A Pure Heart Is A Passion-Filled Heart
Uranda January 29, 1950
Passion can overcome passion. To my mind that opens up such a wide field of consideration and meditation that it is questionable how far we can get in an hour or so. Remembering the Law of the Positive and Negative, remembering the principles of Polarity, we can recognize that passion in the wrong direction carries one downward; passion in the right direction carries one upward. There is no such thing as true Response without feeling. Man's heart and emotional nature, purified, allows one to see God. The pure heart is a passion-filled heart, but with pure passion that is attuned to God. The heart is always filled with passion of some kind, to some degree while there is any life or feeling. In the Song Celestial, there is the expression describing one who sits “passionless.” Now, that has led to a certain amount of misunderstanding—passionless in the sense of the destructive passion, but that attunement with the Divine, if it be real, cannot be without passion. Let us consider another principle for a moment: unlike things do not readily correlate. There must be some similarity, some likeness, some point of meeting, if there is to be an influence from one to another. If there be no point of meeting, if there be no point of correlation, then there can be no influence one to another.
We have recognized long ago the necessity of eliminating destructive passion from our lives. When the deep current of feeling or passion comes because of self-centeredness, and a wellspring of resentment creeps into the heart, there is destructive passion. When a person feels self-pity, when a person feels that he has been abused or neglected in some fashion, there we have destructive passion. There is, of course, lust, which is likewise destructive, but too often people think of passion as being lust. Lust may be passion but passion is not necessarily lust. Anger is passion. Any deep feeling of any kind whatsoever is passion. If that deep feeling be destructive, then we are moving in the wrong direction. When a person gives way to temper reactions—anger—we have destructive passion. Now, remembering our point with respect to correlation, and recognizing that there are these unhealthy, destructive passions in the human heart that has not been cleansed and purified, the unregenerate heart, by what means can we establish that contact which will allow the cleansing? It Is obvious that passion cannot be dealt with without passion; otherwise, there would be no correlating point, no connection, no means of transferring influence. If there be no passion, passion cannot be changed. We have recognized these destructive passions and we recognize, then, according to the principle and the Law, that destructive passions cannot be dealt with without passion.
What is the nature, then, of this passion by which cleansing and purification can take place? If we undertake to make the heart a void, a place where there is no feeling, we cannot do it, and the infilling of the heart with that which is Divine can come only from God. If we try to fill the heart with human strength or mind, it will be filled with something destructive. The pure heart is a passion-filled heart, but it is pure, Divine passion, unmixed, untainted, unsoiled with the destructive passions to which human beings so often give place in their hearts. No man, no woman, can purify his or her own heart. It cannot be done. Until the heart is pure, the individual cannot truly see God, and if there be no contact with Divine passion there is no starting point for purification. One may listen to words of Truth without much feeling; one may hear words of Truth when there be no response, and those words may seem hard—but the Word is: “God is Love.” If there be love then there is passion, for you cannot separate love and passion; it cannot be done. The power of purification is God's Love and it must be felt, and we must feel it more deeply than anything else. As long as any ill thing or any supposedly ill thing can engender a greater feeling reaction in us than is established by the passion current in God's Love, we are obviously subject in the wrong direction, but passion can overcome passion. Praise God that it is so.
From whence springs this passion? It springs from God's Love, and when we recognize that feeling currents that are destructive have no rightful place in our hearts, and when we open our hearts willingly, gladly, to the passion of God's Love, then that passion cleanses away all other passions, pushes them out until the heart, being filled with Divine passion, is pure because it is not a place of mixed passions but a place where the passion of God's Love abides continually—and the Master truly said: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
The pure passion of God's Love, filling the heart, makes the heart pure. When the heart is pure, filled with the passion of Divine Love, do we stop living effectively? Some people seem to think we would. Some people seem to imagine that they have to have the passions of hate, the passions of fear, the passions of resentment and all the other destructive passions if they are going to maintain individuality. If the individual is going to try to maintain independence from God such things are essential, and he will have but a short time in which to play the game for such things lead to death and oblivion, but if the human being stops being so concerned about maintaining his independence from God and is willing to let himself be absorbed into God, that he may become one with God, even as the Master said: “My Father and I are one,” and even as He prayed that the Father should be in Him and He in the Father—He in us, we in Him, Oneness—does that Oneness obliterate true individuality? We have seen, in our studies and in our experience, that it does not do so, but, rather, it allows the true individuality, unsoiled, to begin to appear.
We go back to that oft-repeated statement of Truth: According to thy response so be it unto thee. Where rests the passion? That determines the direction of movement. That is what is being said in that statement, for there can be no response in any direction without passion. We could translate it, then: According to thy passion, so be it unto thee, and if thy passions be of God's Love, then shalt thou arise and shine, but if thy passions be of the self-activity of the human mind, then shalt thou move in the paths of darkness until the tomb shall enclose thee. According to thy passion, so be it unto thee, and if there be no passion there is nothing. How often have I sought to stir up your pure hearts in the passion of God's Love, only to see you largely unmoved, accepting the Word of Truth abstractly but to such a high degree unmoved, saying within yourselves, “Yes, but I feel this and that, and I feel such and such a thing, etc., etc”—excuses, on and on. “Oh, I do not feel good physically,” or, “I am depressed in my mind, and I feel these things so keenly that I cannot be expected to feel the passion of God's Love.” How human beings excuse their dullard attitudes! “If so-and-so did differently, and if such-and-such a thing were changed,” then the individual thinks he would not be caused to feel such things so keenly, and maybe there would be a little room in his heart to feel the passion of God's Love; but, lo, as soon as one thing is changed something else demands attention. The human mind never gets around to the point of not being able to find something else to feel destructive passion about—left to itself, from the beginning to the end of life it can always find something to feel destructive passion about. So man goeth to his long home—“dust to dust” returning—but when the mind is stilled and the passion of God's Love begins to have meaning the individual finds that all these other passions are as naught.
There is no passion like unto that of God. There is no passion that can withstand the cleansing passion of God's Love, and when we let our hearts be filled with God's Love, so that only the passion that is of God is found in us, then our hearts are pure and the passions of this world have passed away, and then we can see God. But, when the passions of the human heart hold sway, what does the individual see? He says, “I see so many things, that I cannot be expected to see God. I see evil here and evil there. I see dark, foreboding things. I see such ill things in my neighbor, in my wife or my husband, or something else, that I cannot possibly see God.” Yes, unbridled passions of the human heart blind the eyes, and blind-folded the individual walks his darkened way into the ultimate of darkness—but there is no necessity of being blind-folded. We are not asked to be as a candle under a bushel, but as one set on a candlestick that it may give light unto all that are in the house. “Let your light so shine,” but can there be a shining of the light without a flame, and can there be a flame without passion? No, if we are to be obedient to the Master's Command, if we are to be true to that Name by which we are called, there must be the flame of passion burning in our hearts from whence the Light may shine, for there is a “Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world,” but it is that tiny spark of Divine passion which, when fanned to flame, begins to cleanse and purify, driving all earthly passions hence, that we may live in the Kingdom on earth.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God
If I had come before you in these years gone by without any passion in my voice, without any passion in the current of my expression, how far would you have been influenced? Perhaps I could have used brilliant words without any passion. Intoning them without feeling. Hark back to a single time you have heard me speak and tell me there was no passion there! Can you name one single time? I think not. Without that passion you would not have been influenced. Your heart would not have been touched. You would not have been moved along the Way, the Truth and the Life. There is hope for every individual who lives and breathes, and anyone who says, “There is no hope for me,” speaks a damnable lie, using his mouth to voice the vaporings of the serpent. So long as life is manifest the Way is open, and anyone who says, “I cannot,” only lies to God and to himself. “And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, or maketh a lie.” What is it that defiles? The destructive passions of the human heart, and those destructive passions live on as long as the human being listens to and voices the lies of the serpent.
We must let the Truth have meaning if it is to bring liberty in Reality. The beautiful patterns of Truth must be seen in the Fire of Divine passion, and according to thy response, so shall it be unto thee. According to thy passions, so shalt thou go, and if thy passions be governed by the bigotries and the pettiness of the human mind, then the path leads downward, but if thy passions be to God, if thy passion is to the passion of God, letting the Fire of His Passion find expression in every thought and word and deed, then shalt thou be lifted up, even as He said: “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.” Can you imagine those words spoken without feeling, without passion? What would they mean, what would they do, be they ever so true? No, you know that when our Master spoke those words the Fire of Passion was burning in every sound of His Voice. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God, and, according to thy passions, so be it unto thee. I would read a portion from the Master's Prayer, in concluding His Ministry. Can you imagine these words spoken? If so, you know the passion that filled them:
”As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me. And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved me.” (John 17:18-23)
Divine Passion is always controlled. Human passion is characterized by the fact that it is not under control. Divine Passion is characterized by the fact that it is always under control.
© emissaries of divine light
Mysteries of Eternity
Ascending Spiral
Uranda December 16, 1943
As we move in the ever ascending Cycles of the Eternal, we relax under the influence of the Holy Spirit so that we may, one and all, be easily led into all Truth. We are doing our part in letting the Truth bring the freedom of reality into manifestation for all the Faithful Ones upon the face of the earth. When we let go in the current of the Spirit, which is itself Eternal, we find it easy to begin to comprehend the so-called Mysteries of Eternity. You are well aware of the fact that all creative processes move in cycles; that Eternity itself is symbolized by the circle, which is without beginning and without end—and that from the standpoint of the Divine that which is under the influence of creative processes is never static. From the time that activity is set up in the unformed, the substance so produced continues through a constant process of adjustment, change and progress that is not at any time completely static—although from the human standpoint it might seem that the substance in rock, for instance, might properly be called a static formation.
The magnitude of the Cosmic Cycle of Creation is beyond the immediate comprehension of the human mind; nevertheless, the human mind can understand that, regardless of the magnitude of the dimensions involved, there is such a Cycle. The Cosmic Cycle is so huge that it includes the fullness of All That Is, and within that Cosmos our universe constitutes but one of tens of thousands of universes. The creative cycle of our universe is of such magnitude that there is no need, at this time at least, to attempt to grasp the distances and the time elements involved—but within the creative cycle of our universe we have the creative cycle of our own solar system, which relates directly to us and to the world in which we live. In the creative cycles of our own solar system, and particularly of our own world, we find that which we can, under the influence of the Spirit, begin to comprehend and understand.
When we consider the progression of the creative cycles of Being, it must be understood that up and down, or lower and higher, are relative terms which must not be confused with the ordinary usage of the terms up and down as they relate to a given point on the earth's surface. Up and down at a given point on the earth's surface may be opposite to the same use of the same terms at another point on the earth's surface. To further illustrate this important point, we recognize that the progression of the creative cycle is in the nature of an ascending spiral rather than in the nature of a fixed circle. If we have an ascending spiral, the upper part of which is lost from view in distant infinity, but the lower part of which is directly before our vision, and we run a vertical line from the starting point upward along one edge of the spiral, we will note that movement beginning at the lower end of the spiral and moving along the spiral will, after the first cycle, come to the vertical line, or a point directly above the starting point. In this case, the movement has been in the form of a circle, and the completion of the circle is at the same vertical point as the beginning. So for ordinary practical purposes the circle, being without beginning and without ending, illustrates Eternity, but as the vision expands and understanding increases, we cease looking at the bottom of the spiral which seems to be a circle only, and we look at the side of the spiral where the ascending vibration of the creative cycles becomes evident. To the degree that this illustration is clearly comprehended, the endless nature of Eternity becomes less mysterious.
The Creative Spiral for this world began at the point of the beginning of the creation of this world. This beginning point was selected, not in an arbitrary manner, but with a full recognition of the relationship of all the Cosmic Forces focalized into that given point through the creative triangles of the universe and of the Cosmos as they relate to this solar system, and as they were focalized with respect to our sun at the point where creation was to begin. It is not expected that you will be able to fully understand all that this implies, but to the degree that you do understand it, the logical nature of the processes of creation will become increasingly evident to you. Remember that everything which is accomplished from a Cosmic standpoint through the creative power of God is worked out on the basis of mathematical certainties in relationship to fundamental principles and laws, and with a full recognition of the nature and strength of the Cosmic currents and Forces which are focalized in any given activity. If you remember that God does not do anything on a haphazard basis, or by reason of whim and fancy, but that, rather, all Divine and spiritual things are worked out with mathematical precision and certainty, you will have removed from your mind one of the greatest causes of confusion with respect to things Divine. It is obvious, then, that human beings must first permit themselves to be coordinated with the basic laws of Being, and that they must begin to understand those laws and work with them before they can hope to have any effective expression from the standpoint of creative activity.
Let us now return to the starting point of creation as related to this world. The Four Forces have been given symbolical names, which facilitate a comprehension of the four basic forces which manifest through the created forms of this world. From a Cosmic standpoint, the forces utilized were not limited to what we call the Four Forces, and it must be recognized that what we broadly term the Four Forces are sub-divided into innumerable sub-classifications of Divine activity in and through all created forms on this earth. The usual arrangement of these symbolical names of the Four Forces must be reversed before the correct manner of their application and function can be understood. We change, then, the arrangement—Fire, Earth, Air and Water, to Water, Air, Earth and Fire. You are already somewhat familiar with the meanings contained in these symbolical terms, and the reasons for their use. Now, we turn to the story of creation as contained in the first part of Genesis, and we find that the Biblical story of creation emphasizes the correct understanding of the Four Forces.
Remember that I specified that the Four Forces, broadly indicated by these symbolical terms, are as they relate to manifestation in or through the created form not to the Cosmic Forces which, in their Universal nature, may be thought of as preceding, or exterior to, the specified Four Forces—although it must be recognized that the Four Forces in manifestation through created form have their origin in Cosmic Forces which are not necessarily limited to the nature and function of the Four Forces as we are considering them. This distinction must be borne clearly in mind in order to avoid confusion, and it is illustrated in our first text, Genesis 1:2—“And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” That was the starting point of creation on the first day. However, it is at once seen to be obvious, in accordance with the distinctions we have just drawn, that the action of the Spirit of God prior to and at the beginning of creation, implies vastly more than the Spirit of God symbolized by air [Spirit] as made manifest in and through all the forms of created things on this earth.
Therefore, the First Force in its segregated form relating to the creation of this earth, is symbolically named Water, and it signifies the specific group of Truths or basic principles and laws which constituted the scope of creative activity as it was to relate to this world, and thereby established the limits of that which was to be. In other words, there is vastly more Truth in function and manifestation in the Cosmos than was required in the making of this world. Therefore, the first step of creation, after the Cosmic selection of the starting point, was the selection of the Truths necessary to the fulfillment of the pre-determined Plan for this earth, and then the release of the Spirit or Power of God through those Truths to begin the process of creation, whereupon there was Light. In the “deep” of space, which was void of all form, and where there was darkness because there was nothing to reflect the light, the beginnings of creation took place. Part of the work of the first day was the establishment of the nature and limits of the Creative Day which was, according to present time measurements, a period of 25,872 years. The six days of creation, then, covered a period of, roughly, 155,000 years—the beginning of creation was at a point 310,852 years B.C.
As we shall see shortly in our further consideration of the cycles of the Four Forces, they are all four always present, but with one only dominant in any given Creative Day, so that the Water vibration continued dominant for 25,872 years, whereupon the Air vibration became dominant, followed by the Earth and Fire vibrations, whereupon the sequence begins again, with Water again becoming dominant. This earth, and man the crowning creation, are the result of the use of the Trinity Pattern, and therefore in the basic cycle of the spiral from the starting point to a point first directly above the starting point, there were three repetitions of the sequences of the Four Forces, or twelve Creative Days, which completed the first cycle of creation for this world that terminated 388 B.C.—or 310,464 years—which carry us to a point 388 B.C.
Each Creative Day of 25,872 years is divided on the Trinity Pattern into twelve sections, so that the twelve segments of the Creative Day, each being 2,156 years long, relates to the period of time required for the Sun of our solar system to make one revolution in its orbit around its Central Sun, although the path of the Sun is in the form of an ellipse and not a circle, because of the progression in the movement of our Sun's Sun through the Cosmos. We find that the successive dominance of the Four Forces in the 2,156 year periods is repeated three times within one Creative Day of 25,872 years. Here you begin to get a picture of the way in which the Four Forces are combined to produce specific results.
The first Creative Day began with a Water vibration—Water was dominant in the Creative Day, and Water was dominant as the beginning point in the 2,156 year cycles. As soon as the first sub-cycle closed, Water continued dominant in the creative cycle, with a sub-cycle of Air dominance, and so continued in natural sequence through the first Creative Day. The second Creative Day, as we find in the sixth and seventh verses of the first chapter of Genesis, began with a dominant Air vibration, and a Water vibration in the sub-cycle. The firmament is the atmosphere, or the air of this earth, which is symbolical of the Spirit of God as manifest in and through created forms. On the third Creative Day the dry land appears, so the natural sequence of the dominance of the Four Forces is substantiated by the Biblical record. On the fourth Creative Day, the light of the sun, moon and stars penetrated to the earth's surface by reason of the clearing of the earth's atmosphere, and so we have on the fourth Creative Day the dominant Fire vibration. If our sequence is correct, the fifth Creative Day should again return to Water, and you will note in verse 20 that God said: “Let the waters bring forth abundantly.” The sixth Creative Day should be an Air vibration, and we find that it was in the sixth Creative Day that animal life was created, with the crowning creation of man, and air is the basic essential for life in the animal kingdom. Man can go for periods without food, and water, but shut off his supply of air and he dies immediately. The seventh Creative Day, an Earth vibration, was a day of rest. As you follow this through to its logical conclusion, you see that the concluding Creative Day of the first cycle would naturally be Fire.
It was during the Fire Age of 25,872 years which ended 388 B.C. that Lemuria went down in flames of fire, and 1,000 years later (after the submersion of Lemuria) Atlantis submerged. In the latter part of this twelfth Day of creation, as the first cycle was drawing to a close, man had returned to a point of consciousness where he began to again be aware of the direction of the Lord, as evidenced by Old Testament history. What is the outstanding thing in the symbolism of religious ceremonies during the Old Testament period? The answer is sacrifice by fire. It was a Fire Age, concluding with a Fire vibration in the sub-cycle. It was from the burning fire of the bush that was not consumed that God spoke to Moses. This means that the first cycle of creation came to an end in 388 B.C., and for the first time since the beginning of creation the world was back to a point directly above the starting point. The earth and all that is therein had been created. Divine Man had been established in the earth, and then in the beginning of the twelfth Day of creation man had fallen, with subsequent cataclysmic changes in the earth which carried man down to what has been called the cave man age, and then for about 5,000 years man progressed to a point where we have the beginning of recorded history, going back to about 5,000 B.C.
Man had progressed to a point in the latter part of the twelfth Day of creation where it was possible to begin to work out the Plan of Salvation, and the First Sacred School was established at the direction of Melchizedek. However, the Israelites failed to carry through on the opportunities given them, so the beginning of the actual process of making all things new according to the Promise contained in Revelation had to wait until the beginning of the second cycle of creation, or until the world had returned on the spiral to a point directly above the starting point of creation. As soon as this thirteenth Day of creation was well started, Jesus came. As the world had returned to the vertical line on the ascending spiral for the first time since the beginning of creation at 388 B.C., we begin to recognize the Cosmic reasons back of the coming of Jesus into the world at the time that He did come. The Cosmic Forces were again for the first time focalized in a manner identical to those which permitted the beginning of the creation of the world, and through the use of those Forces, and the manifestation of Jesus, the beginning of the restoration of the world could best take place.
This thirteenth Creative Day in which we now live is, in the natural sequence, seen to be a Water vibration—just as was the first Day of creation. The first sub-cycle of this Creative Day was also Water. Jesus began His Ministry by the baptism of water, by the changing of water to wine. He called disciples who were fishermen. Many of His miracles related to water. Water baptism was instituted as a symbol of the cleansing of the individual by the action of Truth under the influence of the Spirit of God. Jesus obviously recognized that in this first Creative Day of the second cycle, He was dealing with a Water vibration, both in the dominant cycle and in the sub-cycle.
This first Day of creation in the new cycle, which is the thirteenth Day of creation from the beginning of creation for this world, is naturally a period of 25,872 years dating from 388 B.C., but the sub-cycle beginning 388 B.C. on the dominant Water vibration ended 2,156 years later, or in 1768 A.D. Remembering our sequence, we see that 1768 A.D. would mark the beginning of the second sub-cycle in this Creative Day, and that it would be under a dominant Air vibration. We have at the present time a dominant Water vibration in the Creative Day, and a dominant Air vibration in the sub-cycle in which we now live. By the beginning of this century the influence of the dominant Air vibration of the sub-cycle began to be evident—we are living in an Air Age insofar as the sub-cycle is concerned.
It is through this Air Age that the speeding up process which is shortening the days, and is intensifying the destruction of evil by evil, has taken place and is taking place in accordance with prophecy. Now man is being given his final opportunity to return to God. In this first Creative Day of the new cycle, God is beginning to make all things new. Through the progression upward on the creative spiral, the vibrations in which the world is functioning are becoming more and more rarefied, and man will have to let go of evil and turn to God in order to live in these higher vibrational conditions. If man as a whole were to refuse to respond and be recreated and reborn in this period, he would in a comparatively short time destroy himself from the face of the earth. It is not anticipated that this will be the case, but if this should happen, we are still in the first Day of creation of the new cycle, and God would be in position to carry on creative processes and create man on a higher vibration in this cycle, so as to remove any possibility of a repetition of the fall.
It is anticipated that there will be those who carry through into the New Age state of Being, but because we are in a cycle that is on a higher plane of vibration directly above the point of the beginning of creation, the intensified vibrations will make it impossible for evil to again manifest, no matter which alternative of the outworking plan must be utilized. If the Faithful Ones carry through into the fullness of this New Age vibration, they will populate the earth made new. If such a thing as the failure of all human beings were to take place, the Cosmic vibrations are such that God could create Divine Man and begin again on the higher plane of the present cycle. In the original creation God made every provision necessary for Divine Man, but He recognized that on the plane of vibration then manifest the fall of man was possible. God warned against self-activity. It was not God's Plan that man should fall—but it was necessary for the beginning of the creation of the world to take place under the focalization of the Cosmic Forces that were utilized. Now, through progression along the spiral of the creative cycles, we are reaching a point where evil cannot continue indefinitely to exist, and once the change is accomplished, the vibrational state of Being will be such that a repetition of the fall will be impossible.
This gives a deeper understanding of the Cosmic principles and Forces that are in operation in the world and in our lives individually. To the degree that we recognize the Cosmic significance of the time in which we live, and to the degree that we, individually and collectively, coordinate with these laws, principles and Forces, we will be doing our part in accomplishing the Greater Works which are required for the recreation by which God is making all things new, that the New Earth state may be hastened, and that as many as possible of the children of men may carry through this time of turmoil into the New Age. As the world experiences crucifixion, and then passes through the period of the darkness of the tomb, it is for every Faithful One to remain attuned to the Cosmic Currents of Life by which the Victory over the tomb may manifest for the world, in accordance with the Way in which our Great Master led. Therefore, as the Earnest Ones, recognizing the basic principles regulating the operation of the Four Forces in and through this world, begin to let these same Four Forces become the dominant influences in their individual lives, we find that the scope of function becomes the whole of Truth, the power of function becomes the release of the unlimited Spirit of God, the foundation of function becomes in all things the Rock of Reality, and the manifestation of function becomes the expression of Divine Love that is as firm and undeviating in the face of opposition as it is gentle in the consideration of True Response.
© emissaries of divine light
from
One With The Rising Tide
Martin Exeter and Chris Jorgensen
January 27, 1985 100 Mile House, B.C.
Chris Jorgensen — Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! I am delighted with the privilege and opportunity of standing before you, and to say so.
It was a very precious and powerful hour that we shared together this morning, and I found my experience to be all-consuming. Every fiber of my being, every morsel of my mind, every ounce of my feeling realm, was totally present, moving with the Word, spirit—all-consuming. I found that the world, the many activities in it that go on day in and day out, just receded from view, and there was only the spirit of the Lord God.
I was giving consideration to the question as to whether an experience such as I shared in the hour this morning is sufficient—to have an experience of giving my all to the Lord, to His spirit, the movement of that spirit, in an hour of service. It is, but for those of us who live in a unit there are 164 other hours in the week in which there is space to give one’s all, to be fully consumed. It’s not enough to just come and to be present in a service setting and to move with the Word. That movement is something that rightly takes place in every moment throughout the week.
This afternoon I was reading the Bible, as I often do, and I was giving consideration to the other creative cycles that have appeared on earth to allow the restoration of mankind. I was noting that in each particular creative cycle that has occurred there were critical points, crisis points, in the movement of the creative cycle, where the individual or the group of individuals absolutely needed to be in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. As one scans the story that is contained in the Bible there are numerous such occasions. I am thinking of the time of the children of Israel and their experience of coming out of Egypt. Certainly they had various critical points along the way where they needed to be in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing, crossing the Red Sea, for example.
I found myself reading the passage in Numbers relating to the time when the Lord God, through Moses, sent twelve spies into the promised land to scout it out to bring back a report. As I am sure you recall, ten of the spies said: “The people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.” But two, Joshua and Caleb, had a completely different view. I would read something out of Numbers, chapter 14, of their experience:
“And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
“If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
“Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.”
Here was a particular critical point in the unfolding creative cycle it had been going on for years and years. The children of Israel cried and died through the night and said, “No, we won’t go. We can’t.” And in a very particular way they were denying what it was that the Lord God had brought unto them. Of course we recall their experience: they wandered in the wilderness for many years. There was a sense of failure.
I was also reading something of the story of our Master and His experience in the creative cycle that was unfolding at His time. In reading His story it’s evident that there were critical points in His ministry where something needed to be met in a very specific way. One such occasion was after the feast, the supper, when He went with the disciples into the Garden of Gethsemane and He commanded the disciples to sit and pray. He took with Him three a little farther on—Peter, James and John—and He himself went farther on and began to pray. And as you will remember He came and found them sleeping:
“And he ... saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
“He went away again the second time, and prayed ...
“And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
“And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time ...
“Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”
Here was a particular critical point, a point of pressure, of proving out, and there was failure. I mention these because I have been giving some deep consideration of where we are now and the creative cycle of restoration that is currently moving, that I’m moving in, that we’re moving in together. I feel we are at a critical time, a point of testing, a point of proving something out, particularly in regard to the Rising Tide of Change events, Here’s an opportunity that is with the body, a chance to bring right into the world of man a spiritual event, to actually let heaven be on earth. Such a thing hasn’t occurred for millennia.
It occurs to me that if there are those willing to allow this to happen there would be something on earth that would be undeniable, unstoppable. It would perhaps even change the very circumstances that come our way on a daily basis. But it’s not a matter of looking to someone else to provide the goods at The Rising Tide of Change—to Martin perhaps, or Michael, or someone else. It is rather the acceptance of a stance on my part—and each one can say that—to let spirit be absolutely represented in living, not just in the Rising Tide event in Vancouver on April 13, but in this very moment in this hour of service, and in the hours to come, that through our individual and collective living there is a channel available, a setting of heaven available, through which the spirit of the Lord God can move, can act on earth, right at the very level where man is. As I mentioned, this would be something undeniable, present in form on earth again after all these many, many years.
So we are faced with a critical time, but it’s not a serious and heavy business. It is serious, and there is responsibility to be accepted in living, but I know, and I trust you know too, that as we are willing to do that, to provide space in our own consciousness for spirit to move, be expressed, there is a sense of lightness, a sense of ease, even humor. On that basis then there is no space for a fear of failure. This is something that has clouded the consciousness of mankind in a particular way. Failure is impossible as long as I am present, as long as I am on hand. So, in a very particular way the body is coming of age. We have had the space to live and to be educated; it is now the time for doing. And I gladly accept that responsibility, individually and certainly with you, to let the Son of Man again be in form on earth now.
Martin Exeter — There are some very interesting points here in what has been said. I have given consideration to the possibility of no more mailings. As long as the mailings are simply used for personal benefit they are being misused, after a certain point. There is another reason for them beyond the provision of what may, to start with, be needful for the increase of the individual experience of association with the Word and with the tone of life. So I have thus far refrained from withdrawing what I have spoken of as my personal letters to all concerned. Another way that I might have handled this matter was to proceed to give expression to something that was totally out of character and see what everybody would do. I was speaking this morning about lies. Now this might be a reason for lying: to give everybody a chance to be true to the truth. I haven’t done that yet, at least not purposely!
There is this very strong sense of failure in human beings everywhere. Because of this sense of failure there is a sense of insecurity. The failure has occurred of course, as we recognize, because of an original stance which someone or ones took relative to their responsibilities on earth. Here was a point of failure. Perhaps, to start with, it didn’t appear to be very much of a failure and may not have been translated as a failure at all because, up to that point, nobody knew what failure was; so this was perhaps deemed to be just another aspect of success. It was anticipated that it would be of that nature: otherwise the stance wouldn’t have been taken. However it proved itself out to be failure. And human beings have never had as a strong point, apparently, the willingness to admit failure. They are quite conscious of the fact of it but seldom reach a point of admitting it. They always have their justifications and excuses and they can give you a long rigmarole of the reasons why: the failure that occurred wasn’t really their fault. But failure is failure, regardless of whose fault it is, and I don’t think there’s anyone on the face of the earth who can exclude themselves from that matter of fault, because all have participated in the failure; and so there is the sense of insecurity, which has always hampered a return to the true stance.
Chris spoke of the historical past in connection with the Israelites and the Master. Here were occasions when there was failure—various lesser failures I suppose you could say, until finally the point was reached of absolute failure. There was a rising tide, one might say, in that Old Testament period, coming into form in a very small way, to start with, through Abraham, who brought it to focus, accommodated it to the extent that he did. This rising tide of spirit was at work in human hearts and minds everywhere but came to the surface and to point in this one man particularly, and because of that something was initiated. At that time it was rather a slow process, at least slow from the standpoint of the human view of things; it involved many generations of people. It continued on after a fashion as there were those who did accommodate the movement of that tide. Various ones had parts to play—Isaac, Jacob. Joseph in particular allowed something to come very keenly to point in his willingness to accommodate that rising tide which was continuing.
This was all one movement of a creative process, unfolding over the years, and of course it eventually emerged in a special way through Moses, who himself accommodated that tide very well and provided what was necessary at that time, as the others had before him. But there was failure, regardless of this, regardless of the fact that the way was really rather easy, because those attitudes which were common in human beings at that time were utilized in the process. Some have wondered why there was all that war and killing and battling by the children of Israel in those days; of course it wasn’t solely by them, everybody else was battling too. But this was the general attitude of human beings, the general level of consciousness, the general way of behavior. It was a very material or physical approach, and we have recognized that fact. That was the way it was then. There doesn’t seem to have been all that much progress since that time, as most are still caught in that state of affairs where it is imagined that the battle is the thing—not only war in the usual sense these days, but everybody is battling with words or however, as though this was the way to go, as though some supposed problem is going to be solved that way. Never.
Anyway that rising tide in the Old Testament time did begin to emerge out of the warring condition, particularly at the time of Solomon, and there was an opportunity for something to occur there which would have been unprecedented—it was somewhat unprecedented, to start with—but there was again failure, and so very shortly thereafter the whole opportunity disintegrated. It might be said that in that disintegration it gave the appearance that the tide had gone out again. I don’t think that’s really what happened, because one aspect of the rising tide is disintegration, and if there is no focus for the integrating part of it then all you see is disintegration. But this doesn’t say that the tide is not still rising.
The evidence of that continued rising of the tide of course was the advent of the Master, in the person of Jesus, and He accommodated that at the time. The tide had continued on from the level of physical action in the old warring ways to an opportunity to begin to understand—in other words to allow the mind to come out of its arrogance and begin to comprehend what was really going on. This was quite possible because there was One present on earth who was accommodating this rising tide and bringing it to focus, and was quite capable of providing what was necessary to allow others to come into an understanding. But, for whatever reason—I think the reason is usually called human nature—it wasn’t accepted, it wasn’t allowed to happen, and again there was failure. Of course the failure of the Israelites, originally, has been persisted in, particularly in what is called Judaism, as though what failed back there could be retrieved. And there is the claim to be the chosen people on the part of a certain section of humanity, because this was the case at one point in the process of that particular aspect of the rising tide. But all that came out of that was failure, disintegration, and so whatever endeavor is made later, or now, relative to that failure, still carries the sense of failure with it. And all concerned do have that sense of failure—it’s accurate, an accurate discernment.
Well the same thing happened insofar as the Master was concerned; here again was failure. And there have been those who since that time have endeavored to get it all back again, something that can’t be done. It can never be done, even with our own failures—that should be more or less obvious. The failures that we have experienced in our personal lives heretofore, can you go back there and do anything about them? No. The failure itself needs to pass away insofar as one’s own experience of victory in the present moment is concerned; then the failure’s gone. But there has been this failure and the sense of insecurity consequently, because it is assumed that everything is going to fail, and the proof positive of this fact is that everybody dies. No matter how successfully you may imagine that you have lived, you wake up one morning dead! But it doesn’t do you any good, does it? No, here is a very vivid evidence of failure which is repeated constantly before the eyes of those who have not quite reached the point of utter failure yet.
So we are aware of the rising tide again. We have some consciousness of two particular occasions when it happened in the past, and now it begins to come to point again, come to focus again, but this time it’s at a little different level of things. It isn’t at a level where everybody is going to be convinced mentally, caused to understand mentally; it doesn’t work that way anymore. That was lost nineteen centuries ago; it could have come then but didn’t. Trying to make it come now that way is futile. Of course it is very popular in the world. Everybody believes in this seemingly: that somehow or other you can get enough mental understanding, enough knowledge, to do everything that’s required to make the world an inhabitable place. But it doesn’t really look as though that’s the way the world is being made, does it? It becomes more and more uninhabitable.
There is this critical point, and there have been many—as Chris indicated—both larger and lesser critical points. This begins to give some indication of a larger critical point when, if one is governed by failure, one will naturally fail. And it’s taken for granted these days: everybody fails. But the rising tide is not a tide of failure unless it is resisted. There is a very great deal of resistance to it. Many of those who are resisting don’t think they are resisting; they think they are moving with the way things are going on earth—high tech and all. But that is hardly accommodating the rising tide of spirit. There’s a rising tide of computer hardware and software and all this sort of thing; but the real rising tide is not supposed to be accommodated by computers but by people, and this has a relatedness to these events which are coming up this year.
There is a certain outline beginning to take form as to certain subjects of consideration which may come up at these Rising Tide events, subjects such as business, education, art, all these sorts of things. Well a lot of people have interest in various areas and may still be looking for some breakthrough or other with respect to those areas but, from our standpoint, from the standpoint of spirit, that is not to be anticipated, because all these areas relate to the state of mankind the way it now is. If there is interest in these areas, that can be used to advantage because it may help people feel a relatedness to what is going to go on; but in coming to the Rising Tide event it isn’t really in order that business people can discuss business, or educational people can discuss education, or the artists can discuss art. It simply is an opportunity to bring people into association with the atmosphere and the creative action of spirit. They come in order to experience what the creative expression of spirit is in living. They may feel that they can carry this into their business, and that’s all right. If that is actually done, of course the business is transformed and probably somewhere along the line ceases to be what human beings imagine business to be.
Now at last there is something which allows people to begin to come clear of their problems, so that they don’t imagine that all that is necessary is to try to solve their problems. What is necessary is that the person should awaken out of a dream-filled sleep into the real world. Everybody talks about the real world as being that sleazy place out there, but the real world we refer to, for sake of a word, is heaven. It is an invisible world until the earth reflects it; then heaven becomes a visible world. But there’s nothing to reflect until there are those who are present in heaven, those whose stance is in heaven, those who have moved out of the realm of failure into the area of what would be called victory—but it isn’t really victory either; it’s the only real realm there is. It’s a matter of waking out of this nightmare state into the experience of what is really there.
This is what all are being invited to experience—not all are going to hear that invitation consciously, very few presumably, but a lot more will hear it subconsciously if it is actually extended. I suppose it’s the same sort of invitation that was issued in words by the One called Jesus when He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”—an invitation to come out of this laboring world, where everybody seems to be pretty heavy laden, to let that go. I don’t know why that should be so hard, except that people imagine that they have to carry these immense burdens on their backs until they become too much and are crushed to the ground. “Come unto me.” So that invitation is extended, not so much by human beings, although human beings are needful on the scene of things in order to articulate the invitation, but the invitation is being offered not by human beings but by the spirit of the Lord God. If we are in position to accommodate that spirit, so that the invitation is issued, that’s what we are here to do.
I trust we will do just that, in company with many others who also participate in the process with us, because we begin to understand how it’s done. It’s done by reason of spirit and it’s not done by the efforts of human minds. It’s done because spirit is present and in action and there are a sufficient number of obedient human minds and yielded human hearts to let it happen. If those aren’t there nothing happens. So the only reason why we would be there is to let this happen. And there must be something already happening, or we wouldn’t even have conceived of the events. This wasn’t some brilliant human mind thinking up an idea—it’s something that rose and is rising through many people. There is a distinction in our own experience in this regard because we have a greater capacity to accommodate it with understanding. Most people do not have that capacity to accommodate it. They accommodate it after a fashion but usually interpret it with their self-active minds, so that it comes out to be something other than it really is.
We have been in the process of leaving behind what we have in times past called self-activity, and this requires a certain educational process; but somewhere along the way we come to the point where that self-activity has been educated out of the picture—most of human education of course is educating it into the picture. Then finally there begins to be space for what may be brought forth by the creative action of spirit, and as it is brought forth through the creative action of spirit we know it to be our own expression: “I articulate it”—and we’re not waiting for someone else to do it. Someone else, we trust, will be doing it too; and if they are it all fits together, it’s all one thing, we’re not in conflict anymore.
So we share this beautiful exciting opportunity which presents itself to us now and will continue to do so, because the rising tide is not going to stop. I suppose sometimes a person is capable of stepping out of the rising tide, so to speak, or excluding it from his own experience, having already sensed it to a certain extent, but surely no one in their right mind would do that; and we find it reaches a point where that would be quite impossible. We find ourselves to be identified with the rising tide; this is what I am. So we share the responsibility of letting it be brought forth in this way.
People may come to these events for various apparent reasons. We give them various reasons for coming, as they think, but they are all coming for the same thing, whether they come as businessmen or educators or artists or whatever it may be. They all in fact are coming for the same thing: the greater experience of spirit in their own living. It doesn’t matter what the role they are playing is, the greater expression of the spirit can easily appear in that role. But it isn’t the role that is important; the importance is the fact that there is a greater expression of spirit. That’s what carries weight, and we know that carries weight. As we increasingly know that, these external factors begin to recede into the background; they don’t carry weight anymore. And we stop fussing about all the things that we have been fussing about in the past, of an external nature. People are always fussing about their marriages, their children, their … oh every sort of thing, simply because they are all wrapped up in this business. If they get up where they belong they can see the thing with perspective and everything can be handled quite easily, no problem. As long as we have problems, as it has been said—and I think Bill Bahan said it frequently—we are the problem. So they all need to be dissolved because we are in a place where they don’t exist.
Here is the rising tide of change, and I delight to accommodate this with you and with others, that it may reveal victory on this last occasion rather than a repeat of failure, which it always has been heretofore. We have no precedent of victory except in the individual sense, just one person, and that is sufficient for us, I’m sure. But we need to set the precedent collectively. Well, let’s do it!
© emissaries of divine light
