KEYWORDS: love, men, god

Beauty and the Beasts

David Berg

—MOApril 7‚ 1974NO.309—GP

Tips to the Lord's Lovers!—For Our Dancing Girls and Flirty Fishes!

P.O. Box 31, London WC2E 7LX, England or GPO Box 3141, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936

1. LAST NIGHT THE FUNNIEST THING CAME TO ME WHILE WE WERE DANCING at a native night spot! I always try to test everything with Scripture, and I got "Upon our most uncomely parts we do bestow the greater care!"

2. DO YOU REMEMBER THAT OLD FAIRY TALE about the girl who got lost in the forest and the beasts came and took care of her? She was so kind to all the animals! Finally this old ugly beast came and she even loved him, the ugliest old beast in the forest! When she finally made love to him, he turned into her prince charming, and all the other beasts his men! They'd been cursed, and one of the conditions was that if a princess would come along who could love them‚ the spell and curse would be broken!

3. IT MUST BE THAT SOME OF THOSE FAIRY TALES WERE MEANT TO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT MEANING! Maybe God gave those to some prophet in that day and people retold them but lost the real meaning of them and just told them as stories. I sat there thinking what we were doing was so funny, it reminded me of something: It reminded me of "Beauty and the Beast"!

4. I SAT THERE AND THOUGHT, "WHO KNOWS THE FUTURE WHEN WE MAY NEED THEIR FRIENDSHIP, and all these guys will remember that we were kind to them‚ whether it was the ditchdigger, the taxi driver or the waiter!" I looked at dear Manuel's hands so hard and wrinkled with hard work, and I got the most wonderful feeling it almost made me cry!

5. I THOUGHT, "ISN'T IT WONDERFUL THAT SHE CAN LOVE THE HANDS OF THIS POOR LABOURER who doesn't get much love, and that her tender gentle love for him is even greater by contrast, because he is so rough and ugly and really hard to love!" Then I looked at that refined English couple and thought, "They're only concerned with their own problems and want some selfish answers! They never danced one dance nor shared themselves with these common people, and never even seemed to enjoy the native music!" I thought, "What a difference between us and them!—What a contrast! They probably don't even like it here!"

6. MAYBE I'M A LITTLE LIKE JESUS: I LIKE TO BE WITH THE NEEDY AND UNLOVELY AND THE HEARTBROKEN! (Tongues: Oh the love I have given thy father David!) It seems like love and words and kisses all come from that same root word! All are very similar. It's just like you can say either one: Behold the words, the kisses! It's just like I send you there with my words and love, and you're like my kisses to them!

7. SO I SAT THERE THINKING, "HOW I REALLY ENJOY MINISTERING TO THE POOR AND THESE POOR LABOURERS! They work so hard all day and come here just to have a little comfort and touch a woman!" My heart just overflows! I almost cried with joy to think we could be there and help those guys a little bit!

8. THAT'S A FUNNY MINISTRY! IT SEEMS STRANGE THAT WE DO THIS, that the Lord could seem to waste our time with this‚ as important as we are! But we are always pioneers and we have to learn and experiment and experience first before we can lead the Children.

9. WE'RE LIKE THE SHEPHERDS GOING AHEAD OF THE SHEEP to see what is on the road ahead on a dangerous path or mountain pass, and testing it and checking it to see if it is safe for the sheep, finding the pitfalls and noting the danger spots, etc., to warn them and to make sure we can lead the sheep through safely.

10. THEN I COMPARED IT WITH THE NIGHT WE WENT TO THAT FANCY TOURIST HOTEL: I thought, "My Lord! There wasn't one soul at that place that really needed it!" ... "The rich He sent empty away! But He hath filled the hungry heart! "They all had their soft women and their soft life and their soft hands with their hard drinks and hard hearts! Then as I was looking at these poor workman's rough hands, I thought, "I'll bet those rich men at that rich hotel had such soft hands that they didn't even need a woman's soft loving touch!"

11. THEN I WAS THINKING ABOUT YOU, SWEETHEART, and how you're so tiny and fragile and delicate and gentle and little and soft! This whole thing came to me when I was thinking about "Beauty and the Beast". These tough "beasts" certainly have paws, that's for sure!—And you really get pawed sometimes!

12. IT'S KIND OF LIKE PLAYING WITH A LION: YOU'RE APT TO GET HURT SOMETIMES! He doesn't intend to, but he is so big and clumsy and has such rough paws, sometimes he can actually hurt you even when he's only intending to play with you! So I thought, "All these ugly-looking men‚ rough old labourers, poor rough hands!—How could she have so much love to love these hard rough labourers!"

13. BUT I THOUGHT, "HOW MUCH MORE THEY APPRECIATE YOUR LITTLE TENDER LOVING GENTLE TOUCH and your little soft warm body than those fancy dancers at the swanky tourist hotel, most of whom were really only trying to show off their own dancing and weren't even really concerned about you!" When I was there at the ritzy hotel I looked around to see who you should dance with, but I didn't see anyone who really needed you!

14. BUT LAST NIGHT AT THE NATIVE CLUB I SAID, "THANK YOU, LORD! THESE POOR MEN REALLY APPRECIATE being able to hold you in their arms, and to lean their cheek up against yours means everything to them, even if it is only for a few minutes! They feel like they've at least been loved a little, especially if they feel you really love them and are really affectionate and not just doing it for sex!

15. I THINK ALL THOSE LITTLE SIGNS OF GENUINE LOVE AND AFFECTION REALLY MEAN MORE to them than the way that woman was pushing hers against mine that night trying to get me going sexually! I could tell she was just doing it for her own benefit selfishly because she wanted it, and she just laughed like the Devil like she thought it was funny! She'd rub up against me and go at it and try to get me right between her legs, but it was purely selfish! She was just dancing with me for her own benefit. She didn't act the least bit affectionate, not even stroking my hair or giving me an affectionate and loving little pat or a little kiss on the cheek.

16. EVEN THE LITTLE THINGS YOU CAN DO MEAN A LOT: A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE GOES SUCH A LONG WAY and means such a lot to these poor fellows that don't get much, if any. You've got the spirit and love of God! They can't help but feel that they're really being loved! Even if they only feel sympathy or pity‚ it's still a form of love‚ even if they know that you're just doing it because you're sorry for them!

17. HOW MANY WOMEN IN THAT PLACE DANCE WITH THE MEN BECAUSE THEY'RE SORRY FOR THEM? Virtually all those women come there purely for their own pleasure! They don't dance with the men because they're sorry for the men, but because they're sorry for themselves and they want some love and affection!

18. I THOUGHT, "LORD, WE'RE CERTAINLY NOT JUST COMING HERE FOR OUR OWN BENEFIT! We like the music and fellowship and it's enjoyable and we need the exercise, but certainly not all just for our own pleasure! It also costs money. But each time I hesitate to pay for those poor boys' drinks I get the awfulest chintzy belittling feeling! Here these boys work so hard for every little penny, and here I am quibbling over these few pennies that don't really mean that much, but mean a whole lot to them and they really work hard for it!

19. THAT GUY MANUEL ORDERED US TWO MORE DRINKS WE REALLY DIDN'T WANT OR NEED, BUT HE INSISTED ON IT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO SHOW HIS APPRECIATION of the dances he was getting! This is a world-wide custom everywhere: If a girl gives you dances, you buy her drinks.

20. IN FACT‚ IN THE STATES THEY MAKE A REGULAR RACKET OF IT! If their hostesses sit down with you and even only sit and talk with you a few minutes it'll cost you a fortune! They'll come up and say to you‚ "Would you like me to sit down? How about buying me a drink?" They're direct in their approach! They no sooner start to lower their fanny onto the chair, than, zip!—There's a two-dollar glass of champagne sitting on the table in front of them, or a $2.50 glass of ten-cent cold tea making it look like it's whiskey!

21. AT FIRST I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE RACKET, BUT I SURE LEARNED FAST! I've asked the girl, "How can you drink so much?"—As fast as she downed one there was another there, and in nothing flat you had run up a twenty-dollar bill just sitting there holding her hand for ten minutes! Between the shows the showgirls can sit down and talk and earn more money than on stage or in bed! So I've asked them, "How can you drink so much?"—And some have confidentially explained, "It's only tea and I have to do it: It's part of my work!"

22. I'M COMPARING OUR MINISTRY WITH THEIRS, WHERE THE DEVIL DOES IT STRICTLY FOR SELFISH GAIN and money and just uses it, and it's nothing but a sham and a counterfeit, an imitation of love! The poor lonely suckers wander in just dying for a woman's touch or one word from a sympathetic woman's lips or just one sympathetic woman's ear to talk to, and these vultures and racketeers pounce on him and take advantage of his need and work him over for every dollar he's got! They'll often, just by sitting down there talking with him for a few minutes, soak him with a bigger drink bill than if he'd gone out and hired himself a whore! I learned my lesson on that about once, and that finished it!

23. THEY PROMISE YOU EVERYTHING AND GIVE YOU NOTHING! They might have to maybe dance with you once, but usually they get away without even doing that! About the time they've soaked you with a ten or twenty dollar bill for drinks so you begin to feel it's worth at least a dance and you ask them for one‚ then they say, "Oh‚ I'm sorry, but I've got to go to the dressing room and get ready for my next act!" So they go streaking off to either the toilet or dressing room so you don't even get a dance out of it!

24. THEN THEY GET ON STAGE AND TAKE OFF ALL THEIR CLOTHES AND TEASE YOU till your mouth is watering and you're dripping, and they act like they're offering you everything, but you wind up with absolutely nothing! Those strip joints are nothing but clip joints! You can get more for your money from an honest hard-working whore than from those damned dance hall dolls and strip joint artists!

25. MOST OF THESE WOMEN WHO COME TO THESE CLUBS ARE STRICTLY HERE FOR THEIR OWN SELFISH PLEASURE and for what they can get out of the man—the free drinks and a little front rubbing!—And if they do give them any sex, it is only for their own selfish benefit‚ not because they're sorry for the man!

26. THEY ONLY DANCE WITH THE MEN THEY LIKE, just the ones that appeal to them selfishly. They don't dance with the ugly old beasts that are obnoxious to them! The poor men pay and pay and pay and buy their drinks just to get a few kind words and a few dances, while the women just laugh at them behind their backs because they know they're playing the men for suckers!

27. BUT WE COME THERE AND I PAY FOR THEIR DRINKS AND I OFFER YOU FREE OF CHARGE, and you give them love and affection and dances, and I give them you and free drinks, even to the ugliest and saddest and "most uncomely parts"! They probably at first keep trying to figure out what's up and what is in it for us! They're wondering what are we doing it for? Are we doing it for kicks, or because maybe I can't dance and you like it so much? But then you and I get out there and dance like mad and they know it's not that! Especially when we don't take any of them home with us, it shows we're not trying to get either customers for a prostitute or lovers for the wife of an old impotent husband whose wife needs it so bad that he's got to go out and get it for her!

28. BUT IF THEY SEE THAT WE REALLY DO IT BECAUSE WE LOVE THEM and are sorry for them and are trying to share with them and cheer them up, they just can't help but realise it is real love and it just amazes them! They can't get over it! Pretty soon you've got them all eating out of your hand, and they don't even want to dance with the other women because the others don't show them real affection and sympathetic love!

29. THOSE OTHER WOMEN ONLY DO IT FOR THE PLEASURE THEY CAN GET OUT OF IT, NOT FOR WHAT THEY CAN GIVE! But you go dance and are not even sometimes getting much pleasure out of it, perhaps even "grinning and bearing" it! But at the same time you try to give them a little show of affection, a little pat or peck of real affection and love and show them you care and are sympathetic and sorry for them. One kind word from you means more to most of those men than a selfish bed from some of those selfish old whores! I believe it!

30. THE BUSINESSMEN OF THE WORLD DO IT ALL THE TIME JUST TO ENTERTAIN CUSTOMERS! They put out a lot of money for drinks and even get girls for them. We're doing it to sell our product, too—the love of God—and it costs something! The Scripture I get on that is what the Lord said:

31. IF YOU'RE GOING TO ENTERTAIN ANYBODY WITH A FEAST AND FOOT THE BILL‚ INVITE THE POOR, not the rich who can repay you commercially by buying your products and returning your favours, but the poor who can't repay you! (Read Luke 14:12-14!) Not one of those waiters could ever pay me enough money for your love or to make it worth loaning them my little lover for them to use!

32. THE LORD SAYS, "INVITE THE POOR, THE LAME, THE HALT, THE BLIND AND THOSE WHO CAN'T REPAY YOU, and then your Father in Heaven will repay you! So that's really what we're doing: Going down there and laying before those fellows a feast of fellowship and fun and even flesh, and we're charging them nothing for it. We're even paying for it all and just telling them we're doing it because God loves them!

33. BUT TO GO AS FAR AS KISSING THEM ON THE MOUTH OR DEEP KISSING SO THAT YOU CAN GET THEIR GERMS AND EVERYTHING, THAT'S A PRETTY BIG SACRIFICE! You better be ready to be crucified or nailed, and they'd have to be pretty big fish to be worth that much so that you'd have to use that expensive a lure! You know, they call certain kinds of bait "lures" in fishing! They'd have to be pretty important for you to go that far with them‚ to give them your deep kisses or even go all the way! They'd have to have a pretty great need that the Lord would want you to satisfy, to show them His love, for you to go that far!

34. (MARIA: BUT DON'T YOU THINK IT'S TANTALISING THEM AND TEASING THEM TO JUST GO SO FAR AND NO FURTHER?) No, sex isn't everything! Just getting their pole in the hole isn't everything!—That's just a mere physical mechanical consummation, the last and in some ways almost the least as far as real spiritual love is concerned.

35. I THINK IT'S THE REAL SPIRITUAL LOVE AND AFFECTION THAT REALLY COUNTS THE MOST: The real love that you show them, the concerned and loving words you say, the affectionate comfort of holding you in their arms and simply feeling you dear and close to them, to feel that somebody really loves them and cares about them. I think that even has a greater and more satisfying and more lasting spiritual value than the mere final physical mechanical consummation of total sex!

36. THERE WERE A LOT OF TIMES IN THE WORLD WHEN I WOULD PICK UP A GIRL not necessarily because I needed to make love to her sexually all that much, although I often did in the long run‚ but just for companionship! Sometimes I did it as much or even more for her sake than even mine, because after talking to her for so long she felt so much love that she wanted to make love and I wanted to make her happy, and those girls usually think they haven't really done their job or earned their salt until they've gone all the way!

37. BUT I WOULD REALLY HONESTLY SAY THAT I THINK MOST OF THE TIME WHEN I PICKED UP A WOMAN IT WAS MORE FOR COMPANIONSHIP and just to have someone to talk to‚ to relieve the loneliness. These guys appreciate your invitation to just sit down at your table and chat more than dancing—with both of us in fact! Some of them even forget about the music and dancing while they're enjoying talking to us so much!

38. SO THEY'RE REALLY HUNGRIEST FOR FELLOWSHIP AND COMPANIONSHIP AND REAL LOVE AND SYMPATHY‚ just somebody to talk to, to relieve their loneliness and to feel like somebody really cares and shares their misery and their needs and problems. I think that really means more to most of them than to be able to finally carry you off to bed and mechanically make love to you! (Maria: The old men particularly crave fellowship and companionship even more than sex. The young men are usually raring to go, but even many of them seem to prefer or need just companionship and a few kind words and a little chat more than dashing off the bed!)

39. I HAD TO ASK THE LORD, "IS THIS WORTH IT?—ARE THESE GUYS REALLY WORTH IT?"—And about that time I saw that sad-eyed Filipino, Tony, sitting there all alone like he'd lost his best friend! You actually had to go ask him for a dance before he could really believe anybody cared! (Maria: That was my reward!—I never saw anybody look so surprised and happy and almost amazed that I would ask him!) Some of these boys have been so cheerful and happy ever since you gave them such love!—It's contagious!

40. WE'VE SHOWN THE WORLD EVERY OTHER KIND OF LOVE, and the world knows we try to help them and meet their needs. We've given them shelter and food and clothing. We've given them training, truth and triumph! Now we're even going so far as to give them other forms of physical love, even sexual love, to minister to one of their final and greatest natural needs!

41. (MARIA: WE OFTEN THINK THE YOUNGER POTENT ONES ARE THE ONES THAT NEED IT THE MOST and are the greatest potential, and we've somewhat neglected the older ones. Whereas, who knows?—Some of these old men may be our best friends in time of need!) We've sought the help of kings and been willing to show them a little love‚ but what about the poor labourer? He needs love as much as anybody‚ maybe even more than the kings!—And who knows but what when the trouble comes maybe even they may be able to return the favour some day, although that's certainly not what we're doing it for!

42. IT'S JUST LIKE THAT PICTURE I GOT ABOUT THE LITTLE GIRL SHOWING KINDNESS TO THE ANIMALS, then they took care of her when she was lost in the forest! Then when she even loved and kissed the ugliest of all, it turned into her prince charming and all the others into his men, although that wasn't really what she did it for. She did it out of pure unselfish love and pity. But in turn, when she needed them, there they were! So who knows what God may do and how the Lord may use them when we need a friend?

43. WE COULD HAVE "ENTERTAINED ANGELS UNAWARES"! "Cast thy bread upon the waters and some day it will return!"

44. (MARIA: WE OFTEN GO A LOT BY OUTWARD APPEARANCE RATHER THAN BY REAL VALUE OR NEED: Just because someone comes in with a suit coat and tie we're inclined to give them special preference‚ for they're a little more attractive to dance with.—"They're more appealing!" When really they're often the same kind of people and don't even sometimes have as great a need, because it is easier for them to get dances. Because "man looketh on the outward appearance.")

45. I SAT THERE THINKING HOW WONDERFUL IT IS: IT'S SO EASY FOR US TO MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY! There was that poor lonely sad-looking man looking like he'd lost his last friend and on the verge of tears, and all I had to do was give you the signal to make him happy! After the dance he was so radiant and happy! He was figuring if a miracle like that could happen, other miracles could, too!—Like his getting a ride home at three o'clock in the morning, a 20–mile drive!—And he did!

46. KNOWING THAT YOU'RE LOVED EVEN GIVES YOU HOPE AND FAITH FOR OTHER THINGS, TOO! It cheers up you whole outlook! That's one of the wonderful things about God's love: When we know that God loves us, we know everything is going to be OK, including His taking care of everything! When these men feel your love and you tell them it's God's love, they kind of feel like "maybe somebody up there does love me!—Maybe everything is going to turn out OK in the end after all!"

47. SO SHOWING A LITTLE REAL LOVE REALLY GOES A LONG, LONG WAY. It not only encourages them for the present, but gives them a brighter outlook on the future. When I saw how much it meant to each of them and yet how little it cost us, I thought, "How could we refuse!" Besides, it's good exercise for you, keeps you in good shape and you enjoy it most of the time.

48. BUT MOST OF ALL IT'S A TREMENDOUS BLESSING AND A GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT TO THEM‚ AND IT INSPIRES THEIR FAITH TO FEEL THAT YOU LOVE THEM AND REALLY CARE whether they're happy or unhappy, that someone is actually concerned about them and their feelings and their happiness! It is such a small easy way to show it by just a smile or a few kind words about the Lord's love‚ or a few dances and a few affectionate pats or pecks and occasionally even more!

49. WHAT "PRINCE CHARMINGS" YOU'VE TURNED SOME OF THESE "BEASTS" INTO WITH JUST A LITTLE "BEAUTY" OF LOVE AND AFFECTION! They come in looking so sad and lonely and downhearted, dragging their weary feet after a long hard day's work, wondering if anybody cares, wondering if anybody might show them a little pity. But then they get so happy and feel so free and are laughing and dancing when you show them just a little love, a little concern and at least enough pity to dance with them a little while!

50. IT CHANGES THEIR WHOLE OUTLOOK AND GIVES THEM A REAL UPLOOK when you're finished with them! We've found we can turn nearly every "beast" into a "prince charming" with just a little "Beauty" of love!—And who knows?—They may save us from being lost in the forest some day!—Amen?

51. ALL THEY NEED IS LOVE!—ARE YOU ONE OF THE LORD'S LOVERS?—Have fun!—I was one of the worst of all the beasts, but Maria's love and faith turned me into your "Prince Charming"!—Try it!—You'll love it! Read I Corinthians 13: "The greatest of these is love", and "love covereth a multitude of sins"! Try giving the "Beauty" of God's love to some "Beast" today and see if he won't turn into a "Prince Charming"!

A Postscript: "The Old Papa Lion!"

52. SPEAKING OF "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST‚" I HAD THE FUNNIEST DREAM the other night! Maria was in this big room, like in a hospital‚ with a whole bunch of men standing around in white coats looking like doctors and they were all examining this huge big old lion!

53. A COUPLE OF THEM OPENED HIS MOUTH WIDE AND MARIA STUCK HER HEAD IN and looked all around and though she were examining his teeth very carefully, like you would if you were buying a horse!

54. YOU'D THINK THE HOSPITAL WAS SOME KIND OF A PET SHOP, because she was telling the doctors she was looking for something like a watchdog to guard her, but she wanted something very unusual, really special and out of the ordinary.

55. SO ONE OF THE DOCTORS SAID, "WELL, THIS IS THE ONLY ONE HERE, and though he's very old‚ he's still very strong, and you can see his teeth are in very good condition and he still has all of them. Although he's pretty big and eats a lot, he'll be very good to have around, and I'm sure you'll be very satisfied with him."

56. IN FACT HE WAS SO BIG that even while he was sitting down she had to stand on her tip toes to see into his mouth, but he seemed pleased this little girl was interested in him, so he very obligingly opened his mouth wide for her to see!

57. SO THE NEXT THING, SHE WAS LEADING HIM WITH THIS BIG WHITE ROPE SLOWLY DOWN THE STREET through the crowds with her head held high as through she were very proud of him, but still she was trying to act like people lead lions down the street every day, of course, so why all the excitement?

58. AND THE BIG OLD LION PADDED SLOWLY AND FAITHFULLY ALONG BESIDE HER as though he were quite pleased with his new mistress who was nearly dwarfed by his immense size—when suddenly to my amazement he changed into me!

59. SO NOW SHE CALLS ME HER OLD LION and still proudly leads me around as people stare! It was really funny‚ but all so serious, and it surely reminded me of "Beauty and the Beast"! It also reminded me of the Scriptures about the Millennium when man will at last be at peace with both himself and God as well as the animal world:

60. "AND THE LION SHALL LIE DOWN WITH THE LAMB, AND A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM!"—This little child and her childlike faith have certainly led this big Old Lion through a lot into a new and wonderful world of the wonderful words and works of God, which we're all now enjoying like a foretaste of that Millennial Heaven on Earth! Praise God!

61. AND WE HAD TO LAUGH WHEN WE THOUGHT ABOUT HIM BEING OLD BUT STILL HAVING ALL HIS VERY GOOD TEETH!—For that reminded us of another Scriptural prophecy which Grandmother got about me just before we started the Jesus Revolution: "Behold, I have made thee a sharp-toothed threshing instrument which shall beat the nations as chaff and rip with violence the pillows from under the arms of them which sit at ease in Zion!"

62. THAT IS SO TRUE! THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW IN OUR REVOLUTION FOR JESUS against the System and the Churches!—All with dear little Maria's help as she leads me along with her strong tether of faith!

63. THANK GOD FOR YOUR DEAR OLD LION of the Tribe of Judah and his faithful little Keeper whom God has used like a little child to lead us all into this exciting new life, to the amazement of the whole world! He may be old and his keeper very small, but he's still very strong and still has very good teeth!—So watch out, World!—Here we come!—ROARRRR!