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LETTER XXXVI
THE “LUSITANIA”
(This letter was written on the 7th
of May, at 10.30 A.M., New York time, one hour after the sinking of the
Lusitania, and nine hours before the writer knew of it.)
And still
they press forward against us—the menacing powers of darkness and evil, seeking
to vent their rage against the world and to glut themselves on the blood of the
slain.
I have not been near you for a few days because I have had no time.
Did you fancy that I had escaped time? Not yet. Had I escaped time, I could not
speak thus to the world in the grip of time. Had I quite transcended space, your
room could not hold me.
During the six days that you have not seen me I have been here,
there and everywhere in Europe—even in Asia have I been, for the attack is
world-wide.
A little while ago I told you that we had
driven back the forces of evil. They have rallied and come forward again, not
quite as strong, but more desperate and more frenzied.
They seek now to embroil the United States, and the whole continent
of the old dead race that fed them on blood by magical rites ages ago, that
continent where the new race has to be born when this prolonged labor is over.
Had I remembered the Law of Rhythm I should have known that the tide
of evil would flow back again, and that we should have to struggle with it a
second time. It may even now gather fresh force and renew the attack, a little
weaker still.
The evil beings whom we have slain are slain, they can trouble us no
more for a time; but the slain are few beside the many still active. Help us
with your thoughts.
Many of our friends in the world have staggered and grown weary
during the last few days. Do not you!
As thy day, so shall thy strength be, O World that we struggle for,
and for which we shall win in the end the crown of peace and brotherhood!
As I have said before, the world is in the
throes of an initiatory ceremony. The trial by water, the trial by air, the
trial by fire—all these must the world go through before it can take its place
among the initiates of the stellar hierarchies. There is no drawing back now,
and the world must not fail. Should it fail there would soon be a vacant place
in the circles of the Zodiac. But the world will not fail.
Again have I met with the evil being of whom I wrote at the
beginning of these letters. He is lashing himself in fury now, drunk with the
power of his place. Ere his hour draws near, he is hot to assert himself.
The climax is approaching, and if I visit you less often than
before, it is because I cannot leave my place so often.
Never falter in courage. Your faith shall be the evidence of things
still unseen—as it has been before.
This second struggle with the powers of darkness will leave us
stronger and leave them weaker.
I know many things which I cannot tell you,
for you are not strong enough to receive them; but remember this—the Law of
Rhythm holds, it is the Law of laws, and after this storm will come a
corresponding calm, after this agony a rest in the quiet of love. When hate has
spent itself, then love can have its way.
Do you not hate, but stand steady, merely withstanding attacks. Do
not waste your strength. It will be needed by and by. If we use you sometimes as
a material base on which to plant our etheric feet for a greater spring into
space, remember that you offered yourself for the service of the world, and the
service has been accepted.
This is no time to talk of reward, but the law of justice is behind
the world.
So far as possible, strengthen those who suffer too much, and we
will strengthen you. The angels you saw last night are the bodyguard of the
Masters’ servants. As thy day, so shall thy strength be.
I will give you a formula for use in time of stress and storm: Reach
up to the indwelling Spirit and repeat, “For her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.”
It is only in contact with mind, with desire
and with matter, that the Spirit struggles and suffers. In its own home all is
peaceful and pleasant. Reach up to that home when the storms are too loud, and
you will find a place of silence.
Do not let go your hold upon the body. You could no longer be used
as a material base should you loosen your hold on the material, and those who
come to live altogether in the astral world just now have a hard time at first.
Be calm and poised and sure. Be not a quicksand but a rock.
That is all for the present.
This little time of writing has rested me as well as you, and I will
return.
May 7.
Letter XXXVII
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