These are difficult and terrible days. Men and women are needed who have the courage and the insight to stand with steadfastness and to take the steps which are needed - no matter what they may be - to bring this war to an end. Vast sections of humanity can do no more than acquiesce in the unhappy fate which has overtaken them. They are unable to think or pray or even to summon faith to their aid. They feel without hope. For them, you must think; for them, you must pray; for them, you must have faith and - above all else at this time - for them you must act. The work of reconstruction lies in the future. The demand today is for the building of a bulwark of defense around humanity; then - having fulfiled every physical plane requirement - to stand immovable. But you must stand with faces turned towards the enemy of the souls of men, ready to do battle, literally and physically, ready to take every needed step to drive the enemy back, and ready to sacrifice to the uttermost so that he may advance no further.

Your work will, therefore, be of a threefold nature. On the levels of mental consciousness, your vision of the need and of the future will be clear, inspiring you and enabling you to be a source of strength to all around you; your faith will see behind the obvious to the "substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," as the initiate, Paul, expresses it; your thought will then be anchored in right action, soul directed. On the emotional side of life, you will find no time for idle tears or for vague, sympathetic talk, because you will be completely identified with what is going on and all emotional energy will be directed to the pursuit of every available mode of practically alleviating the pain. The heart energy will be occupied with the task of giving understanding help so that there is no scope for the usual emotional solar plexus reactions. On the physical plane you will not be occupied with the problem of what to do, [248] because every physical effort, time, and personality emphasis will be directed to the shouldering of your due share in arresting the forces of aggression from any further advance. This might mean fighting in the ranks of the Allied Armies, or it might mean driving an ambulance under Red Cross auspices; raising funds to succor the refugees; speaking on public platforms or to groups upon the issues at stake, or participating in some form of national effort to bring aid and strength to the Allies. Whatever it is, it will call for all that is in you and all that you are, integrated and directed to a sustained, substantial, one-pointed effort.

The second thing is to begin the dynamic use of another Stanza of the Great Invocation. That which you have hitherto used has now served its immediate purpose, though it can again be called into use after the war is over. I give you now another set of phrases which can (if rightly used) invoke the Forces of the Divine Will on to the side of the [249] Forces of Light. It is not easy to give an adequate translation or paraphrase of this power-mantram, nor is it easy to step it down sufficiently so that it can be safely used by all, yet at the same time preserve its challenging, dynamic quality. The following sentences will suffice, however, and if used by you with focused intention and with the attitude of a sacrificial personality (held silently dedicated in the light of the soul), much power may be generated. Along the lines of power which you may thus succeed in setting up may come that which is needed to release humanity from the thralldom of evil, provided the nature of the sacrificial will is somewhat understood by you.