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Word Gems 

exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity

Franchezzo

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Elenchus. The great literature of history explores the big questions of life: What is humankind? Do we have a future? How shall we live life? Why must we suffer in this world? Is there redemption and second-chance for a misspent existence?

Kairissi. Is there justice in the universe? Will we ever find happiness? What is the soul and can it be developed? What is truth and can we attain to it?

E. Dr. Mortimer Adler surveyed what he called “the great books of Western civilization” of the last 2500 years. He categorized the topics discussed into 102 “great ideas.” And many of the questions just asked are well represented among the “102.”

K. These are the questions that have bothered humankind, the kind that keep us awake at night pondering a solution.

E. We come to this world without an instruction manual. We have no clue how to answer these questions.

K. That’s why we have so many thousands of religions and philosophies.

E. It’s like one of those “reality shows” on tv. People are dropped onto a desert island, they have no idea where they are, they don’t know how to fend for themselves, don’t know how to get back to their homeworld – but they have to somehow figure it out as they go along. That’s what it feels like a lot of times here on planet Earth as we try to make sense of this life.

K. And tell us, Elenchus, why did you bring this subject up?

E. I was thinking of our friend, Franchezzo. He finds himself deposited in a very dark world. He can’t hear or see. He’s groping around just to find the walls, and he walks for miles and can’t find any walls.

K. Sounds like a time to be frantic.

E. He’s terrified, begins to shout wildly, and even pulls his hair out. Finally, he sort of whispers a prayer for help and immediately a Guide appears and asks him if he’s sincere about getting out of the black dungeon. He says he’s willing to do what he has to do to have his life back.

K. It’s quite interesting, isn’t it? In both cases, whether on the Earth or the Dark Realms, we have no idea where we are or what to do.

E. Remember that old phrase – “the medium is the message.” In other words, the very environment itself – what it offers and what it doesn’t – is meant to teach us something. And I would say that this “something” is the decision to become an aware, rational, sane individual. We have to make this choice.

K. In the Dark Realms, as soon as a detainee asks for help, immediately a teacher arrives to help the would-be student begin the process.

E. Is there a counterpart to this on Earth?

K. I would say, yes. We’re reminded of the ancient precept in Jesus’ teachings: ask, seek, knock, and the door will opened to you. And I think the Guides are just as active in our world to lead a student into new fields of knowledge.

E. As you were speaking I thought of what the author said on the “Jesus page”. Concerning his own situation, all his life he'd accepted the Church’s traditional instruction on the nature of salvation and Jesus’ mission, but he finally came to the point where he admitted that none of it made sense to him. He then prayed or asked to be shown a better understanding. And then, to his amazement, virtually immediately a floodgate of new teachers, new understandings, new information came to him – seemingly “accidentally”; but he also realized that these ready-at-hand discoveries could not have come to him without design.

K. And I think what this means is that, again, the Guides work with all of us, and in the same way. As soon as we ask for help, almost without skipping a beat, there it will be, a beginning portal to what one wants and needs to know.

E. All of this suggests that there’s a lot going on behind the scenes in everyone’s life, whether here on Earth or in the Dark Realms. Spirit Guides stand at-the-ready to serve us, but only when we signal our interest and willingness to learn.

K. It’s all rather incredible to realize this – that God has left none of us stranded and alone, and at the slightest sincere prayer for guidance, Teachers are dispatched to aid us. They will give us all that we can receive; which in the beginning might not be very much, but they will not force-feed us. However, little by little, day by day, the “spiritual children” are nourished and brought to a more mature state.

E. Franchezzo’s story is so remarkable, and we can learn so much of what the Dark Realms are like by reading of his adventures. But, I think what’s really important from his testimonies is that we begin to understand how the Guides think; moreover, their thoughts and actions reveal an underlying philosophy concerning how the universe really works.

K. And their philosophy is not written down in a manual. You can’t pick up a copy for quick read and think you’ve got it all pinned down. It comes in dribs-and-drabs. It’s something that you “catch” by reading between the lines.

E. I have a good example of what you’re saying. Think back to that account about the super-powers of the ancient Guides. They’re like “Jedi Masters” who control reality with their minds. This isn’t like Iron Man with rays coming out of his hands. No, what they have is way beyond that. The Guides can freeze or paralyze any adversary simply by one focused thought.

K. But this raises many questions. We’ve learned that the Dark Realms are filled with lots of really bad guys. Like the one who thought he was a Roman emperor; or those who had killed many thousands during the Inquisition. And now we must ask, if these tyrants are still enslaving millions in the Dark Realms, why do the Guides with their super-powers allow this?

E. This question is rather funny because it’s the same question that critics of God here on the Earth ask all the time. And of course it’s a way of blaming God, or finding an excuse not to believe in a just God, and the all the rest; and now here we’re speaking of the Guides in the same way.

K. Well, Franchezzo isn’t given the answer in black-and-white. But he starts to put it all together as he listens to the Guides and sees what they do. Because, here’s the deal. Yes, the Guides could make mince-meat of the one who thinks he’s an emperor, and the same for the inquisitors; in fact, the Guides, if they wanted to, could level the whole city where these dictators live, and they could even destroy the entire Dark Realms with one well-placed thought – but, what would that accomplish?

E. And that’s the question we need to answer. Why don’t they just level everything and free the prisoners and put the baddest dudes out of business for good?

K. If they did that, the prisoners would be set free of the local chieftains, but that’s the end of the good news. These once-prisoners would not yet be spiritually fit to live in Summerland. So what would they do? They’d start fighting and the strongest among them would emerge to be a new emperor or inquisitor. And then we’d be off to the races one more time, doing it all over again.

E. And isn’t this a microcosm of the history of the sordid Earth? One war ends but, in the “victory”, the seeds of the next war are sown, and today’s liberators become tomorrow’s oppressors. Look what’s happened to the USA and all of Western society since the end of WWII. We thought we won that war, but see our present state, so many of us now, the fawning acolytes of Totalitarianism . We’re about to do it all over again with “blood in the streets” with a new crop of “emperors” and “inquisitors.”

K. As Adrian Smith said, “This world can’t be fixed, only forsaken; it can’t be saved, only transcended.” It is only the repentant ones who can embrace true change, and it is only these who fit themselves for life in Summerland. The Earth cannot be changed en masse, nor can the Dark Realms be emptied on a wholesale basis, because the insane ego reigns in these worlds.

K. Elenchus, I really like this inset-box comment by the author. Many times I've wondered, how is it that you and I grew up as the “boy-and-girl next door”? We are Twins, we’re not just some random two "fish in the sea" who got together. And there are billions on the Earth, meaning, this close proximity for us could not have happened by chance.

E. The author’s sense is that our personal Guides did not, or maybe, could not, have put this together.

K. Look at the problem from a larger view. It’s not as simple as just having two kids born next door to each other. You’d have to manipulate and lead the decisions of the parents -- two sets of them -- to choose to live in just the right neighborhood. This means there’d be considerations of extended family, education, religion, economics, of “where can I work" -- a whole cluster of related items to decide on. And while the lives of the parents are very important, we gather that special emphasis is placed on the development of the proto-Twins, their kids; even so, this has to work for everybody.

E. It’s very complex, and these considerations are just the tip of the iceberg. If you have 10 or 15 or 20 variables, the possible arrangements quickly spike to what mathematicians call "combinatorial" explosion! To keep track of all the variables in play, to put this together in a way to make it fair and beneficial to all parties concerned, you’d need a super-computer and more.

K. Or - advanced beings with super-computer minds.

E. So, what does this leave us with? The Guides wisely realize that the “emperors” and the “inquisitors” cannot be crushed with brute force because free will must be maintained. It must be maintained because it is only by sacred volition that one might choose to repent – rare as it might be in the Dark Realms; or on the Earth, as well, for that matter.

K. And so, Franchezzo learns about natural law, how the universe really works, by observing and listening to the Guides in action. What they say and do reveal the philosophical underpinnings of how human beings are constructed, how they might change and be reached, and the true nature of salvation and redemption.

E. What we’re saying here, and what we’d like to impart to our readers, is an acknowledgement that the adventures of Franchezzo are much more than an “action movie of exploits.” As we study what he did, along with the instructions given to him by the Guides, we become privy to answers concerning the great questions which we outlined above. And tell us, Kriss, how would you briefly summarize what the Guides are doing with mankind?

K. If I may, I’d like to reference something from the “index summary” page to encapsulate sacred natural law.

We are immortal beings, of vast unexpressed potential “with no discernible upper limit.” We are “sparks of God” and cannot die, sent to the Earth, one trip only, to individuate, to become persons in our own right, to "wake up" to inherent potential. We are to discover “God within” and live from that sacred center. We are to actualize, to bring to the surface of personality, the "inner riches," to become who we truly are. As daughters and sons of God, our presently-dormant “made in the image” potentialities secret an astonishing array of embryonic abilities, eventually to blossom and unfold “superhero” ultra-advanced powers of mind and body. We are to learn how to become an open channel to God's energies, thereby enjoying a "private tutoring" from the divine parent. 

This unveiling of the "true self," this "translucence," a shining through, "of the eternal splendor of the One" and of the Truth, prepares us for what comes next - a splendiferous mode of living in Summerland, our home-world, where one's unique and personalized definitions of happiness are reified; including, eternal romantic love with a darling companion, a perfectly matched Twin Soul, deliciously mirroring, complementing one's essential self.

We cannot deny to ourselves, but only delay, with suffering, that which God has planned for us to do and become. We postpone our joy by refusing to access the god-life within. This readily occurs when we fail to take responsibility for our own growth and, instead, surrender personal sovereignty to any external authority or power-structure, any “infallible” guru or purported inerrant way. The truth is a living thing, within us, as we are unalterably, indissolubly, linked to the Source of Life. As such, we do not need "saving" as Big Religion pontificates but only an "opening of the eyes" to the "factory-installed" inner riches.

Poets speak of our distorted vision, an abrogation of existential mandate, as "we feed on night, make inward bedlam and will not come out," a succumbing, in its many guises, to the fear of death; how few "would crawl out from under the obscure to stand defenseless in the open sunny air." All this, this surrogate living, this delusional capitulation to "I don't have enough" because "I am not enough," this repression and self-distraction, this "embedding oneself in other-power" -- anything that hinders, anything that misdirects, or, as so eloquently stated by Susana Wesley, "whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, however innocent it may seem in itself” – whatever diverts attention from sacred destiny and mandate for growth, becomes the essence of evil for us.