Reincarnation Stories

All right, Sister. I'm here, Helen.

Tomorrow is my birthday, and we shall celebrate it by a visit with you all. Let us have music in the evening, and some violin things. I have been feeling as if I might some day play with John. He is the type to make a famous artist, and may carry our message to those you could not reach with words. Music penetrates deep into the fundamental elements of being, and so there may be a way to reach each living heart.

There always is some way, only we haven't realised that. Music being an integral part of life itself, it must have great stirring power. Train John's hands, and his visual technique of music. Before he is given a violin let him learn to read music, and have primary lessons in harmony. Lay a broad foundation.

You see in any branch of art one should first train the muscles before intentional technique begins. I will explain. Any occupation which trains the hands to do skillful work and accurate tasks will fit those same hands for other work. A painter can be trained by the use of carpenters' tools. The eye grows keen and the hand efficient. With the violin one's ear is quite as important as one's eye, and hence lessons in singing and piano make a splendid foundation for violin work, as well as some manual training work. Any occupation which develops the muscles and trains the ear and eye, helps one immensely to master an instrument.

I want little John to take lots of time in preparation before he is allowed to handle the instrument we so love. The Master feels John has a future before him we all may share, but it is your duty to look to his bodily welfare and the wholesomeness of his mind and heart.

Tee has his share also in John's development. He must not be allowed to develop in a one-sided way. All that tends to strengthen his body and make his mind clear and rational will be of untold value. To give the great message, the giver must be balanced, sane. The message is Love, and one must be able to live the life, to make it strike deep into other lives. Not blind love, but clear, patient, and understanding love, is what humanity needs, and music has power to stir the depths of any soul, and plant hope there, and fair desire, and ambition to achieve.

Too much time is usually taken for mastering the mechanics of any art. More time should be taken for developing the soul and mind and heart, that the message may be something besides exalted mechanics, gymnastics. A great violinist need not be such a marvellous gymnast. He may play quite simple compositions, and yet put a power of personality behind and through them that will affect the daily life of each listener.

The music of the future will be less complex, but it will grip the soul and deliver its message.

Teach John first the beauty and value of life.

Let him live his message before he lets it speak. Then he will wield the only true power on earth. The whole great secret of Jesus lay in the fact of his clear vision, his love, his honest life. He lived what he believed, and his life is still doing its work. It is again that power of personality.

Why can't musicians grip the hearts of people more than they do, with the marvellous aid that is theirs? Simply because they neither live the life, have the vision, nor love humanity. Most of them are vain and shallow and selfish, and pass away without leaving any permanent mark on history. A true musician must play his own compositions, and he must have a worthy message. There always has to be one great personality to go before as a pathfinder. 

We hope John may find the path for the new music. Guard his life at all points, that he may learn only fine things, and keep him clean for the higher service.

These things are for you and Tee to work out together. You shall each do your own personal work, but your main use will be that you two form the pedestal on which stands the one who shall point out the new way—who will teach the vital truths of life through music. But for you the work could not be done so soon, so you are of deep importance to the project.

We know you will perform your part faithfully.

Helen and the Master

All right, Sister, here we are for a birthday message.

Whenever we can have uninterrupted time to write, we wish to go on with the reincarnation story. Tee's was not finished, Harry says, nor yours. And B. has a wonderful past.

Today, if you don't mind, I should like to tell B's story. She has been marked for public service for many lives, and has the public habit in spite of her gentle ways and speech. She has belonged to the reformer class as far back as Harry went.. She has been fired with the love of justice and individual liberty, throwing her all into the balance repeatedly. The habit of public service has rather crowded out the smaller personal point of view. She has developed beyond its need. So, Sister, you needn't worry.

The personal, narrow, home circle is all right for the individual with the narrow vision, and for the majority. But in all communities there must always be those who serve the mass outside the family circle. These broader duties tend to create a sort of carelessness of detail, which is irritating, but not vital.

Of you all B. has grasped the biggest idea and is living it. It is for this she is so well guarded as to bodily health and accident. E. owes more to us than he realises, who guard his environment for her sake, as well as for the sake of his own fine service.

Sister, your part is less showy, but not a bit less needed. Each according to his or her personal gifts. The main idea being identical, what is the use of the label? All are so very important.

Helen

The following is M's past history and its important points, as seen on Harry's journey into the past.

First, she has always been a woman, never a man. Sex, so far as we have been able to see, remains the same always.

Always a woman, she has evolved her independent personality through fighting her oppressors at all points. She has felt the sacredness and justice of individual liberty ever since she followed the teacher Jesus in his life. Her eyes were opened to the real meaning of his symbolic lessons. She grasped, even at that time, what he vainly tried to impress on all—the right of each soul to itself to be and think as it seems right from the standpoint of its own conscience. She felt the inner stir of that call for justice and liberty, and for this she was martyred many times, never being conquered by a despot.

Several times a nun, she learned what a cell can teach. She also learned the value of being a complete woman. The natural heart hunger of her starved nature as a celibate had made motherhood seem intensely desirable. She has not yet been satisfied, and will mother many more before her heart is surfeited.

As a Roman matron she took a keen interest in government, and her judgment was solicited by statesmen and patriots.

As a Puritan she was full of courage and resource, and led her frailer sisters in matters of common welfare, and also of steadfast faith.

Her latest life was led in New England in the eighteenth century. It was a long one, and she passed out in 1800.

Her faults were always those which are born of an intense personality and efficiency. Frugality degenerates into hoarding if not guarded against; capacity into a small form of tyranny, a tendency to boss others. These are now the only faults she need work upon. She has seen it, and is doing nobly.

She must realise, and does, I think, that each soul must be left to work out its own future. Love is about the only thing one is allowed to give without limit. Advice should never be offered until asked, as it is useless until desired.

Possessions of all sorts must be limited to the individual's ability to use them actively. One should not just sit in the midst of things, but live in a place where what is about one is in active service. No ornaments, either pictures or furniture, should be stored away. What cannot be enjoyed daily should be passed on.

The same is true about jewellery and clothes: pass them on. Keep things circulating and they don't die. This is a great truth. Things live and have a character as well as people. They absorb the personality of their owners, and give off the atmosphere or feeling of them. That is why one can feel at once whether the people who live in a place are fine and hospitable, or selfish and cold. Their things talk.

Helen