In the Light of Truth

29. The worship of God

It must be admitted that up till now man has not understood what it means to worship God; much less has man ever really worshipped God. To do this, however, is an absolutely indispensable necessity for man, and should be a matter of course.

Man knows how to pray, or rather to beg, and now and then he offers up heart-felt thanksgiving. This, however, occurs only on special, exceptional occasions, when, for instance, God has unexpectedly granted him a boon, or when he has suddenly been saved from some imminent danger. Unexpectedness and suddenness are the necessary incentives to make him do this. Stupendous things may fall to his share but, so long as they happen in the ordinary, normal every day fashion, he will never — or very seldom — think of offering up thanksgiving. Should it happen that he and all those he loves, permanently enjoy good health, should he be free from the cares of life, he will hardly bring himself to express serious gratitude. It is necessary that there should be a special incentive to arouse a strong emotion in a man. When all goes well, he will sometimes talk of it; he will go to church and murmur a prayer of thanksgiving, but it will never occur to him for a moment to put his whole soul into it. Only in cases where affliction befalls him, will he bethink himself that there is One who is capable of helping him. Fear will at last drive him to stammer a prayer. But here again this is begging and not worshipping.

Thus do they who consider themselves righteous and believers, and there are not many of them on earth — they are praiseworthy exceptions.

What a pitiable picture of mankind unfolds itself before him who cares to investigate more closely, and if man looks so abject in your eyes how much more so must he appear in the eyes of God! Turn and twist them as you will, these are real facts which unfortunately allow of no extenuation.

You will surely be abashed and discomfited when you consider this, for neither begging nor giving thanks is true worship.

To worship means to honour and revere, and this in truth is not to be found on earth. Look at the festivals and ceremonies instituted by man with a view of doing honour to God, in which there is no question of praying and thanking. There are Oratorios. Pick out the artists that are to worship God in song and observe them while they are preparing themselves in the hall or church beforehand. They are all anxious to achieve something to please the audience in the first place, God seeming to be of secondary importance, whereas it is just in His honour that the performance is given. Look at the conductor inviting applause — he wishes to show the people what he can do.

Then look at the proud buildings, churches and cathedrals raised with the intention of glorifying God. The artist, the architect and the builder are working for their own fame. The cities, in which these monuments are, esteem them highly, because they add to their renown and attract visitors, not indeed that these may worship there, but that their money should flow into the city's coffers. Wherever you look, every one is engrossed by externals; all is done under the pretext of worshipping God.

It is true that here and there you meet a man whose soul awakens in the leafy forest or on the mountain heights, who may even at such times cursorily think of the Creator of all this beauty, but it is a Creator far away in the vague background. Such a man's soul expands but does not take flight upwards; it just melts in the serene luxury of enjoyment. This must not be confounded with soaring aloft. It is but the same feeling of well-being that a glutton feels when sitting down to a richly appointed table. When the soul melts in this way, it is taken for worship, whereas it is but ecstasy — merely a physical sensation which is mistaken for feelings of gratitude. Many an enthusiastic lover of nature is convinced that this ecstasy is worshipping God and considers himself far superior to others who have never had the opportunity of enjoying the beauties of nature. This is a truly pharisaical view, originating in his feeling of satiety and well-being — sham gold, utterly worthless! When such men seek the treasures of their souls to serve them in their upward journey, they will find none, for the presumed treasures were but ecstasies at the sight of beauty — nothing else. Veneration for the Creator was wanting!

Ecstasy does not belong to true worship any more than murmured prayers or prayers offered up kneeling with uplifted hands do, or even trepidation of the soul. Worship must express itself in joyful activity, in glad acquiescence in whatever life brings; in a wish to benefit by the experience of every moment, which means to profit by it to make it a part of life itself. Gambling and dancing or other pastimes harmful to body and soul are waste of time. The intellect seeks these as a relaxation and restorative to balance its everyday work. Worship is looking up to and seeking to do the Will of the Light, which alone further upraises and ennobles all things in Creation! The indispensable condition is accurate acquaintance with the Divine Laws in Creation. These show man how to live if he wants to be well in body and soul, and they point out the way to the spiritual kingdom, at the same time they let him clearly see the dangers he would run, should he set himself in opposition to them!

As the effect of these self-acting laws is vital, adamantine and unchangeable, man is utterly powerless to oppose them; it is thus quite natural that it is an urgent necessity for him fully to understand a power against which he is at all times absolutely defenceless.

And people heedlessly neglect and pass over this essential point, so simple and so patent, and which lies nearer than anything else to their true interest. It is a truism that has often been observed that mankind never hits on the simplest thoughts. In this, curiously enough, every animal is wiser than man. The animal adapts itself to the scheme of Creation and progresses together with it in the natural course of things, as long as man does not seek to hinder it. Man wants to govern something quite beyond his control that acts quite independently, something to which he is and always will be subject. As soon as he has learned to turn to his profit the minutest fraction of the radiating powers of nature, of the living energy of air, water or fire, he thinks, in his presumption, that he is ruling that power; but he does not consider that before he could make the smallest practical use of the qualities inherent in these powers he must first learn by studying their peculiarities. He must accomodate himself to their nature, if he wants to make use of them successfully. This does not mean ruling and compelling, but submitting and accomodating himself to their laws.

Man ought surely to have noticed by this time that he can only learn what can be of service to him by humbly and submissively adapting himself to Divine Will and Ordinance and by gratefully persevering in the same. But no; because in such cases where he has stooped to obey and to serve God's Will in Creation and has received prompt help, his conceit becomes inordinate and he childishly poses as conqueror, the subduer of nature! This senseless idea is the climax of stupidity. In so thinking, man overlooks something really grand, for were his principles right, he would really be a conqueror. In controlling himself and his vanity, he would see that all his notable achievements, all his successes up till then were owing to his having studied what already existed. Every inventor and all great men have adapted their thinking, their aims and intentions to accord with natural laws. All that opposed or indeed rebelled could not come to life, but was crushed, destroyed, shivered to atoms!

As in minor matters, so in man's whole existence, all proceeds on the same plan. Man has not only to live the short span of time on earth, but must wander through all Creation and for this purpose needs knowledge of the laws which govern Creation and not only knowledge of his individual immediate and visible surroundings. If he does not know the eternal laws, he is hindered, deterred, bruised, thrown back, even crushed, because owing to his ignorance he cannot swim in the strong current, but exposes himself to its power in such a manner that it presses him downwards instead of upwards.

The man who stubbornly and blindly refuses to accept the teaching of the phenomena he must daily see around him, as soon as it does not regard his technical work but should be applied personally for the welfare of his soul, does not deserve to be praised and admired but rather to be laughed at. In his life and labours upon earth, man always has opportunities to observe the completeness and uniformness with which all basic operations proceed, unless he carelessly shuts his eyes or indeed wilfully remains asleep. There is not one exception in all Creation. Not a single human soul is exempt: if it is to advance, it must adapt itself. In his careless levity, man has up till now entirely overlooked this simple and self-evident fact. Its very simplicity made it more difficult for him to grasp it than all else, so difficult indeed that, in time, it became an impossibility. Thus to day he stands face to face with ruin, with a complete psychic breakdown including the loss of all that he has hitherto achieved. There is but one thing that can save him, viz. a perfect knowledge of Divine Laws in Creation. That alone can help him onwards and upwards, and with him all that he tries to build up in the future.

Do not argue that it is not so easy for a human being to understand these laws and to distinguish what is truth from what is illusion. That is not so, and he who argues thus seeks to conceal his indolence and the indifference of his soul, or he wishes to quieten his conscience with excuses. All this is but vain and will never help him, for every soul who is indifferent or indolent will be cast aside! Only he who, mustering all his strength, expends every particle of it in working for the benefit of his soul has a chance of saving it alive. All half-measures count for nothing. All hesitation and procrastination count the same as complete neglect of duty. Man has no more time left; he has waited till the last decisive moment. Naturally this time things will not be so easy for him. The careless negligence with which these matters have been treated hitherto has robbed man of belief in the deep earnestness and necessity of taking a last and final decision. Just herein lies the weak point, and this will be the ruin of many.

For thousands of years much has been done to teach you what you needed to know of God's holy Will, to point out the regular workings of His Laws, to help you to rise and to find your way back to primeval, Original Creation from which you proceeded. And it was not by so-called science, nor by the churches, but it was by God's servants, the prophets of all time, and then in the message brought you by the Son of God Himself, that you were taught, and this in the simplest language. Yet you only talked of it; you never troubled to understand it aright, much less to live according to its precepts. In your opinion that was asking far too much of you! Although this is your only hope of salvation, you are so lazy that you expect to be saved without giving yourselves the least trouble. If you will reflect a moment, you must confess that, however sad it appears, this is the case.

Every Divine Message you turned into some dogmatic creed that suited you. That was wrong: it was the greatest mistake you could make, for in so doing you disconnected the Will of God with everyday life or what comes to the same: you stood apart instead of uniting yourself to it, and making it the centre of your daily life and business. You should become one with it. You should accept every divine message naturally and interpret it practically, interweaving it with your work, your thoughts and your whole life, and not set it apart as you have done, by itself, only paying it a visit in your leisure hours to indulge for a short time in contrition or gratitude. So doing has not made it a matter of course: it has not become a part of you like hunger or sleep.

Understand this aright at last: you should live in the Divine Will so that you may find yourselves at home wherever there is the promise of good things for you. Divine messages are but precious hints that you need. Without knowing and obeying these, you are lost! Therefore, you must not place these messages in a glass shrine to gaze on them in awe and trembling on a Sunday or to hurry there in affliction or in terror to gain strength. Awake! The Message is not meant to be merely venerated, but to be made use of. Grasp it with hearty goodwill, not only when you are in Sunday attire . . . grasp it with the rugged fist of the workman. The precious gem shines with greater purity and brilliancy in a hand discoloured by sweat and dirt than in the well-cared-for fingers of the idler who spends his life in contemplation.

Every Divine Message should become an integral part of you: you must seek to understand its meaning. You must not look upon it as something set apart outside yourself and accustom yourself to approach it with shy timidity. Welcome God's Word and keep it in your hearts that you may know how to live and to walk, so as finally to reach the Kingdom of Heaven!

Awake, and learn the laws in Creation. No worldly intelligence will help you here; the small amount of technical knowledge arrived at by observation is far too meagre to suffice for the journey your soul has to make. You must lift your eyes far above this earth and know where you are going, that it may become evident and plain to you why and for what purpose you are here on earth. And again you will see the reason for the circumstances under which you must pass your present life, whether poor or rich, healthy or unhealthy, whether in peace or in strife, in joy or in sorrow. You will learn the reason and also the purpose and will rejoice and feel disburdened and grateful for the experiences accorded you. You will learn to value every second and will turn it to good account and make use of it to soar up to existence in blessed realms of joy. But men had become perplexed and confused and as you gave no ear to the warnings of the prophets the Divine Message was sent you to point out the only way by which you could escape from suffocating in the swamp in which you had entangled yourselves. The Son of God sought to teach you by parables. Those who were willing to believe and those that were seekers lent them their ears, but no more. They never sought to live according to the precepts inculcated.

Religion and daily life with you likewise have always been two separate things. You always stood beside it, never in it. The effects resulting from the working of the laws in Creation were illustrated and embodied in the parables, but as you never sought to know them, they remained absolutely incomprehensible to you.

Now once more the same interpretation of the laws will be given in a form more easily understood by you at the present time, in the Message of the Holy Grail. In fact it is the same in every respect that Christ brought in the language of His day. He showed man how he should think, speak, and act to mature and to progress on his way through Creation. Mankind needed no more. His teaching was without a gap. The Message of the Holy Grail is just the same in the language of the present day.

He who closely observes these laws in his thoughts, speech, and actions practises the truest, purest worship of God, for this consists in deeds, and he who willingly submits and adapts himself to them, always does the right thing. In so doing, he proves his reverence for God's Wisdom and joyfully bends to His Will expressed in His laws. They effect and promote his advance, free him from the sorrows of the world and raise him to the spiritual Kingdom of Light, where the omniscience of the Almighty, undimmed and unveiled, is visible to all eyes (then able to behold blissful reality), where life itself is worship, and every breath, every sensation, every action speaks of joyful gratitude and becomes a lasting delight, delight born of joy, disseminating joy and reaping joy:

To worship God in your life and in your work means to keep His Divine Laws.

This alone ensures happiness, the happiness that you will enjoy in the new Kingdom, which will last for a thousand years and be called the Kingdom of God on Earth; and the adherents of the Message of the Holy Grail will be the lights and finger-posts for mankind.

True worship of God must form a living part of man, of his thoughts, principles and actions. It must not only manifest itself in public life but form an integral part of his inner life. Worship is man's first duty to God, and he will be truly worshipping Him when serving the Holy Grail.

Those who do not voluntarily acquiesce will not live to see the promised Kingdom but will perish unless Divine or terrestrial powers compel them to submit unconditionally.

This will be in the interest of all mankind, for all are looking forward to peace and happiness in the coming Kingdom.

[Grail Message by Abdrushin]  [Resonances to the Grail Message]