The Rock and the Light - June 2019

In the Meditation Room of the United Nations in New York, there are no religious objects, but in the centre of the room there is a single rock illuminated by a beam of light. Dag Hammarskjold said that it was chosen because “… there are simple things which speak to us all with the same language. We have sought such things and we believe that we have found them in the shaft of light striking the shining surface of solid rock. So in the middle of the room we see a symbol of how, daily, the light of the skies gives life to the earth on which we stand, a symbol to many of us of how the light of the spirit gives life to matter.”

Spiritual hunger for meaning and direction is inextricably linked with light – as Dag Hammarskjold noted, “The thought of more light governs all the inchoate yearnings of the human spirit.” There is a pervading fascination which acknowledges light as an everlasting and undiminished mystery. Our relationship with it is so close that humanity’s evolution can be described as the journey from darkness to light. The beauty and wonder of light are so great that it is hard to imagine that we can fail to notice it. Yet this is just what happens. Describing the view of outer space, one astronaut observed that it was studded with the light of countless stars, but the light which was present everywhere fell on nothing and so nothing was seen – only darkness.

Thinking along this line and particularly in terms of divine light, or spiritual energy, it’s clear that these rarefied energies also need an object to shine upon, an intermediary to make their presence visible and known. Spiritual leaders have always served in this way, bearing the light of truth and wisdom to lift their communities into greater living. Their collective wisdom and combined legacy of spiritual insights continue to serve as inspiration and guidance today.

There is also, in the darkness of our own times, the anticipation of further enlightenment particularly relevant to the 21st century. But in addition to individual avatars, now there is a worldwide group dedicated to enlightened human relations – the New Group of World Servers, which is working to bring inclusive solutions to local and global problems. Symbolically, this group has the potential to stand as the shining surface of the rock of humanity, reflecting the radiance of the World Teacher, as humanity reveals “the light of the spirit which gives life to matter.”