Is There Anything More Important To You?

Is  There  Anything  More  Important  To  You?

from  Agreement With God

Uranda   November 21, 1953

In view of the particular factors at work in our Unit here, and in our whole program, I would like to consider with you certain basic principles in relationship to that which is needful in our lives at this present time. In our previous meditation we touched upon the fact of the heavenly envelope, or the envelope of heaven, the individual firmament. 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 what God calls 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.

To make this clearer, let us think of the embryo of a grain of wheat. You take that grain of wheat apart and find what is called the germ, the wheat germ, or the embryo, and examine it. It is very small, and yet you know that if that grain of wheat were to be planted under right conditions it would grow and bring forth after its kind; that is, in accordance with the vibratory nature of the embryo that is natural to the grain of wheat. We recall the statement as it is contained in the record of the Ten Commandments, 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; in a sense we can say we are born with it—the good and the bad, the indifferent—as it has been focalized by the hereditary pattern out of which we emerged, or by reason of which we manifest or 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 parental influence, not merely from the standpoint of environment as we ordinarily think of it but 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.

Now we cannot give a true picture, in the sense of drawing or portraying by words that which is the case with any given individual. But suppose we illustrate—and remember this is in a sense of illustration only—but suppose we consider the vibratory patterns of a certain baby, and suppose we had a means of determining exactly what vibratory focalizations in the embryonic sense are present in this individual case. Suppose we found one hundred embryonic vibratory focalizations. Now there might be more, or there might be less. We are not attempting to fix it at all, but for purposes of illustration there are one hundred particularized vibratory factors in embryonic form. Some of those will never sprout because they are not given the conditions which would cause them to grow; others will have the right conditions to cause them to grow freely; others will have conditions which will allow them to sprout but not grow truly; they will be dwarfed, or of an inferior quality in some fashion. Now suppose we were to imagine that in this particular case fifty of these seed focalizations of vibration are of an indifferent or ill nature and fifty are of the right vibrational pattern; they belong to the divine design. If we establish the conditions in the vibrational sphere of the home, for instance, the vibrational factors working through the parents and that are brought into play otherwise—and the parents have the primary load in this regard—which will permit the good seed to grow and will not establish the conditions natural to the growing of the ill factors, we have the development along the right path. Or we might say half of the good seed and half of the bad seed get started; half of the good seed is left without even sprouting, half of the bad seed is left without sprouting.

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. In the life pattern of the individual today, in a general sense now, we must recognize that probably no more than half of the seed, the embryonic focalizations in the vibratory field, ever get even sprouted in the average individual, whether they are good seed or bad seed, or indifferent. There is a vast array of potential in every individual which generally speaking never begins to manifest. So we realize that any given person, at any given point in life, is not, in the usual sense at least, a true expression of himself or of his own potential.

Now 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. Sometimes along the way of life, you may have known some person who had some remarkable qualifications, some remarkable talents and abilities, and yet they were used to an evil or destructive purpose; and you may have thought within yourself, on observing this genius of evil, or reading about him or something, if that person had only been moving in the right direction, if he had only been using his life forces for the right, what a wonderful blessing he could have been; but here it is on the evil side of the ledger of life. We are not interested in the evil potentiality. There is an evil potentiality with respect to every person; but that evil potentiality does not need to grow, it 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, the vibratory field, on the right side of the ledger, that is the question, that is the problem. There are many seeds, and some seeds are planted as we go along the way. But the basic seed is already there from the time you were a babe, and the vibratory factors which come into play that cause one of those seeds to sprout and begin to grow and develop; and there we begin to have as a result of those factors the development of some phase of character, some characteristic, something which in the sum total 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 emerge the prejudices and the ill attitudes, the influences of environment, etc., which begin to make up the pattern of life for that person. All of these factors are conditioned by physical factors, and the physical factors are conditioned by the vibrational factors; they more or less correlate. In fact we might say, to come a little closer to the actual fact, that 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.” And yet you know that if you fight against it you are subject to it; for if you were not subject to it you would not feel the need to fight against it. 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 here, 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? If you have not yet attained to a state that is absolute in the sphere of your function you need to do some more growing, and what can you do in relationship to it? Here are these vibratory factors that have been at work in your life. Perhaps some of them have already been harvested and have passed away. Perhaps some of those seeds have started to grow and are stunted. Perhaps some of them have not yet sprouted and you don't know anything about them. Perhaps many things. 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?

I would like first to ask a question. 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. Actually, 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.

Now we noted in our previous meditation 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? What begins to happen if your agreement is with God? Actually, if you will let it be so, I will ignore everything else, because 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. Let us always remember that. Agreement—with what are you in agreement? And how can you establish a clear pattern of agreement? We have said, and 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. But if you want to plant a garden, and you intend that it should be a good garden, you prepare the soil; there is a conditioning of the soil. So must there be a conditioning of the body and the mind and the heart. If you do not plow the soil well, if you leave it full of lumps and rocks and bad places of various kinds, the seed will not grow well. So 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 take care of preparing the soil, planting the seed, providing 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? Or to put it in another way, 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 simple, 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. In other words the control on the point is not with God; it is with you. 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 would agree with you in relationship to that thought, whatever it may be, good, bad, indifferent, wrong, false, true, whatever. You cannot think a thought unless someone on the face of the earth is essentially in agreement with you on that pattern. So if you can think a thought, you can be sure that someone else, somewhere, is agreeing with you. 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.

Now the individual who harbors any ill attitudes toward others, for any reason whatsoever, shuts the door on himself; he establishes the conditions which will cause the wrong seed to germinate and which will prevent the germination of the right seeds. There are those who in times past, in one way and another, have decided that they had occasion against me. They started to find fault with me in some way. They decided that I was in some fashion unfair, or unjust, or I have had people accuse me of not keeping a promise, or something of that sort. In fact that is one of the most vacuous of all the accusations put against me, because I make no promises to start with. Any person who thinks I made a promise has a distorted concept. I never made a promise to any one of you, under any circumstances; so any time you think that I failed to keep a promise you are wrong, because I never made any promise. I never have, I do not, and I never will. I make no promises at all.

But suppose someone imagines that he or she has cause against me, to judge me in some fashion, to assume that I did not function correctly in some fashion. That individual puts himself in a position where he says, “I know more about the matter, I am higher, I am wiser, than Uranda is.” That very fact causes that individual in that instant to be positive toward me, whether he has thought of it that way or not. In that moment that the individual imagines in his heart or his mind that he has occasion against me, in that instant that person is positive toward me; and if he is positive toward me he cannot receive that which I offer. He may say, “Well I am trying to respond over here, but I am not going to respond over there. I am going to be positive there.” That produces a jumble in the vibratory field. There is no clear-cut pattern—trying to respond on one point, rejecting on another, judging. It won't work. It only produces chaos. But now suppose the individual imagines in his heart that he has some occasion against me. It is only imagination as far as I am concerned. But it does not make any difference; even if he did have some real cause against me it would be the same principle. If that individual does not have it in his heart, when he finds that he thinks or imagines that he has occasion against me, to forgive instantly—taking the attitude, “Well, even if it were so, I would forgive it instantly; I would not hold one iota”—unless he can forgive what he imagines to be false in my case, he maintains a wall of separation between him and me. There cannot be any true vibratory correlation between us. As long as you might imagine that you have some cause against me, no matter how small, if you say, “Well I will just set it aside. I feel that Uranda did so and so, but I won't make any issue of it. I will just put it on the shelf. I will set it aside,” you can't set it aside. You may imagine that you do, but you can't; it will condition your every thought, your every attitude, everything that you do. It will stand in the way and tend to spoil everything that comes forth in the creative field in relationship to yourself. If you imagine that you have need to forgive me, then even if you think that you have just cause against me you cannot afford to keep that attitude. You cannot afford to fail to forgive me, not if you are going to stay on Sunrise Ranch at least. If you do not have it in your heart to forgive me if you think you have reason to, how could you forgive anyone else? If you imagine that you have cause against me, then you certainly have not forgiven others. No matter what you may have thought with your mind, or imagined in your heart, you have not forgiven others. And if you do not forgive in actual fact we can go round and round in circles from now to doomsday and never accomplish that to which we are called.

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 think if any one of you looks back you will find that 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, regardless of how right it may seem, unless we forgive in actual fact, to the point wherein all resentment is cleared away, 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.

© Emissaries of Divine Light

He Sat Down Among The Ashes

He  Sat  Down  Among  The  Ashes

from  The New Testament of the Ancients

Uranda  September 6, 1945

Let us read Chapter 2, Verses 1-8, as found in the book of Job in the King James Version of the Book.

1. Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.

2. And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

3. 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 feared God, and eschewed evil? And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou move me against him, to destroy him without cause.

4. And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

5. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

6. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. 

7. So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

8. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.

The first three verses have already been considered. In the fourth verse the arguments of Satan, which have been proved false, are continued in a slightly different form. Satan had said that it was because of the hedge about Job, because the work of his hands had been blessed and his work had been prospered, that Job was responsive to the Lord, but now, when these arguments had been proved false, he continued in the same vein, and said: "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life." Here we pass from a consideration of the influence on a responsive human being exerted by external things, possessions, circumstances and then move on to losses to the influence of health, comfort and well being.

It is easy to understand why Satan chose boils from all the painful things in the world. And when Job had boils from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, his misery and suffering can well be imagined; for the eruptions were all over his body, so that he had to take a potsherd to scrape himself withal. Such a condition would be as painful as could be imagined. Here, again, there is emphasis laid on steadfastness and response to the LORD regardless of physical discomfort, illness or suffering. And we recognize that steadfastness—that unwavering response wherein the individual is not moved by things in the environment, nor personal suffering—is most vital. The whole scope of individual problems faced by man is covered in principle here. Nothing is left out. The principles underlying this portrayal apply to everyone in all phases of human life and relationships. The Way, the Truth and the Life is revealed to all who are willing to see and respond, to repent and be directed, that they may find that joy unspeakable and full of glory which comes to those who stand steadfastly upon the Rock, and emerge victoriously in the Dawn of the New Day of Spiritual Life, individually and collectively for the whole world.

However there is an even deeper significance. There is the direct portrayal of obvious lessons, some of which we have already considered, and there is also the symbolism involved, of which there are many phases. For instance, we have a symbolic portrayal of the experience of incarnation, in a manner which gives some idea of the difference between the heavenly, or natural, state of the God Being, and the fallen state of man as he now is. In this portrayal we recognize that the putrid nature of sin and suffering into which man by reason of his self-willed arrogance has plunged himself, without necessity and without cause, is so vividly pictured by the boils from which Job suffered. Coming from the Divine Realms into the state of fallen man—who functions without enlightenment—is pictured by the process of transition from the state of health to that of being covered with boils. Now this idea does not indicate that the God Being suffers through incarnation as Job did, but rather, a portrayal of the difference between what is lovely, pure and glorious, and that which is born of the self-centered expression of man in the fallen state.

Another phase of the symbolism here portrayed deals with the outer expression of man in the sense that, regardless of adverse circumstances or the intensity of suffering experienced, it is possible, if he is steadfast enough, to retain conscious attunement with the Divine. In this phase it is shown that, regardless of outer circumstance, Satan is powerless to touch the Life that permits man to function in the outer world. The LORD said: “Behold, he is in thy hand; but save his life.”

Satan, the self-activity of mind and body, may remove life from the form, but it cannot touch the Life itself. It can touch the expression of life as it appears through mind and body, but Life is Eternal, and Satan cannot destroy it. To the degree that man abides in the realization that the Life that pulses through him and permits him to live, and move, and have his Being is Eternal, and cannot be touched, nor destroyed, nor harmed by outer world circumstances, but that only the expression can be hindered and disturbed by such things, all cause of fear is banished and he lives, day by day, in an abiding sense of Eternal Life. He comes, gradually perhaps, but surely, to an awareness of where he was when the foundations of the earth were laid. He comes to know with certainty that before the world was, he was, in the Divine Inner sense, and he comes to recognize that after these passing forms are gone and all ill circumstances are banished, his Life, that which he really is, will still Be. From the Inner standpoint he is an Eternal Being, and while for a time he may move within the limited confines of the present human form, and the ill things of this outer world, he will not be so limited forever. And when all the limitations are broken asunder he will continue on free and Eternal.

He who knows these things with a certainty, and lives each day in a consciousness of the fact of Life Eternal, finds it easy to remain unmoved, and to abide in serenity, regardless of the outworking of conditions in the world. We recognize that the ideal is transmutation into the Divine Estate without death, but we also recognize that the process of transmutation is constantly taking place, and if for some reason or other, the physical should end, that is not the end of that which we really are. Why should an individual who is Eternal, who has enjoyed Eternity of the past, who lives in the Eternity of the present, and who can look forward with confidence and assurance to the Eternity of the future, be greatly disturbed because of what takes place in this outer world? This life is given to us to enjoy in the outer sense, but that portion of the outer which refuses to respond and to enter into the Joy of the Lord now, cannot prevent that which we really are from continuing on, for Satan cannot touch nor destroy the Life that is in us.

There is further symbolism in these Eight Verses. “And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.” In the potsherd we have a symbol of the outer things with which man seeks to improve his ill condition. He may remove a certain amount of putrid matter that has come to the surface, so that it can be seen, but such activities have little effect on the true causes of the ill conditions from which man suffers. The futility of depending solely upon external things is emphasized, but at the same time it is made clear that there is nothing wrong with utilizing such external things as may be available for improving conditions that exist. The importance of avoiding extremes is made clear.

“And he sat down among the ashes.” Throughout the Old Testament, sitting down in the ashes is used to symbolize a state of humility, sorrow, or extreme depression. This phase is included here. However, there is a deeper meaning. Mention has already been made of the symbolism of the process of incarnation, and here it is indicated that this physical world in which we dwell is actually the ash of the Creative fires, and it is this ash of the physical world which is being transmuted and lifted up through the process of life that finds form in this world—whether vegetable, animal or in the human expression. We are actually, no matter how high may be our estate in this world, sitting down among the ashes. These ashes can become beautiful, have meaning and be channels for the expression of the Divine, only to the degree that man, as the key point of all nature in this world, permits himself to be the connecting link between heaven and earth, instead of the missing link. As we in our daily environment find it necessary to sit down among the ashes, and to deal or work with things that are properly below us, let us remember that everything in this world is designed to further the transmutation of the ashes of creation. And also let us remember that Job did not hesitate to sit down among the ashes, and that when he did he remained steadfast and true in his love response to the Lord. 

In Chapter 2, Verses 9-10, we find the following lesson, which is one of the most valuable Keys to living ever set down in Holy writ.

9. Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die. 

10. 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. 

Job again portrays the individual in the outer world, and shows the way. He symbolizes the Spiritual-mental phase of being, while his wife symbolizes the physical-mental phase of being, between which two phases in many individuals there is a certain conflict. As long as this conflict between the two phases of an individual continues he is as a house divided against itself, which cannot stand. When the outer physical is inclined to give up, saying, “What is the use?” it is wise to listen to the Spiritual-mental phase, which, if properly attuned to the Lord in steadfast love response, will be the channel of correct direction in whatever function is required. 

To examine further, his wife, the one who was supposed to be closest, who should be first to give comfort, encouragement, assistance in his hour of trial, says: “Dost thou still retain thine integrity?” Integrity relates to honesty. The person who is truly honest, whose life is dedicated to true function, as in the case of Job, is steadfast and true regardless of what takes place in the outer world because of the capering of Satan, the outer mind. In order to waver from the Way, the individual must let go of his integrity; he must be dishonest with himself, with his neighbor, and with God. In this there is a reminder of the words of Jesus. He said that we should be led into all Truth, and that the Truth would set us free. Job acted out of the Truth. It is only as we preserve our integrity, being true to God, man and ourselves, that we can hope to carry through successfully and prove the wonder-working power of God in the meeting of such ill conditions and circumstances as may appear in our lives, as individuals and collectively. Consider what a tremendous Truth—and all the implications of it—is contained in this question, and in your time of trial, ask yourself this same question: “Do I still retain my integrity, in the face of this?” When you can honestly answer that question in the affirmative, all is well, and the God of our Fathers shall surely be with you in the Way. 

It was not in asking the question that Job's wife proved her failure; it was what she said afterwards. We can all from time to time in difficult situations properly ask ourselves if we are retaining our integrity, but she said nothing to give him confidence, nothing that recognized his courage and steadfastness. She said, “Curse God, and die”. In these four words is expressed in vivid form a portrayal of the way and cause of death. The concept of cursing God should not be limited to blasphemy in words, although that is certainly included. We should remember that every time a human being, by word or deed, denies the Lord, or acts contrary to the Will of God in any respect whatsoever, he is to that degree cursing God. He who rebels against the Lord, though he never blasphemes His Name, is cursing God. He who refuses to receive what the Lord offers in salvation, peace and Perfection of Being is thereby cursing God. He who curses God dies, just as surely as God said in the beginning, “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” Let us not curse God and die but, rather, let us respond in love to Him and live. The Way of Life is implied in our quotation. If cursing God brings death, then perfect response to God, whereby God is glorified in our lives, brings Life. This is a simple fact, an obvious Truth, which no one who gives consideration to the matter can honestly deny. The Way lies in steadfastness in response to the Lord, regardless of happenings in our environment, loss, apparent disaster, failure of loved ones or friends to stand with us upon the Rock.

Note that Job did not berate his wife. He did not even call her a foolish woman, but he faced the facts, saying, “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh.” He who curses God by act or word or thought, acts foolishly. He who remains steadfast in all patience, unwavering, regardless of the slowness of the outworking of conditions, acts wisely. At times the human mind suggests that if these things were true, an hour, a day, a week or a month should suffice to bring marked changes and great results. It is not for the human mind to say when the changes and improvements are to appear, for “no man knoweth the hour”. It is for the human mind to be content to abide in love response to the Lord that the Lord may bring forth the results in His own season, according to His own Way and Will. Let us be wise. Let us respond in Love to the Lord, and Live.

Job says, “What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” Job does not say that we receive evil from the Hand of the Lord. He recognized that what is of Reality comes from the Hand of the Lord, but he also recognized that we live in the state of the fallen world, and that just because we seek in all ways to know and do the Will of the Lord, there is no assurance that we shall not find it necessary to share in the evil world, insofar as suffering, and limitations are concerned. Some seem to feel that if we are to receive good from the Hand of the Lord we could not possibly experience any discomfort, inconvenience, or difficulty because of the evil that is in the world. What foolishness!

While we live in the world as it now is, we must recognize that we are a part of the world body and that, although we receive good from the Hand of the Lord, we must, as part of the world body, be willing to experience inconvenience and difficulty by reason of the evil that is in the world. Because of Job's recognition of these things we find the statement, “In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” Here is the correct attitude. Here is the sure and definite instruction for those who would walk in the Way and the Truth and the Life. Retain integrity, respond in Love to the Lord, and Live. The role of the Lord Within is revealed, and also that of the outer individual who allows the Lord to express through him.

Now consider Chapter 2, Verses 11-13

11. Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

12. And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

13. So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

Job had three friends. Again we are reminded of the symbolism of the three. They represent the human trinity—spiritual, mental and physical, with Job representing the expression of the Divine in the earth. The following interpretation of the names of the friends may be found in any good Bible dictionary.

The first friend was Eliphaz, which name means “to whom God is strength”. He was the Temanite, one of the children of Teman, meaning “on the right hand”. These two characteristics, “to whom God is strength” and “on the one right hand”, suggests the Spiritual only to the degree that we are those “to whom God is strength”. And when we function from the standpoint of the Spirit of the Truth of Love we have the correct attunement “on the right hand”. And with the right hand representing the Positive, this is function that is in harmony with the Positive expression of the Divine into the earth. Thus, the first friend mentioned may be regarded as the most important, and it is evident that attunement to the Spiritual Expression Plane is of first importance, for if that is established the rest follows. For the other two phases, mental and physical, are properly Negative to the first.

The next friend is Bildad, the Shuhite. The name Bildad, means “son of contention”, which is an apt characterization of the self-active human mind. The human mind is forever contending with the Lord, or trying to—and with other human minds. The mind attempts to be Positive to the Spiritual expression, instead of responding and being Negative. Shuha means “wealth”. The mind spends a great deal of its effort on striving to achieve power in the world through contention and through wealth.

We may expect the name of the next friend to express something characteristic of the physical plane and of those whose control lies chiefly in the physical nature. We find that Zophar means “the chatterer” and that a Naamathite is “one who seeks pleasure”. Our expectation is fulfilled, for one of the outstanding characteristics of those who have little Spiritual attunement, and little mental capacity, is their tendency to spend their time in meaningless chatter and gossip about trivialities, and their constant pursuit of pleasure, eating, drinking, gratification of the senses.

When all the evil had fallen upon Job, his three friends came “every one from his own place”. The three, as we have said, suggests the trinity of human expression, each one having a specific place in that harmonization. “They came every one from his own place.” Each one had a place peculiar to himself within the Divine Pattern. “For they had made an appointment together, to come together to mourn with him and to comfort him.” This plainly says that it was the focalization of the individual's outer trinity that is being considered. The three phases had made an appointment to come together “to mourn with him”—that is, to express the difficulties and tribulations, the trials and tests of this outer world, and “to comfort him”. What would bring satisfaction and comfort to the LORD would be an accomplishment through the human trinity of the Divine Will—meaning the working out of ascension, transmutation and release of Spiritual Truth and understanding into the world.

“And when they lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not”—the appearance had completely changed. The appearance from the outer standpoint is altogether different from the appearance from the Inner. The recognition of the outer—for the Divine is afar off—is as through a glass darkly. The outer human expression of the trinity, when it thinks of the LORD, tends to picture Him as being afar off. The human vision is so limited that there is no direct recognition of the true nature of the Divine. “They lifted up their voice, and wept”. The first thing that a baby does when it comes into the world is to raise up its voice and weep.

“And they rent every one his mantle.” The mantle represents the clothing, the surrounding expression, or what is typical of each of the phases. The action of rending indicates that each phases of the outer trinity was letting go of what separated it not only from the other two phases, but alas, from the Lord—the wall that is between the human and the Divine. It is obvious that as long as there exists a wall between the human being and the Divine, the human being cannot act from the standpoint of the Divine. In that state he is under the necessity of acting from the standpoint of the chatterer.

The LORD’s word in contrast is clear and direct. In fact, there is even a little Divine sarcasm apparent in the word of the LORD when He does speak to Job: “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said; Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.” (Job 38: 1-3) Too often we find that in this outer world, counsel, or understanding, is darkened by words without knowledge. Simply multiplying words accomplishes nothing. Whatever words are expressed should be words that convey meanings that help the individual, and not words that darken counsel.

We see the necessity of removing what separates. The body and mind are so completely blended that it is impossible to draw a line between them. To the degree that there is Spiritual expression, it permeates the individual’s whole expression. There is not any division between body, mind and Spiritual expression. Too many try to separate what they think to be their Spiritual expression from their daily activities—their bodies and minds in everyday expression—but if Spiritual Expression is to have any meaning for us it has to permeate the body and mind and be the motivating factor in everything.

How is the mantle to be rent? Jesus gave definite instruction on this point. The first step is to love God with the whole body. We are to love the Lord with all our feelings, with our entire mind, and with our whole Spiritual expression. That is the first Commandment. The Second is to love thy neighbor as thyself. If our love for our neighbor is to be of any value, that love must come from the Lord. If it is merely the expression of outer human love, it cannot be of lasting value. Jesus said that we are to love the Lord with our whole being, physical, mental and Spiritual. The Love of the Lord is pouring forth to us without limit at all times, but this does not change us, or help us in our difficulties, until we become attuned to God's Love. God says that it is a fundamental Law that man can receive Love only to the degree that he gives love. You can love another human being, but your love is not received until he or she loves in return. How are we to become attuned with that Love, letting it take hold of us, that joy and fullness of life may result here and now? The fulfillment of the First Commandment provides that attunement with the Divine Current. To the degree that we love God, we have established a contact point with that which comes from God, a channel through which we can receive the Love of God unto ourselves. The more we love God the more love we receive, and the more power can flow through us.

The wall or veil between the human and Divine is swept away through love response to God, in body, mind and Spiritual expression. It is a simple Law, clearly expressed in the Bible, and proven to work time and time again. It will work for everyone, but no one can receive the blessings of God until he opens himself to the Love of God by obeying the First Commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” The love must come in the feelings, or emotional sphere, too. That is why Jesus mentioned the heart.

“And they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.” Here is the expression of humility, of willingness to respond to the Lord, and let what is Divine come forth. “So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.” Seven refers significantly to the Seven Days or periods of time involved in the creation. The world was brought forth of a Seven Vibration. In Revelation we read of the seven golden candlesticks, and in many other places the importance of the seven is underlined. Every individual on the earth is brought forth upon what is called a Seven Plane Vibration, or number of manifestation.

Reference has been made to the human trinity, and the Divine Trinity that should properly find expression through the human trinity. There must be something to bind the two trinities together, and that is the Seventh. When the Christ expression, which has been called the Seventh Plane Vibration, blends the outer human trinity with the Divine Inner Trinity, we have seen that it is one thing.  Then there is no longer separation. The goal appears before us—bringing that which is of Heaven down into earth. This is the Whole Plan of Heaven, the means whereby the Divine can come down into the earth so that Heaven and earth can be one. We find in the record that they sat down with him upon the ground for seven days and seven nights. The day represents the Positive, and the night the Negative. The three friends undertook attunement with Job without much talking, in fact without saying a word, seven days and seven nights, on a Seven Plane Vibration, in harmony with the Law of the Positive and Negative, which produces a completely unified state that accomplishes something that is necessary to complete harmonization.

In Chapter 3, the picture changes as Job's three friends have come to him and have blended with him, according to appointment. At this point Job is symbolizing the outer form of man. It must be realized that the symbolical portrayal has a different setting. A human being who feels himself shut off from the Lord, and troubles and disturbances come upon him, is inclined to think that death and oblivion would be preferable to existence in such a state. Job makes such statements as are typical of the feelings of the human being who comes to the point of letting himself be subjected to what he conceives to be great difficulties, sorrows and tribulations. It portrays what actually is the state of those who function from an outer standpoint. There is a very important point contained in the 25th verse. “For the thing that I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”

We know that, “Perfect Love casteth out all fear”. We also know that the state of fear is one of faith in something that we do not want, or do not like. The person who is afraid, or is subject to fear, draws to himself the very thing that he does not want. In this, death from the outer standpoint is pictured as oblivion. Insofar as that which does not respond to the Lord is not transmuted and does not ascend, that is true. If there is that form which refuses to respond to the Lord, and is in great distress, the only way of release is through death. But we find that death is not the only way of release. Death is the only way of release known to the outer aspect of being in its self-active state. And this is in striking contrast to the way of release through Response to the Lord.

In the 5th Chapter, Verse 7, we read, “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” As man is born unto trouble in the outer world, he is moving upward as the sparks fly upward. He is supposed to be working on an ascending vibration—supposed to let transmutation take place so that ascension may be possible. The mere fact that we are born into a world of trouble should not disturb us, if we recognize that it is a starting point for this process of transmutation and ascension, as the sparks fly upward.

© Emissaries of Divine Light

The Envelope Of The Spirit

from

The  Envelope  of  the  Spirit

Uranda   November 19, 1953

Tonight I would like to share with you a little meditation on some of the factors which are very closely related to the service in which we are engaged, some of the problems and some of the principles which confront us. Always it is needful that we keep centered, that we remain true to the agreement with God, and to that end let us begin our meditation tonight with a moment of devotion.

Our gracious Lord and holy King, we thank Thee for the privilege we have of abiding under the evidence of Thy presence, that because the evidence of Thy presence is made manifest in and through us Thy kingdom is caused to appear and Thy will is caused to be done in earth as it is in heaven, that all who respond may truly come to know that Thine is the kingdom, the dominion, the control. No matter how human beings may resist or fight, no matter how they may seek to escape or turn aside, Thine is the control, Thine is the kingdom, and though human beings may do many things contrary to Thy will, they cannot escape from Thy control, the working of Thy Law. We thank Thee that as we realize that this is so, we recognize that there are two ways by which we may come under subjection to Thee: one, the easy way of response and acceptance, of yielded body and mind and heart; and the other, of resistance, of fighting, of attempting to follow devious ways. This is the hard way, which nevertheless brings human beings under subjection to Thy kingdom, Thy dominion and Thy control; for he who fights against Thee but defeats himself, and he who resists Thy yearning love creates for himself the torment of hell.

But we know that all who respond may come to see that Thine is the power—for there is no power except the power that is of Thee, and without Thee there is no power in any person or in anything—and that if Thy power is used according to Thy will, it brings forth blessings, it reveals beauty, it establishes that which is of the divine design in the expression of glorious life. But if this power which is of Thee is used contrary to Thy will it is a foolish thing, for then human beings, stealing Thy power, seek to use that power to defeat the source of the very power by which they act. He who would turn Thy power in upon Thee to defeat Thee is surely foolish, ignorant and unwise, for thereby, as a channel for the manifestation of power, he establishes within himself a pattern of chaos, of turmoil and of disintegration. Those channels by which Thy power is caused to work against Thee must, by the very action which they induce, destroy themselves from the face of the earth, for Thine is the control and Thine is the kingdom, Thine is the power by which all things whatsoever are done, and that which is contrary to the correct uses of Thy power destroys the channels through which Thy power is made manifest. It has been so down through these centuries, down through the millennia, that all the children of men may know that those in whom the power is not allowed to operate constructively must themselves be destroyed by their own actions. For Thine is the power, yea, and Thine is the glory, the glory of the manifestation of the abundant life, the glory of the increasing expression of life, the glory of accomplishment in a creative life, and anything that diminishes from that glory is attempting to act contrary to Thy will and therefore, separating itself from Thee, causes itself to cease to exist.

Cycle after cycle and generation after generation these things have been established in the lives of the children of men, that all who have eyes to see may comprehend and realize with clear vision the truth and cease working against Thee, by the wrong uses of Thine own power, and cease trying to escape from Thy dominion or to function contrary to Thy control; for he who so functions does indeed remove himself from the realms of glory in the increasing creative life, and he establishes himself in the realms of chaos and turmoil, of conflict, of disintegration and decay, until he shall be no more. No one can successfully for long turn Thy power in upon Thee, seeking to defeat Thee, seeing Thou art the source of all power now and forever. We thank Thee, therefore, for the sweet realization of the glorious truth that Thine IS the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. We would so live, and let Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven, that the increase of Thy kingdom and Thy power and Thy glory may be made manifest on earth, and that we may cease from all foolishness and accept that dominion and the right uses of Thy power and the sharing of Thy glory, for it is so established in Shekinah, now and forever, to all who shall come to know the spirit of the living Christ. Aum-en.

We have cause for much rejoicing in the increasing manifestation of God's provision. During the recent period of our absence from you in person you allowed something of that manifestation of provision to appear. You saw signs or evidences of the working of the Law; and yet you know that the Law is not fully bringing forth that which is constructive in relationship to your individual lives, for our collective function. There is evidence that part of the application in the use of power has been on the destructive side, which is to say, contrary to the divine purposes for the use of the power.

Let us note briefly something with respect to this power. We have physical bodies designed particularly for the physical manifestation of this power. We have minds designed particularly to allow the mental manifestation of this power. And we have hearts, or emotional natures, particularly designed to allow the feeling manifestation of this power. In addition there is, as the result of these, the manifestation of the spirit and the atmosphere, the envelope if you please, in which we live or exist, which is particularly designed as a means by which the higher spiritual aspect of this power may be invisibly made manifest in the atmosphere of our lives. Now we see that when by reason of variations from centering, variations from the basic agreement, we ignorantly or wilfully, even for a moment, turn the expression of the power in against the source of the power, we thereby place ourselves in a position of opposition to God, contrary to the will of God, and begin to separate ourselves from the source of the power. Thereby we have the basic cause of all physical illness, we have the basic cause of all mental disturbance, we have the basic cause of all emotional turmoil, we have the basic cause of all ill characteristics in the spirit pattern of the envelope of being.

This envelope corresponds, as you will recall from our previous meditations, to the envelope of atmosphere, air, which surrounds and envelops the earth itself. We have recognized that our business is to begin to change the envelope. We know that whatever we may seem to do in relationship to the physical, the mental, the emotional, in any direct sense, has no bearing, no meaning, no value whatsoever, except as by that means we are afforded an opportunity to begin to change the envelope. And by reason of our previous meditations, we clearly recognize that the changes in the physical organism, the mind and the heart definitely follow as the envelope is changed. Whatever is established in the envelope becomes imposed upon that which is contained within the envelope. And this envelope of spirit, atmosphere, the firmament if you please, which God calls heaven, is manifest on an individual basis with respect to each and every one.

Now if that which is contained within the envelope, in the sense of the human being, responds to factors contrary to the divine design, characteristics are established in the envelope which are not of heaven but of hell, and forthwith the physical, the mental, and the emotional patterns of being begin to partake of the nature, the characteristics, of the envelope. It is true that these three phases of human function have a definite part to play in relationship to the nature of the envelope, and it is by reason of their function that this envelope is either heaven or hell. But the actual conditions which begin to appear in the physical, mental and emotional phases of being do not appear until the vibratory factors, either of heaven or of hell, have first been established in the envelope. So even though you, as a human being, partake of the creative function which establishes the condition in the envelope, that condition does not come back to you until it is established in the envelope.

As you recall these things as they have been clearly set forth in our earlier meditations, you also recall that it is utterly impossible for anyone to do anything by himself, and here is one of the most grievous errors into which human minds tend to fall, because human beings are inclined to like to feel that they can do something by themselves, that the individual can accomplish something of himself or herself. This has been one of the great lies of the adversary by which human beings have remained trapped in the chaotic condition down through the centuries. But you cannot do anything on earth by yourself. You may say, “Yes, I acknowledge that. I certainly have to have God with me. But whatever power comes from God and that I have, I can use all by myself.” No, that is a contemptible lie. You can't. You can't do anything by yourself, even from an outer standpoint, without the cooperation of some other human being. Anything, whether you are aware of the fact or not, whatever it may be, little or large, must have in some fashion the agreement of someone else or you cannot do it, I do not care what it is. You cannot even think, you cannot speak, you cannot act in relationship to yourself or another, in anything, except on the basis of agreement between you and someone else.

Now you may not have any awareness of who that someone else is, or of how the vibratory factors of the agreement are worked out, but it is impossible for you to do anything without God, yes, without Shekinah, yes, that is true; but you cannot do anything without the agreement of some other human being. So we are reminded of the vital importance of the basic factors of agreement, and it takes two on earth before anything can be done. And when it is done on earth it is by reason of the power of the Father, whether it is a good thing, a bad thing, a mediocre thing, regardless of anything. So anything that is done is done by the power of God, made manifest through Shekinah. But it is impossible to use Shekinah, or the forces made manifest by Shekinah, without the agreement of some other human being. Anything that you express is in agreement with someone. You may not know who it is, consciously, but anything that you express, no matter what it is, of the divine or of the devil, is in agreement with someone.

It follows, then, that we are in all things selecting those with whom we are in agreement, and in relationship to that agreement each one is either carrying a positive point of polarity, seeking those who will agree, or he is carrying a negative point of polarity to someone who has the positive point of polarity in relationship to that which is expressed; for you cannot do anything except in relationship to that agreement with someone else, whether you know it or not. You cannot even breathe except as there is agreement with someone else. You cannot speak any word, you cannot arise from the chair where you sit, you cannot do anything, you cannot live for thirty seconds, except on the basis of agreement with someone else. I have pointed this out to you before, it is not new to you; but I emphasize it tonight so that you may be reminded of the vital importance of selectivity in relationship to those with whom you agree, for there is someone on earth who will agree with you. No matter how vile, or how good, there is someone who will agree with you. It does not make any difference what you may do, or not do, what course of action you may take, there is someone on earth who will agree with you in relationship to that thing.

Now it very often takes much longer to find someone who will agree with you on the basis of a divinely ordained pattern than it does to find someone who will agree with you on some deceptive pattern. It is so easy to find agreement in relationship to anything that is disintegrating, decaying, going down. Sometimes it takes longer, on a basis of selectivity, to find real agreement on the constructive, truly creative basis, and in the interval you will be finding individuals who are inviting you to agree with them on all kinds of destructive things. If you do so, you become subject to them. If, on the other hand, you remember your agreement with God and refuse to enter into agreement with others who ask you, by the very vibratory factors which surround you all the time in the mass consciousness of the world, who are constantly asking you to agree with them on some wrong things, if you refuse to do it and are true, you will find that with the pattern clearing in your own envelope you will be able to become aware of the vibratory factors of those who will agree with you on the constructive step in the creative expression of life.

Now all agreement is creative, either creating the conditions for living or creating the conditions for dying, one or the other. Anything that one does in agreement—and you cannot do anything outside of agreement—is creative, creating the conditions for living or creating the conditions for dying. So we always have a choice, and that agreement into which you enter is important. If you only enter into the destructive agreement for a few minutes, it is still agreement, and the current of your power has been released in that which is in opposition to God. Therefore the effectiveness of life is diminished.

These things are of vital importance to us. We have so much to accomplish, and in some respects, we might say, so little time in which to do it. We are so few and the task so great, but we cannot afford to do anything which specifically, unnecessarily, delays our program. We need to do only those things which move toward the creation of the opportunity for living. The individual who spends enough of his time creating the condition for dying, so that he does not have a balance over, a credit on the right side shall we say, in relationship to his creative function, bringing forth an opportunity for living, is defeating himself, nullifying himself. And this process of nullifying oneself to some degree is still at work in all of you, some more than others. But it is something from which we have not yet emerged into a clear pattern wherein all of our functions are given to creating those conditions which make it possible to live.

Entering into agreement on earth is something which you do, whether you know it or not. Every time you change the vibratory keynote or nature of your expression, you are entering into agreement with someone else. What is the picture like at the close of a given day? With how many different patterns have you been in agreement? How many different things have you shared in creating? How many of these things are opposed to each other, contradictory, inconsistent? How many of the agreements were unnecessary? How many of these agreements were contrary to your own best interests, to say nothing of the best interests of others?

I am particularly leading, tonight, to a point of considering the Lord's provision. We have some very wonderful evidences of the Lord's provision, and from the Unit standpoint you have many times in the past tended to get into a corner and depend upon my creative function on the right pattern in order to pull out of a difficult situation and have the essential provision. You have tended this time, during my absence, to hold the line—there was no great increase in indebtedness; there was certain manifestation of the Lord's provision, and perhaps for the period, adequate—but the cycle is not clear in this regard, and I would that somehow I could help you to understand wherein you have in the past tended to so consistently defeat yourselves and increase the burden of my own load and responsibility.

I deem these things to be of vital importance. They are factors bearing a vital relationship to our service, in which you share. And these things relate to the question as to whether we are going to move forward speedily and effectively or not. I am talking about the degree to which you function creatively in agreement with me, creating the conditions which tend to make our program successful, rather than in agreement with my adversary, creating the conditions which tend to defeat us. You have done so many things, but there are still those things that provide needless waste in the vibratory creative field, and I have never yet been able to find the words to portray or bring about the realization of how it is that you so unwittingly and unnecessarily tend to defeat yourselves. We do not live to ourselves alone. We cannot do anything alone, and the question arises—With whom are you in agreement? How much of the day, with how many, are you in agreement during the day? We are creating all the time, all the time, whether we know it or not, think of it as such. Even now we are creating.

All things are made by Shekinah, and without Shekinah there is not anything made that is made. And we cannot use Shekinah except on the basis of agreement. You have to agree with someone who is working contrary to God to create something that is contrary to God. But if you are in agreement with God, then those who are likewise in agreement with God will be in agreement with you, and you can share agreement in the right range of true or constructive creative activity. These are simple, basic truths, which you have known, really, for a long time. We can do better than we have done. We can create only that which is of God, in our heaven, our envelope, our firmament here, and then that which is in the envelope will appear in the form, whatever it may be. You cannot just arbitrarily create some physical thing. Your function is in essence limited to its influence in the creative sense in the envelope. What you do to create a change in the envelope becomes the means by which a change is established in your body, your mind, your heart. No change can come in body or mind or heart except as that change is first made in the envelope, and if the change is made there on the basis of the true agreement with God, in the true expression, the right use of the creative power, the reality of divine dominion and the glory of life, we find that perhaps slowly, it may seem, but certainly, that which is of the divine pattern will emerge.

We sometimes encounter human beings—I have on occasion—where they think that they can more or less buy their way in relationship to God's service on earth, that they can, with their money or certain things, or something of the sort, change a condition and establish a situation acceptable to themselves. But it can't be done. If a person came here with a hundred million dollars, he could not buy anything; he couldn't buy a change, he couldn't buy something suitable, acceptable to himself. Why? Because he is trying then to use physical substance to change conditions in the physical world. He may seem to do that for a little time, but it will not endure. A change, to take place in the physical realm, must first take place in the envelope, and you cannot buy those things; it can't be done. You cannot buy the things of God, except perhaps in the sense of giving yourself utterly to the will of God, no longer seeking to impose your will, your determination and your desire.

As long as what you want is one of the primary factors in determining your function you are not helping God create heaven on earth. You may say, “But what I want is good.” I do not care what it is you want, no matter how good you think it is, you are still creating hell, you are still serving the devil. You have to reach a point where what you want is not in control. As long as what you want in a personal sense is allowed to control, you are sharing in the work of creating hell, no matter how good you may think that thing to be, no matter whether you think it is an improvement for yourself or someone else. We have to reach a point where we are flexible in the pattern of function, and where self, personal desire, is not in control.

So many people think they are selfless when they are not. They are selfless as long as it doesn't interfere with what they want. Oh, then they can be very selfless; but let it touch that and there is a stiffening, a resistance, a rebellion. “I don't like to do this! I don't want to do that!” All right, go ahead and create hell. We are either creating hell or heaven, and the results are going to appear right out here in this world. You do not have hell in the physical factors until you create hell in your envelope. You do not have heaven in the physical realm until you have created heaven in your envelope. That is the way it is. Whether we like it or not, that is the way it is. And the question is, How much more delay must we face before all of our unified energies are directed toward creating a unified envelope of heaven? You come here and I invite you into my envelope, and you enjoy it. When you come into this room and I am speaking to you, because you are in my personal envelope you find what you do. That could be our envelope. How long will it take until it is, until we have a Unit envelope in which there is no hell but only that heaven which God has designed and ordained?

So I thank God for you, and all that you have done in helping create heaven. I ignore, generally speaking, what you do to create hell, but it is there. How long? How long till we begin to realize the basic, fundamental truths of being, which you cannot alter or change? No one ever has and no one ever will. We accept it or perish—by the results of our own creating. What shall it be for us? What is the true nature of the service that we offer, and shall offer in the days to come, to the world of responding ones? Are we truly serving our Lord and King? Let us create heaven in the envelope, in the firmament, and see what happens on earth. Do you think we could afford to put it to the test? You can change the firmament but you cannot change the earth or the physical situation until the heaven is changed. You can struggle till you die trying to do something else, and you will fail. Just one way. Let it be the way to victory in the service of our King.

© Emissaries of Divine Light