murmur of these two streams in my own bosom also, and I was gladdened.
When I visited Jesus the day before Pontius Pilatus and the elders laid hands on Him, we talked long, and I asked Him many questions, and He answered my questionings with graciousness; and when I left Him I knew He was the Lord and Master of this our earth.
It is long since our cedar tree has fallen, but its fragrance endures, and will forever seek the four corners of the earth.
Georgus of Beirut
He and his friends were in the grove of pines beyond my hedge, and He was talking to them.
I stood near the hedge and listened. And I knew who He was, for His fame had reached these shores ere He Himself visited them.
When He ceased speaking I approached Him, and I said: “Sir, come with these men and honour me and my roof.”
And He smiled upon me and said: “Not this day, my friend. Not this day.”
And there was a blessing in His words, and His voice enfolded me like a garment on a cold night.
Then He turned to His friends and said: “Behold a man who deems us not strangers, and though He has not seen us ere this day, he bids us to His threshold.
“Verily in my kingdom there are no strangers. Our life is but the life of all other men, given us that we may know all men, and in that knowledge love them.
“The deeds of all men are but our deeds, both the hidden and the revealed.
“I charge you not to be one self but rather many selves, the householder and the homeless, the ploughman and the sparrow that picks the grain ere it slumber in the earth, the giver who gives in gratitude, and the receiver who receives in pride and recognition.
“The beauty of the day is not only in what you see, but in what other men see.
“For this I have chosen you from among the many who have chosen me.”
Then He turned to me again and smiled and said: “I say these things to you also, and you also shall remember them.”
Then I entreated Him and said: “Master, will you not visit in my house?”
And He answered: “I know your heart, and I have visited your larger house.”
And as He walked away with His disciples He said: “Good night, and may your house be large enough to shelter all the wanderers of the land.”
Mary Magdalene
His mouth was like the heart of a pomegranate, and the shadows in His eyes were deep.
And He was gentle, like a man mindful of his own strength.
In my dreams I beheld the kings of the earth standing in awe in His presence.
I would speak of His face, but how shall I?
It was like night without darkness, and like day without the noise of day.
It was a sad face, and it was a joyous face.
And well I remember how once He raised His hand towards the sky, and His parted fingers were like the branches of an elm.
And I remember Him pacing the evening. He was not walking. He Himself was a road above the road; even as a cloud above the earth that would descend to refresh the earth.
But when I stood before Him and spoke to him, He was a man, and His face was powerful to behold. And He said to me: “What would you, Miriam?”
I would not answer Him, but my wings enfolded my secret, and I was made warm.
And because I could bear His light no more, I turned and walked away, but not in shame. I was only shy, and I would be alone, with His fingers upon the strings of my heart.
Jotham of Nazareth, to a Roman
My friend, you like all other Romans would conceive life rather than live it. You would rule lands rather than be ruled by the spirit.
You would conquer races and be cursed by them rather than stay in Rome and be blest and happy.
You think but of armies marching and of ships launched into the sea.
How shall you then understand Jesus of Nazareth, a man simple and alone, who came without armies or ships, to establish a kingdom in the heart and an empire in the free spaces of the soul?
How shall you understand the man who was not a warrior, but who came with the power of the mighty ether?
He was not a god, He was a man like unto ourselves; but in Him the myrrh of the earth rose to meet the frankincense of the sky; and in His words our lisping embraced the whispering of the unseen; and in His voice we heard a song unfathomable.
Aye, Jesus was a man and not a god, and therein lies our wonder and our surprise.
But you Romans wonder not save at the gods, and no man shall surprise you. Therefore you understand not the Nazarene.
He belonged to the youth of the mind and you belong to its old age.
You govern us today; but let us wait another day.
Who knows that this man with neither armies nor ships shall govern tomorrow?
We who follow the spirit shall sweat blood while journeying after Him. But Rome shall lie a white skeleton in the sun.
We shall suffer much, yet we shall endure and we shall live. But Rome must needs fall into the dust.
Yet if Rome, when humbled and made low, shall pronounce His name, He will heed her voice. And He will breathe new life into her bones that she may rise again, a city among the cities of the earth.
But this He shall do without legions, nor with slaves to oar His galleys. He will be alone.
Ephraim of Jericho
When he came again to Jericho I sought Him out and said to Him: “Master, on the morrow my son will take a wife. I beg you
