The Flaming Sword

  The  Flaming  Sword  —  Radiant  Security  System

from

Security

John and Pamela Gray   March 3, 2002   Phoenix, Arizona

 

Pamela Gray — I’ve been considering the topic of security, an issue in the forefront of many people’s consciousnesses these days, from the personal level to the global. Billions and billions of dollars are spent in this country, trying to make sure that people are relatively safe. From the United States military forces, charged to protect this country, to the individuals who protect their homes and possessions with security systems, there seems such a need for external protection. But all the money in the world and all the advanced technological security systems cannot insure that every school, every airport, every home, every public event, is safe from potential danger. Something unfortunate seems bound to happen. You can’t control human nature with human nature. 

Behind this dependency on external security measures is fear. It seems almost more than ever today that there is a morbid fascination with fear. This fascination with fear and the desperate need for security are parts of the world of human nature. And, as we all know, present human nature is not God’s nature. If in any way we buy in to fear, then in that moment we obscure what our responsibility truly is: to provide radiance in the situation, surrounding it in God’s love. 

I remember holding each of our children in my arms just after they were born, thinking, “In this moment you are safe. I would that this moment last forever!” Well, it can, and it does. If we don’t buy in to fear, then we’re able to wrap our love around every person, every situation. We’re actually able to connect in consciousness with the fear factors of human nature and provide something which just dissolves them. We live in radiance. People say that you have to face your fears. No—you have to face the Light! In the Light, the divine is present and fear is dissolved.

Someone e-mailed me recently whom I hadn’t heard from in years. I don’t know what she’s doing or where she’s living. An interesting thing about e-mail is you don’t know where the sender resides. The real person is out there somewhere, and their message just appears on your screen. There’s that point of connection. She was going through a very desperate time in her life and needed a connection, and in the moment her message appeared on my screen, there we were, together in spirit, and angel communicated with angel. And then the physical e-mail reply went back to her. That is the beauty of attunement: It’s instant, it’s right here, in the moment.

There’s a line of a popular song that says, “I’m already there.” I think also of Jesus’ invitation, “Be with me where I am,” in that place of radiance, where divine presence is available to dissolve the false trappings of human nature. In that place we are safe, and we are kept safe. But there is something more than that, and it is the safety we can provide for all with which we’re connected. It is mentioned in the Bible at the very beginning, in Genesis, and at the very end, in Revelation: “…to keep the way of the Tree of Life.” We keep the way of the Tree of Life safe with our presence. Here we are not concerned with or moved by all the fears in the world. They can touch us, we feel them, but we don’t let them control us. We don’t buy in to the fear factors. We don’t buy in to human nature. Divine presence can instantly come through, and that radiance dissolves all that it needs to in this world and replaces it with light and life.

John Gray — In the divine design, human nature and God’s nature are one—but because for so long there's been the general human experience of separation between God and human being, it's accepted as the normal state. This isn’t God’s design. Human beings are designed to be permeated by the divine and to share identity in the Lord. Because divine identity is not an experience many people have, the need for external security, as Pam mentioned, seems so important.

The word secure comes from two roots, one being cura, Latin for “care.” A few other words which share this root are cure, curious, accurate, and sure. The other root of the word secure, the se portion, is a reflexive pronoun referring to self, and meaning “on one’s own.” Secure: “care on one’s own.” The roots of secure suggest “self-reliant” and can be extrapolated to mean “whole unto itself.” I think of the secure individual as not only self-reliant but assured, accurate, and curious. Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines the adjective secure as “safe; free from care; confident; free from fear; free from danger; inviolable; trustworthy; strong.” Those sound like good ways to be! Secure is also a verb, meaning “to make safe; to acquire as a result of effort; to procure; to make fast; to assure; to guarantee; to protect.” And security is “the quality or state of being secure.”

Where does security come from? If we look for it from external sources, we can’t get enough of it. There’s no way to protect ourselves from all possibilities. Where does the experience of true security originate? Assurance derives from self-reliance, not from an outside source. As Pam said, true security emerges from inner Being, and if that isn't adequately known, then external substitutes seem necessary. At a personal level, that might be translated to mean self-defense. Self-defense can take such forms as handguns or martial arts skills or maybe antibiotics. Feeling the need for such defenses may spring from a belief that we must protect ourselves against invasion or intrusion. At a household or community level, gates and locks and even guards may seem necessary. On the national level we have armed forces and immensely destructive weaponry. But these apparent needs for external security are usually fear-driven. True security has its foundation in love. Remember Daniel in the lions’ den?

I am not suggesting that we don’t need to be careful and prudent in the world as it is, but we don’t have to be fearful. Fear appears where love is not. Love is the central essence of true identity. If you don’t know who you really are, everything seems out to get you. And consider: If you feel the world is threatening, what does that say about the nature of the self you experience?

Our physical bodies are, as the Psalmist said, “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Even in a condition where, for the most part, human beings aren’t conscious of the source of their own very breath, the body reflects the design of spirit in wonderful ways: the way the breathing mechanism works, the way our hearts beat. Physically speaking, we have a rib cage surrounding the heart and lungs and other vital organs. That’s a natural security system, and it’s built-in. Security is part of life’s design for human beings. Our ribs are important. Physically, we’d be flopping around without them, and if we didn’t have ribs, what would the oatmeal stick to? We can lighten up about security. It isn’t defensive. It’s radiant.

Collectively, humankind left the place of true security long ago. In the third chapter of Genesis we find a description of human behavior which causes what is called the Fall. The culmination is sadly portrayed in Verses 23 and 24:

“Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

“So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

In her marvelous work, The Book of Grace: A Cosmic View of the Bible, Grace Van Duzen wrote about these passages:

“A cursory reading seems to infer that an angry God thrust His creation into outer darkness because of wrong function. It is true that human beings found themselves outside of the garden, the perfect state and provision for life on this planet. It was the result of their own actions, in spite of repeated warnings from the divine presence within themselves (and externally, through those in places of leadership).”

We cause our own experience. It is so vital to see this! We create our own experience by our expression, by our behavior, and these are driven by what matters most to us. It wasn’t an angry God punishing human beings by expelling them from the edenic state, and it isn’t an angry God who keeps human beings outside that experience today. There is no angry God at all. In fact, “It is the father’s good pleasure to give [us] the kingdom,” it’s said in the New Testament (Luke 12:32). It is the Father’s good pleasure to invite and welcome human beings into the experience of heaven on earth. Of course we have to accept that welcome and invitation to experience it, but it’s not withheld. There’s certainly no angry God saying, “You were bad, and now you’re voted out of the garden.” Our experiences are the results of our own actions.

Grace continues, “The presence of ‘cherubims’ at the east of the Garden is an indication of that which was in place, at the point of crossover from the invisible realm, ‘east,’ the provision whereby divine Being, in man’s fallen state, could express through him.” Boy, there’s a lot of meaning in that sentence!

“The presence of ‘cherubims’ at the east of the Garden is...the provision whereby divine Being, in man’s fallen state, could express through him.” Even if and as the human consciousness disconnects itself from divine Being, the means for divine expression through human form yet exists. That is grace; that is mercy!

Grace also said, “The flaming sword which turns every way—nothing escapes that fire—is within each one individually, the divine presence, as well as collectively for the whole world.”

“The flaming sword which turns every way ... is within each one individually, the divine presence...” Often, when people think about the human condition, it is with an attitude of blame. Ultimately all fingers point to God: “Hey, you’re the one who’s keeping me out of the Garden!” But “the flaming sword which turns every way ... is within each one individually.”

Which side of the sword do you see yourself on? Am I being kept out of the Garden by the flaming sword? Or do I accept that what’s represented by the flaming sword is actually my nature? What is the flaming sword? The flame, the fire, represents love, and the sword is a symbol of truth, so we have a combined symbol: love and truth. Together, love and truth make life. So the flaming sword is one’s own life presence, life expression.

Grace said, “There is the cool of the flame, as well as the other levels, including the periphery which has been termed ‘hellfire.’ It is all one fire, and nothing can defeat, or diminish, the way of life. All efforts to do that must ultimately self-destruct.”

The flaming sword is a built-in divine security system. Only that which is in attunement with the flaming sword—love and truth, the life expression of divine Being—can know the Garden. If that attunement isn’t maintained, then we experience ourselves outside the Garden, and thus outside of the security measures that make the Garden a garden. So, which side of the sword are you on? Are you the wielder of the sword or the recipient of slash and burn?

The question is intended to serve as a reminder that we, in reality, have huge stature. We are made in the image and likeness of God. That’s huge stature! We’re not intended to identify as weak, sniveling little creatures, feeling the world is against us and that circumstances are conspiring against us and somehow preventing us from experiencing who we really are. That’s not true at all. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom, the experience of the Garden state. If we’re in the Garden experience, then we know the radiant fire of love is benign and healing and keeps us wonderfully secure and safe. If we place ourselves outside that experience, then we feel the singes and cuts. We feel hellfire.

So the choice is ours, each one of us, as to where we reside. We make the choice by what actually motivates our behavior and our actions in each moment. If I can be convinced to be fearful, to feel insecure, I place myself, by identifying with that condition, outside the Garden, and want desperately for any kind of security.

How many people on earth have any inkling of the truth of these things? Eleven? Twenty-nine? A few thousand? Millions? Who knows? Clearly, it’s not everybody! There are myriad people who are driven by their fears, many of whom are also angry. Fear and anger mix as rage. How can we live safely in a world also populated by such people? Yes, we’d better lock our doors at night. But inside, who are we? Who am I? What’s my identity? If I need defenses to feel secure, I’ll never know who I am. If I’m convinced that the world is a threat and everything’s out to get me, well, what does that say about me?

We need to be pragmatic, but not because we’re afraid. For example, it’s common sense to look both ways before crossing a busy street, to be sure that we’re not stepping out in front of a moving car. But we don’t have to be afraid to death, or afraid of death, in order to look both ways. Fear isn’t the motivator, properly. We can look both ways and have a sense of inner security simultaneously.

We live in a world where the general state of experience is not one of identity in divine Being. To serve in this world, to make a difference, to be an uplifting influence for others, we express love. “Perfect love casts out fear.” Fear is the absence of love. Love is the central essence of divine Being. There are plenty of people in the world feeling plenty of fear these days. I don’t suspect we’re going to see less of that anytime soon! So, how do we live in love in a fearful world?

We keep the way of the Tree of Life. In other words, we maintain our radiant expression of divine Being. That’s not something you just decide with your mind to do. If it were just a matter of a one-time decision, anyone who ever came in contact with Emissaries of Divine Light over the years could have simply determined, the first moment they saw the compelling reasonableness of what Uranda or Martin were saying, “Yes, I’m going to express my true nature all the time,” and changed their minds and never looked back. Did that happen?

It’s more a matter of reminding ourselves of what actually matters most: the qualities of divine Being. That isn’t just done once—it’s done all the time. Does that mean that I will never stray from a perfect expression? No. Will, however, the flaming sword that is keeping the way of the Tree of Life remind my heart and mind when they stray? Yes! And it isn’t the cool part of the flame I feel then—it’s the singeing part. “Oh, okay, I remember! Yes, thank you!” And our hearts and minds can, through such reminders, realign themselves. “Nothing is worth being something I’m not.”

We can helpfully remind ourselves and remind one another of what’s true, but that also can be rather superficial. Most of the influence that would move human beings in the right direction isn’t at a conscious level at all. It’s the powerful yet gentle compulsion of spirit, the presence of the flaming sword that turns every way, keeping the way of the Tree of Life within every person. Both above and below the level of the conscious mind, we’re connected. There are subsurface currents of feeling that connect human beings worldwide. When something big occurs, we feel those emotional waves because we’re all hooked up subconsciously.

We’re all hooked up in Being too. All individual God-beings, both incarnate and not, collectively compose what we call an Archangelic presence—“God” for the planet. We’re part of this. We are all connected in spirit. Being “all connected in spirit” is not just some fluffy statement. It is a literal reality. Angelically speaking, we are unified, we are radiant together. The flaming sword which turns every way, keeps the way of the Tree of Life, maintains the means for divine expression through the human equipment as long as life remains, no matter what its state.

I often hear people saying these days, “Wow, I’m really going through a lot!” That’s a common turn of phrase. But thinking, “I am going through a lot” reveals the unconscious tendency to see the “lot” as big and here I am, little, going through this big lot. Turn it around next time you feel small, and say, “No, I’m not moving through a lot. A lot is moving through me.” Think of it that way. When I see the experience as “a lot is moving through me,” then I am big and the “lot” is smaller!  I’m not only “big” but I am in control of my own expression. I’m not subject to the “all that’s moving” stuff. No, a lot’s moving through each one of us. That’s the truth. That’s what’s really going on. We’re not moving through a lot. A lot is moving through us.

That’s another example of the difference in perspective between being on one side of the sword or the other. If I’m outside the Garden and I’m being kept away, that means I’m little and circumstances are big, and I’m moving through a lot, and not getting very far, and it’s kind of depressing. On the other side of the sword, it’s “a lot is moving through me,” and much of what is moving is moving to be changed, to be purified, and to be made new.

When we talk about things happening, another phrase we use in English is they “come to pass,” right? Remember that they don’t come to stay! They’ve come to pass, they’ve come to be changed, they’ve come to be purified, they’ve come to be uplifted. There’s a lot moving through all of us for this purpose.

It’s our own nature to be secure, spiritually self-reliant. A lot is moving through all of us. That’s not something to be upset about or fearful about. If anything, it’s something to be proud of, in a right kind of way, because we each have a great deal of capacity to let things move through us, to be made new.” How do you think things are made new on this planet that we’re responsible for? It’s made new through us, through our minds and hearts. That’s an important part of what human beings are for.

We wield the flaming sword that turns every way, that keeps the way of the Tree of Life. We’re the source of security. We’re the ones who say the words, “All is well,” and it rings loudly in ways many people can hear—perhaps not with their conscious minds but with their hearts.

We may think we live lives of great importance or fairly insignificant little lives, but neither of those perceptions is real. You are the great one through which much moves, transforming and re-creating the world. Lots of people are doing this—it’s not just eleven or twenty-nine or a few thousand. I see a great body of people basically aligned with the spirit of God in expression on earth. As the intensity of the fire increases, may many more find themselves on the right side of the sword, in the Garden.

© Emissaries of Divine Light