"THE USES OF ADVERSITY"

"My little children, I would say in the first instance that the purpose of this gathering tonight is a great and important one. I would tell you also that long before the physical garment was donned so this night was shown to me, for indeed it is part of that laid down by the Saviour for the furtherance of the plan. Oh, listen to my words and cast them not aside, for I say that all gathered into this room are as tried tools, the ones who will not shrink when the test comes, the ones who will not fail when Christ calls to them individually to arise and leave all and follow Him.

"I am back in the past and I see a tiny knot of men. These had many misgivings, doubt held their hearts and minds; but they were entrusted with the message brought by Truth Itself, and through the grace of God, so humanity as a whole has been lifted up, and in this day it is possible to say that sufficient preparation has been put in for the first rays of revelation to shine upon mankind.

"Children, this is a night of work; the desires of the heart take second place to the desires of the Spirit, and under the command of the One Who loves us best, I would speak to you as to: 'The Uses of Adversity'; aye, I would impress upon the physical consciousness that the uses of adversity are manifold, and each one represents a direct blessing from the Most High.

"Think you as to this. I go back upon the childhood of some who are in the body, and what I say applies to vast numbers who have gathered in - now free from physical restrictions - but held, in part, by the weakness they could not overcome during the earth stage. There are some gathered here who during the hours, the days and the months of childhood, took, unconsciously they took, and they gave back little in return. Sunshine was around, there was love of parents, there was tender care.

"Oh, little ones, cannot you see to whom this applies; that those fair days - fair from the earth point of view - sowed few seeds of those blossoms which bloom in the life to come?

"Again, I am back in the past of others and I see even from early childhood the shadow of so-called sorrow. I see in the home disharmony, clashing of wills. I see in the heart and mind loneliness, a stretching out for something that is not there. Youth went and was gladly forgotten by such as these. 'Yes, the joys of childhood passed me by!' But what are they saying, what do they mean? Cannot you see that they have scarce disturbed the surface which hides reality? Oh think you and let illumination penetrate the physical mind. It was not God's will that the little child should be so beset; not God's will that the body should represent something which they longed to forget; not God's will, but the will of those of His children who missed the signpost that led into the peace which cannot fade.

"But I say unto you that although man may fail his greater self, though the laws of the earth may work contrary to those of the Divine, God takes the wreckage, takes the destruction, and by the miracle of His Love builds that strength, that endurance, that stability which not only shall save the individual in time of test, but indeed shall throw out on the vibrations strength and endurance which others, less well equipped, shall grasp, and through that provided be saved uncountable years of suffering when the physical garment is no more. Oh, sweet are the uses of adversity!

"I would take you back into the far past as it seems to you, and I would speak to you as to the home life of the Master. Once again I would fetter your thoughts to the surroundings, the environment of that One Who has cast light across not only this little plane, but through countless conditions which, aforetime, were swathed in the darkness of self. Chained by the past even as prisoners, so those who dwelt within mourned over what they had lost.

"Children, before me as I speak I see the Child. Oh, gracious was the Child! Something was around that little One which tugged at the heart, which arrested the mind. Have I not told you that the Child in the humble home from early years had much to contend with? That Child saw in the mother's eyes consternation, apprehension, and a defencelessness no words can portray. Have I not said that the women in those days trod the hard path? Have I not told you that the women - those whom you love and revere through that narrated in the Sacred Record - that such as these in their own time were considered of no account? They were, literally, the chattel of another; literally, they were the bearers of the burdens in the home and in the field.

"Mary looked out upon life without rebellion. That one (Joseph), her guardian, was master both of her body and the conditions of her life. Yet Mary was free in spirit, and as she looked upon the Child - her Child and yet not her Child - so something of comfort was wrapped around her. The Child saw the tears, aye, and worse, the Child saw that one, so dear, in agony most extreme; and yet, as a child, held by a child's limitations, could do naught but kiss the hand which could make no response to that caress.

"Oh, little ones, poverty in our time bore so wan a face. There were those around who 'shared', but what had they to share? There were those, like-placed, who mingled their tears together, but the children cried for food and the mother's body ah, she responded only as a mother can...But the Master is here and bids me pause.

"Think not, little ones, that I drew this picture for any purpose but that of consolation and illumination as to those things which must come to pass. The Child, the Boy, the Man faced every form of anguish, temptation and trial which it is possible for the earth life to hold...

"Oh, Master, so we bow before Thee and take of the radiance of Thy Love, for sweet are the uses of adversity!

"Yes, out of the pangs, out of the going without, out of the sharing of the sorrow of others, so the strength came, so the freedom of the Spirit was made His own; and so it was that He could stand before His accusers, before those who had the gifts of the mind but no gift of the Spirit, and could confound them with the very simplicity of His statements and His answers. Think you, my children, as to this: In the measure that the individual suffers, so only can the release of the Divine within be brought about. Oh, sweet are the uses of adversity!

"I would take you back once again to your childhood. Was it fair? Then haste to retrieve the precious time that was cast away. Was it full of that which you wish to forget? Then clasp your gifts and thank your God that out of the sorrow something has come from which you can never be separated throughout eternity. I look around the world today. I see on all sides those who shrink from the wilderness and I see those who, trembling, have crossed out of the delectable city into the shade of the desert, the desert which must be crossed before understanding and revelation can be made their own. What as to these? Think of the careless ones, the ones who seek and find the things which wither and die away. Think of those others who are as travellers. These are restless, there is something within which bids them go on, persevere, find out the truth. At first they are as those setting forth on a quest which shall bring interest and amusement. They cry: 'Oh, I will study this, I will go through that, I am out for proof of something!'

"Aye, the cloak of the traveller has been donned unconsciously. They approach the edge of the wilderness. There are many who pause, they would go back. They look around. There are the familiar ones taking of the joys of the earth, and they question within: 'Why am I here?' And some say: 'I will return.' But they find, through the donning of the cloak, that this is a difficult matter; or if they return, they speak another language to those on pleasure bent. But the wilderness affrights them; it is a strange country, there are unknown enemies. And the world cries: 'Fool!' and the mind questions: Am I wise or am I foolish? But the cloak of the traveller has been donned.

"Little ones, how many, think you, who have crossed that which divides the careless life into the shadow and shade of the desert, how many are prepared for what lies there? And oh, forget not that the desert must be crossed! The so-called clever ones, they call: 'Take care, beware!' But by them also the desert must be crossed. Within its shade enemies are entrenched; as it were, above them stretches darkness, and the stars are absent. Beneath their feet, so it seems, is shifting sand, and something akin to horror seizes their mind and fear touches their heart; but once the desert has been entered there is no way out but God's way. Oh, praise the Father for that!

"Now listen and learn, for each one here has penetrated that which is the wilderness, and I say: Thank God there is no way out but God's way - the way into revelation, the way into the realms of peace.

"So, my children, through the fears and the shrinkings, the misgivings, the reluctance and the pangs that rise from this condition of mind, the traveller slowly changes within and without; and after spiritual hunger, after agonies of thirst for the waters of life and healing which seem ever beyond his grasp, after the despair, after the sense of being forsaken by God, so upon the individual the cross is marked, and to others no longer is he a traveller but a pilgrim on his way to the City of God.

"Now think you, does the one concerned know of the change; does he feel upon his brow the Cross of Christ? Nay, little ones, if this were so, where could the test come in? How then could further endurance, further stability be built up? How could the Divine within shake off its last bonds, free itself from its lighter chains? No; while the wilderness stage goes on, so it seems that the child of God blunders and fails, so it seems to such a one that he betrays the Christ within, that indeed he is as a mockery of what he hoped to be for the Master's sake.

"Think of those of old, think of the one who stands by me now - Paul with the many gifts. Can you not follow in thought the pathway which Paul trod, the length of the wilderness? But think not that God has not made due provision for those who take the lonely way. As Paul emerged from the traveller stage into that of the pilgrim, though the body tortured, though the mind seemed to fail, yet the darkness of the night held him not. The stars gave forth their light, and looking up from that which bound and held, so, from the light of the stars, not only strength was passed down but illumination; for Paul looked, as it were, into the stars and saw the Master controlling the lives of men, aye, working in that which was the holy plan.

"Little children, I put this into earth language, for so oft the physical mind misunderstands. Paul and his brethren knew what it was to seek and seek for that honourable toil which should establish them in the eyes of their fellow-men: Paul and his brethren knew what it was to be turned from this portal and that; Paul and his brethren knew hunger and thirst, knew weariness of body and deep anxiety of mind, aye, looked into the eyes of those who acclaimed themselves as friends yet were traitors...But the way of the wilderness led into the City of God.

"Oh, ponder on this and spread the news, give out facts to those so blind and bound. Think of the poor, the workless, the toilers who can find naught on which to expend the energy within. Think of the masses of people who look forward to the coming winter with something akin to despair and hatred of others, and give them explanation.

"True, the wilderness and its darkness holds them fast; true, they cannot see the stars, those symbols of God's love; true, they seem as those forsaken; but the way of the wilderness leads into the light which never fades, leads into that sweet companionship which only those who have suffered in like manner can give; leads into wisdom - the release of the Divine wisdom housed within when all the past will seem so clear, when the Cross will be shown to them in its true light: protection, God's protection. And in that time the traveller and the pilgrim, these in turn give place to the child of God in love and understanding, and such are named the angels of the Most High.

"So I say to each one and to those many whom I have gathered in: Oh, sweet are the uses of adversity! Why should fear creep so close? Where are the roots of anxiety? - placed in the earth alone! What of the past? Gather up your gifts and go forward, thanking God that you, each one, can indeed be used by Him for the redemption of others.

"I speak to you individually and I impress upon you once again that adversity, as you regard adversity, must come upon this little plane, but sweet are the uses of adversity. Out of the tears, out of the pangs, out of the broken hearts, so a fairer city - something nearer to God's most holy plan - will be made possible, and the cleansing of the hearts and minds of men and women will bring peace upon earth and goodwill amongst men.

"Before I pass from your presence tonight, I am instructed by Love to speak to my brothers present. I say: What of the night? and again I say: What of yestere'en, what of today, what of tomorrow? Oh, is it not plain? The call has come for volunteers! Shrink not from the call but claim it as the privilege it represents, and thank your God that you are sufficiently free to hear the call, for there are countless thousands for whom the sweet Voice of the Spirit has no meaning as well as no sound.

"Volunteers are wanted. The work you have done is but the preparation, it is as a fragment of the whole. Then tighten the cloak around you, the cloak of the traveller. The time comes quickly when as pilgrims - pilgrims in the God-sense, warriors at heart, the ones who shrink not - when pilgrims will be wanted to spread this truth amongst those who know it not. In that time no longer will it appear only as something pleasing to the mind, something of mental interest, something which can give guidance over the trivial things of the day.

"Nay, in that time men and women will forget their bodies, their comforts and their cloying desires and work for Christ in the way that the Master laid down. Yes, they will work, not merely think; give, and not take; pursue the humble way, the way of suffering, the way of toil, the way of going without. In that time, the hearts and minds of men and women will be sifted - and God help those who can show no gold amongst the earthliness which is theirs.

"So, my brothers, I speak to you, for indeed we must press on and there is no retreat. Behind the enemies are thick. If in front they seem overwhelming, what of that? The Master once again leads the way. Then up, and let fear fall from you never to return. Go; forsake that laid down by the physical mind of man - the serving up of truth upon a platter, garlanded with earthly flowers; go, give to the masses the bread of life which the Master provided through the pangs endured, through the loneliness, through the pain, through the partaking of the suffering of others - oh, pass on the bread of life which the Master gave and bade us eat in remembrance of Him.

"Foolish ones, and bound! They take of the meal, they take of the corn, and give to the people. They have not understood what the bread passed on by the Master represented. 'Take, eat; this do in remembrance of Me.' Oh, go back, go back over the past and read the signs. Let not blindness hold the mind, nor those of the world obscure the sight. Great things are coming to pass and the starving multitude will turn upon their teachers, and the teachers will stand shamed, shamed as to their barrenness, as to their weakness, as to their misunderstanding of the Master's words: 'Follow me!'

"Children, take the hard road, the way of the wilderness, the garden and the cross, which leads on to the Eastermorn - the new birth, the new life, ah, freedom from that which binds, affinity with God! Hold fast, hold fast to that which, by the Love of the Master, I have passed on through this instrument; hold fast to the truth and give out of the bread of life to the starving masses.

"Around us as I speak, so I see the angels of the Most High, and they are sending down to you that which you recognise as lines of light - power, healing, wisdom, guidance. It remains with you whether you respond, or whether their gifts fall and are scattered by the materialism of this little earth. Each one in Spirit has made a compact this night, under the radiance of the Cross. Let naught of the earth, naught of the mind, naught of the heart turn you from the fulfilment of that which you have undertaken, for you have been blessed.

"So once more I call up your courage, call up your faith; and as I speak so indeed a little freer is the Divine within; as I speak so the Holy Spirit rests upon each one, and I leave you with these last words. The time for work in man's way is past. The time for work in Christ's way has commenced. Revelation is at the outer door. Go forth to meet it with faithful hearts and vigilant minds, and you shall see, in God's good time, that you contributed to the cleansing of this little earth. I bless you with courage. Farewell!"

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