Tonight as we are gathered here we have a special privilege, realizing that there is an increased consideration of our LORD when He was on earth, an increased recognition of the gift of God’s Love, an increased recognition of the spirit of givingness, and we should use the opportunity afforded to us—and to this end I would like to meditate a little with you on the principles that must work in and through us if we are to be a blessing on earth. We recognize that if true blessings are to appear because we live we must be a means by which the Spirit of God is allowed action on earth, that the Shekinah Pattern of Being is allowed to have meaning in our lives. But in specific application, individually and collectively, how can we more effectively serve? You all have a recognition of the service which I am privileged to render, and I thank God for that, but I would tonight help you to a deeper realization of the privilege of the service which you can render. In order to emphasize the essential elements here, let us first consider an aspect of the matter which might seem to be foreign to our subject.
What is the right attitude toward those who consider themselves to be our enemies? What is the right attitude? What can actually be done? What can you do in relationship to influencing world events, world circumstances, and individuals on a specific basis? Do you suppose we have grown enough individually and collectively that we may properly consider such a subject? I am trusting that we have. So, if we are going to be channels of influence in the world, channels of blessing, instruments of radiation, we need to remember certain things. If we are in any sense subject to resentment, or the extreme absence of love, which is called hate, we certainly cannot be used of God in any such capacity. If in our hearts we are in any sense critical or rebellious, we write ourselves off as of no value to the Lord, at least at this time, in such a service. But what can we do?
Our Master said, “Love your enemies”—and the meaning and significance to be found has been to so great an extent ignored or overlooked. Love your enemies. Does that mean we should seek out our so-called enemies and try to show them affection in the ordinary human sense? Definitely not! It would be misunderstood or rejected; it wouldn’t be of any value at all. What does it mean to love our enemies? First, it takes a certain state of consciousness within ourselves before we can even begin to approach such a pattern of function. If there is any element of animosity in our hearts toward any person, we have classified ourselves as that person’s enemy, and if you have an enemy in that sense, if you have classified yourself as someone’s enemy, you are disobeying God’s Word, our Master’s instruction.But if, regardless of the fact that we may have enemies, we are not enemies to anyone, we may begin to move into the right pattern of attitude. Individually and collectively we are not enemies to others; others may be our enemies, but we must not be enemies to someone else. If we stand in need that someone should intercede for us, radiate love to us in order to clear us from the state of being an enemy, it is indeed a sad and shameful thing.
You may say, but what about the enemies of our country, what of the enemies of freedom, what of the enemies of God’s service in the earth?—and there are many. We have noted in time past that we cannot be of any real service to such enemies by lowering ourselves to the level of their pattern of function, in hate, animosity, etc. Love your enemies. Some have imagined that that meant that we should not do anything, just open ourselves to the blandishments and the cruelties, and the unreasonable attitudes of our enemies, those who would hurt and destroy. Not at all! It is not that we relinquish the positive position. It is not loving our enemy to relinquish the positive position and become negative, responsive, or subject to the enemy.
In time past, I have indicated that if we had 144,000 men and women who were truly centered, who function correctly in this regard, we could deal with the Sovietthreat to world peace without guns and bombs, and without the loss of so many human lives as will, in the ordinary course of events, be expended in seeking to control the enemy. What would that 144,000 people do? Do you suppose we would form a delegation and march on Moscow? Not in the popular sense at least; not transporting the physical anatomy to Russian soil. That would be a puny gesture at best, and it would show weakness; it might be covered up with bravado, but when someone goes marching upon some place to try to influence, it doesn’t show very great understanding of the laws and principles of Being. No, we wouldn’t even send a delegate, in fact it wouldn’t be necessary to send anyone, not to start with anyway. When, at the right time, after there was enough chaos over there to disrupt the existing regime we might need to send someone over to help straighten it out, but that would be a different matter. But what do you suppose would happen if we could find 150,000 people in the United States, or if there aren’t that many in the United States then in the so-called free world, who would be willing to follow the Master’s instruction, “Love your enemies”? What do you suppose would happen; and what would they do? Would they be getting down on their knees, praying for peace and trying to radiate love in the ordinary sense, to the Kremlin gang? No. Would you be getting on your knees and praying for the salvation of their souls? Hardly! If any of them want to wake up and turn to God we would gladly receive them, but that isn’t our point.
Even if we were to ask you here, “What should we do, what does it mean, to love your enemies?” I doubt if you each gave an individual answer if I would find from any one of you what I would consider a proper answer, or an adequate one, showing a real understanding of the subject. And if we went out into the world and tried to find someone who was going to love his enemies, I don’t think we would find very much understanding of the principles involved. We pointed out a moment ago that when you start loving your enemy you do not turn the positive position over to your enemy. Most of that which human beings imagine to be loving one’s enemy has been handing the positive position over to the enemy, and saying, “Well now, here I am, slap me if you want to.” The Master said, if someone smites thee on the cheek, turn him the other one. Now, is that turning over the positive point of control to the enemy, just showing a passive attitude? Some people have imagined that they were doing that, and some people may have been slapped twice when they try it. But that isn’t what the Master meant—to turn oneself into a state of subjection to the enemy; and it isn’t to be merely an expression of bravado. There must be a reason for everything that the Master instructed, and there is. Why turn the other cheek? Why love your enemies?
Are you going to turn the other cheek just to prove that you’re not afraid, or not angry, or perhaps you might have another reason: turn the other cheek, and if he does slap it you’ll be free to use your fist. No—none of those things apply; that isn’t what it means. What does it mean? How should we love our enemies? We have recognized that if we have a resentment towards anyone we thereby become subject to the persons toward whom we have resentment. That is all of vital importance from the standpoint of our own attitudes. We have dealt with this phase of it a number of times in various ways, because we cannot afford ill attitudes toward others. None of us is so wealthy in physical, mental or emotional health, or in this world’s goods, that we can afford hate, resentment or animosity of any kind toward others. If we resent someone else we become subject to that person, and in resentment we do not become subject to that person’s best qualities, but to his worst. You might remember that—when you resent someone else you become subject to that person, not too his best qualities but to his worst qualities, and your eyes are blinded to any but his worst qualities; and you cannot see clearly or truly. But let’s turn that around. If anyone resents or hates us and we do not hate back, subjecting ourselves to the one hated, then the very fact that the person does hate or resent makes that person subject to us. Have you ever thought of it that way, stopped to realize that point? I said it the other way, how many times in your hearing? If you resent someone else you become subject to that someone else.
Now, if someone resents or hates you, and we are centered in God, subject to God, for us then does not that very fact mean that that person is subject to us, whether he knows it or not? It does, unless we make ourselves subject back to him, go down to his level, and then it’s a cat-and-dog affair, both subject to the other, and unworthy of it. The thing that the American people have failed to recognize is that the very fact that Russia hates us makes Russia subject to us, if we know how to use that advantage; and loving our enemies will not make us in any sense subject to them.
What does it mean—turn the other cheek? The first assault, when there is an indication of presumed friendship, or presumed equality, may come more or less as a surprise—the first act. So, we’ve been slapped at least once, slapped on one cheek—that is the warning, the indication of the attitude,not necessarily the physical act; that slap can come in many, many different ways—but once that attitude is shown, and the warning is given, what do we do? The Master said, “Turn the other cheek.” Is that to indicate that we are then to become subject? Not at all! The attitude which prompts the action in the first place shows resentment towards us. Turning the other cheek is not an act of acquiescence. Let us be sure that that is clearly realized. Turning the other cheek is not an act of acquiescence, nor is it an act of defiance, nor is it an act off of indifference—it is the Divine Way of setting a trap for your enemy, because if he slaps you on one cheek, and you turn the other, he is likely to try to slap the other cheek. Now, the Master didn’t say that you had to be slapped on the cheek, did He? He just said, “Turn the other cheek.” He didn’t say, “Be sure that your enemy smites you on the other cheek.” Did He now? No. He just said, “Turn the other cheek.” He didn’t say you had to be slapped on the other cheek. No. Well, what is the meaning then?
If there is a recognition instantly, in the face of the situation, that this individual or nation, by his very attitude, is placing himself under subjection to you, the individual who—whether it’s a physical slap or whatever, in the ordinary processes of conflicts in the world—if he slaps you on one cheek, what has he done? He has said, “I am subject to you.” Hasn’t he, when you stop to think about? Hasn’t he by the act said, “I am subject to you.” Do you see it? We’re talking about the world pattern, and if an individual then, in an attitude of hate, resentment or animosity slaps—not necessarily physically, but in gesture, attitude, by the word, however it may appear—if he smites thee on one cheek, he has said by the very act, “I am subject to you.” Now he expects you, as a result of that defiant attitude, to try to retaliate so that he can make you subject to himself. If immediately you have resentment, then you have gone under and you are subject to him. Now when he says—by attitude, gesture or expression of word, action of any kind—when he says, “I am subject to you,” he is doing it on a desperation basis, trying to make you do something which will make you subject to him, and if you start slapping back, that’s what has happened. He has gained his point if you slap back, and you are then subject to him. But if he does, by any means whatsoever, smite thee on one cheek, he has said, “I am subject to you,” because his attitude of animosity makes him subject to you.
What are you going to do with that priceless privilege or opportunity? Are you going to throw it away, or are you going to use it? The Master suggested that you should use that opportunity, not throw it away. He suggested that when someone becomes subject to us on that basis we should act upon it in a manner which would not make us subject to our enemy, but would keep the enemy subject to us. You know, the Master was a very wise man in His manifestation on earth, as He is in heaven, and perhaps we might even use the word clever. He taught human beings, if they would listen to him, how to achieve seemingly impossible things—so easily really. What did He mean, “Turn the other cheek”? He was not suggesting that you were merely to invite another slap for some reason. What would be the gain in that, just to invite another slap? What gain? In the ordinary interpretation of these words, doesn’t the attitude seem rather childish, rather foolish? But He said, “Turn the other cheek.” Wasn’t that what He said?
Turn the other cheek. Maintain your positive position, which this individual has given you. Maintain your supremacy and “Love your enemies.” Let the positive power of love, of God’s creative force, flow through you so positively, so powerfully, that when the individual tries to slap you on the other cheek, his attempted action will be turned upon himself. Now, it could manifest in a thousand-and-one ways. In an individual case it might mean that the one who attempted to slap would be paralyzed, just to illustrate, if you function correctly. It could easily mean, if you followed the pattern through correctly, that when he raised his hand to try to slap the other cheek that he would be paralyzed on the spot. It could easily mean that. It could mean a thousand–and-one things. But that turning the other cheek is not an acquiescence. It allows the expression of majesty and power. It allows one to express on the basis of Divine manhood or womanhood. It allows one to release the positive power that is essential to the position one has been granted. If an individual grants you the positive position in relationship to himself, why not act accordingly? He has said, “I am subject to you.” He will do all kinds of things to try to tantalise you into throwing away your advantage. But, if we are following our KING we don’t do that. We do not throw away the advantage. We do not become acquiescent. We begin to function on the basis of positive power—instantly. And turning the other cheek signifies setting the cycle so that the next attempted onslaught will be met in the positive power of Divine Being—not in animosity, not in the sense of trying to get even, not in the sense of trying to hurt someone, but in the sense of maintaining the position of the King, the positive power of God in action on earth. Love your enemies.
We will not be able to see clearly and adequately the significance of all of this until we can more clearly understand what it means to love your enemies. If you try to have human affection toward someone who is acting in a nasty, mean manner you will not be very successful. I can’t imagine having any affection for any of the members of the Kremlin gang—I just can’t, and God doesn’t ask it, He doesn’t require it—that isn’t what the Master said. He didn’t say, “Try to have human affection for those who are making themselves be utterly contemptible.” You don’t have to have that. You can see them for what they are, and that doesn’t require wanting to go golfing or fishing or something with such a person. Loving your enemy isn’t going to put you in the position of even thinking of such a thing. Loving your enemy is the only way to really deal with him—if you understand what it means: dealing with him on a positive basis, not in the sense of vengeance, for the Master clearly emphasized the point in life and expression, “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.” The Lord doesn’t have to use vengeance, but the working of the Law produces the fruit of vengeance, and so he who uses vengeance destroys himself. He brings it back upon himself.
So, what do we do? If we are wise, if we understand these things: Love your enemies. Do good to them that hurt you, persecute you, or say all manner of evil against you falsely. Do good to them. Now the human concept of what it means to do good is another point that has to come up for consideration. Go out of your way to invite him to dinner? Well now, there might be a time when that would be in order, yes; but going around doing good according to the human concept isn’t God’s way. Still, the Master said, “Do good.” Not the sort of things that the human being ordinarily thinks of under such a circumstance—but what? “Do good.” Do—there’s that word—Do. Now, there is quite a difference between “do” and “try to do.” Try to do good to those that hurt you; try to do a good turn in some fashion? That isn’t what the Master was talking about. Do good. Actually do it! And how do you do good? Well you don’t do it by doing evil, do you? Most human beings say, “Well, if so-and-so has done evil to me, I will do evil to him; I will get even.” Yes you do; you get right down even with him—even, you’re going to get even, and if you do you’re going to get right down in the muck with him. But instead of trying to get even you do good. How do you do good? What does it mean to do good? That which is good is from God, isn’t it? That is the Divine Pattern of action that is already established in heaven. In the beginning man gave form to the Garden that God had planted eastward in Eden—dress it, give it form, and keep it. Then on earth man had to do what God had done in heaven—the cycle had to come down. Do good. And God saw that which He had created and it was good. God had done good. He had created, and God saw that which He had done and He found it to be good. He had done good, then, when He had created. When He shared in creative action the result was good, wasn’t it? He had done good. Do good—and how do you do good? By letting creative action appear: the positive expression of creative action. So, in turning the other cheek it is not acquiescence, it is setting the pattern for doing good—a creative expression of positive power.
Now in this doing good and turning the other cheek, what do you say within yourself? “I’ll turn the other cheek and I’ll let God’s power work positively through me. When you try to slap me, you’ll be paralyzed. I’d just love to see you be paralyzed. Won’t you look funny with your arm stuck up there in the air like that. That’ll do you good; that’ll serve you right! I just can see it now—and so, here’s my cheek: slap it!” He probably would get the job done and you’d get slapped. No. If your action is designed to do harm, to hurt, then you are not doing good. You see, what human beings have imagined in this regard has simply been a dressed up pattern, a little refinement of the old attitude of you slap me and I’ll hit you; and if I don’t hit you hard enough to knock you out with the first blow I know you’ll hit me back, but I’ll try to get in another shot—and it goes down into the dog-eat-dog business.What does it mean? If we actually turn the other cheek, it isn’t to try to hurt—it is to do good—not to get even; not to see someone paralyzed; not to see someone hurt—it is to do good: the positive expression of creative power. If there is the slightest bit of resentment when one turns the other cheek, it won’t work. There cannot be any. In the very instant when the act appears, without any interval between—the more interval you leave the more complication you make for yourself. If you feel that someone has done something to hurt you and you leave a five minute interval before you forgive, you are in trouble. If there is absolutely no interval as far as you are concerned, absolutely no interval between the ill act and the forgiveness—it’s as automatic, as instantaneous as anything can be, absolutely completely forgiven; not just in part, not holding anything; absolutely, completelyforgiven without any interval. Now, the moment the slap appears—whether it’s real or imaginary—if you allow an interval of a few seconds—“I’d sure like to hit you but I guess I’d better forgive you”—it’s spoiled; it won’t work. It’s too late then to turn the other cheek and let the Law work the way it should.
If you have not yet grown enough so that you can function without a split second of interval between the act that requires forgiveness and the forgiveness, as far as you are concerned—you don’t have to say it—but if there is forgiveness there is no resentment, no condemnation, no judgement, no desire to double up a fist, no necessity of counting to ten! If you have to count to ten you are still a long way from being in position to be an instrument through whom God can work in dealing with these things on earth—if you have to count to ten, or even three or four, before you can get yourself under control and come back to point. If the reaction is instantaneous in you of resentment, then in that instantaneous reaction you have become subject to the one who made himself subject to you. You haven’t gone down just even with him, you’ve gone a step below him. If the instantaneous reaction in you is of complete forgiveness, without an iota of resentment, no matter how unjust the situation might seem to be—absolute, so that there is not an instant between—then you are beginning to be in position to be an instrument for the working of God’s power on earth. Now have you reached that point, so that there is not even a fraction of a second of an interval, of resentment between?—because if you do have resentment in return, you have lost your advantage. If there is not any interval between the act and the forgiveness as far as you are concerned, then you have maintained your position of positive power. You have not become subject to the one who is making himself your enemy. You have maintained your position of control. Now, have you reached the point where you function on that basis? If you allow yourself five seconds in which to react and have animosity, and then say, “No, I mustn’t feel like that. I’ll forgive him”—it is too late then. You have lost your advantage. In that five seconds you have lost your advantage and, while it’s important that you go ahead and forgive, giving the forgiveness does not return the advantage to you! You’ve thrown it away. It is important that you go ahead and forgive, yes, but that does not then return the advantage to you. It’s already gone then; it’s just too bad. It’s that split-second interval that tells the story.
Have you reached a point of subjection to God, control in the Divine sense, where there is no split-second interval of resentment, animosity, hate, any ill attitude? If something is wrong, some wrong expression or attitude toward you, one second is enough to throw away your advantage—one second, or even a half a second. There must not be even an instant between act and forgiveness, as far as you are concerned, and then you maintain your advantage. Then you are in control—if you know how to use it, how to keep it, to the glory of God and to the blessing of the children of men. I question as to whether there is one hundred percent—I guess I am right—I can’t say that all of you have reached a point where you can function on that basis, can I? Can I? No. I wonder if any of you can, and you are sure you can, and if in fact you have been doing it, will you please stand up. Some of you have been getting close, but—and it’s that but that butts you out of the position of control.
Alright. There would be no gain in my going on about the next steps in relationship to our subject, would there, until you gained this point? Talking about the next steps would just be wasting your time and mine. If you see this, and see it’s importance, then your job is to reach the point where there is not one second interval between that which you think gives you cause for resentment, or would if you are functioning wrongly, and your attitude of complete, absolute forgiveness—no interval of reaction in the sense of resentment of any kind whatsoever. You achieve that, and then I’ll talk to you about the rest of it. And I’ll tell you, it’s mighty interesting, and it’s a wonderful thing to move into that next step. But talking about it would be no good until you are ready to do it, ready to do good—but you cannot do good if you throw away your opportunity to do it. Then you will just be trying to do it, and that’s a poor way, to try to get the victory. Our purpose is to share the victory, not just to try but to do! And so, if this point is clearly established tonight in your consciousness, and if you see it’s vital importance, we will have spent a most valuable hour together. You cannot afford anything else. You cannot afford it! So let us serve the LORD our KING, according to His will, according to His instruction. Good night and God bless you.
The oldest book in the Bible is the Book of Job. It contains a very complete outline, in allegorical form, of the history of this unfortunate interlude of man's self-centeredness. The fall of man is there described at the beginning of the book, and then the seemingly long history through which man has been moving in the false world of his own making, and finally the restoration of man to his true position once again. Most of the book is rather boring; it is, in this regard, an accurate portrayal of man's experience down through the ages! However, this book can be examined in a little different way, seeing it in the light of the individual and the processes of the incarnation of the angel in human form.
I mentioned reincarnation this morning. The only kind of reincarnation there is, from the standpoint of human progress, is that which occurs in what we call a lifetime. We do have a number of bodies during the course of this lifetime, so there is reincarnation in this sense. There is a consciousness of the whole unfolding process in this regard, whereas the usual idea of human reincarnation relative to many so-called lifetimes has never brought a consciousness of one life to the next. This is not surprising, because it never happened. There is no such thing as reincarnation according to the usual human concept of it. From the Divine standpoint there has been reincarnation, yes—the angel has incarnated many times on earth. But the human being had a beginning and has an ending. The beginning was at the point of conception; the ending is either related to the experience that is called death or it comes as the human false self passes away in favor of the experience of the Divine true self while life remains in the physical form. It is this ending in which we are interested. We would let it occur now, perhaps not complete in a moment, but allow it to unfold during this present incarnation in the human pattern.
The process is clearly outlined in the Book of Job, and while this evening we couldn't of course read the whole book (and I wouldn't wish to even if we had many evenings), we can consider certain pertinent parts, for the moment at the beginning of the book. Let me read the verses: “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.” Here may be seen a portrayal of the beginning point of incarnation. The one called Job, a true angel of the Lord, is coming into the world, incarnating, and may represent the truth of being for each one. A change in the state of consciousness that is needful brings you, each one, into a restored awareness of the fact that you willingly, voluntarily, delightedly, accepted the responsibility of incarnating on earth in human form—to be specific, in the human form which is your present experience. In order to permit this to occur you had to be on hand at the beginning point, not yet clothed in form of course, but present nevertheless in spirit.
Here we have a picture of Job, who had seven sons and three daughters. The seven sons indicate the male aspect, or the positive aspect of Being relative to the spirit of God; we might say the seven spirits which are before the throne of God, the character of Divine Being, but very specific in nature: seven vibratory levels in spirit which are to manifest in human form rightly, to reproduce the heavenly state on earth. So when the individual Divine Being incarnates he brings his character with him. The character is the spirit of God, the particular differentiation of it for which that individual is responsible. And it is sevenfold in nature. It is interesting, this morning we were considering the various levels of the capacity of consciousness in man, and I think if you count up the particular aspects that we considered you will find that there were seven, reaching from the level of the atom to the level of the consciousness of identity. It is through these capacities of consciousness that the spirit of God rightly manifests. There were seven sons—the positive expression of the spirit of God is present with respect to each one, ready to come forth in spiritual expression through body and mind. But there were three daughters, and here we have body, mind and spiritual expression—the female or negative aspect composing the channel, the means of manifestation on earth, through which the character of God, the glory of God, the honor of true Being, may reveal itself—the point of incarnation.
“His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.” If we are looking at this from the individual standpoint, we begin to see the vast resources that are present from the standpoint of Divine incarnation—your angelic incarnation. The numbers and the types of creatures that are named here have a significance. We could examine it in more detail, but will not do so, apart from recognizing that seven thousand sheep and three thousand camels have a relatedness to the fact that there were seven sons and three daughters; in other words here is the provision in the external sense by which the manifest form can appear, containing the facility through which the spirit of God manifests. I am sure those who have been in Class have touched into the fact of the seven planes of being and the seven endocrine glands—the seven related to the endocrine system, which provides the facility in the physical sense by which the spirit of God in its sevenfold application activates the various levels of consciousness in the physical form. We have an outline here of what actually occurs, described in symbol.
The five hundred oxen and five hundred she asses also have a relationship to the fact that our awareness of the world around us comes through the senses—one could say five, in the primary sense. You know, these senses which bring us an awareness of the world are positive and negative in nature. There are two aspects, in other words: there is the incoming aspect and the outgoing aspect. Human beings, self-centeredly, usually only recognize the incoming aspect—what we see, for instance, coming from out of the environment to us through our eyes, through this mechanism, or what we hear, what we smell, or taste, or touch—something coming to us. But it is through these same facilities that something may proceed from us. Did it ever strike you that something proceeds through the eyes? not just something coming into you but something going out from you? You have maybe observed it in relationship to others. There is always the outgoing aspect as well as the incoming aspect; there is a balance here. That's why there are five hundred oxen and five hundred she asses. “And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.” Here we have a very unified pattern: the spirit of God working closely in relationship to the three aspects of your external being—body, mind and spiritual expression. “And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.”
Here we see a point of responsibility that centers in your true identity, and as you begin to assume that identity you assume this responsibility, the responsibility to make sure that everything is right in your own expression through the external form in the external sense. We noted we curse God when we curse the environment. We need to check on this, to make sure that none of the spirits which are true of our own character have been distorted in such a way that we have cursed the environment. Judging the environment adversely, condemning it, objecting to it and consequently being governed by it—if this at any point is the case, then there has been sin; there has been, in other words, subjection to the external environment. That is sin, by the way; that's why all men are sinners, because they are all subject to the external environment, not because they do this thing or that thing that is classified as a sin. They do do this thing and that thing wrongly, it is true, but they do it wrongly because they have given the dominion to the environment. So whether they do what is deemed to be good or whether they do what is deemed to be bad, it is all the same thing. It is all consequent upon the government of the prince of this world, the satanic government.
Now when we begin to recognize the responsibility we have as Divine beings, without yet an adequate consciousness of it, of what it really is, we may begin to assume the responsibilities that are natural to Divine Being. One of these responsibilities relates very particularly to this matter of sanctifying our sons in case they have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. What sort of spirits have been manifesting through us? The spirit of resentment, maybe? Or the spirit of fear? There are all kinds of ill spirits, which are simply distortions of the true spirit, the true spirit which is caused to become distorted under the dominion of the environment. So we need to check, rising up early in the morning perhaps to do it, as Job did. We need to be ahead of the game, aware of what is going on, aware of where it may be that some sort of a break could occur if we were not alert. So Job did this continually, and as we return to true identity we do likewise. We can begin to do these things, even though we do not yet have a consciousness, adequately at least, of what the truth of our own identity is. We have to be aligned with it, begin to move with it, so that there is the means by which the greater expression can appear and we can know what it is.
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.” We have our heredity along. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” That's Satan. That's a very excellent definition of the nature of our capacity of consciousness at all its levels: up and down, to and fro, through all our physical bodies. It's all there—Satan is wandering up and down and to and fro. That distorted state is present in our flesh. “And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” Here the attention of the self-centered consciousness is being directed toward the reality of Divine Being. The self-centered consciousness is somewhat cynical with respect to that reality and not too interested in paying much attention. “Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?” The reality of Divine Being cannot be touched by anything that the self-centered, unreal consciousness of man can do. The self-centered consciousness of man is always trying to bring down the truth of Being to its own level. “Doth Job fear God for nought?” The implication is here, of course, that the Lord has Job bought and paid for, so of course Job is serving Him. The self-centered consciousness of man always sees its own nature reflected to it, and the self-centered consciousness of man is bought and paid for, so Job is judged on the same basis. Now, of course, this relates to something that is happening in the experience of the person as the cycles of life are unfolding in human form. How very rapidly the individual is brought into subjection to externals. In the initial stages of experience as a child there is a close awareness, limited though it may be because the facility hasn't been developed adequately yet, of the reality of Divine Being. That becomes obscured rather quickly. Sometimes a person may be able to recall something of that reality touched in early years, before the weight of the external pattern of things began to descend.
Satan continues: “Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.” Here we have a recognition of the fact that Divine Being cannot be touched. This is something of which human beings in the self-centered sense are very much aware. They are always looking for God and trying to get God to do what they want Him to do, trying to bring God into subjection to themselves, rubbing the magic lamp with prayer and by other means, that the genie may appear and give the human being all that he thinks he wants. But it doesn't work—nobody has been able to get hold of God, nobody has been able to bring the reality of Divine Being into subjection to human self-centeredness. The suggestion is made here by Satan: “But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand.” In other words, Satan cannot touch the reality of Divine Being; all that can be done is to affect what is present in the external sense. And you may recall something of the events that occurred thereafter: Job lost his flocks and herds, and finally the house fell in on his seven sons. This describes rather accurately what happens to a human being moving in the cycles of unfolding life in human form. The external pattern of things dominates. The vast facility that is present by reason of Divine Being is obscured and, insofar as the human awareness is concerned, is lost. The positive expression of the spirit of God, where did that go? The house fell in. Man becomes an unreal self; the individual loses sight of the strength and the beauty and the wonder and the reality of Divine Being. Most people become thoroughly embedded in the human state.
Most people become thoroughly embedded in the human state
In this instance: “Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” Now here is the evidence of integrity still present in the individual, so that he is not entirely overwhelmed, because there is integrity, because there is the reality of a point of honor in the individual experience. If that goes, what has a person left? All he has is a disaster area and no way out. If that point finally goes, the individual has committed the unpardonable sin, because there is no means by which he can be recalled to the experience of the reality. There must be a starting point; there must be the point of integrity present. This is more precious than anything that an individual knows: his or her own personal integrity and honor; so that there is something present always which does not allow him, in the ultimate sense, to feel justified in condemning what occurs in experience, in bogging down in a pattern of self-centeredness and self-pity. Honor must be preserved at all costs. I use this word to describe something that is perhaps in a sense indescribable—if you have it you know what it is.
Then the next step was that things were brought even closer home to Job, to his physical body. His troubles were in the nature of boils apparently—very uncomfortable. “And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.” [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2017/11/he-sat-down-among-ashes-from-new.html] He was in the most miserable state conceivable. “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” Now here is being emphasized the most vital aspect of individual experience. What is the attitude going to be when troubles abound? So many people pay attention to spiritual things because they are hoping for an insurance policy to fend off the troubles. What was it that Job said? “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” Aren't there going to be both kinds of experience? What is our attitude going to be? How are we going to meet these things? With Job, we need to keep our integrity so that we do not curse God and die.
What is the expectation with respect to what is occurring in the world? What do you think is going to happen? Is anyone going to be exempt from what occurs? Here is the means by which, one might say, the sheep are separated from the goats, in the actual experience—not in imagination, in a hopeful attitude that if one serves God, well He is going to look after things and everything is going to be fine in the external sense. If such is the case, then that person is certainly serving God for something; he thinks he is going to get something out of it. Is it so impossible to imagine that one could live and function, maintaining one's honor, without any expectation of getting anything? This is inconceivable to self-centered man. In the general pattern of things, of course, the attitude is, “Well what's in it for me?” But this is carried over, too, into the spiritual area, when human beings begin to pay attention to spiritual things, as they think of it. “What's in it for me? What am I going to get out of it? Am I going to be saved in some way? Am I going to have everything nice in my life on earth, just the way I would like to have it?” Or if we have to suffer here, then is there an expectation that maybe later on “I am going to have a good time? What am I going to get out of it?” Here is self-centeredness, isn't it, because who is the “I” who is going to get anything out of it? The unreal self, the one who needs to pass away. If there is integrity one is not in the least interested in what self-centeredness is going to get out of it, because one is not in the least interested in self-centeredness.
In the angelic consciousness there is the awareness that you incarnated on earth not to get anything out of it but to bring something into it. Your incarnation on earth was to bring the reality of being into the world through your particular form, and this you chose to do. Perhaps you may say, “Well, I don't remember. I don't remember any such thing.” How would you remember? If it is the truth of the matter, how would you remember? By denying that it is the truth of the matter, or agreeing with it?—in other words, assuming the attitude that would be true of you if this actually were the truth. Assuming the attitude in this fashion, then you begin to experience whether it is true or not. But if the attitude is taken, “I didn't ask to be born on earth, I didn't have any desire to come into the world or into these circumstances or into this particular physical body; I don't like it here much,” how could you ever experience the truth of yourself?—if it is true that you actually were delighted to come into the world and you chose to do it. The only way you can find out is by aligning yourself with that attitude. By disagreeing and saying “No”, you can't experience anything, of course; but if there is something in you which realizes that maybe it is a possibility, then you can accept the right attitude and the responsibility that it involves. You begin to find that then, being aligned with the truth, the truth comes through you and you know what it is. But if you are at cross-purposes with the truth, it can't come through you and you never know what it is. So while I make a more or less arbitrary statement here and say, “You did choose to come the way you have come,” that doesn't cause you to know that it is true. The only thing that will cause you to know that it is true is to assume the attitude yourself and then discover that it permits the experience of yourself in reality to emerge. You are in alignment then; you are not anymore frustrating the reality of yourself and consequently feeling frustrated. People feel frustrated all the time, and in that frustrated state they look for ways and means of becoming unfrustrated. But it's quite impossible. The only way to emerge out of that condition is to realign oneself with the truth of Being.
Now, certainly it requires someone to come around and remind a person of the truth of Being. I have accepted that responsibility, and others have accepted it with me, and presumably you are moving into position to accept it, that you may know the truth—emerging out of the disaster area, refusing to curse God and die. Agree with God and live, that's the point. Agree with the truth and live. Don't take the attitude, either, that you need all kinds of explanations to convince you that the truth is true. No explanations that may be given can convince you that the truth is true. The only way you can be genuinely convinced is by your own experience of it, because you agree with it, you agree to be honorable. That means that you don't put off any of your seeming problems, what you classify as problems perhaps at the moment, onto anybody else. You don't say that it is somebody else's fault. You don't blame your heredity. You don't blame anyone. You don't curse God. You agree with God that you accepted a commission to come into the world in your present physical body in relationship to all the circumstances that you have known, with all the hereditary background that is present. This was deliberately done. The situation was recognized as it is. You ate the little book, as it is put in Revelation [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2017/09/sweet-from-mystery-of-god-uranda-april.html] the little book of your life incarnation now, and in your mouth it was sweet as honey because it is your delight to serve the Lord whom you love. Because of your love for Him you accepted with willingness this particular stint on earth at a very vital moment in the history of the world. This makes it exciting; this makes it a particular adventure. You may have accepted the same responsibility back along the way when things were kind of humdrum, not going anywhere very fast; but now, this is the day toward which the prophets of old looked with longing! They saw it was far off insofar as they were concerned, but it's right here insofar as we are concerned. This should make it that much easier, that much more delightful. We came here to do what we came to do, and our doing relates to the external pattern of things in our own physical forms, all that is brought to focus in these forms. There is a reason for it, and we can use all things to advantage. We are here to do that.
When we begin to touch or catch the beginnings of a vision in this regard, then our attitude is totally new. This vision came within the range of the consciousness of the One called Jesus when He was twelve years old: “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?” People imagine that that just referred to Him—He was a particular person; He was the Son of God; He came on earth to do this particular thing; it's not true of anybody else. It is true of every last one of us! We come to the awareness that we are here to be about our Father's business, if that is the way you want to put it, to get a job done. All the experiences in getting that job done are not necessarily the ones we would choose if we were self-centered, but we are not self-centered, so anything that comes is welcome, because that is what we are here for. It wouldn't come unless we were in position to do something about it, to handle it, to assume our responsibility in the matter.
Now we didn't come on earth particularly to have a good time. Those who imagine that they are here on earth to have a good time don't usually have a very good time. We didn't come here on earth to have a good time, but we did come here on earth in the current of the spirit of our true character, and the expression of that is a delightful experience, so we are quite joyful in this regard. Jesus said something about His joy. We have the joy, and yet in the external sense it is not always particularly pleasing—in the belly it's sometimes bitter. But we don't live in our bellies. We have experience of ourselves by reason of what finds expression, and in the mouth it's sweet as honey. So, having this attitude, we can be most thankful and delighted, and incidentally we do have quite a good time, but that's incidental. It isn't necessary insofar as we are concerned. It's a bonus, fringe benefit; we can do without it. We take whatever comes because we know why we are here.
As we begin to be aligned with the reality of Being, we begin to discover what that reality of being is. We know what we express; that's all we know. We know about many other things; but we only know what we express, and when we express the truth, we know the truth. When we know the truth we are free. We occupy these physical forms in the recognition of their value, the value they have because of the particular vibrational state and pattern that they have. How many people find their bodies need adjustment? How many of you think that your body should be some other way? Most everyone does—maybe not all the time, but from time to time. “I wish it was some other way.” Wishful thinking. It isn't some other way; it is the way it is. That's the way it is, so why not accept the way it is, and in that particular pattern reveal the glory and the honor with which you are crowned? We are all crowned with glory and honor. This is the reality of Being, the truth of what we are. How delightful, then, not only to become aware in relationship to ourselves that we are here because we chose to be here, and have a very particular task while we are here, but to begin to recognize so many others who are the same, who have the same outlook, the same view, the same awareness, the increasing experience of the reality of Being, and to share this.
So we move together, and no matter what may be brought to pass because satan is on the rampage, so to speak—that's all right too. He doesn't have dominion over us. We are not governed by that. We don't object. We are quite capable of handling ourselves under the dominion of the spirit of God, in the expression of the truth of our own Being. As we do this we find the experience of restoration, as Job did. His three friends had a lot to say, but when the chips were down it wasn't the three friends who were acceptable. They had all the know-how, but Job had the integrity, and that is the one thing that is required. In that restored experience he found that he had seven sons and three daughters again; in other words the spirit of God was emerging again into expression. This is the aspect of our own experience which is coming. And he had twice as much as he had before. Here we have the indication of the vastly greater expression of Being through the mature state. In the earlier years there wasn't much to express through yet. Then, not sinking down into subjection to the unreal but emerging out of it, we come again to the realization of the seven sons and three daughters, and of the vast provision that is made by which we may handle all that needs to be handled. And we get the job done. I thank God this evening that we are privileged to share this time together in an awareness of these things, and in the opportunity that is ours as we begin to align ourselves with the truth.
There is a hedge about Divine Being, on every hand. That hedge, of course, is present where Divine Being is in expression. It has receded from the surface of the earth because human beings have not been allowing the expression of Divine Being, but it has remained about Divine Being; no one has been able to get to God. One of the most futile undertakings is to try to get to God. But when the reality of God begins to find expression on earth, then the hedge begins to appear on earth. It properly enfolds the whole earth and everything in it, but it can only do this when man lets it happen. From the standpoint of our own experience, it begins to emerge as a hedge for which we are responsible here on earth, a hedge which includes those who are allowing the expression of Divine Being to appear. The more there are on earth who are permitting this to happen, the more widespread the hedge. When it is true of all those who live on earth, then the whole earth is enfolded. We have absolute confidence that nothing can touch Divine Being, and when we are identified with the truth of ourselves nothing can touch us. This is not to say that something may not happen to our physical bodies, but who are you? The angel of the Lord incarnate on earth. Let us stand with integrity and honor in that position.
In our previous meditations we touched upon the fact of the envelope of heaven, the individual firmament. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2017/11/from-envelope-of-spirit-uranda-november.html] I would like to reemphasize a basic fact: No one can impose anything upon that envelope without your acceptance of it; it cannot be forced upon you, anything good or anything bad. Within the scope of this firmament, or heaven, the envelope which surrounds you, within which you dwell, is contained the seed of all the things that have been accepted in relationship to you on the basis of heredity. Just as there are genes in the physical sense, which constitute the embryo elements with respect to that which is to develop in your physical organism, we have the same embryonic factors in relationship to the vibratory pattern of being. We recall the statement concerning certain things being visited upon the children unto the third and the fourth generation. There is in the outworking cycles a definite tendency to change the pattern after three or four generations. That which our ancestors have experienced and accepted in relationship to their own vibratory factors becomes focalized in what we might call embryonic form in relationship to our own envelope or vibratory field.
All this is present in embryonic form in childhood; we can say we are born with it—the good and the bad, the indifferent—as it has been focalized by the hereditary pattern by reason of which we are born into the earth. If in the environment there is that which provides an answering chord, or establishes a correlating vibratory rate with something that is in embryonic form, it will tend to develop—in other words influence from the standpoint of that which is actually at work in the vibrational sense in the parents, in brothers or sisters, or relatives and friends. There must be, somehow, that which activates any given vibratory pattern which is contained in embryonic form in the individual's own vibrational sphere. Somewhere along the way of life conditions may be engendered which permit either the good seed or the bad seed to begin to sprout, so that qualities or characteristics, vibratory factors that were not noted before, begin to come into play. There is a vast array of potential in every individual which generally speaking never begins to manifest. We realize that any given person, at any given point in life, is not a true expression of himself or of his own potential. From the standpoint of the Divine Design, we are interested in the potential in the sense of the right, not the potential in the sense of the evil. There is an evil potentiality with respect to every person; but that evil potentiality does not need to develop; or to whatever degree it does begin to develop it can be harvested and burned in the fire without causing any great amount of difficulty or suffering in the world, if the individual will let it be so.
Establishing the conditions which will allow the germination of the embryonic focalizations on the right side of the ledger—that is the problem. The basic seed is already there from the time you were a babe and some characteristic tends to characterize the individual. Some of these things ought not to be; some of them need to be eliminated and cleared. Out of this pattern emerges the prejudices and the ill attitudes, the influences of environment, etc., which begin to make up the pattern of life for that person. The vibratory focalization of the embryonic point of attunement in the genes as they relate to the physical body provides the correlating factor in the envelope or vibrational field in which the individual lives.
Now what are we going to do in relationship to ourselves? People ask, “How can these things be changed? I fight some ill condition in myself.” Whatever we fight against in the usual human pattern, we are subject to. We may deal with something, we may act because it protrudes itself upon the sphere of our function, but if we fight it we are subject to it. That is what maintains evil—fighting it. If we stop fighting evil it would disappear. But how can the individual, you, make any real progress toward a larger fulfilment? I do not think there is anyone here who would stand up tonight and say, “I feel that I have attained enough, have sufficient illumination, comprehension, no more need to grow or develop.” No. Well then, what can you do? Here are these vibratory factors that have been at work in your life. How can you begin to emerge into a still higher level of being? How can you begin to reach a point where you are of still greater service to God and to man?
Is there anything more important to you as a person than the greatest possible expression of service, the greatest of which you are capable, to God and to man? If something else is more important to you, then tonight's consideration will not be of much value to you—self-centeredness still stands in the way. But if there is absolutely nothing more important to you, no personal desire, no personal determination of any sort, more important to you than your greatest possible potential in service to God and to man, then we have a starting point. From the standpoint of our ministry in the world, from my standpoint, I do not consider an individual as really beginning to grow or to have any particular meaning until he reaches that point. He may be a potential on the side that may go one way or the other before he reaches that point, but in actual fact we cannot count upon the person who has not reached the point where one thing—the greatest possibility of personal service to God and to man—is the primary concern. If anything else is the primary concern you are not ready to make any real advance. You can examine your own heart on that score.
To my mind it is a very simple examination, but it takes some honesty, and we can tell, by observing an individual's life pattern over a very short period of time, as to whether he just claims with his lips that his primary concern is to serve God or whether it is actually so. But if we have reached the point, individually and collectively, where our primary concern is to serve God and man according to God's will, there are certain simple fundamental factors, of which you are aware, which need to be brought to point in realization and considered anew. What can you do? You cannot lift yourself, you cannot change yourself; but you can begin to do something. We have noted the matter of agreement. With whom are you in agreement in any given moment? in relationship to any given situation? Is your agreement with God or with the adversary? Actually, if you are truly functioning on the basis of agreement with God and learning how to function in a totality of agreement with God, the tendency to agreement with something contrary to God is of no concern—you do not have to fight it. We ignore it and it shrivels and dies and passes away; for evil always contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Agreement—with what are you in agreement? And how can you establish a clear pattern of agreement?
We need to emphasize again, a spirit of thanksgiving to God for the blessings we have and the privileges we know, and the opportunities granted to us, is of primary importance, but this is a conditioning factor and in and of itself it will not complete the job. There must be a conditioning of the body and the mind and the heart. If you do not function correctly in relationship to the spirit of thanksgiving you will not have the proper conditioning in relationship to your future fulfilment. The spirit of thanksgiving. If you are genuinely thankful for the many, many things about which each one should be thankful, you are living in an atmosphere, a conditioning pattern, which is like springtime. The individual who is filled with resentment and criticism is moving into a winterized pattern. Insofar as the spiritual factors are concerned he is destroying his own potentiality. But if that which conditions your attitude is of the spirit of thanksgiving you have that which promises springtime in your own soul—but that alone is not enough. Springtime may come but if we do not provide the right conditions in various ways that springtime will not bring forth what it should. So the spirit of thanksgiving. Now what seed are you going to plant?
What seed in your own vibrational pattern are you going to activate? We are not suggesting that you do not have some vibratory focalizations that correlate with adverse factors in the envelope of the world, in what we call the mass consciousness. The envelope of the world as a whole and the mass consciousness are the same thing. There are ill factors which become a part of one's own envelope as one emerges out of that world pattern, or as one lives in it. But what seed are you going to activate? The seed for which the right conditions are provided will be activated, and what will it be? Here we come to something that is very easy to understand, and yet it has been one of the stumbling blocks down through the centuries, and still remains a stumbling block right here on Sunrise Ranch. The Master put it very simply, very directly, very clearly: “If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Sometimes human beings have assumed that this was an arbitrary thing on God's part, that He could forgive you if He wanted to—but He can't. As far as you are concerned the control on the point is not with God—it is with you. There is more to this matter of forgiveness than appears on the surface. If you refuse to forgive—a real or an imaginary wrong, it makes no difference—if you say, “I cannot afford to forgive,” or “I don't want to forgive,” then you are providing the condition which causes the wrong seed to sprout and grow in your own envelope. God cannot impose goodness upon you, or anyone else. You say, “Well He could if He wanted to.” He would have to violate His own laws, which would mean to violate Himself. So when I say God cannot, I mean it. He cannot—for He would have to violate Himself by violating His own Law. He gave each one the right of free choice; He gave each one the privilege of sharing in creative work.
You by yourself cannot create anything. Someone must be in agreement with you before you can produce anything, even a thought; and if you are capable of thinking a thought, you can know that someone on the face of the earth is essentially in agreement with you on that pattern. That does not make the thought true by any manner of means; it does not say that the thought is trustworthy or worthy of you; but if you will seek long enough you will find someone who agrees with you, because you couldn't have the thought unless someone did agree. Now that is of tremendous importance, because creation must take place between two poles. One of the poles of the creative field is out here where we are; the other pole is in the invisible realm. You cannot see it, but you can prove that it is there by the results that appear. One pole is out here, but the other pole is invisible and will remain so. And we are working here to correlate with that invisible pole, if we are functioning on the basis of the Divine Design. If we are functioning on the basis of the evil pattern, we are trying to establish a substitute pole out here, trying to force someone else to respond to our substitute positive pole, or we are accepting someone else's substitute positive pole in relationship to our own negative pole; and somewhere on the face of the earth there is someone who will agree with you and accept the opportunity to create something with you, to bring forth something in form, of any kind. I don't care how evil it is, how ugly, how vile, if that is what you want to bring forth someone will share the task with you, as the world now is. But if we are going to let God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven we are going to maintain a pole here which allows the creative field of heaven, in the invisible realm, to extend into the earth, and we will work here. But there has to be agreement on earth between at least two before it can actually begin to take form on earth in the creative field.
The individual who harbors any ill attitudes toward others, for any reason whatsoever, establishes the conditions which will cause the wrong seed to germinate and which will prevent the germination of the right seeds. In actual fact, if we are to accomplish that which is needful, there must not be any failure to forgive anyone. You cannot afford to fail to forgive another. I do not care how just your cause against another, regardless of what it is, if you harbor resentment you have not forgiven; if you harbor an ill attitude of any kind you have not forgiven; and if you have not forgiven, you cannot be a clear channel in the creative field. That creative field is absolutely essential to the bringing forth on earth of the things that are needful in our service. If you find yourself wanting to bring forth one thing and actually bringing forth another into the field of form, look to this thing: Have you harbored something in your heart wherein you have not actually completely forgiven? Either we forgive or we fail. When I look at any of you during a service, or in our day-by-day association, I know that you are either going to come to the point where you actually forgive or you will fail. I do my best to inspire the spirit of forgiveness. I have provided some leadership in that direction, because I have more than once forgiven you some trespass—more than once. But regardless of that, he who refuses to forgive damns himself. Unless we do forgive, regardless of the supposed justification of the attitude, regardless of the so-called cause, unless we forgive in actual fact, to the point wherein all ill feelings vanish, we cannot hope to succeed.
This is the crucial test point, beyond which a group of people functioning in a coordinated pattern has never yet passed in the whole period of recorded history. No leader on the face of the earth, in the whole period of recorded history—which is to say a minimum of the past six thousand years—there has not been one leader upon the face of the earth in over six thousand years who has ever gotten a group of people together, in any religion, in any philosophy, for any cause or purpose whatsoever, where that group as such has passed this test. Now there are many precedents of failure for us, but why cannot we establish a right precedent? There has never been a group of any kind, in any land, under any leader in over six thousand years, that has passed this test.
I bring it to your thought and meditation tonight. Are we going to pass this point? We haven't yet, you know—we haven't done it either yet. While we still have opportunity to move in the right direction I bring it to your attention. Whether we do this or not determines as to whether we shall succeed or not. And the vibratory factors which you are producing in relationship to the seed in your own envelope are determined and conditioned and controlled out of this one point. That which you shall bring forth in the days to come, individually and collectively, will be determined by this one thing. It would be a wonderful thing if I could say to our KING, “At last a group, even though it be small, has passed this test, and they have forgiven.” How many millions have prayed, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” and then refused to forgive their debtors. Blessed ones, what shall it be? It will take a heart-searching, as well as a mind-searching, to reach a point of clearing in the service of our KING.
