2nd 3rd or 4th
Michaelmas Sunday
Revelation 19, 11-16
And I saw the heavens opening up. And behold, a white horse! And the
rider who sat upon it is called faithful and true, who judges justly and
battles for justice. His eyes are like flames of fire, and his head wears many
crowns, inscribed with a name which no one knows but he himself. The cloak that covers him has been dipped in blood, and
he is known by the name “Word of God”.
And the warriors of the sky ride behind him upon white steeds, clad in
clean, white linen. And he has a sharp-edged sword coming out of his mouth with
which to strike the nations down, and he will shepherd them with a staff of
iron. He treads on the winepress holding the wine of the wrath of the will of
God, the ruler of all.
And written on his cloak and on his thigh is the name: King of all
kings, Lord of all lords.
4th Michaelmas Sunday
Rev. 19: 11 – 16
In the created world, one of the primary polarities is that
of gender. This division extends even into the plant world. There are trees
that are paired. In order to be fruitful, the male and female of the species
must be nearby.
Today’s reading is paired with that of last week. We saw the
majestic picture of the cosmic woman, clothed in the radiance of loving-kindness,
crowned with the radiance of star thinking, standing above the moon chalice of
the earthly. She was giving birth, but child was threatened with extinction by
a fiery red dragon. She represents the ideal of the human soul, struggling to
give birth to the Christ-Child within, threatened by destructive elements that
lurk in the human constitution.
Today’s reading contains her spirit counterpart. Her Child is
grown into the great cosmic warrior-king, the I AM. Royal, sovereign and active
on behalf of the will of God, He rides on the white steed of pure thinking. His
two-edged sword of discernment fights for truth and justice. And his garment is
dipped into the purity of his sacrificial human blood. He is followed by the
hosts of those who, through His sacrifice and their own, have risen to the
heavenly spheres through purity of
thought and heart.
The cosmic woman and the cosmic warrior-king are two positive
aspects of the future of humanity. Our souls struggle to give birth to the Son
God within. But this spirit birth is threatened by the tendency toward selfish,
destructive egotism. This dragonish element actually resides in our blood. He
who would be born within us will become the shepherding king in and among us.
He wields His sword of discernment and with his staff of meteoric iron rules
and subdues the negative elements in our blood, ‘purifying it and making it
spirit-receptive’.
The Lord King’s upright staff of iron is directed at the
destructive fiery dragon element in us, our self-centered devouring egotism. Our
egotism is purified by the sovereign Christ element of self-sacrifice. United
with the sacrifice of His own Blood, we too will live among those clad in
white, who follow Him in purity of thought. We too will be a part of the living
stream of human evolution. We too will be those who follow God’s will, what God
wants for humanity.
