Perfection And The Use Of Substitute Patterns

Perfection  And  The  Use  Of  Substitute  Patterns

“Behold, I Create #7”

Uranda  August 28, 1952

In the Biblical story outlining the events which followed the fall, one of the things mentioned is the development of a pattern of sacrifice, and it was with respect to this pattern of sacrifice that human inclinations, rebellions and hatreds came to such a violent point that one brother slew another—the first recorded blood blot on the pages of history. That pattern of sacrifice, which has continued down through the centuries in many different forms, was fundamentally symbolic. The institution of a symbol divinely ordained, the necessity for that which is symbolical, can be clearly seen when we recognize that in the fallen state there is a pattern through which man must of necessity emerge, a pattern which man must leave behind; but in leaving it behind there is a period of transition, a period of resurrection, a period of rebirth. It matters not by what name this phase of the outworking may be called, it is the same thing. In this period the individual is leaving one pattern behind: the pattern of degradation, the pattern of the unreal, the pattern of being subject to that which is false; for it is subjection to falsehood which causes miseries of all kinds, suffering and death. Subjection to the truth provides the means of transition back to a divine state, a state of health in body and mind and heart, a state of health in living, in action, where the meaningfulness of the individual may appear. During this period of transition the individual is leaving the old pattern behind. He has not yet reached a point where he is conforming to the new pattern. He is moving out of the old and he is not yet the manifestation of the new.

In this period of transition, resurrection, rebirth, it is necessary that one should recognize the correct principles of substitution. Many human beings are inclined to rebel at the idea of substitution. They say, “I will not accept anything less than the absolute perfection of the ultimate goal.” They are inclined to reject anything that comes in the sphere of substitution. I have emphasized over and over again the vital necessity of being honest, of being true to oneself, to God and to one's fellows, but all too often the human concept of what it means to be true and honest causes the individual to be subject to that which is false.

We might note that each one is, in every moment, subject either to that which is false or to that which is true, and the pattern in the individual, physically, mentally, emotionally, is almost without exception a combination, a situation in which there is in part subjection to that which is true and in part subjection to that which is false. This produces a state in which the individual is divided against himself, a state wherein there are internal conflicts which result in weakness and a sense of futility. It is impossible to move out of the old pattern into the new without a certain amount of this internal conflict, but to the degree that one is centered in absolute devotion to God's love and allegiance to His truth the process becomes reasonably painless. However when there is vacillation, turning from the pattern of subjection to the truth to the pattern of subjection to the false, violating the One Law, there is much internal hurt, most of it needless. But it is impossible to move instantaneously out of the old pattern into the new. We have recognized that one should be patient with oneself and with others, allowing for the time that is necessary to make this transition. No one should judge for himself or another what that period of time should be. If you, by attitude or in any expression, judge that another should have reached a point of perfection within a certain specified period of time, then by that attitude you establish a judgment on yourself, indicating that you should be required to be perfect in all respects within a certain specified period of time; and no one among you can afford to establish a fixed period of time with respect to your own period of transition.

That which is used to signify the ultimate during this period of transition is a symbol, a substitution. Every symbol is a substitution, and anyone who takes the attitude that he is not interested in symbols, in that which provides a substitution for that which is of the ultimate, might well be likened to a foolish person who, being at one point and desiring to be at another, refuses to take the steps necessary to cover the intervening space. You cannot move from one point to another without the process of movement, the steps by which that movement becomes possible, and you cannot in the interval have in manifestation or experience the fulness of that which is of the ultimate.

We can perhaps be misunderstood when we speak of the ultimate, for the ultimate is not with respect to that which shall be in some fixed form for eternity but is only the point of completion with respect to the cycle of transition. Once that transition is complete the following steps will unfold naturally, but there will not be a sameness; there will be no basis for boredom; there will be a manifestation of that which is eternally new, eternally beautiful, eternally a joy to experience. The ultimate for you, in the sense of the completion of the cycle to true centering in God in an absolute sense, will not be a manifestation of that pattern which shall manifest through you when all the earth and all those who dwell therein have been changed into the new pattern of truth.

This point needs to be emphasized. That which is perfect for you now, in this present circumstance, under the conditions in which you now live, in relationship to those with whom you are associated, would not be perfect when we reach the point of the state of perfection for the whole world. That which is of the ultimate, in the sense of the whole world, would not be perfect in this present time. If you set for yourself a goal on the basis of your concept of what it would be like to be perfect when all the world is perfect, and if you try to establish that in relationship to the present, even though you might be right, it would be imperfection now. Even though that which you envision were the expression of perfection in that ultimate state, it would not be perfection now. Perfection in this present moment is the expression in action, in attitude, in life, which meets the present situation. When the situation changes, perfection will be that which functions correctly in that changed state. That which is perfect today may not be perfect next week. That which is perfect today may be a manifestation which would have been imperfect a week ago. Perfection is always relative to the situation, the circumstance in which one finds oneself. Perfection is right action, right function in any given moment, but two moments are never the same. That which was yesterday is gone forever and cannot be reproduced on the morrow. That which was perfect in one set of circumstances, in the circumstance of one given moment, cannot be arbitrarily imposed in another moment and called perfection. The variations may be small. They may be so small that the human vision does not immediately detect the difference. But in the application in life, in the expression of truth, in the release of God's love on earth, that which is right in one moment may very easily be wrong in another.

Perfection is not some fixed state which is eternally the same. Whether in this world or in the state of paradise, perfection is always, in all eternity, relative to the moment, the circumstance, the factors which come to focus moment by moment. Perfection in expression now is something which deals with the factors that are present in you, individually and collectively, something that meets the issue that is present now; but that perfection of this moment will never be reproduced, for the perfection of another moment will vary from the perfection of this moment. So let us remember that perfection is never, under any circumstance, a fixed quality or state. Perfection is always, now and throughout eternity, relative to the factors which are present in the moment. Perfection in right action meets the issues of the moment, deals with the problems of the moment, provides the living of the moment, but that cannot be crystallized into a fixed form and used for all moments; for the moment the perfection of this moment is allowed to crystallize, as if it were to apply to all time, it becomes imperfection. The perfection of any moment, whether in the fallen world state or paradise restored, which might be crystallized in order to use it in other moments would immediately become imperfection; it would not be perfect

So, with the varying vibratory factors, the varying circumstances and relationships of persons and patterns, perfection in any moment has an individual quality and character which can never be duplicated, and if it were duplicated in some fixed fashion at any other time it would not be perfection. If our Master Himself were to return to earth in this day, in this time, and attempt to live out His life on identically the same pattern which He did when He was here, and which was perfection, reimposing it in the world now in the same manner would not be perfection but it would be imperfection. So, remember that basic principle: Perfection in any moment is relative to the factors present in that moment, and perfection in our daily living now cannot, by any process in imagination, whether that imagination is right or not, be shaped according to that which shall be in some future time or place.

That which would be perfect when the world is restored,

imposed on the world now would not be perfection.

This pattern of outworking by which the transition is possible to you means that those things which are yet to be, in the absolute sense of the Divine Design, are not yet, and you cannot function as if they were a manifest fact. We cannot function now on the basis of the vibratory patterns which have no form. Our function in perfection must be in relationship to the vibratory patterns that do have form, no matter how far they may be from the absolute nature of the Divine Design. In this period of resurrection, transition and rebirth we have to use substitutions, and the substitute in any given moment is made manifest through the responsive form and substance which yield to the working of God's spirit in that moment. If anyone looks upon any moment and says, “This is what is to be always,” he is wrong. It is never to be so. The symbol is never the thing itself, but you cannot move from the old state to the thing itself without the symbol.

There are those who, on the basis of their intellectual concepts which show forth ignorance, attempt to reject all symbols; but they cannot do so, for they forget that every name is a symbol. The name by which an individual is called is a symbol. Every figure, every number in the numerical system, is a symbol. We use symbols every day and could not do without them. Symbols are absolutely essential. We should begin to be acquainted with the essential symbols which are required in this process of transition, and we should begin to use them as naturally as we use numerals in our daily circumstance or business. When you speak of ten chickens, that does not mean that the chickens are in hand. They may be in a crate, or they may be in a pen, or they may be somewhere else. The name and the numeral are both symbols of something.

Words are symbols. We speak of the sunset and it conveys an idea, but it is not the sunset itself. We speak of the sunrise and we think of a new day, but it is not the new day itself. The symbol is used as a substitute for the thing itself, or to convey an idea about the thing itself. Yet, in this vitally important process of movement through the old pattern to the new the human mind, without the government of Divine Wisdom, becomes confused, rejecting the essential symbols, complaining about them, and thereby defeats the individual's own progress. The symbolical patterns in religious service have taken many forms, and symbolism has all too often been accepted as the thing itself. For instance, we have spoken in time past of the symbol of man's concept of what “baptism” means, whether of sprinkling or immersion. The symbol has been accepted as if it were the thing itself, and it is not. There are many symbols which man, broadly speaking, in the religious world is using as if they were the thing, but they are not. Yet many of these symbols, if not all of them, are essential to the process of transition.

Our particular concern is with respect to substitute forms which may be used as steps in movement toward the complete manifestation of the Divine Design. We might observe how this principle works out in the natural process of birth, growth and development to maturity in the individual human being. The babe is not the child; the child is not the youth; the youth is not the mature man or woman. But the babe cannot move from the state of babyhood to the state of maturity without passing through the state of the child and the state of the youth. The state of the babe symbolizes the state of the child; the state of the child symbolizes the state of the youth; the state of the youth symbolizes the state of the mature man or woman. The body of the child is the substitute pattern of expression while there is movement toward the state of the mature man or woman. If we attempt to treat the body of the child or the body of the youth as if it were the complete thing, that is, the body of the man or woman, we will spoil it or even destroy it. It will be stunted or distorted in some fashion, for the body during that growing period is changing and in any moment is simply a substitute pattern which makes possible movement toward the mature state, that in the mature state the individual may find fulfilment according to the reality of the Divine Design.

We hear a great deal about the idealist, an individual who sets for himself a high goal of some sort. He requires of himself arbitrarily, without respect to circumstance, conformity with his concept of what that goal may be, his own personally devised ideal. I am not suggesting that we should not use ideals, I am not suggesting that we should accept some goal which is unworthy of us; but I am suggesting that one cannot function prior to the state of fulfilment as if one were in that state of fulfilment. In the first place, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man [or woman], the things which God hath prepared for them that love [and serve] him.” It is impossible for the human imagination to determine in advance what the goal shall be. Ideals, yes, a high goal in the sense of recognizing the fulfilment of the Law in the restoration to the Divine Estate; but to attempt with the human mind to figure out what one's place shall be, what one's state shall be in that ultimate goal, in that ultimate outworking, is to waste precious time in foolish and futile action. We may develop vision, see something of an outline of the future; sometimes there may be details which are reasonably clear because of their relationship to the Law, the patterns of truth and God's design; but in the interval, while we move toward that goal, however clearly it may be seen or however vaguely it may be comprehended, we must use the present circumstance, the present condition, the present facts as they manifest in form, as a substitute with respect to which we act in our movement toward the goal.

Sometimes human beings imagine that the substitute pattern should be thus and so for another, according to some personally developed idea. No one can properly arbitrarily determine what the substitute pattern shall be for another in this period of transition, but as you remain centered under the Law and let the spirit of God work through you, you develop that discretion, that wisdom, that sense of the fitness of things, by which you may use the present circumstances, the present facts in form, to advantage, so that all things, though they do not have to be so, are caused to work toward that perfection, that goal, which God's design has established for you and for all. Until we remember the means of maintaining that vision, a perspective recognition of the whole, we cannot possibly be alert to the impulses of the spirit which will allow discretion, a sense of the fitness of things in relationship to substitute patterns by which we may move from one circumstance to another.

The bridge by which we cross the chasm, the gorge below, the path by which we move from one point to another, must not be confused with the place to which we go. It is a substitute thing. We substitute that which is in fact the manifest situation in this moment for that which is of the ultimate goal. We look at those factors; we examine them. Under the direction of the spirit we determine how they must best be used in order to move toward the goal. But if we reject that which is present in this moment because it is not pleasing to us or because it does not conform to our idea of the ultimate goal, whether that idea is right or wrong, we then stand still.

It is futile and foolish to reject the facts of the present, to fight against them, to fume about them, to be disturbed by them, for if the facts of the present moment, no matter how unpleasant they may be, are allowed to become the controlling factor, the individual thereby identifies himself with and becomes subject to that which must be acted upon in order to change it into the pattern of the Divine Design. If in this present circumstance, regardless of any unpleasantness within one's own body or round about, one maintains his identity with God the Creator, the One who acts, and refuses to be subject to the circumstance, refuses to be moved by that which must be accepted as the substitute for the ultimate, he then is in position to share action which changes this thing into something else, which makes it possible to move from this point to another point. Thus, taking a step forward, the situation changes, a new pattern appears, a substitute pattern for the ultimate, and if we find fault with it, condemn it and reject it, we block our own progress. But if, seeing it for what it is and refusing to be subject to it, we use it as still another step, a means to move forward, we find that, step by step, we come under the pattern of Divine Wisdom, the sense of the fitness of things, Divine Discretion, Divine Power. We move from one point to another, step by step, toward the goal, utilizing every situation as it is focalized in any moment as the substitute, the symbol if you please, of that which shall ultimately be.

If there is that in the present symbol or the substitute which is not pleasing, which is not right, which must be changed, which is short of that which shall be, then that very fact gives us opportunity to share action with the Creator, if we are identified with that which acts. But if some unpleasant thing in the circumstance of the moment causes us to react to it, so that we become subject to it, we are refusing to use the symbol as a substitute for the ultimate; we are accepting the symbol as an ideal, becoming subject to it; we are establishing a situation where not only the symbol, the substitute, the incomplete situation, must be acted upon but being identified with it we require that we be acted upon.

God's action through you with respect to any circumstance will change you if you do need to be changed, but if you insist that you shall be the thing acted upon you can never be completely changed. You may be moved into a pattern where you can begin to function, you may experience some improvement, but it is not by placing yourself in the position of being the thing to be acted upon that you can experience the complete fulfilment or transition to health in any form or with respect to any phase of body or being. That perfection must come because you share the activity of the Creator, and the current of the Creator working through you to act upon circumstance, situation, form or person allows the movement of the power through you to bring you into that pattern where you may function in perfection with respect to any moment. It is the action through you with respect to that which must be acted upon that allows you to come to the point of being what you ought to be. You can never become the completed thing merely by being acted upon. God acted upon certain substance of the soil and formed man of the dust of the ground, but man in that state was not alive; he was merely a form, something that God Himself had acted upon. But having reached a certain point, God breathed the Breath of Life into man's nostrils, and man—the physical body with its capacities of mind and heart—became a living soul. Then that man, sharing God's action, began to be what he was supposed to be; but this physical body could not be a man or a woman until it shared the pattern of action. As long as it remained merely the thing acted upon it was merely a form.

Was that you? Your body with its capacities, formed of the dust of the ground, may be acted upon to a certain extent in bringing you to a certain point, but having reached that point, you must change from a thing acted upon and be a means by which Divine Action takes place on earth. That is what is meant by service. It is what is meant by God's givingness. It is what is meant by letting go to God and His spirit. Once you begin to share God's action so that God is acting in you and through you, upon circumstances around you, then you begin to be brought into conformity or harmony with the Divine Design that is established for you; you begin to be a living soul instead of a dying soul; you begin to know what it is to have the Breath of Life in your nostrils instead of the stench of death, the absence of life.

So the symbol, the substitute which is manifest in the moment, or which may be developed, must never be scorned; it must never be criticized; it must never be rejected. That which is at hand to be used must be accepted with thanksgiving to God, that we may use it as a substitute for that which shall be, a symbol of that which is yet to appear. And having accepted your body, your capacities, on this basis, with your centering in God under the Law, you can forevermore be identified with that which acts, so that you need not be identified with that which is acted upon. In such a state, remember that the perfection of your function in any given moment is, and must be, with respect to that which is the fact in that moment. Perfection is always a relative thing, relative to the circumstance of the moment. Perfect thought, perfect vision, perfect action, allow perfect function in the now, with respect to that which is, so that you do not reject that which is, while you bemoan the absence of that which is not. As long as you waste your time bemoaning the absence of that which is not, no matter how true to the ideal or vision of that which is not you might be, you defeat yourself. This that is present is that which we have to use; not an idle fancy, not a wishful dream, but the present facts in form, the present circumstance, the present situation; and to rebel against it is to reject that which should be the substitute for that which shall be, and rejecting, one refuses to take the step by which one may arrive at the goal.

In this period of transition from the old pattern to the new we cannot have at any point that which shall be. While you are moving through that period you are not what you were and you are not that which you shall be. You are neither this nor that, but you are what you are, and you are where you are with respect to the circumstances that exist, no matter how unreal they may be. The facts of the forms that are present must be recognized; the factors in every respect must be considered and none of them rejected, all of them used, no matter how wrong some of them might be; for it is in using what we have that we move forward to the larger fulfilment. So it is that all things, no matter how limited they may be in some respects, are caused to work together to perfection for those who love and serve the Lord.

He who rejects that which is at hand to use rejects his share in the fulfilments which are yet to be. Remember that, and use the substitute, but not as if it might be the thing which should always be. Use it as the thing itself for the moment, because such use constitutes perfection for the moment, and in such use you shall find that other moments yet to come will bring other substitutes which shall bring new focalizations of factors and forms by which you may move still nearer to the goal, until you become so attuned to God that the Breath of Life is flowing through you and you are a living soul, whether a man or a woman, a living soul acting in perfection in every circumstance, no matter how imperfect the circumstance may be.

Imperfect circumstances do not rightly provide excuse for imperfect function.

Until you can function perfectly in imperfect circumstances you are not a part of the Creator through which action appears by reason of which circumstances may be changed. In this you have opportunity to understand that which is vitally important to your progress, a point with respect to which most human beings falter, stumble and fall because they reject the substitute, or misuse the symbol, and identify themselves with that which must be acted upon. Until someone else identifies himself with that which acts, you, identified with that which must be acted upon, must wait for the action, when in fact you should be the means by which the action takes place, that the blessings of God may appear and that, gradually, forms around us may be caused to conform to the Divine Design. But that change, that transition, will not be accomplished in a moment. It is a cycle outworking in which you may share with the Creator in the creative process by which this that is may be acted upon to change it, step by step, into that which is to be. So shall you know the victory, the Victory of the Spirit of the Living Christ.

O LORD of Lords, I thank Thee for these blessed ones here gathered, for all who are with us in spirit, for all who are turning to Thee, that each and every one may begin more fully to share in the working of Thy will on earth as Thy will is done in heaven, that each may be a means by which Thy creative action appears on earth in relationship to the things that are, that that which is may be changed into the state of that which is to be; for Thine is the control, and the power, and the glory of fulfilment in victorious living, now and forever, in the Christ. Aumen.

“He that dwelleth in the Secret Place of the Most High shall abide under the Shadow”—the evidence of the Presence—“of the Almighty.” He that dwelleth in a state of being identified with the Creator shall abide in the continuing manifestation of the evidence of the Presence of the Almighty. Blessed are those who have awakened to the state where they are willing to be the means of God's action, no longer lethargically waiting to be acted upon. The evidence of the Presence of the Almighty is found in the reality of creative action. The thing produced upon its completion does not provide the evidence, at least not to the fallen human mind, because the human being will somehow rationalize and say, “This uplift happened by chance; this is merely a coincidence”—anything to deny the Creator.

It is not the completed thing that provides the real evidence of the Presence of the Almighty. If we were to accept such evidence as that, the mere fact that you are in the form of human beings, breathing, able to speak and hear, provides the evidence, and yet your lives heretofore have denied that evidence. It is the evidence of the reality of the creative act itself that counts, the evidence of the reality of God's creative expression by which that which now is, is changed, step by step, into that which it ought to be. In sharing in such creative action your own body and mind and heart are changed; but as long as you conceive yourself to be separate from the Creator, a thing merely to be acted upon, you cannot become what you ought to be.

As you become the instrument of action, you share the reality of God on earth and you begin to abide, to dwell, in the Secret Place of the Most High, under the Shadow of the Almighty; and there you come to know the perfection of each moment of eternity as it passes by; not demanding that some perfection of some past moment be reinstated in the present, not demanding that some perfection of some moment yet to be shall be projected into this moment, but content to use the perfection of this moment in the process of creative action, or outworking, by reason of which that which is yet to be may manifest—the beauty of God's truth, the fulness of His design. So shall the Garden which God has planted eastward in Eden take form and manifest in you, and around you, and through you, to the blessing of all who will receive. In this you are a branch of the Tree of Life, bringing forth fruit in its season by which others may know life on earth, life that is vibrant and real, life that is meaningful, to the glory of God and to the blessing of the children of men.

© emissaries of divine light