Welmek - January 12, 1993

Rayneerson: Relay Of Message From Christ Michael.

WELMEK: Greetings, everyone it pleases me greatly to see so many of you trying to improve your communication with us. Be not dismayed if things do not happen as rapidly as you would like them to happen, for I can assure you we are as excited about the possibilities of communication with you as you are with us.

Before I begin this evening on the subject of faith, I wish to relay to you a message from our Creator which was promised to you last week. I would like for one of my associates to read this message to you, so if you would allow me a moment's break to set this up, you will not be disappointed.

RAYNEERSON: Greetings to you. My name is Rayneerson. I hail from the local system to the east of yours. It was most interesting for us to witness the broadcast of your meeting this past week. Never before had we been able to witness such cohesiveness among such a diverse group of humans. It is reassuring that the work being done has had many positive effects. It is reassuring to know that all mortals who desire truth, who seek the will of the Father, find what it is they look for.

I am honored tonight to be able to present to you this message from our Creator. I am what you might consider to be somewhat nervous, for I have never been asked to do such a job as this before. I have never had the pleasure of being in the presence of Michael. I have heard much, obviously, about him; but I have little experience directly with him.

Before I begin, I want you to know that as a representative of the system, I have asked to relay to you that we all pray for you. Our prayer for you is that your faith be reinforced, that the love that indwells all of us be made manifest in your daily life. As you continue to see the light, as you see the Father's will unfold in daily living, allow this love to dominate your personality. There is nothing more contagious, more attractive, more magnetic, more charismatic, than this love. If you desire to lead others to the Father, lead them through the manifestation of this love.

I will now relay to you this message:

(Michael's message) My brothers and sisters of Indianapolis. You are acknowledged. I bring you a message of good cheer, for I have been very active in the establishment of this mission on our planet. I know of your hardships, I know of your joy and your happiness. I want you to know how pleased I am to see you working on behalf of me, to see your efforts going in the way of the Father, to see each of you in your own way earnestly trying to do the best that you can to become more tolerant of your brothers and sisters, to seek forgiveness for your transgressions, and to worship our Father.

This is what I tried to impress upon my apostles during my sojourn on our planet. As you know from reading your text, I met with relative success as far as my apostles. However, I want you to rejoice in the fact that having lived my life for my universe, many, many souls were enhanced immediately by my teachings. I share this with you tonight because I know each of you in your own way and in your own time have also benefitted from my teachings. The emissaries that I send to you now have helped to re-kindle within your mind and your heart my message.

 My children, I love you more than you can know right now. I understand your limitations and your limited receptivity; but I want you to know that within your hearts you can be overcome by this love and you can share it with all of our brothers and sisters. I want you to look at me from now on as your brother, as one who stands equal with you, as one who is willing to do whatever he can for you. You have all, to a greater or lesser degree, been willing to do what you can for me. This is as it should be.

As I have told you before, I will re-iterate again. I will be made manifest during most of your lifetimes on this planet. There are several stages prior to this that are necessary to take place, one of which will be forthcoming in the next few months. Prepare yourselves. Your teacher has advised me that you now all have your own guides. Listen to their guidance. Try to learn to communicate if you can. I assure you these things will happen if you persist. On Salvington, things are beyond your imagination; but I have already made plans for each of you to visit me once you have left the fetters of fleshly living. Hold fast to your dreams. Hold fast to your faith. Always let love dominate your being.

Remember me as one who cares for you. As you struggle through your earthly existence, know that I understand everything about it, in that I am literally with you through my spirit. I look forward to the time when we can reach out to each other and hold each other in our arms, so to speak. I give you my word that these things will happen.

I want you also to know that I hear your prayers. They are very plainly spoken, and I have lovingly acknowledged them. Some of them cannot be answered in the immediate future, while others will be. Please know that I have heard them. They are a part of me now, and in time they will be responded to.

Thank you for your help, for your consideration, for your loyalty, for your devotion, for your honesty, for your integrity, for your love. Go in peace my children, my brothers and sisters. Do not take life too seriously. I lovingly await you. Your Creator-brother, Michael.

RAYNEERSON: I do not know how this affects you individually. I am not quite like your teachers. I have not spent time with you, but I know how it has affected me, knowing that one who is so supreme, so superior to myself, so full of love, can actually acknowledge each and every one of us as individuals, even by our name. Even for one with my experience, this is still somewhat of a mystery to me.

You are all fortunate. You have been blessed. You have an assignment to fulfill which you should look upon with joy and excited anticipation. Be strong in your faith. Be loyal to yourself, and be sincere of heart. God bless all of you and thank you for allowing me to speak to you this evening.

WELMEK: This is Welmek. There will be many surprises for you as time goes on. There is a substantial agenda of visitors who will be sojourning to Urantia over the course of the next several years. There are many requests to speak. Unfortunately, time does not allow all who wish to speak to come forward.

It has been asked by me and other associates that a wide variety of personalities be given permission to make a representation to you, and this has been granted. What this means to you is that while in the flesh you will be exposed to personalities that normally you may not be exposed to until you reached the constellation level. It should prove to be most fascinating for all of us.

Let us begin our lesson for this evening. I recall a previous session where we had discussed faith in some detail. As I went about the room asking for ideas as to what it meant to individuals, I remember the response as somewhat limited. Much has happened to you since that time.I know some of you have prepared for this evening by reading. Others have meditated. Some have prayed. I know what, to me, faith represents. I have found in the English language two words that seem to represent it best. However, as you know, our problems in dealing with the English language, at times, are almost insurmountable; for the universe concepts which I come to portray at times have no relationship to your language. You have no experience to associate with the concept.

Be that as it may, we must still attempt to do our best to convey to you an elevated idea, a way of reasoning, that will hopefully extend that which you now have.

Why don't we now begin? It seemed as though the example set last week worked well. If someone wishes to moderate the meeting, we will then proceed and survey the group as to what your feeling or concept or both is in regards to faith.

Q: Well, I didn't prepare too much other than the fact that faith, to  me, comes from the deepest, deepest part of my being. I guess the only word that I can associate with it is "I know". I just know.

A: Would you say that this knowing is intuitive, or is faith something  that you consciously learn?

Q: Oh I think it may start out intuitive, but I think you consciously pursue it; and through life's experiences and through your meditation and prayers and worship it just ingrains itself in you in your deepest being. It's a feeling that I really can't describe. I  think, to me, I had a problem with love, not feeling love. I'm  thinking that I felt love; but love, to me, and faith is just  knowing that the Father is there and knowing that I'm loved and  knowing that I love Him. It's just within my deepest, deepest being.

A: Do you ever experience times when you do not feel you have this knowing?

Q: No, the knowing is always there. I will say that at times it manifests itself more, like when I'm reading or when I'm meditating it's more conscious to me; but if I am doing something else mundane, perhaps I'm not that aware of it but when I begin to think about it or am conscious of it, the knowing is there. And it grows every  day.

A: Does it bring you joy and happiness?

Q: Oh yes. It brings me joy and happiness, but most of all it brings me peace of mind.

A: Is it most intensified during your periods of worship?

Q: Yes, it's most intensified there. But then it's also intensified when I see something in the world, read something in the paper that  someone has perhaps done something wonderful for their fellow men. The feeling comes then, too, because I know it's God's work,  brothers loving each other.

A: Thank you.

Q: Well, faith is to me is like this awful weather out here. We know it's there. We know that when we deep in trouble our faith will  always be there. And then comes spring, when our troubles are past  and our faith is tested. The flowers always come up, the leaves always bud. I think that's what faith is to me, a growth process.  It's something that you build on every day of your life. It's not  something like the faith of a child, you learn it and somewhere along the line you lose it. As you get older you build upon it again. That's how I look at faith, as winter into spring.

A: Could you see faith as dormant?

Q: I don't see it as dormant. I see it gets lost once in a while  because of all the conflicts we have in our life, we kind of put it off to the side and we forget it once in a while. Then when we stop  long enough to really see what's going on, then I think the faith has emerged again.

A: Would you say that the trials that you face in material living add to faith or take away from?

Q: I think it adds to it.

A: Would you say that's it's necessary to have these trials in order to  gain faith?

Q: Yes.

A: Thank you.

Q: I think for me that faith, and I agree very strongly with what JoNelle said, that faith for me is a knowing. There is also a  strong component of trust involved in my experience with faith. It  is somewhat intuitive. It's difficult to describe or encapsulate in language. I perceive faith as dynamic in the sense that it is ever- changing. It is always either increasing or decreasing. I've had  the experience of faith increasing for me. With respect to other statements that have been made, I see faith also as having an a priori component; that is, it exists whether or not you have the  experience. I think that faith is present at all times, in all  human beings, whether (?).

A: There is a correlation that I can share with you that is somewhat accurate. As a young child is being held by his mother, that child, in a sense, is exercising faith, that the mother will take care of  it, not hurt it, satisfy it's needs. The child has faith  implicitly, does not question whether or not the mother will do  these things. It assumes so.

You should do the same as far as our Father is concerned. It is  fine to assume that the Father will take of you. You should expec  this, as any good parent would take care of his child. Once you begin to more fully realize this relationship, you will become more like a child in this sense, and it is a very beautiful experience.

Q: One of the things that I've discovered recently that kind of shocked me and really enlightened me to a great degree was that what I  really had before was more of a belief than a faith. Now that I've  learned to see the difference, my faith has grown much stronger since I looked on the factors that you've given us. I just feel  much more that I have faith. It's made me feel more complete as a person. I don't feel it as strongly some times as I do others, but I think that the exercise with the four main points of continuing growth is the main thing I've done myself.

A: May I ask you a personal question?

Q: Yes.

A: When do you feel it the most?

Q: For one thing, I feel it more when I'm here with everyone. It feels like it's just surrounding me more. And also when I'm doing my meditation and my worship, it's just much stronger then. I think if I'd started a longer time ago, I'd probably have grown quite a bit  more than (?)

A: What is it about our lessons for our meetings that inspires you to  increase your faith?

Q: I think it's just being with all the like-minded people that are  here, I think, all really striving to feel more of God's love. There just seems to be more of an energy you can reach out and help yourself to, if you need it. Also, you can give, by the same token.

A: And if we were to disband this group, what would happen to your faith?

Q: I think I'd maintain it on a personal level through the worship and  prayer and doing more to work on myself.

A: It is as you say. Faith is a very personal experience that can be  shared with many; but no one give you faith. This is something  that comes from within your very being. No matter where you are,  exercise faith. Worship the Father whenever you possibly can. This does more to your well-being than anything you can possibly do. Thank you.

Q: A while ago you talked to Marty about the child and his mother. The first thought that came to my mind was that the child really doesn't  have a choice in the matter of who takes care of him. And we don't have a choice in the matter of whether God takes care of us. He  does. Period. And He does the best job possible. Whether we  accept that care is our level of faith.

A: I appreciate your insight. You will find that most of what is said  tonight will be said in such a way that you may draw your own conclusions.

Q: To me, faith is,..I was not raised in a faith or a Church or a religion or anything like that. I don't know if anybody else here  shares that particular fate or not. I was introduced more than  anything in this group to the love that God has, what-have-you, as far as actually living faith. I never doubted that God existed and loved us. I just didn't understand what that meant.

I remember an instance where I was upset with a person. I decided  not to be upset; and almost immediately my circumstances changed from worse to better. I don't know if that was an outworking of the faith or an outworking of supernatural forces of some kind of angels or something like that; but it affirmed for me, at the time, that yes, there is something to this. There is something more powerful than I am out there; and understanding that is part of like it is with the baby and its mother. Yes, there's something more powerful than us that takes care of us.

A: Thank you.

Q: I tried to think of two words that I call living trust. It's trusting in that inner feeling, that inner guidance, that sense of knowing what's real and that the universe is filled with love. It's  trusting in that. And it's living in the sense that our concept of  faith or understanding of faith or experience of faith grows. And we have to exercise it as we face various life situations.

A: It is as you say, living trust. I find no better way to capsulize the concept myself, at least in your language. It is most  definitely applied in daily living. It does you little good to say  that you believe in the Father and not act upon that belief. When you act upon that belief, you manifest in your daily living those actions which Michael himself lay before all of us. Living daily  life is really not complicated. I watch you, I observe you, I see the troubles that you have; and granted, at times they confound you for you do not see solutions easily. But always ask yourself this  question. What is most important in my life right now? Your answer should always be "my faith in the Father, my love for Him, my  love for myself and my family." This is what is important. All else is secondary to these concepts.

I am not suggesting that you forsake material existence. Of course, you must maintain yourselves. But if you can keep this perspective, these priorities of mind, it will ease your mind. It will give you more peace of mind, or as our sister said, it brings her joy and happiness.

Q: I think for me faith is a feeling of confidence in that through my  loyalty to not only the Father, but acting and living in a way that is good and positive, it gives me a comfort knowing that acting in that way assures that I can progress and survive and continue to grow. Perhaps that is a little immature yet. My faith probably is  immature, but I think for me the word I think of is confidence. That confidence grows through my loyalty to my beliefs.

A: Is there anything in your life that would cause your faith to  lessen?

Q: I don't think so. I tried to think of when I first had a conscious  awareness of faith. I guess it was when I realized that God was  there, that He wished for me to strive for goodness and love, and that everything that I did and all decisions that I made affected me as well as those around me as well as God Himself.

A: Faith, in a way, may be likened to an armor of righteousness. And when you do battle with evil and sin, there may be those occasions when the sword of evil or sin may strike the blow against your armor and cause a marring effect. But if your faith is strong, if your armor is well-suited, evil and sin will never penetrate your faith. You will remain whole. You will remain protected. And you  will always be consistent with the will of the Father. There may be those times in your life when you do not feel the consistency, at least consciously, but rest assured you are not expected to even remotely approach the levels of constant perfection. Your endeavor to try, your endeavor to wield the shield of righteousness against those decisions which may lead you astray is all that is being asked.

Q: I've got to say the two words I would use to encapsule my definition would be "know" and "live". Know the Father is there with His love and live that knowledge in hand and strive to progress with that knowledge. That's all I can say really.

A: You have said a great deal. As I have told you before, you are  fortunate in many ways, one of which is your ability to assess the degree of faith, yet look at this world. You grow up in a society that is disarrayed. You grow up in a world that fosters hate, greed, crime. You grow up in a world that is almost overwhelming, yet you come to me tonight and you say you know God exists. You know that He loves you and that He knows you by....

Where I grew up, we take for granted so many things. It is true I too have faith, and that my faith grew as I spent my time in the  flesh on my world. But I can assure you I grew up in an atmosphere  totally unlike yours. And I can assure you your faith now will serve you well in the time to come. You do not understand what I say to you right now; but rest assured my friends, you will all at one point in your existence look back upon this evening, remember my words well, and know their (ultimate meaning?)...

Q: Faith has always meant to me a strong sense of knowing what really  was true, what really was right, knowing that God really existed,  and loved me. And before it was more an intellectual knowledge, but  now it's almost overwhelming. The feelings of depth are just almost  too much for me to describe in words. It's so beautiful, it's so  all-encompassing. As JoNelle said, it's feelings of joy and  happiness. Those are just words. It's so much more deep than...it  gives me so much. It gives me courage and patience and hope for the future and all the things we talked about. I really can't even talk about it because it's just so intensely personal but yet it's so inexpressibly beautiful.

A: I am moved by your feeling. I am moved by all of you and your feelings; and I can assure you your spirit fragments have communicated this to the Father Himself. It is truly remarkable, my friends, to realize we are all accounted for. We are all cared  for, and we are all loved.

There are times as your text tells you, that worship will become spontaneous, even to the point where the Father Himself must break it off, for you would never leave this state. (laughter) There are times in your experience now where you get just a glimmer, just a shadow of what this is like. When you reflect upon the feeling, the peace, the joy and the happiness that just this speck brings you, try to imagine what life will be like as you continue to grow in His service.

 You have hit upon a very good point. Faith is much more than an  intellectual pursuit. It is truly one thing to discuss it and it is wholly another to live it. Your mota talks about the dilemma of humans who do not live up to the faith that they have. It is  unfortunate; for if you lived up to your faith, if you lived each  moment of your life knowing that the Father loves you and that you are all brothers and sisters within this universe, I assure you your planet would not be in the condition it is right now.

As you know, we have our work cut out for us. It will mostly be your work. We can guide you, we can help you, we can comfort you, we can love you and we can pray for you, but we cannot live for you.  It is your planet and it is your decisions that will change it. But by your faith and your faith alone the love that emanates from your very souls will be an inspiration to your fellows.

Faith is contagious, my friends. Don't ever hide the light that shines from within. Some may see you as weird. Some may see you as inconsistent. Some may see you as a charlatan. Be not worried about how others see you. Be concerned about doing the Father's will and let the Father take care of His children.

Q: I guess I look at faith as being a bond or link between my Father and myself, like an umbilical cord between a mother and her baby. It's nourishing, it gives me strength that brings me such joy, such love that touches me so that it touches my very soul. I know without it, I couldn't be. We talk about trials through my lifetime ..you know times were like the darkest and at times you feel like  you're by yourself and then you realize that you're not, that God  has never turned away from you. You may turn away, but He's always  been there with me no matter what I was doing.

A: Mankind without faith is like a ship afloat in the ocean without a rudder. There is no direction; there is no purpose. Without faith, you are solely material. It will always be this way. It will never change. The greater your faith, the greater the love flows through you. We only have to look at the life of our Master to see this illustrated well.

The question that is posed to all of you: are you the ship in the ocean without the rudder; or are you the son or daughter of God Himself?

Q: For me, I always thought that faith was believing and knowing.  Since July, since this has come into my life, I feel my faith is  growing and becoming different than what it was before. I always  knew, but I didn't actively act upon my faith. Now, because I  realize that my Father is with me, so close to me, and I'm beginning to understand that more and know that He is there for me always, I live my life in a different way than I did before. I am always conscious that He is there; and it makes me want to learn more, to love more, to understand more. I feel love and faith intensified when I'm helping someone else in some way. And I feel that growing every day. Before I would have thought that just knowing was enough.

A: To be conscious citizens of the universe, you must be aware of this  knowing; but to go beyond that, you must live it. You must see it applied in daily living. Ask yourself this question: is there anything more rewarding than seeing the Father's will manifested in an experience during the day, whether you're in service of another or they for you. There is nothing that I have beheld in my experience more satisfying than sharing His love with one another.

I do not know through the empirical way that the Father exists. We cannot know this way. Even though my experience takes me far beyond yours, I am no different than you in this regard. We all must have faith that the Father exists and that one day we will be with Him on Paradise itself.

I have no doubt about this in my mind whatsoever; for what I have  seen so far, not only in my existence prior to coming to your beautiful planet, but especially now, the last year that I have been here, has also enhanced my faith. For while I see the many horrid situations that exist on your world, I also see the love and the beauty and the goodness that exists. It must be the Father Himself.

Q: To me, feeling inside, knowing that my eternal salvation is gained by faith. (words lost)

A: It is overwhelming when you stop to think about this, it is an excellent point that you bring about. Do you not realize that  through faith you become eternal? In time, you will fuse with your spirit; and this will confirm you as an eternal being. But through faith, you potentially become eternal and it is only required that by faith you become so. What does it mean to you to be eternal?

How can you possibly begin to understand this concept when you have so few years under your belt? While I have many times the experience in years than you, it even overwhelms me to think of the possibilities. I find myself at times in conversation with some of my associates about the universe career once we leave the Isle of Paradise. It is fascinating to  think about it. While there is so much I have yet to experience, I have seen so many wonderful, beautiful things. I have seen the Father's love for me throughout the entire universe, at least that portion which I have experienced. To imagine eternity is beyond my comprehension, yet it swells up within me, this feeling of love, of devotion, which culminates in enhanced faith. Thank you for sharing that.

Q: I kind of think of faith as a muscle that needs to be worked on a daily basis, and I kind of suspect that our seraphic guardians, one of their duties is to make us work. (laughter) I think that our  little trials and tribulations are a way of exercising our faith.

I know that when I was reading about faith in the Urantia Book I was really impressed with some of the tremendous things that I read. How some people can go through such catastrophic things in their lives and remain poised and happy.. I think, boy, I hope I'm that strong in faith.

I also learned that the conscious wavering of faith that we might perceive is an illusion. According to the Rayson papers, our faith continues to grow; it really doesn't waver.

A: Your humor loosens smiles upon the angels gathered here this  evening. (laughter) They have your best interests in mind. (laughter)

Q: I wonder about that.

A: As I assure you they wonder about you. (laughter)

Q: I thought exercise a few times a week was enough. Does it have to be every day? (laughter)

A: You do want a sound body, don't you?

Q: Do you just want to get in shape or do you want to get stronger?

A: It is important not to let your faith waiver. This is true. You  have the superlative example in your text of those who did let their faith not only waiver, but deteriorate completely. Such a sad plight. It saddens me now even to think of what has happened to those who were involved in such iniquitous dealings.

It is true they did slow down, they impeded the development of certain planets for a time. But the real hurt, the real pain, was inflicted upon themselves; and now they can never come back. They  can never appreciate the warmth of daylight, the love of a friend,  the songs of the artisans. All of this is gone for them.

Think about these things when you find yourself in a complaining mode. Sure it is difficult at times. But always go back to your priorities. Always go back to the love of the Father. Look at yourself and your family and realize this is what is important in life above all else. Expand this concept then to your brothers and your sisters. Do what you can to enhance the awareness of others that we are all part of the same family. As soon as this begins, the sooner your planet will become involved with the era of Light and Life.

You will not see this in your life in the flesh, as we have discussed. But you are the pioneers. You have much to be thankful for. You have much to look forward to. You will not only get the reports upon your departure to the mansion worlds and your life  there as to the activities on this planet; but when others follow you they will share with you, as I'm sure you will seek them out, what is happening, what life is like l00 or 200 or 300 years after you have left here. I can assure you from personal experience while you may watch it on the screen, while you may read it in the text,  there is nothing like being there.

Q: Faith to me is rather personal. I was listening to everyone describe how faith is for them. I came to a realization here that faith is the string I've had practically all my life. It's been the bungee cord of life, so to speak, that has kept me from hitting ground. It's been the one thing I could cling to when things were really bad that got me through.

A: Fascinating. (laughter) I would have never thought of faith as the "bungee cord of life". (laughter) But your illustration is  perfect; for as you fall during the course of living, you find  yourself thinking "What is happening? I am not doing what I am  supposed to. I am defying the laws of the universe." Yet you do  not hit bottom. The Father is always there as your safety net as  long as you are willing to listen to Him, to love Him and to come  back to Him.

The parables that our Master shared with those on this planet and the rest of the worlds regarding this is most clear, is a perfect  illustration of our Father's love for all of us. I will retain this illustration and endeavor to explain it to some of my associates.(laughter)

Q: Good luck, Welmek.

Q: I guess faith to me is the knowing and believing that God is there and just realizing that you have to believe in it. It's right there, it's good for you. No matter what happens, as long as you believe in it, God will get you out of everything.

A: A most interesting word choice, get, for I perceive that it is indeed just that for myself also. Frankly, I never considered it quite like that before and I appreciate your insight. When in your experience did you first perceive faith as a part of your existence?

Q: I don't know. I guess a long time ago when I was in Sunday School and heard that God was there. I thought "wow, that's neat".

A: Did you believe what you were told?

Q: Yes.

A: So at first you were in total acceptance without research, without reservation.

Q: I don't know.

A: But the point that you make is that it just happens, at least initially. But then as life goes on, faith seems to grow, is this not true?

Q: That's true.

A: What in your experience causes you to lose faith, if anything?

Q: I don't know.

A: Do you see your peers as having faith?

Q: Some of them.

A: Those that do not, how would you describe them?

Q: Kind of lost, not knowing what direction they're going.

A: If you were able to give them guidance, what would you say?

Q: I'd tell them that God's there and all they need to do is ask for the help; it's right there.

A: When your associates hear the word "God", what do you perceive comes to their mind?

Q: Maybe some ruler that might punish you if you do something wrong, or ....

A: Therefore, if you ask them to believe in this person, is it not true  that their minds will immediately reject your instruction?

Q: Could be.

A: I ask these questions for all of your benefit. For in your  association with your fellows, does not this come up a lot? You may  say "Trust in the Father, have faith in the Father." but if the  individual with whom you are speaking does not have the same concept of the Father as you and I, how is it that we can expect them to believe? Always hold this thought in your mind when you engage in conversation about such things. Thank you.

Q: Faith, to me, is best described by a growing trust. An example is that you start off with a little seed and it begins to germinate. It keeps growing and growing, except you have control over it and it will only die if you allow it to die. I said this earlier, is there a point in faith where your faith stops and then you have all the faith you need. And I said "No, that can't be possible." But I  just heard you say, Welmek, that if you've been around for 3,000 years and you've stayed with us for a year and it has enhanced your faith. And so I learned that it is constantly germinating and growing.

A: And so it is. You use a most important word, control. You all do have control over your faith. You can choose whether to enhance it, to embellish it, or to let it lie dormant and fall away. It is your control, it is your choice. Even the Father Himself will not force you to love Him and to serve Him. But I can tell you with full surety, there is no greater universe experience than to know God and to be like Him.

Q: It's such an enormous subject, I'm not as clear as I'd like to be. One thing that has occurred to me this evening was that it's active memory, that it has this dynamic quality about it that feeds off the memory of our experience that leads to (?) about what we encounter in bringing God's will into play in these challenging situations.

A: You use an interesting word, memory. Please elaborate on what this means to you.

Q: I'm looking at faith in a believer's light where there is some realization of relationship with deity. As we're too immature to experience the Father in an empirical way, we still have a sense of greater reality than ourselves. This helps to guide us and lead us forward. To actualize that guidance, we have to be mindful to remember; and as challenges trigger our memory, it leads us back to worship and to further experiences that will enhance that memory as we carry forward in our lives.

A: So, if I understand you correctly, it is the impressions left upon your mind of your previous experiences that culminate in your faith for what will be. It is your past experiences that define in your mind what your faith is now.

Q: Yes.

A: I do not disagree at all with this statement; but faith is surely both past and present as well as future. Do you have a question?

Q: I would be interested in knowing in your own experience how it was that you came to a sense of the reality of the Father in your spiritual growth.

A: My process was not totally unlike yours inasmuch as from early childhood I, too, assumed the faith in my parents, that living trust, if you will, that they would take care of me, that they knew everything there was to know, that they loved me beyond anyone else. As I progressed in my early school years, you must understand on my world we were taught about the Father, we were taught about the universe, we were taught about love. These things are essential on a planet that is engaged in the era of Light and Life in order to maintain itself.

As a race, we shared with each other the responsibilities of daily living. There was no one who sought to gain over another, at least in any negative meaning of that word. I suppose for me, my recollection serves that it was in my early teens that I became most aware of the inner spirit and dedicated myself to the Father's will.  As my life progressed, as I continued to do those things that I was being taught were important to serving the Father, it became apparent that this was the only correct course of action; for in doing these things I found myself happy. I found myself content. I found myself challenged. I found myself loved.

Q: Most of what faith is to me has been touched on by other people in this room. Faith is my link to the universe, Christ Michael and God the Father. It's the pathway or channel by which I grow in love and trust, knowledge; and it's also the glue that holds all those things together. It's also what makes it possible to face the adversity of life with joy and equanimity and also as a human being. I fail dismally at that, occasionally, more than occasionally; but the faith makes it possible for me to sink into the arms of the Father's love so that I can be whole again after I've failed.

A: Your words are like music. It tells a story of love, of comfort and of hope, all of which are components of living faith.

Q: I guess I was very fortunate because I don't remember a time that I wasn't told that God was taking care of me, so I never had any time that I doubted it. For me, faith, an expression of faith is most intense when I get into a circumstance where I feel like I'm jumping out of the open door of a plane. It's similar to Marilyn's description of the bunjee cord, except for me it's faith in jumping out of the plane and having the absolute trust the parachute will open and that when I get to the ground I have the hope the landing won't be so rough that I won't be able to deal with it. So I have had times when I feel I'm about 50 miles up there, but I just  really, the faith is there. I know the Father's taking care of me. He always has.

A: If I may, when you reference faith as jumping out of a plane, knowing or having this faith that the chute will open, re-phrase your thinking now and know that it will open. It will always open.  Take out all doubt, all fear, all reservation that you may have, if at all, and supplant it with the fact that there will never be a parachute unopened. Even when you that which is not the Father's will, your chute will open. How could any parent watch the child fall to its death, even when the child may disavow the parent. That does not diminish the love, at least as far as our Father is concerned.

Your faith grasp is growing, your faith grasp will continue to grow; and as this grasp grows, as you gain a better handle, if you will, on faith and what it means to you personally in your daily living, the love of the Father will flow through more fully and you will experience it. You will begin to find the joy of living and understand the meaning of turning the trials and tribulations into opportunities for new adventures and opportunities to make decisions that will enhance your character.

As a footnote, I would add this: easier said than done. (laughter)

Q: I figure my faith will be perfect when I actually run for the open door of that plane. (laughter)

Q: Faith, to me, is confidence and trust in the Father. It's a little bit more than that. It's more that as a young lad I had faith and confidence in the Father, but that was more of a belief. I think faith took a step closer when it became an active participation in His love.

A: I'm trying to think of what I might add to that, for many times I find your expression most adequate, most beautiful, eloquently stated in a language so limited.

Q: There is a calm within this room. We all sense it, we all feel it. We all know that it is there. It is this calmness that you feel now that is one of your goals. If you could imagine going through life feeling calmness like this, feeling love, feeling the harmony that exists between you now, I assure you life would become most enthralling, most exciting. As you get tastes of such experiences, try to hold on to them. Always remember that, and when you find yourself down and out always go back to what we have talked about tonight as what is important. You will always find comfort in the bosom of the Father. Rest assured my friends, all of your universe brothers and sisters do this.

Q: Welmek, can I add a comment please? Several of us talked about how faith is the safety net or the bungee cord or the parachute when you fall. I don't think I've heard about how faith is also that support when you succeed, that extra ingredient that helps you succeed.  (words lost)

A: Faith is all-encompassing. It is our goal as your teachers to help you realize what faith is, so that you may more completely manifest it in your daily living. The more you do this, the more you will enhance communication with the spirit fragment that resides within you now. The sooner this communication begins on a conscious level, the sooner you will actualize the living truth that you now seek.

Q: I think my faith has gone through a lot of growth. I can think back to when I was a child and was instructed about God and trusted on an intellectual basis; and I think that somewhere along the line, I can't recall right now if someone specifically told me or I gained some kind of awareness that there was a part of God in each of us and it was something I've always hung on to in different ways.

I think it was a lot more on a belief level, and I see it really evolving over time. Right now I'm thinking about my present time and experience and it's so different. How we spend time searching for someone who could understand me. I always felt like there were things that were within me that I wanted a real connection to someone who could understand and I could share those with. And I remember kind of looking for that in relationships as an adolescent or whatever. It really came to me since July that that part of God, that piece of God that I felt was a part of me and a part of other people was really what I've been looking for the whole time. It's been right with me. And it's that understanding I think that has helped me along with all the teachers and support from you all that I've had through a lot of struggles, especially in the last four months. I've really experienced it in a real living way.

Welmek talked about feeling this joy and this calm in the face of problems, and I actually had that experience. I don't know that I can say it came from all my own efforts, because I know I had a lot of help with that, but it was so remarkable to be sitting there and having people, which would have terrified me before, I think, or I would have run from it or I would have just broke down. But having people say untruths about me to my face and making a lot of comments and yet the whole time I felt this companionship and this love and this sense of peace like none of this had any impact. It was just the most...I think it will be a memory that I will hang onto forever.

But I think it's given me personal experience that is like maybe the first little bud that Gina was talking about, where my faith will really begin to take off even more. And I think as I've grown in feeling the Father's love, there are more and more times in my life when I feel that I'm understanding more how to take that into my life.

I've had times when I think my faith has wavered, and I've searched a lot through human guidance to help find that. In dealing with troubles, I've felt like I had a degree of guidance from inside and I reached a point where I lost faith in that. I felt like that hadn't taken me the way I expected it to. I guess that's part of our own ego or our own pride or our own sense of control that we need to let go of and understand that maybe some of these things we face are really for our own good even though they don't seem like they're what God wants.

In finding my way back, I think I've been like that ship without a rudder. Always in my life I had that sense of direction and goal. I didn't recognize it consciously as being related to my faith, but I think I see that tie now. I'm real anxious to have that rudder back and stronger than ever.

A: You do have the control. It is interesting for us to watch you, and by you I mean humans in general, looking or searching for that which you seek inside of yourself. You look for faith in many areas, from many people, when in fact it is always your ability to exercise the faith alone. It is your relationship with the Father that this faith will grow.

Never hesitate to talk to Him. He always listens. As your message from Michael tonight indicated, Michael hears you, each one of you.  He is aware of your existence just as our Father is aware of your existence. Ponder these things. They are quite stimulating when you realize the importance of them.

I want to thank all of you for sharing your thoughts this evening. Those of us who are gathered here are always moved when we are able to listen to your discussion, to your feelings and your thoughts.   Many times we learn things. This is way it is, as we have discussed before. We are all teachers and students.

There is little that I can add to this discussion. If you like, I will entertain questions for a few moments. Or if you feel that we should end our meeting with a moment of worship together, we will do that.

But before this, I feel compelled to share with you a story. This comes from an associate of mine who is endeavoring to understand your humor. (Laughter) I will not comment on the quality.  (Laughter)

The story goes: there were two angels discussing how they would help their human partner. One angel looks at the other and says "What do you think we should do?" The response, "We'll just have to wing it." (laughter)

In your language I might define that as "corny". (laughter) You see, you have affected me. (laughter) And I love you for that. I will always love all of you. You are part of my eternal existence now. I will never forget each and every one of you. For helping me know the Father more, I thank you. For helping to increase my faith, I thank you. For giving me a deeper insight into myself, I thank you. For allowing me to serve you, I thank you.

It is through my service of you that I grow. And I am sure now, more than ever, that without my association with you, it would have taken me many, many years more to learn what I now know. And what I now know is that our Father's love is greater than what I had ever imagined. Let us all take a moment and share in this love.

Before we conclude, I would like to give you a choice. Next week, which would you prefer, an open discussion meeting in which I will entertain a multitude of questions, or to continue our discourse as it has the last two weeks and the topic will be service.(Vote taken)

Q: Oh come on, you knew we were going to pick service.

A: We are all most pleased and encouraged. Thank you for your participation. Go in peace and may you rest well this evening.

Q: Does that mean that Welmek is going to take the class again? Or will somebody else take it?

A: Actually I had two associates who had volunteered, but I was going to have them flank me in response to your multitude of questions.  (laughter) It seems as though when we do those sessions, I must always regress to "one moment, please" (laughter) and I had selected two associates that I had thought would be able to assist me. Since this is not necessary, who wishes to moderate?

Q: All right, I'll do it.

A: So be it. Until next week, go in peace and always seek the Father's love.

GROUP: Good night, Welmek.

END