The Altar And The Shekinah #1
Martin Cecil January 10, 1971 a.m. 100 Mile House, B.C.
Most of you are familiar with the word Shekinah. It is a Hebrew word which describes the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. What is it that makes evident the presence of you? Some might say, “Your physical form.” It is true that we do recognize each other by our physical forms, particularly the face, but the physical body of itself is not necessarily the evidence of your presence. If you were to find a skeleton lying around someplace you might perhaps say this gives evidence that there was somebody present once, but the skeleton itself certainly wouldn't give the evidence of the presence of anybody now. Even if it were fleshed out, the mere fact of the presence of a physical body is not, of itself alone, the evidence of the One Who Dwells. There must be something more than a physical body. That something more, whatever it is, might be describable using various terms but, correctly, if the person is really present it would be describable by the word Shekinah. Presumably the fact of life in the form would be evidence that somebody was at home. In the case of the skeleton nobody was home.
Insofar as all of you sitting here this morning are concerned there is somebody home, somebody dwelling. Your physical body by reason of the fact of life gives evidence that somebody or other is present. We might question as to who is here? You, individually speaking, have never seen anyone else. You have seen the physical forms of others and you have seen the evidence that somebody is present, but who? Who is present? Incidentally, you have never seen yourself.
Shekinah is a very interesting and important word; at least, it describes something that is interesting and important. In seeking to understand the real meaning of Shekinah we have recognized three aspects with respect to it. We have used certain words to describe these three aspects: the Cloud of Glory, the Light that Glows, and the Fire that Burns. This makes it seem to be rather a mystical thing, but you know that in your associations with others there is a certain aura to people. Many are not very sensitive to the real nature of this aura, but we are aware that there is a sort of cloud which surrounds the body of the individual. It is true of each person whom we know, or whom we may meet. We may be so busy looking at the physical form that we don't pay too much attention to this surrounding aura which is there, but sometimes it emphasizes itself particularly. It may be felt, touched through feeling. Whatever it is, it gives evidence that somebody is present, even though we don't know who it is. We can't really see who it is. The only way we can tell anything about whoever is present is, first of all, through this cloud.
I suppose the sun of our solar system could be used as an example of something. Nobody ever saw the sun. “Oh,” the person says, “the sun was shining; I saw it.” No you didn't! The evidence of the presence of the sun was apparent to you. The fact that there is an aura of light during the daytime on earth gives evidence of the presence of the sun, even though it may be a cloudy day. If the clouds clear away, then you see the blue sky all around, which is another evidence of the presence of the sun. This relates to the Cloud of Glory of the sun, actually. Then the fact that the sun is in the sky is apparent, because we can see something light up there, brilliant light that we shouldn't look at directly because of its brilliance; it can damage the eyes. In other words if we see a Light glowing there in the sky we say that's the sun, but it is in fact merely the evidence of the presence of the sun, one other evidence, a more direct evidence, closer to the sun in this sense than the Cloud already mentioned. We are also aware of the fact that there must be a Fire burning there because it is hot, but you don't reach out and touch the sun with your finger. The heat that comes from the sun is apparent to us here. The sun itself is not here, only the evidence of its presence. So with respect to the sun there is a Cloud of Glory, a Light that Glows, and a Fire that Burns—but you never saw the sun. You know, in a flame, a candle flame for instance, the yellow part of the flame is hot; but the center of the flame, the blue part, is quite cool. If you could get in there you would be quite comfortable. But to get in there of course you have to go through the heat, and the light, and the cloud. If you want to experiment, you can take a match and strike it and then press it closely up against the bottom edge of your hand. You need to move it back and forth because of course the yellow part of the flame will be coming up alongside your hand further up; but the bottom of your hand where you press the match will not be hot, will not burn. It may singe the hairs on the back of your hand! So you never saw the sun. Maybe, actually, the sun is quite cool.
In any case, this emphasizes the fact that through our sense of perception we are aware of the evidence of the presence of things but we don't actually see what it is that is present. We do not see one another, even though we know there is somebody home. Who is home? We could determine this by observing the evidence of the presence. I suppose we could describe the tenant either as the angel of the Lord or as the devil. There are various shades of character, exemplifying the angelic qualities or the devilish ones, revealed through the evidence of the presence of whoever it is.
Last Sunday we were speaking of the rebuilding of the altar of the Lord that had been broken down, recognizing that if there is to be worship of the Lord there must be an altar. The altar provides the place of worship, the means by which contact is made with the Lord, and therefore must relate to the evidence of the Presence of the Lord. The altar itself obviously is not the evidence of the Presence of the Lord, the physical form of the altar, but there is something about the altar that is. Unfortunately, in the experience of human beings there has been a tendency to assume that the altar itself was somehow the evidence of the Presence of the Lord, when it only provides the means by which that evidence may come to be known. We see this altar as a living altar, and it is the fact that it is alive that makes evident the Presence of the Lord. The altar itself is composed of physical substance, the physical forms of people, but again it isn't the mere fact of the physical form that is the evidence of the Presence. There is something about a physical form that gives that evidence. The glow of life, should we call it?—the Cloud of Glory. This is the first awareness that one may have that someone is home. We could have a house, a dwelling place, but because there is a house it doesn't necessarily mean that anybody is home. Insofar as our physical bodies are concerned they are meaningful because there is someone home, or at least they have the potential of meaning, depending upon who it is that's home. Is it a devil, or is it an angel? Usually it's a mixed-up character, isn't it?
The altar of the Lord needs to be rebuilt on earth, that there may be the evidence of the Presence of the Lord on earth. In the days of old the altar was used as a place of sacrifice. In the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, for instance, the ox was cut in pieces and placed upon the altar. There is more to the physical body of man than the body itself as such, when someone's home. Actually there is more to it even though someone isn't home. There has been a recognition that the capacity of what we call mind, the capacity of consciousness, is present with physical substance. It is just as surely present with “nonliving” substance as with so-called living substance. I doubt very much if you can make such a distinction in actual fact. People look at the minerals of the ground and say, “There is inanimate substance.” It's different in its appearance from what is thought of as animate substance—the flesh of the body, for instance. There is a difference, yes, but when does substance cease to be living substance? A person may say, “Well if the body dies, then that substance is no longer living substance.” Isn't it? I think it's pretty lively—the substance. Various things occur within the range of that substance. It breaks down. It is very active in doing so. But at what point, do you suppose, does it finally become inanimate substance? I don't think it ever does. It's all included in the substance of the earth itself, and the earth is a part of the solar system. Is that a dead thing? It's quite active, isn't it? No, the cosmos itself is living.
There is no such thing, really, as anything dead. A person says, “Well I saw a dead cat.” What's a cat? You saw an inert form, not giving the evidence of what you call a cat, and yet you say it's a dead cat! There's no such thing as a dead cat, is there? It's either a cat or it isn't. We may, using words of this nature, see that there is much that we haven't seen. Some may say, “This is just semantics!” Oh no it isn't! We have a way of looking at things which tends to restrict our understanding. We say, “There's a cat,” and “There's a dead cat,” but there isn't any such thing as a dead cat, any more than there is any such thing as a dead person. You can think about that a little, but it's true. It's the way we look at things, simply because we restrict our vision to the outer form. And we don't even see that, because we think of the outer form, in and of itself, as being inanimate, when the fact of the matter is that there is nothing inanimate.
In considering the altar of the Lord, we may describe its composition as the living bodies of human beings. Why should we call them living? It's either the body of a human being or it isn't. As long as someone's home it's a body. If no one's home it isn't, and it's shortly proven out that it isn't. The altar of the Lord is composed of human beings in form on earth, and it provides the place of worship on earth. The altar of the Lord is, then, characterized by Shekinah. There is the Cloud of Glory, which is the evidence of life shining round about—the evidence of the life of the angel of the Lord individually speaking, the evidence of the Presence of the Lord collectively speaking. It is to this altar that people may come to worship God. Now you don't go to the altar to worship the altar—at least this would be foolish, wouldn't it? The altar simply gives evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. There is something about the altar that does this. Initially it's the Cloud of Glory, the fact of beautiful life, glorious life. We know the presence of life because of the physical form. The altar must be there to know it. The life, which characterizes the Lord, cannot be known unless the altar is present, the physical form is there. There are many people who believe in God, and they say God is everywhere; therefore life must be everywhere. But we only know it's here, and there, because of the physical forms in which we see the evidence of it.
The evidence of the Presence of the Lord is made abundantly clear when there is an altar of the Lord on earth to which people may come to worship because the Cloud of Glory is there; it shines round about. But initially speaking there is no Temple, just an altar, just the place of worship to which people may come if they will; not to worship the altar but, through the evidence of the Presence of the Lord, to worship the Lord. These are distinctions that people in the general sense are not inclined to make. For instance, when our Master was on earth some people said, “Who do you think you are?” Because they looked at the altar, His physical form, they said, “Well, we know what that is. We know where it came from; we know your family. We know that this physical form grew up; it was a baby and a child and a youth. We know this. Who do you think you are?” But there was something being made evident by reason of that physical form which was not the physical form. If we get stuck with respect to physical forms we never really see anything. That's a silly question, really: “Who do you think you are?” I am who I am. Who else could you be? You may display characteristics that are not the evidence of the presence of that individuality of being that you really are, but you would have no capacity to do even that if the One Who Dwells wasn't present.
The altar of the Lord permits the Glory of the Lord to shine round about, and it is this which makes possible the true worship of God to be restored on earth. It can't occur at all unless there is an altar at which the Lord may be worshipped. People generally have had some feeling in this regard: they usually put up altars in their churches and places of worship, something or other to bring things to focus. If you find a so-called place of worship where there is nothing to bring anything to focus in outer form you find a very nebulous state of affairs. There are of course such buildings, and they may have an atmosphere which gives evidence of something, but it's so diffused. Insofar as mankind is concerned, and in fact all that is on the surface of this earth, there must rightly be an altar which makes possible the evidence of the presence of the Lord in a specific sense, for people to worship.
The Lord is made known by the evidence of His Presence—by the Word made flesh. His nature becomes comprehensible in this way, so that it may be given worth, value. That is worship. People come in yielded response to this place where the evidence of the Presence of the Lord is and they are transformed, and the Temple begins to take form round about the altar. The Temple is filled with the Glory of the Lord. The Temple is primarily mankind, but it becomes a Temple only as there is an altar first. Then the Glory of the Lord may fill the Temple and shine round about that again in all the earth, through mankind. But the rebuilding of the altar comes first.
This relates to what has been called the Priesthood—the Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was King of Salem, King of Peace—after the Order of the King of Peace; after the nature, the character, the quality, of the King of Peace. This is the Priesthood. The Priesthood gives this evidence on earth and they compose the altar, the means by which the body of mankind may worship the Lord. People all through the ages have been seeking the Lord, seeking some way of worshipping Him; but the altar has been missing and so it has been a vague thing, so vague to some that they decided there wasn't anything present, there was nothing to worship. It becomes vividly evident that there is something to worship as the altar is rebuilt and the Glory of the Lord shines round about.
And there is placed upon the altar the ox that was cut in pieces. In other words the mental capacity is no longer structured according to the concepts of men; that's broken down, and placed upon the altar to provide the facility by which the Light may Glow. When the Light Glows the cloud becomes a Cloud of Glory rather than an obscuring cloud. Life has been a mystery, hasn't it, to human beings. “Ah, sweet mystery of life!” It's not always so sweet either—a dark cloud, a shadow of death, because there was no light glowing. The consciousness of man was not the evidence of the Light that Glows. It was a structured ox: oh so clever in its own eyes, but oh so deadly in fact. So the capacity of mind, the mental capacity, is unstructured on the altar, so that it may be available for right use. And the light may glow again on earth, and the cloud light up to be a Cloud of Glory, that the light of true consciousness in man may appear because somebody is home. Obviously the consciousness of man vanishes away when nobody is home.
Shekinah!—the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, revealed by reason of the altar of the Lord, by reason of the Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek. Orderly, true to the true design, and of the quality and nature of the King of Peace. When the altar of the Lord is rebuilt on earth there is a place of worship on earth, and the children of men may come. Some will come. Some are more interested in building their own altars and calling on their own gods. But the word of the Lord is spoken through Shekinah, “Come unto me!” The altar itself is a vibrant invitation to come again to the Lord. To the extent that there are those who accept the Order of Melchizedek for themselves the Priesthood begins to take form and the altar of the Lord is rebuilt. The Glory of the Lord begins to shine round about as the Light glows again.
Now we know that all this comes to pass because there is a cleansing or a clarifying process experienced by those concerned. Four barrels of water poured three times: the water of truth soaking the consciousness of those who offer themselves to the experience, and soaking their bodies, all of them. The altar of the Lord must be rebuilt on earth if the Temple of the Lord is to reappear, and the Temple of the Lord is mankind restored. But it doesn't just happen by chance. There is a creative cycle, a creative process. We know something about that; we have some experience of it. But let us see that it is far greater than some of the concepts we may have developed. It extends away beyond the restrictions of consciousness that we have tended to maintain. As the altar of the Lord emerges rebuilt, this is part of the appearance of the Cosmic Plan unfolding on earth. We are here to participate in that. The Light that Glows is, amongst other things, the light of illumination, the restoration of true understanding. So it comes to us. The light comes gently, and the Glory of the Lord shines round about. What blessing indeed it is to know the coming of the light! That's dawn, isn't it?—the Dawn of a New Day. What glory fills the sky at dawn! What a moving experience it is for those who are awake, or awakening, to see the dawn.
Those who have some consciousness of the truth of these things carry the responsibility of all this into the world. I thank God for you and for others who play your vital and vibrant parts. Glory to God in the highest! O Lord, how brilliant is the evidence of Thy Presence revealed on earth as the altar is rebuilt! Life ceases to be a mystery and becomes a glorious, known experience, shining round about, that all who will may come to Thine altar on earth to worship Thee in spirit and in truth. Aum-en.
True communion is experienced at the altar of the Lord. Even in the symbolical rites of Christianity the bread and the wine are upon the altar. They are conveyed from the altar to the people. We may see clearly enough the symbolism here, the meaning of which has been very obscure. It relates to living. It relates to the actual creative expression of life on earth, not merely to an obscure ceremony. The ceremony's only value has been to maintain in the consciousness of people a certain symbolism which somewhere along the line could be recognized for what it really is; the consciousness could reawaken to the truth and put away consequently the childish things which relate to the means by which we may be caused to remember. The so-called communion service is this: the opportunity to remember. But nobody has ever remembered, until finally there are those who are awakening to the truth. It is the truth that is important, not the means to call something to remembrance. Once it's been called to remembrance the symbols which did it can be relinquished. We only need the symbols as long as it has not been called to remembrance.
This is something that becomes clear to people when the truth is present. As long as the truth isn't present they cling to their symbols of remembrance. Our Master Himself said, “This do in remembrance of Me—but someone, somewhere, for heaven's sake, remember Me!” Well everybody has been sitting down, not remembering Him. As we remember Him we experience the truth again. The child naturally plays with make-believe toys, that the adult things which the toys represent may be remembered. When the child remembers the adult thing he becomes adult. As long as he continues to play with the toys he remains a child. This is more or less what has happened. People have stayed childish because they have refused to remember. One gets into a more or less comfortable rut in various ways on this basis. “Oh it's comforting and nice; it's like being held in Mommy's arms.” But we need to put away the childish things because we have remembered to be adults. We have remembered who we are. We have returned to the experience of the reality. We have become the means by which others might partake of communion, not just the symbols but the reality. We are responsible for the communion service as Priests after the Order of Melchizedek. That means to play our individual parts in the altar of the Lord. Without the altar of the Lord the true communion is not possible, only the make-believe. The true communion comes when the altar is there. And there are those who come to worship at the altar. They receive at the hand of the Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek bread and wine, not just the symbols but the reality of life. This is our service! Have we ourselves really remembered?
© emissaries of divine light
