Word
Gems
What is a
man but the sum of his thoughts?
Silver Birch:
Love's
Supreme Power
-
Editor's
note: Silver Birch, once a primitive native American, is an ancient
AfterLife entity, on the Other Side for 3000 years. He transmitted
information some years ago via a psychic medium. I think you will find
his words to be very wise and
insightful.
"There is a great power in the universe which has never
been subjected to the analytical scrutiny of laboratories, which
cannot be resolved by chemicals or by scalpels, yet it is so real that it transcends
all other forces
which have been measured and weighed
and dissected."
Silver Birch is referring to the power of love.
"That love is deathless because it is part of the Great Spirit
, the creative spirit of all life, part of the
power which has fashioned life; it is indeed the very breath and the very essence
of life.
And wherever love
exists, sooner or later those who
are united by its willing bonds will find one another again despite
all the handicaps
and obstacles and impediments that may be in
the way."
On one occasion, Silver Birch was asked:
"You
say, "The only bond between those who have passed over is love."
What is the position when A truly loves B, but
A's love is not reciprocated by B, and they have both passed
over? Is A separated from B because of this, or
is he burdened
, so to speak, by the
nearness of A because of this rather one-sided, but sincere attachment?"
"That," said the guide, "is a very
good question, but the word 'love' is one of the most
misused ones in your world... others, perhaps carried away by infatuation, and let me
be quite honest, by physical passion, think that [ordinary sexual] attraction is one of love.
"First let us be
clear: the real love is the love of selflessness; the love that
seeks nothing for itself, and in its highest form embraces the whole
of humanity. You are not an evolved soul until
you can say, because you believe it,
"I love all mankind."
"That is an ideal,
and your world is a long way from it.
But there
is the love, the undeniable love, between man and
woman who are complementary to one another, that
is, they are two in form, but one in purpose
- they harmonise, they are, indeed, as
your poet has expressed it, "two hearts that beat as one."
Now, where that love has found itself, there is
never any separation. Those whom the natural law has joined by love can never be sundered
in your world or in mine
.
"Where there is
that love, and here I am afraid
I am going to be controversial, it is always
reciprocated. There are aspects of affection, devotion, the
desire to service maternal instincts, which are believed to be love,
but the real
love, that only comes
once to each man or woman, whether on earth or in
the world of spirit, is always reciprocal. The problem does
not arise [that is, regarding the question posed earlier
concerning the possibility of unrequited love in the
next life]
for in our world, in the
fullness of time, each finds the half of its own
being
."
A member of the circle asked:
"Are both
people aware at the same time that it is a love that is
reciprocated
?"
"Not necessarily on
earth, but they are in the world of
spirit ," was the reply.
"One of the two may know
about it before the other
," it was suggested to Silver Birch.
He replied:
"But the two halves
instinctively, because they are
two halves ,
must recognise one another. That
does not happen in your world always because your vision, regarding
things of the spirit, is often blind
."
"Physical things could stop it," said somebody.
"Yes, physical circumstances," agreed Silver Birch, "but real love is
so magnetic, is so overwhelming in its attraction,
that it must find itself and claim
itself, when once you have got rid
of the imperfections of the earth which were the deterrents to recognition
.
"Love takes many forms, ranging from friendship founded on sympathetic
attraction and mutual interest, to the supreme heights where, without thought of self, it
seeks to serve wherever it can," said Silver Birch, in his reply
to someone who asked for his definition of love.
"Love is a word which is misused in your world," the
guide went on. "Very often those who
use it do not mean love at all. It is mistaken for the activities of
the senses when there is only the desire for
gratification of certain instincts
. But love as I understand it is a part of the spirit stirring within,
seeking expression when it realises its kinship with its divine creator.
"The greatest love is the love that has no trace of
selfishness, that does not seek in any way to perform any
action because it will bring some satisfaction to the individual.
That is human love in its greatest aspect. It is the spirit that has
enthused all who desire to uplift mankind, to
help the needy, to sustain the weak, to fight the vested
interests that prevent the unfortunate from extracting the
beauty that life could offer them
.
"All who, in their
own land and in foreign
lands, have sought with altruistic motive to raise
the standard of mankind, to make it aware of its
infinite potentialities
, are exhibiting love in
its finest form.
[But, consider this
high-level humanitarian form
of love in relation to
the love between soulmates]
There are degrees -- when the same spirit
animates a man or woman to service the object of his or her
affection. That need not be selfish; it can be unselfish
.
"And there is the lowest kind of love, the love that is restricted, that desires to
protect and help only the ones to whom it feels an attraction and feels
no pity, no mercy, no sympathy and no compassion for strangers. Divine love covers
the universe.
It is love that has
shaped its course, it is love that has regulated its evolution, it
is love which is part of the divine beneficence, it is love which actuates all those advanced
spiritual beings who, forfeiting all that they have
gained by their attainment, return to your cold, grey, unattractive world to
give service to those who need it
."
(On another occasion, Silver Birch offered
this advice)
The marriage service performed in your
churches refers to the existence of the marriage until death parts
the man and his wife. If spiritually
they are not united they are parted before death comes. If there is
love, there is nothing that will ever separate
them. (Silver Birch, LSB, 70.)
I want you both to realize that you begin
now the greatest adventure of all, for two lives that have pursued
separate courses are now come together to begin a united life. Even
as love has brought you to this place, even as love emanating from a
world higher than yours guided your footsteps on paths of knowledge
and truth, so has that same power brought you two together. Soon ‘a
man of God’ will read a few words from a book and, according to your
world of matter, you will be joined in the bonds of holy matrimony.
But I say to you there are no bonds unless you
bind one another with love and affection. There are no ties unless
you wish to tie one another with love and affection.
Do not think only in terms of two sharing
one life from the physical aspect. Remember that you are two
spiritual beings, both portions of the Great Spirit, now coming
together with pledges to cherish, to love and to serve one another
even as a great love from this world strives to serve you both.
Remember that you are uniting two souls to adventure together and
that we look not so much upon the material aspect but the spiritual,
which to us is the enduring reality.
Do not expect that you will escape
occasional sadness and sorrow, difficulty, trial and test, for these
are parts of your evolution. When they arise, as arise they
inevitably must, face them with honesty and know that they help to
quicken your character and to bring you closer together. There are many here who look forward with joy to a
celebration which will duplicate the one you have in your church,
but which will be sanctified in our world by ties we regard as more
enduring, for the promises uttered audibly by word of
mouth are as nothing compared with the unspoken pledges of the
soul. (Silver Birch, SBT, n.p.)
On Affinities or Soul-Mates
Some of you will
discover that you are affinities. Although you are two people
you are two halves of one
individuality. When that happens in your world,
it brings with it a richness that cannot be measured in terms of
material wealth. Affinities are the facets of the diamond. These are
difficult matters to explain. (Silver Birch, LSB, 77.)
Persons are persons so far as your world is
concerned, but you cannot separate spiritual individuality in the
same way. There are, for example, affinities,
two kindred halves of the one soul, and sometimes they incarnate at
the same time. (Silver Birch, LSB, 86.)
There are aspects of affection, devotion,
the desire to service maternal instincts, which are believed to be
love, but the real love, that only comes once to
each man or woman, whether on earth or in the world of spirit, is
always reciprocal. The problem [of unreciprocated love] does not
arise, for in our world, in the fullness of time, each
finds the half of its own being. (Silver Birch,
SBA, 28.)
read more of Silver Birch on various
topics
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