I haven't read Three Magic Words... but am going to find a copy ASAP.

I've been a little busy, so the post with the first chapter of Illusions is a little late, but it's ready now, and I'll post it momentarily...

I just finished reading the book (first go-around... gotta read it again!) Thoughts on the book coming soon...

ILLUSIONS: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

Chapter 1

1. There was a Master come unto the earth, born in the holy land of Indiana, raised in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne.

2. The Master learned of this world in the public schools of Indiana, and as he grew, in his trade as a mechanic of automobiles.

3. But the Master had learnings from other lands and other schools, from other lives that he had lived. He remembered these, and remembering became wise and strong, so that others saw his strength and came to him for counsel.

4. The Master believed that he had power to help himself and all mankind, and as he believed so it was for him, so that others saw his power and came to him to be healed of their troubles and their many diseases.

5. The Master believed that it is well for any man to think upon himself as a son of God, and as he believed, so it was, and the shops and garages where he worked became crowded and jammed with those who sought his learning and his touch, and the streets outside with those who longed only that the shadow of his passing might fall upon them, and change their lives.

6. It came to pass, because of the crowds, that the several foremen and shop managers bid the Master to leave his tools and go his way, for so tightly was he thronged that neither he nor other mechanics had room to work upon the automobiles.

7. So it was that he went into the countryside, and people following began to call him Messiah, and worker of miracles; and as they believed, it was so.

8. If a storm passed as he spoke, not a raindrop touched a listener’s head; the last of the multitude heard his words as clearly as the firs, no matter lighning or thunder in the sky about. And always he spoke to them in parables.

9. And he sail unto them, "within each of us lies the power of our consent to health and to sickness, to riches and to poverty, to freedom and to slavery. It is we who control these, and not another."

10. A mill-man spoke and said, "Easy words for you, Master, for you are guided as we are not, and need not toil yet as we toil. A man has to work for his living in this world.

11. The master answered and said, "Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river.

12. "The current of the river swept silently over them all - young and old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current going its own way, knowing only its own crystal self.

13. "Each creature has in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and resisting the current what each had learned at birth.

14. "But one creature said at last, ‘I am tired of clinging. Though I cannot se it with my eyes, I trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go, and let is take me where it will. Clinging, I shall die of boredom.’

15. "The other creatures laughed and said, ‘Fool! Let go and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!’

16. "But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks.

17. "Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.

18. "And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried, ‘See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the Messiah, come to save us all!’

19. "And the one carried in the current said, ‘I am no more Messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.

20. "But they cried the more, ‘Saviour!’ all the while clinging to the rocks, and when they looked again he was gone and they were left alone making legends of a Saviour."

21. And it came to pass when he saw that the multitude thronged him the more day on day, tighter and closer and fiercer than ever they had, when he saw that they pressed him to heal them without rest, and feed them always with his miracles, to learn for them and live their lives, he went alone that day unto a hilltop apart, and there he prayed.

22. And he said in his heart, Infinite Radiant Is, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me, let me lay aside this impossible task. I cannot live the life of one other soul, yet ten thousand cry to me for life. I’m sorry I allowed it all to happen. If it be thy will, let me go back to my engines and my tools and let me live as other men.

23. And a voice spoke to him on the hilltop, a voice neither male nor female, loud nor soft, a voice infinitely kind. And the voice said unto him, "Not my will, but thine be done. For what is thy will is mine for thee. Go thy way as other men, and be thou happy upon the earth."

24. An hearing, the Master was glad, and have thanks, and came down from the hilltop humming a little mechanic’s song. And when the throng pressed him with its woes, beseeching him to heal for it an learn for it and feed it nonstop from his understanding and to entertain it with his wonders, he smiled upon the multitude and said pleasantly unto them, "I quit."

25. For a moment the multitude was stricken dumb with astonishment.

26. And he said unto them, "If a man told God that he wanted most of all to help the suffering world, no matter the price to himself, and God answered and told him what he must do, should the man do as he is told?"

27. "Of course, Master!" cried the many. "It should be pleasure for him to suffer the tortures of hell itself, should God ask it!"

28. "No matter what those tortures, nor how difficult the task?"

29. "Honor to be hanged, glory to be nailed to a tree and burned, if so be that God has asked," said they.

30. "And what would you do," the Master said unto the multitude, "if God spoke directly to your face, and said, ‘I COMMAND THAT YOU BE HAPPY IN THE WORLD, AS LONG AS YOU LIVE.’ What would you do then?"

31. And the multitude was silent, not a voice, not a sound was heard upon the hillsides, across the valleys where they stood.

32. And the Master said unto the silence, "In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime. So it is that I have learned this day, and choose to leave you now to walk your own path, as you please."

33. And he went his way through the crowds and left them, and he returned to the everyday world of men and machines.

<FONT size="1">~Richard Bach, 1977</FONT s>

The rest of the book is not "Chapter and verse" as is the first chapter.. so don't be intimidated by the style.

Next installment from the "Messiah's Handbook":

<FONT size="3">L</FONT s>earning
is finding out
what you already know.
<FONT size="3">D</FONT s>oing is demonstrating that
you know it.
<FONT size="3">T</FONT s>eaching is reminding others
that they know just as well as you.

<FONT size="3">Y</FONT s>ou are all learners,
doers, teachers.

there are no coincidences,This is the course in Miracles. Todd's dear cousins Mark and Denise came to spend the day with me , Mark mentioned "Illusions" ,his wife hadn't read it YET, so i took them into Todd's room to find the Book ,searched to no avail,we have had so many copies and given as many away,i wasn't surprised ,thought i might have a copy with my books no luck,we walked back into Todd's room my hand went up and retreived Illusions,we were once again in awe. If my hand was guided so soundly what is in store for the future........... The path is laid and i will follow. i gave Denise the copy after a smack on her head,and to all who haven't read this book a must. then go find "The Course In Miracles." I will read it again and maybe catch more from it this time around. cindy

I picked up my copy of Illusions this morning, it is partly eaten by mice, but the book serves each in a different way, the book opened to page 119, it reads

"A CLOUD DOES NOT KNOW WHY IT MOVES IN JUST SUCH A DIRECTION AND AT SUCH A SPEED, IT FEELS AN IMPULSION....THIS IS THE PLACE TO GO NOW.
BUT THE SKY KNOWS THE REASONS AND THE PATTERNS BEHIND ALL CLOUDS,AND YOU WILL KNOW,TOO,WHEN YOU LIFT YOURSELF HIGH ENOUGH TO SEE BEYOND THE HORIZONS"

How wonderfully that fits with Cindy's post and the truth of our daily lives and the events that we understand not.

Love to all

Wyldflower
Thank you for your posts, I was very moved by the one about Learners, doers and teachers. I can't wait to get to work tomorrow and see if my copy of the book has come in. I just may have to buy my own.
<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by Pat Rainey on Sep 30, 2002 ---</FONT></center>

Cindy, I am so happy that I will have an opportunity to meet you and the others!

I've been thinking about Nathen's comment that this book may not be something that is "book-club discussion material" But I am truly glad that others are picking it up, too! I'll be happy to meet in Blunderchat to talk about it anytime others are ready ... maybe Tuesday after Columbus Day weekend? (I think that's the 15th)

I’ve been thinking much on the parable told in Chapter 1, of the creatures who cling to the bottom in a river of crystal clarity. And I was zapped between the eyes with the following text from another book that I’m reading. I realized that it is exactly this – hope – that is keeping me clinging to my current situation. I am learning to let go. I may still cling and grasp at hope, but still, I am learning.

<FONT size="3">Hope is important, because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today. But that is the most that hope can do for us – to make some hardship lighter. When I think deeply about the nature of hope, I see something tragic. Since we cling to our hope in the future, we do not focus our energies and capabilities on the present moment. We use hope to believe something better will happen in the future, that we will arrive at peace, or the Kingdom of God. Hope becomes a kind of obstacle. If you can refrain from hoping, you can bring yourself entirely into the present moment and discover the joy that is already here.</FONT s>

<FONT size="1">~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Peace is Every Step</FONT s>

Wyldflower, Illusions is a most excellent book for discussion, it is written so that it can be reread and seen anew. Like Todd and Cindy, I too have given away dozens and dozens of copies of the book, I keep an eye open in thift stores and buy them used whenever I can.
THE PROPHET, by Kahil Giban is another excellent book of insights, when asked about Joy and Sorrow, he replied, "Your joy is your sorrow unmasked", often I find some difficult times to be the best of times.
But as always remember "The original sin is to limit the is. Don't,"

May Peace Love and Happyness be yours to share always, I find it interesting that when we do share these gifts, they never run out, but hold them too dear and they fade into twilight.

Thank you, Nathen... I didn't think you meant that it wasn't proper for discussion... just that it would likely be a different kind of discussion....

meanwhile, though, back at the hayfield:

<FONT size="3">T</FONT s>he bond
that links your true family
is not one of blood, but
of respect and joy in
each other's life

<FONT size="3">R</FONT s>arely do members
of one family grow up
under the same
roof.

Never have words more true been written, I beg to repeat them as here in Arlo land I have found many brothers and sisters.


The bond
that links your true family
is not one of blood, but
of respect and joy in
each other's life

Rarely do members
of one family grow up
under the same
roof.

I borrowed a vey well-used and obviously often read copy of Illusions from the KSU library, and I find that I had started to read this book years ago. But as Nathen points out, great books can continue to teach us (or help us re-discover what we already know) over and over. Thanks for the suggestion, Wyld! Let me know when you're chatting, I'll try to be there.

This is an incredible book and I can easily see why one would want to hand it out to everyone. I've lived the majority of my life by the rule of "if you don't like something, than change it", but after reading this book, it feels like I just got a smack on the head and a reminder of that rule all over again. Thank you for introducing me to this book. It's an amazing read and I'm looking forward to sharing it with everyone I know.

I finished the book this morning. Wow.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pat Rainey:

I finished the book this morning. Wow.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry dear, but reading the book is but the first step at seeing the world anew, to see the hope of a more wonderful life if only yo belive. Reading the book only once is like trying an ice cream cone only once, you really need to try it on a winter's night, while waiting for a new born to arrive or an old friend to pass. You need to read it before a wedding or the start of a school year, scan it's pages when the news shows images that the heart can not bear, and then again maybe the best plan is to lay it aside and to find your own blue feather.

Nathen, friend, just today I have begun to see the value of this piece of literature. I am facing the my Mom's illness, and a good friend told me she is planning to move away. And I opened the guidebook and found,
"Good-byes are necessary so that we can meet again." I can only say again. Wow.