Service - The Real Religion

"We are concerned primarily with the spirit of man, and the whole of our teaching is directed to those natural laws to which we give our allegiance. That which man has made we cannot worship. That which the Great Spirit has created we know to be true. Therein is the chief difference in our approach to religion. We say that service, the exercise of the spirit, deeds which are unselfish and altruistic, the attempt to help those less fortunate than yourself, giving strength to the weak, removing the load off the shoulders of those who have much to carry -- all this to us is religion."

"It is not religion or religious to declare that the Great Spirit is 'Three in One or One in Three.' That does not increase the growth of the spirit by one iota. You may sing hymns from sunrise to sunset, but that will not make you any more spiritual. You may read the Bible, or the Talmud, or the Koran, or the Bhagavad-Gita, or any sacred book until your eyes grow weary, but that will not increase the growth of your spirit. You may do all things that men regard as religious, but unless they inspire you to lead better lives, unless they enable the spirit within you to find greater expression, then you are not religious as we see it." .... pg. 94

"Use your knowledge wisely and well. Strive always to bring others within the radius, to touch their souls and reach their hearts, for we are always seeking to banish the tears of sorrow, to remove the ache from the leaden heart, the blinkers that prevent the eyes from seeing the radiant spirit truths. We strive to bring the Great Spirit nearer to His children and His children nearer to the Great Spirit of all life, to bring into operation those laws that belong to the higher phases of life, so that in their manifestation selfishness may disappear and the fulness of life be the joy of all who dwell in your world..." pg. 61

Reality of Spirit
Reality is not to be found in matter, neither is it to be discovered within your bodily frame. The seed of existence is not to be located within any bodily organ. You are spiritual beings now. You do not attain spiritual natures by coming to our world. From the moment of conception you are spiritual beings and there is nothing that you can do to cut yourselves off from that reality which enables you to live. The whole of your world exists because of spirit. Without spirit there is no life, for life is spirit and spirit is life.

"It is the essential part of our task to teach to mankind these truths which can be demonstrated in such a fashion that they must become acceptable to those who will listen, unless, of course, they are so blind that they will not believe, though one rose from the dead. Until the recognition or the fact of man's spiritual nature plays a predominant part in all human affairs, there will be fear. Today it is an atomic bomb, Tomorrow it will be something even more awesome and stupendous. the long course of history shows very clearly that attempts to rule by force and tyranny must fail dictatorships have come, have thrived arid have vanished tyrants do not for ever dwell on their thrones. The spirit of man being supreme and divine insists, albeit falteringly at first on claiming its heritage. Freedom cannot be enslaved forever neither can liberty be imprisoned for all time. These are the qualities of the spirit which must endure. Man does not live by bread alone. He is more than physical being. He is a mind and a soul. He is a spirit, an integral part of that same spirit which fashioned every phase of life in a multitudinous universe whose bounds no man can set.

"And when these truths dwell in their rightful place, all fear and anxiety will have vanished. The children of the Great Spirit will not walk, day by day, with anguish in their hearts, with fear in their minds, with bent backs wondering always what the morrow will bring forth. They will have claimed their spiritual birthright because man is a spirit who must live in the sunlight of freedom. His spirit must find full expression. The spirit which is eternal cannot be cramped and confined and restricted. It will burst its bonds, destroying all the opposition which compels it to live in the darkness. When knowledge reigns and ignorance has fled, fear will not be the activating motive. To answer your question, we must spread knowledge, for when all have the knowledge some will have the responsibility that knowledge brings. Regeneration, a change of heart, the application of spiritual values these are the only means by which peace will come to a troubled world."

Later, Silver Birch added: "In times of stress and difficulty it behooves all those who have the knowledge to act as ambassadors of truth. It is a sad commentary when you find that those whose lives have been enriched with knowledge, and who have been given comfort in their hour of sorrow, fail to see the implications of that which has come to them. The gift of mediumship is a sacred one; it is an office which should not be lightly held. And yet, unfortunately, it cannot be said that all mediums, even the majority of them, regard their gifts as being divine in origin and seek to use them unselfishly in the service of the suffering, the weak and the needy. “The Spirit Speaks” pgs 34-35.