irit experiences
the condition known and described previously as "The Great Silence," where
it stands utterly alone conscious only of its divinity. When that silence
is broken there floats in upon the spirit celestial harmonies of _the
world of tone_ where the second heaven is located. It seems then to lave
in an ocean of sound and to experience a joy beyond all description and
words, as it nears its heavenly home--for this is the first of the truly
spiritual realms from which the spirit has been exiled during its earth
life and the subsequent post-mortem existence. In the Desire World its
work was _corrective_, but in the World of Thought the human spirit
becomes one with the nature forces and its _creative_ activity begins.

Under the law of causation we reap exactly what we sow, and it would be
wrong to place one spirit in an environment where there is a scarcity of
the necessities of life, where a scorching sun burns the crop and millions
die from famine, or where the raging flood sweeps away primitive
habitations not built to withstand its ravages, and to bring another
spirit to birth in a land of plenty, with a fertile soil which yields a
maximum of increase with a minimum of labor, where the earth is rich in
minerals that may be used in industry to facilitate transportation of
products of the soil from one point to another. If we were thus placed
without action or acquiescence upon our part, there would be no justice,
but as our post-mortem existence in purgatory and the first heaven is
based upon our moral attitude in this life so our activities in the second
heaven are determined by our mental aspirations and they produce our
future physical environment, for in the second heaven, the spirit becomes
part of the nature forces which work upon the earth and change its
climate, flora and fauna. A spirit of an indolent nature, who indulges in
day dreams and metaphysical speculations _here_, is not transformed by
death respecting its mental attitude any more than regarding its moral
propensities. It will dream away time in heaven, glorying in its sights
and sounds. Thus it will neglect to work upon its future country and
return to a barren and arid land. Spirits, on the other hand, whose
material aspirations lead them to desire so-called solid comforts of
hearth and home, who aim to promote great industries and whose mind is
concerned in trade and commerce, will build in heaven a land that will
suit their purpose: fert