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To You Who Are the Created Image, Know Thy Creator -
Know Him as Thy True Self, Know Thy Self in Him - and
Thereby Assume the Robe of Responsibility to Multiply the Loaves and Fishes of Life and to Feed the Multitudes the Living Word:
There is a vast difference between Creator and created, yet the investiture of the divine image - "In the image of God created he him"1 - signifies that there is reflected in man the image of Immortality as a pattern which man is destined, if he will accept the will of God, to outpicture line upon line throughout his infinite existence. In the ultimate sense, then, man would truly become not merely the created but the Creator. This transfer of responsibility in the domain of self is so subtle that many pass through embodiment after embodiment of religious seeking as well as intellectual accomplishment without cognizing the basic fact stated herein.
Yet some measure of thought and attunement is perhaps required before the full understanding dawns, with all of its wonder, upon mankind. Herein lies a phase of the great macrocosmic/microcosmic interchange. The Creator with all of his wisdom and grace has no need of the mechanical sense; for by the simple power of the will to do, all life bows to obey in the infinite world of God. The phrase "made a little lower than the angels, and crowned with glory and honour"2 signifies that mankind holds within his hand of thought and feeling, most specifically within his hand of acceptance as an individual monad, the full authority for his world.
Let the ages roll. Let universes as scrolls unfold and be enfolded. The being of man can never attain to its predestined God-magnificence until the will of man submits to do so. And thus, there is a certain incongruous-appearing action in the divine plan, judged from the human level. But I assure all who read my words that there is no dichotomy in the Godhead. There are no chasms within the mind of Christ. The highway of holiness and God-purity which stands before every man who will invoke it is yet a clear and beautiful way that leads back to the heart of the Creator.
"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not ..."3 refers to the purposes of incarnation. How can men dream or suppose that God should give to man less than the allness of Himself? And thus, the coequal nature of all life is exposed. So-called individual accomplishment becomes a matter of choice and application, and the responsibility for the furthering of the divine plan is revealed as the opportunity of individualization.
The Master Jesus has stressed the potential of You - the responsibility of each individual for the development of his latent talents and his ability to serve the cause of the divine life. History is replete with the magnificent experiences and accomplishments of those men called saints. There is no myth behind these episodes in many cases; and often good men, rendered so by divine action implanted upon the earth through their form and being, were more excellent than portrayed. It matters not that some few were glamourized beyond their attainment. I am certain that their aspirations were even higher than the image portrayed. Heaven has not conspired to man's condemnation, but to his emancipation. And thus I proclaim it now, in this series on the mechanization concept.
The freedom of man lies as a gift in his hand. When he desires it enough it will manifest in part, and little by little he will emerge from the cave of materiality and the mechanical sense into the light of divine grace. Even the concept of chastity and chastisement are linked. The phrase "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth ..."4 should be understood as the action of Spirit, divine and pure, chastening the flesh form that cannot inherit the kingdom of God, in order that the soul consciousness abiding therein may do so.
I must return to individualization as the breaking of the bread of heaven and the coming of the body of God into individual portion. Those who discern the Lord's body in themselves therefore commune with God, the part entering in to a greater degree of assimilation with the whole. This is the meaning of holiness, or wholeness. Yet it is not to the banal aspects of mortality that men must draw nigh, but to the original puritan design of the Godhead.
Unfortunately, the sinister force has often drawn an image of austerity around the idea of purity. In examining the early history of New England, many become obsessed with the idea either of a hypocritical purity practiced on the surface and a libertinism practiced in secret or of an austerity of soul, mortifying the very possibility of happiness for the entire colony. Fortunately, in the eyes of then contemporary men, neither was true. For whereas some in every age have been hypocritical and deceitful, many - and especially the founders and leaders of the early colonies in America - were earnest and honest in their desire to find God and to worship him in relative peace and security.
I cite many of these examples in order to engender balance in our students and those who would pursue the divine path. The way back to the heart of God may have its difficulties, but I am certain that honest men will recognize that the way away from the heart of God has many more. Inasmuch as one day all outgoing lifestreams must return to God's heart, it would appear to be wholly reasonable that the closer men stay to the fold, the less journey they must traverse on the return; whereas the farther they wander away, the longer the journey back to the heart of Peace will be.
Unfortunately, the memory of man does not retain the fullness of the divine experiences of the soul at higher levels prior to embodiment. Only the few are cognizant of the glories of the angels. It is true that in the dream state when man is temporarily released from the body as well as after the change which men call death, individuals often do contact the higher reaches of life and find the freedom of inner levels more clearly manifest than when they were embodied.
The frustrations unascended men encounter, however, are those created by the bounds of men's habitations which are fixed by reason of their attainment, or its lack, while they are yet embodied. For life itself is wedded to consciousness and individual self-awareness so that choices may be made and experiences had. It is not the divine intent that these experiences shall be merely a series of vain repetitious meanderings along the stream of life, for the great freedom of divine grace to explore the cosmos and the wonders of being are the gifts of God to every man - his for the taking.
Some men, moving as on a conveyor belt, hold the cup of their consciousness up to the drippings of God's energy and spill that energy over into the void and abyss as fast as it is dispensed to them. Others hoard it, tucking it away as though by reason of the accumulation of substance or power or whatsoever they hoard they may stand above others upon the Path.
Let me make clear that all the energy in the cosmos is available to the call of God. And when men identify with his plan, the cup of their consciousness, as divine right use, will expand as an infinite elasticity which will enable them to do as Christ did - to multiply the loaves and fishes of life and to feed the multitudes the living Word.
I AM come to touch the hearts of the downtrodden and to lift them up. I AM come to heal those who are bruised and cut - to apply the unguents and balms of purification to those who require it and to seal the beauty of God's holiness in the borders of men's garments, embroidering there the delicate pastel pink threads of divine love, the pale yellow illumination flooding the soul with the sunshine of God's mind, and the mighty electric blue threads of power to fulfill the requirements of each hour that manifests.
Even the challenges of opposition, the tests which men face, the fire-breathing dragons of men's hates, despairs, and sense of hopelessness - these must be conquered by the sword of faith in the reality of self, of opportunity, of choice. For the freedom to choose is yet the gift of God to man, and it ought to increase the respect and gratitude of the honest and sincere for the eternal purposes. Observe in history how many so-called great men, conquerors of domain, have sought to subjugate others beneath their feet; whereas the Christ revealed the Father image and the masters today have revealed, in his name, the image of the Mother of the World.
Contemporary man, then, surrounded with a multitude of religious delusions and the mechanistic, materialistic, existentialistic, false senses of the world order accepted by the multitudes in part, are face-to-face with the great need to recognize the golden veins of truth buried in the heart of the earth awaiting discovery by mankind who, as miners, lay claim to that which they can esteem as precious unto themselves. In stressing the great gift of God to man, I point out that recognition plays so great a role here. For the most precious gems, if considered trinkets or baubles, would scarcely bring a fair price in the marketplace.
Were I a material author now, seeking to find name or fame or to select a price tag upon my words, I would not dare, in mankind's sense of good taste, to impose myself upon you in the fashion which I do here in this series. But because I do not care for the fig-leaf consciousness of mankind and because I do care for the immortal soul and for the task of raising mankind out of a host of pitiful delusions and illusions, I can truly state that this series requires a great deal of review and attention and concentration plus prayerful attunement in order that the very subtle and hidden points placed herein may be of great benefit to the soul.
Many are already deriving immense benefit from this series, and those who shall in future times to come are also a great multitude. But the greatest impartation which I can make to you is the knowledge of the power of choice. For it is in your acceptance of this power and your action to recognize how great is your responsibility to outpicture the divine image that you shall become truly great. The words of the centurion, "Truly this was the Son of God,"5 ought justly to be spoken of every lifestream. But it cannot be so until the individual has accepted it.
May I build a shrine to you, precious lifestream? May I adorn that shrine, circular in form, with bowers of beautiful flowers? May I saturate the air with the fragrances of spring in the release of sweet perfumes? May I perceive above this shrine a low vault of blue that thy hands may reach up and touch the gentle hands of the angelic hosts? May I point out, at your feet lie the little people, the elementals who have served both body and needs of substance? May I hope that you will take your seat in the shrine of true Selfhood?
Remember these words: "Face-to-face with thyself shalt thou come ere thy journey endeth home."