Editor's Note: The media, as always, were anxious to be off to their editing rooms, but on this occasion of the Seventh Anniversary Celebration, they felt constrained to tarry so that they could hear what MOTHER DIVINE would say to the world. Their patience was rewarded, for they were privileged to hear one of MOTHER DIVINE'S noteworthy, major speeches.
MOTHER DIVINE stated:
"FATHER DIVINE has lifted up a Standard of living for the world by which nations may be redeemed and emancipated from their woes. Then SHE made a very fundamental statement, to the effect that GOD is the One to Whom all nations must look if they are to achieve this Standard and enjoy Peace and Prosperity.
When Peter declared to Jesus that Jesus was the CHRIST, Jesus responded with the statement that flesh did not give Peter that conviction but the FATHER Who is in Heaven. Then Jesus moved forward and made one of His earth shaking pronouncements.
'Upon this rock, I will build my church.'
Likewise, the Peace Mission Movement was built on the Rock that FATHER DIVINE is GOD. That language is common to all true followers of FATHER DIVINE. That Conviction is the cement that holds the structure together."
MOTHER DIVINE made this point a cornerstone of Her speech.
MOTHER DIVINE Speaking
PEACE, FATHER DEAR; PEACE to our many visiting guests and friends; PEACE to the members of the press and television services that are present and PEACE to the world at large!
On this, the Seventh Anniversary Celebration of My marriage to FATHER DIVINE, I want the whole world to know how profoundly proud I AM, and extremely happy, to have this glorious honor and privilege of being united to One so Holy and Virtuous, so righteous, so glorious in His works among the children of men the Most Reverend and Revered, Reverend M. J. DIVINE! (Thunderous applause burst forth.) To HIM and HIM alone do I owe all the praise and love that a human being could possibly give, for HE gave ME of His Virtue and kept ME pure and untouched from My infancy up until this present day! HE endowed and imbued ME with His honesty, His competence and His truth, that I might be in this day and dispensation a sample and example for all mankind to copy after!
For the world at large does not realize it, but there are millions who do know GOD HIMSELF is here in a beautiful, Holy, Immaculate Body! Some may be deceived because HE came in the likeness of man and displays such humility, such Lamb likeness, but HE is all powerful! HE is Omniscient! Yes, HE is GOD HIMSELF! HE plays on the hearts of millions of souls and has changed the minds of countless numbers from lives of vice and crime and sin and debauchery of every kind, and caused them to live a life of honesty and purity that is unequaled among any people on the earth today! (Loud applause rings out.)
Men and women of skilled professions, labor and trade have come and laid their crowns of achievement at His feet, because they know that what they had was nothing, compared to what HE can and has given them!
FATHER DIVINE has lifted up a standard for this people, and all nations can be redeemed and emancipated if they would but copy after the fashion that HE has shown them! If they will just think on HIM harmoniously, they can be supernaturally blessed; but HE is a live wire, and if you touch HIM inharmoniously, you can be just as much cursed! That is why it is good to mind how you think, act and talk in reference to FATHER DIVINE, His Work and His Mission! ('So true!' sanctioned the congregation.)
This virtue that is being propagated through Our marriage is what will save the world! People with common sense and just a limited education should know that nation after nation, empire after empire, and even civilizations, have gone into utter oblivion because of their immorality, because of wickedness and because of their disobedience to the laws that GOD ordained from the beginning of time that they should live by! So it is just natural that mankind must return to that Virtue that GOD created him in, in the beginning, if they are to continue living on this earth plane, and especially in this advanced age of scientific invention when man has at his command material weapons that can destroy him from off the face of the earth! And unless he learns of this brotherhood, this democracy, this Virtue that molds men and women and nations together, they will perish!
All mankind must come into this recognition! It is not a case of whether you want to or not! GOD is here! GOD Almighty is here! HE Who came treading the winepress all alone, and of the people there was none to help! (Unrestrained applause resounds.)
Christendom knows that these same forces that have tried since FATHER let His Presence be known on this earth those same forces that have tried to destroy HIM legally, politically are the same forces that did crucify the Body of JESUS CHRIST nineteen hundred years ago! (FATHER exclaims: 'It's true!') And they would do it today if GOD Almighty was not here in the Fathership Degree and had paid the price going on Calvary's Cross, and then going south and going through thirty two lynch mobs to bring about this brotherhood that we are enjoying today! ('So glad!' exclaimed FATHER.)
I tell you, you had better take cognizance of what FATHER DIVINE means to the world at large! HE means salvation! And when HE says HE is putting His Spirit in the people and changing the tide of governmental affairs, causing them to institute in their business and in their daily activities this righteousness that HE long ago instilled in His followers, it is the absolute truth!
It is not anything HE does as a person. HE is not seeking Personal recognition. But the recognition HE must have is the enthroning of these Virtues in every individual's life and affairs and realizing that GOD is the One to Whom this nation must look to whom all nations must look if they are to be as they long to be! if they are going to have this lasting Peace that they have sat around conference tables for that the boys have gone out on the battlefields and shed their blood and their lives for! If they would only come to FATHER DIVINE, the King of Peace! the One Who has brought Peace to millions!
Where could you find such Peace that exists among those who have acknowledged the existence of GOD Almighty on earth in a Bodily Form and yet Ever Present with them in their daily life and affairs? Oh, mankind, if they only would come and just mentally and spiritually and physically partake of the goodness that GOD Almighty has for them! Yes, I AM proud on this day! (Loud applause bursts forth.)
For when I crossed the borders from another country and was united in marriage with FATHER DIVINE, I know it was a symbol of the coming together of all nations, because America was predestined to be the Kingdom of GOD! Its documents were inspired by GOD HIMSELF! They trust in GOD! a Nation by the people, for the people and through the people! a Nation composed of people from all parts of the world. It is a privilege and an honor to be an American citizen, and it is a privilege and an honor to be affiliated with FATHER DIVINE and His many Churches throughout the world!
There is never a collection taken up! No soliciting! No love offerings! You are only asked, when you come, to pay for the material service that is given you. And yet, this abundance that we daily enjoy, it is not just on this day of the Anniversary of the Marriage, but every day mankind dines at the Holy Communion Tables of FATHER DIVINE, wherever His Name is reverenced! Now isn't that wonderful? 'Truly wonderful!' exclaimed the congregation and assembly. This abundance that flows so free, just because of the consciousness of the Presence of GOD! For when people used to ask FATHER, 'Where do YOU get so much money from to do all that YOU are doing?' HE said,
'The Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD is the source of all supply, and it can and it will and it actually does satisfy every good desire.'
FATHER exclaims: 'It's true!'
MOTHER continues:
A lot of people who have not had this spiritual revelation that FATHER DIVINE is GOD say they admire His work, and what HE has done, nobody else has done. They say 'But I just wish that HE would not and His followers would not call HIM GOD. I can't take that!' We say it because WE KNOW THAT FATHER DIVINE IS GOD! Thunderous applause and cheers ring out from the adoring assembly. It is because we know that HE is GOD, that all this has come about!
It is because of this conviction in the hearts of each individual that they can turn from their lives of dishonesty and would not smoke, when they were habitual smokers! would not drink, when night and day they were lying in the gutter and could not get the victory! People who were habitual thieves and tried everything to get rid of that detestable characteristic born with it but yet, through the recognition of GOD Almighty, FATHER DIVINE, in a Bodily Form, they were freed from it! And yet they want to say, 'It's all right if you don't call HIM GOD!'
It's on this rock that this Church was built! that recognition that I know FATHER DIVINE is GOD! Just as Simon Peter, when Jesus asked him,
'Whom do you say I Am?'
Peter said,
'Some say YOU are a Prophet,'
but Jesus said,
'Whom do you say I Am?'
He said,
'I say Thou art the CHRIST, the Son of the living GOD!'
Jesus said unto him,
'Flesh and blood did not reveal this unto you, Peter, but My FATHER which art in heaven, and upon this rock I will build My Church!'
Oh, FATHER Dear, I thank YOU for that solid rock of the conviction that YOU are GOD! (Loud applause.) Because men may say what they may, it does not change us! Heaven and earth could pass away but that would not change our convictions! ( 'No, so true!' came the verification of the congregation.) Because YOU are the same Spirit that moved out upon the face of the deep and said,
'Let there be light and there was light!'
YOU are life itself and can speak into existence all living and material things! That's why millions are willing to leave their homes, their countries, their families and all material possessions to pattern after Your Way, the CHRIST Way that Jesus taught us we all should live! Christendom should have been living this way all the time!
That's why, FATHER, (MOTHER turned toward FATHER as SHE continued) because they know that YOU have the Keys to the Kingdom in Your Hand! YOU have unlocked the treasures of heaven! YOU can unlock them and YOU can lock them! YOU control humanity and the destiny of all the world! (Again loud applause resounds.)
FATHER Dear, we could never praise YOU enough for the material blessings that YOU bestow not only upon ME, because what YOU have given to ME, YOU have given to all who have the same conviction and who will make the same sacrifice and self denial! YOU have given it to each and every one according to their faith! and I thank YOU for that, FATHER Dear! (MOTHER gazes in humble adoration at Her LORD and beloved BRIDEGROOM as SHE continues.) I thank YOU for teaching ME to be impersonal and universal, (FATHER exclaims, 'So glad!') for I know, FATHER Dear, that is the only way to be happy! When a person wants everything for self and is only looking out for self, they get in so much misery and disappointment and unhappiness. But I thank YOU, FATHER, for enlightening us and showing us that as we desire things for ourselves, if we desire them for others firstly, it is such a wonderful blessing! and I thank YOU, FATHER Dear, to continue to endow ME with Your Mind and with Your Spirit and with Your Love, that I might walk worthy of this wonderful calling that YOU have given ME! I thank YOU, FATHER Dear!
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