There is a great initiation spoken of in the New Testament, to which we have given the name of the Ascension. Of it we know nothing. Only a few items of information are brought to us in the Gospel story: the fact of the mountain top, of attendant watchers, and of the words of Christ, assuring them that He was not leaving them. Then the clouds received Him out of their sight. There were none present who could go further with Him. Their consciousness could not penetrate to the place where He had chosen to go; they even misinterpreted His words and only in a vague and mystical sense has humanity ever understood His disappearance or the significance of His persistent but unobserved Presence. The watchers were assured by two of the Knowers of God Who were also present that He would come again in like manner. He ascended. The clouds received Him and today the clouds which cover our planet are waiting to reveal Him.

He is now waiting to descend. This descent into our unhappy world of men can present Him with no alluring picture. From the quiet mountain retreat where He has waited, guided and watched over humanity, and where He has trained His disciples, initiates and the new group of world servers, He must come forth and take His place prominently on the world stage, and take His part in the great drama which is there being played. This time, He will play His part, not in obscurity as He previously did, but before the eyes of the entire world. Because of the smallness of our little planet, and because of the prevalence of the radio, television and the rapidity of communication, His part will be watched by all, and the prospect must surely, for Him, hold certain horror, must present its tests and major adjustments, plus painful and unavoidable experience. He does not come as the omnipotent God of man's ignorant creation, but as the Christ, the Founder of the Kingdom of God on Earth, to complete the work He started, and again to demonstrate divinity in far more difficult circumstances.

He comes to correct the mistakes and the misrepresentations of those who have dared to interpret His simple words in terms of their own ignorance, and to recognize those whose faithful service has made His return possible. He too is facing a major test, preparatory to a great initiation, and when He has passed the test and fulfiled His task He will pass to a still more exalted position in the Father's House or to some distant place of service where only the most exalted can follow Him; His present position will then be taken by the One Whom He has prepared and trained.