Via Christa Life: On Jesus' Teachings: The Parable of the Candle under the Bushel

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The Parable of the Candle Under the Bushel

By Edna Lister

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." – Matthew 5:14-15.

"And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." – Mark 4:21-25.

"No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have." – Luke 8:16-18.

Edna Lister Bible study transcript, January 31, 1933. Scribe: Clarissa A. Watkins.

As you slough and shed your negative traits and taints, your soul light begins to shine, which draws your own creations and rewards to you. All too often you do not shine with radiant Light, which is why you do not receive what you desire.

Leave a cloud of love in every place you go, even if you are only walking through a store. Carry an imaginary love-mister and spray everyone with love, for it lifts people. Allow yourself to be drawn into the heart of God's Power, ever higher into the Source of the divine fire. For only there can you stand steadfast, and be worth what you desire in God's service.

You can and do determine which way you will go. God has given you charge over your family where you are. You stand at the head and hold the lines of responsibility for all the people on your ship, as Paul did on his voyage to Rome (Acts 27:24). Your privilege is to lift them into the Light, and to live by these laws. You can fill them so full of love that they cannot live by anything but the laws of love.

You can love anybody into the Light and see them change into it. You can lift yourself, your burdens, families, groups, the world. The higher you lift them, the higher your lifting will lift you. Are you pouring out enough love? Pour out enough love to make it possible to do this great work.

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Cooperation in Service

Edna Lister sermon outline, November 18, 1934. Scriptures: Matthew 5:13-16, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Acts 2:38-43.

"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." – Matthew 5:13. Without salt, food is insipid, tasteless. Without spiritual salt, life is boring, unattractive, nothing to live for.

"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." – 1 Corinthians 12:27. No human or outer agency can give you pep, ginger, effervescence, joy, enthusiasm, or point the way. All this comes from within.

You commit yourself to divine distribution because the Baptism of Spirit creates a quickened desire to serve, a quickened desire to cooperate because you wish to share, to give of the Creative Impulse itself.

"Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles." – Acts 2:38-43.

In this context you may interpret fear as meaning awe or obedience. "Fear of the Lord" is obedience to the law. The Father has given you the ability to choose because He has given you free will.

Only one house is ultimately attractive to you, your Father's house. God has put you on a long tether line, which Einstein says will circle back to Him. Of course, some of us have our backs to the Light. Imagine backing all the way home. What a long, laborious process.

To turn and face Light is so easy. You may claim sanctuary under the Light, knowing that no darkness or adversity can touch anyone who stands under the Light.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." – James 1:17. The Father of Lights is the source of all good descending from above. Just declare, "Thank You Father. You always say yes." If you plan darkness, God will say, "Yes." If you plan Light, He will always answer, "Yes."

Become fascinated with Light, obsessed with divine idea of Light. Use this Light, and appropriate more. When? Now. To whom does this apply? To you. Glorify God and He will clothe you with the sun.

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Life as Light

Edna Lister, sermon outline, February 23, 1936. Scriptures: Matthew 5:14-16, Matthew 6:22-23, John 1:6-12.

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." – Matthew 5:14-16. The first idea in this lesson is that "Ye are the light of the world." As a light, you can be as bright as a city set on a hill, a lamp or a single candle.

"The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" – Matthew 6:22-23.

The body is a channel for Power, like an electrical connection that may wear out, so you must obey physical laws. The light of the body is the eye. If your vision is single-minded, it will remain focused on the Light. If you are double minded and unstable, your vision will sometimes focus on evil and darkness.

"That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." – John 1:9-12.

The second idea is, "I am light of the world." When you follow the Master, you do not walk in darkness, but in his Light. Let your light so shine. Yet you must be perfectly filled with God's life before the Light moving through you is truly active.

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Light Overcomes Darkness

Edna Lister sermon outline, October 17, 1937. Scriptures: Matthew 5:14-16, Matthew 6:22-23.

Necessity can bring you to Light and joy, or to darkness and grief. You can take Light any place, up, down or in. A city on a hill today reflects its light into the sky above it. You can see it from many miles away.

Candles, oil lamps, gas and electric lights all produce indirect light, but God's Power comes from above as supernal Light, which descends from on high. Correspondingly, everything is now moving up in ascension, its rate of vibration is increasing.

To view this, you must see with the single eye of the soul, the mystic eye of soul vision, never with the two eyes of earth that see God and whatever earth produces. When you want darkness, you put out the light. You do not light it, then wear blinders. Light descends from above, through all shutters and blinds. Nothing can escape the Light of God.

If people have no Light in their darkness, how dark their darkness will be. Yet no darkness can persist or exist in the face of Light, no illness, nothing, not even death. Everything and everyone succumbs to the healing power of the Light.

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Your Armor of Light

Edna Lister sermon outline, April 23, 1939. Scriptures: Matthew 5:14-16, Matthew 5:19-22.

St. Patrick's Armor
Christ is with you, Christ before you,
Christ behind you, Christ within you,
Christ beneath you, Christ above you,
Christ at your right, Christ at your left,
Christ in breadth, length, and height.
Christ on land, and sea, and sky.
– Dr. Thomas Parker Boyd

The armor of St. Patrick is you. Christ has said that you are the Light of the world. You must let your Light so shine.

"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." – Matthew 5:19-22.

The fire of the world burns, eats up, and consumes. Light is the divine fire that builds. Declare, "I am Light. I float on Light. I arise in Light. I ascend to the fire of Light."

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The Trinities of Creation (a)

Edna Lister created this Bible study outline for March 17, 1945. Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16

God is the universal absolute. God is both principle in action and personality in expression. God as principle is Wisdom, Love and the Christ principle of consciousness. God as personality is the Father, Mother and Son in action and expression.

Wisdom, Love and the Christ principle become Mind, Substance, and Power when you put them into action as your personalized expressions of the Godhead.

We call these the "triple trinities of manifestation." They are nine in number, which is the number that symbolizes perfected man, and the universal brotherhood of humanity. Manifestation is how the universal absolute reduces in its rate of vibration into the conditioned relative parts of the whole.

You use the principles of Wisdom, Love and the Logos as your will, desire and imagination. You use the divine personality of the Father, Mother and Son as illumination, intuition and action or expression in your life.

You are the principles of Mind, Substance, and Power as you begin life. You express these principles as personality as you receive and give. The number of a man on earth is six, which represents the double trinity of creativity.

Three sixes is the number of the "beast" when the soul perverts and misuses the creative powers. On a high level, the triple six is the number that represents the Father and Mother in action as Creators.

To receive the number nine on the forehead, you must first use your illumination, intuition and action-expression from the soul above. Second, you must balance your will, desire and imagination.

Third, you must perfect your outer personal expression for the world to see and thus glorify your Father in heaven.

You apply will as determination, desire is your substance, and imagination becomes your quickening Power. This is how you open the door to the Father who plans, the Mother who sustains and nourishes, and the Son, who is your selfless expression.

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The Trinities of Creation (b)

This Edna Lister Bible study transcript, March 17, 1945. Scribe: Ruth Bender Collord. Scriptures: John 1:1-4, Matthew 5:14-16.

God is absolute principle and absolute personality. Man is a finite and relative expression of the infinite. Since we are a part of God's Creation, we require categories in which to place the phases of expression of the absolute and the relative.

No single man can express the all of God. All mankind is a part of God. God is Mind, Substance and Power.

You cannot express the totality of God's Mind, yet you can have the whole of that mind that was in Christ Jesus flow through you.

The absolute God was all that was, in the Beginning. God is all the principles that exist and all the forms of expression of those principles.

"I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away." – Revelation 20:11. First there emerged the three Emanations of Wisdom, Love, and the Logos, the Christ principle, which are vast vibrations sweeping out from the center of the Godhead, the great white throne and returning to it.

Everything, all the Mind, Substance and Power that emerges from the Source is destined to return to that Source. It cannot stop at any point in its circuit. It can but alter in its rate of vibration temporarily.

The ancient mystics likened the Emanations to the Holy Breath of the universes, an inhalation, a pause, an exhalation, a pause and so on. The Emanations, to them, were the process of God's inspiration and aspiration as the divine respiration.

So the Godhead, composed of Wisdom, Love and the Logos, moved from its absolute state to become relative Wisdom, Love and the Christ consciousness.

Relative Mind, Substance, and Power reign as supreme principles in manifestation. The Father, Mother and the Son reign as supreme personalities in manifestation.

These are the triple trinities of Creation, three sets of three, totaling nine, the number that symbolizes the universal brotherhood of man under God.

Six is the number representing man on earth, and represents the double trinity of creativity of the Father and Mother. Nine is the number written on the forehead of man having perfected himself, the perfect man.

A triple six is the "mark of the beast" described in the Book of Revelation.

"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." – Revelation 13:11-18.

The numbers one through nine unfold that mystical history of mankind. Man emerged from the auric circle in the beginning, which was really the sphere of the Source of his consciousness. Thus, in the beginning, man was one with the Light. When you feel "right," you are in the center of your auric sphere. Your sphere expresses as your particular degree of Light, color, tone, number and name, which dictates your form.

According to the philosophy of numbers, one is the number symbolizing the soul of man standing upright in the Garden of Eden. Two signifies a second unit added, another soul with whom you must agree and adjust.

Three represents a third unit added to the two, making the first trinity of creativity, as in the Father, the Mother and the Son. The three signifies that from two joined together a third emerges, which is a combination of the first two.

The number four represents the higher creative centers in the head of man, which include the pineal body, the pituitary gland, the hypothalamus, and the optic chiasm. As Light enters the head, it illumines the optic chiasm of the thalamus at the floor of the third ventricle of the brain. As the Light metaphysically activates these physical structures, it becomes spiritual intuition in the pituitary gland, and illumination in the pineal body.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men." – John 1:1-4.

Thus, the Light is the life in man. Christ came to earth to serve mankind as the Light. This is your destiny as well. When you reach up in consciousness and open yourself to the Light, letting it move through you, the Light itself adds this dimension of service to your life.

Five is the number that symbolizes your soul's freedom to choose, guaranteeing freedom of expression. The five is centered between the numbers one through four and six through nine. As the number of law, the five symbolizes balance between body and soul. You have freedom of action to express as you choose. How you act reveals your expression of balance or imbalance. Ideally, you would exercise your freedom to express upward in consciousness.

Six is the number of creation, and the creative faculties in man. Six is also the number of how the soul expresses the Mother's Love on earth. Thus, the number of the beast, 666, shows that it is the result of the misuse of the faculty of love.

Seven is the number of the protective priest. Its shape (7) resembles a cane, an aid in walking uprightly. The priest moves forward while reviewing the past and redeeming the good.

The cross-over point in the eight (8) symbolizes how the soul must cross out the tangle of earthly emotions based in the physical (the lower sphere), and hold its consciousness high above (the upper sphere) in heaven. Mystically, the number eight represents the upper and nether millstones. "No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge." – Deuteronomy 24:6.

"Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." – Matthew 21:42-44.

Thus, eight symbolizes how the soul integrates his earth with his heaven. The Crown of Christ is 888. Visually, the lower arc of the eight represents the everlasting arms of the Father upholding, and the upper arc the protective wings of the Mother o'ershadowing the soul of the Christed one in between.

The number nine we have already discussed, and the one in the ten. The zero in the ten represents the individual who has passed through the nine great phases of evolution and ascension of body and soul. Again, the one becomes a circle as the soul returns to its source. When you have accomplished all the works symbolized by one through eight, you become a full living soul and the number nine is written on your forehead.

As a soul in the body, you must live and express as these triple trinities. Will is the Father Wisdom principle in man. Desire is the Mother Love principle in man. The Christ, the Son principle, represents the whole total and complete expression of the soul in man. The life in man must be the Christ principle.

Life is the ability to do, to express, to use the Mind, Substance and Power that is in the individual soul, not just to call for more. All the mystical mysteries lie within the hidden Mother, which the Roman Church categorized as the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost, also called the Holy Spirit and Holy Breath, is both the Father and the Mother combined in action. The Holy Breath is the very breath you breathe, and the vitality it confers. The Holy Spirit is the Christ consciousness that moves through all living things according to degree and kind.

Wisdom is the positive expanding vibration of life while God as Light involves itself with manifestation during the involution. Love is the negative contracting vibration of life while God as the Light within the soul evolves in ascension to its source.

Man, as a soul inhabiting a body, can never be absolute, but must always be relative to the Absolute. Soul ascension is the art of expressing as, of living as the graciousness and the loveliness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are the Wisdom, the Love, and the Logos of Selflessness expressing as the Mind, the Substance and Power of the Father, the Mother and the Son within your soul. You are weaving a pattern of the life everlasting.

With every breath you exhale, you paint a picture. Your expression of principle paints the exact picture of your life pattern. The only way you can change or alter your pattern of expression is to love, love, love as you declare perfection for those parts of your pattern that seem square pegs of will in round holes of desire.

Christed substance moves forth on your every spoken Word. Your degree of artistry in painting depends on how you use your God-given mind, substance and power. No one else can place even a single brush-stroke on your life's canvas without your permission. The would-be artist paints only on his canvas.

The art of fine living consists of your thoughts, words, deeds, kindness, service and love. Your quality of living lies in your intensity of desire, from ice cold to white hot. Lukewarm is the most crippling degree. Your expression of desire's quality depends on whether you are living consciously or unconsciously. Faith is Substance backed by Mind and Power. Your faith and love dictate your quality of life. Wake up and live your life.

So many people are proud of the fact that they are satisfied with the little they have in life. If you just let life flow through you and past you, you might as well be living in a coma. Remember the Parable of the Ten Talents: "Unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." – Matthew 25:29.

Do you believe that life is one great and grand adventure? Do you live by a more and more plan for living, or by a less and less plan? If you do not ask more of life than what you were given, you will end as the unprofitable servant, with nothing.

Life is free. Make up your mind to live. Your capacity for life is limitless, but you must go to God for more life. What you want from life, its quality and quantity, how you choose to meet life, governs how much you get.

God does not credit the other person with what you think he should or should not have. He pays no attention to your criticism or condemnation of the other fellow, either. He judges you by the canvas you have painted.

When you ascend, you can take all the life you want into your circle of Light. It just grows larger and larger. As you walk down the street, the Light in your auric sphere reaches out and heals those whom it touches, and lifts darkness.

You are eternally young in heart and spirit and need never grow older. God is only thirty-five! Think young thoughts. Act as if work is play. All it takes is a flaming desire and vivid imagination. Act as if you have your soul's desire now.

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Life's True Savor

Edna Lister Bible study outline, May 15, 1955. Scriptures: Matthew 5:13-16, James 1:17.

"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." – Matthew 5:13. Salt adds flavor and peps things up. A little salt added to food makes it tastier, better, more interesting. Unsalted dishes have no flavor, are blah, uninteresting and tasteless.

The twins, Indifference and Lukewarmness, are uninteresting and tasteless bores, from whom you want to pull away and run. Indifference and Lukewarmness are forever being trampled, pushed aside, overlooked, forgotten and inevitably left out.

You want to follow that interesting pair, Determination and Hope, because they salt you and build up your fervency and interest, which is a first step up. They always have something to do and somewhere to go.

With the salt of Spirit, you take your second step up to brisk love and active joy, with no whine of self-pity or silly sentimentalism. You become your share of the "light of the world." You cannot hide a city set on a hill. Its lights beckon from afar and call to you to look closer. Not putting your light "under a basket" tells you to be out, up and doing, not to draw in and sit in a corner, hugging your tiny bit of truth alone for the self.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." – Matthew 5:16. You light your house and your kingdom and take a third step, to let your light so shine, pure, unadulterated Light from above. No forced pseudo-light is good enough.

You cannot fool God with false shining, which are meaningless just words, for "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." – James 1:17.

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I Am the Light of the World (a)

Edna Lister sermon outline, January 1, 1956. Scriptures: John 8:12-16, Matthew 5:14-16.

"Ye are the light of the world." This means us, all of us. We are destined to become the light of the world.

The Father is that Thinker and Planner of Life. Every life, to be successful, must have a goal, and a plan for attaining that goal. The great objective of life on earth is to become the Light of the world. "You are the light of the world." The challenge now is, how bright a Light can you be?

The Master said that you can both have the Light and be the Light. You can know where you came from and where you are going. You can judge true judgment, and not according to appearances. Finally, you can always know that you are never alone.

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me." – John 8:12-16.

How do you manage to do all this? It takes a burning desire, a vivid imagination, and flaming expectancy. A burning desire for what? To be that light on the hill.

To fulfill your life, you need a day plan, a year plan, and a life plan. "I can't" tears down the body's atomic substance. It's a debit on your life's bank account. A lack of joy today brings a flop tomorrow, because when you step up to the teller to make a withdrawal, you find you have overdrawn your account.

Do you know that God is stronger than you? Do you know that the years are beautiful? Do you know that the stars are always shining above you? What you deposit today, you draw on tomorrow. Be generous with God. Redouble your prayer efforts if your dream does not come true.

"A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men." – Proverbs 18:16. No power on earth can stop you from praying. Do not stop planning or quit on God.

Vivid imagination is the greatest part of the plan, because what you see is what you get in life. You have heard people say, "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." – Job 3:25. Your fears do come upon you.

Clearly focus what you visualize now, with no double exposures. Create a clean negative, and make your active imagination pay a dividend. Picture your accounts, wallet or purse full, for a new home, new everything.

A key to success is to use everything you already have, and prepare for more beauty everywhere. Stop the inner conflict between selfish "little me" and Oversoul's "I AM" consciousness.

All seeds possess flaming expectancy before they grow into plants. Let nothing stand in the way of your flaming expectancy. You cannot deposit grief, resentment or darkness in your account today and withdraw joy tomorrow. Be strong enough, love enough, and act as if "I and the Father are one."

All Light comes from above. Stop challenging every iota of Light that shines through you, which causes any potential inner conflict to surface.

Two thousand years ago, the Master gave us today. Jesus was born in a cave, lived in a humble cottage, but walked in beauty. He was only a carpenter, yet his ministry kept him on the run. He never wrote a book or owned a home. He had no credentials but his works.

The local religious leaders despised him and conspired against him. His friends ran away when he needed them. His enemies arrested him, reviled him, spat on him, flogged and ridiculed him. Soldiers gambled for his clothes while they crucified him. Finally, a friend buried him in a borrowed grave.

Yet Jesus set the keynote for civilization now. He rules as King today. Nineteen centuries have passed and today he is the central religious figure of more than half the human race, a leader of civilization and progress. All else is nothing compared with his effect on life.

"Ye are the light of the world." Today is a time of challenge to truth. How much love do you want to send forth? Declare, "Prove me now. Let the divine fire from above move in and fill me. Let it express as love, protection and understanding to all who so need."

Hold a burning desire, vivid imagination, flaming expectancy and dare to capture a sense of joy and beauty to hold, to feed on, to nourish yourself. Dare to be joy, beauty and Light. Shout, "I am the light of the world, a living challenge to life because I know where I came from and where I go, to earn my Christed wings." You now become the Light of the world to lift it.

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I Am the Light of the World (b)

Edna Lister sermon transcript, January 1, 1956. Scribes: Ruth Collord, May Wilder. Scriptures: Matthew 5:14-16, John 8:12-16.

"Ye are the light of the world." This means us, all of us. We are destined to become the light of the world.

"I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me." – John 8:15.

The Father is that Thinker and Planner of Life. Every life, to be successful, must have a goal, and a plan for attaining that goal. The great objective of life on earth is for us to become the Light of the world. "Ye are the light of the world."

The challenge now is, how bright a Light can you be? How do you manage this? It takes three qualities: a burning desire, a vivid imagination and a flaming expectancy. A burning desire for what, you ask? To be that light on the hill.

To fulfill your life, you need a day plan, a year plan and a life plan. "I can't" tears down the atomic substance of the body. It is a debit on your life's bank account. A lack of joy today brings a flop tomorrow because when you step up to make a withdrawal, your account is overdrawn.

Confession is good for the soul. Do you know that God is stronger than you? Do you know that the years are beautiful? Do you know that the stars are always shining above you? What you deposit today, you draw on tomorrow.

Be generous with God. If your dream does not come true, redouble your prayer efforts. No power on earth can stop you from praying. "A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men." – Proverbs 18:16.

Do not quit God on planning. Vivid imagination is the greatest part of the plan. What you see is what you are getting in life.

"For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." – Job 3:25. Your fears do come upon you. What you visualize now must always be clean cut, with no double exposures. Take the time to create a clean negative. See your wallet full of large denomination bills. See a new home, new everything. Use what you already have, and use it well.

Prepare for more beauty everywhere. Use your imagination to pay you dividends. Stop the inner conflict between the self's "little me" and Oversoul's "I AM" consciousness. Let nothing stand in the way of your flaming expectancy. Seeds possess flaming expectancy before they grow into plants. Be strong enough, love enough. Act as if "I and the Father are one."

All Light comes from above. Stop challenging every bit of Light that comes through you; this causes inner conflict. You cannot deposit grief, resentment and darkness in your account today and withdraw joy tomorrow.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus gave us today. Jesus was born in a cave, lived in a humble cottage and walked in beauty. He was only a carpenter, yet his ministry kept him on the run. He never wrote a book or owned a home; he had no credentials but his works.

All the local religious leaders despised him and conspired against him. His friends ran away when he needed them. His enemies arrested him, reviled him, spat on him, flogged and ridiculed him. Soldiers gambled over his clothes while they crucified him. Finally, a friend buried him hastily in a borrowed grave. Yet Jesus set the keynote for civilization today. He rules as King today.

Nineteen centuries have passed, yet today he is the central figure of more than half the human race, a leader of civilization and progress. All else is nothing compared with his effect on life. Two thousand years ago, Jesus gave us today.

"Ye are the light of the world." – Matthew 5:14. This year is a challenge to truth. How much love do you want to send forth?

Declare, "Prove me now. Let the fire from above move in and fill me. Let it express as love, protection and understanding to all who so need." Hold a burning desire, vivid imagination and flaming expectancy. Dare to capture a sense of joy and beauty to hold, to feed on, to nourish yourself. Dare to be joy, beauty and Light.

Declare, "I am the light of the world and I express as a challenge to the new year. I am the light of the world because I know whence I came. I know where I go, to earn my Christed wings." You now become the light of the world to lift it.

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The Light, Your Expression

Edna Lister sermon transcript, November 4, 1956. Scribe: Ruth Johnson. Scriptures: John 1:1-4,9, Matthew 5:14-16, Matthew 6:22-23.

"In the beginning, God created" is the opening vibration of all that becomes. God said, "Let there be Light," and from that Light, God as all, created all and became all. The Gospel of John opens with "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. … That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." – John 1:1-4,9.

Genesis and the Gospel of John hold the foundation principles of all Creation. God as Light is ready to become in Genesis. In John, the Light is already in man, ready to express. The "Word" means God as Mind. "Life" means God as action. "Light" is God as substance.

Mind, action and substance are primary principles, which creators must modify to the right level of consciousness for the world. You are Mind, personalized in subconscious, conscious and super-conscious levels. The subconscious is the world mind, and conscious mind stands between it and Oversoul's super-conscious mind. Thus, the conflict is between self and Oversoul.

We modify the "Word" to suit the mind of man, and personalize it as sacrifice, which means giving up what we have for what attracts us to a greater degree. For instance, people obey traffic lights because self-interest attracts them to obey.

What must you sacrifice? Convince your self that following the Light will pay greater dividends than selfishness. Then convince self to let rational soul and Oversoul direct and control your life for greater glory than the subconscious mind of appetitive soul can produce. You need burning soul-desire to conquer the world. The process is one of convincing selfishness to give itself up for soulishness.

Light is modified substance, which you use for creation and personalize as your expression. Jesus' prescription for moving up to express from the higher creative center is: "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." – Matthew 5:14-16.

Never hide your Light, but set it high on a hill. ascend in consciousness to express from the higher creative center. "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." – Matthew 6:22. The single eye means singleness of purpose. A grain of wheat that produces the whole plant illustrates "your whole body will be full of light."

God created you to express Light through intuition and illumination. The Light becomes man, who must then express as Light. "If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" – Matthew 6:23. Darkness is an absence of Light. Any upset to emotions or thinking is an absence of Light.

Fear pays no dividends. Any fear touches the organ in the body affected by that type of fear, despite the person's goodness. To reassure the subconscious that it has nothing to fear, say, "God is all courage and strength."

You modify "life" as action, which you then personalize as service. Your service in life is what you give to the world as action. Get up, give up indifference, and ascend in consciousness to convince the subconscious that life is one great adventure. Act from divine Mind to release life into the body. A metaphysical statement works here, convincing the subconscious that the goal is great, that life is becoming Light. Light, which is Substance, becomes your expression.

"But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness." – Matthew 6:23. How can the eye be evil? To see darkness and believe in it, to say, "He'll never succeed" or, "She will never get well," is wallowing in it.

The cure is to let your light so shine before men. When you believe that all is good, others will see your good works and glorify the Father. Glorify the Father in your acts and works. Entice everyone to come up to God, letting His Light express through and as you. To do this, you need a triple trinity: Mind attuned to sacrifice, action in service and substance to use in expression.

Love asks nothing and gives all. Give love to the world as your expression and service. Sacrifice is not looking gloomy and long-faced, but renouncing darkness for Light, bad for good, and sorrow for joy. Enter your room of golden silence if your family or the world objects to what you are doing. They need not know what you are doing, but all will gain.

Everything you need is at your command, so make the declarations. Pay your own freight by speaking the Word to lift. You never have a free ride, least of all back into the heart of God.

How can you put more Light into a full container? Fill your mental life with joy and glory until it overflows to the world. Too many people have filled their basements with the dirt of centuries. Garbage trucks go to a dump, and so pitch your old past rubbish up on a cloud of Light.

Take all your negatives to the consuming fire, draw in your friends and families' trash and watch them react. Fill them with Light, love and the glory of God until He cleanses them all. This lifting vibration circles earth and returns to you as glorified auric substance. For instance, insincerity causes liver trouble. As God heals someone's liver, He returns the cleansed soul substance as perfected liver tissue.

Your body is a vehicle for God to use. Walk upward as a creator god, look at the Light, and God's image and likeness shines as you. As you sacrifice the old to be filled with the new, you look younger, more beautiful, glowing with compassion and love.

Never indulge love's only negative expression, which is pity. Grab negative people, put them on a cloud to consume the darkness, and wash them clean.

The Light, mind and life that were in Christ Jesus become your Light, mind and life when you tune into God's broadcasting station of the life unlimited. You will be up in consciousness to hear God. As you live the glory of life unlimited, Light will be your soul's expression.

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What Is Illumination? (a)

Edna Lister Mother's Day sermon outline, May 13, 1962. Scriptures: Matthew 5:14-16, Matthew 6:22-23.

Mother love is a way of life. Mother love is both a pacemaker and a peacemaker, the most sustaining, nourishing power on earth.

Illumination is "the act of illuminating or the state of being illuminated; a source of light; spiritual or intellectual enlightenment; insight or understanding; the act of making understood; clarification."

God intended you to be a light, a candle on a hill, seen of men, not hidden under a bushel, not a martyr. Where do you see the Light? "The light of the body is the eye." – Matthew 6:22. Your body will be full of Light if your focus, your eye is single on the Light.

"If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" – Matthew 6:23. The Master is not speaking of an earthly light.

Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Law. When he came down, his face was too bright for the people to look upon. The purity of the Law brings such brightness of spiritual illumination. The glory shone on Moses' face, and on Jesus Christ at the Mount of Transfiguration. The glory of God is an unearthly ecstasy beyond your dreams.

"The true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world." – John 1:9. You brought that original Light with you when you descended to earth. How do you hold it? Three terms must characterize your stance as you hold your original Light — receptive, flexible, and balanced.

Every soul ready to descend to earth is called before a High Council of the Order of the Archangels in charge of the Light. They pose the question, How much Light do you want to take to earth with you? Many answer, "Enough to be a good wife and mother, or husband and father." Others say, "Enough to be beautiful, to be wealthy." A few say, "Enough to be a good minister." A very few say, "Enough to be a great Light, to light the way for the world."

Only love can be receptive enough to open the soul to greater acceptance. Mother love is outstandingly receptive, and always holds a listening attitude, ready to listen. A mother thinks, "I'd better listen or I'll miss something." Not to listen to God is discourteous.

A mother is also always ready to give. Mothers specialize in giving love. If you feel that you cannot give love or that others reject your love, make more room on your cloud continent of Light, enlarge it. Promote everyone to it. Expose others to receiving truth by living it. Your face will shine like the Master's, too bright with glory and the love of God to be seen.

Flexibility is the ability to change instantly. Cultivate a brooding yearning selfless compassionate understanding, to bend under pressure, but not break. Each has a niche in God's great tower reaching up to the Source. The tower is the structure of God's plan. When one falls out of his niche, lift him, brush him off and paste him back in his niche with a compound of love.

Unless your love is an epoxy compound of love, faith, trust and brooding yearning mixed well, no one you lift into their own Light will stay there. The miracle depends on the holding power of your epoxy mixture. Sometimes you must hold them in your own niche, closely, until their own strength grows sufficient to move them into their place and hold them there. Angels have charge over you when you speak the Word expansively enough to become all you need.

Balance is the state of equilibrium between Love and Wisdom, but true Mother love, not sentimental mawkish love, not an unbalanced martyrdom. It takes little to end as an imposed upon worm, a doormat. When you feel put upon, you have been cheating yourself.

Everyone needs and must learn to apply a balanced appraisal. For example, picture a family of five having cake for dessert. A martyrish mother will take none. She is not teaching her children unselfishness, but to expect others to sacrifice in their favor.

Pure Mother love is always poised. When your poise meets God's Power, your faculties of intuition and illumination establish the Oversoul's "I AM" consciousness, dwelling in the high place of consciousness.

God's Powerhouse never suffers a breakdown because Light never dies. An illumined mother is a pacesetter, a peacemaker, a shining Light. You must be receptive to new truth, flexible to life, able to bend without breaking. Further, you must remain balanced in prayer and action.

Timeless love, measureless Light is yours. Today, you have it! What will you do with it? What will you make of it? What kind is your love, what size? Love is your investment in Eternal Life. "Let your Light so shine!"

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What Is Illumination? (b)

Edna Lister sermon transcript, May 13, 1962. Scribes: Ruth Johnso, Irene White. Scriptures: Matthew 5:14-16, Matthew 6:22-23.

The electricity that powers a light bulb starts with rain and snow in the mountains. We must condense Light and Energy before they are useable, which leads us back to the original fiat, "Let there be Light!" You can trace energy through every cell, molecule and atom back to the Source of Light. Love and Wisdom are the two great Emanations of life itself. Love is the motivating power of life. Wisdom gives understanding.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. – Matthew 5:14-16.

The declaration, "Ye are the light of the world," epitomizes Mother love. Love must give its Light, so what good is love if you hide it? To express love, unlock your heart, and practice the art of loving. Do not fear that those whom you love will ask for something you can't give them. They will ask for more love and understanding than you have, so give them the love of God, which is firm and unselfish.

"The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." – Matthew 6:22. You look into another's eyes for love. Dull eyes show selfishness, a criticism of God because "I have prayed, but God isn't coming through as I know He should for me." Such a person holds onto his opinions and prejudices while self cuts off his love.

Your only "right" in regard to love is to give it, not to ask for it. Love reveals itself in the eyes, which tell the story of your life. You must understand the Mother Love of God for your eyes to be bright and single, focused on the Light.

"But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness." – Matthew 6:23. Cheating yourself encourages evil. Sublime superiority is to know triumphantly that others need and want of you. Yet this can lead to self-centeredness, inflating your ego. Your eyes will show it. Your expression will say, "Please pet me. Please understand me. God may love me but I need you, too. I'm sorry for my self." Then, of course, people only love you "in spite of." When joy lights your eyes, people love you "because." Take joy only in being needed as an agent of the Father's selfless love. Conquer where you are, and accept.

"If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" – Matthew 6:23. This calls for deep inner analysis and lifting. Accept the heavenly Light.

Moses suffered great heartache after he led the children of Israel from Egypt. He went to the mountain to receive the Law, and after the miracle of talking with God, returned with the tablets. His face shone so brightly from being with God that they could not see his features. In fact, few of them saw him at all, so they continued worshiping the golden calf. They saw the Light, but paid no attention.

Just so, when your Light is great enough, your family sees you as a mirror. They see their own negative expressions in your face, and may even indulge in calling you names.

Jesus took three disciples to the mount to witness his Transfiguration. His robes glistened with the Light shining from within, and the Mother ray, expressing as Love and Wisdom, fueled the glowing Light that shone from his face as the sun.

When people or events tempt you to criticize, see that vision of the Light of Jesus' countenance instead. See that Light in the eyes of the one you would criticize. It will pay dividends. It is the Shekinah glory beyond the silver-white sunset.

Those who want to shuffle off Shakespeare's mortal coil think they can escape responsibility, but they cannot. You do not always need to tell others that you pray. It may offend some, but you can always lift them and let the Father do the work. The love that you add helps the Father to heal them. You can conquer anything that comes to you. Stand and wait upon the Lord, no matter how long it takes.

When you accept responsibility, you go through the three stages of receptivity, flexibility and balance.

The two necessary qualities in mothering love are listening and giving. A loving mother listens under receptivity. She sleeps with one eye open, and hears her child's every sound. To pray only for your "I wants," without listening to others' needs, is discourteous to God. A listening attitude is essential, so listen to God first.

Be alive, alert and afire with the life of God. The Power using you is great, so make room for it in your consciousness and with declarations. Lift the needy person out of the dirt with mother love and put him on a cloud of Light. You will find the perfect words are placed on your lips at the right time. Give of your inner beauty and be receptive to others' needs.

Under flexibility you learn that you need more of love's brooding, yearning qualities, a desire to understand. Use the Socratic method and ask questions rather than saying, "You can't do this," or, "You are wrong." Draw the person out; let him talk about his problem or desires. Through such agreeing and adjusting, he often discovers that he no longer wants what he thought he did.

The brooding, yearning qualities of mother love are not martyrdom. Mothers who are martyrs are ignorant, with little or no love or wisdom. They come in two types, the young-looking ones and the hags. Since you have only one face, treating it gently and tenderly is a good idea.

Heaven is filled with great Orders of Archangels, Councilors and Protectors of Light. Every soul must appear before a Council before coming to earth. Each brings his or her own Light, yet they can give special Light to each soul there.

Some expectant mothers say, "I just want to be a good mother," so they take that much of the Light and no more. A woman may be a good mother, forget to be a good wife and so lose her husband. You might as well say, "I just want to get by."

All souls bring their measure of love with them. What are you doing with yours? Do you go back for more each night and fill your body in the morning? Few are so multiple-minded. Yet you can be, if you always go back for more Light. God's abundance of Light is endless. Be receptive to new truth everywhere. If you don't add something to yesterday's idea, it becomes today's opinion and prejudice.

You will receive enough kicks in life to keep you upright. Accept your need for flexibility and become balanced. Knowing that you stand in balance with the great ones upholding you is important. Melchizedek is walking earth again, and our Lord is with you.

You are riding an ascending escalator for illumination. Keep saying, "Let the Light of God possess me. Let the Wisdom and Love of God possess me." Light then fills you to illumine Wisdom and Love. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do." – John 14:13. Jesus said, "Ask in may name," believing you have it, and you will.

What is the quality of your faith? Is your faith filled with the Love of God? Keep on knowing that God cannot fail. He is under the solemn obligation to fulfill His promises when you love enough. Listen and give of your love freely and abundantly. Your eyes will be alight with joy and you will be in balance.

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Following Your Path of Destiny (a)

Edna Lister sermon transcript, December 4, 1966. Scribes, Ruth Johnson, Irene White. Scripture: Matthew 5:1-19.

Destiny is "the predetermined course of events, often conceived as a relentless power, an inevitable or necessary succession of events, one's fortune, that which determines events, either supernatural or necessary."

Fate is "what is ordained by the gods, that principle or determining cause or will, by which things in general are supposed to come to be as they are or events happen as they do."

"I AM THAT I AM" determines your destiny. Your first choice is recognizing that "this means me." Your second choice is choosing that destiny now.

When you choose destiny, time and space become forever one, and miracles abound. Under fate, your time and space remain separated. You are forever waiting, missing the mark, and enduring delay.

This verse is a built-in measuring rod. By using it, you can always know if you are slipping, if you watch your step. The Beatitudes are attitudes of your being in expression, what the world sees. They set a keynote for conduct, and are nine lessons in gentle manners.

You live your destiny day by day. Your destiny is to live in a timeless, infinite inner world, untouched by the outer. You are immovable in your integrity, incapable of being conditioned by anything outside your own consciousness. Thus, you avoid slavery to the world of appearances.

When Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount, he meant to cover everything that could enslave you or cause you to fall back into earth bondage. Jesus was a positive challenge to all negative darkness.

The Beatitudes are among the lesser mysteries of life, nine ways to meet life as a challenge. They serve as a constant reminder that The Elect are sons and daughters of God, destined to be conquerors and creators. So, you must be at it, forever remembering your measuring rod for conduct. If you shirk one aspect or detail, you slack on all your projects. If you break one law, you break them all.

"I'll do it tomorrow. Just this once is okay. Just once can't matter." Such attitudes ice the vibration, from the highest level to the lowest outermost point. The walls of your creative molds fade and thin to little or nothing. Going slack affects you, from earth to the Source, and is a greatly sinful choice. War is a monster composite vibration of the "little" sins of all the "good" people on earth.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." – Matthew 5:3. "In spirit" is a gloss, added later by copyists [redactors], and is not in the Greek text. In Aramaic, "poor" meant having no possessions. Thus it means being poor in pride and possession of people and things, not to possess. The keynote is "I accept" the Christ consciousness as my destiny. This is your kingdom now.

"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." – Matthew 5:4. Those who mourn over self, in grief, blame and self-pity, end stagnant and crystallized. Mourning for self plays the same old recording, tells the same old story for years.

The keynote of "Blessed are they that mourn" is "I surrender" self. You surrender self to become the servant of all Power, to ascend from the valley of tears into the sunlight. This redeems your wasted time and purifies the emotional residue of grief.

"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." – Matthew 5:5. Meekness means having an open mind and an open heart. When you listen, you never miss an opportunity. This beatitude falls under the principle of nonresistance, the greatest of all laws. Nonresistance does not mean being a doormat or a weak worm, but remaining dynamically poised.

The keynote of "blessed are the meek" is "I give" my full attention. When you pay attention completely, as though everyone has a gift to give you, you become a magnet for good, powerful, positive and attractive.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." – Matthew 5:6. Righteousness is the right use of your highest soul vision, to be so consumed with desire for God's righteousness that you push up like a lily bulb seeking light.

You never hear a "no" without knowing that it will turn to a "yes." To hunger and thirst is to be filled with Power, your atoms bursting with life to be used as energy. The keynote of this beatitude is "I seek." As you seek, you give all that you have to be filled again.

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." – Matthew 5:7. Since your only true freedom is to agree with God that this is good, and adjust to my fellow man, the law requires mercy of you.

Being merciful means that you do not judge unrighteously or from the self's point of view. You are simply becoming too gracious and too generous to be judgmental. See everything as good, and ignore the darkness. The keynote of this beatitude is "I forgive" myself first and all others seventy times seven.

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." – Matthew 5:8. The pure in heart see good everywhere and in everyone, at all times. When you are pure in heart, you are also pure in mind and in purpose. The keynote of this beatitude is "I create." Mind uses your creative tools of desire, thinking and imagination, and you use no idle words. You let the Creative Impulse fill your atoms with perfect life and vitality.

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." – Matthew 5:9. Peacemakers are also pacesetters under the principle of nonresistance, setting the ascension pace for the world. When the peace of I AM consciousness is your soul expression, you stand immovable and untouchable, according to the I AM pattern.

Your poise reaches up, Power descends, and peace and patience become their offspring. An explosion of illumination fills you and you are invincible. The keynote of this beatitude is responsibility, "I am responsible" for setting the pace of my own destiny. As I discharge my responsibility, I become filled with a positive, poised peace, a working peace that goes out and accomplishes.

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." – Matthew 5:10. Jesus said, "It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!" – Luke 17:1. People persecute others because they feel envy and jealousy. The Master plainly warns that this is inevitable.

The keynote of this beatitude is choice. Has your kingdom improved? To assess this, stand off a few paces and look at yourself. What kind of person are you? Do you display entrenched habit patterns? Do you raise your eyebrows, or shrug your shoulders when persecuted, to show your contempt for it? Or do you lift it to a cloud continent of Light, declaring it good and ignoring it?

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." – Matthew 5:11. When others treat you badly, do you act gladly, as though it is the frosting on your cake?

You are the winner, despite all odds when you remain on your Mount of Transfiguration and rejoice. The Mount of Desire is just ahead, across a meadow full of holes, ditches full of green water and quicksand.

Check your Christ consciousness, gear up and dare to live as a challenge to darkness. Declare, "I am 'the light of the world,' sent here to conquer." Light is your destiny, not darkness. Let your Light so shine that you are a living ensample of Light, faith unconquerable and love unquenchable.

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>Following Your Path of Destiny (b)

Edna Lister sermon transcript, December 4, 1966. Scribes: Elizabeth Barnes, Ruth Johnson, Irene White. Scripture: Matthew 5:1-19.

The dictionary defines destiny as the "inevitable or necessary end to which a particular person or thing is destined, one's lot, a predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control, that power or agency thought to predetermine supernatural events."

"THAT" is a hidden Name of God, as in "I AM THAT I AM," which ties your destiny to the "I AM." The first definition of destiny here deals with the fate line. Fate is "what is ordained by the gods, that principle or determining cause or will, by which things in general are supposed to come to be as they are or events happen as they do."

Successive events determine the fate line, which is an inescapable doom. Yet you have choice in the matter. You may live by the fate line or ascend and step onto your path of destiny.

What is this destiny? Destiny greatly concerns your outcome in life as you express it. You live in the world where you wait for time and space to meet, which this is the source of all delay or heartache. You do it in the wrong way, at the wrong time under fate and the world.

When you step onto the path of destiny, you move into Christed consciousness, where time and space are one, and you call it a miracle. Under fate, time and space never seem to meet for you; it's just too late.

Jesus put everything you would need to help you conquer into the Sermon on Mount. He illustrated the difference between fate and destiny, and left the master plans for each to build his own bridge over the abyss between heaven and earth.

The Beatitudes are your attitudes of expression before the world. People have good manners, a lack of manners, and bad manners. The beatitudes are lessons in the expression of gentle, good manners, and laws that you must accept. Your attitudes are the sums of what you show the world, what the world sees and believes you are. You impose your attitudes, your expression of Light on people. This attitude, the tip of an iceberg, is all that the world can see of you for the rest of what you are is invisible.

I am standing here, out in time and space, breathing from the Source. If I break the law here, I miss the mark of the greatness of law. The size of the sin determines how widely I miss the mark. If I am just simmering, I don't just delay for a few minutes. I must stand at a white point of heat to get a miracle. You delay everything when you simmer. Do not just simmer in prayer. Be at the degree of white heat.

When you have a miracle, then break law, you drop straight to bottom. You cannot let down one second on the law, or you cut yourself off from the Source. Always maintain your contact with the Light. Never say, "This is small. It doesn't count. I can make that up." It may take you a month to overcome one negative statement. Under metaphysics, you are accountable to obey every law.

If you blame God that your miracle has not come, you spend three quarters of your time making up your idle words. You cut off Power to every department of your life. The difficulty in climbing is that people often don't know when they sin. Matthew 5:19 is your measuring rod. If you indulge the little self once, you go down the greased pole. When you lose place, climb back up, and do it all again.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." – Matthew 5:3. This law has put a premium on poverty. In Aramaic, "poor" meant not to possess. "Poor in spirit" means possession of things and people. You become a slave to self if you try to possess people or things. This beatitude shows that all things are God's to use, so do not squeeze or possess them. Say, "Thank You, Father, that You have loaned me this."

The kingdom of heaven is within here. If anything outside possesses you, you have no heaven. Holding the kingdom of heaven within, leads to smooth emotions and a smooth life. The keynote is "I accept all things as mine to use."

"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. – Matthew 5:4. This beatitude does not" refer to mourning the loss of possessions or for a loved one who has died. Do not mourn for yourself, because that leads to self-pity. Blessed is the one who leaves the shadows of self-pity for the Light on the Mount of Transfiguration. The keynote is "I surrender self."

"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." – Matthew 5:5. Being meek does not mean to be a doormat, but expresses the most powerful law of nonresistance. True meekness operates only under the principle of nonresistance. Meek means having an open mind, an open heart. Give your full attention to everything that comes to you.

Many refuse to listen when they should. The keynote is to pay attention to each person or experience, to lift them into the kingdom of heaven. Under meekness, you learn to approach each person as though he had a gift for you, and he does: Paying attention strengthens you to apply law, to integrate the experience and to lift it. Stand on your path of destiny while you listen.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." – Matthew 5:6. Righteousness is the application of your highest vision always, in all that you do. It opens your soul vision to see behind the visible, and you can apply what you know to what you are doing.

Hunger is a consuming desire for the things of God, which opens seeing and hearing. Apply what you know to what you are doing. The keynote of the seeker is "I seek greater ways to be filled with life, Light, love and glory. I empty myself of negative self to make room for God."

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." – Matthew 5:7. The keynote is "I forgive," but watch this because having to forgive means you have already blamed and charged the debt to another first. Your task is to be forgiving for God.

God judges each for the degree of self in his performance, and adds up the credits. Be thankful that God doesn't charge you the full amount for your debts! If you are merciful, you give mercy; you dare not judge. The keynote of forgiving is "I give love for whatever it is."

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." – Matthew 5:8. You must see God in everything and everyone. Say, "This is Good. Let there be Light. The world is Light." Broadcast this until the world can hear it.

You can unstop any negative person's ears if you will broadcast the Love of God at a white point of heat. Fill and permeate their home, their office and car with Light, and they will fill themselves. Light absorbs darkness. The keynote is "I create brightness with Light."

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." – Matthew 5:9. A peacemaker is a catalyst, who can enter a room and quell any quarreling with their mere presence while silently broadcasting "Let there be Light" in the midst of anger and curses. All is Light. God's Power is adequate to any situation. It makes no difference whether it removes a wart or a violent mob. God's Power goes forth according to the sight draft that you declare. God must have a mouthpiece who will stand until the world's "no" becomes a "yes."

If you obey one beatitude, you must obey the nine. As a peacemaker, you have the peaceful kingdom of heaven inside. When you ascend as poise, Power descends and an explosion of peace and patience takes place.

Peace and patience are the combination of poise and Power in action. If you lift when poised, you become untouchable, immovable, able to be, to act out your destiny. The keynote of a peacemaker is to stand, hold and know the truth untouchably while being responsible for all around him.

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." – Matthew 5:10-11. Rejoice when others misjudge, criticize or lie about you, because you are standing in Light. Those who stand in the dark cannot bear the Light or to see you happy. Look at them and say, "I love you, too."

You are Light of the world. Your destiny is to be the Light with the right attitude toward the world. Become a little lighter; climb higher. Know that you are in that timeless, infinite place of glory and miracles.

Your transforming statements must be great enough to raise you into the high place. Each goes as high as he can, according to his faith and steadfastness of knowing. The Elect are creator gods, and we walk earth.

This is your chance to be eternal, infinite and divine. Your faith is unconquerable, with the Creative Impulse using you day and night, holding you above the quicksands of self. To never miss a trick, you must listen.

"Let your Light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." – Matthew 5:16. Let your witness for the Christ express this attitude before the world.

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The Religion of Jesus (a)

Edna Lister sermon outline, October 22, 1967. Scriptures: Matthew 5:14-16, Matthew 6:22-23.

Under the category of what we call the religion of hidden wisdom, lies a vast realm of the "unknown," at least to the average intelligence. A source of information seeps through the illusion, from the jungle drum and witch doctor to the highest of intellectual types. From fear of it to ridicule, the Source of All Light entices us.

In Jesus' time, intellectually dogmatic creeds prevailed, based on opinions and prejudices, resulting in many cults. The old Mosaic Law had permitted revenge to enter in, which keeps the soul bound to earth.

Occult work is ancient. Occult means "secret, hidden, concealed, mysterious; beyond human reasoning, not understandable by the finite mind." All occult work impresses us with the fact that in antiquity, darkness closed the Gates of Light. For hundreds of years, only the Egyptian astrologists were able to penetrate beyond the outer practical reality.

Then came Jesus, a man of the people, who dared to talk about the world beyond. He spoke of spiritual seeing and hearing. He insisted that he came to fulfill the law, not to destroy it or ignore it. Jesus insisted on love as the basis for religion, where bigotry has been the rule. He preached to the poor, telling them the kingdom of heaven was open to all. If no one needed to make sacrifices or pay tribute to the Temple, the priests feared he would undermine their work.

The Beatitudes begin Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, which contains all law. He outlined God as personality and principle, with love and obedience to law as outstanding features. Jesus taught a message no prophet, teacher or messiah had ever touched before him and which no one ever completely achieved after, elevating our relationship with God as our Father into a sublime experience.

In three and half years of constant teaching, outlined a new view of religion that has lasted, and proven itself repeatedly, despite persecution, ridicule and being forbidden. It is immortal and shall live forever.

Jesus treated first things first. His religion is a magnificent ensample of intimacy with God, personal and all-embracing, with God as our tender, understanding Father. For example: "What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" – Matthew 7:9-11.

Jesus' faith was not an intellectual reflection, nor a mystical meditation, but faith with works. It takes more than intellectual belief in principle, but complete faith in principle can give the religion of Jesus to everyone.

Jesus taught a relationship with God that was unfaltering and unwavering because it crowned faith with an identity with the Source and an unshakable faith and devotion to that Source. With his own identity and a Father, he could not be moved. It gave him a sublime knowing and confidence, serenity, peace, tranquility of soul, which came from this God-focused identity. God was a living reality to him. He found all values in the invisible kingdom of heaven.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." – Matthew 6:33. You must seek the kingdom first. You find the Light of body by looking up, but only evil and darkness when you look down. Ask, "What will this do to me?"

Most people are forever finding themselves backing into someone's barbed-wire fence. Everyone has a place of soul where they begin to defend themselves, to push beyond this barrier, to find a knife of lashing sarcasm, for example.

Six creative laws correspond to the Beatitudes: "I accept" relates to "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." – Matthew 5:3. Blessed are the poor in self who can give up self and surrender.

"I surrender" relates to "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." – Matthew 5:4. Blessed are they that mourn to surrender to the power of God as knowing that in the overall picture the person has many lessons on earth. Let go and surrender the past.

"I give" relates to "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." – Matthew 5:5. I give and do not just wonder how it is going to affect me. If you step beyond someone's defense mechanism you will get hurt. Let there be light. This is your sheath.

"I seek" relates to "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." – Matthew 5:6. I forever seek first the kingdom of God.

"I forgive" relates to "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." – Matthew 5:7. I fill the other fellow's aura with Light. Then keep on filling it. As the Light inflates his aura, it absorbs his darkness.

"I create" relates to "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." – Matthew 5:8. I create for you and for others that which I desire for myself.

Jesus' faith was his spirit and anchorage. Free, undaunted in face of the world's greatest defeat, an ignominious death left him undaunted. His sublime faith was unconquerable.

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The Religion of Jesus (b)

This Edna Lister sermon transcript is dated October 22, 1967. Scribes: Elizabeth Barnes, Ruth Johnson, Irene White and Virginia Whitehead. Scriptures: Matthew 5:14-16 and Matthew 6:22-23.

Religion is "the human recognition of a superhuman controlling power, especially of a personal God to whom one owes obedience; a quest for the ideal of life involving the practical ideal, and theology or a world view." Conduct is a pure religion. Searching for an identity with something greater than self. Seminaries today train ministers, priests and rabbis in intellectualism. Matthew 5, the longest chapter in the New Testament, repeatedly says that Jesus and God are one.

When you meditate, you lower your vibration, when you must ascend in consciousness instead. You cannot educate God. He knows what you need, so telling Him is unnecessary. When you ascend in consciousness, you let Light do the healing. Declare, "Let me become an instrument of Light and be used as a transformer." Your Guards always stand ready to receive and release the Power according to your declarations.

Theology provides an attitude for life as inspiration, faith and devotion, the three freedoms of religion. Jesus teaches us to express God as love, while religion teaches us soul attributes and qualities. Faith is your expression of the love of God, devotion to Him and worship of what you find Him to be. If love does not flow through and fill science, that science is worth nothing.

All souls are destined to become the Light. Hold the person in need in the Light, remain in the silence yourself, and the Light moves forth as perfection. Under inspired faith and devotion, everything operates properly under God's Emanations.

You are the light of the world. The world itself operates along two lines – that which is known, and that which is unknown. Today, the unknown is so quickly becoming the known that keeping up with it is difficult.

Nothing can prevent the world vibration from impinging on it. You are a receiving set, open to every vibration every day, unless you have an identity anchored in God, and believe in the auric sphere of Light around you.

By breathing deeply, you can fill your aura with condensed Light for protection. Unless you reach up in consciousness and raise your hands for the Power of God to fill your aura, you may be bedeviled by everyone's thoughts. Invoke the Light and fill your aura as a protective sheath. Enough Light absorbs any and all darkness.

When you follow the religion of Jesus, Light protects you. Then you cannot be touched because anything that touches your aura is changed into Light. Teachers and small groups have always brought through such occult wisdom of religion, which has been on earth from the beginning.

The term "occult" has become associated with black magic, which is unfortunate. Occult really means "supernatural, mystical beliefs, practices, or phenomena; beyond the range of ordinary knowledge or experience; mysterious: communicated only to the initiated; esoteric."

The greatest mystery of religion is that the Elect must change darkness to Light wherever they go. As an individual, you must open the darkness of other lives to the Light, for cleansing. Is your record from this year splotched? What have you cleaned up behind yourself? If you say, "Let there be Light" as you go through earth life, you will attract other Light.

When Jesus came, the evil was so rampant that he had to do something to lighten it. The same priests devoted to darkness who were working then are now working again. They have destroyed ancient civilizations and are working to do so again, but the descended creator gods have moved into place to prevent them.

The prayers of the Elect have shortened time for the fulfillment of the Plan of Salvation. The millions who pray are greater in their release of Power than those who stand around doing nothing, or the few who are devoted to evil. You must keep your vital and creative centers open from within to pray and release Power effectively. Your prayers open the veils of illusion and the Gates of Heaven.

The Power that Jesus released with his sacrifice of Crucifixion, the Resurrection and his Ascension has lasted two thousand years and is still saving mankind now. Jesus came to earth as one of us. He was from the line of David, a descended god who was born in a humble place. When Jesus began to preach, he told the common man that he was one with God, and said, "Go to your Father." He did not need bell, book or candle, the formalized law of the temple priesthood.

[Bell, book, and candle is a term formerly used in a Roman Catholic ceremony pronouncing the "major excommunication" or "anathema." Its origins are not clear, but it dates certainly to the late 9th Century. The bell represented the public character of the act, the book the authority of the words spoken by the presiding bishop. The candle was believed to symbolize the possibility that the ban might be lifted by the repentance and amendment of its victim.]

The priests of Jesus' time lived under the law of an eye for an eye, a creed which has a revenge motive written into it. So when he preached God as love, a loving Father, he infuriated them. They felt they had to stop him, so they worked to destroy anything that deviated from their pattern.

In 3.5 years, Jesus organized a new approach to religion, a method of identifying with God that will never die. His approach is based on the fact he identified with his Father, God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus left no loophole for self. His religion and his life epitomized everything he preached in his three-and-a-half-year ministry.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." – Matthew 6:33. Jesus was a living ensample of the words he uttered, and with the laws he taught, he gave us a tranquility of spirit. He was intimate with his Father, yet impersonal, opening the way for all souls to follow him. Seeking first the kingdom is searching for contact with the whole.

The power Jesus spoke about then is the same power moving through today, multiplied a billion-fold, the same power you invoke when you open your eyes in the morning. When the force has died down at night, all you must do is to press the button and say, "Let there be Light." It's a long step from the vibration of the horse and camel stage to the jet plane. Spiritual leaders have brought through endless degrees of the universal Power, Substance, and life of God. All you need is to say, "Let there be Light."

What stage are you in? Do you have soot in your eye? "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" – Matthew 6:22-23.

Jesus was crowned with tranquility even to an ignominious death. He taught that the Light of the body is the eye. Your eyes do not simply see, they are windows, instruments of soul. The light of your eyes tells those around you in what degree you are walking in and carrying, from self to soul. How the workers in darkness have tried to do evil, but the prayers of the Elect have shortened time. We know that more Christians are working quietly for God than the screaming fanatics are working for evil.

What stage do you occupy? How far is it from your self to your soul? "If the light that is in thee is darkness how great is that darkness?" – Matthew 6:23. Every idle word douses the vibration of Light in the body. Idle words cause darkness because they lower your vibration and show through your aura of lights and colors. The Light within you penetrates and destroys darkness.

Jesus taught that the Light that moves through you is not you, but that substance which is life to you. You can use all the Light you can hold or give to others. Light will show others your good works. The law tells us that there is no small thing, meaning no facet of self is too minor or insignificant for soul to monitor. Watch, for you can slip even if all you do is to make a fetish of a new idea.

To start walking the Via Christa, choose just a few of Jesus' laws to obey until you are letter-perfect. He taught God as principle, which you reverence and obey, and personality, which you love, adore and credit for you success. God will not change His laws because He cannot. The Father understands you, but will not cater to your negativity.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." – Matthew 5:3. Blessed are the poor in self who can give up self and surrender to become the instrument of God's desire and will, which includes "Thy will be done." Running counter to the surrender of self is the attitude of letting self run wild, uncontrolled and undisciplined. The "Let children express themselves" idea started around 1906, creating the difficulties we see today from the hippies to the non-patriots.

"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." – Matthew 5:4. Blessed are those who surrender to the power of God, knowing that they have many lessons to learn on earth. Your need for help mentally touches your Begotten Father, who fills your aura, glands and creative centers with Light. Your answer will come, but you must go to God in complete surrender of the past. You cannot reopen the gate to any lost paradise.

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." – Matthew 5:5. I give; I do not sit and wonder how this situation or person will affect me. The higher you go in Light, the more you force those near you into it. If you step beyond his defense mechanism, he will lash you. Declare, "Let there be Light" to fill his aura and your own for Light absorbs darkness. When enough Light fills your aura, it expands and condenses into a great magnetic wall of protection that rejects and repels darkness.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." – Matthew 5:6. To hunger and thirst for righteousness means to seek God. Declare, "I seek the Light." In finding Light, you have found everything you need.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." – Matthew 5:7. To be merciful is to forgive. Declare, "I forgive. I give love." Fill the other fellow's aura with the condensed Light of the living God. Keep filling his aura, for as the Light fills his aura, it destroys the darkness.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." – Matthew 5:8. Blessed are the pure in heart, mind and purpose. I create in others that which I desire for myself.

Zoroaster brought cleansing fire. Hermes brought the hidden wisdom of religion. Pythagoras brought the great philosophy of religion. But no avatar did what Jesus did. What made Jesus stand out as so different? He was indifferent to pain and scorn. He was the only one who proved his religion by becoming the faith of his religion, the faith of God as the Father, and obedience to His divine principle.

Through Jesus Christ, you know a glory of soul confidence, and your faith becomes unconquerable. You ascend, knowing that He created the Elect to serve His law. God has opened the Gates of Light to the highest Source to confirm your place within the whole.

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Let Your Light Shine

Edna Lister created this Prayer Circle Sunday Vespers sermon outline for December 1, 1968. Scriptures: Matthew 5:14-16, Matthew 6:22-23 and James 1:17.

"Ye are the light of the world" describes your relationship to the world. You do not hide your Light, neither do you seek credit. You let your Light so shine. How do you do this? "So" represents "a way or a manner, the extent of desire." "So" qualifies any statement to a high degree.

"Let" means the "degree of" and sets the keynote for surrender. Where does it come from? "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." – James 1:17.

What is the quality of your Light? Have you added other commands in Jesus' teachings to let your Light so shine? Are you a servant of all the Power? Have you surrendered to be possessed by the Light?

Are you so overflowing with that joy of knowing that you are filled with God's Light that it does shine forth to glorify your Father God? Do you give God all the credit for shining His Light through you for the world to see? So, these verses show you what you must let the Light do.

A second set of verses set the keynote of your relationship with God: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" – Matthew 6:22-23.

This passage cannot refer to the physical eyes, left or right. "If therefore thine eye be single" must refer to the mystic third eye of soul. Vision that is dark or clouded is cut off.

Do you picture evil? If you review the past week, did you see, hear or speak of darkness? In the past three months, can you claim never to have had a dark thought, heard gossip, seen the headlines or spoken wrongly? Have you lived even one day when your whole body was full of Light? How do you get to this Light? How do you make it a practical thing?

In the heavens above, we see lightning clash as two opposing forces meet and explode. This is how Jesus spoke the Word that withered the barren fig tree. On earth, your out-flowing vibration hits a world vibration, clashes, explodes and causes trouble. If you think this is impossible, you are mistaken. If your vibration or the world's carries force, the result is an explosion of force.

The only way to avoid force is to remember these laws: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." – John 14:6. "What is that to thee? follow thou me." – John 21:22.

You must lift the five senses until they take in pure Light from above. This is how you may transform your pattern for living. Whether you remain a slave to any outer thing is your choice. Yet you eventually must let divine Mind direct and control your life and choices.

You begin your process of choosing before you leave heaven for earth. Plato's legend tells of an Order of Archangels in charge of God's powerhouse, who ask how much Light you wish to bring to earth with you.

People usually answer that they need enough to be a good parent, businessman, minister, or to help the world. God's powerhouse never shuts down. You must become and remain aware of your Source of Light, and alive and alert to all needs below. Let your Light so shine!

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Edna Miriam Lister
1884 – 1971
The original Christian Pioneering Mystic,
Platonist philosopher, American Idealist, Founder, Society of the Universal Living Christ, minister, teacher, author, wife, and mother.

Note: We owe a debt of gratitude to the enthusiastic and determined efforts of Clarissa A. Watkins, who rendered her notes into a series of typed manuscripts, found among Edna Lister's personal papers. In an attached note, Clarissa wrote, "To our Most Glorious Leader, Edna Lister: Here are my typed notes, and please do forgive the delay. We all believe that we should publish as many of your lectures as you will permit. No one has ever brought such a message to earth. Please accept this humble offering of service, C.A.W."

Unquenchable Love
Love is a flame and fire that burns ever. Love cannot be quenched. Love cannot be put out. Love is. True Love needs no assurances. True Love knows itself and its own. Love is the fire that enthuses. Love is a fire that ever burns higher, always upward.

True Love is the end as well as the beginning. True Love feeds upon itself and not upon the loved one. True Love magnifies the one whom it loves. Love asks no favors and gives all. Love's strength lies in its self-sustaining ability. Love's keynote is a deep, abiding devotion to the one who is loved.

True Love burns steadfastly under all conditions, joy or sorrow, separation or unity. True Love counts no effort too great nor too small, and no task too hard nor too long. True Love is lifting, opens all doors, and is all-compelling in its power to unite. True Love is never conscious of giving, but like sunshine, shares itself with all. True Love withstands all separation and lives forever. – Edna Miriam Lister, 1939

To be, or not to be, that is the question: whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them: to die, to sleep no more; and by a sleep, to say we end the heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. To die to sleep, to sleep, perchance to dream; aye, there's the rub, for in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause.
– William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1623, First Folio

References

Encyclopedia Britannica Online. "Bell, book and candle." Web. 26 Jun. 2011: Encyclopedia Britannica

The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary, "Occult, Fate, Destiny." Weiner, E.S.C., ed, 2 vols. Oxford University Press, 1971.

The Holy Bible. King James Version (KJV), Public Domain.

Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, "Illumination," 5th ed. G. & C. Merriam Co., Springfield, MA, 1938.

Related Topics

See Light

See The Metaphors and Similes Jesus Used

See The Parables and Allegories Jesus Taught

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