Written in 2013 by Rev. James Kalstad,—well worth repeating:
Memories
Just a few days before my beloved brother went through transition in an automobile accident, the two of us had an unbelievable flight in a vintage WWII aircraft. He looked at me and said “Life is about Memories”. It had never dawned upon me the scope of his statement until a few days later when his physical presence was so abruptly taken from me. It was so great a loss.
One of the first recorded statements of the Buddha after his Illumination under the bodhi tree, was that “All Life is sorrowful “. It is sorrowful because with life there is always death, and loss. We simply can not have one without the other. All things in the phenomenal universe come in pairs of opposites, and shall pass in time . Consequently our participation in life ultimately brings sorrow. There is however an antidote to this situation in a little Buddhist story of a man who went to a doctor in the hopes of finding a cure for his great sickness. He told the doctor of his great sorrow. The doctor said, I can help you !! The cure for your sorrow is nirvana.
Nirvana is that psychological state that transcends all pairs of opposites. However it is much more: It is the taking on of the Mind of Christ.
A Bodhisattva in the Buddhist tradition, is one who has attained enlightenment and nirvanic bliss and has chosen the path of “The Joyful participation in the sorrows of the world” rather than complete release from this world of polar opposites; thus he has chosen to return to function through the heart center and thus has one foot in the world, the other in eternity. In our western traditions we might say that he/she has taken on the mind of Christ, as we must do also. Christ consciousness indeed extends Beyond all categories of knowledge and thought and logic.
As I continue upon the path, and enter the later stages of this great life cycle, I revel in the treasure trove of rich memories I have been given; many of which for me seem to transcend time and space. Likewise, I believe the memories we have all been given are indeed dynamic and eternal and glorify our Creator. They continue to work their alchemy in this world and the world to come.
This new solar cycle renders once again many great opportunities for us all to bring to the forefront of our consciousness the living dynamic memories of our journey, and that of the Cosmic Christ. I do believe we have been specially blessed on our path with the vision, experience and remembrance of the Holiness and glory of our great Spiritual Brotherhood.
Might all of our sorrows and Joys, be lifted up into the radiance by our crystal clear memories of our Lord Jesus Christ as he overcame the world on Calvary.
Thank-you Jesus.
Rev. James Kalstad
“Jesus stands at the door knocking (Rev. 3:20). In total reality, he comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help. He confronts you in every person that you meet. As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbor, as the one through whom God calls you, speaks to you, makes demands on you. That is the great seriousness and great blessedness of the Advent message. Christ is standing at the door; he lives in the form of a human being among us.
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is In the Manger
From Father Paul:
Book of Activity December 1, 1973
This morning I’m going to take our lesson from the fourth chapter of the Book of Activity, and beginning with the first verse:
“For let it be known that I, the Master Jesus, do hereby declare that no more shall the sorrows of the past age be celebrated, but the victory.”
It is the time and it is appropriate, and it is something which we must get used to, is the accepting, the celebrating and the acting in accordance with the victory; because we will be and we are being victorious over the darkness and those that promote it and promulgate it. We are not his emissaries of sorrow. We are his emissaries of victory, for we are going to change the source of that wisdom which shall bring the Christ and the light of the Christ to man. We are not here as, you might say, missionaries to convert everybody. We are not particularly – we are not too much interested really in whether you’re Mohammedan or whether you’re Buddhists, but we are interested in whether you have the light of the Christ; and this is our purpose. And in this we are going to be victorious. In this we hold the rod of power and the Word to bring it into existence. We are coming into the time of worship, adoration, and we are going to celebrate those things which were considered the time of sorrow, but we are not going to celebrate them as a sad thing.
There’s a difference between those things which are sorrowful and those things which are sad. A sad thing is when we have defeat. A sorrowful thing is something that you go through and experience that isn’t always what you would call a joyful thing, from the standpoint of the world as it looks upon it, but it contains within it the victory. And that’s what we’re going to celebrate in this coming six months is the victory of Christ over the darkness, the wrongdoing and the misconceptions of the world, of those people who have not been brought into the knowledge and the wisdom of our Creator. We are going to try to bring this about so that these people will not have the suffering that they have had right along. We are going to attempt to bring the light to them, and we are going to – if they wish to accept it – and we’re going to bring enough of it so that they’re going to have to make that decision one way or another. It will be their time of decision, and it is almost the same as, you might say, the beginning of a judgment, but we are not going to personally have that to do. They will be their own judges.
It brings a great deal of satisfaction to me this morning to be able to bring this message. I have avoided it for a long time, I guess unconsciously; it probably wasn’t the time. But I want to bring it also in a personal way. Instead of your going through all those sort of changes, and all these sometimes miseries, you might say, and as they used to call them when you had some slight illness, a cold or something like that, you had “the miseries”. You didn’t have a cold, you had the miseries. And that’s an old southern expression, in fact, if I remember correctly. Well, we just don’t want any more miseries! We are not going to have the miseries. We’re going to have the victory, and that’s where we’re going to watch for from now on. This to me is a, this is a chapter of the book that’s totally dedicated to victory, getting things done and going on and doing the next.
“But you shall celebrate the victory of my Father through the Christos.”, through the great Christ.
The fact that His source and power and His love is becoming victorious through the Christ, the great Christ, and through our Lord Jesus who took upon this great mission and brought the atonement to us, this is what we are especially going to think of during this coming six months. Because if we get to be victory-minded we can’t help but draw to us those who would walk that path and don’t mind being happy. Because there are so many people that just can’t stand to be successful, you know, and that’s one thing they’re going to have to learn to do in this order. They’re going to have to learn to be victorious. They’re going to have to learn to be happy and like it. And this sounds strange, but it is not. It is a reality that they have been with the sorrows in the past age so much, in the Piscean age, that these have gotten to be a habit with them.
You see somebody get up in the morning and if they’re very close in the house or where you’re living, and the first thing they do is kind of open one eye and then they look at you, you know, and you say, “Well, good morning, John. How are you this morning?” and they say, “Uh, pretty good.” What a way to start the day.
“For wouldst thou give unto man defeat when the first-begotten Son of God returns this day?” And you know this little passage here is pretty good, a pretty potent thing. “For wouldst thou give unto man defeat when the first-begotten Son of God returns this day?” In other words, if you were to see the great power descending, of the Christ, and Jesus the emissary was to appear in some form, I don’t know what form, but was to appear, would you teach sadness, would you teach defeat, would you teach sorrow?
Well, I can remember back quite a few years ago when the end of the second world war people just went wild in the streets because the war was finished. Now, this was a victory. Not the kind that we’re looking for, but it was a victory and they were joyous over it. Now I wonder what kind of joy and celebration that we can key ourselves to in this day. We have gotten to the point where it doesn’t bother us too much to look happy, anyway. Now I wonder how far and how deep that is within us, that same happiness; and is it just a facial expression that we’ve gotten? Well, that’s better than the other, that I grant you, but let’s get it down a little deeper than that and let us look forward to that one point, and that reality of victory.
“For thou livest with the shadows of my being, and I do glorify my Father as I did in the days of old.” I think we ought to think of that a little bit: “For thou livest with the shadow of my being, and I do glorify my Father as I did in the days of old.”
Now what is a shadow? A shadow is an image that is created by some object or some force through having the light shine upon it and leaving a space where the light does not show. The light does not show, but all around it and beyond it the light is, but in that shadow you have exactly the image of that which is standing between you and the source of the light. Well, now, that’s all right with me if the Christ or the Father’s shadow – I can stand in the shadow of the Father, I think that’s getting pretty close, because if I can see His image I’m going to be in pretty good shape. I’m not going to be worried at all. For this is the way, in long years gone past, we took people with us, our squires and our people, into battle. They always stood your back so that you could, they could work and operate and fight in your shadow, because you were a trained one for battle. It’s always nice to have somebody at your back anyway.
“For thou livest with the shadow of my being.” In other words, it’s getting pretty close now. “And I do glorify my Father,” and he’s talking about himself, the Master Jesus Christ. “As I did in the days of old.” In other words, we are coming into the days of miracles, to the days of the wonders of his emissary, our Lord Jesus.
“For wouldst thou have me belittle my Master and great Lord from whom I took my power?” In other words, the Master is saying to us, “I, too, have a Master; it is my Father in heaven. And wouldst you have me not glorify Him so I get in the way of my plans to bring Him greater glory, greater joy, and greater experience through these people here on earth? For I came to earth bringing His glory and His power with me, and if you’ll just help me so that I can fulfill this, what I started on Calvary, this will bring the victory which we are seeking.”
“Wouldst thou now defeat my work and my gift I gave to you on Calvary?”
He’s saying: “Are you going to take advantage of the atonement? Are you going to take advantage of the confessional? Are you going to take advantage of the power and the Word which I gave to you, and the gifts? For these are the things which I brought with me from my Father in heaven. Wouldst thou now defeat my work when I have gotten it this far? And my gifts I gave you on Calvary? I gave them to you, now all you’ve got to do is use them. You don’t have to create them, you don’t have to bring them into existence; they’re there. You’ve got them. I’ve given them to you. They’re there for you to use. They’re there for you to give thanks to the Father in heaven for that which He permitted me to bring to you as a gift.”
For as a little very interesting little thing here: when Jesus was born, the Wise Men, the three great kings, brought to him gifts. And when he came to earth, he brought gifts of the great King. Very interesting parallel, for he gave to us all the gifts that his Father had given him, and some more, some more. For he said, “ Of all these things which I do, so shall ye do also, and even greater than these.” So he did bring to us not only the gifts that he was endowed with, but others from his Father. And these gifts are up to us to use so that he can fulfill this mission which he has taken upon himself.
“Gifts which I gave to you on Calvary.” See, he had to let go of all of these things. He gave them in the upper room just before he left for Calvary, but he had to let go of all these things himself because he was going to, he was returning to another level of operation where these gifts were not really essential. So he left them for us to use. He told us about them. He showed us all through the Testament how they operated and how they could be used, and now he is telling us and giving to us the opportunity of total victory over ourselves. And this is the thing which many – this very simple thing that many fail to recognize. It’s the total victory over ourselves because when we are victorious over that we are victorious over all.
“For it shall be set in the records of this holy order …” What, the Holy Order of Mans? No, this holy order, “the Way of glory!” This is the Way. “I am the Way.” The Way of glory, glory unto the Creator, that each one as they enter that Way, as they take up that Way, they are victorious over themselves. They are the possessors of the light. They are the possessors of the Christ. They are the possessors of the tools. They have been taught to use them. They have been taught to use them. They have been taught how to use them for him, to bring this glory to earth. They have been taught how to use the tools, if they have listened, to straighten out the troubles of earth and to teach his little ones, his elite and those outside, the Way of Life, the Path of glory.
“For it shall be set in the records of this holy order the Way of glory.”
This is the path of victory, not of defeat. This is the path of light, not of sorrow. This is the path of joy, not of sadness.
Go ye forth and let nothing stand in your way.
In Easter HOOM, 1972, Father Paul wrote this letter,
Which is applicable to the aging of our bodies, beyond the cleansings and “miseries” he talked about. Reprinted here for spiritual food for thought:
“As we approach Easter and the resurrection of our Lord, its celebration and the reliving of this symbolism, that it may be so thoroughly inculcated into the mind of man and once again the power and the life blood of our Lord Jesus Christ will flow into the earth more potently, and into us so that we may truly attain the atonement—this is a glorious thing.
But it is a part of the story which is not spoken of so much which holds a great principle that is so needed in our life as brothers and sister and priests in this Order. And this principle was shown as Jesus demonstrated when He was on the cross.
Even in the act of this great “letting go,” so to speak, and while he was suffering the agonies of death, He still took note of those who came to the cross, of his friends, his relatives and anyone that was about.
As we go through the initiations life experiences in this Holy Order, and as we might go through a cleansing of our physical bodies or some self imposed sacrifice at this season of the year, let us demonstrate this principle with the attitude which Jesus demonstrated by our cheerfulness and the showing of the taking notice of our brothers and sisters in our daily associations and life in the Order.
Because we are having a spiritual experience which has some physical discomfort, let us not try to impose our own, shall we say, crucifixion upon others and their lives. But let us through the milk of human kindness be cheerful and compatible and we would find that our brothers about us and sisters would be very helpful in helping to bolster our morale if we would give cheer and kindness to those around us.
Jesus said it when He said what have you to do with me, woman? In other words, you need not suffer just because I now suffer…I am accomplishing that which I came for; therefore, why not be joyous? Why be sad?
Oft times the brothers and sisters remind me of the Pharisees who fast with much lamentation as told in the Testament, to make sure that others take note that he fasted—and this is not a good way in which to get the greatest spiritual value for ourselves in the act which we are performing and which is helpful to our brother.
Of you must have cleansings and certain persecutions of the flesh, let us do it with great joy, that we may be able to be happy and help others to be happy. Let this be our gift to the brothers for the sake of our serve to our Lord Jesus Christ.. Yours Very Truly, Father Blighton”
Reading by the Brothers: (Easter Service)
Hail to Thee, oh Lord of earth.
Hail to the Mother most illustrious
Who watches over its birth.
Blessed are we his children of light,
Taught in the school of rebirth and right,
Raised to the level above the angels,
To enjoy all heavens here on earth.
Gospel: St John Chapter 20
To be read by the Priest attending: IT IS THROUGH THE ATONEMENT WHICH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST HAS GIVEN US BY HIS RESURRECTION, AND THE VICTORY OVER DEATH THAT WE COME THIS MORNING WITH JOY AND THANKSGIVING. THROUGH FAITH IN THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM, WE OPEN THE WAY TO THE UNIVERSAL LIFE, AND HAVE THE CHOICE TO SEEK THE ILLUMINATION AND THE TRUE CHRIST LIGHT.
IT IS THROUGH THIS RESURRECTION THAT WE KNOW THAT WE TOO MAY PASS THROUGH THE FIREY BODY OF EARTH AND ATTAIN THE BODY OF LIGHT AND JOIN THE HOSTS ABOVE.
TO THE FATHER AND TO THE CHRISTOS AND TO THE LORD CHRIST JESUS HERE.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
On Saturday morning, December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, a peasant of Aztec ancestry who had converted to Christianity, was on his way to church to participate in the Mass of the Immaculate Conception. As he reached Tepeyac Hill, he heard beautiful music and a voice calling out his name. A beautiful young woman appeared to him (later described as the woman clothed with the sun)and pregnant with the baby Jesus) She instructed Juan Diego to go to the house of Bishop Juan de Zumárraga and to request that a chapel be built in her honor on Tepeyac Hill. With trepidation at her request and his lowly status, Juan Diego went to the bishop’s house.
He was received with skepticism regarding his story of the apparitiTHE JEWISH PEOPLE CELEBRATED PASSOVER WHEN THE LORD PASSED OVER THE ISRAELITES, WHEN THEY PUT THE LAMB’S BLOOD ON THE DOOR.
LIKEWISE THE SELF-SACRIFICE OF THE CHRIST IS THE PROTECTION FOR ALL PEOPLE WHEN THEY RECEIVE HIM.
Verse
I AROSE AND STILL I AM WITH YOU. YOU REST YOUR HANDS UPON ME. YOUR KNOWLEDGE IS TOO WONDERFUL. GLORY
Our Lady of Guadalupe
On Saturday morning, December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, a peasant of Aztec ancestry who had converted to Christianity, was on his way to church to participate in the Mass of the Immaculate Conception. As he reached Tepeyac Hill, he heard beautiful music and a voice calling out his name. A beautiful young woman appeared to him (later described as the woman clothed with the sun, and pregnant with the baby Jesus) She instructed Juan Diego to go to the house of Bishop Juan de Zumárraga and to request that a chapel be built in her honor on Tepeyac Hill. With trepidation at her request and his lowly status, Juan Diego went to the bishop’s house.
.He was received with skepticism regarding his story of the apparition and of our Blessed Mother’s request. The bishop told him that he would consider the matter.
On Juan Diego’s return home, the Blessed Mother appeared to him for the second time. Disappointed that he had failed in his mission, he asked Our Lady of Guadalupe to send a more esteemed messenger to the bishop, so that he would believe the message. Our Blessed Mother instructed Juan Diego to return to the bishop with her request.
The third apparition took place on December 10. Juan Diego had gone to the bishop for a second time. The bishop responded by asking for a sign so that he might believe this request. On his way home, Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego, and he told her of the bishop’s request of a sign. Our Lady promised to provide the sign for the bishop when Juan Diego would return to her on the next day.
Juan Diego missed his appointment with Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 11 because he was looking after his uncle Juan Bernardino who was gravely ill. On December 12, he was hurrying to bring a priest to administer the sacraments to his uncle who was dying. He took a different route in order to avoid another encounter with the Blessed Mother, embarrassed that he had missed the appointment on December 11 and not wanting to be delayed in seeking spiritual help for his uncle.
Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to him nonetheless, the fourth time, assuring him that his uncle was already cured and instructing him to gather flowers on the top of the hill as a sign to take to the bishop. Juan Diego trusted Our Lady and found on the top of the frozen and barren hill the most beautiful flowers. He gathered them and Our Blessed Mother arranged them in his cloak, or tilma. Juan Diego then hurried to the bishop’s and he opened his tilma to show the flowers to the bishop, Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared depicted on the tilma. The bishop at this miraculous sign agreed to have the chapel built on Tepeyac Hill. Our lady appeared to Juan Bernardino, Juan’s uncle, and cured him of his fatal illness.
The image left on Saint Juan Diego’s tilma has remained intact with all its original vibrancy for 475 years. The natural life span of a cloak made with fiber from the agave or maguey plant is only about 30 years.
The image is a pictograph which could be read and understood by the Aztec Indians.
Our Lady appears as a beautiful young Indian maiden and Queen.
Her eyes are looking down with humility and compassion. She is human, wearing a blue-green mantle (the color worn by royalty) covered with stars.
The stars signify she comes from the heaven world. The constellations are in the exact position as appeared before dawn on the morning of December 12, 1531.
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I was created from the beginning. [Teilhard de Chardin]
When the world was born, I came into being. Before the centuries were made, I issued from the hand of God — half- formed, yet destined to grow in beauty from age to age, the handmaid of his work.
Everything in the universe is made by union and generation — by the coming together of elements that seek out one another, melt together two by two, and are born again in a third.
God instilled me into the initial multiple as a force of condensation and concentration.
In me is seen that side of beings by which they are joined as one, in me the fragrance that makes them hasten together and leads them, freely and passionately, along their road to unity.
Through me, all things have their movement and are made to work as one.
I am the beauty running through the world, to make it associate in ordered groups: the ideal held up before the world to make it ascend.
I am the essential Feminine
-Excerpt from “The Eternal Feminine,” Writings in Time of War Translated by Rene Hague
Evening Prayer Service on Memorial Day
REMARKS: the object is to bring the Light and Realization to all Light workers so that a belt throughout this country will be Illuminated.
Unity of all faiths. To bring the spiritual head of all churches together under Jesus Christ, the Lord of Earth.
PRAYER AND ADDED SERVICE: First give the Glories and thanks and then this prayer:
OH GLORIOUS FATHER, AND OUR MASTER, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THIS NIGHT WE UNITE IN ONE ACCORD AND ONE VOICE, AND DO DECLARE THAT ALL CHURCHES, THE HEADS OF ALL CHURCHES, SHALL UNITE UNDER YOUR BANNER, AND THAT THEIR FLOCKS SHALL TRULY LEARN OF THEE AND THAT THEY SHALL COME TOGETHER IN ONE CONCLAVE, IN PEACE AND HARMONY AROUND THE WORLD, THAT ALL WAR SHALL STOP NOW, AND THAT THY LIGHT SHALL MANIFEST IN THE HEAVENS IF POSSIBLE AT THIS TIME. AND ALL SHALL DRAW NEAR TO THY PRESENCE.
GIVE THE OM FOR PEACEOH GREAT LORD OF EARTH AND OUR MASTER, MAY WE PREPARE TO SPREAD THE GOODNEWS OF THY COMING, THAT OUR PERFECTION AND KNOWLEDGE MAY BE PERFECTED IN THEE, AND THAT WE MAY BE BROUGHT INTO ONE ACCORD TO ONE PURPOSE, TO THE GLORY OF THY NAME, AND THE BLESSED MOTHER.
AMEN
Class given by Father Paul 2/18/74 (conclusion)
…at this time of year you are going to go through this same cycle of initiation, each year, until it’s really accomplished…you are not just going through the celebration of 4th of July! You’re going through a cosmic reality…you are actually going to experience in some form, in some way, the crucifixion, the death and resurrection of the Master. If you don’t, there’s something wrong; get on your knees and start working because you’re short somewhere.
You see, your blindness, due to the fact that you’re so crystallized and case-hardened in the mass mind out there, you say “well, that happened 2,000years ago. It’s happening now, right now!! If you weren’t case-hardened and crystallized, you’d know that right now it’s happening…Eash year, each cycle man on this earth will go through this until he has accomplished it. And when he can fully say that he has accomplished these things, he will let it slide. Try it sometime if you dare. If you don’t want to get convinced, don’t try it…
Meditate on the Master; contemplate him as he was on the cross. See if you can feel the nails in your hands and in your feet. See if you can feel those whom you have taught and given life to walk away and deny you. Try it. Try it. If you do, you will learn the true reality of what this is all about.. And if you go through it with dry eyes, I know that you haven’t reached a thing, because you can’t do it and not really feel it. This is a reality, because he gave it for each one. He made it possible that we could finish our cycle of life here—and that the earth wouldn’t be destroyed and disturb the whole solar system. This is his gift to us. And that was Mary’s gift to us as she gave this man birth in the state of purity so that he could perform this. Can you imagine anybody that’s so egotistical that they can’t teach it the way it is? He said in a true form “My God my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” This is the really bringing forth, the true reality of that separation that was there. There are other things that it meant, but this is its overall form. And yet we fail to try to truly work this out during this time, where this can be set aside and we can go on in the Aquarian Age without experiencing this sort of thing further. Have a good evening.
Dick Van Dyke turned 100 on December 13. The beloved actor credits his remarkable longevity to his positive outlook and never getting angry. While longevity of course comes down to many factors – including genetics and lifestyle – there is some truth to Van Dyke’s claims.
Numerous studies have shown that keeping stress levels low and maintaining a positive, optimistic outlook are correlated with longevity