THE ETERNAL SEARCH FOR GOD (5)
We of the mundane world are standing in front of another sphere where there is Being, Power and Justice; where there are no limiting factors as Time, Space or Plurality. Only Pattern exists. The Pattern itself has power and the God of this Creation is Pattern. Beyond this is a third sphere without form, where one can no longer speak even about Being; where the nearest word we can use is Will. There is a Sphere of Will that is not involved in Being, not involved in any particular Pattern or Purpose and not involved with achieving anything. All of this is beyond our understanding, but what is not beyond our understanding is that this sphere is so completely free that it is not subject to the laws of cause and effect, and it is able to override karma. This allows for the possibility for interventions of a certain kind, in which the consequences of normal action are averted.
Sacred Images arise from these incarnations. The Sacred Mission is the only thing that can give us hope in the present situation of our race on Earth. It is apparent to everybody that if we were subject entirely to the laws of justice and cause and effect, we should be heading for destruction. For it would be impossible for man so completely to disregard his obligations on this Earth and not suffer retribution, if there were not for a Higher Compassion.
If the third sphere exists, it is from this Source that Compassion must come. For it is only from this Source that salvation can arise, where the consequences of destructive actions can be averted and the world given a new start. As students of the Work, contacting this Source through development of our Sacred Image is our duty and it is towards this end that we should pray and meditate. When we pray and meditate, we are creating our own Sacred Image because doing otherwise is impossible since we are dealing with subjects beyond our intellectual understanding. Each and every time we enter into communion with the Celestial Sanctum, we add light, life and love to our Sacred Image.
As you can see, creating a working Sacred Image is our Holy Chore and is the real purpose behind our years of Rosicrucian study. From the above we see that intellectual effort must be expended to create a Sacred Image. But the existence of a static image is insufficient, to be of use to ourselves and our fellow travelers our images must be imbibed with life and love. In other words, we must use the faculties of our higher emotional centers to make our Sacred Images dynamic and purposeful. When this is done, the real power of the Divine will come into the Image and make it Live.
This concept was appreciated by the Ancient Egyptians who understood that the stone and metal statues of their deities, an intellectual creation, could be infused by the Light, Life and Love of the deity through conscious effort, focused attention and emotional intent. These Holy Relics represented to the Egyptian priests an objective presentation of the mental and emotional Sacred Images we have been discussing.
Therefore, let us now spend some time showing how our mentally created Sacred Images can be made to live through our higher emotions. Providing emotional life to our Sacred Images is a simple matter and occurs whenever we allow ourselves to experience the Love of God. Such events can happen in meditation, in sincere selfless service or from listening with our hearts to stories of high purpose. Let me give you some examples.