THE GOLDEN CHALICE
The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
-- (James, III-17)
THE GOLDEN CHALICE
By Joseph
I.
I was blindly groping my way through a world of dreams seeking for truth. The ceiling of my little room turned into a cloud; and from the cloud came an echo to my thoughts:
"Give to me the Golden Chalice I gave thee at the last supper, so I may place the answer to thy prayer within it.
"Drink ye of my blood, eat ye of my deeds; then thou shalt know by experience what truth really is. “
"As much as thou givest of thyself to me, that much am I a part of thee. “
After that I found that I needed only to think a thought, and listen for its echo in my imagination as an answer.
You will find here but a few of the answers that followed my questions. Accept them as you please. They made me happy, and I only want to share that happiness with those who do know the presence of Divinity and Truth. This is not for you if you do not know what it meant to me to experience and to record it.
II.
OH, LORD, YOU HAVE SUFFERED!
My son, thou hast eased it by seeing.
YOU ARE SO FAR AWAY!
That I once thought of thee.
TO WHERE DOES MY PATH LEAD?
To me, as thou followest.
WHEN IS MY LIFE ENDED?
When it begins.
IS DEATH SO FEARFUL TO MEET?
Didst thou find it so at birth?
WHEN IN DESPAIR, WHAT SHALL WE DO?
Accept the inevitable as becoming thy spiritual heritage.
AM I DOING RIGHT?
If so, how can wrong convince thee that thou art not?
HOW CAN WE KNOW WHEN FREE OF SIN?
When ye know it not.
BUT WHAT IS SIN?
Ask thy conscience.
HOW CAN I BE SURE?
Examine thy scars.
BUT SUPPOSING I AM BLIND TO THEM?
Thy pain will answer thee.
THEN WHAT IS EVIL?
The absence of good.
BUT WHAT IS GOOD?
The sentiment of virtue blind to evil.
WHAT IS GOD?
That part of thee that recognizeth me.
BUT WE ARE SO WEAK!
It is but the soot and smoke of thy burning taper. The love light is there.
WHY ARE WE SO BLIND TO TIME?
Hast thou counted the closing of thy eyelids since birth to realize what time means to them, and thy obligation for the use of them to see clearly; or thy heart-beats in a span of life, when if they were silent but for a few moments, thou art with me?
MASTER IS IT WORTH IT ALL?
Has it not been in the eyes of my Father who willed it thus, even the honor that is thine in living to hear the answer thou shalt know in the eternal cycle before thee?
BUT WHY THIS ECSTASY OF JOY?
Because it is not of thy world of flesh but of the spirit that is all joy. The absence of it is sorrow, doubt and despair of annihilated hope and faith.
BUT WHAT IS HOPE?
The first breath to live.
AND FAITH?
The last breath of mortality for that is immortality.
HOW MAY WE KNOW FAITH?
When there is nothing else left to believe, where faith has made thee complete in thought to deeds.
WHAT SHALL WE DO TO BE HAPPY?
What hast thou done with that happiness once thine to give? Dost thou expect something for nothing; or an oak tree without planting an acorn to possess?
HOW SHALL WE OVERCOME?
The truth shall make thee free.
I THANK YOU, MASTER.
I bless thee, my son.
III.
I thought: WHAT IS TIME?
I got my answer: the strength and limitations of thy main spring, wound up through nature by the hand of God. 'Tis not thy hour and minute hands that tell the time, but the energy within the spring born of a thought.
SHOULD WE COUNT THE HOURS?
Do so, and thou hast forgotten Eternity. Create and forget time that exists only in thy mental concept, the influence of mortal things.
DEAR MASTER, I AM SO HAPPY WITH YOUR NEARNESS EVEN IF IT BE ONLY IN MY IMAGINATION.
My son, though it be but thy concept, tell me why it gives thee that joy not sensed by those who have greater imagination than thine. If thine be self-creating, canst thou pull thyself up by thine own bootstraps; or art thou lifted up by hands other than thine own?
MASTER, SHOULD ONE DISPUTE OR DEFEND THE TRUTH OF IMMORTALITY?
My son, dost the review of the two opponents reveal anything new, or that which has not been recorded as truth -- thus not enlightened, and less friendly? If truth has not revealed itself, be silent until manifested.
WHAT MENTAL ATTITUDE SHOULD ONE HAVE IN A SEARCH FOR TRUTH?
The same as when thou art hungry or thirsty. What effort dost thou make to gratify or to die?
WHERE CAN TRUTH BE FOUND?
All within the functions of thy body, its precepts and reflections which symbolize every living thing and chemical on earth: even to the storms and lightning, anger and tidal waves of destruction and hatred; a living universal dictionary -- including even the answer to what and where God is; an atom of God, the Author of progress and evolution upwards, which by inherited faith thou assumeth and for which thou striveth; where hope gives thee thy desire that love amplifies.
MASTER, WHAT WOULD THE WORLD DO WITHOUT YOU AND THE GOLDEN RULE?
I will let the very few who have seen answer that.
WHY CAN THEY NOT SEE?
Because they have been taught by the profane only to hear what is told them, blind and deaf to aught else.
MASTER, WHOM SHOULD WE SERVE?
My son, be not influenced by anyone, man or woman. Dost thou regard one finger of thy hand as a favorite? No good great man would expect it of another as great as he may assume himself to be. To contact thee is to admit he knocks at thy door which must ever be open to the least of them. A closed door is for those blind, deaf to the Lord and unworthy.
SHOULD WE GO OUT OF OUR WAY?
Hast thou not? Is thy house not built on a rock? Let those who are lost go out of their way to meet thee for directions to their home.
SHOULD I LABOR MORE?
Some accomplish more in idleness before choice. He who thinks, labors less but creates more,he who thinks less, adds more burden on his shoulders to labor for him who thinks for him.
MASTER DO INSPIRE US THROUGH THESE BLACK CLOUDS OF SELFISH DOUBT. MY WILL I OFFER TO YOU FREELY. I SHALL OBEY EVEN UNTO DEATH.
Then, my son, thou hast life as thy gift. I shall not be silent to thy offer.
AGAIN I HAVE THE COURAGE TO GO ON.
Then follow my footsteps with my blessings.
THAT I WILL, MASTER.
I know thy heart. Peace be with thee and thine.
IV.
MASTER, WHY DO WE BECOME SO BLIND TO SPIRITUAL TRUTHS?
My son, it is because children of men insist on reading what has been printed by questionable writers more false and deceptive than the truth. What writings do my prophets read? Are they symbols of the soul or the book called Memory of which I have admonished to let the dead bury the dead? Let each man give birth to the living truth within.
SHOULD WE THEN NOT READ BOOKS?
Dost thou order the choice of food at thy dinner table, or eat only what is placed before thee? Is there not some difference?
WHAT SHOULD ONE DO?
First learn what thy choice is before it is forced upon thee.
IS THAT CHOICE WITHIN US AT BIRTH?
Was it not within the bird nesting near thee what material to use to build its nest without reason: only memory's instinct, the reflection of inheritance within?
WHAT DIFFERENCE IS THERE WITH MAN?
Instinct is his foundation; reason, the mark of a man; intuition, of a son (soul) of God whose beginning is within himself, not from those without who can at best try to awaken what lies within him.
BUT WHY DO WE SEEM TO DRIFT AWAY FROM THE HIGHER CONCEPT?
My son, what would happen to thee in deep water far from shore if thou wouldst fail to use thy arms and legs to swim -- what if not to sink into the dark depths of the sea of doubt unto forgetfulness of life.
THEN ONE MUST EVER BE ON GUARD TO ABSORB DIVINE SPIRIT.
Art thou as careless to breathe the air, when to fail is to die? Why on guard and what forces thee not to neglect to fill thy lungs the required times? Surely thou hast never forgotten that, since thou art still breathing regularly.
IS IT LIKE THE FOOD WE ARE REQUIRED TO EAT?
Yes: animals and grasses for the body; reason and logic to fill the memory of the mind; but inspired intuition, the language of the soul: the living manna of eternity, God's Daily Bread.
OH MASTER, I FEARED YOU HAD DESERTED ME.
Thou but failed to swim onward by holding up too much weight of those who
would not breast the waves for their own good.
Did not man evolve from the depths of slime and water, so when land appeared that gave thee the Garden of Eden -- only to sink a little under the surface of disobedience (to swim)?
WAS THIS STORY ALL TRUE?
Was it so written? Or was it an effort to symbolize the true history of the ages where a day was as a thousand years.
Listen with thy faith where intuition will give thee the answer that may not be written; and if so, only to fade from thy mind like a dream. It cannot be fed to the animal in man. The spirit of things can be sensed only by the spirit of understanding to which the unworthy are blind.
I AM SO HAPPY FOR THIS REASSURANCE.
Thus am I, for thy strength in thy weakness.
I THANK GOD AND YOU, MASTER, FOR ALL THIS.
It was ever and will be thine own to command.
V.
MASTER, DID YOU REALLY RISE FROM THE DEAD?
If thou wouldst know, tell me how many hundreds of thousands of times thou hast risen from the dead since Adam and Eve?
ARE YOU THE SON OF GOD?
My son, art thou the seed of thy fore-fathers? If so, what is thy soul?
WHY A SOUL?
Thy appetite will answer that. Ask it. Dost thou judge thyself, or judge thyself by the opinion of what others judge thee?
BUT HOW CAN ONE KNOW?
By reading only the directions enclosed in thy Book of Life that God did not neglect to inscribe by the gift of thy soul.
BUT WHAT IS THE SOUL?
That which constitutes thee to question or sense without reasoning; to know without words to express, as two strange raindrops, meeting, become one without a change of opinion or identity.
The bud questions where the rose answers only as a rose. Was not the bud before the rose; thy soul before thee? Who wonders, to question?
FROM WHENCE DID I COME?
Thou hast not come. Thou art but going; yet still are from whence thou came. Thou art eternal; thus didst not come. Thou were as thou will be.
MASTER, I SHALL NOT LOSE SIGHT OF THE INFLUENCE YOU EXTEND TO ME.
My son, 'tis thy influence upon me that binds me to thee. Did I not say: Knock,and the door shall be opened? Has it not been opened? Then let us not forget those who seek but are blind, who ask but are not heard. 'Tis the way of a good shepherd to protect the lost sheep of his neighbor.
WHAT A JOY OF SELFISH EMOTION IN YOUR PRESENCE!
Is it not mutual by choice, and a pleasant companionship under the law of duality? It lessens even the hour of death. Should I not know?
WOULD THAT I HAD BEEN WITH YOU!
Art thou not?
YES, BUT LIKE A WORM UNDERGROUND.
Thy body, yes; but not thy spirit, or wouldst thou be with me while others sleep?
MASTER, NO ONE WOULD BELIEVE WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ON THESE PAGES.
Do they believe in God, my Father, or in me, as thou dost? Then how can this be a part of their concept?
SHALL I GIVE THIS TO THE WORLD?
No; only to those whose fingers of inspiration knock at the door that conceals and protects the truth thus written.
SHOULD I WRITE THESE THINGS DOWN?
They are written for thee. Might thou not share them with others by writing to be read by those who hear them not?
HOW MUCH IS IT BEST TO REVEAL OF THE TRUTH YOU HAVE GIVEN ME?
My son, only as much as can be comprehended easily by those whom thou wouldst enlighten. Wouldst thou feed a newly born babe bread and wine? Reveal thy crumbs first. Truth shall find its brothers and sisters who seek their kin.
BUT WILL THEY ALL READ THEM?
Not the overfed. Their eyes are filled with luxury and food; their ears with flattery and praise. But even the least of them shall hear my whisper to follow me, as thou hast done and do.
WHY DO THEY NOT SEE OR HEAR?
Because, my son, their eyes and ears are filters made of their past experience. Thus they allow nothing to pass through them but what they already possess.
Canst thou convince the blind of the beauty of the sunset; or the deaf of the nightingale's melodies? Thus those who have ears let them hear what has been written to see the sunset of life and the melody of love, death and life.
HAVE ALL THE PAST GREATEST WRITINGS BEEN LOST?
Not at all. Every living creature and plant carries one letter of the words written that man will read as he evolves toward the Garden of Eden once more, from whence they all escaped with Adam and Eve; where the last will become first -- the twain one.
ONCE AGAIN, MASTER, A FEW MOMENTS OF HAPPINESS.
Yea, happiness forever, my son, binding to its own on thy journey Home.
MY HEART IS EVER GRATEFUL.
That, my son, is the Key to my heart; for which I bless thee in thought. So come nearer to me.
THAT I WILL!
Amen.
VI.
My son, should I ask these questions? If not then why asketh thou not?
MASTER, I HAVE BEEN CONFUSED mentally by sensing the thoughts and grief of others. Was it so with you?
It was ever thus and ever will be in the redemption of mankind who may know all things, but will not.
WHAT SHALL I DO TO OVERCOME THIS HELPLESSNESS?
Accept it in the spirit of love and confidence to transmute it as thou will it. Good, in faith, overcometh all evil, discord and despair. For what thou believeth thou maketh.
IF ONLY I COULD EVER ASK OF YOU!
Thou must share thy time as the day does the night to create the energizing sunrise and the calm, restful sunset, spring and autumn, man and wife. Pay thy tribute to mortality on thy way to immortality. This is the law under which thou art holden.
WILL WE EVER KNOW?
Yes, in the solitude of thy thoughts, when thine eyes and ears have been filled too overflowing wilt thou think realities. For what thou art, comes from within. What thou covet is but grafted on thee to bear the fruit of others for them, not for thee.
MASTER, I AM SO GRATEFUL AND CONTRITE FOR YOUR ANSWER.
But, my son, I have asked thee for the moment, to prove that we are always together. Canst thou deny thy shadow after sunset? If so, stand with thy back to the lamplight and behold the result of thy substance.
IT SEEMS SO SELFISH ON MY PART.
Wouldst thou accuse me of the same for thee, expecting thee to hear me? What is the difference between a question and answer if the truth was ever present? Which is the most important: the question or the answer?
WHEN WILL MEN UNDERSTAND?
When their soul starves for their Creator.
SHOULD WE TRY TO CONVINCE THEM?
Canst thou walk through a locked door even though the hypocrite calls, 'Come in', who would listen but believe thee not, only to steal thy effort and time at their own price? One will find listeners where there are no doors.
MASTER I FEEL BETTER NOW.
Thus one feels at the dawn of a new day: thine and mine.
LET US MEET SOON AGAIN.
That, my son, must be thy will, as God's be done. I shall await thy coming always. Peace be thine.
VII.
MASTER, WHEN WILL OUR EDUCATION BE COMPLETE?
When ye have become selfless.
WHAT SHALL ONE DO?
Do thy duty as thy personal and spiritual responsibility. If thou knowest not what this means, consult trusted elders who will not mislead thee.
IF NO ELDERS?
Consult thy conscience of right and wrong. They were grafted to thy consciousness by thy birth; by intuition, and reason, soul and spirit.
UPON WHOM CAN WE DEPEND?
Upon whom didst thou, the day before thou wast born?
IS IT THEN DESTINY?
Can it not be the designs drawn by thy parents, sins and virtues as penance and reward: as thou dost mete it out for that penalty evolved as one of the limbs of thy parents, identified as they were? Do not all of the strongest links of the chain depend upon the weakest not breaking? Is this not inheritance of what was?
HOW MUCH CAN MAN BEAR?
Unto unconsciousness, to be revived to repeat. Thus thy brain compensates thy mistakes for another chance to do right.
WHY SO WEARY AND DEPRESSED?
So thy mayest know the better the weight of thy cross, thy strength and thy reward.
MASTER, HOW KIND OF YOU TO HOLD MY HAND TO STEADY ME!
My son, didst thou not reach up to grasp mine? Do the multitude consider this possibility, even after the Golden Rule was given? Do I not do unto others when they do unto me as they wish to receive?
PEOPLE SEEM SO BLIND TO MY EFFORTS.
Do they see me; and do I not see thee and thy efforts held against them at the court of their grave, that might have been their resurrection?
MASTER, I WILL LEARN MORE AND BETTER AS MY PREVISION BECOMES MORE CLEAR.
That is as it should be, was, is and will be in the confidence reposed, and in the words: Shepherd, know thyself and thy sheep.
ONCE AGAIN I AM GRATEFUL TO YOU, MASTER.
Thou hast said it to substantiate my confidence though unseen but sensed. I bless thy efforts. The rest leave to me. Peace to thy house. I bless thee and my followers who knew me in spite of their doubts. And thus once more the curtain of mortality.
AMEN.
VIII.
MASTER, WHY DO SOME MEN DENY GOD?
They do not, my son. They but think they do. And what are thoughts? Echoes from the soundingboard of their choice.
BUT WHAT CAN WE DO?
Let them but behold the character of their audience and the applause drown their echo in shame.
DO THEY REALLY BELIEVE THEIR CLAIMS?
My son, they but paint darkly their glasses with their sins of omission and deformed reason of arrogant ridicule.
WHAT CAN I DO TO ENLIGHTEN SUCH A MAN?
Let him argue until he becomes hungry and thirsty. He will gently knock at thy door. Feed him just a little, and give him to drink with thy back turned. Then he, like some of my disciples, will follow thee as they didst me.
Never say: Thou shalt not do this. Ask: Why do ye this? Their silence is the answer, the affirmation of their guilt.
There are no arguments, disputes or denials in one’s heart or mind when in the solitude of one's conscience. For their one is face to face with God.
MASTER, SHOULD PEOPLE GO TO CHURCH?
Should children go to school?
SHOULD I GO?
If thou wouldst go is it to find me? If so, and I be with thee, must I follow thee if thou hast already found me?
BUT I AM SO ANXIOUS TO LEARN OF YOU.
Canst thou point out a worthy teacher to tell thee what they have read, and prove the truth, when thou hast the same privilege of assuming?
BUT THESE MEN SAY THEY OBEYED THEIR CALLING, THY VOICE IN THEIR HEARTS.
Hast not thou obeyed my whisper to thy soul, and as proof prophesied in my name? Have they all done these things?
WHAT CAN WE BELIEVE IN OUR WORLDLY WAYS?
What do little children believe when they play with toys, dolls and horses, shadows of coming events.
WHAT IS THE TRUEST RELIGION ON EARTH?
The highest divine principle and concept of a loving God and Father.
SHOULD WE STUDY THE BIBLE?
To what dost thou listen when thou hearest a love song from a loved one: the melody or words; the printed words of the Bible, or their true meaning?
IS THE BIBLE A BOOK OF ALL TRUTH?
My son, what is the written opinion of wishful thinking men ill inspired by environments? Thou might ask me what is dirt? Then ask the blind worm that also claims a bible for worms. No absolute truth can ever be printed without a loss or deformity; for when written or printed it is dead, without life, with meaning only by the reflection of him who reads it.
MASTER, WHICH NATION OR RACE OF MEN HAVE THE TRUE RELIGION?
My son, ask each fruit of the world which fruit has the true seeds on earth? An apple may reply: I have, to be true to my creator as an apple.
THEN SHOULD WE COMBINE THEM ALL IN ONE FAITH OR BELIEF?
If thou didst that, thou wouldst create hypocrites, liars, deceivers and sinners. For could a man believe something that has no meaning to him; or a tenor sing bass; a cruel murderer think the thoughts of a virgin? One should believe in that which he can worship in respect to better his morals and virtues.
COULD WE CONVINCE THEM OF OUR WAY OF THINKING?
How couldst thou -- if an alter and method of thinking be inborn?
ARE THEY INBORN?
Ask that question of an apple by trying to convince it that it should be a pear. Would its flavor change at its attempt?
THEN IT IS BEST FOR EACH TO HAVE ITS OWN CHURCH AND RELIGION.
Just as well as that each finger of thy hand should function as due its individuality.
WILL THE PRAYER OF A PAGAN BE HEARD?
His soul must have been touched by God to have prayed at all, such as it was.
BUT ARE THEY CONVINCED THAT THEY ARE RIGHT?
Art thou, my son?
I AM, MASTER.
Thus shall they be when they reach the destination thou hast.
BUT ARE THEY NOT PRIMITIVE IN THEIR METHOD?
What is man when he has only mastered the alphabet; and what good are words to thee if in a foreign tongue -- whether curses, prayers or blessings?
WHAT THEN SHALL ONE DO?
Be faithful to thy belief and respect theirs if orderly, until they ask thee to lend them thine own.
MASTER, STRENGTHEN MY FAITH!
Can thy faith be any stronger than it is? Weaken thy doubt to know that strength.
ONCE AGAIN I AM THRILLED BY YOUR NEARNESS!
Then, my son come thou nearer to me in thought that gives birth to deeds to the fulfillment of the Law of God, the Prophets and my Shepherd, even as thou senseth.
THANK YOU, MASTER.
Peace, my son.
IX.
MASTER, WHEN HUNGRY AND DESTITUTE HOW CAN ONE RECEIVE NECESSITIES?
My son, by giving.
BUT SUPPOSING ONE HAS NOTHING TO GIVE?
Then what was done with what was possessed?
BUT, MASTER, SUPPOSE THERE WAS NOTHING TO GIVE?
Then my son, how couldst thou exist if there were nothing to subsist on and to share? Thou art still alive. Thus to give means to share; to share means to be one in spirit. He who receives must have given to receive, though he be misguided in his giving.
SHOULD ONE GIVE AWAY ALL HIS POSSESSIONS?
My son, all thou dost hold is not thine. There are others who own part of it. Just question how acquired, and if it was all of thine efforts. 'Tis well to give from wages well earned. That returns in the blessings of charity or alms.
SUPPOSING SOMEONE TAKES CREDIT FROM MY CHARITY GIVEN, WHERE IS MY REWARD?
Dost thou not think the deception gives birth to a guilty conscience of the giver? How far does the grateful thanks of the receiver go into the giver's heart?
What good would it have been to thee to hear those words of gratitude, if not but to thy pride? Didst thou give it for that reason? If so, thou hast already been paid. 'Tis often far better to share thy goods before they crush it all by their own weight. It is the feeling that thou hast made a sacrifice that betters thee more than the recipient.
SHOULD WE PREACH AND LECTURE TO THE MULTITUDE?
My son, not until thy chalice be overflowing with truth as proof of the everlasting truth self-sustaining: as a matured fruit tree that misses not its ripe fruit, but ready to produce more at the next season's call of duty.
HOW CAN WE KNOW WHEN TO SPEAK?
When thy burden of wealth becomes too heavy, and when charity calls to unburden thyself. Knoweth thou when thy tears will flow? Still they say not a word but preach volumes.
Be ever prepared to express thyself when thou hearest a gentle knock at thy door. He that useth force shall find the gates locked against him. He who forces speach soon will not be heard; and next, not seen.
SHALL I ADMIT ALL THOSE WHO KNOCK AT OUR DOOR?
All those, my son, who come in my name find thy door open. Those in question for thy pity and charity will ever knock but in doubt.
IS IT WISE TO INVITE STRANGERS?
Is it not best that the key of desire shall open thy door for him prepared in expectancy for what thou hast to give?
Would a poor mother with starving children be tempted to enter a jewelry store with her two sheckles of silver? Or would she seek a place to buy a loaf of bread.
MASTER, I FEEL I HAVE NEGLECTED YOUR NEARNESS.
My son, I have found it is not always good fishing even for fishers of men.
I REALIZE THE BLESSING, MASTER, AND AM GRATEFUL THAT YOUR LIGHT EVER SHINES.
And I am grateful to see thee emerge from the shadow of darkness and doubt.
I THANK GOD FOR YOUR DIVINE WORDS OF ENLIGHTENMENT.
And I thank thee for helping me carry my mission from the cross to the crown.
PLEASE, MASTER, KNOCK OFTEN AT THE DOOR OF MY HEART. WE ARE SO DEAF AND BLIND TO HEAR OR SEE.
How canst I knock at thy door when I am always in thy abode?
MASTER, I SHALL REPAY WITH MY LOYALTY AND THE GOLDEN RULE.
Then thou hast not been called in vain. Peace be with thee and thine.
X.
MASTER, WHY DO YOU SOMETIMES APPARENTLY TURN YOUR BACK TO ME?
My son, because I trust thee.
MY FRIEND SHOT HIMSELF TO DEATH.
Art thou certain that he destroyed himself after saving so many other lives? Or did his tired, weak body only hasten the soul's release.
IS THERE NO HOPE FOR HIM FOR TAKING HIS LIFE?
Hope is eternal, the child of faith where faith is the child of truth. Which was destroyed? Surely not the soul.
WHY DO THEY DO THESE THINGS?
The lack of faith where hope first was starved to death.
SHOULD I HAVE MORE HOPE?
Thy hope is unnecessary since thy faith has made thee whole. Does a man seek what he possesses, or hope still to find it?
ARE WE ALL DOING OUR DUTIES?
Yes, save some mix a little different coal or green fuel to the fire, causing more smoke and longer to cook their meals, with sooty chimneys to clean occasionally.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO TO BETTER UNDERSTAND?
Pray to our heavenly Father for a little more light to read and understand a little better the signs under dark clouds of doubt and thoughtlessness.
HOW CAN ONE USE THE POWER OF PREVISION?
By thinking of it. And if forgotten, then 'tis still asleep beneath flesh, bone and blood: just as the ripe grape knows not the Spirit of Wine until fermented, and thus separated from material things.
HAVE WE ALL THIS POWER?
If not, where was it hidden in my forefathers who did not reveal it as I did? They possessed it. Are not often brave heroes born of cowards? Why?
WHY CAN WE NOT ALWAYS FEEL YOUR NEARNESS IN OUR PRAYERS?
Try to ask for a favor when thou needest none; then when thy life depends on it. Is there a difference?
HOW OFTEN SHOULD ONE PRAY TO GOD?
As often as thou art grateful to Him. That alone is a prayer of thanksgiving.
HOW CAN WE BE TAUGHT HOW TO PRAY?
Ask that question of a newly born babe by observing who taught it to nurse from its mother's breast.
MASTER, SHOULD WE NOT OVERCOME SIN AND THUS CONQUER THE WORLD?
My son, conquer thyself. That is thy world. Instead of overcoming sin, let not sin overcome thee, by inviting it to a battle. It requires two to battle: thou and sin. Then why offer a challenge? Walk in the path of virtue.
BUT THERE ARE SO MANY PITFALLS.
Only to the blind who will not see.
HOW CAN WE OPEN THEIR EYES TO SEE?
By not closing thine own.
HOW CAN WE INFLUENCE THEM TO SEE AND BE CONVINCED?
Man seeks what he cannot possess, and asks questions of him who can answer but doeth it slowly.
SHOULD ONE HASTEN HIS EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH?
My son, eternity is very long. Do thou things that last as long as thou wouldst possess them. The journey of labor up a high mountain is the same distance as the gliding down with little effort; as from childhood to manhood, and manhood to old age -- with the same loss or profit.
IS THERE ANY SPECIFIC TIME TO ASK THESE QUESTIONS?
Dost thou count thy heart-beats to see if there are any missing, or question the breath thou inhaleth? If not, who doeth these things for thee, if not the answer God giveth, and whose will be done?
THE DAYS SEEM SO SLOW AND WASTEFUL.
But, my son, each moment that passes brings us closer in unity, each breath closer to eternal things to be recognized as thou approacheth my Father’s House as promised to my followers.
ONCE AGAIN HAVE I TASTED OF SPIRITUAL FOOD.
May it not be the Bread I did break at the last supper? Has it such a flavor?
MASTER, I AM NOT WORTHY BUT I SHALL TRY TO BE.
(Note: NOT was changed from an obvious misprint of HOT in original book.) Thou hast said it, and I am well pleased to entrust to thee my faith and confidence. Thus prophets are subject to the prophets. Peace be with thee.
AMEN
XI.
MASTER, WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT SOMETIMES TO PRAY?
Because thou hast nothing to pray for. But thou didst pray sincerely in thy sorrow and despair when thy lips murmured 'My God, why did this happen?'
WHY SHOULD WE PRAY?
So God need not remind thee by what callest death.
WHAT ARE PRAYERS?
Gifts to be born according to the fertility of the ground in which they are sown.
AM I TOO TIRED TO ASK CORRECTLY?
No, thou art but in semi-incubation for tomorrow's flight, a repetition of each round of the ladder of life. Be thankful it is upward. Tired men seldom ask questions.
WHY HAVE I NOT MORE ENERGY?
Compare the weight and energy of a caterpillar with its later weight and energy as a butterfly. After a dream of hard labor to exhaustion, art thou fatigued on rising?
WHY NEED I SUFFER?
Wouldst thou have prevented hadst thou known as thou knowest now? If thou walketh among thorns thou leaveth footprints of blood; but hast thou not also carried away a beautiful rose blossom?
WHAT SHOULD ONE DO IF UNDECIDED OR LOST?
Nothing. Be idle long enough to realize that thou must retrace thy false steps to where thy decisions were not lost.
SHOULD WE CONSTANTLY PRAY?
Dost thou constantly repeat 'Good morning' or 'Good night' all day; or knock at the door after it has been opened unto thee?
To pray is to contact, to commune and converse in deeds, not words and echoes.
TO WHOM SHALL WE PRAY?
To the soul of God within thee. If external, thou might worship idols that thou shouldst not before thy Father and mine. All that thou art was placed within thy consciousness. What thou has made or inherited are thy mortal sentiments strengthened by thy memory of experience, good or ill.
HOW CAN ONE LEARN MORE?
See and hear less, then thou shalt see and hear more.
WHAT IS A REAL GIFT, MASTER?
A token of love.
WHAT IS LOVE?
God's gift.
SHOULD ONE SHARE IT?
It cannot be shared if love be one between two. For as soon as ye give, ye receive it. Two halves make one whole. That is love.
WHY DO MEN DOUBT?
Because they think not, neither do they reflect on what they have thought.
HOW SHOULD ONE THINK?
When thou eatest a strange fruit dost thou not expect a reaction, whether poison or nutritious? Thou asketh a question and wait for an answer. Thou seest a stranger, then consult thy memory of reflection. Thou receiveth a thought from the abstract, incomprehensible; but if thou hast faith, that faith will be thy answer. For God does not deceive him who hath faith. Even though a wrong to reason, it will be right or appear so to him with that faith which makes it so.
MASTER, WE STILL HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO LEARN.
Unlearn, my son, of those mistakes of heredity.
DO THEY FOLLOW US AS WE EVOLVE?
Doth a sheep ever become a lion? What is thy flesh and blood but thy parents, the triunity of that union.
MASTER, I PRAY BE EVER CLOSE TO US IN OUR INFIRMITIES.
My son, can I be any closer than in thy heart where but one knock, a thought, opens my door to thee.
BUT WHY DOES IT SEEM LIKE I AM ALONE?
Is it so difficult to think my name? Then why art thou alone?
BUT WHY DO WE THESE THINGS?
Thou hast a tiller that stears thy ship (thy will). Whose hand grasps it: thine or that of thy mortal emotions? Is it thy doubt, thy pain, and hatred; or thy faith, confidence and love? That is thy answer.
MASTER, EVEN AGAINST ALL ODDS AND STRUGGLE I WILL WILL MYSELF WITH YOU.
My son, 'tis only what I expected thee to say and to do, becoming all those chosen shepherds of mine upon whose hearts have I pressed the crucifix as a token of my choice and their vocation, that supporting staff when weary and worn, as I was when pressed to earth by its weight; then later pressed it to earth with mine.
MASTER, THANK GOD FOR ME. I AM GRATEFUL.
'Tis done. Bless thee, my son, and those faithful in my cause. And forget not to think when thou dost not.
XII.
If thou seeketh me, 'twas not thy wish -- it was mine that thou shouldst find me. Does not a good shepherd engender the wish to his flock that when lost they shall seek him when lost to them?
MASTER, WHY AM I SO SAD?
Either thou hast made someone unhappy and regret it, or thou seest someone in despair and wish to help them.
WHEN HOPELESS AND IN DESPAIR WHAT SHALL ONE DO?
Ask thyself if there be a God. It may raise thy hand at a door of hope and faith that will open at thy knock.
SHOULD ONE CONTINUOUSLY THINK OF GOD?
Were it so, God would not have left thee on earth as an upright walking worm to incubate like a caterpillar cocoon growing wings to fly towards the light of God's understanding.
HOW SHOULD WE FACE DEATH?
Was not thy birth a gift to thee, all thine own as thou will? Is not death a gift to thee as the open door to my Father's House.
BUT WHAT IS DEATH?
It was thee when thou asked the question, and thou in life heard the answer. For what was a moment ago is dead, gone into the past. What thou asketh next has not yet been born. But what has been said and memorized lives forever because it always was.
WHAT SHALL WE DO TO BE SAVED?
My son, what hast thou done to ask? Examine thyself and find the answer.
WILL EVERLASTING LIFE BE MINE?
Thou must have seen it before thou tasted it to know it is thine -- or how wouldst thou have known to ask.
HOW SHALL WE TREAT DEATH?
By the thought of life only.
WHY?
Because thou hast created death for thyself by applying to thyself what thou hast seen of others, more drastic to thy state of mind than to those who suffered it.
WHY DO MEN FEAR DEATH?
They do not. They fear doubt, the unknown, and the birth of Eternity.
HOW CAN ONE PREVENT THE FEAR OF DEATH?
By studying the inevitable law to befriend what must be a guest for the night. If thou become suspicious of him he will constantly remind thee that thou shalt be his guest. Fear and death have no use for him who thinks only of perpetual life.
HOW CAN WE ELIMINATE THE THOUGHT?
By not stretching forth thy hand to receive it.
IS DEATH SO FEARFUL?
Go to sleep when tired and test it.
WHEN WE PASS ON WILL YOU BE THERE TO MEET US?
Is it so much of an effort to open thy eyelids on awakening from a sound sleep to behold a loved one?
BUT WHY DO THOSE IN THE THROES OF DEATH SEEM TO SUFFER SUCH AGONY?
Hast thou ever seen a sleeper in a nightmare groaning and weeping, or one under an anaesthetic in a spasm? On awakening to consciousness they know nothing about it.
THEN DEATH CAN BE PEACEFUL?
As the embers of a dying fire.
SHOULD WE BEMOAN OUR AGE?
Are not thy children's children older than thou? Thy breath of yesterday is dead; that of today thy companion; that of tomorrow still unborn; and thou but counteth the years that are no more.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY BREATH, MASTER?
What is the escaping steam of an engine if not a report of its labor when in the steam chest forcing tons of weight onward by the touch of an engineer and sunlight (coal) -- just as it is within thy body and thy will.
STILL SO MANY FEAR OLD AGE.
Does the old faithful apple tree that looks about it to admire itself in the young orchard, liberating itself to live within even the youngest of its own progeny? Thus, what is there to fear?
BUT WHAT OF THE CHILDLESS?
They often substitute for motherless children though the loveless mother lives.
CAN THAT LOVE BE AS EMOTIONAL AS THAT OF REAL MOTHERHOOD?
Have not cats nursed white rats, enemies, unto love and protection? Why not with human beings?
WHAT THEN IS LOVE?
The bond that unites the entire universe.
ARE THE MASSES OF THE EARTH INFLUENCED BY AN UNSEEN POWER?
Read the history of epidemics, of war and pestilence. Analyze from whence they come, where they are, and where they will be tomorrow. Bear in mind that thou art part of all things, good or evil, linked together by the chain of events like the anchor chain fastened to the anchor on the rocks in the bottom of the sea, the other end fastened safely to the ship for its protection.
ARE WE AS BAD AS WE BELIEVE?
No, else thou wouldst not believe it so. For he who believes himself good knows not what evil he might have done by blindness to the sorrows of others.
I FEEL SO INSIGNIFICANT.
My son, that is blind greatness, where love of truth dominates and hate if unborn.
NEED ONE WORRY FOR TOMORROW?
Men but worry over what they have not as yet memorized, calling it doubt, problems, confusion, then fear.
WILL YOU ALWAYS BE NEAR ME, MASTER?
As close as thou wilt come to me.
ONCE AGAIN MY MIND IS RELIEVED.
My son, a gentle knock will open up the door that thou didst find, so thou mayest ask.
I AM GRATEFUL, MASTER.
Of such are prayers made up, answered before they are said. I bless each one of thee as my helpers in the name of my Father, to give strength to thy faith in Him.
XIII.
MASTER, IT HAS BEEN A LONG WHILE SINCE I HAVE ASKED QUESTIONS OF YOU.
My son, nights are not always the same length; and if too long, then the day is shorter with its light to see by.
WHAT IS LIFE?
Study death and thou shalt know.
THEN WHAT IS DEATH?
The birth of Life. Ask the fragrance of a rose that whispers only in spirit. Listen likewise.
WHY ARE MEN SO CONFUSED AS TO SPIRITUAL TRUTHS?
Because speechless men preach to the deaf, and neither know it because they will it not.
WHAT IS THE QUICKEST AND SUREST METHOD TO PEACE?
Understand the Golden Rule and the consequences of its violation.
WHAT IS MODERN RELIGION COMING TO?
A universal understanding where hunger, mental and physical starvation, will ask the question; and the answer will be, 'Love ye one another as my Father loveth thee and as I do.'
WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?
To its senses.
THROUGH WHAT CHANNEL, MASTER?
Through the heartaches of mothers bereft, and those guilty of shedding blood.
WHAT SHALL WE DO TO HELP?
Ask a faithful shepherd what he does at sunset for his flock. He may tell thee that he sleeps at daylight.
BUT WE SEEM SO IDLE.
A lull before activity.
I WILL DO MY BEST TO CARRY ON BLINDLY.
Do this, my son, and thine eyes shall be more keen to the wants of those who have appealed to me half-heartedly.
WILL THIS EVER BE A PERFECT WORLD TO LIVE IN?
It has been and still is. It is only the children of men with poor examples shown that appear imperfect, but still drift to that understanding of spiritual inheritance where the body labors and the spirit evaporates back to its Creator, a released prisoner from earth's green grass.
CAN WE DEVELOP FASTER THAN WE DO?
If thou wilt gaze at the hands of a clock and a small watch, both will reveal the correct time. Go no farther. Do not count their ticking. It will confuse thee as foolish questions and answers. Thou asketh for the time, not how and why. Time is the keeper of thy mortal prison.
WOULD PEOPLE MOCK ME WERE THEY TO READ THESE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS?
Does not an idiot gaze into the mirror to criticise and mock him whom he sees in it? Men see only what they think.
HAVE I MADE MANY MISTAKES?
Who has not? The more made, and victorious, the greater the reward. There is a vast difference between a sainted sinner and a sinful saint.
WILL GOD FORGIVE US FOR OUR MISTAKES?
Yes, if thou hast forgiven the mistakes made by others against thee. According to what thou hast done to others, the same must thou expect to be done unto thee; for thou art the father of it. Thus is the law where the child be witness against thee.
IS THERE NOTHING EVER FORGOTTEN?
Canst thou annihilate an atom which is a lesser reality?
THEN WHAT IS MEMORY?
The witness of action for God.
WHY DO THEY ARGUE SO?
Because they know so little, and fear to reveal it; while others try to convince a fool who reveals what he is by what he does not know.
DO REAL WISE MEN ARGUE?
Seldom. They realize so much that they don't know, hence in fear they might miss something they forgot to argue.
WHAT SHOULD CHILDREN BE TAUGHT FIRST?
Respect for those who protect them.
AND THEN?
Faith in a law of a God.
AND THEN?
Reason, logic and application unto good deeds.
AND THEN?
Nothing. For then they may teach thee.
MASTER, WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES MAN THINK?
Light added to light, until there be understanding.
WHAT IS UNDERSTANDING?
Reality.
WHAT IS REALITY?
That which always was, is now, and ever will be, as understandable as light is to thought: that thought which a spark of thy soul ignited to behold a God.
WHAT SHALL I DO?
Ask that of my hungry lambs and weary sheep; they will answer thee.
PLEASE BE NEAR ME TODAY SO I WILL WASTE NO TIME.
I shall always be at thy side. There is no time for my followers, hence no time to waste. Thus waste is but a loss to him who neglects normalcy or who takes from those who make light of values -- at their loss; so they must search for time to repay their loss to them. There is self-created time paid objectively, by neglect.
MASTER, I WILL DO MY BEST TO IMPROVE BY YOUR HELP.
My son, what thou art have I chosen. 'Tis not in vain. Greater work shall be done when thy shoulders become stronger to help carry the shadow of my cross.
THANK YOU, DEAREST MASTER.
Peace to thee and thine, my son.
XIV.
I gathered ye all under my wing, but ye drifted apart one from another. Why? Canst thou have pity or charity if thou hast not sacrificed and suffered? It is not bouquets that give tribute, but honorable scars.
He who allows me the shelter of his heart shall find a safe refuge in mine. Lend me thine ears so thou mayest speak for me, and not thy tongue when thou art deaf and too blind to see me. Thou canst find me by listening to what thou seeth, and sensing the whisper of thy soul.
MASTER, I DID NOT KNOW YOU WERE SO NEAR. I felt so alone. (ed note) this is the way it is in the original book so it is unchanged here.
My son, I am ever near. 'Tis but the dust, the dry clay of the dead, that shuts out the light to know, to feel, to hear and to see.
BUT IS THERE A METHOD NOT TO BE SO BLIND?
When dost thou seek thy way: at night or in the light of day? And if in the dark of night, is not the mortal earth between thee and the sunlight? Likewise with daily environments that come between thee and me. But knoweth thou that the sun and my love shineth forever.
DEAR MASTER, LET US NOT DRIFT INTO THE SHADOW OF MORTAL THINGS.
My son, fear not. Thy journey leads but past the cross where once I was, and where I found thee as thou me.
I WILL LOOK MORE DILIGENTLY FOR YOUR NEARNESS.
Thou too must sleep away the nights and shadows. So strengthen thy faith when weary, knowing I am always with thee and thine.
BUT I FEEL SO SMALL AND SO GREATLY HONORED AND UNWORTHY.
That, my son, is evidence of worthiness when thy mortal self be humbled to admit the truth undeniable.
CAN ONE FEEL SAFE NOT TO FALL?
That is why evil and vice are ever thy companions in thy bloodstream of inheritance. Where there be danger there is precaution and preservation. Where robbers or thieves exist, thou wilt find padlocks and safes.
SHOULD THERE BE MORE EVANGELISTS?
Thou canst not heal a long ailment overnight; neither protect the flock of sheep by remaining one night and deserting them for seventy days.
WHY ARE PEOPLE SO CRUEL?
Because they sleepeth not in their darkest hour, where like begets like.
SHOULD ONE FORGIVE AN INJUSTICE?
If thou hast been forgiven, yes. If an injury has been done thee, ascertain if the sins of the father were guilty and not he who but carried the stain of his forefathers. For a newly born child is not guilty of its deformity.
WHAT CAN ONE DO WHEN ONE HAS DONE WRONG?
What doeth thou when thou hast climbed the wrong ladder?
AND WHEN ANGRY?
Gaze into the mirror. If thou canst admire thy expression, it is not thee.
WHAT BREAKS UP FRIENDSHIP?
Nothing.
WHAT DESTROYS LOVE?
The absence of it.
THEN WHAT CREATES LOVE?
Itself.
IS IT RIGHT EVER TO HATE?
When thou knowest what real love is, then thou canst hate. But hatred is a human volcano whose breath is the flame of destruction -- even unto itself.
SHALL I BE CHARITABLE TO THE SELFISH?
Charity itself is blind, with no distinction. Sin is to the sinner.
HOW CAN WE OVERCOME OUR HEAVY BURDEN?
By helping others carry theirs.
WHAT CAN I DO FOR THEE?
Accept what I have offered thee, to be worthy of the crown by the cross thou bearest.
I AM GRATEFUL, LORD.
And I am pleased.
IS IT RUDE OF ME TO ASK THESE QUESTIONS?
Do I answer them with resentment or pleasure?
MASTER, I AM GRATEFUL FOR THESE ANSWERS.
Thus am I, for that is all I can offer besides my love and confidence in those who see not but believe in my answers.
XV.
MASTER, I LOVE YOU!
My son, that is the truth of the God thou seeketh. Fear nothing; and ever seek for those too blind to open their eyes and hearts so they too may love, to be loved.
WHY ARE SOME MEN SO CRUEL?
My son, observe how they eat, and what; where they live, and how. See if a parallel with the animal: clever as a fox, cruel as a tiger, meek as a lamb, bold as a lion, faithful as a watch dog, keen-eyed as an eagle or as dangerous as a cobra. Make thy comparison and judge where the man really is.
BUT WHY?
Has he not absorbed all the things of earth that the animal has, retaining the characteristics of certain animals that make up his personality?
BUT WHY THE SLOW PROGRESS?
My son, had man gazed upward instead of beneath him he would have seen the light where even the sun-worshipper without a teaching of God found Him in the light of the world.
WAS IT WRONG FOR THEM TO WORSHIP THE SUN?
They were not shown the ten commandments; still they worshipped the kin of God, obeying a principle beyond their comprehension, a faith in the Power that be.
HOW SHALL WE KNOW AND FIND GOD?
Learn who created thee, and why. Then thou shalt be at His side.
BUT HOW?
Roll away thy animal years. Let thy soul stand naked. Then behold thy God in spirit.
BUT ONE SEEMS SO ALONE IN THIS SEARCH.
Canst thou not find the better what thou seeketh away from the crowd that hampers thy efforts? Is it not a blessing to be all alone with thyself to study who thou art, and thy destiny? Wouldst thou follow the blind crowd into the pit of annihilation? Who were they that survived all the epidemics, pestilence, floods and fire up to date? Surely the survival of the intuitively fit.
WHERE ARE THE TRUE,
They are hidden in every nation or group of men to perpetuate the truth even if it be in the seventh generation of their offspring, to avoid annihilation of the times.
WHOM SHALL WE FOLLOW?
Take a long walk and see if thou art followed. For thou thyself may be the man chosen, or thou wouldst not walk with confidence and faith to a destination of hope.
DEAR MASTER, MY EFFORTS SEEM SO HOPELESS AND SLOW.
'Tis thy intellect, not thy faith, that judges that.
I WISH I WERE MORE WORTHY!
Thou art.
BUT I CAN'T SEE IT.
'Tis all the more credit that thou dost not count thy wealth. 'Tis often vanity to do so.
HOW WILL I KNOW I AM DOING RIGHT?
By not trying to know, but only to do.
BUT IT SEEMS SO LITTLE.
My son, let me judge that. And let thy prayers guide thee in confidence.
MASTER, I SHALL DO AS YOU COMMAND.
'Tis not a command, but only a favor to me.
THEN PLEASE IMPRESS ME AS TO YOUR WISH.
'Tis already done. Observe thy returns shortly, and build upon it a stronger structure of security in the eyes of friends, strangers and enemies.
THANK YOU, MASTER. I WILL.
Bless thee, my son, with Peace.
XVI.
I thot: WHAT IS NORMALCY OR EMOTION?
I got answer: Test thy pulse, thy temperature and the strength of thy heart-strings. If they agree, thou art normal. If not, thou wouldst not ask the question -- the sin already committed.
WHY ARE MEN SO BLIND?
Dost thou think they are, or do they but appear to be. Dost thou think thyself to be? Dost thou express all that thy vision beholds? Do the blind?
IT SEEMS SUCH A TASK TO CONVINCE BY THE SIMPLE TRUTH.
Why identify, christen or title each seed in Latin or Greek? I give thee when asked of thee. Will not each seed speak for itself when planted to blossom and bear fruit for him who asked of thee?
He who asks of thee, and still beholds not what is in thy hands, must have a concept of expectancy. Thus answer only at the knock at thy door. A sign of a fish on the door was an invitation to my disciples; but not so to the profane.
THEN, MASTER, I SHOULD SCATTER SEEDS EVERYWHERE?
Yes, they will not be wasted, even among rocks (hearts of stone); some, to feed the least of them, (insects). The select and worthy will find fertile ground to flourish in my name and offer up the fruits of truth and love.
BUT SO MUCH CAN BE DONE WHEN SO MANY DIE IN VAIN, WITHOUT RESULT!
Did I die in vain with so little results or display as only a malefactor between two thieves?
NO, MASTER; YOU WERE THE SYMBOL OF GOD, HIS SHADOW.
Then what are silent shadows that identify a substance or a cause self- creative?
WHAT SHALL I DO?
Just deliver the message to him intended. He is responsible as to its meaning: thy duty fulfilled; his, pending.
SHALL I WAIT FOR A RESPONSE?
No. That is his responsibility to know and to do. He can read.
DO I WASTE TIME IN DOING?
Are not each five minutes of the clock's time identified to be accurate? Only some seem longer on the part of him who doubts, fears or is too mortal.
SHOULD WE STUDY THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL?
Dost thou study the highest technique of the university in thy kindergarten or primer class of school? Hast thou the answer to mortality? If not, study and acquire the parables nature reveals every day. Then thy knowledge of mortality will be the question that immortality shall answer for thee.
HOW SHALL WE LEARN THIS?
Behold the eyes of a child as new things appear before it: blind to a gold, diamond-studded watch but not to its ticking. Its simple mind questions only that which is simple to its understanding. Ask a master jeweler to look at thy price-less watch. He will ask how many seconds does it gain or lose in a month. Thus that which appears interesting to thee is already a part of thee -- until thy album of memory be filled as tools and instruments to make use of. And when thou hast filled this album from cover to cover, thou shalt find thy answer of immortality in thy last word, 'Finale' -- newly born spiritual childhood.
MASTER, SHALL I MAKE THESE WRITINGS PUBLIC?
My son, must thou go before thy door to knock for admittance to enter? Let the student and seeker find thy door in search for what he hast not. Does not every chimney belch forth smoke in the cold winter to reveal occupants? Do men seek alone what they have lost, or do they seek for what they never possessed? Reveal only that which is asked for -- to be appreciated, preserved and made use of.
THAT, DEAR MASTER, I SHALL DO BY YOUR KIND HELP.
My son, 'tis well. Be thou prepared for greater duties, responsibilities and labor of love for thy brother man and my lost sheep. I shall guide thee as I have ever done. Again eternity answers that question. I shall await the coming of thee and thine. So when I ask one of thy companions to come unto me, mourn not.
THY WILL BE DONE IN THE NAME OF GOD.
Amen, my son.
THANK YOU, MASTER; I WILL DO MY PART.
'Tis well, for they are waiting for the message entrusted to thee and my followers. Peace be with thee.
AMEN.