Loyalty And Patriotism
Uranda October 16, 1947 100 Mile House, B.C.
Our Great Master came into the world and, facing the limitations, the prevailing levels of consciousness, the ceilings, the bigotry and self-righteousness, and above all, the unresponsiveness of the world, He carried through to Victory. It remains for us, and for all who are willing to give consideration to the Way, the Truth and the Life, to prove our allegiance to our KING by likewise carrying through to Victory. When we accept citizenship in the Kingdom of God on earth, so that we begin to fulfill those specifications that He set down by which we might prove that we are in the world but not of it, there is the necessity of our recognizing loyalty to our KING, and our daily lives should prove our patriotism in His Kingdom.
All too often individuals who claim to have accepted our KING are inclined to act as if personal considerations were of primary moment when they consider the problems and the choices that come before them. God gave His only begotten Son in the focalized expression or manifestation of Jesus on earth, and also in His provision that the One Christ Body should continue on earth. As it was essential then that there be a recognition of Jesus the Christ, it is essential now; but it is also essential now that there be a recognition of the One Christ Body on earth. Only by believing in the One Christ Body on earth can any individual truly accept Jesus Christ, and it is only through believing on the only begotten Son of God that any can hope to experience that fulfillment that they might not perish but have everlasting life. Those who think that they can believe on Jesus Christ and not believe on the One Christ Body on earth but delude themselves and fall into the snare of the serpent. But that patriotism to the Christ and that loyalty to our KING is something that must be given with the whole heart, gladly, joyously and not as one who would bargain with God. The gift of Eternal Life is given; protection against the prince of this world is given and provided by our KING; but loyalty is not something that is purchased.
Patriotism and loyalty are the natural, spontaneous products that spring forth in the heart and life of the individual who loves his country and his king. If we Love our KING, and we Love our country, then loyalty and patriotism are spontaneously there, having their influence every moment of every day, in relationship to every question, conditioning our attitudes in the face of every problem. Those who claim loyalty in one breath and then insist on viewpoints in relationship to problems that arise or choices that must be made, that the consideration shall be on a purely personal basis, are giving the lie to their own claims. Personal considerations are never primary factors in the face of true loyalty and patriotism. The governments of this outer world, although they are essential with things as they are, cannot offer the blessings or provide the joys and satisfactions that are to be found in the Kingdom that is ruled by the Prince of Peace. Nevertheless, if any undertakes to give his allegiance, his loyalty and patriotism in return for these blessings and joys and satisfactions, as if he would bargain with God, he will surely fail.
When we cross the line from one country to another in this world, our citizenship has to be recognized in relationship to such border crossings. There are many individuals in the world today—thousands upon thousands of them—who would like to cross the border from the place where they are, to some other country, who, by reason of conditions or restrictions imposed, cannot do so. We have, in relationship to our Ministry, the problem of assisting those who would become citizens of the Christ Kingdom to cross the boundaries into the Kingdom. There is a boundary line. Tens of thousands move toward that boundary line—and the world calls them good. Some reach the boundary line and decide to camp there, or to return back to the places from whence they came. A few are willing to accept the conditions of entry into the Kingdom. Yet, all who will come find that the Way is opened before them if they will but let it be so. The problems of development in the Spiritual sense are, essentially, the problems of crossing that boundary line, so that the individual is no more of the world, although he is in it; and, crossing that boundary line, the individual finds that he cannot penetrate to the open freedom of the Heart of the Kingdom until he passes through what we might call a Borderland.
In this Borderland the individual begins to truly comprehend the meaning of the Master's Words, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love, one to another”. In this Borderland the individual learns the customs and the language of the people of the Kingdom. In this Borderland the individual proves his loyalty to our KING, and by his life he reveals as to whether or not he is truly a Patriot of the Kingdom. In this Borderland the individual must establish the facts as to whether or not he believes in the only begotten Son of God on earth. There is absolutely no way by which any may enter on a basis of deception. Some undertake to deceive, as a conscious act or a consciously determined course of action; others undertake to deceive unconsciously because they have deceived themselves, and because they are trying to carry the methods and customs of the outer world into the Kingdom. It cannot be done. No one, under any circumstance, can pass beyond this Borderland into the Kingdom on earth until he has learned to be true to God, true to his KING, true to his country, true to himself, true to his brother man. If one loves one's KING and one's country more than life itself, he is not going to pose personal considerations as being of primary importance in his attitude toward problems in his expression of choices as they arise in daily life.
At the present time we are working in that Borderland. To varying degrees you have ascended the pleasant slopes of the range of hills that is to be found in this Borderland, and from such vantage points as you have attained, you have looked into the Kingdom, so to speak, you have glimpsed some of the Glory, you have felt something of the Peace and known something of the Joy, you have experienced something of the satisfaction and the wonder of Being which are known in the Kingdom. It is impossible for anyone to slip in by disguising himself to make himself appear to be something that he is not. Each must come just as he is, willing to become a citizen of the Christ Kingdom, willing to learn the manners and customs, willing to learn the language, willing to be cleansed and purified and made Whole, willing to let the outer mind be stilled, willing to let the great calm be a Reality in the feeling realm.
He who looks back overmuch to the kingdom of the prince of this world will find himself moving outward from the Borderland and slipping back across the boundary into the realm of the prince of death. He whose eyes are steadfastly set upon that of true citizenship in the Kingdom cannot be turned aside by conditions or circumstances or by what any may think or say or do. Such an one is not looking for excuse to turn back. This gives a key to attitudes that are made manifest with respect to the obstacles that appear in the path. He who is looking for excuses to turn back always finds them, even in the Borderland, but he whose eyes are steadfastly set upon Kingdom will accept no excuses. Obstacles do not suggest that he cannot get through; obstacles simply raise the question, “How can I get through or around or over, because get around or through or over I must and will, in the Name of my KING”. Those who turn back under any pretext whatsoever, because of any excuse or because of obstacles or for anything else that may be called a reason, are utterly unworthy of citizenship in the Kingdom, for those who are worthy do not see excuses when they see obstacles; they do not see reasons for turning back when they are faced with problems; they only see an opportunity to prove that they Love their KING and their Country.
Our Ministry is to those who come to the Borderland and to those who are passing through the Borderland. Those who do not, willingly and of themselves, come to the Borderland are beyond our range of Ministry. Those who cross back out of the Borderland into the world are beyond our range of Ministry. Our Ministry begins at the Border. Our Ministry is to those who would cross the Border and who would pass through the Borderland. For the time being, we simply are not concerned, from the standpoint of individuals who are on the other side of the Border. Each will, in season, be given his opportunity if he remains true to the inherent longing within himself to find fulfillment in relationship to the things of God, but, for the present, our Ministry is at the Border and in the Borderland. Those who think to gain some point for themselves or to benefit in some fashion, by placing personal considerations first in relationship to their problems and their choices, are only closing the gates in front of themselves. They gain utterly and absolutely nothing. Such action brings loss always.
Once the individual has stepped across the Border into the Borderland, every thought, every word, every feeling, every deed, reveals something as to where one's allegiance rests. If it is to our KING, to the Christ Kingdom, if it is to the Banner of the Prince of Peace, then it will be revealed through thought and word and feeling and deed—but, if allegiance still rests with the prince of this world, it will likewise be revealed. No matter how hard any may try, he cannot learn the language of the Kingdom while he retains an attitude of allegiance to the banner of the prince of this world. It is essential that the individual should learn the language and the customs of the Kingdom, and these things cannot be learned except as the individual gives full, one-pointed, loyal Response to the KING. When one has his heart set on the Kingdom he never thinks of anything that may arise as a possible excuse for turning back. He sees all such things as opportunities to prove his allegiance to his KING.
I feel and recognize and acknowledge before God our KING the meditations of your hearts as you consider these things, and the solemnity which contains joy as you enter into a deeper realization of the Way, the Truth and the Life. It is in living that we prove these things. It is not by doing deeds that one can enter in, but when entering in one does the deeds that reveal the spirit of His Being, and as we maintain a focalized recognition of our KING and of our country, the spirit of our living must surely shine forth to encourage all of those who are earnestly moving forward on their pilgrimage to the Promised Land, that the weary ones may be given strength, that the hesitant ones may be given courage, that the doubting ones may have their minds stilled, until they shall be able to hear the Spirit speak. When human beings have noisy minds and hearts they cannot hear the Spirit speak. They may hear with their ears but they understand not; they may see with their eyes but they comprehend not. The turmoils of the feeling realm must be calmed, the waves must be stilled and the clamoring of the mind must be stilled, so that the Word may be heard and so that the Spirit of the Word may be felt, and then there is comprehension and understanding; and then it is seen that the Way is open, then it is recognized that the Truth is present and then it is realized that the Life is a Reality now.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
