Funeral Service

Funeral  Service

Martin Cecil   August 8, 1954  2 p.m.

We are assembled here on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, the 8th day of August, 1954, in the Chapel on Sunrise Ranch to undertake a most holy and sacred task, and to give honor and to pay tribute to Bishop Lloyd Arthur Meeker, Head of the Church of the Emissaries of Divine Light, and his wife, Kathleen Meeker, also Albert Ackerley, one of the outstanding leaders in this Ministry, and the two children, William Van Duzen and Sharon Call.

Always, when we come to the times of parting, there is a sense of sadness, a sense of loss, Even when we move about on the surface of the earth and are parted from our loved ones, there is a certain sadness and sense of loss, But to so many human beings, mere is such a seeming finality about what is called death. What is the fundamental cause of that feeling of loss? We may say it is apparent the ones whom we have loved are not with us any more in person, and consequently we miss them. But in relationship to that thought, is it not because there is such a seeming gulf—a thick veil, between that which is called visible here on the surface of the earth in relationship to physical things, and a realm here or anywhere which is supposedly invisible.

Human beings put so much store by the outer manifestation, by the appearance. We recall our Master's words when He said: “Judge not by the appearance.” That was a command, you know, and in relationship to this particular tragedy there is an appearance which has caused some to judge a little bit and wonder why, to speculate. It is not that God would not show us why, but that if we are disturbed, if we are subject to any of the ill spirits which are so prevalent in the world, and self-pity is one of them, we cannot understand or comprehend that which God would reveal.

The physical body is very important. We could not be gathered here together, associated with each other this afternoon, if it was not that we had physical bodies. The physical body is given meaning, not by reason of itself, but by reason of that which is revealed through it, and when the expression of True Being is made manifest through any human body, that human body, that human being, becomes meaningful in the world. But the expression of True Being itself is invisible until the evidence appears in form by reason of the physical body. The expression of True Being which gives meaning to any human being, is invisible and we are functioning in relationship to that invisible pattern constantly, every day. Seemingly the physical form blinds us to the fact that we have this direct contact with that which is has seemed to be invisible.

The characteristics of Being that make an individual life worthwhile, are all invisible things until we begin to see them by reason of some action, some word, that appears through the physical form. But once that True Expression of Being is absent from the physical form, the physical form has no more meaning and consequently there is a need, decently and in order, to return the substance to the realm from whence it came, and that is part of our task this afternoon, but to my way of thinking, only a very small part, for that which has real meaning is the expression of True Being which is no less a reality now than it was before. If we insist that there must be the individual human form to make the expression of True Being meaningful to us, then we are likely to be very sad and distraught.

But when we recognize that the reality of True Being in relationship to each one of these loved ones is just as real now as it has ever been or as it ever will be, then our cause for sadness is merely a personal thing to us, that we enjoyed having our loved ones with us in person, but they are still with us insofar as the expression of True Being is concerned. And perchance there is a certain sadness insofar as they are concerned, because they do not have the Instrument, the body by which they could be with us in person. But that should be the extent of our sadness, because the Reality is not lost. It is just as surely present now as it ever was. We have known our Bishop for varying periods of time. He has provided us with leadership. Leadership! Did you ever see leadership? It is invisible. He has been our friend. Did you ever see friendship? I do not think so. You may have seen the evidence of it in form, but the invisible quality is invisible. You have seen a manifestation. All the characteristics that made Uranda so meaningful to us were, in fact, invisible, although by reason of his physical form we began to recognize them. Can we not still recognize them even though the form is no longer with us?

His beloved wife, Kathy, one whom we have all loved deeply, revealed to me at least, and I think to all of you, the expression of True Being, of womanhood as the expression of God created it to be, just as Uranda revealed the True Being of manhood as God created it to be. And anyone who knew them, actually knew them, loved them. It would be impossible to have known them without loving them. Love is an invisible thing. And Albert, the invisible qualities of Being, of manhood, of faithfulness, of dedication—so many. I do not enumerate these things—I could not list them in any case—but I do not innumerate them as some sort of platitudinous eulogy. We know from our own experience, in our own lives, the reality of them. Meaningful things, yet invisible things. And the little children. Bill and Sharon, they were moving forward in the Way of Life, not having yet come to the point of expressing the fulness of the true qualities of their "Being", but there were evidences of it, precious evidences of it, invisible things that were taking form and becoming meaningful on earth. Oh, yes, it is quite true that invisible things need to take form in this realm of things if they are to have real meaning in this realm of things. And so it is that we have opportunity of providing form for the expression of True Being, that which is invisible, for that which is yet with us. We do not only give honor and pay tribute to these our loves ones just by sharing an hour of Service such as this. The real tribute is that our lives should continue to reveal that which we saw exemplified in theirs. And so, this particular Service should be but a starting point, a starting point leading into unlimited fields of the revelation of the expression of True Being in form on earth.

God is so good to us. He has given us so much, so many blessings, let us make sure that those blessings are not wasted. Let us make sure that the lives of these our loved ones, are not in vain. This, to me, is the true meaning of our Service this afternoon. This carries the current of the Spirit of God and allows it to begin to take form on earth in the days to come with ever-increasing beauty and wonder and glory. And so we are not really parted from our loved ones. They are here. And do you think that in the True Expression of Being they are any less interested in the purposes for which their lives were given when they were here, the purposes of God, the fulfilment of the purposes of God on earth. Let us not let their lives be in vain. Human beings have been inclined too much to let our Master’s life to have been in vain. We do not see very much of the fulfilment of His Promises on earth. Let us not make the same mistake again, that neither His Life nor the life of our Bishop and his wife, Al and the children, may have been in vain.

Our most gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the privilege of sharing together in the invisible things or Thy Spirit, that these invisible things may begin to take form and become increasingly meaningful on earth by reason of our lives, for we know that all things work together to perfection for those who love and serve Thee, and we would let our lives be dedicated to that purpose more fully than ever before, so that we may be in position to become what we ought to be, what Thou didst create us to be, and to fulfil those purposes for which we came into the world, to Thy Glory and to the blessing of all who will receive. We thank Thee for the lives of these our loved ones, their precious lives, so precious to us, and let us keep them precious and sacred so that the same Spirit which was in them may be in us, and the same dedication that was in them may ever be our dedication, that Thy Kingdom, O Lord, may come on earth because it is given form, something invisible given form, something that is at hand which may be given form. And Thy Will may be done in earth as it is in Heaven, in the invisible realm. For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory forever, IN the Christ. Aum-en.

© Emissaries of Divine Light