A WORLD IN TRAVAIL

　　　　A WORLD IN TRAVAIL

　THROUGHOUT the course of the greatest war in history, the noble and encouraging utterances of Silver Birch have sustained many thousands who have read the records of the Hannen Swaffer Home Circle. His words have imparted hope and confidence to many an aching or lonely heart. They have reached soldier and sailor, airman and merchant seaman, the civilian on duty, the A.R.P. worker, the mother guarding her children, the injured and the sick. His teaching has uplifted many who have hoped, prayed and worked for the dawn of a better world.

　The past years have not been easy for the majority of people. There have been times, particularly in the darkest hours of the war, when a touch of hopelessness may have blighted, for a moment, the beliefs in the birth of a more evolved civilisation.

　"I hear you become cynical sometimes about the New World," the guide told us on one occasion. “I can recall that I have always said that tyranny would be overthrown, despots and dictators would fall and the oppressed would come into their own. I said a long time ago that its foundations had been laid, its birth had been heralded by all the agonies of birth. That New World will come slowly, painfully, but it will come.

　"But I wanted you to know at the timeーmany times I have spoken about the New World—that the power of the grasping, greedy, vested interests was shattered to the extent that they could not prevent its coming.

　"I do not mean that the kingdom of heaven on earth will appear overnight. I do not mean that you will awake from your pillows and behold a transformation. I have never meant that, but what I have striven to impart was the paramount idea that liberty was on the move, that new ideas, new but old, were stirring men's minds, that vast dissatisfaction was being felt, even though it was not always articulate.

　"I see signs that make me rejoice amidst all the welter of misery. There are gleams that lighten the dark horizon, gleams of the spirit, pointers to the New World."

　While the panorama of events continued to unfold during the struggle against the enemy, Silver Birch was a spirit commentator on the conflict and its results.

　Asked, on the eve of the Second Front whether he had any-thing to say, the guide spoke these words:  

　"Man pauses just as the most solemn page in the book of history is about to be written. The forces of good and evil are about to grapple with one another, to settle the crucial question as to whether man shall be free or live in slavery.

　"The result is obvious to all who see with the eyes of the spirit, for every attempt throughout the centuries to cast man into the dungeons of tyranny has always failed.

　"Dictatorship contains within itself the seeds of its own down-fall, and those who strut through their lands thinking they are like gods incarnate on earth do not remain for long, for their physical end is surely written in bloodshed and violence.

　"Freedom will rise after having been writhing in agony in lands which have been enslaved and subjugated because the spirit can never be extinguished.

　"There is no power given to any mortal on earth that can extinguish the divine light of the infinite spirit which is within every human being. And so, cowed and beaten, reduced beyond abject serfdom, the spirit refuses to acquiesce because it is con-scious of its innate divinity.

　"It rises, forging the weapons that will bring it liberty and freedom, and so man triumphs and conquers the evil that has arisen and drives away despots and tyrants who threaten and strive to turn back the line of evolution.

　"But always remember that man must be worthy of his place in the universe. If he believes that he is the apex of creation he must show, by his life and by the systems that he builds, that hdeserves to have the dominion which he arrogates to him-self.

　"Let him, therefore, learn his lesson, to build all over the world, to plan those systems where there will be no slavery of body, mind or spirit, where all will dwell in the sunlight of freedom, where all will live in co-operation, in mutual toleration and in the recognition that they are all part of one Great Spirit, all members of a vast spiritual family and that they are in fact a brotherhood of man."

　It was some months after D-Day that Silver Birch gave this spirit view of the war and its effect on the future:

　"A world in turmoil is at the cross-roads of destiny. Nations have been plunged into strife, kings have toppled from their thrones, dictators who proudly strutted through their puny empires have realised that their tyranny is over. Those who languished in the darkness of oppression have seen the light and they have hailed the liberating gleam. All is cast into the melting pot. Old systems have disappeared, men and women have lost their respect for the authority of yesterday and they wonder what tomorrow will bring forth.

　"Millions of ordinary people who have suffered so much, and who have revealed a courage that is unexampled in human history, have shown the heights to which man can attain and what he can endure when shining ideals are held in front of him. In one small epoch you have witnessed the foulest cruelties and the most daring heroism. You have seen both the heights to which man can aspire and the depths to which he can sink. You have seen the triumph of the human spirit and you have seen the foulness of its degradation.

　"Yet these are all aspects of the same human person, for man in both spirit and matter, with each striving to control the human being. Which road is man to follow—the road of the spirit or the road of matter? We live in another world where we no longer possess physical bodies. We do not visualise problems in the light of races or nations, in terms of colour, creed or caste, we do not have the boundaries and limitations that concern you in your world; we see all as human spirits, with the common denominator of divinity that makes them part of one majestic whole.

　"When bodies die man rises as a spiritual being and puts on one side all the restrictions of earth, all that blinded him to his destiny, all the narrowness which made him indulge in needless cruelty, all the petty intolerances and all the selfishness which for so long have been the growing cancers of your world.

　"The lesson is that you are spiritual beings with a spiritual destiny to achieve. You must strive to build your new era on the foundations of spiritual truths, on truths that are truths because they have been demonstrated. With tolerance, with good will, with love, with the desire to serve, with the aim of co-operation, you could have enduring peace and a world fashioned in har-mony. But if you pursue old ideas, if you persist in hatreds, in

the clash of nationalities, in the distinction of race and colour and caste, you will sow the seeds of other wars, for wars are born of hatred, of selfishness, of materialistic self-interest.

　"The same spirit that animated men of noble ideals to cleanse the physical world of tyranny and darkness must animate them in the world which is to follow when the fighting and the strife have ceased; there is no other way. In our world there are millions who have, what you call, made the great sacrifice so that the liberating ideas shall persist. Do not betray them all over again. Remember the idealism which flourished in days of dark-ness, remember the spirit of comradeship when all seemed drear and hopeless.

　"The best can be called out of mankind if you appeal to it. People will respond to the call of service and the desire to make life on earth better, fairer and richer for all. Alas, there are always those actuated by greed and rapacity, who seek naught else but the enrichment of their own lot, who are impervious to human needs, to human ideals and to the divine heritage which each child possesses. On these you must wage war; that is the war that never ends, the war against greed and selfishness, the war against those who seek to thwart man of his destiny and to cheat him of his heritage.

　"The truths that we enunciate are destined not only to bring comfort to those who sorrow in bereavement, but to reveal the fullness of man's stature that could be, the richness of life that he could enjoy and to encourage all those who champion the oppressed and the needy and who desire to make the plenteous bounty of earth's harvest available to all."

　To the members of the circle he used words that all guides would address to their earthly associates: "I am proud of your constancy and of your love throughout all the time of war. We have pursued a difficult task, one that required your co-operation and always it has been forthconing with a faithfulness which I am not sure that I have deserved of any of you.

　"At all times you have made it possible for me to continue that mission which I have promised I would fulfil. I am very grateful for what you have done, because it has enabled many who had lost their way to find a path of certitude and to realise that they had been placed within the sanctuary of knowledge, where they, too, could refresh themselves to enable them to give service to others.

　"Whatever has been achieved falls into insignificance with what is still to be accomplished. Many, many thousands will turn their gaze hopefully, if fearfully, towards you, wondering whether in this direction they will find any measure of comfort in their anxiety, any atom of hope in their despair, any tran-quillity when all seems discord.

　"That is the soil where we labour, where we hope to plant seeds of knowledge that will flower.

　"Let us resume our task conscious that although we are units, we are parts of one whole, and around and about us all, wherever we are, there is a host of liberated souls who see a means of service and who desire to add their knowledge to your world, so that mistakes made in days gone by shall not be repeated and that millions may be able to obtain from their daily lives the beauty that could be theirs and thus enrich the world in which they live. Let us all remember that we are instruments of a great and mighty purpose, directed by love and wisdom, sustained by knowledge and inspiration.

　"May we always strive to be worthy of what we are called upon to do."

　During our sitting held on November 11 of the same year, Silver Birch, in his opening words, said: 

　"First, let us remember those to whom this day is dedicated. Let us recall the many millions who have made what on earth is called 'the great sacrifice,' and who have been transferred to wider fields of service and activity, who still fight for right, who are no longer suffering the thraldom of earthly ties but are enjoying the boundless freedom of the spirit.

　"Let us remember that many of them have been betrayed over and over again, that sacred promises made in the name of comradeship have not been fulfilled, that there is yet to be built on earth that kingdom which they were promised, and that there are still those who would fight with all their power to resist the fulfilment of the promises that have been made all over again. 

　"It is for you who have this knowledge of a continuance in life to dedicate yourselves to the great task of seeing that all that stands in the way of the fullness of man's spirit achieving that which is its natural heritage should be swept aside and that all the greed and the rapacity, the bloodshed and the selfishness, shall be fought unrelentingly, so that those who are denied what are their incontestable rights should live the life on earth to which they are entitled as children of the Great Spirit.

　"Many in my world weep tears of sorrow because they cannot make themselves known to the ones they love. Many are filled with bitterness as they see so little done in the tasks of betterment and amelioration. But all are resolved to lend their aid and their power to all who will work for the service of man, to lift him up, to give him a life in which he can partake of an overflowing bounty and extract from it the happiness and joy which is part of his divine birthright.

　"And yet the New World is being born even though every concession has to be wrung and every foundation accompanied by agony. It is being born and no man can hold back the dawn of the new era. It is in your midst. Do not expect the miracle of transformation, but the processes of regeneration are at work. You will get just as much of it in your generation as you want; for when you demand the whole none will be able to say 'No' to you."

　On another occasion Silver Birch said:

　"Our task is to dissipate the ignorance that exists on both sides of the veil, the veil of foolishness and stupidity, the veil of ignorance and superstition, the veil that exists only because of the darkness in man's mind.

　"You are witnessing the dissolution and breaking up of much which helped to perpetuate ignorance and sought in vain to resist the spread of truth, enlightenment and amelioration for all. The result of all that is that you send to our life thousands who are unprepared, human wreckages, mere flotsam that float on the sea of life, not knowing whither they are bound, and years and labour are spent in trying to enlighten them, to undo all the harm that has been wrought in your world.

　"Yet the truths we have to enunciate are very simple, so reasonable that we marvel again and again that we are met with so much misrepresentation, so much opposition and so much hostility. All this would be easy to understand if our message was that men were doomed to damnation, that they never had another chance, that the Great Spirit is an awful fiend who will punish, scourge and whip them. All we have is a message of love and service, the great tidings that life is infinite, eternal, immortal, that you are part of the great purpose, the creation of life. You are not bodies of matter, but eternal spirits whose lustre will not become dim with the passing of the years, but will shine brightly as the nobility of your inherent divinity makes itself visible.

　"We tell you that neither old age nor infirmity will invalidate the growth of the spirit, that you will be freed from all the aches and pains and sufferings caused by a body of matter. We teach that you can never be separated from the ones that you love, that there will be a reunion, not in some fancied, far-off meta-physical sphere, which none can appreciate or understand, but in a world of reality, far more real than any life you are capable of understanding whilst you are encased on earth.

　"We tell you that goodness brings its own reward, and evil and sin their own punishment and condemnation, that man rises or falls because of what he does, that none cheats, none escapes the divine justice which rules through every phase of life. We tell you that no man, no matter whether he wears what are called vestments, or has taken what are called sacred orders, has the power to stand between you and the Great Spirit. We affirm that you are never separated from that divine power which is the author of your being and creator of all life. We teach that all who have suffered will receive compensation and that all who have failed will have a second chance. We stress that no gifts will lie in disuse for ever, but will find full, rich expression in a world that will enable the owner to give the service he so ardently desires.

　"These, in short, are some of the good tidings that we pro-claimーfacts that should bring joy to the heart of every sincere man and woman. And yet we meet with opposition from those who have set themselves up to be leaders of what is called religion. They who have plunged the world into stygian gloom, they who have filled the world with stories of a god of vengeance, a cruel, jealous, despotic, tyrannical, vindictive being, they who have taught that creed is more important than action, and that divine justice can be thwarted by the profession of some faithーthey are the ones who range themselves against us and declare that all the spiritual truths we proclaim emanate from the father of all evil and the prince of all darkness.

　"But it is too late, for no longer have they the power to thwart man's destiny and prevent the upsurge within every human being from rising to the surface and claiming for itself the divine birthright which is the Great Spirit's law for all His children. Although I speak stern words about those who have failed, there is a great pity in my heart for them. It is because I am concerned with the spread of truth and knowledge and wisdom.

　"Knowledge is the great prize which must be in your posses-sion. Ignorance breeds fear of the unknown, and fear is man-kind's worst enemy. It beclouds his judgment, it deprives him of his reason, it makes him a creature of wayward fancy who will follow whims rather than reason and he will be unable to extract from life all the joy and beauty and richness which is there to

be had.”