PROMOTING SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

From the "MYSTIC LIGHT" magazine

PROMOTING SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
by the Twentieth Century Mystic; Elsa Glover


THE RECORDING ANGELS are the
agents of destiny. Their aim is to give to
all people what they need for their spiritual
development. The questions this
article will explore are what the
Recording Angels do to accomplish their task and
ways in which humans can help in the process.
In order for people to develop spiritually they
need two things. They need to exercise their various
spiritual muscles so that they develop spiritual
strengths and they need to experience the effects of
their actions so that they learn which actions were
wise and which were foolish. In order for the universe
to stay in balance as these processes occur,
people who incur debts of destiny also need to
eventually pay them back. The Recording Angels,
then, have the responsibility of arranging people’s
spiritual exercise programs and their retrospections
and their debt payments. Their specific duties
involve the following:
1. Prior to birth they set up the major outlines of
a life plan for each person and choose the time and
place of birth of that person in such a way that that
person will encounter those astrological energy patterns
which will challenge him to exercise those of
his spiritual muscles which are most in need of
exercising.
2. They guide people in their ‘chance’ encounters
with other people so that each person will encounter
those who will promote the working out of their life
plan.
3. After death, the Recording Angels see that
each person retrospects his life and feels the effects
of each of his actions on earth. This totally clears
the debts of joy and sorrow, so that when a person
is born again he does not have any outstanding
debts of joy or sorrow. People may still have debts
of service to work out. If, in one life, a person has
received more services than he has given, then he
will owe some debts of service when he returns to
life on earth. People can also incur debts of service
by doing acts which harm or delay the evolutionary
progress of others. In each life, the Recording Angels
arrange for people to have the opportunity to pay as
many of these debts of service as they are able.
People have free will, and they may use their free
will either to work with the Recording Angels in
promoting spiritual development of themselves and
others, or they may work against the Recording
Angels and against the promotion of their own and
other’s spiritual development. The Recording
Angels are not deterred by the willfulness of
humans, and they keep giving humans opportunities
to develop and the associated retrospections
until ultimately the spiritual development generally
occurs. But humans by their actions can speed up or
slow down the process.
What can humans do to speed up their spiritual
development? They can accept the challenges of
life and do their best to solve whatever problems
they encounter. They can retrospect their actions at
the end of each day, trying to see and feel the effects
of their actions and thus learn which actions had desirable
effects and which had undesirable effects. They
can also serve whenever they have the opportunity.
This leads to the next question. How can humans
serve one another, which translates into how can
humans promote the spiritual development of one
another? To promote the spiritual development of
others we need to encourage them to face the challenges
and solve the problems in their lives. This
does not involve doing for others what they should
be doing for themselves, although it may involve
doing for others things which they are not currently
ready to learn to do for themselves. It does not
involve giving to others everything they want
(which may take away their motivation to develop
the skills to earn things for themselves), although it
may involve giving others the information and
resources they need to get started on some productive
activity. It does not involve telling people that
they are doing a great job when they are not (which
may give them a false sense of accomplishment and
diminish their motivation to improve), but it may
involve reminding people that they have potential
and can accomplish great things if they persist in
their efforts. This does not involve sheltering people
from all the effects of their actions, although it
may involve standing by them in their problems and
helping them find a way through them.
A particular need for service occurs when people
are ill. Any illness is given the sufferer by the
Recording Angels in order to enable that person to
learn some lessons or in order to help him develop
some spiritual powers. For example, if people are ill
because they did not know how to keep themselves
healthy, their lesson may be to learn about such
things as proper diet, exercise, rest, and a harmonious
state of mind. If people knew what they needed
to do to stay healthy but did not control their
desire body sufficiently to live by these rules, then
their lesson may be to learn to live according to
rules.
Some illnesses may not be the effects of wrong
living, but rather be caused by some unforeseeable
‘accident’ or congenital problem. These illnesses
may have been given by the Recording Angels to
help the person develop some spiritual quality such
as patience, sympathy for those who suffer, humility,
will power, seeking for spiritual understanding,
etc. The spiritual needs of someone who is ill are to
learn the lesson which the illness is trying to teach
him and/or to develop the powers which the illness
is meant to help him develop. When these have
been accomplished, then the Recording Angels will
lift the illness from the person. Possible service to
ones who are ill may involve helping them with
everyday living chores (if they need it), helping
them understand the possible causes of disease (and
thence also the route to cures), helping them view
their situation from a spiritual point of view (so that
they can see the goodness of the universe and can
overcome such negative emotions as anger, fear,
and worry).
Are spiritual healers, who are able to bring healing
to those who are afflicted, working with the
Recording Angels to promote the patient’s spiritual
development? If they are not initiates, they probably
are unable to work against the Recording
Angels because they will not be able to heal anyone
whom the Recording Angels have not decided is
ready to be healed. Initiates have the power to heal
at will, but they have the wisdom to only use this
power when it will be of benefit to the spiritual
development of the patient. Thus, initiates will consciously
work with the Recording Angels in promoting
the spiritual development of people.
Another method of service is through prayer or
meditation or projected thoughts. Any pure, loving,
uplifting prayers or thoughts have a positive effect
on the spiritual development of the world. It is possible
to make prayers of commitment, to tell the
Recording Angels that if they send anyone to us in
need of service, we will do our best to help. (It is
useful to the Recording Angels to know this.) If, in
our prayers, we would ask for something, we might
follow the example of King Solomon. He requested
wisdom so that he could serve the people better. ❐
—Elsa Glover


SILENCE
“If we are to foster the awe, reverence, and
adoration through which we may know the Word
of Christ, then we must love, and not fear silence
and stillness in...our life. From silence comes the
Word. From silence God spoke and created the
world. From silence He spoke to Mary and came
to dwell in her womb. From silence He sent His
Holy Spirit at Pentecost to lead the Church.
Meditative quiet...is neither favored nor fostered
in our culture. Yet there is no getting around the
simple fact that only in stillness do we learn to
listen with the interior ear. Only in stillness do
we calm down enough to sense the Lord’s presence.
Only in stillness do we find out that the
Lord loves us and that we are made to love him.
Silence, then, is not a den of terror; it is rather the
place where we fall in love.”
—Anne Husted Burleigh