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 soul's
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.
