A  Handle  by  Which  the  World  May  be  Blessed

from

Pittsburgh Summer Session  Service Number Three

Uranda   August 18, 1941

It appears that one of the needs prevalent among you relates to matters of health—or how Truth may be increased. There are many things which may properly be said in this matter.

It is recognized in The Third Sacred School that the Temple must be rebuilt and be made whole before the fulness of the Manifestation of the Lord may be manifest through it. Also, we recognize that the idea of receiving instantaneous healing or instantaneous release from physical ailments does not originate in The Third Sacred School. Those who think that they should have instantaneous release, of necessity, or if they function or respond rightly, have brought that idea over from some previous teaching and merely think that they have found support for that concept in the Teachings of The Third Sacred School.

We do not say that instantaneous healing is impossible. It is possible for instantaneous healing be experienced—which healing does not remain. In other words, there can be a very quick healing from the standpoint of recreative processes, only to have that healing lost because of the failure of the individual to understand how to remain properly polarized in the life forces, and failure of the individual to conduct himself in relationship to all things in life. Consequently, we recognize that it is not the instantaneous healing which is so much needed as it is an understanding of how to so live, that when, and as, healing is made manifest, it may be made to endure.

We who are in The Third Sacred School recognize that it is much more important to spend a certain period of time in becoming acquainted with fundamental Laws establishing the right foundation before a great deal of consideration is given to that which is actual release from whatever physical ill may be besetting the Responding One. We also recognize that whatever ill condition you may have offers the opportunity of taking hold of world needs. Your needs become as the handle by which we can take hold of the world needs.

You have no need to be disturbed because of some physical ill, but you should rejoice that whatever your needs may be, they may be channels by which they may be used to fill the world needs and cause the Responding Ones everywhere to begin to realize that, in the outworking of the Cosmic Plan, all things can be used to advantage. That does not mean to say that you have to have the ill conditions; it does not say that it is essential that you suffer; it does not mean that you came into the world to suffer, or to have such an ill condition. It simply means that since the ill condition does manifest, it can be used to advantage.

Very often the question arises as to where, how, or what caused these ill conditions. Why is the question asked over and over: Why did I have this? Why did this happen to me? I had so much to live for; I had so much to do, and with my abilities I could do so many things for the Lord if this condition had not come upon me. Why? Why? Why? Perhaps you have never met such a person who asked that—if you have, you will know what I mean.

Considering causes, I would point out that, broadly speaking, the average student in The Third Sacred School does not need to understand all the causes in connection with any specific happening; and if he begins to try to find all of the causes he will generally get into a turmoil of consciousness. As you reach a certain point of understanding, you will begin to see them more and more—but you should not be able to see them until, seeing them, you can leave them alone and be undisturbed by them. Remember that. It is far better that you do not know the causes as long as you are inclined to cling to them, and are disturbed by them. Is that obviously true? Sometimes, then, ignorance on this point is a great blessing, because the Lord knows that you do not have the capacity as yet, to understand, and at the same time function in freedom from such limitations.

It is so very important that you learn to be patient where you are—to not fret, to not rebel, and to let things work out in due season. If you were to understand all of the causes, you would have to understand all of the hereditary influences, back through many generations. Who among you would be so bold as to say that you are qualified to stand up here, analyze and delve into all of the hereditary vibrations that have had their influence on your body temple and on your consciousness back through a number of generations? God himself indicates the hereditary influence when He speaks of the sins of the fathers being visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Some people have taken that as an arbitrary attitude of meanness on the part of God.

No—that is not what it means at all. It simply means that there are certain fundamental Laws of Being which, if they are violated, are going to have an influence on many people. No one can live to himself alone; no one can do anything to himself alone, for whatever anyone does, or says, or thinks, has an influence on others. Some people say: “Well, if I were living right, if I were responding right, if I were on the vibration, all of these things wouldn’t be. I wouldn’t have to face problems; I wouldn't have these turmoils around me,” and so on. Such a nonsensical idea that is! Why? Because what you think, and what you say and what you do is not living other people’s lives—and after all, there are a few other people in the world. There are a few other people in the world besides you, and what those other people do influences the conditions around you; and unless you are willing to recognize that, and to be patient about it, you will be fretting and stewing, and wearing yourself out, accomplishing nothing.

We recognize that you are not entirely responsible for the things that have manifested in your environment. Conditions around you are to a very great degree caused by the attitudes and actions of others, over which you have no proper control, and over which it would be wrong for you to attempt to establish control. All you can do is to wait, and be patient, and live rightly on your own vibration, and let others have the same privilege. I have repeated it so often in the writings and in speaking—let other people live their own lives, for only thus can they accomplish anything. But it seems that those who give attention to spiritual things have so long been imbued with the idea of trying to be—shall we say—good missionaries or something, that they think they have to go out and make other peoples’ lives over. They have to tell everyone else how to live. No, Blessed Ones. It is for you to live your own life to the best of your ability, under your present environment, and move forward as the Lord opens the way for you, without reacting to what other people do; without being concerned about the disturbances other people cause. You will do what you can in meeting them, as far as your responsibility goes. Otherwise, ignore them.

Do you suppose that I have any idea that I should live a life where there is never any disturbance comes near me, never any turmoil, never any difficulties, never any problems? What kind of a life would that be, as the world now is? It would be a useless life, wouldn’t it? It would be an empty life. It would be a life of hell on earth, as far as I am concerned. Why? Because it means that I would be shut off from all the rest of the human beings, consigned to living here in a tomb. No, if I am going to live out here in the world, I want to come in contact with people as they are, things as they are, conditions as they are, problems as they are, turmoils as they are, and all the rest of it, just as it is. Otherwise we might just as well not be here.

If you are going to fret and stew because turmoils come near you, you haven’t learned yet how to live or how to serve. No. You stop this process of condemning yourself and thinking that you are solely responsible for everything in your environment. We have hereditary and environmental influences for which we are not personally responsible. Who among you is going to analyze these and say just what they are, say this should be and that shouldn't be, and so on? “Well,” you say, “Does this, then, make us creatures of fate, puppets of chance? We have to be pushed around, we have to be influenced, we have to suffer the consequences of things that others have done, either in other generations or in this present generation.” I should like to know how any reasonable individual could think that he could live now without having to face the problems that have been caused by other people in other generations, just in an outer sense.

Now forget about the physical body, forget about yourself as a person and consider the thing from the standpoint of a nation, if you please. Consider things that have been done in other generations, long gone, from a standpoint of national politics and so on; the things that have been done in Europe, that have influenced the early manifestation of the United States of America; the things that have influenced one nation and another in past generations—policies, attitudes. Here in the United States, for instance, how about the North and the South, in past generations, establishing certain things, doing certain things which have had an influence, and which still influence us. Don’t we have to admit that those influences are there? Well then, we don’t have to rebel against them. All we have to do is look at them, see what they are, work them out, face them, as far as they come in contact with our lives, and go on our way rejoicing. We can't bring those people back out of their graves, even if we want to, to make them live their lives over and have different policies and different attitudes, can we? No. You wouldn't want to if you could.

Suppose you could turn the clock back a hundred years, you would find that a hundred years ago you would feel that you had to turn it back another hundred years, and you would have to keep turning it back until you got clear beyond the point of the fall of man before you got back far enough—so it would be futile, wouldn’t it, to even start? Don't you see how ridiculous some ideas are? Well, if this is true, then move forward, and it is only in moving forward in this present moment that we can hope for success.

These causes, hereditary and environmental, which are beyond your present realm—fortunately—are only a small part, because you have also the vibrational influences relating to your own physical organism which, in the fallen state, is more or less beyond your immediate control. You have climatic conditions and you have many other conditions to be considered. If you are going to analyze it in detail, you would have to take the prenatal period, you would have to consider the vibrations that were manifest at the time of your conception; you would have to consider the vibrations of both parents prior to that period; you would have to consider the vibrations that were manifest during the prenatal period; you would have to consider, most carefully, the vibrational influences during the first few months of the babe's life; you would have to consider the environmental influences upon the specific nature of the child during his first seven years, and on, step by step, into the other phases of life, until we should analyze every phase and find out just exactly what the condition is and what to do about it.

You readily see that it would be entering into a maze of complete futility wouldn't it? You would spend all your time trying to find out about things, and when you found out what good would that finding out be? What good would it do you to know all of these things—that would fill many books—from the standpoint of each one of you? It wouldn't be worth a snap of your finger, would it? No, you come to realize that those things are not so important. If we can see certain vibrational tendencies or influences there, and can use them in our calculations, well and good. But we must let the dead past bury itself, “Forgetting those things which are behind and press on to the high mark of our calling in Christ Jesus.”

All right. Coming to this matter of health, we start out with you as you are. We are not so concerned about what caused the condition in the first place, we are not so concerned with all the points about whether you were at fault, or whether you should have done something else. No matter what you have done you could probably say that you could have done something else. That is the way you lived your life then, that is the best you knew, probably, so praise the Lord and let it alone, and don't go back with vain regrets, because: “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been.” Isn't that true? Is there any place for such sadness in the life of an Emissary? Not in the life of a true Emissary, because the life of a true Emissary is a joyous, happy life; and we, then, meet our present problems in an attitude of joy and happiness, move forward toward victory with assurance and gladness—and not as one feebly attempting to shake off the chains of slavery, but as one knowing his way, moving forward toward the Victory of Being, with joy and gladness, with courage and assurance.

Beginning where you are, then, without looking back, we have certain conditions, and they are individual conditions. Those who have never had the privilege or opportunity to deal with many, many different physical conditions, or help many different people in many different ways, generally do not have an appreciation of the fact that what is good for one may not be good for another. Some people get certain ideas of diet, a certain understanding of how things work out—they get the idea that everyone should live the same way, eat the same way, do the same things, and they start handing out advice indiscriminately, saying: “Well, you shouldn't do that, you should do this, you should do the other thing” and so on. Did you ever notice that every time you have a little something wrong with you, the amount of advice you get is almost overwhelming? Almost everyone knows what you should do—that is, almost everyone but you.

And when you try to follow everyone's advice, what happens? It just doesn’t work at all, does it? When you get indiscriminately provided advice what's the best thing to do with it? One may properly take a look at it and if it has a good point, consider it perhaps, but put it aside and leave it alone, unless one is very, very certain that the individual knows what he is talking about—and unless he finds confirmation from within himself, because it is trying to let your life be lived by too many people that causes you to get into trouble. How many people can live your life properly? Just one—you. Why let a dozen people try to live it for you? Whenever anyone else tries to live your life, to that degree that other person is failing to live his own life. Each one has a capacity to live his own life only—so you should be more careful about living your own life and not trying to live other peoples' lives, because it’s always unsatisfactory, and you find that the part of your own life that you didn't live can never be brought back again—it's just gone, and there's a blank spot there. So it's living your own life that counts.

And how can you live your own life? Not by being selfish and self-centered, as some people suppose, but by true expression of the Divine Nature of yourself. We're not to be so greatly concerned about other peoples' advice. Generally, when you get advice about how you should do this and that, you should ignore it.

Most Beloved of the Lord, it is better to move slowly and more surely. If you think that you must arrive, if you feel that you need immediate results, you are very likely to defeat yourself—and even if you should, by the processes of recreation, experience immediate results, what guarantee have you that you would so function in the future that the condition would not return? Is it not better, then, to say: “Here, Lord, this is my need, this is my situation. I know I did not have to have this, but since I have, I am willing to let you use it. I am willing to let it be a channel, a handle by which the world may be blessed and changed, and I am willing to wait as long as there may be any necessity for such waiting. I am willing to let my healing come, when, and as, the greatest number of people will be blest thereby. I am willing to let all things work out in due season, according to Thy Will. It is my pleasure to so respond, step by step, that all things may work out naturally and easily, and I am not concerned about when the fruition is to come.”

What about that attitude? Do you think it is a good one? Do you think it's a hard saying? Some of you who have acute problems sometimes think that's a hard saying, don't you? Sometimes you feel impatient—but impatience never helps matters much. Now this is not meant to say that you should become discouraged and say: “Well, I guess it is going to take me ten years to get well, so I don't know whether it's worth it.” I didn't say how long it is going to take, whether it will take ten minutes or ten months or ten years is beside the point; the point is, what is to be done in regard to it—whether you function properly and whether your function carries blessings to the world.

© Emissaries of Divine Light