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To the Sons of God Who Will Create a New Heaven and a New Earth:
The rectitude of the Law must be established above the human person; for freedom comes as higher concepts replace those passing thoughts which were sufficient in the lesser state but are outworn and outgrown in the march of progress.
The saga of liberty is sung not only in the patriotic ballad but in the unspoken and unexpressed fervor that wells up from the depths of man's being and cannot be uttered in words. There are two types of patriotism: that which stems from the holy flame of freedom itself and pure cosmic honor, and that which is an emotional drive based upon the nationalistic spirit of the individual as he identifies with group and national consciousness.
True patriotism honors God and country. First it honors God as the author of the laws of liberty upon which true democracy is based, and then it honors the land which he has blessed with a vision of freedom. The lesser is always contained in the greater, and the infinite power of freedom breathes through the soul who longs to find freedom even while that soul is yet cognizant of its own relative state of bondage.
No nation has achieved its full measure of perfection; but the democratic dream, wherein the laws of the republic are framed by just men in defense of principles of truth and justice, will withstand the test of time. If the forces of chaos should ever extinguish the holy light of pure liberty, it would rise phoenixlike from the ashes to shed the light of its aspiration over the earth.
The great symbol of the eagle in America is a high-flying image which surpasses national pride and, penetrating the blue heaven, exerts a pressure to honor those qualities which make men truly free.
You have heard it said that history repeats itself, and in the vision of America lies the story of a phoenix generation that has arisen once again to stand at the doorway of opportunity and to knock. The inscribed words of Emma Lazarus upon the Statue of Liberty
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"1
convey a message from a dim and distant past age when humanity once before stood at the doorway of great achievement. They knocked upon the golden door of that achievement and sought then to lift high the torch, but failed. And the darkened ages followed.
May I urge the students of the light who have understanding of truth and God's laws to preserve attainment and to persevere in securing advancement for the struggling evolutions of this earth. You do not know - you cannot know - what one lifestream can do, but if perchance a visioned glimpse of the many inner warriors of the Spirit be given you and you see the strength and fire of those upon God's side, it may be that you will wish to join with them.
The muffled beat of the drum, the piping of the fife, the surge of feeling that comes with the passing of a flag is the yearning of the ages welling up within the soul of men to see the pageant of freedom externalized in the arena of action. But, oh, how this vision needs to be captured and set before the mind each day afresh that the courage be maintained and the head held high. Listen to the promises of God, echoing down the ages, and know that the unfulfilled ones are only those which have been thwarted by men's petty aims which have intruded themselves before the pure vision of immortal Christ freedom for every man.
We draw a new hope from each generation and rejoice in each solitary achievement for the holy cause. The sacred images of achievement are very dear to us. I think the heart of heaven is expressed in the radiant faces of the guardian angels standing `round the children of the world. Many of these are successfully guarded and defended, but the unfortunate ravages of karma expressed in the heartbreak of war, disease, accident, and hatred are a bane which God would see ended. The swiftly flying moments often carry so little progress.
In conveying the urgent sense, we advocate no gnawing frustration or feeling of pressure but rather the firm acknowledgment daily that the whole world is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.2 It is to the children of men that the truth has been given, and the sons of God will respond to create a new heaven and a new earth.3 Each act and thought which is carefully laid upon the altar of freedom is material for the Temple of Victory.
In pledging my heart and head and hand to this age, I am joined by a multitude of great beings. Let us make Independence Day and every day one of divine dependence that freedom shall cover the earth, erase disguise, and comfort mankind.