In today’s fast paced world, people are so caught up with living day to day, they barely have time to think. Electronic media bombards us with information constantly, but what does it say to us? Buy this. Choose that. Get involved with this drama. Don’t ignore this. Never rest. Never be quiet.

What happens when we pause to think? Do we have a philosophy of life? Do our lives have purpose? Do we have goals and direction?

Spiritualism can add focus and direction in today’s hectic world by allowing us to see the bigger picture, to see not only our short physical life on this world, but that we are part of a longer spiritual journey.

All religions have taught about the existence of the soul after death. In early religious history, leaders demonstrated man’s contact with the dimension beyond and the continuity of the spirit, but that was lost over time. Religions became more materialistic, focusing more on the physical. Connecting with the spiritual realm by lay people was discouraged, and even forbidden.

In wasn’t until Spiritualism began in the 1840s that people were again encouraged to connect with spirits beyond in an effort to demonstrate the existence of the spiritual world. Spiritualists taught that individuality continues, the personality endures after the change we know as death.

Spiritualism is almost 200 years old, but it exists in today’s world with a clearly defined philosophy.  We find it in the first lines of the poem: “Born I am. I am what I am, A soul immortal, garbed as man.”

Spiritualism teaches a broad philosophy. It takes all into its arms, and folds into its heart the philosophies of all mankind. If finds the good in all. We are all brothers and sisters.

Spiritualism accepts the presence of a Divine Energy or God. The immortal soul cannot be separated from God, and always manifests with God.   God does not condemn us or cast us out of His divine plan. Garbed for the moment as part of mankind, we retain all our experiences along our immortal path. They cannot be taken away from us.

Spiritualists believe we must all take on the responsibility of our own lives. “As a man thinketh, so is he.”  Life owes us nothing; we owe the world everything. We get out of the world just what we put into it, nothing more or nothing less. As we sincerely think, so will our actions become.  It makes no difference how straight or narrow the way. We are the masters of our fate; the masters of our souls; we are the ones who pave the way. We all make our own heaven or hell. We cannot find happiness until we create happiness; there is no possible way of finding joy unless we create joy.

The full realization of these simple truths makes life a magnificent activity. H. Gordon Burroughs said, “What a marvelous time we are living in at the present moment: the time of challenge, the clear, definite clarion call to humanity to reach up and throw off the shackles of ignorance, selfishness, and woe, and to come into the realization of at-one-ment with God- the realization that all souls are of equal importance to the great, the eternal manifestation of life; that they cannot be lost; that they play their part, well or ill, but have the power within to be masters of the part they are playing.”

As Spiritualists, we must teach the non-existence of death. Death, like birth, is just an event in the great eternal plan. All the things through which we pass are experiences along the pathway of soul. We must teach the world peace at all times. It is our place to remain poised and calm in times of stress; to continue to manifest God in action; to meet birth and death as incidents in the great plan of life.

Our goal must be to always serve humanity. We must continue to work with God to attain self-illumination so that we may show the way to others that they may find the truth. In truth, we will walk unafraid, living with God, an “immortal, garbed as man”.

As the old teachers said, “Let there be many windows to your soul. One pane cannot catch the thousands of scintillating truths that radiate from the kingdom of God. Lift the blinds of superstition; let the soul open wide the windows through which the truth may enter. Attune your ear to the wordless music of the spheres; and your heart, like a flower seeking the sun, will reach out for truth and a million unseen hands will reach down to help you up to piece-crowned heights. The glory of the firmament Will sustain you.”

Inspirational Reading: Becoming a Spiritualist by H. Gordon Burroughs, Port City Press, 1962.