Of Myself I Can Do Nothing
Uranda August 22, 1948 Sunrise Ranch
“At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them. And said, Verily I say unto you. Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh … Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:1-7,10)
We are few in number, but as we let go in His Name, that is in the Christ Spirit, in the Christ Fire of Love, in the Christ adherence to fundamental Truth, in the Christ recognition of the Fatherhood of God, in the Christ acceptance of the Brotherhood of man, in the Christ Spirit of Harmony, in the Christ Spirit of the Kingdom made manifest on earth—as we let go IN the Christ, and all that is implied therein, all that is contained therein, so that we are a part of that—He is in the midst of us. He is present with us, and He knows the desire of our hearts, the longing within to serve now and always, according to His Will, the desire of the heart to be a true disciple, the desire of the heart to bring forth fruit in the Harvest Field. As you rest in the realization that He knows, and as you rest in the realization that I know, you find comfort in the assurance that, though sometimes the expression of life may seem to be inadequate, sometimes there may be a bit of stumbling, you know that the Lord looketh on the heart, and in that knowledge, in that assurance, there is that which inspires a still more full and complete letting go whereby you may be strengthened and sustained by that Spirit that never fails. Though man may stumble and fail, God never fails. There is no lack nor limitation in the Spirit of the Living God—and by His Grace we are beginning to realize something of what the Spirit is, and what the Spirit means. As I considered with you a moment ago something of what it means to have the privilege of gathering here in the Name of the Christ, I am sure you found a deeper recognition of the fact that we are functioning in His Name, and if we be in His Name, then His Spirit must surely function more effectively and more perfectly through us.
What does it mean to let His Spirit have its way? What does it mean to abide in His Spirit, to let the Spirit sustain and direct? What do you think of when you think of the Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit mean to you? Is your vision of the Spirit limited to some concept with respect to a given moment, a momentary experience, either of the past or the future, to something that has meaning only as we gather here in Service—or do you find yourself recognizing the nature and influence of the Spirit at work moment by moment in every phase of life, in all that you think and say and do? Do you find the Current of the Spirit unifying body and mind and your own Spiritual Expression with the Things of God? Do you find the Spirit of God finding manifestation through your own emotional realm? What is it that expresses through your emotional realm? Is it the spirit of this world, the spirit of some ill reaction, emotion or fear, or do you find, when you look into your heart, the emotional realm, that there the Currents of the Holy Spirit are flowing—purifying, bringing an alignment, a consciousness of Oneness into your own being?
The other evening we considered the Oneness of the Spirit, and recognized that it was not many spirits, but One Spirit, working in and through many Members, many Branches of the One Vine, and now the accomplishment of that One Spirit in you, individually, must be to bring all members of yourself, all parts, planes, phases, of your being into one expression of life, so that there be no division between the Spiritual Expression, the mind, the heart and the body. There are only three planes—physical, mental and Spiritual—but the emotional, or the heart, permeates all three. It is not a distinct, separate phase in itself. The heart, the feeling nature, or the emotional realm, pertains to the physical and mental and Spiritual planes, and it is a means by which we can feel, recognize and know the permeating Power of the Spirit unifying all planes of Being, bringing into alignment, into Oneness, all phases of our function.
Some have imagined that that limited the sphere of function, but that is because there was a limited concept with respect to the Spirit. When there is a true realization of the Spirit, of its sphere of function, then we find that life blossoms out into all phases of Being, into still greater expressions of beauty and wonder, when we let the One Spirit unify all phases of the individual nature—and when the One Spirit has wrought the work of Oneness in the human being, body and mind and Spirit, then surely there must be harmony, coordination, unification, between all those individuals who have been individually unified of and in and by the Spirit. How could there then be divisions? How could there then be dissensions? How could there then be tendencies to pull one way and another? Surely, when we recognize the Reality of the Spirit, when we recognize the unifying Power of the Spirit in ourselves, individually, and when we recognize that the Spirit cannot be divided, that it is One Spirit, then all those who are Members of the Vine, through whom the Spirit expresses, must be coordinated, harmonized, unified, to the Glory of God—and then the Currents, not of this world but of the Kingdom, are manifesting through us in the earth; then our accomplishments are not the doing of the human being, but it is the Lord doing the work. “This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.”
The One Spirit manifesting through all the different channels, makes the vision of Oneness of Heaven and earth a reality. The Master said that, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” We have accepted that idea. We say that it is true. How is that which is “at hand” to come into manifestation? Through the working of the Spirit through the human being, through the Unit of human beings provided, manifesting the Spirit of Heaven on earth—and where the Spirit of Heaven manifests, where the Spirit of Heaven is the Current flowing through thought and word and deed, it is Heaven and earth blended, unified—At One. Can we afford to hesitate to let go to the Power of the Spirit? Can we afford to hesitate to let the Spirit work in and through such channels as we have, individually, that they may be purified, adjusted, and so coordinated that the One Spirit finds one manifestation through the many Branches, for the one purpose of unifying Heaven and earth, of letting the Kingdom come, of letting the Father's Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven? It is not a difficult way. It is an Easy Way, because it is the Way of Love, and there is nothing so easy and so wonderful as the Way of Love; and when Love functions through us truly, Truth finds expression and gives beauty to the manifestation of Life, and then it is that Life, and not mere existence, not mere drifting, but true Living, the Living of Life, is manifest—and Life is Eternal.
So, now, in this instant, to the degree that we let the Current of the Holy Spirit truly work through us, so that we are coordinated in that One Spirit to a degree that allows us to live Life as distinct from existence, we are now thereby letting Eternal Life manifest on earth. We are living in the expression of Eternal Life here on earth. The expression of Eternal Life does not necessarily mean that the individual must remain on earth, according to the human concept, forever, but it does mean that at least while we are on earth we let Eternal Life manifest through us, and in that we begin to see that the fulfilment of the promise is not something that must await the passing of untold thousands of years. “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”—and somehow, some way, the reality of that Kingdom that is at hand must be established still more fully, still more vividly, in the consciousness of those who are here gathered, that that realization may flow out in the Current of the Spirit to bless all who are with us in Spirit and in purpose, to bless all who respond, that the hearts of men may be prepared for the coming of the Kingdom that is at hand.
Our function here must, in all respects, become in miniature that which shall grow and fill the whole earth, and that it influences the world, causing the responding ones to tend to do that which we do, is very important. So, as there is that unified realization of responsibility with respect to our influence out in the world, and the recognition of the fact that by these vibratory channels we are preparing the way for those out in the world, the individual consciousness of responsibility should cause one to keep ever near to the Heart of God, not that it should become a burden, but that it should be a searchlight, as it were, by which we may examine our individual courses of action in relationship to our unified purpose.
Woe to anyone who “shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me.” There are many points of application, of course, and I like to see the development of meditation in you by which these various implications can be followed out, orderly, to their logical fulfilments in realization. When we consider the baby responses, the baby recognitions, as it were, of things Divine, the little shoots of feeling by which we begin to perceive the Sunlight of God's Love, and begin to make use of the Water of Truth, if by wrong attitudes, by wrong actions, responding in wrong directions, we offend—that is, hinder or destroy these tender shoots of our individual natures which are reaching up to that unity of the Divine, then we are indeed coming under the woe that the Master expressed.
I have, in so many, many instances, in so many individuals, seen the beginnings of response, the opening up, the sending forth, of the tender shoots which, because of some crystallized idea in some fashion, or some snap judgment, or reaction of some kind, were harshly trampled upon and destroyed. Each individual does it in himself more or less. As you look back, you can probably all remember instances, or at least sense that it was so, that some tender shoot of response or perception, of realization, began to appear, the “little one”, that baby growth, began to appear, and then, through some thoughtless, harsh reaction of some kind, you found that that tiny tendril had been trampled upon and mangled. Then I have seen people, in such a case, take the attitude that the “little one” could not reappear, or that it showed, or proved, the point of the unreal. So, we remember that He also said, “Let the little ones come unto Me”. That is probably applied in the field of human children or those who have become as little children in the Way, but it can certainly be applied to those baby expressions of response that begin to spring up in you, individually or collectively, the tiny tendrils beginning to let go, and perceive and utilize the Sunlight of Divine Love and the Water of Truth. They are to be permitted to “Come unto Me.” He said, “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not.” When those “little ones” are hindered, or trampled upon, we are keeping them from coming unto Him, and it is only as those baby shoots of perception, of feeling recognition, of realization and function, are permitted to come unto Him that they can grow into that full stature of Christ. So we rejoice particularly in the expanding consciousness of these things, that each one be careful that he or she does not offend these “little ones” who find birth in himself or herself, in the Spiritual sense, so that he does not prevent them from coming unto Him, but, rather, takes care that he so functions that such perception shall be nurtured and that it shall be cared for until only that which is of Divine Expression finds appearance in the individual life. “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not.” Woe unto those who “shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me.” Let no one be guilty of that woe.
The individual who turns to the Spiritual life, theoretically at least, acknowledges, “Of myself I am nothing, and of myself I can do nothing.” There is a recognition that only through the Divine Source can fulfilment come. Then, if that be accepted theoretically, and the individual keeps trying, of himself, to do something, to be something, we know it does not permit the bringing forth of fruit; but one who has any fundamental recognition of what we might call Christianity accepts, at least theoretically, the idea that, “Of myself I can do nothing”. It is not at all foreign; it is recognized and accepted. But now, you, as a Unit, are beginning to realize the true implications of that fundamental fact; you are beginning to recognize that if, of yourself—that is, in the human sense separate from the Divine—you are nothing, then all of the unrealities of yourself and in yourself are nothing. They have no weight, meaning or value and should be treated accordingly. But, if that is true of any one Member, then it is true of all Members, and to the degree that, mutually, there is that realization, so that whatever there may be of the human expression that remains un-unified with the Divine, it can be recognized as being nothing.
“Of myself I am nothing and can do nothing”—in the human sense, separated from the Divine. Then, it is true for each one; and that which is of the outer self, separated from the Divine, in one another, then, has no weight, meaning or value. Theoretically, you have, as Members of the Unit, potential Members at least, accepted this fact long ago, but now you are learning its true implications and beginning to let the fulness of it have real influence in your lives, because if, in looking at each other, we are seeing primarily that with which we can do nothing, our eyes certainly are not centered on the Source, and our feelings are certainly not, for such periods of reaction at least, centered upon things Divine or things worthwhile. So, I trust this is a realization that permeates each one, so that there may be no more the waste of time and energy, and destructive influence that is engendered by looking on the nothingness, fretting, stewing, reacting about the nothingness. Any human being, of himself, separate from the Divine, is nothing and can do nothing. So, you recognize that, back through the whole period of our association in this Service, I have been pointing your attention to the Source, to that Central Point where the something is, where the nothingness is no longer of any consequence, where it is no longer assumed to have weight, meaning and value. In such case, that is, through such realization, you can more readily appreciate the importance of the various aspects of the Teaching that has been given to you back through the years; the truths that have been expressed to you begin to have more meaning to you than ever before, because they begin to have more meaning without separation—and the nothingness, seen for what it is, is not treated as if it were something.
When, by reason of singleness of vision the individual is looking to Reality, seeing Reality, then he no longer wastes time acting as if nothingness had meaning. The importance of this point, which I have emphasized to you so many times in the past, cannot be over-emphasized, because this relates directly to that means, that principle, the function of the Law, by which the unreal can be eliminated, individually and collectively, in order to allow the fulness of things Divine to come forth. How thankful we are that, through the One Spirit, and true polarity in the things that are Reality, we can cease functioning as if the unreal had weight, meaning and value. When we become adults we put away childish things, properly, but there are very few adults who have begun to realize the necessity of stopping acting as if nothing were something. When we all, looking one toward another, recognize that which is of Reality and are concerned about that which is of Reality; when, looking one toward another, we no longer treat the unreal as if it were something, then do we indeed put away childish things, and grow in Grace and Stature IN the Christ.
“Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Until the individual functions naturally in life, and innocently, using the word in the sense of Reality, until he can function without fear and shame and inhibitions of any sort, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, because there are no channels for the Kingdom to manifest through. The only Kingdom you can be in is that which manifests through you. Many people in the world who give very little consideration to Spiritual things are primarily of this world, and yet their capacities to let the things of even that world manifest through them are so few that there is nothing much there. The capacities of the people of this world to let this kingdom manifest through them vary; so we recognize that we cannot get away from the fact that the only kingdom in which we can be is that kingdom which we allow to manifest through us. The expression through the many Members, when unified, provides that which is of the whole. The manifestation of Reality in and through each Member provides a phase of that which is requisite to the whole, and when that which is potential, in the sense of Reality in each one, does find adequate expression in life and in Ministry, we will have a vibrantly alive and powerfully effective Nucleus of the Whole.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
The Creative Command of the Word
Answer Thou Me!
Martin Cecil August 6, 1979 Assembly
The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof. Presumably there's a larger awareness of what the fulness is. There is a very great deal declared to us by the forms which we may observe round about, so that it is easy to reawaken to the Lord, the Owner, to the essences that are present and permeating all that is observable in form, and permeating much more that is not observable in form. We rejoice in the beauty of creation, the natural rhythms and music of creation, but we rejoice even more in the Creator. None of these observable things would be possible or exist except for the Creator.
Because our delight is in the Lord our delight is in the essences of creative action. Our natural experience is defined by the words “I and my Father are One.” We are, in truth, not separated at all from the creative action. That creative action has been described by the Word, the Word that is God, the Word that is with God, the Word by which all things are. Our responsibility in this moment is a creative one in this sense. We do not merely look at the creation which comes within the range of our observation as though we were merely an observer. This has been the attitude that has tended to be taken by the human mind. It sets itself apart from everything that is going on and takes the position of observer, when the human mind is a part of what's going on. It only deludes itself if it tries to set itself apart as an observer so that the observations become delusions.
Creator and creation are One. We share in the creative process. We are aware of what occurs by reason of that process because we are not separate from the occurrance. If we speak of Creator and creation it always seems to the human mind to be two things. The fact of the matter is that neither one exists without the other, and so there is a close experience of Oneness, which at the sametime is wholeness. Creation separate from the Creator is not whole. Creator separate from the creation is not whole. In ourselves we find a dual experience in this sense, of Creator and creation, but it is this that allows for the experience of oneness and fulness. “I and my Father are One.” I am.
When the Master was speaking to Nicodemus he was conveying something to that rather restricted consciousness—not uncommon of course in human experience—but there was evidently very little comprehension of what it was that was being offered. Because of the restrictions in consciousness it was being interpreted in a way that made it more or less senseless. Now this is done by human minds: something which is easily understood is rendered senseless by the manipulative interpretations of the human mind. Nicodemus more or less admitted that he didn't understand what was being said although he sensed that there was something being said. The Master's words, as they are recorded here, are contained in the third chapter of John, the tenth and eleventh verses: “Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.” In this instance Nicodemus was receiving the witness; he was not undertanding or comprehending what was being offered, not on a deliberate basis. Presumably he came to the Master in order to gain understanding but he was in no position to receive it because of his restricted and structured state of consciousness, very largely because it was imbedded in the Jewish tradition but also because it was merely human nature consciousness.
Our concern is to, as it is put here, “...speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen.” Well of course we can't do that unless we know and have seen. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”—a nice expectation for many people. They diligently try to find out what the truth is, ignoring what went before that statement concerning continuing in the Word. “If ye continue in my word” then this will be the experience. We know the truth on that basis. We cannot find out what the truth is. We see clearly enough, surely, the futility of trying to extract the truth from reading the literature of mankind. Why? Well it isn't there. Great sounding words sometimes. There is a feeling that there must be something there: “If only I could just uncover it!”
We know the truth because we continue in the Word. To continue in the Word indicates an appreciation of the Word, to the extent that we now hear it, and because of that appreciation we stay with it. We do not separate ourselves from it in our living. We do not revert into this state where memory is lost once more. The Word, the Tone, is sounding. We have been provided with a very particular connection to that sounding—we have that connection already present with us—and it is then in our speaking, in our acting, in our thinking, in our feeling, that we experience the reality of that Tone. We continue in the Word. This is the same as saying, “We abide in His name,” but if we know what that statement means we can't just mouth the prayer, as some Christians do, and then add a little passage at the end to make it effective: “In His name we ask it.” Well nobody is in His name—what are they asking? When we are in His name we do some asking all right: something along the lines of, “I will demand of thee, and answer thou of me.” Everything that is brought to us, is to be put to the question. It is on the basis of this question that an answer will be offered to us. According to that answer so will the effect be.
Here we begin to see the reality of the creative command, which is immediately present with all circumstances as soon as there is One present who issues the command, which is the asking of a question. That was a command that the Lord asked of Adam and Eve—“Where art thou?”—thought of as a question, but it was really a command. The wrong answer was given but the command had been issued so the effect of the wrong answer was reflected upon those who gave it. The Lord always provides, in the creative process, a question which may be answered one of two ways: I suppose, basically, Yes or No. He's not imposing anything on anyone; He simply asks the question. Let the answer be given. And according as the answer is given so do the results appear. Of course because human beings are accustomed to giving the wrong answer the results that appear are not so pleasing, and so it seems advisable to complain about it to start with, and try to change it thereafter, try to make it more acceptable. Now everybody is at least two steps away from the original question. They've forgotten the original question and the answer that was given. But now that the results have come, “How are we going to handle this?” And so the means of salvation is blotted out of consciousness.
Everybody is now busy trying to deal with the result of the wrong answer. Well nobody had to give the wrong answer—it was human choice, and along the way we have participated in that choice. But now we have begun to back up sufficiently to begin to re-hear the question, so that we stop struggling with the effects of giving the wrong answer and come back to the point where we can hear the question again. Maybe we can give the right answer this time. If we give the right answer then the effects are according to that answer. But you can easily see, not just theoretically, that the Lord doesn't impose anything on anyone. It's all based in a question. And fundamentally, if we are one in this creative process, our attitude is summarized in this matter of posing the question. Emissaries have not really seen this for the most part so that they have assumed that a creative command would be imposing something.
One might say to the ignoramuses with whom we are associated, “You must respond to me. I will give you the answer.” That isn't the way it works. Fundamentally it is, “You give me the answer, and I will abide by your answer.” Now sometimes the answer that people give is a surface answer, when there is something else underneath, and we need to know when we can do what is necessary to set aside that wrong surface answer in order to encourage the bringing forth from underneath, the right answer. There are those who just give the wrong answer and that's that. All right, that's up to them. But our concern is primarily with those who may seem to give the wrong answer, but we don't take it at face value because there is a sensing of something back of that answer. In other words the answer that is given, while it may seem very assured at the moment is recognized as being quite thin, and there is something present in that person which is capable of giving the right answer.
There are those who give the apparent right answer, who are really giving the wrong answer. We need to be able to discern that too. But my interest is to emphasize the point that, participating in the creative process, we issue the creative command. The creative command is “Answer thou me.” We leave it up to people to give the answer; we're not going to impose the answer upon them. We know that according to the answer so will the effects be in their experience, but they must give the answer. And it is a creative command because the results will inevitably appear according to the answer that is given. There's no question about that. We don't have to dig up some great spiritual power somewhere and zap people with a creative command. People zap themselves according to the answer that they give to the creative command, but there must be someone on hand who is capable of giving the creative command, which fundamentally is:
Answer Thou Me!
In order for a person to hear that command, “Answer thou me,” the right answer must be clearly in evidence in one's own expression. We're not wading into the world in some fashion—it wouldn't be possible anyway in this way—and demanding answers to a question when there is no provision at all as to what the right answer might be. We must reveal what the right answer is so that everyone is left without excuse in giving whatever answer they do give. People tend to be very blind, even when the truth is standing right in front of them, as the truth was standing right in front of Pilot for instance, long ago. They still say, “What is truth?” They're dumb and blind and stupid. That’s human nature all over. It thinks of itself as being so clever. However those who are awakening are the ones to whom the question is particularly posed. We're in no position to go out into the world in general and pose the question “Answer thou me.” How would we do it yet? There are ways by which we are enabled to issue this command increasingly and we need to develop these ways by which the command may be issued.
The command is issued because we speak the Word, because in our living the Word is present and in action—the Tone is sounding. The Tone is sounding so that those who have ears to hear can hear it. As we have seen before there is the need to amplify that Tone because it is being sounded in the lives of those concerned more totally and also because there are more sounding it in their lives. Then it becomes louder and people begin to hear the last trump. That's what it is—at least that's what it has been called. It needs to become a mighty blast which people on earth can't avoid hearing. It isn't that yet, obviously. People are still wallowing in their human nature, with their ears stopped with mud, chiefly with raucous sound.
So if we are to speak what we know we can only do it to the extent that we continue in the Word. And we speak also what we have seen because there is Light. The essential light must be present which makes it possible for others to see, at least see when they're in our vicinity. If a person begins to see while they're in our vicinity and then loses the vision going out he may remember that he saw when he was in your vicinity and come back in order to see again. Perhaps this time he'll stay long enough for you to convey the understanding that in order for him to see, no matter where he is, his own light must illuminate the area of observation so that, go where he will the light goes with him. Now we can't force people to hear and see but we can provide the means by which they may hear and see, if they have ears to hear and eyes to see. The brighter the Light that is shining the more likely a person is to see.
Now you'll note that there was knowing and seeing mentioned here, relating to the Word and the Light, and you recognize that this is initiating a creative cycle, isn't it? “And God said”—the Word—“let there be light.” Now this relates to our responsibility for the initiation of creative cycles in our living in this fashion. Of course the creative cycle doesn't stop there but it must begin there to go anywhere else. So we are concerned with this particular pulsation in the creative cycles which is summarized by knowing and seeing, but the knowing and seeing now applies to us. We speak that we do know and testify that we have seen. The testifying is in our living—the light shines round about. The light is consequent upon our living.
So we share this responsibility in the creative process. These creative processes relate to essences. We ourselves become increasingly alert to essences and less concerned with forms. Generally speaking with those who are beginning to awaken there is the necessity of providing certain forms for them to look at so that they may awaken some more to the fact that there are some essences behind those forms. But once there begins to be an awareness of the essences we don't need the forms to tell us of the essences. Now it may be intriguing and interesting to examine forms. There was something done in this regard with respect to the earth by John Waskom (https://newlydawningday.blogspot.com/2019/02/dr.html) which certainly indicates that there is something more to the earth than is usually supposed. Here is a living form. If it's a living form then there is life associated, and here we begin to touch the essence—the essence which is of primary importance to us. The earth may be said to be a living form in its own right but it is also a part of a larger living form, and it has life in its own right because it is part of a larger living form. That larger living form we could say is the solar system, but then the solar system itself is part of something larger still, and the life of the solar system is not an isolated phenomena but is there because of the fact of life in the larger form. We could refer to that as the galaxy, and so we go. And there are constantly larger forms in which life is, and the life of the smaller entities emerge out of the life of the larger, to some extent at least—and the life that is manifesting through me, that comes from God.
Well of course that still indicates the state of separation in our own consciousness; but we are inclined to think of our expression of life in terms of the individual state first, when actually the expression of life in terms of the individual state, what we now experience individually, is the last experience of life. It's the most peripheral aspect of it. The Father and I are One. In other words there's something much bigger and our life individually speaking is not separate from that much bigger manifestation of life, so that our consciousness begins to change from this little narrow restricted individual thing here to an awareness of something vast. That something vast is summarized by the words, My Father and I are One. There's no separation from that vastness. There is no way by which the human mind could encompass that vastness—it can't encompass life anyway.
But here is life. We might say, here is God. Life is an aspect of the character of God, and God is not restricted either to the earth or to our little individual forms. We know this in theory but we still tend to have a very restricted outlook individually speaking. We rightly step back, as it were; we have to step back quite a ways to sense our Oneness with the statement, “I and my Father are One.” This was a statement that has come down to us in the record, made by Jesus—we recognize, here, the Son of God or the Focus of Deity, relative to this whole world, including the earth. There's a largeness and our experience as Sons and Daughters of God is contained in that largeness. We can't lift ourselves out of that largeness as an individual and plunk ourselves down here and say now, “I'm going to do something.” I myself can do nothing. Anything we can do we do only because of that largeness. Now we do not necessarily have to go any further back than the largeness of life which relates to this earth because our responsibility collectively is here. But we need to have a consciousness of this so that we are not restricted in our outlook to the little slice of the pie for which we seem to be personally responsible. We don’t think of it as a slice of the pie—in other words, not cut out of the pie—here we are with our slice, we'll take care of this as individuals. No! There's a pie to be taken care of and we do not in fact slice it up. It is one pie, and it needs to be left as one pie. Here is Oneness and wholeness again.
So we begin to share in a consciousness which is capable of encompassing the pie, and we do not extract ourselves from that consciousness and say, “Well all I'm capable of is just encompassing this little slice I have here.” You don't have it here in actual fact except in imagination unless you are aware of the whole pie. Our individual fields of responsibility are not separate from the whole pie. We can't cut them out from the whole pie, and we can't isolate ourselves therefore in handling our responsibilities as there has tended to be an inclination to do when someone has accepted what they deemed to be a spiritual responsibility in the Emissary ministry: “This is my responsibility now. Don't you encroach on this.” If nobody encroaches on what you assume to be your responsibility your responsibility simply vanishes away. It isn't there anymore.
In the statement, “I and my Father are One”, we are proclaiming that we are One. We participate in one wholeness of consciousness and it will come to focus in specific action relative to each one, but what comes to focus in the action, in the word that is spoken, in the thought that is moving through the mind, and the feeling that is moving through the heart, this springs from the whole. It isn't an individual thing and we need to have this awareness. I'm sure that you have been becoming more aware in this regard, although probably in rather structured terms. But you cannot function as an isolated entity. “Well therefore I've got to nudge up against somebody else.” Well it isn't anybody else. Who are the else? “I and my Father are One.” Now the human mind can't grasp this. Of course not! It wasn't intended to grasp it. It has no business trying to grasp it. All it does is to get itself into a state of utter confusion by trying to grasp it. That is why there has been so much confusion and contradiction and argument and conflict—trying to grasp all this and get it down to where they could see what it was with their minds. “Now I understand it.” But we need to get away from the idea that we only understand something because we've grasped it with our minds. That’s when we lose understanding, that's when we squeeze out the understanding. When we grasp something we squeeze it, and if it's a sponge we squeeze all the water out of it, all the truth out of it. We have a dry sponge. That's the result of trying to grasp things. Here is a flow, here is a movement. It must clear at the core if it's going to clear beyond. There is something moving.
If there is movement in the current of the spirit, the expression of the Word, obviously a love of doing what is being done with a minimum of prior structures to encase it, then there is a natural pouring forth, and this will carry the current of the spirit. We are not separate from our world. Creator and creation are One. Therefore, logically, you could see that if you create something as the expression of the Word, and Creator and creation are One, then what you created carries that Word—so that that goes wherever it goes. Do you not think that that will have an effect? If it is a true creation it will. That carries something forth. If we see this with respect to what is now beginning to move with increasing intensity, then obviously if we are concerned with this creative process we will welcome that movement—and however we can open ourselves to let it be enhanced, and to pour forth in greater abundance—and we'll stop having structured views as though it's a little thing on the side that isn't really that important. The main business is to allow the flow of the creative spirit of the living God to reach wherever it will go. And there are ways by which this may be done which most of us haven't even thought of yet; and if we try to box it into little structures we're defeated right from the start.
I'm sure that we're all very much aware that there are restrictions in our own individual states of consciousness. There are restrictions therefor in our whole program. We're not saying that there's anything wrong that these restrictions are there. We need to accept the fact of them, but let us for heaven's sake not sit down and say “Well now we know what is required,” when it hasn't even been glimpsed yet. We do things in order to allow the expansion to occur, opening up a means of release for the creative spirit of the living God, for the Word to begin to resound on earth by this means—and there is something which connects right through to the core, and in this way the world is transformed. In every field it is so. In order for this to happen there needs to be an outpouring of the spirit; there is an outpouring out of the Word, the outpouring of life. “I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Basically this is the reason that I am come—and who are you? So there is something to pour forth.
There needs to be a symbol in the core, and there needs to be something back of that of course. We have what now is called the Supreme Council, for instance, which is a very little thing, which serves the purpose now. I'm sure that there will be more, much more, to what we might call the Supreme Council than is now in evidence and we will see what emerges on the basis of the movement of the spirit. But anything that is done is designed to initiate these creative cycles, so that we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen. That needs to emerge out of the core of things and be differentiated through the facility which is available, dealing with the essences which are moving out. This doesn't mean that there's a scattering abroad and everybody gets isolated out somewhere doing their thing. No. My Father and I are One. There's a whole, there's One thing. But it seems to take a little time for human consciousness to be in position to allow this understanding to be experienced—to flow through. When it is then we begin to be in position to reach out. There needs to be a movement out to where the action is. There is a close-in outpouring of the spirit, but it doesn't stop there. It needs to move on out and there needs to be a means by which it can move on out—people who go out there and begin to assume responsibility, and if there is someone who is capable spiritually in any situation he will become the leader in that situation. If we have people fiddling around in their little world, just sitting there, there's something terribly wrong. It wouldn't be possible for a true Emissary to be restricted in that fashion. The expansion would come. A creative expression of spirit is expansive and the question is asked and an answer is given. On the basis of the answers that are given things begin to move, but if we never ask the question because we are never in position to do so, well what use are we? A creative command needs to be spoken in the world and we're here to do it
To the Glory of God
We may have a consciousness of the fact that we have much greater stature than has yet been revealed. We need to be humble in that way. But something has happened, and in considering these things we need to see this in relationship to the overall picture and to many, many people. We provide a focus here that something may extend on out in blessing and creative action to many, posing the question to many. We rejoice in the creative action that immediately becomes possible when we know and see because we express the Word—continue in the Word, and let the Light shine. Then we find ourselves instantly living in a world we didn't know was there before.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
Evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells
Shekinah
Uranda October 18, 1953 100 Mile House, B.C.
We have been introduced to the vital significance and importance of the Shekinah Pattern of Being—and the vibrational factors originating in relationship to this term, with respect to its meaning from the Motherland Tongue. The Shekinah Fire is that which appeared above the ark, between the cherubim, in the tabernacle during the time of the children of Israel, and this Shekinah was the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. The word Shekinah, was considered to be a secret or sacred Word, which was not commonly uttered, and there were many ways of signifying this particular word or meaning without saying it. For instance, in the first part of the 91st Psalm we have reference to "the shadow of the Almighty." The shadow is the evidence of the presence of something. Your shadow is the evidence of your presence. If someone can see your shadow, that shadow is the evidence of your presence, the evidence of the fact that you are nearby or at hand. So we begin to realize what it means when we read or repeat the words of the 91st Psalm, "He that dwelleth." A dwelling place is a living place, a place where you habitually live; not merely a place where you visit occasionally, but a dwelling place, a place where you habitually, consistently, live. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High," he that dwelleth in Shekinah, "shall abide," remain, "under the shadow," under the evidence of the Presence, "of the Almighty." Not one who is partly mighty, mighty one day and not the next. The Shekinah is the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, the Almighty, or the Most High.
We find in the Master's words in the New Testament period a constant reference to Shekinah. It has generally speaking been overlooked from the standpoint of Biblical students. But once we examine the Master's words in this realization, we begin to recognize that He was talking about Shekinah. When He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," He also said, almost in the same breath—the passage recorded in the same chapter—"The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." Therefore we must not attribute His words to the man Jesus, but to the Father. The words He spoke were the words of the Father. When He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," He was not talking about Himself as a man. We accept His word; He was giving expression to the words of the Father. He used the word "Father" to signify the One Who Dwells. "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
We go back into the Old Testament period and find that the Shekinah is composed of three distinct aspects: the Fire that burns, which correlates with God's Love; the Light that glows, which correlates with Truth; and the Cloud of Glory, which correlates with Life. So the statement, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," is simply another way of signifying Shekinah, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And that evidence is in its manifestation three things, all of which blend into One. First there is the reality of God's Love. "I am the way." The way of what? The way of God's Love. "I am"—that is, the One Who Dwells—"the way," God's Love; "the truth," the elements of Design and Control that are always present with respect to every aspect of being, all created things; "and the life," life, that which is signified by Glory.
When we repeat the Lord's Prayer, as it is called, we say, "For thine, O Father," the One Who Dwells, "is the kingdom"—the arrangement here is a little different—the kingdom, the dominion factors of Design and Control, "and the power," the power of Love, "and the glory," the Glory which always relates to Life. The Glory of God is the Life of God; and if you have life in you, that life is of God; and if you let that life manifest according to the Design of God it is the Glory of God being made manifest in and through you.
So we have the Shekinah Pattern of Being, and the more we study and meditate upon this tremendously significant point the more we begin to realize that the Master actually knew what He was talking about when He said, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." He did not just say, "Heaven is at hand." He said, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." A kingdom has a king, yes, but in a kingdom there are the elements of control or dominion, the elements of design, which determine the pattern of life in that kingdom. So the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the opportunity to share in the dominion of God right here on earth. "Thy kingdom come," He taught men to pray. "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."
We gathered here to learn how to let the will of God be done in earth as it is in heaven; for we recognize that the will of God brings forth that which is beautiful and divine, wonderful, in heaven. The will of God brings forth exactly the same things on earth. Many people are afraid of God's will. They have been told that every tragedy that appeared was an expression of God's will. But that is a blasphemous attitude, because we begin to realize that everything that is wrong on the face of the earth is contrary to God's will. It is not God's will that anyone should suffer or be ill or have tragedy, or any other ill thing. When we let God's will be done in earth, in the earth of our own bodies, our affairs, our circumstances, we find that God's will brings forth on earth exactly the same things that God's will brings forth in the invisible realm of heaven. The Master knew what He was talking about. That was His "good news," His gospel: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." If we would enjoy the full blessing of the good news He brought we need to learn how to enter into the kingdom.
So much of what the Master had to say was dealing with the means by which one might enter the kingdom of heaven. He used parables, and said, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto..."—many different illustrations. And yet human beings have continued down through the centuries to imagine that they had to die to get into the kingdom of heaven. They have not seen the great possibilities, the wonderful opportunities, of letting themselves begin to be citizens of that kingdom in reality; not merely in a spiritual, ethereal sense, but in the sense of the practical living of everyday life, right here and now. For we find that the Divine Design for Life avoids all tangents, avoids all fanaticism, and gives us an opportunity to live a balanced, sensible, scientifically designed life right here on earth. And we know why we are here, the purpose of our living; and in the accomplishment of that purpose we can begin to enjoy the beauty and the wonder and the Glory which God would share with us. Beauty is always related to Truth, Wonder is always related to Love, and Glory is always related to Life.
In Revelation we read these words: "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven." Where is heaven? It is at hand, the vibrational realm of being. "A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet." Here we have a recognition of the fact that the body of mankind, including all men and women, is supposed to be a part of that body which is spoken of, at another place, as the Bride of the Lamb. The Bride-to-be is taking form on earth. Every man, woman and child is invited to share in the forming of that body which allows the true union of heaven and earth. We do not need to go from here to find heaven. Heaven is at hand, and we can let heaven and earth be one. "The moon under her feet"—again emphasis upon the point of dominion, control over those things which are supposed to be responsive to man. And yet man is at the present time a slave to these things, subject to them, pushed about by his circumstances, trying to fight and gain control of some little part of the earth, or some little part of circumstance and condition, in order to be what he thinks to be a success. But in the Divine Design there is the privilege of dominion, control, and in that control we begin to know the real joys of living.
The Master said that He came that our joy might be full. The way of life, the way of the spiritual life, is not one that takes away the joys of life. It does not cause us to be somber and constantly long-faced and grim. Rather it opens to us the way in which we can have a truly joyful or happy life, with the good things of life to be shared, known and experienced; because God created man in the beginning to have his home right here on earth. In the beginning God created man to have dominion on earth. He did not create man to go to heaven. He did not create man to be somewhere else. According to the record: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the earth and all the things that are therein." Man was created to be on earth, to have his eternal home on earth, to live on earth and have dominion on earth, to be the means by which the dominion of the kingdom of heaven should be extended to all creation on earth. And there is no reason to suppose that God changed His mind after He created man. Even though man fell from his Divine Estate and distorted the pattern, God has not changed his purpose. He did not change His mind. God's purpose for you rests in the same realm today as God's purpose for man when man was first created; that is, to have dominion on earth, to live on earth, to have the fulness of joy and satisfaction and life on earth. So we are not trying to get out of the earth into heaven; we are not following after some escape mechanism. We are not worried about the hereafter. We are concerned about right living here and now, letting the Laws of God begin to take effect in our lives so that we may accomplish that to which we are called here and now.
Here, then, in this symbolical portrayal we see another revelation of Shekinah. "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun." How could a person be clothed with the sun? The sun is the positive center of the solar system; the earth is negative to that sun; and in turn, the moon is negative to the earth. The woman signifies the negative aspect of Being, or mankind on earth, male and female. And clothed with the sun. On a sunny day we are enfolded in the sun's rays, the sun's light, the sun's warmth. Without that which emanates from the sun we could not have life on earth as a physical fact. We depend upon that which emanates from the sun. And the earth is enfolded in that which is of the sun. The sunlight is of the sun, and yet it is not all of the sun. The sun as a physical fact is a star in the sky, actually a star—as all the stars in the sky are suns. And we begin to realize that we are clothed with the sun. Without the sun there would be nothing growing; without the sun there would be no warmth; without the sun there would be no life. In actual fact we, today, right here on earth, are clothed with the sun.
If we begin to realize that as a physical, scientific fact, we can begin to see the spiritual application, because that which emanates from God is here; it is working through us. And the life that is in you is a part of Shekinah, the life that is in you now. You do not have to get into Shekinah, we do not have to get into heaven, we do not have to go through some mysterious and strange process; because whether we say Shekinah, or the Christ Spirit, or God's Spirit, or the Holy Spirit, or any other term we wish to use along that line, we mean "that which emanates from God." It comes forth from God. And the Spirit of God has three aspects: the aspect of Love, the aspect of Truth and the aspect of Life. If any person on the face of the earth is alive the Spirit of God is in that person. If anyone on earth has known anything about love the Spirit of God is in that person. If anyone on earth has been able to think with his mind, understand with his intellect, comprehend anything that is true or beautiful in life or design around about us, then the Spirit of God is in that man or that woman.
We do not have to get into the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is in us now. The difficulty is that we have been using the Spirit of God contrary to the will of God, and we begin to find out, as it is put in the 1st chapter of the Book of John, "All things were made by Shekinah, and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made." Without Shekinah you cannot move a finger. Without Shekinah you cannot speak a word. Without Shekinah you cannot think. Without Shekinah you can do absolutely nothing; for if Shekinah is not in you, that which remains is nothing but a corpse, which returns to the dust of the ground. So we do not have to go through a mysterious process, some sort of mystical and strange thing. We begin to realize that Shekinah, or God's Spirit, however we wish to put it, is in us now; else we would not be alive, moving; we would not be here tonight.
Therefore once we begin to let our minds come under the dominion of God's will, the Shekinah that is in us will be used according to God's will and dominion will be established in our lives. And the moon will begin to be under our feet; for the moon is negative to the earth, that is, responsive to the earth, and that means that, just as God created man to be the connecting link between Creator and creation, all of the creation that is made manifest on earth is supposed to be subject to man, under the dominion of man. It is not at the present time, but it is supposed to be. Therefore when the moon is under our feet, that which is supposed to be negative to us will be under subjection to us—another portrayal of that beautiful design that God has established for us.
From one cover of the Book to the other we find the same basic truths repeated over and over again; and once we begin to see them we find that a study, a consideration, of these things is the most fascinating and interesting endeavor in which we can be engaged, for we begin to learn how to live. Human beings have for so long tried to live, but in actual fact have experienced fundamentally nothing more than an existence. They have not known how to live; they have not known the laws of life; they have not learned the art of living. People imagine that they can just grow up and go out and live for themselves according to their own ideas, and we have a world full of people who are in misery, in institutions—hospitals full of physically, mentally and emotionally sick. We have a world threatened with war of a horrible pattern of devastation—all the ill things, the sufferings and the miseries and the unhappiness, simply because human beings have not learned how to live. And it is not because God withholds it from us, but because we have not yet learned how to receive that which God has already provided.
"A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." Twelve stars. The twelve is something which reoccurs with such interesting regularity. Why do we have twelve months in the year? Why is mention made of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel? Why did the Master have twelve disciples? Why did He not have six or some other number of disciples? He had followers. He had the seventy that were spoken of at one place. But there were twelve disciples, the twelve apostles if you want to put it that way. Over and over again this point of twelve returns to us, and we are reminded that twelve is three times four. In this connection we have noted that, counting the One Who Dwells, there are four aspects of Shekinah: the center, the reality, God, the One Who Dwells, the Almighty; and the three aspects of His expression of being are the Fire that burns (or Love), the Light that glows (or Truth), and the Cloud of Glory (or Life). But God made man with three aspects of being: a physical body through which the Spirit of Life could operate; a mind, an intellect, through which the Spirit of Truth could operate; and a heart or emotional realm, a feeling nature, through which the Spirit of Love could operate.
We begin to realize that man, with his triune nature—a body, mind and emotional or feeling nature—was so created for one reason only: so that that which was of God could be made manifest through man. For God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness," and He did so. And God breathed the breath of life into man, "and man became a living soul." For your body is a part of your soul, the soul that you are, and your mind, your emotional nature. It does not say, "God put a soul in man"; because man himself is a soul. Once we begin to actually see and realize some of these fundamental principles of life, we can begin to be in position where we can harmonize with the laws of life.
You are a soul, either a living soul or a dying soul. We might say there are three classifications in the world. Some might be dead souls, at least dead to reality, dead to the spiritual things of God. But human beings, broadly speaking, come under two classifications: living souls or dying souls. If man is a dying soul he is being repelled from the Presence of the One Who Dwells and is in a diminishing sense revealing the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. But if, through body and mind and heart, you are revealing the evidence of the One Who Dwells you are a living soul, and the life pattern in your body is increasing. We have seen some wonderful things work out in the current of God's healing power, many lives blessed, but we must realize that only as we let the Shekinah have manifestation through us can we permit these things to be; for your body was made on earth for the manifestation on earth of the Life or Glory aspect of Shekinah, or the Holy Spirit, whichever you wish to use: the Christ. Christ means Shekinah, or Shekinah means Christ. Old and New Testaments both teach exactly the same thing—Shekinah.
The body, your body, was made so that the Life aspect of Shekinah could manifest. The evidence of the Presence of God or the One Who Dwells is Life, to manifest through your body. And you were given a mind, an intellect, the ability to think; you are not merely as a dumb animal. For what purpose? So that the Truth aspect, or the Light that glows, could work through your mind and another step could be taken in revealing the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And you have a heart, your emotional nature. As it is put in the Psalms: "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." So here again we see the same thing: a pure heart, a heart and emotional realm that is a means by which God's love is revealed on earth; which is to say, the evidence of the Presence of God is revealed through the emotional nature by the manifestation of Love, through the mind by the manifestation of Truth, and through the body by the manifestation of Life. And all mankind together, not just one man here or one woman there, but all two billion of us put together, are supposed to be able to allow enough of the revelation of the evidence of the Presence of Almighty God so that God Himself could be made manifest right here on earth; for every man and woman and child is supposed to be a part of the Body of God, without respect to race or color or creed, regardless of church background or national background or anything else. Every man, woman and child on the face of the earth, every member of the body of mankind, is supposed to have a share in revealing the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
When we look out into the world, what do we see? The evidence of the presence of chaos, turmoil, suffering, misery, sickness, every evil sort of thing. These are not the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. They are the evidence of the absence of the One Who Dwells, insofar as these lives are concerned. They are not letting the evidence of that Presence be made manifest in themselves. They are moving away from God instead of moving closer to God. But while life remains in the body, while the mind can yet think, while the heart can yet feel, there is hope that the individual will begin to realize the purpose for which he is on earth and stop stealing the Power of God, the Life of God, the Love of God, the Truth of God, to use it to his own ends, for his own purposes, without regard to the Divine Design, without regard to the beauty and the wonder and the glory of life made possible to us right here on earth.
As we meditate upon these things our minds recall that first text in the Bible, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." But He created heaven first. And man is supposed to be a means by which God's creative power continues to manifest on earth. Until we begin to realize that we need heaven first we cannot begin to let anything that is important to our lives manifest. Whatever is important to our fulfilment, we must let the heaven aspect of it be created first, and then give it form in physical substance, then let the earth aspect of it be created. And we will find that all things work together to perfection in and through and for us, because we love and serve our Lord and King. But let that be neglected—as most of the people in the world are doing, so that they try to build the earth, the physical form aspect of their desires, first—and they will labor all through their lives, struggle and suffer, and finally die, without ever having achieved that toward which the heart was yearning.
Man has forgotten that, being made in the image and likeness of the Creator, he is supposed to let the Creator's creative work be carried forward right here on earth. God created heaven first, and then the earth. He did not create the earth first and then the heaven. We must learn how to create heaven for ourselves right here, the heaven of a home, for instance. If a couple, a married couple, sets out to create on earth a home, they may buy a house, they may have it filled with furniture, but unless they started out to create the heaven of that home, without too much concern about the form of the house to start with, they will find out that it turns out to be a place of hell, not heaven, not home—a place of discord, of fighting, of difficulty, of misunderstanding, of sickness, of suffering and sorrow. There are millions of couples who have tried it. We do not have to go out and try it ourselves to see. We simply have to open our eyes and look around us. But let that couple, in mutual dedication to God, begin to create the heaven of that home first, and then begin to give it form with a house and furniture and the other things, and they will have a home, not just a place to live, not a place of hell. They can give form to heaven right here.
Anything we undertake to do without regard to Shekinah will fail. For you cannot speak a word, you cannot move a hand, except by Shekinah. And if that which you do is contrary to God's purpose for Shekinah, you repel yourself from God and defeat yourself, just as surely as the sun rises and sets. There has never been anything done on the face of the earth, good or evil, in all the thousands of years of history, that was not done by Shekinah, by the reality of Shekinah. But if the Shekinah in man was being controlled by man without regard to the will of God, he brought forth evil, not because God willed to bring forth evil but because man stole that which comes from God and used it for his own purpose. He made himself to be a thief, and he established false gods and spoiled the Pattern of Being. We realize that in the Divine Design for man we can be creative, we can be creators, we can begin to let that heaven take form, and then give it physical form and have something beautiful, of the divine design. But if we disregard that, we will fail, as generations before us have done; for if we would experience that which is divinely ordained we must do it God's way, according to God's will, for God's purpose. And God's purpose for man is that man shall be on earth and be the means by which God's dominion shall be established and maintained on earth now and always; for the earth is as much a part of God's creation as heaven is. Heaven is not complete without the earth, and the earth is not complete without heaven. We can prove, right here and now in our everyday lives, the reality of these things.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
