The Ark Made Flesh

The  Ark  Made  Flesh

YouTube  Video

Martin Cecil   June 22, 1980  a.m.

Although the rain falls from time to time it is said that the earth will not be subjected to a flood as it was before, at least not a flood of water. There is another flood, however, which comes upon the earth: a flood of the spirit of God, symbolized particularly in this instance by fire. Fire is seen by human consciousness as being hot. It has been seen as being useful but also destructive. Fire is a symbol of the spirit of love which comes upon the earth, just as water was a symbol of the spirit of truth which came upon the earth.

There was an obliteration of life because of the flood of water, except for what was preserved by reason of the Ark, which was lifted up by the flood, resting easily upon the surface of the water. While there may have been an actual event, a cataclysm presumably, when the earth was covered with water, the portrayal in the story conveys the truth through symbolism. What happened in the outer circumstance was in fact symbolic of something else that was occurring in an invisible sense. A change was being wrought. The earth after that cataclysm certainly was not the same as it was before. By the same token, in these days there is this other flood which I mentioned, a flood of spirit, symbolized in this instance by fire. We do not need at the moment to speculate upon what the nature of the actual event is in the external circumstance. No doubt we can think of possibilities.

In any case there is a change to be wrought. We ourselves have perceived something of this and have, with many others, sensed changes in the offing in the worldwide sense. I do not know whether they are really in the offing anymore. They are right here. Most people seem to try to live as though they were not. Observations with respect to the future, planning with respect to the future, still seems to be based in what has occurred in the past, as though there were no real changes occurring. This means that most are trying to live in a nonexistent world. It is difficult; we see difficulties on every hand. It is wiser to live in the experience of change, because this permits an increasing awareness of another world. If we are still involved with the past, that certainly obscures our awareness of what it is that is at hand.

In the story of the flood of old it is indicated that there was one person at least—whose name was Noah—who had some awareness of the changes that were occurring and would come in a very specific way in due course. Coming events do cast their shadows before. It is said that he went ahead and built an Ark, which as it turned out was a wise move. Others apparently didn't think so at the time. Whatever the nature of the flood may be in external manifestation, it is what is being portrayed in the invisible sense that has first importance. Unless one is related in some fashion to what is occurring in the invisible sense one will be caught off guard and helpless when the external event puts in an appearance. Noah and those who were with him in the ark were preserved. The flood was the means by which the preservation was made possible but this preservation only occurred because there were those who saw what was coming and were more concerned with association with the invisible causes than with the visible effects. Of course visible effects were taken into account but only because there was consideration of the invisible causes. This is portrayed in that particular story by Noah's relationship with the Lord.

There are still invisible causes. There is still the opportunity to participate in association with those invisible causes. If that is done, then the effects may come and those effects will assist in preserving what should be preserved. Those who were caught in the flood of water viewed the situation as being very destructive, but those who were in the Ark found it to be quite constructive; they had a new start eventually. As it worked out it didn't seem to do much good. Human beings went right back where they were before the flood of water, where every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. This is the human state, rather aptly described.

But we have an awareness of something that is happening behind the scenes in the invisible sense so that a particular change may occur, first of all in the experience of humanity, and because of this, in all the world round about. This change comes because there is something analogous to a flood. As I say, it isn't a flood of water. It is a flood of the spirit of love, the truth of love, coming down from God out of heaven, as it has been put, emerging out of the invisible into visible experience. For some this seems to be a creative experience, for others a destructive one, depending presumably upon whether one is in what was symbolized by the ark or not. There is an Ark relative to what is occurring now in the world, an Ark which is lifted up by what happens. For those who are contained within the Ark it might be said that there is salvation. Let us not see this word merely in a religious sense, as though it meant going to some mystical or mythical heaven somewhere, but as relating to what happens right here. The question is as to whether anyone survives on the face of the earth. It seems to me some reference was made to the importance of saving a little flesh. It was indicated that the days should be shortened; otherwise probably no flesh would be saved. Well flesh wanders around here on the surface of the earth, so the salvation relates to what happens here on the surface of the earth.

We have seen these things in some measure and recognize our own association with what is happening, participation in it, and our own responsibility, the responsibility which relates to the spiritual, the invisible, happening. There is a flood on the way. Obviously there is something happening in the consciousness, and consequently in the experience, of human beings the world around. The evidences of irrationality are clear enough everywhere, people behaving in the most crazy ways and yet able to excuse it apparently. There is something happening; there is a flood, an intensification. I suppose we might call it a vibrational flood, something happening in the consciousness of human beings which either lifts them up or drives them crazy—or more crazy than they were before. But there is an ark, which originates in an invisible realm.

You may recall that when Noah went to work he had instructions from someplace as to the material for the Ark and the dimensions of the Ark and all the rest. There was a design. There was something already provided of which he became aware, and because he became aware of it, it took form—the Ark was built. So it is in these days. There is the invisible design. There is what is necessary from that standpoint and this may be useful, valuable, offering the opportunity of salvation, provided that there is someone who becomes aware of it. Then, coming down from God out of heaven, it may take form on earth. The invisible aspect of the Ark before it was built was essential to the Ark after it was built.

There is an invisible aspect to the Ark now. We have described that invisible aspect by using a certain word, and that word is the Word—the Word that was with God in the beginning, the Word that is God, the Word by which all things are. Inherently in the Word is the design. The Word is portrayed in form initially by words. If that's all that happens the form will be inadequate. But if by reason of the Word and the words the invisible design takes form through human flesh, by reason of the lives of those concerned, then there is an ark— there is an ark which may be lifted up by reason of the flood. The flood may be described as a vibrational intensification affecting the consciousness of human beings the world around. There is something of this nature flooding into the world, and human beings are aware of it without knowing what it is. Because they are wrapped up in the effects of what is happening they cannot see what is happening. One has to be in position to stand back so that one is unmixed with what is happening, in order to see what is happening. But if one is merely a part of what is happening one doesn't understand what is happening and the experience is a destructive one.

The provision of the Ark is present. The Word is present and there are those who know it. They know it, not just because of the words that have been spoken to clothe the Word but because they themselves have experienced the reality of that Word in their own living. Every aspect of expression, thinking, feeling, speaking, acting, then is clothing for the Word. When this is so, a person knows the Word. If it isn't so, but words have merely been heard with the ear, then nothing has yet happened of any significance; the destructive experience is still the primary one and the individual finds himself pushed around from pillar to post. What is he being pushed around by? By his own state, which exhibits an unwillingness to allow the Word to be given flesh by reason of his own living. Human beings suffer their own difficulties by reason of their own actions. They like to blame it on someone else. Very often the attitude is taken that it isn't fair. Did you ever hear children playing, getting into a little trouble somewhere?—“It isn't fair!”—and probably tears flow. One sees adult human beings indulging in the same childishness: “It isn't fair!” Oh yes it is, absolutely.

It has been said that the Law works; at least this is one way of describing the way things happen, and each one is responsible for the happening. Surely our concern is for the creative happening rather than the destructive one. If there are those who insist upon the destructive one, well they must be allowed to so insist. But from our standpoint, we ourselves properly accept the responsibility of being associated with the Word and letting that take form in our living, letting that condition what finds expression in our thinking, in our feeling, in our speaking, in our acting. That is assuming creative responsibility. We don't take the attitude that anyone anywhere can stop us from being right in this way, from letting the Word be made flesh because of our own living. So here is the immediate responsibility relative to this flood.

There is a description in several places in the Bible, in the Book of Revelation in particular, of the nature of this flood. There are some words in the 21st chapter of Revelation about “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.” Well the rain comes out of the sky. In that first flood it is said that it rained for forty days and forty nights. Pretty heavy rain! It came down from the manifest symbol of the heaven, out of the sky. So it is that this flood also comes down from the heaven, or out from the heaven—however one might for the moment be aware of the nature of the heaven, the invisible heaven. There is something coming from the invisible heaven. It was described as “the holy city, new Jerusalem.” We have seen this in terms of a new state of spiritual consciousness for human beings, a true state of consciousness once more emerging out of heaven. It comes as a flood. We don't need particularly at the moment to investigate as to why this is happening. There are very logical reasons as to why it is happening but they might not seem altogether logical to the illogical human mind. It doesn't matter anyway; it's happening. This flood is a reality; it is present with us. Human beings generally are beginning to wonder whether they are going to be able to survive it. Of course their endeavors to survive are based, as I say, in what has been known in the past, grabbing on to the flotsam and jetsam. But there is an Ark—the Word—the Word that is with God, the Word that is God, the Word by which all things are, the Word in which life is.

Speaking of the flood, the new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven, it is said: “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life”—they through whom the pure lifestream is flowing. “Blessed are the pure in heart.” The human experience is of an adulterated lifestream, toxic blood. The poisons affect the function of the brain and the central nervous system, producing hallucinations in the mind, so that human beings sometimes imagine they are being intelligent when they are being quite irrational. The pure lifestream is known to those who enter into the Word, into the Ark, which lifts them above the pollution, lifts them above the poisons. As we noted in the past, it is ultimately useless to try to cleanse the blood as long as one is still taking poisons into one's body. So it is in the spiritual sense also.

As long as human nature governs the attitudes and the experiences of living, the lifestream is adulterated; there is filthiness in the lifestream and there is no way by which a person can then experience either health or understanding. The Word is present on earth. It has been spoken in words over the years for those who had ears to hear and hearts to understand, who were willing to allow the filthiness to be removed, to be left behind, no longer taken into the expression of living. To this extent there have been those who have allowed this Word to expand in form on earth, both in the form of words and in the form of living flesh, so that the invitation might be extended to others to participate in this living flesh.

But the Word must be known. As it was put long ago, “If ye continue in my word … ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” There have been precious few who have actually continued in the Word. Some have continued in the words after a fashion but have never known the Word. The prior state of human nature has been grasped and held on to, but in the Word “there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie.” None of these things are present. Most people think of that as some sort of futuristic, perfect state somewhere, but not possible now. When will it be possible? There have been human beings in every generation for millennia who have had that attitude, that it will be possible one day, but how few men and women there have been who had what it takes to accept the reality now.

The Word has been offered in words and in the flesh for many years, in a personal sense for twenty-five or thirty years. It's interesting, isn't it, but words have been used week by week, month by month, year by year, in services, in Classes, in Assemblies, in lectures, in so many ways for such a long time. From my own standpoint, I have spoken over these years spontaneously for these various opportunities that presented themselves to me. How could this be done? Where did it come from? You know the answer to that, in theory at least. But there need to be those who know the truth for themselves. From time to time there are those who feel that I don't understand them. Well it's true, I don't go into great analysis of the characters of all those who come within the range of my awareness. My time would be cut out, wouldn't it, if I indulged in that sort of thing. It's not necessary. It only would seem to be necessary from the standpoint of human nature, that one has to examine people so carefully.

What is it that offers salvation? The Ark, we say; well, the Word. And where does the Word come from? It may be said that it comes from nowhere, but it is now here. It has been now here for all these years. It came anyway—that's all that's necessary—not just in words but in the flesh of living. And what comes that way is the way it exactly should be. In theory, I suppose, most would say, “Yes the expression of the spirit of God is right; that's righteousness.” But in fact it's denied a lot of the time. We don't need as individuals to know everything about everything and everybody. I'm not anxious to have my consciousness cluttered up with all that; I don't know about you. What would we do with it all? Just let the spirit of God find expression, that's all, and we may do this to the extent that we have generated a little spiritual substance to let it happen, to give us a starting point at least, so that we may begin to live the truth of love. We may abide in the Ark; but we can't stand outside the Ark and question the dimensions of the Ark or the material of which it is composed and be in the Ark at the same time.

The Ark is the Lord's responsibility; its dimensions are His responsibility; the way it takes form is His responsibility. It does take form because there are those who agree with the Lord in this. If there is no one to agree, of course nothing happens; but if there are those who agree then it takes form, and it takes form the way it takes form. We don't question it. We don't tear it down; we don't judge it; we don't try to make it some other way. We don't take the attitude ever that we are being unjustly treated or unfairly treated someway. That's childish nonsense! We stand with the Lord, in agreement with Him, and the evidence of that agreement is that we agree with those who stand with the Lord. It's very simple, really. The human nature approach makes it complicated seemingly. It isn't. It never was. That approach is sustained because apparently most people don't want to grow up; they want to stay childish. We know better. Let us prove that we know better.

So may we provide a facility for the full and free expression of the spirit of God and let Him have His way without constantly injecting our own theories and ideas and opinions into the picture. Let it be the way it is. Now that's been said once or twice, I believe. People nod their heads but seldom do it. They say, “Well this obviously is not right; this is unfair.” Is it? How do you know? Let it be the way it is and trust God. Each individual is responsible for that expression of the spirit for him- or herself and for nobody else. So why look at someone else and say, “Well they're not doing it right; I'm being treated wrongly, unfairly”? No you're being treated exactly the way you should be treated. We all are. Let's not object. If we get a kick in the pants, well that's what was coming to us. Or doesn't the Law work? Let's wake up and assume our responsibilities in a consistent way so that there may be a more expansive Ark than has yet put in an appearance, an Ark to be lifted up upon this flood of spirit and fire, to offer salvation on earth to all who will receive it.

© emissaries of divine light

Hold Steady And Let Fulfilment Come

Hold  Steady  And  Let  Fulfilment  Come

Uranda and Martin Cecil @ 100 Mile House B.C.

On the afternoon of October 12, 1947, during a Special Unit Session with Uranda at 100 Mile House, B.C., Martin Cecil read aloud the following transcript of a talk given by Uranda at Gabilan Ranch in California on September 10, 1947

Initiating Cycles — From Inception To Fulfilment

Uranda  Gabilan Ranch  September 10, 1947

I would like to talk about something that I have dealt with before in various ways, which is vitally important, and, according to my observation, has not been sufficiently realized by most Emissaries. A sufficient realization brings actual function, so that one’s life reveals that which one claims to believe.

In connection with the interval between the inception of a cycle and its fulfilment — which has often been illustrated by means of a seed that is planted which ultimately comes to maturity in the ear of corn and the head of wheat, the plant, the flower or the tree — there is a period when human reactions that produce tangent function usually brings blight in one form or another. In some grains, if there has not been sufficient protection against it prior to planting, there appears what is called “smut” — and it is black — which lowers the value of the grain. Unless the individual allows his planting to be cleansed of unreality, some form of smut, or blight, is bound to appear.

This relates to what I call Holding a Vibration, holding a Point of Focalization, that permits carrying through. We all know the stories of those who have made glorious starts, of those who have come near to success, and yet failed. People seem to love to talk about their failures in one way or another; they love to stress their shortcomings and their weak points, almost in the spirit of bragging and bravado. They will assure you that that is the way they are.

From the standpoint of reality, while one may, properly, acknowledge one’s weak point in certain instances, especially to one from whom one seeks help or assistance along the Way, why should such things be emphasized? Why should they be repeated and reiterated? Why not ignore them? Why not let them die for lack of attention? After all, it is attention that keeps things alive. Why give so much attention to things that are not perfectly harmonious to reality? They may be there, but unreal things have a habit of tucking their tails between their legs and slinking off to pout and moan in some far-off corner when they are ignored. They just do not like it at all. When we give attention to the unrealities unnecessarily, we are giving them life. If you give enough attention to any weakness, it will purr like a cat, and then scratch you without warning. The attention should be centered in the realities.

The present moment is never the fulfilment of the future. The present moment is never the fulfilment of the future. There may be, today, a harvest of a planting in the past, but no one should ever speak or act or think or feel as if today were the harvest of the future. It seems strange that such an admonition must, of necessity, be given, but that is the way human beings are. I hear comments, or someone expresses an attitude, as if that which is today were the harvest of the planting of today; in other words, that the circumstance of the moment is the fulfilment of the future. How utterly ridiculous! And yet, when you stop to check some of your own thoughts and feelings and words and attitudes — what about it? The harvest of yesterday’s planting that may come today may have in it tares, which the Father will burn if you will let Him, as He gathers the wheat into His Barn. If you do not let Him, and you seek to struggle with them, you will find there are thorns which will prick and scratch and tear, but if you let the Father take care of the tares, while He harvests the wheat into His Barn — not yours, in the human sense — into the Father's Barn — then you can let the Field of Being in yourself be prepared for a new planting; you can let Him plant good seed, and if you let Him, He will keep the enemy out so that the tares will not be sown, and the harvest of today's planting will come in the future. The farmer has faith when he sows his wheat. Why do human beings reveal so little faith in the harvest that is to come from today's planting? Day by day, we harvest the plantings of our yesterdays, and day by day, the seed of tares is sown in the field because human beings refuse to have faith in the harvest of today’s planting. They act and speak and feel as if today were the fulfilment of the future. How ridiculous, how utterly childish — and yet, there are very few who are free from this fault.

This means that when a vibration is set, when a cycle of outworking has been conceived, when the inception of a creative current has been realized, one should hold steady and let fulfilment come. If the outer mind keeps breaking off this direction, and then that, on various tangents, not letting any particular cycle find fulfilment, he has no true harvest, and day after day there are no harvests in reality, and so he decides that there can be no harvests in reality. Again, it is foolishness!

Cycles of fulfilment that are worked out on the highest possible basis, should be allowed to come to fulfilment. The particular cycle may not be perfect in every respect; it may not be possible to establish a cycle now that will come out in absolute perfection, but if we establish the best possible cycle under the present circumstances and hold to it, not letting the mind go off on various tangents, there will be a harvest, a new plane of action will appear, and a more nearly perfect cycle can be established. But, human beings thoughtlessly, needlessly, almost shamelessly, destroy and bring to abortion, the cycles of fulfilment which they have been allowed to begin under the inspiration of the Spirit. It is a serious matter, this matter of abortion.

There may, possibly, be times when a cycle can properly be nullified before it finds fulfilment, but it is not something that one individual should decide for himself, by himself, even if it relates primarily to himself. When a cycle is set, after considering tentatively all the varying factors and problems, after considering as clearly as possible all the cycles that could be set, then we should be true to the cycle that is set, and let it come to fulfilment. Then, though it may not be perfect, we at least have a harvest of wheat for the Father’s Barn. He will take care of the tares, and then there can be a new planting, a new cycle according to the Father’s Will. Holding the Vibration, remaining true to the cycles that are opened up — unless there is some very, very real reason for doing otherwise — is very important. It is not the glorious start it is the victorious finish that counts.

Let us not act today as if today were the fulfilment of the future. Let us let the tomorrows have a chance of revealing fulfilment by being true to reality today, by letting the Law work, by holding steady in the current, for if today we destroy the tender shoots of opening cycles, then we are to blame for the barrenness of the tomorrows when they come. Only he who is polarized in reality, and who abides in the Christ, can share in the Ultimate Victory. God is a finisher of things. If we are constantly and consistently destroyers of that which is to find fulfilment in the future, or should find fulfilment in the future, we will be destroyed because we will come to a time of famine by our own hands.

We have no over-abundance which we can throw away with prodigal hand

Let us not destroy the tender shoots that will bring the harvest in the days to come. Let us not destroy that which should appear in God’s Garden, but let us rather tend the Garden and keep it, that we may prove to be faithful stewards in the Father’s Vineyard, that He may, in season, find it possible to call us Friends, and receive us unto Himself, that we may inherit that which is His. Either it is this in Victory, or it is slavery in subjection to the fanciful reactions of the human mind which bring us to famine and failure, a miserable end for those who are destroyers. “And they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.”

So often human beings say, “Why, I would not take a gun and go out and shoot my neighbor”. O, they are so self-righteous. They would not put arsenic in the neighbor’s baby’s milk, but they would destroy those tender shoots which would bring forth the Vine of Life from which the neighbor might, in season, eat and live. Every time an Emissary fails to Hold a Vibration, every time an Emissary destroys the tender Vine which would, in season, bring forth fruit, he is, essentially, committing murder, whether he thinks of it as such or not, because someone’s life depends on that fruitage, someone’s hope depends upon that fulfilment. So many, who would be horrified at the thought of pressing the trigger that would end a man’s life, go thoughtlessly and shamelessly about destroying those tender shoots in the Father’s Garden, which would give the Bread of Life to the hungry one. “And they shall not hurt nor destroy” even the Vibrations which the Lord sets up “in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord”. He who destroys the Vibrational Pattern destroys the form. If destroying the form be murder, then destroying the Vibrational Pattern is likewise murder. Let us live, and let us minister that we may, as Members of the One Christ Body, be able to say, with the Master, “I come that ye might have Life, and that ye might have it more abundantly.”

“And they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.”

Uranda

speaking to the 100 Mile group after Martin read this transcript from September 10, 1947

In connection with that paper Martin read, about holding vibrations and being careful with respect to cycles that have been initiated, it occurred to me that I might wisely amplify one point there. I mentioned that cycles initiated on the highest possible basis at the time should be allowed to come to fulfilment.

In a case where part of the individuals that are involved with respect to that particular cycle hold true to it, and part of them do not, then there is usually an abortion of the cycle. Then those who have held true to it and given their best to it, cannot properly feel a sense of personal failure and futility. In other words, there must be a frank recognition of the fact that the failure came about because of the failures of others. Even though someone may look back and say he could have acted better, etc., the fact is that the individual was acting to the best of his ability there, and the fact that he has carried through vindicates his function. It is almost always true that more than one person is involved in a particular cycle. It is virtually impossible to initiate a cycle that would not involve several people, and perhaps a great many.

Well, the factors in relationship to it are generally many more than the individual directly involved can immediately appreciate or comprehend. Because he is involved in the cycle, he has a sense of personal feeling and responsibility, which is quite correct, but if he is carrying through on the vibration the best way he knows how, and is still steady at the point where the cycle comes to abortion, he must not, properly, feel that he himself was the cause of that abortion. He must recognize that the others were responsible for the abortion; because looking back with regret would mean there was no movement into a new cycle, and consequently no opportunity for fulfilment opened up out of the ashes of the old. I have had hundreds of cycles crumble under me, but that did not mean I felt myself to be responsible for those things, but I was ready to move forward and forget the old, and that meant a new setup, a new form, and let the dead past bury its dead.

Martin — Speaking of hindsight, and that one might have done something differently back there when the individual functioned the best he knew how, that proves the fact that at that point he acted correctly according to his vision at that point, even though that vision might not have been complete, but because he acted according to that vision, that was the correct thing for him at that point.

Uranda — He was being true to the best of his understanding and it is a matter of pure speculation that he would have come through had he done differently, and to judge on that basis is contrary to the Master's instruction.

Martin — And it is in functioning according to one's perception at any given point that he is actually of value. One is coming, as it were, up through certain conditions and circumstances that are manifesting in the world, and one is functioning according to his vision when he is passing up, all the way through from the point of inception, gradually moving to higher levels, and it is by reason of that ascending movement that the individual's function has true value and meaning in the world. It tends to keep lifting the world consciousness, and the actual application of Principles of Reality in relationship to the world consciousness at various levels, and opening the Way for others. If a person suddenly did everything perfectly in the ascending cycle there would be no connection. There would be no ministry.

Uranda — It is that forward movement that constitutes ministry. It is gaining the Victory regardless of the slips or anything else. So, each thing is used to advantage to the degree that he lets it be so, and to look back and say he should have done something differently is wrong. No one can properly assume the responsibility for another's failure. The fact that the individual is not carrying through proves he was not true to his reality.

All of these papers and considerations that we are reviewing in Radiation help to give a clear idea of what it is we are properly doing, and help to clear the Creative Field so that there may be an understanding of the true principles that are involved with respect to establishing cycles or bringing about their inception, and then of correct function in relationship to those cycles as they move toward fulfilment. To the degree that all of this has been focalized in consciousness so that individual viewpoints and feelings and expressions in thought or word or deed are correlated therewith, we are in position to analyze conditions and circumstances in relationship to the patterns in reality, so that we may initiate cycles and let them carry out to fulfilment.

© emissaries of divine light

Unveiling True Design

Unveiling  True  Design

YouTube  Audio

Uranda   April 16, 1954 p.m.

We realize that at this particular time a large segment of the people in the world are giving particular thought to what they conceive to be spiritual things, and attention is turned with great emphasis to the life of our Master, particularly to the closing events of His public ministry. We recall that there was a period, commemorated by so-called Palm Sunday, when a large number of people, presumably about five thousand, acknowledged Him in a sense—to a degree. They made a public demonstration, crying “Hosanna to the King!” and waving palms and placing their garments before Him. The crowd was caught up in an ecstasy of assumption by reason of anticipation that their own hopes were about to be realized. They imagined that the Roman yoke was about to be thrown off and a king was to take the throne at Jerusalem. That was their concept of the design of things. But their concept of that design and the Master's concept of the design were two different things. They were so filled with the ideas established in their own consciousness, their own concepts of the design, that there was no room in their minds to truly grasp or realize the significance of the true design.

This particular situation had tragic consequences. It is not always that man's misconception with respect to design has such immediate and tragic consequences, but we can see the operation of the principle here. For this public demonstration, which did not bring joy to the Master's heart, was used as an excuse, a springboard for action against Him, and a charge that He was stirring up the people. Consider for a moment the Master's nature and the problem that confronted Him in relationship to this pattern of confusion with respect to the design factors which were at work at that time. He was the particularized focalization of the Spirit of Love—in other words a being on earth, human and divine, by reason of which the Christ Spirit could be made manifest in its essence, but a being through whom the Spirit of Love was dominant—not an equalized expression of the Spirit of Love and Truth and Life. For with respect to any pattern of manifestation, one of these primary aspects of spirit must be dominant. In the Supreme Focalization we have the manifestation of all aspects of spirit, the presence of the wholeness of spirit in essence, but a dominance of the Spirit of Love. His capacities of being in the outer or external sense as a human being, a man with a physical body, a mind and a feeling nature, were such that this particular pattern of spirit could manifest. His body, mind and heart were so designed that His character as a being on earth might emerge in its particularized sense on the basis of these factors.

He was of course revealing on earth the principle of deity, the principle of creative action, for the purpose of acquainting mankind with deity. The extension of deity from the invisible realm into that which is visible to us—and when we say invisible realm we simply mean invisible to our particular patterns of perception, particularly from the visual sense—the means of projection of deity from that realm invisible to the human vision to the realm visible to human vision, was and is by reason of the Spirit of God. The fulness of that spirit is indicated by the expression “the only begotten Son of God.” Because of that fulness in the essence or centralized pattern of being, the term “the only begotten Son of God” could be applied to the manifestation of Jesus. However, in the expression of the spirit in relationship to Him we have the emphasis on the fact of the Son, not upon the fact of the only begotten Son. In other words, the idea of the “only begotten Son” does not have the same weight of emphasis, from the standpoint of true spiritual expression. For instance, at the conclusion of the ceremony of baptism at the River Jordan the word, as it is reported to us, was: “This is my beloved Son”—not “This is my only begotten Son.” The Son, whether singular or in manifestation in the plural or segregated sense, is that which is born of God—which is to say, issues forth from God—namely, the Spirit of God. And something of that which is born of God manifests through each man and woman who lets it be so. Therefore each man and woman is, to that degree, a part or member of the body of the Son of God, a particularized means by which the Son, or the Spirit of God, is permitted to manifest on earth.

The character, then, which was revealed by our Master among men was simply the manifestation of the essences of His being according to the capacity established not only in the inner sense but in the outer sense of the physical form, the body, the mind and the heart, by reason of the design which was established in relationship to His form. The true character which He revealed was then the revelation of the true design of His own being. That principle holds true with all. To the degree that you reveal in the expression of your lives the true design of your own being, you are revealing on earth to the children of men your true character. To whatever degree you fail to reveal in form, in function, in action, the true design of your own being, you are asking others on earth to accept an expression of character which is not true to yourself, and consequently not true to God. You cannot know your own true character, then, in actual fact, until your own true design is revealed through the process of living.

Seeing these things in relationship to our Master, and examining His character, we can begin to see the true nature of the problem which confronted Him in this particular instance where the human concept of the design in relationship to the correct pattern of action was so contrary to His recognition of the true design. And it is in this violation of the true design by the human imposition of the human concept of design that we have the picture of the beginnings of the great tragedy. And in actual fact all tragedies that appear on earth spring from this same pattern: the human imposition of human concepts, in relationship to design, which interfere with the Divine Design for human beings.

The process of changing the future, as we use the term, is centered here. If the individual is beginning to let the reality of his own design have manifestation, beginning to reveal his true character, but then by reason of wrong response to some form of stimulus that appears he develops a false pattern of design in his own consciousness and proceeds to impose that design upon the pattern of life manifestation, he begins to move toward tragedy. If having started in this direction of disintegration, decay and tragedy, the individual realizes what has happened, and he is willing to relinquish his humanly conceived design and let it go, if he is willing to trust, and he has a basis of love which provides a centering in God, the patterns of manifestation in relationship to the false design can be cleared away and the true design can once more begin to appear. Now here we have had two steps in the changing of the future. First, the future was bright, moving in the right direction. The course was changed, so that the future held the potentialities of tragedy, and then, by reason of awakening to the danger of the situation, the individual responded, yielded, permitted a new centering, and consequently the future was changed again; the factors of tragedy were being eliminated from the future, and the factors of beauty of being were reestablished for the individual.

That which is of the future, coming out of the east, out of the Garden of God, to the children of men, is of course of the Divine Design. But we have noted how human beings project a little way into the future that which is of their own design, which disturbs the pattern of manifestation. The change in the future which we are interested in is achieved by inspiring the human being to the point where he may see the truth, see the facts as they are, realize what his own position is—not what he thinks it is, but what it really is—and then by inspiring him to relinquish the human concepts of design which he has developed, which he thinks to be valuable and important but which provide the switch, as it were, that turns him from the path of fulfilment into the path of tragedy.

Design. Principle, purpose, design and control. This matter of design connects up with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The knowledge of good and evil provides the basis for the development of design. The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is that which appears by reason of the formation of design. If the design is Divine, then all is well. If it is not, tragedy follows. Here our Master, in this particular instance, realized the trend in human consciousness, realized that human beings had deliberately misinterpreted and falsely translated the things that were said. They rejected the truth that He offered and accepted ideas about what He had said which seemed to give support to their own design, so that they came and hailed Him as being a person of great importance. They, the human beings, were choosing Him to be their king in the earthly sense. They thought they were according Him the greatest honor that it was possible for them to bestow, the idea that He was to be their king. Now the outworking might have been different if this particular public demonstration had not been in the process of formation for a considerable period of time because human beings were mistranslating, were developing their own design with respect to what He said.

Had this not had broad ramifications, if it was something that had merely appeared for the moment so to speak, a spontaneous thing, He might conceivably have—it is not for me to say what He would have done, please understand—but dealing with the matter from the standpoint of principle, He might conceivably have withdrawn from them by some means and just left them at that point so that they would realize that it was not to be as they thought. But suppose He had used some power to disappear from their midst at that moment, what would it have done to their consciousness, on the basis of this pattern as it had developed? It would have done nothing but strengthen them in their conviction that their false concepts were right. It would have seemed to them that here, when they were acknowledging Him as king, He had done something wonderful that demonstrated power. And they would have been more firmly convinced that they were right, that they were going to have a king.

Suppose He had said more than He did say? The Bible does not actually give record of all that He said at that time, because He did seek to convey to His hearers the truth of the matter. But what was He up against? They had particular fixed ideas in their minds. They had been translating things that He said into a pattern of their own design. They were convinced they were right. They had reached the point where they were willing—it did not go deep enough, but they thought, in the moment, that they were willing to devote their lives in serving Him as a king. They thought they were giving themselves to Him. And if He had said anything more than He did about not being king, in the first place they would not have believed Him, and in the second place, insofar as the vibrational factors involved were concerned, it would have put Him in the position of denying His own reality. He could not do more than He did, to deny the human pattern of design, without being in position of appearing to deny the Divine. Human reactions, concepts, mistranslations, desires, entering into this design, had so established the pattern of concepts that He had no honorable means of escaping from it. His love for the people was there, but they mistranslated what they felt was love into the pattern of their own design and took it as support for their own ideas. If He had left them, or turned back, or turned aside, it would not have worked. He realized that, in the consciousness of human beings at that time, the pattern of design had been so firmly established that whatever He said was translated to support the human concept and not to reveal the truth.

Certain of the disciples had had a hand in it, perhaps not deliberately; they did not know that they were failing to serve their Lord properly. But attitudes they had shown, words they had spoken, all tended to accumulate on the basis of supporting a false idea, building a false picture with respect to the Master. And this pattern of surface acceptance had been so deeply engraved in the consciousness of the people that whatever He did to show them that they were not right was bound to disillusion them, make them feel that they had followed a false leader, make them feel that their hopes had been in vain, make them feel that they were left to suffer under the yoke of the Roman rulers. The Master had no choice but to disillusion them. Or perhaps I should put that another way, because even that could be misunderstood. The Master knew that it was impossible for things to work out so that they could be kept from being disillusioned. It was not that He particularly took action to disillusion them, but He knew that because of the elements of false design in the situation they would be disillusioned.

He took the course—the only course He could under the circumstances—of moving straight ahead, of facing the issue, because He knew that if any were to awaken to disillusionment and carry through to the point of seeing the truth, that was the only way He could be on hand, as it were, to lead them. It was up to Him, in the face of this tragic situation, to prove the supremacy of deity, of the Spirit of God, over even this evil situation. If His followers had been able to get out of their heads the bug, the idea, that He was going to be a temporal ruler on the throne of Jerusalem, if they had been able to relinquish their nationalistic aspirations and forget about their grievances under the Roman yoke, if they had been able to see Him for what He was and receive His design, He could have moved forward quietly and successfully, without developing the appearance of a direct or open conflict with the Roman rulers.

Some of the factors that entered into the trial, etc., we will consider this afternoon, but I am particularly interested in helping you to see the factors of design as they entered into this whole outworking. If human beings had been able to relinquish their humanly conceived design, if they had been able to comprehend and receive the design that He was offering, this conflict would not have been developed on the basis on which it did develop. There would have ultimately been some sort of a conflict, inasmuch as the pattern of Roman rule was to such a high degree evil, but not in the sense of throwing off the Roman yoke or changing the government, not in the sense of rejecting the government, but in the sense of rejecting evil in government, whatever pattern of government might have prevailed. He was not interested in rejecting the Roman government, or any government on earth. The only conflict would have been in relationship to the evil in government. And that is true today.

When we speak of the kingdom of God on earth we are not in any sense rejecting the government of our land, or Canada, or any other. The evil in government does and will come into the contest. But back there at that time, Judas particularly had high aspirations of being a great government figure. He thought he had a king that he could sell to the people, and he would be His advisor, His right-hand man, in developing the political pattern of the king. He would have fame and position and wealth; he would share in the king's glory. And he was not the only one. He was the most deliberate one, but the others, most of them, including Peter, tended to develop this false design. That false design crumbled, and in the pattern of tragedy the Master Himself was crucified, His body was put on the cross.

The false design will always crumble sooner or later. It may conceivably extend beyond the life span of a given individual; the human being may be able to convey his design to someone else to carry on, so that it is maintained for a time. But the false design must crumble. From the standpoint of ancient history, we have what is called the rise and fall of empires, the evidence of this very thing. The empire that grew and developed on the basis of a false design crumbled. We see these ups and downs. Human beings think they design some pattern which can endure, and so all those involved go to work to make it big and great and important, and sooner or later it becomes so top-heavy that they cannot hold it up anymore and it crumbles. Some designs inevitably crumble at the end of the life span of an individual who maintains them. When his body dies, the manifestation of that which he is projecting, the design for which he stands, passes away. Human beings are crucified on the cross of their own making by reason of false designs; they defeat themselves. God is not defeating them. God is doing exactly what the Master did. He let the pattern prove itself out.

The point was to determine whether or not the Divine Design and the human design brought to a given point would be equally helpless. The human design crumbled and was gone. But out of that pattern of tragedy came forth the evidence that the Divine Design did not crumble. The pattern through which it was made manifest changed somewhat, but the Divine Design endured and continued on, regardless of what man did and regardless of the fact that the human design crumbled and turned into nothing.

By the time the Master was passing through Gethsemane and was facing the events that are commemorated today, those thousands who had followed Him and acclaimed Him were gone. They were hiding; they did not come around. The outer evidence of the idea or design of an earthly kingdom had crumbled and was gone. But out of this rubble, out of this ash, out of this debris, there emerged the evidence that the Divine Design endures and is not lost, is not destroyed merely because human designs crumble into nothingness.

And this is the great lesson which is offered to human beings in relationship to that which is commemorated in the Easter season, because it provides us with acceptable evidence that we can be associated with that which endures, we can let our pattern of life expression shift from the false design to the true. The effectiveness of living, the development of true character, the fulfilment of the individual, all depends upon this one thing: the manifestation of the true design. That true design is so covered up, so obscure as far as the human vision is concerned, that the human being of and by himself, in his own wisdom, cannot seek it and find it successfully. But he can seek for it and he can find it. As the Master put it, “He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” We must seek for it if we are to find it. But here is the difference between the individual who is moving forward on the spiritual path and the individual who is moving toward tragedy—something that you can remember in relationship to yourself in the days to come and something that will help you to function effectively in service to others—the distinguishing point:

One individual seeks to find that which he thinks will substantiate and maintain his belief in the patterns of his own design; everything that he hears, everything that he sees, he translates it, he twists it, he turns it somehow, into supporting evidence by which he may maintain conviction in his own rightness with respect to his own design. The other person is not interested in finding evidence to support his own design or anyone else's; he is interested in seeking and finding and unveiling the true design.

Now this basic differentiation in attitude will determine your success or failure in the days to come. If you are attempting to build a pattern of support with respect to an attitude, an idea, a concept, a belief, a desire that you have in relationship to a design which you think is pleasing to yourself, if you are quick to defend, if you are concerned about support for your design, you will inevitably fail. If you are careless of human designs, particularly your own, if you are seeking to find the design that endures, the design that is Divine, and you are concerned about learning to participate in that design—not to support it but to let it have form in and through yourself—if you are seeking for that, regardless of what pet designs of your own making you may have to relinquish, if you are interested in yielding up your body and your mind and your heart, your capacities of being, to that true design, regardless of anything else, you will begin to reveal your true character. But no one can have or know or reveal his true character until he does that. It cannot be done.

Even at the time of the Master, when human beings had Him there in person and could hear the sound of His voice and accept His leadership if they would, they proved that point. Even the Master Himself could not sway, change or undo, in the direct sense, that which self-active, self-determined human beings established. It had to crumble and pass away of its own nature. So they did not reveal their true character. The true character with respect to Peter and Paul, for instance, is not revealed in the Bible. It was not revealed to the children of men.

The true character of the individual is hidden and buried, invisible, until these changes take place and the human being relinquishes his determination to use everything he sees and hears to substantiate his own concepts of design. Here is the point where human function divides one pattern into success and the other to failure, and it hinges on that which we have been studying: design.

It is not for us as human beings to try to learn how to be designers. It is for us to learn how to be discoverers of design, the design that God established, to see all of the different factors that enter into the design that is coming forth from God's hands. Not to try to impose this or that or the other thing into that design, not to try to get God to accept any design which the human mind may think to be pleasing, not to be designers, but to be discoverers of design, so that our capacities of being in body and mind and heart may be used for the true expression of the spirit in giving form to Divine Design, that the pattern of the future for us, and for all who will receive, may be changed, changed from the pattern of tragedy, failure, defeat, the ruins of the darkness of the tomb, changed to the pattern of success and fulfilment and victory, changed into the fulfilment of the heavenly womb out of which there is the birth in form of the right design. And as we so function we reveal our true character.

Uranda

 

February 25, 1907 - August 4, 1954

© emissaries of divine light