As a child, my grandmother would often take me for nature walks and conversations far beyond my years. Whether hiking along narrow dirt trails through dense, mysterious woods, or exploring vibrant wildflowers in open grassy expanses, our steps were always quickened by the abundant flow of animation surrounding us. Pulsating forces of the One Creative Life seemed intoxicating, joy-filled, and in possession of an infinity of possibilities.
One late Spring morning, we were hiking across white sands along an isolated beach to witness the annual chaotic dash of hundreds of baby turtles into the cold, salty waves while overhead a squabble of seagulls cawed in sundrenched denim skies.
When I exclaimed loudly how much I truly loved Life, dancing in circles and waving long arms in the living air, she motioned for silence. Then, asked me a question: Do you love people? All people, everywhere? I stopped and eyed her suspiciously. All People? Everywhere? Not so much. People were not kind; people were always sad, or angry, or very cruel.
She looked right through me, with boundless love warming her smile and responded: People are afraid. Fear is the spark that fuels evil in this world. Sight and knowing are not the same as faith and belief. Learn to understand people. Perhaps then, instead of finding fault, you will help.
As the years slid from childhood into adulthood, ‘not so much’ became an untenable approach to people, all people, everywhere. I began to learn how perceptions dominate human behavior; and to understand how personality clashes are caused by these fundamental differences in perception. Fragments of truth create fragmented sight; and reality becomes a clash of opposing views which will shift and change as perceptions evolve.
On the eternal plane of Soul, we are One and truth is Whole. At the level of personality, we are constantly in a state of change, reconciling fragments of truth while discarding outdated ideas. Conflict resolution would be so much simpler if we accepted our temporal limitations. Today’s solution might work effectively, yet require modification in a future tomorrow.
Even the most principled disagreement, at heart, lies between opposing viewpoints of a vastly changeable reality. Fear often comes from an inability to accept change; and the nonrecognition of Life’s one constant. Too many human beings believe in the clock; rather than the eternal.
Humanity exists within a temporal construct of time: either we do not have enough time, or we have too much and do not know how to use it wisely. Placing our faith in measurements of time, diminishes the gift of life and ignores the continuity of revelation. Consumed by time-dominated obsessions with possessions has created a world governed by fear, always measuring money and love. We have forgotten the Eternal Here and Now.
Having learnt these fragments of truth, many more decades would pass before I began to truly comprehend the deeper meaning of my beloved grandmother’s simple words.
Within the human tapestry of ancient spiritual thought, there is an unwavering faith in the idea of “The Coming One,” a reassuring belief that a Messiah will one day descend unto our sorrowful planet and lead Humanity into Elysian fields of peace and prosperity.
Salvation through invocation. Prayers, mantras, and chants comprise a central tenet of worship throughout the global religious community. Buddhist monks await the return of Maitreya, Imans speak of the role of Isa, Rabbis discuss the appearance of Moshiach, while Catholic priests and Evangelical ministers preach of Judgement Day and the life-affirming teachings of Jesus. For countless centuries, this shared belief in a ‘miracle of return’ has been anticipated and anxiously awaited by many.
Yet, any belief not cultured in the hot bubbling cauldron of relational dynamics will inevitably be rejected. Belief needs to evolve by self-validation through living experiences. Language nuances, family dynamics, and cultural subtleties are Humanity’s teaching tools of an ever more inclusive consciousness.
In Bailey’s The Reappearance of The Christ we find the passage “When the people are told the truth and when they can freely judge and decide for themselves, we shall then see a much better world.” (Pg. 165).
As long as humans have walked the earth there have been those greater beings who showed the way. Christ brought compassion to mankind and the revolutionary ideal that we are each and all our brother’s keepers. In Problems of Humanity (pg. 180) we are challenged by the question: “How can we develop the consciousness that what is good for the part can also be good for the whole and that the highest good of the unit within the whole guarantees the good of that whole”.
For Humanity, goodwill is the pathway to extraordinary love. When genuine goodwill becomes the centerpiece of all thought, the foundation of all action, consciousness hears the whispers of “The Coming One.” Sight illuminates the mind, because within the heart is found a living flame of “The Christ within, the hope of glory.” An unshakeable core of goodwill brings recognition of the living truth of the Eternal Here and Now; and the human manifestation of the living Christ.
Humanity is not meant to await the arrival of “The Coming One;” but rather, to participate by cleansing the soil of human consciousness and preparing the way forward to address need and reclaim purpose and responsibility.
The Hierarchy has been influencing human affairs, offering guidance through whispered thoughts, promoting ideals through innumerable literary works, encouraging moral rectitude in the hearts of national leaders. The results of these efforts can be seen through the lens of history and mankind’s long, evolutionary march towards a better tomorrow. Infinity’s patience and Life’s unbounded love have resulted in remarkable human strides forward.
During times of excessive vulnerability, when Humanity itself appears at the gate of devolution, individuals have stepped upon the world stage and found a way forward. The great wars of the Twentieth Century were such a time. Perhaps imperfect; yet, beneficial to the whole.
Today’s global need demands group effort to shut and bar the gate. Group courage and reason are required when facing instinctual fear and violent reactions. “The Coming One” cannot return so long as the vibrations of violence and contamination dominate human existence.
The eruptions of opposing tensions, the assault on other’s ideologies, the spearheading of clashes for self-aggrandizement, the celebration of conflicts for mere monetary gains are vile, repugnant forces which have been unleashed across Humanity’s emotional landscape. Cleansing these evils, borne of fear, is the work of all humanity, the necessary preliminary step for the coming reality of ‘the miracle of return.’
We are not called to rid Humanity of all fear. This is neither practical nor possible. A measure of fear is intended to serve as a motivator; not an immobilizer. Understanding this purpose of fear removes the anxiety of its presence.
We are called to summon those who have the goodwill capacity to express courage while facing fear. These are the people who will harness the ability to accept change as the essence of life; and thereby find an enduring stability within this temporal constancy. Let us invite and unite into a global force to “Establish right human relations by developing a spirit of goodwill.” Problems of Humanity (Pg. 181).
Intellectual insight will not easily replace instinctual fear, without enormous effort on the part of all humanity. This group effort can be marshalled by people of goodwill, in every land and every nation.
With the surety of expanding global group support, most of Humanity is capable of meeting today’s urgent challenge. Each in their own country, their own language, their own family, their own religion, transforming the entirety of their own community with goodwill.
Intuitional awareness cannot flourish when restrained by rigid doctrine. The present collapse of the old is the lighted promise of the coming new.