An address given by the Christ messenger Zodiac through the deep trance mediumship of Miss Winifred Moyes under the auspices of Keighley Psychical Society, at Temperance Hall, Keighley, England, on September 3rd, 1933.
(Note: This message was edited for a more general readership)
"Saviour Christ, into thy hands I commend the spirit of this thy child...
"My dear children, my heart is full of joy to come once again into these conditions and as it were, to gather together the threads of your life and to present them to the One Who loves you best. When you are free from the body, it will give you a joy that no Earth-words can express, to come back in this same way and do your little part ministering to those who know naught of Peace, to comfort and give a measure of illumination, and to spread over the conditions Divine Peace, the gift of the Saviour Himself.
"At the outset I would explain that although I use this Instrument to speak to those in the physical body, because God is a Gracious Giver He has made it possible that I open - at the same time - other conditions, saying to the once lost sheep: 'Come nearer to the Eternal Fold'.
"There is not one occasion when I have used this instrument, that missionary work on larger scale has not been accomplished. For God has given the power, and those who have gathered together, by their dedication and their wish to learn, have made it possible for harmony so to prevail, that many souls - once wanderers - have wandered no more, but have set themselves to work for the coming of the Kingdom.
"Tonight, dear children, I will speak to you on practical lines and converse with the Greater Mind within, leading you out of things material into those which last for evermore. So I speak upon: 'The Riches Of The Earth', and before we part, I know there will be some who will have found for themselves that the true riches of the Earth have not been rightly understood.
"At this season of the year, the thought of harvest is in the minds of many. You look out over the pleasant fields. Your eyes travel up over the brow of the distant hills, and as you gaze upon God's Handiwork, as you call Nature, it seems to you that this world of yours is a beautiful place to live in. The Father has given unto you many good gifts - the beautiful blue sky, vegetation in many forms, the sweet flowers, the songs of the birds and the gentle rain which nourishes the Earth. Yet, even in thinking so, there are many who exclaim: 'Yes these things are beautiful, but there is great poverty all around. If God is your Father, why does He not help us to find the toil which will bring us the material means which we must have?'
"There are many who argue thus, but they overlook a great and important fact: Has man, as a whole, done his part to contribute to the toil of the earth, so that the earth can respond in that measure which God intends?
"Why is it that there are many barren fields? Why is it that there are great tracts of land which are untilled? And the answer comes that the inclination of man - in this day - is to forsake God's open spaces for the crowded cities. So it is that Nature mourns. Man has forgotten his duty to God's humbler creations, and in time, by forsaking the duty that lies at hand, and by turning the heart and the mind towards that which seems of greater worth - the amusements and the distractions of today - so there comes into operation the great law of retribution.
"Men, bound by earthly thoughts, have employed their energies to set into being machines which shall do away with human labour. Machines of great utility - so it seems to the uninitiated - which shall prove that the children of the Earth are second in skill, second in toil, second in capacity, to turn out that which man calls the finished article.
"I want you to think about this: There are those who regard machinery as man's greatest enemy. But I say that that is not wise - it is only one aspect of a great truth. There are machines which can minister to man's needs, machines which can turn the soil and bring peace and prosperity to this favoured land.
"But no, the thoughts of the individual have been fixed on other things. The minds of so many have been employed to turn out that which shall bring to them the money of the realm. And, again, so much vitality has been squandered to promote that which shall make terrible wars possible and bring success to the wayward ones who brought them to pass.
"Oh think, dear children: I know what it is to have experienced a greater poverty than is possible today. I was turned out of the sacred Temple because I would not deny Christ, and sent as an old man to wander over the hills and through the villages, not knowing where the next meal might come from.
"So I speak to you as a man who understands, as one who has suffered, as one who has hungered. True, I found not the things of the Earth, but I found the Riches of the Spirit. I found the Bread of Life which no man could deny me. I found a peace which nothing of the earth could bring or take away.
"Thus you have my presence amongst you to pass on something of my own experience - to give unto you the comfort of explanation, and the joy that can be yours though poverty may hold you fast. Yes my heart goes out to the toilers, to those men and women who have sought to do their best, who have bravely accepted their sentence of dismissal, because I know what it means - I know.
"So I speak to you on The Riches Of The Earth, seeking to show you that even though no riches in man's sense are your own, around you there are those riches of the Earth which in God's good time, are transmuted into The Riches Of The Spirit.
"Peace be unto you, dear children in distress. Today in other lands there is a greater poverty and a greater distress, but you do not know it. Yet I say that by seeking to raise your thoughts above your material cares, you are sending strength and comfort to your brothers and sisters in distant China and far off India, for we are one great family in Love.
"Let us think for a while upon the riches of the Earth. The tools of the mind which, when rightly employed, build up around the individual a power which shall show him as a conqueror, when the body is no more. There are men - and I thank God for it - who are using their energies to promote a better condition of affairs upon the Earth-plane. They are using their vitality so that their brothers and sisters may have ameliorations for the pains of the body; and may have tools of utility which shall make the labour of the day easier in a measure.
"These men, in the degree that they work for humanity out of love for mankind, are creating a kingdom all their own, into which they shall pass when the body is no more.
"Then there are other kinds of riches. There is no one so powerful, no one so highly honoured, no one so intellectual, who would not exchange his gifts for those riches which are blessed by God - the capacity of the individual to attract the love and the understanding of others. There is many a poor man who is rich in love. There is many a man with a home devoid of earthly comfort, who would not exchange that empty room for the finest palace without the love of his wife and child. And I say to those men that they are not far from the Kingdom of God.
"They have a true sense of values. They know that the riches of the Earth cannot be counted by earthly possessions. They know that the riches of the Earth are represented by something which money cannot buy, nor which all the power in the world can rest from them - the love of a little child, the love of a faithful woman, the love of an honourable friend.
"There are so-called businessmen - men with ability - who spend their energies on acquiring the treasures of the Earth, yet at the same time they throw away that mighty possession love, which God has sent into their midst. Why is this? Because they are still in the child-stage, because they put the things of the Earth before those sweet riches which God has given unto them, and even when the body holds, they take their way in a spiritual poverty.
"They had offered to them the most precious gift of all: The love and loyalty of others. But their thoughts were chained to the Earth. They saw not the beauty of pure love, but were hypnotized by the tawdry trappings of physical things. They sold God's greatest gift to appease their lesser self, and as paupers in Love, they take their way until they pass beyond the Veil. Then their anguish is great indeed.
"Oh, think what it means to a soul to pass into those realms where Truth must be faced, and to see what their selfishness has done, to see what their folly has worked in. For the only tool of utility when we are free, is the tool of Love, the only strong link with those in an Earth-body is the link of Love which was built up between us when we were with them, or the Love we have been able to create around them since we have passed into Spirit Realms.
"How many are there - while the body holds - who by the angry word, by the unjust thought and lack of spiritual generosity, slowly kill that sweet plant of Love which would bloom in the heart of another? So extravagant it seems to us, such recklessness with spiritual values. Yet, during your daily life you see this taking place all around you. For the sake of satisfying self-will, for the sake of dominating the mind or actions of another, there are men and women in the body who cast away the greatest gift of all - the gift which they will have to slave for to bring back, when their eyes are opened in the realms of Spirit.
"So today, as we converse together upon The Riches of the Earth - and I know your thoughts, and I am able to respond to those which God Wills - we lift our minds above the sunny cornfields. We turn from the fruit-laden trees. We ignore the desire for those possessions which shall make us honoured in the eyes of another, and we try to think what we shall feel like when we pass out of dimness into the Land where earthly ambition is unknown. And I include myself, because it is my joy and privilege to re-live the Earth-experience with many who are still in the body - to feel their pains, to share their anxieties. So I delight in using that word 'we', because it shows we are linked together in aim and in purpose.
"Think about when you pass out of things material, what will you see? The aspiring soul will see a beauty that the Earth cannot hold. The aspiring soul will see flowers which his eyes have never rested upon. He will be taken through sunny plains. He will pass over great waters of Peace and they will not engulf him. He will be able to stretch out his hand, and lo, under his hand will arise beauty and melody and a thousand things which you cannot understand at this time. Yes, the aspiring soul will pass into a glory that the earth-world cannot portray, because there is no parallel.
"But there is one thing which holds the attention of the aspiring soul above everything else, and that is his own aura and the light which surrounds his soul-body. As he looks and sees its many colours of rainbow hues, he asks himself: 'Why this beauty and power?' But as he looks at the auras of the Holy Ones who come to meet him, he sees that in comparison, the light around his own soul-body is more like darkness. They are like the sun and he is like the moon.
"Quickly the self-satisfaction falls from him and he wonders what he can do to create something of the same light around himself. I would like to speak to you about this, for there are many souls gathered here that shall experience that which I seek to portray.
"Then as the Holy Ones advance to meet the soul who has lately arrived, the stranger feels a wonderful power permeating his whole being - a marvellous lightness. It seems to him that he has gained wings - the wings of progress. He falls upon his knees as if blinded - even as Paul of Tarsus - before the radiance of pure, unselfish Love. For a time he seems like one blinded and numb. Kneeling before Purity he is aghast at his own impurity. Kneeling before Love he is terrified because his own capacity to love is so futile, and it seems to him that he has died again. Yes, the old self is withering from him, even as the husk which shelters the life which in time must give forth of itself.
"So the lately arrived soul, seeking to find his bearings, and wondering what will happen next, kneels before the Grace which is showered upon him, and out of that most vital experience - which is agonizing to some - something is released within, and that is a measure of humility. The first stage of self-realization has been experienced and, trembling like a little child, he turns for strength to those who seem so strong, and as he meets the bright smile and the tender look of Love bestowed upon him, something of confidence returns - not confidence in himself, but confidence in them - he arises and asks to be taught how to live as Christ would have him live.
"Then the soul is taken for a little while to rest - rest in God's Way. He is taken into a condition where he is shown how to break the cords of desire which still hold him to the Earth-plane. Not the cords of Love for they are the Spirit links, but the cords of disappointed ambition. The remembrance of the one who did him harm. The regret because another was more successful than himself.
"As he can bear it, his eyes are opened a little more, and he is able to see from his condition of Peace into the conditions of turmoil which the Earth represents. And as he watches the Earth-children, running to and fro', so that they may not think about God and His Holy Purpose - as he watches all that foolish squandering of power - he sees how unworthy he was of his greater self, and he prays: 'Father, help me to be free!' And in time, by his earnest prayer, the last fragile links with the Earth-plane are severed, and he knows something of true Peace at last.
"My dear children, there are many who teach that the life in the Spirit World is like a glorified palace of pleasure, where man draws unto himself all those things which are linked to his earthly desires - possessions, powers and gifts. But I say that is not so in the realms which are pure Spirit - that is the plane of temptation, and those things which appear so beautiful only hide the terrible disease of selfishness beneath.
"The newly released soul who aspired to better things while the physical body held, feels surging within him a strange power and a marvellous vitality. His mind seems clearer, and he is able to think in a wider orbit than was possible when he had the use of the physical mind. As his thoughts go out they pass far beyond himself. He is able to see something of the past and his own record; and, what is still more important, what influence his record has had upon the lives of others.
"As he dissects and unravels, something approaching fear holds his being. Once again he sees those times when he was weak; how he cast out upon the conditions waves of weakness which another brother or sister, not as advanced as himself, found too much to be resisted. As he watches the career of that one and sees his or her fall, the cry is wrung from him: 'Oh God, did I do that?' And the voice of conscience answers him: 'Yes'. But he can rectify all by the Father's grace.
"The second stage of self-realization has fallen upon him and he feels within himself: 'I can bear no more!' But the angels cluster around and pour over him their strength, and again he reads something of reassurance from their glad countenances. They say unto him: 'You shall be strong - out of the pangs you endure your spiritual strength shall be released!' And the soul prays to God: 'Make me as Thou would have me be!' Then with his mind released by that which he has seen, and his soul-body charged with the vitality drawn to him by his greater consciousness, another instinct is released, and he turns to his guides and says unto them: 'Why do I stay here? I must work out the past and start at once!'
"This is the first stage, my children, of life in the true realms of Spirit. The aspiring soul does not want the beauty that is around him until he feels he has earned it. He is no longer satisfied because his body seems far more beautiful than the earthly body which he wore. He is no longer pleased because his mind is more powerful, because his sight is so strong that he can look from one plane to another. No, he cries: 'Why am I so unlike these glorious ones of God?'
"So, dear children, I speak unto you concerning the riches of the Earth, and I say that you will pass through that thin veil, over the shallow river of so-called death, and you will find that my words are true. If there are any here who pass into a condition where they are surrounded with flattery, where there are those who say: 'Well done!', then I say to them now: Take warning from those words. You will not be in the Spirit realms. You will still be held to the conditions of the astral, and the tempters are close at hand.
"Therefore, let it be that while the body holds, you build up those riches of the Spirit. Think of your pains and say unto yourselves: 'They are hard to bear, but they are going to represent my health and my strength in the Next Stage to come.' When you open your empty purse, do not allow your brow to reveal anxiety, but think again within yourselves: 'My cupboard may seem empty, but my home is filled with angel visitors, and their companionship will give me the Bread of Life, which shall never pass away!'
"Oh, I want you to consider these things. When your employers torture you by their harshness, or by their lack of justice, tell yourselves again: 'Yes, they are powerful now, but through the blows I am building around myself power for the time to come!' Then the tears will not fall fast and the angry thoughts will die down. Then the Peace of God will descend upon you, and you will thank Him that you have been extricated from those riches of the Earth, which are never transmuted into the riches of the Spirit.
"My dear children, I yearn over you, for I know your lives, I know your struggles. I know that at times it seems that God has forgotten your plight. But that is the reverse of Divine Truth. The Father knows that you have something of endurance within. The Father knows that you have the makings of a pilgrim. The Father knows that the time will come when, freed from the physical body, you will be seen by others 'wrapped' in pure white built up by your struggles and endeavours; by the hoping to be brave when fear - like a vice - was clutching your heart.
"Therefore I say: 'Be of good cheer'. Let those around you be shown - for their own enlightenment - that you have your eyes upon a far greater treasure than anything on the Earth can give; that your thoughts are linked to the One Who Loves you best; that your hope is on God's Fair Land.
"Many pass out into a terrible poverty and desolation. No blossoms of the Earth can be seen by their blinded eyes, although God's ministers are there to help them when their help is accepted. Many a so-called rich man and rich woman wander as one forsaken in planes of twilight until, at last, by their suffering, there springs up within them a sweeter thought, the desire for Love in Love's true sense.
"Then turn to your own homes, to the ones you love and who love you so well, and think to yourselves: 'How foolish I have been, I have the riches of the Earth - those riches which I would not exchange for all the possessions the world could give!' Then when you are free from limitations and restrictions, you will pass out of the things that seem, into reality itself, with a joyous heart.
"Dear children, remember these few words. Lay them upon your heart, and when you think of the land of Spirit, do not allow anyone to deceive you. Say to those who rest in beautiful gardens, to those who have piled up around them representations of the riches of the Earth: 'The Master walked in poverty. Why are you not walking in His steps? Why are you not giving of your gifts to others? Why are you not working for the coming of the Kingdom?'
"And because you are strong for them, because you directed that they should inquire if there was something that they might do, in time they will be released from that which held. They will pass through gardens which will seem to them like the Celestial Realms, but they will not stay.
"They will gather the power which is all around, and come back into the Earth-conditions, or into those conditions which are still more bound than the Earth, and seek to raise and release, to be like missionaries unto those who have lost their way into the land of Peace. These are the sons and the daughters of God in the true sense. These are the ones that you want those you love to represent. And this is what you want to represent yourselves when you are free.
"So, dear children, by patiently taking the Earth-way and seeking to serve your Neighbour; by thinking kind thoughts, and by sending out that healing power which is stored within, so you will build up the riches of the Spirit.
"Then when the experience of physical death takes place, lo, around you, you will see that the riches of the Earth, by the touch of God, have been transmuted into the riches of the Spirit. And close at hand you will find the tools which you need to do God's sweet Work. You will have the power, you will have the skill. You will have within you that missionary capacity which will allow you to go to those who are indeed like animals, and say unto them: 'I will help you and you shall be free'.
"Children, there is no joy upon the Earth, and there is no other joy in the Heavens, like the joy which comes to a soul when he finds that by his efforts and suffering, by his hoping, he has been able to set one bound soul free from that which held. And to watch that soul progress up the steep mountain side which leads into the planes of Love and Light and Understanding.
"Tonight I bless the Workers. Here we have that created by their Holy thoughts which shall stand them in good stead in time to come. And when the Earth-body is no more, in the degree that they remained faithful to the highest and the best, so the Master shall set them to work anew, and that which they desire shall be accomplished by his Grace.
"I say to all those who have been gathered in - the seen and the unseen - that tonight there has been drawn down upon each one the power of the Holy Spirit, even like 'tongues of fire'. If there is anyone here who has not felt that power, then I entreat them to pray so that something of release may take place. For each one must in time follow the same steep way to God. Each one must take up his cross, and each one - willing or unwilling to obey the behest of the Spirit within - is linked to God. And there is no real happiness and no real peace until the vibrations of the Father hold him fast.
"So I take my leave. By the Power of God I bless you with that great gift of seeking to raise another. I bless you with the capacity to soar on the wings of progress above the material, and to contact with the realms of Spirit. I bless you with the determination to do your little best, knowing that what is little can be turned into that which is great. Knowing that God loves to give, and He loves His little children to be willing to take the things that never pass away.
"Peace be unto you - the peace of working out the Divine Plan. All is well, and God's Power and Love shall be demonstrated for His little children to see and to acclaim. The riches of the Earth and the riches of the Spirit have been ours tonight, and they can remain with each and every one, if you will. Farewell."
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