That’s an opinion…all the traditions. We are told, “You deny the Word of God for the traditions of your fathers.” So we have traditions, and so when someone comes up and gives this pontifical statement as though he’s in communion with God, it’s like Putnam on TV…same thing. He’s always in communion with God and he speaks in the same manner. He is speaking this way and all opinions in the world. Well now, that’s not scripture…scripture hasn’t a thing to do with that. Scripture is inspired, true scripture is inspired. When I start passing opinions, setting myself up as the criterion of what is right and what is wrong, that could be as false as all outdoors. There are certain isms in this world…I think of one, she’s blonde, or was blonde, and someone told her she looked lovely in lavender, so lavender became the perfect color and all of her followers had to wear lavender. Then onions and garlic disagreed with her, so that was simply the fruit of the devil. And red was awful on her, so red was taboo. They built up this ism on her own little superstitions, and then she called it something from God. Well, you find these false prophets all over the world. Prophecy is over. Predictions and fortune telling as always has been. That’s not prophecy. Prophecy is over and you’ll find it in the Old Testament, that’s prophecy. The New Testament is the fulfillment of prophecy. So Man comes into the world to fulfill the Word of God, but when he fulfills it, he re-interprets the Old in light of his own experience. And man having these traditions of the fathers will not accept his re-interpretation of the Old; because to them Abraham lived and that’s all there is to it. He lived thousands of years ago. He was promised a child, that child was called Isaac, and that happened thousands of years ago. He will not believe the whole thing is prophecy and that Isaac is born…the little child that was born not according to the flesh but according to the Promise, as we’re told in Galatians…and that little child is the Christ child bearing witness of the birth of God. So when it happens in him, he simply takes the Old Testament and shows the passage where he has fulfilled it. And his name isn’t Abraham, his name could be anything. But he knows that Abraham was a state that he entered to receive the Promise and fulfill it. But man…if you take this story as secular history then you’ll never see the scripture…never see it. My old friend, Abdullah, who was born and raised in the Jewish faith, said, “Not only was I raised in the most orthodox environment in Judaism, but for forty years I was a strict vegetarian. I had never tasted pork in my life, no part of the animal. The voice said to me, ‘If you will not eat what they give you, how do you expect them to take what you give them? So you are feasting them and you expect them to accept what you teach and yet you will not eat what they offer you.’” And he said, “I broke my fast after the vision, and what do you think was served me, and it had never happened before? I was the guest of honor and I went to this lovely party, and they brought in a little roasted pig. The whole animal, right at the top of the table, and I am the guest of honor. I broke not only my fast from not having had meat in forty years, but never in my life had I ever had a piece of pork…and here I am breaking my fast on pork.” So, you won’t take what I’m offering, well, have I taken what you offered? So, all things are clean if you see them clean. As we are told, “Food will not commend you to God; you’re no worse off if you do not eat it and no better if you do,” as told us in Paul’s letters, no worse off if you don’t, no better if you do. But there are people who believe they’re going to get into heaven by not smoking, not drinking, and not doing this and not doing that. I was one of those and when I met old Abdullah, having observed me for a while, said “You know, Neville, you’re so good you’re good for nothing.” He told me that “Because you thought you could acquire merit by not doing things.” After a while you see everything in this world and allow it…you just allow it. You don’t want to duplicate it. I have no desire to take from you anything in your purse…like someone left a coat here last night, 250 in this party, and this lady came in with the coat over her hand and she went into the kitchen…had no right to be there. These were all men, 250 men, the motorcycle club, and here she had the coat. Well, Mr. Harrison who is supervisor here saw this woman with the coat, and just said to her, “What are you doing with the coat?” She said, “My brother left it here.” He said, “Your brother left it here? Well, what does he do?” “He works for Lockheed.” Well, he said, “The man who left that here doesn’t work for Lockheed, he works for Blue Chip Stamps and he’s a red-headed man, about thirty-five,” and then he took the coat from her. She gave it up quite innocently, quite freely. She’s just one of those people who walk around and pick up anything…saw the coat hanging there, so she picked up the coat. She must have heard from someone or she didn’t have to hear…she walks in and picks up the coat. But Mr. Harrison redeemed it. And maybe it is not Larry’s, but she gave it up so quickly that he knew that she was fully aware of the fact it wasn’t her coat. She saw the coat and she’s going to take it. Well now, forgive her as that’s part of her life, just part of her life. In little Barbados where I come from we’ve always been in business and some of the richest families on the island and their wives…they couldn’t help it, they were simply conditioned that way…kleptomaniacs. They’ll pick up everything and then pay for nothing. Well, the clerk saw them do it, would tell my brothers that she has so and so, and she has so and so. Well, they never said one word to her. The husband knew she had this peculiar habit and they’d make a little note, and he never complained. The bill was sent to him and he paid it. So she went home thinking she got something for nothing. They were the richest families. These are not people who are hungry. They were rich, I mean really wealthy. Come in and pick up silly little things like apples. Put six little apples in quickly…and she could have bought the store. Well, what can you do? When you invited her to dinner, you nailed things down; but in her social capacity you had to have her to dinner. I recall her vividly…I can see her now before my mind’s eye…a sweet, lovely, cultured lady. But don’t you leave anything, because off it would go. It’s not an economic set-up; it’s part of the mind. You know who made her?—God. And so, that’s it. When you know that God made everything in this world, you forgive everything in this world. God wrote the part for her and God played the part and is playing the part. And so, he will go through all the sufferings, because he has to stand the embarrassment of the part he wrote when he’s arrested. Well, who is arrested? Well, the body is dead and the occupant of the body is God, and he has to stand the embarrassment for the part he wrote. You go to a play and people will hiss the actor. You want to hiss someone call the author on the stage…he did it. The actor’s only expressing what the author wrote. I recall vividly…I played in a show on Broadway for about, I think it was about twenty-five to thirty weeks of being hissed eight times a week, six shows and two matinees. Yet the author is unseen as God is unseen. Then you’ll know the meaning of the cry on the cross: “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” Good night.196 ¶45