We have been studying together the basic theme of Heavenly Magic, and we’ve been going through a process of connecting up, not Truth, but the Vision of Truth, so that you could begin to see it as it has been revealed and recorded from the beginning of history up until this present time. We have noted that the first part of the First Chapter of John carries a particularized key. If the key is understood then what is contained in the Gospel can be understood; but if the key is not understood, there cannot be a true comprehension of that which the Master taught, as it was recorded for us by John.
We remember that two of the Gospel authors were not disciples in the usually accepted sense; they were not with the Master through His Ministry, and Matthew had a considerable ability to record, and in some passages particularly the current of the Spirit was contained in it very effectively. That is very noticeable in at least parts of the Sermon on the Mount; in parts of that record the recording was incomplete, which is not surprising—they didn’t take shorthand in those days, and it was written quite a long time after the events that are recorded there. So we are very appreciative of the fact that Matthew did get as much of it down as he did, but when we wish to begin to understand the Spirit of the Master’s life and teaching, it is necessary to return to the Gospel as John recorded it, because he was the only one of the disciples who had any real comprehension of the Master’s mission and any real understanding of His teaching. And in the beginning of his Gospel he established or gave the key to an understanding of it, so that there would be no necessity of failing to comprehend. We have given a little attention to that key, but there will be a great deal more consideration of it, and we might just note something of the nature of that key a little more deeply or fully at the moment.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God.” There we have the key—and once that key is comprehended it is very easy to understand the supposed mysteries. We have recognized that the Word spoken of, was and is Shekinah. There has not yet been an adequate comprehension of Shekinah here in this Class, so we might go back a little and review, and perhaps see if we can find a little deeper comprehension, because until we see the Christos of the New Testament—not the man, but that which was focalized in the man and revealed through the man Jesus—until we see the Christos of the New Testament and the Shekinah of the Old Testament as being absolutely identical, we cannot comprehend either the Old or the New Testaments; and we cannot perceive without that, the real expression of the Word.
Now people talk about the Word of God, and they say the Bible is the Word of God; and I very often use the expression which is more or less common place: “… the Bible says so and so; or in the Bible we find this.” Now what do I mean when I say, “In the Bible”? Do I simply mean this Book as such? No. This book can be a Bible, but it is not necessarily a Bible; not necessarily the Bible. If we are talking about the Bible, we must recognize that the term includes all, or every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Do you think that this Book records all the words that have ever proceeded out of the mouth of God? Certainly not. It contains a portion, a small portion, of the words that have proceeded out of the mouth of God.
Now the Master said that man shall live, and we are interested in living, turning from death to life. We're interested in the Magic of Life and the Magic of Living. The Master said, “It is written, man shall live not by bread alone but by every word—every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Obviously only a few of the words that proceeded out of the mouth of God are here; and there are many words in this Book which did not proceed out of the mouth of God. There is history here. There's the record of a lot of things that human beings said and did, important to an understanding, yes. I do not object to that. But I wish you to begin to have the correct attitude toward the Bible, because the Bible has never been written. Part of it has; part of the Bible has been written, but the Bible has never been written and never will be. The meaning of the human being in life is realized only to the degree that he or she becomes a Bible—a chapter in the Bible. Only as the Word of God proceeds through you—and it is written that man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
And when in Revelation, for instance, we have the expression that we should not add-to or take-from the words of the prophecy of this Book, does that mean just what is contained either in the Book of Revelation or the Bible as it stands here. You are aware that from the standpoint of historical facts this collection of holy writings which is ordinarily called the Bible was gathered together and decided upon by a group of sincere, earnest men several hundred years ago; and then it was finally, the further selection, and a further centering of what is called the Bible under King James in England.
Now those were men who, no doubt, had something of the spirit of God working through them; they did their best, without any question, to make the right selections in relationship to the available literature, the holy writings. There were many parts of what had been the Bible that were set aside at the time that King James arranged for this particular program, which established our Bible in its present form. But it is not to say that they managed to get all the recorded words of God put together. And if we were to exclude from this Book all the words that were not the Words of God it wouldn't be nearly so thick, would it, because there are many words here that are not the Words of God. There is a recording of the words of evil men; there historical incidents, allegorical portrayals of various kinds, which cannot properly be classified as the Words of God.
So the Master said, and we assume that He wouldn't have quoted this text if He hadn't been assured of its accuracy. We're going to follow Him if He is our KING, if His life on earth has any meaning. We don't have to just assume, do we? We can take the attitude we know, if we trust Him, if we believe in Him. We can take the attitude that He knew what He was talking about, and He quoted a text from the Bible saying, “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Well now, human beings have had awareness of only a few of the Words that have proceeded out of the mouth of God. A few of them have been recorded, so this contains a part of the Bible. And in a broad, general sense we can say this is the Holy Bible, because in it we have something of the revealed Word of God. But it is not in a complete sense the Bible. And the caution against adding-to or taking-from did not have any reference to this as a book; it did not have any reference merely to Revelation as a book. It did include the Book of Revelation, for instance, and it could be conceived to include something of the rest of this record. But we are not to add-to or take-from the Word of God. We cannot, if we are intelligent, or if we stop to think, if we recognize anything of the reality of the spirit of God, we cannot say that this is the complete Bible.
When I say the Bible, regardless of what my hearers think I mean, I don't mean just this book. I mean the Bible, the complete Bible, the words proceeding out of the mouth of God. Now God has a good many words yet to say that have never been said as yet. He has said a good many words that have not been recorded by man, about which man knows nothing. So the Bible is something far greater than this little part of the record. And we are not to detract from the Word, or the words that proceed from the mouth of God, nor are we to add-to. Now, if we are going to begin to understand how to function so that we do not detract from the Words of God, we must begin to understand the significance in this key in the first part of the Book of John.
And let us note, particularly here, from the standpoint of your own consciousness, and to help equip you to meet the questionings, the attitudes, the wonderings of human beings whom you may contact in days to come. You may not need, or it may not be wise, for you to try to explain that this is only a part of the Bible. Certainly do not undertake any such thing unless you have a real pattern of response—and you can go a long, long ways without ever suggesting any such thing, so don't start on any such subject as that—but that you may know, and be in position to express it if there be need.
Remember that if we limit our concept of the Words of God to this book we are taking away, we are violating the Commandment. This is only a part, and if we insist this is all then we are taking away from the Words of the Book of this prophecy. What is this prophecy? Merely the Book of Revelation? Certainly not! What is prophecy? It is the expression of that which is from God, at any time, under any circumstance. This prophecy. That which is written in the Book of Revelation is a part of this prophecy; that is, the prophecy of the Word of God, the expression, the revelation of the Word of God to the children of men. But anyone who takes the attitude that this is the entire, complete Bible, “That's the Word of God; it's all that there is, or all that we might ever need”, is taking-from. and every time you add a human concept or a belief. and we have noted that in the religions of the world there are many human beliefs, assumptions, concepts. All those things are adding-to the Words of this prophecy.
We see that the so-called Christian churches today—all of them—that we find popularly known in the world—all of them, without a single exception—do two things. They add to the words of the prophecy of this Book and they take-from the words of the prophecy of this Book. The literalists as well as the liberals, up-and-down-the-line, they all add-to on the basis of their own opinions, beliefs and assumptions, and they all take-from. How? Because generally speaking they take the attitude that this is the Word of God, and it's all complete right here. And if you have any such feeling or attitude then you are detracting, subtracting, taking-from the word of the prophecy of this Book. What book? The Book—the real Bible, the Bible, the Bible which is in process of expression, which includes all the Words of God, and shall include all the Words of God that shall ever be expressed. So the Bible is not complete, and never will be. The Bible is not complete. and never will be.
Now, in our consideration of these things in this Class we must remember that we have been having a play upon the word Word. “Words proceeding out of the mouth of God.” We can apply that quite properly to the words that have been revealed from God through His prophets—our Master as the Supreme One—and all the true prophets that have been on earth of whom we have any record. So to the degree that prophets have made the words of God known by speaking them or writing them we have a record of them, but every Word of God that is recorded here [in the Bible] came into manifestation because some man, some human being, was a prophet, letting something of the words of God appear—there is nothing recorded here except what did come through a prophet. You say, “Well, the prophets spoke face-to-face with God. We know what God said on a direct basis.” Who heard the words of God and told you so? The prophet. The prophet—they came through the prophets, and man knows nothing of the words of God except by reason of the prophets, of whom our LORD and KING, manifest on earth, was and is Chief. So, the words of God which reach man come through prophets, and to the degree that you become a means by which the words of God can be conveyed to the children of men, you are a prophet. If you do not recognize me as a prophet, there is precious little value in your being here. My function is that of a prophet. And so, we need to realize that the Word of God, in the sense of the Bible, in the overall sense, is not complete and never will be.
How shall man live? Man shall live by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Now it is obviously impossible for any human being to be consciously aware of all the words that God has ever spoken, all the words that He is speaking—so is this impossible? Not at all. It is not impossible. Man shall live by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God—man, in the sense of humanity—not just the individual; it includes the individual—but in the sense of humanity. It is written: Humanity shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Who are the beings through whom the Word of God is revealed? They are human beings—men and women—and our function has meaning only as we become a means by which the things of God are conveyed into the world to the children of men. You are a Word of God. If you are having any meaning, if you are living in a true sense, and if you are causing others to live, you are a Word of God. The words of God appear through the Word of God, and if you are a Word of God then through you some of the words of God will appear.
The relationship of the Centering of Being, and that which expresses from the Centering of Being, is something which is of vital importance at this point. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God.” Now we notice something here that’s like a sandwich—something on each side and some filling in the middle—a heavenly sandwich. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God”—one side of the sandwich; “and the Word was God”—the filling; “the same was in the beginning with God.” with God … was God … with God. Do you see that? There are three statements—“and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God.” The filling—the centering, in other words—is God. But the manifestation, both in the higher vibrational realms and in the realm of physical things, the manifestation was with God. And the manifestation of the Presence of God is what? We recognize the Master described it as “the way, the truth and the Life.” And the way is what? Love, as we have seen. And Love is the Fire of God—God’s creative Fire. And when we go back to the time of the children of Israel, and the tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, we find that between the Cherubim, above the Mercy Seat, there was the manifestation of the Shekinah, which is described as the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells—or simply, the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
There is no indication that God, as such, was seen; anywhere in the record, there is no evidence that God, as such, could be seen. It is said with respect to Moses, when he was on Mount Sinai, that he said “the hinder parts of God”—that is, that which gave evidence of His Presence—a little something of God, but not the wholeness or the fullness of God. And there is no indication here, anywhere in the record, that any human being ever saw the wholeness of God. We know, of course, that such a thing would be impossible. But it’s necessary that we stop to recognize this point. That which we know of God has been made evident, has been revealed and made manifest by reason of that which was the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. Now note the expression, the One Who Dwells—going back into the Old Testament pattern—the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
Now we know that God is a term which is properly used in relationship to Deity on exactly the same basis as we use the word humanity in relationship to mankind. God has the same significance in relationship to the patterns of Deity that humanity has in relationship to the pattern of mankind. When we say humanity we do not imagine that it means just one man or one woman, or just one man and one woman. We recognize that it includes every man, woman and child upon the face of the earth. So, likewise, remember that the word God, in the sense of the suggestion of the overall Deity, has the same meaning; and we do not think of God ever, at any time, as being just one single being; but is, rather, the complete pattern of all the God Beings everywhere.
So, the One Who Dwells is a term which can be used with great facility. The One Who Dwells can apply to any focalization of Deity at any level, at any place—all the way from your own focalization of Deity within you, your own Lord, to the highest focalization of Deity in all the Cosmos. Therefore, God includes all God Beings, and is never to be thought of as a single Being, as if God were a particularized, separate personality. Now we can use the word God—the central focalization of Deity in relationship to this world—as applying to our LORD and KING. There is absolutely nothing wrong with speaking of the One who manifested through the body of Jesus Christ as God. It is quite permissible. But if we imagine that one Being is all that is included when we say God—referring to Him—we are wrong. If He is a GOD, He must be a GOD of something; if He is a LORD, He must be a LORD of something; if He is a KING, He must be a KING of something—and so He is the KING of Kings, or LORD of Lords; or GOD, the Central Focalization of all the God Beings in this particular pattern or part of the universe. So, if we use the word God in relationship to our KING, meaning Him, we automatically include every God Being over whom He is LORD and KING, every God Being in the whole pattern; but it centralizes in Him, and we can think of Him as that centering and be perfectly right.
So, there is the recognition that the word God may mean these things. But if you assume that every time the Bible here, the record as we have it, uses the word God it means that which we have just outlined, you are wrong—it doesn’t. The word God was used by translators who did not know what they were doing really; they didn’t understand what they were translating; they didn’t understand what they were writing. So, we must be considerate of the limitations of the translators and realize that, for instance, in the beginning of the book of Genesis, the word that is there translated as God was translated from the Elohim, which means a Focalization of God Beings. It’s a recognition of plurality. Actually there are seven insofar as this Whole Holy World is concerned—there were seven God Beings. And the Eloihim is a term relating to deity which signifies these seven, and those seven only—not some others; just those seven. It is within the range of what we might conceive to be right to translate that as God, and yet if we assume that the word God, used to signify the Eloihim, means exactly the same things as it does in some other place we are going to be misled. So, there, we recognize the specific pattern of focalization in relationship to which many God Beings were in operation in the beginning of the creation of the world.
Here we have the word, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” This is indeed a marvelous key; a wonderful privilege we have, having these few words so that we may understand the rest of the record. The Word—“In the beginning was the Word.” What Word? It depends upon the level that we are going to consider. What level do we see? “In the beginning was the Word.” If we say that the Word here is supposed to signify the Pattern of Shekinah made manifest by the Eloihim, it’s quite true; but this Pattern of Shekinah so established was with God, in the pattern of the whole of God Being, and “was God; the same was in the beginning with God.”
Now notice the pattern. If you look at it truly you will see that there are two triangles evident in that particular wording. “The Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” Two triangles—their apices together. The apices of the upper triangle pointing downward and that of the lower triangle pointing upward, and the point of union between the two is God. That is the point that is God for all that appears below. That is the point of focalization, centralization, for the manifestation of all creation as we know it in relationship to this world.
But there is the focalization of Deity in relationship to the solar system, and the universe, and on to the Cosmos. Then, that which was with God, which was the manifestation of God, the focalization of Deity that provided the beginning of the pattern of creation was with God, the higher aspect of Deity—whatever that focalization may have been. It extended on out into the universe and the Cosmos, in other words, and God in the higher, overall sense was recognized. “And the Word was with God.” So that which was the beginning of the Shekinah Fire, and Light, and Cloud, by which this earth was brought forth was “with God”—with the higher aspects of God extending out into the solar system, and the universe and the Cosmos—a perfect pattern of relatedness and harmony. Then, that which was with God, was God—the focalization of Deity in relationship to this particular pattern of creation. Thereafter then, those God Beings who were working with that focalization of Deity that was, and is, centered in our LORD and KING became the means by which the Shekinah could begin to expand and manifest. And so the Word, the Shekinah, was with God—the manifestation of Shekinah above the particular point of focalization where we would establish the position of the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings.
So, He was the Word in relationship to the higher point of Being—“the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The same was in the beginning of the creation, “with God”. And you begin to see that the God Beings working with the focalization in our LORD and KING were the means by which the expanding expression of Shekinah could appear, out of which, or through which, the creative processes might be developed. Now, “In the beginning was the Word”—In the beginning was the Shekinah. In the beginning was the Shekinah, and the Shekinah was with God, and the Shekinah was God. The same was in the beginning with God. Now these patterns of relationship must be understood if we are to understand the relationship of the manifest form of Jesus in relationship to the Father. He said, “The Father and I are one.” Then we must see that the same pattern was holding which is here established—was with God, was God, and was with God. The patterns of focalization must be comprehended.
Now there is something else here that we should note in this connection. To say that the Shekinah is not God would be wrong, wouldn’t it? If you saw the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, whatever One that One may be, and you said, “This is not God”—you would be wrong, wouldn’t you? Very wrong! And yet if you said, “This is all God is”—you would be equally wrong. The Shekinah at any level of its manifestation is a revelation of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, and the One Who Dwells is always the point of focalization at that particular level in relationship to that particular pattern. It could relate to any God Being anywhere; but generally speaking it relates to primary points of focalization. So we see the Shekinah. We can see—some of you have already seen—the reality of the Shekinah and, having seen, you could not say this is not God, but if you spoke of it as if that were all of God you would be wrong.
This pattern of distinction is something that the human mind has not been able to comprehend in its self-activity. Until you begin to understand the principles, and see with the eye of the spirit, see with the eye of the heart as well as with the mind so that you have a single eye, you cannot understand it. But it becomes very simple and very plain once there is a true pattern of comprehension. You do not expect, then, to ever see, insofar as the fallen world is concerned—certainly not until after the restoration has been completed—you do not ever expect to see the whole form of the Primary Focalization of Deity in relationship to ourselves, except through the reality of Shekinah.
As Shekinah is made manifest increasingly through human beings, the reality of the Pattern is established and the time approaches when He may be seen in the Center of the Fire. But there must be a great deal of purification take place first and ultimately when that is about to manifest in relationship to the world—if you want to know something about the so-called Second Coming of our LORD—it will not be until after the world has been cleansed of all evil. It will not be until all of those who remain on the face of the earth are a part of this Divine Pattern. And a great conclave of those then living, men and women who have become Divine Men and Women, will be gathered at the appointed place and the appointed time to receive the KING into this part of His Kingdom. And under the circumstances which will be developed on the basis of these laws and principles, there will be first the manifestation of the Cloud, in the pattern of the circle; and within the circle there will be the square and the triangle. But in any case, after the vibrational factors have been properly set up to receive the KING—and consider how much human beings do for an earthly king or queen, how much more will we do for our Heavenly. Having so established the pattern to receive Him properly into this part of His Kingdom, so that it may be turned over to Him in the proper ceremony, there will first be the manifestation of the Cloud. And then those present, those seeing, will begin to see the glowing of the Light, or the Light that Glows within the Cloud. And the Cloud as such will begin to dissipate insofar as seeing is concerned, not actually; you simply become attuned to something inside of the Cloud so you cease to see the Cloud. You see first the Cloud, then as you become attuned to that which is inside of the Cloud you can see through the Cloud and the Cloud is still there but you do not see it. And then as you become aware of the Light that Glows you see only the Light that Glows. But finally you become aware of something inside of the Light that Glows and the Fire begins to be that which you see. And so you can see through the Light that Glows to the Fire. And at first all you will see is the Fire, and then you will become aware of something inside of the Fire, and you will be enabled to see through the Fire. And within the Fire you will begin to see the form of the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings. But this is the pattern of His appearing, and the time of His appearing shall be when we are ready to turn this earth, this world, over to Him as a part of His already established Kingdom. Not that He shall have to come and try to take it, but it will be prepared for Him—everything ready and every human being living on the face of the earth at that time will be a citizen of that Kingdom. And it will be a great and glorious ceremony—yes, more than that—to receive our KING back into the realm from whence He was banished by the self-activity of man. And that is the pattern of His appearing. But you need not try to understand all of that at the present time, although you see that it does work and will work on the basis of Shekinah, and until you understand Shekinah you cannot understand His appearing.
Let us then begin to realize that the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells can manifest in relationship to any God Being—in relationship to your God Being. That will manifest in one of two ways. It must manifest in only one of those two ways first, or it cannot manifest in the second way. The pattern of Shekinah must manifest in relationship to your higher point of focalization first.
If I, speaking from an outer standpoint, had not responded to the inner factor of Being in relationship to myself in such a way that I allowed the establishment of Shekinah between myself and the LORD of Lords, at the time of the beginning of my official ministry, I would not have been in position to so function as to allow the Shekinah Pattern to manifest between you and me. And if at any moment I were to violate that pattern, and cause it to cease to be, it would be utterly impossible for me to establish the Shekinah Pattern between you and me. The only reason that I can establish the Shekinah Pattern between you as individuals, or as a group, and myself is because there is a Shekinah Pattern established between me and the LORD of Lords. It is not your responsibility to establish a pattern between yourself and the LORD of Lords. You couldn’t do it if you tried. Human beings have tried it and failed; but it doesn’t work that way. But because I let that pattern be established first, I was in position to so function that a pattern could be established between you and me—the Shekinah Pattern.
And when you begin to let that Shekinah Pattern be established between yourself and me, as the centering here, in outer form, so that you do not violate it, so that you do not cause it to vanish, you do not destroy its manifestation—it is the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells—then you in turn are in position to let a Shekinah Pattern begin to develop between you and those who shall respond to you.
You can work as a teacher, you can do certain things in the world that are good, that are helpful, that may be a blessing to others, without actually establishing in the real sense a Shekinah Pattern extending out from you to others; and you may not have the reality of the Shekinah Pattern between yourself and Center, and still do a certain amount of good, but it will be the kind of good that you see accomplished by innumerable good people all over the world, all doing good things—good men, good women. But it doesn’t rise to the point of power. It doesn’t rise to the point of real creative accomplishment.
So, by reason of the fact that there is a Shekinah Pattern established between me and our LORD and KING, I am in position to let a Shekinah Pattern take form between you and myself. And so are the borders of the tent caused to expand and, once you are included in that pattern of Shekinah that is established through centering in our LORD and KING, you in turn can so function that the Shekinah Pattern may extend through you and be established in relationship to others. And so must it grow and continue, on-and-on until it enfolds the whole earth.
And remember that the Shekinah Pattern, without any exception, manifests in its trinity—the manifestation of the evidence of the One Who Dwells. There is the Cloud, and to the human eye which does not have any comprehension of the Light, the Cloud seems to be something that isn’t, or it seems to be darkness, and the human being never sees through it. But once you begin to realize something is inside of it, you begin to see what is inside of it, because you can see through it—and your eye is single in such a case. When you have reached the point of letting your eye be single your whole body is full of Light. Why? Because you begin to comprehend, to see and to receive, the Light that is within the Cloud, and you can see through the Cloud, and you behold the Light. And truly perceiving the Light, and functioning according to the Truth, which is the essence of the Light, you can begin to be aware of what is contained within the Light That Glows. And finally you begin to see the Fire, and seeing the Fire you may think that that is all there is, as so many have. Even reaching that point of spiritual perception and understanding one might simply see the Fire and assume that that is all. But if you realize there is something inside of the Fire you will be enabled to see through the Fire, and you will be able to walk in the Fire, you will be able to step forth into the Fire and not be burned. There will be no fear of the Fire. You will not only be able to see into it, you will be able to walk into it; you will be able to live in it. And walking into the Fire, you will find One like unto the Son of Man; One like unto the Son of God. And the first time you see into the Fire, and walk into the Fire, it will not be our LORD and KING whom you see. It will be One who represents Him.
And so, you begin to realize the working of the pattern of Shekinah, and you begin to see here that at all levels, with respect to all focalizations, this key works. In the beginning was the Word. In the beginning was the Shekinah, and the Shekinah was with God, and the Shekinah was God. The same—that is the Shekinah—was in the beginning with God. And without this pattern there is no creative action, there is no fulfillment, nothing really worthwhile. Without this pattern we cannot overcome the evil in the world, we cannot accomplish that which is necessary, we cannot restore this world to the Kingdom of our KING. Remember these things.
All things were made by Shekinah, and without Shekinah was not anything made that was made. In Shekinah was Life; and the Life of Shekinah was the Light of men—and the Life of Shekinah was the Light of men. And what is the Life of Shekinah? The Cloud—the essences of the Cloud. The Life of Shekinah becomes the Light of men. All things were made by Shekinah, and without Shekinah was not anything made that was made. In Shekinah was Life—LIFE—that which makes you live. And the Life of Shekinah was the Light of men. And the Light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.
This has been a special day. To some extent we could say, in our own experience, “This is the day the Lord hath made.” Here is something that needs to be understood with respect to all days. We sometimes think of days as being special because of celebrations such as Easter or Christmas, or maybe because of someone's birthday, or one of the many holidays that are included in the calendars of this world. It seems as though human beings imagine that a day can only be special on this basis, but all such days are man-made; they are not special because the LORD made them. Is it not an exciting thing to awaken in the morning and know that this—whatever day it may be—is a special day because the LORD makes it? He has a means of making it a special day. If this is really the case, there is no day that isn't a special day. No longer do we have to wait, like most human beings do, for the weekend, anticipating something special and then usually being disappointed.
Every day is a special day when the people of the LORD are present to let it be made so. We do not have to awaken in the morning and wonder is this Monday or Thursday, or whatever, with a view to establishing in consciousness the sort of day it's going to be. Monday in the world is supposed to be rather a poor sort of day. According to this calendar classification tomorrow will be Monday! Too bad, isn't it? But I don't think that is our attitude anymore. Monday will be a perfect day because the LORD makes it so and we are willing to let Him, just as this day. For various reasons, it seems that there has been a greater willingness on the part of all concerned to let it be the day that the LORD hath made. And there's no problem about rejoicing and being glad in it; it's the natural outcome. It is a special day because it is made so by the LORD in the experience of our own living. So may it, and so shall it, surely be in each day.
We also see the day in larger perspective, not simply as a 24-hour period but as part of an ongoing creative cycle. Day follows day in this sense too, and in this sense each is the day that the LORD hath made. We begin to find a certain attunement in the larger cycle. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/in-three-days.html] Human beings attuned with the usual daily round find, as the years go by, the days seem to pass more quickly; there is the sense of time running out. But if we let our consciousness be raised to see the larger cycles we begin to find that we have a relatedness to those cycles. It is said that a thousand years are but as a day in the sight of the LORD. We have no business restricting ourselves solely to the little 24-hour cycles day by day, or even to what we call the yearly cycle. We recognize the days of creation as they relate to the purposes of God unfolding here on this earth, and we see these days covering periods of thousands of years. If we are participating in this creative process then this gives us a better perspective with respect to what we call time in the dimensional world.
We are concerned with these larger cycles. This doesn't mean that we neglect the smaller ones, but we see the smaller ones as being small and we find an attunement moving in our own experience of living with those larger days of creation which we were particularly noting this morning. The first of these days, in this particular cycle, dawned some four thousand years ago. Do you not have a sense of relatedness to that? If it remains just a story which you have heard or read, about someone called Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, then of course there isn't too much sense of relatedness, unless one could somehow trace one's ancestry back that far. I suppose it's probable that very few people are not related to Abraham in this way. This doesn't only include those who call themselves Jews.
No, our sense of relatedness is not based in externals; it is based in the truth of things, in what is really happening. Our consciousness has changed to this extent, so that we are capable of looking with understanding eyes upon what has been transpiring in the world, which we begin to see as our world, a world for which we are responsible. We do not think of it merely in terms of identification in a present physical form. This is the fact of the matter at the moment. We have a physical form; we have a structure in consciousness which enables us to function in the present moment in the dimensional world, but we are certainly not limited to the dimensional world. Our responsibility is here now, so we attend to it. We are deeply concerned with what is emerging in the present moment but we do not allow that to blot out our consciousness of relatedness to something far greater—far greater in the sense of an unfolding creative cycle—because what is done in the present moment has meaning by reason of that greater unfolding cycle.
As wonderful as this day is, it is a very little thing when seen in the perspective of the larger cycle, the larger days of creation. Even the days of creation which we recognize relating to what we have called the First, Second and Third Sacred Schools are quite brief. Those of you who have been to Class know something about larger days than that, some of them running into hundreds of thousands of years; and of course, using this method of calculating so-called time, there are cycles which are far greater even than that, cycles which do not particularly concern us at the moment. Do we begin to have a sense of belonging in this larger pattern of things? That sense of belonging is natural to those who awaken again to the truth of being. We only lose a sense of relatedness when we become subject to the petty circumstance of the daily experience. Then it begins to appear that we are somehow hemmed in and imprisoned, we have very little elbow room, we are being squeezed into a smaller and smaller space until we end up without any motion at all. What a miserable condition, when the truth of what we are has no such limits.
Beginning to know something of the unfoldment of the larger creative cycles and of our present part in that unfoldment, we have become aware of reality to an increasing degree. Often in times past we have used the word “unreal” to describe the human condition—and that is exactly what it is—but to most of those who used that word it didn't carry much conviction. The human condition seemed to be the reality and the larger picture was unreal. Here we have another indication of what is meant by reversed polarity. When the true polarity is reversed the unreal appears to be very real and the real quite unreal. This also relates to the flip in consciousness needful. The flip occurs by reason of the change of polarity back to the normal condition. We have been functioning in an abnormal state, a subnormal state, for so long. In one of the verses I read this morning there is indication of these things in these words: “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
“Every one which seeth the Son”—is aware of Shekinah, is aware of the True Tone of Life—“and believeth on Shekinah.” What is it we now believe? Most people now believe in the value of their memories—memories of past events, for instance—as a guide to future function, or occasionally to present function. In the human condition of reversed polarity belief relates to what we call externals. We have a great deal of confidence in the stability of external things in various ways. This is why when there is an earthquake it is such a shattering experience to people, because they were before convinced that the earth was stable—this is one of the very foundational beliefs in human consciousness—so that when it begins to heave around this shatters their belief. Human beings believe in the imaginary state present in their own consciousness; they believe this is the real thing. They can see it, after all, with their own eyes; they can feel it, they can hear it, and smell it, and everything else. They know it's right there and they know exactly what it is, they think; they believe they do anyway. But as for God, as for the LORD, as for Shekinah, all this is pretty ethereal, elusive.
Where is human belief? Presumably we recognize that it's mostly in the wrong things, but merely recognizing the fact that this is so doesn't cause it to change. And human beliefs in this regard are rather deeply embedded. We believe that the world is the way that everybody believes the world is, and we agree with others on this score. Of course there are slight variations, mind you, in our interpretation of the picture, but it is with respect to a darkened state of consciousness that our beliefs are firmly held. Now here Jesus was talking about something else: “Every one which seeth the Son,” becomes aware of the True Tone, “and believeth on him.” In other words, the conviction of stability is in that Tone and not in the surroundings, not in the peripheral structures in our consciousness, not in what we call the world, the things and people in the world.
“That every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life.” They will have it. This is the implication here; this is the experience of life. In Shekinah is life. The reality of life can only be known to the extent that Shekinah is known. You and others have experienced something of the True Tone. Could you define it? Yet to the extent that you have had the experience you know it. We say perhaps that it is something sensed, because we can't find words to describe the experience. But it's known. To know something, we don't need to be able to define it. This would probably be heresy in school, wouldn't it? About the only way that a teacher can be sure that his students know is to have them define what they know. In a sense, if we know we do define it, but not in the usual fashion. Our knowing is defined in our living. Our living will reveal the extent of our knowing; however, it will only reveal the extent of our knowing to someone who also knows. The life of Jesus revealed the extent of His knowing but at the time there were very few who saw it. But in spite of ourselves—or what we have thought of ourselves, the image we have imagined was what we were—in spite of that, we have been moved somehow to become aware of the Son, to become aware of the True Tone of Life. We can never properly become conceited with respect to what some people would call spiritual progress, a larger perception of the True Tone, because it came to pass in spite of what we thought we were; it came to pass by reason of Shekinah.
So it would not be surprising that as we awaken to what is happening we discover the reality of eternal life. Shekinah is eternal. In Shekinah is life. Life is eternal. We begin to be associated with this life of Shekinah and our perspective broadens, our sense of proportion changes, and we find ourselves associated with the larger cycles of creation extending over thousands of years. And we don't feel strange about it. It no longer feels unreal to us. It is the real thing. This very moment is included in a particular day of creation, and this day of creation is not separate from other days of creation. It is part of one vast tapestry, the tapestry of life itself, with which increasingly we sense our unity. Life is not separate from us, obviously so or we wouldn't be sitting here. Life is here; in Shekinah is life; Shekinah is here. The Creative Word of Shekinah is spoken. The days of creation unfold; they unfold regardless of the antics of imaginary people. In their unfoldment the imagination, the dream, passes away, and all that is left is the reality.
As we share the unfoldment of this creative cycle in this very moment, we know our relatedness to the whole, and that is everlasting life. Whatever is unreal within the scope of our present consciousness will surely pass away, simply because it is unreal. Whatever is real, in the consciousness of the LORD, will not pass away. The Word of Jesus was: “My Word shall not pass away.” Shekinah shall not pass away. The Shekinah state of consciousness in the dimensional world shall not pass away. As we awaken to that state and yield more fully to it we are included in it, included in the consciousness of the LORD, included in the eternal experience of life. And this we begin to know; it isn't anymore a hopeful imagination. So many good people try to have faith. There is no need to try to have faith. The very attitude of trying to have faith indicates that one doesn't have it. Awaken to the truth. Awaken to a consciousness of the Son. Stay true to that consciousness. Believe on it. Accept it as a basis for your experience and be willing to let the unreal dissolve. Human beings have been so accustomed to the unreal state of affairs that it is a terrifying outlook when it begins to be recognized that the unreal world that was thought to be so real is dissolving. Frantic and desperate attempts are made to try to keep it from dissolving, to try to defeat God. Such attempts could never succeed, but they are made by the fearful and the unbelieving and all the rest of those who classify themselves in the realm of imagination, in the realm that is occupied by phantoms—phantoms which seem to be present by reason of the absence of the reality which actually is present but unperceived by the darkened state of human awareness.
How blind and ignorant human beings are in that state. They amass what they call knowledge about this distorted condition and about all the seeming absences of what is really there. But we see the truth and are willing to allow the unreal to dissolve, the former things to pass away, letting Shekinah make all things new in our own consciousness. Man was created to be responsible for this world. He let it slip through his fingers. The Garden vanished from the earth because it vanished from man's consciousness. Let it be restored to his consciousness and it is restored to the earth, because the earth is simply an extension of his consciousness. How simply all things can be made new, but never as long as human beings cling to the unreal imaginary state to which they attach so much importance. To assist others to awaken to the truth, we find ourselves in this unreal condition with those whom we would assist. Obviously it is impossible to cause people immediately to realize the unreality of the state in which they exist, because they are existing in that state.
But again we remember how the true creation occurs: through the Word, Shekinah, the True Tone—the True Tone in actual reverberating expression in our own daily experience. This is what causes the former things to pass away and all things to be made new. You are not here present, to the extent that you may be present, because you were told that what you thought was real was really unreal or because this state of affairs was thoroughly explained to you. Explanations, after a fashion, may seem to have been necessary, but why? Not to create all things new in you but to help you to relax sufficiently so that you could become aware of the Tone and let it reverberate in you. Do you still believe in your own intelligent ability? Is this one of your beliefs? It's a false belief. Believe in the Son, in the Shekinah, for this alone gets the job done. Explanations and outlines satisfying to the human mind may be offered to some extent to keep the human mind busy while the Tone, the Shekinah, gets the job done; to keep the human mind out of the way, while imagining that it is doing something very important, that it's really beginning to understand the truth now. Nonsense! It doesn't understand anything. But if it can be set on one side the true magician can achieve the true purpose. Even in the human realm of so-called magic the individual needs to be distracted, doesn't he, so that he doesn't really see what's going on. He thinks he sees what's going on and then is amazed at some point that he evidently hadn't. And maybe you have had something of that experience as you have come along the way in association with the true magician. You have been distracted in various ways so that something could happen in you in spite of you, and then you suddenly found that you hadn't been so intelligent as you thought. In fact, from time to time I am sure that you have awakened to the fact that you have been stupid. But no matter; it's all in a good cause!—the cause of Shekinah.
So, together we have to this extent been gathered in one place. “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.” The dry land is appearing. We have some awareness of it, awareness of a new people, a peculiar people, a chosen people; not a people who chose themselves. This is what human beings like to think they are doing. The human ego says, “I make the choice.” Do you really? Too bad if you do! No, Shekinah makes the choice, or at least the only choice that has any meaning, and we find ourselves caught in that choice; but it's not an unpleasant experience, is it? It's a joy unspeakable and full of glory. We become aware of a new people, a New Nation, if you please, the citizens of a New Kingdom—at least new to human beings. The dry land appears. To whatever degree the waters of truth emerging through you and others, the waters under the heaven, under the place of Shekinah, are gathered together unto one place, the dry land appears. And so it is.
Is this not something in which one can easily believe? Do we have to believe in it, really? We know it. We know it to the extent that we have participated in it, to the extent that it is our own experience. It doesn't have to be explained to us; we simply know it and are content in that knowing. To the extent that we do know we realize that we are a part of the whole creative cycle extending over thousands of years. We are associated with this, we belong in this, we have always been a part of it—a new consciousness of the truth in the experience of our living—and we become aware of love, the meaning of that word. Shekinah!—the Cloud of Glory, the Light that Glows, the Fire that Burns. Here is where we belong; here is the reality; here we share the creative cycles which unfold in their days to achieve what is essential in bringing resurrection to the consciousness of man on earth. “And they were all with one accord in one place.” Consequent upon this experience comes what has been designated as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Human beings have had lots of imagination about that. What is it? You know to this extent what it is. It isn't a wind whistling around the Chapel or cloven tongues of fire sitting on your heads. It is what you know of Shekinah now: a new state of consciousness, a new polarity, where the real is real to you and the unreal is unreal to you.
This is the Day that the LORD hath made. Indeed we rejoice and are glad in it. Each moment is included in the Day which the LORD hath made. And so we continue to move together under the heaven, letting the dry land appear increasingly, to the Glory of God in the cycles of resurrection.
I would like to share some meditation with you upon a passage which we have recently considered together, in Class and in service, several times; but I do not believe that we have exhausted the possibilities of deeper realization, a larger vision, with respect to these vitally important words with which the Gospel according to John is opened.
In our study and meditation upon the reality of the Shekinah Pattern of Being, we’ve been gaining a deeper realization of the fact that insofar as we in the outer sense are concerned, in the human sense, in the physical sense, we have both earthly and heavenly parents. We recognize that the Fire of Love is the Father of Life, and that the Reality of Truth is the Mother of Life. And in our Class meditations we came to realize that the commandment, Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days of life may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, applies more to the heavenly parents than to the earthly. Sometimes earthly parents are not worthy of honour, but the heavenly parents always are.
And we have come to recognize that the word Father, as the Master used it, included, generally speaking, the One Who Dwells, but that the word included, specifically, the Shekinah Pattern of Being; and that in the outer sense, in the direct and personal sense, the One Who Dwells or the God Being, is not the Father, for the One Who Dwells is the Father of the Only Begotten Son, which is the Spirit of God issuing forth eternally from God; and that this Son or Spirit, is the Shekinah Pattern of Being—and in that Pattern we find that the Child, which is Life, must be born in the form, from the parents of Love and Truth.
We have come to recognize that Life, as such, is not something that is projected into one from some source above or beyond—we can release the radiation of the Life Current into another, but the true manifestation of Life in the individual is something which must be born in the form through which it appears—and that the presence of the parents of Life must be in the form, in harmony, or united in union, before this Child, which is Life, can appear. If Life is diminishing, then the human form, the human mind and heart have been functioning on a basis which has tended, insofar as the human being is concerned, to separate the parents, to hinder their union, their coordination, and consequently their Child, Life, begins to disappear. When the parents of Life are separated, insofar as a specific human form is concerned, Life is gone and that which remains is called a corpse.
The Father then, includes the One Who Dwells, but the Heavenly Father which we can contact and know in a direct personal human sense is God’s Love. And so we have in heaven at hand, within range of comprehension, Father God, which is the Fire of Love, and Mother God, which is the Reality or Water of Truth. From the union of these two comes the Child, Life. And these are heavenly parents, individually speaking. When there is One Body of Many Members, the same Pattern is developed in relationship to all.
Once we begin to realize that the Father means more than just the Being, the God Being, but includes the Shekinah Pattern of Being, we can more readily understand many of the statements which the Master made, as in the prayer, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” When the Father is spoken of, the Mother is automatically included in the pattern of portrayal utilized in holy writings; so honouring the parents, or keeping the name of one’s parents, or one’s Father, sacred, is seen as something of vital importance so that we do not violate that which is Divine.
Now we have recognized the Fire of Love and the Water of Truth, but Truth is symbolized by a different term also—Light—the Light that Glows, and our Master spoke of, “The light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” He said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” If then we have Love and Light being made manifest through us, we have the reality of the parents of Life present in our form, and the pattern of relatedness with invisible God, or the One Who Dwells, is clearly established; for in us, in outer form, there is the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
YouTube Audio
In the First Chapter of the Gospel according to John we have a vitally significant passage; and here the word Word is used to symbolize or signify the sacred or secret word Shekinah. So instead of reading this text as it is written here, we recognize that which the author indicated by the word “Word”, and we will use the word Shekinah; and let us see how much more there is for us to understand.
“In the beginning”—a few moments ago we heard a rendition in song bringing to our attention the reality of creation. In the beginning—in the beginning of what? The creation of the world, the earth, and all the things that are therein? Yes, but in the beginning of any creation, in the beginning of any of the things that we would do to the Glory of God and the blessing of the children of men—to the Glory of God, to the increased manifestation of Life from God on earth through form, for we remember that Glory always relates to Life. And these things we would do, to what end? to the Glory of God and to the blessing of the children of men.
If it be then to the Glory of God it is to the increase of the manifestation of God’s Life, or Life from God on earth through form, so God’s Glory may be increased on earth; and if God’s Glory is increased on earth we have an increase of Life. There is no suggestion anywhere, authentically presented, that I am aware of, that indicates that there is a need for more Glory in Heaven, or more Life in Heaven. According to all the indications there is enough Glory in Heaven, and enough Life in Heaven, so that it is not in Heaven or in some invisible realm that we need an increase, but it is here on earth that this need is present. So if we would glorify God we are not going to trying to get out of the earth into some heaven. We are going to remember the words of the Master’s prayer, “I pray not that thou shouldn’t take them out of the earth but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” And what is “the evil”? In our earlier meditation we recognized what the evil is, for it is the failure of man to let God’s provision be made manifest. So if we are to be kept from the evil, we are going to let God’s provision be made manifest, and that will let Life increase on earth, and the forms shall be changed to the patterns of Life instead of being changed to the patterns of death, disintegration and decay.
Now, in the beginning—in the beginning of anything that we would do to glorify God and be a blessing to the children of men—in the beginning was, in the beginning is, the Word. In the beginning is Shekinah, and Shekinah is with God, and Shekinah is God. Now sometimes these words have seemed to be ambiguous. If we read the text using the word Word, which obviously was the word utilized by the author to signify the secret word Shekinah, we find that there is the appearance of ambiguity. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” This is put in the past tense—but if it was true in the beginning in relationship to the earth, it is likewise true in this moment; so tonight in our meditation we transpose to the present tense, because God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and that which was true of God, is true of God tonight. And, how can something be God, and be with God? We have meditation upon this point before but let us be sure that it is clear.
Let us use the illustration on my hand. My hand is a part of my body. If you see my hand and recognize it you can reasonably assume that my body is nearby. Suppose we had a curtain here and my hand extended out from behind the curtain, you would naturally assume that my body was there, and you would say that my hand is here. My hand is a part of me, therefore it is me, but it is not the all of me. It is the evidence of my presence. And my whole body, it is not the all of me. But you look at me and you think of my name. I look at you and I think of your name. But your body is not the all of you. I look at you when I come before you here and I do not assume that you're just a lump of flesh. I assume, shall we say, that you have intelligence. I cannot see your mind but I have a reasonable assurance that there is a mind present in you. And so when I see your body I see that which is a part of you, but it is not the all of you; and yet I can look at your body and say there you are. But that is not all of you because there is your mind. I cannot see your mind with my physical eye, nor can you see my mind with your physical eye, but there's reasonable evidence that each one of us here has a mind. So also with the heart. You cannot see the heart but you can see evidence of the presence of the heart, or the emotional nature, and so on. Then with respect to the mind, the mind is what you are in part. We can say your mind, we can say your body, or we can simply say you. And so your mind is present with you and yet your mind is not all of you; but the expression of your mind is the expression of you, therefore it is you. So exactly the same way here.
The reality of God is revealed by Shekinah but Shekinah is not all of God—it is the evidence of the Presence of God. So Shekinah was with God, and Shekinah was God, but Shekinah was not all of God—and as that was true then it is true tonight. In the beginning of that which we do, there is Shekinah, and Shekinah is with God, and Shekinah is God. The same—Shekinah—is in the beginning with God.
Now, let’s read it again. In the beginning is Shekinah, and Shekinah is with God, and Shekinah is God, is God in action; the same—Shekinah—is in the beginning with God. Having this present pattern then, of reality, let us note the next verse: “All things were made by Shekinah, and without Shekinah was not anything made that was made. In Shekinah was Life, and the Life of Shekinah was the Light of men.” If the life goes out of the body, is there any light in the body? No. The presence of Life is necessary to the reality of Light, the reality of comprehension, the function of the mind or heart or body. And so, “The Light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.”
Let’s bring it up to date, in this present moment, not only what was but what is. All things. Now all means one hundred percent: good things, evil things or bad things. There is no creative power but God’s power. If we use the power of Life, the abilities that we have, the capacities, to produce some evil thing or bad thing, then we have stolen God’s force, God’s Life, God’s capacities, and used them to produce something that is contrary to the Will and purpose of God, but still, that life in us is the thing that made it possible for us to produce the ill thing. Therefore every ill thing is produced by the same power that produces good things, right things. But when that power that is from God is used wrongly, according to a distortion pattern to produce some ill thing it is not according to God’s Will, but contrary to God’s Will. Therefore, we must recognize that all things, absolutely one hundred percent of all the things that have ever been made, or that are being made, or that ever shall be made, and man says, “I have made these things.” Perhaps an automobile, perhaps a mechanical brain, perhaps something else—he made these things. In and of themselves they are neither good nor evil; their uses determine whether they shall cause good or evil to manifest. But how were these things made? Did some man who had no life make them? No. The life that was in that man enabled him to make them; the intelligence, the ability, the comprehension, the inspiration, whatever it was, all came from God. How? By means of Shekinah.
So it does not make any difference what any human being anywhere makes or does, that which is done is done by the power of Shekinah; but if it is done contrary to God’s Will it means that that individual has stolen something that belongs to God, that came from God, and used it for a purpose contrary to God’s Will. Nevertheless, all things, without a single solitary exception, anywhere at anytime, all things were made by Shekinah, all things are made by Shekinah, and all things that shall be made will be brought forth by Shekinah—and without Shekinah there is not anything made that is made; there is not anything that will be made but what it will have been made by the use of Shekinah. If we, by human self-will and self-centredness, take the forces of Shekinah and use them contrary to the Will of God we cause these forces to diminish in us, and finally they are gone from us. But while we misuse them it is still Shekinah, and by Shekinah all things have been made—good things, evil things, indifferent things.
By Shekinah, by the working of Shekinah, you were conceived. You could not be conceived, you could not develop in your mother’s womb, you could not be born, without Shekinah. And it is in this sense that we begin to see that while every individual has a physical father—and the Master’s body had a physical father too; that story has gotten a bit mixed up, as we can find if we study into it. Nevertheless, in His life, He was emphasizing not His earthly father but His heavenly Father. And we have a heavenly Father, just as surely, individually, as Jesus had. And just as surely, as the Holy Spirit, which is sometimes called the Holy Ghost, was present and working in relationship to His conception, the Shekinah Pattern of Being or the Holy Spirit was working in relationship to your conception, each and every one of you.
So we begin to see that we are conceived of the Holy Spirit. The seed, the physical seed of the father is present, but it is not the physical seed of the father that causes conception. Actually, there has never been a baby born upon the face of the earth, which includes you, but what you were conceived, that baby was conceived, by the Holy Spirit. If the patterns were wrong, perhaps there was something wrong with the babe at birth, or other things went wrong in various ways, but as far as the conception is concerned, there has never been a baby conceived upon the face of the earth at any time but what that baby was conceived of the Holy Spirit, of the Shekinah Pattern of Being. Regardless of the limitations or distortions with respect to the earthly parents, it is not the seed of the male that causes conception. It is necessary to conception; the seed of the male is necessary to conception, but the seed of the male does not cause conception—it never has and it never will. But it is the Holy Spirit that caused the conception, and it’s just as true of you as it was true of Jesus Christ, the man that was called Jesus.
So, allthings, without a single exception, have been made by the uses of Shekinah—whether Shekinah was used self-actively by man or divinely by God—all things were made by Him. Now, since that is true, all things are made by Shekinah, and without Shekinah is not anything made that is made.
In the beginning, God said, “Let us”—note the plural—“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” And God did so, and created man, “male and female created he them.” And for what purpose? “Let us create man in our image, after our likeness, to have dominion upon earth.” And after man was created male and female, he was instructed to have dominion upon the earth, and to subdue it. Subdue what? The things of the earth, the forms of the earth. Now man has been trying to subdue the earth and the things of the earth according to his own will, according to his own idea and determination. He has not learned to let God’s Will work on earth as it works in heaven. However, God’s purpose was clearly stated in the beginning, and God’s purpose remains the same today. It is not something different. And what do we find with respect to God?
God was a Creator, and man, male and female, was created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore it means that God made man to share creative work on earth. If we are going to share creative work we must share in the function of Shekinah on earth. God provides the means by which Shekinah functions in heaven. We do not need to be concerned about that. But the body of man, male and female, was brought forth on earth to the end that there would be an instrument through which Shekinah could act on earth, under the Will of God, so that God’s dominion could extend into the earth, and man should be the means by which that dominion would be established. And if there is dominion there is the Kingdom. A kingdom is a dominion, a place where there is control; and the earth is a place where there has not been control. Human beings have gone this way and that. There is chaos and darkness and misery, physically, mentally, emotionally—a lack of control according to the pattern of the Divine Design.
If we were all with one accord in one place, in full agreement, in harmony with the things of God, which includes the Will of God, we would find that all chaos would begin to vanish away, all illnesses would begin to disappear, every ill condition would be overcome or cleared away. Now, if we are to let this be a reality, we must acknowledge for ourselves that God’s purpose for us is that we should so function in relationship to Him that Divine Dominion, the Dominion of the Kingdom of Heaven at hand, can be made manifest on earth—for what purpose?—for God’s purposes! Man made in the image and likeness of God.
Man is the image and likeness of God. The qualities, the characteristics of God, can manifest through man on earth. We have the capacity of mind so that God’s intelligence can work through us. We have the capacity of heart or feeling, emotional nature, so God’s Love can work through us. We have the physical body so that Life can work through us. But the body as such is the means by which Shekinah may act on earth; and if we have life on earth and become self-centered and self-willed, we use Shekinah for a little time, wrongly; we use it for purposes not according to God’s Will. We destroy ourselves if we do so. Billions of human beings have lived on earth and have tried to use Shekinah—they didn’t know what it was, but their own life. People have said, “My life is my own to do with as I please.” But it wasn’t. And whether they knew it or not, everything that they did was done by using the power of Shekinah. But they used it wrongly and destroyed themselves. If we let God use the Pattern of Shekinah rightly, through us, we will not destroy ourselves, but we will live.
On a certain occasion the Master emphasized the point that under certain conditions you have eternal life. Now actually, we come to realize that there is no life but eternal life. We have eternal life now. We remember that people imagine that they're going to get into eternity when they die, but we know that we are in eternity now. If there is such a thing as eternity it is present where we are. It extends into the past and it extends into the future, and no matter what you do you can't get out of eternity. You are in it now, and that which is in you that is of God is eternal. You can't destroy it but you may remove it from yourself, so that you destroy yourself as a human being.
We are made in the image of likeness of God to be creators. Unless we are creative in life we are not happy. Those who do something constructive that really establishes a service to others, or helps others in some fashion, a creative expression of life, can have a high degree of satisfaction even though they do not know anything about these things. But that high degree of satisfaction tends to get distorted and spoiled because the individual unwittingly or unknowingly gets into patterns of self-activity, and he destroys that which he has built. He may have worked hard, he may have been ever so earnest and sincere, but he brought forth something destructive, as well as something constructive, because ignorantly he used the force of Shekinah to produce things that did not belong. And human beings don't accomplish what they thought they were going to accomplish. Why? Because with the human mind self-actively functioning, man cannot see all of the factors, and he cannot remain completely creative. He has the capacity to be completely creative, but every misuse of these energies, or the Shekinah factors of being, is destructive. Just as surely as right use is constructive or creative, every wrong use is destructive. That is not because God wills something to be destructive, but because man takes the force which is available to him and uses it wrongly, contrary to God's Will.
Once we begin to see God’s Will and to accept it, to know something about it so that we know how to let God’s Will be done, we begin to find that more and more that all factors of our life become creative, begin to produce a blessing to others. Instead of trying to get something for ourselves we are giving, and we are constantly creative. Without creative action in life there is no such thing as true happiness, true satisfaction, or accomplishment. We’re not trying to get something. We are ready to give something—but what? You are giving something, whether you ever think about it or not. He who is just out trying to get something is giving something, but it isn't very pleasant; he is giving something into life. And you are asking others to accept and receive, and share, whatever you give into life—if it's a temper reaction, a thoughtless thing, if it is cruel, whatever it is, you're giving that into life. Every word we speak, every thought we think, every act, whatever it is, we’re giving something into life, either to bless or to curse. And all things, all actions, all functions—you do not have a single function, you cannot do anything, without Shekinah. It is present in every person on the face of the earth, and does not leave the body until the body dies; when it does leave the body the body is dead, but it is there. All things are made by Shekinah, and without Shekinah is not anything made that is made—and Life, can you see it? it is a part of the spirit of God; Love, have you ever felt it? the Light of Truth, have you ever seen it, intellectually with understanding something that dispelled darkness? These are the evidences of the Presence of God. Used to produce blessings, they bring forth into form that which belongs in the Kingdom of God that is at hand, or the Garden of Eden, or the Promised Land, whatever we want to call it, it makes no difference—the name has meaning by reason of the thing that is named.
Your name has meaning by reason of you, by the meaning you give that name by the living of your life, by the things you do, by the things you give into Life—either to create or to destroy, to build or to tear down, to increase health and life or decrease it, to make things wholesome and beautiful or to make them ugly and sordid. Either there is wholesomeness or there is not—wholeness, the dignity of man, nobility. As we do those things that increase nobility in ourselves and in others, we have an influence which tends to cause others to be inspired to do the right things.
Many people have ignorantly judged us as being this or that or the other thing; all kinds of ideas have been expressed by people who didn't know what they were talking about, and who didn't want to find out. But what happens? Step by step—if we are living noble lives, if we are doing the right thing, if we are creative—step by step that which is false is revealed for what it is, and that which is true is revealed for what it is, and we increase nobility, we increase the wholesomeness of Life, we are creative, bringing forth blessings to the children of men, to the Glory of God—the Glory of the increased manifestation of God’s Life on earth in form.
And that is the coming of the Kingdom—the Kingdom, the control in forms on earth where it is needed. It is here that the need is; here that the misery is; here that the false things are that need to be cleared away. When you get to heaven can you improve heaven any? Will you be a special ornament in heaven, or what will you do in heaven? Presumably heaven can get along without you, for a while anyway. Let's do a job on earth to remove the evil, to clear away the ill things, to help create that which is of the Divine Design, and establish that control by which all things are caused to work together to perfection for all who love and serve the LORD.
And the Shekinah Pattern of Being is used, rightly or wrongly, whatever is done. So let us serve God by letting Shekinah be used in us and through us, according to the Will of God. So shall the LORD’s Prayer be answered. Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And I thank God that it is so, and for the privilege of sharing that creative work on earth with you, in the Holy Name of our LORD and KING.
