Vol. 36 No. 20 - I AM the Witness

Vol. 36 No. 20 - I AM the Witness - May 16, 1993

I AM the Witness

No Similarity to Jonestown or Waco

Dear Reverend Gruehl:

I received your “Media Update” materials regarding the attacks that are being leveled against Elizabeth Clare Prophet and Church Universal and Triumphant. In a recent article in my own local newspaper, the media had one more turn at sensationalism as it compared the Church to Waco and Jonestown.

As a longtime student of the Ascended Masters’ teachings, as an admirer of Ms. Prophet and as a professional trained in medicine and psychology, I can only raise one voice–as small as that might be–in defense and in reverence of the teachings of the Church.

The letter to Dan Rather from Dr. Maffett, a professor of world religions at DeKalb College, said it all. I, too, have been a student of diverse religions as well as of human behavior and I was also once an active member of the Mormon Church. My leaving the bosom of Mormonism had more to do with my not finding the “prophetic” utterances (which the church suggested came from the voices of the Latter-day Prophets of the church in Utah) than any discontent with the actual doctrine.

I have no ill will toward the Mormon Church or its leaders, and my leaving was more reactive to my own inner promptings to seek deeper into the more mystical and hidden meanings of the messages of scriptures– both Eastern and Western. I am also a believer in karma and reincarnation, and I felt that my deepest beliefs about these spiritual truths were invalidated by Mormon Church dogma. My leaving seemed to be more congruent with my personal philosophy that a healthier integrative nature of religious thought is needed for our time.

We live in desperate times and what is not helpful or sanctifying is the divisiveness that presents itself in religious thinking and leader-ship as it exists in more traditional and formal structures. Most churches today are preaching, “Come to us and we will save you!” The underlying message is that if you do not go to them, you will not be saved.

That kind of thinking lends itself to a kind of spiritual and social arrogance that was never taught by Jesus or the Ascended Masters. When I began my spiritual search, I found a deep sense of unity and integration in the written materials coming from Church Universal and Triumphant. These were exactly what I was looking for to feed an inner longing that could not seem to be filled any other way. I read the books with commitment and a longing to learn more and more.

Through these experiences, my spiritual beliefs were strengthened and validated and I was healed of the many painful dealings that I had experienced in a variety of personal and professional encounters. So I became a kind of silent follower and admirer for some time. I hope to become a worthy Keeper of the Flame soon.

My daughter and I make it part of our daily life to study the written materials produced by the Church. Our favorite is Lords of the Seven Rays. If you only knew how we feast on the chapters and find anew each day gems of wisdom and comfort to guide and console us in this valley of tears we are encountering.

We find the comfort and answers we need in the Teachings of the Ascended Masters. To know that these wonderful and compassionate individuals are there for us each and every day is so soul building and satisfying. Not to have this information available to us would be a real loss. We play the tape Save the World with Violet Flame 1 daily to begin our day and to prepare us for whatever we will encounter. If we find ourselves rushed and do not listen to the tape or take time to read, at the end of the day we both remark how different it is to not be in touch with that core of our Divine Self.

So now it’s my turn to give back to you, my friends, the comfort you have unselfishly given me. You are not in the slightest way like the misguided individuals from Waco or Jonestown. Those people were reactionaries and in no way do their philosophies compare with the spiritual sanity offered by Church Universal and Triumphant. “By their fruits ye shall know them” is still the yardstick that I use to validate what is correct in principle and motive.

God, our beloved Father, and the gentle and kind Ascended Masters would never authenticate, foster or support the outrages that were perpetrated in Jonestown or Waco. An enlightened being could never justify such blatant antisocial behavior.

As a psychology teacher at two colleges, I have often been called upon to teach social psychology. It was in teaching these and other courses that I and my students studied cults and their characteristics and behavior.At no point in my research did Church Universal and Triumphant meet the standard of cultism; instead, the Church, in my opinion, is a valid religious movement attempting to teach principles that will unite man with his Holy Inner Nature and, in turn, with the Universal Source of Love.

I find no similarity in either Jonestown or Waco. The leaders, Jim Jones and David Koresh, both fit the descriptions in psychology literature that clearly define and delineate the aberrant nature of cult leaders, intrapsychically, spiritually and socially. Their need to exercise unrighteous dominion over those who are vulnerable and in need of true service stands as the most obvious difference between their spiritual, social and psychological leadership and that of Church Universal and Triumphant.

If you are comforted by my letter, then I am thankful that I was able to return in some small measure all that the Church has given me in its written materials, the support I received when I called the “Lifeline to the Presence” and the wonderful peace I feel as I become involved daily with the tape that lifts my spirit and prepares me for my walk in the physical plane. I feel a part of the Community each time I listen even though many miles separate us.

So please accept my love and gratitude, my caring in your times of anxiety and stress, and my love in your hour of need.

I remain respectfully,

Gratitude for the Easter Conference

Dear Mother,

This is just a note to express my gratitude to you for the magnificent Easter conference just concluded. It was certainly a tremendous experience for me as it was for my wife and for many of the people with whom I have spoken. It left me with a heightened sense of the seriousness of the issues we face as a community and as a nation. I have never been more grateful for you and the Altar of God.

Sincerely,

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