SPIRITUALIST CHURCH

Evening Star, Issue 22638, 3 May 1937, Page 15

SPIRITUALIST CHURCH

Mr Jj. G. Newton was the speaker at the Spiritualist Church last evening, hi? subject being ‘ Acceptance: A Spiritualist’s Viewpoint.’ There were, said Mr Newton, many versions of what “ acceptance ” really_ meant, but he, as a Spiritualist, considered the acceptance of God through Christ to be the very essential of our lives, for without this nothing was of any value. Often people sought something that would help them personally, something that would make life easier for them, just as an animal seeks food and comfort. Accepting God, however, and following the Christ example was the most difficult path which anyone could follow. Having entered upon that path, one learned to love his fellows, to realise the true purpose of his pilgrimage on the earth plane, to live not that he might gain wealth and power, but that he might do those things which made for the spiritual progress, both of himself and of the race. All this was revealed to him only through his acceptance of the God power, the power of the Christ. Then could he not only enter into the lives of his fellow human beings, but he could also see the beauties of all phases of life, of the flowers, the birds, and the animal kingdom. Having accepted God in his heart, not merely in the intellect, he was capable of offering the hand of true friendship to,every brother and sister, irrespective of race, colour, or creed. He could not condemn without himself feeling the effects of that condemnation, for he knows that none should be judged. Environment, upbringing, temperament; so many things made such a world of diffeernct. And once having accepted God, our fear of what was called death vanished; we knew that the change so called was merely a passing from the material plane to the astral. We knew that such passing was so natural that we were the same five minutes after it occurred as we were five minutes before the event, except that we had got rid of that often very troublesome physical body. That is what the Spiritualist learned in accepting God as a God of love; he knew that life was continuous and progressive. A Spiritualist knew that a man may be great from a material point of view, yet weak in a spiritual sense. How often, indeed, had a man been accounted a failure; he had failed to make good, had lost the good things of life. But that man, by his experience of life, by his struggles and hi? pet-backs, had perhaps been enabled to draw nearer to God, to accept Him as_ a Father, and to enter the Divine mind. Acceptance of God, then, meant the receiving of the gift of the Christ spirit, and with this gained all fear was banished; we knew then the real meaning of the word?: “ Lo, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Mr il. N. Ridd presided, and at the conclusion of the service Sister Edith delivered a number of messages per medium of clairvoyance.