Life's Purpose On Earth

Good evening friends.

It is with joy that we come into your midsts once again to speak with you for a few short minuets in order, perhaps, to give you something which will be of help to you in the days that lie ahead. We were listening to those words that were read, the words of wisdom, the words asking you to have stillness in your soul, to link up with Spirit, to know that there is a power that is around you, that will help you to live your lives on the earth plane without too much hustle, without undue worry, that will enable you to carry on doing your work upon the earth plane easily, simply, and with all your heart.

You, who come to a Spiritualist Church, have come some way along the pathway that leads to God; you have learned something of the truth. You know that life on the earth plane is just one small part of your existence; that the innermost soul of you is eternal, that it lived before it came to Earth and that it will carry on living when it has left the body behind and gone on into the Spirit World.

Perhaps you have often thought to yourself "What is the purpose of life on Earth, why am I here, what have I got to do, how shall I know the way to tread, what action shall I take. The main thing to remember is that the part of you which is your spirit, your soul, the "eternal you" has come to the earth plane for one purpose, and one purpose only, and that is to develop, to gain experience of the world of matter, to deal with the obstacles and the difficulties that you come up against, to try to put into practice those things that you know within your heart are right.

It is easy to talk about the Brotherhood of Man, it is easy to, in your prayers, to include your brothers across the seas. It is easy to send out thoughts of love to all of God's creation, whatever form it takes: whether it be plants, insects, animals, birds, fish or humans. But it is far more difficult to lead you lives according to those precepts, acknowledging that you have got a duty, while you are on the earth plane, to make the most of the opportunities that come you way, to accept the responsibilities of Earth, to deal with those whom you are in contact with and to try to lead your lives according to the precepts that you know in your soul. "Do unto others as you would they would do unto you!" (Confucius) They are very simple words aren't they? Yet they contain so much, there is so much wisdom in them that will enable you to cope with whatever circumstances come your way.

As we have said, it is easy to love a person overseas. Perhaps to put your money into the box for the overseas help, to give your time, perhaps, to the aged, to the lonely, to the children, to work for the various causes that flood your doorsteps. But it is far more difficult for you to deal with someone in your immediate surroundings who seems to take a delight in upsetting you, it is far more difficult to deal with someone at work who, perhaps, interferes with what you are doing. It is more difficult to deal with somebody who accuses you unjustly of something. It is difficult to deal with a neighbour across the way who goes out of his way to make life uncomfortable for you.

As you go through life each one of you will come up against the big obstacles: death, illness, separation. Somehow you find the strength to cope with them. Because you are Spiritualists you know that God is there ready to help you, ready to give you the guidance that you need; but it is far more difficult to deal with the small everyday things of life and still keep a smiling face, still keep a feeling of love in your hearts, not letting yourself get annoyed or upset, being ready to give an ear to someone who, perhaps, wants pour their hearts out to you.

Often you will find, as you go through life, that it is these little things that are so important; how you tackle them, whether you are always ready to listen, whether you are always willing to give a hand where it is needed.

As you lead your lives on the earth plane so you will find that, from time to time, you have particular difficulties to face but always remember that if you do have things more difficult than someone else, if life is so frustrating it is because you need the experience.

When you send your children to school you do not expect them to have easy lessons the whole time; you would be very disappointed with the educational system if you found that your child was not being stretched to the full. What you want for your children is that they should have the opportunity of developing, the opportunity of stretching their minds, the opportunity of developing their brains, of thinking logically, of putting two and two together and making four. So it is in life; you will have easy lessons to learn and you will have hard lessons to learn; but all of them go to make up the whole of you.

When you come towards the end of your time on Earth the material possessions that you have achieved, the standing that you hold in the local neighbourhood, they will not count for anything beside the progress that you soul has made, beside the way that you have developed an understanding, beside the way that you have shown that you have made progress upon Earth through the things of Earth.

Spiritualism is a religion and a religion is one thing that man has always wanted in some form of another; you can go back in history as far as you can and you will find that there has always been something that he has regarded as being more than himself. During the ages there have been many great religions and many of them have become hide-bound in the precepts that were laid down hundreds of years ago. But religion is not a thing that can be put down in black and white; it is no use in making a series of rules and keeping to them rigidly because life goes on, life alters, the circumstance alter, all around you is in a process of change. You have only to look back a hundred years and think how different life was then to what it is today; to realise that you cannot leave your religion wrapped in the packages of a hundred years ago; it has got to be a growing thing, it has got to alter as the circumstances alter.

The main thing that you have got to remember is that each one of you has got a different ideal, each one of you is an individual at a different stage of evolution and you are looking at things from a different standpoint from anyone else. What seems to you to be right, just, fair and true may not be the same to someone else and what they think is correct may seem to be completely wrong to you. Look upon truth as being many sided, as having many facets, as reflecting many different colours and each colour, each facet, is a part of truth.

While you are in a body of matter you are limited by that body, you are limited by reason of the genes which you inherit from your parents, by the circumstances in which you have grown up, by the conventions that tie you round as you go through your earth life. But with it all you have got something unique, something that is you and you alone; your soul, and what your soul sees and what your soul knows is the things that will be true when you have left your body behind and gone on to the next stage of your existence.

Don't be afraid of life. Don't be afraid of change and alteration, don't be afraid to admit that perhaps you were wrong in the past because you have got a new concept of things. It is only when you stagnate, when you insist upon putting to the letter the spirit of what you have learned in the past and refused to alter with the present that you will find that you are not making the progress that you need. You will all be given opportunities of service, opportunities to serve your fellow men and women, opportunities to serve the world of nature in all its myriad facets and we want you to play your part in your life upon Earth; living it to the full, accepting what comes your way, rejoicing if you are given tasks to do that seem difficult to you. It is because you are in a position to deal with them that you will find that they offer themselves for your work.

You have come to a Spiritualist Church, you believe in Spiritualism, in the continuity of life, in the fact that your soul will go on living after your body has finished and nothing can take that certainty away from you.

So our message to you tonight is very simple. Take hold of life, make the most of the opportunities that you get, do the things that lie to your hand, giving service, giving love, giving understanding, giving tolerance to all your fellow men and women. When you come to the end of your days upon Earth you will be able to look back and see the progress that you have made; it may not be very much, but it is progress and it is that progress that you will take with you when you pass into the Spirit World.

Goodnight and God bless you all..