a remarkable intellect and a love of mimicry and laughter
– but, like so many of you today, I took no care of my earthly talents.
what you might call down-graded from what they should have been.
2.166.1 Whilst I had begun to examine and rebel against what I had become,
my intellect had also suffered from mis-use,
constantly engaged in arguments and dissensions
over religion and indulging in flippant speech.
2.166.2 I made people laugh.
2.166.3 I was liked by the men and women I mixed with,
but certainly not respected.
2.166.3.1 Hence the astonishment of those who had known me,
when I spoke to them in the synagogue in Nazareth.
I made powerful use of the knowledge and enlightenment
given me in the desert.
2.167.1 This restored me to the man I was meant to be.
that I was the only one with the supreme knowledge
of the secrets of creation and existence itself.
2.168.1 Therefore, I could say with perfect confidence,
“No one has seen the Father but me”.
2.169 I knew that all that men believed in so wholeheartedly
was false – not real.
2.170 I knew that I had been specially fashioned
and designed by the Father for this mission.
2.170.1 I had been blest abundantly with the physical energy,
vitality of speech and the ability to devise meaningful parables,
to enable me to pass on the message successfully
and in a form that would never be forgotten.
I knew what made them laugh and prompted them to mockery
and derision of the rich and pompous; and I knew, also, how deeply,
so many, young and old, suffered silently and bravely.
2.172 I knew and experienced deep compassion for the populace
which lived in fear of – or endured – the verbal whiplash of Pharisees,
and bowed down to the tax laws of the Romans.
2.173 I knew how their proud Jewish spirit was bruised
by the conquering gentiles whom they were forced to honour
with their lips and hand and knee salutations,
yet whom they despised behind closed doors.