Pioneering Mystic Lectures, 2006

Loyalty

Sandra R. Gustavson, January 11, 2006, Cleveland, Ohio

  An essay is a written composition exposing the author’s own views on a subject, often focusing on a particular aspect of that subject. An essay often lacks the formality of other forms and is more personal in its tone. This essay reflects my conception of Loyalty, based on Edna Lister’s work contained on the Via Christa website as well as the Master’s words in Matthew 25 and John 14.
  My essay is a collection of reflections on Loyalty. It includes my own personal reflections and introspection on the subject as well as reflections on Loyalty as described in various writings on the Via Christa website and in the Bible. My essay concludes with a personal questionnaire on Loyalty.
  An Observer. I feel like an observer to Loyalty. In preparation for writing this essay, I read all references on the website resulting from a search on the word. As I read each, I was conscious of an abyss between my perception of Loyalty and the reality of the word. I could see across the abyss to the golden, brilliant light of Loyalty, but it remained beyond me.
  This feeling of being apart from the Loyalty, i.e., its existence in Truth, held through my reading all the references: when Loyalty was used on its own, and when it was used as part of a trinity: Honor, Loyalty, Integrity; Loyalty, Sincerity, Truth; Love, Honor, Loyalty; Loyalty, Surrender, Obedience. I was still an observer to Loyalty, separated, external to the concept. This I know to be illusion, for there is no separation in reality .
  Is my perceived status as observer telling me that I have not yet become Loyalty? For had I become Loyalty, I would not be conscious of it, but rather I would be totally God-conscious.
  Duality and Oneness. Loyalty to me is having not a tissue paper’s thinness between me and God. Loyalty can tolerate nothing of self and requires total unity with God. However, it is a unity out of duality. Loyalty requires an other, an object of devotion or allegiance, so two are implied. Loyalty is not multiplicity, for multiples would create conflict. There can be no separation of allegiance in Loyalty. God must be All. Loyalty is duality, becoming One.
  Conjunction. Looking at the composition of the word, Loyalty, I observe two Yods, LOYALTY, a conjunction, another way of expressing the duality as One.
L=Love;
O=One;
Y=You;
A=Allegiance;
L=Law;
T= Truth;
Y= Yetsirah, Yod, Youth.
  Loyalty as Adoration. Full loyalty to God is absolute adoration of God, full allegiance to the Light as the Source of all that is. Loyalty is not being separated from God by a single dark or to-the-self thought. Perhaps that is why it is so difficult for me to maintain an attitude of Loyalty, at times experiencing fear and doubt, self-consciousness.
  I recognize two key approaches to becoming Loyalty. The first is Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. Loyalty requires that I begin and end my seeking with God. The second is, This is Good. Let there be Light. This is my affirmation that God is all there is.
  Loyalty as Being and Doing. Loyalty to God is something I am to become: full allegiance to God as the Truth of Reality. This was my first thought of Loyalty—a Principle. It was also called a prime virtue. Then, as I read the glossary definition, I became aware of Loyalty, not only as being, but as action: loyalty that is steadfast in the face of any temptation to renounce, desert, or betray. Loyalty takes action to defend that which is honored. This implies that I must do something: remain loyal in the face of all challenges. I take action to stand and face God when confronted with challenges and temptations on earth.
  Loyalty of God. The loyalty of God lies in the certainty that I shall never be separated from Him or from the Light, that He wants all His children back, that when I give 1%, he gives 99%, that before I have called, He has answered. We have seen God’s loyalty throughout time: Abraham and Isaac, the parting of the Red Sea, manna in the wilderness. I have but to bridge the abyss, move to close the gap, embrace God with such closeness that I allow not even a tissue paper’s thinness between me and God.
  Loyalty to All. My Loyalty to God is expressed as loyalty to all that God is as form, as man, as all of creation. This requires that I see the other perfect, seeing only the Light in others. When I know the Truth, I am loyal to the Light of God as it appears in others.
  Loyalty’s Ensample. Where do I look for an ensample of Loyalty? To the Master. When I look to the Master as Loyalty, I feel closer to the Truth. The Master is my Bridge across the abyss—between the place I now stand, observing, and the Truth. When I think of the Master and observe His loyalty to God, I become conscious only of Light. The Master was Loyal when he said, If ye had known me, you should have known my Father also: and from hence forth ye should have known him and have seen him," and "he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. I am in the Father and the Father in me. (John 14) He embodied Loyalty as he prayed at Gethsemane. (The picture of Him praying at the rock in Gethsemane tears at my soul each time I see it.) There were many expressions: teaching in the temple as a youth, his baptism, the temptation, following Mary’s instructions at the marriage feast, the healing acts of faith: feeding the 5,000, raising Lazarus, and the routing of the money changers from the Temple, the ride on the colt of the ass. All were rooted in his Obedience and Loyalty to God. His Loyal Love for us is found in his statement, If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14)
  To Edna Lister. Edna Lister’s steadfastness is reflected over and over again in How to Stay UP. She constantly demonstrated her Faith and Loyalty to God. She honored God in all she did from writing lessons and letters to prayer work to hooking rag rugs. Her thoughts never strayed from God first. She calls forth Loyalty in those who serve with her.
  I bridge the abyss to Loyalty when I think of the Master and Edna Miriam. Does this mean that loyalty can be best understood through personality?
  The Master on Loyalty. The Master’s parable of the ten talents gives me insight into what is expected of one who is Loyal. In Matthew 25:21, the hard master says, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. as the talents are returned two-fold. Under full belief and Faith in God’s abundance, we take what is given us and return it multiplied.
  Honor and Loyalty under Faith.My first thoughts about Loyalty derive from the concept of Loyalty as Principle—Loyalty to the Source, the root of being: the absolute, undeviating, unchangeable, immutable foundation upon which all things are based and established. The second dimension of Loyalty that most strikes me is:
  When the Faith of God becomes the ruling passion of man’s heart and soul, the twin Pillars of Flame, Honor and Loyalty to God, support him on either side. These Golden Eternal Flames shine forth upon a weary world, giant torches lighting the way for Truth to lead all Creation back to its Source. The Faith of God cannot be set aside by anything the world might produce against it in darkness. Man has never conquered it, and never can conquer it by any action he can try. (From Faith the Challenger)
  This passage takes my breath away. There is such power in these words: Faith, Pillars, Honor, Loyalty, Golden Eternal; Flames, Truth, Creation, Source. Of Honor, Loyalty and Integrity, Honor would seem to come first, backed up by Loyalty. Loyalty follows Honor under complete devotion to the Godhead.
  Loyalty to My Heavenly Father. I have not explored my Loyalty to my Heavenly Father in this essay. It expresses as my service to Him and His Creation. It expresses in the great love that I have for him and consciousness of his great love for me. Here, I acknowledge it. My loyalty to my Heavenly Father is expressed in gratitude and Love.
  Personal Questionnaire. What is there between me and God? If anything comes between or causes separation, I am being disloyal.
  Do I truly seek God first and then stay UP with the Light?
   How do I respond when something challenges my high resolve? Do I turn to the Light and embrace it?
   Do I stand in Loyalty and Honor to God under all circumstances? Do I stand in the full Light? Do I live in the Golden Silence? Am I a flaming pillar?
   How do I work to increase my Loyalty? Am I obedient to Law?
   Can I apply loyalty in just one area of my life? If I can apply it in one, I can apply it in all
   Am I grateful? Do I love God enough?
   Am I loyal to God’s Light as it appears in others?

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