The sun of a glorious New Age has arisen and shines upon all alike. The vast majority of mankind, though familiar with creeds and doctrines, remains fast asleep. Science has progressed beyond all recognition, but the
passions of men remain as gross and as cruel as at any time in the world's history. Many of the inventions that could make man's life one of comparative ease, offering him time and opportunity for his fourfold development, are being employed to the destruction of his brethren.

Can such things continue as those we witness in this year of 1943? Do we subscribe to the belief that justice ultimately is the governing force of men and that therefore those guilty of the unspeakable and indescribable atrocities of the past four years will be judged according to God's Law of Justice; NOT MADE OUR BEDFELLOWS, but be punished according to their deeds?

Is it our belief that such cruelty, debasement and destruction can continue without the guilty being finally called to account, until all mankind is destroyed or degraded beyond the bestial stage and finally cast into the limbo of forgotten things?

We of the Brethren of Light, the Church of Illumination, firmly, and without the shadow of a doubt, believe the fiat: "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." We believe that the war guilty shall not find peace until they have "paid unto the utmost farthing."

Furthermore, we believe that just men are not only the Ambassadors of God, but that they are God's vice-regents in meting out just punishment to the guilty during this, the beginning of the New Age of justice to all men, and therefore the full payment of all "wages" to those who "labored"; and the collection of all "debts" from those who owe unto the Law.

We know the Law! This Law has been taught to us by all the great Lawgivers, Avatars and Saviors. This Law was considered too simple to accept, and at the same time many others thought that it demanded too much, because in the sight of God, of the Law, it demanded, and still demands, that "each man be held responsible for his own acts"; that he must pay to the "utmost farthing" without the possibility of intercession by another. This is the Law of Compensation. All just men, all honorable men and all real men are willing to subscribe to it. Weaklings may require ages to gain the strength necessary to become men in truth.

WE HAVE THE LAW. It must be taught to all mankind if we are to avoid debacles in the future such as we are now experiencing. Those who have the affairs of men and nations in hand must be made to sufficiently forget self-interest, pet theories and visionary ideas to make certain that exact justice is meted out to the cruel aggressors guilty of "man's inhumanity to man." These must be made to pay to the "utmost farthing" in accordance with the Divine Law.

The field for service is almost beyond comprehension and the laborers are few. It is a favorite precept of those who are at heart dishonest and who would shift to others, less strong or able, the payment of their debts to God and man. These believe that "God so loved the world that he sent his own Son that their sins might be paid" for them. We would substitute for this: The world is in need of those - many of them - who are so imbued with faith in the New Age and the Soul's desire to serve mankind by teaching it the truth and pointing out the way (the Law) that they are willing to give (sacrifice) all that is in their power in order that St. John's vision of a new heaven on earth (an age of peace) may become a fact.

Honesty compels us to admit that this would not be an altogether selfless act, though it would be unselfish. The Soul cannot advance unless it is active. "Activity is life." The more action the greater the life. The Soul must find opportunity to gain wisdom from every plane of life. It always gains energy and the Light by doing that which is constructive. The Soul can no more advance while it is slumbering than the body can gain strength while inert.

The world of Souls is starving for the "saving truth," an honest, forthright, manly interpretation of the Law. There are countless men and women hungry for the bread of life and thirsty for the water that quenches all thirst. Who is there to bring them this bread of life and this water of Immortality?

We have not the slightest desire to see the formation of a powerful, creedbound, unwieldy organization, for such would soon be as "orthodox" and self-righteous as have been other groups of men. It would make freedom of thought impossible and destroy rather than build Individualization. We need leaders, self-sacrificing leaders, who are able to forget themselves in the service they render, to gather together those earnest Souls who are seeking the Way to life, to teach them the Law and guide them in the same manner as we have been taught and led along the Path.

There are those throughout the world who have been here before and now belong to the Invisible Brotherhood, the Hierarchies of the Illuminated, the Republic of Individualism. These are Souls who are like diamonds of the first water, like pearls of great price. They make little noise as they move among men, laboring in the Master's vineyard, preferring to render heart service before the Throne of the All than to "pray in synagogues with loud voices and thanking God they are not as others are."

Instead, they thank God that they are like their brethren, that they have had to travel the same Path with its pleasures and sorrows, have had to overcome the same weaknesses and passions and have been permitted to learn both the good and the evil.

These are the humble workers in the field (service) of the Lord. They are the doers of the Word. They have attained to at least a partial comprehension of the Law and have found the Light which is the Soul. They have dedicated themselves, without reservation and with all they are or possess, to the works of the Father and have promised to obey His Law as far as is in their power to do so.

Soul Science has opened the door to all who are willing to study, learn and live. The truth must be received by those who would serve in the vineyard before they can expect to teach others. The glorification of the Soul must be made manifest to all. The question is: "How shall they (being in ignorance) call on Him in Whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard?" How may the multitudes be instructed if there are no laborers to "work in His vineyard"?

The Avatars, Masters, Initiates and Saviors of the past ages are with us, offering us their strength and power, their knowledge and protection. They are fully aware that revolutionary changes are part and parcel of the New Age. They know that men must be ready for this so that during the earth's upheaval they are not swept into its gulfs and known no more.

In past cycles of time and periods of change, there were those who came willing to labor, suffer, teach the truth and explain the Law so that mankind might avoid much of its suffering. They were listened to by a few, each of whom benefited as a result, but the multitude continued as before and sin, degradation and the slaughter of the innocent continued.

Egotism and false doctrines sprang up in divers places and usurped the altars where righteousness (the Doctrine of the Law) had been taught. Out of great spiritual truths were fabricated dogmas potent to bind the Souls of men instead of leading them to the Light that is God. Justification by faith and vicarious atonement were taught humanity as "gospel" truth and man became a greater slave than ever before.

The mass, tired of believing everything and receiving nothing, began to seek those who demonstrated mundane laws operating for material gains. For the most part these teachers were wise in their own conceit for they had themselves been led astray by their own colossal vanity and often ended by being bereft of all their possessions, including even the little faith they had and thus cruelty was born.

As time passed men were taught more and more to believe in creeds. This formula was repeated under a variety of names and nothing more was said about actually living the life and seeking for the Christos within. Then, as orthodoxy spread and became ever more powerful, the few remaining who believed in the Christ were persecuted and actually destroyed whenever possible. The spirit of the Christos all but died and the Dark Ages set in.

The Gnostics and their Christos destroyed or in hiding, un-Illuminated men, irrespective of their position and the greatness of their intellect and erudition, were incapable of demonstrating spiritual truths; and to find justification for their false teachings, they ridiculed the possibility of Divine understanding. The masses, morally and spiritually weak and without enlightenment (the Light that brings Wisdom), at first feared these leaders and then gradually accepted their creeds, dogmas and teachings as the wisdom of the Gods. In this manner the Secret knowledge was all but lost and the way to salvation was placed into the hands of those who were as blind as the blind they were supposed to lead.

Ignorance became more and more pronounced. The original meaning of the teachings of the Nazarene, the man of Galilee, and His Christic inculcations became hidden under a sinister symbolism and shortly the priesthood was all-powerful, while the Initiates, few in number but mighty in their wisdom of the gods, alone possessed the mysteries of the Soul, yet were accorded no hearing.

For centuries, generation after generation has been misled and erroneously instructed. The multitudes have been groping in darkness, seeking light where there was no light, "straining at gnats and swallowing camels." The Soul of the World was left starving and war has followed war; destruction has followed destruction; virtue has been sold or denuded and man's word of honor became a "scrap of paper," a condition accepted by even many of the accredited "statesmen" who now had degenerated into crafty politicians.

The world of today is standing upon the threshold of a mighty religious (spiritual) revolution. Divers doctrines have crept in unawares; false prophets have "brought in damnable heresies, and with feigned words have made merchandise of man," while "with profane and vain babbling and opposition to science, falsely so-called; with some confessing as having erred concerning faith (truth)."

At last we have arrived at the peak of the ages. Humanity has lost faith in all religion. The churches are becoming more and more empty. Man has turned to wholesale murder, rapine and destruction. Those professing to be Christians would make peace with the destroyers. Dogmas have made weaklings and slaves of men and brought darkness to their Souls. THE TRUTHS THAT WOULD HELP MEN TO SAVE THEIR SOULS HAVE BEEN DENIED A HEARING.

There are many so-called teachers who, though sincere and earnest, have not themselves attained self-mastery and know nothing of the mystery attending the Soul's Illumination. They have not reached Conscious Individualization and for the most part still believe in group government rather than Individuality. How can these guide other Souls, considering that they have not been able to lift the veil hiding their own Souls? They have not been found acceptable by the elect. They know nothing whatever of the Divine Drama which must be enacted within each individual Soul before Soul Illumination and Immortalization can take place.

Added to this is the almost universal Sodom and Gomorrah tragedy, the widespread inculcation of sex doctrines that destroy the body and damn the Soul. Men and women parading in sheep's clothing; teachers, scientists, physicians and even ministers of the gospel, guilty of leading astray the innocent by their false teachings.

Long ago was written that which is now come to pass. "When ye see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains." Religious leaders of worldwide following are teaching their followers the practices expressly forbidden by the Laws of Moses and the prophets, practices then rapidly decimating the ranks of the Hebrews. These leaders are impersonating the one great God, but "the man of perdition opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that which is worshiped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he be God."

These are the greatest destroyers; they are the leaders of destroyers, they lead unto destruction. The practices they teach drain mind and Soul of life, and it is written: "The Soul that sinneth, it shall surely die."

"But the hour is coming and now is when the dead [those living in sin and carnality] shall hear the voice of the Son of God [the Soul shall awaken] and they that hear [obey and follow through] shall live."

Today mankind stands duped and misled, degraded and denuded of almost all that is desirable and lasting, almost destroyed by the evil that is in power. But the age of transition is now. The change from the old cycle into the New Age is at hand. The one Law that can save man is being taught. Man is gradually realizing that the Law of Compensation is the only just guide by which man may live and that those who will not so arrange their life and behavior must be considered as the destroyers whom God promised to send among mankind and to be themselves destroyed.

In this New Age there must be many messengers to broadcast the truth which is the Law. There must be those who are in truth Priests of the Lord; who will officiate only in harmony with the Law; who shall listen with patience to the millions who have the obligation of freeing their Souls from the evils hidden therein and be given the Manna of Life, the instruction and guidance through which they can become God or Cosmic Conscious and change their poor, weak, sinning personality into glorious individuality. Healers will be needed who will become proficient and active in the "healing of the nation," and who, Biblically speaking, will bring "healing on their wings," the wings of the Soul, to the sufferers.

All those must band together into one compact, never retreating unit, who themselves earnestly seek the way to Life and Immortality and who in turn will gladly bring the message to others, and having been servants, become the Masters. Souls are worth more than money, more than all worldly goods and all high positions. Souls, great, grand, unselfish, but just Souls are the need of humanity.

Are you who read this ready for labor in the vineyard of the one true God and for the good of your own Soul? Are you willing to become "as a little child" and, knowing the truth, teach it to others? Then "as thou soweth, so shalt thou reap." Your opportunity is before you. Your acceptance and the dedication of yourself as a worker in the Father's vineyard will ultimately place you in touch with and bring you the cooperation of the great Invisible Brotherhood.

The Hierarchies of high heaven are reaching out and drawing into one harmonious circle all those who are faithfully and willingly following the Path for their own benefit and preparing to serve others so that, having served, they may become masters.

High and glorious is the work awaiting willing hearts and prepared minds.

Nothing that is good and exalting is denied the worker. The promise is: "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven [the peace within] and all things will be added unto you."

Pleasure, recreation, physical and spiritual benefit, peace, well-being and the happiness that passeth understanding" will come to those who seek to know and obey the Law. Only that which is harmful or degrading, weakening or destructive to manhood is forbidden.

Centers of instruction and self-help (healing) must be established throughout the world. In these centers the Law must be taught, errors pointed out and the path of life planned. Honest, reliable, faithful, sincere workers must be in charge so that none may be led astray.

Those engaged in this effort must be in complete harmony with the Work and have that strength of character that nothing can sway. These must work for the benefit of humanity, offering the shackled Soul a chance to free itself from the fetters that bind it. Love, good fellowship, sympathy and understanding are the foundations upon which we must build and these Godly emotions must enter the hearts of men and become part of them.

We must build a structure such as would put to shame the glory of the mythical, material Temple of Solomon of old.

This will be a service of the heart. This is the Science of the Soul. It is a religion because it is of the heart. It is a science because it alone can awaken, build and bring the Soul into Consciousness, change the weak, worm-of-the-dust personality into Individuality. It is the establishment of the age of peace, the kingdom of heaven within the Soul of man; the little world where the Son rules as does God in His own greater world.

So mote it be.
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