By Gerald B. Bryan
The Chicago suit, with its
revealing connection with Ballard’s “Lake of Gold,” was no doubt one of the
embarrassing moments for the two dictators.
They had not expected it. They
had had their agents working in Chicago trying to get the two indictments
withdrawn. They had contacted the two signers in an effort to get them to
withdraw the charges; and it appears they were successful in doing this, for
the indictments were nolle prossed in July, 1938. It therefore seemed safe to
return in October, at which time, owing to the Illinois statute of limitation,
they seemed to be assured their old debts would be outlawed.
Months before, when they were in
nearby Detroit the early part of May, 1938, they had been looking forward to
their Chicago return. At that time hundreds of Chicago students had come down
to Detroit to hear the Messengers, as these Messengers could not for very good
reasons at that time go with them. Notice now what these Chicago students were
told:
“I congratulate you beloved ones
of Chicago,” said the Goddess of Liberty (!), “in having the Power and Action
of Light . . . which drew you here in this great number. (Applause) be patient,
beloved ones, the time is near at hand, when the Power of Light will sweep
Chicago! (Applause) Mankind should understand the importance of letting the
Wisdom of These Great Ones, Who have come forth, regulate and govern what the
Messengers do and where they will go!” (p. 9, June, 1938, V., our italics.)
And so the Ballards and their
“Power of Light” did “sweep Chicago” with much show of glitter in a grand and
triumphant entry, but this unexpected suit shook the glitter out, and made it
necessary for them to brazen through the crisis in some way. How they did it
will now be shown.
On the following evening after
the papers were served, and “pandemonium reigned among their followers,” the
Ballards attempted to make some sort of answer. We quote from the Chicago
Herald & Examiner of October 15, article headed: “Sought in Gold Swindle;
Cult Leader Begs Faith.”
“People of America,” called Mrs.
Ballard, in a broadcast from the platform, “we ask you, regardless of anything
you have heard or read, to believe that the work of the Mighty I AM Presence
and the Ascended Masters is clean and honest and is the truth. Regardless of
all untruth that has been spoken or printed, we never have asked for a dime and
never tried to draw any human being from any other creed or belief. I say this
to the whole earth: Mr. Ballard has never done a dishonest or dishonorable
thing in his life and never shall!”
Mrs. Ballard then turned the
microphone over to Ballard, who said:
“Thank you, beloved Lotus! It is
incredible that any one should wish to be vicious to us, who have never asked
one thing for ourselves. I have never claimed I was a Master, and any one who
says I did is a liar!”
That certainly should settle the
matter once and for all, but we might gently inject the thought that Guy
Ballard has perhaps made more claims for himself than has any other person in
America. Even Father Divine only permits his followers to call him “God.” He
doesn’t come right out and proclaim it, having retained a little modesty in the
matter. But Mr. Ballard comes right out in print and speech and has “God, the
Mighty I AM” give a stirring sales talk all about Guy Ballard!
The following modest claims for
himself are made: He lives in a “body of immortal endurance.” (p. 390, M.P.)
There “isn’t anything in the universe that he fears,” and “nothing can be
recorded upon his life stream.” (August, 1935, Lecture) He is “a free being and
could leave at any moment.” (p. 11, Sept., 1938, V.) “No one on earth can take
his place.” (p. 13, Nov., 1938, V.)
He is “as humble as humbleness
can be.” (p. 6, Dec., 1938, V.) “Has not made one single mistake from the
beginning.” (p. 15, Feb., 1937, V.)
He “Can decree and it is
fulfilled almost instantly.” (p. 77, A.M.D.) But for him and his good wife Edna
“mankind would have perished from the earth.” ( Jan. 7, 1938, G. L.)
And lastly, believe it or not, he
“has never asked for a dime in his life.” (pp. 391-392, A.M.L.)
Surely, if Guy Ballard is all of
the above, then he is not only a “Master” but something more!
Why call someone a prevaricator
(to use a gentler term than he did) because this same somebody said he claimed
to be a “Master” fifteen years ago? Does he not today claim to be something
very much more than that?
Fortunately for the Accredited
Messengers of Saint Germain, the Chicago suit against Guy Ballard and its past
gold mine connections was not publicized very much in other cities. The
Ballards did everything they could to keep their students from believing it was
anything but a “vicious attack.”
In the next issue of their
official journal after the Chicago suit, the Ballards attempted to pour a
little miracle-working oil over the troubled waters of the movement. They
referred evasively to this Chicago suit, and cunningly headed their article:
“OUR ASCENDED MASTER MIRACLE!” We quote:
“We wish to express our deepest
Eternal Love and Gratitude, and to thank every ‘I AM’ student for the Love,
Loyalty, unflinching courage, Self-control and Assistance with which all
handled the intrusion of discord which attempted to touch the Chicago Class.
“Mr. G. W. Ballard has never done
a dishonest or dishonorable thing in his entire life and never shall. We have
never asked any human being for a thing, not even a dime nor a student list;
and all who know us even slightly know THAT IS THE TRUTH!
“We have given all and asked
nothing in return . . . “We all called in this Chicago class for Gigantic
Ascended Master Miracles . . . to come out of even the slightest attempt to
discredit or interfere . . . The recent Occurrence has Turned into Just That .
. . Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Ballard.” (pp. 19-20, Nov., 1938, V.)
The Ballards, however, fail to
explain just how it is that “pandemonium among the followers” could at the same
time be “unflinching courage and self-control.” Nor just how it was that
“intrusion of discord” was turned into a “Gigantic Ascended Master Miracle.”
The miracle, of course, lies in
the fact that the students should accept such a statement. There was certainly
no other miracle.
The crisis in Chicago was so
great that the Ballards had to call out an entirely new “Ascended Master” — or
rather in this case it was a “Lady Master,” who they said was none other than
the “Goddess of Light!”
“She has opened the Door of the
Ascended Masters’ Octave to the earth,” explained Ballard to the Chicago
faithful, and added: “It is an unheard of thing in the history of the world . .
. (applause).” (p. 5, Nov., 1938, V.)
“I want to say to you,” said the
Goddess upon being introduced, and conveniently using Ballard’s vocal cords,
“that if good were not to come out of the experience which occurred at your
class recently, this Messenger could have stood and without a word released the
Power of a Light Ray and those individuals would still remain standing in their
tracks; but he would not do it.” (p. 10, our italics.)
And there you are! What
self-control it must have been for Ballard to have withheld the “lightening”
that would have stopped the poor process server right in his tracks; which was
something the excited efforts of his students failed to do.
We are glad that Ballard didn’t
forget himself and absentmindedly let it loose. No wonder students run to the
cover of the “Mighty I AM” protection and dare not say anything to incur the
Ballard disfavor.
“. . . That same Power,”
continues the Goddess, “could have been released had it chosen to do so. There
are no human persons nor creation that could stop it . . .” (p.11)
But fortunately for the process
server, this terrific power was withheld. To be stopped by a bullet is one
thing, but to be stopped by Mr. Ballard’s little “Light Ray” would certainly
make any self-respecting officer a trifle shamefaced.
The Goddess agreeably concurs
with the Ballards that it was indeed a miracle:
“Out of this occurrence has
really come an Ascended Master Miracle,” she says. “You can all well rejoice
that the Messenger was strong enough and calm enough to go serenely on and let
it take place. It has been the means of dissolving and removing from your
Chicago forever the resistance which has been here for many years.” (p. 11)
In the Ballard official Group
Letter, or report to their students, under date of November 20, 1938, there are
many references to the Chicago suit:
“On Thursday night a vicious
attack was made on our Beloved Mr. Ballard while he was quietly autographing
books in the foyer of the beautiful Chicago Civic Auditorium.”
This “vicious attack” consisted
of the process server presenting Ballard formally with a summons. Photographers
also aimed their cameras at him while he was being served. No real casualties
were reported, such as might be suggested by a vicious “attack.”
“A few minutes later,” continues
the official report, “we heard newsboys crying out ‘Extra — all about the I AM
suit.’ It was such a complete surprise that we purchased a copy, and then read
to our amusement . . .”
Why should this occurrence have
been “such a complete surprise” with the all-knowing Saint Germain around? And
how much “amusement” did the newspaper article really give?
Evidently, Saint Germain was away
on “European business” on this “miracle” night, for it was not until the
following day that he arrived to do battle against such vicious individuals:
“Five of the most vicious black
magicians in America were seized last night!” he told the applauding audience.
Commenting on the reasons for the suit, he said:
“The woman who made this charge,
some years ago, for no reason at all, became very angry at the Messengers.”
The little matter of $6,775 is of
course “no reason at all” to a wealthy “Ascended Master” with his hoard of
“Spanish gold lost at sea” and three Colorado gold mines. But it was for the
little woman who had slaved all her life to save it from her meager earnings.
“She KNOWS that the charge is NOT
true!” continued Saint Germain. “She KNOWS very well that this Messenger did
NOT receive her money, and I know it!
“. . . The vicious individuals
who came into that lobby last night,” said Saint Germain, “are dealing with Me,
and not the Messenger! I always abide My time.
“I say to the newspapers who were
unfortunate enough to print that, they too must pay the penalty for it . . .
Now begins the destruction of every one who allows such things to continue . .
. I say to every newspaper in the land — take heed! I am always present and
watching everything, and when I am ready I will act.” Surely, after this fair
warning from the great Saint Germain himself, none of us would like to be
newspaper people — certainly not Chicago ones. Such as they can only wait the
dire and inevitable consequences of their own heedlessness. The suspense must be
terrific.
While Saint Germain in his speech
spent most of his allotted stage time threatening Chicago news reporters and
editors, he still had time to praise his tried and tested “Accredited
Messengers:”
“Beloved Ones,” said he to the
Chicago audience, “when I chose him [Ballard] and the beloved Lotus to be the
Messengers of My Work, I knew every thought and feeling that is in their
Beings. There is not one impure nor dishonest thought in their whole Life!
(tremendous applause) . . . This beloved Messenger rendered a service last
night for which all America one day will bless him! (Again tremendous applause
as the huge audience arose to their feet!)” (p. 2, Nov. 20, 1938, G.L.)
This, in brief, is how the
Accredited Messengers of Saint Germain and the Ascended Masters answered the
Chicago suit. But it appears that the “Gigantic Ascended Master Miracle,” which
assertedly happened at Chicago, didn’t influence the Chicago authorities to
nullify and make void the suit brought by the little woman who had invested her
all in Ballard’s “Lake of Gold.” The “Miracle” didn’t take care of that little
point.
However, eleven days before the
trial was to come up —on December 29, 1939— an event occurred which was to make
it forever impossible for Guy Ballard, defendant, to satisfy the claimant in
this suit. The details of this will be told in the last chapter.
(Psychic Dictatorship in America,
chapter 21)
No comments:
Post a Comment