Opening Letter:
In 1968 as the United States was celebrating its 192nd birthday, there was turmoil throughout the country with the assassinations of both Dr. Martin Luther King and Senator Bobby Kennedy as well as the police action at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and a raging war in Vietnam..
In the midst of this, a middle aged couple arrived in Sacramento CA to file papers to bring the Holy Order of MANS into the physical world. They were simple servants, but each had the gift of wisdom which we know comes from within. In the few short years the HOOM existed as a physical entity, there was much accomplished in bringing peace and harmony to a troubled nation, moving forward through almost impossible odds.
At the time of Father Paul’s passing the HOOM was in every state as well as numerous nations throughout the world. He and Mother Ruth brought many who were in darkness into the Light–doing so by calling on the Master Jesus to lead them.
Fifty years later, as we celebrate the birth of this Order, we find ourselves again at a crossroad in our nation, as the Light increases and brings out the darkness; it is the Christ that continues to guide and direct us if we are willing and open to listen. The distractions of the year 1968 did not deter Father Paul and Mother Ruth from carrying out the will of the Master; and the fruits of their labors are evident in those that carry that Light without being distracted. Happy Birthday Holy Order of MANS, the form has changed, but its function remain the same. Rev. Donald Slakie
When you let go of who you are, you become who you might be. – Rumi
From Father Paul: February 9, 1974
This morning I’m going to take a couple of passages from the Book of Judgment. One of the things that we need to learn these days because of the difficulties and the things that are going on in the purging of the world – the purging of the world is no different than the purging of a man himself – is the learning to be willing to judge correctly. This does not mean just judging someone else. That means judging yourself. For judging yourself is a much more difficult job, one might say, than judging someone else. But this is not entirely true, because we get in the habit of looking at the face of someone, and as long as he’s not broken out with a lot of pimples and some sort of a rash, why, you’d say he looks pretty healthy. Well, I’ve seen a great many people who were ill, and a lot of them looked extremely healthy. And judging yourself – and the Father says, or Jesus said this:
“For if thou misjudge thyself, surely thy judgment shall come upon thee and hold thee.”
Well, this is true, because of course it is your word and you have made the decision and therefore you are going to live by it. If you do not look surely upon yourself and see yourself as others see you – no, I can’t say that can I? – see yourself as the Master sees you, then you surely will be misjudging yourself. Because as you look at yourself it is few people that would dare to look at themselves truly, because what they would see would surely not be what they wish other people to see.
We – one of the greatest businesses in the world is cosmetics, at least dollarwise, and this is so to keep other people from really seeing you as you see yourself in the morning. If you misjudge yourself, you are declaring what you are going to be, and you are surely going to be just that, what your judgment is. If you think that you are solid and you are deciding that you’re going to be solid, you are going to be solid and you’re not going to be easily moved, you are not going to be flexible with the Spirit. Somehow or other, people have gotten – I know how the phrase is used, but we’ve gotten to think of people as needing to be good solid individuals. Well, that’s what’s given me most of my trouble in this order is good solid individuals. They’re so darn solid that they can’t move when the Spirit comes to them, and that’s what’s wrong with them. For the solid individual has his mind all made up and he is so dense that he isn’t conscious of the Spirit when it does move.
Another little statement by our Lord:
“Treat ye with kindness all that earth puts in your charge, for thou are lord and master of my animals.”
You know, that carries two connotations. “Treat ye with kindness all that earth puts in your charge”. Well, you can be in charge of the earth and take care of the trees, and take care of the water, and try to take care of the air and the minerals and things of the earth. “For thou are lord and master of the animals.” Well, you see he knew that we couldn’t very well become lord and master of anything living much higher than that, because to be lord and master of yourself, to really, truly have self-mastery, that’s asking a lot and that’s a special condition, because most people have no, absolutely no mastery of themselves because in the first place they don’t know themselves.
As we were just talking about judgment, and these two statements certainly live together. You’re not master of yourself, usually, because you don’t know yourself, because you’re not able to judge yourself. And what’s more you, most of the time don’t want to judge yourself because then you’d have to do a lot of things that you don’t want to do. So you see these two statements of our Lord certainly come together, and they certainly work together.
There’s a very interesting thing, and this sort of goes along with the first statement: “if you misjudge yourself surely thy judgment shall come upon thee.” You know, the place that I like to meet a man is when he’s alone; and I mean there’s no one else in the room. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? How did I meet him when nobody else was in the room? Well, it’s only when he’s alone that I can really know and really tell what he’s like, because this really shows his state of development, state of living, the conditions under which he thinks and what he really is, what his life really is. Because it is only when he is alone, usually, that he is not acting to satisfy someone else or to not be misjudged or to try to show your “putting his best foot forward”, is one of the common terms or statements. “I would like to look like this. I want to be this, and so I assume this role,” and all of these statements. So honesty is not considered the best policy, is it? Really, honestly down deep we don’t consider honesty the best policy.
You know, very often you hear and you listen to someone describing a book and all that sort of thing, oh, how beautiful it is, and it’s beautiful poetry and all that sort of thing, and people have an appreciation for poetry and I think it’s wonderful. But really, how many times have you looked at that man or that woman, that person, and know that they would rather be reading a dime novel than they would have been reading what they were talking about. Because down deep you knew that individual really did not enjoy what they were reading but they were reading it because it was a good thing to read. That’s when I can tell, when I’m alone with a man, alone, when he is alone, where he stands, where he stands with the Bible, where he stands with the teachings of Jesus Christ. And where he stands with himself. Because as he stands with himself, so does he stand with Jesus Christ, and that is his true life.
This is the way – of course, it isn’t everyone that’s able to watch somebody when they’re alone, but it can be done. But this shows his life, his way and his approach to life. It shows whether he prefers the Testament to a novel, or whether he prefers a few moments of prayer to a cup of coffee. These are rather – these are things that you can enjoy, but where is your preference? Where is your preference?
“Act ye”, note: “Act ye accordingly [in accord] with the life which you lead.” Act according to the way you live. In other words, don’t act at all. “For a false act in life is like a false finger; it gaineth thee nothing.” Because it is not going to impress anybody that is able to see. And because you have assumed a role does not make you that, and people are not entirely blind. “Act ye accordingly with life which ye lead, for a false act in life is like a false finger; it gaineth thee nothing.” In other words, you can’t bend it, you can’t use it, it won’t work. It won’t work and neither will the false act work. It is too evident. It is too evident, and if anybody thinks that they are gaining something by putting on a false face, they are greatly mistaken in an organization such as this, because you’re going to a lot of work for nothing, because it means nothing.
And you see, he has quoted here about four quotations which are all interlocked because one leads to the other. One act leads to the other, and it shows to us the real reality and gain that we can get through living the words of the Master in a true life.
You know, some way or other, many people, many brothers and sisters, when they come in the order have some idea … (it wouldn’t be bad if you’d wake up. You might hear something.) …have some idea that they’re all supposed to look like saints and they try to put on this act. Don’t do it. What if I was to come up to you and demand that you obey like a saint? Hm, that would be kind of a sad story, wouldn’t it? You want to look out; I’m liable to catch you someday in that situation. No, be obedient; don’t act like that that you are not, and you’ll find that you’ll soon get rid of that which you are not, and become that which the Master is looking for. Because your acting takes up too much time and gains you nothing, like the false finger.
Did you ever stop to think what it would be like if you’d just behave like you are? How easy it would be for a priest or teacher to straighten things out? Be quite easy. And after all, in the ultimate, any teacher that is going to be fooled by what you put on hasn’t graduated yet, that’s for sure. Be yourself and enjoy your life and let the words of the Master change you. Let the power of the Spirit change you; and it will. And this is an excellent thing to take a good look at, and don’t try to impress people with something that is not real.
I’ve seen brothers and I’ve seen sisters here, priests too, that are always giving off some very beautiful words of folderol, just beautiful folderol, that’s all it is. It’s about as phony as a three-dollar bill. The Master spoke very simply because he wanted people to understand him. But of course if you haven’t got it and you don’t know, then you’ll try to feed people these beautiful words, because that will help to confuse them. They won’t be able to judge you. That’s what it amounts to, just exactly what it amounts to.
Now this, I’m not talking about such people as some of the great poets and that. That’s a different thing. Poetry is strictly poetry; but words that do not come from within you, words that are not really yours, they are not a part of your life and your breath, and they are an act, are merely the food of evil, and that evil is what’s keeping you from being what you really are supposed to be, because you are feeding lies and falsity, and you therefore have it breed within you.
I have seen people in my life – I won’t say they’re here though, but I have seen people and I’ve known a couple of them, worked with them in fact, who just could not tell the truth. It is given a name in psychiatry, but they couldn’t tell the truth. They got so in the habit of lying that no matter what you said, they had to change it to something else before they repeated it, and they’d say, “You said that”. Now of course this wasn’t true. Then we have the other one that doesn’t say that you said it, but he can’t repeat anything either because he’s got to get his three cents in – and that condition we do have. Most of you people are really genuine and sincere, that’s for sure. But learn to repeat the Master’s words, learn to say it just as he said it. Learn to be able to teach other people as he said it, not what you want to say. Learn to teach the lesson as it was taught, not what you want to say. Then you can tell the person what they need afterward.
You see, this is all, these are all things where you’ve got to get your three cents in and make it a little different at the expense of somebody else and their teaching, their desire to know. So throw away the false fingers, teach the truth as it is and you’ll have no more troubles with meeting people squarely, honestly. You’ll have nothing to remember that you have to do this or that because that will be just you, and you haven’t got to cover it up. You haven’t got to remember what you said because there’s only one way to say it.
You know, a person that gets to be dishonest with their speech – and that’s what it is – it’s a real difficult thing because he always has to remember how he said it the last time, and personally, I’m not going to worry about that. I’m just going to say it.
Throw away your false fingers, throw away your false faces. Live your life in the image of Christ.
ALL IN ORDER
The Universe is an orderly system. Could we survive if it were not? “Let all things be done rightly and in order,” that is, in their ordained sequence. In any consideration of taking things in order, God comes first. “Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and all these things shall be added unto you.” And “Ye shall have no other gods before me.”
In this He meant more than people usually think, because they tend to make gods out of many things, emotions, possessions, or persons that they put before their Creator. If you put Him first, He will begin the process of seeing that your life is put in proper order.
Give him first place in your time schedule too. He should be the first to consult on any problem, and the first to thank or give glory to when you have cause to rejoice. He is the first to turn loving thoughts toward on waking, and the first resort in all things.
Some people feel they cannot do anything spiritual until they have set their lives in order materially, but they are doing everything backward when they think they have to wait until they have more time, or the children grow up, or they are financially secure.
There is no such thing as material security or guaranteed spare time in the future. You have to start now with what you have and what you have to offer. The widow’s mite was worth more than the rich man’s gold because it was given now with total devotion, not when she could better afford it. Money is far from the most important thing you can give, but it serves as an example.
If you would become a Son of God, then acknowledge the first Son whose mediation paved the way for you to obtain Grace.
Honor your parents too, whether or not their lives flow in the same direction as yours, lest you refuse your own life by denying the channel through which it flowed.
If you are in a position of authority, you may find it avails nothing unless you acknowledge the higher authority which conferred it upon you, or makes it possible.
Assume that we have now put things in order within ourselves; as the inmost in due time becomes the outmost already things are taking a turn for the better.
You must not only glorify God, but do things to serve Him. You are His hands on earth. And you must make moves to rectify some of the snarls in your life. Wherever you are do what you can, not to show off nor try to be a great hero, but simply what you can.
Then last but not least, set your own house literally in order. Unless you have built up your atmosphere to perfection, living in confused or chaotic surroundings cannot help but rub off somewhat on those continually exposed to them.
If you do what you can with what you have, and make no excuses as “if only I had this, I could do that”, you will find that each effort directed toward bringing order in your life will result in enlarged opportunities to do still more.
If you have not a house, start on your room, and if no room, start with your bed, or books, or table, and your own person to establish neatness. One need not make a fetish of it, nor a god. This is just common sense and clear patterns for living. And it works both ways — from the inside out, and from the outside in.
“Keep the Father, then Christ, then Christ Jesus, Lord of Earth, in your consciousness at all times — then the Holy Spirit will be with you always.” -RMB
We will all be strangers, sometime
The Bible affirms – strongly and unequivocally – the obligation to treat strangers with dignity and hospitality. In the Hebrew Bible, the words “gûr” and “gēr” are the ones most glossed over as referring to the “stranger,” though they are also translated as “newcomer” and “alien” or “resident alien,” respectively. In the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the word “gēr” appears almost 50 times, and the fifth book, Deuteronomy, delineates a number of specific provisions for treating “the stranger” not just with courtesy but also with active support and provision. For example, the book of Deuteronomy sets out the requirement that a portion of produce be set aside by farmers every third year for strangers, widows and orphans. In the “temple sermon” attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, the Jewish people are exhorted to “not oppress the sojourner.”… Of course, the Israelites themselves were strangers during their enslavement in Egypt and captivity in Babylon. The Hebrew Bible recognizes that every one of us can be a stranger and, for that very reason, we need to overcome our fear of those who live among us whom we do not know. The stranger is Jesus in disguise Within the New Testament, which Christians read in continuity with the Hebrew Bible or “The Old Testament,” the most often cited passage dealing with welcoming the stranger is from Matthew 25: 31-40. Christ says to those at his right hand that they are “blessed” because “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” The righteous then ask,“When did we see you, a stranger, and welcome you?” Christ replies,“‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” As Matthew 25 makes clear, the Christians should see everyone as “Christ” in the flesh. Indeed, scholars argue that in the New Testament, “stranger” and “neighbor” are in fact synonymous. Thus the Golden Rule, “love your neighbor as yourself,” refers not just to people whom you know – your “neighbors” in a conventional sense – but also to people whom you do not know. Beyond this, in the letters written by Paul of Tarsus (one of the most notable of early Christian missionaries), often known as the Pauline “Epistles,” it is made clear that in Christ,“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[g] nor free, there is no male and female.” From this perspective, being “one in Christ” should be taken literally as acknowledging no fundamental differences in kind among human beings.
The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
-Rumi
Medicinal Mushrooms: Chaga Rather than soft like most mushrooms, chaga is hard, almost as hard as wood… Known by the Siberians as the “Gift from God” and the “Mushroom of Immortality,” this vibrant growth has been used by humans to support health for thousands of years. The Japanese call it “The Diamond of the Forest,” while the Chinese deem it “King of Plants To survive in harsh climates, chaga concentrates natural compounds for its protection, and that is why it is so powerful. To strengthen the tree, as well as heal, it makes potent phytochemicals, including sterols, phenols, and enzymes. Researchers have inoculated sick trees with chaga to strengthen them. People benefit by consuming these forest-source phytochemicals and nutrients.
Nutrient dense Chaga is powerful, because it contains the nutrients—the force of actual trees. Because of their special, biologically potent substances, trees live long, far longer than herbs. Some trees live as long as 10,000 years or more. Thus, they are the most powerful living beings in the world. Concentrating this power, chaga contains numerous B vitamins, flavonoids, phenols, minerals, and enzymes. It is also one of the world’s densest sources of pantothenic acid, and this vitamin is needed by the adrenal glands as well as digestive organs. It also contains riboflavin and niacin in significant amounts.
Chaga contains wild-source minerals and is particularly high in copper, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and iron. Yet, its most potent ingredient is a special substance known as superoxide dismutase (SOD). This is an enzyme with great potency. Its function is to halt oxidation, especially the toxicity of a free radical known as singlet oxygen. This is the type of oxygen which is responsible for oxidizing and damaging the tissues, which results in aging. It is the same oxygen which rusts a nail. SOD blocks this damage by quenching the singlet oxygen free radical. The SOD content per gram of chaga is exceedingly high and accounts for many of its historical powers.
Gone From My Sight
I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze,
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch her until she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says: “There! She’s gone!”
Gone where? Gone from my sight – that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side,
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the place of her destination.
Her diminished size is in me, and not in her.
And just at the moment
when someone at my side says: “There! She’s gone!”
there are other eyes that are watching for her coming;
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:
“There she comes!”
Rev. Luther Beecher (1813-1903), cousin of Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe