“The Epitome of Perfect Love”

Though in recent years Silver Birch made a cassette recording - it has been heard by countless folk in countless lands -- turning the clock back ever further the guide once recorded his voice onto a gramophone record.

Sadly the first record he made was a failure, from a reproduction point of view, because the microphone was placed too far away. The guide made no complaint. Instead, he started straight away on another record.

“What shall I talk about?” he said when was asked to make a second disc. His first talk had been one of comfort to mourners.

“Why not talk about the new world?” he was asked.

Without hesitation, Silver Birch started a talk on the new world - which was of exactly the right length for the record which is no longer available. That was the remarkable aspect about every spirit address - there were four altogether, two prayers and two talks. They were all of exactly the right length!

So that the guide would know when to start recording and when to finish, it was arranged that a sitter should count up to nine then the apparatus was switched on and the guide started to talk. Half a minute before the recording was due to finish, the medium was touched -- and the guide had so arranged everything that he finished in each case almost on the last second. And yet, he said, it was not rehearsed.

“I pray to the Great White Spirit of life,” Silver Birch began, making the first record, “Thou Who art the King of kings, the divine Architect, the infinite Intelligence behind perfect law. Thou art omniscient, omnipotent. Thou art ever present, for Thy spirit fills the whole universe and all is a reflection of Thee. But Thy spirit is shown in the lives of those who strive to render service, for there Thy divinity finds its fullest expression, as reaching out they fight all vested interest, all hatred, all cruelty, all superstition and all the ignorance that belongs to the darkness.”

“We pay tribute to Thee Who art the epitome of perfect love and wisdom because we seek to reveal Thee as Thou art in all Thy majesty, for Thou hast been misinterpreted through the ages, except by a few who possessed the open vision and the clear-seeing eye. Thou art not a despotic, vindictive, jealous tyrant. Thou art the Great Spirit of all life, for Thy spirit is within every child in the universe and they are linked with Thee throughout all eternity. Because of Thy spirit they live; because of Thy spirit they exist in the world beyond death.”

During the last half-minute, it appeared to sitters that the guide would not finish in time. That half-minute seemed almost as long as the previous two and a half minutes since the recording began. But Silver Birch knew how much he could say in the time! Another disc was put on the machine, the sitter counted up to nine and “I whom you call Silver Birch desire to send a message to those whose eyes are filled with tears and whose hearts are heavy with sadness because they mourn the ones they love, whom they think death has robbed them of their presence. I who have lived in the world of spirit for many years wish to tell them that death cannot divide those whom love has joined. Love breaks all barriers; love always findeth its own.”

“Do not weep because the one you love is taken from a world of cruelty, of misunderstanding, of ignorance, into a larger life where all its innate qualities can find richer expression. Do not be bitter because the Great Spirit has transplanted a flower from your garden into His, where it can shed a greater fragrance, freed from all the limitations and restrictions of your world. Try to understand that death is part of the law of life, for life and death are both servants of the Great Spirit, and both are used to teach His laws to those who do not yet properly understand them. Dry your tears. Your sorrow should not be, for the one you love is always close to you. Death cannot destroy love; love is infinite as the Great Spirit is infinite too.”

“Shall we play it over to you?” asked one of the recorders. “We can play it once without hurting it for reproduction.”

“If it can only be played once, I would rather you did not play it now but waited until my medium comes out of trance, so that he can hear it too,” said the guide, not wishing to prevent his medium from hearing the voice.

“Well, we can play it twice without damaging it,” said the recorder. Then it was realized the voice was too faint. The guide’s voice is much lower than the medium’s and did not register so well. In a test made earlier in the evening, the microphone was placed in the best position to record the medium’s voice.

“Can you repeat what was said?” someone asked. “No, that is not possible,” said Silver Birch. “But I will start again.” So the other record was started -- and the guide prayed:

“I pray to the Great White Spirit. Oh, Great White Spirit, Thou Who art the divine Architect, Thou Who art the King of all kings, the infinite Intelligence behind all life, we seek to reveal Thee as Thou art -- perfect law. Thou hast been misunderstood and misinterpreted throughout the ages. Men have thought of Thee as a cruel, bloodthirsty, vindictive, jealous tyrant, with partiality to those who made sacrifices to Thee.

“Men have approached Thee in fear and trembling, afraid of Thy wrath. We seek to reveal Thee as Thou art -- the epitome of perfect love and wisdom, for Thou dost desire to reveal Thyself through the operation of all Thy laws, so that Thy children may find in life its fullness, its richness and its plenteous bounty. We desire to bring into operation the laws that belong to Thy spiritual domain, so that they may inspire all people of good will to greater efforts and greater service, that they may free your world from all its inequalities, all its injustices and all that stands in the way of Thy kingdom of heaven being made manifest on earth. To that end we pray and labour.”

The second half of the second record was spoiled when Silver Birch made a mistake in a word -- he said “service” instead of “surface.” “That spoils it,” he remarked and waited for a new disc to be put on the machine before he started again.

“When all your world is full of darkness,” he began without hesitation, “and fear reigns in the heart of man, and the children of your world know not where to turn for guidance and comfort, we who live in the larger life and who can see beyond the confines of matter stress the note of confidence and tell you all is well.”

“You are witnessing the birth of a new order and all around you are the signs that the old world, founded on selfishness, materialism, greed, avarice and cruelty, is dying. You who call yourselves Spiritualists are the custodians of a great truth, for you are the sentries guarding the outposts, helping to forge the new era. Think of yourselves as soldiers of the Great Spirit, fighting the greatest fight of all, for you are helping to vanquish all the forces that belong to the darkness of man’s ignorance and brought war, misery, chaos and bankruptcy to your world.”

“You are helping to shape a new world in which all the children of the Great Spirit will share to fulfil the richness of the bounty He has freely given.”