Meeting Mark and Elizabeth Clare Prophet

by Terry Canady

MEETING MARK PROPHET AT THE FOUR WINDS ORGANIC CENTER IN COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO

The Four Winds Organic Center was a health food store located in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. I “wandered” into it one afternoon, looking to replenish my vitamin supply. What I found, needless to say, was a whole lot more than vitamins! I met Mark Prophet, his family and staff, the Great White Brotherhood and the Teachings of the Ascended Masters. Wow! What a deal!

At the time I met Mark, I was playing the nightclub circuit and traveling the country as an entertainer. I had a partner in my act, Rudy Perez. I played guitar and sang and he played conga drums. One of the spots at which we regularly performed (for three or four weeks at a time, usually) was the Piccadilly Bar in the beautiful Antlers Plaza Hotel, which was just a few blocks away from the Four Winds.

Sometimes I think back and wonder what Mark and Mother must have though about before opening the Four Winds. I can imagine them saying to themselves, “Hey, let’s open a health food store downtown, with a restaurant, where we can serve up good food and the Teachings. It’ll be easy to find, people will love it, and those who are seeking spiritual truth will be drawn to it. It’ll make the Teachings easy to find.”

Well, that’s actually what happened in my situation. As a matter of fact, I’d be curious to know just how many people found the Ascended Masters and their teachings by coming through the front door of the Four Winds. That place was really unique. There was good, natural food, lots of vitamins and supplements, a juice and salad bar, a formal dining room (with a grand piano), and a small bookstore where you could plop down on a bright yellow couch and read about cooking, the Great Pyramid of Giza, America and her divine destiny, Edgar Cayce, or Lemuria and Atlantis. One day, Mark, himself, handed me Manly P. Hall’s book The Secret Destiny of America, and said, “Now, here’s a book I think you’ll enjoy.” He must have read my patriotic vibe.

I have to tell you that Mark Prophet was just a good friend to me long before he became a guru, or teacher, to me. Whenever I would see him at the store, he was always so comfortable to be around and a lot of fun to talk to. It seemed like he had so much to say. He had the ability to meet someone right where they were in consciousness, and he wouldn’t talk down to you. He met me right where I was and accepted me for who I was, with all the baggage I carried and with all of my “stuff” (everything in my consciousness that was ready for the refiner’s fire). He was one of the most interesting people I’ve ever known. I was fascinated just to hear him talk and explain things to people. He was very friendly and extremely balanced. He never told me that he was a Messenger for the Great White Brotherhood or that I was a potential chela. Now that I look back, though, after having been steeped in the Teachings of the Ascended Masters for over 33 years, I realize that Mark must have known that the best thing he could have done for me, at that time, was to simply be the best example of what the Teachings represented.

Because Mark made me feel so welcome there at the store whenever I visited, I gave him, in a gesture of gratitude, a signed 8x10 glossy promotional photo of myself and one of the 45 rpm records of mine that I had recorded in Nashville (“Mama Bear,” on the “A” side, on the Metro/Country label). The song had just made it to the #1 position in a few major markets (Kansas City, Denver and Des Moines), meanwhile getting airplay all over the country. I thought Mark might enjoy a copy. Something I found out later, from a staff member, was that after the store closed that day, Mark took the record upstairs and played it for everyone.

I always looked forward to having a meal at the Four Winds Organic Center and visiting with my good friend, Mark Prophet. My memories of those times are ever so precious.

MARK INTRODUCES ME TO HIS FAMILY

Mark must have also known that I would eventually be working closely with his wife, Elizabeth, after his time here with us on earth was up. One day as I was visiting with him at the store, he looked out the front window and saw her and the children pull up in their white Citroen sedan. He said, “Come here, Terry. I’d like you to meet my wife, Elizabeth, and our children.” Gilbert Hemmeter (Mark’s personal secretary) had been chauffeuring the family around town. After they all got out of the car, there was Elizabeth (whom we now call “Mother,” out of respect and in much the same way that we address a priest as “Father”), dressed casually and wearing a dark blue kerchief over her hair. She was holding their youngest daughter, Tatiana, in her arms. Alongside her were the other children, Sean, Erin and Moira. How wonderful, looking back, to think that Mark personally introduced me to everyone in his family that afternoon at the Four Winds.

ATTENDING MY FIRST SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE AT LA TOURELLE

For all the time I spent at the Four Winds talking with staff members about the Ascended Masters and their teachings, try as they may, they could not drag me to a church service. Sunday evening services were held at La Tourelle for the general public, and my Sunday evenings were usually free. The thing of it is, I just wasn’t interested in going to church. Fortunately, though, one fellow I had come to know quite well at the store – William Lynn – was finally able to convince me that I ought to give it a whirl and come on by. As it turns out, I only attended two Sunday evening services with Mark presiding, before he made his transition. Those are two of the most precious events of my life. Had I known who Mark really was at the time (a great teacher and guru and important re-appearing player on the stage of life), and had I known that he would be leaving us soon (in February of 1973), I would have attended every church service possible. At the time, though, as I’ve mentioned, I really wasn’t interested in going to church. I think I just wanted to find God on the street, and that was what I was doing when I was hanging out at the Four Winds and learning about the Ascended Masters and their teachings. I have faith that Mark knew all this, and that he was not interested in overwhelming me with “church stuff.” He knew I would eventually take up this path and support the work that he began.

One thing I’ll always remember about Mark was how he greeted me after the first service I attended. He stood just outside the chapel door and greeted people as they exited. When it was my turn to shake his hand, he looked at me and said, "Well, Terry Canady, how nice to see you.” I was very impressed, because it’s one thing to make acquaintances with people at the store, but quite another to be able to call someone by their full name after a Sunday night service with many people in attendance. What this said to me was, “My gosh. This man really does know who I am.” After shaking his hand, I told him what a great service it had been and what a nice job he had done. He responded in that big, beautiful voice of his, “All glory to God!” He sure knew how to redirect any adulation back to the Godhead. I’m so grateful I heard him use that phrase, because it is one that I’ve picked up and have tried to make a part of my response whenever anyone compliments me on my performing or my entertaining.

MARK’S PASSING MADE ME COMMIT TO THE PATH
God works in mysterious ways. He doesn’t necessarily whisper in our ears, “This is an important person to you. He or she may not be around a lot longer, so you’d better try to learn as much from them as you can while you still have the time.” Instead, He gives us the freewill to follow our hearts and figure things out for ourselves. He does prod us, though, with such scripture as “Work while ye have the light.”

It was Mark’s passing (and the making of his ascension) that really put me on the path. Something in me immediately understood that time marches on, and that I had better step up to the plate and commit. I became a Keeper of the Flame, took up the spiritual path, and began receiving Pearls of Wisdom in the mail. I had been on the edge of all that for a while and it took Mark’s leaving to push me over the line.

SOME OF THE THINGS I’VE LEARNED FROM THE TEACHINGS

Now, one thing for which I am really grateful is the fact that Mark Prophet, and his staff at the Four Winds, introduced me to the Ascended Masters, who, in turn, have since introduced me to a way of life that gives me purpose and understanding of the things that go on around us. I now have spiritual friends beyond the veil who help me with all sorts of things. I also have many spiritual tools that I use to keep my life safe and happy. I have an understanding of the strategies of the forces of Light and darkness. I have learned what and what not to put into my body, and I have an understanding of how harmful junk food, sugar, cigarettes and alcohol can be. I have learned that there is a spark of life in my heart that ties me all the way back to the heart of God. All I have to do is recognize and affirm that on a regular basis. I have learned how to protect the alchemy of my projects, in order to see them to fruition. I have learned how to keep my harmony. I have learned to appreciate what Jesus did to hold the balance for all of the evolutions of earth in the wake of his coming, and I have learned how to appreciate the Bible for what it has laid out as a manual for living.

I’ve learned about music and how the good classical forms promote life, harmony, balance and health, while rock, rap and distorted music forms tear down life and create havoc, even in the plant kingdom.

Regarding life and our reasons for being, there are many important things I have learned over the years by studying the Teachings of the Ascended Masters. One of the most important is to balance one’s karma (at least 51%, in order to make one’s ascension). Another is to balance the three-fold flame (of love, wisdom and power) within the heart. Another is to perform one’s dharma (which is what one said before taking embodiment that he or she would contribute and accomplish in life). Finally, the main goal in life is to make one’s ascension back to the heart of God, following the admonitions and in the footsteps of Jesus the Christ, as well as those of the many avatars who have gone before.

These are just some of the tips of the icebergs of the things I have learned since the day Mark Prophet sat down next to me at the juice bar at the Four Winds Organic Center in Colorado Springs, looked me straight in the eyes, as if we were old friends, and asked me, point-blank, “Well, how do you like the place?”

What a gift! What a major gift in life!

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH “MOTHER” ELIZABETH

Shortly after Mark made his transition and ascension, I found myself more and more interested in attending whatever church conferences and events I could, working around my nightclub entertainment schedule as much as I could, as I traveled all over the U.S. During this period of time, Elizabeth and I became good friends. Most of us now refer to her as “Mother,” our messenger on this side of the veil, while Mark holds the balance, at the ascended level, for us on the other side.

Our beloved Messenger Elizabeth Clare Prophet is a true friend of mine. We were always very close, and enjoyed each other’s company whenever we had a chance to be together. In a way, we had somewhat of a brother/sister bond. We were pals. At that point when I decided to become a chela, or student, of the Masters, my relationship with Mother changed somewhat as I allowed myself to be disciplined by her, as would anyone else on her staff. In the life of one on a spiritual path such as this, there comes a time when one needs to take things seriously and welcome one’s initiations, from wherever they come. I have many precious memories of some of my initiations under Mother and the Masters, just as I do of those times with Mother when we were just good friends and pals.

Mother treated me like a brother, yet she was not afraid to reprimand me when I was out of alignment. She was not so concerned about whether or not I would abandon the path. She just did what she felt needed to be done for my soul at the time. I could usually tell when she was acting as a clear pane of glass and a vessel being used by the masters for my initiations. I am so grateful. What if she had been worried about my human consciousness and how well I could or could not handle a discipline or a test, especially in light of the fact that I was not an actual staff member for most of my years on this path? She was able to see the old, worn-out human substance that needed to be cast into the flame.

God bless Mother for not being concerned about what people would think of her as she gave them their initiations. As I remember, I looked forward to them. And I always felt as though I could tell when Mother was either in the role of my friend, my sister, or my guru/teacher. That was the key – being able to tell, and being unattached to whatever came your way.

MY TRIP TO SOUTH AMERICA WITH MOTHER AND OTHER STUDENTS OF THE ASCENDED MASTERS

In July of 1973, Mother told me that a large group of students of the Ascended Masters was going to be going on a pilgrimage to South America in December and over the Christmas holiday. She asked me if I wanted to go, and, of course, I said, “Yes!” I made arrangements with my performing partner to be gone for two weeks, and then I booked the tour. Over a period of 16 days, more than 50 of us traveled through six countries before ending up in Mexico City for the New Year’s class, or conference. I had the greatest time with Mother on this trip to South America. She asked me if I’d bring my guitar along, so that John Fox (on accordion) and I (on guitar) could be the roaming music department wherever and whenever we were needed. It was lots of fun. No matter where we were, if there was an idle moment, waiting for a train, a bus or a plane, Mother would have us get out our instruments and “strike up the band.” We’d all get out our songbooks and sing a Christmas carol or some other song. People would always gather around, probably wondering who in the world we were and what in the world we were doing. Mother had the sweetest singing voice. It wasn’t highly trained (kind of like me; a Mario Lanza I’ve never been!), and, as a result, it had this sweet, the-girl-next-door quality to it.

Now, this was one of the amazing aspects of these two messengers. They had, when necessary, that vibration of the “common man” that has the ability to draw the lightbearers near and to draw them home. Edgar Cayce once said something to the effect that the “common man” is the man whose consciousness is “common” to God’s.

I am so grateful for the many times that Mother would call me up to the platform to share the lectern with her in the singing of a few songs. Because I had written a few that were in the church’s songbook, we would usually sing them together. Other times, she would just ask me to take the podium alone and play some other songs in the songbook that I knew. Early on, she had Alda Hudson make a cassette or two for me of the songs in the book that I could play, and then gave them to me so I could have them with me while I was on the road entertaining. That way, I could practice them at my leisure so that I knew them by the next time we were all together again at a conference or church event.

THE SANTA BARBARA FOLK SONGFEST

One time when I was passing through Santa Barbara in my travels around the U.S., Mother and I decided to put on a little folk songfest at the Mother House, which was the name for the church property there. We ran an ad in the local newspaper. For my performance, I sat up there in the sanctuary, on a stool and in the same spot from which Mother would later be teaching me at my first quarter of AMU (Ascended Master University, which was the forerunner of Summit University) in the Fall of 1974. I sang folk songs and anything else Mother and I figured would be appropriate and good songs for the people who showed up. We had such a great time putting on that little folk fest. One of my favorite memories of that event was when Mother thought it would be a good idea if I painted my black Manhasset music stand gold. Spiritually speaking, I could see her point. Why have a black music stand when it could be gold (the reason, of course, being that the “color” black is devoid of all light)? So, we took the stand down into the basement and spray painted it gold! I carried that stand with me on the road for a great number of years thereafter. It got stolen from the loading dock of some hotel somewhere along the way, but I’ll always have fond memories of my gold Manhasset!

Thank you, Mark and Mother, for taking me under your wings and trusting me with your life’s energies. I pledge to hold your torches high and give testimony to the light and the love that you have shown not only to me but also to the world. I am so grateful that the two of you, of your own free wills, decided to take up the mantles of messengership. I know that God always has a back-up plan, but it is hard for me to imagine what the world would be like today had you not assumed your roles when you did. I love you both very much, and appreciate the way you are with me each and every day at the mere mention of your names.