Neville 04-10-1968
I REMEMBER WHEN
Neville Goddard
When I receive a great revelation concerning the creative power of God I cannot keep it to myself, but must
share it with all that will listen. Here is one I received many years ago. I found myself, in Spirit, in the interior
of a stately mansion in New York City. It was the kind of home the great financial giants lived in at the turn of
the century. Fully awake and aware, I was visible to the three generations who were present. The son spoke
to his children saying: “Your grandfather would stand on an empty lot and say: “I remember when this was an
empty lot.’ Then he would paint a word picture of his desire for that lot so vividly that those who heard him
could see it completed right before their eyes. This is the grandfather who made the fortune we are now
enjoying.”
I awoke, recorded the experience, returned to sleep, and re-dreamed the dream – only this time I was the
grandfather. Speaking to those present I said: “I remember when this was an empty lot.” Then I pictured the
building placed there so vividly the very stones molded themselves into the form I envisioned.
This principle can be used in a destructive or constructive way. You can say: “I remember when this was a
glorious building and look at it now” as you become aware of rubble where once a glorious building stood.
Or you can stand on rubble and say: “I remember when this was all rubble,” as you imagine a glorious
building. You can say: “I remember when my friend had nothing and now he has much,” or: “I remember
when he had much and now he is so poor.” You can say: “I remember when she was healthy,” which could
imply she is now ill, or “I remember when they were unknown,” implying they are now famous. So you see
what power was in that revelation. It’s entirely up to you how you use your imagination, but the operation of
your creative power is completely up to you. You make the decision, and are therefore responsible for its
effect on the world.
In the 12th chapter of the Book of Numbers, we are told: “If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will
make myself known unto him in a vision and I will speak with him in a dream.” A scriptural prophet is not one
who tells your fortune, but one who hears the Word of God and fulfills it. If you asked me if I were a prophet
I would answer in the affirmative. I am not one who prophesies by looking into a crystal ball, teacup leaves,
cards, or astrology, but one who has fulfilled scripture. I know I am the central figure of scripture called “the
Father.” I came into the world to fulfill scripture and share my revelations, my experiences concerning the
power to create.
In this simple way God revealed his power to create, his power to remember when! Having nothing, you can
become aware of being surrounded by wealth, and feeling wealthy you can say: “I remember when I had
nothing.” Does that statement not imply that the state of poverty no longer exists for you? I remember when I
was unknown. I remember when I couldn’t sell a book. I remember when I couldn’t sell anything I wrote. I
remember when….Now you fill in the events, the desires and the fulfillments. I remember when. Do not those
words imply memory?
In the first vision I heard of memory, but in the second vision I experienced it. As I stood on a vacant lot I
remembered, and as I did a fabulous structure took form. And the dream was doubled, affirming that it was
fixed, that the law was established by the Lord as told us in the 41st chapter of the Book of Genesis. I tell it
to you now in the hope that you will put yourself in an I-remember-when mood and trust your memory,
because memory is your own wonderful human imagination, the one and only creative power of God
scripture calls Jesus Christ.
When people say Jesus Christ is coming again do not believe them, for Jesus Christ has never left you. Did he
not say: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age?” Then how can you look for him to return?
Scripture states that Christ was taken up into the kingdom of heaven (which is within) and that he will come in
the same manner as he was taken up. If Christ (God’s creative power) is in you, he cannot come from
without. Although he seems to be invisible, Christ has never left you, as you cannot detach yourself from
imagination.
Yes, Christ will come, but not in the way you were taught. Listen to these words from the 8th chapter of John
carefully: “If you remain in my word you are my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set
you free.” Questioning this statement, the people said: “We are sons of Abraham and have never been in
bondage to anyone.” To this Christ replied: “He who commits sin is a slave to sin.” You were taught to
believe that sinning is when you do something wrong, but I say you are sinning when you miss your mark in
life by failing to move! If, tonight you find yourself in a state you no longer desire to express, you must learn
how to move into your desired state. If you do not move (mentally) you continue to live your undesirable
state, thereby sinning and missing your mark in life! Regardless of what you may desire, persist in feeling its
fulfillment, for if you do, feeling will become believing.
As sons of Abraham, the people claimed to have never known bondage, yet Jesus told them: “If the Son sets
you free you are free indeed.” This is true, for only when you recognize God’s Son, David, as your son are
you really free. When David stands before you doubt flees, and as you feel this wonderful relationship, belief
sets you free.
In the beginning of creation the Spirit of God (his creative power called Christ) moved upon the face of the
deep. Now, motion cannot be detected save by change in position relative to another object. Unless there is
a fixed reference from which an object moves, no movement will appear. Let us use a weak, sick man as our
fixed reference and looking into our mind see a strong, healthy man, and say: “I remember when he was
weak and sick, but look at him now!” Do that and you have moved relative to the man.
Look at yourself in the mirror and dare to see radiant health and happiness reflected back to you. Then say
within yourself: “I remember when my reflection was so different.” Persist in seeing your new image reflected
there and you will resurrect that state. Your image, your concept of yourself or of another, is in your own
wonderful human imagination who is Christ and Christ is the only God. God the Father and Christ your
creative power are the same being, therefore he has never left you!
Tonight, regardless of whether your dreams are beautiful or horrible, you are aware of them because Christ
has never left you. And when you awake in the morning Christ (your imagination) awakes with you, or you
could not remember your dreams. The human imagination is the God the world honors (as they should) for
imagination is the creative power of the world. Learn to control your wonderful imagination and you will
discover that the whole vast world is yourself pushed out.
Last night I visited many of my friends, not only those who are here but those such, as my brother, who have
gone through that little gate the world calls death. You see, to me this world is no more real than the world I
visited last night. My friends, although gone from this sphere, are having the same experiences they had while
they were here: hating, liking, loving, disliking. They are the same people, only young, with the same problems
they had here. This I know, for being fully aware that I have already died, I can close my eyes to this world
and enter that world instantly. I spent my entire night in a world, which is not real to this one, yet so solid and
real to those who inhabit it.
Now, in the 14th chapter of the Book of John the central character of scripture said to those who were
beginning to fulfill scripture: “You heard me say to you, ‘I go away and I will come to you!’ If you loved me
you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” This statement appears
to be conflicting, but it is not. In the audience tonight are three to whom I made this statement and they
rejoiced, fulfilling scripture. Now I say to all: unless I go away I cannot come to you. If you love me you will
rejoice in the depth of your soul, for you will know that, although I will be invisible I will never leave you.
Becoming invisible, Christ became you, therefore, he cannot return. I have told you I am the Father. That the
Father dwells in me and I dwell in you and you dwell in me, so when you find me you find yourself as the
Father. This is the unity of our being and there is no other.
Take what I have told you this night to heart and put it to the extreme test in this world of Caesar. There is no
limit to your creative power. Simply stand on your new belief and say to yourself: I remember when. See
what you want to see in your mind’s eye in place of what you see on the outside.
May I urge you to always use your power in a loving way, for it can be used unlovingly with the same results.
It is possible to take a business that belongs to another and tear it down. This is done many times unwittingly,
but the effect is the same. A few years ago while in Barbados I asked my brother about the business and he
replied quite innocently: “It is doing remarkably well. The man who owns two-thirds of it is a good manager,
but his hours are long and I think he is getting tired.” Six months ago the man asked my brother to buy him
out, stating that the hours were too long and the responsibility too great. My brother set that whole thing in
motion, and because the man wanted out, my brother got the business at his price. Victor has done this many
times before, but not from revelation unless my father told him. One day the two of them were standing on
fifty acres of undeveloped land, which opened to the beach, when my father said: “You know Vic, this would
be a good place to build homes and hotels.” The property was then owned by three sisters who were not
interested in selling, but one day when they were ready to sell, the man who had really wanted the property
was in Brazil so my father bought it.
The thought expressed by my father seemed to be an idle one, but it wasn’t, for thought only takes a moment
of intensity to be made alive. A kettle of water placed on a low flame is slow to boil, but when the flame is
increased the boil is assured. I was so intense in my vision of being the grandfather, that I built a word picture
so clear that those who heard it saw the building as something objective to them. The key is this:While in a
state you no longer desire to express, you must move inwardly by claiming: “I remember when I was in a
state I did not like.” If you can remember it you are no longer in it. Instead you are becoming aware of your
new state as a present objective fact. And if you will remain faithful to your new awareness, it will crystallize.
You will find yourself moving across a series of events which will lead you to the fulfillment of your desired
state. How it will come about I do not know. I only know it will unfold.
Start now to remember when your friend wasn’t well by imagining he is healthy. Remember when your
daughter was single by imagining she is married. Go through life remembering when. Haven’t you heard
people say: “Who does he think he is? I remember when he had nothing and was a nobody!” Now, you may
have heard a little jealousy in their tone and that is good because envy adds fire to the statement, which
causes the one spoken of to have more! He may never know who caused his success, but it was done by an
act of remembrance with intensity.
My vision – although experienced many years ago – was doubled, thereby affirmed and made a principle for
all to prove, so I ask you to try it. Compare what you want with what you have. If they differ you must make
the effort to move. You must learn the secret of motion. Many years ago my friend Bob discovered this. In
his vision he questioned me, saying: “How long have I been here?” and when I replied: “Two years” he
asked: “Did I learn anything?” to which I answered: “Yes, you learned how to move.”
You must have a frame of reference by which you can detect movement. Memory is such a frame. Perhaps
your friends remember you as poor and unknown. You can move by assuming you have changed so much
that they no longer recognize you, and from that frame of reference you can observe the expression on their
faces. Those who love you will empathize. Those who do not will show envy. If you see envy don’t try to
change it, for their envy will become a resisting force which will help you move forward. Everything needs
resistance in order to move. I couldn’t leave this platform without it.
You couldn’t drive your car without resistance, so if you discover one who desires to play the part of envy,
let him play it. Dare to assume you are the one you really want to be. Use your same circle of friends, but this
time see them from a different angle. Observe their faces and listen to their whispers as they look at the new
you and remember when!
This is what I was shown when God spoke to me through the medium of vision and made himself known to
me in a dream. If we know that God speaks to us in a dream or vision, is there anything more important in
this world? Is there any TV program, movie, radio, or newspaper greater than a revelation which comes from
the depths of the soul giving an eternal principle of creation? There is nothing in this world equal to it. I urge
you this night to seek the kingdom of God and all these things will be yours!
Do not let anyone tell you that Jesus is coming again, for he has never left you. In you as your own wonderful
human imagination, Christ is crucified in all and will eventually awaken in all as he gathers us together into
himself, into his one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father of all.
Now, some of you are having physical and emotional problems. As I told a friend tonight, no one ever
promised you that it was going to be easy to bring forth the greatest gift in the world, so don’t expect it.
There will be problems, horrible problems; but be of good cheer, for we are told in the 16th chapter of John:
“When a woman is in travail she suffers, but when the child is born she forgets everything because of the joy
that the child is born.” You are destined to know such joy, for the child to be born in you is Christ Jesus, the
creative power of God.
I am not promising you complete relief from all physical problems, but I have given you a law which will
cushion the blows of life. Things are going to happen and you will find all kinds of challenges, but you now
have a law which states: “Whatsoever you desire believe you have received it and you will.” That’s a law,
which will never fail you and there is no limit to your power of belief. It’s entirely up to you as to how and
when these revealed laws of God are used, but I do know that you are going to conceive and bring forth the
greatest thing in this world which is the birth of God, the birth of joy, as Blake said in his poem, “The Mental
Traveler”:
“I traveled thro’ a Land of Men
A Land of Men and Women too
And heard and saw such dreadful things
As cold Earth wanderers never knew
For there the Babe is born in joy
That was begotten in dire woe
Just as we Reap in joy the fruit
Which we in bitter tears did sow.”
Here Blake is telling us what he saw in his mental journey, ending on this lovely note: “All is done as I have
told.” And he meant exactly that. Everyone will experience scripture just as it was foretold: the resurrection,
your birth from within, finding your Son David, your ascent into heaven, and the descent of the dove. This is
your destiny, yours to experience when your memory is restored.
But don’t forget what I have told you this night. It came to me from the depths of my soul, which is God the
Father. It is he who speaks to you from within, and when he appears you will know him for you will be just
like him. And as he rises in you all impossibilities will dissolve as you will realize that everything is coming into
your world from within.
Listen to these words carefully and you will see that the Father never left you: “I came out from the Father.”
And where is the Father? In heaven. And where is heaven? Within! So I came out from within. The words
“within” and “above” as well as “without” and “below” are the same in scripture. Coming out from within I
see a world and “others” who have power over me. Now I want to leave the world and go to the Father.
How is that done? By returning within, and since there is only one within where can I go that I can come
again to be seen coming from without?
When you return to the source, the cause of all life, you will know that you and I are one. You will know it
because there is only one Father and one Son. And when my Son calls you Father, memory will be yours and
you will know the truth of what I say now, that I am in my Father and my Father is in me and I am in you and
you are in me, for we are One.
Now let us go into the silence.
Neville Goddard, Summa Theologica, Manly P Hall, A Course In Miracles
