3/20/06 The String of Pearls Part II
Copyright © 1989-2006 Mel West. All rights reserved.

The String of Pearls
(continued)

By Mel West

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Because the Bible seems to focus upon the abomination of Vanity, the Sons of Heaven thought to give it a role in the gathering of the Wicked unto Megiddo. As you know, my son, the difference between you and the Antichrist and His False Prophet rests in Vanity. We have created you without Vanity.

Vanity is a remarkable thing. For it covers shame. Those who do wicked things (and they know they are wicked) cover their sins with their own Vanity.

Vanity promotes blindness. You can count on a Vain person, or nation, to follow any path you set it upon by enticing it through Vanity. They worship Vanity, they use Vanity, and they follow Vanity. And they become Vanity.

Vanity justifies all things. Hitler used Vanity to justify the extermination of an entire race, for instance. What a beast! Has the world ever seen such a one as this? I asked my world and received no reply. The reason I received no reply was because Vanity was watching for a greater beast than Hitler!

Now Vanity likes to play on both sides of the fence. It pretends to be good to deceive the good into following it; but it gloats over people coming to appreciate its power. Have you noticed how easy it was for Hitler to transform what appeared to be a good people into workers of the Beast? As long as he fulfilled his promises to the people, the people allowed him to go his course.

Our Advocate reminded me of this and wondered whether the Jews were also responsible for the ovens which consumed them. They should have resisted and not allowed themselves to be led like sheep to the slaughter. The other part of her argument was that Hitler did do many good things for the German people, bringing them out of depression, for instance, and giving them unity. So the German people were taken in by these good works and misled into evil.

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If the Jews had a responsibility to avoid the evil, it goes without saying that the Germans also had a responsibility to avoid the evil. But the true perspective on the matter, I think, is found in all the martyrs of the world. Jesus could have saved himself from the cross, the many thousands of Christians, who were hung on crosses and lit on fire to light the Apian Way leading to Rome, could have avoided their dreadful fate merely by denying their faith in Jesus! The Jews and others of the Spanish Inquisition could have avoided the pain of the rack and the burning stake by denying their faith. And the Jews could have revolted against Hitler or fled when they had their chance to flee.

All these people got caught up in making a decision on how they would be remembered. They all chose the cross! What does this display? It says that there comes a time when one has to choose a value worth dying for. In a movie called Lawrence of Arabia, an Arab chief seated atop his horse leans down to Lawrence and asks, Is there nothing in your life worth dying for?

I love life and I think there are certain values in life worth protecting. Sometimes the only way to convince man the worth of certain values, many grouped under the category of Liberty, is to offer up your own life to those who would dare to take it. But God willing, I hope that what Hitler brought forth will never be seen again. Remember the martyrs, their judges and their executioners. The judges and executioners are nothing less than that for which they gave cause to be remembered. They thought to be equal to God and judge for Him, because their judgments were His Domain. Remember that Satan thought the same of himself and how, in his jealous rage, he swore to murder all the sons of Adam.

Being a youth who loved to read from antiquity, I early discovered a terrible thing. History is loaded with a lot of murderers. I thought of jotting down the numbers of every battle and put those numbers in a book. But the venture was, first of all, too sickening for my stomach and well beyond my means. Nevertheless, the numbers I have read in my life continue to stick in the back of my head. But one need not go through antiquity to understand the scale of human losses due to man's insatiable thirst for power and violence. If one were to go through ten years of American newspapers and cut out the violence and the murder, perhaps a stack of papers reaching to the moon would be cut to a stack not much thicker than my book. Or if one were to take all of the Television movies and tapes during the past ten years and edit out the violence, one might end up with a short newsreel. Perhaps I am guilty of a little exageration, but I hope my point is well taken. And perhaps you can understand me, how easy it is for me to remember my generation as a most violent generation. And this violence is infecting all the world. The nations have become hooked on their own violence.

If Hitler had such an easy time leading the world into a flaming furnace, how much easier would it be for the Antichrist, whom my world watches for, to lead the world to Megiddo?

My heart contemplated a good thing: to persuade God that Hitler is that Antichrist and be done with the matter so that the world could focus on Good rather than evil. But Vanity does not wish to hear nor to see. It manipulates the Word of God to its service, saying it is a book of interpretation, when it is useful to avoid the truth of prophesy, and then says it is Truth when it is useful to await a prophesy. Ironically, Vanity agrees wholeheartedly that the Antichrist is yet to come, bidding, as it were, evil to enter in and consume the world. At the same time they bid the Messiah to come in and smite the Wicked One. And I wonder what they are really watching for.

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There is by appearance very little difference between the Antichrist and the vision Vanity has of Christ. I complained to the Ministry in my day that their prophesying and miracles are a challenge to the very thing they claim to watch for. How can Jesus, on His return, perform miracles and prophesy greater than they, I wondered. Perhaps Jesus will not be a miracle worker or prophet, I thought. There is good basis for this, because the prophesies speak of the Latter Day Messiah as one who is not a prophet!

Thinking of these things, I wondered whether I ought to go into the details of the Latter Day event as much as I have: to clear the air with regard to what the prophets actually require in their prophesies. I wondered whether the Sons of Heaven would approve of my detailing these events, and in particular, detailing what they expect in you. So to answer this, how they might feel about it, I went back to Isaiah and inquired of Him. He once again showed me Vanity. Behold, he said, the detail I put into the book on the Messiah! Did Vanity see it? I looked and sure enough, the detail on the Messiah was marvelous! How did Vanity not see these things of the Suffering Messiah? I wondered. For the detail is so vivid and clear it is astounding that the Jews had not talked about it profusely. Isaiah said, Son, it doesn't make any difference how much detail you give Vanity. For Vanity will not see it. Thus, my son, I worry not about the detail I mention. And I can count on Vanity responding to me by saying, That is your interpretation; we have ours.

Nevertheless, I am a cautious man and desire to withhold some things, as I would not want Vanity to think me a prophet! The prophesies we have are clear enough; I do not need to add to them.

Hooks and bridles cause Vanity to err. Take my generation, for instance. You have an advantage over me, because you can now look back upon us to see all things in perspective. I do not have that luxury, my son. When you walk our streets, I wonder how you will remember them. Will you see them as streets which were havens for thieves and murderers or will you see them as streets of the blessed?

I was born midst a great people and a strong people. Such a people were never before born. But surely they were expected by the prophets.

My people grew into the most powerful nation on earth and invented the abomination of abominations. I am speaking of two things. Nuclear Weapons and pollution. Over the course of the years, these people became transformed from a simple God fearing people to a people who can challenge the power of the gods. Surely any man who can walk on the moon must be a god!

Now these people are a people of knowledge. They learned quicker and applied their learning sooner than any other people. From knowledge comes power. They became the most powerful nation on earth. With power came Vanity and they began to think that they are the Chosen People of God. Whosoever they vanquish would be in the name of God. They named Jesus as their God and claimed that He rules now over all law and prophesy. Whatsoever they change in His Name is changed; whatsoever they enforce in His Name is enforced. He confirms His Chosen People; whatsoever they choose He confirms. This seems to be the extent of their knowledge.

In my day, this nation has become transformed into a nation which seems to worship violence. Its television programs are mostly dedicated to violence. They feed on it, like the Romans before them who spent their wages to watch the violence in the Coliseum. Just as the Romans before them, they feed their children with their desire and fascination for violence. I suspect they have become the most violent prone nation ever to exist on earth. This washes over into the streets, where few neighborhoods are safe from violent crime. The desire for violence even extends into their homes, and matters are often settled through murder. They have been so much indoctrinated into, and hardened by, violence they seem to have lost respect for all life. Few among them complain about the destruction of the life around them; even so, making matters worse, these people assume that it is acceptable to pull their children from the womb. I complained in Hidden Pavilions that these people make their own children a prey.

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As concerning these things, my people export their own desires and now much of the world has come to join them in their compassion for violence. All these things destroy the family which in turn, as is so easy to observe, has weakened the fabric of our society.

There are some virtues in my nation which can be mentioned. But whatever virtues we have are far overshadowed by our attraction for violence and the wickedness which attends it. And while the Christian community speaks out against these things, their voice is exceedingly weak and hidden in the shadow of excess. This becomes apparent when one watches the ministry justify its own plethora. Many of the greater ministers in my country live in great palaces, fleecing their congregation out of tithes and offerings on a scale which would shock Peter and even the Pharisees in Jerusalem. These things are justified by Vanity, and though many may complain about it, Vanity is in control and need not hear. To Vanity, whatsoever they do is justified by faith. For they are the chosen people.

Writing to A.L. in Hidden Pavilions, I suggested that one ought to be careful how one uses the appellation Chosen People of God. For God called Israel His Chosen People and because they were named as such He expected more out of them than anyone else. He explains why He turns His face from them: Because you alone I have known among the nations of the earth, I will punish you. Remember this, then, my son, what is implied in God's Chosen People.

I complained to the ministry that this so called Chosen People is far worse than the Children of Israel. I said that Israel is a Saint compared to my people. Let those who have ears, hear.

In my estimation, the only redeeming quality in my people is that they, above all people, have spread the Word of God diligently and with great fervor. In their own minds, though they preach against it, they are justified in their own works.

Now that the world treasures violence, we see how easy it is to lead them into battle. If they are justified in violence, for the sake of God, then let them be led by violence into Megiddo.

The prophets speak of the People upon whom God takes His Wrath. We mentioned it earlier; we shall mention it again. It is all those nations who were against my people Israel. It is a very clear statement.

The Ministering among my people is the Testimony of Paul. And Paul was against Israel. He removed their inheritance from them and claimed they were no longer under the covering of God. Anyone who believes this and follows this may be one of those led into Megiddo. Let those who have ears, hear.

My country, a marvellous and fruitful field, though choking in the pollution of its own people, but now even choking from the pollution of others, has another redeeming quality. While its Ministry preach about the translation of the inheritance through Jesus to this nation, it has become a great protector and advocate of Israel. But there is yet another prophesy which this, my people, ought to consider.

My understanding of the Bible is that God intends to do His Work in Megiddo Himself. He will save Israel from those who surround them Himself. You, my son, will have greater knowledge on this matter than I. But let us leave this subject as I mentioned previously: You, my son, should wait until the Fortress in Megiddo is built. I continually pray that such an event will not occur and that the world will change obviating the need for the Curse.

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The other evening, watching a minister on television who specializes in the knowledge of prophesy, I heard one say that the troops seem to be gathering to Megiddo already. He stated that fifty American ships are now gathered on the coast of Palestine and a Russian aircraft carrier is now headed from the Black Sea to that area of the Mediterranean coast. He mentioned a large contingent stationed along the Soviet - Iranian border and fifty thousand Soviet troops building a navy base near Lebanon.

He mentioned the hooks in the jaws of Gog, saying the hooks are probably the oil in the Dead Sea. But we can see, my son, that the hooks and the bridles are Vanity and Vanity is Power.

Thus, it seems to your father that bringing the nations to the table of the Lord becomes a small matter indeed. They have been bred on violence and sanctified Power. My God says, O Gog, when Israel is at Peace will you not know it? Let those who have ears, hear.

This is my understanding of hooks and bridles. I mention these things to you, my son, so that you will have guidance as to who the enemy really is. For in my day there seems to be a lot of confusion over evil. In my nation there are those who point to Russia and say, Behold the evil one! But when I traveled in the Middle East and France I heard many Europeans and others saying that both my nation and the Soviet Union are evil! It depends upon your point of view, doesn't it, as to whether one is evil or not. Even the evil call others evil.

This reminds me of a German fellow who had a magazine, Der Spiegel, laid out on a table at our pension in Turkey. He was arguing that President Truman dropped the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities to impress the Soviets of the American Power. Being American, I was somewhat offended that the writer of the article had not considered what Truman had placed upon his desk. It was a sign which said, The buck stops here. Truman had a nature about him which most Americans seem seem to admire. They believe that they ought not to blame others for their actions. They take pride in assuming responsibility, whether for good or for evil. Truman seemed to be a man who took this to heart and insisted on being his own man as much as possible. At least he certainly conveyed that appearance. He did not need anyone to justify his own actions. His justification for dropping the bombs, it turns out, was to shorten the war and minimize the deaths on both sides. Without the bomb, he apparently concluded, the war would be prolonged, perhaps for many years, and invasion of the Japanese mainland would be at considerable cost to human lives on both sides. Dropping the bombs seemed to him to be the expedient thing to do. For experience had shown that the Japanese would not easily give up. They had to be shocked into giving up. Here again we can illustrate the point of view of Vanity. Vanity salutes Truman's use of power and marvels that Truman used his power to demonstrate his power. It is an argument which justifies murder and an argument which admires the power to murder. It is Satan's age old argument. He likes power and the ultimate power is the power over life and death. But a man with power over the lives of others, if he is just, will use it not to take lives but to save lives.

I should think that God has the same perspective. If blood is shed, it must be for the saving of life, not for taking life. The final count is in the numbers and, like Truman, I think God has asked, concerning even His own Plans, how many lives would have been lost otherwise? Ultimately, following this course in logic, one is forced to hope that an entire multitude can be saved from death by shedding the blood of just one man. Again, Truman counted the numbers of the prospective dead. The numbers in the sacrifice of Nagasaki and Hiroshima were far less than the numbers which would occur in an invasion and certainly far less than the numbers if one were to do nothing at all.

Our generation awaits the same counting. It stands on the edge of a great pit and the edge of the pit is beginning to crumble beneath our feet. Can we be saved by the blood of one man or must we add to the count more numbers? How many must be swallowed by the jowels of hell? And how do we shock them into stepping away from the pit?

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Living in San Francisco, perhaps one of the most beautiful cities I have seen in the world, it is easy to see what shock can do to a people. They live in a severe earthquake zone and go about as if the big repeat quake, like the one in 1906, will not come to them: Perhaps to another generation, but not to them.

Now if God used earthquakes and such to shock people into coming around to His way of thinking, these people could be considered as people testing God. For there is much in them which is repulsive to the Bible. We speak of Sodomy, for instance.

I wonder, if a prophet were to prophesy, being the Mouth of God, on this issue and warn them moments before of an earthquake designed to rid Sodom from this place, would the people believe it? Would they curse or even try to kill him who warned them? Suddenly we realize the truth from this study. Sodom did not believe the warning and tried to kill the two men who brought it. They resented being called an evil city. In this particular matter, in the case of Sodom, there was nothing in the plan to give that city a second chance. Once the Two Men appeared in the city, it was doomed.

We mention this because you will be given the same choice, my son. God took no ransom in exchange for Sodom's life.

By comparison, we can now return to Megiddo. There is a prophesy already reserved unto the Day of Megiddo.

Now I suspect God is somewhat like Truman; or, to put it in its proper perspective, Truman showed a bit of the characteristics of God as concerning His Judgment of shortening the course of events.

In my day, Megiddo can happen at any moment in time. Not necessarily because God ordered it, but because the armies are gathering there already.

As you know, the Book of Revelation puts the battle with Gog a thousand years after the First Resurrection. If the First Resurrection were in my day, then it would mean 3,000 A.D. is the day of Gog and Megiddo. Ezekiel puts this day, as I recall, simply into the period of the Latter Days, a Day of great darkness and gloominess. Behold, I say, has there ever been a darker or gloomier day than the day of my own generation? Let those who have ears, hear.

It is surprising to me to watch the Ministry spout off on Revelation, focusing upon beasts and dragons, and then pointing to Gog coming out of the north to Megiddo, without once giving thought to the First Resurrection mentioned in the same book! Blessed are those who participate in the First Resurrection. Let those who have ears, hear.

Now I am not one to tamper with prophesy. If I say anything contradictory to the Prophets, take it with a grain of salt. If I speak of what the prophets before me said, I merely call them into remembrance. I am doing nothing special except reading what is obvious. I read it because Vanity doesn't seem to have eyes or ears for it. That is your interpretation, they say, We have ours. So be it. If I have interpreted something incorrectly, ignore it. I would not wish to be one who is accused of misleading others by interpretation.

This is for your edification, my son. There are those who interpret God and there are those who teach what God hath said. I hope that I will be thought of at most a teacher. And in this I have too few credentials. I have copied what I read and understood.

As I say in Hidden Pavilions , I did not write the Bible. So no one should blame me for what it says. Blame me for misinterpreting it, if you will, but if something is clear and contradicts Vanity's point of view, don't blame me for saying it. Vanity cannot see Two Messiahs and Vanity cannot see the difference between a Scepter out of Judah and Shiloh, a man to whom the Gathering of the People shall be. I mention these things because you will wrestle with the same things. Let the Bible speak to you. Do not try to speak for it. If you see something which goes against the grain of your beliefs, focus upon it and try to understand it. The Jews had to face the same thing: The Suffering Messiah was before them all along and they refused to face up to the sayings about it. So when they saw it come to pass they refused to acknowledge it. It is somewhat the same process we see in the German people under Hitler. They could not face the truth that was taking place among them and turned their faces from it, pretending that it did not exist. Confront things you do not understand, my son, and try to understand them. Learn from History and those who turned their faces from the Truth.

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We see in ancient days a lesson to be learned in this regard. When Christ came upon the scene He complained to Jerusalem, how she always liked to kill her own prophets. Why? Because the prophets were telling them the Truth about themselves and the Truth was ugly. To remove the ugly from their sight they thought to kill the Mouth of God who declared their ugliness to them. In a manner of speaking the prophets were a mirror unto them. The people looked unto them and saw something ugly and terrible, which was the people's reflected image. They confirmed their image in the mirror by destroying the Mirror. The lesson here to be eaten is to not touch the mirror.

We have given you a mirror, my son. Behold, the days come when a man shall be more precious than a jewel! Let those who have ears, hear.

Finally, my son, we would conclude this dissertation on Vanity and the hooks in his jaws by encouraging you to always be ready to admit your mistakes. For no man is God and we are all susceptible to errors. We prey that you will always have good men around you who will be willing to show you your mistakes. Sometimes they will call out a mistake and you will have to judge whether your decision was truly a mistake. Follow your own intuition and be ready to account for your actions. But by all means never fear doing what you believe to be right unto God. If you are in line with the Will of God, you will prevail. Always show humility in your judgment and be ready and willing for others' advise, even if that advise comes from opposing ends. If the course chosen turns to failure do not blame anyone but yourself. Assume responsibility for your own actions and do not fear being a little bit like Truman. Dwell not on your mistakes but look forward to correcting them.

No man is more aware of his own mistakes than your father. I lament that men around me thought not to show me my mistakes. But this is really my own fault, for I did not join them and they had no obligation to me from their point of view. Even so, I have never doubted that I have an obligation to them: even Paul whom I grieve so much, is one to whom I am indebted.

Have you ever ridden on a carousel, my son? Have you tried to catch the brass ring as you ride round and round on the finely painted steeds? You mount upon a beautiful white steed with golden mane and inlaid jewels upon its saddle. Around and around you go to the carousel tune. You reach, and miss; you reach again. Some child in front of you succeeds. He got the brass ring! Your adrenaline begins to flow, for you know that you too can grab the brass ring. There it is! You reach and it is yours! How exciting it is for a young child! All those around you share in your excitement as you take your prize home. However, some, with lowered faces, begrudge you, for they tried and missed. You look into your proud father's eyes and you beam: Look, father, I have the brass ring!

Life is like a carousel, my son. Sometimes you strive for things and miss them. But remember this that the set will come back again and you will have another chance at the ring. And there are many brass rings. In fact, the owner of the carousel seems to have an infinite stock of them.

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Certain brass rings are marked expressly for you, my son. No one else will be able to reach them. Just as your father captured a few brass rings, so will you.

At first, having a few brass rings in my hand, I wondered whether it was I who was really entitled to reach for them. But remember this: all men are entitled to reach for them. Most, because of Vanity, will not be able to get them.

If you miss a brass ring, do not worry. It will be given unto you. For it will be given to Him whose right it is to have it.

You will find a day when you have some important brass rings in your hand. Suddenly they shall be changed into gold before your very eyes. Let those who have ears, hear.

Now hear this, my son, how the brass rings will be changed into gold. Many, seeing you with the brass rings, will come to you and say, Sir, we have heard that God is with you, and they will offer you gold rings in exchange for the brass. Some will offer silver rings. Take the gold and the silver and do what I have asked of you, that the Cloud of God may be glorified. When you do this, all men will come to you, gathering around you, and marvel at the work you fashioned out of the gold rings.

Paul and many others before him spoke against the Love of Money, saying, the love of Money is the root of all evil. Surely this is good guidance, my son. Do not let the love of money rule you; you must rule over it.

Your generation has seen the effects from our love of money. For you were robbed of an inheritance which should have been passed on to you. We cut down your trees, your forests, and we polluted the earth to make our lives more convenient and comfortable. And all the things we fashioned from the earthand the things we fashioned which polluted the earth, and are now passed away. The paper and the cheap furniture from our forests are gone. And only a polluted planet remains. I pray that I am wrong, but it appears that little is being done to remedy the situation. Many complain about it; certainly I am not a lone voice in this desolation which we have created. My consolation is only in the Peacemakers who go from city to city crying out against the raping of the planet and its life forms. In less than forty years, they all seem to agree, this generation has destroyed half of the animal species on the earth; perhaps, at this writing, over half of the rain forests which were extant when I was born are now gone. They say that forests having the size of the state of Delaware are cut down every day. We all ask, when will it stop? There is no answer, except the sound of bulldozers and chain saws.

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When I was a young man I left Los Angels for San Francisco. Somehow I could not stand to live in that place anymore. It seemed that just to get into the country one had to drive on freeways for hours. Apart from the freeways, should you pick any major boulevard and drive until it ends, you find yourself driving for hundreds of miles without seeing an interruption in the concrete and the sidewalks.

A side effect of the expanding cities did give us some benefit, however; since every home and every boulevard planted trees. They were not a forest, but at least trees did get planted in places where there were no trees. This is little consolation, for the forests are the things which give life to the planet, not the neighborhood trees.

I am reminded of Napoleon, concerning this matter of the trees. When France was going through a recession many were clamoring for work. He gave the poor the task to go out along the highways and plant trees. Now, traveling anywhere in France, one in my day has the pleasure of driving through continuous canopies of trees. But I wonder what it will be like for you, my son? Will the rest of the planet be deforested in your day like Europe? Will America have only the symbols of highway canopies left, with a patch of woods here and there?

All of the things I have complained about in my works are things no man in my generation does not already complain about himself. Perhaps even the giant magnets of industry also silently complain in their own homes. But complain as we all do, the Trees and the habitat are ever more ruined.

We all look up to the sky, wondering when disaster will be hailed down upon us. But few have the same fear of their pollution bringing a far worse disaster. For the disaster from the sky is immediate and can effect them; the disaster from the pollution only affects you and your generation, my son. They seem to feel no guilt over this.

While I am inclined to write this as an apology unto you, my son, I know that there is no apology due. For only shame eternal can come for my generation.

We wonder, why it is that we can speak of man's desolation of this planet, parroting what is commonly said on television and on the streets, while, at the same time, Christians do not seem to think that God knows of these abominations in modern man. I wonder what the Ministry really do think of this man today and whether they think God is capable of looking down from Heaven to see the goings on in this place.

I try to be optimistic, my son, and hope that man will wake up and come to God and see what he has done unto God's Garden. I hope that he will for once look at this place, as best he can, from God's point of view. We suggest that God might see the same things many like me have seen: And God looked down from Heaven and saw no one doing good; no not one. Surely men in these days are worse than those in Isaiah's day. We see, therefore, what the Love of Money can do to societies.

Christ sent His disciples along the road of Salvation with no money at all in their purse; in fact, he told them not to carry a purse! Somehow His Disciples forgot His Charge to them and now walk heavily laden with riches and endowments; and they seem to be more pledged to the Prince of this world than their King Messiah Jesus. Somehow Paul's Charge to the early Christians, obey your Princes, got taken to the extreme, where the charge becomes interpreted: live as your Prince lives: i.e., fornicate with the treasures of man. Many Ministers these days write books teaching how one is desired by God (and Jesus) to become successful merchants, etc. They call their program, Possibility Thinking: everything is possible to you.

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Every man needs to provide for himself and his family. Provisioning for them requires the seeking of financial rewards. One needs money to clothe, feed, and house a family. Primitive societies showed the lower end of this spectrum, living in barely sustaining conditions; the other end of the spectrum is the Financial Giant who has accumulated as much wealth as he possibly can, generally to the detriment of others. In this day, the trend towards accumulation of wealth has extended to the point that the world's wealth has been concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. To illustrate the magnitude of this Power Concentration, we can mention a Law just passed last year in California which required the Insurance companies in the state to refund insurance premiums. The Insurance Companies contemptuously ignored the Law and the State allowed them to do it. In times past, when this nation was a foundling, Laws which were enacted by the Congress or Legislature were required to be expediently enforced by the executive Branch: i.e., the Governor or the President. These days, by illustration of the Insurance Company power alone, the Law exists only for the powerful: those who control the wealth. Those who are not in control of the wealth, who are the masses, are no longer protected by the law. So this is what money can do to a society.

I am a believer in free enterprise and the democratic way of life; and I think it is up to one to determine for himself whether he need accumulate wealth well beyond necessity and comfortable living (by the standards of the day). In primitive societies the wealth was generally shared by the entire tribe. Herdsmen recognized the land to be free to all the tribe using it; only the cattle were individually owned. Abraham became very wealthy in cattle and with his wealth came considerable influence and power. According to the Testimony he did not abuse his wealth to the detriment of others. We say this with some reservation, for we know tribes who were in the way of His Promised Inheritance were at the receiving end of his sword. But in all fairness to Abraham, we can see in the illustration of the wars with Sodom and Gomorrah how Abraham was a fair man. Though he came out on top in those wars, and though Melkizedeck ruled in favor of Abraham taking the spoils and booty of war, Abraham returned the spoils to those whom he defeated in battle. Abraham, we see by this illustration, was a fair man. This is, therefore, the obligation of Money and Power: to be fair. When it is seen that one is not fair in the exercising of his power, or if he accumulates power through beguiling the masses, then he ought to be removed from power. We see how President Nixon was removed from power owing to his beguiling ways.

No man is above the law, my son. Obey the Law of the Land and let the Law be that of the people and not of the Prince. For the Prince often becomes corrupted by Money and its Power.

When it is seen, then, that Money becomes the master over the people, what ought to be done about it? Is Revolution justified? Are the masses justified in taking up arms against an unrighteous Prince or Government? In times past, and by American and even French tradition, taking up arms against an unfair government has been justified. But these times are terrible times of revolution, more governed by opposing factions than by the people; and the people become pawns between the power mongers. All sides of the revolutions these days look alike to me, my son. For these days are battles between power and power.

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If I were to advise you, in learning from the people of my own time, as to what ought to be done about our crisis in democracy, being that democracy is not being fulfilled, I would advise to strike at the root of the problem: Money. And I would advise to fight fire with fire, so to speak: to simply take your money out of the bank and deny the Princes use of the masses' money until the Princes understand the source of their power. In this everybody loses; but the loss of life and property, I should think, would be less than that of a bloody revolution. Again, we are counting numbers. These are my thoughts on these days' money matters, my son; in your day I hope the distribution of wealth will be more under control of the masses through truly democratic processes. And being under more control of the masses, I hope that they will be fairer with the passing on of the Inheritance than our generation has been. Remember, then, the oligarchy in which I was raised, the things it did, and learn from it.

Earlier we spoke of Rites of Passage. To quote D. H. Lawrence's comment in the movie, Kangaroo, it seems that every nation must secure its birthright through blood sacrifice. Speaking to an Australian friend he illustrated his comment with the example of the United States who paid for their birthright through revolution; if that was not enough, the U.S. then had to pay again in the Civil War. Since that day until my day it is said that no wars have consumed so many American lives as the Civil War. D. H. Lawrence seemed to lament this in his observation of the Australians, for he commented how the Australians never had to pay for their nationhood with the blood of its young men. I would not want to agree with D. H. Lawrence's comment, however, since I think a nation born without blood should be in an enviable condition and, perhaps, might even be a good model to draw upon. Notwithstanding my personal desires, the trend of history seems to have confirmed his observation. Somehow the payment in blood seems to be a thing which makes the nation treasure the thing it earned, its nationhood, more than if it had not shed its blood. Again, these terms, from my point of view, are intolerable.

Somehow the Bible anticipated the same kind of Terms in ushering in its Promised Kingdom. First there is the blood sacrifice of the Messiah; then the blood sacrifice of Israel; and finally the blood sacrifice of the Gentile or all those nations who were against Israel. The final blood sacrifice is the thing we have been mentioning earlier: the battle of Meggido or Armageddon.

Because this scheme of Blood Sacrifice was already present in the prophesies (the Curse), together with the Promise of the Messiah, it behooves us to contemplate that God Himself anticipated that the Blood Sacrifice of the Messiah was not sufficient for the dispensation of the Blood of Israel. Since Israel was scattered immediately after the Sign of the Virgin, it causes us to wonder for whom that Sacrifice was made and for whose birthright would it become Rites of Passage. In examining this we can make but one conclusion: The Blood Sacrifice was for the Rites of Passage for the Kingdom to come.

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The Premise of the Final Blood Battle of Meggido is that the Wicked Ones will be wiped off the face of the earth for good. The Book of Revelation shows this event in terms of a two step action. First the you have the thing called the First Resurrection and its battle, with the Antichrist and his False Prophet being bound and thrown into the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years. After the battle of the First Resurrection, there is a period of Peace for a Thousand Years. After the Thousand Year reign of Peace under the Messiah, the Devil is let out of his pit for a short period of time. When he is loosed, then the final battle with Gog and Magog is fought. If this day,today, were the First Resurrection, then, we could conclude, by Revelation's calculations, that the final battle with Gog and Magog is at least a thousand years into the future.

In our thesis on the Parable of the Sword, speaking of you, my son Galahad, we commented about time being cut short. If it were not for time being cut short, my son, all things would be lost. There would be nothing left. We note that Paul used the same precept to justify his works, saying that all prophesy subsequent to Jesus must be cut short (Jesus is the New Law or New Covenant). The prophesy concerning Gog and Magog, mentioned by Ezekiel, in these terms would be cut short and need no longer apply according to Paul. This is what we say he would be presumed to conclude, by his precept of cutting time short; but his exposition really does not reflect this cancellation of prophesy. Rather, Paul uses the Cutting Short of Time to endorse things he abrogated. He certainly believed the world would be entirely consumed by fire, with nothing left, thus justifying his position of a rapture to Heaven of all the faithful. The Modern Ministry are confused over this position, inventing new names for their doctrines, such as PreTribulation, Post Tribulation, or Mid Tribulation doctrines. They argue whether The Rapture will occur before the Tribulation (the battle with Gog and Magog), during it, or after it. Some think that it ought to occur before the Tribulation because the intent of The Rapture is to snatch the Saved in Christ away from the Tribulation to come. With this intent being the case, why would it make sense to leave them hanging around on earth to suffer any part of the Tribulation? Thus, we have confusion heaped upon confusion.

Regardless, the Tribulation is our Rite of Passage to the Promised New Kingdom of God described, as it were, as a New Heaven and a New Earth. Prophesy says we have to go through that blood bath in order to reach the Promise. This prophesy, we might add, stems from the original Rite of Passage given to Abraham. To secure His Promise, that all men on earth would be blessed in him, he had to respond to God's request to sacrifice his only son: the Seed of his Inheritance. He went up to the designated mount, prepared an altar, and put his son upon it. As he was about to thrust the knife into his Inheritance, God spoke out, telling Abraham to put down the knife and sacrifice a ram tied to a bush in his son's stead. The net result of this story is that Abraham's Inheritance, or Rite of Passage, was paid not with the blood of his child but with a substitute animal.

The precept of the Sacrificed Messiah continues this thesis: Someone's Inheritance will be paid not in their own children's blood but through the substitute Sacrifice of the Messiah, God's own beloved son, which is, by the name of Immanuel, the very flesh of God Himself. The thesis is that God becomes the Sacrificial Ram paying for the Blood Sacrifice which would otherwise be paid for by the children of a nation. As mentioned, the nation to which the Sacrificed Messiah is the Substitute Blood Sacrifice is The Kingdom of God in earth as it is in Heaven: the thing for which Christ told us to pray. While these Terms must obviously be dear to God they are surely mild terms placed upon us compared to what could be done: total desolation. I mean Total Desolation, just as Paul conceived it.

Because The Substitute Sacrifice already exists, it appears to me that men would desire to take it as a legitimate offering from God that the Blood Sacrifice to come could be even eliminated. Surely, if all men believed that the Blood Sacrifice of the Messiah paid the debt of the Rites of Passage to a New Heaven and a New Earth, a lasting Peace ought to come out of it.

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But I think men believe that they ought to pay their own way to secure their own Rites of Passage.

With these things in mind, we can speak of the Payment Terms our Generation has passed on to you and your Generation, my son.

Somehow my generation conceived a new plan for the earth: payment terms would be deferred to the Children. Our Children's Inheritance would pay for our comfort and good times. The Thesis was inaugurated through an innocuous term called Deficit Spending. Being born not much after this term was created, your father, and his generation, found themselves saddled with enormous debts which they did not create. In this My Generation can say that it did not receive the customary inheritance its fathers before them had received. Rather than a Blessing we received an enormous debt. Ultimately that debt surfaced as a desolation of the entire planet.

I am what is called a War Baby. It is a convenient term explaining the crop of children brought up after World War II and in that term came some rather high expectations placed in us by our fathers. As a child in school, one of the first things I heard out of my teachers' mouths was that my generation was expected to prevent the occurrence of another War on the scale of World War II. The teachers said to us: The Peace of the earth is now in your hands; do not make the same mistake we made. With that expectation came other terms of indebtedness: we would pay for the good times of our fathers. At the same time, our fathers thought that we ought not to have to live as poorly as they when they were children, so they thought to give us a better home, living conditions, and opportunities which they never had. This, I must say, was very noble of them; and I thank them for their good intentions. However, had we known we would have to pay the debt which was created presumably to our benefit, I wonder whether my generation would have welcomed this new covenant.

Be this as it may, the fact remains that now my generation is in power. What have we done? The same as our fathers. For we also have continued the new tradition, or covenant, of passing the cost of our good times on to you and your generation, my son. Though we thought these were unreasonable terms being placed upon us, we have had no conscience about passing the same, even more unfair, terms down unto you.

Long ago men taught that one ought not to live beyond his means. This teaching is deadly to the new covenant of man today, for it would be the demise of great and powerful monied institutions. Furthermore, individuals in my day are bonded so dearly to these terms that they would have a difficult time breaking the bonds. How many men are there today who would be willing to give up their credit cards? Not many I should think. But that is the real price of freedom.

We are speaking of Indebtedness, and it comes in many disguises. And it affects many people in many adverse ways. From the indebtedness of the environment which we created and you must pay to the small credit card holder who owes so much he cannot pay more than the interest owed on the debt, we are really not speaking of money but bonds which are nothing less than a ball and chain on every man's foot.

These bonds go much further than we like to admit. In my day the words Simple Interest really mean extortion. It is Usury to the extreme. For in my day everything is purchased not according to its true value, as being determined through a free marketplace, but rather its speculative value: how much it will be worth in the future. Because the value is in the future, we conclude that we will let the future pay for it. And the more we pass our debt into the future (the more we extend the debt) the more it costs in future money. Ultimately we, each and every one of us, conclude that we will never pay off the debt. A car which might have been paid off through one third a year's salary in 1965 today will consume that entire year's salary. A house which might have cost two years' salary in 1965 now costs at least seven years salary for a professional or worker making $30,000 per year. So you can see, my son, how in about twenty five years we have pushed our debts into the future. And we see that the debt of a house, taking seven years salary, is really extended out thirty five or so years. Cars, previously financed for two or three years are now being financed for five and seven years. This seems innocent on the surface, but then we have to add into the cost of purchase the cost of financing. Here is the bogeyman. Interest rates on such debts have been and continue to be such that the real monthly take home wages of a man can barely handle the interest debt alone. We are speaking of the average income. Those who have been in the lower echelon of the wage scale have been excluded entirely from the mainstream of home ownership and all the trappings that go with it.

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We can see the real scale of this indebtedness when we look at the Third World Nations and the debts that they incurred through overzealous Wall Street Bankers and other World Wide Financial Giants. Payment terms on their loans followed the same course as the terms of the small credit card holder who could barely pay the monthly interest on his credit card loans. Nations like Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, throughout the globe, were beguiled into borrowing huge amounts of money for the sake of progress: i.e., to catch up with the Progressive Nations, such as America, Japan and West Germany. The loans which were made were at interest rates which are so high the borrowing countries cannot even pay off the interest on their loans. At this day, these countries are borrowing more money just to help make the interest payments on their original loans! This, my son, is the meaning of Indebtedness. You are bound with ball and chain to those who beguile you into taking something at interest from them.

By no means am I an expert in world economy. But I do know Usury when I see it. I am not against a man making a fair profit for his labours or even for the exchange of his money. But we are talking of fairness. And passing a debt on to anyone whose chances of ever repaying the debt are nil is unfair. It is unjust and, if I were to give those nations who have been treated unfairly any advise, I would suggest to them to not pay back the debt.

Under the Biblical Law of usury, the debts are illegal in the eyes of God. From the Laws of Fair play the debts are unfair and not for the benefit of the debtor but rather heavily weighted to the lender.

In a manner of speaking we can compare the attitudes of the world lending institutions as benefactors who help you secure things you could not have done without their help. A benefactor is just that: someone who helps you better yourself to your greater joy and satisfaction. A benefactor is not one who helps you then binds you into an agreement which amounts to nothing but grief and your own eventual destruction.

Nations have a life force just like individuals; in fact there is really not much difference between the motivations and desires of a nation than that of an individual. Therefore, my son, bind neither nations nor individuals to you such that they would begrudge being bound unto you. If they cry out against you, as the Jews did against Saul, for instance; or as Brazil cries out against their Bonds, then you deserve to lose your position of power. Remember, my son, God has an uncanny ability to pass a crown from the heights of power to the lowliest of the masses. If He can transfer a crown from King Saul to a lowly shepherd boy named David, so too can He transfer power from Princes and their principalities to a small people and meek. If, by one meek man He can snatch a small people out of the Jaws of the Pharaoh, so too can He snatch a bleeding world out of the Jaws of Death and its rulers. And He can snatch away the unfair terms laid upon you and your generation.

Ultimately we have to deal with your Inheritance. Just as the Terms laid upon this generation are unfair, so too will they be the more unfair unto you. For as time passes so too does the debt increase.

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What, then, can we do to mitigate this debt soon to loom over your head? I lament, my son, because I see no easy way. For the Rites of Passage seem to be calling at our very door. The day seems not far off when the world will say, enough! And when that trumpet is sounded I fear that the Blood Sacrifice will be paid. I fear, my son, that your father will become part of a world wide blood baptism; and your world may even pay for part of it. But if the inheritance is spoiled the more so by blood, as it is passed down to you, I say unto you to do this: You, and your generation ought to take up a small rock each time you pass a tomb of one of those who left you your inheritance. Throw a rock at it. Let rocks pelt our (my generation's) tombs day and night; give none of them any peace! Pick out the tombs of the main Leaders of my day, the ones who created your desolate heritage, and pelt their tombs day and night until there is nothing but mountainous heaps of rocks over them. Let their tombs be known for what they are: The Usury of your Inheritance.

I wonder, my son, whether the Heathen Princes will rage over the rocks to come upon their tombs? Let the rocks be their judges; and may the earth cry out forever against them....

This is the generation I have known: unfair to itself and to the future. If we fail, my son, let there be rocks commemorating our Rites of Passage, just as there were rocks commemorating the Right of Passage over the river Jordan for our forefathers. If nothing else, let this be your Terms of Payment to them.

We are all a bit like Hamlet, I suppose, when we begin to talk about responsibility: responsibility of us to God, God to us, and we to each other. Sometimes outrageous fortune intercedes against good men's wishes and create a situation bringing evil down upon our heads. Often we are our own worst enemies, in fact, and we need not have an evil one misleading us. Something which seems, by all practical appearances, to be good can at a moments notice turn into calamity. Sometimes evil things seemingly turn to good and the good turns back to evil. Let's take nuclear power, for instance. Nuclear power was first developed for evil application: that is, to lay evil upon the Japanese, to end a war. The purpose in it was for the good of all, to mitigate the loss of life on all sides; it's application was evil in the eyes of the Japanese (and others who thought the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was uncalled for); from the technology we developed nuclear power plants, which appeared to be salvation from dependence on our depleting oil and coal energy sources. The Nuclear Power Plants, though thought to be carriers of light, turned Salvation back to evil, for we discovered that the nuclear waste from the plants, together with the ever present possibility of a nuclear plant melt-down, turned the face of Nuclear Energy from good back to evil. And ultimately we see the French in this day making a covenant with the buyers of nuclear plants to dump their nuclear garbage on French Territory. So France has become a nuclear dump to this age. I wonder how you, our children, will feel about sections of your land being unapproachable to you for the next 250,000 years.

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When we speak of responsibility, we find that our ultimate responsibility as a society is to our Inheritance which we pass down to our children. If we leave no Inheritance, then our society exists for no purpose.

In times past God was the Custodian of the Inheritance. We refer to the man in the Garden who was trodden upon, whom we called The Holy Spirit. Since God's Custodianship represents the needs of all, those in the past, those today, and those in the future, His Custodianship has been a fair one to all concerned who share this planet.

God charged Adam with Custodianship according to God's perception of Custodianship; i.e., man is God's Husband for the planet, its plants and its animals. Somehow in the course of modern events, God's Custodianship was denied by this generation and it created new terms for custodianship. It would take care of itself and not worry about any other claims to the inheritance. The epitaph, eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die, seemed to be created for us, explaining how we have thought only of our own pleasures at the expense of others.

During recent years the consciousness of many has been risen and several Peacemaking organizations have attempted to turn man back around to recognize his responsibility to the world. Out of this came a series of Holocaust movies, one of which was called Testament. In the beginning of the movie a woman is bereaved, holding her children, in front of a ruined landscape. She cries out, Who is responsible for this? She is standing in the smoke and ashes of a Nuclear World Wide Holocaust.

In Hidden Pavilions  we discussed an irony in our thinking. We asked about the possibility of such Nuclear Holocaust survivors camping upon a pile of nuclear waste, not knowing it was there. Here, in this example, we have an irony of fate, where the last known survivors, having escaped the terror of the nuclear war and its contamination, accidentally camp upon a waste dump and fall ill, to all their destruction, from the waste of our generation. Their struggle to survive was for nought, for our waste destroyed them in the end. It's a terrible thing to think about, but nevertheless every bit as possible as a nuclear war.

Recognizing our responsibilities in this regard, our governments have been trying to develop clean nuclear weapons. The thinking behind this is to create a weapon which would kill people and their cities but not the land and its plants and animals. It's sorta like the techniques of modern surgery which try to rid the cancer without destroying the body.

We must admit, looking at the grim picture today, our ultimate responsibility to the world is summed up in these kinds of works. In truth, you will measure us by our works. Whatever faith any of us had in God is shadowed by the works we left behind us.

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This generation is not without its advocates, however; and though I chastise and rail against many of the evils we are creating, and though I certainly am not, by any means, alone in my sentiments, it is comforting to know that there are many who feel it is unfair to judge man today alone by these works of pollution. For there are many good things man has done. And though I rail against my own nation, there are many good things my nation has contributed to the world's better welfare. So here I must address these things also to account to my friend the Advocate. Now she is a true friend, flesh and blood, and not a figment of my imagination. And she has strong feelings about my somewhat adversely biased view against my own world. My readers, as she, must also feel that I am somewhat like Spiteful Timon who hates mankind. Thus, we can refer to what I said earlier about how I thought at first Timon was myself; but, on examination, I discovered that we are completely different. For Timon desired above all things to escape from a distasteful world, and I have the opposite reckoning. Seeing evil things, in my estimation, requires an effort to overcome it. In Hidden Pavilions  I complain about the Paulists setting their sights on escaping from the world rather than to the end of welcoming the Messiah and desiring to work with Him here on earth to change the world.

As concerning these things, then, I see my responsibility, as dispicable as it appears, even noxious to my own soul, has become purposed in bringing these hideous issues to the front and dealing with them. In doing this, my responsibility now becomes to my readers and ultimately you, my son. I must endeavor to be as truthful as possible, facing both good and evil, and be always disposed to be corrected if in error or unfair in my assessments. For all things in judgment are not as simple as they appear. But ultimately Judgment has to reconcile itself to the earth as a Garden which must be kept in the same or better condition than it was passed down to us. And in Hidden Pavilions I mention how that inheritance which I received was unpolluted. The Pollution began during my childhood and on through the maturity of my War Baby brethren. And we see my generation now faced with the responsibility of stopping and even reversing the trends which were introduced during our childhood.

Many of the Polluting Trends were dedicated to our comfort. New Chemicals were introduced making life easier in the home, making our homes more viable to their environment, and finally making our modes of transportation more efficient and self sufficient. So here we must talk about the great inventions of electricity, the radio, the phonograph, movies, television, the telephone, the steam engine, the internal combustion engine, and the jet engine, among other things. From radios to cars to jets and rockets we got even greater benefits, for technology from them brought us more comforts, from teflon cooking pans to now personal computers in our homes. My greatest thrill, being a writer of sorts, was the day I learned to operate a Macintosh Personal Computer, which thing is now on my yacht and the means by which I communicate with the worlds and you, my son. Though we have been harsh, we also must acknowledge the blessings that came our way. Verily,I have benefited greatly by this wonderful thing called America; and as evil as I may have described it, it has been a wonderful womb in which I was blessed to grow.

Now all of these things have contributed to bring the world closer together. Our eyes and ears are better tuned to the world and the plight of others. We hear of starvation in Ethiopia and mount a world-wide effort to save starving children. We hear of wars on diverse fronts, some of which we helped ourselves to perpetrate; others we helped to resolve as Great Mediators of Peace. We brought Egypt and Israel to Peace, for instance, through the administration of Jimmy Carter. So not all things we have done have been evil. And we can even say, with regard to our old Cold War enemy, Russia, that it seems that she has taken up the forefront of Peace and perhaps, in this day, the greatest proponent of Peace in the World comes from her great leader, Gorbichov. Here, another irony comes into play, for Russia now is suffering the pains of democracy and those pains seem to be causing her old empire to be breaking up on all fronts. And she, like the United States and other nations, has the problem we have all suffered: trying to provide freedom without losing Unity. And the conflict we see in Israel, where the Palestinians cry for their Freedom against the Unity of Israel, seems to be a repeat of an often played story in the birth of all democracies. Somehow, for the sake of Freedom, Unity often has to suffer. And this becomes a Test to all leaders. Great leaders, like Abraham Lincoln, forced this country to suffer the pains of Civil War in order to maintain its Unity. A House Divided cannot stand, said Lincoln, quoting scripture. Because He believed this and did all that was required to maintain the Unity of the American House, I have the privilege of writing to you today from a somewhat Free and still United People. And these people did some good for the sake of Freedom during World War II. We were a great contributor to the Salvation of many nations being enslaved and murdered during World War II. Had Lincoln failed, it is possible that the outcome of World War II might have been different. For our strength as Saviours was in our Unity.

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So we see how responsibility becomes an escalating factor in social relationships. It begins with the family and extends from the family ultimately to World Government. We are of the Family of Americans in the greater World Family of nations. Our responsibilities each to the other is the same on the World Front as it is in the Family. Ultimately those relationships can be described as Honesty, fairness and Goodwill, all resolved to Peace and the Brotherhood of man. We work to promote Peace and not to disrupt Peace.

The Advocate agreed in these principals but thought that there is a limit to which an idyllic state of Peace can be achieved. If everyone went around loving one another it could result in a bunch of zombies doing nothing, being saintly, but without any vitality in life; how boring it would be, she thought. Our answer to her can best be summed up in another keystone of responsibility: we were all created as a Thing of Variety. It is the Variety which has produced new and better conditions; the Variety, and freedom to express it, has also produced some new conditions which are not good. Certainly, Variety is the salt of our life as men. Just enough salt in the diet is good; too much salt in the diet can destroy.

We live in a day when scientists are now on the verge of being able to restructure a man's genetic inheritance. Science can now attempt to make all men with the same genes. Theoretically Science can make men all like Einstein, for instance, with no variety, which, in reflection, seems to be rather boring. For I would prefer to see some men like Beethoven. Surely there are many other varieties which would be nice to implant in men as well. We mention this, because when we start trying to do the Work God had originally been confronted with, the process of experimentation to provide varietal combinations becomes dazzling to say the least. And ultimately, in our engineering of men, we conclude that we need to engineer a great Saviour or leader to correct the wrong. Thus, we have good leaders; but also, since we have striven to engineer we sometimes make mistakes and end up with tyrants. We have a Queen Elizabeth the First, a Louis XIV, Lincoln, Frederick the Great, Cyrus the Great etc., to mark good examples of leadership; and Napoleon, Bismark, and Vespasian gravitating to the not so good; and Caligula, Nero, and Hitler falling into the Vile, beastly category of leadership. And the determining factor among them all, as to what causes them to gravitate to good or evil becomes not a genetic factor but, I would rather suggest, a Responsibility factor. They fail to understand and fulfill their responsibility to mankind as a whole. And this is a reflection upon their teachers who failed to impress upon them the need to respect the overriding rule of Law for all things: i.e., the Law which is Life.

In this day, there is great confusion and disputation over the very essence of human life and the woman's role in it. Women today seem to claim that they have no responsibility to the life in their womb, for instance, and they abort their children which they do not choose to raise. They are playing at the same game as the Genetic Scientists, determining what is good for life and what is not.

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By our standards Beethoven would never have been born. I heard on the radio one day that he was born of the most unfit parents imaginable; both the mother and the father, as I understand, had birth abnormalities, being both mentally and physically defective. Their abnormalities were so great that doctors today might have urged the abortion of the child from these parents. Had Beethoven's parents been urged to abort their child, following our day's standards, the world would have lost a wonderful talent and influence. Here we see the very difficult and potentially calamitous responsibility of trying to play God. And here we must lament that the most dangerous place on earth for human life is now in the mother's womb. The Bible, we might add, condemns abortion.

Ultimately we see that an Abstract Term called Variety is the thing which provides for the Continuity of Mankind. Variety is, in itself, the Thing which is responsible for our ultimate welfare. Intentional removal of Variety on any front can be responsible for our future generation's woes and redesign of their Inheritance. But because we have Variety, there are those forms which bring misfortune, feeding on the destruction of both man and his garden.

What, then, is the common denominator of all this? What can we say for guidance to fulfilling Man's Responsibility , ultimately your Inheritance, on earth? The answer, my son, is Law. By Laws and the enforcement of those Laws man can be regulated to uphold the basic needs of Inheritance. Focusing upon this we see that the Law must be fair to all and just; expedient and efficient. All things must be equal before the Law.

In times past, the source of Law came from God. Americans applied that Law to another precept of Law, that the General Will of the People ought to be God's Custodian of the Law. Thus, through Rousseau and others, we fine- tuned the concept of Democratic Law. It provided freedom to choose under the constraint that all other's rights are protected. Where a man's freedom interferes with the rights of others, then the rights of the General Will prevail.

This generation came out of a new expectation in the Law: that as long as one is not hurting, or infringing upon the rights of others, one is free to do as one chooses. This led to the specific endorsement of the rights of homosexuality, a thing which God pronounced against in the Bible. We see that perhaps God was right in His condemnation of that way of life, since the greatest disease to affront the human race was propagated through homosexual behavior. So this thing concerning responsibility turns even another direction, showing how one's claim that one is not hurting others can in fact cause the destruction of millions of lives. A recent documentary on Aids suggested that scientists have traced the origin of the Virus to one flight attendant on an airline who had many many man to man liaisons in many parts of the world. While he may not have been the origin of the virus, since he got it from someone else, he certainly has responsibility for being one of the major introducers of the disease to this country. And he did it under the guise of being free to do what he chose to do in the privacy of his own bedroom.

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Because of him and others like him, who certainly did not spread the disease with the intention of murdering others, the disease had the opportunity to infiltrate another ill sector of society. I am speaking of the trade in drugs. Drug users now became infected with the disease through hypodermic needles and they, in turn, began infecting the infants in their wombs. Soon the infection spread to heterosexuals and eventually right into the mainstream of life preservation itself, where Bloodbanks, necessary to saving human lives, became infected with the disease. This spread the disease into every segment of society around the world.

When we discuss this frightful disease, it is appropriate to consider what we mean by Responsibility; and it becomes, in turn, necessary to consider to what extent me must apply law to prevent such things from happening.

The precept of Freedom begins in the Home. And we see here that there could be no end to the laws required to restrict behavior in the Home or the Bedroom. And this is where Law fails. For the Law itself would recreate a human situation which would once again return us to a condition not unlike that of zombis.

Where, then, does Responsibility lead? Ultimately it leads to the pens and the mouths of those leading the families of the nations of the earth. Standards have to be set and followed which allow freedom but also provide for the common welfare of man and his garden. And they truly begin in the Home, not by Government, but by the mouths of the Mother and the Father and the examples they set to their children.

Seeing that many of our mothers and fathers in this generation are lost, being set and separate in their ways, and many without conscience, we have but one hope: that of our children. We hope that they will learn from our mistakes soon enough to recover the lost remnant that is left in the earth. So here, recognizing that this generation may not be able to rally to the cause of Responsibility for its Inheritance, we can only call through the darkness to those far off in the distance of time. And perhaps, just perhaps, some of our own generation will be listening to this call and think to correct the wrong and mitigate it before it becomes a greater threat to you and your generation, my son.

Now there are many who have thought about and employed certain examples in responsible relationships between man and earth. If you were to look down from heaven you would see a remarkable thing on earth. Viewing the entire nation of China from space one will see a rather large and wonderful rectangle carved out of the earth. That rectangle is Peking and in the middle of it is another rectangle, which is called The Forbidden City. This is the place where the Sons of Heaven, the Emperors of China, lived.

We mention this for comparative reasons, for the Sons of Heaven had certain responsibilities to their people. One Emperor's throne, for example, had four Chinese characters carved upon it. The characters represented His Responsibility to the people. While a Documentary on Television reflected on these great traditions, it concluded, perhaps appropriately, that the Emperors all fell short of their responsibility: Including integrity, fairness, honor, and justice. But if you were to visit this place and read those characters on that throne, my son, and if you were to obediently follow them, you would make a fine emperor.

Short of this expectation, my son, I would urge you to read the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarches and listen to them. Listen to Reuben, how he fell to the weakness of the flesh and repented over it; listen to Simeon, how his own wrath against Judah got the better of him and how he repented of it; listen to Levi and Judah concerning your Inheritance and how piety preserves it; Judah, in particular, has good words concerning wine and lust and how the two spirits of truth and deceit are written in the hearts of men; hearken to Issachar and Zebulun who can show you the way of a single minded man doing the works of His God; Dan will show you what Jealousy can do to you; listen to Naphtali, who can tell you how to hold fast to the Will of God, and how a man who has trained a child well is kept in kindly remembrance; know Gad for his repentance on hating; read Asher for Uprighteousness; and understand how to be like Jospeh in Righteousness; and listen to little Benjamin above all, who can show you where light dwells.

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If you follow these men's advise, my son, you will bring honor to your fathers and your own generation. And above all, my son, do no irresponsible thing which would hurt your mother. For your mother gave you life and it is your responsibility to return it on every front you can, wheresoever that life leads you. Reach for these things, my son, and you will be privileged to join the Table of the Sons of Heaven. Hang on to these precepts, my son, and they will help you duck the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Remember, things which appear to bring light can bring darkness.

You have witnessed what the Power Hungry Mind can do, my son. So beware of him on all fronts.

One of the greatest temptations of man is the Temptation of Power, and not knowing what it is, or where it comes from, men tend to abuse it. Few men have actually risen to great power without abusing it. Even David became tempted by Power and abused it by having the husband of Bathsheba sent to his death in the front lines of battle. Paul abused it in his deprecation of the Jews. Joseph, on the other hand, did not get drawn into this temptation. Be like Joseph, my son, and all things will come to you.

Beware of the Power Hungry mind. Have you seen him? Behold, he appears as a gentle man and gleams when the masses worship him. He gives them what they desire: he builds roads, monuments to the nation's glory, money, prestige, and all the things a nation seeks. But out of his mouth comes the deprecation of those who are not His Chosen People. He gathers the world with one sweep of his arm and preaches the glory of his reign. His rise is miraculous and he ministers with miracles. He claims to know all things past and future but ignores the lessons of the past. And his temper carries a fury seen only on a few occasions in the past. He forgot the saying, Revenge is mine, saith the Lord, and succumbs to the mass's cry for revenge. He dresses in fine raiment and lives in great splendor; and for the sake of a whim burns Rome.

He has slept with many women, for they adore him, but prophesy calls him an eunuch. And all those who come to him for favors are given what they ask. Nepotisim becomes the means by which he holds his power. His favor becomes the adoration of the nation and through his favors he persecutes those who are the enemies of the favored. He claims he is led by God and that God will confirm him. He is falsely called The Desire of all Nations, and says that he has been told to punish the wicked. He marks His People with his own mark and sends out his henchmen to wage war on the unmarked. He calls himself the Angel of the Harvest. Many innocent die because of him and the bones in the pits in Poland and Cambodia cry out against him. The world grows angry with him, because of the extortionate debts he heaps up against it; and his demise is as quick as his rise to power. He is that thing for which the people had been watching and he is the Chief of the Watchers.

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He is the chief oligarch in a democracy which is not of the people but of the merchants of power. His election is through deception and the purchase of the people's confidence. He acknowledges that money buys power, for that is how he achieved his power. And he serves two masters.

He is a liar most of all and many people feel justified to lie in defending him. When called to account on this, they turn their faces from the accusers and censor them. The world grieves silently.

When things begin to turn against him, he begins to blaspheme God and even curses Him. His madness turns to bitterness and to punish God he begins to take his wrath out on the people. The Covenant which he had made on behalf of God he thinks to change. And lawlessness reigns.

He sold the poor for the sake of a pair of shoes, for he is threatened by one who is a challenge to his power. When this happens the world is aghast and begins to mutter mutterings against him. And the joy which he once preached turns to torment. Many become Godless because of him; and he calls out to Heaven asking, How can God do these things I have done? His temptation of God is abominable, and their is no end to his affronts. And though he claims that God is with him, suddenly he is abandoned and the light which he claimed to have flickers in the darkness of his chambers and the people around him. Even his brothers are against him.

When the people see that he is not merciful to his enemies they finally recognize him. His own brother tries to kill him and he dies in the arms of a harlot.

He sets his great palace between the two seas, in Jerusalem. And Gog comes to his defence when the world rises up against him.

Judah feared to question him as he built his palace. For at first he was Judah's ally and Judah was dependent upon him for his security. He claims even to be one of them. But Judah waits and soon discovers his nakedness. For The Power Hungry Mind becomes known among them as the Great Pretender, and his pretentiousness causes them to laugh at him. They know that God will soon humble him. He tries to suppress the gossip against him in the parlors of the Jews and a great man of Israel in France overhears it. And he sends forth his legions against him in a last great crusade. Many Christians and Moslems also come with him and The Power Hungry Mind and his people begin to ask, Who is this who comes from Edom having tread the winepress of the Lord? It is Galahad, and the flames from Bozrah could be seen in great rising clouds behind his back.

This is a parable for a lesson on the Power Hungry Mind. Vengeance is mine, so saith the Lord. Who is he that would test him? Six hundred and sixty six is his name.

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I would now like to give you some advise concerning one whom I refer to among my friends as The Old Man. I speak of Him with little knowledge, I must admit, but what I do know of Him continuously is a marvel to my eyes and ears. No, I have not seen Him, for He is like an invisible friend unto me. Most children, I understand, like to adopt invisible friends; I have mine. And I refer to Him affectionately as The Old Man. I use this term because it best describes Him as I have come to know Him. Besides, if I were to refer to Him as God, it tends to remove some of His hominess. I really like the hominess about Him.

He calls Himself father. I like that, and I hope that most men would be happy to know that He likes His Relationship with them as a Father.

His letters are letters of great Wisdom. They are curt and to the point, often being without relevance to things with which I am familiar. He uses simple terms and like a Father gives His Guidance through simple observations. I will never forget the day He responded to my question, whether I should go to Jerusalem. He answered, If you choose to go to Jerusalem, I will provide for you. I thought He did not answer my question. But what greater answer can one receive from a father than that which says if you choose to go, I will provide for you. In the relationship with my father, I always have been given the independence to do as I choose; those things which I choose which please Him please Him because I choose to do them on my own volition. I must admit that His Promise to provide for me was received by some skepticism, for I wondered how He could provide for me. As it turns out, and it has been many years since I went to Jerusalem, He has provided for me in an extraordinary way: He has not showered riches on me, nor even saved me from grief from time to time; the Lord knows the grief I have seen; but my needs have been well tended. I have found that I do not require an awful lot in terms of creature comforts and have been quite content living in the simplicity of my yacht. In truth, He has given me the thing which is most suitable to my lifestyle; my employment is also, for the time being, as I cannot forecast the future, in the simplicity of that lifestyle.

So the Old Man overwhelmed me with this little piece of Wisdom: that He would provide for me, and I learned it came in an oblique way. This, then, is a lesson for you, my son. Though you may ask of Him, be open to His Way. If He tells you to search for a Pearl in the mud through which you tredge, do not be disconcerted that the Pearl is soiled by the mud. One thing about Pearls is that they always maintain their beauty, even in mud. Take the Pearl to the fountain and behold how it shines!

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The Old Man liked to use easy terms to comprehend. They seemed easy to comprehend, I say, until they came into perspective; and then those simple terms became overwhelming. Just one word could become a door to a library, or the source of volumes of writings. A word I would pass on to you, my son, hoping that you have already seen it in my writing well enough, is Inheritance. Know what it means and respect it. The people will know you for your respect of it and your ministering how all things are covered by it.

To confirm an Inheritance --that is, to pass it on-- there must be a marriage. Understand what I mean by Marriage, my son, and understand why we have built our own chapel for the Marriage Ceremony. Permit no man to sit in that Chapel nor allow no man or woman to determine who passes through its doors. Its doors should be unlocked at all times; for many will be hurrying to the Marriage of My Lord and it could be at any time of day or night.

To have a Marriage, my son, there is need for a Wedding Ring. Understand, then, how a Wedding Ring can be a great Blessing to a Marriage. For it is given as a Sign of the Covenant of Marriage.

Now the Wedding Ring is a thing in my Lord's Wisdom which has taught me how to buy and sell in the Market Place. For The Old Man Said that all men would be bought and sold in it in the Market Place.

These are simple terms The Old Man expressed to me over time and I am passing them on to you in trust that you will reconcile your life fully unto them. Respect fully all of them who wear the Wedding Ring.

Understand another Term of The Old Man: Mercy. If any man or woman desires Mercy then let them be merciful to others before they come to the Chapel. This is the Judgment of my Lord, my son.

I will give you yet another term of the Old Man, my son. The word is Truck. Many will be carrying heavy burdens to the Chapel of my Lord. We have given them a Truck in which to carry those burdens. It is a small box, even a shoe box, in which the names of the family are carried. The Truck is carried by the family's Patriarch, being he or she who is elected by the family to carry the Truck. The Patriarch determines those names which are carried in the Truck. Whatsoever the Patriarch looses shall be loosed; whatsoever the Patriarch binds shall be bound. May all the Patriarches be akin to Joseph. This is the family Truck. Patriarches doing penance for a family member in the Chapel of the Lord should carry a small cord tied to their waist. For they may visit the chapel for the sake of the Truck on more than one occasion, unlike others, and they expose themselves to tempting God with Mischief. The Patriarch carries names in the Truck who are not able to visit the Chapel. All people, except the Patriarches, will visit the Chapel but once in their life. If they offer a small gold or silver ring in Marriage to My Lord, who resides upon His Mercy Seat over all Heaven and earth, the offering shall be directly given to the poor. Let no man or woman be found to handle that money except in full charity and thanksgiving. Those who are custodians of that money for the poor should not be found using any part of it for themselves or their friends and family. The Agency of the Poor must be totally free from graft and corruption. Let those handling money from the Chapel be sustained through their own means and not that of the Chapel. And let no Chapel be raised to compete with it. The Chapel is The Tabernacle, a simple Tent. All monies not being used in the immediate service of maintaining the Tabernacle shall be quickly sent to the poor. The women who are charged with keeping the Tabernacle clean and tidy before the Lord shall see to this charge of Charity and Mercy. Let no man enter their Convent. Let no man nor woman lay charge upon whose child can be dedicated to the Convent. Let no child of the Convent be found inside the Tabernacle without a duster tied to her waist or in her hand. Let the leader of the Convent be chosen by her sisters through her dedication to the poor; and let her be as Mother Theresa. Mother of the Poor shall she be called.

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These are the Precepts I derived from the Old Man. Understand them, my son. And understand how they will feed the Poor.

Marvel at my Lord, my son. Behold how His Voice has stilled the ages and out of the stillness men borrow repeated sayings from His Lips. And I, your father, have thought to borrow even more! Even from those with whom I do not agree! And because I borrow many may call me a robber. But those from whom I borrow praise me, for I have given them life again.

Recall the Thunder Perfect Mind, my son. Behold how His Substance can be gotten without labor and without price. Behold how the unlearned teaches and how the unfair is known as The Fair; and surely how the thesis becomes the Antithesis to reveal a greater Truth. Behold how thunderously clear his voice comes from Heaven.

Many may look upon me and think, He goes to far; who does he think he is to tamper with prophesy? If they knew the rules, my son, they would not think this. For a master carver, working with a small piece of wood, carves exceedingly gracious lines refining forms from his teachers. We take for example the outline of the Antichrist: the teachers carved him from the model of the Christ. Thus, to refine the image of deceipt, they give him all the appearances, less a few, of the Holy One who is Truth. For is not deceipt so often hidden as truth? Who is afraid? Who would contend with me?

Behold how the Thunder Perfect Mind prefigures His Ideas and shapes them to reveal Himself. Is it not strange that He configures with each Blessing a Curse? Is it not strange that He configures His Messiah to be opposed by an AntiMessiah? Is it not strange that He structures His Power in terms of Humility, even one who is denied; and is it not strange that He configures His enemy as the opposite, who is Vanity? Behold, my son, how perfect we can draw the Antichrist to the model of the Christ; yet, to those who served to draw him made him the exact opposite of the likeness of Christ!

What, then, can be achieved through these antithesis? Knowledge of God, my son; that is what is to be gathered through these things. But this knowledge is born not to justify evil but to show the difference between evil and good. If men would always turn their faces towards good the display of evil would be totaly unnecessary. Thus, we have said earlier that in the prophets there can be no lie, because God confirms His Servants; but though a prophesy contains a curse, remember that God is also merciful to those who repent....

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When men come to understand this, they will see how foolish they were in calling forth upon God to confirm His Curses! They doubt His Blessings but call forth His Curses! These people of my generation are completely nuts! I don't understand them. They, themselves, Curse God and then Honor Him. Is there no limit to their misunderstanding?

Why is it that this generation claims to Serve God and yet expects Him to Serve them? When I look upon them I mostly hear them carving an image of God which is their Personal Servant. They have made Him a Handmaiden or a valet, to wait upon them hand and foot, and this they call Serving God.

I was in a Service of God in Pastor John's Church and, sitting midst the men at a long table, each man was asked to make a prayer. As the prayers came out of the mouths of men, one by one, coming closer towards me, I heard nothing in the prayers concerning what they offered in Service to God; everything was for the Service of men. So when it came to my offering of prayer, I, in a manner of speaking, felt sorry for God and thought to offer something which I knew to be treasured by God. So I offered the Prayer of The Kingdom and asked God to lead us to it. I couched it in these terms: We pray for Peace on earth and within ourselves.... Weeks later that same congregation threw its Pastor out of the church, and I wondered whether they had been fair...

How do I know that this is God's Treasure? I know it because it is the thing He most often talks about and it is the end of His Story. Certainly it is His Treasure. And that Treasure is not Hidden away but stored in the hearts of all men. Behold the man who calls in the name of Peace, say the rabbis. I thought, in Hidden Pavilions, to ask why it is that one cannot sell Peace to this generation. I discovered they do not seek Peace. They watch for evil princes and wars upon wars, and they have concluded that when they see these things in their Terrible Image, then they will see Peace!

In another work, writing at a very youthful age, I asked, Why do men go to war to seek Peace? There we have it: Even Hitler went to war in the guise of bringing Peace. We have Napoleon doing the same before him and before Napoleon there was the Roman Empire. Pax Romana was the hew and cry of that day.

Has no one asked why God thought to go to war with Man in order to secure Peace? Certainly, if men purchased Peace from God (which is absolutely at no expense) there would be no need for His War.

Are the minds of this generation so fused by their own iniquities that they cannot even ask why it is that God said, I will be sanctified in Gog of Magog? Has He not boldfacedly declared to this generation that He will use evil to Sanctify Himself? That He will literally put a hook in Gog's Mouth and draw Him and His Friends into the trap of death?

Are the minds of this generation so complacent in their own wisdom that they have not even thought to ask who those Friends of Gog are? Have they not read that Gog's Friends are all those who were against God's People, Israel?

Behold your father, my son, for he has terrified the world...But if I have done it, it was because I borrowed Widsom. God help me, my son, should I be the one who carves the hook for their jaws!

Behold Jeremiah, my son. Among the Sons of Heaven there is much compassion for this man, for he was sent to frighten the World. To show Holiness the Sons of Heaven thought to send a Bogeyman. For He was carved with a Terrible Image in Him. Yet, He really was sent as a Blessing.

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Regard the Thesis and you will know the antithesis, my son. Know the difference between Humility and Vanity: know the source of our Lord's Power and know why those who are in His Substance are the ones who have known Him. Reflect upon His Cause against Vanity...

When I was a young child my step-father commented upon occassion to his friends visiting the house that just because I appeared asleep I was probably listening. Let no man be deceived that as I cry out against them I am not listening. You are flesh of my flesh and bones of my bones, my son; learn how to listen. See how there is a pristine silence midst the shouting madness and how the lacey members of Peace hold back the Polished Steel of strife.

Have you ever been midst a crowd and yet alone? When I lived in Concord I would sometimes go to a local bar, order a beer, and sit midst the deafening thunder of a rock band. At that time, the bar was so popular there would be a long line waiting at the door to get in. Inside the roar of the obstreperous crowd seemed to compete with the ear-breaking ceremony of mating. And in that silence I often composed my works. Seeing me occupied with my own thoughts people usually left me completely alone. This is not to say I was then a recluse or a loner, or that I preferred it. On the contrary, most of the time I danced and raucased with my friends and contributed every bit my share of noise midst the maddening crowd.

Know your Substance, my son, and let not a maddened world confuse you. And if the Slings and Arrows of outrageous fortune attend you, do not be tempted to throw them back but rather to learn from them and deal with their causes.

When to take arms against a Sea of Troubles? Wait and listen; when you then speak men will listen. And when they cry out to give you arms, take them with caution and use them only when it is clear that the only escape for the Promise of Peace, from the jaws of the damned, is to lay arms against them.

Understand the Lord's Thunder, and how with it comes light!

There is an Egyptian goddess called Sekmet who was, to the Egyptians, their image of life and death. She sits in black basalt with both hands outstretched towards you. One hand is open, containing life; the other hand is closed, containing death. Our Father alone carries these two things. Learn how to choose between the two hands.

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Now the Antichrist and his cronies are Death. Show the people how to identify them and avoid them. As Christ said, when you see two lightening bolts, do not go to them. Now I do not know exactly whom He was talking about; but I think one can be prudent and avoid the two characters, the Antichrist and his False Prophet, who certainly appear as two lightening bolts. We again make mention of the SS symbol on the German uniforms in Hitler's day. They are things which ought to have been avoided and not followed. They can be an example unto you for the two vile things to come.

Men like to mark themselves, or allow themselves to be marked, by the things which they follow. Learn how to recognizethe marks of the Survivors, my son, and gather them to you.

Down the hall from the Great Hall of the Table of the Sons of Heaven was another gallery. It was laid aside for the aesthetics and the esoterics. Certainly it was one of the more peaceful places in all the mansions of Heaven. Now and then an argument would break out and create a disturbance to the normal serenity. But these arguments, unlike those at the Table of Heaven, were much more subdued. For most of the men in this gallery had forsaken their egoes long ago in order to be admitted there. Among them were Buddha and many whom I did not recognize. Even a few martyrs were there, but most of the martyrs were represented at the Table of the Sons of Heaven.

The Gallery of the Serene, as it was called, did not have a large Table like that in the Great Hall of the Sons of Heaven. Rather, the men there generally had a small bench or secluded alcove to which they would gather and meditate. The greatest meditator of them all was Buddha, whom we mentioned earlier. Gandhi was there also, but curiously he had two people tied hand in hand to him. And one of them was a Christian. His name was Martin Luther King Jr.

I had come to know this room because The Sons of Heaven had sent me down to fetch Martin up to the Great Hall. I was amazed to see Him in the Gallery of the Serene.

The reason these were separated from the Sons of Heaven was two fold: Firstly, most of the men in the Gallery of the Serene were Thinkers. They sought Truth most of all and had not been exposed to the Truth of the Bible. Their minds, being exposed to the exploration of Truth, had many doors yet to go through before they could enter the great galleries of the Bible. So they were separated because they had not aquired a basis for communication with the Sons of Heaven. The second reason they were separated, apart from not being of a mind to understand the goings on at the Table of the Sons of Heaven, was that the Sons of Heaven elected not to alarm them and their Serenity with the dispensations at the Table of the Sons of Heaven. We use the word, dispensationss, because the Sons of Heaven were making decisions which involved the fate of mankind. Had those in the Gallery of the Serene been exposed to these manipulations it would have confused them. Rather, it was thought among the Sons of Heaven to allow the Serene to grow into the knowledge through their own course of exploration of Truth. Thus, from time to time one of the Serene would be called up to the Great Hall because they had finally reached the greater library of the Bible and its associated documents. I was soon to realize, however, that all those in the Gallery of the Serene were soon to be called to the Table of the Sons of Heaven. It would be all at once and quite traumatic.

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When I saw Martin Luther King Jr. in that place, I was at once startled and confused. For I did not immediately understand why he had been put there. And then, when I saw Him, secured to Gandhi, the answer made itself known. For the bidding of Martin Luther King Jr. to the Great Hall of the Sons of Heaven required that Gandhi and the other man be brought there also.

When I returned with the three men to the Great Hall, another suprise came to my eyes. For the Sons of Heaven were calling Gandhi to their side. They placed Him in the seat behind which Jesus stood. And they all examined him asking each to another whether the two were the same. Tied to the right hand of Gandhi was the Buddha and to the left hand, seated on his left, was Martin Luther King Jr. The three men dared not lift their eyes.

All the Sons of Heaven marvelled at the Three Men, how they had been faithful to the same Spirit. And they all saw that The Lord was very Pleased. Suddenly my eyes blurred and the Three men lost their identity and appeared as One. Buddha called out, My Name, My Name; I have lost My Name! He was extremely excited and started to move out of his seat, but was restrained by Gandhi. He thought He had finally reached Nirvanah. The Sons of Heaven, being also startled by this mystery, began whispering again one to another. Many were suggesting that the Three should be allowed their names. I sympathized with the Three, for I had lost my name long ago and knew what it was like to not have a name known to others.

Now, my son, be not concerned about your name. For the Lord smiles upon the Humble. Is it not true that the Holy Spirit has no name and always does His Works in the Names of others? This is the Greatest Charity to men.

I sat down and began to write the goings on of the Great Hall once again. I was agitated beyond measure, for I then realized that a new vehicle had been created to bring Buddha and all of his followers into the Great Hall of the Sons of Heaven. They would no longer be left among the aesthetics and esoterics of the other Gallery.

As I wrote I wondered how such a thing could be achieved, because Buddha seemed to have the names of many gods written on his white linen robe. And at first I was offended that the names of gods could be allowed into the Great Table of the Sons of Heaven. All could see, however, that those names had never been important to him, for he always sought the One Great God of Heaven which is what he called, Nirvanah.

My eyes panned around the Table. Someone bid another to come over to me and put a covering over my eyes and stop my ears. For I had thought the unthinkable, that the names of other gods could be allowed at the Table of the Sons of Heaven. They recessed and left me there at the Table alone.

My hand began to write. I was exceedingly afraid, for I knew that whatsoever they had bid me to write would be done. And I wrote: and they removed the robe of Buddha and laid it upon the floor. When it touched the floor it turned to blood... I wept and could not write any more. Let those who have ears, hear.

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Have you read Proverbs, my son? Behold how Solomon thought to write His Son as I have written you. Receive His advise and let no one see you as a Scorneful Man. For the Scorneful Man is a Fool. He considers his wisdom the greatest of all and like lawyers seeks not to bring men out of despair and poverty but rather stirs them more into it to capitalize upon it. For the Scorneful Man preys upon people who are in despair and is not concerned about joining them in their cause. When he preys upon the Poor he often stirs them up with both hands and spends much of his time throwing rocks into quiet ponds. He disturbs the vision of others and causes them to perish.

Always keep your eyes set low and never raise your head above another. For the Tares of the field are many and are easily seen sticking their heads above the tops of the wheat. For they worship vanity.

Never claim anything from God to be Your Gospel. If the Lord asks you to do this and thus, do not say, Behold, The Lord has asked me to do this and thus. Rather, just do what He requires of you and do not explain it. For many are the envious of those who attain to great heights, and from envy comes the Scorneful Man.

There have been many princes over the ages, but few were not Scorneful Men. We see, in fact, that all of us have at one time or another been scorneful of others. For we all have Vanity working within us and Vanity tries to stir up envy, hatred, and Strife. How often have you been offended by another? And how often, of those times, have you not wanted revenge? Even poor Paul thought revenge upon the Coppersmith.

Never say, May the Lord give you your just deserts to anyone. The Lord has eyes to see, my son, and ears to hear. If one causes your suffering do not offend God by thinking He does not know it.

There are many who seek justice in men and confuse it with God. Those things which are justice to men are not to be confused with God's Justice. He smites whom He Wills to Smite and Blesses those whom He wills to Bless. And He does these things to His Advantage, not by appearance to man's.

Neither shall you take up arms in the name of God. Do not presume that God is behind your acts of cutting off the lives of others. If war becomes necessary, take it in the name of War, serving not the Justice of God but of men. It is my desire, my son, that you become known as a Man of Peace and a bloody sword in your hand soils that image. Therefore, we have written upon your robe, Man of Peace; be attentive to not smearing blood upon it.

But it may be that you will be called by others to take up arms and lead them into battle. Remember the robe of Buddha and how it turned into blood. Do all that you can to prevent the shedding of blood.

Never say, I am better than thou. For such marks the Scorneful Man. Rather, lead by example. It is your example that causes others to follow, and in that example always let those who serve you know that you are not better than they are. Wash their feet from time to time should you think it needful.

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What is a Prince, my son? Is he not a servant of those who serve Him? Behold how the Tyrant scornes the masses and exploits them. Even in my day, in this democracy called the United States, we see how the democracy has itself been used for Tyranny, scorning those around them. We call you into remembering this as an example of Tyranny. For every democracy wants a Prince of the People, but soon the princes try to retain their power and exploit the democracy. In my day, as you have witnessed, the United States was an Oligarchy. And the people could not rise up above it. If those around you hear whispers accusing you of running an Oligarchy or some other unfair method of governing, remove the stigma and correct your ways.. For this is the Wisdom of the Mighty: whispering streams can suddenly become torrential rivers and flood those before them. Your Service to the people as a Prince is from the confidence the people have in you. As you know, you cannot buy this confidence; for if you purchase it, as in the case of my day's elections, the people will soon see through you. How quickly the people change their loyalty! And remember, my son, the Roman Triumphal procession. When entering Rome upon their triumph, the Emperor would have at his side in his chariot one whispering into his ear. This is what was whispered: Glory is Fleeting. How well they knew it!

When I was in Spain I visited a great castle of one of the kings of Spain. I think it was Phillip's. In the castle there was a small room where the courtesans might meet in the wee hours of the night. And they would whisper. Little did they know that the king could enter the room and stand in the opposite corner and hear their whispering. The accustics in the room were such that the stone ribs of the ceiling were like telephone wires. Therefore, we would urge you to be not a snoop, but listen! Keep your ears open at all times and always be accessible to the complaints of any one in your realm. Let not those around you interpret for the people. Listen to the people directly! Again, be wary of the Scorneful Man and when you see him in an advisor dismiss him. But I would caution you on this, however, for it is better that you do not tell the Scorneful Man that he is being dismissed because he is a Scorneful Man. For the Scorneful Man does not know he is scorneful, and he is a well of hatred and when stirred will try to destroy you. The end of every Scorneful Man is death for themselves and others.

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Updated 5.27.2000; 2.12.05; 3.20.06

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