"There is not one who is young or in maturity who does not to want to give love to the aged, but so often there are many rebuffs, many misunderstandings, many criticisms, and gradually the love - a little plant that would have grown - begins to wither and die away, and there is a sense of loss on both sides which is in opposition to the Divine Plan.

"Those who have passed the age of maturity are asked to give out still more love as the days go on, and they shall find that the loneliness and the greyness of old age will never come for them. The love you give will lighten the darkness, and those around them - responding to the light - have given them love in return.

"Nature may be beautiful, glorious flowers and many the sacrifices made so that the Father's Temple shall be so sweet to look upon. All these things bring to the world a light never yet considered by man. The service rendered, perchance, as a matter of duty or as something that gives an inner peace. But there is not one flower placed at the Master's feet which does not leave behind it a tiny ray of light - more than that - the one who gave or the one who placed it there in love and reverence comes under a stronger ray - the ray of the Christ Love.

"The blossoms are always blessed. Always remember that they too are His children even as we are His children. Their life is precious to Him and also their sacrifices - there are many sacrifices made by flowers which few have considered. Their toil and all the effort to bring forth beauty are treasured by the Father-Heart, and one day free from the flesh, you shall pass among some of the flowers you brought to birth yourselves and see what they did for you as well as what you did for them and both of you will rejoice.

"Many forget the part of the many forms of other life upon the earth plane. It seems to them that they are just toys or something given to man for man's use or amusement. But when free from the limitations of the earth these things are looked at in a different way. In the Divine Plan, flowers and trees and rivers flow freely amid the great wide stretching hills of the Spirit Realms. In the next state they are seen, certainly, in a changed guise, but they will be there. As we grow in understanding it is revealed to us more clearly that all Life is one and no one can say which form of Life is doing the greatest work for God in working out the Almighty Plan.

"I thank God for the privilege of speaking with you today. If the instrument had yielded to the pains of the body, I would have been denied, and also the blessing that has been given to me by the Master could not have reached you in the same inclusive way. Always the blessing comes in far greater measure.

"The children shall see with their own eyes as they grow and try to do their best and fence off those thoughts that would bid them take the easy course, that their light is growing brighter. The light that shines from them is not only recognised by those around as a gift, for the light that shines in the darkness will never be forgotten, either through this life or through any life to come.

"To you who suffer, who have so much to overcome, realise that the message is for you as well. That which you give, that which you hope to bestow on others, that which has been torn from you by circumstances of life or by inheritance from your forbears, has its place in the pattern of life. When you are free from that which binds, you will find that the darkness of suffering, the darkness of disappointment, the darkness of struggle, that these represent the bright and glorious strands in the pattern which you can lay before the Christ as your little portion.

"So I bless you with peace, bless you with understanding, and the Holy One Who suffered so much is with us, giving to us the strength that we must have ere the sands of life run out."

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