The Lord's Prayer

The  Mature  Expression  of  His  Spirit

from  The Lord's Prayer

Martin Cecil   November 7, 1982

As we abide in that place of heavenly stillness, we enfold and protect all that draws near. And we speak the creative word, “Let there be life,” and there is life. If we all abide in the place of heavenly stillness we all abide together forever. The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. I think we might hear the echoing and resounding of that voice in the mountains and in the hills. The voice speaks the Word and there is creative movement. But the Word springs forth from the place of stillness where we abide. Until there are those who do abide in this place of stillness while living in form on earth there is no place of stillness present at the level from which the Word must be spoken. All things were made by the Word, and without the Word was not anything made that is made. How then would human beings expect to make or achieve anything while ignoring the Word?

Because man was created to give expression to the Word on earth there is a residual power of creation present in man, even though he has ceased to be man as he was originally created. There is a form of radiation that proceeds from human beings to be reflected back to them by their worlds. I spoke of the earthly self reflecting the heavenly self this morning—that could be one way of putting it—but the earthly self is not really a mirror. It is better described as a window through which the pure expression of the heavenly self shines. The world which is thereby created could be said to be the mirror; it reflects back what was present in the radiation. If the radiation is pure and heavenly then the world is pure and heavenly. If the radiation is unholy, evil, as it has been, then the world is seen to be unholy and evil. That is what is reflected back by the mirror.

The window rightly replaces the mirror, as the earthly self has been. The earthly self has been a mirror of the world which the earthly self made in the first place. Now the window appears because there are those earthly selves which are no longer so interested in reflecting the world. How about our own experience? We do a certain amount of reflecting of the world still and we are uncomfortable because of that. But when the mirror is transformed into a window because there is a greater interest in the heavenly self than in the world of reflection, the pure release and expression of heavenly radiation may begin to shine forth, and this is then reflected by the world.

That shining forth necessarily embodies the creative cycle, the creative cycle that is essential to the dissolution of the human fantasy, and so all that fantasy is incorporated into the proper administration of the creative cycle. The world gives evidence of the changes which consequently occur. Those who administer the creative cycle, those who abide in the stillness of heaven, recognize the meaning of the reflection. It is the reflection, after all, of the heavenly radiation which one is personally emitting. The process of salvation is in effect. All things in the realm of reflection are in the process of change to reveal the pure essences of the radiation. There is, as we are aware, a creative cycle involved and we are content to let it work.

The change can only take place to the extent that there is a pure radiation being released through the window. We are aware of our position and responsibility in this regard. We are not at all in the business of manipulation; nothing would be achieved by it; this has been the mode of operation of the evil self heretofore. So we bring something new, something new certainly in the experience of mankind, which has lost the memory of the truth. We see this as the essential element for what we have called the restoration. The restoration cannot occur without this core of pure radiation.

Remember that radiation results from the union of the positive and the negative. Looking forth at the windows, rather than gazing into the mirror, we see something occurring in the world. It is reflected back to us and we may observe it. We see it, rightly, as the result of the creative radiation occurring by reason of the union of heaven and earth in us. In our observation of what is reflected back we see people at various levels and in various ways being drawn to come near. By the same token we also see others who, by reason of the working of the Law, are repelled. The fact of either integration or disintegration does not rightly cause us to leave the heavenly place of stillness. We stay where we belong. The radiation goes forth. The world reflects to us the effects of our radiation.

We might, for a moment, pause to consider something which has occupied the attention of the Christian world for nineteen centuries: namely, what has come to be called the Lord’s Prayer. When the Master was on earth He was dealing with certain levels of consciousness, a certain quality of people in the mixed-up state. He was aware that, spiritually, all were children. He suggested that those who were willing should acknowledge the fact that they were children: Except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. So He was dealing with a childish situation when He provided the words of what has come to be called the Lord’s prayer. It wasn’t His prayer—it was a prayer for the children.

Evidently the state of childishness has persisted. The same words are being mouthed today as were given to the children in the first place. What would the prayer be for mature men and women? The prayer for mature men and women would be deemed blasphemy by the children, who take the attitude that what they have learned by rote is the Lord’s prayer, unchanging eternally. It was given to the children as a starting point for their movement in the cycles toward maturity. I suppose most of us as children learned some nursery rhymes, some stories, but when we became what we assumed was men and women we put away childish things, in that sense. Probably we invented some other myths, of a more mature nature supposedly.

But somewhere along the way this childish prayer, which certainly contains some basic elements of truth, would need to be put away in favor of the mature expression. But no, in the Christian world, everybody, generation after generation, has repeated and repeated the fairy tale, the nursery rhyme. Mind you, there is some meaning in most nursery rhymes somewhere, in this particular one a great deal of course, but provided for children, who would only be capable of understanding at a childish level. If they really understood at a childish level this should lead them into a more mature experience of meaning. It is clearly evident that most of the stories which Jesus told, the various parables, were stories which were comprehended only at a rather elementary level. Mind you again, there were deeper understandings available, but even insofar as the disciples were concerned, to whom He opened a window of understanding greater than was received by most, this was still quite elementary.

The Lord’s prayer, presumably, would be words spoken by the Lord. What would His words be in the mature expression of spirit? They could be words which begin very much along the lines that we presently have been sharing: I Am in Heaven.

I am in heaven.

The revelation of myself is holy.

My kingdom comes because I am here.

My will is done in earth because my will is done in heaven.

I give the bread of life in each moment of my living on earth.

I forgive, and that forgiveness is received by those who share the spirit of forgiveness.

I lead no one into tribulation, but deliver all evil into the creative cycle.

For mine is the kingdom present on earth because I am present on earth.

Mine is the creative power of the Word.

And mine is the glory which results, shining round about,

to be reflected by the world which I create.

Would this not be the Lord’s prayer?

Would this not be ours?

I have been emphasizing those two words, three letters total: I am. It is rather evident that quite a few of you, and others, have not really comprehended what was being said. For instance, someone may say or write, “I am is here.” That really doesn’t make much sense to me. Would it not be better said, “I am here”? “I am” is so often used as though it were the name of somebody else, as one might say, “The Lord is here.” But why is the Lord here? Because I am here! There are those who sometimes excuse themselves for false statements by saying it is just a matter of semantics. But semantics are very revealing of what is actually happening in the person—the words come out accordingly—and if you were to say, “I am is here,” you certainly would have missed the point. Where is he? Who is he? No, we can each say, “I am here,” assuming the responsibility for speaking the Word.

The Word is truth, and we don’t speak it secondhand; at least that would be a very childish condition. We speak the Word, “Let there be life,” and there is life. Why? Because I am here and I speak the Word. As there are those who acknowledge the truth in their own living expression there is a core of heavenly expression on earth, and it is this that brings to pass the salvation for which we are in the world. We came not into the world to condemn the world but to save it.

We look around, you may even travel around, becoming acquainted with this person and that person, this group or that group, whether they are New Age or otherwise—and we may be thankful for the fact that there is movement, there is change occurring, that there are those who are beginning to awaken; but we certainly are not unduly impressed, because we know that this is what happens when we provide the essential radiation. Those who find themselves moving, in one way or another, do not initially understand what is happening or why it is happening, but we know. It is well that we should know, because it is our responsibility in every moment of our living.

As heavenly selves, we are concerned that the fact of our trustworthiness should be proven on earth. It is this sustained radiation that saves the world. It doesn’t originate in human minds and hearts. These are simply windows, the windows of heaven, opened so that the creative radiation may pour forth into the earth. And when it does the world reflects it. There are those of course who, by reason of response in mind and heart, draw near. They are welcome, they are protected, and they may participate with us as they come to the point of union in unified radiation. But this is the one thing that is necessary. Nothing else that is happening on earth could have any meaning whatsoever but for this one thing. We need to know this. We don’t need to try to tell anybody else about it. It is a matter of our own being.

We know how to take care of the reponsibilities present in our circumstances when we abide where we belong, the place of being where I am—not “where I am is” but where I am. So here we have a sensing of the creative power that is at work. This world of creative power becomes increasingly more real to us than the fading reflection of inhuman radiation, the world as we thought it was. People everywhere are all involved in that; it seems so real to them; they are trying to get it back into the way it used to be, even though they didn’t like it the way it used to be; but all to no avail. And it will be to no avail as long as the creative radiation is in place. The reflection of that creative radiation comes with absolute inevitability and we share in an increasing awareness of the kingdom and the power and the glory. This is real. This is the radiant reality which is reflected by certain levels of the electromagnetic field around us. Let the reflection be pure and right because the radiation is pure and right.

Grace Van Duzen — Martin, what fulfilment in the expression of the Lord’s prayer: radiant reality. What fulfilment surely, and rejoicing in heaven, that that which was given two thousand years ago for the children is given in this hour, surely, to mature men and women, and all who will come and share this because I accept responsibility in the name of the Lord.

Martin Cecil — Mature men and women? I trust, maturing men and women, but sufficiently mature to hear and understand and speak.

© Emissaries of Divine Light

Our Responsibility in the Seven and the Twelve

Our  Responsibility  in  the  Seven  and  the  Twelve

from

Seven and Twelve

Martin Cecil  September 20, 1981

Most holy Lord of creation, I address Thee in these words with the greatest reverence and awe. This morning I bring this congregation before Thee. In Thy name I invite them to come near unto me, that thereby they may come near unto Thee. In these moments of quietness we are aware of Thy presence and of Thy love. According to the spiritual responsibility accepted by each one in their living heretofore, so may these all together offer to Thee a body of flesh for the accommodation of Thy spirit and Thy word, that the blessing of Thy creative action may be extended in this hour into all the world to all people, an outpouring of Thy creative spirit, opening the gates of Thy kingdom for the inflowing of response wherever it is present in the hearts and lives of human beings everywhere. Thou only, O Lord of creation, art God. We have no other gods before Thee. Aum-en.

We have now moved into a new year, a new cycle of seven years—into the Fiftieth Year of this ministry on earth. It is also not only a year in its own right but it is the first in a succession of years, seven to be exact, which would be characterized by the fire force. This particular year, in and of itself within the cycle of this ministry, is characterized by the air force. Here are two aspects of the creative power by which God's will is done. Making reference to this, I am making reference to something that relates very specifically to the Emissary ministry. We have a certain awareness of the significance of this ministry to the larger picture, the world of mankind.

There is one level of consideration with respect to numbers which we need to understand. Usually when Emissaries, or those who consider themselves to be Emissaries—there may be a distinction here—consider numbers, seven and twelve emphasize themselves in consciousness. This is not by chance, even though there may heretofore have been little real understanding of what it was that was being considered. It is clear that in the unfoldment of the ministry as such, seven has been predominant. We have just completed seven cycles of seven years; we now move into the eighth cycle of seven years. This is presuming that the seven-year pattern continues as before. There is always the possibility that the days may be shortened somewhat. So there is the seven-year cycle, which has been clear enough over the last forty-nine years, relating directly to the responsibilities carried by reason of the Emissary ministry.

At the same time, of course, these seven years are made up of one year at a time. The year itself relates to the passage of the earth in its orbit around the sun. This orbit, from the standpoint of human calculations at least, has been divided up into twelve months. It is not by chance that this pattern has come to be accepted in the world: twelve months on the one hand, seven days in the week on the other hand. Here are two aspects of one thing. They say there are fifty-two weeks in a year, but it isn't quite right. They say there are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, and that isn't quite right either. But there are these divisions, which relate to something with which human beings everywhere are familiar.

We ourselves may see that the seven has a particular relatedness to this Emissary ministry. We recognize here the emergence of a conscious focus, a conscious spiritual focus for mankind. We may recall the story of creation in the Book of Genesis, where emphasis is placed there upon seven: seven days, seven periods of time, seven cycles. Here was a deliberate creative process for a specific purpose, conveyed, on this basis, as relating to seven. Being a deliberate process, we could say it would be a conscious process. So the seven relates very particularly to this conscious focus of what is provided by what the Emissary ministry actually is. What it actually is and what people may have thought it to be could be different. But there is a reality here which we have used Emissaries of Divine Light to describe. The reality, of course, needs to emerge as it actually is so that, in a sense, words to describe it would be unnecessary. But there are words to describe it and we are content with these words which bring to focus the conscious, deliberate action necessary in the creative process by which the restoration of mankind may be achieved.

We recognize that there is no conscious mind without the subconscious aspects of mind. You can't really separate the two, any more than you can separate the surface of the water from the water underneath. So there is a subconscious aspect, which relates very particularly to the experience of mankind over the centuries and the millennia; and this is indicated by the use of the number twelve. There are the twelve tribes of the earth which were, back along the way, represented by the twelve disciples, the twelve tribes of Israel; in other words here is something that is all-inclusive of mankind—in a more particular sense the subconscious aspect of the mind of mankind.

There has been a certain amount of deliberation in this subconscious level of human experience. In other words it could be said that there has been a certain amount of what human beings would probably describe as conscious action in the world. All the human achievements that are seen round about are apparently consequent upon this conscious action. But this relates very much to a dream state, where there is apparently someone present—who maybe one thinks of as oneself—in the dream, doing various things and being done unto by various other things in the dream. And this is pretty well what has been occurring in the world as human beings have known it. It all is included in this subconscious level, symbolized by the twelve. Of course, seven is a number that is included in twelve. It's part of the whole mind of mankind but refers in a particular sense to the surface conscious levels, which are rightly brought to focus by those who may be properly called Emissaries of Divine Light. So we have these two aspects here.

The twelve is very inclusive of far more than the immediate earthly experience. Certainly the earth moves around the sun in its orbit, and that orbit may be divided into twelve segments; but obviously the earth is not alone in moving around the sun. And the solar system is not alone, in an isolated sense, but is a part of the galaxy, and so on. So the twelve may be seen as relating to something far vaster than the subconscious levels of the human mind; the subconscious levels of the human mind simply represent something much vaster. The twelve, therefore, refers to the planetary system as such, the solar system, the galaxy and the universe. Here is the particular connection that mankind has with this vastness—through the twelve.

So there is the twelve aspect and the seven aspect. Our concern has been especially with the seven aspect. Whereas this seven aspect is made up of years, of course, it is immediately related to the twelve, which refers, amongst other things, to the twelve months of the year, the movement of the planet around the sun. So the connection is there in the year. Each individual year as it comes around is directly connected to the twelve of the subconscious aspect of the whole body of mankind. I use words to describe all this but I am trusting that you have some spiritual discernment which enables you to comprehend what it is that I'm talking about; because if you try to intellectualize it you will lose it. But it is clear, obvious, actual, real, when it is spiritually discerned.

This year which is before us is the beginning of a seven-year cycle, but it is a year in and of itself. We don't wish to lay emphasis upon the external factors, which loom so large in human consciousness, because we are now concerned directly and deliberately with what might be described as heavenly elements. These heavenly elements will be reflected in external factors, yes, but we may be reminded of the verse in the Book of Job: “Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?” This is our direct and immediate responsibility. First of all, the ordinances of heaven must be known. One couldn't very easily set the dominion of the unknown in the earth; so the ordinances of heaven must be known. In a sense I've been speaking of this now, utilizing these particular terms relative to the numbers seven and twelve. All this relates to the ordinances of heaven.

Sometimes, I think, the ordinances of heaven are looked upon as being fixed structures. But we recognize that life is the evidence of these ordinances, and life is always characterized by movement and change. So there is something moving, something changing constantly, relative to the ordinances of heaven. They are based in what we may call the Law, but the Law is not static; it's constantly moving, relative to the requirements of the creative process. And so we have ordinances of heaven, which need to be discerned momentarily. You can't say to yourself, “Well now I know the ordinances of heaven; I'm going to set the dominion thereof in the earth,” because as soon as you've said that, they've changed to something fresh which reveals the reality of a living, pulsating movement. And we have the responsibility, in the creative cycles that are before us, to bring to focus these living pulsations and allow them to take their fitting form in their fitting seasons. Coming events, in that sense, the events brought forth by these living pulsations, may in some respects cast their shadows before, so that we are not entirely blind relative to the future. But though we may discern something with respect to the future, we are not wrapped up in what we may discern in that regard, because we don't know exactly what form it is going to take. What is to occur must be vibrationally established; the ordinances of heaven in each moment. Don't be too hooked on your vision, because whatever it should be can only be as the ordinances of heaven, now, are set in the earth now and in each succeeding moment. Then, coming together, we know what it is. All of us have a responsibility in developing various creative movements which are being brought forth. So we need to gain an overall view of the heavenly ingredients that are present relating to what we would refer to probably as vibrational factors. Those vibrational factors may be brought to point by utilizing the seven and the twelve. We see our responsibility in the seven.

In order to make right use of what is occurring we must remain at the balance point where we belong. Human beings are inclined to swing to extremes. There are definitely pulsations. These pulsations are related very particularly to the twelve, or the subconscious aspect of things. But consciously we need to be at the balance point and not swung around by whatever is happening in the subconscious level. What is happening in the subconscious level, from the standpoint of heaven, needs to happen, not in order to push us around but to provide us with the material that is needed for the deliberate achievement of what it is that should be achieved. So we may recognize the necessity of standing at this balance point. The balance point, which can be looked at in various ways, relates first of all to the horizontal component, of which mention has been made before. We may see it in terms of the past on one side and the future on the other. Well we need to be in the middle—that is, exactly now. That doesn't deny the fact that there is a past stretching away and a future stretching away; but here we are now, in this present moment.

Another aspect of this relates to the tendency of human beings to swing to what they think of as a spiritual extreme—spiritualistic, I think, is the more accurate term—and to the materialistic extreme on the other end of the spectrum. No, we need to be in the middle, the Central Way, the balance point, because only there is there direct connection and relatedness with the vertical component—the vertical component which comes to focus in the present moment. It doesn't come to focus in the past; it doesn't come to focus in the future. It certainly doesn't come to focus in the spiritualistic antics of human beings or in the materialistic antics of human beings. And yet there is this pulsation moving from the heavenly standpoint, of which one may be consciously aware. And we need to be consciously aware of it, not to be thrown around by it, because here are the facilities for creative action that we consciously and deliberately can make use of—the point of balance, the point where the creative power is, the point where God and man are one. So we may observe what is happening, we may be aware of the pulsations. These are part of the ordinances of heaven, mistranslated by human beings. But we're here to translate them correctly, not to do away with them. We need to be steady in the middle, but this doesn't prevent us from discerning, and being aware of, the pulsations which are moving on each side of that central point.

These pulsations can be seen in different ways too. It's interesting to note that the anniversary of this ministry falls approximately, in the northern hemisphere at least, at the time of the autumnal equinox. This is a balance point, not only for the northern hemisphere but for the southern hemisphere, when the length of the day and the night are the same—the same thing in the north as in the south. This is indicative of a balance point. When you come to the solstice in the summer or the winter, you have a directly opposite experience in northern and southern hemispheres. In other words, it looks as though in the northern hemisphere it's unbalanced in one direction, but in the south there is evidence of unbalance in the other direction. There is nothing wrong with that, is there? It's quite all right. We at least enjoy the long days of summer; we should enjoy the short days of winter. It's all part of the cycle. But we ourselves are not being flung around by this; we stand where we belong, and are in position then to use rightly what it is that is actually happening.

What is actually happening is what is happening from the standpoint of the ordinances of heaven, not what is happening from the standpoint of human mistranslation of these ordinances. And we have all sorts of events, very troublesome things going on in the world, based entirely in human mistranslation. Well here we are, back where we belong, in order to provide the balance point which allows all these movements, pulsations back and forth that rightly occur as part of the living process, to be rightly used, rightly translated in our own experience. We can't immediately start translating them out there somewhere: “Well the events of the world are not the way I like them. This and that is not happening the way it should.” No, we live right here, we live next to ourselves and in the immediate environment, and here's where the balance point needs to be. One can see, even from the rather surface viewpoint, that if there are enough people who stay in that balance point around the world, we have a balance point represented everywhere. And this begins to assume responsibility, then, for the creative process which is working out, designed to permit the restoration of mankind.

Most of the things that are going on in the world apparently have no relatedness to that; no one even thinks about it. But we think about it, we know something about it, and we are aware of our responsibility with respect to it. And this is very real to the extent that we are in the real position. If we go off from side to side we're not where we belong, and we lose an awareness of what we would know if we were where we belong. I'm sure that you could all testify to this experience. The reality which you know when you're on the beam, as they say, seems to fade away, disappear, when you begin to swing off to one side. Well that should be fair warning: Get back where you belong! Unfortunately, for most people, that doesn't seem to occur to them. They want to plumb the depths or the heights a little more, rather than stay where one belongs, aware of the depths, aware of the heights, but seeing the value of these things from the standpoint of the balanced position.

This morning I am emphasizing this balanced position particularly because certainly the swinging will likely occur with greater vehemence in the world around us as the days and years go on, and we need to have very sure footing where we belong if we're not going to be carried with it. Of course, if that goes too far things are flung right out, and we can see a cleansing process occurring on this basis. But let not everything be cleansed away! If half of it is flung this way and the other half that way, there's nothing in the middle. There needs to be something left, something that is stable and solid and provides a connection for all those who are in the vicinity of it, not physically necessarily but vibrationally.

We have a certain sensing—if our hearts are not overly impure—a certain sensing of a point of stability. Now you know there are many who are awakening in this way, sensing the point of stability, the awareness of people, individual people, you and others, who provide this point of stability without calling it names. Let's not keep the door closed. Let the door be open, because there are more who properly participate in this focus of the conscious aspect of the mind of mankind. It requires, certainly, more than are presently available. So the door needs to be kept open. There should never be a sense of shame with respect to the means by which this conscious aspect of the mind of mankind has been brought to focus. Isn't that a tremendous thing! Why deny it? For those who don't understand we wouldn't particularly shout it from the housetops. But there are those who are ready to understand; for them the door should be open.

So I rejoice to share this consideration of a reality which is describable in symbolic ways; it's the only way it is describable. We have to use words of some kind, and these seven and twelve numbers are useful in acquainting us with something very real that is going on, and in which we properly share. And we're not isolated in some conscious level of understanding, because there would be no conscious level of understanding without the subconscious. It's all one thing; it's all properly unified. But we have the point of conscious stability in the middle where we stay. We are not swung around by all the things that are going on in the subconscious mind and heart of mankind. Lots of things are going on there; we sometimes inadvertently get hooked up with them. Well we need to be alert so that we don't stay with that sort of a ride—we come back to where we belong. And others will tend to come with us and stand where they belong too. Altogether there may be the true ordinances of heaven and the dominion of them set in the earth. When that is so, the earth is known once again to be the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

© Emissaries of Divine Light

Lloyd Arthur Meeker—Uranda

Lloyd  Arthur  Meeker — Uranda

from   A Word To The Wise — Issue No. Seven

Uranda   January 7, 1941

Some of you have been listening to me speak, both privately and publicly, and reading my writings, for a period of five years or more—and you know that I have said very little, and written less, about myself. Those of you who attended the Services I conducted this past summer, know that I did not talk about myself or my personal experiences. All of you who are now in the Church know that not a single one of you was drawn into the Church on a personal basis of a consideration of me or my experiences. All of you Responded to the Truth I presented—and you were willing to Harmonize with me in Service without knowing anything about the very things most people present first. The average teacher of the world first tells about himself and his experiences, in an attempt to convince people that he is worthy to be heard. I reversed that. If you were not willing to hear me for the sake of the Truth I offered, you would not have been received. Now that you are already in the Church, and it is evident that it is neither to satisfy your curiosity, nor to urge you to the acceptance of my Teaching, the time has come for me to tell you certain things about my present manifestation in the earth. However, I explicitly request that you refrain from talking to others about what I now tell you. Let such things wait their appointed season.

One of the primary reasons why I have not expressed more about myself, is this: If I were to relate a certain experience of my own to a person not yet drawn to the proper point of understanding, he would be very much inclined to try to duplicate my experience in his own life. That would mean failure for him. Or, if he really sought to understand the Principles revealed by my experience, he would be very much inclined to attempt to imagine some circumstance, happening, or experience, by which he might bring forth the same revelation of Principles—and again that would mean failure. To the degree that you actually Realize that these statements are true, you will understand why so many so-called teachers have defeated themselves at the very start, by telling about their personal experiences in order to intrigue their listeners. However, in that I teach the Central Way, there comes a time when certain facts concerning myself should be brought to the attention of Emissaries—but in so doing I caution you to Walk in the Central Way in relation thereto, or you will fail to receive the Blessings made possible by our present consideration.

A certain Sister wrote: "We are very often inclined to think, 'Well, it’s easy for Uranda to teach and understand, because he felt his call at the age of seven, and probably there is a special rule for him.' Now we have realized that it took our Beloved Uranda four years to let his outer-self be fully taken into the Inner Being of Reality." Our Blessed Sister's point is well taken; but there are two points that are not quite correct. It is incorrect to say that I, in the outer sense, felt a "call" at the age of seven, though at that age I, the outer, was conscious of a feeling that I had a very important mission in life, to help mankind. Also, it is incorrect to think that it only took my outer-self four years to fully let go to Me as I AM—it took 29 years! However, there has been a prevalent idea that it was easier for me, in the outer sense, to find Release in Reality, than it is for you who are in the School. Actually, I faced difficulties and hardships and problems that were much greater than anything you have been called upon to experience. I had to lead the Way. I had no one in the outer world to instruct me, or teach my outer mind the Truths which I have offered so freely to you. Of course, the Teachings of the Great Master were in the Bible; but you know that the popular understandings of His Words must have been as inadequate for me as they have proven to be for you. I would outline briefly the essential facts—without any attempt to go into detail, and omitting all that has no direct bearing on the matter in hand.

The first part of this outline must, of necessity, be about the outer-self from an outer standpoint; therefore, I will tell the story about a certain young man who finally came to know himself to be My Temple—and then, in due season, he so Responded to Me that he became the manifestation of Me as I AM.

On February 25, 1907, a baby boy was born of parents whose forebears had been citizens of the United States for several generations. His earthly father was of English-Welsh descent, and his mother was of Dutch descent, of those people known as Highland Dutch. He was their first-born, and they named their son, Lloyd Arthur Meeker. His birthplace was Ferguson, Iowa, near Marshalltown. When he was a small babe his parents moved to North Dakota, where they lived in very limited circumstances in a little sod-house on the prairie. His father was away much of the time, working as a circuit minister, and the rest of the time as a farmer. Part of the time water had to be hauled some little distance on a sled drawn by a cow. In these surroundings a second son was born to his parents. In due season they received title for their homesteaded land; but his father's health was very poor and a higher altitude was considered wise for him. A member of his father's church offered to trade his property in Colorado for the homestead. Because his father trusted his fellow churchman, he traded sight-unseen for a peach orchard of several acres, located near Palisade, not far from Grand Junction, in Mesa County in Western Colorado. His mother was never strong, and suffered from heart trouble all her brief life; and the change in climate and altitude did not improve her health.

The Meeker family arrived at Palisade, with all their meager worldly possessions, to find that what had once been a peach orchard, was at that time nothing but a patch of alkali covered ground, with long-dead peach trees standing grotesquely here and there in the whitish earth, as sentinels of doom to the high hopes that inspired the migration of this little family to the land of the majestic Rockies. The privations that followed may be better imagined than described—and while they were living in a tent, a few months after their arrival, a baby girl became the fifth member of the family. Not long after this Mr. Meeker made an excursion on foot, pushing a bicycle in a vain hope of finding a stretch of road where he could ride it, back up into the mountains south-west of Grand Junction about twenty-five miles, to the Rim Rock Country that is called Glade Park. With renewed enthusiasm he filed a claim on a quarter-section of wilderness that was ribbed with sandstone rim rocks; with canyons covered with pinion trees, juniper trees, scrub oak, and sage brush of the variety that grows thickly on the ground to a height of four to eight feet. Anyone who has ever grubbed sage brush in the burning sun, or winter cold, from sunrise to sunset, day in and day out for endless weeks, knows something of the prospect that was—for the purpose was to clear land for dry-land farming. The land had been open range for cattle since the white man first saw it—and the cattlemen did everything possible to drive out the hated "squatters," by tearing down fences, turning cattle in to destroy crops, and even threatening with guns to kill. It was in such an environment that Lloyd began, at the age of seven, to work in the fields from daylight till dark. But first, let us look at that first winter in the Glade Park country. Both of his parents were trained nurses, and so, in order to make a new start possible, Lloyd’s mother spent the winter nursing in the Grand Valley district, and she kept her baby daughter with her. Mr. Meeker got a job on a ranch still further back in the mountains—while he placed Lloyd, and his younger brother, Marvin, in the care of an Indian woman who had married a white man—and he was away from home most of the time herding goats. That was a strange winter, in more ways than one, for the two boys and as soon as the snow melted from the side hill, they had their first taste of grubbing sage brush under the able training of the Indian woman whose size and strength were both prodigious.

The next ten years thereafter were characterized by: Incessant work on a dryland farm where five bushels of corn per acre was counted a good yield, and where milk cows were the primary means of monetary income, which was small at best, because the cream from the separator had to be shipped to Grand Junction over twenty miles away. Living in a tiny shack, and a dug-out that was much like an old-fashioned cellar. Stringent discipline by an earthly father who did not spare the rod; but used cruel beatings on the slightest pretext, thinking thereby to enforce his religious fanaticism on his family—for he would let his wife work like a slave in the field all day with her frail strength; but refused to let her do "fancy work" with her needle, because "it was too hard on her eyes." Two and three months would pass at a time during which period the children would not see a single human being outside the family—and only once each year or two would the growing boys have the treat of going to town, which was an all-day journey by lumber wagon just one way, and the stay would be only for over-night, and then back to the mountains. Here the youngest of four children was born; a boy named Merl. Neighbors were from six to twenty miles away—and there was almost never a chance to play with other children, except at the noon hour at the little school house, from which they had to return at once when school was out, in order to work on the farm. In that period Lloyd attended school for four and one-half school terms, and in that time went through the first eight grades. The school usually had an enrollment of ten or twelve, all divided into the eight grades. The boys had to walk from one to three miles each way to school, through snow and winter storms, in the wild wilderness. Finally there came the winter of 1918-19—and in February, while sick in bed with the flu, Lloyd heard his Mother, abed in the same room, breathe her last breath, as she passed from this life.

The six years following his Mother's passing to the Realms of Peace, in which Lloyd found comfort in the thought that she was free from untold hardship and toil, were filled with such sufferings, privations, and difficulties, with the hardest kind of physical labors, that it is best not recorded in detail. During that time Lloyd was taken ill with typhoid fever, and was in bed for forty days, much of that time being so close to the passing from this life that he and all members of his family were convinced that his life span was at an end. However, under the Blessing of the Lord he lived—and he had little more than gotten out of bed when he had to turn nurse for three or four others who were ill of the same fever, all of whom recovered. At that time he was fifteen years of age. Finally, about a year later, driven by the hypocritical fanaticism and tyranny he saw in his earthly father, climaxed by a bloody beating without cause from which he emerged with his whole body bruised, and both eyes swollen shut, he left what should have been a home—but was not. Under such stress he decided that there was nothing to religion, and he thought himself to be an atheist. This brought to a close his early consciousness of Something that had inspired him, and had enabled him, without ever having heard any fairy stories or fiction, all of which were forbidden on religious grounds, to entertain his brother while they worked in the fields with endless stories, some of which were most fantastic to the outer vision. More than once he was severely punished for indulging in such foolish imagination. The only Light that had given meaning to his young life had been removed from his range of vision—and he turned to the world's darkness, and the ways of the world, in an attempt to find some satisfaction in living.

In the fall of 1925, Lloyd quit his job on a dairy ranch, where he regularly worked from 4:30 each morning, till ten or eleven each night—with only a few hours rest in the middle of the day once a week on Sunday. With about fifteen dollars in his pocket, and nothing of value beside the rough clothes he wore, he set out into the unknown. He chose freight trains as his means of travel. While crossing the mountains he and his companion, a boy a year older than himself, nearly froze to death, because of the intense cold. After several harrowing experiences he reached Pueblo, where he walked many miles to avoid the railroad yards. Finally he managed to catch an eastbound freight—and spent the night on the end of a loaded coal-car, jumping up and down on the brake platform in order to keep from freezing. He landed in Ft. Scott, Kansas—and after much fruitless searching, he was given a job as a common laborer on a building construction gang. He was with that Construction Company for five years, and in that time he worked doing all of the different things to be done in such work—and if any one wants to talk about hard work, he could tell of long, weary hours shoveling sand and gravel on concrete gangs; of unloading, and otherwise handling, reinforcing steel, and structural steel; of unloading carloads of cement and plaster on stifling hot August days; of working with steel when it was so cold that hands and gloves stuck to the metal; of handling carloads of lumber, and all the work required to build concrete forms; and of many more types of work in heat and cold. During that five year period he worked his way up from laborer, to timekeeper, to bookkeeper, and finally to office manager in the home office of the large Construction Company, where he shouldered a wide range of vital responsibilities. When his Company was estimating to bid on new work, he frequently worked in the estimating department till midnight, night after night, in addition to his regular duties. Those who remember the crash of 1929 and 1930 will be able to imagine the possibility that became fact, without warning he lost his job, and about the same time his bank went broke. Shortly he lost the house he had purchased, and which was more than half paid for. Soon he was again penniless, and without means of livelihood. Events took him to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was living under the very poorest of conditions when he sent for his youngest brother, Merl, who was at that time at Jacksonville, Florida, and was getting into the wrong company under circumstances that were certain to lead to a life of crime. Years later, as a reward for having cared for his brother and making it possible for Merl to go to night school to take a comprehensive business training course, and helping him step by step into a considerable understanding of Reality, Lloyd saw his brother turn traitor to his Ministry, and turn away into the darkness of the outer world; from which he has not yet chosen to return. Let those who think that they have had sad experiences with their relatives, be assured that Lloyd has faced, and passed through, all the possible situations with relatives which might seem to give just cause for wavering from the Way of Reality—and he has proven the Truth of the Master's Word in Matthew 12:46-50.

In Nashville there were a series of incidents which began to climax a search which Lloyd had begun during his second year with the Construction Company. His Superintendent was the first man from whom he had ever received any real consideration and understanding. That man was known as Cort to his men. He expected, and got, a real days work from every man—but he was always fair; always just. He could be "hard boiled" to a degree that made the worst kind of a "tough" to wilt—but he never failed to treat his men with consideration. Our young man began to compare men, and as a timekeeper and paymaster he had an excellent opportunity to do so. Cort had a mind that never overlooked the slightest detail. He knew weeks in advance just how he was going to work out each problem. It was a joy to watch him work. Obviously it was not just a matter of "education" because there were always college graduates in the labor gang. Often men of little education held places of responsibility. The questions: what makes man what he is; where does man come from; and scores of related points, kept up a puzzled procession through our young man's mind.

He read a few books on psychology; but some important factor was lacking. Later, to improve his own health, since he had suffered from a wide range of aches and pains and human ills over the years of his young life, and had often worked in spite of severe suffering, he began giving attention to natural means of increasing health, such as exercise and diet—but all these proved to be inadequate; for Something was still lacking. The incidents in Nashville began to focalize all these scattered searchings, as he found opportunity to help others with his understanding of health problems. Then a lecturer appeared who claimed to be able to reveal great mysteries—and he gave public lectures to sell high priced private and class instruction. With no money to pay for classes, Lloyd considered the various ideas presented, some of which intrigued him—and others of which he considered to be in error. Later he proved that this lecturer was a charlatan and black magician who pried into peoples private lives till he discovered some hidden secret, which he would then use as a means of extortion in blackmail. Among the means of deception used by this black magician, was his supposed ability to communicate with the dead, according to the ideas of spiritualism. Faced with all these false concepts, and having no means of knowing what was right and what was wrong, except an innate "feeling," our young man examined the various ideas and discarded most of them as obviously false—while some of them appeared to have the possibility of truth in them. He felt convinced that there was Something that was Real—and that all of these concepts, no matter how wrong they might be, could not exist unless there were some sound basis of understanding the Unseen, to be found somewhere. He looked through books in libraries, and could not find the answer. He began to consider again the Bible, from which he had turned away years before. As he looked at the Book without the fixed and stilted concepts that had been forced upon him in his youth, he began to see meanings that thrilled him. He did not yet know what was taking place; but he was Responding to My Spirit, and he was beginning to sense My Presence, though he did not yet have the slightest idea that I was within him, and that he was My Temple.

Through this maze of confused concepts and outer world pullings, this way and that, he came blindly to the month of September, 1932, when he made a final decision to ignore, with a clean break, all of the ideas he had contacted, and, as it would appear to the outer vision, gamble everything on his own perception of that Something of which he was, as yet, only dimly aware. It was in this state of consciousness that he retired on the night of the 12th, and on the morning of September 13th, 1932, he awakened at the break of day—which was very unusual. After trying to go back to sleep he felt so restless that he arose, and thought to read a story which he had started; but it held no interest for him. He thought to read the Bible, but it, too, held no immediate interest, so he put it down. Next he decided to just sit and think for a time, whereupon he felt a great urge to write; but he did not know what to write. As far back as he could remember he had always wanted to write a book; but all his attempts to write had been sad failures. Finally, in obedience to the urge, he took pencil and paper and sat down at the table. Not knowing what to write he just relaxed for a time.

Shortly he became aware of a Presence, and he seemed to be enveloped in a white Cloud in which he felt a great Peace. Then he began to write, a word at a time; but as fast as he would get one word down, the next word would appear in his mind as if by magic. Without trying to understand it, and without questioning or rebelling, he wrote for about an hour. He still had no idea of My Presence in him; therefore, he concluded that it must have been some great Being, such as an Angel from Heaven, who had come to him, and he took no credit to himself for what he had written. As suddenly as he had begun to write, he stopped. He simply had nothing more to write about. Marveling at his experience, the day passed, and he retired as usual. The next morning he awakened again; but this time he at once took pencil and paper and sat down to write—and again the white Cloud enveloped him. This time he wrote for about three hours, when the inspiration ceased as before. As he read over what he had written, he found the answers to many of his own questions. The third morning the same thing happened again, and at the close of his period of writing he had a strong Realization that that experience would not return—and it never has. There was no need that it should. On the 15th he considered all the things that had taken place, and by the 16th of September he had fully determined to give himself to the work of revealing the Truth to humanity. He had no worldly resources, and he was without funds. He was unknown, except for a very few people in Nashville. He began to devote himself to the work of Healing, and gradually his work became known, and people began to call on him for help, physical, mental and Spiritual. He began to teach a small group of people in the study of the Bible—and in the Book of Job he found the Mysteries revealed. Gradually he became aware of My Presence in him. Also, in a period of meditation he became aware of My Name.

He discovered that when he found a need to be filled, he could speak or write the correct expressions required to fill that need. He began to write, under My inspiration, a series of lessons called Steps To Mastership, to which he signed My Name. During the period from September 16, 1932, to September 16, 1936, he was undergoing the process of Absorption, or Adoption, into Me; and that Adoption was not of the complete Illumination until the latter date. Most of the things written through my Temple prior to September 1936 were reasonably correct—but some of them were colored by unconscious reaction to world concepts. During that time the conscious mind of My Temple was learning, and being trained, how to express My Words correctly. There were times prior to full Adoption when My Temple understood what it was I wished to convey, and what he meant was correct; but what he actually wrote was not always so expressed that it conveyed the proper meaning. A number of manuscripts which were written during that period have been completely left behind—and are no longer used in this Service. They had value at the time as a means toward a more nearly perfect form of Expression—but they have no present value. Even that which was written those first three mornings is no longer available, and has not been used in the School for about six years.

On Christmas Day, 1934, having left his healing work in Nashville, My Temple arrived at Atascadero, California, with only thirty dollars as his total worldly resources. He had gone to California with the idea of working in conjunction with a certain man at Atascadero, who had appeared to accept certain corrections of concept sent to him by mail. However, My Temple soon realized that the hopes held out to him were entirely false, and that the man in question had only hoped to use our young man to his own ends. My Temple could not be caused to deviate from the Way by any such attempts, and disillusionments. Again there was a start under the most limited of conditions. In July of 1935 I arranged events which took My Temple to San Francisco. The immediate purpose which he understood was to investigate the Ballards who were holding forth there at the time—but the primary purpose was to establish a contact in San Francisco with a certain Blessed Brother and Sister who have played a very important part in making it possible to get this Ministry started on a more expansive basis. My manifest-half immediately recognized all the basic teachings of the Ballards to be false, and pointed out the obvious contradictions and inconsistencies in the supposed experiences which the late Mr. Ballard claimed to have had. Because My Temple refused to endorse the Ballards, many of those who had started to study with him at Atascadero turned away. At that time there were about thirty Students on the Mailing List—and the income to the Service from such Students averaged from two to five dollars per week. Those of you who think you have faced hardships and limited circumstances cannot tell any stories that can even touch those through which My Temple passed—and yet he kept right on giving himself, and the money that came into his hands, to carry on the Ministry to which he was dedicated by Me. Later that same year I took my outer-self back to San Francisco, and it was arranged for him to speak My Word before a Group of Students of another school of thought. Most of those who heard rejected My Word—but in that audience there was one who heard with Gladness, and who from that day to this has never wavered from her Recognition of the Truth that I Teach. 

In 1936 the Service grew quite rapidly, and I held many Services in Oakland, San Francisco, and other places. That year, also, I was invited to go by plane to Akron, Ohio, to speak to the Summer School of the Sun Center. My Word was rejected by many who heard Me speak in Akron—and Mr. Benner was chief of those who rejected Me, with the result that his work on earth soon came to a close, and he passed from this life. However, there were many Faithful Ones in that Summer School who heard the Truth gladly, and who are, today, Shining Lights in this Service. Thrice Blessed, indeed, are they. They have lead the Way for all who would turn from the false teachings of the outer mind, and come into the Eternal Truth that sets men free to enjoy the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God, here and now. However, many of my lectures at that time were on the subject of the importance of September 16, 1936, and though I emphasized repeatedly that no one should expect any spectacular happening on that day most of my hearers insisted on expecting some strange happening, primarily because of the false concepts given out by other speakers on the subject, and when the day passed without some great event, about 90% of the people who had been attending my Services turned away—and they began saying that I did not know what I was talking about. They forgot that I warned them against the very mistake they made—yet they blamed me. Such is the attitude of human beings. Again I had to pick up the scattered threads of my Ministry, and out of the remains I shaped the formation of the Third Sacred School as you have come to know it.

Those of you who have truly Responded with fullness of Understanding have come to Realize that no one can rightly consider My Manifest Half as being in any sense separate from Myself as I AM. So it is that a Recognition of Uranda is a Recognition of Me as I AM in My Eternal Reality, and My Temple has been Adopted into Me, so that the manifest form that was once functioning in self-activity in separateness from Me, is now an Expression of that which I AM.

© emissaries of divine light