Re-Creation in Consciousness
Martin Cecil
March 10, 1974
I greet you all this evening in this eternal
moment. Here is the holy place for each of us. You are all included within the
scope of my consciousness and everyone who is here present is presumably
included within the scope of your consciousness. We have been participating in an educational undertaking
over the last few months, and indeed, for most of you, years—a process of
drawing forth. We have used a variety of analogies to describe what the experience
actually is, but we only know what it actually is when we have it. Restoration,
re-creation, a coming again to the point of true identity in the present
moment, are all ways of describing our experience in the educational process.
Coming again to that point, “where I am,” as our
Master put it, we have the responsibility of giving form to what is present in
that point of true identity. This we have described as something coming down
from God out of heaven; and there is something in each moment to which form
should be given and for which individually we have the responsibility of giving
that form. When we're actually doing this, whatever it is that is present within
the scope of our consciousness is constantly changing—something new is taking
form in each moment. There may be those things which are already present within
the scope of our consciousness, things which heretofore we may have considered
as having come out of the past, but if there is anything in our consciousness
in this moment it is in the present, isn't it? Whatever is present in our
consciousness in the moment needs to be changed in the right way, that there
may be a new world.
Once we are at the point of true identity
the full
responsibility for that change as it relates to our own world is in our hands.
We may recognize that our Master's healing ministry,
which is described in dimensional terms in the Gospels, was based in this
principle. He was at the point of apex, the point of true identity, in the
present moment; and there was, consequently, coming down from God out of heaven
whatever was fitting in the present moment. He was, consequently, engaged in
giving form to these things, a creative process, so that what was in His
consciousness could be the differentiation of what was coming down from God out
of heaven. Applying this to a particular individual in need, where the response
was present—seeing this in terms of what was in our Master's consciousness—then
the particular structure in consciousness could change according to what was
being differentiated and taking form coming down from God out of heaven. The
structure in His consciousness changed and the person changed. Now, of course,
generally speaking those who were so blessed at His hand hardly paused to give
thanks. They were so delighted with what had happened that away they went,
thereby taking themselves out of the immediate range of His consciousness.
There has been similar experience
in various ways with respect to many people who have touched what is extended
through this ministry, beginning to allow the experience of change to be known.
Why do you think that change was possible? Presumably because there had been a
change in the consciousness of the one who had a particular responsibility in
the situation. You have found yourselves experiencing such changes. Some of
those who did begin to participate in this then left the general scope of our
consciousness—I suppose particularly my consciousness—and in such case I find
it difficult to recall the name or the face or anything about that person. You
may have experienced something of the sort yourselves.
Of course, there are those who try to keep people
within the range of their consciousness who shouldn't be there, try to maintain
what they call a contact with someone when they have no business doing so,
because there is no capacity on the part of the individual who is maintaining
this situation to allow whatever it is to come down from God out of heaven to
permit the change to occur with respect to the other. Evidently the change is
not occurring with respect to the other, and so the other is being removed from
the range of consciousness. This is the way it works. So if you find that
happening, let the person go—otherwise you maintain in your own consciousness something
that doesn't belong there, and that is of no value to you—the things that don't
belong in your consciousness need to be left behind. And it's of no value to
the other person, because you are not functioning so as to permit a change to
come in that other person which would, presumably, if the individual is
wandering away, either restore him or take him out of your consciousness.
Now, there has been an unwillingness
to allow those who didn't belong in our consciousness, because they had not allowed
the change to come, to move on out. Maintaining such people is a drag, to say
the least. I am not talking about something arbitrary, so that we might say of
someone, “You're not behaving the way I think you ought; therefore I'm going to
have no more to do with you.” We need to come to the point where all that comes
within the range of our consciousness is offered the opportunity to change, to
be made new, to participate in the re-creative cycle. If there is a refusal to
do so, then that person is removed from our consciousness, and this is part of
the process of the purifying of the heart. There are those who have unwisely maintained
an impure condition in their own hearts by trying to keep something within the range
of their consciousness that should be gone. If in the natural cycles of
outworking someone who was gone returns within the scope of consciousness, then
of course we offer the same opportunity again. If they accept it they will
begin to change; if they don't accept it they'll get out of our consciousness,
and we will not maintain those things in our consciousness—which includes
people—that don't belong there.
“Behold, I make all things new.” If something
refuses to be made new, then out it goes, and the going-out process relates to
consciousness. There are those who have supposed that somehow or other if a
person doesn't respond they're going to be consumed by fire falling from
heaven. The disciples had that idea when our Master was here: “Shall we curse
them?” No, we don't need to curse anybody, but the things that don't belong in consciousness
will get out of consciousness as we return to the place where we belong, because
not everybody is going to return with us. If there are those who have no
intention of returning with us but are maintained arbitrarily in our consciousness,
then we will not return either; and if anyone has found a dragging experience
at any time this is one thing that might be checked. Of course all the things
we have in consciousness are not necessarily people, but many of them are. The
heart can never be purified if we are not willing to relinquish and let go of
those who do not belong within the scope of our consciousness.
We are not going to throw anyone out. If we function
correctly there are those who will throw themselves out, that's true, and you
may have noted that there are those in relationship to me who have thrown
themselves out. As far as I'm concerned, they no more come to mind; they're not
a part of my consciousness anymore. But there are others who come within the
range of my consciousness and others who come within the range of your consciousness,
and we are responsible for these, to provide the opportunity to change; and the
change takes place first in our consciousness. But if the individual will not
go along with that change, based in what is coming down from God out of heaven
and taking form through you, then that person will begin to move out. So we
don't have to judge anyone; it just happens. Sometimes when a person feels that
happening to him, someone who is within the scope of your consciousness, he
will blame you for it. He will say, “It's you who are causing me this trouble.”
Remember how King Ahab accused Elijah of this long ago: “Art thou he that
troubleth Israel?” Well, Elijah wasn't troubling Israel, but Ahab was. So this might be noted, because it relates to the
purifying of the heart, and there are many who have been most unwilling to let
their hearts be purified if it meant relinquishing something that did not
belong in consciousness, or someone who did not belong in consciousness. We're
not really playing children's games!
So, when we begin to see from the standpoint of new
identity, what we see we see as being new. We may say we see things and people
in a new way; and our new vision, if it begins to be genuine and is based in
the differentiation of what is coming down from God out of heaven, will change
people who are open in response to let the change come so that they
draw closer. If they are not so willing they will get further away, and if they
keep on going they'll vanish from sight—rightly so! There have been those in
our ministry who have condemned themselves on occasion because they thought
they ought to maintain someone in consciousness, maybe someone who had in the
past been close, maybe some close relative or other, and yet that person kept
fading away. The individual in whose consciousness this was occurring felt
badly about it and entered into self-condemnation: “Well, I should be enfolding
this person.” Yes, there is enfoldment, but enfoldment is not a clinging to
people; it doesn't fasten people to us. Each individual within the range of our
consciousness can either come or go, and we do not decide which it should be.
We merely stay where we belong and let the chips fall where they may. This is
the way that all things are made new in our consciousness.
Are you really willing to allow some changes to
occur in your consciousness in this area? As I say, it's not the only one, but
it is a very central one; it involves our relationships with people. “Behold, I
make all things new, in my consciousness.” If, functioning correctly, you find
that people are not willing to be made new according to the divine design, well,
they don't belong in your consciousness. If you keep them there your
consciousness will never be made new. That's right, isn't it? Everything must
change in the creative process. And we have discovered, as we have been moving
upward on the mountainside, that our associations with people change, rightly so.
We have thought of it, probably, in terms of our external affairs, but it isn't
really that, is it? It's what is happening in our own consciousness. The
creative process occurs in consciousness and then is evident in what may be
called objective reality. It may be evident with respect to what we assume is
being experienced by people, but the people are all in our own consciousness,
and it is there that the changes take place.
In looking at what is needful in the world as a
whole, the duck-out usually is, “Well, I'm only one person; how can what I do
have an effect?” Of course the individual, when he takes that attitude, is not really
being honest, for one thing, but he is considering the matter in dimensional
terms, related to the periphery—things and people as they are supposed to be in
the world. Well, let's bring it a little closer to home, to the things and people
of which we are aware in our own consciousness.
We have our own worlds which individually we
center, and our worlds are our responsibility, because when we come back to the
point of true identity, then we are in the position of translating momentarily
what is coming down from God out of heaven into form on earth in consciousness.
We are re-creating our world in this manner and what occupies our consciousness
will change. There are two ways of change, as we have noted. One is that the
things and people which occupy our consciousness participate in the creative cycle
of being made new; and we behold them being made new, and that's wonderful;
that's one way. But the other way is that they get to hell out of there, and if
we are functioning correctly that's exactly where they go. But we don't boot them
out; they just remove themselves because the creative power is working to
restore.
Perhaps in our own experience we have found changes
working out within the range of our consciousness and we may imagine that the
circumstances round about have changed, and our relationships with people.
Those people are different! Wonderful, isn't it? They changed so much. Did
they? Or did you? It is your responsibility to participate in the creative
process, and if others are willing to participate in it, that's wonderful, and we
behold the changes in our own consciousness. The world changes on this basis.
We do not encompass directly and consciously everybody on earth, do we? But
there is a certain scope, and it is this particular scope for which we have
responsibility.
The scope relates principally to what seems to be near to us, whatever is contained in our consciousness
which is at hand. Our own physical body is at hand—that's one thing, quite
close—and there are other people with whom we associate daily. And insofar as
our experience here in this particular pattern is concerned, there have been
some changes working out, haven't there? Where were they working out? “Oh, in
the Unit.” Were they? No, in your consciousness of the Unit. Then, of course, we
are inundated with news, as it's called,
from far and wide. That's further away in consciousness, isn't it?—it's not
right here. And there are seemingly some terrible things going on in the world.
But, at the moment at least, it's further away; maybe it's been pushed out
there. We call it news, but it's always
in the past, isn't it? Sometimes we see something live, as they call it, but
even that slips quickly into the past. We're not so concerned with what is
slipping into the past, seemingly, but with what is taking form rightly through
oneself in the present. Here, after all, is what is to fill the void, what is
going to permit all things to be made new.
It is a creative process. We know something about it;
we've experienced something with respect to it. We may have misinterpreted it
at times. We have thought of it in dimensional terms. But, if there is any real
change occurring of which we as individuals are aware, it is occurring in our
own consciousness. So, it is not a matter of sitting down and saying, “Won't it
be wonderful when everybody changes?” because very quickly, if you do that, you
come to the conclusion that it will never happen, because insofar as you are
concerned it never will happen. But we have awakened to the consciousness that
it is our responsibility to let it happen; not to let it happen in some vague
world but in the world that occupies our own consciousness; it's the only one
we have. The whole world changes on this basis, because each individual who
accepts this responsibility to return to the point of true identity, and
actually returns, is undertaking the re-creative process within the range of
his own consciousness, and the individual consciousness is a part of the
consciousness of the body of mankind. So this is happening in the body of
mankind.
We've already seen that almost everyone is engaged
in trying to manipulate what they imagine to be the objective world around
them. This is the state of consciousness of virtually everyone, and we have
seen that as long as this state of consciousness persists nothing creative can
ever happen. Therefore the initiation of something of a creative happening is
because someone emerges out of that state and moves to the restoration of true
identity. When that happens in an individual it doesn't happen just for that
individual, because that individual is a part of the whole. We can't get out of
being a part of the whole. We may have thought ourselves, in the false state,
to be separate, but the truth is that there is one whole. As long as all people
are struggling and manipulating, nothing is happening, but the very moment someone
begins to move back to true identity something is happening in the
consciousness of mankind—the thing that needs to happen. You may say there are
so few who do this, and it takes so long that they'll all be dead first, and
then where'll we be?
This is what seemed to happen to Jesus, wasn't it?
But, you know, we are able to experience what we are now experiencing because
of Him, something He did in the present moment. He didn't do it in the past; He
did it in the present moment. And we are in the present moment. This is why the
door is open. He saw the world as it really is and He allowed the changes to
occur in His own consciousness. Some of those changes, in specific instances,
related to what is called healing, but in the larger event it related to what
occurred to Him. His body, with its capacity of consciousness, continued to
share with Him the true identity all the way through, no matter what occurred,
and remained with Him in consequence—that was called the resurrection—thereby
revealing that insofar as His consciousness on earth was concerned all things
had been made new. And we have the opportunity of sharing in that, of sharing
in what is true in His consciousness on the basis of exactly the same principle
that I have been talking about now.
If we, amongst others, are willing to accept the
truth which is present in His consciousness, then we find ourselves with Him—as
He put it, “That where I am, there ye may be also,” at this point of true
identity. It is imagined that He went away someplace—He was taken up into
heaven. Where? He didn't go anyplace in fact. He just stayed where He belongs,
in the point of true identity. Because those who were present did not stay in that
place, it seemed as though He was gone, and it has seemed ever since as though
He had gone. But coming to that place, to that point, we find that we are there
where He is. He didn't move, He didn't go anyplace, and we discover the truth
of this by coming to that point—there He is. And we only come to that point because
we acknowledge the truth which He revealed in His own consciousness, that truth
as it relates to us; for insofar as He is concerned we can either be structures
in His consciousness, so to speak, or we can get to hell out of there. Now,
most people have gotten to hell out of there, but we can agree with Him. He
sees things as they are. All right, we will acknowledge that He sees things as
they are, and we will not insist upon the nonsensical view in the human state.
So, progressively we acknowledge who we are—that's what we've been doing, isn't
it?—not who we think we are but who He knows we are. Then where He is we are;
we occupy His consciousness. Could we be any closer than that? And we participate
in the process by which He may have the wholeness of the capacity of
consciousness provided through man on earth.
There is much in the consciousness of man that doesn't
belong. To that extent it's not His consciousness. Sometimes it has been said
that there are two bodies, the Son of God and the son of perdition. It is
really one body but with two apparent aspects. What is present in the
consciousness of that body either belongs in the consciousness of the Son of God
or in the consciousness of the son of perdition. The re-creative process is to
bring to pass the restoration of the consciousness of man, so that that
capacity is filled with the consciousness of the Son of God, and no other. And
this is accomplished through those who take the responsibility because they
return to the point where they belong. Then it happens. And no amount of human
manipulation, playing around on the periphery, can stop it happening.
Let your consciousness be made new because you come
again to the point of true identity in the moment and you are, in your expression,
governed by what is rightly being differentiated through that point in the
moment. You're not governed by your views of the world situation or by anything
that is happening in the world, by any desire with respect to anything in the
world, because you are fully occupied with your one purpose, namely to
differentiate in the moment the essences that should be given form from God in
the moment, that and that alone. And what is supposed to be the future will
take care of itself; but we'll find it isn't the future at all; it's the present.
The present moment will always be exactly what it should be. How could it be
exactly what it should be if what it should be is not translated and
differentiated into the moment? This is the only way it happens, and it's done
in the present moment as we stand in that identity which is beyond the realm of
space and time.
The renewing of the mind—it is the renewing of the
mind, the change of the structures in consciousness which all increasingly
become living forms, because all that is differentiated from that one point is
living—life and more abundant life created, brought forth, differentiated, in the
present moment, and “Behold, I make all things new.” That is it. Let us be willing
to allow our individual consciousnesses to be purified, the heart purified, the
mind purified, because only what belongs in consciousness can occupy our
consciousness and everything else is gone. When that is so, there is a new
world. Simple!
© Emissaries of Divine Light
Key To All Things — Focalizations
Uranda
July 23, 1946 Tuesday Afternoon Service
I wish to consider with you other words that you
have heard before—words which carry the Spirit that giveth Life. Speaking from
the standpoint of the Absolute, not from
the realm where human frailties still abound, but from the realm of the
Absolute, from the standpoint of God, there are times when it is necessary to
destroy in order to give life. There are so many people in the world who,
although they are allowed to feel the warmth of His Love, although they are
watered with His Truth, and their hunger is partially satisfied with the bread
of His Life, still they will not let themselves be resurrected—they have, in
embryonic form within them, that potential which will let them expand into men
and women in Christ, but before we can resurrect them—speaking from the
standpoint of the One Christ Body, remember—we have to roll
away the stone at the mouth of the tomb—the tomb of this world's darkness. What
is the stone? One might properly say it is the hardness of man's heart. It
could be said to symbolize so many things—almost anything that stands between
man and his God.
You are beginning to realize the value of what I
have talked about as focalizations. You
are beginning to actually experience a specific focalizatlon of Reality in the earth.
Focalizatlon—the Key to all things is to be found in their
focalizations. Is it not so?
With that background—and I will go back and pick
up the thread again in a few moments—I would read to you from Ephesians 6-12: “For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.”
It is true that the rulers could not have become
rulers had not those ruled contained within themselves that which corresponds
to the qualities of the unreal; but, even so, we find that focalizations
established in the world begin, sooner or later, if they be maintained, to
overlap each other, as it were. There may be, suppose, in a certain place ten
thousand people who, by reason of the unreal in them and the situations that
cause them to function in the outer, have a focalization of the unreal for some
specific purpose, and the focalization exists according to the concepts of needs
or of the uses of power. As long as those ten thousand people are left alone, anyone
looking at them will see little, if anything, beyond that focalization of the unreal.
But when we come along in the Spirit and Power of the One Christ Body and begin
to set up a focalization in that same place, or cause a focalization to overlap
into that same place, we find that there are those among the ten thousand who have
in them that which responds to our focalization. Then, for a little time, two pyramids
stand on the same ground at the same time. Is that not true? Such a situation
introduces interesting possibilities.
There is a saying that two things cannot occupy the
same place at the same time. So we recognize that the pyramid that we establish
in the same place that is already occupied is primarily vibratory—it is not
filling all the space as yet, so there is some space for the pyramid of the unreal.
But the strange thing is that the unreal, while it can be added to, never grows.
You can add to it, but it never grows, does it? It decays. The interesting characteristic
about the unreal is that it continually decays. If it were not for the
additions all the time, decay would soon wipe evil from the face of the earth. If
that which is good, of the Life Current, was not continually added to the form
of evil, it would not take very many years for evil to just simply decay; it
cannot grow; it cannot add to itself; it would decay and be no more. Is that
not right?
Evil is absolutely powerless to grow. Had you ever
thought about that? All we can do is to keep taking something good and adding
it to the form, so that, as fast as the form decays, we keep building around it
with that which is of the good. Generally speaking, the way it works in this
world is that, as the form decays in the center—in the altar of Baal—the young
people in whom the natural essence of life and goodness is to be found, are just
pushed into it at the center which is decaying. That is the only way that the
altar of Baal can be maintained—that is, as the good in which life is, is added
to it. The world is sacrificing its sons and daughters unto Baal. The
interesting point, to me, is that that which is of Reality cannot decay—it
always grows. Interesting facts, are they not?
When we have these pyramids, not actually occupying
the same space at the same time, but having their foundations on the same
ground, or at least overlapping—then, the nature of the unreal is to decay; the
nature of the Real is to grow. If the focalization is maintained, the base
cannot be moved. That is true of both pyramids, isn't it, but in the case of
the unreal pyramid the focalization is maintained by pushing that which still
has life in at the bottom and forcing it up, so that a pinnacle is maintained
arbitrarily, regardless of decay, while the focalization of the Real does not stand
on something forced into it and under it, or something that is forced to stay there
until it decays. In the first place, it is of the Current of Life, and, in the second
place, through the creative power of Love it draws unto itself its own; and by
its nature it grows.
Let us suppose that this is an equal contest—now,
there isn't anything of equality in this contest at all—but we might suppose
for a minute a condition where it might seem to be somewhat equal, and the focalization
of the Real is simply maintained. The nature of the Real is to grow, and, as it
grows, it finds space around it that was previously occupied by the unreal, but
the unreal decays pretty soon and the space is occupied by that which grows,
and there is no space for the unreal. Just that simple process alone,
maintained, would, in a comparatively short time, cleanse the earth of all
unrighteousness, would it not? Do you see what I mean?
Even if we had to meet the situation on what we
might, in a sense, call equal ground, we should have a sure thing against a
certainty of losing on the other side. There is no equality. But we are not
limited to that; we have a focalization,
and when it is maintained the focalization is not concerned about all the good
people who are going bad in order to maintain the pyramid of the unreal; we are
not concerned about them at all, for the moment at least; we are concerned
about that which is at the point of focalization of that pyramid of the unreal,
that which is at the point of control. And so, if we have a point of control,
and if we have a pyramid that has an apex—i.e., not just flat on top—then the
point of the apex can begin to deal with that which is at the apex of the
pyramids of the unreal.
The most difficult thing in the world for human
beings is to find people who can be satisfactory points of apex in their
pyramids of the unreal. Isn't that true? Now, leadership according to world
concepts is comparatively rare. There have been times in the past when, by reason
of some great leadership, there was a great pyramid. That leadership goes and
this pyramid settles down and spreads out, becoming half a pyramid with many
points of apex. Then, if they cannot find leaders to maintain it at this level,
this gradually settles down, and we get more and more little pyramids—lots of
them, not because they are multiplying, but because they are decaying.
In the world as it is today, you do not find very
many really big pyramids, do you? To the outer mind, that makes it seem to be a
difficult problem. I rather think that it makes the job easier. The fact is that
their points of apex are not very solid, and when we deal with these points,
one by one, step by step—or maybe getting a lot of them together once in a
while—then what happens to the pyramid? So-called leaders may scramble around
and find someone whom they can push up to the top and make it hold, but
generally the pyramid squashes down. They may manage to make a few little
pyramids, but they do not amount to much. The main thing is that, as those
points of control of the unreal are removed, as the strength of these pyramid
apexes is reduced, and this thing gets scattered out, then the people who were
absolutely bound about by the structure of the great pyramid, so to speak, can get
out—they can peek out of the little ones and see the daylight. It is turning them
loose. We could go out there and hammer against the base of the big pyramid—we
might kill out ten thousand from the outside of the pyramid—try to keep them from
going to oblivion—just send them to oblivion first but it would not do any
good. So we simply let the thing crumble of its own weight. It is a very simple
matter.
The Lord always figures out the easy way to do
things. We just let it crumble of its own weight, and then those people who
have been bound with bars of iron and gates of brass will have a chance to get out.
When they have that chance we want to be sure that they have every opportunity
to see that there is a reason for them to come out. We must be sure that they have
an opportunity to hear the Call: “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not
partakers of her sin.” If they are given the correct opportunity, many of them
will come out.
We are not so interested in just eliminating all of
the evil from the face of the earth. Suppose, right now, by some Act of God I
were given power to wipe all evil from the face of the earth immediately. I
wonder how many of you would be left. Do you suppose that there would be enough
of the unreal left in you that you would be partly destroyed, at least. Just
wiping evil from the face of the earth would be wiping humanity from the face
of the earth, destroying the good with the bad. So that is the reason for letting
this work out in the way that it has done, so that every individual on the face
of the earth will be given every possible opportunity to obey the Call: “Come out
of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sin.”
When we have so functioned that the gospel of this
Kingdom has been preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and
all who will have come and responded and been drawn into the Way, the Truth and
the Life, then the residue will constitute no great problem. When they see the
manifestation of the Real in the earth, their natural reaction will be to feel
that the people who have served God are the cause of all of their difficulties.
The point is that those who refuse to obey God always have troubles, and they
always blame someone else, never themselves, so they jump to the conclusion that
the people of God are the cause of their difficulties. That is bound to come as
the focalization of the things of God begin to actually appear on the earth,
not because we want it so, but we know in advance that that is what is going to
happen, and there isn't anything under the sun that will keep it from happening, except to eliminate the
people of God from the earth—that is, to stop being people of God. That would
deny God and put us in a spot that I would not like to share. Since we have a
real focalization, it will continue to be so as long as we abide in the Lord
and let Him do the works.
Having that focalization of Reality in the earth,
the simplest process of all will be taking care of those who undertake to fight
against God. The difficult and delicate operation, after the manifestation of
the Body, and it is trained to truly function, is to be certain that we have
given every one ample opportunity to turn and know the Way. During that time,
points of opposition will appear, and we just let it come—not that we wish it—we
are not fighting against them—but we just let it come, because a peculiar fact
about the Fire is that it will flash out just as easily on a vibration of
opposition as it will on a vibration of response. The only thing that does not
make it flash is that which is absolutely passive and neutral. Do you see what
I mean? Have you found this consideration helpful? I would like to give you
opportunity for comment now.
Charlie — According to this last statement, it appears to
me that when these points of opposition appear, they will be given an opportunity
to examine the Truth in the matter, then, if they will not accept it, they will
be destroyed.
Uranda — That might appear to be the case on the basis of
what has been, but my function previously has been as an individual working to
draw together the Members who will permit themselves to be the One Christ Body.
With the manifestation of the Body in actual function, our job is to let Love
radiate, and remember that it is the Head—or the properly authorized Member—who
deals with the adversary, because the Head may find that there are occasions where
the adversary can be dealt with, with the right hand in proper position. On the
other hand, various Members, under various conditions, might be utilized. But
always, if it is going to be effective, unless the action is simply leading
with one's chin, in which case it is not the Head that is leading—the Head has
to direct the action.
The first great realization for the Members of the
Body is to remember that they need not be concerned about meeting these things
of the opposition, of the unreal, or things of that nature. Understanding in
that realm will come, true enough, but remember that segregated action on the
part of a Member, self-actively, for no matter how good a purpose, will create
division and prevent the function of the Body. In other words, a Member might just
want so much to double up his fist and sock, but that fist had just better stay
put, no matter how much it wants to move, until the Head says to let go. As
long as we function as a Unit under the control of a single point of focalization,
we are absolutely invincible, but the very moment that the Members of the Body
try to work out these things according to what they think would be a good idea
for the good of the Lord's Service, it is going to lead to trouble and they will
probably be the ones to catch it first. If something like that ever does happen,
I am going to be sure that you are without excuse.
If we are to function properly, the purpose of
function is to let Love radiate to all alike, regarding no one as enemy. We
must radiate all of the time, as the sun shines, not being concerned about so-called
focalizations of evil. If you start looking for them, you will think you find them
everywhere; you will start imagining things. It is like a man who is so drunk
that he sees pink elephants. The thing to do is to remember that the Body has one
job, and that is to let Love radiate, and when, on the basis of correct
function, under the direction of the Head, we do meet opposition—that is, deal
with it—it will be on the basis of Love, because it is the only basis upon
which we can act. Most of this expression might not appear to the human concept
as real at the moment, but that is beside the point.
Since there is a Christ Body and there is a
radiation of the Fire of the Christ Love, those within the scope of our
radiation have, automatically, the opportunity to know, and if it were not for
the radiation there would not develop a focalization of opposition—therefore,
when the focalization appears, it has already had its opportunity. That was the
distinction I was getting to, on the basis of what Charlie said. It would not
take form on the basis of opposition unless it had had that opportunity; therefore,
we deal with it on the basis of its own judgment of itself. That is the Principle
involved, but I wanted to emphasize, before bringing out that point, that except
as it may be brought out for consideration by the Head, the Members of the Body
are not to concern themselves about dealing with the dark forces, or
opposition, or evil, or any of these things, because if you start thinking
about it, meditating upon it, or trying to figure it out, you are going to
cease to be a Member of the One Christ Body. And it can happen awful fast, and
I mean awful—full of awe.
Remember always that the basic Principles that you
have learned all the way through still hold, and except as we give attention to
the things of Reality, we cannot possibly hope to carry through. “Finally,
brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be
any praise, think on these things.” That should mean more to you today than it
ever has in the past. That is why I have been emphasizing the spheres of
responsibility here.
Unless, as Members of the One Christ Body, we are obedient
to that Word, it will be as nothing. And that has to be done in really living
the Christ Life—not just seething inside with resentment, not just by saying, “I
am looking for good things to think about.” But isn't that just about as
sensible as the human being is sometimes? It has to be real. Remember, folks, I
always know the difference between the real and the counterfeit, whether I make
the test right in front of you and show it up or not. And remember that I am
not interested in anything that is counterfeit—it does not impress me; it does
not help; it is utterly valueless; and, sooner or later, I will see that it is
tossed out into the garbage.
We have to remember that there is just one type of
thing that can be used, and that is the genuine article; unless it is genuine,
it cannot be used very well, and whatever is counterfeit has to be removed. We
shall remove it ever so gently and be sure that it is filled with the Real if
you will let me perform the operation the way I want to do it, but if you insist
on trying to work it out according to some concept of yours, you are liable to
find on one bright day that with one clean sweep the Sword is likely to lay it
right apart, and you can take it or leave it. Unless it is genuine, it is
absolutely no good at any time. I tolerate some counterfeit, so that we may not
be under the necessity of making spectacles of things, so that we can let these
things change gradually and as painlessly as possible, but, sooner or later,
that Sword will operate if you insist on trying to do it your way—and that is
that.
We might remember that comment in one of the letters
which I read this morning—the realization that in my function I actually have
drawn the lovely out of each one of you, everything that is fine and real in
you I have been drawing out as rapidly as I could, so that it might be on top,
but when there Is something unreal inside, even though you may try to hide it from
me I may let you think you are getting by with it a little while, but you will learn,
sooner or later, that, when I look, I am not looking with human vision that can
be easily deluded. I think you know that already—I have proven it too many
times. That does not mean that I am going to arbitrarily reach inside of your
heart and yank this or that out. No, I have consistently worked to draw from
within you that which is lovely, fine, true, real and noble, that it may manifest
effectively; but, in that process you find that, willingly or unwillingly, as
long as you stay within the range of my responsibility and authority, sooner or
later, I insist that the unlovely corners be opened up and that you take a look
at them. You may think that you have something tucked away so far and so
deep that I shall not know that it is there, or that I cannot find it. I think
a few of you could testify that there is no such place to be found.
I have accepted this One Christ Body, in which I
have the fullest of love, faith and trust, on the level of its function—I have
unified with it as its Head, and I do not think that my love or my faith could
be made manifest any more than it has been—but that One Body has a lot of
growing to do, and those Members who are in it will have to be, sooner or later,
fully purified. Any walls that remain will have to be broken down; anything
hidden in the depths will have to be brought to the light. It can be done in
the light between you and me before God, without the others looking on, if you
will let it be so; but if you do not, one bright day I will rip it off where everybody
can take a look at it—and I don't mean maybe. I cannot make you do anything,
and I am not interested in making you do anything. The only thing that is any
good in this One Christ Body is Love Response and what you do in Love Response
of your own volition, because you want to do that more than anything else in
the world. Anything that you do under a feeling of compulsion, or because you
think I require it, is counterfeit. Many times I have seemed to accept it for
the time, because I wanted to give you every opportunity to grow, but anything
that is counterfeit is utterly no good. Only what you do that is right for the
pure joy of doing right, without compulsion, because it is what you want to do
more than anything else in the world—only that done in Love Response—is
any good.
There is one sure thing—remember this—this Body of
which I am a Member, is made up of many Members. I will not let any Member
jeopardize the whole. Our responsibility is not just for the Members of this
Body, but for the world body of Responding Ones, and as the One Christ Body—while
there is a training period, and while I deal with every matter with all the
Love that I can, and you know it—there is that which requires that we follow
the groove, that we hew to the line, that we let the work be performed
according to the Plan—the Blue Print, if you please, and it will be done that
way by this Body as long as I am its Head. You know that, but with respect to the
necessities of outworking in this Body, it is necessary that I stir up your
pure minds by way of remembrance, so that you function in that realization. “Behold, I make all things new”—inside and out, up and down and
all around, every whit whole.
These are considerations with respect to the work to
which we are called, and things with respect to our function in the doing of
that work. It is the greatest work on earth. It is the most important thing in
all the world. Thousands and millions of lives depend on it. I have not seen
any sign that anyone else was too seriously considering doing the job. To
depend on someone else, in my estimation, would be the sheerest folly. I am not
taking the attitude that there are not any other people in the world who could
do the work if they would. Do you see what I mean? We are not the only good
people in the world, not by a long shot. I suspect that, if we looked around, we
might find a group of people who might be called even better, who never heard
of the Third Sacred School. We do not have any cause for self-righteousness,
nor human pride—and pride goeth before a fall. We do not like falls; we had one
thousands of years ago, a pretty big tumble; and there have been several since;
there have been so many of them that it seems to me that we ought somehow to
stop making them. The world is cluttered up with them; the world needs
something else; the world needs something that it has not got. So, instead of
making another fall, we would rather have that open Gateway that lets Heaven
come down from God into the earth, that all things may truly for all people be
made new.
In closing our Service, I should like to read a few
words from Revelation 21: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I
John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of
heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell
with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,
and be their God.” Have you heard that Voice? The tabernacle of God is the One
Christ Body on earth, in which He dwells, lives, moves and has His Being, and
functions to the degree that we let it be purified and made every whit whole. “Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall
be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” That is the
description in Revelation 21:3—the double three, by the way—of the
manifestation of the One Christ Body on earth.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
