Here's a brief excerpt from Chapter 4 of The Last Crossing, by British medium Gladys Osborne Leonard. It bears on the topic of the "soul body" or etheric body, which we looked at in an earlier post. It's also relevant to our discussion of spiritual healer George Chapman.
Under our present condition of ignorance as to the nature and possibilities of the etheric body, its functions and activities, it is probable that we are not giving it the opportunities for helping the physical, which it is capable of using to the highest degree. We must remember that this etheric body is the body of the Soul, and within the Soul is the Divine Spark, usually called the Spirit.
The Soul should be (it certainly can be) in touch with higher vibrations of life-giving forces than are our physical bodies. Given an understanding of this fact, by voluntary co-operation with the higher functionings of the Soul, we should find that the conditions of the physical body could be acted upon, and considerably helped by, the forces of healing that would be directed upon and through it by the etheric counterpart.
I am convinced that we are losing great opportunities of obtaining help in this way, simply because of our ignorance regarding the existence of this Other Body and its importance in relation to our well-being.
Physical ill health means that the soul body is in imperfect association with the physical; something has dislodged it, it may be only in the slightest degree.
Old age and senile decay result in, or are the result of, the same phenomenon. When the etheric body and the physical are in perfect association, good health is the inevitable outcome. This is what is meant by whole-ness, or wholesome-ness.
When Jesus performed some wonderful cure, He said, "Thy faith hath made thee whole." Now the dictionary definition of the word "whole" is "in a healthy state, healed, complete, a complete system, not defective or imperfect, entire, composing of all parts, units, etc., that make up the aggregate."
When Jesus used the word "whole" in regard to a healing He meant the word to be taken in its literal sense. I submit that He meant that He had joined two component and absolutely necessary—to each other—parts (i.e. the etheric and the physical bodies) together. When He restored an apparently dead body to life, He followed exactly the same procedure. He induced the etheric body, which had become dissociated from the physical, to return and complete the latter, so making the organism whole again.
While the etheric body was dissociated it was probably recharging itself with life-giving forces and energy, which it took back into the physical when Jesus induced the reunion of the two bodies.
Also, when he referred to the man's faith having made him whole, I feel sure He meant something more than the man's mental acceptance of His—Jesus'—power to heal him. We can have that kind of faith in a bottle of medicine or a box of pills. No, I think He was referring to the fact that because of his faith, the man had allowed his higher mind to operate, and when that happens, even in the slightest degree an SOS is sent from the physical brain via the etheric cord (which I have explained in another part of this book is a telepathic means of communication between the two bodies) to the etheric body. If the command for the return of the etheric to the physical is supported by spiritual knowledge and authority such as Jesus had, it results in a union of the two bodies, and subsequent health, activity, wholeness, on the physical plane. Jesus and His followers evidently knew all about the two bodies, their existence, their functions, and their infinite possibilities.
The complete text of The Last Crossing is online here.