Sunsets Into Sunrises
Bishop Martin - The Progress of a Soul in the Beyond
- Chapter 184 -
THE SAGE'S GOOD ANSWER.
1
(Says the sage): "O Lord, what You demand from us is indescribably mild, gentle and kind. We need no time to think it over, but can accept it immediately with grateful hearts.
2
O You most holy benefactor, we shall never be able to thank You enough for Your boundless kindness and grace, for Your inconceivable love in showing us such a very simple path by which we - Your creatures - can attain the supreme heavenly honor: to become Your free children! And we are even invited to think it over!
3
O Lord, Father, You eternal, Holy Spirit, if I had a thousand lives and had to surrender them in order to attain the lowest degree of Your sonship, I would truly surrender them joyfully, even if the loss of each life would cause me great torment and pain. And I am still expected to think it over whether I - and these people - will accept such great gifts of Your grace or not!
4
Most Holy Father, I shall say neither 'yes' nor 'no' with my mouth, but do graciously look into our unworthy hearts and see 'yes' written there a thousand times more fiery than is that ominous swelling of the sea over there which will soon be ripe to burst!
5
O Lord, O Father, we shall fulfill everything that You demand of us with more precision than that with which the small worlds orbit around our big earth, now sanctified by You forever!
6
We pray to Your most holy, fatherly heart not to leave us for good, but from now on to come visibly to us whenever it suits You.
7
Our love for You is now burning fiercely and our hearts would be deeply grieved if we could never see You again, most holy Father, nor hear Your fatherly voice utter such edifying words as these which have suddenly quickened our troubled hearts to an extent that we can find no words to describe Your truly divine grace.
8
Therefore, O Lord, let Your fatherly heart grant this our prayer. Your most holy will be praised forever!"
9
(Say I): "My children, what you are asking for has been taken into consideration already long ago. The Creator remains invisible and unfathomable only to His creatures, for they are under compulsion in the Creator's power and can never stand before Him, see Him, or hear His voice. But it is quite different with the children whom I, as the Creator and now also the Father, have liberated through My word and teaching. Provided their hearts are within the order of My teaching, they can see Me and speak to Me whenever they want.
10
If that is not the case and their hearts are inclined toward sensuousness, if material things and vain worldly worries fill them, inactivating My word and teaching, then I can, of course, no longer be seen or heard. In such a case, the prospective child of My grace, love, and mercy, has once more donned the garb of a created being under compulsion, which it is free to do.
11
Therefore, let all of you stay in My teaching from now on! Keep your hearts in your original moral purity so that My fatherly love may dwell in them and create there a new life which is a truly free and independent one. Then you will never have to complain: 'Lord, Father, where are You? Why can't we see You or hear Your fatherly voice?'
12
Verily I say to you: All those who are active in accordance with My teaching are the ones who truly love Me. And, because of that, I shall always be among them, either visibly or audibly, teaching and educating them Myself toward becoming My children.
13
But now bring us as much food and drink as you can, for we all want to satisfy our hunger. You shall see that I will eat and drink like all of you, blessing you as well as all the brothers and sisters who are with us. So go and do as I have bidden you!"