____________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥« ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ *** The Little Worker *** ____________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥« ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Published by CDT - The Committee for the Diffusion of The Third Testament Issue of November, 2004 _________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS: - First Word - "The Lord's Prayer", the model prayer - The multiplication of loaves and fishes - Last Word ____________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥« ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - First Word Dearly beloved: Since the beginning of human history, man had the intuition about the existence of a divine being, of a God or a supernatural force to whom he always rendered cult through rituals, offerings, dances, songs and ceremonies. Egyptian testimonies from all times, tell us for example, about the cult to “Ra” the sun god, and the Neolithic Greek history about the worship that the inhabitants from those days showed to the supernatural forces; Greek mythology also appears later with Zeus god, at the head of a great humanized family of gods, and years later, theatre came with choral hymns to worship Dionysus, god of wine and vegetation; chants that surged amongst humanity as the beginning of prayer, as a praise that elevated with the intention of being heard by the divine. In the very beginning of the First Testament, we also discover man’s desire to make an offering to the divine, to be listened by the eternal, and that is why we find holocausts and sacrifices, followed in history’s evolution by the example of great patriarchs, who with their unbreakable faith, inspired by the communication from spirit to Spirit with the only God, found the answers to guide the life of their people. We rejoice with David’s Psalms and Solomon’s song, which are prayers full of poetry inspired in God’s love. There is Moses’ example, that enlightened man, that guide of multitudes who obeying God’s will took the Israelis to the Promise Land, and finally, the prophetic vision of all those enlightened men that by reaching a spiritual ecstasy through elevated prayers where capable to reveal the secrets of the future. In our present world, the examples from the past have been forgotten, humanity has lost the interest in finding in the intimate struggles of those historical men the answers that guide it to accomplish that intimate and spiritual prayer that led the enlightened ones to enjoy the direct communication with the divine. That is how we contemplate contemporary man working hard to invent new material ways of praying, new resources that facilitate the manner to be heard by God, even though that communication is only one way, from man to God. It is for this reason that new rites and amulets surge which permit men to think that through them they can make their voice to be heard by divine ears, and make use, for example, of different types of collars with beads that permit them to count the number of prayers that they have repeated, or cylindrical boxes with written petitions that rotate over their own axle, or white flags as a symbol of a prayer; the human race makes use of carpets, walls, images, idols, figures, dances, chants and a countless number of other things that men can use as communication resources, forgetting the essential: God does not need us to look for Him in the sky or the hereafter, because He lives in every one of His children; as the Divine Master said: “God is nearer to us than our own eyelashes”. Neither will be he who shouts louder or he who repeats more prayers, the one that will be best heard, because God pays attention to everybody, even those who don’t dare to say a prayer or have a thought. It is there, in the intimacy of our own being where we have to search for Him. But, how to accomplish something that at first sounds easy, and in practice seems almost impossible? Could it be that we haven’t understood what a real prayer is? Since a long time ago when we started to publish this newsletter, we have talked about that theme on various occasions, and we analyzed what our Father’s word had taught us about the true communication with Him; that is why, today, taking the theme up again, but now searching for new sources that will aid us to understand something that should be natural to us, which is the communication between the Father and His children, we will make an analysis of the prayer that Jesus taught to us: “The Lord's Prayer”, that prayer that has being incessantly repeated by humanity, but without comprehending its real meaning, and not understanding why our Father called it “the model prayer”. ____________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥« ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - The Lord's Prayer, the model prayer As this phrase well indicates, Jesus’ prayer was used as a model to elevate us in a true prayer; the Divine Master did not teach it to His apostles to use it as a litany, but to learn through it a manner to accomplish the communication from spirit to Spirit with our Father. By analyzing “The Lord's Prayer” maybe the same thing happens to you as to many others: That by trying to learn the true sense of that prayer, we come to the conclusion that the only one who could elevate it to the Father was precisely the Messiah, since He with His life and example, complied to the letter each of the parts that composed it. Each of us should compose his own prayers with thoughts, words and deeds because the deeper we get into the practice of it, the more elevated and spiritual it will become. When the apostles asked the Divine Master to teach them how to pray, He told them: “When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing un the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly”. Matthew 6:5-6 Which is the room of which the Divine Master speaks of? That room is the most intimate corner of each one of us, the interior of our hearts, it is there where our Father awaits us, in that temple that each of us has within, because He is always with us regardless of where we may find ourselves, it can be in the middle of the cruelest battle or in the silence of our room. Our prayer must be quiet and spiritual, and the moment can be any moment. “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him”. Matthew 6:7-8 Why do some think that the longer one repeats a prayer, the more that he will be heard by our Father? Could it be that the Father is deaf and needs our insistence in order for us to be heard? It is necessary that we understand that the reason for which He asks us to pray is not to remind Him of His obligations as a Father, but to teach us to learn how to detach ourselves from materialism in order to forget about ourselves and to be more concerned about our brethren; and that in that practice of elevation we develop the faculty of communication with Him. We should not become desperate when that which we have asked for is not conceded, or has not arrived within the time frame which we have requested. The times of God are not the times of men, and we are still to small to really understand what is convenient for us. What need may man have that God is not aware of? With which words can man speak that God will not understand? If everything is in God, what could be hidden to His divinity? In which place of the universe could a spirit become lost without being heard by his Father? In which temple constructed by the hand of man could His greatness be hidden? If all the marvels of nature and all the material and spiritual creation have sprouted from his bosom, what could man offer that does not belong to Him? What chants or flowers could man give Him which are not already His? What offering could then be the one that coming from us be unique and elevated, that manner of communication that being truly ours, could please God converting itself in a true prayer from us towards Him? “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one”. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the Glory forever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13 In the first phrase of this prayer we find the recognition to the existence and presence of the unique God, it is the first step for the preparation of the spirit for a true prayer, the elevation of the spirit above materialism, to reach the space in which the spirit can accomplish communication with the divine. Thereafter, it continues with a praise, with the purpose of sanctifying God. How many truly sanctify the name of our Celestial Father? To sanctify means to consecrate or dedicate something to God, and what is it that God wants us to consecrate to Him? Our love through the love for our brethren; in a few words, the daily review of our acts before the light of our conscience which is that divine presence within ourselves. Jesus dedicated His complete life to the sanctification of His celestial Father, because all of His acts were guided by love. The following part takes us to the instant that the son is able to communicate with his Father, once he is able to reach the elevation of the spirit through the analysis before the conscience; it is when the doors of the arcane open to the spiritual sight of the son to deliver that divine presence that translate to divine messages, in development of gifts, health, in wisdom and many other good things that we receive from our Father when we are able to get closer to Him. All these gifts which are a manifestation of God in us, in Jesus it was a constant way of being, because the kingdom of God was within Him at all times. The subsequent part of this model prayer, comes the acceptance by the son to the divine will, the unconditional obedience in the material as well as the spiritual sense. It is the greatest manifestation of humbleness, obedience without limit, and the unbreakable faith before the divine will. And I ask myself, how many of us are able to accept our Father’s will without questioning Him? Which of us have accepted the tests in our lives with humility and love? How is able to always bless his destiny in the good and the bad times, in happiness and sadness, in sickness and health? Only the Divine Master was capable to bless His Father even in the most unfortunate moments, accepting His will until the last breath on this earth. Now, we go to the petition, which, when it is elevated and spiritual allows us to forget about our own need to ask our Father for that of our brethren. It is important to analyze also the symbol of the bread which not only symbolizes the food which we require in the material sense, but it has also been used by the Father to talk about the spiritual food which is the Divine Word, the teaching. In the Master’s prayer, there is a humble petition, it is the petition that does not ask for more than the daily petition, it is not the yearning to resolve the future, but rather the every day need. That is why the Master said: “Worry about today that tomorrow will resolve itself ”. This also tells us about faith. Afterwards, the Master refers to forgiveness, that which we should ask for and concede to our brethren. This is of vital importance, because we can not reach true prayer without first having forgiven the offenses received from our brethren, as many times as necessary, “seventy times seven”, as Jesus used to say. Likewise, our prayer can’t reach a true elevation without having been able to ask for forgiveness to those whom we may have offended by some act in our life; that is why the Divine Master taught us: “If you bring your offering to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go, reconcile first with your brother, and then present your offering”. It was the Divine Master who taught us not have debts with others, because His life was dedicated to give love, health, wise counsel and constant example; and as such He showed us the path of His infinite forgiveness, even at the moments of His sacrifice in the Golgotha. “And lead us not into temptation” continues the Master in His prayer; Could it be that the Father creates temptation to allow us to fall? This phrase is an alert for the spirit, we should be on the watch, under wakefulness, in order not to allow that temptation comes near to us; however, all of us at some point in our lives have faced temptation that presents itself disguised in a thousand different manners to accomplish its objectives, to make us fall. On many occasions we have defeated it, on others we have succumbed under the charm of its seduction, but it is not the Father who creates temptation, He allows it to come to us through our faults and mistakes to test our spiritual force, and when we are able to defeat temptation we become stronger; and even if temptation defeats us, we submit ourselves to trials that sooner or later will become great teachings in the evolution of our spirit. Nobody has been tempted more than Jesus, and nobody has been as strong to reject such temptation because we should not forget that Jesus being Divine by the Spirit which animated Him, was also totally human, but His humanity was harmonious, perfect, without contradicting the natural laws, Jesus lived in accordance with each and every spiritual law. The prayer of the Divine Master ends by saying “deliver us from evil”, because being one with the Father, Jesus knew that when our spirit accomplishes true prayer taken to its maximum expression, is converted into a communication from Spirit to spirit between the Father and His children. In that prayer, low passions, material influences disappear, sin and shame move away and the barriers which have moved away the son from the Father are broken; also vanity and pride, egotism and materialism stay far away. That is the true purpose in the communication of spirit to Spirit, to make one and the same will of the Father and the son, one will of wisdom which draws us near to goodness and helps us to move away from evil. ____________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥« ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The multiplication of loaves and fishes In the Second Era, Jesus’ fame grew due to the virtue of His miracles, and even in this era, there are many that upon reading about the miracles which the Divine Master realized, still do not understand how the blind recovered their sight, the paralytics their movement, the dead their lives, and the possessed the light. As our Father has explained in His Word, all these marvels that took place in a material form before the eyes of those who followed him, were necessary; it was important that the multitudes would get to know the authority that emanated from the Master, because the stubborness of those times, and their lack of spiritual elevation, would not have allowed them to recognize in another manner the Christ in Jesus. Man, in his pride, has tried to explain throughout time how those marvels could have been realized; some have been satisfied to see them as unnatural acts, others have tried to explain as cases of collective hypnosis, and few very few, have accepted that it has to do with prodigies generated by the gifts that come from the spirit. Amongst all of the miracles that were witnessed by men of those times, there is one which repeated itself twice, which even in these times of scientific discoveries and inter planetary voyages, could not be understood, neither for its importance as a spiritual message, nor for the magnitude it had in the material sense. Let us analyze the first time the miracle took place: “Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said: I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. And his disciples say unto him; Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? And Jesus saith unto them: How many loaves have ye? And they said: Seven, and a few little fishes. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled; and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children”. Matthew 15:32-38 In His teaching, our Father has explained various times, that in His work, magic, the supernatural or coincidence does not exist. Each of the miracles that surrounded the life of the Divine Master, where realized through the power of faith, charity and infinite love. When we decide to follow that example in our lives we accomplish the elevation of the spirit, and what surges is the love and development of the gifts that God has deposited in us. It is then that all what appeared to be mysterious becomes natural before our eyes, and we understand that which we call miracle is not more than the materialization of a divine message. This is how the marvelous miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes: The infinite love of the Divine Master and His teaching of light woke the faith of the multitude which listened to Him producing the prodigy of multiplying the food, not as a result of a magical act, but as a result of a profound love, that moved the hearts of all those that heard the Master, and upon seeing that He and His disciples were willing to share with all the people around them whatever they had, opened their purses to also share with everyone the food that they carried. As you can see, all the marvels in our lives are generated and explained through love. Now, let’s analyze the spiritual meaning of these verses of the Second Testament: The three days that the multitude spent with the Master, symbolize the three Eras that humanity would live. The seven loaves are the symbol of the Seven Seals that form our history, and that are contained in those three Eras. The fact that it deals specifically with loaves of bread is because bread is a symbol of the universal food, added by the fact that it is easy to make and it does not decompose easily. It is the clearest metaphor of the best food for the spirit. The fish is the food that comes from the sea, and as the Father has explained, the sea symbolizes His teaching and His word. The fish are not counted; this symbolizes that what is given as an extra beyond a normal ration. This means that not only the spirit is benefited by the Divine word, but in addition, so is the matter. The four thousand men represent four times one thousand; four symbolizes the four cardinal points, and the thousands, the whole humanity. The seven baskets full of bread represent the promise that the spiritual food will be abundant until the end of time, until the Seventh Seal is concluded. ____________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥« ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Last Word Let us recall that before incarnating for the first time, it was through the communication of spirit to Spirit how we communicated with our Father, and it was through that communication how the enlightened ones of the past were able to speak to Him. Our Father has called “The Lord's Prayer” as the model prayer, because it is an example that we can follow. Not by repeating its phrases over and over again will we be able to reach a true prayer, but by putting it into practice in our lives; it is not about words, but about deeds. As the Divine Master said: “Five minutes of prayer are sufficient, along with a whole life of compliance”. 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