Page:The Other Life.djvu/242

 Heaven and hell are extremes; they are antipodal, antagonistic states of the spirit. All in heaven are good, all in hell are evil. They have attained their final states by the separation of the good from the evil, of the true from the false, so that there is an impassable gulf fixed between them. The introduction of anything good into hell, or of anything evil into heaven would produce confusion of mind, disorder, and pain in either sphere.

Millions of human beings die every week and pass into the spiritual world. They are generally in states of mixed good and evil. There are few men so regenerate that the searching light of heaven will not discover some dark corners in their minds and some evil spot in their hearts; few so reprobate, but they have some invisible chord in the spirit which can be attuned to heavenly music. The vast majority of men are mixtures of good and evil blended in apparently inextricable confusion.

Now man wakes from his death-sleep into the spiritual world the same as he was when he lay down to die. The mere act of death produces no change in the affections, thoughts, opinions, aspirations, appetites or habits. No religious exercises, no prayers or faith can instantaneously change evil into good. There is no sudden transformation of