Pioneering Mystic Sermons, 2008

Full Circle

Linda Mihalic, Palm Sunday March 13, 2008, Cleveland, Ohio. Luke 2:40-52, John 12:24

  “And the child [Jesus] grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him. His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days, as they returned, the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother did not know it; but supposing him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey, and sought him among their relatives and acquaintances. So when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. Now so it was that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. So when they saw him, they were amazed; and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously." And he said to them, "Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?" But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”–Luke 2:40-52
  “Most assuredly; I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”–John 12:24

  Some people define Rebirth narrowly, as in being born again “in Christ,” the belief in Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Yet this is such a limited definition of an experience that most people will undergo millions of times in one life. Rebirth is the initiation of the first Degree, the Neophyte. Each of the great Seven Degrees has its own initiation: The Neophyte is Reborn, the Disciple is Baptized by Water, the Adept is Baptized by Fire, the Mystic is Transfigured, the Master is Crucified, the Priest Resurrects himself, and the Christos Ascends.
  Literal Christians, those who hold fundamentalist beliefs, grasp the truth that Christ is the Way (John 14:6), and step onto the path that we call the Via Christa, the Way of Christ, which is the Spiral Path of Ascension. Up through the center of the spiral is what we call the short Path of the Master. It is so named, not for Jesus, but for the Degree of Master, whose vow is responsibility in all things. The Master deliberately crucifies the self. We may travel this short path only as far as we have conquered the self, no farther. Then, to climb higher, we must step off and plod along the remaining length of the spiral path to whatever height of ascension our conquering has taken us.
  The goal of Ascension is to travel directly to God, no longer needing the slower step-by-step path. To be fully Christed in consciousness is to maintain God-consciousness 24/7. Edna Lister taught that Jesus’ life contains the template for conquering self on the Seven Degrees. Recognizing the final four degree initiations is simple: They include the Transfiguration, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and the Ascension, all of which the Gospels describe. The first three degree initiations, the Rebirth, the Baptism by Water and the Baptism by Fire are more difficult to discern. Yet the whole world functions at the level of these first three Degrees, the Neophyte, Disciple and Adept, all the time.
  Rebirth is an awakening to a new consciousness of life with its rich and manifold meaning. A rebirth is always a soul-awakening from the narcotic effects of the self and its habitation of the body. Rebirth automatically brings us to the Neophyte Degree, whose vow is to make the body a fit dwelling place for the soul. We do well to ask, which body, the cellular physical, molecular desire (emotional), atomic mental or subatomic spiritual body? Do we feed ourselves, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual junk food?
  Baptism by Water, the Disciple’s initiation, is always associated with what or who we are following. It includes such worldly interests as friends, hobbies, sports, fashion, music, politics and religion. Our relationships in these spheres of life always begin with an emotional “hook,” of which we must become aware before we can lift it. All prejudices are born and nurtured on this degree. A Baptism by Water always involves the emotions and the conquering of the emotional nature, bringing it into balance with logical thinking. “Walking on water” is the result of conquering one’s emotional reactions to the point where one responds in a calm, objective way, no matter how outrageous the insult, demand or outright emotional manipulation by another.

  The Baptism by Fire, the Adept’s initiation, is always associated with your opinions about the “right way” to do and to be in life. You worship your opinions about friends, hobbies, sports, fashion, music, politics and religion, and attempt to convert everyone else to our point of view. A Baptism by Fire always involves a challenge to our critical thinking faculties, including logic, reasoning, discretion, discrimination and discernment. When prejudice, as yet not lifted under the second Disciple Degree, further informs opinion, we may deteriorate into intolerant bigotry. Demagogues, such as many radio talk show hosts, are an extreme form of this.
  The scripture from the Gospel of Luke describes the first moment of Rebirth in the Master Jesus’ incarnation. As a twelve-year-old boy, he was ready to become a bar mitzvah (literally “a son of the law”) when his parents took him to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. Jesus had planned his incarnation carefully before he began it, before he was born. He had a great mission to fulfill; he was “strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.” This spirit, wisdom and grace, which is a threefold benediction, would have filled him with an absolute love and respect for divine Law.
  He probably read his Torah portion in the great Temple of Jerusalem, with many rabbis among his audience. To read his Torah portion, which very likely included the Pascal portion of the Passover Story, undoubtedly awakened his consciousness in a Rebirth of dedication to his mission. Thus, when his worried mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously," he replied, "Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?"
  The boy Jesus had experienced an epiphany, which we define as a “sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something, a comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization.” We have all experienced at least one epiphany. Why settle for a starvation diet when, by working on our self, we could enjoy such intuitive realization every day?
  Rebirth is the destruction of apathy and inertia. Jesus said, “Most assuredly; I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24). For consciousness to be reborn, that consciousness must first “die.” The Master planned his own death, just has he had planned his life. He sought the Crucifixion, without which the Resurrection and the Ascension would have been meaningless.
  The Crucifixion created a stunning memory in everyone who witnessed it. Jesus was a vibrant, charismatic young man. Just by hearing about his crucifixion would have affected anyone who had met him, who had heard him speak or teach, anyone who had been healed or who had witnessed him healing. The idea of his crucifixion would have created an indelible mark on their memory of him, just as we remember how a friend or loved one had been crucified by illness, accident or other tragedy. The worldly powers crucified him literally. Life crucifies us figuratively.
  Crucifixion is the prelude to Resurrection, which is another form of Rebirth. For us, the self usurping the role of soul in consciousness always triggers Crucifixion. In Jesus’ Crucifixion, the self involved was that of the opinionated, prejudiced Court of the Sanhedrin who tried him, condemned him in secret, and the multitude who screamed, “Crucify him.” In teaching that the grain must die to be fruitful, Jesus was illustrating that Crucifixion or “death,” is required before the Light can resurrect the germ of a seed or an idea. Then the “crop” ascends or grows from darkness into the greater Light. The crop is truth.
  Today is Palm Sunday, the day upon which we commemorate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The common people hailed him and cheered him, for he gave them hope. He healed their ills. In less than a week his followers would stand helpless while another crowd drowned them out with shouts of “Crucify him!” As a Master, he stood silently and let them all choose and do the things they wished to do, to him and ultimately to themselves. If you crucify the truth, eventually the truth shall crucify you.
  To understand the Passion of the Christ fully, we must study it together with the Passover. That would be a new course of study for most of us. Until we do so, we will continue to lack the context we need to bring the meaning of his life into focus. To experience the Rebirth, Jesus went to Jerusalem, which they call the City of Peace. For us to experience a Rebirth, we must dwell in Jerusalem, in the peace of the Silence.
  We belong to the Master; we are sheep of his flock. We know his voice and we go to him when he calls. He is calling us now, asking us to drop our seeds of grain upon the ground, to let the old opinions and prejudices die so that Light might resurrect new truth in their place. We can do this. We can arise and go to him, proclaim his triumph and never again lend ourselves to aiding in his Crucifixion through apathy or inertia, through entertaining unworthy emotions or thoughts. Then we may again enter the City of Peace, willingly to face our own Crucifixion of self. The great secret of conquering on this initiation of mastery is voluntarily to crucify the self that is always seeking to seize control and to disrupt our peace.
  We must move toward our destiny in just as poised a manner as Jesus entered Jerusalem, accepting the fact that the Crucifixion is coming, and it will be as difficult as we make it, but no more. We shall inevitably grow in spirit, wisdom and grace, as did the child Jesus, until we are utter Masters at resurrecting our souls from the ashes of a dead self. When we have learned to come full circle willingly, to be as a child, even when we face a painful Crucifixion, with the innocence of love without guile, then we shall be as the Master, truly, blazing in spirit, wisdom and grace a threefold benediction to our own souls and to the world, the perfect servants of joyous Fathers in heaven.
  Today is our day to shine forth in glory, to make our Lord smile! We, with our vision of perfect peace and healing for the world, can turn the tide against those dark and subversive forces that seek to disrupt the Plan of Creation yet again. We, who know the truth that shall set all humanity free, can blazon the Path of Ascension for all others through these clouds of world darkness and confusion. This is our destiny, our day of triumph! For this we were sent here, to serve the Lord of All as way-showers, small messiahs, in the retinue of the Only Begotten Son of God.

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The Mother’s Way

Linda Mihalic, Pentecost, May 11, 2008, Cleveland, Ohio, Matthew 15:21-28, John 8:3-11, Luke 7:37-50

  “Then Jesus…departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, Send her away, for she cries out after us. But he answered and said, I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then she came and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me! But he answered and said, It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs. And she said, Yes; Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire. And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”–Matthew 15:21-28
  “Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to him, Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say? This they said; testing him, that they might have something of which to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger, as though he did not hear. So when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them, He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one; beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman, he said to her, Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”–John 8:3-11
  “A woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at his feet behind him weeping; and she began to wash his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner, and Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. So he said, Teacher; say it. There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more? Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And he said to him, You have rightly judged. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Then he said to her, Your sins are forgiven. And those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? Then he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”–Luke 7:37-50

  Our Declaration of Unquenchable Love reads: “Love is a flame and a fire that burns ever. Love cannot be quenched. Love cannot put out; Love is.” When God, the All That Is, spoke the Word, Light came into being. The primordial singularity exploded, forming the space-time continuum, which existed then as a fiery mist, called plasma.
  The plasmas.org website says that “Plasma is by far the most common form of matter. Plasma in the stars and in the tenuous space between them makes up over 99% of the visible universe and perhaps most of that which is not visible.” This plasma, of which everything is formed, is the substance of the Mother, which is the feminine aspect of the Godhead that nourishes and sustains all that the masculine Mind of Wisdom thinks and plans.
  Plasma is the fourth state of matter, the first three being solids, liquids and gases. For example, ice is a solid, water a liquid, steam a gas, and ionized gas is plasma. Without sufficient sustaining power, plasmas relax and recombine into neutral gas. By applying electric and/or magnetic fields to a plasma, we can accelerate and steer it, which allows it to be controlled. To us, the Word of God, the Logos, is the sustaining Power, according to our reading of the findings of plasma physicists. Their description of plasma’s response to an electrical/ magnetic stimulus tells us that the nature of the Word must be electrical and magnetic.
  The Three aspects of the One God–Wisdom, Love and the Logos–are forever one. When we notice one phase, it is because that phase is dominant in that moment; another phase may predominate in the next instant. We use Wisdom, acting as Mind (as our individual mind) to perceive bits of reality in this world of appearances, which deceive. All action is possible to us through the Logos, which is all Power, potential and kinetic, in the universes.
  Love is the very Substance of which God has formed us, the carrier wave of Light, Mind and Power. Love is the glue that holds everything together as magnetic attraction. We are drawn to God through Love, acting on our souls as paradise gravity, which draws all souls to God. This is how we may explain the nature of Wisdom, Love and the Logos metaphysically, scientifically and philosophically. Yet it does not satisfy our “personal” needs, our yearning as personalized souls for a direct and intimate relationship with our Father-Mother God.
  We seek God personally using psychology and mysticism, through feelings, emotional states, intuition and illumination. Psychology and mysticism are difficult topics because they are far more subjective than the objective frame of mind we may use in studying metaphysics, science and philosophy. When we ask, How can I apply that to my life? Or, Of what use is this teaching to me practically? We are asking for answers that will satisfy us only through personality emotionally, not through intellect and principle.
  Psychology means, literally, “the study of the soul.” We ask these questions as fiery souls, not as cold intellectuals. Mysticism is the belief in personal union and communion with the Divine, hearing the still, small voice of Truth. True mysticism takes us further and higher into the Light, which is the Voice of God the soul hears, not through earthly, earthy ears. The Source of All Light is constantly creating and maintaining reality. The Voice never stops saying, “Let there be Light.” God never ceases declaring Creation good.
  In the mystic communion, we know that God is, and that we are parts of the Light personalizing the Godhead, speaking the Word of selflessness in joy. Our souls know this, but we generally forget this bliss until we are in need or someone reminds us.
  Jesus was already a Master and a Priest at his birth. He held the six lesser degrees, and came to earth to fulfill the final work of the Christos Degree. He needed no reminder of the nature of his soul or his relationship with God. Part of his message was to help us to realize that God is our personal Father, and to exalt women; he did so when he spoke to his mother from the cross.
  He understood all about love and the Law. He required the Canaanite woman to ask three times for her daughter’s healing, which is the law that applies in certain cases: For instance, this law applies to a soul who has turned from the Light, as this demon-possessed daughter had, or when one soul asks for another to be healed, as this mother did.
  Jesus said to her, O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire. We know that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). This mother’s faith was the substance of her daughter’s miracle. She bought the miracle with the holy fire of a mother’s desire. We must tend the fire of our desire, never letting it die down. Then, in the instant that we hear of the need for a miracle, we are ready to speak the Word. If we remain in a constant state of readiness, which is mastery, then we need no lead time to prepare.
  The woman taken in adultery was just a “working girl” fighting to live in a society that condemned her, not perverted or wanton to satisfy an urge, and Jesus knew it. He also knew that they had laid in wait to catch her, and to use her to catch him. Today we call this “entrapment.” Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger, pretending he could not hear them. One by one, they left, “being convicted by their conscience.” Edna Lister said that each man left when he saw Jesus write his name in the sand. He did not condemn her, but simply said, “Go and sin no more.” Women in that culture were dependant on husbands or family for protection. She was perhaps a widow with no other family, still attractive but not young enough to find a new husband. He did not punish the victim.
  The woman, who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair, was a well-known sinner. According to John, Judas, the group’s treasurer, complained that she had wasted costly oil that he could have sold to feed the poor. Obviously, she was a wealthy sinner, and truly repentant. Jesus chastised an entire dinner party of wealthy and learned men for criticizing her. He noted that she had acted more courteously than the host by washing and anointing his feet. Then he publicly forgave her many sins, because she loved greatly, adding that her faith had saved her. Her repentance and faith opened the door for her misused soul substance to return to her when he spoke the Word of forgiveness.
  Jesus’ messianic mission had many marvelous facets, one of the greatest of which is how he added love to the law, teaching the world how to exercise compassion. He understood love because he knew the Way of the Mother of Love. Among early followers of Christ, one group, known as the Gnostics, claimed to experience a "special witness" or revelatory experience of the divine. Stephan Hoeller explains that these Christians held a "conviction that direct, personal and absolute knowledge of the authentic truths of existence is accessible to human beings, and, moreover, that the attainment of such knowledge must always constitute the supreme achievement of human life." This perfectly describes the path of the Mystic Degree.
  “The Thunder, Perfect Mind” is part of the Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of more than fifty texts, discovered in Egypt in 1945. It and many other similar documents were suppressed by the early Catholic Church as it formulated its approved Christian canon, deciding what was “acceptable.” The translation of the Nag Hammadi Library was completed in the 1970s, and is available in book form and on the internet. It is not widely known. Many regard it as heathen in origin, although no firm evidence for its source has been found.
  It’s a miracle that some of the mysteries, hidden for thousands of years, have been rediscovered, translated and published. It’s a wonder that we can download and read them today; we can find them anytime and make them our own. The mysteries are difficult to understand. Intellect cannot decipher their message, yet a soul can apprehend their truth, and thrill in delight at the joy they bring.
  Today is Pentecost, and the Divine Fire has been flowing from the Source of all Light since Twelfth Night, to bathe Earth, to fill it, to saturate and permeate every atom with the newness of all life and love. To those who seek to confuse the children of earth, we say, “The powerful devouring fire of Mother Love shall consume you utterly.” To those who speak lies, claiming they are truth, we say, “The consuming fire of Mother Love shall burn the substance of your untruth utterly.”
  To those who seek to suborn the election process in these United States, we say, “The consuming fire of Mother Love shall burn away the veils behind which you seek to hide. You shall stand utterly exposed to the Light of God and all the world shall see you for what you truly are.” To those who seek to enslave the working people of our land and the world, we say, “Beware! You are choosing the measure by which you shall be measured. The Consuming Fire of Mother Love shall burn the dross in you that seeks to deny others that which you enjoy.” To all those who preach a gospel of materialism and greed, of callous elitism and cruelty, we say, “Beware, for the day is at hand when the blood, sweat and tears of those whom you have wronged shall be required of your souls. The Consuming Fire of Mother Love shall burn away the veils behind which you seek to hide. You shall stand utterly exposed to the Light of God and all the world shall see you for what you truly are.”
  To those who approach the Throne of Grace in repentance and humility, we say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. The consuming fire of Mother Love shall burn away all past memory of sorrow, pain and shame.” To those who approach the Throne of Grace in humility, requesting healing, we say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. The Consuming Fire of Mother Love shall burn away all that blots the soul record of the one for whom you pray. No illness may stand in the face of Love.”
  To the remnant of our little self, we say, “By the Power of the Word of Love, I consign you to the cleansing Consuming Fire of Mother Love. All chaff of self, be thou burned utterly and unto perfection.” Let us all stand in the Consuming Fire of Mother Love for the next 48 hours. Let us devote ourselves to this purification so that we may face these summer months leading to August Tenth in strength and gladness that we are available for God to use.
  Our Master is waiting for us to join him, and our Father-Mother God has need of us to lift earth. Today we are baptized in flames of the Holy Spirit anew, imbued with Power from on high. Let us declare, “I am strong enough to serve my Father-Mother by living according to the Way of the Mother of Love. I can serve Father-Mother God in this manner. I do serve my Father-Mother in joy now!”

The Thunder, Perfect Mind
Translated by George W. MacRae from The Nag Hammadi Library

  I was sent forth from the Power, and I have come to those who reflect upon me, and I have been found among those who seek after me. Look upon me, you who reflect upon me, and you hearers, hear me. You who are waiting for me, take me to yourselves, and do not banish me from your sight; do not make your voice hate me, nor your hearing.
  Do not be ignorant of me anywhere or any time. Be on your guard! Do not be ignorant of me. For I am the first and the last. I am the honored one and the scorned one. I am the whore and the holy one. I am the wife and the virgin. I am the mother and the daughter. I am the members of my mother. I am the barren one and many are my sons.
  I am she whose wedding is great, and I have not taken a husband. I am the midwife and she who does not bear. I am the solace of my labor pains. I am the bride and the bridegroom, and it is my husband who begot me. I am the mother of my father and the sister of my husband, and he is my offspring.
  I am the slave of him who prepared me. I am the ruler of my offspring, but he is the one who begot me on a birthday before time. He is my offspring in due time, and my power is from him. I am the staff of his power in his youth, and he is the rod of my old age, and whatever he wills happens to me.
  I am the silence that is incomprehensible and the idea whose remembrance is frequent. I am the voice whose sound is manifold and the word whose appearance is multiple. I am the utterance of my name.
  Why, you who hate me, do you love me, and hate those who love me? You who deny me, confess me, and you who confess me, deny me. You who tell the truth about me, lie about me, and you who have lied about me, tell the truth about me. You who know me, be ignorant of me, and those who have not known me, let them know me, for I am knowledge and ignorance.
  I am shame and boldness. I am shameless; I am ashamed. I am strength and I am fear. I am war and peace. Give heed to me. I am the one who is disgraced and the great one.
  Give heed to my poverty and my wealth. Do not be arrogant to me when I am cast out upon the earth, and you will find me in those that are to come. Do not look upon me on the dung-heap nor go and leave me cast out, and you will find me in the kingdoms....
  I, I am compassionate and I am cruel. Be on your guard! Do not hate my obedience and do not love my self-control.
  In my weakness, do not forsake me, and do not be afraid of my power. For why do you despise my fear and curse my pride? I am she who exists in all fears and strength in trembling.
  I am she who is weak, and I am a well in a pleasant place. I am senseless and I am wise. Why have you hated me in your counsels? For I shall be silent among those who are silent, and I shall appear and speak.
  I am the wisdom of the learned and the knowledge of the barbarians. I am the judgement of the learned and of the barbarians. I am the one whose image is great in Egypt and the one who has no image among the barbarians.
  I am the one who has been hated everywhere and who has been loved everywhere. I am the one whom they call Life, and you have called Death. I am the one whom they call Law, and you have called Lawlessness.
  I am the one whom you have pursued, and I am the one whom you have seized. I am the one whom you have scattered, and you have gathered me together. I am the one before whom you have been ashamed, and you have been shameless to me.
  I, I am godless, and I am the one whose God is great. I am the one whom you have reflected upon, and you have scorned me. I am unlearned, and they learn from me. I am the one that you have despised, and you reflect upon me.
  I am the one from whom you have hidden, and you appear to me. But whenever you hide yourselves, I myself will appear. Whenever you appear, I myself will hide from you....
  I know the First Ones and those after them know me. I am the knowledge of my inquiry, and the finding of those who seek after me, and the command of those who ask of me, and the power of the powers in my knowledge of the angels, who have been sent at my word, and of gods in their seasons by my counsel, and of spirits of every man who exists with me, and of women who dwell within me.
  I am the one who is honored and praised, and who is despised scornfully. I am peace...and war has come because of me.
  I am the substance and the one who has no substance. Those who are without association with me are ignorant of me, and those who are in my substance are the ones who know me. Those who are close to me have been ignorant of me, and those who are far away from me are the ones who have known me. I am close to you on the day when you are far away from me and when you believe I am far away from you....
  I am control and the uncontrollable. I am the union and the dissolution. I am the abiding and I am the ephemeral. I am the one below, and they come up to me.
  I am the judgment and the acquittal. I, I am sinless, and the root of sin derives from me. I am lust in outward appearance, and interior self-control exists within me.
  I am the hearing which is attainable to everyone and the speech which cannot be grasped. I am a mute who does not speak, and great is my multitude of words. Hear me in gentleness, and learn of me in roughness. I am she who cries out, and I am cast forth upon the face of the earth....
  You who are vanquished, judge them who vanquish you before they give judgment against you, because the judge and partiality exist in you. If you are condemned by this interior judge, who will acquit you? Or, if you are acquitted by him, who will be able to detain you?
  For what is inside of you is what is outside of you, and the one who fashions you on the outside is the one who shaped the inside of you. What you see outside of you, you see inside of you; it is visible and it is your garment.
  Hear me, you hearers and learn of my words, you who know me. I am the hearing that is attainable to everything; I am the speech that cannot be grasped. I am the name of the sound and the sound of the name…
  Give heed then, you hearers and you also, the angels and those who have been sent, and you spirits who have arisen from the dead. For I am the one who alone exists, and I have no one who will judge me.
  For many are the pleasant forms which exist in numerous sins, dissipation, disgraceful passions, and fleeting pleasures, which men embrace until they become balanced and go up to their resting place. And they will find me there, and they will live, and they will not die again.

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Absolute Moral Authority

Linda Mihalic, August 10, 2008, Cleveland, Ohio. Matthew 21:23-27, John 7:14-18, Matthew 5:18

  When he came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority? But Jesus answered and said to them, I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John–where was it from? From heaven or from men? And they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we say, From heaven, he will say to us, Why then did you not believe him? But if we say, From men, we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet. So they answered Jesus and said, We do not know. And he said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.–Matthew 21:23-27
  Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, How does this man know letters, having never studied? Jesus answered them and said; My doctrine is not mine, but His who sent me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of the One, who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.–John 7:14-18
  Assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.–Matthew 5:18

  Absolute means unrestricted, independent, unqualified and unconditional, not relative or comparative. Moral relates to distinguishing between the principles of right and wrong in conduct. Authority is the power or right to give commands, to enforce obedience, to take action, or to make final decisions.
  God is the absolute moral authority of the universe, who conferred this authority upon His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Becoming absolutely moral is as simple and as difficult as becoming absolutely obedient to divine law. Being absolutely moral is different than being absolutely moralistic. A merely moralistic soul invariably displays a narrow-minded morality, is obsessed with regulating others’ morals, or imposes censorship on whoever he can.
  According to Immanuel Kant, we must so abstractly conceive our ultimate principle of morality as a moral law that it can guide us to the right action in every possible set of circumstances. In other words, right actions are those that practical reason would will as universal law. You may be familiar with this idea as an absolute law of mastery: If it is not right for all the world to do or to leave undone all of the time, it is not right for me to do or to leave undone at any time.
  True moral authority never insists upon itself, but self-righteous tyrants do. Moralistic persons usually have too much morality and want to share it with everyone else by forcing it on them. God said to Abraham, Walk before me and be perfect—He said it once, but never harped on the subject afterward.
  To have or to exercise absolute moral authority, you must be absolutely moral. You achieve absolute morality through absolute obedience to divine law. You must give up self to make room for an ever greater understanding of law. As you apply logic, reason, discernment, discrimination and discretion, you are able to see (discern) the laws that are in operation in your life.
  By holding your emotions in check, you can bring subconscious or unconscious reactions under your conscious direction and control, which is the first step in the soul conquering the self. Discernment, discrimination, and discretion thus become possible, and your reasoning faculty is no longer mere rationalization. By commanding yourself emotionally, you may then consciously engage your critical thinking faculties, opening the world of logic, mental clarity, and comprehension of law as it operates in your life and in the world.
  All these steps interrelate as you seek God, as you make your Creator the focus of your world. Absolute morality is God as you. Here you stand, in the anteroom of cosmic consciousness, which is the Christed consciousness, the Christ mind. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.–Philippians 2:5. We have the mind of Christ.–1 Corinthians 2:16.
  Moral relativism is the intellectual cancer of the current era. Simply stated, moral relativism holds that there are no absolute values to guide moral judgments; therefore, every culture’s value system is equally valid. If everything is all right, nothing can be wrong. Its deadly twin is subjective relativism, which holds that each individual person’s value system is equally valid. These people say, That’s true for you, but not for me; my truth is different than your truth. This utter perversion of reality is the doorway to illusion and anarchy.
  The moral relativists deny that a moral absolute exists—some because they have heard and disliked the moralistic type, who maintain that their truth is the only right—others because their goal is the evil enslavement of man's mind. Truth stops being absolute and pure when it deteriorates into opinion, prejudice, a moth-eaten dogma, or an interpretation based on a faulty translation of some ancient document.
  We are pioneering mystics, following the Via Christa, the Way of the Christ, all the way home to God. As such, we do subscribe to an absolute standard. God is perfect good, and as you strive to be as God is, you become more like your Source—you get gooder. You move from the lesser relative states of good—good in this or good about that—into increasingly rarefied states leading to perfection. All the laws we teach and learn underscore this. For example, our mystical Ten Commandments sharpen the focus of the law dramatically:

  1. Thou shalt love honor above all things.
  2. Thou shalt love justice and live it continually.
  3. Thou shalt live with thy neighbor as thou dost desire to live with thy Master.
  4. Thou shalt not live by false pretenses.
  5. Thou shalt honor thy Father and Mother virtues, that in thy soul and heart they may be lived, and glorify thyself before thy Maker.
  6. Thou shalt not kill vision, lights, prayer or love.
  7. Thou shalt not disturb by word, by action, by deed, by false prophecies, or by false pretenses.
  8. Thou shalt not steal another's faith, ideals, hopes, aspirations or inspirations, for God will not hold him guiltless who disturbs a soul's peace.
  9. Thou shalt hold thy neighbor close. His joy shall be thy joy, his sorrow shall be thy sorrow, and the understanding of Christ in you shall see the Light to shed.
  10. Thou shalt not desire another's goods by look or by word or by action, such as personal ideas, loves, friendships or the path each chooses to follow, for God will hold you responsible for their indirection from His directed path.

  The relativism that we do recognize is the law of degree and kind. The degrees are Neophyte through Christos, and the kind is whatever topic is under discussion. Wisdom says that demoting yourself to a lesser degree is foolish, but striving to improve your performance increases your value to and usability by God. Becoming perfectly and completely usable is what the Master did before he came to earth as Jesus of Nazareth. We do not know how many lifetimes it required for him to do so, but when he arrived, he was ready to earn his final Christos Degree. The chief priests and the elders who challenged his authority in the temple were the moral relativists of their day, posing as moral absolutists, claiming the Law of Moses as theirs, even as they found weasel-word ways to set aside obedience to those laws.
  My doctrine is not mine, but His who sent me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of the One, who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.–John 7:14-18. This scripture is the how-to manual for discerning whether a person speaks as an oracle/prophet for God, bearing the burden of the Divine Word, or speaks from the self to his or her own ends. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory might be restated today as, He who asks you to send in money to support his megachurch, is rich and seeks to get even richer.
  Assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.–Matthew 5:18. This verse is part of the Sermon on the Mount, which was how Jesus opened his public ministry. He spoke with absolute moral authority, having been given this message by our Father in Heaven. ‘One jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled’ is an absolute pronouncement, a proclamation regarding the nature of principle, which is "the absolute, universal, unchangeable, undeviating immutable foundation upon which all universes are based and established.–Edna Lister.
  Principle is the absolute framework of the universe. Principle contains all that is at the Source, and it governs, regulates and controls the universe created by the Supreme Father. Principle is Spiritual Substance, which becomes, and Divine Law that directs and controls–Edna Lister. This means that the substance of which we are made is one facet of the great Absolute. God is the Unqualified Absolute; we are parts of the qualified absolute.
  Immanuel Kant wrote, Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and reverence, the more often and more steadily one reflects on them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. Kant was right: We are star-stuff and God has written the moral law within our hearts. In this, we are moral absolutists: We are divine and we are going home to God.
  Moral relativists say, It's good for business, even when it's rotten for people. The mortgage meltdown and $5 a gallon gas are good for somebody and their truth is that they should be able to gouge us even more. The Corporatists and socialists are one in the same type of fraud.
  God is good. God is truth. God is reality. These are our statements of Absolute Morality.

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Tell Us What to Do

Linda Mihalic, October 19, 2008, Cleveland, Ohio. Revelation 13:3-9, Matthew 24:4-5, 11-13, 22, Matthew 25:29-34, Jonah 2:7-9

  “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple. Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”–Jonah 2:7-9
  “All the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear.”–Revelation 13:3-9
  “Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many.…Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.…And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”–Matthew 24:4-5, 11-13, 22
  “To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”–Matthew 25:29-34

  We stand at a pivotal moment in the history of New Jerusalem. We have just experienced the first big dip in the financial roller coaster ride that is due to end in 2013. Wall Street and other international financial markets have slaughtered some major hogs, next come the very large hogs, then the merely big hogs. Many Americans have seen their net worth reduced by half, and hope for retirement is fading rapidly. Untold numbers have lost their homes. Soup kitchens and hunger centers are facing longer lines and greater shortages than ever. Need is up and charitable donations are down.
  People do not feel very generous when their pockets have been picked in a $700 billion bailout of the very institutions that caused so much woe. The perpetrators of countless acts of moral felony are poised to get away with it while our outrageous Congress rubber stamps their utter greed with “debt forgiven” and “bailout approved.” Remember how they voted the next time they are up for reelection. Email them with your opinion if they voted for it.
  The problem is simple, according to some economists: Inflation results when we extend credit and print money based on no real collateral or capital. The capital in our supposed capitalist system comes from savings. No savings, plus much debt equals a big mess. Before the bailout, our deficit was growing at the rate of $1 million a day. Some of us are living beyond our means; this must end. We are making the same mistakes our grandparents and great-grandparents did during the Great Depression: We are trying to save the life of an already dead patient, our economy. This proves that George Santayana was right when he said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
  The wars, conflicts and economic upheavals that we experience as young adults define us as generations. Our parents lived through World War II and the Korean conflict; most of us lived through Vietnam. The Baby Boomers either served in Vietnam and supported the troops or protested against that conflict. Our parents, who had allowed the Great Depression and World War II to define them, judged the war protesters as un-American. Shocking as it may seem, our youth are not learning about Vietnam, a conflict that largely defined the Baby Boomers because we identified with one view of it or another. Post WWII Germany never taught its youth about the Nazi Holocaust, and German nationalism is on the rise today.
  All this highlights the problem of “God and” versus “God as” consciousness. What we choose to identify with is what we worship in the sense that we offer it our time, attention and effort. We say that we believe in God, yet we worship the world’s “worthless idols.” Some ask, “What are we supposed to do?”, arguing that we must keep body and soul together, clothes on our back, a roof over our head and have some form of transportation. Ben Franklin said, “God helps those who helps themselves.” Edna Lister said that the place to have a helping hand on the end of your other arm. Help everyone who comes to you, using whatever assets you can—money, labor, encouragement, declarations or prayer. Remember that every “I can’t” is really an “I won’t.” Collective self-will got us into this mess, so arguing, “I didn’t do it,” does us no good. We must pray that everyone becomes acquainted with their own degrees of self-will and greedy desires.
  Law states that Power magnifies and increases whatever you make the focus of your attention. It’s time we stopped worshiping the world’s worthless idols, which Jonah said causes us to forsake our own mercy. If we want mercy in the financial morass of the days ahead, we need to rededicate ourselves to making God the focus of our worship, attention and life. We must choose God before we settle for the world.
  The surest way to increase your fears about the economy or your financial security is to focus on how bad it is, forgetting to declare the good, the stabilization of markets, praising and thanking God for the miracles that He had granted and shall continue to grant. Claim everything as a miracle. Jesus’ advice was to stop worrying and to “consider the lilies of the field.” He’s not telling us to be a plant, but to keep it simple. He said we should lay up our treasure in heaven because “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” When we are God-conscious, we know that as the children of a wealthy Father our inheritance is limitless.
  Stop identifying with the world’s ideas of wealth. Start identifying with God. Stop thinking “What will we do?” Start mentally broadcasting, “What will God do through me today?” Stop acting as a victim of the world. Start acting as God’s agent on the scene. What can you declare as good today? We must use our talents on God’s behalf. We must cease the endless mental malpractice that we are lacking in talents. What we lack is an accurate view of our own limitless potential. Money is no talent; the ability to accrue wealth is the talent of practical common sense.
  One talent we all share is speech: We can all speak the Word as a declaration for good, which is a blessing, and stop lending our tongue to curses. We also have the mental abilities to be logical, reasonable, discriminating, discerning and discrete. We can also make sure that our emotions are never in charge when we open our lips to speak. Jonah understood God consciousness and admitted to his “God and” mistakes. When his “soul fainted within,” he remembered God and promised to pay his vows. We must do at least that well and preferably much better.
  In 2002, we stood in the Valley of Decision. We were told that the purpose of life is to serve God with everything you have. If you did not get what you asked for when you prayed, you have just not prayed enough, not long enough, not hard enough, with enough fervor and zeal. Stop “trying” to obey the law and just do it! Ascend continuously, without breaks or vacations. At no time have we left the Valley of Decision. We stand on the Continental Divide in the uncharted territory of the Pioneering Mystic. Our old adept habits do not and will not work for us here.
  We have climbed so high that we are at the watershed between the filthy, polluted world wash of opinion and prejudice and the sweet clear waters of the River of Life. We must follow this life-giving stream all the way to its headwaters at the Source. A Master says, “I am. I can,” and “I do.” You must make this your mantra: “I am equipped to conquer self now. I can do all that life requires of me through Christ, which strengthens me. I do ascend now!”
  We may not serve the self, ours or anyone else’s. We must serve God, and the easiest way is in constant prayer, prayer without ceasing. As servants of the Light, our task is to release tremendous Power for the good of all. We must release Power for all those younger children of earth who do not yet know that this work is in their job description. We release Power for those irresponsible ingrates who shrug, saying it’s someone else’s task. We must release the Power needed to bring evil into the open, to its knees. Enough Power released will make evil visible to the foolish ones who wish to be deceived by false messages of hope and change being broadcast through a personality not grounded in principle.
  “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. In the first stage of life the mind is frivolous and easily distracted; it misses progress by failing in consecutiveness and persistence. This is the condition of children and barbarians.” Santayana was so right about history: If we fail to remember history’s lessons, we condemn ourselves to having to repeat them. One problem is “revisionist history.” Most of the politically correct nonsense we witness today is historical revisionism. If you are unsure of what this looks like, we suggest you read George Orwell’s 1984.
  The true Messiah said, “To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” Today we restate this to say: “To everyone who has God consciousness, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have God consciousness, even what he has will be taken away.” Many unprofitable servants will be cast into the outer darkness. Expect to hear plenty of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
  One day, enthroned in glory, our Lord will gather all the nations and separate the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. The sheep on the right will “inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.” The mistaken belief that the blood of the Lamb will save us from our sins has blurred and obscured this mystery. This is not true. The blood of the Lamb will give us a transfusion of credits, enough to pay our debts to the last jot and tittle.
  At the time of the temple sacrifice, we offered a young female goat to atone for sins we committed unintentionally. If we knew what we had done, we had to offer a female lamb. We may analyze this several ways, but we give just this one explanation: Viewed at a higher level than worldly consciousness, the lesser-valued goat is suitable for the ignorant young souls, those of younger life waves, those who are unconscious of anything other than the world. The more highly valued sheep is a suitable offering for deliberate acts of sin and evil, including thoughts, words and deeds. The Lamb of God atoned for the evil done in the world until the time he incarnated. His atonement does not include all that humanity has committed and permitted since then.
  Acts of financial lawlessness have caused the love of many to turn cold. Yet the world or worldly solutions offer us no salvation or free ticket home to the Source. “Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.”-Matthew 24:22. We know that “elect” means to choose, and when we choose God, He chooses us in turn chosen to provide whatever service He appoints. Our constant service is prayer and speaking the Word.
  The days of woe are upon us and we remain in the Valley of Decision. We can all recognize the big choices for sacrifice when they arise on our path. Even when they seem “hard,” they are easy to recognize because they are big. The slippery slopes of choice surround the Valley of Decision. Every choice we make in favor of the self is as though we spritzed the slope with silicone spray. What does this look like in daily life?
  Lately we hear people say, “I’d like to be able to save some money, but I’m so stretched that I just can’t. It takes everything I have just to pay the bills.” In 99 percent of those cases, the person is living beyond his or her means, living on credit. Credit-debit cards are so tempting. We go to the drug store to pick up a prescription, then remember we need another item and put that in our basket, and something we want as well. As we stand in line, we scan the point-of-sale display and opt for a pack of gum or a candy bar. Often we do not notice the amount we paid.
  The disciplined soul goes into the drug store for the prescription, but does not allow self to add anything unnecessary to the basket. We must never allow self to substitute “I need” for “I want.”
  “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple. Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed.”–Jonah 2:7-9. We pay our vows through service and by conquering self. We pay our vows every time we do what we have said we will do. We pay our vows when we love even one iota more than we did yesterday.
  We will really pay our vows when everything we feel, think, do and say is from the heart out, not just from the teeth out. We will really pay our vows when everything we hold in our heart is only of the Light. “I am the Light expressing. I can express as the pure White Light of the Christ because God equipped me perfectly to do so. I do express and send forth the White Light of the Christ now!”

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