Jobran nodded, but said nothing.
Stephen looked at his watch, and said, “Well, our time’s almost up.” With attempted casualness, he quickly added, “Why don’t we say some decrees, and then close for the night?”
Rachele said, “Fine; if the rest of you are going to start decreeing, them I’m out of here.” She then stood up abruptly, and started walking toward the door.
Stephen attempted to gently block her way, holding up his hands and pleading, “Look, if we ever want this group to expand, we need to have some activities, other than just sitting around rehashing the same old arguments—especially now that we’ve got some guests tonight!” Rachele sidestepped around him, saying, “Good night, all,” and headed down the stairs, leaving a disappointed-looking Stephen behind.
Julie said, with only limited enthusiasm, “I don’t mind decreeing for a while; I always used to like doing it when I was with the Church Universal. But I don’t want to do it for hours, like we used to when I was at Camelot.”
“Ten minutes, and we’re through,” Stephen said, gratefully. Then, to Marcus, he said, “You’ll join us?” and tried to hand him a sheet of paper.
Marcus shook his head, and refused the sheet of paper. Then, in a conciliatory tone, he added, “But I’ll stay and listen.”
Downcast, Stephen turned to Byron, and started to hand him the sheet of paper that Marcus refused, but Byron said, “I’ll listen, too,” and he crossed his arms and legs, sitting back on his pillow.
Trying to make the best of the situation, Stephen turned to Jobran and Abraham and said, “Decreeing is where the real power of this movement comes in. When you decree, you aren’t just ‘praying’ or trying to ‘have faith’ in something, you are actually passing an edict, and foreordaining something to take place.” He handed sheets of paper to Abraham and Jobran, saying, “Please, feel free to join in, as soon as you catch on to the rhythm; we repeat it a number of times, so I’m sure you’ll catch on fast!” Then, he, Kate, and Julie stood up, forming a three-person circle, and began to chant rhythmically:
I AM the Way,
I AM the Truth,
I AM the Life.
I AM that I AM,
I AM the Light of God!
I AM the Essence,
I AM the Presence,
I AM the Blessedness,
I AM the Transcendence,
I AM the Eternal One!
The Word is without end,
My faith will never bend,
My life will never end,
Our God we find within,
Amen, Amen, Amen!
After several repetitions of these verses, their voices rising higher and higher with enthusiasm, Byron was finally motivated to stand up and join in the circle with them, knowing the verses from memory. Jobran and Abraham saw Marcus start to slip out the door quietly, and they followed suit.
They were all silent until they reached the door at the foot of the stairs, with the sounds of the chanting diminishing behind them. Marcus held the door open for Abraham and Jobran, ask wryly commented as they walked past him, “Not your cup of tea, huh?”
“Nor yours, I take it,” Abraham said, and Marcus shook his head.
“Why do you continue to come to this group, then?” Jobran asked, as they closed the door behind them, sealing off the now-faint sounds of chanting.
Marcus shrugged, and said, “Well, at least here they’ve heard of Steiner; when I go to one of those mega-bookstores at shopping malls and try to order one of his books, they look at me like I’m crazy; then they tell me they’ve never heard of him, and try and sell me Deepak Chopra or Eckhart Tolle instead!” and he laughed.
Jobran laughed with him, and said, “I know the feeling; it’s hard to seriously pursue one’s study of spirituality in a corporate-sponsored chain bookstore at a shopping mall.”
They all shook hands, and Marcus departed, leaving the two friends to walk back to the car.
With a small smile, Jobran asked, “So, are you going to give up the rabbinate, and follow the teachings of the Ascended Masters instead?”
“Not likely,” Abraham said, then noticing that his car had a flat tire. Disgustedly, he said, “Although now I wish that I’d said a decree to keep the car safe.”
19
THE NEW MILLENNIUM
The hand-painted logo on the store’s window said, “New Millennium Books &
More—Resources for the Higher Consciousness.”
“This must be the place,” Jobran thought, as he headed for the door.
He pushed open the door—which caused several small bells to tingle melodiously—and entered. Immediately he noticed the strong smell of incense in the air. He moved to a shelf on the right, from which to unobtrusively inspect the store. A woman with long blond/silver hair was standing behind the counter, but Jobran seemed to be the only customer. Soft instrumental music was playing in the background, with a harp lightly being played over a background of soft strings.
Although he had been to numerous “New Age” sections in regular bookstores previously, that was quite different from being in a store entirely devoted to the subject. There were entire sections devoted to differently-colored scented oils, herbs and vitamins, scented candles and incense, rocks and crystals, jewelry, and a large shelf for music CDs and tapes. Looking over the music section with curiosity, Jobran saw that the only artist’s name that he recognized was Yanni; nevertheless, there were a great number of artists who had released a number of albums. There were “sampler” albums from various record labels, such as Windham Hill, Narada, Higher Octave, Hearts of Space, and others. There was also a large selection of “environmental” albums—actually recorded in the outdoors—with titles such as “Ocean Waves,” “Rainfall,” “Thunderstorm,” “Bubbling Creek,” “Waterfall,” “Rain Forest,” “Wind Chimes,” and many others. There was a large selection of “subliminal” tapes and CDs for relaxation, tranquillity, meditation, creativity, prosperity, inner healing, self-esteem, and many others. Boy, and I thought I was pretty well-versed in terms of contemporary music, Jobran thought. There’s a whole world that I was unaware of…
Moving around a corner to another section of the store, he saw that there was a huge section devoted to Astrology, and smaller sections for Chakras & Auras, the Enneagram, Numerology, Tarot, Ouija, Palmistry, Pyramids, Edgar Cayce, Nostradamus, Atlantis/Lemuria/Mu, and Dolphins. A large section had books, videos, and DVDs on UFOs and “Extraterrestrial Contacts.” There was a large selection of books, charms, and other materials for Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, as well as “Magic and Majik.” The largest section—occupying most of an entire wall—was devoted to Healing, with subtopics of Natural Healing, Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Tai Chi, Qigong, Shiatsu, Reiki, Herbal Therapy, Macrobiotics, Vitamin Therapy, Aromatherapy, Acupuncture, Kombucha, Biofeedback, Acupressure, and Massage. The variety of topics alone was enough to make Jobran’s head swim. Looking at the spine of the books, he saw that most of them were published by printing presses he had never even heard of, and which were probably only distributed through “specialty” bookstores like this one, and weren’t even advertised on the major Internet bookstores (although they were probably available to order).
His interest quickened when he turned another corner and saw practically an entire room of books on various world religions: the various branches of Buddhism (Zen, Vajrayana, Mahayana, Theravada, Pure Land); Hinduism (particularly Yoga and Vedanta); Taoism; the Islamic Sufis and their mystical poet Rumi (although apparently little from the orthodox tradition of Islam), and Baha’i. There was a very large “general” section on Meditation, as well as sections on Hatha Yoga and Aikido. There was a large section on Jesus (with titles such as The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, Jesus Lived In India, etc.) and Christianity, mostly seeming to favor authors such as Matthew Fox, John Shelby Spong,
and Emmet Fox. There was even a section on Judaism—mostly seeming to feature the Kabbalah and the Zohar, which were the mystical and magical texts of Judaism.
He was standing in front of a large bookshelf filled with apparently the most popular authors (Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil, Caroline Myss, Suze Orman, Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle, and many others), and looking at a book by Marianne Williamson when the attractive and stylishly-dressed woman (probably in her early 40s) that he had seen standing behind the counter earlier came up to him and said quietly, “Good Morning.”
“Good morning,” he returned. “How are you?”
“I’m feeling blessed,” she replied, with a bright smile. Indicating the book in his hand, she said, “That’s her latest; it’s wonderful.” Jobran nodded, but didn’t say anything, so she said, “May I help you find something?”
“Do you have any books on life after death?”
“We have practically a whole wall full right over here,” and she led him around another corner to another set of shelves.
“Oh, shoot,” said Jobran, embarrassed. “I didn’t even see those, yet.” With intense interest, he began searching the shelves intently.
Trying to be helpful, the attractive woman stood by Jobran and pointed out different sections with a carefully manicured and polished fingernail, saying, “Here is the section on Angels; and here is the section on Channeling—we’ve also got a lot of Channeling videotapes and audiotapes, too. And this section is about psychics and spirit mediums, such as Sylvia Browne—I love her—James Van Praagh, Rosemary Altea, Char Margolis, Mary T. Browne, John Edwards, and lots of others.” Studying Jobran for a moment, she added, “You’re probably interested in Reincarnation, too? This whole section over here is about it.”
Jobran shook his head, in dismay. “Amazing; I thought I was pretty well-read in this area—I’ve never even heard of most of these authors.”
“Who do you normally read?” the woman asked.
“Mostly, it’s been comparative religions, studying the twelve or so major world religions,” Jobran replied. With a smile, he added, “But reading certain books always gets you interested in reading other books,” and the woman laughed lightly. Jobran continued, “Most recently, I’ve begun studying a lot of the metaphysical and ‘New Thought’ religions started in the 19th century, such as Mary Baker Eddy’s Christian Science; the Divine Science of Malinda Cramer and Nona Brooks and her sisters; Ernest Holmes’ Religious Science; and the Unity School of Christianity. I’ve also read some miscellaneous authors that influenced the movement, such as Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, Warren Felt Evans, Ursula Gestefeld, Emma Curtis Hopkins, Ralph Waldo Trine, Julius and Horatio Dresser, Thomas Troward, Joel Goldsmith, and Charles Brodie Patterson.”
The blond woman looked at Jobran in disbelief, then said, “You’ve actually read all those people?”
Defensively, Jobran replied, “Well, not everything they wrote, obviously; but yes, I’ve read all of them.”
With new respect for Jobran, the woman said, “We carry Ernest Holmes, and Quimby—Mary Baker’s books we don’t carry, since you can get all you want of them at a Christian Science bookstore—but I didn’t know that a lot of those other books were even in print, any more.”
“Sure,” Jobran said, authoritatively. “There are several publishers that specialize in reprinting older metaphysical and religious books, whether it’s a new edition, or as a photocopied reproduction of an earlier edition. But these days, between print-on-demand books, and used bookstores on the Internet—not to mention Inter-Library loans—you can get just about any book you want.”
“Interesting. What made you decide to read all those old books?”
“Well, as I said, I’ve been researching metaphysical religions and movements that started in the nineteenth century, and it seems like so many of the early figures had ties with each other,” Jobran replied. After thinking for a moment, he continued, “Swedenborg, hypnotist Anton Mesmer, and the Spiritualist movement set the context for Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, who was probably the major influence on Warren Felt Evans, as well as Julius and Anetta Dresser. Mary Baker Eddy was herself treated by Quimby, and he was clearly influential in her founding of Christian Science—to the extent that some people accused her of plagiarism. Ursula Gestefeld and Emma Curtis Hopkins were former Christian Scientists. Hopkins was renowned as a ‘teacher of teachers,’ and she taught and influenced Nona Brooks and her sisters, not to mention Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, and Ernest Holmes. Ernest Holmes himself got started in the movement by reading Christian Science and Thomas Troward.”
“I see what you mean,” the woman said. Then, offering her hand, she laughed gently, and said, “Oh, by the way: my name is Jana,” and Jobran gently shook her hand.
“Mine’s Jobran.”
“I’m very impressed by your knowledge in this area,” Jana said. “You’ve got me beat by a mile, and I’m the co-owner of a metaphysical bookstore!”
Thus encouraged, Jobran went on. “Of course, it was easy for them to influence each other, because their fundamental ideas were so similar. Almost all of them begin with the notion of the omnipresence of God—the idea that God was everywhere present.”
With enthusiasm, Jana said, “I’m very attracted to that idea, as I am to the idea of ‘Mother Earth’ or James Lovelock’s notion of Gaia—that the earth herself is like a gigantic self-regulating organism. That’s the basic idea behind pantheism, right?” she asked. “The idea that everything is God: every atom, every star, every living creature.”
Jobran frowned for a moment, then replied, “Strict pantheism is what the philosopher Spinoza taught. No, I think they would call it panentheism instead, which is the notion that although God is ‘All in All’—permeates everything— God still exists apart from the universe. The other main idea they seem to have is that everything is fundamentally an idea. This idea had been expressed earlier by philosophers such as Plato and Berkeley, but the main difference is that this was-n’t just an abstract idea for these 19th century pioneers—this was something that had practical use, particularly in the area of healing.”
Jana nodded, and said, “I was raised a Christian Scientist, and that was certainly their focus.”
“It was the thing that set them apart from the Christian churches, as well,” Jobran added. “The Pentecostal and Charismatic movements were still far in the future, and yet here were people claiming that their belief in God could heal them of physical ailments. Many of the early pioneers were themselves healed: Quimby himself, Warren Felt Evans, Mary Baker Eddy, Malinda Cramer, Nona Brooks, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, Ernest Holmes, and others. By combining the notions of the omnipresence of God, and the basis of everything as ideas, people like Myrtle Fillmore could conclude that, ‘I am a child of God, and therefore I do not inherit sickness,’ and become healed on that basis.”
“And that trend continues even into modern times,” Jana gushed. “And even modern medical doctors—such as Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra, and Larry Dossey—agree about the value and effectiveness of spiritual healing.” She made a slight face, and said, “Unfortunately, too many people—like Mary Baker Eddy— want to take these beautiful ideas and turn them into an ecclesiastical structure, with everything being run from the top. That’s the thing I like about New Thought as opposed to Christian Science—it’s more open, without all of the exclusivity and hierarchy. I mean, if I wanted hierarchy, I would have become a Catholic!”
Jobran laughed, then said, “That’s a good point; and it’s probably part of the reason why people like Quimby, Troward and Trine didn’t have much of a ‘religious’ focus to their teachings—other than criticizing Calvinists and evangelicals. People like Warren Felt Evans did have a spiritual focus, but they weren’t good at organizing people.” Turning serious again, he added, “On the other hand, Mary Baker Eddy is probably the only woman in American history to have found
ed such a significant religious movement; and it’s certainly the reason why her books are so much more readily available today than, say, Warren Felt Evans, who left no ‘church’ behind him.”
Jana nodded, and said, “You’re probably right; I shouldn’t let some of my residual personal animus toward Christian Science detract from my admiration of what Mrs. Eddy accomplished.” Looking at Jobran carefully, she asked, “So why are you so interested in this field? Are you a college professor, or something like that?”
“No,” Jobran said. “Just an independent researcher.”
“Actually, you look kind of like a monk,” Jana said, considering him carefully. “You have that ‘serious’ look in your eyes.”
Jobran shook his head, and replied, “I stayed at a Catholic Retreat Center for two months once, but I’m no monk.”
“You’re right—I see your wedding ring, now,” Jana acknowledged. “So you’re interested in life after death, and in 19th century religions. So do they teach you what you want to know about life after death?”
“Actually, I’ve been somewhat disappointed,” Jobran replied. “Although all of the metaphysical movement thinkers believe in life after death—in fact, they sometimes describe it as simply a continuation of this life, on a different plane— they give precious few details about it.” He thought for a moment, then added, “In that respect, I guess they’re not much different from traditional religions.”
“Are you interested in channeling?” Jana asked.
Jobran frowned, trying to remember what he had heard about it. “I’ve heard the term, but I don’t know much about it.”
“You’ve heard about Shirley MacLaine, right?”
“The actress?”
Jana smiled, and said, “Yes, but she’s broadened out considerably in more recent years. Her book Out On A Limb tells about her own experiences with channelers.”
Beyond Heaven and Earth Page 47
