Showing posts with label contemplation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contemplation. Show all posts

Friday, January 1, 2010

Living in the Eternal Dimension: One Eternal Christmas and One Eternal New Year

As You Understand Each Other Better
Universally
You Will Be A Part of Every Nation and Every Religion
and the Summation Will Be

E Pluribus Unum
.

-- FATHER DIVINE --


'One Eternal Christmas and One Eternal New Year.'

Our FATHER'S Sermon Given whilst at the Holy Communion Table Circle Mission Church
2064 Boston Road, Bronx, New York
Sunday, December 31, 1950, A.D.F.D.
Time 11:26 P.M.



The transcriber introduces the Sermon:

This truly glorious Sermon, delivered by the Lord of lords and King of kings, is dynamic in its expression of living truths unto the children of men. Just before the Sermon, one of the recent recordings from Australia was played and enjoyed by the vast audience of visitors and followers as well. FATHER refers to this and other recordings received from His various followers and Churches in far off countries, and in His marvelous Sermon explains the mystery of this One Eternal Christmas and One Eternal New Year. At the conclusion of the Sermon FATHER brings forth a very vital point for consideration concerning the religious conviction of His real true followers with regard to insurances of any kind and this Conviction will go down on record even as it has in years past, and will be lived and carried out, regardless of the consequences. The Mouth of GOD has declared it! Almighty Redeemer, we truly thank Thee!

(The foregoing statements are those of the transcriber, after which FATHER speaks as follows:)

PEACE EVERYONE! This is one of the days set apart as being termed the Christmas Holidays, which, at this time, this is commonly known as New Year's Eve for the Christian world. But as with the New Year so with the Christ Mass or Christmas Day with us. We recognize the One Eternal Christmas Day, in other words, Christ Mass Day and One Eternal New Year's Day. We recognize the Ever and All-Presence of All-Wise, All-Mighty and All-Circumferencing GOD of the Universe.

You have heard the testimonies of the different individuals from Australia, and there they are as we are here, representing every nation, every language, every tongue and every people by this great Conversion and by the Recognition and the Realization of GOD'S Actual Presence! No longer observing your Creator merely as a supposition but observing and realizing GOD'S Presence as Something that is the Creator, the Author and the Finisher of all of His Creation; though at one time invisible, intangible and being unconsidered as being visible; yet GOD made visible, things that were invisible, and brought into tangibility and into outer expression, the intangible and invisible things of His Creation.


Light of Understanding Coming Forth

Today we are realizing, as it is written according to the historians, the earth was created as well as the heaven, but the earth was void and without form, even as the heaven as being described as such; but GOD did say,

'Let dry land appear!'

according to the historians, and dry land came forth into expression tangibilated, materialized, as though personified; for GOD said,

'Let us make men in our own Image!'

According to the historians GOD formed man out of the dust of that dry land that HE said in His Own Omniscience, let it appear! We are happy today to say, things that once did not appear are coming into appearance. Things that were not once considered are now being considered; for by the Unity of the Spirit, as with GOD in the Creation, there was an agreement made between the Great Universal Mind Substance and Something, when GOD said,

'Let us make man in our own Image'.

There was an agreement made; and also as it was when GOD said to Something, according to the historians,

'Let there be light',

and light came forth into expression as a pre-evidence and as a visibilated prediction of how the Light of Understanding would come forth into expression when there is no light or no understanding. Aren't you glad? ('Yes, so glad, LORD!' came the immediate response.)

Coming all through the ages up until this present time there are thousands and thousands, yea, millions of individuals we, or I MYSELF as One of the unit, if I enumerate them one of the one hundred and fifty millions Americans; just enumerating the one hundred and fifty millions of Americans, plus all of the other nations, languages, tongues and peoples in all countries! Aren't you glad? ('So glad!' again came the immediate reply.) Just being One among the number, transcended and transcending all racism, all sectarianism, all partisanism and all isms that spell division bringing to you, My fellow citizens, hearers and friends, the Recognition of E Pluribus Unum. Aren't you glad?



All Mankind Unified

To recognize and realize E Pluribus Unum politically and legalistically, we will also recognize E Pluribus Unum religiously, nationally and racially, and we will bring an abolition to all divisibility among the nation. And by so doing we will understand each other better universally! And as you understand each other better universally, you will become to be a part of Judaism as well as a part of Christianity. You will be a part of every nation and of every religion and the summation will be E Pluribus Unum, where there will be no more divisibility of the children of men but all will live in Unison together and will partake of the great One Eternal Christmas, Circumferencing and enveloping the Jewish Christmas; circumferencing and enveloping the Hindu's Christmas and the Christian Christmas and New Year and all of them combined; making for that which we have here today where all mankind are unified! Aren't you glad?

Then I say, it is a privilege to observe it! You can see in our Churches in Australia, in Switzerland, in New Zealand, in Panama, in England and in Canada and in all other countries coming into the Unity of the Spirit, of Mind, of Aim and of Purpose where we can celebrate One Eternal Christmas, and going on to the New Year, as afore said; we also celebrate the One Eternal New Year this being the eve of New Year, as it may be termed. But with this Light of this Understanding we realize there is One Eternal Christmas and One Eternal New Year's Day!

One Eternal Merry Christmas

For this cause, by composition as a message and as a declaration, (FATHER holds high The New Day, showing the song on the front cover, as HE says:) I brought out this little Message; even having it or putting it in a melody and in notes so that you might read it, sing it and play it, and convince yourselves and convert your hearts and your minds and all of your human intelligence and intellect to the realization that there is One Eternal Christmas and One Eternal New Year's Day.

When this is done you will endeavor to worship and serve GOD from your own viewpoint not as a creed or any other dogma, but as individuals recognizing the Supreme Being the Creator, the Author and the Finisher of all things! And when this is done you can say in reality, by the Unity of the Spirit, of Mind, of Aim and of Purpose we can live in unison together and there will be no more divisibility of nations and races and of families among us, but we will recognize the Universal Brotherhood of Man and realize the Ever Presence of the FATHERHOOD of GOD!


International Peace


When this Truth is established among the nations of the earth as I have it now established among you all, My adherents, My followers and My friends, there will be no more warfare and no more bloodshed, but you will have International Peace, as one of our picture cards portrays. (FATHER holds up the card bearing HIS and MOTHER'S picture, and the red, white and blue books bearing the dramatized pictures, the titles of which FATHER reads:) 'In the Air, on the Land and on the Sea.' where the people will no longer be divided among themselves. They will no longer live, considering themselves as some sort of a cursed race, creed or color, for I have declared Scripturally as well as I have declared it socially and Personally organizationally,

'Together you stand but divided you fall.'

If the people will unite together and live in this great universal Brotherhood of Man and recognize the Ever Presence of the FATHERHOOD of GOD, there will be no more limitations, there will be no more lacks, there will be no more adverse and undesirable conditions, for the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD will dispel and eradicate all adverse and undesirable conditions! Then I say, live in this Recognition!


Consciousness of GOD'S Presence

You have heard the voices of those of My representatives of My different Churches in Australia. A good many of you have heard the recordings from Switzerland, from England, from Germany and from other parts of the world making this selfsame declaration of the Consciousness of MOTHER'S and MY Presence here, and there as well as here. And such a Conviction automatically adjusts matters satisfactorily, and such a Conviction automatically produces the abundance of the fulness of the Consciousness of Good, and they find no space vacant of the fulness thereof! In the European countries, in the war zones, where lacks and wants and limitation, misery, disappointment and failure have gone rampant in the land, My Spirit and My Presence when they are conscious of It produce the abundance of the fulness of food and of raiment, of houses and of shelter, of comfort and convenience and of every desirable blessing, because they are conscious of My Presence.

Many people have read and you all have heard that as in the beginning of the creation, according to the historians, the Spirit of GOD moved out upon the face of the waters and began its creation of all creation can you not see the mystery? The very Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD moving out there automatically was creative and It is just as operative today as It was then. Can you not see the mystery? GOD being a creator by nature, even through the cosmic forces of nature and the creative forces of nature, the earth will create in itself, by nature, insects of its own kind. Can you not see the mystery? GOD'S Presence in your consciousness, and the recognition of It, will automatically create the good, the desirable and the blessed, and cause you and all things with whom and with which you are concerned to be blessed by such a recognition.


New Year Resolution

I know there are many vows being made. Many vows are being made in the Christian world to live better, to be better and be truer; to be more honest, to be more competent, to be more reliable in every way next year than what they have been this year that is now passing out. Aren't you glad? But what profits it to make such vows and promise to do such things unless you recognize the supernaturalness of GOD'S actual presence the omnipotence and omniscience of HIM Who liveth forever to be with you to guide you and protect you and to lead you and to give you the power and the privilege to do better than you ever did before? It would profit you nothing just to use a formula to say as the old year passes out and the new year comes in, 'I am going to do better, be better, I shall be more honest, I shall be more true to both GOD and to man than what I have been !' Unless you make up your minds to do it and then do it, and realize GOD is with you right here, to help you to do it, you will not be able to do it. You will be going on doing as they have been doing from ages up until now yea, until I came and made My Declaration known because I declare I AM GOD!

It is written of ME,

'In My Name ye shall cast out (you know) other fellows'.'

That is what I AM doing daily! I AM casting out the 'other fellow' of lacks and wants and limitations, of depressions, panics and famine! I AM casting out adverse and undesirable conditions of sickness and diseases and all sorts of undesirable conditions because the Name of GOD is a strong tower and the Righteous run therein and they are saved.

Let us live in this recognition and be conscious of GOD'S Presence. If you can only be conscious of GOD'S Presence metaphysically if you cannot be conscious of GOD'S Presence Personally or Personifiedly, be conscious of GOD'S Presence metaphysically; and suppositional and metaphysically you may get a blessing. But if you can be conscious of GOD'S Presence in Person, you will personally get blessings! Aren't you glad?

That is why, where I AM, the abundance of the fulness of the consciousness of Good no space is vacant of the fulness thereof because the adherents and those who are visitors even, the majority of them are Conscious of GOD'S Personal Presence.


GOD Materialized, Man Spiritualized

GOD Materialized HIMSELF and spiritualizes you so that you might live in the recognition of GOD'S actual Presence and such a recognition is just as operative and expressive as it was in the beginning of the creation when the Spirit of the LORD moved out as Something that was invisible, upon the waters but it was a consciousness, and that Consciousness created the earth. Aren't you glad? Created the Heaven and created the earth! And GOD said,

' Let dry land appear.'
Now live in this recognition and you will have victory over all adverse and undesirable conditions, and you will have not only spiritual blessings but you will have Peace on earth and Good Will toward men, and have success and prosperity economically! You will master the economic situation, and all of your social and intellectual and political and racial problems will be solved, for GOD, your Creator, is the Great Solver!

I have long since declared by composition as a motto for the consideration of the people, and of those of My adherents especially,

'The Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD
is the Source of all Supply, and it will satisfy every Good Desire.'


If I can make you conscious of GOD'S Presence it may be called superstition, it may be called expressions of fanaticism, even radically but if I can convince you GOD is Present among you, the very Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD will be to you the same Spirit that moved out upon the face of the waters in the beginning of the creation and said,

'Let there be light and there was light!'

I said, let here be the abundance of the fulness! Let right here be the consciousness of good wheresoever you are and I will declare to you, no space will be vacant of the fulness thereof! (Loud applause resounds.)


Standard of Independence

Why go around in lacks and wants and limitations? True followers of Mine do not go around soliciting, begging, stealing and borrowing! Aren't you glad? True followers of Mine will express their individual independence, even as our Country declared her Independence as a Nation, for you could not be a real American citizen, according to My Teaching, unless you would express your individual independence and refuse to be dependents, and live in the Consciousness of GOD'S actual Presence; then and only then could you be real, true American citizens.

I AM raising up a standard and a citizenry second to none, where a true follower, if he is physically fit, has health and strength, will not go around soliciting, begging and not a true follower of Mine will be on the relief roll, taking assistance. That is what I AM talking about!

Then you can look over here in this week's issue of The New Day this present current issue of The New Day, and also last week's issue of The New Day, under 'Righteousness Marches On!' In this present current issue of The New Day of December 30, 1950 under 'Righteousness Marches On!' you can see why My followers do not accept of tips and gifts and presents. That is their religious conviction and it is according to our Church Discipline! Can you not see the mystery? That is why they do not insure automobiles and houses and do not insure themselves and their children's lives as an insurance against sickness, death and accident because they know it is not trusting GOD infinitely, conscientiously and sincerely. For this cause we abstain from taking out insurance!


No Social Security or Other Insurances

My true followers own millions and millions of dollars' worth of property, and they do not have any real or personal property insured although they pay high taxes on their personal and real properties where it is called for but they do not insure it because it is against our religious conviction. Therefore, we will not take out insurances, even so much as Social Security insurance. It is against our Religion!

My true followers do not insure themselves, their lives nor their children's lives. They do not insure for sick benefits and accidents or anything of that sort, because we intend to trust the Ever Presence of GOD with Victory over all adverse and undesirable conditions and every hazard that may be created by the 'other fellow' better known by the religions, the d-v-l! Aren't you glad?

This did not just begin! For years and years and years, and it always has been, the true followers of Mine will not insure their own personal properties; will not insure their own real properties! Can you not see the mystery? ('Yes LORD!' came the reply.) And why should they insure them now, if they have not ever done it because of their religious convictions? They would go to jail or even die, if they could, before they do it! I thank you.

(As FATHER made this dynamic statement HE pushes in His chair and started to leave the Holy Communion Hall, only to re-enter and speak as follows:)

PEACE EVERYONE! I have returned! I lost sight of MYSELF and I lost sight of you as persons at the instant!

I want to say at this instance that those of the Rosebuds who have not dined, will be pleased to be the first ones to be seated at this Table, for they must go to our next Service shortly and serve us as the Choir and Choristers. I thank you!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

On September 10 we Re-member: I AM Life


I AM known as Alpha and Omega. Before time was, I AM. I encompass the Universe. It is My Habitat, and yet, I AM the heart beat of every man. I caused the mist to roll away and lo, eons of years ago a world appeared, but, even at this very moment, I AM here. And when all is done in My Infinite Plan, It is I Alone Who will remain because I AM eternally the same.

I A M L I F E !

I AM felt in Happiness. I fill the air. Life in all its exuberance is Mine to share. Youth, effervescent and unrestrained is My Domain. Still, in the contentment of the sage, I AM the same. Enjoy My Fountain of Energy, it's boundless, it's free! Let it saturate you endlessly.

I A M L I F E !

I AM seen in Nature. I AM the rush of the wind in the trees, apple blossoms, autumn leaves, the snow-covered crest of the mountain peak, all living creatures that be. I AM the fire that gives warmth and cheer. I AM the seasons of the year. I AM the ebb and flow of the tide; the fury of the storms that rise. I AM the gravity that holds all things to this Paradise on earth I bring. I AM also the Magnetism that suspends the spirit of man in ecstasy, world without end.

I A M L I F E !

I AM heard in Conscience. I speak where no other can, deep within the heart of man. By inner unction I demand to what is always the right stand. But to hear the whisper of My Command man must know that I AM. By constant use and motive sincere and pure, My Whisper, increasingly amplified, is more easily heard.
I A M L I F E !

I AM expressed in Liberty proclaimed throughout the land, I AM the Voice of Freedom that cries out from every man willing to pay for his God-given birthright, generation after generation sacrificing his own life. This relentless surge to be free comes from the very Nature of ME for nothing restricts and nothing binds the movement of My Infinite Mind.
I A M L I F E !

I AM balanced by Equilibrium. From My Veins runs the blood of every nation: in My Sight all are the same. I weigh on the Scale of Justice every act. My Price is just: My reward exact. By ME every man is judged, not by what he says, but by what he does.
The upright do not fear to come before ME. Justice is My Scale: Truth My Creed.
I A M L I F E !

I AM moving in Progress. I never stand still. My press, always onward, My Plan to fulfill. And as man progresses to the Perfection of ME a new dimension to explore, he will begin to see where he can push back frontiers of a new world seen, yet unseen; heard, yet unheard where every challenge is to the perfection of man -- spirit, body and mind where at last he is lost in My Will Divine.

I A M L I F E !

I AM, in essence, the Word made Flesh. I AM the Law of Moses magnified. I AM the Law of the Spirit of Life Personified. By My Spoken Word I AM and in My Word undiluted I remain. Nothing is relevant to the Reality of ME. I Alone Am Absolute. Unrestricted and free I have decreed to be. Through forty-two generations of Biblical history I AM come; through thirty-two lynch mobs in this dispensation every battle I have won. I cannot be separated from the Allness of ME -- Spirit, Body and Mind the same.

I AM LIFE -- I AM ETERNAL -- GOD FATHER DIVINE IS MY NAME !
~~~
I Thank You, Father
For ABUNDANT LIFE !

Monday, March 23, 2009

Your Body of Flesh is the WORD OF GOD Materialized


'All That You Really Are Is GOD'
FATHER DIVINE'S Words from the Notebook of John Lamb

'There are joys flowing like a river every day and you and I can enjoy them. It is a wonderful thing to come to this place in consciousness where you realized that you can produce whatever you gaze upon. Whatever you gaze upon, that is what you tend to materialize, since you are made in the express image of GOD your FATHER. I was talking to a party a little while ago that thought her mother had had a stroke and they were seemingly in agony to think of it. But I was telling them that in reality your mother cannot have anything but that which is good, for GOD is your MOTHER and you never had another. When you get to this place in consciousness and realize it, you shall have detached yourself from all materialism and from all matter and from all mortality, and shall have attached yourself to the true Divine Mind which will lift you, as the song says: 'With tender hands He lifted me, from shades of night to planes of light, He lifted me.' It is a great consolation to know that your thoughts are things and as I said to the party, when you realize that your MOTHER is GOD and you never had another then you cast the trouble out of your system by casting it out of your consciousness and you will not be subject to the infirmities, and neither will she be subject to the infirmities of mortality. When you realize that you are absolutely one with GOD, that your body is one with GOD and all that you really are, is GOD, your mother, your father, your sisters, your brothers and all of your kin and everything else that you ever thought that you had that was good, is GOD. You never had another.

GOD condescended to put on and permit HIMSELF to put on mortal bodies through which to bring into outward expression other mortal bodies to appease the mortal concept of the human mind until those HE has brought forth into the world have risen to realize their oneness with GOD and have lost to this extent the limited degrees of consciousness concerning themselves and everybody else. And Jesus, the great Love Master, strove to get men to see and realize that, nineteen hundred years ago, supposedly in the days of ignorance. He strove to get men to realize that HE was one with GOD and that GOD was His FATHER and that men had failed to realize that and therefore, looked upon themselves as worms of the dust and afraid, and filled with corruption. Jesus said,

'When ye pray, pray ye our Father,'

He did not say, 'Pray ye Jesus' Father.' You see that would have been well enough for this day, to those of you who think GOD is Jesus' FATHER. The Christian world believes GOD is Jesus' FATHER and they don't believe GOD is their FATHER and your FATHER. They only think GOD is Jesus' FATHER, but HE is just as much your FATHER as HE was Jesus' FATHER. When you know it and when you put off that mortal version concerning yourself then you will be able to declare, even as He did, that GOD is 'my' FATHER and you never had another.

So as I was telling the party, when you realize that GOD is your MOTHER and has put on that body to prepare HIMSELF a body to function in on the earth, on the material plane, to appease the mortal concept of the human mind that calls itself your mother, and when you realize that is GOD's body,

'Know ye not that ye are the temples of the living GOD?'

'And GOD has said, I will walk in them, and talk in them.' And when you realize that

'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us . . . And we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,'

the same was in the beginning, and I can say the same today, the Word has been made flesh and it dwells among us, but that is you. Your body is a body of flesh, made out of the Word of GOD. GOD said,

'Let us make man in our own image,'

therefore, your very body is a body of flesh, the Word of GOD materialized, and we can behold HIS glory.

So as I said to the party, now cast out of your consciousness and out of your system, by casting it out of your consciousness, and out of her system and out of the systems of those that concerned her, all of the belief that this individual is something apart from GOD. Cast out of your consciousness that your mother has a stroke and you will cast it out of her system. So whatever we think, that is what we tend to produce in our physical structure and in the physical structure of those we come in contact with.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Testimony of Brother Walter Lanyon


"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.)

MORE ABOUT FATHER DIVINE AND WALTER LANYON

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Saturday, November 29, 2008

He shall be called "GOD with Us"


A Definition from Wikipedia:

Darshan is a Sanskrit term meaning "sight" (in the sense of an instance of seeing or beholding; from a root dṛś "to see"), vision, apparition, or glimpse. It is most commonly used for "visions of the divine," i.e. of a god or a very holy person or artifact. One could "receive darshana" of the deity in the temple, or from a great saintly person, such as a great guru.

In the sense "to see with reverence and devotion," the term translates to hierophany, and could refer either to a vision of the divine or to being in the presence of a highly revered person. In this sense it may assume a meaning closer to audience. "By doing darshan properly a devotee develops affection for God, and God develops affection for that devotee."