WHEN NOTHING HAPPENSー

    When no phenomena occur, sitters are apt to think they are wasting their time. To these people, the words of Silver Birch, when the circle has been waiting for physical mani-festations to be resumed, will be an encouragement:

　NO time that is spent in the desire for spiritual attainment is ever wasted. You wait very patiently, I know, but I want you to realize that great progress continues all the time. The bonds of unity between us are being strengthened and there is a quickening in the perceptions of your own soul powers. Growth, unfoldment and evolution are taking place all the time.

　The greater manifestations of the spirit are not in their out-ward expression, but in the quickening of the inner response, in the closer union between the unfolding spirit and the powers which seek to use it.

　Whether the manifestation of the spirit is seen or heard does not matter very much. What is more important is the un-folding of your own souls' power, for, as you sit here week after week, so you are attuning yourselves to higher vibra-tions and becoming more accessible to the wisdom of the ages, which is always waiting to pour itself down into your world of matter, to obey the law of service. But it must find instruments attuned to its vibrations.

　And, as your souls unfold and you rise higher and higher in the scale of vibrations, so you come into closer touch with higher and greater spiritual forces, that are not seen or heard but which belong to the eternal realities of the spirit. That is the reality of your lives. So much of your time is spent in chasing the shadows, in trying to capture the illusion, in trying to secure the ephemeral. In silence, in harmony and in love, your souls unfold all the time. Though it may be slow, it is sure and certain.

　The Great Spirit that is within each one of you unfolds and evolves, and you are able to express more and more of your divinity, because you have all met together in one place and with one accord. The Nazarene told you, many years ago, that, where two or three are gathered together, there is the Great Spirit to pour down His blessing. We teach the same truth, but they reject us.

　Truths do not change. Men's minds change, but truth is constant because it is based upon knowledge, and knowledge comes from the Great Spirit. He is the centre and the source of all inspiration. It is all so simple and so easy to understand, but your world has made it so very difficult.

　Because we have met we are enabled to make stronger the links between all of us. There are many spirits who come here who are not known to you, whom you do not greet by name, who come to render service and seek only to serve, who ask for no mention and no reward.

　They see here a means of bringing knowledge, of helping truth to advance, of helping to break down all things that are wrong and of helping to drive away sorrow and superstition, to make the light spread further and further, to stop pain, misery and suffering, and to bring happiness, peace and welfare.

　That is the work that you are all helping to do. If, some-times, it seems that you get no results, I ask you to remember that to come here and give us this one hour, with your aspirations to serve, helps to build the temple of the spirit all the time.

   Every moment that you sit here, with your hearts attuned to the Great Spirit, is not wasted. With all the power that accumulates when you meet in harmony and love, you are helping to build a great bridge. Over that bridge there will come from my world to yours many who will be able to bring to the world of matter a new light, a new strength, and a new hope. Will you always remember that? While we laugh and joke, behind it all there is a great purpose.

　That purpose is that the laws of the Great Spirit shall be able, through each one of you, to operate more fully in the world of matter. To that purpose each one of you has given yourself. The more you can have this common purpose and desire to receive the Great Spirit, the more you will be able to bring His power into your midst.

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Questions and Answers:

　Do you think laughter at séances is beneficial to results?

　The happier you are in your soul, the nearer you are to the Great Spirit. Remember you are the Great Spirit and nothing in your world of matter can touch you. I have sought to teach you that for a long time. As long as you are worried by the things of matter, you will not learn the lesson.

　I do not say disregard the things of matter, because you express yourself in the material world, and you have respon-sibilities to that world. But do not forget you are the Great Spirit and the Great Spirit is you. The power which belongs to the Great Spirit, which belongs to you, can raise you triumphant over all matter.

　It is a power which, properly understood, can enable you to resist all evil, to overcome all sickness and to fight every obstacle. But few of you use it. You were taught about it many vears ago by the Nazarene, who said, “The kingdom of heaven is within."

　Are not some of the best types of mediumship unsensational and unrecognized by the outer world?

　I do not think in terms of high or low. Greater or lesser service, that is what counts to me. You must unfold the gifts of the spirit, so that you can give the greatest service to the greatest number of people. In order to do that you must come Before your world when you are ready.

　It is sometimes necessary for mediumship to be confined to a few, because the power is not strong enough to stand the gaze of those who are outside the confines of the circle, but the whole purpose of mediumship is to enable the world of spirit to deliver its message to the world of matter. The more people that can be reached, the greater is the service that is being accomplished.

　I know nothing and care nothing about sensation. I am only interested in service, in giving strength to the weary and hope to those who have lost their faith, in giving a new comfort to those who are distressed in mind, in soul and in body.

　Why is it that automatic writing, of all psychic exercises, seems to be the least reliable?

　It all depends on the mediums. If they are not developed, they cannot distinguish between the thoughts which they pick up from your world and the thoughts which come to them from ours. That is a matter of development, for as the mediumship unfolds so it begins to reject the impressions of your world and becomes more susceptible to the influence of our world. You must not blame us because your instru-ments are not developed.  We can only work with the material that you give us.

　When spirits who have left the astral plane communicate with the earth, do they have to come down to the astral plane in order to do so?

　Oh, no. They can always find others through whom their message can be transmitted. They can always use instruments. but they would have to be evolved not only beyond the astral but much more than that. It must not be supposed that only those in the astral, which is the next stage beyond the physical, can communicate with your world of matter, for that is not so. For many spheres or states beyond that it is possible to have direct communication, always depending on your finding an instrument in the world of matter capable o

receiving your vibrations.

　We are told that the extent of our knowledge in spiritual matters is governed by our capacity to receive. Is it wise, therefore, for people who are spiritually unprepared to seek evidence through mediums?

　Evidence has nothing to do with the growth of the soul. Your ability to receive according to your capacity means how far can you reach out to the planes of spirit to receive truth? How far has your soul evolved so that it can under-stand truth? That must not be confused with the search for evidence. They do not go hand in hand. There are some who have evidence that life is continuous, but whose souls have not yet been touched by the spirit.