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
