The Twenty-second Saying (Part 1)
“In the nineteenth year of the New Calendar of the Church of the Second Advent celebrating the birth of God’s Image and Word in the Sun of Righteousness, the twenty-second year following the birth of the Christ Child, Jamil, in the nineteen hundred and eighty-first year of the Christian calendar, The Man returned to the Emerald Isles to join there with his disciples.
“And on the twelfth day of October, following his religious devotions at the rising of the sun, he went in company with two disciples to the landing where the Ship of Light was berthed. The Companions of the Way and The Mariners had assembled to await him, for they had received word of his coming.
“And when he boarded the sacred vessel, his disciples greeted the sage and disciple of Jamil with great thanksgiving, for he was their instructor in the Religion of Light.
“And The Man sat with them, sharing their breakfast of fresh tropical fruit and juices. And when they had finished eating, they began to discourse on the nature of Man’s existence under the New Sun and on the future course of The Church in the world.
“And The Man listened with quiet composure knowing they were prepared in mind for the higher truths of the Sayings of Jamil. He suggested that they leave the Ship, now growing warm under the ascending sun, and seek the cooler regions of a local temple site where he would reveal additional Sayings.
“At noon, The Man with five disciples, one mariner and four Companions of The Way, reached the ruined temple of Puu-O-Mahuka Heiau, the largest on the island of Oahu. Fragrant pineapple plants scented the air. Passing over the enclosures of stone walls overgrown with a heavy mantle of lantana nurtured by abundant rainfall and rich soil, they came to a terraced platform shaded by the spreading branches of a full-grown Java Plum tree heavy with ripe, red fruit. Far below, the glittering blue Pacific, the Sea of Pupukea – the white-shelled sea of olden times – broke over the sandy beach. A light, inshore breeze brought a soothing touch of coolness.
“And the disciples spread colorful blankets upon the green grass and seated themselves comfortably. And The Man sat down on a pile of large rocks facing them. And he looked upon his fellow Companions of The Way who had hushed their voices awaiting the words of their Teacher. It was the fifteen hundred and seventy-ninth day since the Ship of Light had sailed from the mainland, which seemed so long ago, and the eight hundred and sixty-first day in the Emerald Isles, an interval which seemed but a few days.
“The Man knew that the Ship’s visit to the islands was growing short, and that soon The Mariners and The Companions of The Way must-needs depart the islands, forego their wanderings and return to the mainland, and there make their home in the desert sanctuary being prepared for them by The Order.
“Ever since the first visions of the desert sanctuary, and of future things to come to The Order, had come to him some twenty years before, they were as distant dreams, and he did not know how they would be fulfilled. But because of his unshakable faith in the Will of God, and in the Visions, the Prophecies, and the Sayings of The Child, which were revealed in never-failing cyclic events, The Man held firm to living The Way, placing trust in those things foretold and ordained of God.
“Now that the time was growing near to the establishment of the New Nation of God in the vast desert regions of the Nevada plains, his thoughts turned toward all the wandering by land and by sea in his living of the Great Work. He thought of the tomb of Jamil facing the snowy Andes of Peru, and how he had dreaded to leave those remains which brought comforting memories of the physical form of his son whom he had loved so much.
“Yet, a member of The Order must obey the truth and follow The Way instead of following one’s own will prompted by emotions or sympathy or love of the material things that perish. When one dies, the body returns to dust whence it came, but no tomb holds the spirit created by God. This he knew by the presence of Jamil that came to him in the Light where all spiritual beings dwell with God. To follow and obey God’s Will by living The Way takes all of one’s discipline and concentration, and it is only by this discipline that one keeps from falling back into the old ways of the world, ways which can have but one final ending. This ending was preached against by all the Holy Ones inflamed with the Image and Word of God come to them in their own times, for they preached that God’s Will is irresistible and no earthly power can subdue it.
“Looking upon the faces of The Companions of The Way, he saw hope in their eyes and he realized that the future of The Church was in the combined efforts of the members of The Order. God’s Will would be fulfilled by The Order. He was therefore resolved to relinquish thoughts of wandering over the face of the earth and to establish the Great School of Light as ordained – to build the Nation of God by teaching the members of both sexes come to The Order. In this way teachers could be trained. By becoming versed in the Scripture and Teachings of The Community; becoming wise in the living of The Way in accordance with its Codes, Institutes, Precepts, Concepts and Ethics; becoming learned in the Statutes and Judgements of God; and strengthened by their mutual unity, teachers could go forth to the four quarters of the world and instruct all the races of humanity in the Doctrines of the Religion of Light, thus spreading the Truth of the Revelations and Prophecies and Sayings so that all might become citizens of the Nation of Righteousness under God’s Image and Word manifest in the spiritual Sun of Righteousness.
“But before the roots of the new religion could be firmly planted in the desert, it was essential that the disciples come to him for instruction and be taught in accordance with the giving of the Sayings at the pre-ordained time and place; for all things prophesied in the lifetime of the Church of the First Dispensation and that of the Second Dispensation of God’s Second Advent must needs be fulfilled in accordance with the cyclic period assigned to them.”
We will get to the Saying itself next week.
