A wonderful interview with Diana Summers, author of Solitary Rider
Diana Summers is the author of “Solitary Rider”, perhaps the most charismatic book written for women in modern times. Ms. Summers intense faith comes through in her words. Before she died Mother Theresa read this revelation of faith and her words for the work are full of praise. She expresses the notion that this book can help readers “deepen their awareness of the infinite Thirst of God for man and of man for God.” Ms. Summers is a dedicated Christian, the full meaning of this appellation comes out in the following interview:
CONSERVATIVE MONITOR: Solitary Rider is a collection of prayers, poems, bible quotes and meditations that reflect a very personal relationship with God and Christ. Were you apprehensive at all about revealing your thoughts to the world?
DIANA SUMMERS: There is not a word in the book “Solitary Rider” reflective of my own thoughts. It is a book inspired by God and a recording of the experiences He gave me Himself. As I was apparently selected as a vessel through whom this writing was to be released, He deposited a flame in my heart that consumed any remnants of my self, and I longed only to share Him with the world and bring Him glory. As the disciples were mandated to go forth and preach the Gospel, I was supernaturally commissioned to share a new dimension of the Godhead. The mystery of the Creator is that He loves each creature as if he/she were the ONLY one…Intimately and passionately! Unlike any other religion, a relationship with God through Jesus Christ brings the Godhead within us…to literally indwell us. With this indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, the soul is increasingly drawn into UNION with the Spirit. God and His creature become ONE BEING.
It is not only my commission but my privilege to minister this message to the world. Through my very intimate experiences with the Godhead, all of the pain of my past was healed. I found peace, love, joy, and freedom. My prayer is for everyone to share in this experience, for it is meant for ALL. JESUS died for the sins of every person; He died to reunite God with His children. He was the Sacrificial Lamb, and He is the ONLY DOOR to God. A person who has fallen in love is consumed and enjoys speaking endlessly about the beloved. I am a person who has fallen in love with the Godhead and feels very married to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
CONSERVATIVE MONITOR: Political debate rages over the influence of religious belief on society. A recent poll showed that 54 percent of Americans make prayer a daily part of their lives. This is a dramatic increase over the late 1980’s. What effect do you think this rising tide of faith will have on the American political and social scenes?
DIANA SUMMERS: I do not necessarily equate prayer with faith. Much prayer is birthed of fear. It seems all people worldwide are aware that something is brewing. Natural disasters are increasing, war is imminent, crime is on the rise, and sin of every kind abounds…abortion, addiction, homosexuality, etc. I believe that fear has perhaps birthed an increase in petitions for safety, financial blessing, and so forth. What is needed is repentance of the part of Americans for having left their roots in the Word of God. People need to pray for a spirit of repentance to be poured out from God.
There are many forms and levels of prayer. The highest form of prayer is a simple hunger to know God for Who He is…not for what He can deliver to us. As one becomes acquainted with God through communion with Him (time spent in His presence), he is taught the thoughts and ways of the Creator. The ways of the Kingdom of God are diametrically opposed to the ways of the world. If one does not know the Lord’s WILL on a matter, he may be praying against the Father’s wishes. God allows suffering to bring His children back to Himself. If we pray for deliverance from suffering, God might not achieve His goal.
I know that God “anoints” people to pray for certain things within the social and political arenas…and these anointed prayers are answered…change can occur. The demise of this world system is inevitable, however, and we know this from Scripture. This earth will end, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Most bible scholars and spiritual people sense this end will come around the year 2000. Our prayer can be effective in buying us more time to preach the Gospel…we can hold back the tribulation which is prophesied. What people need to understand is that coming into UNION with GOD, giving up their selfish ways and desires and moving under the control of God’s Spirit, is the ONLY way of escape. These people will be protected during the tribulation. They will reap blessing, and they will be used to deliver the remainder of the world. Our political and social systems were developed by MAN. We are to pray as JESUS taught us…”Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” I believe the Creator will soon establish HIS GOVERNMENT upon this earth, and it will in no way resemble our own. It will be a reign of total justice, of peace, love and joy. It will be glorious, but FIRST the old systems must fall. JESUS taught us that we cannot pour New Wine into Old Wineskins. Our systems, including the organized church, are old wineskins. The Church will not even resemble that of the past 2000 years. It will be a spiritual house, and Christ alone will be the Head and the Shepherd.
Jesus did not attempt to change the things He saw while on earth. He said He was from another Kingdom, and He invited us to be a part of it. He spoke truth but did not fight the existing systems. Quite the opposite…He was sacrificed by His own. Many of us will be sacrificed also as we step out and speak the Truth. It is so very contrary to what man thinks. Adam and Eve were mandated not to partake of the Tree of KNOWLEDGE of Good and Evil. KNOWLEDGE is of man. We are to partake of the Tree of LIFE…which is Christ Himself.
CONSERVATIVE MONITOR: The “Bride of Christ” has been a motif for Catholic women, especially those who take orders, for centuries. It is one of the reasons that Catholic nuns do not marry. Do you see your book “Solitary Rider” as being a part of that grand tradition?
DIANA SUMMERS:I absolutely do, and I believe that is one of the reasons Mother Teresa read the book in manuscript form and so fully related to it. During the writing of “Solitary Rider” the LORD was virtually calling me to a spousal relationship with Himself, and He came to me as the God-Man who could be intimate with me on a non-sexual basis. Our culture finds it very difficult to find intimacy apart from sexuality, but the Bible is all about a Bride, referred to as the Church, and the Groom, Jesus Christ, who is Head of the Church. The call to all Christians, men and women, is to be intensely intimate with our LORD…as intimate as a man and wife. It is about the union of the soul with the Spirit of God…a mystical marriage. For some reason, the Protestant Church has not tapped into this beautiful truth. The majority of believers still relate to God as “me down here and God up there.” There is religious bondage and even fear preventing believers from becoming intimate with God and receiving the revelation that God literally comes to make “His home” in us. I believe this fear of intimacy pervades our entire culture. Since there is fear in the natural realm, it carries over into our spiritual relationship with the Godhead.
To me there is nothing more beautiful than a women who is called to a celibate spiritual marriage to Christ. She is joined to her Head, and it shows. The mystical marriage is just as real for men, however. The celibate priest is essentially married to the LORD and His Church. Through this relationship with the Divine, we can enjoy an intimacy which is extremely rare today. Those called to this are richly blessed, though often misunderstood.
One of my purposes is to share this Catholic tradition with Protestant believers, and I believe the LORD GOD through His Holy Spirit is wooing all Christians to enter into a much higher dimension of spirituality and prayer. The LORD is calling His Own to the final Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The beautiful Catholic tradition of spousal union with JESUS is a type and shadow of what is forthcoming for the entire church.
CONSERVATIVE MONITOR: Some modern scholars in academe have hypothesized that the reason for the so called dark ages in Europe that lasted nearly a thousand years was a result of Western man’s fascination and total subservience to Christianity. How do you answer critics who would say that prayer is a distraction from practical problem solving?
DIANA SUMMERS: The dark ages was a time when the Roman Catholic Church had become largely political and controlling. I believe they had control over the feudal lords, and the masses of people were essentially victimized by a religious system that had taken over the political arena. During that same period, however, there existed monasteries who were rather detached from all of this control, and carried on with their prayer life in addition to preserving literature. They also did a fair amount of evangelistic outreach. So I do not believe that Western man had much choice. They were forced to be subservient to the system for their survival. It was not the fault of the people; the Church had become derailed and confused with politics.
I really enjoy this question, because I see it as foreshadowing what is about to take place within the next few years. I define religion as form and tradition. One can be a believer in JESUS CHRIST without having any relationship with Him whatsoever. Most Americans identify themselves as “Christians”, yet there are few who follow Him and OBEY Him as LORD. Our bible is the story of man’s continual disobedience to God. Man in the Old Testament or Covenant, was virtually unable to obey the laws of God. When JESUS came and established the New Covenant of grace and fulfillment of the law, it demanded that we UNITE with Him, for only in that UNION is our heart circumcised and the law fulfilled.
So we have two groups…those who are still simply trying to obey the law and perform the rituals and those who are truly “grafted on to the Vine” and have had an experience which brought them into the personal relationship JESUS invited us into.
I am one of those who believe the religious element will be lured into the trappings of a one world government or order which will dictate the people as did the Roman Catholic Church in the dark ages. The monasteries foreshadowed the REMNANT that truly walks under the direct control of the Holy Spirit in UNION with GOD. I see a great division between these two groups already. In every Church and denomination there is a handful who have fallen in love with the LORD and serve Him continually in their daily lives. These will not fall into the trap of the one world system. Like the monks, they will be separate. The Word of God says, “Come out of her, My People.” The remnant will have received a deep revelation of their heavenly citizenship and will have learned how to abide spiritually in Christ in heaven. They will have undergone a type of spiritual “rapture”. Catholic tradition speaks of raptures and ecstasies, and these are experiences of being “caught up” to God in the Spirit and having intensely intimate experiences with the Godhead. These remnant Christians will be permanently “caught up” while still living on Earth. I believe this because our Pattern Son JESUS said He never did anything He didn’t see his Father do. He was continually “caught up” to Heaven and still lived there even while he walked the Earth.
I presume one could say that these spiritual monks were seemingly cloistered and escaping from the problems of their times. I would strongly disagree that their prayers were not directly related to the Church getting back on course. GOD does things in His time, and most of us feel He isn’t answering as quickly as we’d like. Even today the contemplative orders are used specifically to pray for those who are doing the practical work of service and evangelism.
There are many forms and levels of prayer, from simple petition, to vigorous intercession, to meditation on Scripture. The highest form of prayer is sometimes referred to as the prayer of transforming union in which one communes with GOD in the stillness. There may or may not be conversation with the LORD. All believers are called to be prophetic which simply means hearing GOD. JESUS said, “My sheep will know My voice.” Hearing the voice of God is essential to the making of practical decisions. The LORD can advise us on which direction to go in our businesses, how to pray for people and nations, how to approach others in our relationships. As Christians we simply cannot operate effectively in this natural realm without receiving directions from God!
The critics you speak of are probably referring to some who have become addicted to spiritual raptures and ecstasies as a way of escape, but these are very, very few. Most deep believers I know depend upon the LORD for problem solving. In these last days, as I mentioned previously, UNION with GOD will be the only way of escape, and there is no way to unite with Him outside of prayer. To me this is both highly spiritual and intensely practical. It is a message that must be preached far and wide. It is the central message of “Solitary Rider.”
CONSERVATIVE MONITOR: Neil Howe and William Strauss have speculated in their book on the Fourth Turning that modern religious institutions are merely the husk of what had once been a great awakening. Is your book the harbinger of a new awakening that might sweep all of that away?
DIANA SUMMERS: I believe it was given to me as part of a “corporate harbinger”, for there is always needed the voice of two, three, or more witnesses to confirm a Word from God. It is a record of my own personal experience into UNION with GOD. I do need to clarify that I have not reached that state on a permanent basis, but I am given experiences of it to show me what the LORD is requiring of His People and giving them a GRACE to walk in. The place of UNION which was so stunningly presented centuries ago by Madame Jeanne Guyon is WHERE we are taught the truths and mysteries of the Godhead. (It is noteworthy that only recently has the Body of CHRIST at large begun to embrace her teachings for which she was persecuted and imprisoned). Increasingly new things are being unveiled to Christians who spend time seeking. JESUS said He had many things to teach us but we were essentially not ready at that time. This meant there was MUCH MORE! How exciting! The Scriptures also tell us that we have no need of being taught by any man…the ANOINTING of Presence of the Holy Spirit within us can teach us ALL THINGS. (1 John 2:27). This certainly means that GOD has no real need of human teachers, although He also appoints some to be teachers, other apostles, evangelists, pastors, and prophets. This is called the five-fold ministry group that the LORD has used the past two thousand years to carry the Gospel forth. Another indication given us in the Scriptures that more is forthcoming is GOD’S commandment to Daniel to “shut up the words and seal the Book until the time of the end.” So we have a GOD Who is now pouring out new mysteries and Truth to prepare us for the events to come, both the tribulation and a world wide revival. “I shall pour forth My Spirit upon ALL flesh.”
Many groups are aware of some kind of change or awakening. JESUS was the once great awakening. JESUS was GOD’s revelation of Himself. Those in metaphysics speak of the Age of Aquarius in which mankind will walk in their divine state. Herein lies a huge deception, for there is no divinity in man apart from the infilling of the Holy Spirit of JESUS. I do not speak judgment upon those in this movement which has infiltrated most of our social and political systems, but we are told to test every spirit. I was put through a personal test when I became involved in metaphysics, which contains much that is true and very beautiful. It was a stop on the path of my life, but it was almost the last stop, for I witness to you most sincerely that I nearly died during that time. It contains much of the occult, many lies and deceptions. I pray earnestly for all of the dear people I know enmeshed in these movements and churches. Pathetically many of them are Christians who have been wounded by the church!
Two thousand years ago we had a harbinger named John the Baptist. John said, “I baptize you with water; but He Who is mightier than I is coming…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Most of the Body of Christ is familiar with the experience of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is what happened to those waiting in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. The Baptism of fire is what is occurring to the Church currently through tests, trials, suffering, sifting, purging, etc. We seem to be walking out the Book of Job. Those entering this great awakening must have all that is impure and of SELF burned away.
John goes on to say, “His winnowing shovel is in His hand to thoroughly clear and cleanse His (threshing) floor and to gather the wheat and store it in His granary, but the chaff He will burn with fire that cannot be extinguished.” The chaff is our old nature on an individual basis and our old church systems on a corporate basis. Yes, the true, the pure, the beautiful, and the holy is WITHIN…concealed…hidden…even as our GOD was hidden within the flesh of man JESUS CHRIST. Now the holy will be revealed and the outer husks or chaff will fall away.
Thousands of Christians in the United States have been called outside of the traditional church systems for years. These have been somewhat isolated in their “booths” or “cleft of the rock”, and they refer to this new awakening as the fulfillment of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. During this Feast the Jews went outside of the camp into little booths to be alone with GOD. Tabernacles is UNION with GOD…the tabernacling of the soul with GOD’s indwelling Spirit…permanently…forever. “Solitary Rider” is a book which celebrates this Feast as it is now unveiled in REALITY. The Jewish Feast was a type and shadow. Now there is a remnant first fruits group moving into the experiential reality. When the soul has permanently and completely merged with the indwelling Spirit, the Christian ascends to be present with GOD in Heaven. Daniel describes it like this: “And the teachers and those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness shall give forth light like the stars forever and ever.” Doesn’t light like the stars remind us of the “women clothed with the sun” in the Book of Revelation? This is the awakening! The Church is clothed in the Sun JESUS! A people walking exactly as JESUS walked! A people experiencing what JESUS demonstrated on the Mount of the Transfiguration…shining!…transfigured! He was communing with saints beyond the veil. Is that for the Church today? Yes. We are moving into something unspeakably glorious…the Church Glorious in which JESUS will manifest His Presence through His chosen people. How long has the Father waited for this New Day! We are indeed blessed to be here for this time, but the choice of moving into it or not is ours. The LORD never removes our WILL. The Church Age has lasted 2000 years, and we are now moving into the Kingdom Age, which means the reign of CHRIST through His people while still on earth. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done.”
CONSERVATIVE MONITOR: In her comments about your book, Mother Theresa says, “Let us pray that your book may help the readers deepen their awareness of this infinite Thirst – of God for man and of man for God…” How does your book go about accomplishing this difficult task?
DIANA SUMMERS: Through the ANOINTING or Presence of God in it. The ANOINTING will be felt and woo the people to Him. It has always intrigued me that the LORD chose to write this work in poetry, prose, and prophecy. I had never written poetry before! This was His ordination. I have sometimes questioned Him about this. “Why LORD, why? Most people in this country don’t like to read poetry anymore. They want the ‘how to do it’ or the ‘quick fix’.” GOD answered this question one day by saying, “Your poetry is the sheath for your sword.” Now we know that the sword is the Word of GOD. Within this mystical poetic story is hidden MANNA. The truths that I have put forth in this interview are ALL hidden in the book. Yet, we have to hunger and thirst when reading the Scriptures to learn the Truth. I believe the LORD wanted these mysteries presented in a gentle non-threatening style initially, just as He taught the people in parables. The companion to this book will contain the meat…the SWORD…a didactic explanation of the process of transforming union.
When “Solitary Rider” was written, I was suffering in my soul from a history of emotional, sexual, and spiritual abuse. I know few people today who have not been victimized in one way or another. We are an entire society of victims. There are little children violated through incest every day, women raped and abused even by their husbands, church members involved sexually with pastors. It goes on and on. This little book shows how JESUS came to me…an abused woman. He came with great intimacy, even romantically, but purely, for He is SPIRIT. Here was the GOD of the Universe loving me and nurturing me as I’d always longed to be loved and nurtured but never had been. He was showing me that He comes to each of us exactly as WE NEED HIM to heal us and draw us to Himself. He knows each hair on our head, each tear shed. He knows each as no one in the world can ever know us. He is the Creator and can give us each a journey that is uniquely ours…to treasure and hold in our hearts…to fill us with His Spirit and bring us everlasting joy. We thirst for GOD because man cannot fill our void…only GOD can. GOD comes to us this intimately because His longing is so intense and so passionate He will go to any lengths to have us back. He comes to meet us right where we are! “Solitary Rider” has received a few comments about having sexual connotations. This is carnal man’s interpretation. There is a form of intimacy much, much higher than human sexuality…and this is in part what is presented in “Solitary Rider”. We are a violated and legalistic people so very much suspicious and afraid, but we know that “Perfect LOVE casts out fear.” As the LORD continues to pour out His Spirit over the people of the Earth, those with eyes to see and ears to hear will understand the book. I feel it has been published a little before its time, but it will not havea long to wait. Things are moving forward at an accelerated rate. The LORD GOD wrote it, and He will deposit it into the hands of those who are prepared.
I would like to add that when this season of my journey was completed, even as I typed the last page, I began to relate to the RESURRECTED JESUS. He came to me first in the way He had appeared to His disciples, and then He lifted me up to see Him and be with Him in His glorified form. The awesome thing is, it’s even more romantic up there…or within!
PURE SPIRITUAL LOVE! The Kingdom of GOD is within us, but before we reach the fullness, there is a courtship which is so beautifully portrayed in the Song of Solomon. “Solitary Rider” echoes the spirit of the Book…the wooing, seeking, running after.
CONSERVATIVE MONITOR: Finally, the Conservative Monitor wishes to thank you for this interview. Are there any final comments about your book or your beliefs that you would like to make in closing?
DIANA SUMMERS: I wish to thank you for the privilege of sharing these exciting and positive things with you. The interview has brought me great joy at a time in my life that has been a little difficult…and so you have given me a gift…that of being able to share my passion…JESUS CHRIST. I am simply anointed to close with a prayer:
“Dear LORD, I pray that each person reading this interview, no matter where they are or what they believe, would be drawn by Your Spirit into that awareness of Your Thirst for him or her, Your infinite LOVE and GOODNESS, Your Truth and Your Beauty. As your vessel in spousal covenant with You, I stand in the sure faith that You will reach down and touch each one, just as you touched me and loved me exactly where I was. Thank You Father for Your faithfulness to draw ALL of Your Children back to Yourself. No matter how far we may run away or carefully hide our faces and shield our hearts, YOU ARE THERE! Praise You JESUS. Amen.”
