The Magic Word
James Wellemeyer and John
Gray
September 21, 1997 Glen Ivy, California
Jim
Wellemeyer — Our singing “A Door Is Opened In Heaven” leads
wonderfully into what I wish to say this morning. Sixty-five years ago on
September 16th, a door was opened in heaven—windows too—not that we might look
up from the dark world into the light of heaven, but rather that the light of
heaven might be known on earth. We are reminded of three ways by which the
light is revealed: The glory revealed
in man, and glory relates to life, that the spirit of life might be revealed; two, that honor might be revealed in man, which relates to the truth. If we are honorable we are
truthful. And third, that power might
be revealed in man, the power of love.
The triune spirit of God is revealed on earth through man. Uranda’s personal
revelation of these truths provided the basis upon which what became the
Emissary program was founded.
I thought it might be of
interest to you to go back with me into the past. Although I was not there—I
was on earth in 1932 but not with Uranda at that point—I would like to give
part of Uranda’s own version of his experience at that time. “Uranda,”
incidentally, was the pen name for Lloyd Author Meeker, who for many years
provided the spiritual focus for our ministry. He was born in Ferguson, Iowa in
1907, and then spent the good part of his boyhood in western Colorado, not far
from Grand Junction. He was the son of an itinerant minister who, according to
Uranda’s account, was very strict. If there was not obedience there were
whippings, perhaps even what we would today call “child abuse.” Uranda at the
age of 16 left home because of this, worked on a dairy farm for a couple of
years, and then hopped a midnight freight train to Fort Scott, Kansas where he
became employed in a construction firm and actually began to do quite well. But
then the crash of 1929 and the Great Depression came and he lost his home and
money in the bank. He moved on in that condition to Nashville, Tennessee where
he again questioned, as he had earlier in life, “Why am I here?” He looked for
a teacher. He investigated psychology. He began to read the Bible, something
which he had given up on years before due to his father’s fanaticism. In the
Bible he found wonderful insights. He also studied health and how our human
body functions and how it would be capable of expressing spirit. These
experiences led Lloyd to a particular event in 1932. I would like to read about
that event to you, in Uranda’s own words written from the standpoint of inner
being, speaking of Lloyd’s experience:
“Through this maze of
confused conflicts and outer world pullings this way and that, [Lloyd] came
blindly to the month of September, 1932, when he made a final decision to
ignore, with a clean break, all of the ideas he had contacted, and, it would
appear to the outer vision, gamble everything on his own perception of that
Something of which he was, as yet, only dimly aware. It was in this state of
consciousness that he retired on the night of September 11th, and on the
morning of September 12, 1932, he awakened at the break of day, which was very
unusual. After trying to go back to sleep he felt so restless that he arose,
and thought to read a story which he had started, but it held no interest for him.
He thought to read the Bible, but it, too, held no immediate interest, so he
put it down. Next he decided to just sit and think for a time, whereupon he
felt a great urge to write; but he did not know what to write. As far back as
he could remember he had wanted to write a book, but all his attempts had been
sad failures. Finally, in obedience to the urge, he took pencil and paper and
sat down at the table. Not knowing what to write he just relaxed for a time.
Shortly he became aware of a Presence, and he seemed to be enveloped in a white
cloud in which he felt a great peace. Then he began to write, a word at a time;
but as fast as he could get one word down, the next would appear in his mind as
if by magic. Without trying to understand it and without questioning or
rebelling, he wrote for about an hour. He still had no idea of my Presence in
him, therefore he concluded it must have been some being such as an angel from
heaven who had come to him, and he took no credit to himself for what he had
written. As suddenly as he had begun to write, he stopped. He simply had
nothing more to write about. Marveling at his experience, the day passed and he
retired as usual. The next morning he awakened again, but this time he at once
took pencil and paper and sat down to write, and again the white cloud
enveloped him. This time he wrote for about three hours, when the inspiration
ceased as before. As he read over what he had written he found the answers to
many of his own questions. The third morning the same thing happened again, and
at the close of his period of writing he had a strong realization that that
experience would not return, and it never has. There was no need that it
should. On the 15th he considered all the things that had taken place, and by
the 16th of September he had fully determined to give himself to the work of
revealing the truth to humanity. He had no worldly resources, and he was
without funds. He was unknown except to a few people in Nashville. He began to
devote himself to the work of healing, and gradually his work became known and
people began to call on him for help—physical, mental, and spiritual.”
Unrealistic? I think not,
because I know that each of us has some experience, perhaps not as dramatic as
that, but we too know that urge from within as something is called to our
remembrance. As I read this I thought, “Well, that was a wonderful experience
for Uranda, but how does this relate to me?” I also wondered, “What was it he
wrote on those three occasions?” Does that intrigue you too? As far as I know
the content of his revelations at that particular time is not written in a
book, but I am sure if we were to read the services and class presentations he
gave we could begin to surmise what he wrote. In The Triune Ray, for example—a book Uranda wrote in 1936—are found
many of the basic principles of the Emissary ministry. At the very beginning of
the book Uranda makes the point that great changes are required in the human
state: complete spiritual regeneration. Obviously if there is a need for regeneration,
at some point there was degeneration. I don’t think we have to look too far around
us in the world to recognize some of the poverty that is present at every
level. I remember traveling by a train in India and seeing extreme physical
poverty. I know of mental poverty and spiritual poverty. In the midst of God’s
abundance, we suffer. What does it take to come to the point where spirit moves
so easily and freely in us that we know what it is to actually live and to
share in the activities of creation here on earth?
Uranda often said that
one of the basic principals to which he adhered and to which we may always
orient, was and is the One Law, which he described as positive action and negative
reaction. Just as the sun is the central positive point of the solar
system, around which the planets revolve, and in the atom there is a positive
nucleus around which the electrons revolve, so within ourselves there is a
positive spiritual center around which the form aspects orient. That positive
is always there, and in his writings Uranda urges us to relate to the One Law
constantly, to square to that law. This gives us reference for everything we
do. The positive center in a human being is the incarnate being within the
form. Uranda spoke quite a bit about incarnation—not reincarnation, as if to come into the world to grow and then come
again to grow—but incarnation in a
flesh body. He described the purpose of incarnation as “saving the flesh.” Why
should the flesh be saved? Somewhere in the Bible it says that unless the time
is shortened no flesh will be saved. This is crucial, because without the
flesh, without the human form, God has no direct means of expression on earth.
The spirits of life, love, and truth are not revealed without flesh. We may
say, “But what about nature?” Yes, God is present in nature, but I am speaking
of this human form which each of us inhabits. Being incarnates so that flesh
might be saved to reveal the Lord here on earth. This is no little thing; it is
spiritual regeneration.
Almost all of the
philosophies in the world speak of a former and now lost state of paradise on
earth, and many hope to return to it somehow, someday. Uranda referred to this
loss as “the fall,” and said it happened mainly because human beings, having a
conscious choice, chose to let their centering be in the creation, the material
world, rather than in God. Now in order for spiritual regeneration to take
place the reverse needs to happen, restoring centering in the divine once
again. As this is done there begins to be an expression of the reality of what
Uranda called the triune ray: love, truth and life.
All of this of course
leads to what Uranda so fondly called service.
In some of his literature he emphasized the fact that leaders are wanted.
Uranda was interested that there be those in the flesh who gave expression to
spirit and thus allowed for union to take place so that heaven and earth may be
known to be one. Uranda stressed service. In 1952 he initiated what he called Servers Training School, and I was part
of that first class session. In those classes Uranda taught about how we could
begin to reach people, to begin to let them have an awareness of some of these
principles which are at work in their lives. We began to know ourselves as
leaders, in service to mankind. At a certain point it becomes a matter of
forgetting self, of “losing one’s life that one might find it.” To me this is
what service is about. It’s not that we neglect ourselves or that there is not
going to be anything left for us. No. There is the flowing force of spirit through
the doors and windows of heaven. There is plenty. I know the grace and wonder
and love of God in this regard, and I am deeply thankful.
Uranda exemplified
constant appreciation to God. He often used the phrase, “In all things, give
thanks.” Whatever comes to you in your circumstances in life, give thanks.
That, for me, is one of the hardest rules to acknowledge and practice. But all
sorts of things seem to come, and I can really be thankful for them. See all
circumstances in the light of things evolving and not as the end of something,
and we can let the spirit of thanksgiving fill our whole being.
These are just a few of
the basic principles on which our program was founded. There is so much more
that can be said, but as we remember this anniversary of 65 years ago I want to
honor Uranda, this particular man who in spite of all the obstacles revealed
leadership in ways not at all common in the world today. I knew Uranda
personally. I spent three to four years with him. I think Pamela Gray is the only
other one here this morning who met him personally. But just looking at his
photograph you cannot help but be aware of the penetrating gaze in his eyes. I
felt that gaze penetrate to my innermost being. Uranda was a man of great
integrity, a man who in spite of his challenging mission had a great sense of
humor. His laughter could shake the rafters. He was a wonderful man who exemplified
that of which he spoke, and he was a wonderful leader. And now is just the
beginning of something greater to appear on earth as we individually and
collectively share in the spiritual regeneration of the consciousness and the
body of mankind on earth.
John
Gray — At this mid-September anniversary time we commemorate Lloyd
Meeker’s individual awakening in consciousness to his spiritual identity and
purpose as Uranda. As Jim reminded us, Uranda was charged with that purpose.
The potential for awareness of spiritual purpose and the principles by which
reality functions has been available to the general consciousness of humanity
for as long as memory goes back, but except for the rarest of people, human
beings customarily ignore it. Notwithstanding our ignorance, I believe that
spiritual purpose and the principles of reality are the genetic code of
humanity. Uranda was one who realized this. His attunement in and with the
spiritual genetic code—the means by which we are made in the image and likeness
of God—opened his consciousness to marvelous wisdom and an innate ability to
express it in words and deeds.
The true nature and
purpose of humanity, what we are and what we are here to do as human beings—very
basic questions that live in many human hearts and minds—these Uranda addressed
insightfully and inspiringly. He was a spiritual entrepreneur, a visionary,
with a clear goal and intention. He had what in today’s vernacular might be
called enormous intellectual capital. But while his vision, insight and understanding
were inestimably valuable, he had very little outer means. As he said more than
once in tape recordings of addresses many of us have listened to, he realized
what needed to be accomplished, but how
to actualize that noble vision was up to him. This is just as true of each of
us, for we each have some vision; I don’t mean a dream or fantasy but a real,
lasting, active vision of reality. Vision is absolutely essential, and vision
alone is not sufficient to be a complete, authentic human being. Lots of people
have lofty aspirations, great desires for how the world might be and wishes
about how they might be in it, hopes about how things might be different, or
how we might have a world of love, a world that works for everyone. These are
ideals that probably many people would profess to hold in some way, but how is
such a world caused to be?
Whatever the goal, the means by which we move toward it are
absolutely vital. The Machiavellian notion that the ends justify the means is
completely wrong. The means we use—how we do what we do—determines the end. Means are how we get where we are going, after
all. The road you take is what gets you to where you end up. It is never true
that the means are justified by the ends. It simply isn’t valid that if the
ends are noble then anything goes to achieve them, because if anything goes, it
all goes and we don’t get anywhere. How many generations of human beings have
proven this thoroughly? The means produce
the ends.
As Jim was speaking about
Uranda, I thought of his meeting the challenges of the how? question: how to bring this noble vision into actual
manifestation. Like all of us, Uranda confronted many obstacles, as Jim
related. For one, the depression years of the 1930's were tough economic times.
Survival was a basic issue for many people in those days, and if people are
hungry, don’t have work, and feel insecure, it is all the more difficult to
encourage them to see and share a lofty vision and to work toward it. It is
hard to want to serve an idealistic vision if you feel like you have very
little. But whatever the obstacles Uranda faced, whether the external factors
of the times or internal factors of his own human heredity and upbringing,
whatever the apparent barriers, he always found a way through. He always found
a way to open an aperture to let the light shine through.
He knew the Magic Word.
Do you know what the Magic Word is? I’m sure you do. It is abracadabra! I read somewhere that abracadabra, a phrase in Arabic, translates into English as I create as I speak. That is the Magic Word. When spoken, abracadabra opens
even invisible portals. The Magic Word: I
create as I speak.
Of all living creatures
on this earth, human beings have the ability to speak. Other life forms
communicate in other ways, but speech in the manner that we know it is unique
to human beings. This is at the core of the how we emerge, how we come into the
world, how we actually embody divine identity. What we say and how we say it
and why we say it, are motive forces; they are what push us, determine what
happens, what we create. I create as I
speak. It doesn’t say maybe.
That’s the way it is. According to our speech, we create. And if we think our
circumstances differ from what we would like them to be, then we should examine
what we are creating as we speak. Abracadabra.
As I deeply understand the truth of this I become responsible for my life in a
way I cannot escape. This is not a very welcomed thing for many people, because
human beings habitually want to blame somebody else or hold someone else
responsible for their experience. “It isn’t my fault that things are the way
they are.” We can rationalize for as long as we can fool ourselves, but
ultimately we must get down to our own personal internal experience and admit
that abracadabra!—what I create is
all around me. The evidence of the quality of the word I speak is right here.
Mahatma Gandhi was a
person considered by a large portion of humanity to be a leader of transcendent
quality and character. A biographer described him as “an unlikely little brown
man in a loin cloth” who had the ability to move the hearts and minds of
millions of people in ways that brought about significant creative change by
nonviolent means. I recently heard a quote of Gandhi’s which perhaps refers to how
he as a leader found himself treated, but I think there is a more profound
message in it as well: “First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then
they fight you. Then you win.” That to me also describes God’s patient view of
the changing consciousness of human beings. We can ignore God, laugh at God,
fight God—and God wins. Gandhi evidently knew the Magic Word.
U.S. Vice President Al
Gore said, “A leader is someone who others follow.” Before we write that off as
impossibly obvious, let’s consider again: “A leader is someone who others
follow.” Al Gore is an intelligent gentleman, and there must be something more
to his statement. “A leader is someone who others follow.” The “others” might
be other people, of course, but “others” might be more broadly construed too,
including the plants in your garden and your accomplishments at work, for
examples. Whether as an individual, a company, an organization, a nation, we
should ask ourselves the question, “What is my following?” We are each leaders,
and the qualities of our leadership are reflected back to us by our followings.
What is our following? Is it “goodness and mercy,” as the Twenty-Third Psalm
says? “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Is
that a hope for the future, or is it presently true? “A leader is someone who
others follow.” By our fruits we are known, the Bible suggests. By the results
of our actions, by what appears around us, by our following, we are known.
Since the fruits are determined by who is really present, that is the
compelling question: Who is really
present? Is it an authentic, whole person, or a surrogate, a substitute,
something less? Our fruits tell the story. What occurs around us tells the
story. A genuine, authentic human being is guileless, has no ulterior motives,
is not using ends to justify means, is assured of life’s purpose and lives in
alignment with it.
By his following, by his
fruits, we may know that Uranda was an authentic human being. What kind of
following did he gather? His human following was an eclectic grouping of rather
extraordinary people who were willing regardless of their inner and outer
obstacles and difficult circumstances to be true to a high, noble and accurate
vision and to devote their lives in service to seeing it come into form more
fully. Authenticity begets authenticity. Authentic character attracts authentic
character to it. Daniel Goleman, author of the U.S. bestseller, Emotional Intelligence, said,
“Authenticity invites and encourages intimacy.” To that statement I add “and
not vice versa.” It isn’t through intimacy—getting along, feeling close—that we
elicit authenticity. It is by only by being authentic that we experience real
intimacy, real connection, and indeed oneness. Many human beings believe or
hope that humanity might function as a global community with cooperation,
mutual love and respect. We probably all hold something of that belief or hope
ourselves. Our personal authenticity is our own contribution to actually
bringing that about. Trying to get something together by any other means
ultimately does not work. Authenticity is the basis and foundation for human
community. Of course the challenge of authenticity is a personal one. We can
help and encourage one another—and indeed we should and must—but ultimately
being authentic is up to each of us. What is our following? Apply the Al Gore
test to your life: Is what is occurring around you genuine and authentic? Does
it have the ring of reality, the sound of the tone, in it? Is it created by the Magic Word? To apply the test requires, I believe, tremendous honesty. It is
easier than most of us would care to admit to fool ourselves about whether we
are being honest. But what our following is tells the tale.
Being authentic we have
deep and abiding assurance in the Magic Word. We also have understanding of
life’s purpose and principles; we know the spiritual genetic code which is
every human being’s birthright. With inner assurance and understanding we can
walk the middle way through the circumstances, challenges and paradoxes of
life, not needing to judge anything good or bad, right or wrong. A person
exhibiting his or her authentic spiritual stature is wise and knows how to
live. And like Uranda’s life, the lives of such people are inspirational to
others, and their following reflects that. The Lord of Lords invites us to be
all that we can be. May we let the spiritual genetic code, the gift of God,
govern our lives. Let that be our motive, moving us in everything we say and
do. Then we can rest and work assured that what follows will be truly fine,
aligned with the ultimate goal. If we don’t do that then the results in our
lives won’t be aligned with our ultimate goal no matter how fervently we
believe that goal to be true. But everything does move in an aligned way if our
awareness of the goal is constant and true and every means we use to get toward
it emerges out of that character and not from any lesser motivation. If we live
that way it may seem at times that our circumstances, that other people, may
ignore us or laugh at us or fight us, but ultimately we win. This is the
victorious life that Uranda often spoke about. God wins. The authentic person
expresses God’s victory and then shares in it. “All things work together to
perfection for those who love and serve the Lord.”
So at this time of our
mid-September anniversary I think of Uranda and I think of leadership and I
think of the challenges that are before me and before each one of us, and the how? question. And I know that we each
know the Magic Word. Say abracadabra, I
create as I speak, and doors open. Even when it seems impossible, even when
it seems no door is there, speaking the Magic Word opens the path of life
before us in ways that are aligned in what is highest and true, and fulfilling
our birthright. Let the genetic code for humanity have its full way. So we play
our parts in letting the goal which Uranda and others envisioned—a revitalized,
regenerated, restored humanity functioning as a community, serving purpose and principle, aligned in God—come true on earth.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
