It was wonderful to note the ministrations of spirits to those in
other less fortunate states--especially to those in Earthly forms.
Wherever the ties of consanguinity were also of real affection the
spirit guardians of the household responded to the “call,” perhaps only
a thought, a longing, or a silent prayer for aid and strength, or a
_need_ unknown to the one ministered unto.
Time is not a factor on the spirit side, the response to a need--an
aspiration, a prayer is instantaneous. Where there seems to be delay,
and often doubt in the minds of those on Earth as to the presence and
ministration of the loved one who has been summoned, it is because of
Earthly barriers, because those in the human state cannot perceive--and
many, alas, are not willing to receive the spirit friend. I saw that
the usual barriers are: Uncontrolled, selfish grief--mourning for the
one who has “passed on” and often forgetting the other dear ones of the
household who are left; seeking for the communion to forward a purely
_selfish_ purpose; and, in general, the obstruction of false education,
theological and material, through which the spiritual faculties have
been closed for generations.
When human hands and hearts, even though the latter is wrung by pain,
seek to _help others_ who are in sorrow or need, then the way is opened
and the _helpers_ are helped by the ministering ones.
To mourn the friend as utterly “gone” who has only dropped the
outer garments of the dust is to close, for the time, the avenue of
communication or ministration. Long must the spirit helpers work and
wait for people to be ready to receive their response to the call for
aid. So many did I see who could not reach the recognition of their
loved ones that I wished _over_ and _over_ again _that there were more
real_ “_Message bearers_,” more to give comfort to those that mourn!
And then the Presence answered: “Not all are ready to whom the Messages
now are given, nor are those protected adequately who are the chosen
Instruments for Message bearing, but the seed is being sown and will
take root in thousands of lives.”