The Language of Violence

Technically, violence is a form of language. It is used, successfully or unsuccessfully, to persuade, accomplish a goal, advance an agenda – it is a means to an end. Practically every creature on earth will have recourse to violence at some point in their lives. Most creatures rely on threats of violence, rather than engage in actual violent exchanges as actual violence can have great costs. Consequently, threatening behaviour is used to communicate the cost of violent engagement. Successful communication in this instance is when one of the parties in the exchange comes to believe that the costs would be too high and that the wiser choice would be to walk away.

Violence has its place in the animal kingdom. Its primary purpose is to secure access to needful resources like food, water, and mates. Almost every creature needs to use violence to defend its access to these needful things. The inability to defend makes access to the needful uncertain, and a quick death more certain.

In nature one observes that a creature will often have a territory that it claims as its own. It backs up this claim with violence. Animals understand that if they intentionally or accidentally wander into the territory of another, violence could result. By staking a claim to territory a creature claims exclusive access to the resources in that territory. The territory becomes their hunting grounds, or their fruit trees, and they will fight to the death those who would dare to deprive them of these essentials, this is true of even beautiful flowers. Most creatures are content with sufficient to meet their needs and the needs of their families. They are unconcerned with the territory of others.

Good natured, rational human beings have no love for violence and would prefer to avoid it – if at all possible. They resort to violence only when their health and wellbeing [or that of their families and communities/territories] is endangered as a result of the actions of malevolent actors who are not amenable to reason. No more than any animal, when another creature seeks to deprive them of, or diminish their access to, the resources they need to provide for themselves or their families that will elicit violence from the otherwise peaceable Common Man. Consequently, in light of these dangers, malevolent actors engage in subterfuge, camouflaging their intentions and actions. Especially will they so deploy their nefarious schemes when their activities are for the benefit of a tiny minority at the very great expense of the majority.

In spite of the evidence, the majority of people are nice and want what’s best for themselves and their neighbours. If this were not so, there would be no civilization worthy of the name. However, there is a minority of any group that only want what’s best for themselves, regardless of the cost to others. Indeed there is little doubt that there are some wicked creatures who would be more excited at the prospect of depriving others of power than they would be of simply acquiring great power, their personal exaltation over others is their ambition. These malevolent ones need careful watching, they would set the world on fire merely to warm their feet.

The Common Man is daily being subjected to death by a thousand stealthily delivered cuts. He is bleeding and knows not why, or who is administering the cuts. He is losing control of his life and destiny. He is being hemmed in and imprisoned, losing his property rights and his right to speak in the Town Hall. Everyone is being silenced, and intimated. If one dares speak up he is savagely attacked and a spectacle is made of him, to drive home the culture of silence. However, we should remember: if silence is the weapon of the hidden cowards, thieves, and enslavers of the Common Man then speaking truth is the weapon of the brave liberators of the Common Man. This being so, then hearing, recognising, and responding appropriately to truth is not only our path out of the evil snares laid by the Wicked Ones but is in truth our way to a better future. There are those who seek to enslave, and there are those that seek to liberate – the sheep follow the voice of their master: one choosing enslavement, and the other choosing liberty.

We, probably more than any generation in earth’s history, desperately need to recognise the work and listen to the words of our prophets lest the nefarious schemes of the wicked enslave the whole world. We must act! Ambivalence in these matters ensures the destinies of our little ones are determined by monsters that would greedily devour their futures.

We are under attack by monsters who are able to use banks, governments, and NGOs as camouflage. These are Master Deceivers, the Spawn of Lucifer - the Father of Lies - they so manage perceptions that villains appear as heroes while heroes are cast as villains. The saviours they promote are actually weapons – instruments of the destruction the hidden actors wish to inflict.

It is interesting and instructive that large and powerful creatures can be defeated by much smaller, faster and more intelligent creatures. The battle is determined by intelligence, foresight, careful planning, and effective execution. All other things being equal, battles are determined by sheer strength. Under such circumstances the smaller creature doesn’t stand a chance. The smaller can only succeed by leveraging their intelligence: disguising their intentions, masking their attacks, feigning attacks, misdirection, and distractions, plus the careful use of weaponry and the environment.

In a sense, the Common Man is like a large and powerful creature but it is not highly intelligent. It prospers under good and wise leadership, but suffers tremendously when it falls under the influence of malevolent and unwise leaders. Hence, the absolute necessity of ensuring that only those of the finest character can acquire the seats of power. Indeed, it is a moral indictment of any civilisation if it fails to ensure that only “technically trained, intellectually competent, socially loyal, and morally fit.” When societies and civilisations fail in this, tragedy spanning the generations will be the result.

It is interesting that malevolent actors cannot progress well in pro-moral and pro-righteous cultures. Consequently, the first target of the wicked is to undermine the influence of the religious and moral institutions. People who celebrate the decline of religion are, in essence, calling for the chains of godless technocratic secularists and are, consciously or unconsciously, conspiring both in their and their community’s own undoing. The waning spiritual power of Christian tradition indirectly presages the enslavement of western civilisation.

It is worth pointing out that the moral appeal of a social ‘good’ seldom needs to be backed up with threats of violence except when the good being thus advanced threatens the prospects of those that benefit from the injustice that advocates of righteousness seek to eliminate. This would usually only adversely affect a minority. Consequently, the moral advancement of the races progresses slowly due to the inertia generated by resistance of those that fight against the moral development of civilization.

However, there is no moral appeal in a social injustice and in every case it needs violence to achieve its realisation. Achieving an injustice necessitates violence because it will be resisted by both its victims and those that love justice. Furthermore, in order for the machinations of the wicked to succeed against the resistance of the righteous the tables have to be turned in the Public Square or the Town Hall. The wicked must present themselves as the advocates of righteousness while casting the victims of their nefarious machinations as the villains. Hence the need to manage perceptions, to control the Public Square and the Town Hall. If the wicked lose control of the Public Square or the Town Hall they lose everything.

STRANGE PREACHER SUBSTACK INDEX ON SFN

Atonement: A Theological Fiction 

The Rising Mind Substack

It’s hard to know where to begin with this issue. As all dedicated students of spiritual truth know, the ‘desertification’, or spiritual desiccation of the traditions, is a symptom of a much deeper spiritual malaise. The tradition based shepherds have strayed far from the fountain of living spiritual truth and are now well and truly lost. Their flocks have unwittingly followed them into a great and terrible spiritual desert. This tragic reality was foreseen by the prophet Amos, chapter 8:

¹¹ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:

This statement references the great spiritual crisis that the ‘global north’ [North America and Europe] is currently experiencing.

¹² And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

This speaks about how the people of the ‘global north’ will search for spiritual sustenance among the traditions of the East, i.e.: Buddhist and Yogic traditions, and even the atavistic and shamanic traditions of the south.

¹³ In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

But the severity of the spiritual crisis will be intense and will probably be indicated by high suicide rates, self-destructive behaviours among our youth, the further breakdown of the family, and the high places falling victim to fatal corruption – leading to national devastation. This is the great famine of The Why. Nietzsche once said, ‘he that has a ‘why’ can bear with almost any ‘How’’ and what this means is that a person that sees that their life has meaning, value, and purpose – he that has a ‘why’ can endure and overcome the most insurmountable of obstacles, whilst without a why we stumble over molehills. When Jesus taught that we should ‘seek first the kingdom’ he was admonishing us to find our WHY, our purpose [satisfaction through the pursuit of perfection, joy through loving service for our fellows, and completion in worship]. Without purpose life becomes aimless and unprofitable; it tends towards chaos. Purpose gives us perspective, puts things into proportion, helps us determine what will help us and what will hinder the realisation of our goal, what we should keep and what we should let go of. A pile of wood is useless to a man without a vision but if that same man dreams of a log cabin, or a boat then that wood becomes a means of realising a dream – it acquires purpose and value, and it gives his life direction and aim.

‘Not a famine of bread and water’ would indicate a time of relative material prosperity. The challenge generated by material opulence is the false confidence that occurs when we fall under the illusion that we’ve ‘got it all’, that we ‘got it made’, are self-sufficient, but, in reality, all we are is self deluded.

“You will stand in grave danger in subsequent times when most men will speak well of kingdom believers and many in high places nominally accept the gospel of the heavenly kingdom. Learn to be faithful to the kingdom even in times of peace and prosperity. Tempt not the angels of your supervision to lead you in troublous ways as a loving discipline designed to save your ease-drifting souls.” [178:1.10]

We forget that material wealth springs from spiritual resources like honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, justice, humility, conscientiousness, thriftiness, exaltation of family life and social service, but success leaves us vulnerable to pride and as pride goes into ascendancy these virtues are undermined and immediately are sown the seeds of the destruction of that culture. Thus our angels have been forced to lead us ‘into troublous ways as a loving discipline designed to save [our] ease-drifting souls.’ Indeed,

“For when culture advances overfast, when material achievement outruns the evolution of worship-wisdom, then does civilization contain within itself the seeds of retrogression; and unless buttressed by the swift augmentation of experiential wisdom, such human societies will recede from high but premature levels of attainment, and the "dark ages" of the interregnum of wisdom will bear witness to the inexorable restoration of the imbalance between self-liberty and self-control.” [118:8.6]

Recessions [sudden corrections] occur when individuals and large groups lose their spiritual bearings or values, when they follow/worship false values. Without an effective spiritual compass, we are lost and today – arguably more than in any other generation – we are experiencing the most profound spiritual bankruptcy or famine that has ever been experienced in the history of the world. So profound is this famine that every resource has been plundered and there is nothing left, politically, economically, traditionally, we appear to be screwed. Folks are really feeling it. On the other side, this is a tremendous opportunity for those that possess a great revelation, a grand and consoling spiritual and cosmic perspective.

Unfortunately Roman Catholic Institution is suffering because the princes of the tradition abandoned the gospel in favour of political ecclesiology. It stands under condemnation of one of the great laws of the Kingdom,

“He who selfishly loves his life stands in danger of losing it; but he who is willing to lay down his life for my sake and the gospel's shall enjoy a more abundant existence on earth and in heaven, life eternal.” [174:5.8]

These princes have knowingly and willingly sacrificed the lives of children that they might protect a man made creation, their true values [or lack thereof] and the extent of their blindness is revealed in that they value the dead and lifeless thing that is their institution above living children. They abandoned the gospel values they were sworn to up hold.

“He who is a hireling, when danger arises, will flee and allow the sheep to be scattered and destroyed; but the true shepherd will not flee when the wolf comes; he will protect his flock and, if necessary, lay down his life for his sheep.” [165:2.8]

They abandoned the flocks to the wolves, worse - they protected the wolves and enabled them to sneak from flock to flock despoiling everywhere they went. The Master taught that ‘by their fruits you would know them,” when they abandoned the flocks they abandoned the gospel - one is the shadow of the other - they fled from the post they were supposed to defend and proved to onlookers that they were mere hirelings, not their true shepherds. Now the flocks wander, lost – in search of a shepherd in a world full of wolves.

The litany of cruelty that occurred in my country at the hands of these men is appalling. The spiritual law that declares that you ‘reap as you sow’ is surely taking effect now. The whole world knows that these people abandoned the gospel; that they sacrificed children to maintain their careers. Alas, it would have been better if they were willing to sacrifice their careers and maintain the gospel. They have fallen so tragically short, have been measured and found wanting. Can they find their way back into the good graces of the flocks again?

Behold! The Lord has opened a way. Right now they wolves are circling, endeavouring to enslave the whole world! The flock are looking earnestly for shepherds that will fight, even die for them and the gospel. Are any willing to lay down their lives to defend the flock? Are there shepherds that can lead people out of the deserts the wolves have prepared for them and into the green pastures that are the heritage of the children of God? Are any willing to highlight the hypocrisy and corruption of the leaders, as their master did? Are they willing to condemn the toxic ways, the toxic food, the toxic culture exalted by the corrupt and corrupting leaders and instead exalt the healthy, wholesome and life giving ways of the Lord?

Until they do, they will no more find their way back into the good graces of the flocks again. They fed our children to wolves and refuse to accept responsibility. Consequently, they are finished in their current form. They must be willing to die so that they may be born again – in a new form! The princes of the Roman tradition know their days are numbered. Their own prophecies, one’s that they accept as true, tell them that the ‘Church’ is to be led into the desert, where she will be stripped of everything, in an effort to purge her of the false, unnecessary, and blinding, there to rediscover the source of her true riches. Behold, the hour has come.

We, the children of the next revelation, should be studying hard to get ready for our call to service. As the door of one age closes the door for the next age swings open. The hour is striking for a spiritually famished people to re-discover the supernal life and teachings of the Master. The angels are preparing the world, whetting the appetite of truth-seekers and sharpening the talents and skills of truth teachers. Are you ready for the call?!

SOURCE

In this article I am going to explore the experience of God on our world, Urantia – as framed within the contexts outlined in that book. Before I do, I’d like to take a moment to outline some experiences and insights I have acquired from my career and then later use these to contextualise and explore ideas put forward by the text. I worked in the medical device manufacturing industry for almost two decades. While there are an almost innumerable host of devices available to assist and promote health they generally fall into two classes: one could be categorised as for external use only [like a wheelchair or blood pressure monitor] the other as internal devices [like hip joints or pacemakers]. The internal devices can equally be divided into two classes: one could be classified as purely mechanical, while the other is a device that would be mechanical PLUS some active ingredient – such devices are known as combination devices. Devices that introduce APIs [Active Pharmacological Ingredients] have a whole universe of additional quality controls on them that govern their function and release.

The manufacture of medical devices is governed by very carefully designed procedures. There is zero room for tinkering with the process. With few exceptions, the manufacturing process has to be performed exactly as prescribed or it goes in the bin. Every device has to be calibrated and the calibration documented. Even the devices used to measure other devices have to be calibrated and their calibration documented. All of this to ensure and prove that the device in question was made to the exact specification required and that the proof of this is documented. Any deviations from the process are reviewed by a suitably qualified board. They will deliberate on the nature, effect and cause of a deviation, how to eliminate that cause going forward, and determine if the item can be safely reworked or if it needs to be disposed of. The exactitude associated with these processes is impressive. It needs to be, lives are at stake. Getting it wrong can lead to serious harm or even death.

In this space, ‘Tinkering’ can only be legitimately carried out in designated research areas by qualified and suitably trained personnel. It is in the research stage that every single control is determined, but only after testing. Every single element of the device is controlled, from the room temperature to who handles it and why – especially is this true of APIs. Inappropriately administered APIs can have lethal consequences. As a result the procedures in place surrounding these substances are significant, and in this I see considerable parallels in the Urantia Book.

I know the parallel is crude but one can see the celestials approach LIFE much as Quality Engineers would approach the handling of an API. There are very specific procedures and suitably qualified personnel associated with it. Devising life vehicles, and establishing life on the spheres, even its evolution from initial inception to the final realisation of Light and Life, is executed according to very specific procedures. However, unlike APIs, LIFE is considered SACRED and is approached by those who are charged with its elaboration and preservation with a holy reverence.

According to the UB, ninety percent of the worlds of space and time are built to according to specific and unchanging procedures and managed by appropriately trained personnel. However, ten percent of the worlds [approximately one in ten worlds] are designated as Life Experimentation Worlds, also known as Decimal Planets. These are essentially the Research and Development Departments of the Heavens. On these worlds, the celestials try to do things a little differently. These adventures/experimentations are thoroughly reviewed before they are signed off on. Consequently, the evolving life experience on these planets differs from other worlds. However, even on worlds such as these, though the expression of LIFE might vary somewhat in spirit the challenges are the same – self mastery, service, perfection attainment personally and socially. That said, life on these worlds differ and as a result the experiential appreciation of God will vary slightly also. Hence, when compared to the dominant trend on the other ninety percent of planets, the Father would be understood in a different way on such worlds.

I remember once thinking that LIFE is a ‘controlled substance’. It is, without question, the most precious resource in the Universe of universes. The UB flatly contradicts much of modern philosophy and science, which probably contributes much to its slow uptake. The revelation teaches that Mind comes only from mind, energy comes only from energy, spirit from spirit, personality from personality and that in the Great Source all these phenomena are one. Life does not come from not life, mind does not emerge from not mind, energy is not created ex nihilo. So, though the argument may seem circular, life does not emerge from nothing – it emerges from something, from LIFE - it is through the auspices and agencies of Living Beings that it is established.

Having been once established those that brought it into being bear a responsibility, a divine duty, for that life. Such beings are answerable to those by whom they were entrusted to foster its potential. This inescapable duty becomes the inspirational source of the efforts to ‘save’ the wayward worlds, the divinely rooted urge to restore them to the divine family that brought them into being and to which they belong, and to re-establish them on the high and divine destiny that the Creator had ordained for them since before they were even formed.

Of all the worlds out there [and ten million spheres have been projected for habitation] few suffer the ravages of rebellion. Our world started out as a Decimal Planet, then it was cursed by the affliction of rebellion by the ‘Head of the Department’. This created considerable commotion in terms of competing regimes [loyalists and secessionists] and their conflicting agendas and goals, practically knocked our world back into the Stone Age, retarding and hampering social and cultural development. Efforts to get the world back on track were further derailed by the default of Adam and Eve, whose progeny, it was hoped, would eventually restore the world to harmony with the celestial administration and get our world back on track. These are major celestial car-crashes to try and recover from, such was the catastrophic nature of the calamities that befell us that it drew the attention of our Universe Sovereign and He courageously chose this sin stricken and wayward sphere as his home. It is certainly arguable, at least from a regime or administrative point of view, that the arrival of Jesus on this planet instituted an upheaval no less profound than either two previous defaults.

To revert to the medical device analogy, when there’s a major breach in quality all manufacturing is immediately suspended (depending on how serious the issue is) while the source of the breach is “root-caused”. During this phase the Quality Engineers endeavour to ‘scope’ out the extent of the issue. Everything is stopped. Everything is counted. Nothing moves. If deliveries leave the site they are recalled, or a detention order is issued to the receiving site. You will, no doubt, be familiar with the term Product Recall. These are issued when a breach in procedures occurs that could result in harm to consumers. It becomes, therefore, necessary to have consumers return the goods to the store and seek a refund. Until we can be certain of the extent of the issue nothing moves. These remind me of the protocols that came into play during the rebellion.

During a major event nothing comes onto the site or leaves it, and all communications are restricted and channelled through pre-approved lines. Rebellion, such as we have been subjected to, is astoundingly toxic. It represents a major breach in procedures, one that can have harmful life altering effects at best or soul destroying effects at worst. Consequently, safety protocols would necessitate the suspension of all traffic to and from the affected sites. One wonders if these protocols are what is behind the revelation that regular procedures regarding sleeping survivors were put on hold, procedures that prevented even Elijah and Moses from taking their rightful seat on the Mansion worlds – prior to the advent of Michael?

It is certainly arguable that one of the clearest pieces of evidence we have of the fact that our world has been caught in the cross-fire of a War-In-Heaven is in the astounding silence of space. We are receiving not one single signal that might indicate life on other worlds. On the surface, we appear to be alone and adrift, but those of us blessed with the gift of the revelation know that this is not true. We detect the comings and goings of high level staff who are eagerly working to bring things to a close, who are as distressed by the delays as anyone but who are bound to procedures – specifically those procedures through which the full, final, and complete redemption of the world will be effected. However, they will not yield to the temptation to deviate from the procedure -  ‘even if it takes a million years’ to wind up the consequences.

On troubled worlds such as ours conventional universe wisdom can be unavailing. Here our divine overseers must implement experimental wisdom, apply policies and procedures not tried on many worlds. Consequently, new things can be learned here that cannot be learned elsewhere and that makes our tiny little sphere especially intriguing. It is also instructive that the author of paper 35 [one of the Chiefs of Archangels, no less] points out that our administrative troubles have been so profound as to transform our universe into one vast clinic. An interesting thing about this observation is that the Archangels are one of the few beings capable of communicating from our world. They form part of the divine administration whose duty it is to save our world, to eliminate the stain of rebellion and bring us back into communion with the spheres of light.

Consequently, our experience and appreciation of God is markedly different from the majority of the worlds out there. Being born on the wrong side of the cosmic tracks, as it were, we begin our cosmic adventure at what would seem a decided disadvantage. In many ways, the children of this world are born to a spiritual warzone – facing levels of poverty, desperation, and isolation that is in marked contrast with an average world. In a sense, we are like spiritual war orphans – cut off from, and deprived of the benefits of, sound direct celestial guidance. Now we face endless explosions of crisis and competing orders and conflicting priorities coming at us from every conceivable angle, disorienting, confusing and frightening us. Injustice, deception, and tragedy seem to proliferate. The corrupt seem to have the upper hand, and there appears to be no power on earth that can prevent them from enslaving the whole world. Finding God under such circumstances is quite the challenge. Consequently, the God we know and the God we need – is markedly different from the face with which He is more generally known throughout the galaxies. And those of us who succeed in finding the Creator under such difficult circumstances are, indeed, the Children of the Lesser Known God.

When our race on this troubled little sphere is run, the children of the far spreading household of Heaven will be intrigued and fascinated by our vision of the God who sustained us throughout these struggles. When our stories of salvation are heard on high His glory will be multiplied and amplified, as the universes learn that His light shines brightest in the darkest corners.

It required a great power, a mighty influence, to free the thinking and living of the Western peoples from the withering grasp of a totalitarian ecclesiastical domination. Secularism did break the bonds of church control, and now in turn it threatens to establish a new and godless type of mastery over the hearts and minds of modern man. The tyrannical and dictatorial political state is the direct offspring of scientific materialism and philosophic secularism. Secularism no sooner frees man from the domination of the institutionalized church than it sells him into slavish bondage to the totalitarian state. Secularism frees man from ecclesiastical slavery only to betray him into the tyranny of political and economic slavery. [195:8.4]

We know that Machiventa was the ‘mighty influence’ referred to above. I wonder if he would return to free the world from GLOBAL political tyranny and economic slavery? The thing is, if he is to wait his turn [and I can’t see that Michael would arbitrarily change the sequence of Planetary Governors] then he wouldn’t be due for another 500 years or so, which is a tad disappointing – no disrespect intended to the current Governors!

The Revelators continue:

Materialism denies God, secularism simply ignores him; at least that was the earlier attitude. More recently, secularism has assumed a more militant attitude, assuming to take the place of the religion whose totalitarian bondage it onetime resisted. Twentieth-century secularism tends to affirm that man does not need God. But beware! this godless philosophy of human society will lead only to unrest, animosity, unhappiness, war, and world-wide disaster. [195:8.5]

Although Jesus referred one phase of the kingdom to the future and did, on numerous occasions, intimate that such an event might appear as a part of a world crisis. [170:4.15]

I think that it is fair to say that we are witnessing the beginnings of the first man-made disaster of truly global proportions. The Melchizedeks are the Emergency Sons, always first on the scene to help salvage wayward planets from catastrophe. There certainly is room for speculation that such a global disaster, as we now face, could be sufficient to merit the attention of the Melchizedeks, and if they were to send any then why not the vice-gerent himself?

And when the kingdom shall have come to its full fruition, be assured that the Father in heaven will not fail to visit you with an enlarged revelation of truth and an enhanced demonstration of righteousness. [176:2.3]

I think we can all agree that the first part of the excerpt above as being the FER itself but the second element has not yet occurred and it would seem that this will be a response to the growing crisis. 195:9.3 ”times of great testing and threatened defeat are always times of great revelation.”

The Publication Mandate also speaks of how the book was sent ahead of time to be in readiness for the age following the global ideological struggle, when the world would [at last] be made safe for the teachings of Jesus. Implying that we live in a time in which it is not safe to be a believer and follower of Jesus. The next age, the so-called spiritual age, in which people will be striving for a quality of thought

We can see now that western civilisations have crumbled as a result of the leftist efforts at ideological subversion and this collapse will give birth to a global political tyranny that will weaponise economics and reduce the general population to economic slavery. It seems we need to “get out” before this all goes tits up. We are taught:

… an ideal society cannot be realized when either the weak or the wicked lie in wait to take unfair and unholy advantage of those who are chiefly actuated by devotion to the service of truth, beauty, and goodness. In such a situation only one course is practical: The "golden rulers" may establish a progressive society in which they live according to their ideals while maintaining an adequate defense against their benighted fellows who might seek either to exploit their pacific predilections or to destroy their advancing civilization.[71:4.16]

It seems to me that unless we ‘pull out’ we will sink along with it. But how do we withdraw? How do we establish a more progressive society?

The hope of modern Christianity is that it should cease to sponsor the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization while it humbly bows itself before the cross it so valiantly extols, there to learn anew from Jesus of Nazareth the greatest truths mortal man can ever hear—the living gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. [195:10.21]

The answer is there: cease to sponsor the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization. This would imply that we should sponsor something better.

The revelators tell us: If the Christian church would only dare to espouse the Master's program, thousands of apparently indifferent youths would rush forward to enlist in such a spiritual undertaking, and they would not hesitate to go all the way through with this great adventure. [195:10.10]

How many times have people asked what is the Master’s Program? What does he prescribe?

The answer is there: cease to sponsor the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization, establish a better social contract which exalts the Great Father, Family, and Fatherland, that promotes justice and eschews corruption, that fosters and protects freedom of thought and expression, and honours self-service.

In order to do this, we need a community of spiritual people who: “delight in bearing one another's burdens; [who] actually desire to practice the golden rule.” Who willingly and abundantly know how to bear the fruits of the spirit.

What could be meant by the “enhanced demonstration of righteousness” except a community who define themselves as distinct from the spiritually bankrupt elements of the western democracies, who reject “social system, the industrial life, and the moral standards of Western civilization” and who are dedicated to putting idealism back into science, principles into politics, exalt the pursuit of a noble character rather than the acquisition of mere knowledge, of imbuing industry with morality, that exalt service over selfishness, vilify wealth without work. A community dedicated to enabling others to achieve a ‘quality of thinking’ – which the current global struggles show us is running at a catastrophic low! The revelation teaches us that: At first life was a struggle for existence; now, for a standard of living; next it will be for quality of thinking, the coming earthly goal of human existence. [81:6.28] This community must surely be invested in facilitating this?

If Christianity could only grasp more of Jesus' teachings, it could do so much more in helping modern man to solve his new and increasingly complex problems. [195:10.19]

Between the glorification of service motives, the supernal allure of the ideals of perfection, and the enhancement of thinking I think we can see a way out.

Of course, they do teach that: Idealism can never survive on an evolving planet if the idealists in each generation permit themselves to be exterminated by the baser orders of humanity. And here is the great test of idealism: Can an advanced society maintain that military preparedness which renders it secure from all attack by its war-loving neighbors without yielding to the temptation to employ this military strength in offensive operations against other peoples for purposes of selfish gain or national aggrandizement? National survival demands preparedness, and religious idealism alone can prevent the prostitution of preparedness into aggression. Only love, brotherhood, can prevent the strong from oppressing the weak. [71:4.17]

It seems we need an Ark, an Exodus, or some other device that will allow us to come together and take shelter from the catastrophic cultural collapse that seems likely to befall the world.

You have to wonder what they really mean by “an ENHANCED demonstration of righteousness.” I imagine they could mean something like: the demonstration, by a collective, of a righteousness that has been enhanced through cosmic insight, revelation, and faith. This righteousness would have to be displayed by a community and be highly distinct from the trends of the dominant culture. Of course, it could mean something entirely different, for example, it could mean a demonstration of righteousness on the part of our divine overseers – maybe the hosts of heaven intervening to save the ‘elect’ [highly unlikely] or depose the wicked.

I thought it might be worth reflecting on a few of the times that the words enhance, enhanced, and enhancement are used:

194:3:3 (2063.1) The religion of Jesus provides the joy and peace of another and spiritual existence to enhance and ennoble the life which men now live in the flesh.

195:10:1 (2084.1) Jesus’ disciples should be more than conquerors, even overflowing sources of inspiration and enhanced living to all men.

196:3:27 (2096.3) Religion provides for the enhancement, glorification, and assured survival of everything morality recognizes and approves.

180:5:12 (1951.1) The old religion taught self-sacrifice; the new religion teaches only self-forgetfulness, enhanced self-realization in conjoined social service and universe comprehension.

181:2:19 (1959.3) Dedicate your lives to the enhancement of commonplace toil.

170:3:9 (1862.6) He taught that the religion of the kingdom is a genuine personal experience which no man can contain within himself; that the consciousness of being a member of the family of believers leads inevitably to the practice of the precepts of the family conduct, the service of one’s brothers and sisters in the effort to enhance and enlarge the brotherhood.

140:4:5 (1572.5) We are admonished to let our light so shine that our fellows will be guided into new and godly paths of enhanced living.

I would also like to point out this statement, which is repeated many times throughout the text:

71:3:7 (803.7) The laws of the ideal state are few in number, and they have passed out of the negativistic taboo age into the era of the positive progress of individual liberty consequent upon enhanced self-control.

Enhanced self-control is a significant theme throughout the revelation and is highlighted as a key feature of the ‘next age’. One has to wonder if there is a correlation between ‘enhanced demonstration of righteousness’ and these phrases littered throughout the text in which true religion enhances all key values.

These elements aside, I would like to offer this passage for your consideration – which lends some credence to the concept of divine intervention:

166:3.4 (1829.1) “But herein is the danger to all who would postpone their entrance into the kingdom while they continue to pursue the pleasures of immaturity and indulge the satisfactions of selfishness: Having refused to enter the kingdom as a spiritual experience, they may subsequently seek entrance thereto when the glory of the better way becomes revealed in the age to come. And when, therefore, those who spurned the kingdom when I came in the likeness of humanity seek to find an entrance when it is revealed in the likeness of divinity, then will I say to all such selfish ones: I know not whence you are. You had your chance to prepare for this heavenly citizenship, but you refused all such proffers of mercy; you rejected all invitations to come while the door was open. Now, to you who have refused salvation, the door is shut. This door is not open to those who would enter the kingdom for selfish glory. Salvation is not for those who are unwilling to pay the price of wholehearted dedication to doing my Father’s will. When in spirit and soul you have turned your backs upon the Father’s kingdom, it is useless in mind and body to stand before this door and knock, saying, ‘Lord, open to us; we would also be great in the kingdom.’ Then will I declare that you are not of my fold. I will not receive you to be among those who have fought the good fight of faith and won the reward of unselfish service in the kingdom on earth. And when you say, ‘Did we not eat and drink with you, and did you not teach in our streets?’ then shall I again declare that you are spiritual strangers; that we were not fellow servants in the Father’s ministry of mercy on earth; that I do not know you; and then shall the Judge of all the earth say to you: ‘Depart from us, all you who have taken delight in the works of iniquity.’

This passage seems to suggest the Kingdom being revealed to the world unexpectedly, and implies a divine order being established in the midst of regular affairs on earth. Further, this image implies some kind of judgement and rejection of the selfish and self-righteous [a Magisterial Mission perhaps], specifically the religious orders, in that it depicts individuals looking to come forward to offer their services and expecting recognition for the same only to be rejected and condemned. It specifically says that “you had your chance to prepare for this Heavenly citizenship”. Jesus here seems to suggest two periods, an initial phase in which the Kingdom is revealed in the likeness of humanity and a following age [after the first phase will have come to its ‘full fruition’] when the kingdom will be revealed in glory.

The event they are speaking of here cannot be the inauguration of the Age of Life and Light. That would be an expected event, one which the whole world would be prepared for and ready to celebrate - as it would come at the end of the age of the Trinity Teacher Sons and signalise the final victory of good over evil. The event being alluded to here must necessarily precede the age of Light and Life because the wicked are still active in the world. In light of this, I can point to a great many of the ‘unexpected visit’ parables to which Jesus often referred. These correlations would suggest our unseen celestial brethren will at some point take decisive action to reveal themselves and in some manner reassert control over planetary affairs or, at the very least, interpose a visible ruler through which our connection with the divine administration can be resumed and that final authority during such an event could be invested in a Magisterial Son. However, such an idea is also in keeping with the one put forward by Jesus in which the Melchizedek Messiah steps forward to assume planetary responsibility.

However, a couple of things make me pause for thought: 176:2:6 (1915.3) “Likewise, when the world has passed through the long winter of material-mindedness and you discern the coming of the spiritual springtime of a new dispensation, should you know that the summertime of a new visitation draws near.” And also the following: “195:6:4 (2076.9) At the time of this writing the worst of the materialistic age is over; the day of a better understanding is already beginning to dawn. The higher minds of the scientific world are no longer wholly materialistic in their philosophy, but the rank and file of the people still lean in that direction as a result of former teachings.”

These statements seem like they should correlate with one another, and also with the statements regarding the disastrous outcomes of secular totalitarianism. While the world has definitely improved economically over the last 60 year I am not at all convinced that this momentum can be maintained; life and culture are subject to radical reversals and current actions by those in authority are such as will reduce the world to slavery as a result of the fact that the general quality of thinking is so poor. Personally, I find it hard to accept that the ‘worst of the materialistic age is over’ but, of course, the writers are looking at this from a very different perspective. During the 1930’s such a claim might have been tenable, when theologians, scientists, and philosophers could make headline news, but I ain’t feeling it in the 2020’s! It may be that the present materialism has just reached its apogee.

I guess the key takeaways from this article are:

• The times of global political tyranny [evisceration of all fundamental rights and constitutions] and economic slavery [complete economic dependence on oligarchs] are upon us
• This should precipitate a global spiritual reaction
• This should manifest in either a new spiritual community evolving as a sort of cultural Ark through which we can weather the storm and/or divine intervention in the re-establishment of a visible ruler, possibly a Melchizedek but more likely a Magisterial Son