The Greatest Spiritual Secret of the Century
Page 19
His heart was racing. “Would you like some company?”
“Hey, it’s almost forty blocks. I wouldn’t ask anybody to walk that far.”
Paul felt his heart sink as he realized he’d lurched into an attempt to explain it without thinking it through first. Maybe he’d even ruined his chance to build a relationship with Mary. He searched for the right words to give her a sense of what had happened without putting her off altogether. How could he explain it all without sounding like a madman? There had to be a way; the best would probably be the truth, starting at the beginning…
“Unless, of course,” Mary added, her eyes sparkling now, “they had something really interesting to tell me…”
Acknowledgments
My first thanks is to my Creator, who gave me life, and my parents who brought me into this world and raised me. And without my wife, Louise, and my brothers, and my children, I doubt I’d be alive today; I love and thank you all.
For this book, particular acknowledgement is held in my heart for the late Og Mandino, who developed the art form of revealing enormous spiritual truths in a novella. Og, wherever you are, I hope that with this offering you’ll smile and feel that I have honored and continued your tradition.
History is clear that in a first-century sect of Judaism there was a vast schism between the men and women who had lived and walked with Jesus (Peter, John, Salome, Mary, and the other disciples, referred to by Biblical scholars as “the Jerusalem Church”) and the followers of Paul, who had not met Jesus prior to the crucifixion. Paul’s followers won the battle, and later joined with the Roman Empire and became what is now the Roman Catholic Church; but Peter and his group went to great pains to protect the Jerusalem Church’s perspective, history, and the original sayings of Jesus. I owe a great debt to the many people over the last five decades who have labored so hard to make available, in English language, the Gospel of Thomas and other early Jerusalem Church writings discovered at Nag Hamadi, and to those from the Jerusalem Church of ancient times who wrote and copied and protected from the conquering Romans so much of that wisdom and knowledge.
As we know from history, in the third and fourth century most of the original Disciple’s Jerusalem Church followers were tracked down by the newly-formed “Pauline” Roman Catholic Church, which by then was a state religion. Many from the Jerusalem Church were imprisoned or murdered, but a few were able to hide some of the sayings of Jesus, which they had so carefully transcribed for twenty generations, and through the work of Biblical scholars these are now again available as the Gospel of Thomas. What a gift!
Most of the sayings of Joshua in this book are direct quotes from the Gospels of Thomas, Matthew, or Mark, the presumed oldest books of the early Christian era and heavily influence by the Jerusalem Church of Jesus’ original followers.
All of the words spoken by the woman named Wisdom are from the books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon of the Tenach, also known as the Old Testament. They are among the few places in the Bible where divinity speaks in a feminine voice.
I am grateful to those who have shared this wisdom with me over the years, particularly Hillel Zeitlin, Hal Cohen, and Gottfried Müller. My interpretations and representations of these teachings, however, are entirely my own, for better or worse.
This book originated from a suggestion Neale Donald Walsch shared with me one afternoon in February 1999. He encouraged me to write the book and the next day my wife, Louise, and I brainstormed the outline. Neale and his wife, Nancy Walsch, offered brilliant editorial suggestions to the early drafts: they’re two of the finest editors I’ve ever worked with. Without Neale, Nancy, and Louise this book wouldn’t exist, and I am deeply grateful to them all for helping bring it from the realm of idea to the realm of the printed page. Bob Friedman of Hampton Roads also deserves many, many thanks for his role in producing this book.
Scott Berg, Anne Roberts, Julie Castiglia, Tim King, Kerith Hartmann, Jean Houston, Jerry Schneiderman, Rob Kall, Tammy Nye, Hal Cohen, Jill Gatsby, and Gwynne Fisher read early drafts and provided significant encouragement.
Margaret Morton, although we have never met, inspired me by writing and photographing her brilliant book The Tunnel (Yale University Press) about the people who lived under the streets of Manhattan until the Giuliani administration stepped up its war on the homeless. Robert Funk, who wrote Honest To Jesus and other works, enlightened me considerably through his research and literary works, as did Elaine Pagels through her writings and her speech at Trinity College here in Vermont. I learned much from the truly incredible book Jesus Untouched by the Church by Hugh McGregor Ross (published by William Sessions in York, England). I recommend their books to you.
Jerry Schneiderman has been my guide to and through the oddest nooks and crannies of Manhattan for the more than two decades that he’s been my best friend.
And many, many thanks to Stephen Corrick, Bill Gladstone, Julie Castiglia, Michael Kurland, and Jerry Gross for their helping me to write and bring to the marketplace the sounds, sights, feelings, and knowings that live in my mind, heart, and soul.
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A psychotherapist, international speaker, and foreign relief worker, Thorn Hartmann is also the best-selling, award-winning author of more than a dozen books, including ADD: A Different Perception, The Prophet’s Way, and The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. His books have been translated into numerous languages. Although his short stories have been widely published, this is his first novel. Thom lives in central Vermont with his wife Louise, their daughter Kerith, and Igor, a Maine Coon cat. More information about Thom Hartmann, this book, and the ideas explored within can be found on the internet at www.greatestsecret.com.