Leaves from heaven, a message of God, a word from heaven

Dedication

"Leaves From Heaven," a message of God, a word from Heaven.

This book is dedicated to my brother, Harry Brayton Watson Townsend, who is held in high esteem, by his sister, the sender of this message, Clara Townsend, one who had suffered and gained the reward in Heaven. It is given to my brother through a child of God, with the love of God in her soul, to the world.

"Leaves From Heaven" is directed from the home of God and the home of the soul.

Epilogue

MYSTERIES OF HEAVEN

Oh Lord, how manifold are your works, by your wisdom alone we know you, the earth is full of your riches.

Our planes, our homes of God, our love of God all are completed. We are able to create here, for we can create what we desire. Many people here create the things they most desired on earth. We are able to do this because we know love, because our souls are complete, because God is our ruler and our Father. God is love and to love there is no bounds. We are the immortal, we have thrown away all encumbrances, we have been born again in a perfect condition. Time does not exist here. We know no time as you do by days, months and years. Our time is only a sense of completion. Nor do we have age, as we are not materialized, that could not be. Nor do we have distances. We can be a thousand miles away from our planes or your earth and in an instant, a wink, back to our plane or where ever we wish; we think and we are, we wish and it is. Neither time or distance, or age exists here.

I have taken you, dear reader, to your home, to your home in the hereafter, to your God, through this noble child, and by the "Leaves From Heaven" I have taken you to our seventh plane, our worlds. I have described the first, the preparatory, the second, the earth plane, where all trades and occupations are carried on, where we live as you try to live on earth.

To the third plane, the inventive plane, to the fourth plane, from which the guides come ; to the fifth plane, the preparatory plane for the meeting of God, to the sixth and seventh planes where we are with God forever. I have revealed all that God ordained; I have told you only what He willed and all that is here written is true. I have given to you, the reader of this book, the message of God. I have bid you to be prepared.

I have shown to your dark, unlighted world the value of love, the value of faith, the value of hope, the value of truth and that of justice. I will try and make clear to you how love is perfected in Heaven. How by loving more on earth, so much more in Heaven. God is love and love is God and Heaven is home for the sick, for the weak, for the meek and for the rich and poor ; an equal Heaven, equal in all its wonderful powers and of love.

I have shown you how God loves- you and spares you, pleads with you, begs of you, implores you and then forgiving your sins, your faults, your absence of love of Him, takes you home. I have shown you the transition from your so-called death of the earth, to the new birth, and the transition from each of our planes to the higher planes.

I have told you in His words of our guides, our teachers and our preparers. All these I have told you through the clean clear brain of this child. I have shown of God's mercy.

God is so merciful that at your death-bed he does not send a substitute but he comes in person, so that the transition may be gentle, without shock or fear. For a glance of God and the roaring lions are asleep.

I have shown to you how your good acts, your soul itself, can reflect on the happy planes from whence I come. I have told you that there is no punishment except remorse, and how God is merciful. To you dear reader all this has been revealed. To you I have spoken with the voice of God. To you this message has been sent and as a falling leaf from the mother tree, this message comes to you, softly, and enlightening, revealing and making better your soul. It is the voice of God and the words of God and God's love. In the beginning you ask whence the "Leaves From Heaven." You were mystified, a little afraid, but now you have grown strong under this message. You know more of God than has ever before been revealed to *your plane.

God is love, love is new birth to your soul, to your relatives and friends, and to your God. If you are weary from a life of pilgrimage there is rest for you, rest with God. If you are weak with care and sickness there is cure and relief. If you are troubled in heart there is perfect peace. If you are maimed through your wars there is perfect completion of body if you desire, and always completion of soul. God awaits you with His love, His promise and when once you see His light, never, never could you think of returning to your globe of misery. You, the peoples of the earth can only get a faint impression of His love by the inevitable sky above you, of His glory by the glare of the sun, of His mercy by the softness of the sunshine, of His strength by the force of the elements. These alone are God's and to God they belong.

Dear reader, now as we have reached the closing of the "Leaves From Heaven" let me again say of God's love. Love God and you are saved to be born again, to see Him and your friends. God's love is like the flowers of earth, which are the deeds and love of God, beautiful in coloring, wonderful to the eye, everlasting to the mind, and perfume to the soul. God is love, God is merciful, love is hope ; thus the leaves of love, the flowers of mercy, hope, and faith come to you from God Himself, in this book which God has called the "Leaves From Heaven."

For our God is a zealous God and as God wills so shall it be.

Harry, your earth people feel it, very near to you often, and often you feel His presence by a silence that is almost audible. I am going to tell you about our Heaven, our homeplane, trees and birds.

Harry, oh I can hardly describe our Heaven to you my son. You are blessed here for your goodness to me before I left your world, all your kindness to me and father are multiplied tenfold.

And we have birds here, you know in one of your books there is written, "God knows every sparrow's fall." He saves even the birds for an eternal life.

Harry, aren't your plane peoples very ignorant? You are not and I am glad. They cannot see what reward the fallen bird has, who also has another life to live without fright. I see you understand and I am glad. Father Townsend.

Question: How about Free Will?

Yes, Harry, your free will is God's will. But I will lead up to that. Do you want to hear what I have to say, what I was going to say?

You asked about free-will, do you know what you ask about? Harry I know, you have the ladder, I mean what your earth peoples use to build with, to ascend, you have the two steps, the two straight supporters for the rounds ; each supporter has two individual ends, the tops and the bottoms ; is this clear before I go on?

We will number them one and two, top and bottom of remaining number one. Number one is birth of Soul in Heaven, it is high as your routine or stairway of life is given, birth in Heaven, then coming to earth. Harry the sub-number one of the supporter is the one that stands on the ground. That is your material birth.

The supporting ladder on earth is nearly perfect, I mean strong and looks enduring and your carpenter says it will hold, that it is a good ladder, but one or two rounds are missing at God's will, but the carpenter thinks that he can use it, do you understand, Harry? Each round of this ladder we will name ; the first may be a good act, it probably will be as the first part of one's career, it is likely to be all of good, as the infancy, maybe the second and third act (I mean rounds) will be good deeds, the fourth and fifth good deeds, then two or three rounds will be broken as wicked acts, you understand; Harry.

Perhaps the ladder may be only two or three feet, or, maybe twenty feet high, either it may be very short or very high, as the duration of the life. If your carpenter expects to work on a high building he chooses a long ladder, not a short one, so God chooses your ladder so, if your work on earth is to be very long then your ladder of life is long, if you are born weak, then your ladder of life is also short or weak, if for instance God chooses an individual's work on earth, plentiful and long, so is his ladder of life.

Each round must be stepped on, each supporter used to cling to as you climb your ladder, for your supporters are the results of your acts of your career, as the supporters are the result of the ladder, so if the supporters are weak, the ladder is weak and will break.

So Harry, as I said before, you begin to climb as a babe, careful, little by little and as a result your first rounds will probably be strong.

Each round is an act, each act makes up a career, and the career is your pathway of life ; do you, Oh do you understand?

We will say the fifth from the top of the ladder of life, the fifth round is broken, completely off, or there is no round, then what? That is the end of your life, your new birth is about to take place and your ladder of life is finished on earth, the rest completed on the first plane.

We will begin with the babe on the first round, each round is touched, each round is sounded and results. One support is from Heaven to earth (which is number one) the other from earth to Heaven (number two) you understand? I know you realize the contrast of life, the contrast with one hand on the supporter which extends from Heaven to earth, the other hand on the supporter which leads from earth to Heaven. (That contrast is your earth-tragedy).

Harry we will begin on the bottom round, climbing slowly up to Heaven or top of ladder as a child first, on each round growing a little older, or stronger or weaker, sinning great or little, always the two together.

He climbs steadily, then he steps on a round, it breaks and he falls, but not to earth as you would, only literally speaking, one round we will say will be divided into a good and evil part, good predominating, but the bad is chosen, the evil: he cannot choose only the one ordained by God in his birth. He must choose the one God has given him to decide, or decided. He could not; but if his willpower, free will power is very, very strong and sensitive to God's will he will hesitate, then that is an act and that hesitation is his free will power, do you understand Harry?

He climbs blindly, steadily, cringing with fear, he cannot fail for his foundation is strong and his soul is bound to rise, for God is at the doorway, waiting and beckoning, smiling at the soul on the road to the Heavenly home. Thus he climbs up, up, sinning, doing good, sinning, each an act, sub-act, a round connecting the stays or supporters of birth to earth and then to home.

Number two is Heaven, the doorway of home, where his path extends to, or his ladder leans against, he cannot fail, his soul will rise, as a bubble rises through the water to the surface.

So is your ladder of life, a turmoil, a contrast, you go with one hand on supporters from Heaven, the other on the supporters to Heaven.

It is like having a hundred pound weight on your feet and a balloon on your head (realize the contrast?) you are born to live, suffer, sin, be born again to a life complete in love and perfect in God.

Harry, so is your ladder the same, from the cradle of Heaven, to the grave of body and the birth of the soul.

LIFE

CLARA TOWNSEND

(Was Mother Casterline with us last night, Clara, when Father Townsend was talking to me through Ethel?)

(CLARA)

No, but father Townsend sent for them where he was on the fourth plane, they gathered there, all but mother Casterline, so father Townsend went back to second plane for mother Casterline. He was in the room a great deal but did not stay on account of his holy atmosphere, which was too strong for Ethel, (I make him be very careful for his personality, his heavenly environment is very startling and penetrating to Ethel; that is the cause of her present condition, understand Edith?) *

Ethel you like pretty picturesque things, so I will describe life in heavenly words, while father described it in barren, thick, descriptive man-words.

Clara Townsend.

LIFE

Life we will say is a mountain, a high mountain and you are going to climb, for you see your hopes, your ambitions realized in God at

* My wife, given name.

the top of the mountain. You start down the road of life, road of despair, road of love, road of anguish, road of hope ; each milestone is a character of good or bad. You reach the mountain, you stop and look up, up, you understand, up, not sideways for your soul points up. You decide it is steep, very rugged, but Oh, see the beautiful flower a little about midway ; you say "If I can only reach that flower I will be satisfied/' We will say that that flower is a hope, it is sent by God to spur you on, encourage you. You start to climb, you slip back, you regain your place, slip back again, and just as you are in the bottomless pit of despair, behold, dear child, the flower, how much more beautiful, and now you can even smell its fragrance ; you try again, you

* In explanation of the question and answer on the opposite page, I want to say that the evening before when Father Townsend was sending in his message on Foreordination, Ethel was writing with her left arm curved on the table her head resting upon it and her eyes partly closed, (the attitude she always assumed when taking messages) there came a warning written into Father's message, from Clara, saying for me to watch Ethel for she was going to collapse. Up to that warning I had not noticed her, but now I looked and saw she was dead white, but Father kept sending the message just the same until he had finished, when it became necessary to lift Ethel out of her chair and carry her to the couch where she remained all night. The next night Father told us he had stood too close to her in sending his message and that his spiritual atmosphere was too strong for her. He said it would never happen again nor did it. He said he would send all messages from himself from first plane thereafter. I write this so you will understand what Clara refers to in speaking about Ethel.

SO LEAVES FROM HEAVEN

succeed, perhaps -you reach the flower, perhaps when you reach its abode it is still ahead of you, but you do not despair now, for just a glance backwards, towards the bottom of the mountain from where you started, fills you with that desire to go up, up, up. Nature tries you, tempts you, lifts you, cuts you, bruises you, your body, but fills your soul with that ever rising desire to go up (understand) (read).

Your soul will rise because always it is reaching out in a million ways for the harmony, the harmonizing waves from God, to the soul ; only the good of earth, and the harmony and unity of Heaven is sensitive to the Soul. Harmony melts into the soul as one drop of water does into the sea, becomes a part of the whole, understand, and your soul is always reaching out, as the tentacles of your sponges of the ocean for food, reaching out, pulling back, reaching out, yielding and carrying back to the soul the accordance, the harmony of Heaven. It is like two flames united to produce more heat. The soul only acts upon or picks up what is in the environment that is exactly like itself, and that in turn performs the same duty and so on always extending out* reaching up, (yielding back when a strain of unharmony or discord is reached.) It is like one of your water plants reaching its millions of rootlets out through the water, feeling, sounding and drawing back in a minute, and resuming its natural appearance.

(But I am off your question Ethel, I guess I was reading Harry's thought.)

You are only starting up the mountain just a gain of a little, but you have no thoughts of returning, no. Rise, want, want to rise. You look aloft and behold, you see the light of God — but wait — a dark cloud marks out the image of God. And out of a hidden fissure or cave in the mountain steps Hypocrisy, huge, and she chains your feet and binds your eyes, but, she herself, is weak and blind and she thinks you cannot get away, so she leaves you chained to her cave door and retreats therein. But no, no, she does not know your soul, she has only come to a decision by your careworn countenance, you look aloft, you look at the chains of hypocrisy, strong, but you struggle; they tighten, on you, you struggle again, you become weaker and just as you are going to utter a cry of remorse to God, behold you are free, and struggle up the mountain again. You seem weak, yet that soul of yours seems to push you up and say to you, you cannot fail, go on, on and on, and so you climb again realizing your hopes and sins and God's sun shines on you and you are strengthened and you drink in the beauty of the scenery, the wonder of God, you are moved by Him then in turn tried by Him, tested and spurned by Him to try His experiment endowed on you.

Again you travel upward, you are encouraged by God and you think you are nearly to the sun, the crown of the mountain, when sin steps out of his cave, a four-headed Sin — one head hatred, one jealousy, one murder, one and the main head, selfishness ; he does not chain you but he talks to you, he pleads in a voice of pity, to follow him, to join him. He shows you wonderful hopes you can realize; you are tempted; you stand as if one foot on the mountain the other in the air. You picture his hopes, yet you looked well and you see his foundations are jon sand. When you see this, when your soul pictures it to your eyes you have won and you look, where is the monster? He is gone, hurrying, crouching away in the shadow of the cave.

Again you go on not knowing your God is by your side, and at last you reach the top of the mountain, but why the look of despair, the cry of anguish, the shock of remorse? Lo and behold you see the sun resting its head on the crown of another mountain in the distance, you fall in a faint of despair, torture, and humiliation and lost hope ; you sleep a wink and then your God is with you, you see His smile, your soul is tranquil, you smile back at the smiler, you see all your hopes realized, you smile, you faint, you sleep, you wake, to go with God. Child, God leads you on, on, spurns you, mocks you, sounds and tunes you, tests you, tries you, rebels you, to make your Soul. Then at the final moment, the hour of victory. He is there ready to receive His masterpiece, to take it home to love and teach it forever.

Question: Why Father, do we not have the chance to do right?

Harry this is steel type. Harry if all your people knew what was right and always did it and always lived the perfect life, what would your world be? What Harry? Why, Heaven in every respect. Because you would have no sin, no wickedness and you would be perfect. You would not need a new life or a new birth or a heavenly home, for your earth would be that, and Harry you would not have that wonderful mystery of Heaven and seeing of God to look forward to were you without sin on your earth plane, if you understand I will go on.

Question : Why do people not like to acknowledge God?

Yes, yes, Harry I received your perception that is right ; they are a little afraid, abashed to acknowledge God, yet they say I have a Bible home. Should you go to their home and look for their Bible, sure enough you would find it, but not until you removed four or five years of dust ; yet they have a Bible home.

No, Harry I am not speaking about morals ; no, Harry you are mistaken, very bad, son ; but I am speaking about truths of God. Truths your earth people see every day, know them to be truths but do not want to accept them as such ; they want to know why they are truths of God or promises of God. You see son, I am speaking about the visible effects of God on your world, how you know and feel Him and comprehend not.

Your earth peoples know there is a God ; and pin them down to the smallest atom, crossexamine them, and they will admit God, yet, place them in a crowd of your earth people and they will make believe they do not; they would not want to commit themselves, openly, among so many. Yet they know there is a ruler of their Universe ; they know that there is a life to be, but they want to see if there is any possible way they can find anything contradictory to the fact, just a little frail side issue, that is all.

Then they will polish it up and leave the polishing stuff on, not take it off to see the results it has made but leave it on, so their frail little contradictory fact will be enlarged a little, a little more pronounced, yet they believe in God and in the Book but they, why will they question? cross and recross-examine Him, who cannot be defined? Harry isn't it interesting? And so funny, Harry, for your peoples have a million ways of knowing God and not one single way of rejecting or doubting Him.

FOREORDINATION FATHER TOWNSEND

Question : Father, is everything foreordained?

No, Harry, you are wrong, no sins can be avoided or made over, or stopped for a good act, for each of your sins are one act, in your routine of life on earth. At the minute of birth, the minute you are given life, your routine of life or your career or journey is mapped or planned out, each sin, each good deed in your routine is a sub act to another act, good or wicked; if you hesitate, you know not whether to do the wicked, which you know to be bad, or do the good which you know to be good ; that is one act, one step in your career of life or your road; that is one stone on your road, or a flower, you cannot skip it, you cannot go around, you cannot jump over it, you cannot mine under it, for it in itself, whether wicked to the uttermost or good to the uttermost is a link in your life, a step in your career, a stone or a flower on your path ; it has been marked out Harry, planned out and has got to be ; you could not skip over an act or step, no more than you could climb on a ladder and jump from the second or third round to the top of it, where you had determined to go ; so with your life, your wickedness, your goodness, your dangling, hesitating swinging ideas, of whether it is good or evil, all are rounds in your ladder of life.

God, Harry (this is Father all the time, Ethel, not Clara) Harry : — God often changes a road of your life, or a round in your ladder, putting in a new strong rung, one you do not know whether it will hold you or not. He puts in a weak one, (often He does) and you fall by it, it breaks under your strength, that act of God in itself is an act of your journey, an act of your career. Harry, Oh Harry, is it plain to you. Yes, but read; that moment in your life is an act in your life, which cannot be avoided.

Question: Do we not know good?

Flarry, yes, perhaps as you would look at it, but Harry, you cannot determine it for it has been decided, and what you decide, whether good or evil, is what was decided by God when He mapped your journey through life.

Harry, no, no test, no test, Harry, no test. That weak round, if God puts in one, it is a result of the rest of your life, a good result, although in itself it may seem very bad, very sorrowful, but its results on the rest of your life is good, for the best, and Harry, when God puts in a new round, weak or strong, or changes your pathway of life, the remainder of your career is changed from that period on, as God sees fit. But Harry, that weak round makes the rest of the rounds stronger, because you have gone through the experience of falling, do you understand, Harry?

Question: Is all foreordained?

Yes, yes, yes, every hope, wish, mistake, trouble.

CLARA

Harry, I was a little afraid you were not going to talk with me tonight. Father heard what you said about him, and he laughed over it, it pleased him so Harry, yes, yes. I hope Harry, I hope Harry — are you and your people living under the bonds of slavery? Oh, I wish we could talk every night. Harry I have been on the first plane all day caring for wounded, sick and wounded, and I have been on earth a great deal, Europe, where there was a train wreck, January 17 or 18, 1920, O. K.

FATHER

Harry, now I am going to tell you just how funny, little peoples how queer you are ; I mean Harry, my son, (this is father speaking) I mean your earth peoples. Here you have them ; they have a strong, reliable, perfect foundation for a certain subject, a foundation built as if on rock, and then another frail, poor foundation, built on sand, they know the good foundation will stand all tests, yet if they do not, they do not question about it, but just jump into the frail little sandy foundation, just to see, just to experience, what will become of it, how it will stand their weight ; they never question the frail foundation, but jump into the abyss, they never question the strong foundation but leave it alone and follow the frail weakness.

Harry ! Harry ! "Clara speaking." Have you ever guessed to your mind of speech exactly what I am Harry? Have you ever thought "She must be an angel," have you? Do you know what that word means Harry? No! do not think only about this child. I told you the guides were men; you remember* Jere told you also, that is right, and brother, you know what angel means "Daughter of God." Men are never angels by name, they are called guides, but we, the daughters of God are the angels. We do not have wings unless we wish, although we fly, or float, through the air, the Heaven, if we wish ; perhaps we want to travel naturally, but fast; then we fly instead of wish, and are there Harry, we never pass through houses or through trees, or through brick walls as is sometimes described on your plane ; No ! We do not only when we are in a spirit stage, invisible to you then, Oh, Harry, how could you see us, you could not, yet your earth people say we pass through brick walls or cement houses or any of those things, like you pass through smoke ; but see how foolish it is, because you cannot see a spirit, yet some men on your plane wrote that we go through, penetrate stone piles in a material form.