Catherine Crews
The Great Invocation is the world prayer known as Christ’s Mantram. It is the essence of Humanity’s appeal for divine assistance and the promise of God’s response. It is particularly potent in this time of great suffering as the earth and everything in it move through the evolutionary processes facing us.
The first three stanzas of this Invocation are contained in the fourth, for the divine Purpose and Plan are implemented by Light and Love and Will. And through these, implemented by Humanity, is the restoration of all things and the founding of the Kingdom of God on Earth.
This paper considers the fourth stanza as it addresses Humanity’s responsibility in working out the divine Plan.
From the center which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth
This fourth stanza of the Great Invocation speaks directly to Humanity’s responsibility, especially compelling as we make our way through this difficult time in anticipation of the reappearance of the Christ and the restoration of God’s plan on Earth. This time is described in the Gospel of Matthew as a time of “great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now” (Matthew 24:21). From the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom we know there are cosmic signs that mark this time of transition. One is the simultaneous functioning of the 6th and 7th Rays, two rays of great potency with their conflicting energies nearly equally balanced. The 6th Ray of Idealism and Devotion, slowly moving out of expression, led to separations, nationalism and sectarianism, expressing the tendency of the mind to divide. The 7th ray of Ceremonial Order and Magic, now moving into expression, is bringing fusion and synthesis, for its energy blends spirit and matter. The 6th ray taught the meaning of individual sacrifice, philanthropy and kindness. The 7th ray will teach the concept of divine service, sacrifice within the group and to the group. Events such as these are rare and are said to usher in “a peculiarly significant period of divine activity, when old things pass entirely away, yet the ancient landmarks are restored.”1
Furthermore, due to axial precession, Earth is leaving the sign of Pisces, with its emphasis on authority and belief, and entering Aquarius, with its emphasis on individual understanding and direct knowledge.2 The differing characteristics of these signs and the changes they
- 1. Esoteric Psychology Vol 1, p. 358
- 2. Externalization of the Hierarchy, p. 3
require contribute to the challenges we now face. Today we find ourselves living in the midst of these great tribulations, described esoterically as “a time of rending when the mountains, which have sheltered, fall from their high places, and the voices of men are lost in the crash and thunder of the fall.”3 Well we may wonder what we are to do, where our responsibility lies as units of Humanity, the third great center of divine manifestation and the center of intelligence and creativity, as we anticipate Christ’s reappearance on earth.
From the center which we call the race of men
The divine center, Humanity, is called the “race of men.” But here these words carry a much different meaning than they do when referring only to physical manifestation. Esoterically, race indicates an evolutionary stage, a developmental level of consciousness. In mankind this refers specifically to development of the mind. The word “man” is derived from the Sanskrit word, manu, meaning “to think.” So the race of men is the center of thinkers.
Let the Plan of Light and Love work out
Perhaps we could begin understanding this verse with the recognition that God’s plan is the blueprint of his purpose, the Will-to-Good, a reservoir of loving understanding. The Ageless Wisdom teachings describe a divine Plan of right relations: between God and humanity, between human and human, between humans and the created worlds. The Plan honors the wholeness and sacredness of life, and can come to fruition only through the work of Humanity.
We might understand our current time of dissention as presenting a need to find harmony through conflict rather than seeking victory for one side or another. Many of the conflicts now arising concern authority and belief, the ideals of Piscean energies, and issues of separation, nationalism and sectarianism as they have been established through energies of the 6th ray. The energies of the 7th ray blend spirit and matter; with the Aquarian ideals of inclusivity and divine service we can begin to envision how human relationships will evolve to be new expressions the Plan of loving understanding.
The Plan can be recognized as Christ’s plan, a plan of light and love, promised long before his presence on earth 2000 years ago. In Jeremiah we read, “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the Lord—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). It is addressed in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians “For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them” (Ephesians 2:10). But most assuredly it is promised by Jesus’ teaching to his disciples on the matter of salvation, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
- 3. Esoteric Psychology Vol. I,p. 358
And may it seal the door where evil dwells
This evil is the evil we know and participate in; it is part of our experience of and response to the demands of daily life in the worlds of time and space. It is the cause of suffering; it is all that emerges as selfishness, as hatred, as separateness, as materialism. Evil persists as long as we dwell in the realms of opposites. The human mind judges, divides and distorts the truth of the relatedness of all things. This has been described as creating distortions of half-truths, the basis of selfishness and of the roots of hatred.
Yet the nature of human evolution is movement toward synthesis through the building of relationships, and the primary relationship necessary to the overcoming of evil is the relationship of the judging mind with the loving soul. As the soul begins to influence the lower mind different choices can be and are made. Hatred gives way to compassion; selfishness to sacrifice for the good of the group. The curious process of decentralization proceeds; the center of self comes to abide in relationship with others; the primary focus moves to consideration of the good of the whole. Gradually the knowledge gained in this earth-life experience comes to be conditioned by love; relations become right relations with all things. In this humanity makes ready the way for the restoration of the Plan, the reappearance of the Christ, the founding of the Kingdom of God on earth.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth
In the Gospel of Luke we find this most beautiful telling of humanity’s responsibility and God’s promises in the coming Kingdom of God on Earth. Here the divine Plan is fulfilled and humanity walks again with Christ, now in the shared awareness we call Christ Consciousness.
“But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit [is] that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
Luke 6:27-38
And thus will we come to know the fruits of our work in the founding of this Kingdom:
“So peace will come again on Earth, but a peace unlike aught known before. Then will the will-to-good flower forth as understanding, and understanding blossom as goodwill in men.” 4 Is this not a fully adequate responsibility for Humanity? Something for which to live and work, to dream and aspire?5
- 4. The Reappearance of the Christ, p. 14
- 5. The Rays and the Initiations, p. 738