rake

Yesterday, I heard a man of God (Rev. Steven Upton) answer questions about spiritual concepts such as the hereafter and reincarnation. His answers were articulate, rational and spoken with the certainity of faith. I don't adhere to what was said but I find myself comforted by his certainity in his own beliefs. (Not so comforting was the rash claim that were he in charge he would do away with our North American 'message service.')

I've observed that almost all the British Spiritualist that come to the church despair our North American ideas of mediumship. To our foreign brothers the purpose of mediumship is to prove the continuity of life which is properly accomplished by delivering information that can be verified as factual. For example, a catch phrase often said by a loved one, names, dates of significance, an accurate desciption of the physical appearance of a deceased associate or a childhood home, and a recollection of how that person made their transition into spirit. While many mediums, in North America, do this, is often takes a secondary place to bringing through helpful and healing messages that might help the receiver navigate a diffifult situation.

I make no claims to which philosophy best supports Spiritualist principles. Having little academic knowledge of the science and philosophy of the religion I'd only sound foolish making judgements. However, I know I'd like it better if visitors were less inclined to proclaim the practices of their hosts substandard to their own.