nifest signs; His light is shining; His
sovereignty is established; His traces are apparent; His bounties are
effulgent. Can we say that Christ did not exist? We can absolutely
conclude that Christ existed and that from Him these traces proceeded.

Still another proof: The body of man becomes lean or fat; it is afflicted
with disease, suffers mutilation; perhaps the eyes become blind, the ears
deaf; but none of these imperfections and failings afflict or affect the
spirit. The spirit of man remains in the same condition, unchanged. A man
is blinded, but his spirit continues the same. He loses his hearing, his
hand is cut off, his foot amputated; but his spirit remains the same. He
becomes lethargic, he is afflicted with apoplexy; but there is no
difference, change or alteration in his spirit. This is proof that death
is only destruction of the body, while the spirit remains immortal,
eternal.

Again, all phenomena of the material world are subject to mortality and
death, but the immortal spirit does not belong to the phenomenal world; it
is holy and sanctified above material existence. If the spirit of man
belonged to the elemental existence, the eye could see it, the ear hear
it, the hand touch. As long as these five senses cannot perceive it, the
proof is unquestioned that it does not belong to the elemental world and,
therefore, is beyond death or mortality, which are inseparable from that
material realm of existence. If being is not subject to the limitation of
material life, it is not subject to mortality.

There are many other proofs of the immortality of the spirit of man. These
are but a few of them. Salutations!

2 September 1912
Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. William Sutherland Maxwell
716 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Canada

From Stenographic Notes

Nature is the material world. When we look upon it, we see that it is dark
and imperfect. For instance, if we allow a piece of land to remain in its
natural condition, we will find it covered with thorns and thistles;
useless weeds and wild vegetation will flourish upon it, and it will
become like a jungle. The trees will be fruitless, lacking beauty and
symmetry; wild animals, noxious insects and reptiles will abound in its
dark recesses. This is the incompleteness and imperfection of the world of
nature. To change these conditions, we must clear the ground and cultivate
it so that flowers may grow instead of thorns and weeds--that is to say, we
must