A Journey in Other Worlds [104]
part
in gaseous form with their breath. The mushrooms dissolve more
easily; the natural separation that takes place as they reach a
certain stage in their development being precipitated by
concussion or shock.
"Having seen that, as on earth, we gain control of the material
first, our acquisitiveness then extends to a better understanding
and appreciation of our new senses, and we are continually
finding new objects of beauty, and new beauties in things we
supposed we already understood. We were accustomed on earth to
the marvellous variety that Nature produced from apparently
simple means and presented to our very limited senses; here there
is an indescribably greater variety to be examined by vastly
keener senses. The souls in hell have an equally keen but
distorted counterpart of our senses, so that they see in a
magnified form everything vile in themselves and in each other.
To their senses only the ugly and hateful side is visible, so
that the beauty and perfume of a flower are to them as loathsome
as the appearance and fumes of a toadstool. As evolution and the
tendency of everything to perpetuate itself and intensify its
peculiarities are invariable throughout the universe, these
unhappy souls and ourselves seem destined to diverge more and
more as time goes on; and while we constantly become happier as
our capacity for happiness increases, their sharpening senses
will give them a worse and worse idea of each other, till their
mutual repugnance will know no bounds, and of everything
concerning which they obtain knowledge through their senses.
Thus these poor creatures seem to be the victims of circumstances
and the unalterable laws of fate, and were there such a thing as
death, their misery would unquestionably finally break their
hearts. That there will be final forgiveness for the condemned,
has long been a human hope; but as yet they have experienced
none, and there is no analogy for it in Nature.
"But while you have still your earthly bodies and the
opportunities they give you of serving God, you need not be
concerned about hell; no one on earth, knowing how things really
are, would ever again forsake His ways. The earthly state is the
most precious opportunity of securing that for which a man would
give his all. Even from the most worldly point of view, a man is
an unspeakable fool not to improve his talents and do good. What
would those in sheol not give now for but one day in the flesh on
earth, of which you unappreciatives may still have so many? The
well-used opportunities of even one hour might bring joy to those
in paradise forever, and greatly ease the lot of those in hell.
In doing acts of philanthropy, however, you must remember the
text of the sermon the doctor of divinity preached to Craniner
and Ridley just before they perished at the stake: 'Though I
give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me
nothing'--which shows that even good deeds must be performed in
the proper spirit.
"A new era is soon to dawn on earth. Notwithstanding your great
material progress, the future will exceed all the past. Man will
find every substance's maximum use, thereby vastly increasing his
comfort. Then, when advanced in science and reason, with the
power of his senses increased by the delicate instruments that
you, as the forerunners of the coming man, are already learning
to make, may he cease to be a groveller, like our progenitors the
quadrupeds, and may his thoughts rise to his Creator, who has
brought him to such heights through all the intricacies of the
way. Your preparation for the life to come can also be greatly
aided by intercourse with those who have already died. When you
really want to associate spiritually with us, you can do so; for,
though perhaps only one in a hundred million can, like me, so
clothe himself as to be again visible to mortal eyes, many of us
could affect gelatine or extremely sensitive plates that would
show interruptions in the ultra-violet chemical rays that, like
the
in gaseous form with their breath. The mushrooms dissolve more
easily; the natural separation that takes place as they reach a
certain stage in their development being precipitated by
concussion or shock.
"Having seen that, as on earth, we gain control of the material
first, our acquisitiveness then extends to a better understanding
and appreciation of our new senses, and we are continually
finding new objects of beauty, and new beauties in things we
supposed we already understood. We were accustomed on earth to
the marvellous variety that Nature produced from apparently
simple means and presented to our very limited senses; here there
is an indescribably greater variety to be examined by vastly
keener senses. The souls in hell have an equally keen but
distorted counterpart of our senses, so that they see in a
magnified form everything vile in themselves and in each other.
To their senses only the ugly and hateful side is visible, so
that the beauty and perfume of a flower are to them as loathsome
as the appearance and fumes of a toadstool. As evolution and the
tendency of everything to perpetuate itself and intensify its
peculiarities are invariable throughout the universe, these
unhappy souls and ourselves seem destined to diverge more and
more as time goes on; and while we constantly become happier as
our capacity for happiness increases, their sharpening senses
will give them a worse and worse idea of each other, till their
mutual repugnance will know no bounds, and of everything
concerning which they obtain knowledge through their senses.
Thus these poor creatures seem to be the victims of circumstances
and the unalterable laws of fate, and were there such a thing as
death, their misery would unquestionably finally break their
hearts. That there will be final forgiveness for the condemned,
has long been a human hope; but as yet they have experienced
none, and there is no analogy for it in Nature.
"But while you have still your earthly bodies and the
opportunities they give you of serving God, you need not be
concerned about hell; no one on earth, knowing how things really
are, would ever again forsake His ways. The earthly state is the
most precious opportunity of securing that for which a man would
give his all. Even from the most worldly point of view, a man is
an unspeakable fool not to improve his talents and do good. What
would those in sheol not give now for but one day in the flesh on
earth, of which you unappreciatives may still have so many? The
well-used opportunities of even one hour might bring joy to those
in paradise forever, and greatly ease the lot of those in hell.
In doing acts of philanthropy, however, you must remember the
text of the sermon the doctor of divinity preached to Craniner
and Ridley just before they perished at the stake: 'Though I
give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me
nothing'--which shows that even good deeds must be performed in
the proper spirit.
"A new era is soon to dawn on earth. Notwithstanding your great
material progress, the future will exceed all the past. Man will
find every substance's maximum use, thereby vastly increasing his
comfort. Then, when advanced in science and reason, with the
power of his senses increased by the delicate instruments that
you, as the forerunners of the coming man, are already learning
to make, may he cease to be a groveller, like our progenitors the
quadrupeds, and may his thoughts rise to his Creator, who has
brought him to such heights through all the intricacies of the
way. Your preparation for the life to come can also be greatly
aided by intercourse with those who have already died. When you
really want to associate spiritually with us, you can do so; for,
though perhaps only one in a hundred million can, like me, so
clothe himself as to be again visible to mortal eyes, many of us
could affect gelatine or extremely sensitive plates that would
show interruptions in the ultra-violet chemical rays that, like
the