by Mary Montgomery-Clifford

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My original plan for this month's column was to focus on spiritually oriented bookstore sites like www.transitionsbookplace.com and www.eastwest.com. After delving into these sites, I was going to mention in passing that a big chunk of James Twyman's new book The Secret of the Beloved Disciple could be downloaded for free from www.worldpuja.org. But that was before I downloaded the excerpt.

This is an order! After you finish this column, go directly to the Internet and download this book. You'll end up reading 42 pages of printed or scrolled text - and once you start, you won't be able to stop.

The trade paper version of Peace Troubadour, Twyman's book will not released until sometime in early 2000. Much of the information in the book centers on the events taking place today in the former Yugoslavia. "We have the power to shift the terrible events that are taking place in Kosovo, and the whole world, only if we understand the energetic foundation that has caused them," states Twyman. "I believe it is extremely important that people get this information now, not ten months or a year from now,"

The information in the excerpt certainly had me pinned to my chair. "This is a true story," says Twyman, "of how three people responded to an inner call, the call of the Mother." Yes, that's Mother as in Mary, the Mother of Jesus. I was raised Catholic and this aspect of the book threw me for a loop at first. Many of the Mary apparitions, after all, seem to have a lot of gloom and doom prophecies connected to them. Not so with Twyman's Mary.

She states that her message is always the same: "I have come to call people back to God, to ask them to convert their lives. But people don't understand what that means. Often they believe it means sacrifice and penance, but in reality it means to accept love over fear. To sacrifice and deny yourself engenders and promotes fear, it doesn't release it. God asks only that you release the blocks that have kept you away from love… that have kept you from realizing that you are one with the Divine. You have never been separate, not even for an instant, except in your imagination. It is time to release those ideas and come home. Then you will realize that love is your inheritance… that you are a Child of God."

Twyman's Mary also says that she does not come only for those who are Catholic or Christian: "I am not reserved for one particular group or religion. I am for the whole world…"

The book is divided into four sections: 1. Twyman's own journey about how he was led to discover the amazing secret of the Order of the Beloved Disciple. The knowledge comes from Father John, a most unusual priest. 2. The story of Jacqueline Ripstein, a Jewish artist from Mexico, who was commissioned to paint Mary, the Mother of Jesus, for a renewal center in Bosnia. Ripstein wondered if it was really appropriate for her, as a Jewish woman, to do the painting. "Our Lady," she was told, "transcends religion." The finished work, Our Lady of the Universe, is said to have overwhelming transformational powers. 3. Twyman is asked to write a song that would be used to promote Jacqueline's painting. While meditating on a flight from Denver to San Francisco, Mary reveals that she intends to use Ripstein's art and his music to bring people into direct communication with the Divine feminine nature of God. 4. Twyman thought his book was finished, but it wasn't. He was drawn to the border of Kosovo and Macedonia as hundreds of thousands of refugees were trying to escape. His goal: to be present at ground zero during a worldwide concert and prayer for peace event. He was told that only certified journalists could get the credentials needed to get into a refugee camp. Yet, within two hours after arriving in Skopya, Twyman was ushered past the guards and into a camp.

After reading the excerpt, you'll probably want to hear the Mary music, see the painting and read the whole book. You can do that by ordering Twyman's C.D. for $19 plus $3 shipping.

Twyman, like many authors, musicians and artists, is using the Internet in new ways to market his creations. The public benefits because they often get to see, hear or read significant portions of a creative work before making a purchase. It's often a win-win proposition for both creator and audience. In the case of Twyman's latest endeavor, that win-win aspect just might extend to the whole world.

Mary Montgomery-Clifford is a certified web author and developer. Her company, Montgomery Media Enterprises ("Freelancing with Finesse!"), specializes in public relations, events, promotions, writing project and web authoring, development and publicity. Contact her via e-mail at Monty764@aol.com or by phone at 773-235-8821.