The Sceptical and Unbelieving Mind

To the sceptical and unbelieving mind, the idea of departed spirits loving to visit those haunts and places for which they conceived an attachment in their earth life may appear absurd! But do you think that that love can change upon the mere dissolution of the external form or the separation of the soul from it? Is it not rational to believe that the loves born into the spirit amid the changing vicissitudes of the earth-being remain an inherent principle of its nature, even after its passage from sublunary to spiritual things? Does it follow that because the immortal dissolves its connection with the corporeal, its earthly loves and affections become modified or annihilated by the transformation? Rather, would it not be reasonable to suppose that they would become more intensified and refined by association with celestial intelligences and attract the spirit back to the haunts of former delights and enjoyments? We are mistaken if we think that the loves born in the soul amid the scenes of strife grow motionless or cold as it unfolds to Spirit Life.*

* Twelve Messages from the spirit of John Quincy Adams through Joseph D. Stiles, medium to Josiah Brigham, Bela Marsh Publishers, Boston, 1859