Jesus said, “Why have you gone out into the desert? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a man clothed in fine garments (like your) kings and your great men? Upon them are fine garments, and they are unable to discern the truth.”
Let it first be said that it is not the prophet of God who must seek you out and pursue you, but it is you who are to seek out and follow the holy prophet. If you seek, you will find. If you ask, you will ultimately receive the answer. If you knock at the gate of initiation, the way of the holy mysteries will be opened before you and you will be received in the Spirit of the Lord. But if you do not seek, how will you find? If you do not ask, how will the answer be given to you? If you do not knock at the gate of initiation, how shall it be said you were ready and willing to enter and be received? You must go out into the desert to meet with the prophet of God, for only when you enter into the world of the prophet can the prophet communicate the world of the Lord to you. As long as you remain in the city and in your own house, you cannot listen and hear the Word of the Lord in the prophet, for all of your self-concerns and worldly interests will not let you listen and hear the Holy Spirit that speaks within you. The God of Israel is the God of the wilderness, and you must go out into the wilderness in order to meet with him or her.
Why would you leave the comfort of your house and delights of the city? Why should you depart from the way of the world to sojourn in the Way of the prophets and apostles of God? If the answer to this question is not within you, I cannot give it to you, for it is the Holy Spirit that calls a soul out into the desert and guides and protects the soul in the Way, and no one but God can impart such Grace. One is either given to a holy tzaddik in Spirit or one is not. If one is given in Spirit to the holy tzaddik, one must give oneself in Spirit in order to be received. Many are they who are given in Spirit, but few are they who give themselves; and so many are called, but few are so chosen.
Listen and hear, my dear brothers and sisters. When you are called to the interior church and the Spirit brings you into the mystical path, like the sons and daughters of the prophets before you, you are also a member of the assembly of prophets and apostles—a member of the mystical body of the Holy One. You also are called as conscious agents of the Word of the Lord and the great work, ordained by your calling as ministers of the Spirit and Truth. A companion in a mystical order is a conscious agent in a divine labor. He or she is a companion of a holy tzaddik on a mission from God, and yet more, he or she is a companion of the Holy Spirit herself, letting the Holy Spirit work within and through him- or herself according to the Will of God. Our calling is for a conscious participation, for that is the nature of a mystic and of mystical fellowships. We seek a direct communion in the Spirit of the Lord and to serve the Lord in Spirit and Truth.
Yes, a reed shaken in the wind! That is the very nature of the prophets. They are moved by the Spirit, and being empty of themselves, they are Spirit-filled. Consider the wind. You do not see the wind, save by way of those things that are blown by the wind. The wind is invisible and you do not see where it comes from or where it is going. It is only made visible to you by the things moved by it, and so you can discern the movement of the wind. So it is with those who are born of the Holy Spirit, the prophets and apostles of God. As the Spirit moves them, you are able to behold the Spirit and so, per chance, yourself be reborn of the Holy Spirit. Is that not why anyone would seek out a holy tzaddik, so that they might also be moved by the Spirit and follow in the Way of the Spirit?
The reed is hollow and therefore an open channel. And so the prophets and apostles of God are empty of themselves before the presence of the Lord and open to the Spirit of the Lord, so that they become as channels or vehicles of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the Word of the Lord is conveyed through them, just as ink through a pen for the writing of the Word, and so the Word of the Lord is spoken. The Word of the Lord is fulfilled when it is received and imparted. “As it is spoken, so is it done.” Vehayah—“And it shall come to pass.” Surely, this is the perfection of faith!
Why do you go out into the desert? To participate in a mystery drama, so that, in your own experience, something of the holy mysteries is revealed. Why have you come into the wilderness of the world? So that you might bring about the civilization of Christ upon earth, that is to say, New Jerusalem. This is the point the Master is making, that you seek so that you might find and discern the Truth, and discerning the Truth, you might live according to it. In this way, the same Holy Spirit that speaks in the prophets and apostles of God shall speak in you also, and you shall be counted as a holy one in the presence of the Lord.
Listen and hear, right now the Spirit is speaking in you, there in the depths of your being, as in the one who is your brother and friend writing to you. What you are reading in this very moment is the Spirit speaking, and your own awareness and understanding is the Spirit speaking in you. Every time you listen and hear the Word of the Lord, the Holy Spirit is speaking before you and within you, and the Lord is present with you. Truly, this presence of awareness is the fruit of faith, for it is your intuition that informs you of the Spirit in such a sacred moment, and it is your intuition through which you recognize one in whom the Spirit is speaking. Faith is an intuition of an experience you have not yet had, but which is coming your way. Hence, indeed, faith is a manifestation of the prophetic Spirit. The Spirit of the prophets continues to speak! Praise God!