I AM HERE. A. G. Riddle.

Let me write a short time tonight, as I see that you are anxious to hear from some of your friends in the spirit world. I have not written for a long time, though I have been desirous to do so, and tonight will say only a few words in reference to my progress and happiness in my condition as a Celestial spirit. For I am now in the Celestial Heavens and know the truth of many things that have been written to you.

It is a little difficult for me to recite to you the wonders of these heavens, and the perfect happiness that is enjoyed by those spirits who have found their home and abiding place in the many mansions that Jesus spoke of while in the flesh. You must know that heaven is a place as well as a condition, notwithstanding the fact that so many of the Spiritualists teach that it is only a condition or state of the soul. No, this is not all of the Truth, but is a great part of the Truth; for the condition of the soul determines just what heaven it shall occupy and find its harmony and happiness in. But the All-Loving Father has provided that the soul shall have a place, corresponding to its condition, in which it may live and progress. If heaven were only a state of the soul, then it would not be a real, existing thing, with the substance and reality that the soul, even in its state of bliss, must have as a necessary accompaniment to the enjoyment of what the Father has provided for its true condition of living.

Heaven, as a place, is real and independent of the state of the soul, though it is necessary for the soul to be in a corresponding state in order that it may enter into this heaven and fully realize that it has a home suitable for its condition and enjoyment.

If it, I mean heaven, were not a real, objective and perceptible place, then the soul would be limited by its own very narrow condition, as I may say, and confined to the limits of its own state. It would be separated from the states of other souls without the social intercourse that makes heaven a place of such happiness and contentment. Every soul would then be in the condition of the ascetic in human life, and introspection and contemplation would be the source and only means of possible bliss. And knowledge of those things that are spoken of as beyond the heart of man to conceive of, and which are truly and certainly provided by the Father's Love for the continuous and never ending progress of the soul towards higher and greater enjoyment, would have no real, conscious existence in that soul.

As man's condition of soul in his earth life determines his heaven, the soul being provided with those surroundings and material things that are intended to make him happy, so in the heavens are material things provided to enable the soul of man to better enjoy its own condition. The things of heaven are not all spiritual, as conceived by so many men, but are partly composed of the material of the universe. They are so constituted and formed as to supply the desires and wishes of the soul with that which will satisfy the soul's longings for beauty and harmony and perfect enjoyment. In the several heavens are homes, real and substantial, suited to the states of the souls and differing as those states differ in their requirements.

These material things are not subjective, as so many mortals teach, but are as objective as are the things of earth; and they are the objects of sight and touch and of the other spiritual senses.

When I desire to go into a city and indulge my desires, I find a city with streets and avenues and houses and other things that belong to a city, just as you mortals of earth do when you visit your cities. This is also so when I desire to go into the country and enjoy the fields and hills and streams and gardens. They are all here, real and existing, and are not the subjects of mere thoughts or a reflection of the state of my soul. And when I am absent from city or country, that city or country continues to exist in all its beauty and magnificence just as truly as when I am present.

Men must know that the soul requires these material things in its heavenly life, and has them, just as a soul requires the material things of earth when enveloped in a body of flesh. While the condition of the soul determines its place of living, yet, that place is also existing and real, and awaits the coming of that soul in a condition of harmony. In these heavens, there is nothing nebulous or impalpable, or only a reflection or image of the souls condition, but everything is real and substantial, and as lasting as the eternal hills. And when the soul finds a habitation, it is not the effect of its own condition, but a place already prepared for the habitation of that soul in accord with its true condition. Otherwise, heaven would be a place of confusion and of appearances and disappearances, with no stability or abiding qualities; and the many mansions, spoken of by Jesus as existing in his Father's House, would have no real, permanent being, but would be dependent for their creation and existence upon the mere state of the soul. The mansions are there and do not change. And whether or not they shall have occupants depends upon the harmony of souls in their correspondence with the harmony of God's Laws creating these mansions.

I have written you this short description of the heavens, as based upon my knowledge and experience, devoid of speculation or metaphysical musings.

I AM GLAD THAT I COULD WRITE YOU AGAIN. I AM VERY HAPPY, AND KNOW THAT THE DIVINE LOVE OF THE FATHER IS A REAL AND TRANSFORMING THING, AND THE ALL-SUFFICIENT THING TO CREATE IN THE SOULS OF MEN AND OF SPIRITS THAT STATE WHICH WILL ENABLE THEM TO HAVE AND ENJOY THE MANSIONS OF THE FATHER IN THE HIGHEST HEAVENS.

I will not write more now. Good night.

Your friend and brother in Christ,

A. G. RIDDLE.