Winter 2019 RMA Newsletter
Winter 2019
Rocky Mountain Atelier (RMA) Newsletter
Atelier Master’s Message Winter 2019
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God -- St. Paul, Romans 3:23 King James Version (KJV)
“Everybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights.” -- Ronnie Coleman
Why do we not follow the will of the Divine? That makes it sound very grand and huge, but restated: “Why do we ignore that still small voice?” I’ve talked about that voice in previous writing here. It’s what 1 Kings 19:11-13 said we’d hear after the winds, the earthquakes and the fires pass us by.
We can look at this in terms of psychology and behavioural science. It will tell us about our the more primitive parts of our brains, with their fight-or-flight impulses and how they get us to focus on short term gains rather than long term, even when the long term gains are greater when examined more intellectually. This sort of reductive view is good for getting at the mechanics of how our wrong choices can happen. That though is what’s happening in the material plane.
The thing is, what we really want to know is what is happening in the Human Experience. Ultimately, the view in the Material Plane needs to be reflected back into the Human (Spiritual) plane to be fully appreciated. When 1 Kings speaks of winds, earthquakes and fires that must pass by, it means the tempests and passions of our material experiences must be passed before we can be hear the voice.
By our teachings and practices we learn to recognize which of our perceptions are the tempests (lower animal instincts), how to pass them by (not be consumed by them) and stay tuned into the Still Voice or the Master Within.
Sisters and Brothers, I hope you had a beautiful holiday season and are enjoying the ascendency of the sun.
May You Ever Dwell in the Eternal Light of Divine Wisdom!
William Fickas, S.I.
Master Rocky Mountain Atelier
Provincial Master’s Message Winter 2019
My Brothers and Sisters, Fraters and Sorores;
One of our greatest gifts is the sense of wonder. This has two aspects; a desire to understand something we are curious about, and a sense of awe when we encounter something unusual and beautiful. Let’s talk about these two aspects of wonder.
I am frequently found saying something like I wonder how snowflakes are formed, or what is the mechanism of DNA to form different life expressions. These are questions that have answers in science but I have yet to learn them. Wonder is what made me become an engineer - to find out how things work. Wonder is what makes the scientific progress of humanity possible – it is built into our psyche. Wonder is what makes us want to progress on the mystical path and learn of the workings of God and how to use His wonderful laws, both physical and metaphysical. It makes us want to understand our relationship to the Divine. We should always foster and encourage the curiosity about the world in which we live for this makes the world alive and full of discovery – and it will bring us closer to God.
The other aspect of wonder has a little different slant. We occasionally stumble upon a place or situation where the beauty or serenity or colors just overwhelm us and we have to just stop and experience and appreciate that moment. Things like crimson cloud sunsets, green grass filled banks of little streams hidden within a wooded glen, and the fuzzy wide eyed innocence of a puppy. These strike a chord within our heart that fills us with a sense of being gifted and loved from a source outside ourselves. This sense of wonder opens us to a contact with Divinity, although we may not be aware of it. These moments may be rare for some, but always welcome for all.
For the mystic this feeling of wonder, this contact with Divinity, should become a constant part of daily life. We wonder at sunsets, but shouldn’t we also have a sense of wonder looking at a blade of grass, a snowflake, or a fellow human being? All of life is a miracle of sorts and we should experience and appreciate and see the Divinity in all of creation. Wonder is that pathway to love, receiving the love of the Divine and extending love in our sense of awe.
And so, my brothers and sisters, fraters and sorores, wonder makes this life journey full of discovery and gives us a connection with powers greater than ourselves. We would be well to foster and increase our sense of wonder.
May you ever dwell in the Eternal Light of Divine Wisdom!
David Schloegel, F.R.C.
Provincial Master
Traditional Martinist Order
