FATHER and MOTHER DIVINE
Mr. John Love: Peace FATHER, Peace MOTHER, Peace Everyone: I want to thank YOU, FATHER and MOTHER Dear, for this, the Devotional Service, which affords us an opportunity to give YOU Thanks and Praise for YOUR many blessings. I want to thank YOU FATHER for the blessed Event, the Anniversary of FATHER and MOTHER DIVINE. We can all feel involved for we have the same Conviction that MOTHER has, that FATHER, DIVINE is GOD, and that we too are married to the Lamb. (applause) So for all of YOUR many blessings, FATHER and MOTHER, I thank YOU.
Now FATHER and MOTHER, I thank YOU to sing a little song of praise. As we know, the words of the song are more important than the music or the melody which accompanies it, for the words carry or convey the message and if you don't get the words you don't get the message. So I thank FATHER and MOTHER for a little song of praise. The words of the song are:
We thank YOU FATHER for YOUR Blessing,
For YOUR, Love and for YOUB Peace,
As we abide with YOU and YOUR Bride
Our praises shall never cease!
We thank the Blesser for HIS Blessings,
For HIS Love and for HIS Peace,
As we are conscious of HIM and HIS Bride
Our praises shall never cease!
(Holy Communion Table) (4-28-76 A.D.F.D.)
Miss G. B. Love: Peace FATHER and MOTHER Dear, Peace Everyone: While sitting here I thought of how marvelous it is that we are all gathered together at this wonderful time and season, and it reminded me of nineteen hundred years ago when Jesus came through the door, which to me was the door of mortality, to His Disciples, and they all knew Him except one which was a doubting Thomas and he said, Lord, but that I might feel the hole in Your Hand; and Jesus the Son through His Condescension allowed Him to put his finger in His Flesh and He said, except that you have done this, words to this effect, you would not have believed, but greater is it to all those that can believe and have faith without sight. So Darling, I feel in this day that as it says in Revelation, you know it said that there would be a time when the Voice of the Bride and the Bridegroom would not be heard for a season. You know if you read your Scripture, everything is made plain, and this is the great Harvesting time, children. This is the time when FATHER, is setting you on your feet to know whether or not you can stand on your foundation, on your own faith, through the veiling of the Bride and the Lamb. They are right here, They have always been here since time immemorial, and in this day and in this time this Virtue and Chastity has never had a greater fight to survive because Gog and Magog are truly fighting.
Sodomy, Sodom and Gomorrah, sinfulness, has entered the land as never before. There was a time when you could walk the street in the night time and feel perfectly safe, and now in the day time all sorts of solicitations are made to you in broad daylight— things that you could never expect. But those that have the Wedding Garment of Salvation on are above and lifted into that high realm where the Disciples were when the Holy Ghost descended upon them like cloven tongues of fire, and we know and are firm in our belief, in our love, and our love for YOU, FATHER DIVINE and MOTHER DIVINE, will go on forever! (applause sanctions this)
Do you know, we have to stretch the borders of our tents and forget about ourselves as individuals. We mean nothing, this earth means nothing. FATHER has preached it over and over and over again, HE has said this over and over again—this little ball, this little planet earth is just a little pea in the universe of galaxies and galaxies and galaxies and HE said this was the last one to be redeemed. LORD, let us keep the faith and live the Life and daily, hourly and momently still ourselves and rest, as the Bride said, in the conscious awareness of the Allness of YOU, my GOD—YOUR Virgin's Husband— in the Allness of YOU, and as She said, "in the nothingness of Myself."
Darling, YOU have led YOUR. Bride to show us that we must become nothing, because through that great Love She said that we ALL love YOU, and in this Marriage YOU have brought forth this Love into the fulfilment of maturity, of true love that does not depend upon sight and on material things but a true love that will stand fast and serve firm regardless to the winds and the tempests that blow. And in YOUR Glory, Darling, whenever YOU choose it to be, YOU will find YOUR True and Faithful still standing steadfast, because we all, Children, are lifted above, in the Ark of Safety, and let come what may, we stand firm with YOU, FATHER DIVINE and MOTHER DIVINE, the One YOU married— that Conviction, we stand with that Conviction that YOU married—"I KNOW YOU ABE GOD" —and with that Conviction in a Body, nothing can happen! Thank YOU FATHER. Thank YOU FATHER and MOTHER Dear!
Miss Happy Word—California: Thank YOU FATHER and MOTHER Dear!... Let us sing the song about that Conviction. (We all joined in singing:)
"I know YOU are GOD, I know YOU are GOD,
Standing on this Conviction,
I know YOU are GOD, I know you are GOD,
Living in this Recognition,
I know YOU are GOD, I know you are GOD,
YOU are GOD Personified,
I know YOU are GOD, I know you are GOD,
YOU are Spirit materialized!
Miss Word said she was speaking of another song which FATHER gave to her years ago, and as no one seemed to recall all the words, she sang it first, after saying, "FATHER gave the Key to Simon too, but HE gave it to MOTHER DIVINE:"
Now don't lose the Key that FATHER gave to MOTHER,
Don't lose the Key to the `open sesame',
Don't lose the Key that FATHER gave to MOTHER,
Don't lose the Key, "I know that THOU art GOD!"
Mr. Elie Diana: Peace FATHER MOTHER Dear, Peace Everyone: FATHER Dear, I want to thank YOU for YOUR Welcome, for this beautiful day and for being so sweet to bring us together today! I thank YOU for making me to be impersonal enough to realize YOUR Deity, in fact, in the late forties or early fifties, and to know that YOU are the Creator Who made Creation, Who made Heaven and earth in which we live and move and have our being, and this is the Key. It is the Key to life, to health, to happiness, to peace of mind, to all the gifts to furnish us security. It is wonderful! So FATHER DIVINE, we stand in YOU and YOU are really all around us. Nothing can penetrate the Shield that YOU are! YOU have come to give us paradise and this is the truth—where there will be only angelic beings, because that is what YOU made us, YOU made us angelic. YOU made us whole! (applause sanctions this)
FATHER Dear I thank YOU for the beautiful trip we had coming from Los Angeles. I had just come back from Hawaii where I did work for one of those big resorts in Kauai—I think it is the most beautiful island over there. It is very great. It has a canyon just like the Grand Canyon of Colorado. (Waimea Canyon, often called the "Great Canyon of the Pacific") It is the oldest so the erosion has come to shape it; and the beautiful beaches and vegetation; if it just wasn't for the, how you call it? — the rain season. We have about one month and a half of rain almost every day, but it will not last too long.
So FATHER, it has been, again, a beautiful experience and I keep learning more and more! Well, FATHER Dear, I don't want to take up all of the time. I appreciate being here in YOUR Holy Divine Family; I appreciate being and living in Circle Mission Church in Los Angeles (putting his arm around Mr. Hezekiah Craig who he rooms with and who enacts the Bill of Rights—integrates—with him). It is truly wonderful! So again, FATHER and MOTHER Dear, thank YOU.
The following inspirational song was sung:
Upon this Conviction Christ married HIS Church,
I know YOU are GOD,
This Conviction will give you the Keys to the Kingdom,
I know YOU are GOD,
This Conviction will give you a new birth of freedom,
I know YOU are GOD,
This Conviction will heal you and bless you when your heart can say,
I know YOU are GOD
Miss Faithful Free — Stockton, California:
Peace FATHER and MOTHER Dear: We thank YOU and MOTHER Dear to be here today and to know it is true that we did marry that belief, we know YOU are GOD. We married that belief because YOU healed us from something that the doctor could not heal us from, and we weighed about ninety pounds. The doctor had given this body up. We had heard of FATHER DIVINE and, when they called on FATHER DIVINE, FATHER healed the body immediately; so that's why I say I married that belief, I know YOU are GOD, because YOU healed me! (applause)
We thank YOU, FATHER and MOTHER Dear, to be here this day to give YOU Honor and Praise and Thanks for what YOU have done for each and every one of us and for the whole universe. FATHER Dear, we came to glorify YOUR Name and MOTHER's Name for what YOU have really brought us out of, because we know if it hadn't been for YOU we would not be here today and we thank YOU, FATHER and MOTHER Dear! We bring YOU greetings from California for the children that could not get here today—maybe some could and some couldn't but yet and still they sent their love and greetings to YOU today and we are so glad, FATHER Dear, that YOU are holding us in the hollow of YOUR Hand. Not any goodness of our own for we know YOU are taking care of YOUR own in YOUR Own set time, praise YOUR Holy Name, because what we see going on in the world today it takes nothing but GOD that would keep us with the faith and the courage that we have to live this beautiful and Holy Life, because we know on the outside, it really is something out there! But just to see how FATHER is working in the earth today, it is beautiful. It is most beautiful.
We know when we used to give out The New Days the people would not accept, you know; they would just kind of scorn you and go on; but I want to say, today when we give out The New Days we don't have any trouble at all giving them out. Why? Because they are trying to get away from that something that they see is not doing them any good at all. The Scripture said that in the days of those other powers that are trying to take over, that GOD would set up HIS Kingdom, and we know that that is what is being done, and we feel like this is about the happiest place in the world, is right around the Body of GOD where we know that FATHER DIVINE is GOD and MOTHER is HIS Spotless Virgin Bride! Truly we are standing on that Rock that will never give away and we are in no ways tired, we are in no ways weary whatsoever because we are going to hold to HIS Hand, GOD's unchanging Hand, regardless to what comes or goes!
(Miss Free told of a portion of land being given upon which to build a building, in Stockton, by people who do not believe in segregation and discrimination and believe in integrating the schools by busing the children. She said they burned the building in the process of its erection, and then tried to burn it again before its dedication. She said she took New Days to the President of the building and he said he would place one in his office right then. She added that they finally held the dedication outside the building and everything went along smoothly with no mishaps, although they had threatened to bomb it on that day. She then said,)
So FATHER, YOU just came and took over!
We thank YOU, FATHER, and we thank You, MOTHER Dear, for all YOUR Love and Blessings for the whole universe and we know YOU are riding those three horses of Righteousness, Justice and Truth. YOU are there, FATHER Dear, and we love YOU, FATHER Dear, and we love You, MOTHER Dear; we are satisfied with YOU, FATHER Dear and we are satisfied with You, MOTHER Dear. Praise YOUR Holy and Righteous Name!
We thank YOU for these beautiful Tables and we want to say that on the second Sunday, in Stockton, we had the Bicentennial celebration and I want to say it went off beautifully! You will probably see some of the pictures of it. We thank YOU, FATHER, and we thank You, MOTHER. Thank YOU, FATHER and MOTHER Dear.