Vol. 34 No. 23 - I AM the Witness

Vol. 34 No. 23 - I AM the Witness - June 9, 1991

I AM the Witness

By April of 1983 my husband and I had two and a half years of out-island life behind us. We were well established as the medical team for several remote Bahamian settlements.

It had been a terrible week. An entire village had been leveled by fire. The village had housed the labor force for a large government farm. It was home to nearly 5,000 Haitian refugees who, prior to the fire, had very little and now had nothing. To compound the problem, half of them were illegal aliens and had scurried off into the bush to hide, far less concerned about hunger or exposure than about deportation.

We launched a relief effort and spent five days collecting food, clothing, bedding and building supplies for nightly distribution. Many volunteers had come forward to help with the daily collection of relief items, and things were finally quiet at the office. So, I also decided to “hide” for a few hours.

I packed up my snorkeling gear, some cold drinks and the dog and climbed into our old, beat-up ambulance. The radio was about the only thing that worked well on the vehicle and would afford me contact with the office from my favorite section of secluded beach.

I drifted off to sleep as I lay in the shallows of the clear Caribbean enjoying the warmth of the sun and the distant calling of seabirds overhead. As if dreaming, I found myself walking down a long causeway toward a white marble structure that looked like a Greek temple. It was magnificent in its balanced proportions and simplicity of design. Awe and curiosity overrode my normal sense of propriety and I entered the lower level of the building.

I climbed a short staircase to find myself within a large rectangular hall. It had no exterior walls, only well-spaced pillars that supported the massive roof. It was open to the air and the expansive view of the surrounding ocean. I was alone but sensed that something was about to take place.

Since the farm fire, I had been cooking for large groups of people. So I decided that I should probably prepare a meal. I found a small room to the left rear side of the hall. I entered it in search of a kitchen. It was empty. I heard noises behind me and turned to look back into the hall. A procession had started. People were filing into the hall two by two. They were dressed in long white robes topped with royal blue vestments.

As they passed by, some looked at me in a questioning manner as if to inquire as to why I was not participating. I suddenly felt very out of place. I wanted to participate but had no idea what was required of me.

I noticed a man descending a flight of stairs on the opposite side of the hall. He was dressed in iridescent white robes and had on a matching turban. He crossed the procession line to reach me. He took my hands and said gently, “This is your place, but you are not properly prepared. Come with me.” He led me back across the procession line and up the open staircase to the roof of the building. He repeated, “This is your place. You may return when you are prepared.” I didn’t want to leave. I said, “It is so beautiful here–must I go?” He paused for a time in consideration of my question and then replied, “You may stay if you wish, but...”

As he spoke, I looked at the panoramic view from the roof. The causeway was gone as was the shoreline it once led to. I saw that there was no way to return to the nonexistent beach. I remembered that I had the ambulance and wondered if my husband had tried to reach me by radio. I had left the dog on the beach. A truckload of relief items would soon be at my house for that evening’s distribution.

“...You’ll leave obligations that are not fulfilled. Do you want to leave them unfulfilled?” “No,” I replied. He seemed pleased with my answer and said, “Fulfill your life’s obligations and seek out the true teaching of the Great White Brotherhood. The Brotherhood will prepare you for your return.”

I felt a gentle wind and heard a fluttering sound overhead. I awoke on the beach. I looked up to see what I perceived to be several large white seagulls circling above me.

The term “flipped-out” had just taken on new meaning for me. I was indeed “flipped out”! I sat in the sand confused and shaking. I sensed that I had just made some strange life-or-death decision. I finally gained enough composure for the trip home and went on with the events of the day.

The experience haunted me for months. What was this Brotherhood and how would I find their teachings?

As more months passed, it became clear that our time in the islands was drawing to a close. We felt compelled to return to the U.S. We had heard about communities that were preparing for events that we knew were due at the end of the century. It seemed that we should find and join such a community because we understood that it was necessary for the proper ideals of our culture to survive cataclysm as fertile seeds for a new civilization. Having researched the locations of seven communities, we sold our home and returned to the States in June of 1985.

Our motor home was waiting for us in the parking lot of U.S. Customs at Ft. Lauderdale airport. We moved in and started north in search of our new home. It was our intent to visit the seven communities and choose the one that seemed right.

The motor home broke down 156 miles into the trip. We were towed into a repair place, where we sat for weeks waiting for parts. The owners were gracious and made a truck available to us so I could make a weekly trip to town for groceries, laundry and books. On one such excursion, I stopped at a new bookstore where I was immediately attracted to a certain book that had a picture of a beautiful mountain peak on the dust jacket. I picked up the book and read the title: Where the Eagles Gather.

As I did so, I remembered my beach experience and exclaimed out loud, “Those weren’t seagulls, they were eagles!” Having attracted the undivided attention of everyone in the store, I blushed, ran to the cash register, paid for the book and dove into the privacy of the borrowed truck.

I sat in the parking lot skimming the pages of the book and found several references to a community that was being built in Montana. Then on one of the pages I came to the words “...The entire Great White Brotherhood will summon you and draw you for the conclave of light.” Tears came to my eyes. I had found the teachings of the Brotherhood and most likely I had found our community!

Since I had been up all night reading, my husband, motivated by my excitement over the matter, placed a call to the Glastonbury office the next morning. He introduced himself and announced that we would like to buy property.

A sweet voice asked if we were members of the Church. He replied, “I’m a Presbyterian and my wife is an Anglican. Is that okay?” There was a long pause before the voice answered, “No.” Undaunted, he asked what church we needed to belong to. The voice said, “Church Universal and Triumphant.” He said, “That’s a lovely name. How do we join that church?”

We soon had our answer and, suffice it to say, our lives rapidly took on a new direction. I would not want to count the tears nor the hours of pain and struggle that I have faced since he asked that question. Nothing about the past six years has been easy, but I don’t recall my turbaned friend saying it would be easy. Yet he gave me the desire to endure with his implied promise that if I could “do it right this time” I would someday have a place in a magnificent temple that floats on a crystal sea.

I marvel at the series of events that led me to that book and very often wonder where we would have ended up if I had not found it. I marvel more at the wealth of precious teachings that are available to all who would seek and find.

Truly by God’s grace not only have we been given but we have been made guardians of the ultimate treasure of the age. As guardians, we must be ever mindful of our responsibility to support the publication of the Word. The Word is truly the foundation of the future, and we are as bricklayers who must build solidly.

To My Friends of the Ascended Masters:

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you my experience in contacting the Ascended Masters’ Teachings. I never consciously went on a spiritual quest as many of you have, but I was fortunate to contact the Masters at an early age without any special effort on my part.

With my family, I attended my first Summit Lighthouse conference in July of 1968, when I was eight years old. All my parents told me was that we were going to Colorado Springs. No one explained what it was about. We just registered at the door of La Tourelle, walked in and sat down in the front row of the chapel. I had no preconceived notions about the Messengers, the Ascended Masters or what was about to happen.

I still have the memory of Mark and Elizabeth Prophet walking out onto the platform. Mark was a large man and his very physique conveyed power. I was in awe of him because of his size and the dignified manner in which he conducted himself. When he gave the invocation to Jesus I felt the presence of my Lord and Saviour as never before. None of the ministers that I had heard preach had conveyed the power and love of Jesus with the authority that Mark Prophet did. I can testify to all who read this that I have had a closer and deeper relationship with Jesus Christ because of the influence and example set by Mark Prophet.

The second most powerful impression I have of Mark is of the strength and character of his voice. This was a man who embodied the Word. At that time I was unaware that he had lived as a master of invocation on Atlantis–in fact, I had never heard of Atlantis or of a master of invocation or of reincarnation–but I was aware that he spoke with authority and I knew in my heart that he spoke the truth.

Mark explained the Chart of the Presence to us and taught on the lost teachings of Jesus Christ. The knowledge he imparted is with me still.

The one thing that puzzled me was when Mark referred to the Master Hercules. My knowledge of Hercules was from the cartoon show I had seen on TV, and I didn’t think I wanted to be a part of a church that worshiped cartoon characters. Later that evening in our campground I asked my mother about this and she explained the difference between a cartoon character and an Ascended Master. She resolved the question for me and that was the only time in my life that I doubted the validity of the Ascended Masters.

In our services when we sing “I Shook Lanello’s Hand” and rejoice that this Master is so close to us, I am reminded of my first conference when I shook Lanello’s hand not once but twice. At the end of the evening, Mark and Elizabeth stood at the door, thanked everyone for coming and shook their hands. My little sister and I thought this was great fun, as no one had ever shaken our hands before. So we went around behind their backs and got in line again.

Mark very formally looked down at me and shook my hand a second time. Mother Elizabeth, however, recognized that we had already been through the line and so instead we received a hug from her and were sent on our way. My sister was so thrilled with that that she got in line two or three more times until Mark finally said, “I have seen you before, young lady.”

In this interchange I experienced Mother and Mark’s loving understanding and compassion. As I have grown and matured spiritually, I have recognized this loving compassion as the love of the Messengers for the sons and daughters of God and the love of the Guru for the chela.

The first dictation at that conference was actually two dictations back to back–from El Morya and Saint Germain. It has been said that the Master from whom you hear your first dictation retains a special relationship with you for the rest of your life. I can attest to this, as I have felt the presence of El Morya and Saint Germain overshadow my activities in school and at work.

After the conference concluded, we followed the Messengers west and attended the International Resource Conference, which was held in San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles on consecutive weekends. I remember Mark presenting colored slides that showed the threefold flame and the seven rays. He was very excited about this new technology that allowed such graphic presentations of the Masters’ teachings. At the end of this conference Mark commented to us, “You are having an Ascended Master vacation.” Since then all my vacations have been Ascended Master vacations.

Although Mark walked and talked with angels and Masters, he was not apart from us but very present with his chelas. He could communicate with anyone at their level and impart to them the joy of life. At one conference when all the children were upstairs at La Tourelle doing arts and crafts, Mark pushed open the door and peeked around the corner to see what the little ones were doing.

When everyone had spied him he proceeded to enter the room on tiptoe with the largest grin I have ever seen on his face. Mark went around the circle to see what each was making and praised them for their efforts. He showed special interest in what his own children were creating. Although I still remained in awe of him after this episode, I became closer to him and viewed him as my friend.

Another example of Mark’s special love for children can be found by reading chapter six of The Lost Teachings of Jesus. I was present when Mark first gave this lecture. In recently rereading this chapter, I was amazed at the way Mark presented this teaching at a level in which anyone, even little children, could understand the Mighty I AM Presence and Holy Christ Self and true meaning of Christhood.

Between 1968 and 1973 my family attended eight or nine conferences in Colorado Springs during summer and Christmas holidays. This is how we spent our vacations. On some of these occasions my dad drove all of us down to Colorado nonstop for thirty-three hours and then drove straight home afterward.

To those who have attacked Church Universal and Triumphant in the media by claiming that our church divides families by taking children from their parents, I can testify that, far from dividing our family, Church Universal and Triumphant has strengthened our family unity and harmony. I am grateful that my father and mother found this organization of the Ascended Masters’ Teachings while I was young.

Thanks to the Masters and the Messengers, I was able to avoid many of the problems of my contemporaries during my adolescent years. They gave me strength and courage to abstain from the abuse of my physical and spiritual bodies through sex, drugs and rock music, which have been so prevalent among my generation. Instead of being a time of anguish and rebellion, my teenage years were a period of growth and maturation in a positive, supportive setting. I wish that all young people could have this spiritual experience.

After Mark took his ascension, he gave a dictation as the Master Lanello. He told us that he was used to being on the receiving end of the wireless between heaven and earth. We were also told that since his ascension Lanello had visited the home of every Keeper of the Flame on the mailing list.

Although I had had a sense of loss at his passing, this statement made me realize that Mark Prophet was with us still. In fact, he was more personally with each of us than he could have been while in physical embodiment. For, as you are aware, he is now known as the Ever-Present Guru and is always available to assist us if we simply call to him for his guidance.

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