From age to age
Love’s word rings forth,
“The truth is true and all is well,
Unconquerable life prevails.”
These words from Martin Cecil’s poem “Thus It Is,” declare what has been transpiring on Planet Earth since the dawn of history. In fact, there has never been a time when the forces of spiritual awakening and regeneration have not been at work, right up to this very moment.
When Martin was alive in human form, the forces were apparent through him. And because you could witness and feel those forces in expression, you could feel those forces resonating through your own human capacities. What a joy!
That’s how it goes whenever a person opens to the creative forces Martin references. They become immediately evident to those around that person. Not that they weren’t there all along. But it makes the fact readily apparent when someone allows those forces to work through them.
Martin Cecil died in January 1988. Does anyone imagine that the forces that bring spiritual awakening and regeneration ceased being present when he left? It is a loss when someone of Martin’s stature leaves. But after reverberating through human consciousness for millennia, love’s word still rings forth today. The truth is still true. And unconquerable life still prevails. There can be no reasonable question regarding that. The relevant question is whether we know it. If we do, then love’s word is ringing forth through us. We know the truth of who we are and of the Reality in which we have our Being. And we experience and express unconquerable life.
Like any creative process, spiritual awakening and regeneration have to start at the beginning. The story of Abraham marks that beginning for Western civilization and the world. No doubt there is far more to that beginning than what is recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible. But what is recorded there tells of a seed that sprouted and grew and eventually changed the world.
I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore….
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed….
Genesis 22:17,18
Reading these words, it is clear that they have yet to be fulfilled.
Within the context of Emissaries of Divine Light, we have acknowledged that this beginning referenced in Genesis related most immediately to the world of physical form. It made sense that the first area of life that had to be addressed was the physical. And so, spiritual awareness and regeneration were applied to the manifest forms of life.
Later, especially through the New Testament period, Jesus focused on the realm of human thought. In very simple and direct language he guided people to embrace a spiritual perspective on the mental world.
Naturally, the processes of awakening and regeneration worked in an ascending pattern. That is the way the process works. In this pattern, the next sphere of human experience that is the focus of activation is the spiritual nature of humankind. This is the realm of the human spirit, human character, and the human energy field that emanates from a person.
These three phases of awakening and regeneration compose the first, second, and third sacred schools.
People can fantasize about such things. The human ego can get involved, with claims by some that they are reaching higher and higher levels. It often seems like imagination and misses a realistic experience of the way of ascension in which we are engaged.
Realistically, the levels of human experience aren’t invented as we go along. They are all there from the beginning, even if a certain level hasn’t been filled out in our own experience. And it is not as if we leave a certain level as we move in the way of ascension. Our physical bodies are still here. Our minds are still here. It is all in play. It is just that we are activating the human experience in an ascending pattern. But the processes of regeneration at a physical level are not meant to stop. We don’t move past an activation of the mind so that we just park it on the shelf.
So what changes? And what doesn’t?
These are important questions for anyone. There are realities that don’t change. And they shouldn’t. If you read the story of Abraham, you will see that he welcomed Divine Presence. Has that gone out of style? Have we moved on to bigger and better things?
As we move in the way of ascension, our path unfolds before us. Our movement becomes clear as we put one foot in front of the other. The vibrational context evolves, as do the worldly factors. But the most essential factors do not. And if you start changing what is meant to be everlasting, you will confuse yourself.
In the simplest of terms, a leader is someone who goes somewhere and invites others to go with them. In our case, we are walking in the way of ascension while knowing what is eternal. If you don’t go anyplace, you are not leading. And if you don’t invite anyone to go with you, you are just on a solo journey.
This simple poem by Robert Frost captures the spirit of the kind of leadership I’m speaking of. It’s called The Pasture.
I’m going out to clean the pasture spring;
I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I sha’n’t be gone long.—You come too.
I’m going out to fetch the little calf
That’s standing by the mother. It’s so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I sha’n’t be gone long.—You come too.
I am walking in the way of ascension. You come, too.
Sometimes, people lose their way in this journey. There is a teaching story in the gospels about that experience. Whatever the historical facts, the story is there for our learning.
The disciple Peter had denied publicly that he knew Jesus. And this was during a time of extreme pressure and stress. Jesus asks Peter three times: Lovest thou me? Peter is distressed. He answers that of course he loves Jesus. Each time, Jesus says, Feed my lambs. Or Feed my sheep.
Peter had lost his way and Jesus was offering the way for him to get back on track. Serve. Offer spiritual nourishment to people. Be love’s word, ringing out to the world.
I’m a child of the ’60s, part of the baby boomer generation that came after World War II. My generation had all kinds of hopes for the world. And then, many of us wondered what all the shouting was about and went on to live predictable lives in the society as it was. I believe that baby boomers carry generational shame about this. It comes from not living the dream we had as young people.
If a person carries shame about not living according to the ideals they have held, it can lead to a disinterest in sharing those ideals with a younger generation. And so the lambs aren’t fed.
If you are part of a generation that has lost its dream, let’s find it. Let’s manifest it. And let’s nourish those who come after us.
If we have tripped up in any way, Jesus’ story tells us the answer. Be of service. Reclaim the dream. Know the dream. Live the dream. Live your story!
For some, the story is over. At least, that’s what they think. No, we’re in the middle of the story—don’t you get it? We’re in the middle of a climactic time for humankind. Who could doubt it? This isn’t an ordinary time, by any measure. Who could think that it is?
By any measure, the writing is on the wall. Should I give you facts and figures? The population of the planet is tripling in my lifetime. We are facing existential threats. We are here and the story is not over yet. We are right in the middle of it. Don’t go to sleep now.
There is evidence of an exponential movement—all part of the way of ascension.
In the context of Emissaries of Divine Light, we are turning around a paradigm that ignores those who come after us. We are feeding the sheep and the lambs. We are sharing what we know. We are welcoming others to walk the way of ascension with us. You come too.
You have probably noticed that this doesn’t work very well if you are coming from a place of arrogance or condescension. Or if you are not having an inspired experience yourself. But if you are truly walking the way of ascension, it is easy to invite others to go with you.
Here is my psalm to the Eternal, always present here and now through all that is changing.
Love, always there, always present,
shining forever, never far, never lost
here for me, here for you
transcendently itself.
Wisdom, always there,
forever mine, forever yours,
never gone, never lost.
There for me, there for you,
never not there, here,
always, always there.
Our Lord always here,
always mine, always yours.
Pristine presence, stillness of being.
Filling me, filling you,
always in me, always in you,
never alone, never alone, never alone.
This glorious fullness overflowing,
flooding the world, flowing from you,
flowing from me, filling all the world,
always there, always there, always there.
I absolutely love this piece…. The Love that is always present is shining through every word. I recognize the Truth, of what you are saying here, David. It is exhilarating to be living into what’s possible and inviting others to do the same. What a magical and mysterious adventure.
In his poem, The Pasture, Robert Frosts introduces, by a simple act of friendship, how a simple act of stewardship can deeply connect us. “You come too”. It gently includes even though he is being deliberate and purposeful in his actions, to rake leaves and to fetch a calf.
We also need, as we serve, to be diligent and purposeful as we seek to include awakening souls along our journey of life.
I was born before the “baby boom generation” but nevertheless embraced the vision of a new and transformed world, a “New Age.” But unlike the majority who settled back into the social and economic mainstream I continued to pursue the vision and still do.
I know that it can only become reality as I continue daily to bring the eternal power of Love into my living to the highest of my current vision. Hard as they may try, human beings can never remove creation from the ordering power of Love.
That part of me that never dies was, and is, always there. As for the “human nature” part of me…not so much…Now you see it, now you don’t. Thus it is that we always have a choice: “Choose ye this day whom ye shall serve.” Will it be the subtle serpent of self-centeredness or the devoted servant who never dies? Always there, always there, always there.