EXPANDING THE IDEA OF SPIRITUALISM - Written by S. Rodgers
This essay relates and tries to expand on the everyday thinking of the fundamental philosophy of Spiritualism, I hope you find it interesting.
To sum up the abiding principles of Spiritualism:
Through our one Father God who made us all, and in admitting continuous existence through the proof of communication, we acknowledge that it is our own and no other person’s responsibility to ‘own up’ and ‘balance our own books’ at our own speed, and so progress eternally.
The first fundamental principles, regarding the overall fatherly regard of God, [and the relationship between each of us called brotherhood] are shown here in this discussion to be inter-related. In the same way as a human father and his children are, we are of / from the One Great Spirit, and as such are responsible to our Creator, and so we must also be connected to the other parts of Him, which are our fellow spirits, our brothers, in other words all other human beings. Therefore by admitting to the existence of God and the fact that He made us all out of love, [in other words of Himself - for He is love] we cannot say that the exception is some particular person, that our brothers and sisters are enemies and maybe it’s O.K to KILL them.
The concept of God has been basic to all peoples of the ancient and modern world. Many religions have grown up all over this planet, all agree on one basic thing, the Master Creator [God] made all living things, and He brought about our individual spirits from the whole, out of himself.
The paternal systems of previous ages have got us accustomed to referring to God as a ‘father’ figure, and bestowing on ‘Him’ the honour [?] of masculinity, but in fact we don’t know if that is so, if the thought of a father figure being in total control of all the universe, triggers a negative association, perhaps because of any experiences you may have, then put it aside. It might be that it is more than politically correct to call ‘Him’ a ‘Her’!
The loving God, our Creator, we see everywhere and every day by just observing nature, there is a magnificent order to our world. From simple things like the patterns of frost on a glass window, to counting how many petals on a flower, of snow flakes magnified, and of clouds forming, and many more too numerous to mention. To argue with that fact, I think, is like saying there if you that throw up the letters of a Scrabble game into the air, it will probably land in a Shakespearean sonnet! God is love, the language of love is His language, and He invented it!
This is the basis of all communication through our spirit friends. With love everything is possible, of course within the laws of the Creation, we just don’t yet have all the information to fully understand so called ‘miracles’. Family love, altruistic love, platonic love and fulfilled love, all start with God. The pure love of Divine Creation through the spark of spirit existence is proof enough of His love for us.
Love is the opposite to fear, and fear is another word for anarchy or chaos, and He makes that order in our world and the universe, in the worlds both of the physically seen [physics,] and unseen [metaphysics.] This is evident outside our world; examples we can see through the Hubble telescope are unlimited to the common person like me. The scientists now have photographs of planets, in the Science Museum in London, there are even photos of stars being born! Explosions of creation which put anything man could display to shame. In the universe this force of energy that created all forms of life is continuous, creating substance out of itself. We now know that the universe is expanding not contracting to down to nothing!
In due time, we will return to the world of spirit to be with God. Like lovely moths drawn to the flame of true light. All the Great Spirit speakers agree on this, White Eagle, Silver Birch, this is not a new philosophy. The primitive tribes of pre-history all over this planet, ascribed in their myths everything to the Great White Spirit, and also the notion that living with LOVE OF ALL creation is His intention, and when the time comes to be rid of this shadow world, return from whence we came, this love will bring each man one step nearer to the heart of God, for it is love that everything comes from, and love that is the cement of the universe, the binding force.
The first two principles also teach us that we as individuals have a responsibility through our links to each other and thereby the whole. But how do we fulfil these obligations? By spreading the word there is no death in order to help each of our brothers. Help them so that they may prepare for the next great adventure of spirit life again. By utilising that evident willingness of our fellow spirits in that world to assist us as they are so willing to do, and by observing and testifying to the evidence of the ministry of the Angels, which is that loving response to our cry for help. We are not by any means without available assistance, and should not expect to ‘go it alone’.
When we consider that ‘communication with spirit entities’ and ‘continuous existence’ these ideas are interrelated, because simply, if we say yes to all the mass of evidence, [that we do communicate] then it follows automatically that our existence continues in the spirit world, or simply who else are we talking to?
The service of angels dates back long ago to Bible and even pre-Bible times, with each angel being given a name and function, and they were described in the recorded myths and chants of ancient peoples even before the word ‘angel’, [or even writing itself] was coined. All agree, that once seen Angels are never forgotten, and that they are accompanied often with very strong emotional feelings of almost overwhelming love. Evidence indeed from whence they came!
The belief that we all are progressing into the angelic state is not always adhered to, we are told by some masters that angels evolve through a different system, that which is non-human and gender free, in order that they may better carry out Gods work [impartially.] Although they do appear visually to us as whatever is acceptable at the time, and of course however is most beneficial to the human being concerned. We are taught that it is difficult for spirits that have developed to a finer level of existence to ‘lower’ their ‘vibrations’ in order to communicate with the material world, perhaps this is why angels do not seem to have this problem!
In the dictionary belief is defined as ‘without proof’, blind you might say. Spirit communion, or communication, means that we have got that proof so blind belief does not come into the equation. To elevate our thinking out of this one state of blindness, and into that of certainty, we have more than enough proof every week in churches up and down the country. Testing with common sense, as we are encouraged to do at all times. The Bible is loaded with examples of this evidence, so called miracles, which we as spiritualists over the last 150 years, have see from the physical and mental mediums prophets and seers, as they are called in the Good Book.
For an idea of how much proof we DO have just do a little maths, take the number of mediums in church services in a year, [how many I wonder?] and multiply this with the average number of individual communications that each gives, say six, to see the amount of evidential proofs we actually get over a year. Amazing!
The belief system of the transmigration of souls, in other words the continuation of the spirit, and also that the life we live here dictates our future life into eternity, is by no means new, it goes back beyond the ancient Greek teachings of Orphism, into the mists of time. But what we do not subscribe to as Spiritualists is that this limits choice of life in eternity to either eternal bliss or torment. This outdated and untrue theory has unfortunately has been kept on from the old days, before the ordinary man in the street could read and write, the pre-science era, when the state controlled the only religion allowed at that time, in order to maximize control over the masses, anarchy was envisioned if all the people found out that retribution, and so hell was not inevitable!
Our personal responsibility together with the idea of truly wise compensation and retribution tie in together. So if we accept that we are human, and perhaps not always willing to actually carry out the obligation of personal responsibility, then what will happen? Who or what will police the system?
It is done not through a judge, as the past controlling authorities would have us think, it’s far more perfect than that! But it is through the laws of the universe, cause and effect, which is another way of saying compensation and retribution. Wouldn’t it be great if the wrongdoer were met with the consequences of his /her actions immediately? Like Pinocchio’s nose, growing ever more evident? But sometimes we have to wait for the results of our actions. There are ways that spirit uses even our bad habits to teach, how many times have we resolved not to be like another person with a nasty temper? But it’s how you respond is in the development equation too, responding to anger with anger makes the law even more evident, it actually emphasizes it, we know what happens then, like feeds on like and manifests more of the same, a downward spiral into the basest elements of human nature. Or happily visa-versa.
Add to this, the other basic rule mentioned [which we've all observed] "like attracts like", and we put this into action using the same coin, [negative thoughts attract ditto,] often causing a downward spiral. This can be seen in the group example of a crowd's expectation of nothing good, [or again happily the opposite,] the vibrations is attracting each to their own. The psychology of mass hysteria is an interesting subject, football stadiums and theaters are two examples for spontaneous and controlled situations, and an actors / comedians job makes full use of this rule, manipulating the audience for the desired effect.
Equally we can make use of this too by controlling our own thoughts, when we do not allow ourselves to think negatively, either of a person or situation, and determine [an act of will power] to think positive, a solution comes to that positive thought, attracted like a pin to a magnet.
Here is another thought, have you ever considered that all lessons are only so, with the expressed approval of ourselves, and if not in this world then in another dimension? Let me put that another way, in Spirit before we came here, do you think that it is possible that we were coerced into starting an experience as serious as this life, with absolutely no idea of what it will be like to live in the ‘material world’, and the consequences? I personally don't think so.
Consider this; the idea that all we go through in this life is deliberately designed by ourselves to make each and every one of us a better spirit, and so nearer to our Maker, this is called Progression. In other words, our thinking is programmed by ourselves into our etheric template before we come here, and manifests itself when opportune, to act as an experience needed for progression. Caused by us and effected by us
We are all eternal, we are all going to face the results of our own actions / personal responsibilities, and if it seems to us that at times other people get away with things, then it behooves us to remember that the perfect will of God is just that, a perfect will in all the perfect worlds, physical and etheric. What goes around will come around, if not in the physical world, then the rule still applies, and it will be in the next world. The stored information in that etheric template, which we take back with us as our personality, and the experiences of our lives, like all else that God makes, has a reason. All of which may not be apparent to us in the 'here and now'.
Could it be that the experience often talked about of our lives 'flashing before us' is another manifestation of this? The memory is giving us a chance to see the errors of our ways, and correct our actions, or for some people help others not to make the same mistakes, [as guides and helpers they may come back later. Is that disallowing recompense, or is it making a penance? Does God allow a 'get-out' clause? No, Many times the voices from the spirit world have come back to tell us that we only move on when we are ready to, and He only takes volunteers, there are no conscripts in the spirit world.
Physics and metaphysics are ruled by laws that can’t be broken, it means that whatever goes around comes around; as we sow we shall also reap; so ‘do as you would be done by’ is a built-in self-correcting factor.
The Great Spirit masters tell us whatever we do will have an effect of the whole. We cannot ‘opt out’ of what happens by way of expecting another being, however spiritual they may be, to absolve us. As we have seen, we are interlocked to each other and the universe; this means tied to those same laws that sustain us. Physics and Metaphysics cannot be altered to suit the self, government, nor religion, a prayer is not a magic trick, and absolution is not in our spiritual belief system, the two are contradicting each other.
Continuous existence is also linked to eternal progress of the human soul; this existence is continuous so that we are able to progress, in the spirit world too, [otherwise we are drifting without a purpose in a material and spiritual world.]
There is a natural progression of the whole world towards the return to God, through Spiritualism. To quote Maurice Tester, “I believe this [spiritualism] is the bridge on which science and religion will meet and co-operate in the future.‿
The bridge building starts with the first brick, the individual. In each and every one of us there is a need to move just that little bit nearer to the source of our loving creator, God, that feeling of coming home, of no more struggling, of finding peace at last. To rest in the arms of eternal love. All that we experience here on earth is but a pale shadow / imitation of the love that draws us onwards, it’s just a little foretaste of things to come, perfection. That is the first ‘brick’ - next is helping the brother to add his.
Where is this taking us forward, where is it progressing to? It’s onward to where we began, our roots, where we know in our innermost being we belong. Some call it paradise, some call it heaven, and to us it is the spirit world. We feel the gap in our souls, something missing, incompleteness, and a God shaped hole that only He can fill. I like to call this the built in ‘homing device’.
Now this is all for a very necessary purpose, and it’s called progression. If you have a desire to progress, to get nearer your spiritual home, your Maker, then you will! It’s as simple as that. You certainly don’t have to go back to spirit to do it all, although when we arrive there we do carry on progressing. Here we have the opportunity to progress through the chances of helping others, in other words, this is not standing by ‘while evil men prosper.’
Don’t want to progress? That’s fine too - you don’t have to. You’ve heard the old saying, “He’s his own worst enemy‿? These obstacles of our own making are lessons of love to ourselves - form ourselves, and let’s face it, we learn much quicker from our own mistakes than from other peoples, don’t we? All this dithering about doesn’t make us less worthy to progress; it just slows it all down.
Here’s a thought, what would Gods Re-cycling Depot look like? A skip for each of us named ‘Regressing souls’, ‘Stagnating souls’, and ‘Progressing souls’. Which one would you get in?
How can we avoid hold ups? By seeking help from those queuing up to do just that, the spirit people who are guides and helpers. A prayer can be a one-word affair. Just “HELP!‿ Will do. By asking for help we overcome that pitfall, pride, we open ourselves to spiritual assistance, and make one more step in the right direction. Asking a fellow traveler for assistance, be they here in the body or over there beyond the ‘veil’ in the spirit. Inside that secret place we call our soul, there are gifts of a spiritual nature just waiting to be used. The doors are open. All we need is the desire to pass through, and it will be so.
So in conclusion, all these principles are tied up together, through our one Father God who made us all joining us together, and in admitting continuous existence through the proof of communication, we acknowledge that it is our own and no others responsibility to own up and ‘balance our own books’, at our own speed and progress eternally.
Dear Lord, may we all in both the worlds continue to progress at our own speed and know when to ask and when to accept the willing helpers efforts. Amen.
End
