POLAND'S FUTURE
SILVER BIRCH gave, at one séance, encouragement to a Polish officer who is anxious to spread the knowledge of Spiritualism in his country after the war. After fighting in France, this officer, who had conducted psychic experiments in Warsaw, came to Scotland. In a Y.M.C.A. canteen, he met a Spiritualist who gave him a copy of Teachings of Silver Birch, which the Pole read and re-read. He was filled with a yearning to meet this guide, who, he said, presented our philosophy as he had never met it before. Then he was invited to the circle, and Silver Birch told him:
"Since you have come to this country, though you have been familiar with this truth for a long time, its presentation has been as a blinding light of revelation, just as, in the Bible, Saul, on the road to Damascus, saw a great vision which changed his heart and his soul.”
"Yes," said the Polish officer, who inquired if he could question the guide. He asked if material and spiritual progress were related and what happened when there was a greater material than spiritual progress.
"True progress is progress of the spirit, for spirit is pre-eminent," replied Silver Birch. "Spirit and matter are two aspects of one reality, but the material depends for its existence on the spiritual. Matter, of itself, could not function in the form in which you know it without the energizing spirit. Where progress is truly progressーthat is, it is directed for the greatest good of the greatest number—it is spiritual in its motive. Where progress is directed only to the accumula-tion of material things, irrespective of what happens to the spiritual nature, then that is a false progress which must in time collapse.
"Only that which is founded on principles of service and helpfulness can endure, for they are real. Progress which seeks only to enrich materially the individual, the class or the nation must in the end topple because its foundation is flimsy and cannot survive. But remember, progress is not always an advance in one straight line. It is a going forward and a falling back. Humanity has progressed through thousands of years, sometimes reaching great heights, only to descend into depths of despair again, but then rescuing itself to reach greater heights than it had scaled before. With the spiritual motive as its incentive and impelling force, then true progress can and will be maintained.”
"Is there a special mission for Poland, where the spirit was weakened but not defeated?” was the next question.
"You have had to face the results of the falsity of a materialist philosophy, combined with the falsity of religious teaching," answered the guide. "Your people have wor-shipped two kinds of false gods. Unfortunately there has been oppression and tyranny for many years. You have suffered, as your country has suffered. Your country will rise again and be greater than ever before. It will contribute much to the learning, culture and freedom of the world.
"The spirit of freedom which has been subjugated cannot be crushed out of existence. Out of the smouldering ruins there will arise a new country with ideals, imperishable ideals, that will fire the determination of those who will enjoy its
rededication in a much larger national and international life. The tyranny caused by the dictatorships of your world will pass away. It does not endure. And there is born a new spirit of toleration, of understanding, in which all will work for one another. Much of the enmity between party and party will have disappeared. And you have a contribution to make.”
"Will it not be necessary to build up in Poland schools for psychic teaching and soul development?" asked the Polish officer.
"You will have to do what has been done in this great land in which I am privileged to serve," said Silver Birch. “You will have to findーand it will not be hard, for they will be brought to you by those who love you and love your country and see its true place in the scheme of international life—those who possess these gifts of the spirit. Through them there will speak, not only the loved ones who out of their affection will guide and inspire those who are united with them by ties of blood and relationship, but all the true heroes of your country who in my world still desire to render much service and who have never forgotten the land which gave them physical birth.
"It is not schools you want; it is instruments. Do not think in terms of buildings of stone; they are cold and lifeless. We express ourselves through men and women in whom there is the Great Spirit, for there is life, warmth, affection, vitality, enthusiasm, all the attributes of the energizing spirit, restlessly struggling towards the light always.
"There are many who will be drawn to you if you will be faithful to the trust which is reposed in you from my world. But it is a great responsibility. There will be heartbreaks and disappointments, sorrows and sadnesses. There will be fierce antagonism from priests. But faithfulness will bring its reward, for you will see hearts that are comforted, tears of sorrow changed into smiles of happiness. You will rescue many from the pitfalls of ignorance and superstition where they have lain for too long. You will be able to set on fire, with glowing flames, the bright spiritual ambition that waits to be rekindled in the hearts of millions of your own country people. It is a glorious prospect. In the history of your world the greatest has been achieved by individuals refusing to be deflected from their purpose, seeing the goal and pursing it relentlessly, ignoring every obstacle that stood in the way. If you are prepared for so inflexible a purpose, so steady a determination, success will finally crown your labours.”
"Are there spirits trying to use me as a medium?" inquired the Polish officer.
"What is happening is that you have attracted thousands of your compatriots who have fallen victims to the horrible atrocities that have happened in your country,” explained the guide. “Tears have been shed over the wholesale slaughter of the innocent. Your heart has grieved. Sadness has filled your soul. Horrible though it is, remember always that, to those who have passed through it, it has spelled liberation. They are better off in the world of spirit than ever they were
on your earth. But they still love their country. They still desire justice. They see in you an instrument through whom part of this purpose can be achieved. That is why they crowd round you. I do not speak of those who are your immediate own, but thousands of others, flocking eagerly to your side, urging you so that this unconscious desire welling within you may be translated into reality."
When the Polish officer expressed his willingness to work in such a cause Silver Birch said, “You promise to be faithful in service and the rest will follow. There will come to you all the evidence you need of the power that is behind your mission. But remember that in all this desire to labour and to serve there must be no thoughts of revenge. Hatred must not find a lodgment within your being. You must be filled with pity, with compassion, guided by tolerance and sympathy, not with a desire to exact revenge. That only reacts on yourself. Forget the past. Forget all the cruelties. Know that in the eternal scheme divine justice does rule and punishment is meted out to all who offend, no matter whether the offence be large or small. None escapes the law, the perfect law which operates without favour, without fear, without prejudice, and makes no mistakes.
"Your mission is to rescue, to succour, to deliver, to help, to lift up, to inspire, to bring new hope founded on that one foundation that will withstand all the storms of adversityーknowledge, the priceless gift of the spirit. Spread knowledge, the light which dispels the fog, which lightens the dark places of mankind, which brings freedom to the soul and makes it determined to possess all the riches, the joys, the beauties of the spirit. Armed with knowledge you conquer all, for know-ledge triumphs and ignorance must flee.
"There is much to be done; you will not accomplish it all. But you can help to relight the torch of freedom which has smouldered for a while. If I can give you hope, courage, strength, resolve and determination, fire you with zeal and enthusiasm to take up this task, then many will be blessed by the service that you can render in your own land. You have seen what has been done in this country. You have seen how faithful servants of the spirit, with no thought of self, have striven to serve those less fortunate than themselves. They have comforted the mourner; they have healed the sick; they have given sight to the blind; they have brought hope and courage and strength to those who were in doubt, to those who were weak, to those who had lost their way and had no place where they could lay their heads. You have seen some of these instruments, using the power of the spirit, performing, as of old, deeds which help humanity towards the light.
"All this can happen in your own land, for the instruments are there waiting to unfold the self-same gifts of the spirit which the Great Spirit has conferred on all His children, for He is no respecter of nationality, of colour, of clime or of race. The gifts that you have seen in operation here are natural gifts. They are no part of the soil of this land; they are all the fruits of the spirit, the same fruits that can be culti-vated in your own country.
"That is why you have come here. That is why your foot-steps have been led to this place. That is what I, who am but a servant of the spirit, have been told to tell you. It comes from those who send me, who for years have guided me as I seek to guide others. Go forward. There is no joy like the joy of service. All the riches of the material world pale into insigni-ficance beside the joy of service. I see rich fields of service and that to me is all-important, for service is the coin of the spirit.
I have no other message but service.
"All the trappings of religion, all the prating of sacred books, all the reciting of texts from the Bible, all the pulpit preachings—to me these are nothing unless they lead to ser-vice. The words that flow from the mouth, repeating idly by rote sayings that have been repeated for hundreds of years, so well worn that they strike hardly a vibration in the air, do not matter. But to lift up one soul from the darkness, to give one word of sympathy to the downcast, one act of helpful-ness, one little kindness or mercy, that is important. The rest does not matter. You have lived through much despair. You have lived very close to sorrow. Do not think that we are unfamiliar with the trials that you have undergone. There are not many secrets hidden from those who can see with the eyes of the spirit."
The Polish officer expressed his thanks for the guide's encouragement. He was met with Silver Birch's usual reply, "Do not thank me. I am only a servant. Thank the Great Spirit. I pray that you may become increasingly conscious of that power which seeks to use you in service everywhere. May you learn to allow the Great Spirit within you to rise to its fullest, so that in its manifestation you are indeed an instrument of God."