Divine Hotel,
764-772 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
The Divine Special pulled into the Philadelphia station of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company where thousands of Philadelphians and New Yorkers as well as others from all parts of the country had gathered to greet their SAVIOR as HE set foot in the City of Brotherly Love for the great two-day Demonstration and Dedication of the beautiful Broad Street Hotel.
Little did this historically famous City realize that this was an occasion that will go down in history. Although many are cognizant and appreciative of what FATHER has already meant to the people of Philadelphia in a material way by lowering the cost of living and making it possible for the most under-privileged to enjoy the best of food and accommodation at unbelievably low cost. HIS Personal advent and activity in the City will mean even more to the City itself. As the Relief Rolls of New York and other cities have been greatly reduced and the City benefited in countless other ways by FATHER DIVINE'S influence over HIS followers, so will Philadelphia be likewise blessed.
The brief parade from the station direct to the Hotel down Broad Street was but a foretaste of the great Sunday Demonstration, however many lined the sidewalks and gazed awe-stricken at what they beheld. Early in the afternoon the opening Dedicatory Banquet was served, and again did the Philadelphians behold a never-to-be-forgotten sight in the beautifully appointed and heavily laden table with every choice delicacy for the Children of GOD. During the serving a few letters from the "Righteousness Marches On" column of the current issue of "The NEW DAY" were read, and then our REDEEMER rose to deliver this glorious Message.
IMMACULATE KING, we thank THEE!
(The foregoing statements are those of the transcriber, and FATHER'S Message follows:)
PEACE, EVERYONE! Good Health, Good Will and a Good Appetite, with Life, Liberty and the reality of Happiness, with all Success and all Prosperity just as I have actually established.
At this particular instance I have arisen to say, it is good to be here today, to bring before the mind's eye of the inhabitants of the City of Brotherly Love what GOD is endeavoring to do among you effectively as HE has actually done among those who are true and faithful and follow HIS Teaching; and further to convey the thought exemplified among you; Righteousness, Truth and Justice. All government must eventually recognize the Bill of Rights as a document must be actually established universally,and not only recognize it but they must enact it in every state in the Union and then enact it in every community locally, domestically and otherwise. By this we shall have a Righteous Government.
Today is a day that has been set apart as the Dedication and the Consecration of a modern hotel, as this is MY Work, to dedicate and consecrate modern and model homes and hotels and business places, and everything else as a sample and as an example for all humanity.
It is not our custom to use the traditions of men in the act of dedicating and consecrating our lives, our work and our mission. The ordinary form of making a dedication may go through the outward expression of praying blessings upon that which is being consecrated, but as our custom is not to go through the outward expression of the performance of prayer according to tradition but as prayer is the heart's sincere desire unuttered and unexpressed, I Come before you in all simplicity to consecrate and dedicate and sacrifice that which is essential with all sincerity.
We sacrifice our time and our service in a great measure to bring about a moral betterment generally, to establish Righteousness in business, profession, labor and trade, and to enact the Bill of Rights in every business and in every activity. It is our endeavor to convert the inhabitants of this great country into true Americanism by the enactment of the Bill of Rights in every activity and in all of our business, profession, labor and trade, to bring an end to all segregation, the worst enemy man has ever heard of. I will not say the worst one he has ever known, but the worst man has ever heard of--segregation and discrimination--for,
'Where there is division there is strife,'
and division, as the love of money motivates it, is the love of money put forth
into expression, and it is the root of all evil for the present and for all generations.
Because of that love of money, through self and selfishness mankind segregate and discriminate themselves one from the other and use the system of discriminatory practices in business, profession, labor and trade, and even in our Federal Government as enacted by our present President. It is an outrage against true Americanism! It is undermining the foundation of our government and creating the spirit of insurrection, division and strife among this nation.
MY Work and MY Mission daily have been bringing about the Universal Brotherhood of Man and the conscious recognition and the realization of the FATHERHOOD of GOD by this great conversion, and when the enactment of segregation in opposition to coalition in the government is instituted, it is an act to overthrow all of the works of righteousness that have actually been established in the act of bringing about a uniform government to be in unison in words, deeds and actions and in all of our endeavors, for self-defense or national defense and for every other act of our present government.
But we are here to show you just what we are going to do! With or without a ballot we shall have a Righteous Government! As I have it on MY immediate Staff and under MY Personal jurisdiction, so shall it be in all of the states of the Union and all shall eventually love one another and be Unified together effectively. Aren't you glad?
Truly might have one declared:
'Love is stronger than death.'
This love of which we have exemplified, this love which we have advocated, this
love which we have actually reincarnated and have actually materialized and personified
is stronger than death and it is a PERSON now! Since it has been actually PERSONIFIED,
the PERSONIFICATION of Love, of Righteousness, of Truth and of Justice as presented
and as represented by the Spirit of MY Presence, we shall enact this Love so
effectively in the hearts and lives and business and affairs of this people until
they will overcome all evil.
The evil of segregation, the evil of discrimination should be stressed in your consideration so that you as a people can see the nefariousness of it; for it is something that tends to cause you to hate one another and become to be murderers automatically even unthoughtfully and unwillingly; for what said the Scripture concerning this mystery of which I AM now speaking?
'He that hates his brother without a cause is a murderer already.'
Through segregation and coercion in the act of segregation it actually creates
prejudice and hate in the hearts and lives of the people not only against a person
but against a nation; not only against a nation but against a race; not only
against a race but against a color. The very seed idea of destruction once established
among us will cause many to be destructive in their endeavors and rise and fight
against each other prejudicially--not merely against a person but against a nation,
for the lack of a real understanding.
People have been taught to hate a nation because of what one has done in a certain nation. Whatsoever nation or nationality or race it may be, it is not felonious to dislike a person but it is a crime to hate a nation; for why would you hate a whole nation because of what one does against you or against a nation in opposition to you and to your endeavors, when by nature prenatally it was handed down, not nationally or racially but handed down individually through your ancestry, to cause you to do certain things prejudicially and in violation to the truth.
Men are made subject to vanity unwillingly. For this cause it is essential to combat every act of segregation and discrimination in the acts of the people even locally as well as nationally; for as with an individual, so with a nation; and as with a nation, so with all nations combined. But whensoever one prenatally or traditionally may be filled with bigotry and prejudice and may enact such laws under the Constitution in violation to the Constitution because of the bigoted and prejudiced minds inbred or prenataled in them and handed down traditionally, and made subject to vanity unwillingly; even though they are made subject to vanity unwillingly, we will not tolerate it because it is a crime against a nation.
It is not a crime against an individual but a crime against a nation, and as I say I have said heretofore, when by proclamation Jim-Crowism was introduced and instituted in the Federal Government, the highest school of the land; the army and navy school; there and then there was a law made by such an enactment to make null and void every civil right law, for all of our civil liberties, as far as race and color are concerned, were destroyed. It undermines the very foundation of our liberties for which we have been contending; yet in MY endeavors I have stood implicitly and sincerely for any act that has been enacted by the President that was constitutional, but that which tends to undermine every civil right law, why, we will not tolerate and we will protest against it!
This does not mean to say that I AM representing partisanism or any special party whatever, but I AM standing for Righteousness, Truth and Justice, and whensoever there is an act of our Chief Executive or anyone else that is unconstitutional, I will protest it and let mankind know definitely we will not tolerate it!
I know there are those, as you heard read in the Message a letter to one who was seeking to know what I thought or why did I not endorse the Socialist Party--I know there are those who wonder, because I Speak as I do, which way I AM leaning.
I AM leaning to Righteousness, Justice and Truth! And if either one of these parties desire ME to lean to them, let them enact the Bill of Rights in every community and bring an end to the discriminatory practices in every activity! Then and only then will I consider such a person has been found that should be endorsed by the real American citizens that have been born of this light of understanding.
These MY followers are born as much into true Americanism by the preaching of the Constitution and its Amendments and by preaching the Declaration of Independence as they are born into Christendom and into the Christian movement. I have preached the Constitution and its Amendments and the Declaration of Independence as vividly and as stressfully as I have the gospel of Jesus. To make law-abiding citizens, self-respecting and meek and obedient citizens I have preached these two great documents until millions and millions are converted into true Americanism by the Life and the Teaching of CHRIST your SAVIOR in this PEACE MISSION; knowing definitely the preaching and the teaching of a true Democracy will protect your civil liberties and will also protect your home, your land and your country--will protect your soul as well as your body and will give you the privilege as American citizens to serve GOD according to the dictates of your own conscience.
Under the Constitution you have been privileged to do such and so you did by your religious conviction, and by being governed by your highest intuition, among you CHRIST has been brought to fruition and into the recognition and realization of millions. By this recognition and by this realization we have the victory over every opposition, over lacks, wants and limitations and over all adverse and undesirable conditions. This is accomplished accurately and scientifically as much as you are converted in religion.
By the Teaching of the Gospel effectively and stressing the Constitution and its Amendments and the Declaration of Independence and by drafting a Righteous Government Platform upon which we stand as a foundation politically, to be a protection of the Constitution and to defend it from every angle expressible, I drafted MY Righteous Government Platform whereon we could stand independent of the politicians and their respective platforms and demand them to come to this recognition and harmonize with ME and with Mine.
Oh, how glorious it will be when all government under this democracy shall have recognized ME and shall have enacted the Bill of Rights in every activity and shall have lived the Constitution effectively and shall have been converted into true Americanism! There and then we will have national and international defense against any outside and inside invasion; for,
'Where there is union there is strength,'
and, if the LORD your GOD is for you, none can be against you.
Is not this the sample? If it is not considered the sample, you can consider it is a sample and an example. Just look over this vast audience and all audiences wheresoever I AM, controlled by the Spirit of MY MIND, by the word as a salutation and as a demand for quietness--PEACE! Aren't you glad? The whole government under which we are now living could be as I AM and as these of Mine, MY following, for I have given them the victory over lacks, wants and limitations and I have given them a true American conversion!
They were not converted into Americanism until through MY Teaching and preaching the Constitution they were converted. They may have been born in and under this democracy, a good many of them, but not being real American citizens, for they did not express their citizenry, neither did they express the spirit and the meaning of the Constitution in words, deeds or in actions. But oh, how glorious it is now to present to the world--to this government and all government, the sample and the example of a real American citizenry that must be developed in and under this democracy and must envelop the world universally.
I need not say more. I believe I have said enough to stir up your pure minds, for I have long since declared:
'I will preach CHRIST in words but more so in deeds and in actions; and I will put MY Spirit in them and cause them to walk in MY Statutes.'
I have further said:
'I will preach AMERICANISM in words according to the Constitution and according to its Amendments and according to the Declaration of Independence, but more so in deeds and in actions, and I will put MY Spirit in them and cause them to express a real American citizenry.'
How can you express an American citizenry when you live in violation to the Constitution
and its Amendments and when you violate the Declaration of Independence by refusing
to imbibe the spirit and the meaning and the nature of it? It is a matter of
impossibility to express a real citizenry unless you produce the spirit of such
a Constitution of such a nation or country you are representing. Hence, if we
are stressing and representing this democracy and our American citizenry, I demand
every American citizen to enact the Bill of Rights in every community, in all
business, profession, labor and trade and in every activity and enact in deeds
and in actions the Declaration of Independence and become to be the personification
of it.
My followers are American citizens according to MY conviction because they are not on the Relief. How can you expect to express your citizenry when you are going around begging and borrowing and soliciting? Not one of MY true followers would solicit a penny from any man and would accept of anything as a donation or love offering for service to GOD and man. That is what I AM talking about! Now we are expressing our real citizenry and are real American citizens because we live the Constitution and its Amendments, and the spirit and the meaning of the Declaration of Independence have actually been established within us.
There are many things I could say along this line. The true and real blooded American citizens, they desire a chance to earn a livelihood independently. They do not wish to be made paupers unnecessarily and imposed upon by the authorities trying to lead you back into slavery, those of you who have traditionally or ancestrally been in slavery. GOD forbid.
You want jobs and you want to be independent! You do not wish to go around as dependents in violation to the Declaration of Independence! I know at times you have been somewhat inclined to believe there was no way out. I know there are real American citizens, ladies and gentlemen, who desired to express their decency and independence but felt as if though they could not express it because they could not get employment. Now, whosoever it was that caused this situation to be established, they should know definitely it will not and would not continue. Whosoever it was that caused all of the jobs--in other words all of the constructive work to be brought under the W.P.A. and other systems, to cause men to be obliged to be beggars to get employment, they should know such an act will not always stand! They should know that we will not continue to allow such acts of our democracy--in other words, of those of our executives, to introduce such laws, rules and regulations that tend to enslave the nation under our democracy and cause them to be beggars in a way to speaking, in order to earn a livelihood. Now, whoever it was that brought it about, I will think of it before I make a committal. These thoughts are well worth considering.
In all parts of the country men go seeking jobs--you cannot get a job unless you go on the W.P.A. or some other organization as a master over you, enslaving you to some system or form of government that is unconstitutional. Under this democracy we have a right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. When you find honest citizens who desire to earn a livelihood by working by the sweat of their faces according to the Constitution and its Amendments and according to the will of GOD, you cannot bar such citizens all the time! You may bar them for a little while, but such an act must come to an end!
To have Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, you have a right to earn a livelihood according to the present wage scale as set apart by those who are representatives of labor and you have a right to do it independently without enslaving yourself under any system or form of government to get something for nothing!
From whence cometh such a law to try to get you to go on the Welfare or unemployment insurance or such, in order to get work, and give you one or two days' work a month and give you little, but it is a whole lot out of the taxpayers' money to eat or live upon, but refuse to give you a job that you can earn a livelihood and be independent?
This is a slight sketch of a reflection of what we shall have universally. We shall have a Righteous Government as I have it here jurisdictionally, and all of the people shall be absolutely independent and shall seek and get employment according to their respective vocation and according to their respective profession; and we shall work together in unison for one common purpose. We shall no longer be enslaved by such acts of government! We shall live according to the Constitution and according to its Amendments and shall live and express our independence according to the Declaration of Independence!
Then live in this recognition and build upon this foundation and as I AM in this building, MYSELF and Mine, so will all mankind eventually be--having a-full and a-plenty and to spare by unifying together effectively and by enacting the Bill of Rights domestically and by establishing ourselves independently and perfecting our citizenry from every angle! We shall have Peace and shall have Liberty and shall have Happiness such as you should now pursue. Life, Liberty and the reality of Happiness, you can have it and can enjoy it if you live Evangelically whole-heartedly and bring your bodies into subjection to the ALMIGHTY and get away from every selfish tendency that tends to lead you selfishly and into the act of indulgence, of trying to get something for nothing.
I need not say more. I believe I have said enough to stir up your pure minds. I must be Speaking again a little later on. I hope to have it more distinctly explained if MY SPIRIT permits when I do it.
But as a Model and Modern Hotel dining room and assembly room established, I present this as a sample and as an example so that others might copy after the fashion and express their citizenry and be independent and refuse to receive anything for nothing but give something for whatsoever you receive; and I say, not a real follower of MINE will take tips.
We cut down and bar every avenue of selfishness and self-indulgence in our activities. We eliminate every way that there would be a possible way for anyone to come in in the act of racketeering and profiteering.
Meals are sold in this Hotel and all other places at fifteen cents, to prove to the world conclusively once and forever, GOD is for you if you live accordingly and will deny yourselves whole-heartedly. You can get accommodation for sleeping in this Hotel for only two dollars per week or fifty cents a night. The rich and the poor, they all are the same in MY consideration, for I have established a co-operative system that Capital and Labor are united together--the rich and the poor they Unify effectively and carry out the plan and the purpose of the ALMIGHTY.
I lift those who will be lifted out of the slums and carry them into clean and respectable places and give them an access in this grace wherein I stand, with Peace and Joy and Happiness, Success and Prosperity, and with Victory over depressions, lacks, wants and limitations and over all adverse and undesirable conditions. I thank you.
PEACE, EVERYONE!
Now, we are having a public mass meeting for speakers of all parties--I say for speakers for all parties! As we are non-partisan, we give every person or all parties a chance to speak and represent their respective party, if they care to, they have also a chance. The mass meeting is for speakers of all denominations of religion, for all to participate with us if they care to.
Feel free to speak and move volitionally as we do here and now and at the public mass meeting at the hall, if you wish to. The public speakers will begin speaking at eight o'clock and will continue until ten o'clock at the public auditorium down the street, and all are welcome to come and speak.
In the meantime I would like to say, after ten o'clock we are anticipating showing some pictures of our daily activities as well as some educational pictures according to the selection of the photographers. These are all free. We are daily showing pictures, educational and scientific pictures of the world and of the future world to come. Those who wish to see these scenes, they are welcome to do so at any of our public places in New York City and elsewhere absolutely gratis. We are not after making any money off of you in that way.
At eight o'clock the speakers, invited speakers, may be there and in the meantime those of the followers and the rest of us will be there before that time shortly; and a good many of us, as there are a good many there now, will speak and move volitionally. If anyone even of our visiting friends happens to be there before eight o'clock, they are welcome to speak because we have two hours for speaking. Then after twelve o'clock we will be back here to serve the midnight banquet as usual. I thank you.
(Before FATHER left the Table to resume the meeting in the Olympia Athletic Club Auditorium, the co-workers were invited to dine at the second service.)
The New Day: October 31, 1940 A.D.F.D., Pgs. 13-18
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