The central issue of student attainment deals with the progress the student is making in drawing forth from the Master the revelation of God's Glory, and subsequently, the determination to do the work necessary to anchor and retain an awareness of that Glory.

     In this regard, the fact of attainment has two fundamental dimensions. On the one hand, attainment equals the fabric of being consciously attuned to a specific God Quality. On the other hand, attainment equals the determination and effort to achieve the condition of constancy in regards to such an attunement. But we can be far more specific than this.

     The first and most basic sign of attainment on the path of initiation is represented by the reception of the divine knowledge that God deserves our utmost respect, highest esteem, highest honor, and deepest appreciation.

Note: Consider the geometry of conscious required for the soul to attune to God. If this geometry could be likened unto a parabolic reflector, then this particular aspect of divine knowledge represents the general shape of the whole reflector. It is the overall fundamental shape that is required to keep God as the very center of the attention.

     This knowledge is always accompanied by a vision of one or another of God's Glorious attributes, all of which would come under the general heading of "God's Glory." It is this vision, given by the Master to the student, of this God Quality, which, as it penetrates to the very depths of the soul, gives birth within the soul to the determination to bring itself fully into conformity with this most basic and fundamental truth.

     The fact that God deserves our utmost respect, highest esteem, highest honor, and deepest appreciation, not in fleeting moments of lucidity, but constantly, without ceasing, and with the greatest passion 24 hours a day, is the single most basic and fundamental truth in the entire universe.

     Even though this knowledge and this vision is extended to the soul by virtue of the wisdom, vision, and power associated with the Master's ascended state, in order to register it, the student must have previously done enough clearance work that will enable the chakras to register that knowledge. All seven chakras must be able to work together as a seven-fold system of divine cognition to register the reality of God's deserving nature. This requires some level of cleansing, transmutation, and healing, i.e restoration of the divine blueprint at all seven levels. At minimum this requires a daily devotion to the violet flame over a period of years, and obedience to other basic requirements that the Masters have set forth, not the least of which is the giving of your daily calls to Archangel Michael (10.00), Judgment calls (20.07) and Dweller calls (20.09).

     When this divine knowledge is received, the student will immediately begin making the effort to bring its four lower bodies into alignment with it, which is a formidable task, and one that is not accomplished overnight, and one that does not produce an overabundance of success at the onset. The task of directly confronting, and prying up the old planks of self-centeredness, and establishing in their place the new floor boards of God-Centeredness, is the most difficult work the soul will ever engage in. In fact, sometimes it feels like you're trying to a run a race without any legs. The futility of it is oftentimes overwhelming. But this is not a signal to give up, but rather to increase your determination. The few golden drops of success that are metered out to the soul in response to the soul's effort in this regard, in terms of brief periods of absorption into the flames of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God, gradually, and over time, tutor the soul in the various dimensions of this divine reality.

     And thus the quality of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God becomes the lense through which life in general is perceived, and by which the subject of attainment is forever after defined, but not in a fuzzy, wishy-washy, or an abstract manner, but in terms ever more concrete, meaningful, and systematic, allowing the circle of comprehension to spread out widely throughout all cultures, nations, and continents.

     Looking at the subject of student attainment in a more systematic manner then, we see that there are at least nine (9) distinct subcategories of experience that are identifiable and distinguishable one from the other, as follows:

1. First and foremost is obedience to the Teaching, especially in regards to the requirement to come before the Altar of the Holy Grail on a daily basis to offer decrees for the intercession of the Ascended Hosts in the affairs of the student, in the affairs of the organization, and in the affairs of all people in all nations. All real attainment is built on this foundation. As a matter of fact all additional layers of attainment can only be built upon the genuine desire to increase one's effectiveness in our use of the science of the spoken word.

2. Secondly, within the context of one's service before the altar, experiencing, daily and consistently, the appearance of the power of the Sacred Fire, and the coincident defeat of the carnal nature. In other words, the soul must come face to face with the inertia of its own electronic belt substance each day, invoke the power of the sacred fire, and receive from the hand of God (via the Master) the first hand experience of the consuming of that inertia, and the subsequent and immediate deliverance of the soul into that universal region of sacred fire freedom.

3. Over time, many things are revealed to the soul within the inflow of the sacred fire during such service, all of which are directed to the important task of sweeping away all remaining vestiges of error concerning the soul's unworthiness to meet God face to face, and all of which, when taken together, form the next foundation layer for the quintessential vision to come.

4. Once this additional foundation layer is established, the Master gives to the soul the vision of God's deserving nature. This is a vision of God's Glory just comprehensive enough (and no more) to embed within the soul the immutable divine conclusion that God deserves the soul's utmost respect, highest esteem, highest honor, and deepest appreciation at all times and under all circumstances. The unascended soul cannot acquire this vision on its own power. It is not available to the soul in the context of material world perceptions. It must be given to the soul by the Master.

5. Next, as a natural response to this vision, the soul will experience a degree of absorption into the flame of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation, all of which are directed unto God. This represents a preliminary level of absorption into the outer precincts of the flame of adoration which is another word for the flame of freedom. In this, and for the first time, God is experienced as the center of the soul's life.

6. Then, as a natural response to the beauty of this two-fold experience (encompassed by items 4 and 5 above, i.e. vision of God's deserving nature, and absorption into the flame of respect), and as a matter of personal integrity and honor, a great determination wells up within the soul to hold that posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation at all times and under all circumstances. Nothing could be more clear to the soul than this, that the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God represents the most fundamental characteristic of all divine life to come.

7. And here is where the rubber actually comes into contact with the road of Life. The posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation, must be regained each day. The soul awakes from its daily period of rest aligned once again to the geometry of insensitivity and inertia represented by its own electronic belt substance, and that of the surrounding astral plane. And thus begins the daily experience of confronting the dark inertia of the (personal and collective) untransmuted self in terms of its blatant, intransigent, and stubborn refusal to come into alignment with this most basic, universal, (and glorious) truth concerning God's deserving nature.

8. Then comes the effort itself, to overcome that stubborn inertia, specifically the attempt to hold the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation for extended periods of time. This effort is made first within the mental body during the giving of dynamic decrees at the Altar of the Holy Grail. This is the only venue within which the soul has any hope of successfully anchoring the divine geometry associated with the postures of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God. The soul must have the supporting electronic presence of the Master to augment its effort to reconnect to the original vision in this regard. And that electronic presence, and the avenue of attunement associated with it, is only there in sufficient strength in the course of the dynamic decree. Of course, in its quest for 24 hour constancy in the holding of this posture, the soul must learn to make this effort in all areas of its life, including those areas of life which are lived apart from the altar. But the level of success the soul attains in holding that posture in these peripheral areas depends on the level of success the soul first attains in this regard at the altar. If there is no success in holding that posture at the altar, there is no possibility of success in holding that posture in these peripheral areas.

9. And finally comes the daily experience of victory in regards to this very specific area, wherein the effort to hold that posture against all manner of resistance and distraction, results in the soul moving beyond the general mental and emotional ambiance associated with its current life circumstance, whether that is positive or negative, and into an inner region of divine freedom, which is specifically defined as the soul being free to extend unto God the respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation that God so richly deserves, which amounts to brief periods of actual absorption into that region of freedom, and into the flame of respect, wherein the heart center begins to come into view, and wherein, the soul is taken into that special region of experience from whence huge hugs unto God well up and blossom out from the inner well spring of the soul's real divine identity. Thereafter, on the horizon of awareness appears the prospect of actual contact with the flame of love itself, for love is not such a great leap once the soul stands firmly on the very threshold of adoration and freedom.

     And thus the soul begins to reside, for briefs moments during each day in these glorious and shining regions of divine freedom. And again, it is very important to understand what I mean by freedom. The soul is set free to see what is, to see the glory of God, and to see clearly that God truly deserves, in such an eminent and profound manner, the most monumental expressions of our respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation. But not only that. The soul is set free to actually pour unto God the respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation that God so richly deserves. Here the soul merges for brief moments into the fabric of reality, of real divine life in its most essential nature. In that region of divine freedom (where all currents of awareness are merged with the currents of respect which flow towards a single, but infinite, point of focus, which is God) all material plane considerations are pushed into the back ground. What stands in the foreground, in a manner unchallengeable, is this all important goal of full seamless absorption into the flames of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God. From this vantage point the soul sees clearly that this is the foundation for all subsequent attainment, and moreover, that the soul cannot enter into the regions of divine reality by any other path.

     The fundamental nature of this posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God cannot be over emphasized.

     For what is the basis of the Christ Consciousness itself, i.e. the consciousness of the Son of God, if it is not a clear recognition of God's glory, and the determination to extend unto God, at all times, and under all circumstances, the respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation that God so richly deserves? And what could be more basic to the desire nature of the Son of God than the longing to lead and to shepherd God's children into that very same region of perception? Real life is seeing the reality of God. Real life is burning with the qualities of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation, qualities which the vision of God-Reality naturally evokes. This posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God is the very foundation of the Christ Consciousness. The soul cannot become fused to other regions of the Christ Consciousness without first becoming fully absorbed into, and fused with that most basic and fundamental vibrational foundation.

     Moreover, this is the most basic and fundamental quality of the Ascended Master Consciousness as well. The Elohim, the Archangels, the Angels, and our own Ascended Master brothers and sisters live in a state of constant reverence before the Glory of God. They never leave it. Everything they think, everything they do, is conceived within a womb of reverence before God's Glory. And what could be more fitting than this, that the first sign of attainment for the student on the path of the Ascension, would be the appearance of this determination to anchor this most basic and fundamental quality of the Ascended Master Consciousness, i.e. the determination to be the electrode of the respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation that God so richly deserves?

     Even when you brush up, ever so slightly, against the flame of respect, you are put into contact with the most glorious panorama of God's beauty. Here is the freedom associated with the infinite reaches of God's being.

     There is so much glorious freedom associated with the absorption of the soul into this quality of respect, that there emerges within the soul, naturally and automatically, the desire to lead other souls to this same fount of freedom. The attention is lifted from the handicraft mindset of human existence, into a real sense of participation in the grand procession of souls through the golden gates of the heavenly city.

     And it definitely becomes a high priority to craft your expressions in such a manner, that every time you speak, that at least one additional thread of respect can be added to the listener's conception of God. Perhaps the verbal equivalent of holding up a picture of Yosemite Valley every time you open your mouth.

     As you sit quietly in the center of your temple, this awareness allows you to more keenly recognize the wonderful nature of the temple God has created for you, yet, at the same time, you are clearly aware that your being is simply not radiating unto God the respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation he deserves, and you are determined to remedy that. You are determined to make whatever changes are necessary to become truly alive in this most basic and fundamental way.

     Consider for a moment that God is responsible for providing 100 percent of the energy systems that comprise your current life opportunity. Consider this as deeply as you possibly can. Then consider how much of your being is devoted to extending unto God the appreciation he deserves. There is quite an amazing deficit to resolve in every case. But this deficit can be resolved, and it can be resolved in this life.

     Consider for a moment simply the unfathomable complexity of eyesight that all of us are far too prone to take for granted. Consider the vision of the most mundane of scenes, for example, prairie grasses waving under a slight breeze under a cloudless blue sky, and how waves of light from the sun, after having traveled millions of miles through the vacuum of outer space, manage to reflect off a dizzying array of non-linear surfaces, bouncing into the surrounding air, and traveling through the intervening space, to converge on the lense of each of our eyes, wherein, the photons stream through, and charge across the interior of the eyeball, and strike the living cells on the rear wall, producing the nerve impulses that allow a visual picture to be created within the brain which the soul can experience as a perfectly ordered, colorful, reality. How does God do that? How does God make that happen? What keeps the photons that bounce off one blade of grass from getting all mixed up with the photons that bounce off another blade of grass? What keeps all of those photons from colliding with each other and producing a kaleidoscope of chaos in our brains? The depth of God's ordering influence is awe inspiring. Not only do all the photons arrive at the eye in an orderly manner, the color information they carry, in terms of their vibratory wave length, is perfectly preserved as well. In this respect, the light from the sun is a wonder to behold, being like unto a painter's pallette, consisting of a rainbow of colors, with the atomic structure of each material object designed to absorb all but the precise, color, hue and intensity, that nature desires to reflect to the human eye. What an amazing synthesis of macro-cosmic and microscopic functionality. There isn't any question about it. The wonder of God's creation is within the mechanism of our very own eyesight, yet we are not attuned to the wonder of this simple fact 99.999% of the time. Why? Why are we so dense? Why are we so consistently incapable of appreciating what is before (and inside) our very own eyes?

     Part of the definition of attainment then, has to be the attainment of the realization of one's own deficiency in terms of meeting this cosmic and universal standard of behavior, i.e. constant appreciation before the glory of God. But this realization of deficiency does not stand by itself, but is balanced by a realization of the cosmic behavior standard. In other words, it is impossible to get depressed over our obvious deficiencies because, we are given a vision of God's comprehensive, omnipresent providence. The experience evoked thereby, of the flames of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation, ignited within the very flesh and fabric of one's own identity, not only gives birth to the desire to fulfill the cosmic behavior standard in a manner that is consistent and seamless, but at the same time impregnates the soul with a buoyant hope, for the soul understands, that what it has seen in special moments of insight, it can learn to gaze upon perpetually. And the soul understands that what it has experienced in special moments of attunement, it can learn to attune to permanently. That's our destiny.

     These qualities, of respect, of esteem, of honor, and of appreciation, unto God, are the four foundation elements of love. Take note of this. You cannot get to the quality, to the power, of Love, (at will), without first anchoring these foundation elements.

     Sure, the Masters can reveal the Power of Love to any student at any time. And they have, and they will continue to do so, for this is part of the process of setting the student free from the often deeply ingrained patterns of unworthiness. But you will note that those revelations of Love are inspiring and uplifting (in direct experiential terms) only for a limited period of time, that as the hours march on we inevitably sink back into the net average vibration of our own individual electronic belt substance with its attendant density and inertia. And therefore, these visions of Love which the Masters give us, while they represent grace, encouragement, and even the incremental raising of our vibrational state, which is an important part of the process of building the foundation for personal attainment, they do not, by themselves, equal personal attainment.

     When we are talking about personal attainment, we are talking about the conscious anchoring by the student of a particular God-Quality, and the ongoing effort made by the student to anchor and hold an awareness of that God-Quality in all the areas of its life. In this regard, personal attainment must equal the personal decision, effort, and ability, to move out of a condition of electronic belt inertia, and into the freedom of a particular God quality, in this case, being carried into a direct awareness of the deserving nature of God on the very waves of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation, qualities which actually radiate out from the very fabric of the soul's life.

     Many people talk about love. But such talk can represent no more than a reference to a hollow abstraction unless the soul has made the effort to take command of its four lower bodies, and has consecrated the energies thereof to the universal stream of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation, which flows unto God from countless hearts throughout the vast expanse of infinite universes.

     The ultimate goal of course is to be able to attune to the reality of the heart center at will, but this cannot be accomplished until the soul has made a Herculean effort to bring the mental body, the emotional body, the etheric body, and the physical body, into alignment with the flames of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God. In other words, it is impossible for the soul to enter into the reality of the heart center at will, if the soul cannot bring itself, and hold itself, at will, in the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God.

     Changing a block of ice into a cloud of steam is not a one step process. Once water has become ice, on its way to becoming steam, it must become water again, it must enter the state of fluidity, and its temperature must then be raised to the boiling point. Only then can the power of steam (love) be harvested from the process.

I AM, I AM, I AM the Fire Breath of God
From the heart of beloved Alpha and Omega.
This day I AM the Immaculate Concept
In expression everywhere I move.
Now I AM full of Joy,
For now I AM the full expression of
Divine Love.

     The love that this popular decree talks about cannot exist within the consciousness of the soul unless it is framed by a powerful and irrepressible momentum of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God. Overlooking respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation is like a rose overlooking the need for a stem, a branch, a root system, and for the nourishment that mother earth herself provides.

     Therefore, for a soul that has finally entered, after so many lifetimes of preparation, into this kindergarten program (where it is just beginning to learn to hold the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation before God's glory), it becomes very important that whatever is said to another, that those words will carry the qualities of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation which the speaker himself is, in actuality, learning to feel towards the Creator, for it is the transmission of these qualities that will ensure that the soul of the listener will be fused to the path more solidly, and this is extremely important, for it is God's great hope to deliver every soul to that place on the path where his Glory can be revealed to that soul on a daily basis.

      ... There is nothing more basic than the ability to recognize the all inclusive role God plays in the original creation of our souls, and in the ongoing support of our opportunity to be alive. There is nothing more basic than the ability to feel grateful perpetually for the gifts of life God pours out to us constantly. Yet the chakras of most people are so clogged with effluvia that there is no possibility of regaining these most basic faculties of vision, sensitivity, and feeling, without entering into a long term program of cleansing, healing, and transformation. That of course is what the path of initiation is for ...

     The path is all about becoming enamored of God. God is the center of all life in every respect whether we are aware if it or not. The goal is to become aware of it. That is what the path is all about. The goal is to have our awareness mirror the cosmic order wherein God is the constant object of our respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation. True harmony in our outer relationships can only come about when the respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation we genuinely feel towards God, is reflected in our approach to other people. There is no other source of harmony.

     We all look forward to the day when more and more and more of the membership of our Church will come into a daily perception of God's Glory, and through the resulting development of the qualities of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God, that we will be able to attract the children of God from around the world, like noses are attracted to roses, back into the arms of their true Father and Mother.

     This is the vision for the future success of this organization.

     Instead of the children of God coming to decree services with their minds wandering all over the place, we all look forward to the day what every participant in group decree services (or decree services in their homes) will be able to spend every second of that decree service making the Herculean effort to come into alignment with the most fundamental truth in the universe, that God deserves, at all times and under all circumstances, our highest respect, our highest esteem, our highest honor, and our highest and deepest appreciation.

     As we make this effort, the Masters will do their part, working to fuse our awareness with an actual awareness of God's deserving nature, which is, as I pointed out above, the first sign of the individual Christ Consciousness manifest. And as the electromagnetic geometry of this awareness, of this focus, radiates out into society from the groups gathered at each Teaching Center and Study Group, a greater recognition of the value of God will manifest throughout all the people, and those people will be drawn into the Teachings, for they will experience a new desire to find God, to get closer to God, and we will have what they are looking for, what no other organization could possibly have, and that is the direct perception of God's Glory, not just in terms of a Teaching, but in terms of a living awareness transferred to us by the Ascended Masters, and anchored by us in as many wombs of determination as there are members of this organization.

     It's not that the Masters cannot reveal the deserving nature of God to devoted souls who walk within the context of other religious traditions. It's that these souls, as a general rule, do not have the tools required to clear the chakras to the extent necessary to anchor and develop a womb of determination in this regard. Those tools have been made public and widely available for the first time within the Teachings of the Ascended Masters. Moreover, this divine conviction, regarding the fact that God deserves our utmost respect, highest esteem, highest honor, and deepest appreciation, cannot be anchored within the consciousness of any soul until at least a rudimentary level of understanding is established concerning God's plan and purpose for the earth, an understanding that is contained in the Teachings of the Ascended Masters. The current doctrines of the world's religions represent, in far too many cases, dark caverns of ignorance in this regard, and the Ascended Masters do their utmost not to lend any additional power or additional sense of legitimacy to that state of ignorance.

     Developing and holding a womb of determination — within which the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God can be maintained over time — is the key. Doctrinal points that represent gross error and falsehood represent insurmountable barriers to the development of these wombs of determination. This is because energy patterns of error directly oppose not only the acceleration of the soul's awareness into a position of face to face contact with God in the here and now, but just as importantly, they oppose the overall process of reintegrating the soul with the fullness of its divine estate, which is to say the building of the permanent superstructure of divine awareness. These doctrinal falsehoods, for example, "Jesus is the only Son of God," must be identified for what they are (fractures in the womb structure), consciously abandoned, and the geometry of truth substituted in their place before there can be any possibility of the soul developing such a womb of determination. In this regard, the Teachings of the Ascended Masters represent the only antidote for the rampant and widespread error found in the organized religions of the world.

     For the members of Church Universal and Triumphant then, immediate, direct, and forthright action towards the anchoring of this posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God, is the requirement of every hour, for the drawing of the populations of the world into the Teachings, and for the full dawning of the Golden Age throughout America and all nations.

     Specifically, we need to add to the preamble of every decree the following prayer. The names of the Masters contained in the following prayer can be changed to match the names of the Masters who sponsor a particular decree matrix. For example, if you are doing Michael decrees, you would substitute the name of Archangel Michael, and his twin flame Faith. If you were doing Helios and Vesta calls you would use the name of Helios and his twin flame Vesta. If you were doing Cyclopeas, you would use the name of the Elohim Cyclopea and his twin flame Virginia. I use the names of Jesus Christ and St. Germain for the 70.11 Violet Flame decree:

I place one hand firmly in the hand of Jesus Christ, and the other hand firmly in the hand of St. Germain, [squeeze tight], and I call to your precious hearts to please help me to give these decrees in the manner most effective to bring about the alignment of my soul with the most fundamental truth in the universe, that God deserves my utmost respect and highest esteem; and with the second most fundamental truth in the universe, that God deserves the highest possible honor; and with the third most fundamental truth in the universe, that God deserves my deepest and most profound appreciation. Please help me to develop the capacity to extend that respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto our Father/Mother God, and even unto my very own Beloved God Presence, at all times and under all circumstances.

     Then, over the course of a particular decree, concentrate on each one of these qualities in succession, devoting an appropriate number of repetitions to the task of focusing on one particular quality. For example, over the course of a 15 minute period of 70.11 Violet Flame decrees, you would focus on the task of extending unto God the respect he deserves over the first (5) repetitions. Then you would focus on the task of extending unto God the esteem he deserves over the next (5) repetitions. Then you would focus on the task of extending unto God the honor he deserves over the next (5) repetitions. Then you would focus on the task of extending unto God the appreciation he deserves over the next (5) repetitions. Then, over the course of the next (5) repetitions you would start over and focus on the quality of respect, and continue on in this manner focusing on each of the subsequent qualities in turn during each successive subset of (5) decree repetitions. At the beginning of each subset, the decree leader can speak the appropriate keyword, i.e. utmost respect, highest esteem, highest honor, or deepest appreciation, to help the group engage their mental body more quickly into a mode of concentration on that particular quality. As you train your mental body to hold this focus, you can extend the focus on each quality to as many as (10) repetitions, i.e. ten repetitions devoted to respect, ten repetitions devoted to esteem, ten repetitions devoted to honor, and ten repetitions devoted to appreciation, and so forth.

     The number of repetitions which can be, in terms of practicality, devoted to a focus on each one of these particular qualities and tasks, will depend on the length of the decree matrix itself, the speed of the decreer, and on whether the students have committed the decree matrix to memory.

     It should be understood, that the mental exercise in of itself, and the various sensations that are associated with it, (most of which have to do with the fending off distractions generated by the carnal nature), is not the same thing as the experience of merging with the actual divine reality of these qualities, but that is the place you must start. There is no other place you can start. The process of building the womb of determination into which the Masters will place the actual awareness of these divine qualities must begin in the mental body. This is where the free will of the soul takes first form.

     Whatever momentums of mental concentration the student has previously developed (if any) must be set aside to accommodate this, the highest of priorities. Not that these other focuses are to be abandoned. If they are worthy of additional focus, they will be picked up later. The ultimate goal is to bring all other mental focuses into the context of this ongoing effort. For example, if a student has previously developed, in the midst of his decree work, a momentum of focusing on the image of the threefold flame, that focus needs to be set aside to accommodate the effort to develop a genuine state of integration with the qualities of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God. Once the state of integration is established, the focus on the 3-fold flame can be returned to (within the context of that state of integration).

But I can tell you, from experience, that as your focus on these qualities mature, you will find that the flame of appreciation expands into the region of God-Gratitude, and it is not a generalized or unfocused gratitude, but rather, it is focused on one of the most fundamental realities of life, which you will face each day, by saying, and meaning, Thank you O God for personally pouring your life into my heart, and in the midst thereof, the reality of the three-fold flame, and not a visualization of it, but the reality of it, begins to come into view.

     The student needs to develop the capacity to seamlessly integrate its awareness with the flames of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God as the foundation for all other mental activity. Ultimately, the student will see for himself that a particular mental focus is worthy of the student's attention only if the student can maintain a high degree of attunement with the flames of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God, as the first priority.

     This consideration will ultimately become the highest of priorities, for the soul arrives at a milestone of conviction where it must feel --- the soul is determined to feel --- that it is pouring out to God the respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation that God so richly deserves. And in this regard, feeling is reality, because if you cannot feel it, it is not actually happening. And as I noted above, this becomes a matter of personal integrity and personal honor, because, when the soul can see how much God deserves its respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation, the soul is determined that its being will fulfill the universal mandate associated with that vision, and extend unto God what God deserves. This is the first fundamental law of being. Once that is accomplished, then the student can return to the previous focus, whether it is the threefold flame, the golden Buddha, or whatever, and place that focus into the context of the flames of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God. When the soul succeeds in establishing this foundation, it may find that it has transcended the need to pursue the previous focus, or perhaps it will find that a much greater level of access to the inner reality of that previous focus is now accorded to the soul due to the effort it has made to establish this most important of vibrational foundations.

     It is very important to understand that the soul is not instantaneously delivered into a constant and eternal realization of this most basic of universal realities (God's deserving nature). It's that the soul is delivered, at a particular point on the path, into a region of concerted and determined effort to bring all the fibers of being into alignment with this fundamental truth. And in the course of this concerted effort, the soul is given to experience brief moments of actual integration with these qualities, and the quality of freedom itself.

     And once the soul has developed a track record of making the effort to hold that posture, it becomes quite clear, that the actual divine qualities of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God, can only manifest themselves within a womb of determination. And that this womb of determination must be seamless. And when the soul achieves moments of seamlessness in this regard, it can finally see that it had in fact already begun the work of developing this womb of determination, (into which the seed of this vision could be placed), in the course of its effort (over the years) to faithfully arrive at the altar for its period of service each day. I believe that this is the very first time the soul actually sees with its own inner eyesight the importance of the effort it has made towards being faithful in its decree work over the years.

     And moreover, for those of you who follow the Teaching of the Cosmic Clock, this is truly the soul's first entry into the region of God-Control (3 o'clock Aries line, and the first line of the mental quadrant), because the driving force behind the soul's determination to hold the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation, is the vision of God's deserving nature, i.e. pure God-Reality, which is a vision given to the soul by the Master. In other words, when the soul is making this effort to hold the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God, the soul is watering and tending the first tender seedling of God-Control.

     There will be some who will stand up and say, "No, there are more important activities for our mind's during our decree work. Let us ignore this suggestion." But I would like to say that there is nothing at all more important to do during our decree work. Your mind may have to be channeled into other areas as a matter of practicality when you are away from the altar, at least for the time being, i.e. until you develop constancy in this effort, and are able to place everything in the context of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God. But this is not true during decree services. During decree services there is nothing, no, not a single thing, that is more important. There will certainly be the temptation to believe that there are things more important to think about than God's deserving nature. But this temptation will always be the expression of the dweller on the threshold, (aeons worth of patterns of human self-centeredness stored in the electronic belt), which must be challenged and resisted.

     Some of these objections might even be clothed in the fabric of the Teaching itself. For example, some might say that during Michael calls for example, they need to visualize blue lightning angels doing their work, or during Astrea's they need to visualize the circle and sword of blue flame.

     To answer this particular objection, we first need to understand what it is that gives our decrees actual power to broadly impact the plans and purposes of God across an entire cosmos.

     The Masters take our decrees and they are empowered to act upon those decrees according to an empowerment equation. That empowerment equation will tell them whether they can release one unit of light or a billion units of light (or some value in between) for a given call. If the student is not consciously trying to align himself with the most fundamental truth in the universe, in terms of God's deserving nature, that means that over the course of the decree his four lower bodies will not be in alignment with the truth. For example, one might be thinking about a circle and sword of blue flame, but the feeling world, and the levels of each chakra which are associated with the feeling world, remain as an opaque mass of stubborn inertia. While the Master will respond to this decree, the response will be towards the lower end of the empowerment equation. But if the student makes the effort to bring all of its four lower bodies into alignment with the truth of God's deserving nature, the level of response the Master is allowed to give will be much higher on the empowerment scale, probably by at least one order of magnitude, i.e. power of ten. This has to be true because this effort brings the soul into the proximity of the heart center. The heart center is the focal point of the power of Love in the being of man. And there is no power greater than the power of Love. Therefore, the closer the soul comes into a vibrational alignment with the heart center, the greater power the decree will have. And in this regard, there is no higher priority than increasing the power of our decrees, in terms of what the Masters can do with them throughout the world and beyond.

     And this is particularly true when it comes to the power the Masters give to those decrees given for the physical healing of the Messenger.

     We can also observe that any sensations of boredom during a decree service, or any moments of impatience in regards to when the decree service will be over, will mark the lowest points on the empowerment equation scale. Decrees given in a condition of boredom get the least amount of response power from the Masters. Because a concerted effort to focus on God's deserving nature will have the effect of setting the soul free from any sensation of boredom during decree work, this will increase the overall level of response the Masters will be able to give to the decrees during any decree session, seeing that no soul involved in the decree session will ever sink into a vibration of boredom ever again.

     Boredom is eliminated from our decrees services under this focus, because the effort to pour out to God the respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation he so richly deserves, frames an area of consciousness into which the Masters place the actual vision of God's deserving nature. Even if you have to weather long periods of time without receiving the actual vision, the area of consciousness framed by this effort will be filled by your best conceptualization of God's deserving nature, which might include, on occasion, some image of one or another material objects that are representative of God's deserving nature, for example, a rose, or a mountain meadow, or a mountain range, or any one of a number of examples of God's beauty expressed in the natural creation. Or you might choose to draw forth from the treasure chest of fundamanetal visions which the Masters have given you over the years, and place one of those jewels into that framed area. Recalling the vision of God's infinite goodness would be a good choice.

      In this regard, we can say on the one hand, that beauty is never boring. But on the other hand we can observe that the effort to focus on divine beauty, even material examples of it, will cause the energies of consciousness to rise in vibration, and this rising or ascending energy pattern will displace and eliminate any possibility that patterns of boredom could take hold for the simple reason that patterns of boredom are patterns of energy that spiral downward into the regions of anti-illumination and spiritual blindness. If you hold your attention on the ascending rising spiral of this focus, no spiral of descending energy can take hold. This proves true in practice.

     It is also quite possible that some might object to making this effort believing that this posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God will come upon the soul naturally in the proper course of time, and that there is no need to make any kind of special effort in this regard in the here and now. There are three distinct reasons why such a belief would be in error.

     First, understanding and seeing the awesome effort God makes in every nanosecond to make sure we have what we need to be alive and to live a happy and productive life, places an obligation upon the soul, to extend unto God what God deserves, not in some future time, but in the here and the now. In other words, God deserves to be respected now. God deserves to be highly esteemed now. God deserves to be highly honored now. God deserves to be deeply appreciated now. The fulfillment of this obligation is tied to the soul's sense of personal integrity and honor. In other words, if the soul can see and understand the immense effort God is making to provide for every need of the soul, and the soul can observe that it is not extending unto God the requisite level of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation that God deserves, the soul will feel naturally deficient in regards to this fundamental capacity. Therefore, it becomes a matter of personal integrity and honor to address this deficiency, which means that the soul will take action to shore up its integrity and its sense of personal honor by making the effort, in the here and now, to extend unto God what God deserves. This means making the effort to radiate unto God the respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation he deserves at all times and under all circumstances, i.e. at every point along the continuum of available time.

     Second, the reason we are not freely able to extend unto God the respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation he deserves (in the here and now) is due to the fact that our chakras are clogged with electronic belt substance of non-respect, non- esteem, non-honor, and non-appreciation. This clogged condition doesn't just disappear by itself or of its own accord. This clogged condition within the chakras (the result of many lifetimes of the misuse of the sacred fire) must first be reduced by the application of the Violet Flame, and then the condition must be consciously challenged. This means that patterns of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation must be established in their place. These patterns do not exist now. They must be made to exist. The soul must make the effort to bring these patterns of thought and feeling into actual existence, and this takes effort in the here and now. In other words, if these patterns of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation are to exist within the chakras at some point, the soul will have to start making the effort towards that end. And there is no better time than now to begin this building process.

     Third, as noted above, the actual divine flames of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation can only exist within a womb of determination. While this womb of determination should exist in the here and now, for the souls evolving on this planet, it does not exist in the here and now. Neither will this womb of determination simply appear within the consciousness of these souls at some future time. This womb of determination must be built up by efforts made by the individual soul over time. This is what determination means. It means consistent and persistent effort towards a very well defined goal made in the here and now over the course of a very extended period of time. Effort made once or twice a year does not qualify as determination. Effort made once or twice a month does not qualify as determination. Effort made once or twice a week does not qualify as determination. Effort made once a day qualifies only as a seed of determination. Effort made several times a day, towards a well defined goal, is just beginning to take on the true character of determination, but this is still only a seedling of determination.

     Moreover, it is important to understand what it is exactly that qualifies as effort. In this case effort is defined as conscious internal act of the soul made within the mental and emotional body that meets with the resistance of electronic belt inertia. If the soul can accomplish something without resistance, then it is commonly said to require no effort. What this means is that the Ascended Masters will never allow our use of the Violet Flame, no matter how determined we are, and how devoted we are to its use, to completely clear our chakras of the electronic belt substance of non-respect, non-esteem, non-honor, and non-appreciation. Some amount of this substance, and that amount is usually experienced as a rather huge monolithic barrier, will remain to provide that force of resistance which is required to qualify our internal actions as valid efforts which will enable us to build the all important womb of determination. This is important. Without the experiential landscape upon which we can make real efforts, the quality of determination cannot be developed.

     Even for those souls who have been on the path for many years who may have cleared their own chakras, they must still carry the burden of misqualified substance in those chakras associated with the collective pollution of the planet. The Masters are very interested in their students developing the maximum level of determination.

     What this all boils down to is this. Effort must be made in the here and now to build the womb of determination into which the actual divine flames of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God can reside in state of constant radiance. This is the point to which all students on the path converge. It is far better to begin aiming at that point today, and to begin making that effort today, than it is to put it off until tomorrow.

     And the truth of this is made the more apparent when you consider what the Ascended Masters mean when they ask us to "come up higher." There are not an array of options available to the soul when it comes to choosing how it will "come up higher." There is only one option available. The soul must expand and intensify its effort to hold the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation before the glory of God. One cannot jump over this rung of the ladder and expect to grab onto a higher rung. It's impossible.

     Remember, the light of the heart cannot be expanded until this posture is adopted and secured. Doing the work necessary to adopt this posture, is the first stage of expanding the light of the heart. When we are talking about expanding the light of the heart, we are talking about expanding the power of love. But Love is the power with the highest vibration and highest power. The soul must merge with and anchor intermediate vibrations before it can merge with and anchor the highest of vibrations. Also, because love is the highest power, it cannot be expanded until the student has proven that he will not misqualify that power, something that would bring upon the student and the sponsoring Master significant karmic repercussions. The best defense against the misqualification of the great power of the heart is the irrepressible determination to hold the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God. When the student has proven that this posture is unassailable, then the light of the heart can be safely expanded.

     Moreover, and generally speaking, you have to anchor a requisite level of appreciation for what you have now, before you can be given anything more to be grateful about. You certainly have enough right now to be constantly aglow with appreciation unto God if you simply consider what you can presently see with your own eyes, and what you can presently understand with your own mind. For example, your body, your mind, your heart, your hands, your feet, your eyes, your stomach, your liver, your kidneys, your intestines, (and I could go down that path several more miles), the planet earth and all of its variegated life systems, the sun around which the planet revolves, and for the light and warmth the sun provides, for the solar system of which earth is a part, and for the countless stars that we can see with our own eyes on a clear night. For mountain streams, for wild flowers, for family, for our talents and the opportunity to employ them to constructive ends. The opportunity to be affiliated with Church Universal and Triumphant, the opportunity to have the Teachings, the opportunity to have the sponsorship of the Ascended Masters, the opportunity to walk the path of the ascension, the opportunity to gather with souls of light in service before the Altar of the Holy Grail. The opportunity to balance our karma, the opportunity to put on the fullness of our identities as Son and Daughters of the most high God.

     We have enough evidence of God's deserving nature, that anyone with clear chakras would be radiating rivers and waves of respect, esteem, honor and appreciation unto God constantly for what all of us in our insensitivity have taken for granted for far too long. For the members of this organization, that time is over. The time for everlasting sensitivity to the glory of God has come, today, right now. Grab a hold of it, and don't let go.

     We need to overcome this illusion that the absence of gratitude unto God is somehow a condition of neutrality. The fact is that Gratitude is not optional. The fact is that the absence of gratitude represents a misqualification of the sacred fire. A line by line review of the lines of the cosmic clock will make it evident enough that the absence of each quality is never a neutral condition, but it is always a misqualification of that aspect of the Sacred Fire.

1 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Love? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Aquarius hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Love is not the absence of energy in the Aquarius domain. The Aquarius domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Aquarius hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Love. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Love, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Love is absent. If the quality of God-Love is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Love, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Aquarius Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are hatred and mild dislike, and all witchcraft. Therefore, the absence of God-Love is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Love represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

2 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Mastery? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Pisces hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Mastery is not the absence of energy in the Pisces domain. The Pisces domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Pisces hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Mastery. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Mastery, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Mastery is absent. If the quality of God-Mastery is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Mastery, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Pisces Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are doubt, fear, human questioning, and records of death. Therefore, the absence of God-Mastery is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Mastery represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

3 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Control? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Aries hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Control is not the absence of energy in the Aries domain. The Aries domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Aries hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Control. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Control, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Control is absent. If the quality of God-Control is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Control, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Aries Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are conceit, deceit, arrogance and ego. Therefore, the absence of God-Control is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Control represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

4 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Obedience? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Taurus hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Obedience is not the absence of energy in the Taurus domain. The Taurus domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Taurus hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Obedience. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Obedience, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Obedience is absent. If the quality of God-Obedience is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Obedience, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Taurus Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are disobedience, stubbornness, and defiance of the law. Therefore, the absence of God-Obedience is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Obedience represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

5 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Wisdom? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Gemini hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Wisdom is not the absence of energy in the Gemini domain. The Gemini domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Gemini hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Wisdom. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Wisdom, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Wisdom is absent. If the quality of God-Wisdom is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Wisdom, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Gemini Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are envy, jealousy, and ignorance of the law. Therefore, the absence of God-Wisdom is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Wisdom represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

6 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Harmony? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Cancer hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Harmony is not the absence of energy in the Cancer domain. The Cancer domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Cancer hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Harmony. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Harmony, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Harmony is absent. If the quality of God-Harmony is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Harmony, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Cancer Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are indecision, self-pity, and self-justification. Therefore, the absence of God-Harmony is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Harmony represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

7 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Gratitude? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Leo hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Gratitude is not the absence of energy in the Leo domain. The Leo domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Leo hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Gratitude. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Gratitude, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Gratitude is absent. If the quality of God-Gratitude is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Gratitude, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Leo Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are ingratitude, thoughtlessness, and spiritual blindness. Therefore, the absence of God-Gratitude is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Gratitude represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

8 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Justice? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Virgo hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Justice is not the absence of energy in the Virgo domain. The Virgo domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Virgo hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Justice. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Justice, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Justice is absent. If the quality of God-Justice is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Justice, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Virgo Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are injustice, frustration, and anxiety. Therefore, the absence of God-Justice is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Justice represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

9 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Reality? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Libra hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Reality is not the absence of energy in the Libra domain. The Libra domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Libra hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Reality. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Reality, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Reality is absent. If the quality of God-Reality is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Reality, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Libra Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are dishonesty, intrigue, and treachery. Therefore, the absence of God-Reality is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Reality represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

10 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Vision? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Scorpio hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Vision is not the absence of energy in the Scorpio domain. The Scorpio domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Scorpio hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Vision. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Vision, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Vision is absent. If the quality of God-Vision is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Vision, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Scorpio Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are selfishness, self-love, and idolatry. Therefore, the absence of God-Vision is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Vision represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

11 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Victory? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Sagittarius hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Victory is not the absence of energy in the Sagittarius domain. The Sagittarius domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Sagittarius hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Victory. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Victory, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Victory is absent. If the quality of God-Victory is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Victory, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Sagittarius Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are resentment, revenge, and retaliation. Therefore, the absence of God-Victory is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Victory represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

12 o'clock. What happens when there is no God-Power? Does that mean there is no energy within the regions of consciousness ruled by the Capricorn hierarchy? No. The absence of God-Power is not the absence of energy in the Capricorn domain. The Capricorn domain always has energy moving, pulsating, flowing within it. The question is, what is the geometry of that energy? What is the quality being expressed by that energy? Under the Capricorn hierarchy, for the energy to be aligned to the original divine design, the energy must take on the geometry of pure God-Power. If the energy has not taken on the geometry of pure God-Power, we don't say that the energy is absent. We say that the quality of God-Power is absent. If the quality of God-Power is absent, this means that the energy has been impressed with another quality. Any other quality, other than God-Power, is a misqualification, and those misqualifications of the Capricorn Hierarchy which the Masters have identified, are criticism, condemnation, and judgment, and all black magic. Therefore, the absence of God-Power is not a neutral condition. The state of non-God-Power represents the presence of a particular category of misqualified energy which makes up part of the overall energy veil that hides the face of God, and the reality of God, from the soul.

     What all of this amounts to is the fact that there is no such thing as a void of nothingness in the consciousness of a human being. Consciousness consists of energy, and energy is always present in a particular pattern and vibration. If there is no gratitude, what is there, is not simply a lack of gratitude, but the actual presence of insensitivity, thoughtlessness, and ingratitude. These patterns of energy must be consciously challenged by the soul, consumed by the power of the Violet Flame, and replaced by the patterns of gratitude. In this regard, when we are talking about learning to adopt and maintain the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation before the glory of God, we are talking about keeping the flame of gratitude. To keep something, is to never let it go.

     Finally, we need to consider how quickly we ought to expect the membership of this organization to come into alignment with this, the most basic and fundamental truth in the universe. Will all students on the path need to wait 21 years to come into the possession of this, the most rudimentary and basic jewel of attainment? The vision of God's deserving nature was presented to my soul, and the conclusion that God deserves my utmost respect, highest esteem, highest honor, and deepest appreciation at all times and under all circumstances was made immutable, only after 21 years on the path. Part of me is tempted to believe that everyone must go through everything I went through to get to this point. This may be true in regards to the most basic elements of the path, and the most basic tests that are presented on the path. The soul must take and pass its tests. But it is probably not true in terms of the winding and zig-zag route I took to find the kindergarten door and to take my place in the class of 2001.

     Actually, at no time on the path did anyone tell me that I should try to focus on extending to God the respect, esteem, honor and appreciation he deserves, and that I should be focused on that from the beginning. No one told me that that's where you are going to end up anyway, so you might as well start working for that point of attainment from the onset. If someone had pressed upon me the importance of this early on, I believe that this knowledge would have straightened out and shortened my path considerably. When I look back, I can see, at minimum, that the quality and effectiveness of the thousands of hours spent in decree time over the course of 21 years could have been improved to a considerable degree by the anchoring of this determination from the onset. From this vantage point I can see plainly that a mind directed in any other direction represents wasted mental energy, mental energy that had no real impact for the victory of God's plan for the earth, even though there is no question about the fact that the Masters respond to the decrees of sincere students regardless of their ability to recognize the importance of directing their attention towards this all important goal. As noted above, it is just a question of what level of response the Masters can give.

     I believe that it is possible that the great majority of students can aim straight for the mark, and showing enough determination in this regard, the Masters will be able to shorten the days of the elect. And in this manner greatly accelerate the incoming of the Great Golden Age.

     And there are many profound reasons to believe that this is true.

     The enlightened world culture that the Ascended Masters and their students refer to as the "Golden Age" will be composed only of people who have achieved a degree of integration with the flames of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God. They will recognize God as the center of life, and they will have built up an irrepressible determination to mirror that fundamental truth within the fabric of their own awareness. God will be the center of their lives, and they will hold God at that center upon the buoyant flames of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation, with which the soul has consciously merged.

     Furthermore, according to what the Masters have told us, it is the role of this organization to pave the way for the incoming of this golden age culture, not just in terms of disseminating the Teaching that will allow the people of all nations to move in the direction of the mountain summit, but most importantly, in terms of our own responsibility to be the anchor of the Central Sun Magnet, which means putting on the mode of awareness that is at the foundation of the golden age consciousness. That means that this mode of awareness, this posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God must manifest itself in the lives of the members of this organization before any golden age can appear. More pointedly, this means that if this posture is not anchored by the members of this organization, it will not be anchored by the populations of America generally, or by the populations of any other nation on earth. In other words, if this posture is not anchored by the members of this organization, the plan of the Masters to bring a new golden age to the earth will have failed, not because of any failure on their part, but because of what we failed to do: because of the alignment the members of this organization failed to make; because of the essential posture of appreciation unto God the members of this organization failed to adopt.

     Appreciation unto God is much more than an abstraction. It is a qualification of energy into which the soul must pour the totality of itself.

     Every member of this organization needs to understand that their personal success in holding the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation unto God is directly linked to the capacity of this church to expand and bring in new members. If you want the Master's plan for this Church to succeed, then you will make every effort to learn how to hold this posture.

     Moreover, we must understand that the work the Masters do around the world in response to our calls is directed at preparing the evolutions of the earth to adopt this posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation before the glory of God. It must be understood that their efforts will one day be withdrawn, if the souls who give these calls fail within their own minds to understand the importance of adopting this posture themselves.

     In Light of these facts, it makes sense, and it is reasonable to conclude, that the Ascended Masters will move heaven and earth to bestow upon the members of this organization at the earliest possible point the direct awareness of God's deserving nature, if those members will make the concerted effort to develop within themselves a seamless womb of determination in regards to holding the posture of respect, esteem, honor, and appreciation before the glory of God.