From author Cathleen Alexander, an introduction to her new book, Aimee’s Gifts.
This is the story of the most recent lifetime of Mary Magdalene, also known as Magda, the twin flame and soul mate of Jesus the Christ. Magda stayed on earth 2,000 years longer than her Beloved. Her work took longer to finish. In the 20th century, she was known as Aimee Semple McPherson. As she was growing up, Aimee didn’t give outer signs of knowing that she had this special history.
This biography of Aimee focuses on her teenage and early adult years. Aimee’s story is inspiring, filled with challenges, self-doubt, and many questions. She risked her life trying to be “normal” and ignoring the silent prompting to step out and live a life different than the norm around her. And, after much inner and outer struggle, she took that step.
In the early 20th century, when most girls became housewives, Aimee pushed the envelope. She followed and surpassed her mom, a Sunday school teacher who volunteered in her local Salvation Army.
Aimee became a preacher, drove across the country to run her own Church, and started the first woman-owned and operated radio station and a national magazine. Her Divine Healing services attracted as many as 30,000 people at a time, and a museum was built to display the thousands of discarded crutches and wheelchairs from those services. Her Illustrated Sermons were attended by Hollywood celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin, and Aimee became one of the most influential women of her time.
Now, a century later, many people have never heard of Aimee. However, not everyone has forgotten. While doing research for this book, I met a white-haired woman working as a volunteer in the library. When I asked for a book about Aimee Semple McPherson, she said, “I saw her.”
I asked her for more information, and she said, “I was just a child, and I remember so well. She was like an angel dressed in white with a long dress and billowing sleeves. I saw her in San Francisco. I will never forget her.”
At the high point of Aimee’s career, thousands and thousands of people in many cities and countries around the world poured into auditoriums to hear Aimee when she preached, and even to see her when she landed at an airport. Today, with the multitude and variety of TV preachers, Aimee’s pure evangelical spirit is rare.
Not all have lost it, as a few outstanding men and women still carry the flame of God’s love to the world. Mother Teresa had the flame, and she shared it with those who knew her and those who knew of her. Kathryn Kuhlman, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Ramakrishna, Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov, and Pope John Paul II had it. The Dalai Lama, Benny Hinn, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Eckhart Tolle are still reaching out with the message of healing love.
As you read Aimee’s story, remember that she never started out trying to be famous. She only knew she had a mission and she was ready to flow with God’s plan. Well, actually, she wasn’t always ready, and she soon learned it was better to go with God.
And so she did.
Aimee’s Gifts is an easy-read chapter book, enjoyable for teen and seasoned readers alike.
