This psychic reading given by Edgar Cayce at the Edmonds' Home, 611 Pennsylvania Ave., Norfolk, Va., this 11th day of February, 1934, in accordance with request made by those present.

Present: Edgar Cayce; Gertrude Cayce, Conductor; Gladys Davis, Steno. Minnie & C. A. Barrett, Esther Wynne, Florence and Edith Mildred Edmonds, Frances Y. Morrow, Hugh Lynn Cayce, Mildred Mary Davis, Helen Storey, Helen Ellington, and Ruth LeNoir.

TEXT

1. GC: You will have before you the work of Norfolk Study Group #1 on the lesson God and His Manifestations in the Earth. You will give the members of this group, present here, such material as we need on this lesson to continue our work. You will answer questions.
2. EC: Yes, we have the group gathered here, as a group and as individuals; and their work in preparation of the lesson.
3. It has been given respecting how the individuals should in themselves, in their meditation, in their study, in their observation of that being presented in the lesson God and His Manifestations in the Earth, each make the application of that which is conscious in their individual experience. For, as He has given, ye may call "Lord, Lord," even may heal the sick, cast out demons even in His name, and yet not be accepted in His sight; for by the fruits ye shall know them that are called of the Lord, in the ways and manners that His manifestations are through the lives of the individuals that make profession in their life OF their associations; but if their life and the fruits of their lives bring not forth greater manifestations, and those things that are of the spirit, the fruits of the spirit, then they are none of His. Not everyone that saith "Lord, Lord," but he that doeth the will of the Father, the same is acceptable in His sight. What, then, are the manifestations of the Father in the earth? That ye do good unto all peoples, and that the fruits of the spirit are manifested in thy thoughts, in thy acts day by day as ye meet thy fellow men in their own conditions where troubles, doubts, fears, distresses arise. And as there is given those things into their experience from thine own desire to be the channel through which the manifestations of the spirit of the Christ, of the Christ Consciousness, may be in the experience of such individuals, thy words and thy acts are in keeping with that He, the Father, makes manifest in the earth through the Son - as He in His life made manifest in His walks in the earth, doing good to those whether they were of His fold or those that even rejected that He had done rather as an experience in their lives.
4. Then, as they each may manifest in the thought, in the application of those truths as He gave, they may come to those experiences wherein they oft may be as a lamp to the feet of the wayward, as an aid to those who seek, as a light to those that have gone astray, as a guiding hand to those that would know more and more of the love of the Father as it manifests in the acts, the thoughts, the lives of His followers.
5. Ready for questions.
6. (Q) [560]: May there be expanded upon the protection of the Father and His goodness in manifestation in the earth?
   (A) As He has given from the beginning, "If ye will be my children, I will be your God." So, as individuals, in the application of that known in their experience as to what the will of the Father is, go about THINKING - and THINKING it in such a manner that the words of the mouth and the activity of the hand bespeak the will of the Father; then this activity, this thought, makes the individual the channel through which the manifestations are in the earth.
   For, who may know in the earth the heart of the mother save a mother? Who may know the will of the Father, God, save those that put into the acts of their hands, in the thoughts of their minds, those things that He has given and as He shows forth in the experience of all men from day to day?
   So simple, then, is it to know the Father that all stumble in that they THINK of themselves more highly than they ought to think. Be rather as a channel through which the Father may make His love, His glory, manifest in the earth. LISTEN to the voice from within. For, He is very nigh unto each of you, if ye will but look WITHIN. And that thou experienceth with the desire that thy self be nothing, that the Father, the Christ, may be glorified in the earth, brings to the experience of all the consciousness of being a manifestation of the love of the Father to the sons of man.
7. (Q) [993]: For some time I have been thinking continually about the coming of the Kingdom on earth and His coming. Has it any bearing upon the lesson? Please give me more light upon the Kingdom and His coming.
   (A) How long has been the cry of those that have manifested in the earth the glory of the Father through the Son, "Hasten, O Lord, the day of thy kingdom in the earth!" How have the promises read that the Son has given? "I go to prepare a place that where I am there ye may be also. I will come again and receive you unto myself." Then, as the individual heart attunes its mind and its body-activity into that consciousness of the desire for the hastening of that day. Yet the merciful kindness of the Father has, in the eyes of many, delayed the coming, and many have cried even as the parable He gave, "We know not what has become of this man. Show us other gods that may lead us in this day." Yet the cry in the heart and the soul of those that seek His way is to hasten that day. Yet, as He has given, in patience, in listening, in being still, may ye know that the Lord doeth all things well. Be not weary that He apparently prolongs His time, for - as the Master has given, "As to the day, no man knoweth, not even the son, but the Father and they to whom the Father may reveal the Son prepareth the way that all men may know the love of the Father." And as ye would be the channel to hasten that glorious day of the coming of the Lord, then do with a might that thy hands find to do to make for the greater manifestations of the love of the Father in the earth. For, into thy keeping, and to His children and to His sons, has He committed the keeping of the saving of the world, of the souls of men; for, as He has given, "Who is my mother? Who is my brother? Who is my sister?" They that do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my mother, my brother, my sister." So, as He gave, "I leave thee, but I will come again and receive as many as ye have quickened through the manifesting in thy life the will of the Father in the earth." Hence know that, as thine mind, thine activities, long more and more for the glorifying of the Son in the earth, for the coming of the day of the Lord, He draws very nigh unto thee.
8. (Q) Please discuss, "How and What are the manifestations of the Father?"
   (A) The fruits of the spirit. Gentleness, kindness, the loving word, patience, hope, persistence, and - above all - consistency in thy acts and in thy speech. Be ye glorious in thine activity. Be ye joyous in thy words. For, HAPPY is the man that knoweth that his life bespeaks that the Son and the Spirit of Truth directs the words and the activities of his body!
9. (Q) You will give a personal message on this lesson for each individual as I call the names: [413]:
   (A) Let that that is in thine heart be manifest in the acts of thine hands and in the speech of thy mouth day by day. For [from] the ABUNDANCE of the heart the mouth speaketh, and in the acts of the body they show forth the meditations of the heart.
10. (Q) [303]:
    (A) Keep in the glory of that thou hast purposed in thine heart. For, in the gentleness of the speech, in the kindness of the activity, thou showest forth the love of the Father. Be not overcome of those things that would hinder, but overcome the evil with the good, and give the glory - ALWAYS - to the Father.
11. (Q) [307]:
    (A) Keep thine heart and thine mind SINGING in the glory of the manifestations, of the beauty and of the glory of the Father in the earth, as thou hast seen manifest among men. Look not on those things that appear as stumbling blocks in the lives of others, for - as he has given of old - "I am persuaded that there is nothing in heaven nor in earth, nor in hell, that may separate man from the love of the Father and the manifestations of that love save man's own self." [262-60, Par. 11-A]
12. (Q) [379]:
    (A) In the glory of the Lord and His manifestations in the earth, be thou the channel through which some blessings may come day by day. For in so doing may thou come to know more and more how GREAT is the glory of the Father, through the Son. For, as He has given, "What ye ask in my name, BELIEVING, that I will give unto thee, that the FATHER may be GLORIFIED in me and in thee."
13. (Q) [69]:
    (A) Keep in the way thou hast set before thee, in the love of the consciousness of the Christ in thine activities day by day. Doubt not. Faint not in thine activities, for - as He has given - "If ye will draw night unto me, I will draw nigh unto thee." And through THEE may there be the manifestations of God's love in the earth, through the Father, through the hope, through the activity of the fruits of the spirit in the earth.
14. (Q) [[69]'s husband]:
    (A) Let thy going in and thy coming out be acceptable in the sight of Him who has promised to come and abide with those that love His coming, love His glorifying in the earth through those promises He has given into the keeping of the sons of men; that ye be kind, ye be gentle, ye be in keeping with those things that thou knowest in thine heart are well pleasing in the sight of the Father. For, thus may the manifestations of that promised from the beginning be in THINE experience. For, those that seek God and to know Him must believe that He is, and He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.
15. (Q) [560]:
    (A) Let thine heart be glad in the things thou hast seen in thine experience of the glories of the Father, through the Son, in the lives of those that thou hast contacted day by day. For, these are but naught, wilt thou keep thine heart singing, keep thine life pure, keep thy ways as His ways. For, He loveth and protecteth, and guideth and directeth those that call on Him in faith - and NOT for themselves alone, but rather that self shall be effaced that the face of the Christ may shine more and more in the lives of others.
16. (Q) [993]:
    (A) Keep the heart singing for the glories of the Christ child, in the lives of the children, in the lives of the grown-ups, that thou meetest day by day. For, in His ways are the ways of the Father. For, as He gave, no man may do anything of himself, save as the Father in His mercy has granted that through the love and through the manifestations of His love in the earth may that increase of His manifestations come into the experience and in the lives of those that seek to do his biddings.
17. (Q) [585]:
    (A) Let thine life, in mind, in body, in soul, cry unto the Lord in weakness, and in strength He will raise thee up. For, as He has given, "They that seek in my name shall in no wise be cast out, and he that giveth a cup of cold water in my name shall in no wise lose his reward." Be not impatient that some glorious mighty thing has not been in thine experience, for the experiences that thou has been awakened to the abilities that may be made manifest through the love of the Father, through the Christ, WITHOUT the thought of self, without the desire for self-exaltation, only in such ways and manners may His glory be wholly shown in thee.
18. (Q) [288]:
    (A) Keep in the way that thou knowest to do, for He requires not other than that ye be true to that thou knowest in thine heart to do. For, He calleth those by name that have named the name of the Christ and that keep His ways, and through such may the love of the Father through the Son be manifest in the earth.
19. (Q) [295]:
    (A) In thine understanding and in thine closeness in the love of the Master, as He has called unto all that would know His ways, there may come in thine experience those manifestations that make known unto thine soul that thou hast been called to be a channel of blessing to many. For, as the love of the Father is manifested in the earth through the Son, so may self - becoming selfless in thy associations with those that would bespeak of self-exaltation or self-glorification, for of such is it said, "Though ye may do wonders in the earth in my name, self may be abased." But those that glory in the love of the Father through the Son, in SELFLESSNESS, may be exalted in the manifestations in the earth.
20. (Q) [341]:
    (A) Let the words of thy mouth and the meditation of thine heart be acceptable in the sight of Him that thou hast heard give, "Though I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also." And the greater love as was shown, "and Lo, I am with thee always, even unto the end of the world." What greater manifestations could there be in the inner soul of anyone in a material plane than bespeak those things of the Son of the Father in such a way and manner that those that hear may know that thou hast indwelling in thine inmost soul the knowledge of the Father, in the Son, and the LOVE of the Father to the sons of men!
21. (Q) [294]:
    (A) Keep the heart true to those things thou hast declared in thine life. For, as there is seen in thine walks in and before man, so are the judgments of what thou thinkest of the promises of the Son. For, as the Son would be glorified in thee, as the Son would glorify the Father in the love as He has shown in the earth, abuse not those gifts that are showered upon thee through the love of Him who has said, "If ye will keep my commandments I will come and abide with thee, and will guide thy footsteps lest thou stumblest."
22. (Q) [538]:
    (A) Let the love of the Father in the Son guide thee. Be not impatient, nor be thou longing for those things that are other than the love of the Father in the Son that may be manifested in the glories that thou hast had in knowing that thou hast been a channel, thou art a channel, through which many approach the Throne of grace. And they, as He has promised, that have saved a soul from sin, from perdition, have covered a multitude of sins, and their robes are washed in the blood of the Lamb; and He knoweth thee by name, and He calleth thee that thou wouldst keep the way that many may know that the Father through the Son will come to those that seek to know His face.
    TO ALL WOULD THIS BE GIVEN:
    Love God. Eschew evil. Love thy neighbor as thyself. For, as He gave, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another," even as the FATHER hath loved you in giving His Son that ye through faith, that ye through the love that He has shown, may know the love of the Father and thus be the greater channel of blessings to those ye meet day by day. For ye have been called unto a purpose, as into the service of the Son of man. Make known to Him thy desire, in HIS will, and - thy will one with His - there will come to thee many blessings, physically, mentally, spiritually.
23. We are through.

BACKGROUND

1. Subject of Reading 262-58 - "Norfolk Study Group #1."

REPORTS

1. 3/16/34 Mrs. [255] wrote: "I am so glad to have the rdgs. of the Group #1. It gives me an opportunity to show people how the Group lessons are created - a most valuable thing to show."

Edgar Cayce Readings © 1971, 1993, 1994, 1995 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation