The dawn of civilization is thought to have occurred in what is referred to today as the Fertile Crescent, which runs from the Nile Valley up through present-day Israel, into Syria, and then down into present-day Iraq and Kuwait in the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys. It was particularly fertile at the dawn of agriculture, as humanity emerged from the Stone Age. It was far more fertile then than it is today after a process of desertification, particularly in recent years.

 

The biblical narrative traces the history of the Fertile Crescent from the perspective of the Israelite people. There are many stories of them traveling through the Fertile Crescent, interacting with the peoples and kingdoms of that part of the world.

 

For about twenty years, I have been traveling from Sunrise Ranch in Loveland, Colorado, where I live, to the United Kingdom and then on to South Africa. I have friends in both places and events we have put on together that further the work of cultural and spiritual regeneration. 

 

With the global pandemic, 2019 was the last time I made this trip. But with the world opening up, I’ve embarked on another such journey, meeting Karen Pritchard in England and Keahi Ewa, from Sunrise Ranch, in Cape Town. With friends in South Africa, we held an Interfaith Celebration Day, an Energy Medicine Conference, an Attunement Card workshop, a Healing Chant training session, and Attunement Services. And from here, Karen and I are headed back to England to offer Attunement events.

 

Seeing the fruitfulness of this time, I realized that this pathway from Sunrise Ranch to the United Kingdom and South Africa is a Fertile Crescent of today. It is at a higher level than the physical one in the Middle East—more about spirituality and culture and less about physical geography. And the travel through it is literally at a higher level—in the jet stream, as opposed to on camels through the plains.

 

A Fertile Crescent is a place where life is born—and there has been life born on this Fertile Crescent for many years. In the history of Emissaries of Divine Light, what emerged for us in Europe and Africa grew out of what was blossoming at Sunrise Ranch. That took root in West Africa and then South Africa. And with the connections people in South Africa had with England, they seeded new growth there. 

 

Every location within this Fertile Crescent is invigorated and stimulated by the other parts of it. And the exchange through this contemporary Fertile Crescent is alive today through our travel. But it is more than that. We, who hold services at Sunrise Ranch every Sunday, are preceded by services held eight hours earlier in Cape Town. And we avidly read the reports by Howard Goodman and Anne-Lise Bure of what transpires there and are inspired by it. We catch the wave and ride it through our own service. Meanwhile, people in the U.K. and Europe often connect with Cape Town services via Zoom, and some people in Cape Town connect with Sunrise Ranch in the same way.

 

Nick Gordon is a dear friend who passed on last year. He once described to me what it was like for him to fly in the jet stream. He said that as long as you are earthbound, only seeing your immediate environment, you are missing a perspective that is only possible from a higher elevation—in the jet stream. And from that place, you experience a flow of information and energy unavailable on the ground. 

 

Here, I am unashamedly mixing metaphors: This Fertile Crescent is a jet stream. We can have our blinders on and limit ourselves to a local view of the world. I am from Colorado, I am American, and I am interested in the cows, the events, and the people of my location and culture. And so it is for almost anyone. But for us, our consciousness has risen. We are aware of the jet stream. We are aware of the synergy we find here. We are vitalized by each other. We have a local experience, but our locality does not define us. We are larger than that. We are in the air of spirit. 

 

People around the world watched the coronation on Saturday. I sensed something similar for King Charles III. Yes, he is the king of the United Kingdom, but he is also the monarch of other countries within the Commonwealth of Nations. A third of the world’s population lives in the Commonwealth. And yet it goes beyond that too. Like his mother before him, he is a world figure who inspires people around the globe. 

 

We are here to take our local responsibilities seriously and yet to live from a higher level. When fully present in the jet stream, we bring fertility, a context where things can grow. It is not hardpan in consciousness.

 

The spiritual DNA for a new world is in the jet stream. And where mind and heart are fertile, those seeds are planted.

 

It rains in the Fertile Crescent. There is blessing pouring down like rain that waters the seeds and allows them to grow. 

 

There was such a sense of global significance at the coronation. Most of us would probably admit that no one does pomp and circumstance better than the English. The ceremony is almost a thousand years old, and in a world that is obsessed with the evening news and the latest trends, it is a relief to be part of something bigger than that.

 

Tradition can bring a sense of the timeless. But it can also be a place where the timeless is buried, entombed in stale beliefs and thoughtless patterns.

 

To truly master tradition, we have to transcend it—be bigger than the moment. I sensed this in King Charles’ presence. It is hard to know what was going on for him on the inside. But I sensed that all the people, the choirs, and the costumes didn’t overwhelm him. He relished the moment. He ate it up. He was bigger than the occasion, and you could feel his gentle presence pervading the occasion.

 

That was his business, but how about us? Our business is cultural and spiritual regeneration. What altitude will we see this world from? Organizationally, Emissary organizations globally are separate entities. We can get stuck in a corporate mindset. By definition, we are separate at that level. We are from distinct nations, corporations, and cultures. When we live in the jet stream, we are bigger than those things. That’s why we can master them. 

 

In the jet stream is our oneness. We find our synergy and fertility. In the jet stream is a new world in seed form. 

 

Yes, we are a mix of cultures, nationalities, and perhaps organizations. We are multicultural, interfaith, and interracial, woven together. But we are more than that. We are one people when we live in the jet stream.

 

We have the honor of declaring that for ourselves. We are one people. And in knowing it for ourselves, we declare it to the world. This is our wake-up call.

 

People in Sudan, we are one people. 

People in Russia and the Ukraine, we are one people. 

People in America, we are one people! People around the world, we are one people. 

Emissaries of Divine Light, we are one people. 

 

Do we know it? Are we living it, breathing it, and sharing it? One love, one reality, one truth, one people, one ministry. 

 

So good to share this knowing with you. It liberates us to enjoy our diversity and our uniqueness. This is not homogeneity I am talking about here. 

 

Knowing our oneness in the jet stream, all our interweaving brings creativity. In this, we begin anew together. I felt that in my two weeks in South Africa. Yes, there is the past. But we are creating what is ours to manifest now.

 

And what happens when you create? I will name something else that is almost guaranteed. We make mistakes. Do you get to begin anything without making mistakes? 

 

So we could think, Let’s not begin so we won’t make mistakes. We are beginning with each other. We are beginning with anyone who will join us, and they will make mistakes too. We will all make mistakes. 

 

And what do you do when you make mistakes? Get up and try again. Learn, and correct any errors you have made. Do it differently next time. That is all part of beginning, part of doing this in earnest. And if you think that those of us who are more experienced make mistakes, what happens when you bring younger people into the mix, who are fresh and new and just starting out in life, and just starting out in this work with us? Are they going to make mistakes? I guarantee it! And what happens then? We have to learn. They have to learn. We have to teach, guide, and lead. 

 

We are here for this. I am here for this. I know you are too. 

 

We are gardening in the Fertile Crescent, and we will see the fruits of that in the days to come. But we are doing it now, and that is the exciting part. 

 

Ultimately, the world is the Fertile Crescent, the seedbed of a new civilization.