It is a spiritual fact that those who have passed from the cave of the tomb into the fullness of the resurrection life can be seen and at the same time evade the vision of the believer. Seeing and recognition are two very different things, and one of the great recognitions of mankind in the near future is the recognition that always He has been with us, sharing with us the familiar usefulness and peculiar characteristics of our civilization and its many gifts to man.

The early signs of His approach with His disciples can already be discerned by those who note and rightly interpret the signs of the times. There is (among these signs) the coming together spiritually of those who love their fellowmen. This is in reality the organizing of the outer physical army of the Lord - an army which has no weapons but those of love, of right speech and right human relations. This unknown organization has proceeded with phenomenal speed during the aftermath of war, because humanity is sick of hate and controversy.

For the first time in human history, the demand of the people of the Earth is so potent and so in line with divine direction, in time and space, that the end is inevitably sure; the looked-for spiritual Representative must come forth; this time He will not come alone but will be accompanied by Those Whose lives and words will evoke recognition in every department of human thinking. The symbolic prophecies found in all the world Scriptures anent this imminent event will prove their veracity; their symbolism will nevertheless elicit reinterpretation; circumstances and happenings will not necessarily be exactly as the Scriptures would appear to indicate. For instance, He will come indeed in the "clouds of the air" (Matt., XXVI, 64), as the Christian Scriptures say, but of what great interest is that when millions come and go in the clouds, each hour of the day and of the night? I mention this as one of the outstanding prophecies and one of the most familiar; it is, however, one which means little in our modern civilization. The fact of importance is that He will come.

The Wesak Festival has been held down the centuries in the well-known valley in the Himalayas (if the faithful would only believe it) in order:

1. To substantiate the fact of Christ's physical existence among us ever since His so-called departure.
2. To prove (on the physical plane) the factual solidarity of the Eastern and Western approaches to God. Both the Christ and the Buddha are present.
3. To form a rallying-point and a meeting-place for those who annually - in synthesis and symbolically - link up and represent the Father's House, the Kingdom of God and Humanity. [46]
4. To demonstrate the nature of the work of Christ as the great and chosen Intermediary, standing as the Representative of the Spiritual Hierarchy and as the Leader of the New Group of World Servers. In His Person, He voices their demand for the recognition of the factual existence of the Kingdom of God here and now.

Perhaps one of the major messages for all of us who read these words is this great truth and fact of the physical Presence on Earth at this time of the Christ, of His group of disciples and executives, of Their representative activities on behalf of mankind and of Their close relationship. This relationship comes out at certain of the great spiritual festivals where the relationship demonstrated includes not only the Kingdom of God but also the Father and the Father's Home. There is the Festival of Easter, the Festival of the Buddha Who in physical Presence expresses the spiritual solidarity of our planet, and the Festival in June, peculiarly the Festival of the Christ, when He - as leader of the New Group of World Servers - employs the new Invocation on behalf of all men of goodwill in all lands; at the same time, He gathers up the inchoate and unexpressed demands of those masses who seek a new and better way of life. They want love in daily living, right human relations and an understanding of the underlying Plan.

It is these physical happenings which are of moment and not the vague hopes and promises of the theological faiths. It is the physical Presence upon our planet of such recognized spiritual figures as the Lord of the World, the Ancient of Days; the seven Spirits Who are before the throne of God; the Buddha, the spiritual leader of the East, and the Christ, the spiritual leader of the West - all of Whom are brought at this climaxing time to our attention. The vague belief in Their existence, the dreamy [47] speculations as to Their work and Their interest in human welfare, and the unconvinced, yet hopeful, wishful thinking of believers (and also unbelievers), will soon give place to certain knowledge, to visual recognition, to provable signs of executive work and to the reorganization (by men of unusual potency) of the political, religious, economic and social life of humanity.

All this will not come as the result of some proclamation or some stupendous planetary event which will force human beings everywhere to say: "Lo: He is there! Lo: Here are the signs of His divinity!" for that would evoke only antagonism and laughter, resistance or fanatical credulity.