ANNIVERSARY OF MODERN SPIRITUALISM
CHAPTER XIII
ANNIVERSARY OF MODERN SPIRITUALISM
"THERE is none throughout the whole world who has the means or the power at his disposal of preventing the forces of spiritual truth from continuing their onward march,” said Silver Birch when asked to comment on the anniversary of the birth of modern Spiritualism ninety-seven years ago.
"It is only an artificial distinction as far as I am concerned,” he said, "and much as I treasure the means used to advance know-ledge, I have no desire to exalt theinstruments out of all per-spective.”
Continuing this reference to the Fox Sisters, the mediums who initiated modern Spiritualism, the guide continued: “They were used, prepared and performed their allotted taskーall honour to them. The work has to go on, and many instruments are being used today. I say to you the real fight is over. That was won many, many years ago. There was a time when the fate of this truth was hanging in the balance, when it seemed as if all the adversaries, those who were wedded to the forces of error and superstition might have won. But that day has long since gone, and there is none who works in the fields of this labour who is called upon to make sacrifices comparable with those which were mide in the days gone by.
"Whatever it is that you have to endure, it is a very little when compared with the privations and sacrifices that were made yesterday. The great fight for freedom has been won, and it is far too late to attempt to turn back the spiritual clock.
"This truth is too firmly established in the hearts of too many for it to be gainsaid today. The forces of reaction, which have been dwindling all the time, no longer possess the power to say, 'I forbid you to comfort the mourner, to heal the sick, to bind up the afflicted and to give guidance to the weary and to the perplexed.'
"There is nothing that is happening today that need cause you any fear, for the future belongs to you and not to those who have placed obstacles in your path. All that you are asked to do is to be faithful to the light which has been vouchsafed to you, to spread knowledge wherever it is possible so that the grief-stricken can have their tears of sorrow dried by the knowledge that awaits them, to point to the power of the spirit that can drive away sickness and disease and enable poor, racked, broken, bruised bodies to function with health, vitality and strength.
"Yours is a future of a great and wonderful promise. Through many instruments the power of the spirit is streaming into your world. It is infiltrating, permeating and penetrating everywhere. Its witnesses are to be found, not only among the lowly and the humble, who have for long years testified to the reality of its truth, but amongst the great ones of the earth who, filled by the same sorrows that afflict all human beings, have found comfort, hope, strength, guidance and sustenance in their hour of need.
"You have only to play your part to be sure that you fulfil the purpose of your own being on earth. There will be advances and disappointments. Your enemies will not give in without a struggle, but always you advance further and further. As the light of the spirit penetrates the gloom of darkness, more and more souls are touched by its radiance, and the numbers of those who can say, 'I know,' continue to grow.
"They are the ones who provide the firm rocks upon which you can build, for they, in turn, become the instruments of the spirit. The power flows through them, touching other souls, until in time these truths which we enunciate will take their normal place in the understanding of all humanity.
"See to it, however, that you comport yourselves according to the knowledge that you have received, for many eyes will be turned in your direction. So many institutions have proved in the hour of need that they are but broken reeds with nothing to offer a distraught and despairing humanity. They point only to that which is said to have happened many hundreds of years ago, but there is no living inspiration amongst them today.
"You are the exemplars of the new revelation; you are the witnesses of the fact that the Great Spirit reveals eternal wisdom at all ages, and that today a world which yearns for guidance can receive it when it needs it most. The whole world is in thmelting pot. Ideas of liberty and freedom are stirring the breasts of countless millions. Many of them writhe hopelessly in the clutches of tyranny. Now they are beginning to taste freedom. Just as the blind man who sees the light will refuse to return to the darkness, so those who now taste the sweetness of liberty will refuse to be bound any longer.
"You can help by teaching them that they were created to be free in mind, body and spirit, that they have no allegiance to any statements made which have the effect of cramping and restrict-ing their minds, their bodies and their spirits, and you can help them to live as the Great Spirit intended they should live, not fettered, not imprisoned, but in the radiant sunlight of that free-dom which knowledge can bring.”
Then this advice was given to a healer in the circle who is being helped by W. T. Parish to develop his healing gifts:
"Keep on, and let the whole atmosphere of this sanctuary be absorbed into your being so that you can be filled with the power that is there. It is much easier to stimulate your own power by charging it with the larger power that has already been moulded and fashioned and built up to its present efficient stage.
"It is the transfer of power—the old laying-on of hands from one to the other, so that the power of the spirit can be transferred from the giver to the recipient. In churches it is a meaningless ceremony, but where there are instruments already filled with that power, and who have developed their capacity to receive, and there are potential instruments capable of receiving that power, when the two meet the power can, in literal truth, be handed on. As to the amount that can be absorbed, that depends on your own capacity to receive and the growth of your own spirit. Do not be in a hurry. Be patient and absorb as much as you can."
To a remark from a sitter, he answered: "When you are a medium it is not easy, but at the same time you have something which others do not possess. You have the inner knowledge, far stronger than all the surface knowledge, of a real companionship constantly with you.
"It is a tremendous compensation. Those who are truly instru-ments of the spirit never have any fear in their hearts, because they are aware of that band of protective love that always sur-rounds them. It is hard to convey to those who are outside this knowledge how intensely real it is to them, because they know that the one who is working with them from our world is almost part and parcel of their own consciousness."
To the budding healer he added: “You are crossing the thres-hold. Let your footsteps be made with firmness, knowing that that which guides you is great love and the desire to utilise you in the service of those who suffer. I know your heart. I know your soul. I know what it is that you desire to do. I know your prayers and I am going to try to help you to accomplish them.”
Because this was the last sitting before Easter, when Silver Birch would return, for a brief spell, to the spheres, he told the members of the circle: "You have all been of great service in the work that we have been able to do. Sometimes I am compelled to talk about myself. It is something which is very repugnant to me, because I see in myself only the instrument, the mouth-piece of those who send me to perform a task with your co-operation in the world in which you live.
"Nevertheless, I am an individual with human qualities, and these include the faculty of receiving love and affection. I am always proud that I have earned love and affection from you, and that you have given these to me with trusting, willing hearts, knowing that I would never fail you in all that I have done.
"And so, throughout the many years I have become your invisible co-operator, the one who has stood at your side all the time, urging you to reach the greatest heights of which you are capable, striving to instil into you a sense of the nobility and grandeur of the work which has been entrusted to us, trying to make you realise the greatness of our mission, the souls we are trying to reach, the service we are trying to render.
"Let us rejoice that here and there are those who are glad because of what together we have been able to accomplish, and that the power of the spirit has been made manifest to them, and knowledge reigns triumphant in their minds. The Great Spirit bless you all. With love I have always come. With love I go."