ONCE I WAS ASKED, “What do peace pilgrims do?”A peace pilgrimprays and works for peace within and without. A peace pilgrimaccepts the way of love as the way of peace, and to depart from theway of love is to depart from the way of a peace pilgrim. A peacepilgrim obeys God’s laws and seeks God’s guidance for one’s life bybeing receptively silent. A peace pilgrim faces life squarely, solves itsproblems, and delves beneath its surface to discover its verities andrealities. A peace pilgrim seeks not a multiplicity of material things,but a simplification of material well-being, with need level as theultimate goal. A peace pilgrim purifies the bodily temple, thethoughts, the desires, the motives. A peace pilgrim relinquishes asquickly as possible self-will, the feeling of separateness, all attachments,all negative feelings.
Now traditionally a pilgrim walks on faith without any visiblemeans of support. I walk until given shelter. I fast until given food.
It must be given, I never ask. But it is given!
Everything is given to me and I pass it on.You must give if youwant to receive. Let the center of your being be one of giving, giving,giving.You can’t give too much, and you will discover you cannotgive without receiving. This kind of living is not reserved for thesaints, but is available for little people like you and me—if we reachout to give to everybody.
It is my mission as a pilgrim to act as a messenger expressingspiritual truths. It is a task which I accept joyfully, and I desire nothingin return, neither praise or glory, nor the glitter of silver andgold. I simply rejoice to be able to follow the whisperings of aHigher Will.
I have much to offer: I deal primarily with living God’s laws. Iextend to others the mystical approach to God, the kingdom of innerpeace. It is free, there is no charge.
There was a time—when I attained inner peace—when I died,utterly died to myself. I have since renounced my previous identity.
I can see no reason to dwell upon my past, it is dead and should notbe resurrected. Don’t inquire of me—ask about my message. It’s notimportant to remember the messenger, just remember the message.
Who am I? It matters not that you know who I am; it is of littleimportance.This clay garment is one of a penniless pilgrim journeyingin the name of peace. It is what you cannot see that is so veryimportant. I am one who is propelled by the power of faith; I bathein the light of eternal wisdom; I am sustained by the unending energyof the universe; this is who I really am!
I always have a feeling of awe and wonder at what God can do—using me as an instrument. I believe that anyone who is fully surrenderedto God’s will can be used gloriously—and will really knowsome things—and will probably be called self-righteous. You’re calledself-righteous if you are self-centered enough to think you knoweverything—but you may also be called self-righteous by the immatureif you are God-centered enough to really know some things.
My desire is to strive toward perfection; to be as much in harmonywith God’s will as possible; to live up to the highest light Ihave. I’m still not perfect, of course, but I grow daily. If I were perfectI would know everything and be able to do everything; I wouldbe like God. However, I am able to do everything I am called to do,and I do know what I need to know to do my part in the Divine Plan.
And I do experience the happiness of living in harmony with God’swill for me.
Any praise I receive does not change me, for I pass it right alongto God. I walk because God gives me the strength to walk, I livebecause God gives me the supply to live, I speak because God givesme the words to speak. All I did was to surrender my will to God’swill. My entire life has prepared me for this undertaking. This is mycalling.This is my vocation.This is what I must be doing. I could notbe happy doing anything else.
When I began my pilgrimage I left the Los Angeles area withouta cent, having faith that God would provide me with everything Ineeded. Although I have never asked for anything, God has providedme with everything along the way.Without ever asking for anythingI’ve been supplied.
I have faith that God will care for me, and God does provide myneeds. I don’t in any way feel insecure because I don’t know where Iwill sleep at night, where or when I will eat next. When you havespiritual security, you have no more feeling of need for materialsecurity. I don’t know anybody who feels more secure than I do—and, of course, people think I am the poorest of the poor. I knowbetter, I am the richest of the rich. I have health, happiness, innerpeace—things you couldn’t buy if you were a billionaire.
I do my work easily and joyously. I feel beauty all around me andI see beauty in everyone I meet, for I see God in everything. I recognizemy part in the Life Pattern and I find harmony through gladlyand joyously living it. I recognize my oneness with all mankind andmy oneness with God. My happiness overflows in loving and givingtoward everyone and everything.
For light I go directly to the Source of light, not to any of thereflections. Also I make it possible for more light to come to me byliving up to the highest light I have. You cannot mistake light comingfrom the Source, for it comes with complete understanding so that you canexplain it and discuss it. I recommend that way to all who can take it.
And great blessings lie in store for those who are wise enough toquickly put into practice the highest light that comes to them.
That which is received from without can be compared withknowledge. It leads to believing, which is seldom strong enough tomotivate to action. That which is confirmed from within after it iscontacted from without, or that which is directly perceived fromwithin (which is my way) can be compared with wisdom. It leads toa knowing, and action goes right along with it.
In my dealings with people, I don’t chastise, nor do I issue edictsor lay down a blueprint. My appointed work is to awaken the divinenature that is within. This is my calling, to open doors of truth andmake people think, to arouse others from their apathetic and lethargicstate, and get them to seek out for themselves the inner peacewhich dwells within. This is the extent of my undertaking, I can dono more.The rest I leave to a higher power.
Faith is a belief in things that your senses have not experiencedand your mind does not understand, but you have touched them inother ways and have accepted them. It is easy for one to speak offaith; it is another thing to live it.To me, faith represents that peoplecan, through their own free will, reach out and contact God, andgrace represents that God is always reaching toward people.To me itis very important that I remain in constant contact with God, ordivine purpose.
People have had to make up for their spiritual impoverishmentby accumulating material things. When spiritual blessings come,material things seem unimportant. But spiritual blessings do notcome until we desire them and relinquish desire for material things.
As long as we desire material things this is all we receive, and weremain spiritually impoverished.
Those who have overcome self-will and become instruments todo God’s work can accomplish tasks which are seemingly impossible,but they experience no feeling of self achievement. I now knowmyself to be a part of the infinite cosmos, not separate from othersouls or God. My illusory self is dead; the real self controls the garmentof clay and uses it for God’s work.
When I started out, my hair had started to turn to silver. Myfriends thought I was crazy. There was not one word of encouragementfrom them.They thought I would surely kill myself, walking allover. But that didn’t bother me. I just went ahead and did what I hadto do.They didn’t know that with inner peace I felt plugged into thesource of universal energy, which never runs out. There was muchpressure to compromise my beliefs, but I would not be dissuaded.
Lovingly, I informed my well-meaning friends of the existence of twowidely div............