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THE GREATER WORLD CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALIST CHURCH
THE ZODIAC MESSAGES
"ISOLATION"
An address by the celestial messenger 'Zodiac' (the
unnamed scribe of the Bible and a teacher in the Temple
of Jerusalem at the time of Christ), through the mediumship
of Miss Winifred Moyes in the earlier part of the twentieth
century.
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"OUR Father, look down upon Thy children gathered
here tonight; and grant that they, by faith, may be
able to step out of the world of sense into that vast
range of the Spirit. Give to them all, the desire and
the determination to extricate themselves from the
things of the earth; and to pass over the threshold,
out of the twilight into the Light, out of sorrow into
joy, out of the hardness of the world into Thy wonderful
enveloping Love.
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"Saviour, in Thy Hands we leave everything that
tortures the mind; that causes pain to the heart; and
all that which tries, ever and ever again, to come
in between Thy children and that perfect confidence
which the spirit within has in its Father, in its Director
- has in Thee - Lord God Almighty, Creator of all things
that have been or shall be.
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"Yet we come back to this: to the reliance on
Thy understanding; to the promises that Thou hast made
to restore, to lift us up, to recharge us with power;
so that we may disregard the roughness of the road
and go on our way, not only rejoicing but dragging
others up as well.
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"In the hearts and minds of each, this desire
holds prior place; though indeed that which is of darkness
would have them believe otherwise. So tonight, O Father,
we ask that the Veil may be rent in twain; and that
they may see themselves as they are - see the quest
of the spirit, its enthusiasm and its determination
to continue upward and onward for ever and for ever.
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"We know that Thy Love is here; we know that we
are surrounded by those from the Bright Realms; we
know also that it is Thy Will that these precious hours
should be used not only to comfort and uplift in the
present time, but also as a beacon of Light in the
days to come - that Light, because it is of Thy Love,
and by Thy Love, drawing the children of the earth
away from their toys and turning them indeed into Thy
disciples.
-
"This belongs to the by and by, yet we must build
now for the future; and so, most tender Saviour, use
us in the measure that Thou art able - in the measure
that we have prepared ourselves - use us for Thy Divine
purpose. Amen.
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"WELL, my children, it seemed a pity just at first
to block out so much brightness, to veil from your
eyes the radiance of the sun and the beauty which nature
presents in such a delightful form at this season of
the year. Yet, dear children, I must tell you that
in this little room there is a loveliness which surpasses
anything that nature can show. There is a Light - the
Light of the Spirit - before which the sun, even in
its zenith, would seem but as a candle shining against
the light of day. In this room has been gathered, by
those who love to assemble here, that which no tongue
can tell - treasures from the Heavenly climes where
all walk softly because Holiness is all around.
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"Think then to yourselves, my little ones, that
you have not lost by forbidding the light of the physical
world to shine upon you; for you are centred in that
which knows no night, in that which indeed is an emanation
of The Divine, of The Beloved, of the One you not only
wish to serve, but the One whom you adore with all
the force of which the spirit within is capable.
-
"Yes! it has seemed otherwise to some; it has
seemed sometimes that the world, with its many irksome
duties, with the toll taken on the physical body, has
come in between; nay, more than that, has killed much
of the love that they wish could still be there.
-
"Well, my children, you know that I always face
things squarely, and so tonight I am going to speak
to you, just for a little, in regard to the plain of
isolation over which every pilgrim must pass if they
would reach the Promised Land.
-
"I want you to look at things in a practical way:
On the one hand, to forbid those bitter self-reproaches,
that intense remorse, that personal loathing of self,
because it fails so ignominiously to rise above its
environment. Yes, to extricate yourself from that;
and, also, to disown the notion which the shadows have
tried, with great persistency, to force upon the minds
of some of my children: That the distance between them
and The Christ is so great that it can never be bridged;
that it is no use continuing the task, no use trying
to accomplish what is foreshadowed to failure.
-
"Children, some of you who have read and studied
the experiences of those whom you call 'saints' have
seen, with great dismay, that each one in turn passed
over the desert-land; yes! and that many were, as it
were, bound and fettered for long periods of time to
that condition which was as a wilderness indeed. Yet,
dear children, in contemplating this you cannot ignore
the fact that, in the end, the golden glory of revelation
was made their own. It is impossible to attain to so
much in the way of spiritual progress without paying
the price and, in some cases, the price is heavy indeed.
Yet others have trod the self same path, and those
whom you admire and revere so much - these too, my
little ones, were forced again and again to ask themselves
if love for The Master was dead for ever. These too
became so isolated from the joys of life, and from
those greater joys of communion with The Divine, that
not only in a physical sense, but mentally and spiritually
as well, the land was barren indeed.
-
"I remind you of these incidents in the lives
of others both as a warning and as a reassurance to
you who also would take the steep, short road to God.
Yet, dear children, you must admit that in one particular
you are more favourably placed. You have those around
you who can remind you that the bleakness, that the
sunlessness of life's aspect is but a passing phase;
is but a test - a most necessary test - to see if the
physical will is indeed bound to that which is Divine
within.
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"So long as the world goes on these battles between
the physical and spiritual will continue and, in many
cases, long after this world has ceased to be; yes,
under other conditions the battle will be waged until
the enemy is overcome. But tonight, dear children,
I want you, if you will, to listen to my words of love
- yes, to that love and understanding which escapes
your comprehension altogether; I must say 'altogether',
because the realisation which has penetrated into your
minds is so infinitesimal, to me so unworthy of the
name of love, that I say - perhaps with sadness - that
your comprehension of my love and understanding, practically,
does not exist. Yet, dear children, one of these fine
days I am going, in part, to force through some conception
of the love I have for my own, and when that happy
time comes, then - and then only - will you be able
to grasp just a fragment of the love which the Saviour
has for each one. At present that, too, is a closed
book to you; but never mind, books were made to be
opened, and you have all Eternity before you in which
to turn the pages; each page - nay, each word being
a definite, vivid expression of the Love the Father
has for His children.
-
"But let me get back. I would speak to you, dear
children, about that very natural shrinking which you
feel in regard to others going through the same experience
of that loneliness and, as it seems to you, isolation
from the Divine Presence.
-
"Well, dear children, it is something like this:
You will remember when the children of Israel were
on the point of leaving the wilderness, that messengers
were sent in front to report on that which had been
promised to be the possession of the faithful. You
will recollect as well that there was one who came
back with a good report. That did not mean that Joshua
had not suffered, it did not mean that the way he had
taken had been freer from dangers, or that the view
presented to him had been merely that of a sheltered
corner, while the enemy lay hidden on either side.
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"Children, prospecting in that way would have
had no value at all; and Joshua, having been trained,
prepared and chosen as a suitable messenger, indeed
went through as much or more than the others during
his visit into the unknown land which lay beyond the
confines of the wilderness.
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"I think you can see that this applies, without
stretching any point at all, to the work which you
have undertaken in the Name of the Saviour of mankind.
Children, Joshua saw that before the Land of Promise
could be made their own a struggle must take place;
but he knew this also - the long sojourn in the wilderness,
the gathering together of spiritual resources, the
training, the discipline and the organisation - all
in preparation for that great day when God should say:
'Go forth and take that which I have given into your
hand'.
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"Children, I want you all to be as Joshua: I want
you, in going on in front, not to allow the remembrance
of your own suffering to be used by the shadows to
keep back the spiritual progress of others - those
others who, perhaps, if they knew all might hesitate
to advance. I want you to reason thus with yourselves:
To say: 'Hard though the road may have been, numerous
the enemies, many, many the disappointments, yet here
and now I can say I am safe and sound, because the
protection was complete!' I want you to come back with
a good report, dear children, weariness is so soon
forgotten, and the pains of the body, and the vexations
of the soul - why! when they are passed, they are past;
they are gone, and all the advantages lie in your own
hands - the experience gained is a possession which
no one can take from you...
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"Then hearken to the spirit within, and do not
think: 'I hope they will not suffer as I have suffered';
or 'I pray they will not be tested as severely as I
have been tested!' Say to yourselves instead: 'In spite
of everything I am still captain of my soul, still
following my great Leader on and on!' - and because
that is the case with you so it shall be with them;
and would you deny the brave pioneer spirit that which
will mean to it more than words can express - that
which will be shown in most marvellous detail when
the body is laid aside; that which will arm them with
power, with joy and with a peace which nothing can
destroy? For the sake of suffering a little while on
earth would you debar them from the great, immeasurable
gain that is waiting for them just a span in front?
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"Children, do not think that I cannot enter into
that shrinking, which is growing in you, in seeing
others suffer. It is, in the main, a Christ attribute,
and it could be made solely an expression of the Christ
Mind if only, if only you could take the broader view:
not to stem your compassion but, instead of praying
so often and so fervently that they may be spared,
to turn your prayer into a strong spiritual force,
voicing it thus: 'God give them strength to go on and
conquer!' You see the contrast? The unwise parent,
wishing to save her child everything that appertains
to discomfort, prevents that child from following out
the purpose for which the spirit entered into the body
- a loss so gigantic, so terrible that it takes much,
much time and suffering to work out. Then there is
the wise mother, who talks to her children and reasons
with them; who tries to show them that by learning,
by doing the little things which go against the grain,
so they will grow up; and when they can prove that
they are grown up, then liberty of action will be their
own, and the restraining voice, the guiding hand will
not be required, because they have entered into that
condition when, uninstructed, they do that which is
wise and follow that which is true.
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"I want you, dear children, to be brave for others.
As you have found within yourselves sufficient courage
to pursue the path with determination, is it quite
kind to assume that others will not also be able to
draw upon their spiritual resources in like manner?
Of course, you don't think of it like that; you only
feel - your own wounds being unforgettable, at this
stage - you only feel that you don't want them to go
through what you have gone through; you want them to
be happy; that their memories shall be sweeter and
that joy shall not pass by on the other side . . .
Yes, dear children, I know your thoughts through and
through and I know you better than you know yourselves.
I know it is easier for you to suffer pain than to
witness others going through the same experience, and
because that is so with you, cannot you expand the
borders of your thought sufficiently to get a faint
idea of the Father's feeling towards His little ones?
-
"You forget so often what it means to be the Source
of Love, what it means to be the Father-Parent, from
whom all parents draw their capacity to love; you forget
that closest of all ties between you and the Father
- far closer than physical parenthood could be - that
you are of Him, that something of Himself is within
each one.
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"Oh, my children, try and understand, try to look
at things a little more from the Creator's point of
view; try and understand how He feels when memories
are too acute, how His Love suffers when you allow
the darts of physical life to become embedded in your
heart...Yes, try and put yourselves in the Father's
place!
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"This great work of ours is going forward; it
is going to spread in a way you cannot grasp at this
stage, and tonight I appeal to the strength in you
- I appeal to you to be strong for others; because,
if you are weak, then you are inflicting upon them
the greatest injury that could be conceived.
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"They too must pass over dry places; they too
must find within themselves the will to go on, even
though the consciousness of the Divine Presence may
be absent. That is the greatest test of all - to feel
that you have lost your Saviour; and yet, dear children,
the mere fact that it has come should hearten you by
the realisation that the next stage is the Land of
Revelation, where the sun never sets, where the most
perfect companionship can be found, where loneliness
has no meaning, where Love rules, dominates and permeates
everything and everyone who is there.
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"The dry places then suggest hope, not despair;
their very dryness is a prophecy of the Living Water
that is just in front; their barrenness simply indicates
that the flowers which never fade lie just beyond the
border. Out of the wilderness you step into the Land
of Promise, into the fulfilment of that which you undertook
away back in the dim and distant past, when from God
you set out to find God - through experience - to find
that which was your own, to link up the Divine within
with the All-Divine; to for ever demonstrate your sonship
and your daughtership with the Most High.
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"Yes, as on a circle so the journey goes, but
God is not at the beginning and at the end only. As
you have been told, God is the Centre of your existence,
and though you travel - it seems to you - far, far
from Him, yet at no time are you farther from Him than
another, because God is the Centre of your life, and
you cannot get away - you cannot separate yourselves
from That from which you came.
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"Yes, I know there are many who, it seems, indeed
get far away from Love; but children, they may turn
from that which is Light and Security and Peace, but
the Father never turns from them; and, if they would,
if they had the strength, by one effort of will they
could make the contact between themselves and The Divine
complete.
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"You little know it, but a thought of Christ,
nay, a thought which in any degree reflects The Christ
- such as pity or understanding or the wish to help
others - these thoughts, tiny though they may be, make
the connection between you and the Father-Spirit complete.
Could you but see things as they are, you would know
that in that second - or minute - of thought there
is nothing which stands between you and the Father;
and I want you to apply this to those many who have
passed out of physical life who never knew the Saviour,
who indeed never knew God - yes, never knew God so
far as the mind of the body was concerned. I tell you
that not one thought of compassion, of kindliness or
of the wish to serve others which passed through their
minds did not make the contact between them and the
Father-Spirit complete. Their ignorance of the existence
of The Beloved made no difference at all. God knows
who are His own; He knows the thoughts which belong
to Him, and because He has the Father-Heart He is able
to push aside the barriers of the physical and claim
that which rightly belongs to Him.
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"When you come here, dear children, it will be
a revelation to you to see God's attitude towards the
so-called 'heathen'; towards those of primitive races,
those who understood but little, who were guided entirely
by instinct...Yes, it will astonish you to see how
these, passing through their physical experiences in
an environment very detrimental to spiritual progress
- so it would seem to you - to over-look what their
lives worked out, what their sufferings, what their
little acts of kindness did for the spirit within;
their love for their children; their care of the sick
and the old; yes, and more than that: their helplessness,
their inability to protect themselves from the fiercer
kinds of nature, from the diseases of the body, from
those deep anguishes of the heart which they did not
understand, but dumbly endured.
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"Ah! dear children, all these things the Father
has gathered up; all those unheeded, unnoted incidents
which are taken as a matter of course in the lives
of the so-called lower races. These are indeed turned
by Love into good grain which shall feed the mill of
the spirit; and those which the world might mark off
as 'useless', well! when they come here they shall
see that much, much has been harvested for them. They
were sowing all the time but they knew it not, so Another
reaped for them and put it all by so that when they
were free they might have resources upon which to draw,
and the power which those resources bring as a natural
result.
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"Oh, dear children, more and more do I urge you
to try and take the bigger view; to look beyond brief,
shadowy today, and to be certain that the Promised
Land is fair indeed; that it is worth a struggle; that
it is worth the journey in order to reach it. Yes,
it is worth many pangs and that is why there are those
who, having finished their own earthly experience,
are so anxious to come back and tread the path again
- or perhaps a little different one - with another.
And you, little children of my heart, you will want
to do the same; you will say: 'Oh I remember how hard
that seemed, how steep that climb; let me help because
I have been through it and I understand!'
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"And that brings me to this: That in work of this
kind - indeed in any work that matters - it is absolutely
necessary that certain ones should go in front; that
they should blaze the trail for others, which means
that the fiercest hardship must be their own because
they go forward not knowing where the dangers lie;
while others, seeing the warning posts here and there,
can take care, can be on their guard, can walk warily
until the dangerous place is passed. Yes, it is absolutely
necessary that certain ones should go in front. Has
not your heart burned with love and admiration for
the hardened travellers on earth - for those who, guided
by the Spirit, went forward into the unknown and opened
up vast tracts whose existence had been unimagined
before?
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"Children, when I speak to you thus all the entanglements
of the physical mind fall from you. It seems so clear;
so plain the meaning of God's purpose in regard to
your lives. And there is another thing you are apt
to forget: The pioneers - those who go into unexplored
continents on earth - they receive the first impression,
they also reach the goal first, and perhaps months,
or years, pass before others are able to attain to
that same point. You see, dear children, that going
in front has its advantages and discomforts. Right
down the ages there have been some who have sought
to penetrate into the Unknown, and they reached, anyhow,
the borders of the Land of Promise, thus saving themselves
much time when the body was laid aside. Yes, right
down the ages this has been so, although often it was
done in secret because those who were content with
the valley objected to others climbing the hill. So
you see, dear children, that not only in the present
but in the past and in the future, there has been,
and will be, the hardy ones who, by their spiritual
endeavours, will reach the land of Light before those
others who, as yet, have not awakened to the necessity
of going forward.
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"Nothing can take the prize from you. You may
say to yourselves: 'But I am tired and would rest!'
Yet, my little ones, have you not noticed that when
a child, resting on the grassy bank, sees another passing
her, running along the road - the rest and the grassy
bank loses its attractions, her weariness is forgotten;
others have gone on in front and she must go as well.
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"I tell you all - and I know you through and through
- that whatever the inducement, that however pleasant
the prospect, the weariness of the road would not hold
you back now; it would not be sufficient to allow you
to witness others forging ahead while you were stranded
by the wayside, cut off - except in imagination - from
the glories which are in front. My children, that is
the beauty of the things of the Spirit. Once you have
felt the Hand of God you must go on; you must, anyhow,
do the best you can to cover the ground; and though
to you it may seem that you have left the toys of the
world behind and you don't know how to make use of
the gifts of the Spirit which have taken their place,
yet, dear children, I am told to remind you that the
barren aspect is, in itself, an indication of what
lies just in front, though you realise it not. Gifts
of the Spirit have been made your own; minds so buoyant
will soon readjust themselves to the changed conditions,
and once you understand how to make use of those gifts
you will realise that indeed you have crossed the border,
out of the wilderness into the Promised Land.
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"We have much to do in the days to come. Even
from your standpoint the seeds are coming up in all
directions; but the seeds which are hidden from your
physical eyes are far, far more numerous, and many
gardeners will be needed in order to protect and to
train. Therefore, dear children, you see what your
part must be: By the very depth and breadth of your
own life's experience - and only by that - can you
help others, can you be the one to see that the enemy
does not draw too close; to take care that the spirit
- which can well be represented by the emerging of
the green shoot through the earth - to take care when
the unfoldment commences that not only shall the rain
fall upon it, but the sun: the Sun of God's Love. The
rain is sacred: it is symbolical of life's experience;
it is that which cleanses, and if sometimes it is over-fierce
and beats to the ground, yet without that rain the
plant could not grow; and even if it, in its frailty,
bends before the storm, so shall the warmth and power
of God's Love raise it up, again and again, until matured
- yes, I say 'matured' by rain and by light, so it
is firmly established for all time.
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"Remember, dear children, that you are as Joshuas,
sent to describe a Land which is waiting for the inhabitation
of all those who would show themselves children of
The Divine. So forget your wounds, throw aside memories
which perhaps are shadowed too much by the earth, and
say, with faith, that the Land of Promise is fair indeed;
that it is worth a struggle; that you are certain that,
by God's grace, both hidden and open enemies can be
overcome, and that the encampment can move forward
and take possession; pass out of the wilderness into
the Land which flows with milk and honey - milk and
honey, symbolical of that love and service which not
only admits you into the Promised Land, but also allows
you to remain in it for ever and for ever.
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"Be not discouraged over anything. If you could
but see it, you would know that you had cause for pure
and unlimited rejoicing; and never forget that whatever
lies in front of any pilgrim, Christ companions them
all the way. Isolation and loneliness are of the physical
alone. When you come here you will see that the protection
was complete; that surrounding you were a cloud of
witnesses - yes, witnessing that they too had taken
the uphill path, that they too had entered into the
Promised Land; they who,
by
tribulation, have found
that
security
from
tribulation which nothing can take away. These walk
with you, protecting, guiding, because your eyes are
bound; and these, in close communion with the spirit
within, will lead you into the Land of your heart's
desire - to the very goal of the quest which you undertook.
-
"And now I leave you. Keep your thoughts steady
and your will as closely as possible in touch with
Christ because, as always, we have work to do."
©GWCSA
GIFT
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