“Seek ye
“Seek ye
First the
Kingdom...”
One man's journey with
the living Jesus
Brian Longhurst
Brian Longhurst asserts his right to be recognised as the author of this work.
All Bible quotations used in this work are from the King James Authorised version except where otherwise stated.
CONTENTS
Part One
Chapter 1: Early Days and a New Beginning
Chapter 2: A Momentous Rejoining
Chapter 3: Stirrings Within
Chapter 4: Romance Blossoms
Chapter 5: The Rescue Work Begins
Chapter 6: Family Life – Here and Beyond
Chapter 7: Deepening understanding
Chapter 8: The Rescue Work Steps Up a Gear
Chapter 9: Friendship, Angels and Revelations
Chapter 10: Tapestry Fragments
Chapter 11: The End of the Beginning. . .
Part Two
1. “Stand in the Holy Place; stand in the Lowly Place”
2. Hal/Sitting Bull
3. Buffalo Bill
4. First Encounter with the Holy Spirit
5. The Free Gift of Forgiveness
6. Goddess Theresa
7. Broken ankle at Crickley
8. Seeds of Redemption; Charles
9. Fleas; don’t give up!
10. An Open Letter
11. The Crucifixion: “I did it to get your attention”
12. The False Doctrine of Sacrifice as the Path to Salvation
13. A Mass Rescue and Healing
14. “There is no light of discernment ”
15. Animals and eternity
16. Peter: “I came to clear the way for her”
17. Religious Mythology
18. The Not-so-Distant Shore
19. Ted’s passing, rescue and going forward
20. From breaking rocks to breaking bread
21. Laser: amplifying the Light for the Kingdom
22. Jim, ship’s doctor
23. Exorcising possessing spirits
24. Religious misperceptions of Duty
25. The Gathering of the Clans
26. Tyndale the Translator
27. Jesus in bedrock hell fastening the escape ladder to the floor
This work is dedicated to all who observe the unserviceableness of Earth-life institutions — political, civic, commercial and religious; who have an aching longing in their heart and soul for truth, peace, goodwill, trust, honesty, freedom, openness, and a deep, inner knowing that things don’t have to be the way they are — that indeed they can, very easily, be immeasurably better.
To all such, herein is a message of hope: there is a better way, and each and every one of us can make a real difference in helping to transform ourselves and the world into a New Era of spiritual enlightenment — the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
We are all, every living soul in this earthly life, Citizens of Eternity, sojourning in time. Most of us have become so engaged in the ‘sojourning in time’ part of this Truth that we have forgotten the Citizens of Eternity part of it. Happy is the soul who chooses to commence, here in the earthly life, a journey back into remembrance of who he (or she) really is. This is a journey that can begin at any age and at any moment. All that is required in order for it to begin is to choose it, and that choice will be determined by the desire. If the soul truly and earnestly desires to begin that wonderful, adventure-ful journey, there will be a longing in the heart, which is the seat of the soul; a tugging at the heart-strings for an awakening to an awareness and experience of that ‘something beyond’ that has been lacking thus far from their sojourn in time.
Once that desire rises to the surface of the consciousness, the step that will begin that
nothing from the Source of All will coerce any of us into embarking upon a journey for which we are not yet ready.
journey is the active making of a conscious, committed choice for it to begin; for nothing from the Source of All will coerce any of us into embarking upon a journey for which we are not yet ready. No other outward action needs to be taken, for that act of choosing, triggered by the heart’s desire, will set in motion the cosmic process which will automatically begin our unique, individual, personal journey. This has nothing to do with our Earth-mind understanding, but is of the Life Force, which is pure Spirit — the very Life Essence of the Creator — and cannot be controlled or manipulated by physical, mental or emotional acts of ego self-will. From then, our Higher Self, which is one with the Spirit of Truth, or Holy Spirit, and has mostly lain quiescent
during our Earth-consciousness waking hours, will begin to become active in the events of the Earth physical and mental awareness. This will be experienced in various ways, including events of synchronicity.The beginner will soon start to see things from a new perspective, and wonder why he never before noticed them, in the way that he now suddenly does. There will be dreams of a type not previously experienced, and gradually, imperceptibly, as a plant growing, the ‘pilgrim’ will begin to find that his* whole awareness, life, experience, understanding is undergoing a metamorphosis. This can be a new and strange experience — and for some, a trepidatious one. Let such nascent travellers on the road back to our true home
— Eternity — take comfort in the certainty that the Source of All, the Creator Spirit, God, is benign, unconditional, Perfect Love. In truth there is actually nothing to fear but fear itself. The Bible is full of loving admonition along the lines Fear not, all is well. Jesus constantly exhorted his followers and the people of his time in this manner. As the wise adage says, Fear knocked at the door; faith answered and there was no-one there.Another well-known saying is apposite for such a momentous time in any person’s life: When the student is ready, the teacher comes. For the reality is that we are all, without exception, lovingly and caringly watched over by and from the Realms of Light. Psalm 139 speaks of this at length and most poetically…
O Lord thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me…
***
That which follows is the story of one such Citizen of Eternity who, from an early stage on his sojourn in time, began to have glimmerings of that ‘something beyond’. He went through periods of trying to ignore it — trying to ‘hide amongst the trees of the garden’— but he felt the call, deep within himself, and knew that in truth there was really nowhere to hide; that the All-Seeing One was everywhere. Apprehensive as this made him, he knew there was no alternative but to come out and face the reality of which the Spirit of Truth was whispering into his awakening mind: It’s time to begin the journey, the quest for Eternal Truth.
In all outward appearances nothing particular marks him out from the rest of us, and this is clearly portrayed in his narrative. The fact is that we are all actually far more remarkable than almost all of us are aware. The reason for this is that we are all God’s children, created in His likeness. What could possibly be more remarkable than that? When Jesus said
…the works that I do shall he (who believes) do also, and greater works than these shall he do… (John 14:12) he was speaking prophetically. At some deep level, that still, small voice within us all is calling. If we hear that voice and, in faith and trust, open the door, in will come the Spirit of Truth and fellowship with us. Then will begin
Then will begin a journey, an adventure, which will surpass all our imagining by its sheer magnificence.
a journey, an adventure, which will surpass all our imagining by its sheer, glorious, wonderful magnificence. On this journey we may not always be comfortable, but we will never be bored. And it will go on, becoming step by step more joyful, fulfilling and rewarding… unto all Eternity.
*Wherever the male gender is referred to in a manner such as this, Ladies, please be assured that the female of the species is always similarly and equally intended for inclusion throughout this writing; that the masculine pronoun is used for brevity and language-flow and that no discrimination or bias is intended against the female gender.
This, being a somewhat unconventional story, calls for a somewhat unconventional foreword. It has been my observation over many years that Jesus of Nazareth and the vast, fractured, schism-ridden institution that has arisen around the world purporting to be in his name has been perceived in a number of different ways by humanity at large. Having considered how best to express this observation, it seems apposite to do so by way of an allegory.
This allegory was given to me inspirationally in a manner with which I was previously familiar: I was awakened in the small hours of the night and heard the words being spoken. They were so imaginatively impressed into my mind that I was easily able to write them, verbatim, after waking several hours later, well after dawn had broken. Here it is:
The Caterpillars and the Butterfly
An allegory of human spiritual life
There lived in a beautiful garden large numbers of a particular creature who crawled about, eating the vegetation, perceiving themselves on the one hand as being superior to all the other creatures in the garden and yet on the other hand perceiving themselves as lowly, wretched and unworthy of being loved. They had many mythologies, and squabbled endlessly about whose mythology was the only right one, which caused many rifts, divisions and schisms between them.
not only was he the light but they also were the light
One day, a beautiful butterfly came into their presence, soaring in the sunlight, radiating magnificent rainbow-colours from his wings; so much so that he was seen as the Light of the World. Wherever he went he attracted followers, who marvelled at his magnificence and the wonders he performed in their midst. He spoke in a way they had never heard before. He told them that not only was he the light but they also were the light; that the wonders he performed, they also would perform — and even greater things — if only they could believe. He said he was their brother and in reality, they also were beautiful butterflies, capable of soaring in the light and creating magnificent rainbow colours. He also said they need not concern themselves with all their mythologies and divisions; they are merely asked to love the Creator and each other as themselves.
Many believed what he said, but others scoffed at his words. The scoffers said among themselves, ‘He says he is our brother, yet it is evident there is nothing remotely similar between him and us; he has only six legs and two wings and lives on ambrosia, whereas we have many legs, no wings and eat the vegetation. Clearly he is off his head and has no idea what he is talking about.’
Even those who believed him didn’t fully understand him and instead perceived him and worshipped him as a God, saying they were still lowly, wretched and unworthy of being loved... and he was high and exalted and eternally beyond anything they could ever dream of being.
Nevertheless, he told them that if they could imagine his words were like bread, and the love that he outpoured upon them was like wine, they could imbibe this as sustenance at a higher level of vibration than the vegetation they believed was their source of life and nourishment. This would then enable them to see themselves as they saw him, and the higher vibration would transform them, too, from within themselves, into magnificent, soaring butterflies. He also shared another analogy to help them grasp this enlightened understanding: that he was as a vine, tended in the garden by the good husbandman, and that if they could imagine themselves as being branches in the vine, they could draw their uplifting life energy through him, thereby enabling them to fulfil their own glorious, radiant potential.
Many did as he said, but because the light of their inner awareness was dim, they were only able to follow his guiding as an outward ritual. Only very few were able to discern the spiritual reality within his stories. Those who did went by themselves, or perhaps with one or two of their closest, most trustworthy friends, into a secret place, away from the clamour of the world around them, wherein they contemplated his words deeply within their hearts and minds — just as he had counselled them — and gave thanks for all the wondrous gifts he had brought into their lives. In the silence of their own within they received the enlightenment he had promised that was sustenance for their souls, and this enabled them to see themselves just he had said they would.
Those who were only able to perceive his words at an outer, ritualistic level began to quarrel amongst themselves as to who was the greatest among them, or whose interpretation of his words was the most accurate, and to make ever greater numbers of rules and doctrines about these interpretations, even though the butterfly had plainly said there were only two ‘rules’. This caused further divisions between them. Some broke away from the group structure that had been established in his name, claiming the group no longer truly represented him and his teaching, and was full of corruption and self-serving. In time there arose squabbling even within the breakaway groups, causing yet further divisions. All these groups and the breakaway groups called themselves the ‘This’ denomination or the ‘That’ denomination and even though their holy writings told them that their Creator had called them by their name, all these breakaway groups had chosen to de-nominate themselves.
All the squabbling over who was right and who was wrong in their understanding of the butterfly’s wisdom caused many of the creatures — who had at first enthusiastically joined the groups set-up in his name because the stories about him seemed so resonant with their hearts and minds — to become disillusioned with the groups, and they stopped attending their meetings.
Some of those who stopped attending decided that the whole story could not be true and went back to eating the vegetation, and even any old, decaying matter they found in the garden, embracing any elaborate theories placed before them by those who posited a better idea than the butterfly (or those who claimed to be representing him). This led to more and more confusion in the garden and more and more division among the creatures.
Those who had never believed the butterfly (or the groups who claimed to be representing him) said to those who had left the representative groups, or who moved from one group to another, vainly seeking a more perfect portrayal of the butterfly, ‘We told you so; it was all too far fetched to be plausible in the first place’.
But those few who were able to see past the imagery of the butterfly’s stories, to the truth they contained, and followed his advice to enter alone, or in groups of only two or three, into a secret place, and there, to attune with him, and he would be there in their midst, found that his words took on a level of meaning that brought his wisdom into a new dimension of reality for them. This enabled them, in their own inner discernment, individually, to enter into a place of being just as he had described. There, they found an inward peace, joy, love, tranquillity and spiritual illumination of the eternal realities, about which the butterfly had spoken, that was far, far beyond anything to be found in the groups who had de-nominated themselves.
***
Of course we all know what happens to caterpillars. They eventually stop eating the vegetation, enter alone into a secret place, away from the clamour of the world around them, and there, in the solitariness of their own within, recreate themselves in the image and likeness of the Butterfly. Then they emerge and soar magnificently in the sunlight, radiating glorious rainbow colours for all to see. They live off ambrosia, giving thanks, by virtue of their very beauty, to the Creator for the joy and wonder of Life.
***
This allegory of the Life of Humanity indicates that the spiritual awakening of mankind is barely begun, other than for a precious few, who long ago entered into their secret place, within, just as the Master counselled. However, we are now in the most exciting moment in the history of humanity, when an exponential increase is taking place in the numbers of those who are entering in and are recreating themselves from the within into the without into glorious, fully spiritually awakened, soaring Beings of the Light.
Those who have faithfully followed Jesus of Nazareth through the many denominational church institutions see these realities from the perspective presented by them. These organisations have compiled closely formatted and structured forms of words and procedures that serve their perceptions, and they maintain rigid, tightly controlled dogmas and doctrines based on Scriptures that have been altered many times, by people with their own ego-driven agendas, over the millennia since Jesus walked the Earth. Reincarnation for instance, as a belief system was removed from Church Canon in 553 CE at the Second Council of Constantinople by the then Christian Church authorities. There have been numerous other additions, deletions and alterations before and since, which, in combination, have drastically altered much of the original message of Jesus as presented by scripture and the religious denominations established in his name.
Yet Jesus wasn’t rigid in the way he spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven. He constantly spoke in parables — allegories — which he knew would be interpreted by each individual according to where he was on the path of Spiritual awakening back to the reality of Eternity, and that is just as he intended it because that is the nature of parables, or allegories, and it served his objectives well to teach in this manner. Any individual who is sincere in his commitment to spiritual truth will, during a lifetime, undergo an evolutionary process in his understanding of the meaning of any of these parables. This clearly indicates that to have rigid dogmas and doctrines on any aspect of Truth, or the teachings of the Master Jesus, is of the intellect, not of the Christ-Mind awareness, and is not serviceable to the spiritual awakening of the mind of the individual, from its own within, where it makes its connection with the Creator, in Whose likeness we are created. As St. Paul puts it: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. (2 Cor. 3:5-6.)
Jesus was unequivocal about entering alone into the ‘closet’ for communion with the Father and that when two or three were gathered in his (Jesus’) name he would be there in the midst with them. It is in the interest of many religious institutions to promote the perception that congregations should be as large as possible, for pecuniary, evangelical and doctrinal reasons; but when an individual within such a congregation becomes drawn by the Spirit within to enter alone into his closet, and there ponder sincerely and earnestly the true, mystical dimensions of life, he will begin to receive illumination direct from the Spirit of Truth. Such a seeker will experience there a peace and joy not of this Earth, and will awaken to eternal realities that will place him in the awareness that the congregational churches are no longer able to be the source or channel of his spiritual sustenance because he will have outgrown them. He will also find that they will have no desire to hear of his inward, mystical experiences.
We will do greater things — if only we can believe
Jesus was also unequivocal that we are (all) the light of the world and that the things he did, we — if only we can believe — will do also, and greater things. He came to remind us of this eternal truth and to demonstrate it, so that we would have a living example — a template — of the magnificence of our true, spiritual being to follow and emulate.
It is inevitable that this will happen eventually to us all because that is our fundamental, essential nature, having been created in likeness of the Creator. Within us is a spark of God Awareness that was given to us at our creation, and this spark, like a seed, contains the complete blueprint of and for all that we have the potential to become. It is only a matter of when, rather than if, that we move back into full awareness, remembrance, of that. We are all at free choice to begin to make that journey at any time, including right NOW.
In writing the story of one’s own experiences one is open to allegations of arrogance, vivid imagination and bias. There will be those amongst the readers of this story who will say this is an affront to Christianity. There are those (and I have received many messages to this effect) who will say this has opened their eyes to a greater truth about Jesus of Nazareth, who have been searching for some more realistic, meaningful representation of who he really is than has for centuries been portrayed by orthodox religion. There will be others who cannot decide.
Into whichever category you fall, I ask of you two things: 1) Please listen to your heart and your feelings as you read. Your heart and your feelings are your soul, your higher, true Self speaking, communicating with you. If your heart and soul resonate with this story, you will feel good about it. Some may find that they feel good about some parts of the story and not so good about other parts. 2) Please read the whole story before deciding.
In December 1995 I was given this message:
…Be not surprised that many souls are lost,* for the light of my spirit was deliberately snuffed out from the Church of Earth by those who sought riches of Earth before riches of eternity. But it is not possible for the Father's purposes to fail, and the light shall be shone in the dark places until all the shadows of death and fear shall have fled away. Rejoice greatly at this my beloveds and sing the New Song, that my little ones may hear, and dance the dance of freedom. That which I have purposed in you shall prosper according to the wisdom of the Father. Be not anxious for any detail; all is well.
After this, any doubts I may have entertained about whether to proceed with making public the message that this account of my experiences places before you, the reader, must be removed from serious consideration. This writing is my rendition of The New Song. May it produce a pleasing, informative, enlightening counterpoint with renditions of The New Song by other singers.
You will see that this message, above, and the various messages received from the Realms of Light that are recorded in this story tend to reflect a mode of speech similar to that of the King James (KJV) Bible. I have been asked why such should be the case and conclude 1) that will not actually be the case between dwellers in the Realms of Light, because communication between ascended, enlightened beings can best be described as telepathic, or ‘mind-to-mind communing’, or better yet, simply, of one mind; 2) it is a way of communicating with those of us here in time and place that has many qualities that are serviceable (at least to me!) to clarity of understanding, with careful use of words to convey concise meaning, whereas today, language and grammar usage has tended to become somewhat less so, so people don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say (is it any wonder, therefore, that the world is at loggerheads!?); 3) I love the poetry of the KJV Bible, (whose New Testament was almost a direct copy from the William Tyndale New Testament translation of 100 years earlier); 4) because I grew up with the KJV Bible and used it subsequently for study purposes, it is a mode with which I am both familiar and very comfortable.
Our guides, teachers, loved-ones and inspirers in the Realms of Light are always concerned for our peace of mind and wellbeing, and so I believe this is a. for the comfort of the person (me) experiencing the encounter, and b. the way that which is being sent is received and translated through the filtering mechanism of my mind. My awareness of such communications has undergone somewhat of a metamorphosis in the last few years and the Tudor-style English has substantially diminished, save when sometimes employed to make a particular point or convey levity suitable for the moment.
Nevertheless, in late 2005, a few months after substantially completing this writing, I was brought to ’A Course in Miracles’ (ACIM), a book dictated by the Master Jesus to Helen Schucman, and have been deeply and profoundly moved at finding that the form of language the Master has used with me over the decades (see ‘Diary of a Christ Communicant’) is similar in many respects to the language structure used by him in dictating ACIM. It is also equally clear and deeply and profoundly affirming and validating that the message of ACIM is broadly reflected in the events, experiences and messages that have filled so much of my life’s Path since the 1960s.
In the section at the back of ACIM entitled ‘Clarification of Terms’, section 5, paragraph 6, it says:
Is he (Jesus) God's only helper? No, indeed. For Christ takes many forms with different names until their oneness can be recognized. But Jesus is for you the bearer of Christ's single message of the Love of God. You need no other. It is possible to read his words and benefit from them without accepting him into your life. Yet he would help you a little more+ if you will share your pains and joys with him, and leave them both to find the peace of God. Yet still it is his lesson most of all that he would have you learn and it is this:
There is no death because the Son of God is like his Father. Nothing you can do can change Eternal Love. Forget your dreams of sin and guilt, and come with me instead to share the resurrection of God's Son. And bring with you all those whom he has sent to you to care for as I care for you.
The whole ‘question of Jesus’ and how he is represented — both to existing believers and to non-believers — can be and often is, in today’s world, a contentious issue, frequently causing disagreement. Almost any formulaic representation will be disagreeable in one respect or another to one person or group, or another. It is my profound hope that at least some parts of this writing will be helpful and meaningful to each reader, and that even if other parts are not, that those parts that are beneficial will have made the reading worthwhile. May the Source of All inspire and illumine your heart and mind as you read, so that you might be helped to find the way on your own path to Eternal Reality within these pages.
*It should be noted here that this is not indicating that such souls are 'lost' for all eternity, but simply that they have lost their way on the Path back Home to Eternity, or Heaven.
+In reality, an immeasurable amount more.
Brian Longhurst
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