September 1972
We feel very humble as we gather close and we hear your prayers. And we hear the grateful thanks which you offer up to the great Spirit, and to love, and to the creator of all creation. We feel so very humble because we are aware of the afflictions of the ageing body, and the tiredness of the mind. And we are aware also of the feeling of hopelessness which is only natural when the body refuses to do those things which seem so necessary in your daily life.
But we would have you know that many of us gathered here this day have suffered sore afflictions whilst in the flesh. And so many of us found it very very difficult to keep our faith and to believe in the power of love towards the and of our earthly life. When these same afflictions overtook us and our bodies and our minds were weary with living.
And yet, now that we are free from all pain and tiredness, now we are in the land of light and love and are able to move at any time to any place, we realise that we did indeed receive our greatest spiritual blessing at these times. Because it is so easy when the body is strong and the mind is strong and there is everything around us which we like, and there are things to do which we enjoy, then one can give thanks, and thank God for the many blessings, because all around within and without there is a sense of achievement and satisfaction. But when one is old and the afflictions seem to be more and more almost more than one can bear, and yet one can thank God for the love of friends and for the beauties all around which this name one cannot really enjoy, then this one has found true peace. This one has cast out the mote from his own eye. This one sees clearly with true vision. Seeing and knowing that which is real and that which is not so
And you give us even a greater peace than we already have. Because it is easy to thank God and to be at peace here where we stand at a vantage point. But we realise the power which emanates from such a soul who with deep humility and a grateful heart can see the love of God at work in the darkness of the earth world under such difficult, and depressing, and painful conditions.
And we take courage once again from thine own spirit. And the light and the power which your attitude of mind creates will keep you safe. And because you think like this we are able to do so many things for you which would not be possible if you thought otherwise. And this is why day by day at some time or another, however dark the conditions a flicker of light shines through. There is not one day, Mary, that passes, that you do not see just a glimpse of the light of love.
And even in your darkest moments you use this light to lead and to help and to heal and to comfort others, even though your own place, your own centre, appears to be dark and painful.
You thank the Father for our love and for our help. And we thank the Father that through His grace, through the power of the spirit, and through the power of love, we are able to serve you and to help you. And we try, we do our utmost, with the power created through your love to help those for whom you pray. But there are certain conditions which we cannot break down at a moments notice. For even we, even the Father Himself, cannot lead His children's lives for them. The are Gods in their own right and they must seek for their own place. They must seek for Him through their own desires, through their own way, and they have to find their own path. Otherwise the children of the earth would be as puppets on a string. Creating and finding nothing. And you can see as you look back, even in this one earth existence, that you have not been a puppet on a string. That you have felt that you must do this, that or the other. And you have done these things, even if you have regretted them afterwards. But have no fears, no regrets. Spend no time with remorse, for you could not pray at this same time…
This transcript offers something more unusual than sympathy for a failing body — a claim, from those who have already lived through similar affliction and now stand free of it, that suffering endured near the end of life was itself their "greatest spiritual blessing," recognised only afterward, from the far side. Gratitude given easily, when strength and enjoyment are plentiful, is distinguished sharply from gratitude given amid real affliction and loss — the latter, the transcript says, is what "casts out the mote from his own eye," true vision earned specifically through difficulty rather than despite it.
Its most striking reversal is who is comforting whom: the guides, speaking from "the land of light and love," say plainly that Mary's own perseverance gives them peace, more even than their own freedom from pain does — because sustaining gratitude and love under real hardship demonstrates something their own comfortable vantage point cannot prove on its own. Her attitude of mind is described as directly enabling their help, not merely accompanying it: "because you think like this we are able to do so many things for you which would not be possible if you thought otherwise."
Its closing turn addresses free will honestly, including its costs: even the Father cannot live a life for anyone, "else the children of earth would be as puppets on a string" — every soul must find its own way, including through choices later regretted. Rather than urging perfection, the transcript asks only for release from remorse over what's already done, since dwelling on it, more than the mistake itself, is what actually blocks prayer and peace in the present moment.