Priesthood — Government And Education
Martin Cecil August 12, 1980 Assembly
Never underestimate the power of spiritual expression—we could perhaps say the catalytic action of that power. This brings changes to pass without any change in the nature of what it was that brought the change about. We remain ourselves. We remain genuine. In spite of the fact that necessarily we have to play various roles, the catalyst is always present. It may be that the catalyst which we really are will transform the role that we are playing. We do not identify ourselves with those external changes because we have an awareness that we are individually and collectively the Unchanging One. An identity begins to be known that transcends every role that may be played. Never again do we become lost in any of the roles which we play. We do many things, we play many roles, but we remain ourselves—something stable, something unmoving in a realm which is in the process of being transformed.
In order to function in all the essential roles that are needful we must have this stable base. We never think of ourselves as being the role that we are playing. We may recognize the essential nature of the role we are playing. We are in the world, but not of it. Being in the world we have sundry roles to play. We don’t object to roles, even the humblest. Who’s to judge as to which role is the most important? The human view will not tell us. You may have found, to the extent that you have been a catalyst in any situation, that those who are present in that situation became aware of the change without knowing why it happened. They don't look at you and say, “Ah, you're the catalyst.” We need to be humble in that sense so that we do not project ourselves forward so as to make sure everybody knows how important we are as a catalyst.
A catalyst is very often most effective when it is unknown. Something becomes known to human beings and it will be mistranslated. The Master was a catalyst. When He was on earth, we now see the immense changes that occurred throughout the whole world because of the fact of His presence. Those changes have been mistranslations, haven't they? The catalyst was there, the transformations occurred, but they occurred on the basis of human mistranslations. This partly was consequent on the fact that He was no longer present. The responsibility was in the hands of those who had been with Him. They didn't handle it too well.
If these essential transformations are to provide a true translation there must be on hand a catalyst that remains, that continues to be present, that continues to exert a control and dominion with respect to the changes that are occurring. In order for this to be so, there has been the necessity for a collective body. It would never happen on the basis of one person. If it could have happened on that basis, it would have long ago. The Master was here, and there was no one who could have handled that in any more effective way than He did. We are not looking for a repeat performance of some kind, some other actor in the central role. This role has to be played, the catalyst has to be present, but it becomes an effective means of transformation, ultimately transmutation, because it is a body of individual catalytic factors. And it’s the Whole Body that is the catalyst in fact.
We have been concerned with the development of this manifest catalyst on earth. We become familiar with the requirements because we let it happen in our own individual experience. We ourselves discover what it means to provide the catalytic influence in all our affairs. This influence needs to be pure and absolute. We don't agree with what is not right and fitting. Unfortunately this has happened all too much in our Emissary experience. There has been agreement on the wrong basis, agreement with respect to something that was distorted, usually to keep the peace. The catalyst doesn't necessarily keep the peace. There is the sword aspect to the catalyst.
If there are those things that are not evidence of the real nature of spirit in action, appearing through ourselves or through somebody else, we would naturally anticipate rebuke—at least one would think so. All too often, rather than rebuke, agreement has been provided. We tend to provide agreement so that someone else doesn't rebuke us. “I won't rebuke you if you don't rebuke me,” so that we can continue to get away with human nature. But there is a line here to be drawn, isn't there? We are here to draw that line. We need to be aware of what is necessary in order to allow this catalyst, this unified catalyst, to operate on earth. Our sole concern is to provide what is necessary so that it may.
This requires that we deal with many aspects of human nature so that we may be firm and absolute in our approach to every field. We cannot know ahead of time what field will be offered to us in which we need to provide the catalyst. These things are not scheduled in the usual human nature ways. So we need to have a broad view, a broad understanding, which is capable of coming to point in a specific sense with respect to the circumstances that arise.
The Priesthood is the catalyst—the catalyst that has to be purely itself; it cannot be altered from being itself. We have taken note often of the evidence of this revealed by reason of the Master's presence on earth. Nothing could happen to change Him from being Himself. So with this collective catalyst. Obviously it requires an absolute loyalty within the catalyst on the part of those who compose it. There is an absolute acceptance of the truth in one's own expression—a consistent experience. If anything creeps in through anyone that is not quite what it should be, then immediately it is rebuked, maybe not because someone shakes a finger in someone else's face—but by the very quality of one's own living there is a rebuke there. And a person who is not permitting the truth to find expression will begin immediately to feel very uncomfortable. Often not a word needs to be spoken. There are occasions when silence is golden in this sense—no word is spoken. It gives the individual a chance to think again. If it's too blatant, there may be a need to turn on one's heel and walk away. The catalyst provides a rebuke; this is part of the catalytic action by which changes are wrought.
There is a need for a clear association with the Word, with the tone of life, the tone of the catalyst. We examine the human nature experience to some extent in order to make plain what the attitude of spirit is relative to such situations. We are not interested in human nature and the way it behaves, but we are interested in being very sure that we do not, inadvertently even, associate ourselves with such off-key expression.
The Priesthood has the responsibility for government and for education. There can't be government until education has been sufficiently in the picture to allow the ministers of government to be on hand. There must be the Priesthood. This has been a problem—to have the Priesthood on hand who were capable of handling what needed to be handled, because there needed first of all to be sufficient education so that they might be on hand. And we see education in a little different way too; because it's not a matter of information; it's a matter of experience—of something coming forth into spiritual expression. But it relates to every field of our living. It relates to all our associations together. If we begin to accept our responsibilities in the Priesthood, male and female, then we have things to handle that we didn't have to handle before. Heretofore the Priesthood hasn't been around. There was no one handling the things that the Priesthood needed to handle. When the Priesthood begins to put in an appearance, then they are handling something that hadn't been handled before.
We have to have some sort of an encompassing vision which enables us to be aware of what it is that needs to be handled, and we recognize that the handling always comes very close to home initially. Once we can handle what is next to us the way it should be handled, we may be trusted with a magnification of that further afield. If we can't do it with respect to what is next to us, how would we ever expect to be trusted with anything more? There have been those who haven't necessarily proven trustworthiness in the little things. Real ministry is right next to one always. If one hasn't seen it there one has only imagination with respect to a real ministry somewhere else. It's not real at all. So we handle what is right next to us, and it is in this that we prove out the fact of the Priesthood.
We may see various areas where there has been a great emptiness. Government is impossible without the working of the Law—in other words, without sex. There is obviously a need for education in this field, first of all, that there might be the Priesthood—who would then provide what was necessary in the expanding responsibilities of government and education. In view of the fact there hasn't been a Priesthood available for this creative work, it might be said that all who aspired in that direction were yet children. If we consider the true state, where there is a Priesthood, where all have reached a level of adequate maturity spiritually speaking, then the children growing up in the ordinary sense would be correctly educated and move into greater spiritual maturity. But we didn't have a situation like that and regardless of adult bodies, there were a lot of children around. We are looking toward a greater spiritual maturity and a Priesthood capable of handling children in mature bodies.
There is rightly always the provision of dominion from an external standpoint, which gradually diminishes. It comes in some sooner than others—even in the true state there are those who begin to experience a greater maturity more quickly than others, and there will be a different situation with respect to each in this regard. So there is a warm enfoldment by the Priesthood, male and female, who are responsible for the field of education. And the whole cycle of unfoldment is designed to allow the individual to realize from within himself the dominion that should be expressed in his own particular area of function. But that dominion includes every aspect and every level. If there is no adequate education for every aspect and every level, that individual can never experience spiritual maturity. We see something of the responsibility of the Priesthood in this regard.
I think you will recognize that there might indeed be a need for one hundred and forty-four thousand to handle what needs to be handled just in it’s Core aspect. There is a vast field. Let us not get intimidated by the vastness of the field. What we do is handle what is with us, that’s all. And if the catalyst is there in fact, then everything will be taken care of. We are not trying to take care of it in human strength, but letting the catalyst work. The former things pass away; all things are made new in consequence.
There is something to be done in every moment. Emphasis has been placed upon the now—we can only live now. However, living now, there may be an awareness of what is coming. Living now has been interpreted in some consciousnesses as narrowing things down to a little dot, so that we are really in a very small place. But now is a crossover point. There is the future and there is the past. The future comes to point now. It comes to point out of what might be described as a state of vastness. The space contained within the two converging lines which are coming down to this point from above is a symbol ultimately of infinity. You extend those lines and they go on forever and the space becomes infinite. But it all—out of the future—comes down to this point where we are on hand to usher it into the world so that it may move into the past. The past equally goes out to infinity too. Let us not think of now then as being merely a dot. It is the crossover point where we stand, where we are responsible.
But the Garden is planted eastward in Eden. It is the Garden, the essential essences of what should properly be brought to focus in oneself now. One should be aware, rightly, of what it is that is approaching in this sense. If you try and look too far you can get lost in infinity, in which case you have stepped out of the now. But if you stay in the now and from that vantage point begin to allow a spiritual discernment to acquaint you with what it is that is coming, then you are not leaving the now. That discernment is part of the right action now and you are never therefore taken by surprise. This is not a discernment, necessarily, of coming events. They haven't yet taken form. This relates to spirit, the Garden planted eastward in Eden. Part of the action of the Spirit of Truth in our own experience is to acquaint us with things to come.
People usually think of things to come in terms of coming events. But we are not so much interested in that. We may see such things because coming events cast their shadows before. There must be a light there to cast a shadow and we are interested in the light which is present because of the movement of spirit. Spirit is vast, unlimited, but it's coming down to us individually; and also to us collectively, to be brought to point where we are either individually or collectively. As it begins to come toward this point it begins to be concentrated to a greater extent and becomes more specifically discernable in consequence. It’s not like looking out at the night sky—a vast expanse. Something needs to come out of what is symbolized by that vast expanse, down here right where we are, and it is close to our field of specific responsibility, that we may begin to discern something of what is coming, the Spirit of Truth showing us things to come.
Spirit—something emerging from certain vibrational levels other than earthly levels. When our polarity is right we are perceptive of these things, we are discerning of them; we know a little ahead what it is that is happening. To the extent of our ability to discern in this way we have the opportunity of allowing what is coming to be correlated with what we know in our present moment of ministry. It's not as though there was a set structured pattern of spirit coming down, and it's going to come down here and it won't be any other way than what it is. That would be the state of an automaton in so far as we were concerned, wouldn't it, if this was really the case.
Our discernment broadens our view. According to the extent of our discernment it can be quite a view! To start with it is probably very little. And within that range there are certain things apparent—vibrations. Knowing what is present in our field of ministry, we may allow it—“this would seem to be fitting”—allow it to come out that way. There is a vast provision available, treasure in heaven, and it's not going to be forced on us in some particular way. We are given the opportunity of playing our part in deciding what it is out of this treasure which is fitting and right for our immediate field of ministry.
We don't do this as though what was coming to us individually was unrelated to what was coming to others. We have a certain discernment which relates to others too. We see what is emerging for them. They are not yet in position to discern what it is that’s coming insofar as they are concerned, what should be appearing next. But we should be in that position so that we can discern what is appearing for them and we can begin to acquaint them with what it is that is coming to point in them. This is part of the responsibility of the Priesthood.
One needs to be able to discern what it is that is needful vibrationally speaking. We have to discern that first before it can take form correctly. We know these things because we have spiritual discernment. We see what is coming down from God out of heaven before it arrives, it’s in the offing. This is capable of being discerned because it's not unrelated to what is happening in this present moment, to whatever has come down from God out of heaven that is being expressed.
There is not a God sitting up there on high saying, “Well now I have this particular treasure that you are going to take whether you like it or not.” He said, “I have all these treasures. It's your responsibility to discern which are the right ones to be made use of in the present moment of your ministry.” And we have that responsibility; we have this array of facilities available to us spiritually speaking. We also have an awareness of what is present with us materially speaking. And we bring the two together on the right basis. You look over your own array of spiritual facilities and you see, well this perhaps is the one that would be most fitting in this instance and you let it come through you to bless. This is the way we minister.
This which is to be offered by the Priesthood is something new. It hasn't been known. Obviously everybody has something more to learn by reason of actual experience. This emphasizes the importance that, while gaining this experience, as whatever is required unfolds naturally there should always be very careful orientation upward. One should never assume that one is going to gain experience all on one's own. This is the usual attitude of human nature. “Ah, now I begin to see something. Now I am going to gain this experience for myself.” No.
There must be dominion. There must be the control provided, the enfoldment provided. This can only be done to the extent that those who are to be enfolded are yielded and open upward, aware that they don't really know yet, they haven't the experience yet. Therefore, “What is it that's fitting?” There may be a beginning awareness of something or other, but you let the control always be where it belongs. Presumably when there is experience, when there have been a hundred years of such experience we will say, then those concerned possibly could be trusted to handle their affairs rightly without the necessity of letting everything be laid out to the higher point. Obviously this would become very tedious after a while, when we come to the one hundred and forty-four thousand even. So there is a development of the ability in spirit to remain rightly oriented without necessarily always having to give it a form. But in the initial stages, where there isn't the experience, it must be given form. It must be kept centered so that the experience may be gained on the right basis. So always it comes back to this level of the keeping of the first great commandment.
© emissaries of divine light
