Illusions

HAPPY THANKSGIVING. I give Love and Gratitude to and for each and every one of you!!!

One of my favorite books is a small book by Richard Bach called
"Illusions The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah". At the beginning of
this book is a wonderful story, or parable that just about says it
all. I would like to share this story with you, in case you have never
read it. It goes like this:

1. There was a Master come unto the earth, born in the holy land of
Indiana, raised in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne.

2. The Master learned of this world in the public schools of Indiana,
and as he grew, in his trade as a mechanic of automobiles.

3. But the Master had learnings from other lands and other schools,
from other lives that he had lived. He remembered these, and
remembering became wise and strong, so that others saw his strength
and came to him for counsel.

4. The Master believed that he had power to help himself and all
mankind, and as he believed so it was for him, so that others saw his
power and came to him to be healed of their troubles and their many
diseases.

5. The Master believed that it is well for any man to think upon
himself as a son of God, and as he believed, so it was, and the shops
and garages where he worked became crowded and jammed with those who
sought his learning and his touch, and the streets outside with those
who longed only that the shadow of his passing might fall upon them,
and change their lives.

6. It came to pass, because of the crowds, that the several foremen
and shop managers bid the Master leave his tools and go his way, for
so tightly was he thronged that neither he nor other mechanics had
room to work upon the automobiles.

7. So it was that he went into the countryside, and people following
began to call him messiah, and worker of miracles; and as they
believed, it was so.

8. If a storm passed as he spoke, not a raindrop touched a listener's
head; the last of the multitude heard his words as clearly as the
first, no matter lightning nor thunder in the sky about. And always he
spoke to them in parables.

9. And he said unto them, "Within each of us lies the power of our
consent to health and to sickness, to riches and to poverty, to
freedom and to slavery. It is we who control these, and not another."

10. A mill-man spoke and said, "Easy words for you Master, for you are
guided as we are not, and need not toil as we toil. A man has to work
for his living in this world."

11. The Master answered and said, "Once there lived a village of
creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river.

12. "The current of the river swept silently over them all - young and
old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current going it's own way,
knowing only its own crystal self.

13. "Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and
rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and
resisting the current what each had learned from birth.

14. "But one creature said at last, 'I am tired of clinging. Though I
cannot see it with my eyes, I trust that the current knows where it is
going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I
shall die of boredom.'

15. "The other creatures laughed and said, 'Fool! Let go, and that
current that you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the
rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!'

16. "But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and
at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks.

17. "Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current
lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.

18. "And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried,
'See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the
Messiah, come to save us all !'

19. "And the one carried in the current said, 'I am no more messiah
than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go.
Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.'

20. "But they cried the more, 'Saviour!' all the while clinging to the
rocks, and when they looked again he was gone, and they were left
alone making legends of a Saviour."

21. And it came to pass when he saw that the multitude thronged him
the more day on day, tighter and closer and fiercer than ever they
had, when he saw that they pressed him to heal them without rest, and
feed them always with his miracles, to learn for them and to live
their lives, he went alone that day unto a hilltop apart, and there he
prayed.

22. And he said in his heart, Infinite Radiant Is, if it be thy will,
let this cup pass from me, let me lay aside this impossible task. I
cannot live the life of one other soul, yet ten thousand cry to me for
life. I'm sorry I allowed it all to happen. If it be thy will, let me
go back to my engines and my tools and let me live as other men.

23. And a voice spoke to him on the hilltop, a voice neither male nor
female, loud nor soft, a voice infinitely kind. And the voice said
unto him, "Not my will, but thine be done. For what is thy will is
mine for thee. Go thy way as other men, and be thou happy on the
earth."

24. And hearing, the Master was glad, and gave thanks and came down
from the hilltop humming a little mechanics song. And when the throng
pressed him with its woes, beseeching him to heal for it and learn for
it and feed it nonstop from his understanding and to entertain it with
his wonders, he smiled upon the multitude and said pleasantly unto
them, "I quit."

25. For a moment the multitude was stricken dumb with astonishment.

26. And he said unto them, "If a man told God that he wanted most of
all to help the suffering world, no matter the price to himself, and
God answered and told him what he must do, should the man do as he is
told?"

27. "Of course Master!" cried the many. "It should be pleasure for him
to suffer the tortures of hell itself, should God ask it!"

28. "No matter what those tortures, nor how difficult the task?"

29. "Honor to be hanged, glory to be nailed to a tree and burned, if
so be that God has asked," said they.

30. "And what would you do," the Master said unto the multitude, "if
God spoke directly to your face and said, 'I COMMAND THAT YOU BE HAPPY
IN THE WORLD, AS LONG AS YOU LIVE.' What would you do then?"

31. And the multitude was silent, not a voice, not a sound was heard
upon the hillsides, across the valleys where they stood.

32. And the Master said unto the silence, "In the path of our
happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this
lifetime. So it is that I have learned this day, and choose to leave
you now to walk your path, as you please."

33. And he went his way through the crowds and left them, and he
returned to the everyday world of men and machines.

What would you do? If God Commanded you to be happy all the days of
your life, what would you have to do to follow this commandment? What
would be the path of your happiness? What brings you Joy?
In the answer to these questions lies the truth of who you are, and
where you are going, and how long it will take to "get there".

Happy Thanksgiving from one Master to all you other Masters.
You are no less than the greatest, and no greater than the least.
Thank you Richard Bach, for this wonderful story, and,
Thank you, Beloved I AM, For the Unconditional Love that we are!!!
Namaste'
Russ

--
Love and Light Always and All Ways