Elizabeth’s father continued his almost nightly drunken rages. She ached to see her mother’s co-dependency and fear of her husband. Crying out to Jesus and applying her Christian Science healing prayers, Elizabeth saw no change in their relationship. After a time she learned that despite all the intercessory prayer one could summon, if an individual refused God’s help, the divine hand could not intervene.(However, the ascended masters assure us that all sincere prayers for others assist them without impinging on their free will.)
Her Christian faith matured despite her unfavorable home life. Though she joined with her Christian Science brethren in declaring, “Evil is not real and its appearance has no power,” she was coming to terms with the law of cause and effect. As her mission unfolded, so did the realization that although evil might only be a temporary aberration, it can create havoc.
And though her Christian Science mentors would not agree with the doctrines of karma and reincarnation, the pre-existence and continuity of the soul, or even acknowledge the presence of angels and nature spirits who tended the Earth, Elizabeth knew these concepts were true. Despite conflicting beliefs with her friends and mentors, she remained in the church until her 22nd year.
Elizabeth’s spiritual communion grew and refined. She began to distinguish the voice of her own inner teacher from the still small voice of her conscience and the voice of her sweet Jesus. And she learned to know, more and more accurately, God’s guidance. She began to sense the presence of beings of light, masterful presences that dwelt just beyond the visible world.
A Calling to the Ministry Grows
One day, while asking Jesus for guidance, she opened ,Science and Health with Keys to the Scriptures3 to see what page and verse would call to her. Her eyes fell on a text explaining that Saint John’s vision in Revelation “is the acme of this Science [meaning “Christian Science”] as the Bible reveals it.”
She realized that Mary Baker Eddy had followed in the footsteps of the patriarchs and prophets of old, walking and talking with God as a man talks to other men. Elizabeth now knew that the spiritual experiences of her mentor, Mary Baker Eddy, served as an example for her own mission—a mission that depended on her direct communion with those very “saints robed in white” spoken of by Saint John.
In her eighteenth year as Elizabeth readied herself to leave home for college, she paused at the door and asked within her heart if there was anything she required to take with her before leaving. A voice said, “Go to that bookcase, pick up that book and read it.” She knew exactly what book was meant—the I AM Discourses by Godfre Ray King. She opened it. Her eyes met the portrait of a master whom Elizabeth recognized instantly in her soul! It was as though his eyes were communicating with her. Beneath the portrait, she read, “Saint Germain.” She knew she had to find him.
As her attainment grew, Elizabeth learned that among the company of saints are those referred to as ascended masters. And with the Book of Revelation as her scriptural compass, one can understand the paradigm with which Elizabeth identified.
Christian scholars generally acknowledge that the Book of Revelation describes a period of tribulation where a great battle—the Battle of Armageddon--is fought during the “end times,” or the “last days.”
Elizabeth believed her destiny involved the events of those “last days” when Revelation’s prophecies were being played out on the world stage. She believed that she was called to be in the front lines, waging that battle on behalf of God’s people.
As she was to explain later in her book in a chapter devoted to Mark Prophet’s messengership, she and Mark together had volunteered to come to Earth “to rescue the children of God from the darkness and deception of the fallen ones who had departed from the Lord through disobedience to the Law of the One.”4