Copyright ©2020 by The Good Elder. All rights reserved.
As the year turned to 2020, it became time for a new annual theme. The theme is drawn from Revelation 22:10-14, especially verse 14. As I contemplated a message, my mind was turned to the initiation process for gaining membership into fraternal organizations.
In my life, I've found myself blindfolded and led around unfamiliar spaces several times as I underwent various initiation rituals for my Greek-letter fraternity, as well as for several of the Masonic degrees. What I have learned is that, in each case, as a candidate, you are asked to prepare for the initiation by learning certain materials and performing certain tasks. It was not always clear at the time what the purpose in learning these materials or performing those tasks was.
We assume that this information is helpful or important, and certainly relevant to the goal of successful initiation; but we may not know why. What is clear, though, is that one cannot continue toward the initiation ceremony unless one has shown suitable proficiency and performed the required tasks. In other words, you may not have learned everything verbatim, but you must have an unmistakable familiarity with the material you were given. And, those tasks need to be completed. And, if not, you don't get to continue.
Indubitably, all of the materials and all of the exercises and projects were, in fact, preparing us for membership. In fact, after the veil is removed and the Light is (literally and figuratively) shined, we were able to see that those preparatory materials not only familiarized us with the organization, but our proficiency with them made it possible for us to immediately navigate as a new member in the organization. The neophyte may not know all the history, and may not be able to exegete all of the hidden meanings and symbology, but he knows enough to greet the other members, enough to identify himself as a member, and enough to get started in a deeper level of understanding, should he so choose.
When we consider the Biblical story as a whole, we understand that, in the best case scenario, the vast majority of its expression (99%) is either unnecessary or would be vastly different, had things in the Garden gone differently with the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Good and Evil. Since the Fall, those inspired writers of the Biblical text have been giving us plain text and encoded teachings to help us to get back to that place, and to go beyond. They have, in essence, prodded us through a spiritual initiation.
As the Biblical story opens, God creates/rebuilds the earth, and shortly thereafter, we are introduced to Adam, whom God gave an instruction regarding his place in the Garden of Eden. With the benefit of study, we deduce that Adam, and consequently, his wife, Eve were placed here on a mission (relative to the people of earth who lived outside of the City1). But, before they could really set about their mission, they were derailed by the Serpent.
Still, Adam, Eve, and their descendants persevered, trying to bring a message of salvation to the world; but with their diminished power and influence, it became harder for them to share this message, never mind how much harder it was to be received. In fact, things had devolved so low at one point until God decided to start over with Noah! And, over the generations, God established covenants with Noah, with Abraham, and several others (including the entire House of Israel at Mt. Sinai). These covenants amounted to what we know today as contracts: "if you do this, I (God) will do that." And, even with these guarantees from God, it has been extremely difficult for Israel, never mind the general public, to stay true to the terms.
It is an interesting question to consider why God would obligate Himself to people who had tried and failed so many times from the very beginning of this cycle, but let us not digress in this moment. Instead, let me offer that that, beyond a basic contract between God and Israel (and mankind in general2), these covenants amounted to a guarantee that God would be present, that God would help, that God would deliver, and that those who kept their end of the bargain would make it to the end (and out of the pit we fell into).
In short, God, through His servants, His commandments, statutes, and judgments, has been orchestrating a planetary spiritual initiation! "Read this, learn that, do this, don't do that..."
Just because an aspirant seeks to join a fraternity doesn't mean that one can focus solely on the fraternity business. That aspirant still must go to class, still go to work, still write those papers, still meet those deadlines. The aspirant still has to put food on the table, still has to raise his family, etc. The fraternal aspirations are not "instead of", but rather, "in addition to," which make it challenging.
When we consider the process of life on earth as a spiritual initiation, the palpable presence of evil and oppression increases the difficulty. When the truth of God pricks our heart and convicts us, most of us don't get to run off to a cave to embark upon a lifetime of solitude and quiet meditation and contemplation. In fact, we will now more clearly see the world as being tainted by the cesspool of evil in every facet of life. We will see the institutionalization of bigotry and oppression, so that instead of the responsible individuals having to face accountability3, all the workers of iniquity hide behind and blame "the system."
Working against tangible evil toward an intangible spiritual goal to be realized in an unspecified future requires exertion of spiritual effort, including faith. This effort builds a vessel in which we can hold ever-increasing quantities of Light from God, Light which He constantly shines upon us.
The cliché "don't cry over spilled milk" applies here, for in our fallen state, we are as broken vessels which have lost and are leaking Light, and it is more difficult for us to keep the commandments. On the other hand, because we are working on the earth with those of the world, they can relate to us "on the level." This makes the message of salvation just that much more reachable and acceptable because we are "in the world", not above anyone, and enduring the same challenges as everyone. The spiritual aspirant may be motivated, not by words, but by deeds; "If she can do it, so can I."
We're at the end of the initiation process, a process which has included a myriad of repeating teachings. We should be very familiar with them by now, as summarized in Ecclesiastes 12:
[13] Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Jesus echoed this in Matthew 22:
[37] Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
[38] This is the first and great commandment.
[39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
[40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Revelation 22 gives us the guarantee of faithfulness:
[14] Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
We all want to complete this initiation process, and hopefully, our example has generated enough light to inspire others to want to participate as well. If we, then, live (according to the commandments) as if we're already there, then, when the time comes (i.e. the day of judgment, as it is here today) for us to pass through the final ceremony, we will succeed. Bishop William S. Crowdy, a prophet of God, wrote, "If... one who will read it and do it will surely reach eternal life without fail..."
God wants us to make it! He established covenants, He is the One Who gave us the rules to learn and follow. He has allowed us to repent when we recognize the error of our ways when we haven't followed as we should. As He told Jeremiah (chapter 7),
[25] Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
The forces of evil (e.g. Satan) are the voices of hecklers trying to discourage us, trying to get us to give up! "You don't have to do that! Others are doing whatever they want to do..." "I'll give you the world if you bow to me..."
In truth, the Satan wants us to make it, too! But, his job, as assigned by God, is to cause us doubt, to tempt us with an alternative, to give us a reason NOT to do according to what God has instructed.
Just like at a probate show, or a Masonic raising, there is a lot of noise, a lot of commotion, a lot of yelling, a lot of chaos trying to unnerve us in the final moments. And today, this is what we see in the world, everywhere we look!
Presently, we're to the point described in Revelation 14:11, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still."
Rabbi Levi S. Plummer taught, "Don't drown in shallow waters." It would be a shame to have come so far, to have lived so many lives, to have endured and overcome so many trials and tribulations, to now see the signs of the coming (the abomination of desolations4) and not push through this last bit!
We're making our way through our spiritual initiation. If we press on in faith and in righteousness, we will hear, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many thing. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." However, if we don't hang in there for these last few moments, if we don't repent and follow after righteousness, there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth."
1See Revelation 21:10-27, 22:14-15.
2See Isaiah 42:5-7.
3This lack of accountability for wickedness in high places is beginning to change.
4See Matthew 24:15-31.
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