Chapter XII

If thou seeketh me, 'twas not thy wish – it was mine that thou shouldst find me. Does not a good shepherd engender the wish to his flock that when lost they shall seek him when lost to them?

MASTER, WHY AM I SO SAD?

Either thou hast made someone unhappy and regret it, or thou seest someone in despair and wish to help them.

WHEN HOPELESS AND IN DESPAIR WHAT SHALL ONE DO?

Ask thyself if there be a God. It may raise thy hand at a door of hope and faith that will open at thy knock.

SHOULD ONE CONTINUOUSLY THINK OF GOD?

Were it so, God would not have left thee on earth as an upright walking worm to incubate like a caterpillar cocoon growing wings to fly towards the light of God's understanding.

HOW SHOULD WE FACE DEATH?

Was not thy birth a gift to thee, all thine own as thou will? Is not death a gift to thee as the open door to my Father's House.

BUT WHAT IS DEATH?

It was thee when thou asked the question, and thou in life heard the answer. For what was a moment ago is dead, gone into the past. What thou asketh next has not yet been born. But what has been said and memorized lives forever because it always was.

WHAT SHALL WE DO TO BE SAVED?

My son, what hast thou done to ask? Examine thyself and find the answer.

WILL EVERLASTING LIFE BE MINE?

Thou must have seen it before thou tasted it to know it is thine – or how wouldst thou have known to ask.

HOW SHALL WE TREAT DEATH?

By the thought of life only.

WHY?

Because thou hast created death for thyself by applying to thyself what thou hast seen of others, more drastic to thy state of mind than to those who suffered it.

WHY DO MEN FEAR DEATH?

They do not. They fear doubt, the unknown, and the birth of Eternity.

HOW CAN ONE PREVENT THE FEAR OF DEATH?

By studying the inevitable law to befriend what must be a guest for the night. If thou become suspicious of him he will constantly remind thee that thou shalt be his guest. Fear and death have no use for him who thinks only of perpetual life.

HOW CAN WE ELIMINATE THE THOUGHT?

By not stretching forth thy hand to receive it.

IS DEATH SO FEARFUL?

Go to sleep when tired and test it.

WHEN WE PASS ON WILL YOU BE THERE TO MEET US?

Is it so much of an effort to open thy eyelids on awakening from a sound sleep to behold a loved one?

BUT WHY DO THOSE IN THE THROES OF DEATH SEEM TO SUFFER SUCH AGONY?

Hast thou ever seen a sleeper in a nightmare groaning and weeping, or one under an anaesthetic in a spasm? On awakening to consciousness they know nothing about it.

THEN DEATH CAN BE PEACEFUL?

As the embers of a dying fire.

SHOULD WE BEMOAN OUR AGE?

Are not thy children's children older than thou? Thy breath of yesterday is dead; that of today thy companion; that of tomorrow still unborn; and thou but counteth the years that are no more.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY BREATH, MASTER?

What is the escaping steam of an engine if not a report of its labor when in the steam chest forcing tons of weight onward by the touch of an engineer and sunlight (coal) – just as it is within thy body and thy will.

STILL SO MANY FEAR OLD AGE.

Does the old faithful apple tree that looks about it to admire itself in the young orchard, liberating itself to live within even the youngest of its own progeny? Thus, what is there to fear?

BUT WHAT OF THE CHILDLESS?

They often substitute for motherless children though the loveless mother lives.

CAN THAT LOVE BE AS EMOTIONAL AS THAT OF REAL MOTHERHOOD?

Have not cats nursed white rats, enemies, unto love and protection? Why not with human beings?

WHAT THEN IS LOVE?

The bond that unites the entire universe.

ARE THE MASSES OF THE EARTH INFLUENCED BY AN UNSEEN POWER?

Read the history of epidemics, of war and pestilence. Analyze from whence they come, where they are, and where they will be tomorrow. Bear in mind that thou art part of all things, good or evil, linked together by the chain of events like the anchor chain fastened to the anchor on the rocks in the bottom of the sea, the other end fastened safely to the ship for its protection.

ARE WE AS BAD AS WE BELIEVE?

No, else thou wouldst not believe it so. For he who believes himself good knows not what evil he might have done by blindness to the sorrows of others.

I FEEL SO INSIGNIFICANT.

My son, that is blind greatness, where love of truth dominates and hate if unborn.

NEED ONE WORRY FOR TOMORROW?

Men but worry over what they have not as yet memorized, calling it doubt, problems, confusion, then fear.

WILL YOU ALWAYS BE NEAR ME, MASTER?

As close as thou wilt come to me.

ONCE AGAIN MY MIND IS RELIEVED.

My son, a gentle knock will open up the door that thou didst find, so thou mayest ask.

I AM GRATEFUL, MASTER.

Of such are prayers made up, answered before they are said. I bless each one of thee as my helpers in the name of my Father, to give strength to thy faith in Him.

top of page