Invocation: A New Approach to God
It is a deeply human impulse, in times of crisis, to petition
for divine intercession. Sometimes the blows of life can almost
overwhelm the human will to survive and triumph over obstacles,
and at such moments human beings turn to prayer and worship in
the hope that God will hear their cry for help. Often, this appeal
is not clearly articulated, but only a vague sense that divine
intervention is needed and that God’s response must be awaited
passively. Yet, as Benjamin Franklin noted, “God helps them
that help themselves.” In this wry, yet cogent observation
lie the seeds of invocation.
Successful invocation depends not only upon a sense of personal
responsibility but also upon an intelligent, awakened mind, for
the ability to articulate need is the first step in creating the
conditions in which invocative appeal can be answered. The creative
imagination must also be used with increasing precision of thought
and clarity of values to visualise a higher, finer state of being.
“Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you,” the
Bible says (James IV:8). The Koran (5.105 and 13.11) puts it
another way: “O believers! You have charge over your own
souls. God changes not what is in a people, until they change what
is in themselves.” Both scriptures touch upon the divine power
that exists in the human soul—the inner compass that leads each
human being back to the Source, the Creator of all life.
There is no greater invocative appeal than the desire for the
return of the World Teacher to show the way. Such a Saviour is
always called forth by the recognised need of humanity, focusing
its demand in a massed appeal or invocation. For centuries, the
coming of the Avatar, the advent of a Coming One and the reappearance
of the Christ have been anticipated by believers throughout the world—not
only by Christians but by those who look for Maitreya and those
who expect the Imam Mahdi, to cite only a few of the names by
which the World Teacher is known.
The Great Invocation is said to be our most important means of
preparing for the reappearance of the Christ, the World Teacher.
The Great Invocation requires that we use the creative imagination
to visualise the conditions necessary for the Christ to reappear and
help humanity to take the next step forward in its spiritual evolution.
The service of Triangles is an excellent means for co-operating in this
preparatory work, by helping to imbue the mental “climate” of
humanity with light and goodwill. In this invocative atmosphere the Coming
One can return, bringing new revelation to all humanity.
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