...walk with me and I will school you in My rules of righteousness: I will be your Educator and no-one else. I will whisper in your ear the history of all invisible things and inaccessible yet becoming visible and accessible through the Divine teachings of your Master; the Word of Life will be offered to you, freely.... after having been schooled with righteousness I shall lift your soul to the next level; the level in which before your birth you were called... (True Life in God, 6 January 2002)
Some words about True Life in God
by Brother Andrew CSWGThe following extract is taken from a booklet titled, "Reflections on True Life in God". The booklet is available in PDF form HERE.
The reader of these works will find his own life in them, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the very life of everyone, and who is the author of these works. You may not want to meet him, or see your own life laid bare and revealed in the light of his truth, but he himself will grant you the wherewithal to stand in his presence when he comes in his glory, with his holy ones with him. (cf Lu 21:36, Matt 25:31, Lu 21:27, Lu 9:26) This, after all, is what our life of prayer is for. If you find that difficult to cope with then these works are not yet for you. I was speaking to someone recently who told me that on a recent visit to the monastery she read nine books in four days, and this, she admitted, was to avoid having to look up from her reading and acknowledge the presence of our Lord whom she knew was standing before her as she read. Here indeed is that mis-use of religion so prevalent in our own day, where religious practice itself becomes a 'place' in which to hide from God.
As you read these works then, reader, when he who is their author appears to you, look up from your reading and speak to him, face to face. It is what you were born for. Once you have left this world you will no longer be able to meet him in this way, so make the most of the time given you. Give ear to what he says to you, look at him, smile at him, and read as he invites you. He has much to say to you, to us, and he says it in these volumes. Tremendous themes! The nature of salvation, purgatory and beyond, life in the new creation, the defeat of Satan and the ending of the Spiritual War, the transfer of the population of this world into the new creation, the raising of the shepherds needed to guide the flock into the new world, the Dark Night into which the world has been drawn in our times, the end of that Dark Night, and the means by which he accomplished, accomplishes, all of that, through love, the love God has for all of us, and our response to that love. It is all written in these books. It will be given to you at the time to respond in appropriate fashion. Your response will be a true one, either yes or no.
The theology to which these volumes introduce us is refreshing, lively, and candid. You do not need a PhD in Theology to understand it. Accessible to all who desire it, it is direct, simple, and a joy to read. It refreshes the parts that other theologies cannot reach. It is in fact everything you do not expect theology to be. I have a hunch that those who read it and take to it will be little inclined to argue about it, or enter into the theological polemic that has so riven the separated churches over the centuries and whose fruits are becoming so manifest in our day - their inability to bring their worshippers to the perfection I have been describing. This inability is remedied in these volumes. Our Lord Himself speaks in them, and for those willing to receive him he grants renewal, refreshment, life, and peace.
The work of True Life in God has hardly begun. I have a feeling that in this initial period the Messages are being presented to the churches, that they might give the simple response, yes, or no, that they elicit. Once this initial period is over they will be presented to the population at large, and then I think astonishing, astounding things will happen, things beyond the capacity of human thinking to encompass - huge numbers of people will recognise, in the reading of them, their author, the Lord Jesus Christ. They will see his face, hear his voice, smile at him, rejoice with him, and remember that they know him and love him, and have done, these many years. The amnesia into which the Prince of this world, Satan, has cast them, and which the churches in their present state are unable to remedy, will thus be overcome, and they will come back to the Church, since for those who love our Lord there is nowhere else to go. Their return will transform the Church out of all recognition.
There is a historical precedent for events of such magnitude. In the fourth century the Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and a vast influx of the population into the Church took place. In a very real sense the Church has been coping with the aftermath of that event ever since. The future events I am pointing to will be a furthering of that great work begun seventeen hundred years ago.
I think, in True Life in God, we are seeing the beginnings of great events. I suggest you read the Messages and think about them.
(Brother Andrew is a member of a contemplative monastic community in Sussex, England)