than a man; but work and activity are no
hindrances to spiritual growth, so long as the soul waits upon God, and
desires to learn the lessons of life, rather than to enforce its own
conclusions upon others."

"Yes," I said, "I see that. What, then, is the great hindrance in the
life of men?"

"Authority," he said, "whether given or taken. That is by far the
greatest difficulty that a soul has to contend with. The knowledge of
the true conditions of life is so minute and yet so imperfect, when one
is in the body, that the man or woman who thinks it a duty to
disapprove, to correct, to censure, is in the gravest danger. In the
first place it is so impossible to disentangle the true conditions of
any human life; to know how far those failures which are lightly called
sins are inherited instincts of the body, or the manifestation of
immaturity of spirit. Complacency, hard righteousness, spiritual
security, severe judgments, are the real foes of spiritual growth; and
if a man is in a position to enforce his influence and his will upon
others, he can fall very low indeed, and suspend his own growth for a
very long and sad period. It is not the criticism or the analysis of
others which hurts the soul, so long as it remains modest and sincere
and conscious of its own weaknesses. It is when we indulge in secure or
compassionate comparisons of our own superior worth that we go
backwards."

This was but one of the many cases which I had to investigate. I do not
say that this is the work of all spirits in the other world--it is not
so; there are many kinds of work and occupation. This was the one now
allotted to me; but I did become aware of the intense and loving
interest which is bent upon the souls of the living by those who are
departed. There is not a soul alive who is not being thus watched and
tended, and helped, as far as help is possible; for no one is ever
forced or compelled or frightened into truth, only drawn and wooed by
love and care.

I must say a word, too, of the great and noble friendships which I
formed at this period of my existence. We were not free to make many of
these at a time. Love seems to be the one thing that demands an entire
concentration, and though in the world of spirits I became aware that
one could be conscious of many of the thoughts of those about me
simultaneously, yet the emotion of love, in the earlier stages, is
single and exclusive.

I will speak of two only. There were a young man