—By Maria

Maria #240 DO 2955 11/94

1. I'd been wondering, and I'm sure you have, too—in fact, some of you have even asked me about this—how Grandpa can be enjoying his new life in Heaven and exploring that magnificent Place, while at the same time being close to me, whispering in my ear and never leaving my side.

2. The Lord told us in the prophecies we received after Dad's Homegoing: "Now does the mantle of your father David fall upon your Queen. And he will be ever so close to her, speaking to her in her ear, whispering words of love and encouragement and counsel, and guiding her with his own hand. Therefore, be not sad, and weep not, for he is not distant. He is not gone from you. He is even closer than before and he shall never leave you. He shall never leave the side of his Queen. He shall ever be present, comforting her, leading and guiding her and protecting her." And at the same time, the Lord said that Dad would be close to all of you, "whispering to you in the night seasons, and in your dreams. He will speak to you in your thoughts and he will lead and guide you." ("Dad's Heavenly Welcome," paras.12 and 49.)

3. This presents us with a question. God is omnipresent—everywhere at once—but the Word teaches us that this is not true of other spirits. Even the Devil cannot be everywhere at once. The Bible says that "he walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." —1Pet.5:8. In other words‚ he has to go from one place to another and cannot be everywhere at once. In Job, the Lord said to Satan, "From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord‚ and said, From going to and fro in the Earth, and from walking up and down in it."—Job 2:2.

4. It also says of one angelic messenger, that when he was trying to get to Daniel to give him a message, it took him three weeks since he was delayed by the Prince of Persia.—Dan. 10:13. And certainly departed human spirits have the same restrictions. Dad has brought this principle out very clearly in a number of Letters. Here are just a few quotes that confirm this:

5. "The Devil is not like God or Christ or the Holy Spirit: he is not omnipresent. He is limited! He is somewhat limited in his scope of operation, because he is only one of God's creations and limited to one personality in one place at any given time ... he is limited in a finite being‚ and not omnipresent, operating in and out of the material world." (From ML#71, March 1971.)

6. "It is evident from the Bible records about Angels, etc., that they have to go from place to place, they are not omnipresent, and they are not omniscient! ... You are not going to suddenly be like God and know everything‚ any more than the Angels! Neither are the Angels omniscient like God; they know only what God wants them to know and they have to know." (From ML#1092, November 1981.)

7. "God is the only One who is omniscient, He is the only One that is omnipresent, He is the only One that is omnipotent!—Not you, not me." (From ML #2054, June 1985.)

8. So to answer the question: No, Dad cannot be everywhere all at once. Then how could the Lord say to me that Dad would always be by my side whispering in my ear? It seems that for him this would be a terrible fate! Here he has finally been released into the wonderful new world of Heaven with Jesus and all the Saints and all of Eternity to enjoy and explore, and he is having to be restricted and confined to being a spirit without a body on constant duty ready to tell me what I need to know! I just couldn't believe that God would work it this way.

9. Here is a question for you: Can someone from around the World, thousands of miles away, pick up a phone, call your number‚ and when you pick up the receiver‚ whisper sweet things in your ear? Yes‚ of course!—And weren't they at that moment right beside you in voice and in spirit? Well‚ this is my answer as to how Dad would not have to leave his wonderful Heavenly Home to come here and hover in his spirit beside me like the spirits in some movies you have seen. Instead he can have a continual line of open communication to me.—And not just a mere humanly created telephone line, but a more advanced communication system than human minds with their inventions have ever been able to come close to.

10. Some spirits, like those portrayed in the movie "Ghost," are apparently confined to the Earth for awhile, either as a punishment or to fulfil a certain mission; perhaps those who have not been admitted into Heaven, at least not as yet. Or maybe some of them were There, but their mission is such that they need to now be here for awhile to tune people in more to the Spirit World.

11. So Dad, from his Heavenly mansion and with his new communications system, which is far beyond our comprehension, can be right here beside me tuning in and giving me the counsel that I need. Remember how Dad in the "Heaven's Children" story could go to the Heavenly communicator and tune in to whatever scenes he was interested in on the Earth below? Well‚ I'm sure that's just one of the many marvellous methods of communication that the Lord has available to His children. Whenever Dad wants to see me or any of us, he can just think the thought and we appear in his mind. Or we can call for help and we'll appear before him. Why not?

12. Look at what we here on Earth can see when God shows us Heavenly visions. Look at how He gave us a glimpse of Dad's Heavenly Welcome as He showed the pictures to His people as they waited on Him in prayer. If we can see such pictures of Heaven right here and now through the medium of our minds, how much more can they in that great Realm of the most super advanced "technology" ever imagined—and even more than has been imagined—be able to see us in their minds!

13. Certainly not everyone in Heaven is given this privilege or this ministry, but our dear Dad has need of these powers that he may help to continue to lead this great Endtime Work. We shouldn't wonder that some people have certain privileges or powers and others don't. Why should things be so different There than they are on Earth? Each one here has a different ministry; each one has different talents; each one has different gifts and abilities; each one has different experience and levels of knowledge, and that is the way it is There.

14. Dad was able to start out at a much more advanced level immediately upon arrival because he had been so advanced here. That doesn't mean he is immediately going to know everything, because we have all Eternity to learn and we'll never stop learning. Just like we have to exercise our gifts here and use them in order to refine them and make them work better‚ Dad is going to be learning to exercise his gifts of communication with us.

15. "Well," you say, "if Dad is having to receive these images of us on the screen of his mind, he is going to be kept pretty busy! How is he going to do anything else? What's the sense of his even being Up There with all of Heaven to explore if he is going to be continually bothered by requests from us down here? After all, you can only concentrate on one thing at a time."

16. Hold it right there!—You can only concentrate on one thing at a time, but Dad is different now! You've probably heard all your life about how only about a tenth of your brain is used, and scientists have never been able to understand why. What a seeming waste of body space and potential! However, even operating at only one-tenth of its capacity or less, the human brain is still considered the World's finest, most advanced computer.

17. Apparently God figured that it would be much more efficient to make a brain with a full potential of what He had in mind for us for all Eternity, even if its use would be very limited and restricted here on this Earth.—Probably because we couldn't be trusted with any greater mental powers, and also because we don't need them here. Besides‚ because our time here on this Earth is nothing compared to all Eternity, He wanted to save most of it for our "forever life," where it can be used only to bring about good and joy and happiness and love, and to enjoy God and His World eternally.—Like Dad does now!

18. Imagine! With the super technology that Man now has—with the greatest achievements of the finest minds on Earth, with the pooled resources of all science—no machine can even begin to match our little brain operating at only one-tenth of its capacity!

19. We look at Man's great supercomputers and we marvel at what they can do‚ but we fail to realise the marvels of the brain. After all, we live with it every day and we complain about it if it doesn't always seem to do what we want it to. And we have no concept of the wonderfully amazing machine that God has put within our bodies.

20. Mind you, this is only one-tenth of the brain that is responsible for all of this! Think of all the power and the potential of a brain ten times this effective and ten times this amazing, when in the wonderful realm of Heaven its full potential is realised. The possibilities are unlimited!

21. I think a lot of us have at different times seen on TV some math whiz, these geniuses who can do incredible calculations in their mind that would be impossible for a normal human being to do!—But they do it! They have even made movies about this‚ such as the movie "Little Man Tate" about a 6-year-old math genius. Obviously they have the help of departed spirits and their brains! And this is undoubtedly an example of how our brains and minds will be able to work—and even better—in the Heavenly realm.

22. Besides being able to know whatever he wants to know on any subject, Dad can now fully tune in to many subjects or people at once, and can be engaging in multiple activities simultaneously. He can be giving me messages from Jesus; he can be tuning in to your activities; he can be exploring the Heavenly City and learning its mysteries, and much more. In a very elemental foretaste of this‚ look how computers can carry on multiple tasks or run several completely different programs simultaneously; or the human body can do various physical tasks at once‚ such as sitting in front of the TV watching the news, but at the same time tapping on the floor with the foot‚ scratching the head with one hand and eating popcorn with the other hand!

23. Another extremely insufficient earthly illustration is a newscaster on CNN: From his studio he can be talking to someone from Los Angeles, someone from Tokyo, and someone from Stockholm on the various screens in front of him, and simultaneously see each of the people and what they are doing.

24. But with Dad, he has many more "channels" and he really truly can concentrate on each one at the same time—and communicate words, thoughts and pictures of a totally different nature to each person. I don't know how many channels he has. Maybe as you live longer in Heaven you "hone" your skills so that you can handle more?—Or maybe some people have to wait in line a bit. But our minds can process information at a tremendous speed, and computers can take in so much information at a time that it is almost like everything is being computed simultaneously; whereas in actuality it is getting processed one piece of information at a time.

25. Dad can tune in to any of us at will. But if we need special help we must send the signal and make the request, and that gives him a certain signal that will turn his communication on with us. It's a little like with the Lord; He says, "Call unto Me and I will answer."—Jer. 33:3. He usually waits for us to do the calling before He answers.

26. Okay, folks! Is that a satisfactory enough answer for now? That is from my very limited perspective of seeing through a glass very darkly. But now you know that almost anything you've seen in sci-fi movies can come true! What is science fiction may be a foreshadowing of Heavenly Truth. What a good example of the Lord's efficiency in using the same brain that He has used down Here, but infusing into it the Heavenly energy it needs Up There to be able to operate at full capacity in a way beyond all of our comprehension!

27. Some folks might wonder how Dad could use the same brain he used down here when Dad's physical human brain is still here on Earth, and Dad won't be reunited with it and the rest of his body until the Rapture. In other words, how could he use his brain more efficiently when it's still here! Well, as I said before, we "see through a glass darkly" when it comes to these Heavenly matters. But Dad obviously has his mind and some spiritual equivalent of his earthly brain in Heaven, and therefore still has the same memories, thoughts and emotions that he had here on Earth, just like Abrahim or the Prophets and Patriarchs of the Bible, as well as all the other saints in Heaven have. Even if Dad's so-called physical brain isn't there‚ that shouldn't make a difference. Besides, I don't believe our minds are merely the physical three–pound lump of flesh that makes a human brain, and I'm sure Dad took his mind and thoughts with him when his spirit left his earthly body behind.

28. (Later:) After I had dictated the above and one of our folks at another Unit had read an advance copy, they wrote me the following note: "Dear Mama, we previewed an interesting movie last week about a man who dies in a car accident and winds up in a place called `Judgement City' where his life is being reviewed. Although parts of this movie were very `off' doctrinally and we didn't feel we could recommend it for the Family, the interesting thing about it was the part about brains! The movie made quite a big deal about how little of our brains we people on Earth use, but how those who have `graduated' use so much more of their brain! The Judgement City citizens referred to the earthlings as the `little brains,' and different citizens would tell about what percentage they use of their brains.—Like a sign of how far they'd advanced. Just like you were saying, some of them were using more of their brain than others, and those with the more developed brains were considered more highly honoured members of the city! Anyway, it's interesting that we should have just seen that movie, because it goes along so well with what you've been talking about in your Letter!"

29. If people have thought of this concept, they must have received some truth from the Spirit World. Anything that Man here on Earth can dream up would be possible in Heaven, if it's part of God's plan. Of course, just because people dream something up on Earth doesn't mean that that is what goes on in Heaven, but if it is good and there is no harm in it, it could be a possibility in Heaven!

Merging of Minds and Thoughts and Hearts!

30. These quotes from "Heaven's Children" are very good and encouraging, where Dad says, "So we are to remain unheard and unseen and even unfelt, except in spiritual manifestations, such as in dreams and visions and the still small voices with which we speak within your mind and heart so that you will continue to depend entirely on His Word and faith in Him without any other proof except His constant, faithful, never–ending provision and care, as always.

31. "That's how the Lord and His Saints and Angels have operated throughout the ages, once they have passed into the Spirit World. They are to continue to let you fend for yourselves‚ eagerly absorb the Word for yourselves, and thereby gain the faith for these things yourselves, and to meet these needs and confront these situations with your own faith and spiritual strength gained from the Lord through His Word, and not by the too-easy help of supernatural means and spiritual assistance.

32. "Normally ghosts are not allowed to appear, for some reason. Those are the rules of the game, unless it is some kind of emergency. They are restricted from appearing or speaking audibly, touching or making any kind of physical manifestation unless it is some kind of extreme emergency."

33. I had been thinking how it would be so much easier if Dad would just literally speak audible words into my ear.—Or if not audible, at least thoughts that would come in direct words from him, things I could clearly hear him say in my mind. In a recent prophecy session, someone looked up and saw a picture of Dad and heard him say something in her mind, and I thought‚ "Boy, it would be so easy if Dad would just dictate to me a running commentary that I could simply write down!" But I haven't expected that that was actually going to happen‚ so I can't say that I am extremely disappointed. —Although, as I say, it would be a lot easier and we could get things a lot more clearly.

34. However, I know that the way things are usually going to operate is that God's Word and Promises are going to be fulfilled in an even greater way than if Dad were to speak audible words into my ear. What the Lord has said is that He would make us one—one mind and one heart, that we would truly be one when Dad was gone from me. How much more "one" can someone be with someone else than by actually thinking their thoughts? In a way, it's as though their mind has become your mind. And I think that this is how the Lord has chosen to work and the main way in which I will hear Dad whispering in my ear. It will be in my thoughts and my mind‚ which I believe will not be just my thoughts‚ but Dad's thoughts.

35. I don't know exactly to what degree this will happen or is happening, but from what the Lord has said, it will be quite significant. That's not so strange when you think of how the Lord operates with us. Don't we all pray the prayer, "Please, Lord, help me to think Your thoughts and say Your Words"? And the Word says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."—Phil.2:5. So I guess it's not such an unusual thing or such a revelation if Dad operates this way with me. If we can all have the mind of Christ and think His thoughts and speak His Words, certainly I ought to be able to have Dad's mind and thoughts as well. Praise the Lord!

36. How much more one can you be than that! And how much more one can you be with the Lord than to think His thoughts and speak His Words? In our working together for the Lord we're already doing something that is absolutely amazing and almost incomprehensible! —A merging of our minds and thoughts and hearts with the Mind of Christ, the Son of God, the great Creator of the Universe—one of the great wonders of the Spirit! (See 1Cor.2:9-16.) So why should it be so unusual for Dad to speak his thoughts in my thoughts, and that my thoughts would be his thoughts?

37. Well, I know this presentation is coming out a bit "muddy" or "cloudy," and I'm sure this is the same way that it will be with me in getting Dad's messages. Normally‚ we just are not meant to see too much "beyond the veil." The Lord wants to keep a lot of His mysteries hidden from us until we get There!

38. I think in "Heaven's Children" Dad said that when he got to Heaven he was going to have to take a break for awhile because he didn't want to immediately come rushing down to Earth to get right back to work here. He wanted time to tour the City‚ check out his mansion, spend some time with the Lord and the other Saints There, and that when he came back down here he would be concentrating on me and giving me the counsel that I need. Well, this just shows that there is a lot that the Lord even hid from Dad regarding the exact way things are going to be, but now He's showing him more clearly. I think we now understand this means of communication that he has with us a little better, and we know that he doesn't have to come rushing right back down. Like that old song goes, "We will understand it better by–and-by!"—And now Dad understands it better, because that wonderful time has come for him‚ his "by-and-by."—And that's why we can understand it better, too, because he gives his thoughts to us!

Facts About the Brain!

The average human brain at birth weighs 390 grams (14 oz); its average maximum weight, reached at age 15, is 1,315 grams (46 oz, or roughly 3 pounds). The total number of neurons in the human brain is approximately 10 billion, but may go as high as 100 billion, each linked to another and together responsible for the control of all mental functions. The brain is the control center for movement, sleep‚ hunger, thirst, and virtually every other vital activity necessary to survival. It also receives and interprets the countless signals that are sent to it from other parts of the body and from the external environment. Just in order for us to stand up, the brain has to send out messages to 200 muscles.

Scientists are just beginning to understand the brain's simplest circuits. The forming of abstract ideas and the study of difficult subjects must require circuits of truly astonishing complexity. Explanations of these types of thinking are still beyond scientists' understanding.

Many people falsely place computers in a scale of intelligence well beyond that of the human mind. In reality‚ the computer isn't even in the same class as the brain. Even a slug can perform a simple task, like recognizing an object instantly‚ that would require millions of calculations for a computer.

Even a person with severe learning disabilities performs far more complex mental operations in a far shorter time than the largest and fastest computer. What size computer and program could control a walking robot that could rise from a chair‚ put on a coat, go outside, walk around the building on rolling terrain, establish the location of the entrance from visual information, and reenter the building—all this, while maintaining respiration, blood flow, and the input from millions of sensors for pressure, temperature, light, sound, and chemical analyses and production?

Now consider the scope of the human brain. This three-pound storehouse has the capacity to store a greater amount of information than is contained in all the libraries of the World.

Computers are merely sophisticated adding machines, and no computer has the ability of the human mind. If a machine could be built to do everything a brain does, and as quickly‚ this mechanical brain would be as big as a battleship. The time estimated to produce such an equivalent of a human brain: 1‚000 years.

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family