I have been working with A.A.B. as my amanuensis since November 1919. During that period the world has seen great and significant changes, and one of the most significant has been the growth - the phenomenal growth - of [339] spiritual perception. This shows itself in the fact that, in spite of the world catastrophe, in spite of the rampant horror and evil which is stalking our planet, and in spite of human pain, terror, suspense and uncertainty, there are today two factors present in the human consciousness: the vision of a better future and a fixed, unalterable determination to make that vision fact in human experience. This better world is to be a world in which the spiritual values will control, viewing those values as that which is good and right for the whole of humanity and not simply as religious and theological interpretations. Spiritual perception has become inclusive and now concerns the physical plane as well as the metaphysical.

This is the hopeful and most important side from the angle of the Hierarchy Who view all world events from the angle of the future. There is, however, the other side. It is not necessary for me to emphasize the seriousness of the present situation. The war is not yet won. At the time of writing, in spite of sporadic successes and the staying power of the Allied Nations, and in spite of a basic trend towards ultimate victory, the powers of evil have had things very much their own way. They have triumphantly moved forward, [340] except in Russia. This was to be expected at first, because if evil is simply the dominance of matter and the negation of the spiritual values, it is obvious that on the material plane the line of least resistance is to be found for them. Their initial triumphing is, therefore, to be expected. The course of the war hitherto has demonstrated this. When, the spiritually-minded people of the world, the men and women of goodwill, the idealists and the kindly, decent folk in every land can bring to bear upon the physical plane the same unified determination and the same united will-to-victory that the forces of evil have shewn, then the Forces of Light will assume the upper hand and control human affairs.

Freedom, my brothers, can itself prove a limitation when it delays right action, when it centers attention upon the petty differences and the personality inclinations of people and when it serves to prevent that unity of action which can win the war. It has been necessary for the leaders of the peoples to take valuable time to bring them to a proper sense of values and to the realization that individual and national differences and points of political and religious disagreement must all give place to the one supreme requirement - the winning of the war and the releasing of humanity from the threatened slavery, the steadily mounting fear, and the world domination of the Black Lodge. [341]