June 12, 1995

• Human life is a school

• The importance of the present and its assurance about the future

• Reincarnation

• The expression of love as evidence of spiritual activity

God blesses this collection of souls. It is indeed a wonderful gathering for it represents a union of spiritual planes. It is a union with our plane and with yours. We include yours as a spiritual plane even though you experience physical life, for the purpose of that life is the enhancement of the spiritual essence of which you are all a part.

There are indeed too few times when human beings truly assemble for the purpose of spiritual growth. For many who attend a formal service of worship of whatever religious conviction, that experience is a mere exercise. It does not dig deeply into the soul and illuminate the physical life. But the opportunities that you provide one another as you find times to gather together do provide an opportunity to focus your thoughts and prayers and your expressions of love on the spiritual reality of all life, whether physical on your plane or strictly spiritual on ours.

Our two planes are very different, of course, for ours is only spiritual. There is no physical component, but your lives contain two halves: one which is temporary and essential and one which is eternal and also essential. Each half of your plane benefits by the presence of the other. Human life is indeed a school. It is a learning environment. It is an opportunity to attempt and fail and attempt again and ultimately find success. It is a plane of challenges and a plane of insights. It is a plane of injustice as well as selfless love.

There is so much that is presented to you to experience, to revel in, to endure, to find sustenance and discouragement in. It is a very unique opportunity. All of you are continually growing in your recognition of the truth of that opportunity.

Many go through life experiencing only one half of what is offered. They experience the physical life bathed in the conviction that there is nothing more, that there is nothing of greater significance. It is the here, it is the now, it is the present that is all important. The paradox of that belief is that there is a kernel of truth to it, and that truth is that the present is important, for it is how you greet the present, how you work with the present, how you cope with the present, how you celebrate the present that influences and gives shape to the future, the future of your spiritual selves. You cannot ignore the importance of the present. It is really all you have that you can latch onto. Certainly you have memories and recollections, and those memories are important, but they are always viewed from the perspective of the present, and without the filter of the present, the memories of the past have no bearing on the potentials of the future.

The present is indeed the gateway leading from the past to the future. Without a present, there is no door to the future. There is only the past that can be observed. Your lives therefore can rightly be centered on the present, but that centering, that value of the present is given meaning because of the hope that belongs to the future. Your present lives have little meaning unless there is the conviction of the future. By recognizing the past and the position of the past and present together, you learn of the existence of the future.

Consider, if you will, the changes in your perception of life that have taken place in the period of 20 or 30 years. Much has been revealed to you. You have witnessed a growth, not just physical, but a growth in attitude, a growth in perspective, a growth in the respect which is due to all others. There is an evolution of sorts which you can witness as you look to the past. By recognizing the importance of the present, you acknowledge that evolution that has taken place. With that acknowledgment how can you deny the reality of a future?

If you acknowledge your spiritual growth as observed over the past, you should be reaffirmed in your conviction of the spiritual growth of the future. The present is only a stage in that growth, and that stage is constantly changing. You are not the same people you were last week. You are really not the same person you were yesterday. If you can recognize how you viewed life yesterday and any insights you have acquired today, you may be given faith in the continued spiritual development of the future.

Life is a continuum, but that implies that it is always present. There is no time when it was initiated, for that would break the logic of the continuum. A continuum has no beginning. It has no end. It is in a constant state of evolving.

And so it is with each of you. You are constantly evolving. Whether or not a physical change to a spiritual being is imminent has no effect on the evolving of the soul. It continues to evolve.

This permanence of the soul you must believe. You cannot see clearly into the future, but you can recognize its reality by observing the past from the position of the present. No logic would lead one to believe that an evolution of the soul, the development which takes place, stops when you are in human form. Why shouldn’t it continue? It is only logical that it does.

We see that continuity, of course. You cannot see that continuity, but you can recognize that it is absolutely logical. There is a truth that cannot be denied, and that truth should give you faith. When you are faced with challenges, your vision of that truth is the source of courage to pass through the challenges and to become strengthened by them. Your soul is indeed stronger as a result of the experiences that you encounter.

For souls of individuals who are given a relatively brief human life, they are given additional opportunities. They must be given those opportunities for they must reach a certain level of development that can only be reached through human life.

You can all have faith in the belief of the act of reincarnation for it is absolutely a fact of living. The nature of that reincarnation differs from soul to soul according to that soul’s needs. You will never know whether you have reached the level that you should reach in human life, for such knowledge would then result in a cessation of growth. The uncertainty of not knowing whether there is greater depth that you should reach or not keeps you reaching. It keeps you striving for greater insight into the meaning of life and the importance of spirit. This striving strengthens the spirit and enhances the life of others.

In the end, of course, you don’t serve others because you think there’s more growth needed for your own soul. You serve others because you are growing. It is a natural outgrowth of that development. You express your love to another because you are filled with love. You cannot express love out of duty. You express love because it is a natural expression. You offer love because that’s what love does. It is never given because of some intellectual construct that says “show love to another.” Certainly we urge you to look for opportunities for serving others and for helping to strengthen the life of another, but your actions in that regard are really not carried out because of urgings from us. We are merely emphasizing that such an outreach is important.

When you recognize how you reach out to another, you are giving witness in your own life to your spiritual resources. When you doubt those resources, look back upon how you have given strength to another, how you have reaffirmed another. That is the evidence of your spiritual activity. That is the witness to the growth that you all seek. That growth is more easily seen, therefore, by looking backward, and that vision provides the means of understanding the continuity of what lies ahead.

You have all learned much about compassion, about what it means to be loving, about what it means to be unselfish. Think upon those experiences and rejoice in your renewed sense of spiritual growth.

You are together not by accident. You are together because there is much each of you is able to provide the other. In the past you have given and shared and supported one another on many levels. That loving interaction certainly will continue. There is great strength among you, and there is great strength within the unit of your gathering.

We encourage you to continue to seek out opportunities for reaching toward another, for supporting the needs of everyone who is assembled as well as those who do not share in this experience. When you support one another, you are more often than not aware of the benefits that are received. When you support those outside this gathering, you may be less aware, but the effect is still positive. You can enhance the lives of everyone for whom you pray. The strength is yours for each of you to give.

There are times when you feel you are unable to give, that you must only receive, and that is okay. It is not a steady stream of reaching outward and responding outward. It is an important component of your spiritual growth to be open to receive the love of others. Welcome those opportunities for they give evidence of what a loving life can be. Rejoice in that loving life and rejoice in your ability to give and to receive.

Your lights are strong. There is a great vibrancy to your spiritual presence. We draw strength from your presence, and we thank you for your gift of love and faith offered to us and to each other. We reaffirm the permanence of life. We reaffirm the permanence of love, and we give witness to each of you the constant and present warmth of God.

We bless you with God’s presence and our thanks.

Amen.