Margaret Ruth Broome
October 28, 1921 – April 16, 2022
Margaret Ruth Broome, age 100, of Irvine, California passed away on Saturday, April 16, 2022. Margaret was born October 28, 1921 in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Margaret Ruth Broome was an exceptional woman and  writer who contributed significantly to the dissemination of the teachings of Neville Goddard. Without her tireless efforts transcribing hundreds of tapes, many lectures of Neville Goddard might not have been available to us.

She says in the forward of the The Creative Use of Imagination:

This book, like all things, came into existence by a thought. Neville left us on October 1, 1972, and since then I have spent many hours transcribing the hundreds of tapes I have of his readings. Neville explained that the ark of life contains and can be understood on three levels: the literal, the psychological, and the spiritual. The readings that are available deal primarily with the spiritual. However, for those who are now listening to his words on tape and reading his lectures, and did not hear him speak of the second (or psychological) level, I needed to provide that psychological plane as a foundation for the higher, the spiritual level. And then, the thought was planted in my mind. What if there were some readings that taught this principle on a practical level? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if those series could be found and made available to those who want it?

And then one day I received a letter from a kind woman in San Francisco who said she was moving into a retirement home and wanted to send me some notes she had from Neville’s lecture series in San Francisco in 1952. Those notes make up this book. I had a thought. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if… And I acted on it feeling the emotion of the completion of the thought. I have never met the lady, or heard from her since I received her notes, but I proved, once again, that imagination (thought) is self-fulfilling. The living proof is in your hands.

Now let me tell you a little about myself. Born and raised in a small town in Kansas, I moved to California in 1942 as a good Protestant. But I had a hunger that no organized religion could satisfy, so I drifted from one belief to another, searching without yet finding what I was looking for, possibly because I didn’t know what it was. Then one day I heard a man named Neville, and I knew that although my outer self did not understand his words, my inner self was singing the Hallelujah chorus, having found the cause of all life… that my thought, mixed with feeling, it was an imaginary act that created the facts in my world. I remember the first night I lay in bed and dared to proclaim, I AM God. Afraid that the ceiling would fall in on me, I quickly covered my head – only once. And when nothing happened, I gathered more courage and set out to prove for myself that imagination can create reality. I didn’t think I could, and I wanted to prove Neville wrong. It was already 1964 and he still hadn’t been successful. None of my imaginary acts had been fruitful, but I know now that the fault is not in the teaching, but in my self-confidence. And, as I grew in my confidence and faith in what I had imagined, I gained confidence in my own wonderful human imagination…….

–Margaret Ruth Broome

The Creative Use of Imagination (1952) (Version 2)

Edited by Margaret Ruth Broome

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PREFACE

This book, as all things, came into being because of a thought acted upon. Neville left us October 1, 1972 and, since that time, I have invested many hours transcribing the hundreds of tapes I have of his lectures. Neville explained that the ark of life contained and could be understood on three levels: the literal, psychological and spiritual. The lectures which are available deal mainly with the spiritual. However, because those who are now hearing his words on tapes and reading his lectures, did not hear him speak on the second (or psychological) level, I realized the need to provide that psychological plane as a foundation for the higher, spiritual level. And so, the thought was planted in my mind. What if there were some lectures that taught this principle on a practical level? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if such a series could be found and made available for those who would desire it. And then one day I received a letter from a lovely lady in San Francisco who said she was moving into a retirement home and wanted to send me some notes she had from Neville’s lecture series in San Francisco in 1952. These notes constitute this book.

I had a thought. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if… and acted upon it by feeling the thrill of the thought’s completion. I have never met the lady or heard from her since receiving the notes, but I have proved, once again, that imagination (thought) fulfills itself. The living proof is in your hands.

Now, let me tell you a bit about me. Born and raised in a small town in Kansas, I moved to California in 1942 as a good Protestant. But I had a hunger that no organized religion could fill, so I drifted from one belief to another, seeking yet not finding what I was searching for, possibly because I did not know what it was. Then one day I heard a man called Neville, and I knew that, although the outer me did not understand his words, the inner me was singing the Hallelujah Chorus, for I had found the cause of all life.., that my very thought, mixed with feeling, was an imaginal act which created the facts in my world.

I remember the first night I lay in my bed and dared to claim, “I AM God.” Afraid that the ceiling would crash down on me, I quickly covered my head — just in case. And when nothing happened, I gathered more courage and set out to prove for myself that imagination could create reality. I did not believe it could, and I wanted to prove Neville wrong. That was back in 1964, and I haven’t succeeded yet. Not all of my imaginal acts have come to fruition, but I now know that the fault does not lie in the teaching, but in my belief in myself. And, as I have grown in my belief and trust and faith in what I have imagined, I have gained confidence in my own wonderful human imagination.

Several years ago, I put together a group of lectures of Neville’s and called the book “Immortal Man.” At the time, I was afraid to change his words even though felt I could make the message clearer if I did.

Shortly after its publication, I turned to self one night and asked, “Is it all right to change the words as long as I do not change the meaning? I know that if truth were told so that it could be understood, it would be believed. I know your words are true, Neville, but think I can make them clearer.” I fell asleep questioning myself and, in the night, I had this dream:

I am on my way to work. As I enter the building I see, directly before me, a beautiful restaurant whose tables are filled with diners, enjoying their meal. Neville is standing next to a fireplace, speaking to a group nearby. Thrilled to find him there, I am eager to show him the book of his lectures I had just published and question him regarding the change of words. But as I turn to take the case I am carrying into my office, get the book and return, he glances up and catches my eye. Instantly changing my mind, I turn and go directly into the restaurant to join
him. But when I arrive, I discover that he has vanished, leaving the ladies to tell me that he is gone and will never return again.

Heartsick, I return to the lobby with its hard, tile floor when, suddenly the case I had been carrying fell from its handle. The moment it hit the floor, the case opened, my book fell out and lay open at its center seam. As I looked down in horror, I saw that I had been carrying a brief ease which contained a tape recorder that had turned on due to the fall, and Neville’s voice was ringing out loud and clear. Embarrassed, I stooped down to turn off the volume, only to discover that all the knobs had fallen off the machine and there was no way for me to turn him
off. As I tried to push the case over to the far wall in order to pick it up, I awoke with these words ringing in my ears, “I am IN you, AS you.”

From that moment on, my fears have vanished and, since that time, I have gained confidence in my writing. These are Neville’s words – Neville’s thoughts – yet we are so closely woven in the tapestry of thought that the words are now mine.

The lectures you will read are Neville’s words, Yet they may not have been the exact words he spoke back in 1952. The material I had to work with were notes someone had taken in shorthand, transcribed, and duplicated. I have taken the notes and elaborated on them. The words are true and, hopefully understandable enough so you can test them and discover for yourself that when the truth is applied, it is made alive by a spiritual experience.

Always bear in mind that when Neville speaks of “man,” he is speaking of generic man (man/woman). Man is the external world, the natural man; while imagination is the internal world, the man of spirit. God (imagination) became the natural man that the man of nature may become God who is Spirit.

Always think of yourself as two beings, one who sees through the organs of sense and the other who sees through the mind of imagination. And always remember God’s name as he revealed it to Moses. “I AM. That is who I AM. And by this name, I shall be known throughout all generations. I AM that I AM.” I the trinity, in unthinkable origin, AM God the Father. And I in creative expression AM the Son, for imagination is born of consciousness. Therefore I, in universal interpretation, in infinite imminence, in eternal procession AM God, the Holy Spirit.

Margaret Ruth Broome

The Miracle of Imagination

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The Man Who Knew He Was God

It’s been almost twenty years since I sat in the auditorium of the Women’s Club in Los Angeles, California and watched a man in a grey pinstriped suit walk out on the stage and take his place behind the podium where many tape recorders were placed across the stage. A man would walk by, press the buttons of the many machines, sit down and the speaker would begin.

I have blessed my recorder many times for, although I attended the hour long lectures for seven years, when I heard the words, “Now let us go into the silence,” I could not recall one word that had been said.

Neville always had the power to take me with him. (Perhaps because I was always eager and willing to go). I seemed to have no control, but would simply be transformed by his words and allow him to take me to experience sights and sounds I never before knew existed. Yet they were all so familiar that my heart sang the Hallelujah Chorus. The hour was always over much too quickly and I would drive home trying to remember what I had heard, and wondering why I felt so heavy. Was it because I had been so free? It was always that way. Neville had that effect on me. I believed him with all my heart and soul. I still do.

Neville Goddard left us October 1, 1972. But where did he go? I can still see his smile (you know, the kind the cat gets when he has swallowed the canary) and hear him say, “Where can I go but within you!” That’s where I have found him. He is within me, as he is within you, not as a man of flesh and blood, born to the Goddard family and named Neville, but in our own consciousness.

But perhaps that is not the Neville you want to know about. Perhaps you need to know about the boy who was born on February 19, 1905, the fourth son of a family of nine boys and one girl. I will tell you what I know. You must remember, I am sharing with you my memory image of a man who was my teacher. A man I respected greatly and learned to love, with a love deeper than I knew I was capable of possessing. His name was Neville Goddard.

One March morning in the year 1905, a man climbed the stairs of a wooden frame house on the island of Barbados. He was on his way to see his sister and her new baby boy who had not yet been named. Suddenly he stopped. A voice, speaking loud and clear said, “His name is Neville.” Pondering these words, the man continued up the stairs and entered his sister’s room. And when he told her what he had heard she said, “Yes, I know. We shall call him Neville.”

Living in a family of nine boys, Neville learned at an early age how to share. The saying around the house was, “The first dressed is the best dressed,” for if the boys began to argue about who had on who’s tie, their father would end the argument by taking the tie and saying, “The tie is mine. I paid for it. I am willing to share. Learn to do the same.” And they did.

The Goddard family was poor in material worth, but rich in love. His mother was a disciplinarian. His father a businessman. Neville used to tell us stories of his youth; about the sand crabs with their hind claws, and the old woman who lived alone on the sand dunes who could read the future. It was she who told one of Neville’s brothers that he would be a great businessman, another brother a doctor, but to leave the fourth one alone as he belonged to God.

The fourth one always enjoyed a good laugh. If he had a nickle, he spent it. He used to tell about paying a friend’s way into the movie with the promise that he would laugh out loud at the very saddest part. The friend always kept his promise and, therefore never got to see the end of a movie. Or, he would pay a man whose donkey was in heat, to wait at a corner for Neville and his brothers to arrive riding their big jack-drawn cart. I can still see Neville laugh as I write this… and remember.

What I am trying to tell you is that Neville was a human being, just as you are. Just as I am. Yet, in spite of all of his human frailties, Neville was conscious of being God the Father. But I am getting ahead of my story.

When Neville was still very young (in the fifth or sixth grade, I believe) he was to bring his Bible to school and recite a verse from it. Since the family only owned one Bible, and one of his brothers had already taken it to school, Neville arrived without a Bible. When he recited the verse, “Take up thy bed and walk,” the teacher corrected him saying the verse read, “Take up thy couch and walk.” And when Neville could not produce his Bible, the teacher made him take off his shirt and pull down his trousers. Then he beat him unmercifully. Neville was taken out of that school to continue his education elsewhere, completing his high school years at the age of seventeen.

Yet there was a hunger in the young man, a hunger that could not be satisfied on the little island of Barbados. So, at the age of seventeen Neville left home for the mainland, arriving in New York in the year 1921. And there, as a young uneducated boy he began to seek his fortune.

Finding a job as an elevator operator for J.C. Penney Company, Neville worked for $15.00 per week until one day he was told that his services were no longer needed. With a recommendation in hand, Neville secured a job on Macy’s shipping dock for $13.00 a week. But this position was short lived as Neville soon became so angry he said to himself, “From this day forward I will not work for another. I will only work for myself.” And that is what he did.

Believing that if others could dance on the stage, he could too, Neville joined an established dancer and began his professional career. It was during this time he married. This union produced a son.

In 1925 Neville and his dancing partner sailed for England and travelled widely in that country. While there he was introduced to the world of psychical research which interested him greatly. Shortly after his return to America in 1926, his interest in mysticism increased as his interest in the theater decreased. And when the depression hit in 1929 and the theaters closed, so did Neville’s professional life as a dancer.

During this time Neville became interested in the Rosicrucian Society and met a man who was to influence his life. The man had thought he wanted to become a Catholic priest. While he was studying for the priesthood, his father, a wealthy businessman died and left an estate of thousands of dollars to his son. Quickly changing his mind about the priesthood, the young man proceeded to spend the money as fast as he could.

Having no respect for a man who would spend so lavishly when the country was in such need, Neville found excuses when asked to attend a class the young man had joined. But one day Neville ran out of excuses and attended the class of an eccentric Ethiopian rabbi named Abdullah. When the class was dismissed Abdullah came over and, taking Neville’s hand said, “Where have you been? You are three months late! ” Taken aback Neville asked, “How did you know I was coming?” to which Abdullah replied, “The brothers told me.”

With Abdullah, Neville studied the Qabalah, a Jewish form of mysticism, and obtained illuminating insights into the books of the Bible. He developed a new approach to the problem of man and his relationship with the pulsating world of spirit around him.

It was Abdullah who taught Neville how to use the law of consciousness and how to see the Bible psychologically. And as Neville began to see the world as a picture world, projected from within, his faith in himself grew.

In February of 1930 Neville began lecturing in New York City. First meeting in a small room of a public building where only a handful of people attended, as his speaking ability grew and he gained confidence in his message, so did his audience.

Neville’s first marriage was short lived and he remained a bachelor for several years until one day a young designer sat in his audience. As she listened, she said to herself, “This is the man I am going to marry.” And when they shook hands at the end of the lecture, Neville held her hand and said to himself, “This is the woman I am going to marry,” and they did. It was a good marriage. They loved each other deeply, that was obvious, and from this union a daughter was born.

After the war was over, Neville began to travel, holding lectures in various large cities as far west as San Francisco. And then one day he knew it was time to leave New York City. He had hoped to move to San Francisco, as he loved this cosmopolitan city, but this was not to be. He knew by then that his major work was to be done in Los Angeles so, packing up his wife and child, the Goddard family moved to Los Angeles in 1955. They returned to New York in the fall of 1956, coming back to Los Angeles in 1957.

I am at a loss for dates here, but I do know that during the early years of the 1950’s Neville had his own television program. He made two phonograph records during those years which are now available on cassette tape. He also debated with teams of ministers, priests and rabbis on special television programs.

Neville taught the law of consciousness in Los Angeles at the Fox Wilshire Theater on Sunday mornings to crowds so large the people were standing outside in throngs to hear his words. He also spent several weeks each year in San Francisco.

It was in San Francisco, on July 20, 1959 that Neville awoke to find himself sealed in a tomb. Removing a stone placed there, he came out of his skull just like a child comes out of its mother’s womb.

From that moment on Neville’s lectures changed. Having awakened from the dream of life, Neville’s outlook on the world changed. He knew, as the visions came upon him from that point on, that the garment he wore, and answered to its name, was simply a covering, hiding his true, immortal being who was God the Father. And he tried to tell all those who would listen that they were not the little mask they wore, but a being far greater than they could ever conceive themselves to be.

And from that day forward, until his departure on October 1, 1972 Neville, like Paul, “Expounded from morning till night, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince all about Jesus, both from the law of Moses and the prophets. And some believed, while others disbelieved.”

Margaret Ruth Broome

The Immortal Man (1977)

Neville was once described as “a dynamic, handsome and most charming personality. He has a winning smile thoroughly and completely disarming. His presentation of truth is forceful and sincere. Charged with feeling, and reflecting his own integrity and purposefulness, he communicates himself readily from the pulpit.

This is true. If you ever heard him speak you might not have agreed with him, in fact you might not have even understood him, but deep within you knew he was speaking the truth.

I attended Neville’s lectures the last ten years of his life, and, having recorded them, I have transcribed, edited and compiled a group of twenty-four for this book. Each chapter is a lecture and each lecture is complete within itself.

Neville never “read” his lectures, he never used notes, yet he knew and could quote the Bible verbatim. He had a collection of Bibles that would be the envy of any collector, and spent at least eight hours a day reading them. At times he quoted from the Cathälic Bible, the Germanic or the King James, but the one most often used, I have found, is the Revised Standard Version.

Neville never theorized, never speculated, but spoke only from his own personal experience. Having discovered the truth hidden from the ages, the truth that will set you free, I am sharing it with you as he shared it with me.

Take his message to heart, test yourself, use it daily and make your world your dream come true! You can, you know, for:

“I give you the end of a golden string, Only wind it into a ball: It will lead you in at Heaven’s gate, Built in Jerusalem’s wall.

MARGARET RUTH BROOME

Note: May have an interview with her son coming up. Check back soon.