Sunsets Into Sunrises
Bishop Martin - The Progress of a Soul in the Beyond
- Chapter 158 -
MARTIN'S BLIND ZEAL AGAINST THE CEREMONIES OF THE SUN-DWELLERS. THE LORD'S WISE SPEECH ABOUT TOLERANCE. MARTIN'S DISCUSSION WITH PETER REGARDING THE LORD'S ADMONITIONS.
1
(Martin has already reached Me, and says): "O Lord, O Father, this is a magnificence which no spirit from any other world could ever imagine! Even Your most sublime brothers are rubbing their eyes as if scarcely able to bear the brilliance! But, how peculiar it is that no one is coming to meet us.
2
Peter thinks we ought to wait at the entrance until the elders of the house come to meet us with their usual ceremonies, as is the custom in this world. I, however, have had my fill of ceremonies in the world. They make me sick and I think we should not wait for such brilliant follies, but rather enter the house without much knocking. You surely have sufficient power for that!"
3
(Say I): "But, My dear Martin, we are not coming as enemies, only as true friends. We want to help and rebuild, not beat and destroy.
4
What glory would there be for us if we destroyed the whole area in a moment? It would not be to the credit of a strong arm to tear off a gnat's head. It is better to restore the head of a gnat than to destroy it. Therefore, we shall here make proper use of our patience and love, and not of our strength.
5
How would you have liked it if I had seized you immediately with My might and thrown you into hell instead of bestowing upon you My patience and love, which you did not deserve at all? Is there any argument you could have brought against it? But I did not do that to you, for I saw no merit in it for Me, the Almighty, to destroy you, the impotent. On the contrary, I gave you My patience and love to save you and to straighten you out. Would it, then, be right of us to act here in a hostile manner?"
6
(Martin, full of remorse, says): "O mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!" [My guilt, my guilt, my immense guilt!]
7
(Say I): "You have been forgiven long ago. But if, in the future, you always kept in mind the true first principle for all our actions, you will not easily relapse into such folly. We want at all times to preserve and not ever, even for a second, destroy; it is only hell that thirsts for destruction. Comprehend this, and now return to your place!"
8
Martin kisses My feet and quickly returns to the two brothers, Peter and John.
9
(Peter and John ask him): "Well, what are we to do? Shall we wait, or shall we enter?"
10
(Says Martin): "As you know, fools are always the least patient, because they have no sense. But if they become too foolish, it is good for them to be knocked into shape, as has just happened to me. The Lord has rebuked me, and now I'm once more in order. He has again made a man out of a beast!"
11
(Says Peter): "Yes, you are right in what you say. In the world, I, too, received some mighty raps from the Lord, and that was good. Even brother Paul once gave me a knock in the back with his spiritual fist, and that, too, was good! But we still don't know whether to wait and be bored for a while or enter this magnificent house. Tell us this, dear brother Martin."
12
(Says Martin): "It seems to me as if you, too, are beginning to pinch me a bit. Of course, we have to wait in accordance with the Lord's will, until those who are going to meet us are through with their ceremonies. You probably know who they are."
13
(Says Peter): "But, dear brother, you must not take offense so easily. I am quite aware that a reprimand from the Lord is less agreeable than a caress, but it is just as much an expression of love. Remember when the Lord talked to me and my brothers about His impending suffering and I, in my deep love for Him, warned Him of Jerusalem and said: 'Lord, this shall not be unto Thee'? What was it that the Lord then said to me?"
14
(Says Martin): "Oh brother, do not repeat that terrible phrase! I have never been able to understand how the Lord could call you Satan, the chief of hell, after having only a short while before declared you a pillar of His church, against which 'the gates of hell shall not prevail.' That is still a puzzle to me. How do you interpret it?"
15
(Says Peter): "When the Lord appointed me a pillar of His church, He was speaking to me out of His wisdom. But when He called me a Satan, He was speaking out of His boundless love for me, because with those words, He forcefully drove out - as if with one lash - all my worldliness which was the actual Satan within me. Do you now understand that mighty reprimand?"
16
(Says Martin): "Not absolutely as yet, but I have a good idea where this is leading. The Lord is love, indeed!"