Vol. 37 No. 34 - I AM the Witness

Vol. 37 No. 34 - I AM the Witness - August 21, 1994

I AM the Witness

“You Can Give Up Coffee Now”

Beloved Mother,

I would like to witness to the Holy Spirit working in my life in a miraculous and personal way. It occurred shortly after you gave your lectures on the detrimental effects of coffee.

I had tried to give up coffee for years on and off. I was terribly addicted to it. It had become a real crutch for me, and my health was going downhill. I had begun to develop lumps in my breasts and was feeling tired even after I drank it. I had really become hooked again after I stopped nursing my child. So, when the coffee lectures came out I knew in my soul it was the death knell for this addiction. But I didn’t know how I could give it up for good.

I confess I felt I had to slay this beast by myself and did not feel I could ask God to help me because of a sense of guilt. I created the problem, so I had no right to ask God to fix it. I struggled with this for some time and got nowhere. With the help of a dear friend I realized that it was hopeless unless God was in the picture. I was ashamed that after so many years in the Teachings I could not come to this conclusion by myself and have more faith in God’s love for me, but, let’s face it, I’ve been burdened by guilt all my life—and, may I add, pride. It was time to see it for what it was. Sometimes you cannot see it unless someone points it out.

I reflected on the teaching from Jesus that unless you become as a little child you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. So I swallowed my pride and guilt, challenged the critic within me that I had listened to for so many years and humbly went to Jesus. I told him the only way I could stop this habit was by divine intercession. I told him even though I liked coffee and depended on it, I loved him more. I prayed for strength and courage. I had to put myself totally in his hands and have faith.

I did up an insert on myself and gave it faithfully with Astreas, violet flame and dweller calls every time I got a chance. I closed the door on the taunting of the devil that said, “You are not worthy of a miracle. You are a sinner.” I was getting wise. I wasn’t listening to it or believing it.

Some time passed and then one day as I sat reading a Pearl of Wisdom I felt a burning love for God and such a gratitude for his teachings. I was grateful that he loved me so much that he sent some-one special like you to tell me the truth about life without criticism and judgment. I also remembered that Jesus said God the Father would send the Comforter in his name and that God would never give us anything too hard to bear.

My heart filled with hope about divesting myself of this habit. Suddenly, the room filled with such a tangible presence of Christ that tears came to my eyes. I felt a featherlike touch on my heart. It leapt for joy. A small voice within said gently, “You can give up coffee now.”

I was astonished and realized I had heard the Lord speaking to me. He came to me with such a personal and profound love for my soul. I felt his great desire to help me be free. Truly God is no respecter of persons.

It really hit home how important it is to make a deep and profound contact with God daily through prayer, decrees and study. If I had not been doing what I was doing, I probably would never have heard God’s voice speaking in my heart and would have missed that precious gift.

The next morning when I awoke the memory of this most precious experience lingered with me. I went into the kitchen, looked at the coffee pot and said, “I am not having coffee today.”

It has been years now since that day, and I have not touched coffee. I cannot remember being uncomfortable or having severe withdrawals. The desire and craving were simply gone. It was a miracle.

The lumps disappeared and so did a lot of my tensions. My body is beginning to recover but still needs help. Yet I would have never been able to address these problems had I not given up coffee.

I’ve meditated often on this experience.

I am grateful to God that he not only delivered me of this habit but taught me that true faith in him and hope have great rewards. He taught me once again that I should never give up hope or belief in miracles. But best of all, he taught me that if he loves me so much, I must love myself—and that is a real step towards healing for me. I learned what it means to lean on God for comfort and fulfillment in all things.

You hear the words and promises of God all your life, but they really are not personal to you until something like this happens. He does send the Comforter in a very personal way, especially in our times of greatest need if we are attuned to him.

As I have said to you many times over the years, thank you, Mother, for loving me enough to tell me the truth. I love you.

Ever in Christ I am,

Giving the Gift of Literacy

Dear Janet,

I attended Summit University Summer Session 1993 and participated in the Literacy Army Spalding Workshop (with subsequent sessions of drill and review). In all honesty, I experienced a fair share of resistance while taking the course, and I was only moderately successful in learning the phonograms. Little did I realize at the time how soon El Morya would put me to the test and send me my first reading student.

Well, as the adage goes, the best way to learn something thoroughly is to teach it! At the onset, it seemed like such an awesome task—to teach an adult to read. But as I prayed daily for assistance, my student and I made our way through the phonograms, dictations and drill right into his first book.

I know without a doubt we received much assistance (from a heavenly direction) in this endeavor. And I am grateful for our victory and for you, Janet, in helping to prepare me to win it!

Sincerely,

The Reward of Being a Teacher

Janet,

Just a small note to let you know how much I appreciate your student teaching me to read. I’m 37 years of age and a master plumber. How I got this far in life is by the grace of God.

For as long as I could remember I’ve had to take job applications, doctors’ forms and any other papers home and get someone to fill them out for me, asking people to look up phone numbers in the phone book for me. With this came fear, shame and humiliation.

I’m glad to say today I’m just about to finish my first book. It’s called Healing Your Aloneness and I really like it, which I never thought I would—like to read, that is. I read slow and my comprehension is rusty but with steady practice I can feel my reading getting better. I really enjoy it.

It feels good to not have all the fear I used to have. There still is some fear but, after all, I’ve had this fear all my life. The more I read, the better I read and the smaller the fear.

Well, nice talking to you. But it’s time to read my book. Thanks for being a teacher.

The Literacy Army is El Morya’s solution to the problem of illiteracy in America. In a dictation given December 13, 1992, El Morya said: “I have called for the Literacy Army....You must determine by your own hearts how you are...going to take the seminar on the Spalding Method...so you will be able to teach children and adults alike to read by the phonics method.” The Literacy Army Spalding Workshop is a 15-hour course sponsored by Summit University and taught by the faculty of Montessori International. Workshop participants learn how to teach reading, handwriting and spelling through the use of the 70 most commonly used phonograms (sound patterns) in the English language. The goal is to prepare participants to be ready to teach anyone they meet to read and spell. Mrs. Janet Nordemann, to whom the letters in this Witness are addressed, is one of the instructors of the Spalding Workshop at Summit University.

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