MEDIUM’S SERMON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21280, 10 March 1931, Page 10

MEDIUM’S SERMON.

A TEXT SELECTED. A PRESSMAN’S CRITICISM. (From Ouk Own Correspondent.) LONDON, January 29. Mrs Meurig Morris, a medium, whose sermons are stated to be delivered in a trance which are claimed to come trom a spirit she calls “ Power,” gave a demonstration on Sunday night at the Fortune Theatre. To test the genuineness of her powers she had agreed to deliver a sermon on a text which was unknown to her, and was only to be revealed after she had passed into a trance. . While a hymn was being sung Mrs Morris was seen apparently passing into a trance. Meanwhile the text for the sermon was handed up in a sealed envelope, followed by an announcement that it was, up to then, known only to the person who selected it. The envelope was opened and the text read out the 14th verse ot the 11 th chapter of Proverbs: Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. Without hesitation, Mrs Morns began to speak on the text. Her sermon lasted 40 minutes, and during the whole ot it she never paused or faltered. She innstrated her points with many gestures. SAMPLE OF THE SERMON.

“ When one gives counsel upon the earth plane or upon the plane beyond death,” Mrs Morris began, “ that counsel is according to the mind and according to the outlook of one’s own opinion. But when you see that the outlook # find the mind that manifests itself herein is but a state of development one must admit that this counsel shows a state of expression of divinity and of the growth of the soul. I want to say that, although we have come to give our message, many will say to give counsel, to the children ot the earth, vet at the same time we know that it depends- upon you all whether you are ready to receive it. Being part oi God, you must of necessity have all the attributes, have all the seeds, within you. Let your wider vision—the vision of the soul—move out with its higher range of vision, and aid in revolutionising the whole outlook of mankind. The world beyond is just a little different from that of the physical plane, and thought is employed more and developed more.’ The representative of the Daily Mail who arranged the test and supplied the text for the sermon has some criticism to make. “ I have heard three of Sirs Morris’s sermons (he says), and at a private seance I had ■with Power/ her spirit control, he talked to me a great deal about the other world: and on all four occasions the young medium used the same phrases—many of which are almost meaningless—but strung them together in different contexts. It is now very obvious to me that Mrs Morris could preach a sermon on any subject, provided she had the text read out to her, and she would use the same phrases every time. “ Whatever may he the cause, it is the extraordinary metamorphosis of Mrs Morris from timid femininity to aggressive masculinity that impresses people. Last night the impressiveness of her appearance was enhanced when she turned round in trance and delivered her sermon to the curtains at the back of the stage. ' . “The explanation of this, as given to me, is that ' Power,’ when he delivers a sermon on this earth, is also speaking to an audience on his own plane, and he often overlooks the people on the physical world. To the sceptic, the Agnostic, and even to tens of thousands of people with open minds. Mrs Morris is an extremely clever woman. But her spiritualism is unconvincing.”