My Testimony

MY TESTIMONY
By William T. Wylie
 

From early on I had wondered about Heaven, Earth and God, even while my growing up years were full of activity. It was in those rare moments of quietness that I gave them any thought, and as always I came up empty-handed, and thus, stayed confused and always fearful of our 'wrathful' God.

As I got older, my curiosity mounted about the nature of things and I was full of questions that no one could satisfactorily answer. Therefore, I stayed confused about God, and all that I was hearing from the pulpit didn't help any either; it just added to my befuddlement and to my spiritual ignorance. I will admit, though, that something good came out of it; it gave birth to something deep within causing me to have an intense and insatiable hunger for light and truth.

But not knowing for sure where to look for answers, I sought for them first in the outer world. Surely there was something out there that would be substantial enough to squelch my curious nature which, I soon learned, was becoming a nuisance to many people. It was indeed disappointing to go to my elders and to those who preached the word of God only to come away empty-handed and with an empty heart, also. It was pretty obvious that if I wanted to find answers I must go in search for them, conducting my own investigation, and do it alone.

Down through the years during my fervent seeking, I experienced many wonderful emotions of so-called truth and joy but the feelings didn't remain with me for very long; they were like a dash of a wonderful fragrance across the nostrils which was teasing to the mind but soon faded like whiffs of clouds in the sky--here today, gone tomorrow, and, now you feel the ecstasy, now you don't. Yes, the good feelings were always fleeting, and as always the empty void came back, making my lonely heart even lonelier, and sometimes tormented.

So, fulfillment never came. Whenever I turned my attention to God I always wondered just what I was supposed to think about Him? They say I'm supposed to love and worship Him, but I didn't know Him, so how could I do that? I had no idea of who or what God was in spite of what I had been told. There was something missing--I just knew it.

I decided then to check out the religions of the world as well as I could; maybe some religious teaching in a foreign land had the answer, hopefully. It didn't take me long, though, to discover the suffocating and shocking array of different beliefs that abound in the world, especially with all their rituals, rites, beautiful robes, lighting of incense, singing and chanting, and other persuasive practices, all of which, I might add, did a lot for my senses, but did nothing for my soul. It was like they were trying to overwhelm me with their impressionistic ways, but nevertheless, I plodded on relentlessly through this maze of Man's thought.

I first read Volume One of the True Gospel Revealed Anew by Jesus early on during my search, and I found this book to be profound and of absorbing interest to me. Still, I sort of had mixed feelings about it: first, something inside me (my soul) leaped out and said that this was what I was looking for, while the other part of me (my mind) questioned whether it really was what I was looking for, since I was too spiritually ignorant to know what to think; therefore I should continue on with my search. After all, my logic told me, there was no way I could be comfortable with any one religious belief until I had knowledge of all the others.

My many years of search had taken me inside the walls of many different denominations, along with exploring the swirling array of the many varied religions around the world, especially Eastern religion. I might mention here that all the while I was always conscious of my Volume One being nearby, waiting to be retrieved from the bookshelf--patiently waiting to be read once again ... and to be anxiously compared.

Finally, that day came when I felt I had come to the end of my spiritual investigation. I was drawn back to that volume as though led by an invisible hand, and after re-reading just a few pages of it with an earnestness of enthusiasm, I knew unquestionably that I had finally found the one true religion that could satisfy me beyond my most cherished dreams. The very core of this teaching is the Father's Divine Love and how one may receive this precious substance into his soul. I see this Love as a fragrant flower that sweetens the soul and illuminates the universe, and it is stable, imperishable and infinite.

Even though it took a while to come to this conclusion, I'm not sorry I've endured those years of research because it revealed to me what was really amiss in other religions--an important key to soul development and to immortality. The key is this: By one's own efforts, praying to the Father in earnest, with a strong desire for an inflowing of His Divine Love. This transforming Divine Love, when prayed for in this manner always comes to the soul, without fail. That is the secret of the ages, a secret sweeter than the whisperings of the wind. No other religion I know of teaches this.

But this Divine Love also holds the most exquisite secret of all, which is: the more of this Love you receive in your soul, the more you will come to know and to love the Father. And so, once again, if you want to know the Father and come to genuinely love Him, then it is necessary for you to have His Essence in your soul, and this, as already mentioned, is obtainable by earnest and sincere prayer for this inflowing. It is a simple truth, yet, Man has been in ignorance of it for two thousand years.

This Divine Love--it is how a human can turn his/her life completely around, and it is how a spirit can become a Celestial Angel.

And so I prayed for this Exquisite Essence in earnest and soon this Love became like a soothing and quieting touch, a silent emotion with sweetness, and I had gradually felt a kind of ineffable splendor crowning my soul. Slowly, but with absolute certainty, I went through a positive change in all areas of my being.

I've experienced so many wonderful benefits from having this Divine Love in my soul that I do not have the space to list them all. Instead, I will simply say that this Love has caused me to know what is more important to my soul development, making me acutely aware of this material world for what it is, a world that smiles so finely, dancing with gaiety around my human senses, while trying to befriend me with its affirmation of, "This is the real world. Come and be merry, enjoy."

But hidden within this cloak of persuasive tactics, under the guise of glamour, glitter and allurements, is a shield that hides the soul's way to the higher reaches of heaven, to immortality, blocking out that cherished Path, dimming that Celestial star that winks at you, beckoning you to aim for it; that star shining like a sparkling jewel, whispers, "I am your special eternal star. I am Life. I am Love. I am forever."

As this Love comes into my soul, I find that I desire more solitude because it gives me such sweet delight, where the atmosphere and the state of my mind are more conducive to thinking of Him and all things spiritual, and for praying. This atmosphere, I noticed, provides the breeding grounds where such spiritual and angelic thoughts are birthing in a sea of pure rapture. This unfathomable sense of tranquility has deeper than deep meaning to me, and I savor that special kind of peace that settles over me like Love's warm wrap. This peace, like the dew, silent and unseen, is immense and gives me such an unquestionable knowing of belonging to Him.

And being armed with this newfound strength, should the outer world offer me the bitterist pill, my peace within the safe abode of my soul is preserved. And I feel that my principles have triumphed under the harsh buffeting of life's fiercest winds.

Without question, I feel that I'm on the path that leads directly to the Celestial Heavens, and I feel so fortunate and so blessed to have found this secret way. Amen.

"Yet the Lord will command His Loving Kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me and my prayer unto the God of my life." -- Psalm 42.8.

In Brotherly love to all, I remain,

William T. Wylie

 


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