Dark Forces -- Part 3

2008-6-5 03:25:00

[The following is taken from Book 2 of JJ Dewey's "The Immortal."]

  

Chapter Fourteen -- The Confrontation

The rest of the evening we continued to talk about a range of philosophical topics with Philo always trying to convince us that Love was the answer to everything. He seemed to think that if we just did not ask questions, but experience his brand of love all questions we have about any subject would be taken care of.

After Wayne left Philo spent about two hours talking to Elizabeth explaining many of the things he wrote in his journal. Normally this would not have bothered me, but she seemed to be unusually caught up with this guy and hung on his every word. She acted as if Philo's words were greater than John's. I could not, for the life of me, see how Elizabeth could even come close to putting them in the same category. I was confused over her judgment. It was as if she had moved backward in consciousness and had become someone else since Philo had come to visit.

The next day I was glad that Lance decided to visit some friends and took Philo along with him. During their absence I sensed that Elizabeth was looking forward to Philo's class. I decided to attend if Elizabeth did and had to admit to myself that the reason was more out of distrust for Philo than any interest I had in his class.

Lance and Philo returned to our home about six that evening. Lance was again excited about a couple more girls they met at the Ram Pub which they stopped at on their way back. During dinner we tended to talk about standard small talk. The only thing out of the ordinary was Philo's excessive flattery of Elizabeth. She apparently had prepared the best meal he had ever eaten. She looked so beautiful and vibrant since he had taken the dagger out of her back. Her aura was now golden and vibrant whereas before he had arrived it had dark patches in it. I then felt particularly restless when he warned her not to let anyone close to her allow the dagger to be placed in her again. I knew that was a subtle dig at me but also sensed he would deny it if I brought it up.

About a quarter after eight there was a knock on the door. As expected it was Wayne. "Wow," he said. "You guys are glowing with enlightenment. I must have missed the class."

"I'm afraid not," I said. "We've been waiting for you."

"I don't know if that's good or bad," he said, "but I guess we'll find out."

After a few minutes we indicated to Philo that we were ready to begin his class. After taking a minute to finish a cup of tea Philo spoke. "Get us five pillows and put them in the middle of the floor."

Elizabeth retrieved five pillows and put them on the carpet in the center of our living room. Philo took one for himself and sat on it with his legs crossed in a loose lotus position. Then he invited us to sit in a circle around him. After we sat down he said, "Come closer and stretch out your hands so you can feel my aura."

We all moved closer and stretched out our hands.

"Closer still," he said. "You must have a part of your body within the circumference of my aura."

We all moved our hands a little closer toward his midsection. "There," he said. "Now if you remain absolutely still for a moment you will feel a sense of warmth radiating to your hands."

We were all still for a moment. I gave it a fair shake and tried to sense some warmth. I thought I felt a little, but wasn't sure if it was a psychological effect or a real warmth. As I was in the middle of this contemplation Lance blurted out. "Wow! He's not only warm I feel like my hands are in front of a fire!"

"How about you?" said Philo to Elizabeth. "Do you feel the warmth?"

"I think so," she said.

"Shut out all distractions and concentrate. You will feel the warmth increase. Now everyone remain silent for another moment and feel the radiation."

I noticed that Wayne was going to say something, but withheld when Philo asked us to remain silent for a time. Again, I decided to give Philo a fair shot and concentrated another moment. I still was not sure if I was feeling anything out of the ordinary.

Again, Philo spoke. "Now Elizabeth, tell us what you feel."

"I do believe there is an increase in the heat," she said.

"Continue to concentrate and you will feel the fire as Lance has. What Elizabeth and Lance feel is the radiation of pure love that comes from the Guardians to though me to all who are open to receive. How about you, Joseph? Do you feel the warmth?"

"To be honest, I am not sure. I may feel something, but it could be psychological."

"I think it is physical," said Wayne. "I think I feel a little heat radiation from Philo's body. There's nothing mysterious about that."

"You two just need to open up," said Lance. "What I have felt this and other times is no body heat. No body warmth can feel like a fire. I tell you if the heat was any greater it would burn me. No body heat can do that."

"And it's possible that you have experienced a degree of hypnosis," I said.

"I don't think so," said Elizabeth. "I know I'm not hypnotized and I definitely feel some unusual warmth. I think we ought to give the guy a chance to prove himself."

"Keep tuning into that warmth," said Philo. "And to Joseph and Wayne I admonish to you let go of your blockages and let the warmth into your inner selves so you can be one with the rest of us."

"He's right," said Lance. "I've seen Brother Philo do this with forty people and there was not a single one who did not feel the fire of Philo's love. You guys are just blocking the flow of energy. Now loosen up. Chill out! Do whatever you've got to do."

"I don't care if a million people saw Jesus drive a Volkswagen in a parade," said Wayne. "I wouldn't believe it unless I could confirm it for myself."

"And perhaps with that attitude you would wind up missing the whole Second Coming," said Philo. "Let us continue here. Concentrate on the warmth and keep your negative thoughts in abeyance for a few moments.

We tried again for a few moments. I felt pretty much the same questioning warmth that I did before. Then Philo broke the silence. "Do you feel the warmth increasing, Elizabeth?" he said.

"I believe so," she said.

Then he turned and looked directly at her. "Look me directly in the eyes," he said.

She attempted to do so blinking several times.

"Do not waiver in your attention. Look steadily at me," he commanded.

As she seemed to be attempting to obey, he scooted himself closer to her until his face was less than a foot away from hers. As he continued staring at her he said. "Our auras are now intertwined. As the Guardians send the fire of their love to my aura, even so do I send my love to yours. He stretched out his hand and laid it on her forehead, and said in a loud voice: "Feel the fire of love!" Then he pushed her head back in a way that reminded of TV faith healers.

Philo then stood up followed by Lance and started chanting in a loud voice, "The fire -- the fire -- the fire is in me burning -- burning -- burning. Now repeat with me," he said, as he repeated it over and over. Lance joined in and so did Elizabeth. Wayne and I sort of watched on with suspicion for a minute. Then Philo stopped and grabbed Elizabeth by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes and said in a voice close to shouting: "Do you feel the heat?"

"Yes," she said softly.

"Do you really feel. Speak up!"

"Yes, I feel it!" she said.

"Are you willing to do the next step to feel complete love?"

"I think so," she said.

"You must know so!" he said again in a raised voice. He turned his head toward Lance and spoke again, "Lance! Are you willing to commit to a complete love?"

"You know I am," said Lance with enthusiasm.

Then Philo turned toward Elizabeth. "Are you willing to commit to a complete love?"

"Yes, I'm willing," she said finally.

"And when you fulfill your commitment you will then know love divine."

During this exchange with Elizabeth, I felt very uncomfortable and was tempted to insist that Philo stop this brainwashing technique. Two things made me hesitate. First, I was concerned that Elizabeth would be upset at me for interfering, and secondly, I felt a strong force around this guy that seemed to weaken my will. It was as if there were powers at play that had to be met with a strong opposing spiritual force to neutralize. I somehow sensed that this force around Philo was also keeping Wayne in a state of acquiescence for the time being.

Philo then turned to Wayne and said, "How about you Brother Wayne? Are you willing to commit to a complete love?"

"I guess that's harmless enough," he said "I'll play along."

"It's more than playing along," said Philo. "I need a definite commitment to divine love."

"I said I'd play along."

"OK," said Philo. "But to play along I need a definite yes out of you. Are you willing to commit to complete or divine love?"

"OK, the answer's yes. Now let's get on with this," said Wayne.

"Very good," said Philo with obvious satisfaction in his voice. "Now, Joseph are you willing to complete the circle and give your definite commitment?"

"I've already committed," I said.

Philo looked a little startled for the first time, then spoke after a pause, "Have you spoken to the Guardians then?"

"I'm not sure who these guardians are, but I have committed myself to divine love."

"If you have not committed yourself directly to the guardians or one of their representatives then you have not yet fully committed to divine love," he said.

"I can't be more committed than all the way committed and I do have a personal commitment to fulfill the purpose of divine love whatever that may involve," I said.

"Then say 'Yes' to me!" commanded Philo, "For I am the representative of divine love."

"And if I say yes, what am I saying yes to? What will you expect from me?"

Philo paused and spoke. "Remember the story I told you about the ski instructor. An experienced instructor does not have to explain everything in advance, but requires a certain amount of trust. What you must do is let go of all the baggage you carry around and trust me. Everyone else has made a commitment. Don't you think it's about time you yielded yourself to love?"

"I keep telling you that I have already committed myself to love."

"But I can see by your aura, my friend, that you have a lot of negative energy that you have carried around for many years. You need to let go and let others help you. You are too fiercely independent. Just release that individualism and merge with the group energy."

"A little independence is a good thing," I said. As I looked in Philo's direction I felt a familiar Presence, the Presence I felt with John and in the New Jerusalem. As I tried to tune into it, I began to see Philo's aura, and as I looked it occurred to me that his description of me applied to himself. Over his head there appeared to be a dark circulating cloud, and around his body was a circulating mass which was red, brown and an off-blue with patches of black. As I attempted to tune into what it meant, I immediately registered that this man did truly lack an understanding of spiritual love, just as I suspected. Words seemed to form in my heart and mind that said, "Do not doubt that which you receive from the highest part of yourself."

I looked again at Philo and noticed a cord having the appearance of gray and blue hues that seemed to be connected to his middle back and extend upwards towards infinity. I assumed that this was the silver cord I had read about in metaphysical books and was also mentioned in the Bible.

After receiving this revelation, I said back to him, "I think you are giving me a description of your own condition, my friend."

Philo paused a moment. I got the distinct impression that he felt a strong impulse to lash out at me and would have, had it suited his purpose, but instead held that feeling in check and with controlled calmness replied, "Love knows no darkness, but dispels darkness. Now, since you are unwilling to make a definite commitment to one who knows and is able to teach you, do you think you would be so kind as to remove yourself from this class and go into another room so we can continue with oneness?"

"I don't think so," I replied. "Not as long as Elizabeth is here with you. If Elizabeth wants to leave with me, then I will leave you alone for a while. Otherwise, I am staying with her."

Elizabeth spoke up, "You're being overprotective, here, sweetie. I can take care of myself. Brother Philo seems harmless enough."

"I don't care," I said. "If you're staying, I'm staying."

"Then why don't you just make the commitment to love?" said Lance. "Then we can proceed with the class as it was intended."

"If my personal commitment to spiritual love is not good enough for Philo, then that's a problem he has to deal with. This is my definite stand. It's your move, Philo."

Philo looked a little ruffled. "Normally, I teach in friendly quarters, where those who are negative leave before we continue, but since we are in your home I cannot force you to depart. We will continue, but I do ask you to give me respect as a teacher and to participate with an open mind. If you do, you will see the wisdom of my direction."

"I am generally quite a cooperative character," I said.

"We will continue then," he said. "You have disrupted our state of mind, so we will start again and move forward." Philo then proceeded to again take us through the program of feeling the heat, and ended with recommitting Lance, Wayne and Elizabeth. Finally he looked at me and said, "Now, Joseph are you willing to make a general commitment to oneness and love?"

"OK," I said. "I guess I can give you that much."

"Very good," he said. "We will proceed on the assumption that you are one hundred percent committed to love and will follow the teacher to new avenues of knowledge and experience."

I decided to remain silent here.

Philo paused and continued, "One of the major things that keeps us from experiencing a fullness of love is that there is a veil between us and our true selves. We continue to feed this veil of darkness, in many ways, on many levels. On subjective levels, we keep love away with prejudice, hate, jealousy, possessiveness and other negative feelings. This negativity also has its representation on the physical level. Just as we hide our true selves with negative clothes on the spiritual level, even so do we hide our true physical selves with physical clothing. Clothing is a symbol of mankind's attempt to hide what he or she really is. The truth is this. The physical can be healed by removing spiritual causes, and the spiritual can be healed by making a correction on the physical level. True work on the physical level has many prejudices and resistances attached to it, but once they are removed it is much easier and faster to progress on all levels."

I began to see where this was going, but wasn't sure what to do at this point.

Philo continued, "Now, to take your first major step, the most difficult part will be the setting aside of any prejudice you may have. Once this is done, the physical part is extremely easy and leads to a pleasant and unexpected liberation and freedom to explore real love."

Philo then stood up and said, "Now we will begin shedding the physical symbol that hides the true love within." After making this statement, Philo began taking off all his clothes and continued until he was completely nude. As he stood before us in the buff, Philo spoke again, "See how easy this was for me to do? Because our prejudices are removed, the removal of that which hides our true physical selves was very easy. It took only a very small amount of effort and energy. Even so, on the spiritual level, it takes only a small amount of effort to find a true fullness of love. The reason I asked for a commitment from you to complete love is because we are all reluctant to experience it because of our prejudice. This commitment you made allows you to set aside that illusion and bare your physical self as well as your soul. You have therefore made a promise to follow me toward love and make bare your physical selves. How about you, Lance, are you willing to follow your word over your prejudice?"

"Sure," said Lance, who stood up and began taking off his clothes without reservation. As he was in the middle of shedding, he said, "Come on Wayne. Join in with us. You aren't shy, are you?"

Wayne, who was never known to be shy, replied, "I don't see much purpose in it, but if Elizabeth isn't offended, I guess I could go along as an experiment."

"Do you see anything to be offended at?" said Philo to Elizabeth.

"I don't suppose so," she said.

Then Wayne started taking off his clothes.

Philo looked intently at Elizabeth. "Now you need to bare your physical as a first step toward releasing real love and freeing yourself from negative energy, forever."

Elizabeth looked toward me, and I gave her a look that showed my disapproval.

"Don't look outside of yourself for approval," said Philo. "Look within, and that which is within will want to go toward the fire of love. Do you feel the fire?"

"Yes," she said.

"Do you seek the love?"

"Yes."

"Then bare your true self."

As Philo proceeded, I felt disgusted with this attempt at controlling my wife, but something inside myself told me not to interfere with Elizabeth's free will.

"If my husband does, then I will," she said.

"I see no purpose in doing this," I said. I think it is an attempt at mind-control."

"Don't be silly," said Lance. "I've done this in groups with Brother Philo several times, and, believe me, it's not what you think. This class produces a great liberating experience."

"You can run around naked in the mall if you want," I said. "But I just don't see any benefit in going along with this."

"I think it's kind of silly, too," said Wayne. "But I agreed to give this a chance, and maybe something interesting will happen. Who knows. Let's get on with it."

I was surprised to hear this from Wayne. He normally is against being controlled more than I am. Perhaps he didn't see the situation from that perspective.

Then Philo spoke again to Elizabeth, "You are paying too much attention to voices outside of yourself. Look within yourself, and make your decision. I know you love your husband, but you must not live your life governed by his thoughts."

"I would still feel much more comfortable participating if Joe disrobed, too," she replied.

"Yeah, what's your problem?" Lance said too me. "Are you shy or something?"

"You have all seen me in the buff except for Philo, so that's not a big deal," I said. "Call me old fashioned, but I think my wife's body is for my male eyes only, and even if she were not involved I do not support any action that seems to be for the sole purpose of control such as this."

Philo let out a laugh that reminded me of a laugh of a professor responding to a stupid remark from a student. Then he said, "My poor deceived friend, you are indeed backward, here, and not in a good way. In all of creation man is the only animal that clothes himself. This is fine if we are in need of warmth, but it becomes evil when we seek to hide ourselves. The first step to finding who we are in the real world of spirit is to reveal who we are in the physical. When we can let down the barriers represented by clothing and just be whoever we really are in relation to each other, then we can establish a higher relationship on the spiritual level. We seek not to lust after your wife's body or control your mind, but only to take relationship to a higher level. Just let go of your fears and possessiveness, and be one with us."

"I choose not to, and that comes from my inner self," I said.

"But what's the harm of just trying this once?" said Elizabeth. "If Philo takes us somewhere, we will have an interesting experience, and if not, then what's the loss? I'm sure these guys have seen naked women more beautiful than I am."

"This goes way beyond getting naked," I said. "This guy has a hidden agenda, and control through this manipulation is his first step."

Philo laughed again. "Why are you so paranoid about being controlled here? I could not control you if I wanted to. Lance has been with me for some time, now, and I could not control him if I wanted too. The truth is that you have inhibitions about getting nude, and you need to face this prejudice you have about being totally honest on the physical level."

"Maybe he's right," said Elizabeth. "When you think about it what could be wrong with doing this? It's not like we are going to have an orgy."

"Very good thinking," said Philo. "And don't forget that you gave me your personal commitment to follow this course, so, if you are true to your word, you we need to proceed here."

"She didn't give any commitment to getting naked with you," I said.

"Oh, but she did." he commented. "She made a definite commitment to complete love, and the first step toward this is complete honesty. To be completely honest, we must reveal who we are on the physical level. If she is to fulfill her word, she must take this step."

"I guess I did give my word," she said.

"But you didn't give your word on this," I said. "You don't need to do this to discover complete love. This is nonsense."

"Again, I remind you," said Philo. "that this is the first step toward complete love, and if I am right then she would break her word by not following this procedure. I hate to say this, but if you break your word, then the dagger will come back along with the negativity, and the chances are that your disease will return."

Elizabeth looked shaken. "Why do you say such a thing?"

"Because breaking a commitment to a Master teacher is breaking a link to your soul, and without this link to your soul your disease will come back. Look at it this way: By proceeding with the course you will insure your health as well as discovering the completeness of love. But if you do not go ahead, you could revert to your prior state and disease. Even if you get nothing from the course, you have nothing to lose and much to gain."

This was too much for me and I had to speak plainly, "Listen here. I'm not sure what your final goal is here, but I'm putting a stop to your mind games on my wife. Elizabeth and I will go into another room and let you guys finish your love seance. Just come get us when you are done."

I grabbed Elizabeth's hand and attempted to pull her along with me, but she pulled back. "Wait a minute!" she said. "You are making a decision for me here. Maybe Philo was right. Maybe you do control me too much."

"But sweetie, I thought you were beginning to see through this guy. I felt as if you were looking for a way out."

"But even if I didn't want to participate here, I also do not want to take a chance in getting my disease back. I think I should play it safe and go ahead with this. Then when Philo goes back to California, we'll never see him again, and it'll be as if nothing ever happened." Then she started crying. "Don't you understand? I don't want this disease back."

Philo grabbed her with perfect timing, and said: "There, there, I think you need some support here." Then he gave her a long hug.

My first impulse was to physically throw him out of the house, but I resisted, and as I looked upon Philo embracing my wife and Elizabeth almost hypnotically enjoying it, I said a prayer within my heart for help. I felt I was in a Catch-22. If I tried to force my will, I felt as if I may alienate Elizabeth; if I didn't, I might lose her to some strange hypnotic control that Philo seemed to be gaining over her. As I searched my heart, I again felt that wonderful spiritual energy come to me, and as this rested upon me, my eyes became open in a way I had never experienced before.

What then happened to me could not have taken more than a couple seconds of real time, but what I beheld had the information of a two-hour movie. Instead of Philo and Elizabeth standing before me, I saw myself as a knight of the temple in that past life as earlier related by Elizabeth. I saw that I was tied down in a torture chamber, and in a nearby room was Elizabeth as the young man she was in that life and talking to her was Philo! But he was not called Philo, then, but Brother Phillippi, one who had great authority in the church. Their conversation was revealed to me as follows:

Brother Phillippi: "Our last subject was a tough one, but just before he died he told us that this knight we have before us has the secrets we have been looking for."

Elizabeth, in the past: "And how will I know when I find what you are looking for?"

Brother Phillippi: "He knows what he is supposed to tell you. Just let me know everything he reveals, no matter how absurd. Do not take his life until you have inflicted all the pain necessary to obtain everything he knows."

Elizabeth: "But we have been inflicting so much pain. Do you really think all of this is necessary?"

Bother Phillippi: "Do not in any way question my authority again. Just remember this. These knights have stolen invaluable artifacts and writings from the church. These are not normal thieves, but have stolen from God and we must do whatever is necessary to return to God that which is the Church's right to possess. Any pain you cause these knights is a small price to pay to make the church whole again. Spare nothing with this knight. We cannot do enough to punish him for his crimes. Think of it this way. The hot iron we give him will be cool compared to the fire of hell from Almighty God which he will endure for eternity."

Elizabeth: "I do not doubt your authority. I know you speak for the Pope who speaks for God. I will do what you say even though it is distasteful to me."

Brother Phillippi: "Remember. Reveal only to me the church-related information you extract from him. You can give anything else to the King's representatives. But if he mentions anything about bells, writings or a chalice save this information for me only. Is that understood?"

Elizabeth: "Yes."

After this dialog passed by me I seemed to have discerned much more information. I saw that Elizabeth in that life was somehow involved in an inner circle that belonged to Brother Phillippi. His inner circle was presented to its members as an inner order commissioned by the Pope, but in reality it was entirely Brother Phillippi's creation. Brother Phillippi taught his students regularly with hypnotic techniques reinforced by many fears, such as torture if they betrayed the group and the pain of eternal hell in the hereafter. I saw that in this life, Elizabeth was a basically good person who was deceived by this man's craftiness.

Next it was revealed to me that Wayne was also a knight who was tortured to death in that life, and Lance was also there as an authority among the knights. However, Lance escaped torture and death by cooperating with the king.

After this I was moved backward in time to other lifetimes, and saw that both Elizabeth and I had encountered Philo many times and rarely in a good way. Time and time again he had garnered authority to himself and used it to manipulate others. He seemed to repeatedly take a special interest in controlling the entity who is now Elizabeth. Then I was moved forward in time until we arrived at the present and saw that the power of Philo and others like him was diminishing because people as a whole were getting more independent. I perceived that there was not any regular organization in today's world where Philo seemed to fit, so he became an authority to himself, seeking to establish a power base of his own creation. This thing he sought to create would be of no great significance, but he was in danger of destroying the free will of a few souls, and if one of those was my wife he would then become a successful agent of the Dark Brothers.

At this realization I was released from the vision. I immediately stepped toward Elizabeth, grabbed her and pulled her toward me. "Sweetheart, I know who this is. He was Brother Phillippi who ordered you to torture the Knights of the temple, and now he's trying to control you once again."

Elizabeth backed off from me. "Where did you get such an outrageous idea?"

"Just trust me this one time. This is Brother Phillippi."

"And how would you know anything about Brother Phillippi?" said Philo, and at that moment I intuitively realized that he possessed a knowledge of who he was.

"I know who you are, and what you want to do," I said.

"You know nothing about me and have no understanding of the light that I bring," he said in a voice that was much cooler than any previous tone of voice he used before. Wayne and Lance just looked on in curious wonder during this exchange.

"If you truly remember me then you would know the secret of the tree of life," Philo continued. "You would also know the meaning of the bells. Tell me about them and I will release your wife from her commitment."

"I told you nothing then, and will tell you nothing now," I said.

This seemed to jar Elizabeth into asking, "Are you really the same entity as Brother Phillippi?"

Philo paused a moment and replied, "I do not know who this Brother Phillippi is, but in past lives I have been the true caretaker of the Tree of Life, and the bells, and am supposed to retrieve them again in this life. If your husband knows anything about them he should tell me."

"All you will be allowed to know you can read in the books that I shall write," I said.

"But you will not be able to write all the details," he said. "Tell me what you know, and how you know it, and I shall release your wife from her commitment."

"I can only tell you this. I know who you are. You did not get what you were looking for from the Knights of the Temple and you shall not get it in this life."

Philo looked impatient, then composed himself and asked, "Tell me what you know about the bells."

"If I did know something I wouldn't tell you. Not in the last life and not in this one."

"You mentioned something about writing a book about a 2000-year-old man that you met. You really have met someone haven't you?"

"I wouldn't tell you if I had."

"That's enough!" he said with a raised voice. "I can tell that you are completely unwilling to cooperate. I am also unwilling to cooperate. Elizabeth. Keep your commitment and disrobe this instant, or your disease will return."

She looked back at him with fear in her eyes and said, "You were Brother Phillippi, weren't you?"

Philo looked visibly disturbed, "It doesn't matter who I was. You made a commitment, and must keep it, or your guilt will punish you by returning the disease to your body!"

I stepped toward Philo and said, "She made no such commitment to undress for you. She made a commitment to love just as she has always been committed to it. All she has to do to fulfill that commitment is to love to the best of her power, and I know that is what she will always do."

Philo looked at Elizabeth. "As I told you -- you listen too much to your husband. You must make the decision. Are you going to join us in physical honesty or not?"

"I don't think so," she said. "If you want to continue this class, then my husband and I will go into another room, or you may leave and go elsewhere. I am done with this continuing education for the moment."

"Very well," he said. "There is nothing I can do to help you then. The whole matter is out of my hands. Your disease will come back in several days. I can see that dagger reinserting itself as we speak and when it is in your back again and you are weak again you will have to come back to me and bare yourself before me if you wish to be restored to health."

"I think it's time you left our home," I said. "You have just sunk to the lowest level of manipulation that I have ever imagined." I then walked over to his pile of clothes and picked them up and threw them out the door. "Now I am going to the bathroom. When I come out I want you and your clothes to be in the same place."

As I started walking down the hall, Lance spoke up. "Now hold on here. Just hold on. I'm not sure what has just happened or what your problem is Joe, but Brother Philo and I are together here. It's obvious that you and he have some bad vibes, here, so I'll tell you what. Just let us stay tonight and we'll get another place to stay until we leave. How about it?"

"I'll do that for you, Lance, because you are my friend, but keep this guy away from my wife."

"It will not be long before she comes to me for help," said Philo. "When her disease returns, and she needs my help, how are you going to keep her away from me then?"

"Lance," I said, `take this guy in the guest bedroom out of my sight, or he has go leave immediately."

"OK," said Lance. He then led Philo down the hall to the bedroom, but as Philo walked down the hall he turned his head and looked at Elizabeth and mouthed two words with a smile. I thought the words were "You're mine," but I wasn't sure. I had never seen a person push his luck so much.

At this point, Wayne had his clothes back on, looking a little embarrassed, if that is possible for Wayne. He was the type of character who didn't embarrass that easily.

"I must say this," said Wayne, "this evening has been more interesting than if the whole event turned into an orgy with dancing girls. I must say that Philo is a piece of work. I'd like to know what his whole motive was though."

"I'll tell you one thing," I said "it's not the teaching of universal love."

"I suppose not," he said. "Most preachers and New Agers are spreading love to the benefit of Number One. Some things never change."

"There are a lot of phony teachers out there," I said, "but I also think there are a few good ones."

"Possibly," he said. "I guess I'd better be going. I'll catch you for breakfast this weekend."

"I'll plan on it," I said.

"By the way," Wayne smiled to Elizabeth, "Now that you've seen me in my true buff self I hope your fantasies of me don't hurt your relationship with Joe here."

"I don't think that's going to be a problem," she said returning the jest.

"Yea, Wayne. That's not going to be a problem," I said allowing him his moment of levity.

"Just thought I'd voice my concern," he said walking out the door.

"At least Wayne is harmless," I said to Elizabeth after he left, but something about Philo has made my skin crawl ever since I met him."

"Something about him makes my skin crawl now," said Elizabeth. "I just don't know why I didn't sense something earlier."

"You apparently have a history of being controlled by the guy," I said. "Based on what we know now I can see why you were influenced by him."

"Perhaps, she said, "but I think I should have woke up earlier. I have my modern-day Knight to thank for helping me. Thank you, my sweet." She then gave me a long, lingering hug.

[End of excerpt.]