This Is That Day!
Uranda November 19, 1949
Our Gracious and Loving Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the privilege of gathering in Thy Name tonight. We thank Thee for the multitude of Thy Blessings which are past numbering, even as the stars of the sky are beyond number. We thank Thee for Thy Infinite Love, and for the realization of Thy Infinite Greatness that comes as we look into the beauty of the sky this night. We thank Thee for the wonders of the day and the glories of the night, whereby we are privileged in Thy Name to move onward and upward, that as One Body we may be lifted up unto Thee, allowing the expression of the fullness of Thy Will on Earth, that Thy Kingdom may come in Blessing to all who will receive; for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever, Aum-en.
This afternoon, New York time, the remains of one of our dearly beloved sisters was returned to the earth, even as her Spirit had before, on last Wednesday, returned to God. We remember with delight the short visit that Lily McCann was privileged to have with us here on Sunrise Ranch. She has gone Home to the Inner Planes of Being, and we rejoice to know the reality of Life that transcends that which is called death. In memory of the blessings made manifest because she lived, we thank God for the privilege of having had her with us in this Ministry for so many years.
Sometimes human beings, growing weary of the necessities of life in this world, are inclined to want to go Home to the Inner Planes of Being. I am not suggesting that this was true in the case of our sister who has passed on, but it seems to me that we might wisely consider for a few moments tonight the fact that while we live we must never forget that it is here on Earth that God has need of those who love and serve Him. The Heavens of the Inner Planes are filled with those who, in beauty and in Love, do adore and serve Him, and His Will is done, so that all things are perfect in expression and Being. It is not there, but here, that the great need is, and, when God sees fit to take Home one of His children, we who remain must not be selfish in any attitude which we may have, either to envy, or to be filled with regret.
We would not question the wisdom and goodness of God in having Ordained that we should live here to let His Will be done; neither would we find fault with His wisdom and goodness in having taken unto Himself one whom we have loved on earth. It is needful, therefore, that we should rejoice with a deep and solemn joy, in recognition of the beauty and the wonder of God's Way, and of the Holy privilege we have of walking therein. We can rest assured that those who dwell in the Inner Planes of Being are doing their part. They do not have to be persuaded to let God's Will be done. They do not have to be impelled to do their part toward helping bring forth the fulfillment of that for which we labor.
Here on Earth it has pleased God to give us the responsibility of carrying on His Work in a realm where there are all too many who give no thought or heed to His Will. It has pleased Him to give us the privilege and responsibility of having a share in that fulfillment toward which the Prophets of past ages have looked with longing. How many there have been in ages past who, attuned to the Spirit of God, could look forward to the day when these things should be made manifest, and how they longed for the privilege of living on Earth at the appointed time. If all those who had had such a hope were gathered here, I think our number would be far increased. So, out of those who have lived in time past, out of those who live today, we here on Sunrise Ranch, and scattered throughout the field wherever true emissaries may be found, are the privileged ones to live on Earth today, and to have a share in that fulfillment toward which the Prophets have looked so long. This day is often referred to in the Holy Scriptures as that day. In “that day” so and so shall be true—in that day—and that day is here. We are living in it; we are sharing it.
I have wondered sometimes, as I have watched you living through the days and going about your tasks, what difference would it make if you could actually have continuously a vivid realization of what it means to live now, and have a share in that which is being done here in this time and place. We read in the history of God's activities in the affairs of men, as recorded in the Bible, of many wonderful things—many things that have been accomplished down through the centuries since the time of the fall. All of that has been moving to this time. This is the time, this is the day that brings all history to focus, and all that has ever been can have true meaning only as we let that meaning appear in that which is accomplished in this day and in this place.
As you were gathering for the Service tonight from your various places of abode, if you paused to look at the sky and to see the glories unfurled there, you must have touched something of the infinite greatness of the Cosmos, and of the greatness that is still greater—the greatness of the God Who brought it forth. That greatness has been emphasized down through the ages, as God has provided the various steps by which man might come at last to salvation. And all of those cycles of time, all of those lives that have been lived, all of the things that have been done, all of the things that have been suffered, all of the hopes, all of the longings, all of these centuries, find focus in this present moment of eternity, and we, a handful of people from among the tens of millions who dwell upon the face of the Earth, have the Holy and Sacred privilege of giving a focus of meaning to all of that. If we have any true realization of our responsibilities, and of our privilege, in this, we must surely recognize that we are indeed walking on Holy Ground, and that we are blessed of God beyond any blessings heretofore known to the children of men, that this should be our lot, our privilege, the Will of God for us.
Realizing such things, any feelings of self-pride or arrogance must surely vanish away in the depths of humility; and, realizing such things, we must surely recognize more fully than ever before the opportunity of being diligently about our Father's business, that we may live, and in living, be a blessing to all who will receive.
In the world, human beings try to attain to satisfaction by being self-centered, by trying to produce a focus of a little sphere of things engendered by their own efforts. Here, whether we look into the star-strewn sky, or whether we look into the ages past, we see something of that Infinity which we are privileged to bring to focus, not an uncertain little circle of human achievement, but a share in the Working of God on Earth, for here it is that His Kingdom needs to come; here it is that the Works of the Master and of those who have turned to God in ages past must be allowed to have meaning; here it is that the great step forward must be taken in order to allow the New Heaven and the New Earth to be a reality to the children of men.
Do we live in a tight little sphere of finite consciousness, running about like ants, having a world no larger than a few square feet, completely preoccupied with that which we can detect with the five senses? Or do we live in a magnificent sphere of infinite proportion, where the Cosmic Consciousness of God is allowed to have meaning, and we are privileged to let the meanings of God appear on Earth?
Where do we live? In a tiny prison of our own making, or in that vast domain of the Kingdom that is granted to those who enter into the glorious Liberty of the Children of God? Why do we live? To please ourselves in some cubby hole of our own making, like monkeys in a cage, or to please God in the infinite greatness of His Kingdom that is here, and not limited to some far away place?
If the Kingdom of our God is anywhere in all the Cosmos, if the Kingdom of our God has meaning in relationship to that star-strewn sky that stretches above us tonight, it has meaning here, for how could we separate this from that, and say they are not parts of the same thing? You look toward the sky this night and see the Milky Way, and then remember that this world, this Solar System, is a part of that. If God's Kingdom is there, it is also here—and we cannot separate ourselves from His Kingdom, though we may not live in the Kingdom. Yes, that is true. We cannot get away from the Kingdom of God, although we may not live in it. It is here, no matter what human beings do, no matter how blind they may be, no matter how stubborn and self-centered, the Kingdom is still here, waiting for those who will enter in and abide in it.
Yes, it is good to live in this world now. It is good to have the privilege of being one of the few from among the millions Called by our LORD and KING to share in the work of giving manifest focalization to all that has been done by all the Prophets and Faithful Ones of all ages past, that, coming down to this present point, we may truly let God's Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Where do we live? In the darkness of the world of misery that man has made, or in the Kingdom that God has made? In a prison cell, or in the limitless sphere that is Divinely Ordained? Let us, one and all, be ever about our Father's Business, letting His Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
O LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, we thank Thee that it is so, for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever. Aum-en.
The Peace, Purity and Perfection of the Living Christ be unto you, as you let yourselves be lifted up into that perfect state of Being that God has ordained for His children on Earth.
Peace Be Unto You
© emissaries of divine light
