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Now we turn to a story in the 5th chapter of the Gospel of John. This will
show you how beautifully the ancient story tellers told of the two distinct
outlooks on this world – one, the limited three-dimensional focus, and the
other, the fourth-dimensional focus.
This story tells of an impotent man who is quickly healed. Jesus comes to
a place called Bethesda, which by definition means the House of Five
Porches. On these Five Porches are unnumbered impotent folk – lame,
blind, halt, withered, and others. Tradition had it that at certain seasons
of the year an angel would descend and disturb the pool which was near
these Five Porches. As the Angel disturbed the pool, the first one in was
always healed. But only the first one, not the second.
Jesus, seeing a man who was lame from his mother's womb, said to him,
“Wilt thou be made whole?” (John 5:6).
“The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is
troubled, to put me into the pool – but while I am coming, another step-
peth down before me.” (John 5:7).
“Jesus saith unto him. Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” (John 5:8).
“And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and
walked, and on the same day was the Sabbath.” (John 5:9).
You read this story and you think some strange man who possessed
miraculous power suddenly said to the lame man, “Rise and walk.” I can-
not repeat too often that the story, even when it introduces numberless
individualities, takes place within the mind of the individual man.
The pool is your consciousness. The angel is an idea, called the messen-
ger of God. Consciousness being God, when you have an idea you are en-
tertaining an angel. The minute you are conscious of a desire your pool
has been disturbed. Desire disturbs the mind of man. To want something
is to be disturbed.
The very moment you have an ambition, or a clearly defined objective,
the pool has been disturbed by the angel, which was the desire. You are
told that the first one into the disturbed pool is always healed.
My closest companions in this world, my wife and my little girl, are to me
when I address them, second. I must speak to my wife as, “you are.” I
must speak to anyone, no matter how close they are, as “you are.” And
after that the third person, “he is.” There is only one person in this world
with whom I can use the first person present and that is self. “I am,” can