"What Went Ye Out for to See - A Man ?"
Can you imagine the excitement that reigned in the little town of Samaria when the woman returned from the well and said:
"Come and see a man, which told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ ?"
"Come ! see a man who is doing the works of the Master; is healing the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, supplying food, shelter and raiment freely; has no new creed, no new system, or church to found. Yes, all this right here in our present day; in this materialistic age; right on the very doorstep of the hub of the universe - New York."
And so they came in great waves; came to see, to hear and to partake. A thousand gradations of human thought rushed in to "have a look." A thousand gradations of human thought rushed away to place its interpretation on what it had experienced.
Hundreds daily sat down to a banquet that would have caused the average Continental chef endless planning and trouble. Banquets followed one after the other without the slightest stir or confusion. The only confusion that existed in the household was that which was brought there by the onlookers. Miracle followed miracle, and all wondered.
"Everyman" had on a thousand robes - he was playing every part. There was the little "Everyman" who at once understood everything that Father said, and spent the time setting everybody right. There was the cunning "Everyman" who lay low and watched, and checked against everything to see if she could explain that it would have happened anyway. She was protecting the weak sisters and brothers, who might be misled. There must have been some such a person at the arm of Jesus when he was feeding the multitudes, peeping down his sleeves to see if there were not flour and water, hidden there out of which he made the bread he was giving the hungry.
There was "Everyman" who had proved the power for herself, and knew Whereof she spoke, who went out to see what it was all about; hadn't she been able to demonstrate the power .... hadn't she been able to always make the "street-car" be at the corner the moment she arrived ?
Aren't we funny ? Surely you are going to say yes ! to that ? We are eternally looking for the way out of the human dilemma, and the moment anything comes along that looks as though it were a possible way of escape, we immediately want to make it conform to the laws of the human mind. We are all the same in this respect. We are "Everyman," and it is not with any malice or criticism that I list the various specimens that followed the exciting invitation, "Come and see a man." Most of us go out with exactly that idea in mind - we "Come to see the MAN."
How very disappointing. The man may look like anything. He may belong to any race - he may not conform to any of the idea., you have had in mind. I suppose a Chinaman would like to see a Confucius, and Hindu would be looking for a Buddha, and so on. When we go out to see a MAN We usually see a MAN, and we disobey the teaching of the Master "What went ye out for to see? A man?"
The looms of human conversation, imagination, exaggeration, ran back and forth - words, words, words - repeated, enlarged, stretched beyond all recognition, flew back and forth, weaving a flimsy fabric of fantasy, as a great army of talkers started in the age-old habit of building the Tower of Babel. All talking the same language at first, but presently no two of them speaking in the same tongue. And the only note of harmony that kept breaking through the whole mass of human talk was the startling and glorious word of the Father," It is WONDERFUL."
And so the Tower fell, and great was the fall thereof.
"I AM the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord."
But it seemed at first as though "The zeal of thine house has eaten me up." The confusion and excitement of having seen a sign or having heard of someone who had seen sign, ate up the "omer of Manna", and one was left alone in the desert of confusion; alone in a wilderness of opinions and beliefs.
And only the glorious word remained, "It is WONDERFUL."
The first great wave broke on the sands , and left behind it a rare collection of things from the deep.
"There is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walketh not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
And the first and glorious word Sounded a hundred per cent like Jesus' words: "Blessings, blessings, blessings, so many you cannot count them, to you, to me, to everybody ; To all those who have misunderstood and misinterpreted the Words Spoken here. It is wonderful . Nothing has happened but my Love has allowed."
Day after day the Father sat and dispensed the glorious knowledge of the Kingdom as Here and Now, and spoke of the power of the I AM, and time after time he explained that the I AM was Universal and Infinite, and that all had the right to enjoy it.
"It is not necessary that you see Me personally, for I AM here, I AM there, I AM everywhere. I AM a present help. I do not give absent treatments, for I A M everywhere.
You do not need to follow Me personally, but if you are going to go away from here, claiming that God is everywhere, and then follow after another Man or teaching, I say it is better for you to follow Me."
Regardless of how many times Father made it plain that the I AM was Universal - here, there and everywhere, it seemed to be necessary to make this explanation every time the I AM was mentioned, or else "Everyman" took offense and reiterated the age-old saying, "He made himself as God."
Why should He not make himself as God, if He were made by God and moulded out of the substance of God, in the image and likeness of God ? Is there anything strange in that? Yes, there is the strange hypnotism of the human thought that is struggling to free itself, and at the same time trying to lug into the new heaven all its former baggage.
"Only believe and thou shalt be saved" is entirely too simple. The wise "Everyman" cannot bow to such simplicity.
And so the tales of "Everyman" ran wild.
When Father therefore said : " I will keep your souls, and even if your bodies leave Me I shall hold your souls and you will have to return to Me, "Everyman" got afraid - he heard something personal and imagined that he was being held against his will. He did not stop for a moment to realize that the Voice through the Ages had spoken the same words. Your Soul has always been with God, and your body has been wandering through the desert of human thinking. What is so strange about the fact that that which is born of Spirit is Spirit, and dwells eternally with the Spirit, and what is so strange in the statement, and the promise that the Prodigal Everyman" shall return to his Father's house?
The great power of keeping the personal separate from the Impersonal was not used, and "Everyman" actually imagined that Father wanted to hold them against their will. Had they stopped for one moment to ask themselves WHY ? they would have seen how ridiculous this piece of imagination was. Father Divine, who asked nothing of any man, and gave all, could fill any place he entered with people who were willing and ready to follow after the glorious Impersonal teaching of the Christ. He had no need to hold on to a few souls. Isn't it wonderful when you think of it. He asked nothing of anybody and gave all. Doesn't it sound like the wonderful way of Jesus. He asked nothing and offered all.
"Everyman" came with the story that all their life they had wanted to have the time to learn of this glorious truth, but the question of earning a daily living was always in the way, and Father so graciously and beautifully said to these, "Come, eat and drink without price." Just what they had they wanted? But was this what they had wanted? Yes, with reservations. No sooner had they entered into this new order of things than the discipline and order that was necessary began to bother them. "I think it should be done this way or that way or some other way from what it is being done." Aren't we funny? You and I ? Did we ever hear the word "Patience must have her perfect work " - yes, we have heard it, but before it has time to work we are going to help it along with a few personal ideas. And so "Everyman" began to find all sorts of faults and conditions that he would change.
One little "Everyman," who had no-one or nothing to be separated from, complained that Father was separating people ! that he advocated leaving all relations, etc. "Let the dead bury their dead, follow thou Me," is but the slightest request of the Master, whom this little "Everyman" believed in emphatically. It was but a reiteration of the teaching of Jesus, when he said that a man having seen the Light would leave, family, houses, lands, all and follow after that Light. Yet somehow that did not count - Jesus was after all an historical character, and his teaching was to be taken with reservations.
Yes, '"Everyman" is in reality afraid of the very thing he is seeking, because it begins to set aside all the cherished beliefs of his existence. Yet why is it we reiterate the words of Jesus over and over: "' The works that I do ye shall do also and even greater." Do you begin to see that he who travels alone travels far ? Isn't it wonderful ?
People who went to Father's and enjoyed free board and room for months, came away saying that he had placed a curse upon them, and that he was breaking up homes and families, and this was especially strange since these very persons had neither home nor family to be broken up. When the human mind cannot have its way, it will try anything to get into the limelight again. But all the time Father smiled pleasantly and said, "Bless them." What a blessing it must have been!
Hundreds of people partook of the wonderful banquets at Father's freely, partook of the instructions freely, partook of lodging freely, and then imagined that they were being coerced into following after Father. And all the time Father gave freely, and showed them that which he said he would show, "the miracle of the loaves and the fishes." And those that had eyes saw and understood, and knew that at last the Truth had come within the vision of our day.
The very people who glory in the stories of Daniel in the Lion's Den, and the disciples in prison, were the first to broadcast, with "childlike" simplicity and hidden wiseness, Father Divine is in jail, I can not understand it." Yet these very souls imagine that they would have been the faithful attendants, waiting outside the prison-house to serve the disciples. Do you suppose there was any more worldly honour attached to going to jail then, than now ?
"Nothing has happened but my love allows," said Father, as he submitted to the human law, in order that he could give a further concrete proof of the power to those who needed a further sign.
The proof was given, and in spite of all the efforts of the human mind, the doors sprang open and another legend had become a fact. Isn't it wonderful.
"Awake thou that sleepest and Christ shall give thee Light."
A little"Everyman, who was especially fond of saying "All things are possible to God," came to me saying"Yes, but how could Father produce money - it would not be lawful." And then with the wisdom of human ages twinkling in his eye, he added: "You see, there would be the serial number of the notes to be taken care of." You see there would always be serial numbers to be taken care of for that human state of consciousness, and yet he kept on repeating, "Yes, all things are possible to God " - but evidently there were some things that were not possible. Do you hear, do you see ? You who READ this line? "I have a way you know not of." Has man, then, found something that God cannot do ? You answer for yourself.
When the old King in the Bible was told that he must be born again, he answered the same thing: "Yes, but what about the serial number" only he said, "Impossible, I cannot go through that re-borning process." And so we find something else that God cannot do - and if we do not watch out, we will find that God cannot do anything, except what we can conceive of as possible for him to do. Isn't it wonderful ?
The very idea of being born again would upset all the human laws about birth. Yea, that is just what the coming into contact with the Divine Law does, it upsets the human law and its way of thinking. Aren't you glad ? "I shall overturn and overturn and overturn until He comes whose place it is to rule." What are you going to do about it ? I think you had better be glad that there is something that can upset the old false standards and beliefs.
And so a lot of funny little souls who are like chameleons, in that they take on others thoughts, imagined they had been hurt by Father Divine, and people who had not been invited, or asked to come to his home, seemed to think they had missed the chance of going, and should accordingly be recompensed for having decided to go. And a great law was shown forth, and many were caught in the trap of not only accepting evil as real, but also assisting in passing on that which had been merely hear-say. It must have been difficult, after trying with such faithfulness to make evil real, to say in prayer "there is no evil." Watch - Watch - Watch"
"Untouched in any way by all the talk," Father's work grew by leaps and bounds. New impetus having been given to it by the glorious proof of the Power. The weak sisters had fallen by the way, and made the ground ready for the souls that were prepared for the meat. Many a babe on a milk diet found the meat too strong, and retired to cut his teeth on something less solid. Isn't it wonderful ?
"They laid every charge against him," sounds like Scriptural language, but it is twentieth century journalism. "Everyman" came after a lifetime of mis-thinking - stumbling and falling on the way, seeking only the loaves and fishes, and when he found none, went stumbling away again, charging his broken-down condition to the teachings of Father.
One little "Everyman" told me she had established a Retreat, where the broken-down souls that had been hurt and torn by Father could find refuge and peace - yes, a place where the driftwood that had been broken on the sea of life might float in. I wonder what will be done with some of the funny little shells and bits that float on the tide from One beach to another ?
I suppose Jesus was blamed for the murder of all the babies that Herod caused to be destroyed, since the announcement of his birth was the cause of their death ? Isn't it wonderful. You and "Everyman " - are beginning to see a little, to recognize the falseness of the character with which we have been associated. We profess the Christ and go into ecstasies over His miracles, and yet we are so often caught trying to "slip up on Him," as it were.
Beloved ! you can "slip up on Him" any time, and you will not find Him wanting - the glorious Impersonal Power that has come to us again has come through the avenue that was most fit and ready to express it. It is wonderful ?
The sport of the human mind is to make a Jesus and then crucify him. And the strange part about those who partake in the crucifixion is that they always come away from their ignoble work exclaiming that they are the ones that have been hurt.
One "Everyman," who ran about saying that she "had given up everything to go to Father's, and now she had nothing," had asked me to pray for her, three months before, in order that she would not be dispossessed of her apartment.
Another "Everyman," who ran about exploiting Father at one time, later ran about saying in her most sanctimonious tones: "I hope no one is going to ask me about Father Divine " - letting those who heard draw their own conclusions.
The Romans had finally had their holiday, and after the noise and smoke of human opinion had cleared away, they found that the "sacrifice" had escaped them, and that the glorious echo of the Voice was still in evidence, and the undying word, "It is WONDERFUL," still echoing in the land.
And so the command, "What went ye out for to see, a man or a principle ?" was again asked and the answer of the masses was "A principle." And those who have been looking for a principle, have found a principle that is again showing forth the works that it came to show forth, and making it gloriously possible for us to enter into the New Day of realization. Kipling has said it was the, disciples and followers of Jesus that crucified him, and not the mad mob as was supposed And so it is - but what must be the feeling of those who imagined they were destroying a Messiah, to find that He had moved "untouched" through their hands ? And what must have been the amazement to find that He was still blessing them and breaking the bread for them. It is wonderful !
"What went ye out to see, a man or principle ?"
The glorious revelations of Father that have attracted even greater and greater masses of people than before, are put in the simple impersonal language that a child could understand, but the "Everyman" who wishes to distort their meaning will find the same old human equation in evidence.
Father is teaching the Here and Now of the Spiritual Universe. He is teaching the possibility of instantaneously entering into the Heritage of the Son of the Living God. He is teaching the blessings unlimited. He is teaching the one-ness of Jesus-Christ, the word made flesh. He is teaching the abundance and fullness of all that is needful - without price. He is teaching. It Is Wonderful.
"The abundance of the fullness of the consciousness of Good - no space is vacant of the fullness thereof."
"You must live in accordance with the teachings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John."
"You must call no man your Father."
"You must be willing to accept your good here and now, as a reality and as a natural part of your universe."
"You must enter into the joys of the Sons of God."
"You must claim your right and press your claim as the Son of the Living God."
"You must be glad, for you are in a NEW DAY."
"Must accept the Presence of the Living God, and know that He lives, breathes, moves and has His being in you."
It is wonderful ! wonderful ! wonderful ! And so are the glorious possibilities of your contacting Him, Here, There, Everywhere; at every place and every time. "Ask and ye shall receive" has again been made true - you will learn the glorious "open sesame" of "Thank you, Father," because you are arriving at the point where you are transcending the human argument and reason, and are able to accept the inspired word of God as True. All you can do, then, is to say" Thank you, Father," because before you even voice the idea, the answer is - and by the glorious revelation that we are now receiving we can prove this for ourselves. It is wonderful that "Everyman" is beginning to go out to see the Principle, and he is coming home filled and thrilled with the fulfillment of the Promises. It is wonderful ! wonderful ! wonderful !
The new way is opening before you - you are beginning to accept the words of the Master as True and without reservations. You are beginning to step out on the Promises of God. It is wonderful. "Be still and know" sets aside the human thinking, and makes you free to receive the laws which no human mind has yet stated - the laws of attainment and accomplishment which are unconditioned and free. Such is the gift that Father Divine has brought to us in the only Impersonal way since Jesus brought it. It is wonderful ! wonderful ! wonderful !
One "Everyman" asked another, "Well, if He does not want money, nor followers, and is not seeking to build a new movement, nor a church, what does He want ?" And the other answered: "He wants you to know your God-given heritage and He wants you to accept His glorious offer of Freedom, for He has said "You are not another but the same one - What I AM you are." Could anything be more glorious, more free or more Wonderful?
(The quoted Italics are the words of Father Divine, in whom I recognize a Door of Revelation. When he said to me : "No man should call me Father who sees me as a man" I knew that I had found a thoroughfare which would lead somewhere other than to unfulfilled Promises.--W.C.L.)
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