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THE GREATER WORLD CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALIST CHURCH
THE ZODIAC MESSAGES
"THE GREAT INSTRUCTOR"
An address given by the celestial messenger 'Zodiac',
(the unnamed scribe of the Bible and a teacher in the
Temple of Jerusalem at the time of Christ), at the
Zodiac Circle on Saturday, 5th February, 1927.
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"O PERFECT Mind of Love, we thank Thee with grateful
hearts that Thou hast shown us something of Thy Love
in our daily lives. Grant that this knowledge may expand,
that we, loving each other, may be able to throw out
our thoughts of love upon others, and they catching
the warmth and the comfort of our thoughts, may in
turn release that mighty power within and spread its
radiance on those around.
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"O Christ, how can we thank Thee for what Thou hast
expressed to all mankind; how can we offer to Thee
even that little which shall express the mighty debt
we owe to Thee! Most Loving Friend, explain to us as
we go on how wide a thing is friendship, how strong
a bond is brotherhood; and grant that we, Thy little
children, because we love Thee, may be able to express
something of the gift of love to others! Help us, O
Father, we entreat Thee, and gather us this night under
the protection of Thy o'er-shadowing wing, where we
may feel we are protected from the enemies within and-without.
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"Continuing our work in faith, in perfect confidence
that what is given to us is the very best, once more
we thank Thee for Thy unlimited gifts. Amen.
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"MY LITTLE CHILDREN, when we meet together in
this way can you understand that your tender thoughts,
your wish to get closer to Holy things, that this,
as it were, opens a channel between you and the realms
which are Spirit? And there are many this night, as
always, far from you as you judge distance, who delight
to send of their power into this little room, receiving
not only the joy you give them, but indeed the blessing
of the Creator Himself.
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"Blind it seems at this stage, so limited, so
hedged in by that which is physical, but when the body
is no more, in conditions of Spirit you shall see what
you have wrought by faith, though children in understanding.
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"Yes! faith seems afar off to some. They have
gathered other tools which, for the time being, appear
equally useful and have powers more tangible than that
of faith. But anon to-day passes and is gathered up
with all the yesterdays; and the time comes when they
stand alone and the consciousness creeps o'er them
that they were betrayed by that which seemed to mean
so much.
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" - 'Faith' - cries the man bound by the world
'it is a delusion of those who have not cultivated
their thinking powers!' 'Faith', cries the weary, troubled
man of toil, 'each day brings its sorrows and God seems
far away!' 'Faith', cries the aspiring soul, 'it is
my all, and while I strive so I see that faith works
miracles beyond the mind of man!'
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"This, my children, I have ever taught you, but
I have underlined that faith without effort is asking
without giving ought in return. Faith with effort,
with the wish to serve, with that quiet dedication
of the real You within, that is a gift not only acceptable
by the Father, but it enables Him to do that which
He longs for most - to give to His little ones those
gifts which never pass away.
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"And so to-night, dear children, because we know
Whom we serve, Who is the controller of our lives,
I speak to you on THE GREAT INSTRUCTOR, and I build
up in your minds some faint image of the task He undertook,
when, laying aside His power, His Godhead, He came
as a little child amongst mankind and they received
Him not.
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"Children, the task which lay in front of the
Master of all - Who though Master, from the earth point
of view was controlled by the world and killed by the
world - the task which lay before the Shepherd was
so gigantic in its nature that you and I, looking back
over that which is called ancient history, we marvel
how one could have dared to attempt so much. And if
you remind me that He was God, then in turn I remind
you that as man He triumphed, for He had laid aside
that which represented His real Self.
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"Oh, think you! as you go your daily way, how
you would feel if such a call came to you? Picture
that young man in His humble dwelling, with those around
Him who had watched Him emerge out of helpless childhood
into a measure of independence, how, first of all,
He had to conquer their minds and to win not only their
love but their willingness to believe that He was the
Teacher sent to reclaim, sent to restore! Aye, think
of it! - so difficult it is amongst those familiar,
how quickly the retort comes: 'But who are you to instruct!'
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"Yet Christ started His work, started that which
should bring the redemption of the world, with the
little home circle and the friends beyond.
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"And then, dear children, this great problem faced
Him- - who to choose, who to choose! The little life
of the body is soon worked through and He had come
to save the world!
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"My children, cannot you imagine how brave a man
was the Master when He walked amongst those who were
strangers to Himself, and called to them by His Love
not only to spread the Truth but to work for and to
die for the Truth? And then there was that greatest
test of all - to have faith in the Truth after the
Truth in Person had passed from them.
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"The Great Instructor looked amongst the crowd.
And the people of that time can scarce be imagined
by you in this age of order and arrangement whereby
each, in a measure, is free from the other. In those
far off days, as I have told you before, there were
the few in power and there were the masses who fought
an unending struggle to procure the necessities to
keep the body for its daily toil. Yes, in that far
off time we were face to face with a million problems
which long since have been solved so far as this little
corner of the world is concerned.
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"There was the constant warfare one against the
other; there were the differences of so-called Religion
which made barriers impossible to surmount; there was
an unbridgeable gulf between those with the possessions
of the world and those without; there was the Law -
an all-powerful weapon - which was used and abused
on every side.
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"Yet the Great Instructor came amongst such as
these with His message of Love. The Great Instructor
faced hate in a hundred forms, yet such was the power
of His Love that amongst the masses - the so-called
common people, there were thousands who loved Him if
they could not grasp that He was the Lord God of all.
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"And then, dear children, we think of those whom
you name the disciples, and in regard to this, some
of my children have questioned why the word 'apostle'
is not used by those who come and speak to you in this
way. Well, dear children, in God's sight all are His
children and the only division is as this: There are
the hearers and the doers, yet, as I speak, lo! those
who heard but did not act, they have passed a span
farther on and they are doers as well as hearers of
the Word. Never forget that this is worked out, and
must be, because God's Love rules all! The hearers
to-day are the doers to-morrow; and when they act what
form does their action take? Why, my children, to spread
the good news so that others may hear and, as they
hear, arise and become doers too.
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"So we come first of all to those you name the
disciples. They heard the Great Instructor and they
pondered on His words, they had their ties, their friends;
more than all, in their veins flowed the blood of those
who had been bound by a thousand chains, and tradition
had them in its grip in a way you cannot fathom because
of the freedom of thought which appertains in this
time. Yet they listened to the Great Instructor, and
because He spoke of that which seemed so sweet, because
He laid down a gospel of Love in place of that of domination
and control, so they pondered within, and as they thought
so the Spirit - which had been fighting long before
- so the Spirit was able in a measure to guide and
to lead them out of the past into the unknown future.
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"They listened and they loved! Oh! believe, dear
children, that as they listened so they loved, for
that which you name the emanations of the real Self
reached far beyond the body in which Christ dwelt.
Their hearts awoke and their minds threw off the bondage
which had held them, and because they loved so they
drew close watching and wondering and hoping that it
all was true.
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"That is a point which many have overlooked. Children,
when good news comes after a night of suffering there
are many who hesitate to believe it for they are afraid
there is some mistake. This was the attitude of the
followers of the Master as they listened to Him, for
what He taught was so contrary to that of the priests
and the elders, the scribes and the Pharisees. He taught
the 'humble heart', the little acts, the obedient will,
while those of the world had passed on a message which
was different in every particular.
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"The Law of that time as regards the religion
of the land, it was movable, it was buyable, if the
sinner had within his possession sufficient to make
excuse worth while; the greed, the avarice of those
in high places is inconceivable to you, my little ones,
who are content with little and love the simple things
of daily life.
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"Yet as I speak you can gather that there were
the few who hungered for better things, who were conscious
- although they could not frame it in words - who were
conscious that these teachers were somehow betraying
God. And such as these gathered round the Christ, and
as He spake to them - so tenderly, so clearly, yet
with that which you name the humour of the mind - as
He spake to them, as the children they were, so joy
filled their hearts, and the only shadow that was upon
them was the question: 'Is it true?'
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"They watched and they loved and, again, as they
watched so the love within their hearts gathered to
it reverence, and, again, as they watched, so the love
and the reverence grew and that you call 'awe' was
added as well. For He was mighty Who was so humble,
He was holy in a way that Holiness had never been presented
to them before.
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"Children, you can imagine their sensations when
those skilled in the things of the world, with minds
sharpened by suspicion and fear, when these came to
the gentle Stranger and sought by every means to prove
that Truth was false; how they watched and marvelled
at the replies which came so readily, for remember
this: they knew not that the Spirit within the body
had been released. They feared for Him - was that not
like love? They would have hidden Him from the mighty
ones, they would have 'protected' Him, as the children
in understanding that they were.
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"And then the pride which came from devoted love.
They saw that the Master was able to answer even those
questions framed with all the guile which those experienced
in the Law could call upon. They watched His patience,
they looked from the Beloved to His enemies, and they
marvelled that those enemies were not won over by the
love which the Master showed so plainly. And, little
ones, there were those amongst His hearers, skilled
in the knowledge of the earth, who fought down the
love within their hearts because that which you name
jealousy claimed first place.
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"The Great Instructor taught and taught and taught,
but He knew that very little that He said could penetrate
into the physical mind at that stage, so unprepared
were His hearers, so unused were they to getting beyond
the narrow confines of that which they named the Religion
of their day. But did the Master withhold His words
because so many must fall on shallow ground? Nay, little
ones, He spoke at all times, when He was weary, when
sleep should have rested the fragile body, at all times
when those gathered to Him, drawn by love, He put aside
His weariness and spake, again.
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"And then we come to those who carried on the
great message of Love. The one who is dear to your
hearts, he told you that had Christ's words, as spoken,
been preserved, that ere this the Kingdom of God would
have been upon this little earth.
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"And Paul spoke a truth, for He suffered much
and accomplished much. Yet, dear children, can you
understand that out of this loss so God will bring
gain? - for the hearers and the doers tried to follow
the Master's instructions to the letter as their minds
had grasped the teaching He had left with them.
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"And when Love was taken from them so far as the
body was concerned, these, His children - aye, children
in a sense you scarce can grasp, unversed in this,
ignorant of that, yet controlled by their desire to
do as the Master had bidden - because of the power
of the Holy Spirit so as these simple men spoke, the
Truth - that measure of Truth which the physical mind
could not grasp - poured through them and brought conviction
to thousands who listened.
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"They were greater than they knew. They were vessels
used by God Himself to pass on that which was His will.
And because the Holy Spirit was upon them, so as they
spoke the limitations of the physical mind gave way
and the Spirit, with its knowledge, its unuttered wisdom,
was poured out upon the waiting throng.
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"Yet, dear children, as you have been told, that
was not possible in regard to the written word. There
are many so placed. As they speak so they are inspired,
so they are instruments used by those who have passed
into enlightenment, but with the written word there
was the battle between the mind of the body and the
mind of the Spirit. And those with discernment, in
reading the sacred Record, can put their finger on
the freed vision, and on the mind which still held
its fetters because its owner lived in a physical world.
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"And then there was this: Before writing the words
so they talked together, they consulted and they consulted,
and I am directed by the Controller of us all to emphasise
that when men talk together rarely is it possible for
the Spirit to take that freedom which it desires.
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"And remember this: They wrote the words for a
people chained to tradition, bound by laws, steeped
in that which you name superstition, and all the furniture
round the Lord God Jehovah Who demanded much that was
precious of the possessions of the world to be conciliated
to His own. As they wrote so they considered within
themselves this interpretation and that, and at times
the Spirit triumphed, and at times, in little ways
perhaps, the mind of the body took first place.
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"Yet you say to me: 'Does not this make it all
the more wonderful that these few followers grappled
with such difficulties, that so limited and so restricted
they were able to do so much?'
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"Children, your love for those you name the disciples
of the Holy One is as a gift which renews itself to
them day by day. You say to me and you say to them:
'Oh, speak not against that which you accomplished,
for to us you are sacred by the sufferings that you
bore.' And they answer, using me as their spokesman:
'Little children, we have seen the Light! Little children,
we have watched All-Holiness at work! Little children,
the Great Instructor has given us of that wisdom which
is of Himself, how then can we do aught but mourn,
for we have seen Reality, and our efforts, our accomplishments
appear as nothing!'
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"Yet again you say to me: 'How does God regard
them?' And I answer for them as for myself, that the
All-Generous Father has blest us and blest us. He has
denied us nothing! But, children, does not this again
come back even as agony to the Spirit which is within,
to think how much we take and how little we gave? -
to think of the love we have called out from so many
during the earth stage, our gifts, our treasures. Ah!
little ones, with sight you will understand. You love
us, and those with names so familiar they take of your
love and thank God for it, but they, as others, say
because it is true: 'We could have done more.' And
as I speak the child I use feels even as a mother who
would protect her young. Another gift because it comes
from love, and love comes from the Great Source, and
once more we raise our hearts in gratitude to God.
Yet, little ones, we could have done more if we had
understood what manner of thing was Life and the unending
future which lay before us.
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"So to you I speak as an instructor used by the
Great Instructor and I tell you - because God's Love
passes the imagination not only of the physical mind
but even of those who are most advanced in that wisdom
held out to all - I tell you that the Great Instructor
delights in your efforts as He delighted in ours; and
His message to you and to all is 'Pass on the Love
of the Father for His children and forget it not'.
And as we think of God's Love for us so, within us,
part of the Great Instructor regains some of the Light
which it had lost. All-Wisdom seeks to teach and guide
and uplift, and we, because of this freedom, we talk
to others; we pass on the privilege of the gift and
they - at first hearers, then thinkers - become doers,
for the Divine within has instructed the mind of the
body how to act.
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"This, little ones, is the great chain which was
started in a time long ere this little plane was thought
of in the scheme of things, amongst peoples inconceivable
to you, in states and conditions which one day you
will explore yet which are hidden even from your imagination
at this time. That chain started with the hearers,
the thinkers and the doers, and there has always been
the few, perhaps at times the tiny few, who have held
to God and who have sought to instruct others as to
the gift of holding to God. And these in ways so ignorant
and, as it would seem to you so ineffective, these
in turn out of their limitations have instructed others
still more limited; yet out of their limitations they
spoke and gained a measure of freedom which, at this
time, has so expanded that they are, as you would term
it, angels of the Most High.
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"The Great Instructor is in our midst to-night
saying to you, saying to me: 'My love for you it changeth
never. Go to the outcast, go to the sorrowful and pass
on to them the gift that thou hast taken thyself.'
This is our work, and this work when you are free will
be seen as sacred indeed. The world calls with many
voices. The Voice of God it holds first place, and
He sends us amongst the bound, the imprisoned and those
overwhelmed with the troubles of life, and we, as instructors
in miniature - we are used by the Great Instructor
to release, to inspire and to comfort; and only the
comforters have interpreted the message aright.
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"Oh, my children, let not your hearts be sad over
the responsibilities of this work! Go back to the past
and think of Peter, and how through the ages Peter
has shown that the frail can be strong, that the impetuous
can be patient, and that a courage can be built up
which nothing can assail. Go back over the past and
think of the boy Stephen. What did the mind of the
body know? Very little, dear children, very little!
But the Great Instructor was within, and boy that he
was, as he stood up to face his enemies, so the Waters
of Truth were poured through him and he saw his God.
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"Children, I name but these two, because from
the world's point of view perhaps they were the least
equipped for the great work that they undertook, for
when Stephen's body was destroyed so his example was
written across the sky of time, calling to the young
to be brave and to fight for Christ.
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"Those others, equally loved by you, they knew
not what they were doing, but in the measure that consciousness
had come to them, it was the obedient will. The Master
had left the Truth with them, and because love held
they could not betray. The Master had warned them that
suffering must be their portion, and when the so-called
blows fell they gloried in the thought, for the wisdom
within showed them it was another link with the tortured
One.
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"My children, you ask again and again why these
great and holy ones come into your presence and seem
to delight to converse with you. I say it is memory,
memory of the past. They give holding nothing back,
and all they ask is that you should feel towards them
as you would to a loved friend, to one who would not
fail you in time of need, one who understood you through
and through. Not as saints, not as figures silhouetted
against time and reverenced and hallowed because they
kept the faith. Nay, little ones, that makes barriers,
but say within yourselves: 'Such as these, so limited,
so restricted, so bound by earthly things, they carried
their cross, and I will carry mine too!'
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"That is the link, and as you go your way remember
always that Christ not only rules over the great worlds
and the spheres beyond, but Christ is your Companion
and is the One who loves you best of all. How then
could He forget you, how then could He forsake you?
- yet because He gives so much, seek to raise the standard
of your gifts to Him, for as you aspire so you are
drawn closer into His Holy vibrations, and, in the
measure that you rise, sorrow in its many forms is
kept beyond your radius. For Love conquers all, and
sacrifice is joy, and burdens they are possessions.
Linked to Christ by service as well as desire, by aspiration
as well as His generous gifts, so you can pass through
the clouds of physical life conscious of the sun which
shines from Him upon you, certain that if you stumble
He is there to save you ere you fall.
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"The Great Instructor without and part of the
Great Instructor within! How then, my children, can
life offer terrors or distress of any kind? You are
bound for that Home which is not of the earth, and
each experience you surmount, holding on to faith and
asking not that your burdens shall be taken from you
- each experience brings you nearer to the desire of
the Spirit within. And out of All-Brightness so brightness
comes, out of All-Love so love fills your very being;
and as pilgrims in very truth you leave behind you
the sweetness of a life well spent, and others, catching
its fragrance, shall be inspired to climb as well.
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"That is the instruction of the Beloved of our
hearts - His promise and the certainty of fulfilment,
for you are part of Him and He claims His own; and
all that He has is ours when we are ready to take of
that which is Holiness itself.
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"Now, my little ones, I will leave you. You give
to me that attention which indeed is a gift more beautiful
than the flowers which, to you, furnish this little
room. So as I speak I take, and as you take so you
give, and all is complete! And now I go...
(After others had spoken Zodiac returned and continued.)
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..."Well, dear children, I can but echo that God's
will has been done on earth to-night; and I want you
to feel that you, as instruments, have been used just
as your Saviour desires, and that the seeds sown one
day will show strength and beauty, because out of your
little you gave freely of your best.
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"Oh, my children, never forget when the voices
come that if they say to you: 'This is good enough'
or 'that will do!' that those voices come not from
the Great Instructor within but from the destroyers
without. You, little ones here, are protected in a
way you cannot understand, but when you pass hence
sorrow will claim you if you called upon that protection
for anything but the Christ within. That is what the
children of the earth are reminded of again and again.
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"God's care in a million, million forms is around
the individual life but so often the protection is
stolen for that which, in itself, is antagonised from
God. Claim protection for the Divine within, keep the
close contact with your Father and Mother God, and
though the enemies of the earth may strike, lo! your
armour is complete.
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"And when that Wisdom which is within is strong
enough and free enough to function through the mind
of the body, so then with sight you will look back
over the past and thank God for your burdens, thank
God that you prayed for the protection of the Spirit
and not for protection from those experiences for which
you entered physical life.
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"And yet, dear children, I would not cast a shadow
over the brightness of the future, for I should be
falsifying Truth as I see it. I have told you, instructed
by the Master, that before you as an avenue, opening
wider and wider, is the scope of this sacred work -
your precious opportunity, your privilege of service.
So, dear children, if the trees at this stage cast
a shade across your path, remember that it is but a
shade, and no obstacles lie between you and attainment
except those which you erect yourselves.
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"I bless you in the name of All-Purity, All-Holiness,
All-Love; and I ask you to hold fast to your precious
treasure which is the desire to keep close to the One
Who loves you best. That desire has been purchased
by you in the past - it is the greatest possession
ever gifted to anyone. I bless you with the desire
to hold close to the One Who loves you best! God at
this moment is increasing that desire, and the link
between the Father and the children is as complete
as you, little ones, at this stage can make it, but
remember that in front lies the unlimited, and at each
stage rise to the highest and cling to the best.
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"Peace, understanding; understanding, peace, and
they are one - God's gift to the aspiring soul.
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"Goodnight! my little ones."
©GWCSA
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