Perfection — The Absolute Cause
Ann Foorman and Martin Exeter May 3, 1985
Ann Foorman — We come together in this beautiful hour, as the music just expressed, to “Worship the living God,” to be the living God in expression. “The Lord walks on earth again in the beauty of holiness,” and we know the Lord; we love the Lord; we respect and acknowledge that beautiful character in one another. I rejoice this evening to let the Word transform the world, and it begins in my consciousness. I would read a few words from Revelation to begin with. “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God.”
We have come to fulfil those words, to overcome the world as it has been created by man, by us, and to let the real world—the new heaven and the new earth—be the living reality. I would say, It is done. I have overcome the world, the world that was referred to, and had to be referred to for so long, in the words, “I am in the world but not of it.” There is something unfulfilled, in a way, in those words. And in some other words, “My kingdom is not of this world”; here is something unfulfilled. The Word through us this evening may fulfil the job that we have come to do, to let the son of man, which is the Son of God, walk on earth and proclaim, “The kingdom is the world.”
I have been sent into the world not to judge it, but to save it, to reprove it, to overcome it. I was chosen out of this world, ordained to bring forth fruit that might remain. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world, and I am not offended or ashamed by the prince of the human nature world coming, which means the perceived feeling connections that I might experience with the world that is ending. It has often been spoken of, the time of the end, or, “And then shall the end come.” Well the end is come for the unreal world, because it ends in me.
In this day let it be said by the angels of the son of man, out of the clouds of heaven, out of this holy city of habitation where we dwell, “His kingdom, my kingdom is the world." And as was spoken by the Master years ago, “Now is my kingdom not from hence.” I am in the world, the real world, and the world is made by me. We create the real world. And this gospel of the kingdom is being lived, and its word spoken, preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. Arise ye nations! “Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” the real world.
These things I speak, that the joy of the Lord might be fulfilled, that all may be one in experience, even as we are one in this very moment: I in them, and Thou, O Lord of Life, in me.
Martin Exeter — These are most precious and beautiful words, spoken by a precious and beautiful angel.
We are here present on earth to bring forth the fruit which shall remain. Our purpose certainly is not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; rather, our presence is in the world to bring forth the fruit of the tree of life. There were two symbolical trees spoken of within the state of man as it originally was: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It might be said that these two trees are one: they represent the creative process by which dominion, the dominion of God, is maintained on earth by reason of man. We can see a representation here of cause and effect, of heaven and earth, both essential aspects of one thing.
By reason of the tree of life, cause may be brought forth, the cause of life itself. Because of this cause the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil puts in an appearance. Some have felt that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was unnecessary: it was just there to test human beings as to whether they would eat of the fruit of it or not. This is a very shortsighted and self-centered view. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil indicates an understanding of the design which is to take form in the earthly sense. These two symbolic trees represented the perfect state.
We might pause to consider for a moment that word perfect. It is a useful word because it points to something absolute. The perfect state is the real state, the true state. The word “perfect” is only necessary because of the relative view of human beings. This relative view put in an appearance in the experience of mankind because of the eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the eating of the fruit of the results of the cause tree, the tree of life. Here were the results present in beautiful form, a true design, a living design under control, the process working out without interpretation by any human mind. Those results appeared in form in the objective world in which man was designed to live. It might be said from our perspective now that those results were perfect: they were an accurate portrayal of the living design by which the purposes of mankind and this earth could be fulfilled.
We know something, at least, of what happened when there was the eating of the fruit of this design tree. Here was human emotion coming into the picture, presumably with the objective of improving the manifest design in a way which would be more emotionally pleasing. The effects of eating of the forbidden fruit, as it has been called, were unknown. There was no other world than this one world. Some other world was inconceivable, in just the same way that now, in this other world which has become not only conceivable but experienced, the perfect world is inconceivable. In what has been called the fall, action was taken contrary to the design, supposedly in order to satisfy human emotion. Of course the mind went right along with it, rationalizing the procedure as being what it should be. This is the way that human nature, which then put in an appearance, has been functioning ever since. The mind has been used to rationalize what might be called the heart’s desire, to make it seem as though the fulfilment of the heart’s desire was reasonable, logical, sensible. We are well aware of what has been produced in consequence: a human nature world populated by human nature people.
Now it might be said that the reverse procedure is necessary. We have some understanding of this and some evident willingness to participate in a recreative process, the results of which are presently totally unknown. Just as the results of what would happen by reason of eating the forbidden fruit were totally unknown, so is it totally unknown in the reverse direction now. In response to emotional involvement with the objective world the mind, in support of that, has naturally assumed a rebellious and disobedient attitude toward the spirit, exemplified by the tree of life. It has been necessary along the way—and you have all had some experience of this—to let the mind refuse to support emotional involvement with the objective world of effects. It has been necessary deliberately to do this. I suppose this is tantamount to saying “No” to Eve. Eve, at the behest of the serpent in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, has been intent upon squeezing satisfaction out of the experience in the objective world. Heretofore the mind has gone along with that, and in doing so has been rebellious toward the spirit of life. There has been an endeavor to bend life to human purposes. All human effort may be seen in this way.
For a moment we might consider what has happened within our own experience with respect to this matter of life. Being somewhat less rebellious and disobedient than most, we have begun to see that there is a life process totally transcending human purposes, the purposes of human nature. If we consider our individual experience, we all have what may be called personal lives. These personal lives include very personal things; they also include our professions, what we are doing in the external sense. Viewing this personal life, would you say, relative to yourself, that the personal life is supreme and any spiritual vision you may have is included in your personal life as a part of it? Or, on the other hand, is your experience of that larger spiritual nature simply including as part of it what is necessary with respect to your personal life? Which aspect is supreme? Which aspect is dominant?
The perfect state is the holy state, the state of wholeness, the wholly heavenly state.
Mention was made of being in the world but not of it. It is important that we should be in the world, because it provides us with the associations necessary within the consciousness of mankind by which reproof may be extended. We don’t stand on a tub and shout imprecations and reproof at any who may be passing by. We do it in a more fitting way, without much noise or bombast, in simply dealing with what we become aware of within ourselves.
So we have this field of operations through which may be extended what we have come to know by reason of our association with this larger spiritual process and our experience in it. Surely this is supreme; it is, after all, the absolute state, the perfect state. When considering what you are going to do in a personal sense, what is it that emphasizes itself initially? Do you see everything from the standpoint of the working of the creative process of which you have an awareness of being a part? Anything of a personal or professional nature is simply included within that; it is not a thing of itself. All too many, obviously, have this personal and professional life as being the thing, and scarcely any awareness that there is anything that transcends that.
We reach a point where the personal and professional life is entirely incidental to what we are here to do in the transcendent sense. There are things which it may be our responsibility to attend to, and we attend to those things to the extent that we are able to do it, without violating the transcendent state. I have many things requiring my attention which are not directly related—there is nothing that isn’t in some way related—but not directly related to the transcendent purpose. Those things I fit in as it is possible to do so; if it isn’t possible to do so, they don’t fit in; they just slide by; because finally there must be an association with the absolute. I think it was said of Noah that he was perfect and upright—or was it Job? they both had a similar statement—perfect and upright, one that eschewed evil, etc.; nothing on the side, no leaks. The question arises how absolute our experience is in this regard.
Most people have their personal foibles, the things which they are accustomed to doing, and woe betide if such things are interfered with. Is there anything of this nature which, if it is interfered with, would cause you to react in an angry or resentful way? “You have no business interfering in my personal life,” would be the attitude taken by some. It may be qualified a little: “I’ve always done things this way, I’ve always done things this way at this particular time; and now you (or circumstances, someone) are injecting into the picture something that is going to disturb this routine.” Well I hope so! because that shows up where the routines are and where we are still bogged down, mired, in the human nature state.
It is kind of a paradox, isn’t it, that perfection is an absolute state, and yet in that absolute state there is absolute flexibility, there is ease of movement with the living design. We have not known what that living design was; we are due to find out. And the living design, which comes into experience as we receive it, as we come into position to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, involves constant change, and we cannot settle down into our supposedly comfortable coffins—call them “ruts”. I think it is very revealing that you can buy coffins these days with innerspring mattresses, so that people can settle down permanently. What makes human nature comfortable is what needs to be recognized so that one may let it pass away.
We have been richly blessed with so much, in fact. Oh, one can always look around and see other people who have things and experiences that we don’t have. How do you feel about that? It should not matter at all what anyone else experiences. The question is as to the nature of our own behavior; that is all we are responsible for, because this is absolute. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” absolutely right, regardless of human foibles. I don’t think we need to spend time in isolating and identifying human foibles. Anyone with some intelligence should be able to do that for him- or herself, particularly the human foibles which are characteristic of oneself. It is sometimes useful deliberately to interfere with those foibles and not do the thing to which you are accustomed. Do something else just to begin to break the thing up so that there may be material available to give form to the living design. We discover what the living design is when there is material available to give it form, material which may have broken loose from within ourselves, not being held in those old, dead structures to which we have become accustomed.
What is the nature of your lifestyle? Does that control you? You must have that lifestyle; it would be very disturbing if you didn’t have it. There is nothing wrong with the lifestyle, perhaps. It is the fact that you would be disturbed if you didn’t have it that is the wrong thing, the thing that needs to be recognized and dealt with. It isn’t as though there was some God somewhere who arbitrarily wants to impose on human beings some painful state of affairs that is going to make them miserable. I think this is very often the view of some of the religionists: God’s will is a pretty painful business, seemingly. But it isn’t at all; it is only painful to human nature, that’s all. If you want pain, keep human nature around and you’ll have plenty! That makes some people happy, apparently—very odd.
But we have this absolute state: Be perfect. The word perfect causes a reaction in some people; they don’t know what it means anyway. It is only a useful word to us because we recognize that it relates to something absolute, something unknown. You can’t define perfection; it doesn’t include all the human concepts and ideas of what that would be. It is what it is, and is an experience unknown to human beings. But it’s useful to have a word to identify it. Maybe you can invent a word that wouldn’t cause reaction—I doubt it! So we use words, but we use them with understanding because we know what they mean. And our concern is to be perfect, perfect and upright, one that fears God and eschews evil, one who allows the expression of the spirit of God to find release in daily living, whatever the circumstances may be, pleasing or displeasing to human nature.
Angelically we don’t care whether human nature likes it or not. You know, this has been my attitude for a long time in offering what I have. I have never said anything to please anyone. Maybe that’s why so few have come around! But what I have said has been acceptable to angels, unacceptable to human nature maybe not right away, because human nature is pretty dumb, blind. It doesn’t know what’s going on, and so it may take a little time for human nature finally to come to a recognition of what it is that’s been going on and decide that it doesn’t like it. And we have the evidence of this in various ways. But I do not condition unnecessarily what I say to please anyone. I think it is because of that that you are here now. I suppose you could say, “Like it or lump it.” If there is any genuineness in a person they will take it even though they have to lump it. But finally, as human nature begins to fade, it is liked, it is wonderful; it is a joy unspeakable to start with but becomes speakable as one moves along; it becomes expressible. We share spiritual expression, and the quality of our living backs it up, and there is factually no compromise.
This, as you know, doesn’t mean that one cannot be reasonable, one cannot consider back and forth. I have done a lot of consideration back and forth with people over the years, but that has never changed the absoluteness of the truth. We may—I don’t think it’s using subterfuge, really—use diplomacy, shall we say, to assist people to understand what initially they don’t understand. And because they don’t understand it they may react adversely to their lack of understanding, not to what it is that is being offered but to their misunderstanding of it. So we are easily entreated, shall we say; but there is something so strong, so solid, so immovable, that there comes a sense of security in relationship to it. Others begin to experience that security; perhaps you have yourselves, because there is something in that sense unchanging. It is always going to be there; it is not going to be pushed around by human nature.
When we all accept this basis for our living, then the end comes. To the extent that this is done, it comes quickly; and who would want this miserable state drawn out for centuries to come? I doubt that this is possible anymore anyhow. When you have a sliver under your fingernail it is better to suffer some sharp pain for a few moments getting it out than to leave it in there festering and suffer for months. Let’s do what needs to be done, knowing that human nature won’t like it but also knowing that it is the most glorious experience for those who are willing to let human nature go. And we prove this when we ourselves let it go, and that reproves everybody else.
Nick Giglio — Martin, it is glorious. I’m still around, and if I could still be around, anyone could still be around! I love God and eschew evil. And I don’t just like it or lump it; I love it, and I love you. That’s why I am here, to move freely, openly, and with full zest and power in the transformative purposes of life. So it is, Martin, and so shall it be, because I am here, because we are here with you in love.
Martin Exeter — So it is. I am sure that what Nick has just said finds an echo in all your hearts. I have been richly blessed by your love and the love of many others, and I suspect that most of you sense that I love you.
© emissaries of divine light
