Jesus was seated at the first table
and the Priest at our table, with Emil and our Chief on either side. This time
there were but two long tables down the length of the room. There were no
coverings but, as we were seated, the tables were covered with white linen and
the service came on almost as quickly. The food seemed to come with the plates,
with the exception of the bread. A loaf appeared on the table before Jesus. He
picked it up and began breaking it, placing the pieces on a plate. When the
plate was filled, a dim childish form lifted it and stood silent until seven
plates had been filled and seven forms stood holding them. As Jesus broke the
bread and filled the plates, the loaf did not diminish.
As the last plate was filled, Jesus
arose and with outstretched hands said, "This bread which I present to you
represents God's pure Life. Partake of that pure Life which is always of
God." Then as the bread was handed around, he went on to say, "When I
said, `I am lifted up,' and that by being so lifted up I would draw all men to
me, I knew that, in the light of that experience, some day all would see eye to
eye and know full well when they could be lifted up as I am lifted. I saw
heaven right here on earth among men. This is the Truth that I perceived and
the Truth will make all free. Then they will find that there is but one fold
and one shepherd; and if one strays, it is safe to leave all the ninety and
nine, to seek the one that he may return. God may be all in all to all His children;
and all are His—they are far nearer and dearer to Him than the sparrows or the
lilies of the field. If He rejoices in the lilies' growth and notes the
sparrow's fall, how much more does He note the growth of His dear children.
Neither does He judge them more than He does the lilies or the sparrow, but
holds them dear to His great cause and not one can be left out when His
perfection is established.
"I could see that, if this
ideal could be graven in letters of purest gold on the walls of the temples of
the world's great thought, it would lift men's thoughts above the murk and mire
by setting their feet on a rock, a sure foundation; where the winds and tides
could lash and roar but, while men stood steadfast and true, they would be
secure. Because of this security, peace, and calm they would aim to the heights
where they see their true dominion. They may soar above but they will not find
heaven above. They will find it right among men, and it is not reached by
merely plodding on and on, in toil and sorrow and great tribulation, and then
eventually finding the great Jewel. It is much more quickly reached by throwing
off all materiality and the laws that thereby bind men to the eternal wheel.
Then step forth, you pick up the Jewel, incorporate it, let the light shine
forth, and you have gained by one direct step that which you may put off through
all eternity, if you will.
You will find that the soul which insists upon
immediate and complete spiritual illumination and emancipation here and now and
knows that his relation to God is the relation of parent and child, quickly
sees that this not only makes clear the divine possibilities but that he has
them to use and they will work for him as he wills. To that one, the New
Testament story will not be fiction nor a vague dream that may happen after
death but an ideal that is lifted up before the world, of a perfect realization
of a life of love and service. That ideal is the divine accomplishment of all,
here and now.
"Then will they know the
vision I saw when I said, `Many shall seek to enter in and shall not, for
strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to eternal life.' For,
without the true appreciation of the Christ Ideal and of the divine and perfect
plan of the cooperation of man and God right here on this earth, the
realization of this ideal is impossible and it becomes only a dream, a
myth—nothing.
"The door giving access to
this omnipotent and transforming alchemy of the Spirit in man is open to all at
all times and the key to its opening is in the thoughts of all. When two ideals
and methods of salvation or of securing the saving grace of God's love, are
different, it is man's thoughts and not God that made them so.
Those who close
the door to the immediate blessings of God for all His children, isolate
themselves from the immediate blessings that God bestows upon the Christ child
and from the spiritual illumination of the transcendent alchemy of Spirit and
the all-potent powers which are theirs to use as the Christ would and should
use them. When men recognize this, the leper will be made whole instantly, the
withered arm will be restored, and all diseases of body and mind will vanish at
their touch. Through the concentration of the spoken word, they will multiply
the loaves and fishes; and as they break the read or pour the oil for the
multitude, it will never diminish but there will always be an abundance left.
They will calm the raging sea or tempest by their command and gravitation will
be overruled by levitation, for their command is the command of God.
Then will they know my thoughts
when I gave forth my opening message to the world as I left the temple that
day, when I said, `the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand,'
and, `have faith in God and nothing is impossible to you.' All who believe they
can do the works that I do and will come forth and do them may do even greater
works than I have done. They will know that it is a process of living the life,
believing and knowing; then absolutely nothing is impossible to them.
"They will know that the Holy
Spirit, the whole of the Divine Spirit in them, says today just as it did long
ago that, if they hear its voice and harden not their hearts, they will find
they are the light of the world and they that follow that light shall not walk
in darkness. They will know that they are the door by which all enter into the
light of life and those who will go in and out by that door will find eternal
peace and great joy and will discover that now is the accepted time.
"They will find that the
Christ but opens the door to their own souls and the spirit that dwells therein
is the all-potent alchemy as limitless as the universe of God is limitless. The
alchemy will dissolve and transmute all manner of sickness; will erase clean
the mortal life of guilt and the effects of sin; will illuminate the soul with
the perfect light of Wisdom; will emancipate from and dissolve the darkened
conditions of human life into the perfect light of life. Thus, they will see
they are not only children of nature but children of God as well. They will
bring forth the absolute perfection of the individual and thus will perfect the
race. They will bring forth the ideal and the divinely inspired prophecy
concerning the final destiny of man here on earth, the identity of Father and
Son, which is the second birth, the perfect mastery of man over every condition
and circumstance."
Here Jesus paused and the lights
became brighter and brighter. Then pictures began to appear. The scenes were
glorious bursts of splendor. The pictures would come on, a transforming hand would
reach out and touch them, and they would develop into a great whole and become
beautiful.
Adonai
Christ Michael
Christ Michael
