DOES MANKIND PROGRESS?

　　　CHAPTER XIV

　　DOES MANKIND PROGRESS?

　THIS is the opinion of Silver Birch on the progress of humanity. He gave it during a talk to two visitors to our circle. They are old friends of the guide. The world has improved," said Silver Birch, "for one very important reason, and that is the power of the spirit has been at work. Wherever that power finds a lodgment in your world, wherever it is successful in revealing itself through capable instruments, there begins a work of regeneration, and in that work the whole scale of values gradually becomes changed.

　"Had it not been for the descent of the power of the spirit in this highly organised form less than a century ago, then indeed the outlook would have been very dire. But the power of the spirit, the great leaven, has been at work throughout the whole of your world. At first there were little drops. Gradually they became streams, then rivers, then seas, and now there is a mighty ocean of the spirit that will never evaporate. That has changed the whole course of history; that has revolutionised the whole outlook of man's life. It has brought the factor of the spirit, the eternal factor, without which all is illogical, unreasonable and without a purpose.

　"The whole direction of science, religion, philosophy, art, ethics, morality, music, literature, the whole of life has been changed by the recognition that has gradually been given to the ascendancy of the spirit which rises out of the demonstration that man is a spiritual being who survives the earthly grave. There have been occasional retrogressions, but the march has been on-ward, and man, slowly, painfully, has evolved towards the light.”

　"On the other hand," said one of the visitors, "if this planet were very much better than it is, it would cease to have any purpose, because it would not be training us to get to a higher sphere. Therefore, there must be this suffering to cause progress."

　"Yes," replied the guide, "but once man is aware of his spiritual nature, once he has caught glimpses of the eternal reality, once he has seen, no matter how faintly, part of the cosmic plan, and realises his place in an infinite scheme of which he is an integral part, then he knows that he, too, is infinite with an infinity of life in which to develop his infinite character. By that I mean that there is an infinite road of progress revealedーthe summit cannot be seen for always you are ascending. Do I make myself clear?"

　"Perfectly clear. But if this planet was very much better, it would not be a training ground for the spirit. We have to start from the bottom, as I see it, and overcome every experience until we get back to the Great Spirit."

　"We are touching vast and profound subjects," said the guide. "We are all part of the Great Spirit, and you in your totality and the totality of all life comprise the Great Spirit. Apart from the totality of life, the Great Spirit has no existence. Now this must be to you purely debatable, because I cannot prove it. Therefore, at the best you can but accept my word for it.

　"The road of progress is infinite. Being infinite, there is no finality. Once you have grasped that you will see that there is no merging of ultimates, because if you could reach the stage where the whole of your individualityーnot the small fraction that is expressed through the physical body, but the whole of your individualityーcould achieve perfection, then the plan of life would cease to be rational.

　"Life is infinite, and while you are constantly striving towards perfection, gradually discarding in each phase of your evolution one more fragment of imperfection, the process is an infinite one to which there is no end."

　Then one of the visitors asked: "Has the mechanical age helped evolution? It does not look like it."

　"In the end it does," answered Silver Birch. "You must see evolution as something which is not a straight line. It is a series of advances and retreats. Man rises and falls, man struggles to rise again and rises higher than he fell, and so gradually, the race evolves. You can point to epochs and say, 'Look! That is a dark stain in evolution. But that is not the whole story; it is but a part of it.

　"The human spirit is gradually evolving, and with that evolu-tion there comes the obvious lesson that is learned as more and more understand the nature of their own beings, as more and more realise their own possibilities, as more and more know the plan of existence and strive to fit themselves into it.

　"Centuries ago there were but a handful who dreamed dreams and saw visions. Now the vision splendid has come to hundreds of thousands, and there are countless numbers of reformers, pioneers, teachers, all at work because they know what could be and they desire to help to achieve it. That is where the growth has been made."

　"In that I entirely agree with you," said one of the guests "There is growth, but this planet as a whole, if it were very much better, would not permit of growth.”

　"But as you grow," explained the guideー" I do not mean you individually, I mean the race—so you will find that the world in which you live can be developed, too, and that you can have a richness of life such as you never before dreamed possible. You speak about the age of the machine, but all the problems arise because man is the slave and not the master. But when he is the master then he can have anythingーthe age of culture, of leisure, of artistic accomplishment, of the pursuits of the mind and the spirit, and riches of the inner life would be the possession of vast numbers.

　"The power lies within each one because each is part of the Great Spirit; the same power that created the whole universe; the same power that fashioned the mountains and stars and planets; the power that gave the sun its light; the power that gave all the perfume to the flowers; the power that made the whole of the universe is within you and you could bring it into activity if you chose to attune yourselves by your life to that great over-ruling force."

　"I suppose it is also," said a sitter, "the power that gave per-fume to flowers gave poison to the snakes."

　"But," countered the guide, “it is all the same thing to me. You know, I never say that the Great Spirit is responsible for all that you call good, and that the devil is responsible for all that you call bad."

　"Potentially," added the same questioner, "we have in us all that is good and all that is bad, too."

　"Every human being is a microcosm," was the reply. "In miniature, you are the universe. There is potentially the per-fection of angelhood and potentially the foulness of the worst brutish beast. That is why you have the free will to develop the path along which you will go.

　"I look around your world, torn as it is by war and misery, by chaos and confusion, by distress and sadness, and think there is much to cause the heart to ache. Yet I do not abandon my hope because I know the power of the spirit is at work, that all this is a world in travail, that out of the suffering there will emerge, not at once, but there will emerge a much better world for all who dwell in it."

　"You are saying that the whole planet is going to be much better," commented one of the visitors. "How are people going to have the suffering and strife to be able to purify their spirits?"

　"Because,” said Silver Birch, "man is infinite. There will be no transformation in the twinkling of an eye. It is a long road along which you travel, and there will always be the rise and the fall, the advance and the retreat, but each time more progress will be made."

　Answering another question, the guide said: "In our world there is a constant discarding of bodies as the soul is ready for the next sphere of life. But try to visualise that these are not planes in the sense of fixed spheres with boundaries, but rather a series of graded lives which blend and merge into one another. Even in your world, although people occupy the same physical level, spiritually they are at entirely different levels and they are living in different worlds."

　Another member of the circle put this view forward, "The amount of progress that society has made is just a speck com-pared with the progress that has yet to be made."

　"No, I would not say that,” said Silver Birch. "It is small in comparison, but it is progress. You must remember this: you have evolved laws and codes, systems of ethics; you have enriched literature; you have plumbed the depths of the arts; you have fathomed the treasuries of the mind; you have un-covered some of the riches of the spirit.

　"All that is due to the long succession of people who have trod your world, who have suffered and toiled, who have made mistakes and blunders, who were part of the maelstrom of which human existence is composed. But taken altogether there has been an advance and man today is richer, not physically, but spiritually and mentally, than those who trod the earth in the earliest days. It must be so."

　Later the guide made this comment: "There is much work to be done in spreading the elementary facts among those who are woefully ignorant, who do not even know that they are spiritual beings, and that they will live beyond what is called death. How tragic it is to contemplate the large numbers going through life deaf, dumb and blind to all spiritual reality! That is a great tragedy. And it is to these that our efforts must be directed, for they are the ones who must be prepared, who must be awakened, so that they can begin to fulfil what their lives are intended to be."

　Then Silver Birch addressed the second visitor, a fine medium of many years' standing: "Have confidence in that power which has guided you for many years, and it will not fail you. You are surrounded by much love and it will not fail you. It cannot fail you as long as you are faithful to that trust which is reposed in you.

　"I cannot begin to describe what the power of the spirit is, how it works, how it is regulated and the laws to which it is subservient. But I do know that if you provide the right con-ditions, conditions of earnestness, the desire to serve, confidence that rests on knowledge, that power will maintain, will guide you, will uphold you and will enable you to pass through every experience that your world can offer, and help you to attain the goal which has been set for you."

　The mediumistic visitor said she had often seen Silver Birch in her homeーhe had spoken there for some yearsーand in parting from her, her husband, and the circle he said: "My task has been made easier by the many friends I have made in your worldーpeople who know me not except as a voice and a personality,

　"The love I receive from them helps me. It is the means by which I am able to continue, for always we think of those who weep and sorrow, who grieve and mourn, who are bewildered and torn with doubt and fear, and we know that we cannot rest until we have brought some touch of assuagement that will ease life for them.

　"That is the great task on which we are all engaged, the task which, if properly performed, enables us to be truly the instru-ments of that great power which holds us in its embrace of love. Your world is ruled, not from below, but from above. Earthly laws are subject to change and to revision, to repeal and to annul-ment. New laws are constantly devised for new conditions, but the laws of the spirit are unchangeable, they are immutable, they never fail, they have provided for every circumstance.

　"Look up, therefore, and know that the power which created those laws, the power which gave the whole of life its direction and purpose, is the power which is round and about you, the power which can be a cloak to shield you in adversity, the power that holds you always in its embrace of eternal love."

　　　　★         ★         ★

　These are the words Silver Birch uttered in the form of a parableーa parable on light and darkness:

　"Once upon a time the world was very dark, and along came a man with a little torch and he held it aloft, and it cast gleams of light around him.

　"And those who dwelt in the darkness were attracted by the gleams of light, and they drew near until the rays were shed upon them.

　"Time went by, and the torch began to flicker. And then one who had lived in the darkness of fear and foreboding, which he now knew was part of the darkness, and was killed by the light, grasped the torch and rekindled it with such vigour that now the illumination was cast even wider. 

　"And so, throughout all ages, someone has arisen to hold aloft the torch of life, each adding his own lustre to its luminosity, until gradually the light has been spreading in ever-widening circles. At no stage has the torch been allowed to be extinguished.

　"That is all. Hold aloft the torch of the spirit; feed it with the lustre of your own souls so that each one of you helps to dissipate and dispel the gloom in which so many needlessly live.

　"That is important. The rest of the things that many people worry about do not matter. When all is said and done, the physical body gets excessive attention; the spiritual body and its requirements are very much neglected."