Messages 2014
Details of James Padgett’s life.
July 17th, 2014
Vancouver
Medium Al Fike
My friends and fellow travelers on the Divine Path, I send you greetings from our side of life and salutations towards your efforts to bring the truths of our beloved Father’s Love to the wider world. Each and every one of you who are involved in this endeavor to either pray for this Love and go out to spread the good word of its existence is my beloved brother and sister. You continue to carry on the work started by myself and my colleagues all those years back. Indeed the work started with our Master Jesus and was altogether lost years later but now we, meaning the array of spirits aligned with you on earth and yourselves are witnessing a renaissance of sorts to bring once more these truths to mankind. We are working together to turn back the tide of darkness and ignorance that most of humanity has suffered under for so long. We begin a new era. A time when all peoples will be given a choice to follow the truths of God or continue on with their wrong doing and error. God has put His breath upon this work to facilitate many miraculous and effective outcomes in the years ahead which will turn the heads of even the most skeptical individuals. You will all be a part of this work in time if you so choose. It is a Divine mandate that beckons each of you dear souls to come in alignment with this cause to bring to mankind the key to their salvation.
Many, many spirits and angels are praying for the success of our combined endeavors and you must feel the support proffered to you in your prayers and actions. And God’s hand is upon us all guiding and blessing with every moment and breath. You are truly blessed my friends and for those willing to take that leap of faith, the rewards will be great indeed.
Many of you are curious about my life whilst on your earth. In many respects my history is similar to so many others. I lived in an exciting time in the development of our country of the United States of America. I too was caught up in the fervor of the time, which had great potential but endured the ravages of our civil war. Ours was a building time where a great country was emerging from the strife of war.
Many opportunities lay before all who wished to take up the tasks of formulating what was seen as a new and unique country built on high principles and a rich land base. The land was immense and needed populating, although my interest was not in being a pioneer and taming the land which was a popular romantic idea at the time. I was drawn to more academic ideals and prospects. I eventually settled to be a lawyer and worked towards those goals and a lawyer I became and was happy with my work.
I eventually married and Helen and I had our three children whom we both adored. I certainly married up as they say with Helen who was not only beautiful and full of life but also came from a respectable minister’s family. The door was opened for me in my career as in those days these sorts of connections were important if one was to be successful. This is not to say that I married “for money” as they say but I was very fortunate to have met my dear Helen. She was a great support to me and a beautiful mother.
We lived a somewhat prosperous life in Washington where I practiced, but my ambitions often got the better of me. I was a bit of a risk taker in the realm of finances and often gambled our money on dubious ventures, hence some days we were well off but the future was never secured. I wanted to prove myself to my family and Helen’s family that I was a success and I certainly see now that this vain pursuit often got the better of me.
Because of our financial inconsistencies, we were often forced to change our residences and that was a great embarrassment to Helen. One day we were on top and the next we hit close to bottom - all because I was susceptible to the next scheme to become wealthy. I was, at heart, a gambler and this compulsion wreaked great havoc on my family and our marriage.
I also worked a great deal in order to keep us afloat financially as it was very important to keep up appearances for both my career and our reputation around town. My lack of presence in the home did not please Helen very much as I was often either in the office or out with my lawyerly friends enjoying a drink and a smoke. Helen was always at heart a sweet soul who did not approve of my wicked ways. We often fought about my short comings and this was ongoing in our marriage. For the most part, we kept up appearances and sent our children to the best schools we could afford. We lived our lives putting more into appearances rather than building a relationship of love and harmony but we persisted as long as our children were at home.
As you can see, I was no saint; just a man whose limited perspective and withered soul had no idea of spirituality other than that fed to me by the preachers of the day. My spiritual life was one of belief by rote and blind acceptance. I had no reference point beyond what I was told to be true and I was a believer in this regard but not as devout as my dear Helen. In reality, I was lost and getting more so by the day.
In time, Helen gave up on me, she had her own problems brought on by ill health and this did not bode well for our mutual happiness as she struggled greatly with emphysema and spent ever more time with her family, especially when the boys left to start their own lives. I spent more and more time away from our home as did Helen with her health complications and the difficulties between us. Our marriage was for all intensive purposes over. We began living separate lives and eventually this compelled Helen to file for divorce.
This certainly forced me to take account of the life I was living and I made several attempts to woo her back to me. The intense demands of my business coupled with increasing age and Helen’s protracted illnesses detracted from my efforts which were not successful. When one is faced with the loss of something that is so much a blessing but unrecognized, the reality of losing this precious gift can be devastating.
I did indeed grieve over her departure from our home but it was too late to fix this unfortunate turn of events. I became more lost and alone and consequently buried myself in my work and a social life with my long standing friends.
You can imagine my grief and sense of guilt upon learning of my dear Helens’s death in the sanatorium. I was beyond comfort and felt responsible for so much of the pain that she endured over the years of her illness and those unfortunate years of our marriage. My longing for her became intense and the grief at times unbearable. I did take comfort in my church life but that only went so far. Its message assured me that Helen would be in heaven but went no further to assuage my grief. My loneliness and longing for Helen, whom I seemed to love more intensely through her absence brought me to the practice of spiritualism which I had heard about since it was widely known but harbored a great deal of skepticism regarding its credibility.
Although skeptical, I proceeded to make my enquiries and attend a few séances. Each visit intrigued me but did not entirely convince my intellect that what I was hearing were indeed the voices of the departed. Yet, I persisted and came upon Mrs. Maltby who seemed to describe Helen with such detail and conveyed so many personal bits of information that I was almost entirely convinced. My lawyerly mind tried in vain to discredit this experience but in the end, my heart told me of its truthfulness.
I became a spiritualist at heart although I did not fully disclose this to friends and family. Spiritualism was considered an entertainment and did not have a high standing in society although many reputable people attended séances regularly. It remained my secret for most of my remaining days only shared amongst my confidants who were of like mind.
Mrs. Maltby explained to me that I too had a gift for spirit communication and that I should sit down with paper and pen. She instructed me on how to develop my gift and within time, I was communicating with my beloved Helen. We were together again so to speak but this time, I was paying more attention to what my dear wife had to tell me than I ever did while she was in the flesh. It seemed as if our love affair was started anew with my attentions focused on communicating with my dear departed wife.
My grief was completely assuaged by this unexpected turn of events. A new and intriguing door had opened up in my life. One that was somewhat peculiar but also warmed my heart to a glow not felt in years. I became smitten with dear Helen all over again. She was my source of comfort and her stories about her life over there kept me in rapt attention each night as I set my pencil upon the foolscap and involuntarily began to write all the while feeling her presence and love for me.
Eagerly I would separate the letters run together and incomprehensible until the words would emerge and the message be complete. At times, I thought myself an old fool being so caught up in this world that did not exist except for the run-on words that emerged from this unusual practice. My ambivalence only increased as I began to hear not only from Helen but from old friends since passed over and strangers curious as to what I was up to.
If it was not for the comfort I derived from this practice I would have given it up as a chimera of my own thoughts not worth my attentions and time. This wonderment continued for some time and gained ever more of my attentions. It became a well worn routine as comfortable as going to the office or sitting down for my supper. Its familiarity and its potency gradually worked away at my own skepticism until it became a part of normalcy and routine. I became a full fledged communicator with the dead and accepted my plight with a sense of purpose and competency.
At this point I brought in my friends, Dr Stone, Eugene Morgan and others who were sympathetic and encouraging towards my efforts. We became a cabal of sorts who were intent on sustaining the practice but did not altogether favor the idea of revealing these communications to the wider world.
My acceptance of my gift was challenged with an altogether new development introduced by Helen but startlingly preposterous in its scope. I was invited to be an instrument of communication by Jesus Christ and his apostles. I must admit that this invitation threw me for a loop. I was dumfounded and very skeptical that what was, in my mind, the true son of God and part of the Godhead would in any way have an interest in communicating through me. I not only felt unworthy but completely unqualified for the task.
My total confusion almost brought me to the point of throwing away my utensils and giving up this practice. For whom, but the devil, would tempt me with such nonsense. Helen begged me to persist and trust that Jesus is also a spirit although highly exalted but still humble and loving. She implored me to stay the course and try to comply with the wishes of the one who I both feared and adored.
Thus began another chapter in my life which was just as surprising if not unexpected as all the other experiences with the spirits. I complied with reluctance and suspicion but my love and trust in Helen carried me beyond these misgivings. I was initially not pleased or comforted by the first results of this contact. The words written were in my mind both heretical and controversial. My skepticism only increased as this purported Jesus continued to share his story and message that so challenged beliefs long held. I became so ill with confusion and regret that I burned the first attempts of communication. I could not believe these words that contradicted so much of my own Christian beliefs. Surely these things written were not true, just ravings from a deluded spirit.
Yet Helen and others including my beloved grandmother long passed on, insisted that what was being said was true and these words were from Jesus himself. My dilemma weighed so heavily upon me as I tried to sort through the facts of the situation as only a lawyer might do. I went over the teachings conveyed by this Jesus and confirmed by so many and reasoned with the information at hand. It eventually became apparent through much loving support and the reasoning’s of my own mind that if I attempt to follow this new concept of Divine Love, I might know for myself whether it is of merit or not. I began to ask God for this gift, not altogether convinced that God had any intention of listening to my prayer. It took some time and a number of prayers which were encouraged greatly by the spirits communicating to me but eventually I began to feel the Grace that is so familiar to me now, my life forever changed by the touch of God’s great Love.
In this change, I began to accept what the angels would come to say and bring into my mind. I began to gain faith in the sure knowledge that God loved me and that His great Love was available to me whenever I asked with sincerity. The terrible regrets of my past and loneliness began to fade and a new hope and faith emerged with God’s increasing Love flowing within. I was on my way to being reborn in the Love and my passage was swift and sure with such angelic support.
I have been favored in so many ways because I overcame my fears and doubts and allowed these priceless truths to be written by my hand but most assuredly not by my being. I grew and learned as the words flowed and my understanding increased with each prayer and each word of truth conveyed in the passage of time.
Almost one hundred years have passed in the interim. The world has changed dramatically but the erroneous ways of man persist as so many have no time to venture within and go to God. I understand the struggles of coming to these truths as I have tried to convey through the example of my life what difficulties may ensue through this search. Yet without brave and dedicated souls such as you, the truth may once again become lost in the shuffle as many pursue the lure and pleasures of the material world. You are God’s messengers on earth my brethren. I know that your struggles are every bit as difficult as was mine but in the end God’s Love conquered all. He brought me to the glory of His loving embrace and He will surely do as much for you. Do not give up or be led astray. You have the truth firmly in your grasp and the world needs you my brothers and sisters and God will guide you to where you are meant to be. If He can rescue an old codger like myself and set me on the right course, then you should be easy pickings for His intended plans for you.
Thank you for hearing my story and although there are many more details, I believe that you have the gist of it here. You must see that every attempt to glean truth about the world and your place within it does not come readily or without its struggles but it will come with sincere prayer and effort. God’s Love will bring all that you require to see your way through. You are His beloved children and cared for in the most intricate and beautiful ways. You are also my friends and colleagues engaged in this holy work that will, in time, bring salvation for all who venture here with faith and trust. I love you all dearly and thank you for being willing to read my words and to read the words of truth laid out in the volumes so lovingly prepared by those who followed in my footsteps. May God bless you in Love, peace and joy. I am your friend and humble servant - James Padgett.
Helen adds her perspective here.