Does the evolution of the individual begin with his earthly appearance?

While self-radiant, and capable of wonderful development, the individual soul is still a part of the divinity. 

Each man is not God, and yet each soul contains a particle of the divine essence, divinely implanted.

To reach the centre of light, and its perfection, each individual progresses through many evolutions, each one permitting a fuller measure of light. 

Each evolution has its duties and tasks to perform―its education to make―and its errors to overcome. 

These are not existent―

They are the natural outcome of the liberty, free will and limited understanding of the imperfect individual. 

Naturally, they differ in each plane, but the nearer we come to the fount of wisdom, the stronger we are, and the greater is our happiness, for we see more clearly the meaning of life and its glorious possibilities.

The believers in the doctrine of reincarnation deny the infinity of God. 

To our earthly logic, it may seem just and inevitable that the undeveloped soul should be permitted to complete that development among the same earthly surroundings, which saw its beginning―the earth, which witnessed the sins and injustices of an earthly career, should be the theatre of its punishment in some other earthly form but this idea limits the power of God, and so denies God Himself.

We are indissolubly connected with the Divine Generator of Life who is God.

God is infinite―He knows all―fills all space―and is all-powerful. 

In Him are all the attributes of perfection. 

His thought is life-giving―His Love is life-sustaining. 

He does not need the earth as His only theatre for our development. 

All the conditions of earth are outgrown forever.

Can the butterfly enter the cocoon ever again? 

No, its life is in the free air. 

So our afterlife is one of greater freedom.

The whole universe is before us, and our free will takes us ever higher, for as we see more clearly, so we must progress. 

Progress can never mean retrogression. 

The earth is the cradle of the human race, but that is all.