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To consider that after the death of the body the spirit perishes
is like imagining that a bird in a cage will be destroyed if the
cage is broken, though the bird has nothing to fear from the destruction
of the cage. Our body is like the cage, and the spirit is like the
bird. We see that without the cage this bird flies in the world
of sleep; therefore, if the cage becomes broken, the bird will continue
and exist. Its feelings will be even more powerful, its perceptions
greater, and its happiness increased. In truth, from hell it reaches
a paradise of delights because for the thankful birds there is no
paradise greater than freedom.SAQ228
Know
thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body,
will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God,
in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and
centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter.
It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereignty, His
dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the signs of God
and His attributes, and will reveal His loving kindness and bounty.
The movement of My Pen is stilled when it attempteth to befittingly
describe the loftiness and glory of so exalted a station. The honour
with which the Hand of Mercy will invest the soul is such as no
tongue can adequately reveal, nor any other earthly agency describe.GL155
When
the human soul soareth out of this transient heap of dust and riseth
into the world of God, then veils will fall away, and verities will
come to light, and all things unknown before will be made clear,
and hidden truths be understood.
Consider how a being, in the world of the womb, was deaf of ear
and blind of eye, and mute of tongue; how he was bereft of any perceptions
at all. But once, out of that world of darkness, he passed into
this world of light, then his eye saw, his ear heard, his tongue
spoke. In the same way, once he hath hastened away from this mortal
place into the Kingdom of God, then he will be born in the spirit;
then the eye of his perception will open, the ear of his soul will
hearken, and all the truths of which he was ignorant before will
be made plain and clear.SWA177

The
progress of the soul does not come to an end with death. It rather
starts along a new line... Spiritual progress in that realm is infinite,
and no man, while on this earth, can visualize its full power and
extent.LOG205

If
you have a bed of lilies of the valley that you love and tenderly
care for, they cannot see you, nor can they understand your care,
nevertheless, because of that tender care, they flourish.
So it is with your husband. You cannot see him, but his loving influence
surrounds you, cares for you, watches over you. They, who have passed
into the Divine Garden, pray for us there, as we pray for them here.CH215

Do
not grieve, and do not lament. That tender and lovely shrub has
been transferred from this world to the rose-garden of the Kingdom
and that longing dove has flown to the divine nest. That candle
has been extinguished in this nether world that it may be rekindled
in the Supreme Concourse. Ye shall assuredly meet him face to face
in the world of mysteries at the assemblage of Light.
The
death of that beloved youth and his separation from you have caused
the utmost sorrow and grief; for he winged his flight in the flower
of his age and the bloom of his youth to the heavenly nest. But
he hath been freed from this sorrow-stricken shelter and hath turned
his face toward the everlasting nest of the Kingdom, and, being
delivered from a dark and narrow world, hath hastened to the sanctified
realm of light; therein lieth the consolation of our hearts.
The inscrutable divine wisdom underlieth such heart-rending occurrences.
It is as if a kind gardener transferreth a fresh and tender shrub
from a confined place to a wide open area. This transfer is not
the cause of the withering, the lessening or the destruction of
that shrub; nay, on the contrary, it maketh it to grow and thrive,
acquire freshness and delicacy, become green and bear fruit. This
hidden secret is well known to the gardener, but those souls who
are unaware of this bounty suppose that the gardener, in his anger
and wrath, hath uprooted the shrub. Yet to those who are aware,
this concealed fact is manifest, and this predestined decree is
considered a bounty. Do not feel grieved or disconsolate, therefore,
at the ascension of that bird of faithfulness; nay, under all circumstances
pray for that youth, supplicating for him forgiveness and the elevation
of his station.

Be
not sorrowful on account of the departure of thy good son. He hath
indeed departed from this narrow and gloomy world which is darkened
by unlimited sorrow, unto the Kingdom which is spacious, illumined,
joyous and beautiful. God delivered him from this dark well and
promoted him unto the Supreme Height! He gave him wings whereby
he soared to the heaven of happiness. Verily this is the great mercy
from Him who is precious and forgiving.
In
the next world, man will find himself freed from many of the disabilities
under which he now suffers. Those who have passed on through death,
have a sphere of their own. It is not removed from ours; their work,
the work of the Kingdom, is ours; but it is sanctified from what
we call time and place. Time with us is measured by
the sun. When there is no more sunrise, and no more sunset, that
kind of time does not exist for man. Those who have ascended have
different attributes from those who are still on earth, yet there
is no real separation.
In prayer there is a mingling of station, a mingling of condition.
Pray for them as they pray for you!

As
we have power to pray for these souls here, so likewise we shall
possess the same power in the other world, which is the Kingdom
of God. Are not all the people in that world the creatures of God?
Therefore, in that world also they can make progress. As here they
can receive light by their supplications, there also they can plead
for forgiveness and receive light through entreaties and supplications.
Thus as souls in this world, through the help of the supplications,
the entreaties and the prayers of the holy ones, can acquire development,
so is it the same after death.

The
progress of mans spirit in the divine world, after the severance
of its connection with the body of dust, is through the bounty and
grace of the Lord alone, or through the intercession and the sincere
prayers of other human souls, or through the charities and important
good works which are performed in its name.

Why
shouldst thou be sad and heartbroken? This separation is temporal;
this remoteness and sorrow is counted only by days. Thou shalt find
him in the Kingdom of God and thou wilt attain to the everlasting
union. Physical companionship is ephemeral, but heavenly association
is eternal. Whenever thou rememberest the eternal and never ending
union, thou wilt be comforted and blissful.
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