MEDIUM’S SERMON

Hokitika Guardian, 10 March 1931, Page 8

MEDIUM’S SERMON

TEXT SELECTED. A PI {ESS MAN’S CRITICISM. LONDON, January 29. .Mrs Men rig Morris, a medium wliose sermons are stated to be delivered in a trance which are claimed to come I com a .spirit she calls “Power,” gave! a demonstration on Sunday night at theFortune Theatre. To test the genuineness of her powers, she had agreed to deliver a. sermon on a text which was to her, and was only to be revealed after she had passed into a trance. While a hymn was being sung, Mrs Morris was seen apparently passing into a trance. Meanwhile the text for the sermon was handed up in a sealed envelope, followed by an announcement that it was, up to then, known only to the person who selected it. The envelope was opened and the text read out. the 14th verse of the Nth chapter of Proverbs; “Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” D\ ithout hesitation, .Mrs Morris began to speak on the text. H.e r sermon lasted 40 minutes, and during the whole of it she never paused or faltered. She illustrated her points with many gestures.

SAMPLE OF THE SERMON. “'When one gives counsel upon the earth plane, or upon the plane beyond de.ith,” Mrs Mori is began, “that counsel is according to the mind and according to the outlook of one’s own opinion. ‘•Hut when you see that the outlook and the mind that manifests itsell herein is but a state of development, one must admit that this counsel shows a .state of expression of divinity and of the growth of the soul. “I want to say that, although we have come to give our message, man> will say to give counsel to the children of the earth, yet at the same time we "know that it depends upon you all whether you are ready to receive it. Being part of God, you must of necessity have all the attributes, have all the seeds, within you. “Let your wider vision—the vision of the soul—move out with its higher range of vision, and aid in revolutionising the whole outlook of mankind. “The world beyond is just' a little different from that of the physical plane, and thought is employed more and dcvelojjed more.” PRESS COMMENT.

The representative of the “Daily Mail,’’ who arranged the test and supplied the text for the sermon, has some criticism to make. “I have heard three of Mrs Morris’s sermons,” he says, “and at a private seance f had with “Power,’ her spirit control, he talked to me a great deal about the other world; and on all tour occasions the young medium used tho same phrases—many of which are almost meaningless—but strung them together in different contexts. It is now very obvious to me that Mrs Morris could preach a sermon on any subject, provided she had the text read out to her, and she would use the same phrases every time. "Whatever may he the cause, it is the extraordinary metamorphosis of Mrs Morris from timid femininity to aggressive masculinity that impresses people. Last night the impressiveness of her appearance was enhanced when she turned round in a tranc-e, and delivered her sermon to the curtains at the back of the stage. The explanations of this, as given to me is that ‘Power.’ when he delivers a sermon mi this earth, is also speaking to an audience on his own plane on the physical world. To the sceptic, the agnostic, and even to tens of thousands of people with open minds, Mrs Morris tc an extremely clever woman. But h el spiritualism is miconyipcing.”