Honesty  and  Quick  Repentance

Martin Cecil  September 13, 1981

Since man, male and female, chose to deny the Lord and betray the purpose for their being on earth, the door to restoration has been open. When this failure first occurred those concerned were very conscious of what they were doing, although at that point they had no awareness yet of the effects of what they were doing. It may be said that there was originally a state of bliss; that is a way of describing the particular situation at that time. Subsequently, due to the increasing separation so that the consciousness of man no longer accommodated fully the consciousness of God, the condition of suffering was introduced. Bliss is a state of oneness with God; suffering occurs according to the extent of separation. There has been much of this over the ages. If originally there had been quick repentance there could have been quick restoration. This didn't happen and so it has become progressively more difficult for human beings to participate in the restoration. The difficulty is not from the standpoint of the Lord but is consequent upon a fading memory of what had occurred, and why it had occurred, and also an increase of tribulation and suffering. So all around there was more difficulty. However the door to restoration has always been open and the plan by which it might come about has always been in effect.

Within that plan of restoration there are various sub-aspects, one might say. Certainly, even though this has been in effect, advantage has not been taken of the opportunities that were provided. The result of course has been that various particular opportunities were lost; what was happening to allow for the restoration was aborted. This has been done repeatedly over the ages. We are ourselves aware of this occurring in more recent history: at the time of the Israelites, for instance, and later at the time of Jesus.

When abortion has occurred there is no way by which it could be made not to have occurred—at the point of abortion the damage can't be repaired. Always before abortion occurs there are what might be called warnings. If the warnings are taken to heart and something is done, then perhaps there will be no abortion. The point I'm stressing now is that when an abortion actually occurs then that opportunity is finished; it can't be repaired and reinstituted. As I say, there have been repeated such abortions along the way; I mentioned two of them. But always within any aspect of this creative cycle of restoration there are what might be called lesser levels of abortion—the opportunity extended by reason of the Israelites only finally came to an end because there had been countless sub-abortions within that pattern, until eventually the greater one occurred and that was that. This final step took place at the time of Solomon—about 1000 B.C. When such a major failure is finally established it is likely to take quite a little time before a new way can be developed. In the overall sense the cycle of restoration was established at the time of man's first failure. In the universal sense there are creative cycles at work that have nothing to do with the particular failure of man. This failure is within something much vaster, obviously. By reason of this vast creative movement throughout the whole universe the cycle of restoration insofar as man is concerned could easily be put into effect. What would ultimately be the experience remains unknown, but there would be restoration—whatever that might mean at the time that it occurred. In other words, there isn't anything that man could do to defeat God.

In establishing the creative cycles of restoration there were apparently a number of failures. Now, looking back on those failures, we may say, “Well it all worked out as it should. If what went before hadn't all gone before we wouldn't be here now.” However it is also true to say that the things that did occur in the past needn't have occurred that way. They did occur that way and we're here. All right. But we certainly could learn something from what has happened before. If we look at the ministry of Jesus on earth we may recognize, easily enough I'm sure, a few of the lesser abortions that occurred in that ministry before the final one. There was an occasion when it is said that He wept over Jerusalem. He saw the end of a particular creative cycle that might have worked out in a particular way. It was aborted, so it couldn't work out that way. And He said, “Your house is left unto you desolate.” Another occasion was when Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus; here was another point of abortion. Oh yes, Lazarus came forth from the tomb, that was fine, but there was something else of much more importance present then. We have noted that this related to His own subsequent experience of mistrial and crucifixion.

Whenever a creative cycle does abort it is a sad thing. But it is no use indulging in what-might-have-been nostalgia; nothing would be gained by that. The fact has to be accepted. Always, at any point of abortion the greatest effect falls upon the one who provides the point of focus. Usually if a person becomes aware of the fact that he or she played a particular part in bringing about the abortion it is imagined that the experience of that one is the most devastating. Oh but it isn't! The most devastating one always relates to the point of focus. We might see this particularly from the standpoint of what occurred in our Master's experience: He went through what He did; and one might say it would be difficult to top that. The one who provided a special point of failure was called Judas. He wasn't alone in this; he represented something that was certainly present in the whole body of mankind; but he did initiate what occurred in our Master's experience. When he finally saw what he had done he was devastated and took his own life. But in a sense it could be said that he had it easy. It was much more devastating insofar as the Master was concerned. In other words, always it falls on the point of focus. Usually when a person awakens to some sort of failure, and there is remorse, it is mostly self-pity. It isn't a real recognition of what had occurred.

For a creative cycle to be maintained there must be no, what one might call, ultimate failure. Even that devastating experience of Jesus on earth was not an ultimate failure. In fact it proved to be a victory. It opened a door in a more particular way for mankind. This could be so because there was a larger creative cycle at work, one which encompassed what He undertook on earth. What He undertook on earth was aborted, but because there was something larger than that in operation even that situation could be used to advantage. It could be used to advantage to allow an emergence of something new. All that had gone before, of failure, could not be put together again. The parable of Humpty-Dumpty is quite accurate. Once the eggs are scrambled you can't unscramble them.

But always there is the necessity, if one is to participate in what will now emerge, for repentance. Repentance is not just remorse. As I say, a lot of remorse that people experience is merely self-pity. Repentance requires that one honestly acknowledge what the situation was and one's own part in it, assuming responsibility in the matter. There may go with that some genuine remorse, but the remorse is not going to change anything. If something is aborted it's gone, but there is an opportunity for something else to emerge provided that there is repentance, so that forgiveness may be received. But forgiveness relates to participation in what it is that is now emerging. So many people in the depths of their remorse remove themselves entirely from what would now emerge. They're plumbing the depths of self-pity. What would now emerge isn't the same as what could have happened before if there had been no abortion. But there needs to be the acknowledgment of the fact of the abortion if there is to be the emergence of whatever it is comes next.

I suppose these things are obviously clear relative to our own experience in the unfoldment that has taken place in the Emissary ministry over the years. There was a point when a certain cycle was obviously aborted. That was the point when Uranda left this sphere of things. Clearly it couldn't work out on the basis of Uranda anymore, because he wasn't there. That's a clear-cut example and nobody would try to fool themselves—although some did for a little while—that somehow or other he could be inveigled back into the pattern again. No, it's gone—abortion—but it didn't abort everything, because there was some means of allowing the emergence of something new, something which was not a repeat of what could have been or what might have been on the basis of the previous cycle. It's not difficult to look back and see what might have been, but let us not indulge in that sort of nostalgia; it achieves nothing. We could do this with respect to any aborted cycle; even in this ministry there have been many. One of the problems that I have had over the years is to convince people—particularly those who were involved in a particular pattern of abortion—that something had been aborted. There is a great reluctance to honestly acknowledge the fact. “Surely we can repair this somehow.” No! Not once it's gone, you can't repair it. This emphasizes to us the immense care that we need to take so that these situations of abortions do not arise.

We have come in the cycles of time to the conclusion of the forty-ninth year since the inception of this ministry. We have seen this as seven cycles of seven years each. There is a conclusion here which rightly leads into what comes next. We need to be very sure that this conclusion is not an abortion. I do not anticipate that it will be. The door has remained open regardless of sundry failures along the way. There has been a continuing movement and unfoldment. But we need, individually, to see our personal responsibility in these matters; if there is some aborted cycle, why do you think it happened? Because of individual human beings—us. When we're thinking of it in terms of what is present in the Emissary ministry, what responsibility is there, then if there are points of abortion they come because of us in some way; and not just us but, ultimately, “me.” The individual lets these things occur. So obviously it is a matter of assuming individual responsibility, never looking at somebody else, so that each one may say, “This is my responsibility,” not merely our responsibility. “Our” has all too often simply been a cop-out. “Our” doesn't mean anything until “my” means something; then we have a viable “our.”

So we come to this time in the creative cycle when we move into the fiftieth year of this ministry. We may see something here relative to the working of the creative forces. Theoretically at least, you know something about this: water, air, earth, fire. The working of the earth force related particularly to this last seven-year period. But what comes after earth? Fire. The fiftieth year: the beginning of a fire cycle—I wouldn't say necessarily of seven years; it could be the days are shortened; but certainly fire.

As is customary in human consciousness, external events tend to claim precedence in human interest.  Certain events have been indicated as likely to occur in this coming year. One of them is the Emissary International Congress. This has stirred up a certain amount of interest and excitement in people far and wide. Why? Because a large number of Emissaries are going to be able to get together and rub shoulders for a few days?—“It's so good to be together, isn't it?” But is that the point? Is the external event the thing that should loom in a position of precedence? What would be the point of a gathering of all these people, maybe ourselves included? The point might be said to be largely invisible, in a sense an unknown quantity. Something is coming to focus. Something is being brought together vibrationally speaking, by reason of individual human beings. It is this aspect of the matter that carries significance. Anybody can hold a convention or a congress. There are thousands of them in many places every year. Is this just another such occurrence? If it is, or is to be that, we might as well cancel it right now. There is something else here which is rightly of great significance, something very vital, something which relates to creativeness, and something which fortunately is largely beyond the immediate comprehension of human minds. However there can be an awareness, a vibrational awareness, which is not trying to make something out of whatever that awareness is. Let us find out what it is on the basis of the event itself. And the event doesn't stand aloof and alone, to occur for a few days. It is all part of a creative process, being drawn together vibrationally now, and now, and now, because we assume responsibility—the responsibility of honesty.

No one can repent without honesty. Human beings have been repenting, supposedly, for centuries: “Forgive us our sins”—but they don't have the faintest, foggiest notion what the sins are. They have some structured concepts that have been provided to make people imagine that these are the sins. But the sins center in the denial of the Lord to find creative expression in one's own living. That is the sin, isn't it? And where there is that failure, which has been a continuing one over the millennia, then there is at the same time a betrayal of the reason for one's own existence on earth—and so, rather naturally, we cease to exist on earth. This is all taken for granted these days because it has become such a habit.

Now we have the opportunity of participating in the creative cycle which is at work, as yet unaborted. I'm sure if I were to ask the question, you would all say that you are certainly not interested in doing anything to abort this cycle. Well we can say lots of things, which may or may not prove to be the truth of the matter. In any case, here we come to this fiftieth year shortly, the year of fire, a year of proving. Our concern is not rightly with respect to external events merely; these will doubtless put in an appearance one way or another. There is also the external event of my circling of the globe. Lots of people have gone around the world, no big deal. So it's not the external event of itself that carries significance. There is something related to that external event that does carry significance. If the human mind gets busy and tries to analyze these things, and tries to fit them into some structure of concept that it has already developed, no doubt with numbers—sevens and twelves and all this—it will contribute to an abortion. Why not let things be the way they are, without human interference? Why not accept the responsibility of repenting for our prior interference? For there isn't one of us here who hasn't interfered in some way, some in major ways but all in their own individual ways. Repent! That is, acknowledge the fact. Not the fact that “Oh, everybody around me needs to repent,” but that I need to repent, to acknowledge the aborting techniques in which one has indulged.

Over the years of this ministry I have been required to handle countless abortions. It's interesting that in these days abortion has become quite a political element in the consciousness of people. This may represent something but it's not the real question. The real question is the aborting of the creative cycles established by God. If that is taken care of, all the other things will be taken care of; but if that is not taken care of nothing else will be taken care of. We are here to see that we, with our emotional states and intellectual backup of those states, cease aborting the creative cycles that are at hand, so that we may move with steady spiritual step, quick to repent as necessary. I said before that if at the time of the failure there had been quick repentance there would have been quick restoration. Once again, now is the time for quick repentance; and with quick repentance comes quick restoration. This has been described in terms of the first flush of feeling, hasn't it? What is the nature of one's own first flush of feeling in any situation? People excuse themselves for wrong first flushes of feeling, very often with the idea that, “Give me a little time and it'll all work out. One day I'll have a right first flush of feeling.” Which day is that? Next Wednesday? Or today, now, in this moment? If it is ever to happen it must happen in this moment. There is no other moment for it to happen. So there is repentance and acknowledgment of these facts relative to oneself—quick repentance.

Human beings are addicted to their emotions, as we recognize. Some of them they deem to be good, others bad. But emotions are emotions are emotions, and none of them are supposed to have dominion in human lives. The dominion of man is the dominion of God, not of human emotions, good or bad. And so as we move into the fire these things are going to prove themselves out. Everything begins to come to a fine point of focus. Where do we stand? This sort of question could be asked, and some may try to give an answer in words, but that isn't the answer that is required. It is in one's own actual experience, in what happens in oneself; not what happens in somebody else, but what happens in oneself. Oh how reluctant human beings are ever to bring it down to themselves! It's always somebody else who is to blame, somebody else that we can complain about. Well what about “me”? What is the quality of atmosphere in my own experience, in my own feeling realm, in what is moving through my mind in thought? Oh yes, people are sold on good works, very often. “Look at all the things I'm doing. I've been taking care of these responsibilities for years; look at me.” Maybe there is one thing that has been lacking. This was pointed to by the Master in connection with Mary, wasn't it? Martha was busy about many things, very efficient she was no doubt, kept the house, kept it in shape, did the cooking; but she lacked the one essential, the pure heart, the clear emotional realm.

So we have before us a year of fire, and that certainly relates to the emotional realm. The refining fire: what doesn't belong is dissolved. What doesn't belong in the heart is dissolved. If you're hooked on what doesn't belong you're dissolved. That's true of each one. Let's not fool ourselves. Let's not imagine, as it has been put so often, that we're just playing some sort of children's games. It may be said that human beings in the world are in the classification of rather naughty children. They play very dangerous games. But that's not our business. Our business is to reveal a certain level of maturity in the spiritual sense so that we can handle what comes, so that we do not become subject through our emotions to what is happening externally. Lots of things are happening externally, and more to come. But what about our hearts? What about the heaven where we are rightly dwelling? How does it stay heaven? Because someone else injects some heavenly serum into us? No! Because we assume the responsibility of maintaining it ourselves and we accept no excuse for not doing it. Then there begins to be a man or a woman, there begins to be the evidence of the creative process of restoration, of resurrection.

How beautiful to share in this because individually we know—each one says it in personal terms, “I know. This is what I'm here on earth to do and it will be done,” And so I rejoice in this hour that we have shared. I trust that there is great discomfort in the hearts, and in the present experience, of all those who have not as yet allowed the fire of God's love adequately to consume them. Oh, the more discomfort there is, the happier I am! Praise the Lord. Let us move with assurance to let His will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

© Emissaries of Divine Light