The Words Of The Wilding Family
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The Words Of The Wilding Family |
Vincent
Walsh
Most people outside of Canada know little or nothing of this country and I cannot in this short essay even attempt to paint an adequate picture of any part of her. But I shall attempt to sketch briefly on your minds a few brief details and impressions of her history, her land and her name Canada, "Canada! What in heaven's name is that?"
In 1000 A.D. Hesjulf, a Norseman, on his way to visit his father in Greenland for Christmas lost his course in a fog, and eventually ended up off the North American coast. Leif, Ericson, hearing of Hesjulf's experience sailed west and discovered possibly Labrador or the island of Newfoundland and spent the winter there. In 1398 Sinclair, Earl of Orkeny is believed to have navigated Canada's waters and European fisherman are known to have been fishing on the Grand Banks by about that time. It was not until John Cabot rediscovered Newfoundland, however, that Europe developed an interest in North America.
Jacques Cartier, in 1534, claimed Canada for France and it was he who gave Canada her name. Thus Canada was born. The first attempt at settling the country was begun in 1604 under Samuel Champlain on an island in the Bay of Fundy. He moved the colony to Quebec in 1608 and the first permanent settlement was established. Canada remained in French hands until 1760 when the French were defeated in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the country became British. In 1867 four British provinces Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia joined to form the Dominion of Canada, and an independent Canada was realized.
The Dominion has developed considerably since Confederation, but she still has problems; the provinces have too much power inhibiting the effectiveness of the federal government. Quebec is restless playing with thoughts of separatism, and the wealth of the country is pocked into small areas, making poverty in such areas as Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces a common scene.
Yet there are many good things as well. There lies within her heart an immense wealth, only one third of which has even been tapped. Canada today has a fresh new government sincerely attempting to solve her aged problems and a system of social security well in advance of her American neighbor; welfare; family allowance, unemployment insurance, workmen's compensation, company paid sick leaves in most companies, a national Pension Plan and country wide Medicare.
She stands as a strong link between Europe and America and lies on major trade routes to world markets. It is interesting to note that despite her vast size only two provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan do not touch salt water.
The problem of distance has been solved with the Trans-Canada Highway and two major railways connecting East and West. Air Canada unites all major communities and radio and television every home. She has a temperature of 60.
There may be both advantages and disadvantages in being a huge country, but be that as it may, Canada's measurements are stunning. She is the second largest country in the world. In width she extends from Newfoundland on the East Coast to the Yukon on the West, a distance of 5,780 miles. Her most southerly point lies at the same latitude as, Madrid and Naples and from there she stretches 2,850 miles North to Cape Columbia, Ellesmere Island.
Canada is comprised of ten provinces and two territories, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Both territories are east of Alaska, with the Yukon her immediate neighbor. Within the North West Territories and unknown to many people, including Canadians, are three districts. Lying next to the Yukon is the Mackenzie District, directly north of the Prairies and Ontario lies Keewatin and reaching to within 600 miles of the North Pole is the District of Franklin.
In area the Territories cover 39% of the surface of Canada, an area equivalent to half the size of the continental.
And what about the people of Canada what are they like? Or better still, what are we like since I and am one of them? What is a Canadian?
Personally I really don't know and there are few people, if any, who think they really do know. We do not have a peculiar accent, no unusual dress. I can't point to a person while walking in downtown Toronto and say he is a Canadian. There no typical Canadian. Yet he differs in many aspects from other nationalities. In comparison to Americans, we are not as aggressive. A survey on Canadian attitudes revealed that 80% of Canadians were satisfied with the way things are going and even the youth of Canada are less rebellious than those in the U.S. However, a deep love for the country and more apparent affinity among the people is developing. We seem to be a disciplined people. We are quieter and a little more conservative and not nearly is extravagant as Americans. We move at a slower pace and live more leisurely, not having the tension that goes with being a world power. Still we are generally well informed on world affairs.
Having a somewhat objective electorate, our elections are generally unemotional. We judge much more what is said rather than who said it, although this wasn't entirely apparent during the last election when Trudeaumania swept the country.
Maybe it is not the paint that makes us different, maybe it is the whole picture, a picture which is more than the sum of its strokes. It is this, I think, that gives us our uniqueness, that makes us what we are.
Do not think that Father is not working in this country. He is and very actively. Canadians do yearn for more than the physical satisfaction of the body and this yearning is growing.
We yearn for some purpose in life, for some inner meaning. The manifestation may not be as violent as in other countries, possibly because it is not a part of our character, perhaps because it is only in its early stages. But the signs can be seen -- Increased interest in the occult, sensitivity groups, experimental worship, community living.
Indeed the Heavenly Father is preparing His children here too in order that they may be ready for His coming and the New Age.
Vincent Walsh Toronto,
July 20, 1970
Marvi
Renniste
My love and a warm 'Hello' to each brothers and sisters throughout the world.
Being part of the 'Family' now for over nine months, I am not exactly a 'new' sister, but I am as yet, only a baby in God's new dispensation. Having just recently turned 21, in the ideal I would have been close to maturity both physically and spiritually by now. Alas, because we are not living in the ideal I am only now learning to crawl. It will be a long while before I radiate an immense brightness from within to other people.
My parents are both Estonian, but escaped Estonia in 1944. I am the second oldest in our family of four children. Each of us was born in a different country, representing one of the four countries in which my parents had lived -- Estonia, Sweden, Argentina and Canada. We have been living in Toronto, Canada for fifteen years.
Since childhood my longing has always been to help people -- to really care about them and make them happy. Having tasted a bitter-sweet mouthful of tension, anger, worry, depression, sickness and just plain misery throughout life, I wanted to find a foolproof method that would guarantee that I would not also become bitter and negative towards life as had so many people around me.
I used to think about God a lot, even though I seldom attended Sunday School. Such questions as "well, if God created the universe, who created God?" used to puzzle and amaze me. I used to ask many other questions in my mind -- wondering who God really was, and what life really meant.
I know that God existed and yet I never developed a relationship deep enough that I actually got down on my knees and prayed to Him. There were times, however, when I would lie in bed and talk in my mind to Him, wanting desperately to follow His light, and the true pure path. I had heard the phrase that the road to God was a narrow one -- and while talking Him I asked that he might guide me and that I be enough to stay on the right path.
I loved nature, and when I looked up at the sky or trees or flowers I knew He was there. I loved people and yet I was puzzled by life -- why did God let people suffer so? The concept of sin wasn't a deep reality to me then and consequently, even though I loved God and creation I could not understand how God could let humanity be in such agony. It didn't seem fair the way some people suffered so much and others not. I look back on my childhood now, and I am most grateful that it was not an easy childhood, because it taught me depths I would never have learned otherwise. As a byproduct of being overly sensitive, I have accumulated a deep inferiority complex however, which is proving hard to overcome.
Our most beloved Heavenly Father has been working so tenderly and anxiously with each of us to guide back home. If we began listing the many ways He has led each of us, the lists would indeed be lengthy.
I am amazed now, to realize of what significance many experiences through life have been in relationship to preparing and leading me to understand and accept Principle. And now being in Principle life has taken on a much deeper and greater challenge. Most of my early intense desires are being fulfilled through Principle -- breaking down the many barriers within myself -- learning to relate to people and really be able to guide them back home to Father. Growth is painful; yet the overcoming of each obstacle is indescribably rewarding. Principle makes more and more sense to me as I understand it more and also put it into action.
One of my deepest desires at the moment is that no matter how hard the obstacles and stumbling blocks which present themselves daily are, that I be so strong and firm in my relationship to God and Principle that no matter how hard the- road becomes I won' t turn back.
Through experience, I have learned that the road becomes harder as you progress not easier; that as we become bigger vessels for our Father our responsibility also increases. Hearing of the many good people who have left Principle, used to make me wonder "How could they?" I don't question that so much anymore. What I do question myself on is whether be strong enough to succeed where others have failed.
We have a fantastic mission, each and every one of us, at this time and my prayers are with all my brothers and sisters. that we develop hearts bigger than, wisdom wiser than, and determination stronger than any past notable figures in history and bring victory to our Heavenly Father quickly.
My love and prayers, especially to our beloved Master and Mother, and to each Unified soldier.
In our true parents name,
Marvi Renniste
Toronto, July 20, 1970
Alan
Wilding
An icicle shimmers in the frozen still
shedding cold tears
for itself and the snow
that will soon
disappear.
Are we deaf to thy great voice?
Are
we blind to thy great power?
We enclose ourselves like a
flame
within a storm lamp
and outside a wind howls
and we
quiver because someone
lets in a cold draft.
Autumn; sky earth are fused like
copper,
What makes this sorrow swell in my heart so unbound?
Is
it the leaves that fall before me on the cold ground?
Flowers express the
inexpressible.
Flowers are like God's presence;
words of
harmony and beauty,
continual and always unfolding.
Snow so determined to resist the
penetration of the sun.
Icicle so tearful.
Air so still.
Do you pray for the miracle of spring to begin?
By worldly standards my birth was a very unusual one. It was a Family affair, with intensive family planning involved. In fact, it was so well panned, I received an invitation beforehand telling me what time I should arrive. To their surprise I was punctual and appeared at the time suggested, aimed a kind of quietly withheld jubilance on their part. It also occurred to me at the time that others were expected upon arrival to thread my way thrall: h the throngs and find a dark corner where I would be unnoticed and where I could brood and stagnate in my usual fashion. But there I sat, exposed.
So my deliverance from the Satanic world began. It was a battle at time that seemed to be fought outside myself. Alone at night my single room teemed with spiritual presence, both positive and negative, mingling and resisting each other. At the end of three weeks while I was still being spoon fed, Linna [Rapkins] asked me to consider going to Washington at the bus station they even helped me buy my ticket and made doubly sure everything went according to plan. Father at this time pampered me with His love and as the bus journeyed through New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, He showed me his lands in the autumn when everything seemed painted and dappled with powerful golds, yellows and oranges. I set by the window the whole journey and soaked in all the glory.
In Washington, I was again smothered with love that seemed never ending. During those few weeks my true brothers and sisters taught me how to walk and how to talk with the Father. The first words were very awkward because I had never walked with Him this way before. Many coached me during those precious weeks including Miss Kim. Busy burning leaves in the garden one day, she told me it was part of everyone's life in the Family to gather up the fall leaves.
This was my first love with the Heavenly Father. Each time I recollect that wonderful sublime experience, I remember something different about it; a minute detail, a word, a passing thought, give and take across a dinner table. No matter how much I cross-examine it, the conclusion is always the same. I was in love with everyone and everything. There was no need to question anything anymore because everything made complete sense, including most of all my love for the Father. The minutes I shared with Him then are worth a lifetime of suffering now.
Alan Wilding
Toronto, July 20, 1970
Katharine
Bell
Greetings and love from the Canadian Family?
Much has been going on here in Canada since spring finally arrived. we are now able to witness more effectively in the parks and on the streets. Many other new experiences have also come our way. In April we were invited to join with other groups in the city and help celebrate "Earth Day" at Rochdale College. Bob Duffy sang some of Chris Davis' songs and Alan Wilding gave a lecture on Spirit World introducing new concepts through a principle viewpoint of the subject. Carl Rapkins and Kathy Bell signed up for a Monday evening course at the Catholic Information Center. This course introduces the basic concepts of Catholicism and serves a threefold purpose an opportunity to meet people who may be interested in Principle, a chance to learn new teaching methods and approaches and an opportunity to acquire a deeper understanding of Christianity and how it relates to Principle. Many members of the Family visited a number of spiritualist churches during April and we noticed that an increasing number of young people are becoming interested in Spiritualism.
In May and June as well there has been much activity. Sir Anthony Brook dropped in on us unexpectedly -- he arrived in time for lunch on Saturday and gave us news of the English Family as well as telling us of another group here in Toronto. Alan and Bob went to one or two of their meetings.
Our happiest news concerns our two new sisters Grace Ross and Tish Szczebior. We welcome them with great joy into our Family and into a deeper relationship with Father. Grace was a nun for years before joining our family and is now working as a secretary, while Tish is in nursing and hopes to specialize in psychiatric nursing one day.
One of the most exciting things happening in the Canadian Family is the establishment of our second center. Vince left for Winnipeg the second week of June. He will be going to university to study Computer Science. Vince left Toronto center exactly two years (less 2 days) after the Canaan movement began. While going to University in Winnipeg, Vince will establish our second center near the campus.
We have also missed Carl [Rapkins] this past month and a half. Carl has spent the past month in Buffalo waiting for his immigration problems to be cleared up. While waiting in Buffalo, Carl has been witnessing and teaching, setting up appointments in people's homes and apartments as he has no center to invite them to. To conclude April's events we celebrated World day the first weekend of June. To celebrate we rented a car and on Saturday headed for Buffalo and Carl with a 'slight' detour through Niagara Falls. The whole family participated, including Tish (our newest sister) Rick Duffy (Bob's brother) and Norman, a student studying Principle with us. We spent a glorious weekend soaking in the beauty of our surroundings, playing baseball, volley-ball as well as eating and singing. Sunday morning we gathered outside on a small hill near the university and had Sunday service. With the sun shining down upon us, the birds singing and the trees around us we really felt at one with nature and with Father's creation. It was especially appropriate for World Day.
We would like to end this report by sending our warmest greeting to all of the Family throughout the world with a special greeting to our Leader and mother in Korea and to our American brothers and sisters who have helped us is so many ways establishing our first center in Canada. Monsey to all of you!
Katharine Bell