The Astral World—Higher Occult Powers: Clairvoyance, Spiritism, Mediumship, and Spirit-Healing Fully ExplainedTiffany, Joel
Religion
The Astral World—Higher Occult Powers: Clairvoyance, Spiritism, Mediumship, and Spirit-Healing Fully Explained
Tiffany, Joel
Spiritualism
If the church were to turn round and point out similar
inconsistencies among Spiritualists, what would the Spiritualists of
New York reply?
Spiritualists should see to it that the work which is wrought in
them by Spiritualism testifies what will be its work in others. If
it does not touch their own character; if it does not make the false
man true, the corrupt man better, what reason shall we give in favor
of its being received by the world? We have Spiritualists enough to
convert the world if they were only _spiritualized_. There is the
difficulty. It is one thing to be a _Spiritualist_, and another thing
to be _spiritualized_. What we want is something that shall take our
Spiritualists and spiritualize them. We want to find some key which
shall open up a fountain deeper in any man’s soul than has yet been
opened by these manifestations—which shall call out higher, holier,
and purer aspirations after eternal life than have yet been called
out. We all know this. We find every thing on the right hand and the
left to admonish us that when the whole world shall have been converted
to our faith, it will be a bad world still. What then is needed is,
that you and I set about a work which is peculiarly intrusted to us. We
shall then redeem the world.
I must look for the coming of my Lord in my own affection. He must
come in the clouds of my spiritual heavens, or he can not come for
any benefit to me. I must place myself in that condition that shall
invite him to come and reveal to me the way by which I am to be
redeemed; and then I shall learn the way by which you and all mankind
must be redeemed. When all my falsehood, injustice, selfishness, lust,
appetite, and passion are dead, and when the God of heaven shall live
and work in me, then there will be laid in my soul the foundation of
that true spiritual affinity which shall go forth, not seeking others
to unite with me, but, of its own plentitude, uniting with me those who
have the same affinity—uniting us stronger than any creed. We shall
not then be obliged to ask permission to join or withdraw from such
a church as we should establish, but each man would join or withdraw
according to affinity or repulsion. Each man will stand upon his own
responsibility. I shall not be responsible for you, nor you for me.
I stand not here to give you Christian character, nor you to give me
Christian character. Each man must have a communication for himself
with the Fountain of all love and truth. We must all draw our water
from the same well, and it will become in us a fountain springing up
into eternal life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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