Another phase of my work came into existence about ten years ago when I started to write certain pamphlets for the general public, calling attention to the world situation and to the New Group of World Servers. I thus endeavored to anchor on earth (if I may use such a phrase) an externalization or a symbol of the work of the Hierarchy. It was an effort to band together subjectively and - where [251] possible - objectively all those people of spiritual purpose and a deep love of humanity who were actively working in many countries, either in organizations or alone. Their name is legion. Some few are known to the workers in the Arcane School and to F.B. and A.A.B. Thousands are known to me but not to them. All are working under the inspiration of the Hierarchy and are, either consciously or unconsciously, fulfiling the duties of agents of the Masters. Together they form a band, closely knit on the inner side by spiritual intention and love. Some are occultists, working in the various occult groups; some are mystics, working with vision and love; others belong to the orthodox religions and some recognize no spiritual affiliations, so-called, at all. All are, however, animated by a sense of responsibility for human welfare and have interiorly pledged themselves to help their fellowmen. This great group constitutes the world Savior at this time and will salvage the world and inaugurate the new era after the war. The pamphlets which I wrote (the first of which is now called The Next Three Years, issued in 1932 under the title, The New Group of World Servers,) indicated their plans and purposes, and made suggestions as to modes and methods of cooperation with this group of World Servers, already in existence and active in many fields.

I would emphasize that this work of anchoring the New Group of World Servers and organizing the goodwill work has nothing [252] whatsoever to do with the Arcane School except in so far that members in the school were given the opportunity to help in the movement. They were left entirely free to do so or not as they chose and a very large percentage ignored the effort altogether, thus demonstrating the freedom which they felt and had been taught.

When the war broke and the entire world was hurled into, the consequent chaos, horror, disaster, death and agony, many spiritually minded people were anxious to stay aloof from the struggle. They were not the majority but a powerful and noisy minority. They regarded any attitude of partisanship as an infringement of the law of brotherhood and were willing to sacrifice the good of the whole of humanity to a sentimental urge to love all men in a manner which necessitated their taking no action or decision of any kind. Instead of "my country, right or wrong," it was "humanity, right or wrong." When I wrote the pamphlet called The Present World Crisis and the succeeding papers on the world situation, I stated that the Hierarchy endorsed the attitude and aims of the United Nations, fighting for the freedom of the whole of humanity and for the release of the suffering people. This necessarily placed the Hierarchy in the position of not endorsing the Axis position in any way. Many in the goodwill work and some few in the school interpreted this as political in import, presumably believing that a position of complete neutrality, where both good and evil are concerned, was demanded of spiritually inclined people. Such people fail to think clearly and confuse an unwillingness to take sides with brotherly love, forgetting the words of the Christ that "he who is not with me is against me." Let me repeat what I have oft said before. The Hierarchy and all its members, including myself, love humanity but they will not endorse evil, aggression, cruelty and the imprisoning of the human soul. They stand for liberty, for opportunity for all to move forward along the way of light, for human welfare without discrimination, for kindness and the right of every man to think for himself, to speak and to work. Necessarily they cannot, therefore, endorse the nations or the people in any nation who are against human freedom and happiness. In their love and their grasp of circumstance, they know that in a later life or lives the majority of those who are now the enemies of human freedom will themselves be free and tread the lighted Way. In the meantime, the entire force of the Hierarchy is thrown on the side of the nations struggling to free humanity, and on the side of those in any nation who thus work. If being on the side of [253] goodness and freedom is deemed detrimental to the spiritual issues, then the Hierarchy will work to change the attitude of people as to what is spiritual.

I have sought to aid the goodwill work, for which F.B. is responsible, by suggestion and by indicating what is the work that the New Group of World Servers are seeking to do but no authoritative requests have been made in my name nor will they ever be made. The sumtotal of all these activities has been good; the misunderstandings have been few and have been inherent in the personal equipment and attitude of the critical. Criticism is wholesome as long as it is not permitted to become destructive.