Eternity is a word that implies so much but in reality conveys so little to the average earthly mind.
The earth dweller would say, in effect, that eternity is like immortality, you cannot prove it. How can it possibly be proved that a certain state of existence, namely, that of the spirit world, will continue forever, without end, to employ perhaps a more emphatic term. Just so. It is a difficulty that we all appreciate in the spirit world. And I would hasten to say that I am not going to attempt to prove it!
But I can do this. I can set before you one or two considerations that will serve to draw your mind towards the major differences between your incarnate state of existence upon earth and our discarnate state of existence in the spirit world. And in doing so there may emerge just a faint glimmering of what the word eternity can suggest.
If you will give the subject a brief moment’s thought you will be forcibly reminded of the impermanence of life on earth.
Living, as you do, with reality, for so you would term it manifested to you so very obviously in life itself and all that goes to constitute living upon earth, with, for example, the buildings that surround you, the ground upon which you walk, the food you eat, the clothing wherewith you cover yourself, your daily occupations and recreations, your comings and goings over short distances and long; confronted as you are with all these evidences of being, and many others besides, yet you know that upon one day in your life the moment will come when you must leave all these ‘realities’ behind you to undergo the natural process of the dissolution of the physical body, in a word, when you will ‘die’.
But before that event occurs, and during the whole of your life on earth, you will observe the process of disintegration going on all around you. Firstly, yourself. You will become older, the signs of which are sufficiently familiar to you to need no mention of them. Your clothes are constantly wearing out and need replacement. The furnishings within your home undergo the same process and require the same remedy. Your very house is in a constant state of decay, though not always visible to the eye, until one day repairs of one sort or another will be demanded. Call to mind, also, the many articles of daily use that by accident you can break, even your own bones are not immune from that! So that there is constantly going on around you this action of decay.
Everything about you on earth is corruptible. There is, then, a palpable state of impermanence. However much the decay may be arrested, you still have the certain fact of the eventual termination of your earthly life, which in itself sets the seal upon mundane impermanence.
Now let us contrast all this with life in the spirit world and with the dwellers therein. Perhaps one of the most heartening reassuring of feelings that we in the spirit world can harbor is the feeling of permanence.
Firstly, as to ourselves. We are incorruptible. We have shed our earthly and corruptible bodies as we entered the spirit world, and we stand as we truly are, incorruptible. We do not age. On the contrary, we grow younger if we should happen to have passed our prime of life when we left the earth. That in itself is something in which to make one rejoice, but most of all, to make one feel secure and permanent. Our clothes do not wear out, or deteriorate in any way. Our homes are governed by the same law of incorruptibility. In my own home, for instance, I have never been obliged to make replacements or renovations in any single detail, whether of interior furnishings or structurally, since I first came to take up my residence here upon leaving the earth.
And it is the same with all other folk in these realms. I have made alterations, certainly; we all do that, but not because of decay or breakage, or wear and tear. What alterations we make are carried out for the pleasure they may bring to us and our friends.
The imposing buildings which are such an outstanding feature of these realms, among so many outstanding features, are as clean and fresh and sparkling as upon the day when they were first erected. And when I tell you that no spot of decay or deterioration or dirt or dinginess can ever be detected upon anyone of them, and when I also tell you that a great many of them have been standing there for thousands of years, I think you will agree with me that we are fully justified in considering ourselves and all that is about us and surrounding us in the agreeable light of permanence.
These few details I have given you are not one tithe of the numberless signs of permanence which are forever presenting themselves before our minds. So that, if we cannot prove that our life here in the spirit world will continue forever, we have abundant evidence for entertaining the strong probability that it will do so. And I assure you that nothing can give us cause for greater satisfaction than that. For us the words, ‘for all eternity’ , would form a fitting clause in our charter of spiritual freedom.
I have often spoken of the magnificent buildings in the spirit world, but I have not so far made any reference to the particular form of architecture they favor. In fact, we have all types, from the earliest forms known to you on earth down to those of the present day. A type that is a great favorite among us here is that which is commonly known to you as Gothic. But all ages are represented. It would not be accurate to say they are reproduced, because here we can call upon people of a former age to erect buildings in the exact pattern of those of their own times. Beautiful though the various styles of architecture may be, and they are beautiful, yet to my mind the materials, of which the buildings are composed, with their exquisite coloring’s, are still lovelier. Even the plainest structure, one that is perhaps almost devoid of external embellishment, is none the less a delight to see.
Whatever form of spirit world architecture you may care to consider, you must always remember the two extra factors of the materials of which they are made, and their wide range of gentle coloring’s.
There is one class of building that we do not favor, and that is the great gaunt barrack-like structure, rectangular or of any other shape, with rows upon rows of cheerless windows. Such buildings would not comport with the warmth and geniality of these realms, and would seem altogether too cold and forbidding, in spite of the luster of our building materials and their diversified colors, to find any response from the dwellers here. And without the cordial response of the inhabitants of these realms nothing would remain in evidence very long. It is because we like what we have here that we have it, and that it survives.
If I were to say that we have in the spirit world that type of domicile known to you on earth as ‘family mansions’ it would no doubt conjure up in your mind the private ownership that is entailed in possessing a large mansion on earth.
Of course, there is ownership in the spirit world. Indeed, why should there not be? Ownership, however, is gained in a different way from that of the earth. There is only one right of ownership in the spirit world, and that is the spiritual right. None other will suffice; none other even exists. According to our spiritual right, gained by the kind of life we have lived upon earth, and afterwards according to our progression in the spirit world, so can we possess.
Many people arrive here to find themselves richly and abundantly provided with spirit-world possessions that are far in excess of those which they owned upon earth. And the contrary is often the case. Possessors of great earthly effects can find themselves spiritually poor when they come here.
But they can gain the right to possess more, far more than they ever could own on earth, and of far greater value and beauty.
But to return to the large mansion-houses of which I spoke. These are not erected through a wish to indulge a mere desire of possession, though naturally there is nothing discordant with the harmony and laws of these realms to take a delight in whatever we may possess, from the smallest trifle to the largest building. These mansions are usually built up from smaller houses by making structural additions from time to time. But the latter are made with a very distinct purpose, a purpose that has for its intent not the enlargement of the building for its own sake, but to carry out some useful, interesting, or helpful intention that will be of service to many others in these realms.
One particular house I have in mind first began its existence as a moderate sized dwelling somewhat similar to my own home. The owner of it is an artist and musician, and when he first started his new life here, he had a great ambition to make his house a small center for other artists and musicians, a meeting-place where kindred souls could forgather, the artists to discuss their art as it exists in the spirit world, and the musicians to perform such works as their fancy chose.
Gradually this little scheme took upon itself larger dimensions, far larger than were originally contemplated, until the house became much too small and insignificant for the worthy purpose to which it was being devoted. Additional rooms were built, and the whole house was extended in one direction and another. Finally, an apartment was added that resembled the ‘great hall’ customary in large mansion-houses on the earth. Since that time it has extended its hospitality to scores of friends, and there is never a period when the house is devoid of visitors. It is a beautiful residence to look upon; a delightful one to reside in, and we have often joined one or other of the numerous assemblages there when we have taken a holiday from our work.
Instances could be multiplied where such great mansions have their existence here, each of them devoted to some serviceable purpose for the entertainment of us all. They are not halls of instruction, the latter being of an entirely different nature both architecturally and in the purpose for which they are used.
The mansion-houses are the homes of individuals in precisely the sense that my house is my own home, but their great size is due solely to the design for which they were erected, namely, hospitality and entertainment, recreation and pleasure.
As to the ownership of the ground upon which these houses stand, the ownership, such as I have explained to you, resides with the occupier of the house. As the house is extended in size, so also is the area of the grounds which are attached to it. The larger the mansion, the larger the tract of ground which surrounds it. Anything in the nature of cramping would materially detract from the grandeur of the edifice.
All these mansions are set in the most beautiful parkland where it is possible and permissible to wander to one’s hearts content. There are no petty restrictions, no exerting of ‘rights’, no prohibiting notices, for there is nothing and no one to prohibit! The inhabitants of the mansions know that there will be no unwarrantable intrusion simply because we observe all the courtesies that it is common to expect among those who respect each other for their spiritual worth.
The woods and parklands are a dream of enchantment to wander in, and many are the occasions when we have strolled through them, or rested beneath the trees, while the deer, friendly and unafraid, have come to us and made themselves acquainted. They are beautiful creatures, enjoying such freedom as only the spirit world can give them, and they form an integral part of the superb landscape.
Excerpt from Here And Hereafter