I am here; Luke

Well, do you think you can take my message tonight? It looks like you may, at any rate we will try.

As I was saying, in what way is a man to obtain this development of the soul in its natural love? In the first place, he must recognize the fact that he does not live to himself alone, that what he conceives to be the workings of his own mind and will, are not always the result of thoughts and desires that originate in him, but are often the product of the influences of the spirits who are around him, trying to impress him with their desires and wills.

Consequently you will understand that it is very important for man to know, what kind of spirit influences he has surrounding and working upon him. If these influences are good, his progress in the development of this natural love is benefited; but if they are evil influences, then of course such development is retarded.

Consequently, the first thing for a man to do is to attempt to attract to himself influences of the higher nature. And he can do so by trying to cultivate good thoughts, and to indulge in good and moral acts. The great law of attraction that we have written about applies and works in such cases as this, as it does in every other relation of God’s universe. If a man’s thoughts are evil, there will always be attracted to him spirits of similar thoughts. And when they come to him, they attempt to, and succeed in intensifying these evil thoughts of his, which attracted them to him.

It must emphatically be understood in this regard, that man may, and often does originate his own thoughts and desires, and it is not necessary that any influence of these evil spirits should be present and operating upon his brain or affections, in order that these evil thoughts and desires should come into existence. And again, man has a willpower, that is capable of being exercised free from the wills of these evil spirits, and you will see how true this is when you remember that he can exercise that willpower, free and independent from the will of God Himself. So I say that these thoughts and desires may and do originate in man, free and independent of the will or influence of any evil spirit; and in fact, these spirits commonly are attracted to him only because of evil thoughts that he has originated.

And so, if man would have this progress that I speak of, he should endeavor to have good and pure thoughts and desires. Then he will attract to him spirits who are good and pure, and their influences will help him to a wonderful degree in strengthening and increasing these thoughts, thereby making it less and less likely that evil thoughts will arise in his brain, or evil desires in his affections. And while man may originate these thoughts and desires, he must know as a truth that this progress is not dependent upon himself alone; for when he is in that condition to attract the good spirits, they will invariably come to him and render their help, and it will prove to be a wonderful and never-failing help.

Now man’s thoughts and desires are not only the result of something that comes from within himself, and of which he may not be aware; for most frequently these thoughts and desires are the result of an objective influence that comes to him by way of his ordinary senses, which then creates or suggests the thought or desire. Without going into details you will understand what I mean, but as a mere illustration: a glass of whiskey may and does suggest, to a man who likes whiskey, the thought and desire that he should take a drink, and thereby brings into operation his will, which is followed by the act of drinking. And so with many other objects which a man meets in the course of his daily life; and these thoughts and desires arise not only from seeing objects, but also from feeling and tasting them, etc.

And again, these objective suggestions (causing these thoughts and desires) arise and exist, not only from the real object sensed, but also from words and thoughts which are expressed by other human beings in the course of conversations, or in books and literature; and when they come in this way, they are frequently more effective than in any other. As these objective words and thoughts enter the mind of man, they create similar thoughts, which frequently become intensified as they attract evil spirits of like thoughts, with their degenerating influences. Hence, the importance of a man avoiding companionship where such communications take place, and books and literature where such suggestions are made. It has been well said that evil communications corrupt good manners; and I may add that such communications corrupt good thoughts, and produce evil desires, and retard the progress and development of the soul in its natural love.

So the plain lesson to be drawn from all this is that man must, in the first place, make the effort to have only good and pure thoughts and desires from his inner self; and next, he must avoid those objects and associations that tend to cause to arise in him these evil thoughts; and thirdly, he must learn the truth, that when he has these evil thoughts, he attracts to himself spirits of evil, who by their influence, can and do, intensify these evil thoughts and desires.

I know, as regards this last mentioned truth, that the majority of men have no knowledge of its existence; but it is time that they should learn that such a danger to their soul’s progression does exist, and is always imminent. And they should learn this other fact: that when their thoughts are pure and free from defilement, they have surrounding them the influence of good spirits, who work to increase and make permanent their good thoughts; and as these good thoughts continue, the natural love, develops towards its pristine condition of purity, and man comes nearer to his designed condition of existence.

This development may also be helped very much by man doing acts of charity and kindness, and by observing the golden rule; for every act of charity and kindness and self sacrifice for the sake of others, has its reflex action in his own condition of love and soul, and helps their development. In short, the observance by man of all the moral laws (which are many and varied) tends to bring about the development of the natural love. And as this development proceeds, the tendency to indulge in the perverted appetites of the flesh, as they are called, will disappear; and as it disappears, this love of course becomes purer and sweeter, and brings man nearer to his state of perfection. And again, the meditation upon spiritual things, and the outflowing of this love towards the Father will cause this progression.

For while all men, as we have said, do not seek for the divine love, yet as all men are children of God, He helps them, to the full extent of their desires, towards happiness, and the perfecting of this natural love with which He endowed them at their creation. Upon their will and aspirations depends the nature of the help which the Father gives to them, but always He gives His help and blessings, and to the fullest extent possible. God’s desire is that all men shall become perfected in that love which they possess, and which they seek for—and the natural love, in its qualities, may become just as perfect in man as may the divine love in its qualities. Each is just as much in harmony with God’s universe, in its respective qualities, as is, the other.

So I say, man is helped, and more than in any other way, by his meditations on the higher things of his being, and by prayer and aspirations to the Father, who hears the prayers of the man who has only this natural love (and answers them), just as He does the prayers of the man who has the divine love in his soul.

Ultimately all sin and evil will be eradicated from the universe, and man, even in his mere natural love, will become pure and perfected and happy.

I have tried, in my inefficient way, to show man how he may progress in the development of his natural love; and if he will follow my advice, he will succeed. For as man, by the indulging of these perverted appetites of the flesh, and through the exercise of his willpower, fell to a low degree of degeneracy, so can he, by ceasing to indulge in these perverted appetites, and by the exercise of that same willpower, rise again to a condition of purity in his natural love. And always he has the help of the Father and the good spirits in his efforts to recover his lost estate. And also, he has the memory of the experience and result of his fall, which he may not be conscious of, but which in his inner self has an existence, and is continually working.

Well, my dear brother, I must stop. I feel that you have taken my message very successfully. Read it over and correct errors of construction.

I will come soon and write again.
Your brother in Christ, Luke

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