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Acknowledgments

This book could not have been written without the legacy of 14,306 readings bequeathed to us by Edgar Cayce and now archived at the Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) in Virginia Beach, VA under the auspices of the Edgar Cayce Foundation. The truths found in those readings have been my beacons, lighting the way along the winding path of a long spiritual journey.

My most sincere and humble thanks to all the members, friends, and supporters of the A.R.E., including those dedicated, loving people who have served on its Board of Trustees, for tending the flame so that the wisdom found in the Edgar Cayce material will keep shining across the ages.

Thanks, too, to the many devoted teachers who have passed through the A.R.E.’s doors, giving of their time and talents to help the rest of us better understand life’s purpose: to manifest the love of God and man. I will mention a few in particular who over the years have opened a window to new perspectives and helped deepen my own understanding: Charles Thomas Cayce, Mark Thurston, Kevin Todeschi, and John Van Auken.

I could not have traveled the protracted and sometimes bumpy road as an author without the support of my cherished family and friends. These wonderful traveling companions on life’s journey include my “soul sisters” Karen Shwedo and Patricia Abrams and “spiritual brother” Francis “Doc” Moreau, as well as many more good friends such as Teresa Farquhar, Sally and Bill Meadows, Melita DeBellis, and Richard Abrams, who also kindly lent me his publishing expertise. Additional thanks belong to the members of the Saturday Goldsmith Group for their constant, loving support: Shirley and the late Dick Guy, Claudia Donaldson Selby, Beth Hampton, Linda and Danny St. John, and Steve Krawczyk.

My sincerest appreciation also extends to the staff and Governing Council of The Wilderness Society who comprised my work family for so many years and whose idealism continues to inspire me to this day. These courageous wilderness stewards have kept the dream alive, never losing sight of the fact that everyone deserves an opportunity to find peace and renewal in the spiritual cathedrals of the natural world.

Needless to say, I am enormously indebted to the countless authors who have come before me, especially to those whose efforts to promote and explain the truths found in the Cayce material laid the groundwork for the range of topics handled in this book. My thanks in particular to Glenn Sanderfur for his seminal work, Lives of the Master and Edgar Cayce on Jesus and His Church by Anne Read under the editorship of Hugh Lynn Cayce.

Equally important to note is an unpublished manuscript by the late Janet Highland who in the 1970s handed me a draft chapter on Jesus from a book she hoped to write but was never able to finish. I had hung onto a faded copy of that document all these years, knowing that her beautiful prose and the ideas we had discussed were important, but until now had lacked the opportunity to bring them to light in any meaningful way. The theories promulgated through those long-ago conversations together with ideas advanced in the Edgar Cayce readings were the catalysts which started to raise the curtain on the unique role the Master Jesus had played for the world. Portions of several chapters draw from her groundbreaking approach to the subject.

I will forever be grateful to the gracious and talented professionals at the A.R.E. Press who from the beginning believed in my book and skillfully led me through the twists and turns of the publishing process while making it all look easy. Special thanks belong to my editor Stephanie Pope whose generosity of spirit, insight, and steady hand helped turn an imperfect manuscript into an actual book; Director of Production, Cassie McQuagge, who led the team and kept everything on track; and our gifted Graphic Designer and Typesetter, Cathy Merchand. A special thanks also goes to Linda Caputi of the A.R.E. Library who helped with some of the research in this book.

Finally, these acknowledgments would not be complete without my thanking the army of teachers now in the earth or living on the “the other side” who, through the centuries, have helped transform human consciousness by means of the spiritual legacies they left behind. Among those in the Cayce pantheon are Gladys Davis Turner, who recorded, organized, and protected the original readings, and Hugh Lynn Cayce, who exposed the material to the larger world. Other selfless mentors whose wisdom has informed my work include Joel Goldsmith, Mary Baker Eddy, Eckhart Tolle, and many others—as well as all of the unseen forces which surrounded and guided me as I wrote. This humble scribe could not have written a word without them.