“If you can dream - and not make dreams your master”

This is a line from that wonderful poem “If” by the great Victorian, Rudyard Kipling who spent much of his life in India. The whole poem is full of wise and inspiring advice on how best to live your life on earth.

We all dream and we all have dreams, often secret, which are not always within our grasp but which keep us going when life seems to have turned against us. They are the stuff of imagination; of deep held desires; of heartfelt longing. When they are deeply felt, they help to mould our lives and our actions; everything we do reflects the longing to reach out and change what we can so that the dream may be realised. For some people this longing is so all-consuming that they subordinate everything else to the achievement of their dream. That can be good or bad.

When dreams become our master, often inflexibility in our attitude towards other people and events changes the nature of the dream. It takes over our every waking moment and persuades us to adapt every circumstance to the achievement of that single aim. People who we think are obstructing the road that leads to achieving our dream, are thoughtlessly brushed aside, for the only reality to us, as slaves to the dream, is its achievement, everything else is unimportant. When such dreams are realised, and they are usually dreams based upon the achievement of material wealth, power, or both, they often become nightmares, for the methods by which we have realised our dream invalidate it.

A dream, like so much else in our lives, can be a force for good or ill. It behoves us to think carefully about why we wish to achieve our particular dream, for motive determines whether we attract to us positive or negative forces as we move closer to its achievement. It is safest, for our own spiritual wellbeing, if our dreams are aimed at helping others, rather than just our selves. Sometimes a dream sets out as a selfless desire to help others but as we progress towards its achievement we become sidetracked by visions of power and influence. This leads to the nature of the dream changing; helping others becomes a secondary consideration. We would do well therefore to re-examine our motives as we move towards its achievement. Is it still as altruistic as when we set out? Will I now be the main beneficiary, rather than those others we wanted to help? Many a young politician has set out with a fine, altruistic dream of using his or her influence to benefit others, only for it to become lost in a morass of self serving and corruption.

It is to the dreamers that we owe much that is good in society and in the world. Let us take just two examples; Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. Here were two men who refused to allow themselves to be mastered by their dreams. They kept firmly to their altruistic principles and refused to be side-tracked by violence and the threats of violence and in the case of Mandela by the lure of power.


King, a black man, grew up in the deeply segregated southern states of the USA and watched in horror the violence and unfairness meted out to his brother and sister blacks. He resolved to bend every sinew to right the wrongs of segregation and allow his brothers and sisters to have an equal share in the “American Dream.” He was blessed by God with a talent for oratory and when he became a preacher this gift enabled him to stir people’s hearts and consciences. At first he was preaching to the converted, those of his own racial background but gradually he moved into the public arena and forced all liberal and fair-minded people to think carefully about what they were allowing to happen in their own country. He became an icon for the desegregation movement and a ‘bête noir’ to those bigoted white people who were not afraid to use violence to keep their segregated societies in place. His life was in great danger from such people, yet he did not flinch. Instead he gave his famous “I have a Dream” speech that stirred the consciences of so many decent Americans. Sadly it led to his death at the end of an assassin’s bullet, but because he refused to be cowed by threats, his ‘dream’ is so close to its realisation that his country has elected a black President.

Mandela was a leader of the African National Congress in South Africa and was imprisoned for many years by the Boers, whose government administered the inhuman policy of Apartheid. During all his years in prison he never lost heart or the sight of his dream that one day his country would achieve universal suffrage and be governed fairly and openly in the interests of ALL South Africans. He could have been forgiven had he become so embittered by his incarceration, that when his party eventually came to power, with him as its head, revenge was all that mattered. But no, he sought reconciliation, not only with the previous government, but also with the different factions (mainly tribal) within his own people. As a result, African majority rule that could so easily have led to a bloodbath, was implemented smoothly. Today as the retired President of his country, he must feel a great sense of satisfaction as he sees the preparations for the next Olympic Games in South Africa. The Games are an official, international endorsement of his achievements, of his dream.

How Many Bodies Do We Have?

The obvious answer is, “One!” It is obvious because your physical body is the only one you can see. How could you possibly have any more? Well, if you think you have a body and a spirit, then you might want to claim you have two bodies; a physical body and a spiritual body.

Some books will tell you that you have almost as many as you can think, each one being a vehicle or receptacle for your soul to be carried around in, or protected by. If you can think of the soul as being the kernel of you, the real you, then perhaps a simple dictionary definition can help you to understand something about the number of bodies you might have.

You see, the soul is described as the animating part of you. It is the part of you which is emotional, moral and intellectual. In fact it is jut about everything apart from your physical body! The definition gives us a clue; apart from being physical, we are emotional, mental, intellectual and vital beings. We are all of these things, and if you think about it, each has its own sensitivity; each has its own way of knowing about the world.

Your physical body will tell you whether the day is warm or cold. Your emotional body will tell you if it is a happy day or not. Your mental body will tell you the day of the week and what month it is, while your intellectual body allows you to dwell on the passage of time and its significance. In that sense, we have a “body” or sensitivity for each kind of knowing we have.

Some older religious teachings link the physical to the non-physical bodies through what they call an etheric body, one that gradually dissipates or disintegrates after the death of the physical body. In a simplified form, their understanding is that we have five bodies; the physical, etheric, astral (or desire body), the lower mental, which masters facts, and the higher mental, which is capable of wisdom and understanding. Each is a vehicle for the soul, your individual essence-of-life. Maybe the soul is our ultimate “body”. This would give us six in all.

Say for a moment then that we really do have six bodies. Does it matter? Do you need to know how many bodies you have? Millions of people have lived their lives without either knowing or caring. However, it might be interesting to consider the possibility. I will tell you why.

If you think of a human being as only a physical entity, then you do so in terms of someone who needs food, clothing and shelter. You will not understand much of what he does, and you will not be able to help him grow to his full potential. You may feed him physically, but who is to feed him emotionally, mentally or spiritually if no-one recognise that there are other aspects of him? Under such circumstances, he has to remain perforce partially undeveloped. The more facets we recognise in man, the more we can nurture and develop him.

Once man has understanding, he has the key to mastery. Part of the soul’s nature is to understand. It uses its various “bodies” to draw information from experience of life. The soul can then process into its own wisdom and understanding that same experience and understanding. By perceiving life – observing it, apprehending it – the soul learns.

It learns through the physical, through the emotional, through the mind and the soul itself until deep understanding is achieved.

This is an excerpt form the excellent book “The Seeing Eye, the Feeling Heart” by Will Ford and Linda Muir: Published by Longsdunn Press Ltd. ISBN 1 874514070

Evolution of Spiritualism by Al Batten (conclusion)

By the 1920's however, physical phenomena was on the wane leaving us with that one product, which itself was in doubt due to a wide range of abuse and fraudulent practices, prompting one of the early American pioneers, Dr. F W Prince, to comment on the state of mediumship at the time: “Mediums”, he observed, “are a different kin, for some are out and out frauds and know it, others are honest but self deluded in thinking they have psychical powers when they have none, some have a little and produce mediocre results, and a very few are able at times to produce results far beyond normal chance or circumstance and are separated from the garden variety by an enormous distance”. There’s a measure of truth in this, for mediumship is a rare gift; we must strive to protect its integrity for we diminish the communication by enslaving it to mediocrity and subjecting it to scepticism. We must continue to raise the bar and our expectations.

In the short space of 158 years we have raced from a world of horse and buggy into a Post Modern World of instant communication and instant gratification. We now six years into the 21st Century and we’re still facing significant change; we are, in fact, being redefined. We are caught between the need to satisfy a popular emotional drive to spirituality, the lure of diminished mediumship, the energy of new thought, the inertia of old thought, and an unwillingness to acknowledge our own philosophy and, in the process, are establishing a new paradigm for our religion. Spiritualism no longer has the giants of philosophy or mediumship in its religion (that is, as opposed to personalities engaged in commercialism) and it’s now reaching outside for its inspiration. In many areas of our religious practices a vacuum has been created and is being filled by a rising tide of new ideas and practices premised on enhancing spirituality. Personally I neither support them nor reject them; I speak only in the name of Spiritualism as a reasoned philosophy. They appear under the umbrella of what some call “new age” practices; emotional concepts which are centred on such beliefs as Eastern mysticism, extraterrestrial communications, spiritual rather than spirit healing, Past Life Regression, an increased emphasis on prophecy, and a drift towards psychical powers replacing mediumship; all being promoted as legitimate components of Spiritualism. And they are gaining an unparalleled acceptance by those becoming involved with Spiritualism and have moved beyond mere curiosity to become an integral part of our religious beliefs and practices.

And it is this which has led to a division within our ranks and separates us, and in many ways has split us into two distinct camps, each believing they are the way: the “New Agers” whose collective personality manifests itself in a desperate search for spirituality under the mantle of Spiritualism, bent on reshaping the religion in their own image; and the “Traditionalists” whose collective personality manifests itself in a desperate search for Spirit under the mantle of spirituality, bent on protecting their concept of the religion. And caught in between are those who are new to Spiritualism and wondering what in the world is going on!

Strangely enough, in many quarters, each camp officially engages in the commercialization of their religious practices; we’re given a gift and we put a price tag on it; there are private readings, public readings, private circles, public circles, workshops, psychic fairs, past life regressions, and spiritual counselling; all fees for service under the rationalization of spirituality and/or educating the public for the benefit of our religion. When we rationalize, we should keep in mind Oscar Wilde’s admonishment that “rationalization is the homage Ignorance pays to Truth”. A new term has been added to our wonderful trinity of philosophy, science, and religion. In many ways we are now in the business of Spiritualism. I would ask you to think about that: Is this to be the legacy of Hydesville?

The natural evolution of man’s spirit is to move closer to its’ creator, the divine source; a lifetime process of continual change ever moving closer to the purity of spirit. It’s an individual process yet is a collective process, for the spirit of man embodies the spirit of mankind. The collective spirit of mankind must therefore be on a similar path, moving closer to its’ divine source; a spiritual extension of Darwin’s theory, an evolutionary process which started at the dawn of civilization and will reach its’ ultimate conclusion somewhere off in the future history of the Universe. Society tends to measure this drive to spirituality in religious values, but polls suggest that religion is not the driving force, so how do the two relate, and are we meeting the challenge?

The common theme among religions is religiousness, ie: praying and worshipping, the practice of paying homage to a deity normally performed in churches or religious structures. But the evolution of the spirit is not a practice it’s a process, and an individual process independent of religion or church influence. This is significant because the move toward spiritual awareness by one individual will ultimately affect the spiritual values of all individuals, regardless of the time frame.

Eventually the spirit force, that great force of love, will dominate; social justice will prevail on this earthly plane, and our world will be a different place. Spiritualism defines this process and its’ ultimate conclusion. The grand design of that Great Original Mind is the purity and perfection of the Spirit, an objective of timeless relevance; yet our religious practices centre around communion with spirit and spiritual enterprise, both specific in their relevance. The process is of divine influence yet the practices are the product of human endeavour. So we must look to ourselves. We must look within ourselves and ask whether the protection of practices, the preservation of self interest, and the ego of self righteousness have unwittingly replaced those noble faculties, and for all Spiritualists who are ultimately accountable for this, are we satisfied with that?

Spiritualism represents a process; proof of spirit, the existence of a future life, and the eternal progression of the soul; a long slow deliberate process; no question of instant gratification, no quick formulae, no short cuts, no mysterious connections, no smoke and mirrors. It transcends religion for religion is based on beliefs, whereas Spiritualism is a fact; it’s a Truth.

If we accept this then it’s time to move beyond the parochialism and limitations of both the “New Age” and the “Traditional”. There is an opportunity here! If we are to have any purpose, if we are to have a true future, we must rise to the challenge of this individual drive to spirituality in a meaningful way. We must bridge the gap between the emotions of the new and the traditions of the old, and move on to a “Higher Ground”, those noble faculties, with a renewed emphasis on the true process. And we cannot go just half way; we must address the question of entrepreneurship and commercialization within our religion for it diminishes us and our credibility.

We must reach out with a clarion call to all Spiritualists to embrace our fellow human beings in true harmony; in the understanding that the principles of Knowledge, Reason, Wisdom, and Love are the true essences of Spiritualism and the Spiritual Universe, and with the simple realization that the welfare of mankind is the never ending goal of the Divine Spirit.

Andrew Jackson Davis defined the key to individual harmony as the ability to; “Keep an open mind, be willing to learn, and willing to forgive”. He also defined the moral position of a Spiritualist as one who stands erect between social and religious extremes, a central influence, a medium for the expression of progressive principles, a friend to all who would grow in wisdom and harmony. How do we measure up to that?

“The voice of our spirit is like the spirit of truth, most eloquent when manifested in deeds.” Do we manifest our deeds through the ego of self interest and self righteousness or through the voices of reason and love? We must meet that test; we owe it to our forefathers, to our children, to ourselves, and to Spiritualism.

Evolution of Spiritualism by Al Batten (continued)

So what is Davis' legacy? He taught himself to read and write, he spoke five different languages, and late in his life, at the age of 60, he even earned a medical degree. His books have been read by people from all walks of life; The Principles of Nature itself went through forty printing editions, a best seller by anyone’s standards. His view of evolution went far beyond Darwin to explain that, while man came up through the animal kingdom, his Soul evolves to other heights. His body of work is so extraordinary that to some it’s almost incomprehensible? Was he a truly spiritual man or was he a zealot embarked on an impossible mission? Is there a distinction between the two? Perhaps he was a bit of both, a spiritual man on an impossible mission. He was caught in a spiritual conundrum; he existed in two worlds, in this he had no choice. His life in the spiritual world, his precious Summerland, was an ambrosia which drew him closer and closer, never wanting to leave it but he was divided between that and, what he considered, his responsibility to mankind. To those who are not Spiritualists he might seem a work of fiction. But to those of us who are Spiritualists, we should realize that without him we would not be sitting in this auditorium today. Mediumship could not have stood the test of time without this philosophy to give it meaning. It must also be said that the philosophy would have had no meaning without the phenomena; they are interdependent. It was all started by an unschooled and functionally illiterate young man who for a period of 15 months in his life did something very special. He once said that the Truth is always simple and, in the final analysis, he left us with one simple Truth, and that Truth is Spiritualism.

So that was the beginning and what a beginning it was. After the events at Hydesville it took off like a rocket and spread like a wildfire throughout America and into the rest of the world. Its growth was phenomenal; at one point it is said that 10 million people in the USA claimed to be Spiritualists. In its first fifty years it went from its birth to its peak, but then it started to change. In fact it was destined to change right from the start, for after that initial spurt a rapidly changing world started to take its’ toll. Much of the modern world was in the midst of a religious revolution and religious institutions, in general, were facing an enormous problem; membership was on the wane and attendance had dropped to historic lows. What is surprising though, throughout all this, society’s attitude toward spirituality was changing. It was becoming a personal thing; people were starting to acknowledge that a principle of some higher truth was, and still is to this day, an important influence in their lives, regardless of religious beliefs or dogmatic influences. It seems that the more literate and well educated a society is, the less religious it becomes, and this search for individual spirituality increases. It could be said, that left to its own resources, man’s individual spirit takes over and becomes his focal point.

This change in attitude provided, and still provides to this day, a dilemma for the leadership of all religions, and ours in particular, for our problems were, and still are, compounded by the fact that we had changed in one important way; we had essentially become a one product religion; short on the noble faculties and harmony, and long on the communication we now call mediumship. And even this was and still is being redefined.. In the early days the credibility of mediumship rested on the proof of spirit through clairvoyance and physical phenomena, and the expectations were high.

Evolution of Spiritualism by Al Batten (continued)

Now to this point I have only dealt with the early part of Davis’ life; it would require more time than we have available to do it full justice, so I won’t go into his later period. But I would like to touch on something that he gave to us which has been very important in the development of Spiritualism, so let’s move forward a few years to a lecture he gave at New York in 1863. In this lecture he described how children were educated in his Summerland of the Spirit World. There appeared to him, what he called, “garden schools”, or Children’s Lyceums designed to develop a child’s own inner potential rather than force feeding them information. He believed that children were “the repository of infinite possibilities bearing the image of an imperishable and perfect being”, and he urged those in the Spiritualist movement to establish similar schools here on earth. Well the concept took off like wildfire and the Lyceum movement took on a life of its own. Some people equate it to the Sunday school movement but it was more than that; it taught children to think for themselves. It also promoted physical as well as mental development and it transcended age barriers; adults became actively involved. It was the lifeblood of our church memberships for almost 100 years well into the middle part of the 1900's; it was the future. Over the years it has declined dramatically until it is now almost nonexistent and has suffered the same fate as many Sunday school movements, competing with Sunday shopping and sports, television and such things, and is now a shadow of its former self. It was relevant to its day, a simpler more hierarchal time but in today’s world we struggle to find a relevancy for it. Can it be the repository of knowledge that it once was, does it need to be redefined, or does it have any relevance at all in this modern era? I think we, as Spiritualists, have an obligation to figure it out; “we have a responsibility here”, because we have essentially become a religion of adults and if that continues we will ultimately lose our true relevance. In any event, in today’s world it is this Lyceum movement that Davis’ name is so closely associated with, as the Father of the Lyceum more so, I think, than with Spiritualism itself.

Now we all know that sometimes appearances are not what they seem and there is an element of this with our Mr. Davis; it was not all a bed of roses. Davis had his problems with Spiritualism. At one point in his career he threatened to leave the movement; he thought spiritualists were placing too much emphasis on the phenomenal side of the religion and ignoring the philosophy. He had also developed his own outlook on life he called it “The Harmonial Philosophy”. And I would like to clear up one point on this because many people are under the misunderstanding that The Harmonial Philosophy separated Davis from Spiritualism when, in fact, it was the exact opposite, it solidified his commitment to it; but it placed the emphasis on its true meaning rather than the phenomena. He said that without an understanding of the philosophy, the phenomena were useless. He complained that people were spending too much time in circles and séances looking for the sensational and not paying enough attention to the deeper side; he called it magical Spiritualism for which he had little use. The phenomena proved the realty of the Spirit World but the philosophy was its essence; many Spiritualists of the time disagreed; they still do. He drew his line in the sand and from that time on there were tensions between Davis and Spiritualism; he believed in Spiritualism but, it could be said, he was no longer a Spiritualist. Perhaps he never was a Spiritualist in the true sense of the word if one recognizes that Spiritualism is based on mediumship and depends on it for its existence. The reality is that if the phenomena were taken out of our churches they would be empty. So I would ask you to think about that and go back to the question of “What is a Spiritualist” and those three conditions...communications, noble faculties, and harmony.

In many respects by the time that Modern Spiritualism emerged he was way ahead of it. He could exist in the Spirit World at will; he knew all about it, he defined it. He redefined the concept of the Soul and its eternal progression. He predicted the communion of Spirit and the events at Hydesville. What had he to gain from Spiritualism except the satisfaction that he was right, but even this was tainted by his difficulty in understanding its inability or willingness to go beyond the phenomena. And yet he was convinced that Spiritualism was the answer to the social injustices in the world. He was, without doubt, a reformer on a quest for universal justice and in this mission he was totally uncompromising, willing to sacrifice all.

In the field of religion, his influence was profound. As John Leonard wrote in his book, The Higher Spiritualism, “At a period when few men dared attack the dogmas of the church, he was outspoken against them, attempting to tear down the artificial and unnatural parts of the orthodox religions and to establish a natural and rational religion in their place...a religion which should retain the real and basic ideas common to all religions, namely, God, immortality and goodness, but which should do away with the unnatural and man-made ideas of original sin, damnation and the special divinity of a Christ ”. Davis held that all men were divine, since the spirit of each is an integral part of the infinite spirit; is in fact the infinite spirit, and that there can be no difference or distinction in this. Jesus was more spiritually developed than most; but he was no more a son of God than all of us are sons of God.

Evolution of Spiritualism by Al Batten (continued)

The fourth sphere is the sphere of the Supernatural, the fifth sphere is the Superspiritual, the sixth is the Supercelestial and finally on to the seventh and highest sphere which is called the Sensorium, the Spiritual Sun of the Universe, the Infinite Vortex of Love and Wisdom which is the ultimate state of progression and is almost impossible to describe. Nothing exists here except that which is pure, divine, everlasting and infinite. I like to refer to it as that great centre of spiritual gravity forever pulling us closer to a divine conclusion.

You can compare the whole process to the development of a tree with the 1st sphere being the seed, the 2nd sphere the roots, the 3rd as the trunk, the 4th the branches, the 5th the buds, the 6th the blossom, and the 7th as the beauty that blooms with an immortal fragrance. It is the Tree of Righteousness, because all is right and there is no wrong. It is the Tree of Goodness, because nothing is evil. It is the Tree of Immortal Life, because there is no death. It is the Tree of Divine Perfection, because nothing is imperfect. It is the Tree of Truth, because there is no falsehood, it is the Tree of Love and Wisdom because there is no confusion or disunity, all is love. It is the Tree of That Great Positive Mind of the Universe, the Divine Intelligence that we call God.

And it was this part of the book that provided the foundation for Modern Spiritualism.

I mentioned earlier that Davis always claimed his revelations and writings did not come from spirit but were based solely on his own observations; sometimes however you wonder where he is coming from, some of his observations seem to get beyond him and are difficult to understand; indeed there are some sections that can best be described as stretching the imagination where he describes life and spirits on the other planets in our solar system and with physical descriptions that are staggering...... but here again he surprises by insisting over and over again, as he did throughout his career, that he is not infallible. Then again, who knows what with the recent discoveries on Mars and Saturn; we could be looking at the forms to which our Earth will eventually evolve. Regardless of how he saw things, what is really interesting he says that all revelation must take the form of the mind into which it flows, and there can be no infallible revelation. No revelation is to be accepted merely because it is revealed, but it is to be judged on its own intrinsic merits, by the standards of reason, intuition and nature, take the emotion out it. This is a most important lesson for us all. You could relate this to the acceptance of messages given through mediumship or, for that matter, any other aspect of Spiritualism.

Reason, Intuition, and Nature. Now these are terms that are used continuously in our philosophy so perhaps we should take a few minutes and explore what they really mean as they relate to Spiritualism.

Reason: The common dictionary definition states that Reason is an underlying fact or cause that provides logical sense for a premise or occurrence; the capacity for logical, rational, and analytical thought. I think we call all agree on that, but let’s take it one step further and expand it to a higher meaning. Let’s call it an investigation into the consecutive causes of anything which leads us deep into the spiritual origin of the thing being investigated, or of all things for that matter.

Intuition: Dictionary definition...The act or faculty of knowing or sensing without the use of rational processes; immediate cognition, perspective insight. That sounds reasonable but lets put a different spin on it and say that within Spiritualism it is an opening of the mind to the full penetration of thought, the innate power of feeling a Truth; it is the genius of the Soul.

Nature: Dictionary definition.......The material world, the world of living things and the outdoors. When we talk about Spiritualism this is far too limiting, it has to include everything in existence, both material and spiritual. A universe in which nothing is self existent or stands alone but where all things, material and spiritual, are tied together in a divine brotherhood of interlinking dependencies.

And finally we talk a lot about Truth for the ultimate destination of reason, intuition, and nature is the Truth: Dictionary definition.....Truth, that which is considered to be the supreme reality; to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence. I’m Ok with that but it still doesn’t seem to go far enough: “Truth must be the universal relationship of things as they are. It is the ultimate knowledge: it’s the beginning, middle and end of all inquiry. It is unchangeable: the same yesterday, today, and forever......and it is always simple, always harmonious, infinite and eternal” And how do we find the Truth; it’s simple, just go to that spark of your own divinity, the innermost secret chamber of your Soul; the place where the spirit of God lives: the home of Reason, Intuition, and Nature.

The Second Decade

As we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century, let us redouble our efforts to spread the inner light of the Spirit throughout our lost and troubled world. Let us devote a short period of each day to seek the stillness that is at the heart of each one of us; the stillness that speaks to us of eternity and love and compassion and of tolerance.

The world has become so consumed by the illusion of material wealth and power, that we are in danger of condemning future generations to a struggle for physical existence that will make the efforts made in the past to rise from our primitive origins seem as nothing compared to what they will have to endure. It is all so unnecessary; the Great Over-mind has so arranged things that the Earth can provide everything we need for a fulfilling life of preparation for our future in the spiritual realms. All it needs is for humanity to re-examine our priorities, recognise the realities of spiritual existence and understand that the treasures of the earth are for us to share with one another and protect for future generations.

Greed and materialism blind us to this reality. They bind the eyes of the inner spirit with the illusion that Earth is real and Spirit is a dream. In fact the reverse is the case. Earth, beautiful as it is, is a mere shadow of the brilliance and beauty of the spiritual world. When we consider what a beautiful place is Earth, then imagine a world ten or a hundred times more so and we begin to approach an understanding of the difference between the illusion of earthly power and beauty and the reality of the world of spirit where love, unconditional love, rules. Greed and materialism condemn us to a much greater sojourn in the darkness of materialistic misunderstanding than is intended for us. Free will is the greatest of the gifts we have received from the Great Over-mind and using it we can choose to bring forward the dawn of heavenly reality, or continue to flounder in the morass of ‘earthly delights’ for as long as we wish.

The choice is ours but in choosing we must remember nothing happens in a vacuum. Every choice we make has a greater or lesser effect upon all others. “Not a sparrow falls but what the Father knows.” This is because all life is interconnected through the power of Spirit. Each time we choose the selfish or materialistic option, so the darkness surrounding us becomes slightly denser, whereas when we choose to follow the promptings of our inner, higher self, so the light surrounding us shines more brightly. Because of our interconnection with all other life that shares the Earth with us, the increase or decrease in the light we carry within us is communicated to all. Thus as John Donne, the Elizabethan poet claimed, “No man is an island, entire unto himself.”

Thus we see that “personal responsibility,” one of the foundations of the philosophy of Spiritualism, is in reality mutual: I truly am my brother’s keeper in this respect. Because, to quote Alexander Pope, “All are but parts of one stupendous whole, whose body nature is and God the soul,” and because light will always eliminate darkness, the smallest step in the direction of spreading the light of spiritual understanding will have a disproportionate effect upon the darkness with which humanity has clothed this beautiful globe. Thus can we be encouraged that even though at present we may be few, the continuing impact of light emission from a few individuals will soon create a change for the better. Let us move into this second decade confident in the power of the spirit to “lighten our darkness” if only we will have trust, determination and above all, love.

Happy New Decade to you all. - Lionel