　　　CHAPTER ONE

　　　THE INFALLIBLE LAW

　 THE Great Spirit is infinite, and you are parts of the Great Spirit. If you have perfect faith and live your lives right, then you are able to participate in the bounty of the Great Spirit. If every person in your world had perfect faith, then he would receive. If a person were hungry and yet had perfect faith, then he would receive the answer.

　"That is how the Law operates. If you learn to attune yourself to the Law, the results must come. If the results do not come, that only proves that you are not in tune with the Law. Your history books tell you that there have been those from the lowest of the low, the poorest of the poor, who have tried the Law and it has not failed them. You must not point to those who do not try it and ask why it does not work.

　"Sometimes the spirit gets crushed and cannot rise above the surrounding circumstances, but if you had perfect faith you could rise above all the troubles of your world. You would turn your faces to the sun, which is but an emblem of the Great Spirit, and say: 'I am a part of the Great Spirit. I am indestructible. I am eternal. I am infinite. That which is finite and part of the world of matter cannot touch me.' If you did that, you would not be touched.

　"Many people start with fear in their hearts. They are afraid they will not get results, and the element of fear disturbs the vibration. Perfect love casteth out fear. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteous-ness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

　"That was taught to you many years ago by one who knew the Law. He showed that when he put it into operation the results were always forthcoming. If you allow the Law to function, then the results must come.

　"I will tell you another Law. There is nothing you can have in the world of matter without you pay the price. The price of mediumship is increased sensitive-ness. You cannot accumulate wealth without paying the price, because if you do that, and forget the duties of your own spirit, then you may be rich in the goods of your world, but you will be very poor in my world.

　"You have the greatest riches within yourselves. You are part of the Great Spirit. There are no riches or fortunes in your world that can be compared with that. We seek to teach you to explore your own gold mines, to reveal the diamonds of the spirit that are within the clay of your own natures.

　"May you all learn to respond to vibrations of the highest planes of spirit. May you all realise that you are never alone, but always encompassed around and about by a host of those who love you, who seek to guard and guide you and to help and inspire you. And may you, as you unfold your own spirits, realise that you are being drawn closer to the greatest Spirit of all, becoming more in unison with His Law.

　"You serve Him by serving the children of matter. When you do that, you are within reach of His infinite arms, you are surrounded by His love, which will bring you to perfect peace.

　"Faith, that is faith alone, sometimes fails when the winds of bitter experience blow. But the faith that is born of knowledge provides a foundation which is so strong that no wind of circumstance can disturb it.

　"Blessed are those who believe and have not yet seen, but thrice blessed are they who know and, because they know, place their faith in that which is not yet revealed to them, because they know that the laws of the universe are operated by a power which is love and wisdom.

　"You should all have perfect faith, because it is a faith born of knowledge. You have had the proof of the power of the spirit. Now you should have the faith that all things work wisely and well and that, if you put yourselves in tune with the laws of the Great Spirit, then you must reap the operation of those laws.

　"You can all banish from your minds the thought that anything that is unenlightenedーor, as you would say, evilーcan ever touch you. You live and move under the protection of the Great Spirit and His laws.

　"If there is no evil in your hearts, then only good can reach you, for only good can dwell where goodness reigns. None but the servants of the Great Spirit come into your presence from my world. You need have no fears. The power which envelops you, the power which supports and seeks to guide you and inspire you, is the power that emanates from the Great Spirit of all.

　"That power can sustain you in all your trials and difficulties. That power can change your storms into sunshine, and bring you out of the darkness of despair into the light of knowledge. Your feet are set on path-ways of progress. There is no need for fear.

　"Perfect love casteth out fear. Knowledge dispels fear, for fear is born of ignorance. Where there is love and trust and knowledge, there fear cannot reign. An evolved spirit cannot be afraid at any time, because he knows there is no experience that can come to him in any phase of life that he cannot master, for he is the Great Spirit.

　"Fear creates its own prison for the soul. You must learn to rise above fear and not to allow its vibrations to hinder you, to have perfect faith and confidence and trust, to know that you can stand on your feet and say: 'I am the Great Spirit and the wind of circumstance cannot shake me. I will rise triumphant over every difficulty because of the infinite power which is within my soul.' You have power over every circumstance. Would you limit the power of the infinite soul?

　"The Great Spirit rules over that which is material and that which is spiritual. There are no divisions in His universal kingdom. Do not attempt to divide the life of matter from the life of spirit. They are not distinct and separate. They are parts of one indivisible life, for the things of matter react on the things of spirit and the things of spirit react on the things of matter.

　"You have yet to learn that there are no difficulties which beset those blessed with the power of the spirit that they will not surmount, as long as they in return serve the Great White Spirit wherever they go.

　"There are no obstacles in your world we cannot remove, if it is the law that they shall be removed. If, sometimes, the cross you have seems very hard to bear, remember that, although I would give up all my progress to take it away from you, it is better for you to carry it and to learn the lesson it brings. You must consider not only this life, but the whole of eternity.

　"If you children of matter would remember that not only are you human but also divine, how much easier would it be for you to live you lives.

　"Your troubles would melt away, your obstacles would be swept on one side. But you have little faith in the power that is within you. What call human belongs to the world of matter. That which is divine belongs to the Great Spirit.

　"Many years ago you were told to be in the world but not of the world. Because the people of your world have not the faith, then the law cannot be put into operation. You say one has more money and less worry than another. You do not know how their worries compare. The laws of the Great Spirit cannot be cheated.

　"You are on earth to build your character. It is the way you face your problems that makes your character. But there is no trouble in your world of matter which is greater than the power you have within you for over-coming it, because the troubles are of the earth, material, and you are part of the Great Spirit, divine.

　"There is only one peaceーthe peace which comes to those who are at one with the Great Spirit, whose hearts beat as one with His great heart, whose wills are at one with His great will, who are at one in soul, mind and heart with the Great Spirit. Then there is peace, because they are in harmony with His laws. There is no other peace.

　"I can only teach you the laws. You were told many years ago that the kingdom of heaven is within. It is not without. It is not to be found in the rush of the world of matter. It is to be found within the soul.

　"So finely balanced and so perfect is the law that there can be no cheating. Not one person escapes his punishment, and not one loses his reward. Do not judge eternity with the eyes of matter. Do not judge the smaller when you have not seen the greater.

　"Do not confuse the transient joys of earth with the enduring things of the spirit. They are tawdry and flimsy. You think in terms of the earth, while I see with the eyes of the spirit. I cannot alter the law to please you.

　"If you ask all those who return to you from my side, you will find that they all say the law is perfect. They never want to return to the world of matter. You seek to find peace without. I try to show you the eternal peace within. The greatest riches are the riches of the spirit.

　"Some people will always worry. Even in the world of spirit they will worry. They will worry because they will realise they could be more perfect, because they are not perfect instruments for the Great Spirit, because only through toil and stress will they outwork the imperfections of their natures and allow the divine to shine through.

　"Do you think we are happy when we realise the work that has yet to be done? Do you think we do not worry when we see the children of matter denied that which is necessary for their sustenance, or when we hear the false teaching that is poured out in the name of the Great Spirit?

　"Do you think we do not worry when we see dark-ness where there should be light, when men are im-prisoned by desire when they could be free, when we see the chaos that has been caused in your world?

　"We worry because our hearts are filled with pity, because we seek to enable the love of the Great Spirit to flow through us and you into your world of matter, where so many are denied the things that are their heritage. The Great Spirit has given them all things in abundance, but they are denied them. You cannot be a great

soul when others starve and you are filled with plenty.

　"The hardest part of our task is when we have to stand by, sometimes, and see you suffer. We know we must not help because it is a battle of your own spirit. If you win your battle, then we have won, too. If you lose, then we have lost. It is our battle all the time, but we must not lift a finger to help.

　"Sometimes I have wept tears because I have seen suffering, and knew I must not help. That is the law. It has hurt me more than it has hurt the sufferer.

　"If you do what you know is right, then

you cannot do any more. If that means that sometimes you must deny yourself, then you must do it. One day a balance is struck.

　"I cannot solve your problems for you.

If I tell you what to do, that interferes with your free will. Once I start to tell my medium what he must do and what he must not do, that is the end of his free will. Then his progress begins to suffer.

　"It is the way you settle your problems that develops what is within you. You do not develop the spirit when everything is easy and smooth, but when you have difficulties. But there are times when we feel justified in interfering with your judgment.

　"I would interfere if a very vital principle were in-volved. If it meant that my work through my medium would be interrupted, then I would interfere so that the channel would still be free. But where the problems only affect my medium's own evolution, then they are his responsibility and he must work them out for himself."

　Silver Birch once contributed to a discussion on gardening by members of his circle with these words:

　"Sowing and reaping are part of the natural law which I wish was accepted by more people. It is in the cultiva-tion of the fruits of the earth that you learn how in-exorable are the laws of the Great Spirit. He who lives close to the soil and sees the operation of nature's law begins to appreciate the divine handiwork and to realise something of the Mind which has planned all in its orderly sequence.

　"That which is garnered is that which has been sown. The seed is always true to its type. You cannot sow the seed of a potato and expect that a lettuce will grow. Always what has been sown will follow unswervingly the dictate of the natural law. And what is true in that realm of nature is equally true in the realm of human life and activity.

　"He who lives selfishly must reap the results of selfish-ness. He who sins must reap the result of his sin. He who is intolerant, bigoted or selfish will reap the results of intolerance, bigotry and selfishness. The law is in-exorable; the law is immutable. There is no religious exercise, there is no hymn, no prayer, no sacred book that can interpose and alter the sequence of cause and effect.

　"The effect follows cause with methodical and mechanical certainty, and no one has the power, be he called priest or layman, to interfere with that natural process. He who desires the growth of the spirit must live that kind of life which alone can assure spiritual growth.

　"The spirit grows through kindness, toleration, sympathy, love, service and doing of good works. Character evolves only when you allow the divine spirit to be made manifest in your daily lives. If you harbour unkind thoughts, thoughts of hatred, of malice, of vengeance, of selfishness, you yourself will be the victim and you yourself must pay the price in a warped, dis-torted and thwarted character.

　"All law is a part of one vast law. All works in har-mony because all is part of the divine plan. The lesson of it is that men and women throughout the whole world of matter must seek their salvation by working it out in their daily lives, and abandon all the false theology which teaches that it is possible to cast on to others the results and responsibilities of your own actions.

　"Man is the gardener of his own soul. The Great Spirit has provided him with all that is necessary for it to grow in wisdom, grace and beauty. The imple-ments are there, he has but to use them wisely and well."

　On another occasion he declared: "The law is perfect in its operation. Effect always follows cause with mathematical precision. No individual has the power to alter by one hairbreadth the sequence of cause and effect. That which is reaped must be that which is sown, and the soul of every individual registers indelibly all the results of earthly life. He who has sinned against the law bears on his own soul the results of his earthly action, and there will be no progress until reparation has been made for every sinful deed."

　To Silver Birch the law is God and God is the law. He states: "There is no personal God apart from the one that human beings have created; there is no personal Devil apart from the one that human beings have created. There is no golden heaven, no fiery hell. These are the imaginings of those whose views are limited. The Great Spirit is the Law. Know that, and you have learned life's greatest secret, for once you realise the world is governed by unchangeable, unbreakable, im-mutable, omnipotent law, you know that justice is done and none can be forgotten in the great scheme of creation.

　"That is why all is known. That is why nothing can be omitted. That is why every facet of life finds its place in the universal scheme. That is why nothing can be overlooked, for the law embraces every aspect of life, no matter how tiny, no matter how large, for all is law. Nothing exists except the Law which makes its existence possible. The law reigns supreme. Man's free will creates confusion and obscures the working of the law in his mind, but the Law exists just the same and must operate. I know that theology has been a great curse to your world, but its day is practically done."

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