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Noon Service, Yet Again!
Bright-eyed and
bushy-tailed, I dare to pick up my virtual pen to rehash an old
favorite among the topics for a Sunday talk. Yes — I actually have
the temerity to offer yet another Guided Tour.
Now, before you yawn
in tired anticipation of the same old
clichés — sorry about that! I must admit that prior talks on
the subject that I have heard have been very well done — let me
warn you to hang onto your hats. This promises to be a much
wilder ride than usual. You see, I want to concentrate on just one
aspect of our Noon Service — its innermost one.
The
service begins on page 2: “Divine Love, Life,
Reality, open our hearts to knowledge of Thy Power and Wisdom” —
Hold it right there! Did anyone else hear what I just heard? “Open
our hearts to
knowledge …”
Wow!
What a very remarkable string of words that is! Just when did you
last conceive of knowing something with your heart,
instead of with your mind? Yet, to my crazed mind, in the first few
words the Priest(ess) says, we are offered a tantalizing fragment
from the glories to come.
That done, we can get down to some serious snoring if we feel so inclined
for about six minutes. In that six minutes we have:
I believe that it’s about time for
me to point out something that may already be obvious: This is hardly
a blow-by-blow review account of the whole noon service. Hardly! That
has been done splendidly by several of those preceding me. Besides,
the fine words that make it up are actually fairly self-explanatory
to us — if we listen.
So
it’s a few of the words on page
6 that I believe should be our next port of call: “from our
very call comes the serene assurance that Thou …”
Again, the strangeness of this wording should tip us off that
something very unusual is about to be offered to us. How on earth can
our very call assure us of answers to anything? And then, at the
bottom of the page, we encounter something which isn’t
exactly strange wording —
it’s the “ideas”
which are strange to the ears of one long accustomed to the
“limitations” of this plane: “Help us to see —
and know — that we are God, in God, of God. All things —
all creatures — are in us … and we — in them.”
Who has noticed that
in those last two sentences we actually have an instruction to
ourselves which perfectly answers the question raised by the “from
our very call” phrase?
Nor is that all — in
those two sentences we have the seed of all understanding, of all
knowledge and learning. And we haven’t even meditated yet! (Unless
our snoring counts as such.) Still, at this point it is indeed just
that: a seed. How, then, are
we to develop this understanding to a point of usefulness?
It
is right here that we’d better have stopped snoring, because the
praying is over for a while. Now the priest/ess turns to us to begin
a lecture — nay, a Lecture! And what a Lecture it is!
Indeed, this Lecture is so important that I now have to closely
examine everything said on page 7:
“We stand on the
Mount Supernal”. Now, that word “Supernal” is not
a proper name. It is an adjective. It tells us something about that
Mount(ain). I’ll bet that at least half of the people in here don’t
properly understand that word — yet its role, its meaning, is
crucial to the whole lecture. So I guess I’d best break out my
Webster, which tells me: “of, from, or as though from the heavens
or the sky; celestial, heavenly, or divine”. Wow! What an
inspiration! I guess “they” must be lucky indeed to have such a
vantage point. However, it’s about now that our minds start kicking
up some dust. We need to have a name for a thing, especially such a
portentous thing as a Mountain. So the next five words do that very
thing: they supply us with a “name,” of sorts, for said Mountain;
and, in so doing, changes the whole aspect of the question of who it
is who’s so lucky: “of our Spiritual Divine Selves”.
Hey, that’s US they’re
talking about, folks! WE ARE INVITED TO JOIN THEM ON THAT AUGUST HIGH
PLACE — THAT SUPERNAL MOUNTAIN!
But
we’re not given much time to wallow in the glory — yet — for
what’s next is the List of Qualifications: “our hearts
free from hatred for any creature or being; free from fear of any
state or condition; our souls given in service — consecrated to God
and to Humanity.” Oops! That should surely leave all of us
out, no? Well … actually … no. It doesn’t. Anyone
called to this sacred service is asked here to do the best s/he can.
And believe it or not, that’s actually enough. Indeed, at least
to the extent we can succeed, “Faith … Love … Compassion …
Beauty … Wisdom … Truth … the Light of Life Eternal …
surround and pervade us.”
Notice that I said “at
least”. Why did I say that? Quite simply because, in light of the
importance of those Seven Qualities to us even to enable us to
succeed, an “unearned” abundance is vouchsafed to us, simply for
the accepting.
By now, I hope you’re
not snoring! But wait — we’re still just starting.
Next we hear: “Mingled
with these as One, in Rhythmic Essence, we await the Voice of the
Master”. Now, mingling
means essentially joining or uniting so as to form a mixture which is
not so blended as to make us lose our individual identities. And who
is mingling with those Seven? Why, we
are, of course — as specified in the main clause. At this point we
realize that the wording has taken us quite deep into our natures.
Obviously, the Seven are not to be thought of as discrete physical
entities. Therefore, no more can we, who mingle with them, be thought
of as discrete physical entities.
In
other words … we have
now left our purely physical beings behind. Obviously
we’re aiming at — uniting with — our inner consciousness: at
the God Within.
And this is apparently
confirmed by the rest of the sentence: “which shall thrill through
our beings in tones unmistakable, pointing us to duty unerring with
power and joy in abundance.” Now, how many of us can truly claim to
know the Voice of the Master “in tones unmistakable” as seen from
our outer minds? I know I can’t. No more can any of us claim to do
our duty without error — here on the outer plane — nor even
particularly partake of “power and joy,” let alone in abundance.
Nay, we’re definitely operating on the highest inward planes here —
O impossible dream! — which now is exposed as quite possible and
even inevitable for those of us here to do the Magical work which
this most sacred service represents.
Obviously, it is quite
easy to feel overwhelmed. But the Writer has anticipated this in the
very next passage: “That we be not overcome by the immensity of
sound that sweeps through us, nor blinded by the Grandeur of Light
that breaks upon us, we will seat ourselves in silence for a spell”.
Let’s face it — the call of the Outward tends to be so strong in
our lives that most of us are not all that familiar with our Inward
Properties. Until we are, it’s super-easy to get overwhelmed with
the dazzling light and transparency of the Higher Realms.
Up to this point, we
have been dealing with literal truths which seem symbolic
because we are drawn into the non-manifest, the numinous. At this
point, we start to gear up for a Moment Alone in our God by conjuring
up an allegory, which is a truth disguised as symbolism: “and fix
our gaze upon the Swan, the Bird of Life, the symbol of poise of the
Ancients — ever balanced, ever directed aright as it wings its
course of adjustment through the varying elements.” Immediately
after this allegory is assembled, we’re told to use it: “Let us
meditate.”
What then is
meditation? My dictionary defines it as: “solemn reflection on
sacred matters as a devotional act”. That is the deepest definition
it has to offer. And I don’t like it, because it’s far too
confining, constraining, restraining. Nay, here we were called to
Power and Joy in abundance. Obviously “solemn” and “devotional”
are too long in the face, too suggestive of action — of DOing; yet
those terms do express an essence which will necessarily characterize
the Experience we are intended to have.
At this point, I am
not at a loss for words, but I might as well be, because any words I
can utter right here must mislead. After all, this Meditation is
intended as a creative act.
What gets created must match the needs of the moment — your needs,
my needs, the needs of everyone mentioned on pages 4 and 5: the
Guardian in Chief, Temple Officers, temple members, everyone who is
searching for the Light, world leaders, and everyone whose name is in
the healing bowl.
To
bring the point home as to the futility of words, let me begin with
your needs: there you sit in awed amazement, staring inwardly at the
prospect of the All radiating through you like the light in a
darkened room — and now you’re told to Meditate???
In the name of Glory, what are we to meditate upon? Immediately the
problem becomes apparent: the field of choices available is
absolutely limitless.
Let me start merely
one suggestion — with the preface that the subject obviously cannot
be viewed as limited literally to a swan. The swan is advanced as a
symbol. In trying to confine my own meditations onto a swan — or
even to an inward version, a Swan — it wasn’t too many tries
before I realized that the Swan is actually us
in our guise as the Master Within. And that, of course, blows the
whole thing wide open again: we’re left to be-Muse ourselves with
such matters as how to maintain our Beings as ever balanced, ever
directed aright as we wing our
course of adjustment through the varying elements!
This
is nothing short of playing the Divine un-Game of Being — God. Now
let me comment briefly on the importance of this attainment. Quite
simply, its import is that we have reached the “End of the Line.”
Our meditation right here amounts to our realization of this fact,
colored only by the disposition of it, which we ordain in the Eternal
Here and Now which it represents.
Actually,
our simple realization of the fact of that Presence in us is
sufficient for us to become radiant transmitters of the very special
force with which we, as Templars, are entrusted. Do we realize it
fully? Not very often — our minds are usually too full of worldly
chaff to do that. And this reveals the awesome, profound challenge to
which I am adding my weak, tiny little voice in the Grand
Exhortation: “Come into me, find your rest and your peace, and take
it with you. In this way you shall carry it forth in trust for all
humanity.” Believe me, this works! If you connect consciously with
that Ultimate Depth inside yourself, your meditation will be as
“long” as you need it — in the Eternal Here and Now.
Still,
I strongly restrain myself from turning this into a poetical paean of
praise for my particular experience of It! After all, we still must
continue on page 8 with part 2 of our lecture:
“I place my heart
upon your own that you may be welded together as One. Let nothing
come near to disturb these days of the Great Peace — that sacred
Peace in which the soul grows, as does the holy flower upon the still
lagoons.”
Hold it a moment!
What’s all this stuff about a “Great Peace”? These
turbulent days are a Great Peace?
Well … yes, they are
— believe it or not. Please remember that neither the “days”
nor the “Great Peace” are to be thought of externally at all.
Remember — we’re still Inwardly oriented. And, inwardly,
what other kind of days would you expect to find? And I find
immediate confirmation of this viewpoint on the thing by the words
that follow: “that sacred Peace in which the soul
grows”.
Now come with me on a
trip into allegory again. Picture a huge mountain — probably that
very Mount Supernal of our Spiritual Divine Selves referred to at the
top of page 7 — which has two paths up it, each having steps carved
out of the living stone of its flanks. Dawn is just breaking, which
means that I, as one climber on my path, am still shrouded in
darkness, as you on the other are too; yet at the far-off top, just
barely visible, is the morning light, catching in its beams a
marvelous Mansion of Many Rooms.
What follows next is
our introduction to this magical place: “You climb from opposite
points of Life; but it is the same stairway, the final mount of which
will always bring you together in every effort or problem. Never halt
on any less than the topmost step through doubt or fear. Such alone
can separate you — and blacken the step on which you halt.”
Is there anyone who
has not had terrible confirmations of this fact in the affairs of
daily living? I doubt it. Therefore, it is with profound appreciation
that we encounter the next portion: “Whenever difficulty of
understanding falls upon you, always CLIMB HIGHER until you reach the
broader landing at the top, on which opens the door of the house of
Wisdom and Learning — the Temple of your own souls and hearts —
the Home of the Master and all most dear to Him and you. There alone
can you find peace and happiness.” Again, I rather doubt that there
is anyone here who has not encountered the truth of that simple —
yet profoundly difficult — advice.
It only remains to
round out our allegory with a demonstration of the incredible warmth
of the Master who wrote this: “The Light from that Home shines
clear and wide to help you in that climb. The fire on that hearth
burns bright to warm and cheer you when you enter.”
And here ends our
lecture — and the beating, throbbing heart of the Noon Service
recedes into its usual semi-obscurity; hopefully it goes on as part
of us forever.
Page 9 contains a
couple of prayers embodying the inspiration of one or two of us who,
many years ago, felt moved to express it.
Then, on page 10, we
close this expression of the Heart of the Temple’s work with a
simple benediction given by the Priest upon us all:
“There is a Peace
that passeth understanding.
“There is a Power
that maketh all things new. It lives and moves in those who know the
Self as One.
“May that Peace
brood over us, that power uplift us, till we stand where the One
Great Initiator is invoked.
“And may the Holy
Trinity of Love, Will and Wisdom be with us, now and forevermore.”
The very simplicity of
that benediction disguises its profound impact on the preceding
service. First, it amounts to a tacit acknowledgment of the
difficulty of the challenge of “making it” all the way to
Conscious Identification with the Center. It is partly by means of
the mini-lecture contained in the first three sentences; the fourth
sentence (“May that Peace brood over us …”) then stresses the
Partnership necessary at our innermost levels to bring us to the
necessary degree of inward understanding as we sit through many of
the noon services, assimilating and absorbing the lessons, the
inspiration, and the guidance of each in its turn —
Toward our Center!
Just one other detail
remains: reconciling the name of the service — the “Noon healing
service” — with all this talk of (w)holism, of Oneness. I believe
that it's fairly easily done.
You see, that word
“health” comes to us via “hale” [Old English] from “whole”.
That is, if you're talking of health, you're talking of “being
whole.” Indeed, even on philosophical grounds this stands to
reason: anything that tends to make us whole tends to make us
healthy, and vice versa. And as goes the individual, so goes
the group soul — i.e., the world.
— Willy Gommel
January 16, 2005