"THE PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL NATURE OF MAN"

"O God, in the silence and in the quiet we draw near to Thee, seeking fresh blessing, fresh gifts and renewed power. We draw near in confidence, in certainty that Thy Love will never fail; that Thou wilt hand out to Thy children just what they need at this moment and that Thy understanding Mind will not only give in the present but provide for the future and the needs that come so fast.

"Saviour Christ, lift up our hearts, separate our minds from everything that is not of Thee and grant that this holy communion shall indeed leave holiness behind, and that Thy children may thus be able to get one step nearer to Thee, in Whom is all joy, all peace, all love, whose service is perfect freedom and whose guidance and direction lead ever still further into the light.

"Bestow upon us the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that those who seek to break down the barriers of physical life may be enabled to step over them and announce their presence to those who wait in patience upon the earth. In Thine own good time nothing shall intervene, for it is Thy will that we should strive and ever strive to weaken the barrier that man in the flesh has set up, and that this work shall be continued.

"Thus we gather at Thy Feet, seeking to obey Thy will, and asking from Thee the power and the strength to go forward each evening with greater force to break down all that lies between. Thy power is needed; Thy peace must be here in order that the Truth may be demonstrated and made plain.

"Father, it is sufficient, and we thank Thee that Thou hast made up that which was missing, and that Thou art ever at hand to help the weak and weary.

..."Tonight, my children, I had a little difficulty in building up the power. You can understand quite well that when the physical and mental has taken more than its share, it means a little replenishing before the spiritual side is ready to take on a task of this kind.

"Now, that may seem to you not quite right, but in reality the three are very closely interwoven: "the Physical, the Mental and the Spiritual".

"And over here we never make the mistake of concentrating more on the one than the other, because if you do, so the time comes when you have to wait for the laggard to catch up, and that is waste of time. Far, far better to hold the three strings in your hands and to see that the pull is not to breaking point upon either; to see also, with each one, that it is not allowed to wear too thin, but is kept as much as possible of equal thickness and strength with the others.

"As a rough illustration, I give you their appearance as this: copper, silver and gold. I do so because I do not want you to get the impression that because I said we did not concentrate on one more than the other, that the physical was as valuable as the spiritual, or even that the mental came into the line of comparison with the highest. No, each has its place, and so I use this little simile.

"In your world you find copper very useful indeed, and silver has its value - in some cases a great value - while gold is regarded as both rare and precious. It is not easy on earth to keep the balance between the three. In money for instance, the coppers predominate largely; they are for the common use and are only despised when the silver or the gold is at hand to take their place.

"It is very much the same with each one of you, and when I was in the physical body, with me as well. In starting on the journey of the spirit, the body - the physical side, as represented by the copper - is regarded as very valuable indeed, because the silver and the gold at that time lie beyond the horizon. You see my point. It is not in the way of condemnation that I say that the physical seems of supreme value, I said that the copper had its use and a very great use as well. But in a little while growth commences and the possessor of much copper would like to exchange those rather clumsy pieces for the smaller, brighter silver, that is the bringing into use of the mental.

"A great many people on earth today are so satisfied with the silver aspect that they do not seek the finer, rarer strands of gold. I carry this illustration a little further - masses of copper would not turn into silver, and again, however much silver you had, it would not be gold.

"I want to drive this point home, because the rank and file at the present moment are obsessed by the copper-stage. A smaller number have found the things of the physical unsatisfactory - the soul has come into being; they seek for expressions of beauty - in art, in nature and in the world at large. This brings them a very definite happiness for the time, but you cannot study nature without the soul crying out for God - not for long. At first the senses are attracted, but the true lover of nature soon extricates himself from that, and then the God mind comes into its own. The gold in the setting sun finds a habitation in the mind and heart of man, and the copper and silver are forgotten in the new wonder of it all, in the unlimited resources, in the bountiful supply, and in the love and creative force which God has illustrated in nature - in a limited form it is true, but it is as much as the average man or woman can take in during the earth stage.

"Tonight, dear children, you and I have left behind us both the copper and the silver - the physical and the purely mental - and we have got under the direct ray of the gold. This is what we are out not only to do ourselves, but to show others the beauty of doing. Still, I go back to my first point, and I say that in order to approach the gold in the most favourable way, then the physical and mental must be looked after as well. One is the preparation for the other, and in the plans of God there should be no weakness anywhere. The physical body sometimes is weak and causes much suffering, but when God's work has to be done, you will find that the spiritual power which comes direct from God is strong enough to rule that out of existence.

"More and more I find with gladness that my children are concentrating on the work. They think about it, they dream about it, and this play of the mind over work of such a spiritual character as this, is very constructive, especially when you try, as most of you do, to put self, as self, on one side. When in your imagination you build castles in the air regarding the unveiling of this Truth, then you are lending us power; you are creating confidence in the vibrations around you; you are erecting something that is both beautiful and permanent, and hereafter you shall see that - far more than you gathered at the time - you were building for Christ.

"Think on these lines as much as possible. Put yourselves in the place of a soldier or a sailor standing, waiting for the next order to come - 'Ready, aye, ready!' that is the sailor's cry, and happy is the man or woman who, when God speaks, can answer 'Ready, aye, ready'.

"I have to emphasise these points many, many times because I want them in the future to be a natural habit of thought. You know how quickly and unconsciously habits are built up. You do certain things automatically because you have been accustomed to do them in a certain way and at a stated time. That is what I want to happen in regard to this work and your response to the calls made upon you in connection with it.

"It is not easy to some of you to bring the physical will into harmony with the spiritual. It is not that you shirk your part, but all sorts of things cause reluctance. It is against your nature to do this or that; you prefer the obscurity of a quiet and unobtrusive life. My little children, had you not been like this, then God could not have used you in the way intended. Those that love the glare and the popularity, the public eye - the limelight, as you call it in your world - these are not the servants of Christ in the sense I have indicated. Where God should be, self looms up instead, and so the Father has to look elsewhere to find those who can so lay their personal feelings aside and answer to His call 'Ready, aye, ready!'.

"Were it easy to so answer at all times, there would be very little merit in it. It is the hard things that are so constructive; the things that are done in spite of reluctance, the handing over to Christ of that same self which would intervene between you and the Saviour.

"I speak rather seriously about this because there are tests coming in this connection and I appeal to my children - particularly to the most reluctant ones - to trust me, to trust me in this: that I say if only you do your best to give your will into God's own keeping, happiness shall always be the reaping of the sowing. Nothing is half so bad in reality as in contemplation; most of you have found this, and so I only mention it as an added reassurance, and when the test comes, to remind you that all you have to do is to say in sincerity 'Into Thy Hands I commend myself', and then strength will come, and in place of reluctance - which is disharmony with the spirit within - will be the joy which is of God.

"And then there is another subject, and it touches this one rather closely. In the future you are going to find that much depends upon you and also, as a matter of course, upon your attitude in regard to life. I want you all when those responsibilities approach, to submit your actions under the microscope of the spirit, because it will need then a very keen eye to detect the flaws that remain.

"I should be failing you my children, if I patted you on the back and said 'You are doing very well indeed', because an expression of that sort from me would convey to you, that the necessity for pushing on was lessened, or even done away with altogether.

"You see my point. At no stage of spiritual evolution can that attitude be adopted. As a matter of fact, once the soul is passed the elementary stages no praise would have any effect upon it at all, except to bring humiliation. You cannot deceive the spiritually alert. As the consciousness of God grows in the mind, so the realisation comes of the great and glorious possibilities which lie before the soul. Great and glorious indeed are these. The journey - upward and steep though it may be - each step brings fresh gifts, new joys, larger wonders. There is no limitation to these and no end for all Eternity.

"My children, beware of one thing - one thing only, and that is the physical will. Get into the habit of submitting that will and comparing it with God's will, and then all will be well. It is the only way. We have found that out long since - the only way not to make mistakes, not to turn off into the wood when all the while the bright path is beckoning us on.

"In God's Hands everyone is secure. Your desires, your hopes, your fears, are not only known to Him but also have been studied again and again by me, studied with a sympathy and an interest which you could not understand if I attempted to explain. Many, many wishes will be granted. I do not say all, because in time to come those that are not granted will have fallen behind you, like dead leaves, and when the breezes come from the Realms of the Spirit, away they go forgotten, unwanted and unheeded.

"There is a lot in our world and in the growth of the spirit that reminds me of an autumn day. Even as the young tree in springtime puts forth leaf and blossom and, perhaps, fruit, so is the young soul in its early stages. Each autumn that sees the fall of the leaves it put forth so proudly, means one stage further on - one year older, one year stronger. The beauty of the autumn too is reproduced in a very wonderful way with us but leaves no sadness behind, because on this side beauty is permanent in the sense that it never ceases to be beauty, only 'changing' in the sense that its glory is for ever being added to.

"I could tell you a dozen ways and more in which an autumn day - just one of your days at this time of the year - is reproduced on this side, and what it all means - symbolical to you, but the real thing to us. Remember, dear children, the dead leaves to which I referred, and the sweet, strong breeze from the spiritual realms that scatter them right back into that which lies behind.

"Oh, I have much I could say in the way of gladness to come, but I must not reveal too much at this stage because I should be hindering its coming in the degree that I put certainty in place of faith. I want you to get it in this order instead - the faith that makes the certainty, the light that rules darkness out of existence for ever more, the joy which has burnt up sorrow, because it is the joy which is of God..."

..."Most happy of all evenings. I am a stranger to most of you but you have heard my name.

"The healing power... I promised Winnie (Miss Winifred Moyes) that I would help her as long as I remained upon earth and when I passed over if I was allowed. I have been allowed, and those few weeks she was under my care have not only given me the right to still look after her, but also the great, great privilege and happiness of speaking to you in this way.

"I am Mr. Lonsdale... It seems impossible to me now that my work upon earth could have produced so much - could have admitted me into so much happiness. Thank God, I knew the Truth. I knew that the veil between the spiritual and the physical worlds was extraordinarily thin, and because I was used as an instrument by those on the other side, nothing in this connection is going to be denied me.

"Tell Mrs. Moyes that there was much that was veiled from her, but Winnie knew, and I can only say I thank Winnie more than words can tell... I leave it there... at her wish I will not go into it further.

"Tonight - my first appearance among you - it is my greatest wish that you should think of me with affection, because love is the keynote of everything here, and I want you at times, in place with the others, to desire my coming. In return, by the grace of God, I can do much. The spiritual power to heal which was given to me while in the physical body is now developed and so enhanced that I can say with absolute truth, it is very great indeed. With those linked to me while upon earth, greater, of course, but to others who wish to know me and wish to use my help, it can also come with force and a definite healing as well.

"I showed Winnie my hands and placed them in the flame. That was symbolical of what I do on this side. Those hands are placed in the light of God's love; they are literally invested with a fire that can burn out the ravages of the physical. It is difficult to get through my meaning, but it is even as I say. In my hands is the power which is a direct gift from God, and when I pass my hands over anyone, the place is made stronger and stronger, and in time, will be healed of any weakness that remains.

"All of you upon earth know the joy of service. How often do you say it brings more happiness, much more happiness to give than to take. We know that over here in such a definite way, so you can imagine the vista before me - the glorious opportunities of helping: of soothing pain, of wiping out disease, of quieting the nerves, and making that harmony of which your Leader spoke just now.

"I have changed a good deal. I was an old man when I passed over - a very weary old man too, but that is left behind. Young in everything, especially in enthusiasm. Winnie never thought of me as old - she saw the spirit always, and the spirit is for ever imperishably young.

"I bring back that room - it seems so plain to me now. There was much suffering in that room - much that was not apparent. Suffering is the great fire - Christ knew that so well, and to His children who love Him, He gives the greatest gift of all - not only the suffering, but the strength to bear it. There are worse pains than those of the body, much, much worse pains.

"I did not mean to get on to this rather sad topic - it was coming back among you for the first time, all is well now, nothing remains but pure gain - gain beyond anything that the physical mind can grasp, and beyond my spiritual mind too, and will be for a long time to come.

"I should like you to think of me as one of yourselves, absolutely in sympathy with you - one in everything. I am indeed. Love is such a different thing on this side - it gives and gives and longs to give again - that is the only love that is love.

"I will speak on other things the next time... we are curiously in sympathy. It has been one of the chief desires of my heart to come back and speak through Winnie in this way, I know you won't shut me out - nothing can shut me out... I will go now.

"Well, my children, rather cold you are, it is true, but in your world you say that a cold hand is the sign of a warm heart, and if you could have seen the gratitude of the one who has just left you, why your hearts would be warm indeed - warm to think that you had been instrumental in bringing so much joy to another.

"Be of good cheer, little ones, the dawn is nearer than you think, be of good cheer. I love to come amongst you in this way - we so belong to each other, what is your sorrow is my sorrow, and what is going to be your joy is going to be my very great joy too.

"The winter-time of life's experience is not pleasant to live through, but people even in your world recognise that spring must follow. Spring, and summer, and the beauty of the autumn, but never the barrenness of winter again. Happy children of light - I called you happy - thrice happy children of Light I name you now. God's will is being worked out, and although you went forward - some hesitating more than others, it is true - but you all went forward not knowing the treasure in store, so will that very great treasure be enhanced by the not knowing.

"With the things of God it is always like this. Dorrie, faith shall be justified. Margaret, the golden shore shall prove golden indeed. Winnie, the white cross lies before you - the cross which I told you before, should be turned into a crown of glory. I have found that for which I sought in the hearts and minds of a few.

"God is daily finding the right material for His use, and as time advances, these will grow in number, and so, not so very far ahead, quite a respectable army will be on view for all to see. Picked soldiers - you know what that means - the soldier that does not turn back when the odds appear against him, the soldier who keeps his nerve and goes on, he thinks to defeat, but indeed, dear children, the picked soldiers of Christ shall find that it leads them straight on to the field of victory, because Christ went in front.

"All the unconscious guidance - it goes on in such a gigantic way; the tiniest wish for better things gives an entry to the Master. The guidance goes on leading them at last into the Land of Promise, into the Great Hereafter; and the struggles of earthly life only are able to turn that Hereafter into the realisation of their heart's desire.

"God bless you, my children, and keep you in the brightest, which is Truth and Faith, and in His Love encircled for evermore. This blessing is your own.

"Light on the horizon, light in your minds, and joy in your hearts - that is the forecast for tomorrow and all the many tomorrows to come.

All rights are reserved and may not be used or reproduced, neither in whole nor in part thereof, in or on any form of media, including the Internet. The providing of direct hyperlinks to Greater World website copyright material is welcomed, thereby fulfilling any intended aspirations for anyone concerned whilst maintaining the integrity of the well-intentioned, deeply-considered and long-standing ideals of the Greater World.

The Greater World has sole copyright for the Zodiac Messages and came into existence as the Greater World Christian Spiritualist League in 1931 (U.K. Registered Charity No. 212369). The Greater World was originally established purely because of the Zodiac Messages and their introduction into earthly life by the Christ Messenger Zodiac and the further revelations of the Christ Mission expounded therein. The inception of the Greater World was for the preservation, as received, of the Zodiac Messages and the prudent dissemination of the spiritual philosophy, consequently perpetuating the incorruptibility, distinctiveness and uniqueness of the Zodiac Messages and the teachings contained therein.

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