Ordination—Faithful And True

Ordination — Faithful And True

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Preliminary Meeting Of The GPC Program

Uranda  August 24, 1953

On this morning of August 24th, 1953 we are scheduled to have our little preliminary business meeting, in conjunction with our convention, and we begin with meditation upon that Divine Formula which has been of such tremendous worth to us and to many others.

The Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want. He maketh us to lie down in green pastures. He leadth us beside the still waters. He restoreth our soul. He leadth us in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake. Yeah though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for the Lord our Shepherd is with us. His Rod and His Staff they comfort us. He prepareth a table before us in the presence of our enemies. He anoints our heads with the Oil of His Love, and the Cup of Life runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. So let it be in the Holy Name of our LORD and KING, to whom we acknowledge the Ownership of the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever.

As we have allowed ourselves to come to a basic pattern of dedication, where we cease wanting for ourselves, where all of our desires and longings and purposes are dedicated to the service of our KING, and the blessing of all those who shall respond, all those who are responding now, we can, being gathered together with one accord in one place, consider the matters before for us in the spirit of wisdom, the sense of the fitness of things, and with the understanding essential to wise action. These matters which I would present to you briefly are essentially one, and yet they divide into two parts—first, the matter of the meaning of Commencement, that which occurs with the completion of this Class; the acknowledgement of you, and your acknowledgement of something. Of what?

Your acknowledgement that you are a part of a Service which is dedicated to the basic principles by which the world can be restored to the Kingdom of our KING. An acceptance of the reality of selflessness, and a recognition that we cannot, in any moment, begin to serve ourselves individually without betraying the pattern of our Loyalty to our KING. We recognize that while there may not be any outer person, in a physical sense, watching or recognizing at the moment, if in any moment we are traitor to the trust, there will be a price to pay; there'll be a distortion in the pattern of our field, our creative field, and those whom we serve will be denied the adequate manifestation of blessing, as well as the devastating effects that appear in the life of the individual. We do not call such things to mind to try to compel remembrance through fear, but merely to face the facts, so that we can with intelligence move forward in that to which we are dedicated.

And in this dedication we recognize that we have the three as aspects of the Spirit of God, and that our Loyalty must be in agreement with these three aspects if we are to be in agreement with our KING. There must be the agreement, in the sense of centering, in God's Love, and we cannot violate that agreement without breaking the whole pattern—the fulfillment of the One Law, of the Two Great Commandments, and if in any moment we betray that centering we betray all. Likewise in the pattern of agreement we must have the agreement with the Spirit of Truth, not only the Spirit of Love but the Spirit of Truth, wherein we find the elements of design and control. We recognize we cannot betray our agreement in relationship to the Spirit of Truth without making whatever centering we have in God's Love to be of no effect, for any violation of that agreement is the acceptance of falsity in the pattern, and that acceptance causes an instantaneous movement from the Shekinah Pattern of Magic to the realm of the unreal in the pattern of black magic. And thirdly, we have the agreement with Life, which is to say we have no agreement with those things which bring an end to Life, a cessation to Life.

And so our pattern of agreement recognizes these three things, and we cannot be in agreement with our KING except as we are in agreement with these three aspects of the One Spirit; and if by reason of any reactionary pattern in ourselves, our own individual attunements in and to and with the Spirit are disturbed, then we do not have true agreement with these three aspects of Spirit.

The serenity, the tranquility, or the crystal clear pattern of our contact with Spirit, which is subject to the emotional patterns of the heart, must be kept clear or our talk about agreement with the Spirit becomes so much talk, so many words, meaningless. And it is because of this point primarily that the power which the Master promised has not appeared. He said, “And ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you”—and that is the only means by which any can have or know real power. So we have the reality of agreement—and that agreement is something greater and more important than any one of us individually, more important than anything on earth, so important that no matter what the loss seems to be, which may appear to arise because we are true to that agreement, we let the loss come. We know that any seeming gain which might appear by the development of some pattern of violation or betrayal, any traitorous conduct in any way, shape or form, would be a false game.

As we near the end of this Class term, those who have been in the Class, and those of you who are here from the field, who might wish to receive a Certificate in recognition of your function in training and service heretofore, come face to face with the necessity of signing something, something which cannot be signed lightly, something which accepts the reality of the dedication to selfless service.

Now, recognizing this, recognizing the High Tone of our determination and the Nobility of our Calling, I think we should give serious consideration to the fact that there has been a tendency—which we might assume to be quite natural, and I am not in any sense finding fault, but pointing to something essential to all of us. There's been a tendency to tend to let our pattern of service conform somewhat to that which is present in the world—we might say in the healing arts of various kinds; it doesn't make any difference which branch of the healing arts. The idea that a person can go to school, learn certain things, pass such and such an examination, and then go out—he may be a member of an organization, a chiropractic association, or a medical association, or an osteopathic association, or something—and while he's a member of the organization he's more or less on his own, as long as he doesn't go too far in violating the pattern of ethics; and he has his own office, he has his own practice, and he is living his own life for whatever goals he may have, and the money he takes in is his in a personal sense, to do with as he pleases, and so on.

Now, we have recognized the basic factor of not charging for our services. That is one element; it is an important element. But if we simply go that far, let each one contribute as he or she may in relationship to our service, and yet in other factors tend to say, “Now, I'm going to establish my service center here, open my office, render my service, and proceed on the pattern that is more or less natural to the world, we have not established a very clear or right pattern of function—at least not in my estimation. If there is, for instance, in recognition of this dedication to Ministry and service, the reality of Ordination, the reality of accepting the responsibilities and privileges of selfless service, then you do not belong to yourself anymore, and you cannot properly go out and establish your Service Center, or do anything else, after the pattern of the world.

My point is that the proper conclusion of this period of training leads—as was indicated—leads to the point of Ordination, what we have classified as “Initial Ordination”, that you become a minister in actual fact, in this outworking, as it is anticipated. You become a minister, not someone who can go out as members of other professions do, merely to live as a member of an organization; that is, on a more or less independent basis. You are not your own. And you have come to the point of recognizing and acknowledging that. If you are not your own, then you belong to God, you belong to the Body by which God is beginning to have the privilege of manifestation, of meaning, of function, of action on earth. And in that pattern of devotion, dedication, if you accept the reality of Ordination, it cannot be done lightly. It is something which is a more sacred bond in acknowledgment, if such a thing can be, than the vows of marriage, for instance. That is sacred. I am not detracting from that, but while the vows of marriage are primarily before God and man, between two human beings, this vow is between yourself and God, and becomes the very center of your life and function forever after.

If you be married—I do not mean just in the sense of what some minister said, the legal aspects of it—but if following the reality of the technical legal aspects, marriage becomes a reality to you, you become married, or joined together by God, then is something which profoundly affects and influences everything in life from there on out. You can't think a thought, speak a word, do anything as if that were not the fact. You are that. It has produced a profound change in you, and in the pattern of your life expression, on a permanent basis; not something that is just for a week, a month, a year, or a few years. It is a permanent thing. Then, if we recognize the reality of this situation, where marriage has become a reality under God, then the same, only more so, is true with respect to this pattern of relationship that is established and acknowledged between you and God.

Just as what the minister may say, at the time of the legal ceremony, simply gives you an opportunity to become married within the scope of our social order, we may say that the Ordination Service, of itself, gives you the opportunity to become, in the absolute sense, what you ought to be as a server, as a minister. And so it too is something that will grow; it too is something that will enlarge, and become more and more meaningful as the days go by. And you live in the pattern of that experience and relationship.

As the man and the woman choose to move together in life, and are joined together legally under the social code, they begin to live twenty-four hours a day under a new pattern, a new relationship, a new situation, and the fact of that situation is something that grows, and increases constantly. It is something that gains momentum. It has its pressure points. It has its various factors that will put the individual to the test, to see whether or no this basic dedication has real meaning. There will be the opportunities to say and do those things which would tend to shatter the vibrational factors. With the man and the woman there will be the opportunities of disagreement and quarrelsomeness, etc. And if they go to sleep, as it were, on their quarrel, they've started the road to ruin. Now, they can turn back, but if they go to sleep on their quarrel they've started on the road to the dissolution of their true relationship. They may live together physically speaking, but they'll never live together in true marriage, unless they change that pattern.

Now, it is understood that in all likelihood there will be some stress patterns; some factors appear which will tend to test your metal, and to see what kind of a man or a woman you may be, how honest, how deep your integrity. But in that pattern, if living in harmony with the reality of that vow, that dedication, that devotion, is the primary thing, in and with and for you, then that always comes first. No matter what else may have to go by the board, even though it might appear to someone else that you are, well, shall we say neglecting your responsibility in some sphere for the moment, first things must come first. And this pattern of relatedness as a member of the Body of God on earth is something which increases with the passage of time, the outworking of experience, and the meeting of these tests with respect to dedication. And he who remains faithful and true—his name shall be called Faithful and True. There's the point!

You know the truth. There will be people who come to you, or write to you, or do a thousand and one things; they'll try to say something to disrupt, or do something to disrupt the pattern, to disturb your belief, your confidence; to upset you in some fashion—all kinds of things people will say and do. And I've seen human beings have the opportunity to know the truth, and then someone comes along with some contemptible lie, and they so respond to it, they're so bothered about it, that they tend to push the truth aside and say, “I'm going to believe this lie.” That is not being faithful and true. When we reach a point where we are faithful and true to the Spirit of Love, faithful and true to the Spirit of Truth, faithful and true to the Spirit of Life, we will be faithful and true to our KING. But you cannot be faithful and true to our KING if you violate the pattern of agreement of being faithful and true to any aspect of any of these three spirits—and that's that! Then this pattern of union, of relatedness, grows and increases and becomes more meaningful with the passage of time, through experience, and you finally know Oneness—as the man and the woman finally begin to know Oneness.

We've recognized that, in relationship to marriage, if the pattern is right and moving toward Oneness, it is exceedingly rare—even if the individuals have full dedication and appreciation, and true love, and all the rest—it's exceedingly rare that they reach a point of union, or what we might call heavenly marriage, under five years. Five to seven years that man and woman must live together before they can expect to begin to know what marriage is, and if that five to seven years is lived on a basis of tending to dissolve the relationship, they'll never get there. Oh, there are millions of legally married couples, but they're not married at all; they don't have any union, they don't have any Oneness. They’re living together physically speaking, for convenience or habit or something. But if there is an absolute pattern of dedication, of real love, and of mutuality of seeking to make that marriage really mean something, it will take five to seven years under the best conditions, before they can begin to know real union, real Oneness. And many couples, in fact most, who live together longer than that still haven't found it. Just the passage of time won't bring it. Correct function under the pattern brings it.

So we begin to see that the same thing applies here—Oneness in this sense with God. Oneness in the Body is not something that manifests by magic in a moment. It is something that appears over a cycle of time, as we remain true to the agreement, faithful and true. And as rapidly as the name Faithful and True can be applied to you, you will begin to find the reality of that Oneness. But if the name Faithful and True cannot be applied to you, you'll never know it. Now there is a key, something to remember, and every time there is a temptation to violate the agreement with respect to one of these three aspects of Spirit, you can remember your marriage vow in relationship to God, our KING. That comes first, above all things else, without any exception—that marriage vow of relatedness to God, first in all things. And as you abide and live, then pass through the experience of the reality of that relatedness, you begin to know what Oneness with the Father means. The marriage ceremony, the Ordination Ceremony on Commencement Day, does not produce the reality of that Oneness. It establishes the opportunity for the development of that Oneness—and the rest depends upon you.

And since this is true, remember that regardless of anything else, if any distortion pattern, any false idea, concept, belief, or anything else that you run into in the world, anything of the unreal which can make you violate that pattern of agreement and relationship with God, so that you are not in that moment faithful and true, so that you begin to flirt with the adversary, so to speak—“Oh I won't have, I won't have union with the adversary; I won't go to bed with him, but I'll just have a little fun with him—it's still a violation. It's still violation. Faithful and True. And so this begins to give you a little idea of what it means to accept Ordination. And unless you accept it in this Spirit and attitude—and if you did try to accept it you would make a lie of the thing to start with, and absolutely establish failure for yourself, and tend to bring your service into disrepute.

So, recognizing the reality of this, as I see it,, and as I anticipate that you will acknowledge it and share it, we have a basis of understanding what we might call the “business aspects” of our problem, or of our pattern of life, service and conduct. We must be about our Father's Business, and anything that pertains to the Father's Business is important to us. We took note a little while ago of the tendency for servers to feel that they can establish a Service Center, like a young doctor after his internship can go out and establish an office—it'll be his.

Now, that is not my view. And the thing that I want to find out this morning, in this preliminary meeting, is to what your view is. I want to present my view, and then find out whether you are in agreement with me. Because to my view, a Service Center—I don't care where it is, or who serves in it—a Service Center does not belong to the person who serves there. The money that comes in does not belong to the person who serves there. The service center belongs to the Service as a Whole, in the recognition of the reality of the Body of God. All of the income belongs, not to the server, but to the Service—and the server there is a steward, a steward in relationship to the uses of that money. Some of it will be used to take care of his or her personal needs, yes; to be used in various ways. But to my mind that Service Center is a part of the Service of our KING. We might say a part of the church—I don't want to put it in the ordinary sense as a part of the church, no—but the Service of our KING, and every penny that comes in there belongs, not to you as a server but to the KING, and you are a steward, to determine how that money should be used, in what relationship. And faithfulness, faithfulness in stewardship, is one of the vital factors.

Now, from the standpoint of the actual facts as they are and should be, in connection with the pattern of our Ministry, and in relationship to our problems of function in the world, if this Ordination is to mean anything, the pattern of our dedication is to mean anything, then it seems to me that there should be a recognition that the Central Agency of Service should be recognized. And that all income, a record of all income at any Service Center, every penny of it, should be reported to that Central Agency. The expenditures—and that every server should be held strictly accountable to the Central Agency of the Service with respect to the uses of those funds. That isn't to say that he won't have some flexibility in those uses, but that it should be reported. If it is a personal income thing to you, out there, and you are doing something that is on the basis of a personal service, say to the sick, then it's one thing. But if you are an Ordained Minister serving God in a Service Center that does not belong to you—you are a representative of the Body of Service, and if the income there does not belong to you, it's not yours—you use certain amount of it, but you report every penny of it to the Central Agency; and it is for the use in the Lord's Service according to that pattern which is according to our dedication and purpose. Then we have an altogether different thing. To my mind that would be a true pattern in the Father's Business in relationship to our dedication, and that anything else, patterned after the ways of the world, violates our dedication and establishes that which is contrary to the thing for which we stand.

Now, these are the things which I wish to bring before you, for your attention. If there is to be any official action with respect to such things at the coming business meeting of the directors and the trustees of the GPC organization, then they will have to act on the official basis. But as I said when I call this meeting, this is something that has meaning to everyone who is a server, everyone who is graduating from this Class.

Is this a matter upon which we have agreement?

And whether you are in position to vote later on or not, I think your attitude, what you feel about it, should be given an opportunity for recognition before we come to that point of official action. But this is the picture as I see it. Now, how do you see it? Is there anyone here that would like to speak on the subject—only class members or servers. George, if you would like to come up here.

George Shears — Friends, I think this is a blessed opportunity for me to say things that have been on my heart for a long time. This is a great challenge, that has been thrown or offered to us this morning. And most of us probably do not, at this moment, begin to realize the importance of this situation. The whole welfare of mankind depends upon this very thing that Uranda has outlined. That's exactly what's been wrong with the world. Mankind thinks that things of the world belong to him—and they never have. So as far as I'm concerned, personally, I accept this challenge one hundred percent. There isn't anything that we have which belongs to us, and I have felt that way for a long, long time. There isn't anything in the world which belongs to anyone in fact, and the only way the New Heaven and the New Earth can ever come is for some group somewhere to accept that and live up to it. It has to start somewhere, and I think it ought to be obvious to us by now that that group has already been formed on earth, to start that process. So I want to wholeheartedly accept this challenge which has been presented to us this morning.

Uranda — Thank you George. Is there anyone else that would like to speak?

Albert Ackerley — I am glad that George spoke first, because I feel that if George can do it we all can do it. If anyone in this room here had any reason to, shall we say, shy at such a proposition, it would be George Shears. He has been in this Service the longest; he has perhaps the nicest Service Center of any others; and it's also revealed that he has as great a Spirit as any others. And I thank God that George spoke first, and set of pattern, reducing this to a simple proposition. It seems to me that if we are to function in the Kingdom, then our job in that Kingdom is to fulfill the One Law, is it not; and it is to attract into that Kingdom that which belongs to God—and that means not only human beings but material things as well. So, anything that comes into that Kingdom belongs to the KING and let us let Him have it.

Uranda — Thank you Albert. Would you like to indicate your agreement—the acceptance of responsibility and privilege—your agreement with that which has been presented, by raising your right hand. I thank God for the hands raised, indicating your acceptance of the reality of the privilege, the opportunity in service.

God Bless you and keep you, that in the acceptance of our vow of relatedness to our KING we may, of the truth, now and forever, Glorify Him and be a Blessing to the children of men; that because you love and serve Him, in actual fact, because you love and serve Him, all things may work out to perfection in and through and for you, to the Glory of God and the blessing of the children of men; that even though some things may not immediately be evident in their nature, as to how they shall be a Blessing, or how they shall Glorify God, that you will remain Faithful and True to your vow and your dedication, to the end that God may cause all things, in the outworkings of the cycles of time, that God the Creator may cause all things without exception, to work together to perfection in and through and for you, now and forever. So let it be. And God bless you.

Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for these Faithful Servants of Thine who have come before Thy Throne in this hour, yielding to the working of Thy Will on earth, even as Thy Will is done in heaven, to this end, that Thy Business on earth may be activated according to Thy Principles and Laws and Desires, according to Thy Purposes. And that these here gathered, upon showing by their lives in service that they are indeed Faithful and True, as servants, may in season be received into that Sacred Pattern of Ordination where they are acknowledged as Friends of the KING—that each may become Thy Friend, and so live on earth that the reality of that friendship may be made evident to the children of men. And I thank Thee for the realization in the heart of each and every one, that as this pattern of service as a Servant is accepted in this hour, that each may be ordained as a Servant, each may know that being Faithful and True, he or she shall be in season acknowledged as a Friend, to Thy Glory and to the Blessing of all who will receive. For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. in the Christ. Aumen.

And as you rest in meditation upon this Sacred Step and Holy Vow which is to be consummated on Commencement Day, I suggest that you give voice to that which is in your heart by joining in the Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Praise Him all creatures here below

Praise Him above ye Heavenly Host

Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost

Aumen  Aumen  Aumen

So be it, in you and through you, to the Glory of God and the Blessing of the children of men, now and always.

© emissaries of divine light