Provincial Master's Message

Dear Sisters and Brothers, Sorores and Fraters;

We live in and have our daily consciousness focused on the physical world. And yet we are told that we are really spiritual beings having a physical experience. Physical or spiritual – where do you put your emphasis?

In a typical religious environment, we are taught about our immortal soul and how this soul goes back to the spiritual world upon so-called death. This would imply that our eternal selves are of a spiritual essence and independent of a physical body. Thus, we are spiritual beings.

We tend to define ourselves in terms of how we operate in the physical world – how we act or react to things that happen to us during our daily living. We can be grumpy, ambitious, greedy, loving, empathetic, envious, caring, or any other of a multitude of approaches to life and living. How do you describe your approach to life and daily living?

So, we have the physical and the spiritual. Where do you stand - on which side of this fence do you put most of your life’s attention? Do you focus upon and put all your efforts toward the physical world (which is temporary) or do you put your emphasis on the Spiritual (which is eternal)?

It is obvious that we must function as best we can in the physical world – we must put food on the table and put a roof over our heads. We must “pay our dues” while we find ourselves in this material world. It is less obvious that awareness of the eternal should also be in our thoughts and actions. However, that is where we have our source and in whose eternal laws we even have a physical life. In the long run we must “pay unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.”

I would ask of each of you not to neglect the remembrance and honoring of the spiritual during your daily living. Give thanks for your blessings, for the food you eat, for the place where you can lay your head at night, for those around you who support and encourage your choices in navigating the physical world. It might not only result in an increase of your blessings, but it might make you feel more positive in your life challenges.

May you ever dwell in the Eternal Light of Divine Wisdom!

David Schloegel, S.I., F.R.C.

Provincial Master, Traditional Martinist Order