We have pointed out that during our life on earth all our conscious sensations come to us through the material body, which is like a glove that covers the spirit. To this rule we must note certain exceptions. There may be a partial and temporary removal of this covering while we are still living in the body. This was the case with the ancient prophets when they were in a state of spiritual vision, or in dreams. At such times, the life of the body was, as it were suspended. The mind was withdrawn from reflection upon physical sensations, and focused upon the impulses that come from the spiritual world. The prophet became aware of his spiritual environment and was brought into open communication with spirits and angels. He “saw a vision, he heard a voice, or he dreamed a dream.” His personal will was quiescent, and he was swept along by the current of spiritual affections that impinged upon the internal mind. Because the individual will was quiescent, the Lord could move him to see, to feel, and to say things far beyond his comprehension so that he might become a medium for the giving of the Divine Word. This however is not a normal state of life, but one that is induced from time to time under the immediate control of the Divine Providence.

The two worlds are so intimately interrelated that such an opening of the spiritual sight is possible, and it may take place in varying degrees in order to meet some specific need. It produces the experience of what people call extrasensory perception, of which there is unquestionable evidence, although it may often be confused with pure imagination, with ordinary dreams, or with deliberate pretence of spiritual insight for the sake of some selfish purpose. It is so important for people on earth to live as if in a purely natural world, and for spirits and angels to live as if in a purely spiritual world, that any deliberate attempt to penetrate the veil is said to be contrary to order. Warning against this is given because it can be destructive of all free choice and rationality, without which regeneration is not possible.

Whatever one perceives through the glove of physical sensation is necessarily vague and general. When this covering is removed one enjoys far keener sensations and perceptions that are incomparably more delightful. Particulars become clear that had been sensed only as a confused mass without distinctions. What has been seen, as it were through a mist, becomes sharply defined. The fact that this is impossible as long as we live in the body appears indeed as a great disadvantage, yet it is a very important necessity, and is compensated by the fact that on earth we are surrounded by a fixed environment. By means of sense organs and the connecting system of nerves the mind is brought into contact with the material creation. In no other way can we be given the opportunity of free choice on which depends the formation of human character.

Because of this, people on earth enjoy a kind of freedom quite different from that of spirits and angels. In order to progress from place to place there must be ground on which to walk, propellers by which to move through water or air, or some form of jet propulsion by which to explore outer space. There must be something hard, solid, resistant to react against. No one can lift himself by his bootstraps. We must be able to lay hold of something outside of ourselves. This is just as true of the mind as it is of the body. One's state of mind cannot be changed except by contact with something fixed outside of itself. There must be facts which are dependable, and at the same time independent of any individual opinion. There must be principles on which one may rely with certainty from which to reason. There must be truth which transcends reason—truth which is self-evident or axiomatic, from which to think. The foundation of all natural knowledge and intelligence is the world of nature; and the foundation of all spiritual intelligence and wisdom is the Word of Divine revelation. These are called the “two foundations of truth” because they are fixed and unalterable, and because they exist independently of the human mind, as something the mind may lay hold upon to progress, to change its state, to determine its character.

The purpose of our life on earth is that we may freely choose what we will love above all things, and what, from love, we will think and believe. To this end we are presented with alternatives, and find it necessary to accept one in preference to the other. Every action we take of our own will involves such a choice. No one can go in two different directions at the same time. If we move at all we must adopt one way and reject the other. As we do this persistently we establish habits of both will and thought, as a result of which the choice becomes progressively easier, more spontaneous and effortless. It becomes natural to us, and so is appropriated as our own or as our very life. When such a choice has been made and confirmed by living experience, it remains, not because it could not be changed, but solely because there is no will or desire to change it. So far as this is the case our character has been fixed to eternity because even the Lord will not compel us to change against our will. To do so would destroy our individuality, in the exercise of which all the joy of life resides. One who has made such a choice on earth has irrevocably determined his place in the spiritual world, whether it be in heaven or in hell, and that is why it is said, “As the tree falls, so shall it lie.” Whatever love we have adopted may be perfected to eternity, but it cannot be changed or replaced by any other love.

Everyone is confronted by many alternatives during the course of their natural life; but there is one fundamental choice that embraces and determines the character of all the others. It is this: will we claim our life as our own to do with as we please, or will we acknowledge that it is a gift from God to be used in accord with the Lord's will rather than our own. No one of sound mind who reaches adult age can avoid making this decision, at least in some degree. We must decide to act in accord with our conscience or against it, and this whether our conscience is true or false. By a conscience here is meant whatever we have come to believe is right because it is decreed by God. One who persistently strives to obey his conscience is said to be “innocent” because he is willing to be led and taught; and such a one however ignorant or mistaken he may be, will come at last into heaven. Such is the universal mercy and loving kindness of the Lord. Only those who have persisted in self-will during their life on earth will find the gates of heaven closed against them in the other life, but only because they refuse to enter, and deliberately choose the life of hell.

Although those who die in infancy and childhood cannot make such a choice, they still can be prepared for heaven in the other life because they are innocent, and have not confirmed themselves against the Lord's leading. They can be educated by the angels; and when they reach mature age they can be introduced into the world of spirits, where they come in contact with evil spirits, and can learn to resist temptation, and so make the life of heaven their own by individual choice.

That which produces free choice is a love. This causes one to reflect, that is to notice, to pay attention. There constantly pours in upon the mind a stream of sensations or impulses, all of which are transmitted to the brain by the nerves, and there knock upon the door of the mind. For the most part this knocking is unheeded, and therefore produces no conscious sensation. But when the mind is moved from within, that is, from the spiritual world, by a love or desire, that love reaches out to lay hold of any sense impulses which it spontaneously recognizes as harmonious with itself, and thus as giving pleasure. It focuses the mind upon such sense impulses, drawing them out from the confused background of unconscious sensations, and forming from then a mental picture, an ideal, a promise of achievement for which to strive. Such an ideal may be retained in the memory and recalled long after it has been superseded by other sensations.

In this way the mind, in accord with its active affection or interest, creates its own mental world consisting of those things to which it pays attention, at the same time ignoring or bypassing many sensations that appear irrelevant or of no consequence to its life. Furthermore, the love spontaneously seeks to impose its ideal upon the material environment, to make it actual by bringing all things in the environment into accord with it. Here is where the fixed surroundings play a vital role. They do not readily yield to the demands of the love. Their resistance compels us to search, to investigate, to struggle in the attempt to achieve what our love envisages. Only partially can they be adapted to that ideal. In large measure they prove to be intractable, and the ideal must be modified accordingly. Seldom if ever, does one find the actual accomplishment of an objective fully satisfying. To some degree the goal may be changed, the imagined purpose altered by external necessity. And because ideals are born of ignorance or of insufficient knowledge, one may grow more intelligent and wiser by experience. By the insistent requirements of a fixed environment we may learn to obey the laws of Divine order, all of which are inscribed from creation upon the objects and the forces of nature.

Love does not arise within the human mind. It comes from spirits and angels in the other world with whom we are associated. Any love that is active in the mind produces reflection, determines what we shall seek and what we shall avoid, therefore what shall form the field of our consciousness. It would appear, therefore, as if we have no mind of our own, but is merely swept along by whatever love inspires us. Yet this does not follow, because we can be moved by many different affections at different times. While we are under the influence of one love, we can still remember others that have moved us in the past. Among these memories we may choose one, and by an act of will we may focus our attention upon the objects associated with it.

Reflecting upon such objects opens the gate of influx from these spirits or angels who find in such objects an ideal or goal of accomplishment. Because of this, we can control the spirits who shall influence us. We can attract certain spirits and force others to withdraw. This also is possible because of a fixed environment. We can purposely turn our attention from one thing to another, and so doing can determine what spirits shall influence our mind. The ability to do this is the source of all human freedom, and yet it often appears as a cause of bondage. We are confronted by immediate and imperative needs that compel us to shift our attention. There are times for work, and times for rest. There is hunger that demands attention for the sustenance of the body. There are obligations to others that must be taken care of at specific times, dates to be kept, crucial circumstances to be met that cannot be delayed. Indeed, our life is made up of constant interruptions that may be very annoying, but that cannot be avoided. For this reason we are constantly being forced to pay attention to other things, to break our line of thought, and so to drive away certain spirits and invite others to influence us. Too long a concentration upon one thing leads to weariness, and at last to utter inability to think and act. This is the great need for a change of occupation, a vacation, by which to renew one's powers of perception and understanding. By means of necessities the Divine Providence leads us whither we would not go. New influences from the other world, and new opportunities resulting, open up vistas of inspiration and insight we could not have foreseen. Yet within the framework of all these necessities, we have the freedom and the responsibility to determine what we will love most of all, what we will repeatedly come back to, despite all interruptions.