April 5, 1995

• A souls’ memory encompasses more than this lifetime

• Past, present, and future time

God's light illuminates your lives and warms your souls, just as the fireplace provides light in the darkness.

When you gathered this evening, much of the discussion related to memories, related to events of the past and their impact on the present. It is important to you to recognize that your soul has a memory, your soul has a history, your soul has had experiences far beyond the limitations imposed by the beginning of human life. You are who you are because of what has happened in your soul's history. You are who you are because your souls remember the past. They learn from the past just as they learn from human life.

Frequently humans feel that life begins at conception, but truly life began far earlier. Conception was just the beginning of the human form. Certainly life is sacred and we have expressed that to you on numerous occasions, but in a real sense we are talking about Life with a capital "L" that is sacred. The human portion of life is but a small part. It, too, is of course sacred, but much that you hear and much that you read seems to emphasize the beginning of life as the beginning of human life. There is no acknowledgment that it is merely the continuation of a life.

Your souls bring experiences from earlier spiritual life, and in many cases, prior human lives. So the soul does have a memory of sorts, a memory that is applied because it helps to govern your lives based upon its own understanding. That understanding goes back much further than anyone can comprehend. But just as your soul draws from its past, each of you in your human form must draw from your own past.

You are the product of your earlier human life. In this life, you are the product of your childhood and your young adult years. But this experience of being as a result of what you have encountered is actually a part of the continuum. By that it is meant that you are a part of your own future. It is an obvious comment, but it is one which is difficult to fully comprehend, for it implies considerable responsibility on your part.

You are, each of you, responsible for your future. Certainly there are events outside your ability to control, but much that lies ahead for you is the result of what you do now, of what you think and what you value, of what you attempt and what you achieve, of what you believe in, what you hope for, what you have faith in, what you pray for. Your lives at this point are vital and must be valued and respected. It means that you take every day and observe it and respond to it with your eyes and your soul and your heart wide open. Be willing to embrace what happens in this day so that you may learn from it for tomorrow.

The criminals that are active in society are part of life. They live for the moment. They live with a hope for the future, just as the saints hope for the future and draw from their own past. What differs between the negative and positive elements of society is the value of priority in life and the recognition of what is really important.

As you look back upon your own lives, there are events that loom large, that serve as signposts, indicating the direction your life is taking you from one place to another. There are differences among you in what is important. It is with the means by which you measure what is important that concerns us on our side, for we are dedicated to helping you recognize what is vital and what is of lesser significance. By focusing your prayers and thoughts upon what is really valuable, you learn from those experiences, and the nature of your life becomes enriched.

It is by a past recognition of those important experiences that you develop a vision for the future. It is by remembering that you learn to look forward. The quality of your future is dependent upon your recognition of the past. We suggest you focus your efforts and attention on the memory of what is important. It will help you to recognize the direction your lives are moving in. With that recognition you are in a better position to view where it is you wish to go.

Your life is of course a continuum, but even within that state of continuity, there is a clearly defined direction. If you feel as you remember that those moments of greatest importance were indeed not very significant, such memory should help you to formulate in your mind what is significant so that you can help fine tune the direction of your human lives and the nurturing of your spiritual lives.

The past is indeed important for you. Without the past there is no future. Without learning from the past, one stands still. Without a recognition of your own growth that has taken place, there is no acknowledgment of any growth. For you to see your own growth, you must see evidence of it. It is not enough just to know that you are growing, that you are evolving. It is far better to know in what direction you are growing, how you are evolving, and what it is in your lives that focuses this growth, this development in a particular direction.

You learn the value of prayer often times through hindsight, but recognizing that value, you are more willing to apply prayer to the present and future. If you saw no benefit of prayer, you would not pray. If you have no recognition of the benefit of faith, why have faith? Merely being told that faith is important is no grounds for its exercise. You become faithful because you have exercised faith in the past and you recognized its value. We are speaking here of recognition, of memory, of an acknowledgment of the past, that it may enhance your present and provide guidance for the future.

In a sense we, your guides, are a part of your past, for we live within a spiritual plane just as you have lived within a spiritual plane. We are both your past and your future, for you began your development as spiritual entities and you will continue your development in the spirit form. There is a complete circle here. Your acknowledgment of our existence, your faith in our presence indeed provides a sense of your own future.

If you are aware of the reality of spiritual life, then you are aware of the reality of the spiritual life in the future. That recognition is equivalent to your recognition of human experiences in the past and the potential for human experiences in the future. Your experiences in the past provide meaning to what you do now, and what you do now provides a perspective lending direction to your own future. So in this way you are responsible for your own future.

Your guides are fully aware of the nature of your lives before you began your human life. We see your past. It is not an issue of time for us, for your past exists with your present. They are all the same thing. You are what you were, and you are what you will be. There is really no past, and because of that we know your soul's character, because that character has been in evolution constantly, and that development is visible to us. It's difficult for us to explain, but if you understand that your past and your future and your present are all part of the same, it is perhaps a little easier to grasp.

The sun seen from a great distance is but a faint star. Your view can encompass its entirety. When you look at a map, you see the representation of a great distance. All can be viewed at one moment, and so it is with your lives, but because you live within the human form, you are generally unable to sense your life prior to human life, and it is beyond your full comprehension to recognize life after your human life. So we know you all very well, and when we speak of the future, we are speaking of the present and the past. We are speaking of one entity.

When we speak of events in your lives, we see you as a complete, whole unit. The future for you is the present for us. In the end, the issue of time becomes meaningless, but each of us has also experienced human life, and we understand the necessity for perceiving life in terms of time—past, present, and future—and living on a human level in a human sphere, elements of time become extremely important. But you must somehow reduce your reliance upon that time and perceive yourselves as whole beings, as strong souls, as free spirits, and allow your lives to nurture the spirit and allow your spirits to nurture your lives.

The concept of memory—past, present, and future—is enormously complex. The bottom line for you is the recognition that you can indeed have a major influence on your own futures and also on the future of others. By supporting another, reaffirming another, you are enhancing the present of another, and thereby enriching the potential for the future of another. The total effect on the soul is one of increased brilliance, both for you and the other.

Indeed, we could say that all of humanity is really not unlike the star perceived from a great distance. The sun is but a speck. The sun and all its complexities, its chemical, physical complexities, is merely but a point of light. It is really a single entity, and that is the totality of human existence. It is a single entity.

You all belong to one another. You all share God's light. You all share worries and pleasures. You are all really united.

We bless this unity of all souls. We bless this unity of past and present and future, this timeless union of God's creation. We bless this with God’s brilliance and loving presence.

Amen.