BUTLER, PA, USA

VOLUME IV, Part 12 of 13

 

*****

 

DATE:                                    February 16, 1999

LOCATION:                          Butler, PA USA

T/R:                                        Gerdean

TEACHERS:                          TOMAS

TOPIC:

Encircuitment

 

TOMAS:        I am Tomas. Good evening.

Group:            Good evening.

 

TOMAS:        I am going to begin our discourse this evening with a few words along the lines of encircuitment and use the analogy of your electricity for some of you have the idea that you can illuminate your environment on your own power. Indeed, you cannot and expect any enduring light or heat.

 

Let me talk about an electric outlet and a cord and allow that the energy inside the electric outlet is primal energy fostered by the First Source and Center and I will not go into the details of the mechanical universe involving Power Directors and so forth but suffice it to say that this electrical outlet is the Source and the cord that's lying on the ground is you and you cannot garner the necessary power and energy unless and until you are appropriately and firmly connected to your power source. Merely placing your socket near the outlet serves no purpose. It must be connected, and yet once this connection is made, all manner of wonderful things can take place.

 

I again and pedantically point out to you that you cannot put a plug into the circuit unless and until, in your modern fixture, you have the wide side inserted in the wide hole. You cannot do it otherwise. It doesn't fit. And so you cannot be pretending to be connected and expect to be effectual. Interestingly, it is very apparent when you are appropriately connected, for your energy is such that it has an independent operation. Independent, almost, of your will. Except, of course, that it has been your will that you be plugged in.

 

I think maybe this is an advertisement for stillness, for therein is the connection. Now the point of my bringing up the subject of an electrical connection, a contact with your energy source, is to bring to your reality, once again, this stuff about energy and you have been studying energy in your formal studies and even in your informal discourses, and let us say, just for analogy sake, that you are designed to be a lamp Rachel, and you Leah are designed to be a vacuum cleaner, and Thoroah might like to be a power saw, and Gerdean can be an electric toothbrush, because each of you have your own function and your own skills and your own tools and your own pattern of design that is accommodating for you. Maybe there are lots of different kinds of lamps, but not quite like Rachel, and so forth.

 

As you are connecting now to your power Source, you begin to operate automatically and naturally and do what you do without friction, without interference (providing of course you maintain your machinery in good order). And what is the point of all of this picture book saga I relate this evening? It has to do with the master plan. The primal Source of all that is, is in full charge of all of its lamps and power saws and vacuum cleaners and electric toothbrushes. It knows where they all go, it knows where they should all operate, it knows when they should go in for repairs, it knows when they are seasonally of no use, and I draw this elementary analogy so that you can begin to realize that in the vast scheme of things, there is no difference between what I have just described and the working of a smoothly run universe.

 

Once more we reiterate that you need to be true to yourself for only in being who you are designed to be are you able to be of maximum use to yourself, to your environment, and to the universe at large. In other words, it does no good for Gerdean to try and be a power saw; it does not behoove Thoroah to try and be a lamp, and so forth. Only by ascertaining your true essence and recognizing its inherent abilities and developing the requisite skills thereto, are you contributing to the overall design that will ultimately bring about that pattern which will result in ultimate perfection whether it be a social event, a project, a family or a civilization.

 

All too often you look outside of yourself and you see constantly others looking outside of themselves, many times to you, saying, "Leah! You must be an electric toothbrush! Can't you see how desperately we need an electric toothbrush here?" And Leah says, "Oh, yes! Let me try and be an electric toothbrush!" And this is such a waste of time, for that is not your purpose and you will find yourself trying to vacuum with an electric toothbrush. This is what is going on in your world today and you wonder why there is mass chaos.

 

How simple God is. We are amused when you, in your attempts to undertake an understanding of this advanced cosmology and spiritual experience (as compared to your traditional religions of old) lament the loss of the simple God and what I have discussed above is as simple as it gets and yet it is too simple because truly you love to complicate things. You love to try to recreate the paradigm. (Pause) Is everyone plugged in?

 

Rachel:           Yeah, we're all plugged in. Unfortunately in my life, my parents always wanted me to be something else than where my real talents were and I'm just discovering them now, so I'm just learning to turn on my lamp!

 

TOMAS:        This is good. It is good that you are beginning to realize that you are a lamp and not whatever it was that you were told that you were to be. This is something that all of Urantia suffers under. It is very unusual for a child in your culture to be so well accepted and well directed in their home environment that their course is early on revealed, but part of the difficulty, without getting into overmuch armchair psychiatry, many parents want their children to live the life that they missed, and so they anticipate that their creation can create for them their experience.

 

And additionally, it is unfortunate but true, that many people limit their approach to potential for fear of failure and so many parents feel that their children's ambitions should be reasonable and thus they do not encourage them to go beyond what is commonly acceptable in their frame of reference.

 

Rachel:           Then when we don't turn out to be who they want us to be, then we have to go and suffer the disappointment of their disappointment. You can't win.

 

TOMAS:        You must unplug from that power source.

Rachel:           I know. It's difficult. So much conditioning, Tomas, it's incredible.

 

TOMAS:        Indeed it is, and the longer we are here the more we see it is deeply ingrained and the more we see you grow the more easy it seems to be for you to bypass correction because you realize and we realize how truly engrained it is, and so you buy into a lesser reality, for to forge into a greater reality would once more put you in a position of being singularly, existentially, separate and distinct, by yourself, and this inclination toward the herd instinct, toward the all-is-one theory, toward the collective consciousness downdraft, is yet another large power surge that would suck your cord into an erroneous power source.

 

Once you have learned how to connect your entire being, your entire reality, to the First Source and Center, you can begin to assimilate energy and recognize the power source as the Source of all that is, and thus you will become so enamored of this directing bent, you will have no further use for these lesser realities. But it takes a tremendous character to do that. I challenge you each to give yourself permission to develop this tremendous character which is accessible to you each in-as-much as you each have your cord that you can plug in to the Source of all, including yourself.

 

Rachel:           Well, I plug myself in daily so how long is it going to take me to get fully charged? Hypothetically, of course.

 

TOMAS:        You bring up a good point. You are en route.

Rachel:           I'm having separation anxiety from the herd right now.

 

TOMAS:        Yes. You are still very much a product of the world at large. You are truly a fledgling yet, Rachel. You are beginning to understand independence and human liberation, and in this understanding of your own identity and ability to not only survive but thrive in this world with all of its vagaries and peculiarities, you will be developing an aspect of yourself that will yet rejoice in discovering you, in spite of your inherent fears and in spite of your desire to be carried.

 

The more aware you become, the more aware you can be. The more you allow Father to help you, the more you can help yourself. The more you help yourself, the more the angels will be able to help you also. And so you can soon forget your dependency upon your external world for you will have so closely identified with your inner world, your Thought Adjuster, your inner life, that you will then be able to impact your environment in such a way that they will be able to begin to learn from you where they might go for their Source of power and reality.

 

Remember, Michael's mission will enable you to be more than you have been. You have the ability to develop superhuman abilities, not only to accomplish what you can do because you are the heir to Father's gifts, but because you choose to use your gifts in service to Him. And this agenda can be so invigorating, intoxicating, stimulating, satisfying and comforting that any lesser reality holds no fascination. This is the real part of the scheme. This is the celebration. This is the joyous rejoicing working in the field.

 

We are most respectful of your struggles and most encouraging of your mutual support of one another's spiritual reality. There is a reference in your textbook that you might want to review, and it indicates that you ought not commiserate with people simply to have company in your misery, but rather help one another lift up and out of the darkness and plug in to the power Source that you might all begin humming and purring and cleaning and drilling and illuminating in your realm as you are created to do. For all of you know that working together is an exciting concept, and even more exciting when you are able to actually accomplish this and see the results of your combined efforts.

 

I am given an illustration of seven dwarfs who are happy to go off to their chores, their work, because they have connected with that which gives them power and energy. In the case of that child's story, it is the delightful Snow White and their love for her. Your love for Michael is certainly no less!

 

Thoroah:         Hi ho, hi ho.

TOMAS:        You got it.

 

Rachel:           I feel like a little kid in kindergarten who cannot wait to graduate to 6th grade. I get tired of being this person who I got molded into being.

 

TOMAS:        Then break the mold!

Rachel:           I'm trying!

 

Thoroah:         I didn't have a mold to break and so it was the opposite thing of trying to find myself from a different angle rather than to have to fight off something that was forced on me, so it was a little different experience.

 

Rachel:           Really? Mine was pretty ironclad.

 

TOMAS:        Both of these situations are serious challenges, but it is two ways to go about the same end -- to find out who you are and to develop it. Whether it be through the affirmative approach or through the process of elimination, it is still a matter of determining who you are and being true to that which you are. Know thyself. An interesting challenge, considering that much of you is growing and changing on a regular basis. Indeed your character is growing, but remember, your Father-bestowed personality is unchanging.

 

Rachel:           Just think of all those people out there who don't know themselves. It's such a gift of the Father to have this unfolding within yourself.

 

TOMAS:        Indeed it is, and don't get lost in the field.

Rachel:           I just feel sorry for them all. I have compassion for them!

 

TOMAS:        Your compassion is noted, but it is a very easy way for you to become so enamored of their condition, you neglect to mind your own. What are you doing, Leah?

 

Leah:              My thoughts are rambling. Your last response to Rachel you stated 1 could have easily said, "Tell me about it!" -- sarcastically.

 

TOMAS:        I thought of Nalda.

 

Leah:              That's not the first time you have thought of her around me. Is it coincidental that she was married a few times?

 

TOMAS:        I have a hunch you have a pre-determined, a pre-disposed relationship with Nalda that is not the one I am calling to your mind. My reference to Nalda has to do with her tendency to drift away from the subject at hand and become rationally, justifiably, philosophically focused on other than the issue at hand. Even in ignorance/ innocence, it is a very clever human technique to avoid the heart of the issue.

 

The heart of the issue is your personal relationship with God, your cord plugged into the power source, and Rachel looked at all of these cords lying around on the floor feeling sorry that they were not plugged in. Rather, Rachel, plug in your cord and let your light shine so that they can see to put their cord in their socket, you see. Don't waste time worrying about whether they are plugged in or not, for when you worry about whether or not they are plugged in, you are giving your energy to the reality that will pull you away from your own socket, thus you become embroiled in the collective consciousness, the world at large, you have once again given up your reality, your very essence, to become one with the floundering, you see.

 

Rachel:           Yeah, you're right. I do tend to do that.

 

TOMAS:        And so if you can see this, and if you sincerely desire to withdraw from this herd instinct behavior, then take this to heart and challenge yourself to be effective, in spite of what others may be doing. Now, lest you think I am not concerned about the lost sheep, think again. In your connection with divinity you can be appropriately directed; you can be encircuited and empowered, directed, as to how to perform, where to specifically shine that light. Go to your Source for instructions rather than determining for yourself, outside the power supply, where you should shine your light, you see. Once you become encircuited, you know the feeling and you can operate in full confidence for you know the difference. You know what it feels like to flounder.

 

Rachel:           Yeah, I know that one!

TOMAS:        Then practice the other one. Are there questions this evening?

 

Rachel:           Well, what do you think of all of us going on vacation for a bit of rest and rejuvenation? [Celestial Nights in Cape San Bias, Florida]

 

TOMAS:        We are packed.

Rachel:           Yeah, I'm sure you'll be along too!

 

TOMAS:        We made our reservations. We have even helped with the itinerary. We are all looking forward to this reunion. Not only will you enjoy the company and camaraderie of one another, but we also will relish the energies and the upliftment inherent in your association as well as ours. It will be quite wonderful for us also to be in close proximity. Indeed, we will all plug in together.

 

Rachel:           I was thinking about how I heard of this months ago and I thought, "Oh, God, I really want to go," and felt this, "Yeah, you're gonna go," and I didn't believe it! And then all of a sudden everything cleared away and here we go!

 

TOMAS:        The more you live in faith and the more you allow your faith path to function, the less resistance you will provide. I will suggest here that you are all conscientious individuals attempting to be adult and responsible, and we have many times offered the option to be childlike and so many of you fear being childlike, lest you feel childish, or worse that you be accused of being childish, but Michael himself, when he was incarnate as Jesus, kept his childlike attitude toward Our Father the entire time of his life here, always faithfully looking toward The Father for counsel and guidance at each step, always holding up his hand to be led by Our Father in heaven, always believing that he would be guided and directed in his path and not forsaken, and indeed he was and is well loved, beloved, by universes.

 

Childlike faith is the cornerstone of our mission, Michael's mission, on Urantia -- to bring life and light of truth to the children in darkness, to reunion with one another in spirit reality. Only as a child can you come to this place of faith. When you are here in faith as children, you are raised up to be able to do great works because of your childlike faith, and so we are certainly enjoying the anticipation, which is inherent in one of these opportunities to engage in a melee of childlike glee in company with fellow believers, kindred spirits. Put your cares aside as Michael admonished his early apostles and rejoice in diversion, recreation, rest and play. Become friends with your brothers and sisters again and anew. Enjoy yourselves, and enjoy your teachers who will also be enjoying you, at rest and at play. We will all be renewed and return to our arenas rested with our problems in perspective and with yet new direction and impetus for cosmic problem solving at hand.

 

Rachel:           Sounds so wonderful. I can't think of a mortal who would tell us that. It has to be a celestial, because it's always work-work-work-work-work! Drive you into the ground!

 

TOMAS:        All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Rachel:           Very crabby.

 

TOMAS:        You have to understand also that these kind of outings are not mere carefree wafts into revelry but an opportunity for joy and thanksgiving. The love inherent in your intention is enlarged and it can do nothing but serve to guide you into fields of worship, and so the childlike flavor of your personalities plans to lift you up into degrees of being that are not afforded you when you are marching in the fields or working in the trenches.

 

Remember that in future ages you will have more opportunity for worship. Indeed, in your distant future you will worship most of the time and so this is good practice for you. It is another way, as you say, Rachel, of becoming plugged in, and although it may not be work, it is invaluable and necessary for the work.

 

Rachel:           Are you meaning to say that in the morontia life we spend more time learning how to worship?

 

TOMAS:        Yes, progressively. Dare I say you learn how to keep yourself plugged in better? It is the most direct zap there is.

 

Rachel:           Because in my life, I was never taught worship in any way shape or form.

TOMAS:        You cannot be taught worship.

Rachel:           No. I guess it just comes from within. It's that glad "thank you".

 

TOMAS:        Yes. Circumstances (tape turned) and this fosters good spiritual habits, but if you are not encouraged in these ways, then you must wait until you feel the impetus on your own and develop those habit practices that enable you to develop a taste for and an appreciation of worship as a practice. Many people don't like to worship because it makes them feel good and they cannot believe they are allowed to feel good in that way. They feel unworthy of being in the presence of God or even approaching the presence of God, and this is awful.

 

It is our hope that you, in your love of Father, will be able to naturally encourage, by your behavior, the behaviors of others as we spoke of earlier in the maze of electric cords lying around on the floor, if they see your light humming, burning, glowing with warmth and good work, they will feel more inclined to discover their own power Source, that they too may feel that comfort, hum and glow of their own productivity, their own spiritual connection, indeed their own intimate relationship with their power Source.

 

This is worship, after all, for it is acknowledging that which gives us our very being. Appreciate the source of our being, and becoming one with our Source, operating and functioning in and through our source, becoming one ... with our Source.

 

I anticipate a few days of glorious exposition, exploration and exponential learning, and thus I will not keep you up late this evening, overworking yourselves, for you have frolic to attend to and plans to make, bags to pack and as the song says, fish to fry, and so Merium and I will go rummage around and find our bathing suits and pack a few things ourselves. We will all be with you, and thus I am looking forward to my friends also. We will just hitch a ride along with you guys in your van, Leah, and so if you want to talk about it en route, get my attention or Merium's or one of the tour guides. We will party hearty. Rest well, brethren. See you soon.

 

Group:            Thank you.  Goodnight.

 

*****

 

DATE:                        February 25, 1999

LOCATION:              BUTLER, PA USA

T/R's:                         Gerdean and Alan

TEACHERS:              TOMAS and JACK

TOPIC:

Persecutions

 

Group:            Are you with us this evening, Tomas?

 

TOMAS:        Indeed, I am. Greetings, this is Tomas, your friend, companion and associate in ascension. I am here in great delight of your voluntary gathering, your unscheduled yearning to conjoin with your spirit companions and exercise your higher natures proceeding yet further into your morontial understandings of yourselves in your realm.

 

We are pleased this evening to have on board with us a long term worker in the field of Urantia, indeed, a mighty midwayer, those who have been with Urantia for a long, long time, and alas it would seem are destined to remain on Urantia for yet an inordinately long sojourn, and yet I am given to understand by my association with these wonderful beings, that they have been enjoying their efforts and the fruits of their efforts.

 

Without further ado, then, I will sit back and enjoy with you the presence and victories of our associate in ascension, 0802-AB, a secondary midwayer assigned to Planet Urantia.

 

0802-AB JACK here.

 

Group:            Hello, Jack. Greetings, Jack.

 

JACK:            It's nice to be here. It's been a long time since I have worked with this channel directly like this. I am frankly amazed that the channel is as open as it is at the moment. I remember years ago when the channel was anything but open, and when we worked so hard to get the channel functioning, but historically you must remember that I have said a long time ago that my assignment was to learn to do this work in anticipation of the coming events that so many of you have been able to see fulfilled as time has gone by. But not only was I being prepared to do this work, the channel was being prepared to do the work, and historically the efforts were being made prior to the publication of the Urantia Book. I think Adam used the expression, "Before it hit the news stands."

 

I have learned, during this process of contacting, that greatest advances are made when questions are asked, but before we get into this business of asking questions, which I hope you do ask me some questions, it's not often that we can, as functioning midwayers, we can find ripe candidates as Adam later proved to be, to go out and do the kind of work that was required, or that we feel was required in the early phases of the Urantia Book and its presence on this planet.

 

Some of you know, some of you are very aware of the efforts that he performed getting the Book placed in various countries and libraries and institutions so that they could be permanently placed. We were aware of the fact that many vagaries would occur; in some places perhaps there would be destruction of libraries, there would be book burnings. Things like this are still possible. I cannot nor will not predict when and where but they will occur and it was important that these things be taken care of as soon as possible.

 

The movement is not exclusive to the United States of America or to the English speaking worlds, but it takes a strong commitment to this type of thing for -- as you would call it -- the work to be done. We are very grateful that Adam persevered, and when, under very dire circumstances and when his choice would have been to stop, I think today he is still very angry at me for having pushed him on like I did, and I think he has earned the right to take a certain rest from it all.

 

It is true and I know because I was there at a conversation he had with Claireesa at lunch, when he made the comment that he "got the Books placed in these bloody Buddhist countries where they don't speak English, so I had to teach the f**kers English so they could read the Book!" and I think that after that he decided that enough was enough and I can't really say that I blame him. We're very grateful to him and for the effort that everybody makes, but the work has just begun.

 

Your time is coming. The decisions that it requires to go out and do these types of things are not easy decisions to make, so we are grateful when we run across candidates who are willing to cooperate with us. Jesus had to find twelve men and teach them to go and do what you have to be taught to go and do, and you must not think that it’s an easy job. Your work is going to be very, very difficult. The surface is just being scratched. (Pause)  Ask me questions.

 

Gerdean:        Well... Hi, Jack. It's surely good to hear your voice, feel your presence and to have you with us once again.

 

JACK:            Hi.

 

Gerdean:        I hear you talk about working in the field. This is what our teachers have been teaching us to do, to be teachers, to be fishers of men, to stimulate spiritual growth, to plant seeds and then to further spiritual reality. I understand that Adam went abroad and into foreign countries and I am certainly appreciative that he did and that others are, like the guys who have taken the Book into Africa now on this more formal jaunt, and I also fully respect what you said that it is difficult, that it's not easy, particularly when you go out, away from your companions did, like Apostle Nathaniel did -- he went into Africa, he went by himself. I mean that's hard work! It's easier when you can go two and two but that's not always possible. But it's also important, it seems to me, to take this spirit of evangelism, if you will, into the fields of our homeland, if you want to call it that. I feel that being in Butler on assignment is an outpost.

 

Rachel:           The trenches.

 

Gerdean:        It's truly the trenches. I am really delighted that I have made the acquaintance and fostered the fellowships I have.

 

JACK:            You never know what seed is planted with whom.

 

Gerdean:        This is true. This is true. I say these things not to take anyone off the hook, but for the fact that it would seem that you are encouraging us all to go to Ghana or Bangkok or Singapore or somewhere out into the foreign realms when in fact it can be very foreign right across the street. I just wanted to say that, and not to argue with you, Jack, but to point it out that we can't all do what Adam did in taking The Urantia Book into countries early on in the early days of the revelation.

 

JACK:            Yes?

 

Gerdean:        And I appreciate that it wasn't a question, so it's not that I'm requiring you to make comment or to put you on the spot, but I do feel a little bit like, "Okay, so what am I supposed to do? Feel guilty because I didn't?" I can't! It's not my calling, if you will. I feel that those of us who do ...

 

JACK:            You never know what seed is planted when and where, but that you should find your comfort zone.

 

Rachel:           It's just making the effort, huh? Well, I'm perfectly willing to go out and teach and preach, but I feel wholly inadequate sometimes. It's like coming up against a brick wall. There are those you find who are receptive and those who just want to spit in your face!

 

JACK: Well, that's all part of it.

 

RACHEL:       I guess so. I just get p.o.'d that I don't get to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to all that he had to tell to his apostles. You know, I feel as if I'm missed so much teaching.

 

Gerdean:        Oh that reminds me. Peter. Apostle Peter was a great preacher and he gave lessons to the evangelists on how to teach. Were you privy to any of those, Jack?

 

JACK:            We were there for most all of them.

 

Gerdean:        Can I presume upon you to share with us perhaps some of Peter's pronouncements when he would teach them how to teach?

 

JACK:            There was basically no difference than the conversations you are having right now. Everybody feels inadequate. That is the very first thing that a teacher like Peter has to do, is to help people overcome feelings of inadequacy, and every individual develops their own technique. Some people are better in certain areas than others. It's simply each individual finding -- it's like water finding its own level.

 

Rachel:           Finding your own comfort zone.

JACK:            Teachers of teachers, I think is what you're talking about.

Gerdean:        Yes.

 

JACK:            The teachers of teachers. Well, teachers learn to become teachers of teachers. The same process that a student learns to be a student.

 

Gerdean:        Well, this is built on that universal law that you must pass on what you know.

 

JACK:            What you've learned. That's right.

Gerdean:        What you've learned.

JACK:            And it's always subject to prejudice.

Gerdean:        Bias of one sort or another.

JACK:            That's right.

Gerdean:        Surely.

 

JACK:            So what one person thinks Peter might have done a good job teaching about, maybe someone else would feel totally inadequate. You learn. You have to make a decision. Do you want to be a teacher? Or do you want to be a student. Good students are good teachers; good teachers are good students. You should never stop learning, but not everybody can be everything. That's why I prefaced my original statement saying there are few people who are willing to go out and do what Adam was willing to go out and do. That doesn't mean that everybody has to go out and do what Adam did. But, we, the midwayers who are so actively involved in all of this, are always grateful for what each and every single individual does, providing the motivation is there. That's all! We are talking about motivation. Motivating motivators.

 

Gerdean:        I was interested in what Tomas said about how it is that on this planet that has had so many setbacks …

 

JACK:            More to come.

Rachel:           More to come?

JACK:            More to come.

Rachel:           You want to be a prophet about that?

JACK:            I just did.

Rachel:           You just did. You weren't explicit, though.

 

Gerdean:        Let me continue asking my question. -- that you were "unfortunately" going to be here longer than most midwayers are assigned to their natal spheres. Do you feel that that's "unfortunate", Jack?

 

JACK:            Oh, many times, you may recall, I complained about it.

 

Gerdean:        Also, Tomas is not inclined to get out a crystal ball. He says, "We are not crystal ball gazers" and yet you did make a rather provocative remark. What is it that he said? Setbacks!

 

JACK:            Book burnings, I said.

Rachel:           Book burnings.

Gerdean:        Then it would behoove us to become walking Urantia Books!

JACK:            You got it!

Rachel:           Right. Restated in modern phraseology.

Gerdean:        Yes. And live the love that Jesus taught. Yes.

 

JACK:            Has anybody talked to you about how close to this very thing that I just mentioned, that Adam got to in this country, in Malaysia, in Muslim country?

 

Gerdean:        No, I don't know about it.

Rachel:           Are you going to tell us?

JACK:            No, I won't take time to go into that now.

 

Rachel:           Okay. Not only book burning, but people are still getting persecuted for their religion in this world.

 

JACK:            Yes.

Rachel:           Greatly! There's a big uprising about it!

 

Rachel:           They're being murdered for being a nationality, much less a religion. Well, people are still barbaric.

 

JACK:            Has anybody reminded you recently as to why this movement occurred in the United States of America?

 

Rachel:           No. I'm curious about that.

Gerdean:        Not in the celestial realms.

JACK:            You had the money to do it.

Rachel:           We had the money to do it.

 

JACK:            You had the money to promote it, to keep it alive. Have the money. All you have to do is use it.

 

Rachel:           Ooh!

JACK:            And language.

Rachel:           Yes, because we're a large country that all speak the same language.

Gerdean:        Spoken …

Rachel:           World wide, almost.

JACK:            So the country of America was picked for the revelation.

Gerdean:        Certainly not for its moral stand.

 

Rachel:           Or for it's God-consciousness. Well, there are a lot of God-conscious people here, I think.

 

JACK:            [Deliberately mute]

Gerdean:        Jack is not going to make any comment.

Rachel:           Judgment!

 

JACK:            So you have many advantages, but your advantages are sometimes disadvantages.

 

Rachel:           I get this thought that when we read about the life of Jesus, we don't really know about each of the apostle's or evangelist's personal doubts or inadequacies. We just take an overall view that they had success and that they taught and led and ...

 

JACK:            They fought among themselves.

Rachel:           Yes.

 

JACK:            They disagreed. They had many, many, many, many, days and weeks and months of antagonism ...

 

Gerdean:        We do that.

JACK:            ... resentments, to overcome.

Gerdean:        We do, too.

Rachel:           Today's depressions, feelings of inadequacy.

 

JACK:            Well, I think that is enough for this channel for one night. It's been a long
time and I think we should let off.

 

Gerdean:        Alright.

Rachel:           It was nice talking with you, Jack.

JACK:            Well, it was nice talking with all of you!

Gerdean:        Thank you, Jack.

JACK:            Maybe we can all come back SOON. Good night.

Group:            Good night.

 

*****

 

DATE:                        March 2, 1999

LOCATION:              BUTLER, PA USA

T/R’s:                         Gerdean and Adam

TEACHERS:              TOMAS, JACK and MERIUM

Group:            Hunnah, Loreenia, Claireesa, Thoroah, Gerdean, Priscilla, Adam, Rachel

Meditation:    Teacher Will's lesson on "Baring Your Chest"

TOPIC:

There Can be no Brotherhood Without the Father

 

TOMAS:        Tap. Tap. Tap. That was my baton on the podium. I am glad that you have come to an impasse in your discourse this evening in order that we might also embroil ourselves in your evening.

 

It is so good to be with you and to see your enlivenment in terms of your future and the future of your world. Without going into apocalyptic predictions or catastrophic scenarios, I, your teacher Tomas, would like to glean from your dialog this evening those things which would be supportive of our purpose here with you and supportive also of your spiritual growth, but before I embark upon my brief commentary, I would like to bid you all welcome to our format once again.

 

In particular I would like to convey greetings to Priscilla who joins us for her initial exposure to this type of communication and fellowship. We welcome you, Priscilla, to these proceedings and to the camaraderie of kindred spirits in search of a viable spiritual way of life.

 

It is also appropriate that I advise you of the host of observers in your arena this evening. We in the celestial realms are present in the large, for you present as always, an education for us as we observe your dealings with one another and with the development of life on Urantia. We will possibly hear from others, but I would like to begin by giving a few words of credence to your discourse and that, most particularly, has to do with the element of urgency that you seem to sense.

 

I would like to call to your mind the early days of preparation for the Garden of Eden. I would like for you to remember in your historic study of life on this planet how it was that in the initial thrust of interest toward the arrival of the Material Son and Daughter, there was a great sense of urgency and impending action, and that as work on the Garden commenced, over a period of time, when one generation died out and the next generation of believers took up the baton of hope, the urgency abated and life went on in its normal continuum.

 

Only Van and Amadon held fast all that time, and I use them as an example of human hero and celestial associate who abided by our Father's time. I say this because you are all excited and agitated and how many times we have come to you and spoken to you as to stillness and how you can carry this stillness, this connection with your inner peace, that peace which passes all understanding, into your arena, that you may be an anchor of reality for those who are excited and in panic about these "end times." It would be remiss of me, then, to encourage your emotional pique.

 

I would like to, however, give some good news and it may be akin to the dreaded crystal ball, but it is, even so, a fact that your Material Son and Daughter, Adam and Eve, are actively involved in the management of your world, and when you make these observations, Rachel, that there are some peculiarly expeditious pairings going on, it is indeed an influence of the nature of planetary administration, as is exemplified by the Material Sons and Daughters and which is idealized in the union between Michael and the Divine Minister.

 

But my greatest thrust in my words this evening have to do with the sense of appreciation and joyousness that you all perceive in terms of discovering the Father within each other and delighting in the resultant realities even to the extent that you are each individually seeing a world wherein you live and work harmoniously together. These are very real hopes and dreams, but as to each visualization, who is to say whether or not they are merely a lure or truly bait. Even so, it is leading you forward, down the river of living waters.

 

It gives us great cheer when we see you supporting one another in such a way as to open up your potential future to include one another without drawing lines between you, without eliminating anyone, but rather appreciating your sonship/daughtership and encouraging that greater reality to be that which impels you forward into a brighter tomorrow. As you radiate this living love, quietly, calmly, firmly, with your chest bared, you are affirming a living faith, and this is the reflection of divine reality that will stem the tide of panic and undue urgency that causes unfortunate havoc and chaos, and I encourage you to continue to support one another as fellow believers in that which contains truth, beauty and goodness for this period of Correcting upon your world.

 

I would like to hear from Jack, inasmuch as it is a rare opportunity and we will be losing his immediate association too soon for our liking, but this is, even so, an acknowledgement of his continued work in the field and his upcoming assignment.

 

0802-AB JACK here.            Hello everybody.

 

Group:            Hello, Jack.

 

JACK:            It's nice to be here. I don't recall, in the many years that I have worked through Adam, that we have spoken to this large a group of people. When I was first assigned to utilize Adam as a channel, if that was feasible and possible, I was admonished to be as careful as I possibly could be, because in those early days these channels of communication were not open, and there was a great deal of potential possibility that we could harm the channel. We had to, in those days, make many efforts to upstep the electrochemical mindal conditions. Not only that but we had to get permission at each step of the way to proceed and to bring in any other personalities that might be willing and/or able to make contact.

 

So I say this only to give background information as to why our recipients were few. Back in those days there were few people who were open as you, as a group, are today, to receive our communications without causing difficulties and problems to those people who were being utilized, such as Adam. Back in those early days, many of the channels were open to social and public ridicule and potential physical damage and harm, as well as outright disbelief and hence ignorance of the messages that were being brought to you.

 

Rachel:           Well, that hasn't changed much, Jack, I hate to tell you. And we know that you are a lot older than we are!

 

JACK:            I want to thank Tomas for his kind remarks regarding my ancestors. I have many times felt the anguish on Adam's part that he could not see me, and many times I felt I had the distinct advantage because I could see him. I know there were many times when he felt that I was making attempts to make physical contact with him, to touch his hands, his shoulders, and things like that, but in those early days those things were very frightening. Those times, I believe, have passed.

 

I said earlier that I had been assigned. My assignment has not stopped, so my primary responsibility is still with Adam as a channel. I regret that he doesn't use me as frequently these days as he has in the past, but again, I must say that my primary responsibility is still my assignment, which was to utilize Adam as a channel. When I go and make contact with other open channels, I do it with permission -- not from Adam, but from my supervisors. I mention this because it's important for you to understand that these issues are still under control, as well they must be.

 

We do everything we can to encourage spiritual growth, of course. That's our mission; that's our purpose, but at the same time, there is a discipline that functions within the universe, without the universe, that must be adhered to. Through this discipline you grow and without this discipline you have a tendency to fall into what we call and you recognize as anarchy. Spiritual confusion. You cannot grow through spiritual confusion; you grow through spiritual lessons, experience, trial and error, but not through confusion, so we do everything we can to eliminate this confusion, and I mention this so that perhaps you can learn to recognize this, look for it, utilize it.

 

You have nothing to fear. The destiny/goal of this planet is to be settled in light and life. You have nothing to fear as this destiny works itself out. What you can do is contribute. But you can't contribute through scattered forces. Okay. Questions.

 

Rachel:           I'd like to make a comment. I think we are all excited about contributing, and excited about banding together to help this happen. At least that's how I feel and I know that many others do.

 

JACK:            Isn't it a good feeling to recognize the brotherhood.

Rachel:           It is! It's wonderful to feel God in action.

JACK:            There can be no brotherhood without…

 

Gerdean:        The Father.

Rachel:           The Father.

JACK:            The Father.

 

Gerdean:        So you would suggest that when the brotherhood breaks down, it's because we have forgotten our Source.

 

JACK:            That is correct.

Johanna:         Personal priorities have taken over the Father's guidance.

 

JACK:            I don't mean to be facetious, nor do I mean to be demeaning. Don't answer out loud. Answer my question privately. How many of you today said, 'Today, I give this day to God. I will do Your will. Your will be done. This day is Your day." Okay, I won't hold up. Any questions?

 

Thoroah:         I'd just like to say it's nice to meet you, Jack. I've heard a lot about you.

JACK:            Thank you. It's nice to meet you.

Thoroah:         My pleasure.

 

Loreenia:        Can you give us any guidance on the locations where we are to do this work?

 

JACK:            That is not my province.

Loreenia:        Not your province. Okay. That makes sense.

 

JACK:            All right. Goodnight.

Group:            Good night, Jack. Thank you.

MERIUM:     Greetings.

Group:            Greetings, Merium.

 

MERIUM:     Greetings to you all! Such a configuration this evening! I am so pleased to be here with you. This is indeed a time to celebrate. Welcome all you guests in this terminal, this wonderful place of coming and going and refreshment. I have enjoyed your conversation this evening. It is good to hear your observations, but of course you know what I will do with them. I have been eavesdropping, and I have to tell you that I want you to allow yourselves to remember that you are living in the flesh in a way that you have not allowed yourself to think about lately.

 

It is the flesh that wants to reassure itself that it is on safe terra firma, and it is your fleshy self that wants to know who the enemy is, who the friend is. It is your flesh that is cautious. It is the inherited tendency that you have the so-called hair on your chest. You talk about baring your chest, but in the meantime you have the skin of your ancestry, your inherited tendency, you have the animal, you might say, that must be tamed. As you outgrow patterns you have inherited and begin to live your divine inheritance. It is your divine inheritance that liberates you to the point where you scarcely notice any of the distractions that have held you in bondage for so long. You will indeed become light and lively.

 

You tease and talk about Merium coming and making it all airy and ethereal. We are indeed like taking a heavy brine and allowing it to become a light saline so that you can move through the environment more gracefully. I am encouraging you to remember that you are new in Christ. You are new in the light of new understanding. You are a new configuration. You are born new constantly as long as you maintain your focus, and you can dwell in the ifs and the what ifs and the when’s or you can glorify in the moment of your smile, your tenderness, your considerations, your poise, and when you take that lightness that you truly are, it will not be wasted. It will not be torn asunder, because you are not of this world. You are in the world but not of it.

 

And this is a constant reminder that should be like music to your ears. This constant reminder should liberate you into putting your arms around yourself in this gift of human configuration and rejoicing that you have made one out of two (indistinguishable) your divinity expressed afresh. You will attend to your every need and you will meet your purpose in action without difficulty. You will simply be about the Father's business. You will be your own design that is set in motion, (indistinguishable)

 

How it warms my heart, the heart of many, to be able to speak in this way, to speak of truth and to abandon anxiety and to not worry about what comfort is, but to know what true fulfillment is, and when you are fulfilled in the light of divine truth, you will not be concerned about the human appetite or the cost of the burdens of existence. Oh, you all have a song to sing. You all have strength and gentleness in you, and as was spoken earlier, when you bare your chest, it is a gentle strength, it is a timely strength, it is so appropriate, and it is only sent forth as a gift, as an acknowledgement to the One that is.

 

Oh, Tomas, we are so fortunate this evening. Would you like to join us in this phraseology?

 

TOMAS:        Merium, I would join you on the dance floor anytime. It is wonderful to hear you espouse those truths which we have brought in order that our flock might learn the merits and skills of a unified personality such as was exemplified by the Master when he lived here, a son of man and a son of God. In the fulfillment of your own potential lives the fruits that will enable you to live today in life and light. As your microcosm of perfection, your unified personality meanders in and through your life experiences, in conjunction with other personalities following the spirit leadings of their Indwelling Adjuster, their precious Godhead, you will have brought about a new society, indeed -- those of you who rejoice to be sons and daughters of the living God.

 

It has indeed been a celebration this evening for us to behold your camaraderie and to encourage that in your which is gentle and strong, as you encourage that in your fellows which is and has value. Dear ones, continue in your faith path. We are constantly monitoring your growth and your challenges in order that we might be able to reach you in your growth throes as time goes by. Stay in touch. Farewell.

 

*****

 

DATE:                        March 9, 1999

LOCATION:              Butler PA USA

T/R’s                           Gerdean

TEACHERS:              TOMAS

Group:                        Claireesa, Thoroah, Gerdean, Hunnah

TOPIC:

Islands

 

TOMAS:         Good evening, beloved flock. I am Tomas, your teacher, your friend, your guide and your companion. How are you all this evening?

 

Group:            Good evening, Tomas. Welcome.

 

TOMAS:        It is wonderful to be here and feel your vibrant presences. We are very grateful for your application this evening in your musing of spiritual matters. When you consciously apply yourself to your own spiritual growth, and in company with one another, you have opened the door to us, far more readily than if you were thrusting a responsibility upon your teachers to bring you in from recess or to wrench your attention from your text, but as I say, your discussions this evening have made it easy to bridge the gap in addressing your soul needs and therefore, in the long run, the needs of those to whom you minister and teach and preach as you pass by.

 

For surely, borrowing upon your excerpt, you encounter many individuals in your lives who may be difficult to love at first blush. It is one of the difficulties on your world even now, as a result of its not having had an example of a loving administration and an example of divine family in action. You who have begun to know the Father's love have begun to feel the heart and soul connection with the Father and with His agents, including those among you in the flesh who has been able to receive the understanding of divine love to the extent that you collectively have been able to give this same attribute. It thus brings me to my lesson, a lesson you know well, and that is the value of relationship.

 

As Jesus taught the gospel is the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Now if you look upon each other as segregated, isolated individualists without due connection, you will find little in common with which to bridge the gap from here to eternity. But as you recognize the connection with one another through divinity, then you have a different accord with which to appreciate your association with your fellows. If you look at a human being as someone apart from you, you stand as an island. You yourself stand alone.

 

Yes, islands. Indeed I will discuss the element of relationship prior to the opening of the circuits. Not long ago there were in fact relationships based upon values which have been held in high regard from time immemorial and the relationship between Father in heaven and the child on earth was supreme and revered and honored by many. And yet as we have been able to begin to perceive the effects of the opening of the circuits, the connection between you all has become as viable as to create an entire new reality. This new reality is affecting everything, and is certain to affect your relationships and bring about an enhanced under standing of your relationship with your fellowman because of your relationship with divinity, your Creator.

 

You have been called upon to be born again and now as a result of your having been born
again, all things are born again, including your relationships and your perception of relations, and thus your societies will change, your industries will change, your methods of doing business, all facets of life will be altered because of your enhanced appreciation of relationship as a direct result of your rebirth. And an understanding of what that means in terms of the living organism of the universe.

 

No longer will you, who have an understanding of what's going on, no longer can you walk past a fellow mortal on the street and be unaware of their presence, for they are now suddenly a reflection of Father and having to do with you. They are now a part of your reality. All of your lives you have more or less maintained yourselves as functioning efficient and even affectionate islands. You have kept your feelings in check, your emotions under wraps, your thoughts relatively to yourself your faith certainly submerged, and you have minded your own business.

 

But now all of life is your business and your perspective is changed. It will take some time before you have fully grasped the reality of this new way of life, for you are creatures of habit and you have much conditioning in your behaviors and thinking that you must become aware of and glean the value of and discard so that you may folly embrace the greater reality which will be revealed to you through your trusting association with your indwelling God fragment, that loyal divine fragment which untiringly asserts itself to embrace you fully, and as you agree to work with it, your life will be even more invigorated and the people next to you will become even more valuable to you because of your sense of awareness of the potential of the perfection of the life surrounding you and within you.

 

Relationship. The T-shirt that was featured at the Celestial Nights retreat indicates the space between thee and me forevermore will be sacred. This implies a divine connection, a certain sublimity of environment which will pervade our atmosphere, in-as-much as we are both and all embraced by divine light, divine love, divine life. This leaves us no longer alone as an island, but as a part of the wave upon the shore of the new reality. Be mindful then of how your energy configuration impacts upon that being in your proximity. Being an island is no longer the most effective approach, for your self-containment provides a barrier now to the living love that is sacred and alive between you.

 

I have enjoyed my opportunity to discourse with you this evening on this matter for I realize how dear it is to your heart, you who have found such joy in your associations and you who also have such coldness, even when among many. What a phenomenon it is, indeed, as a mortal human being on Urantia. It is truly full of adventure and opportunity, challenge and difficulty -- enough to whet even my appetite! Are there questions this evening?

 

Claireesa:       Tomas, I have a question.

TOMAS:        My dear, I am honored to attend to you. May I assist in some way?

 

Claireesa:       Yes. A situation happened this week where I was in a store shopping. There was a man who came in who I couldn't understand. It sounded like jabber-jabber-jabber-jabber-jabber. But the clerk seemed to know him and know what he wanted and he wanted a tape, a recording tape, and they only sold them in packs of three, and he had all his pennies on the counter and he didn't have enough. My first impulse was to just give him the money for the tape, and then I thought -- a fear, I guess, sort of came into it as I thought, "Oh, jeez, what if he follows me out of the store and keeps talking to me. I won't know what in the world he is saying!" Therefore, I missed an opportunity, I feel, to be of some service, only because of fear of someone who was so different, and I need help with that.

 

TOMAS:        You have, in fact, revealed to us all that it was your fear of not understanding him that stood between you and the opportunity for service, and this is certainly something for you to discuss with Jesus in your prayer time with Him for this is something you can garner divine wisdom from The Father. And yet, in-as-much as you have asked me to respond to your question, I would suggest that given all the circumstances, your initial instinct was to be of service and thus you are true to your altruistic motives and it would have done you well, considering he did not ask you directly to be of service, to rather observe the interchange between the gentleman and the proprietor of the store, for therein was the initial relationship.

 

I sense you have not understood my response.

 

Claireesa:       So it's sort of like, when the interaction is between two people that doesn't really involve you, don't butt in?

 

TOMAS:        In that situation, I would say so, and it's not so much a matter of butting in, but in being of service and being attentive to the relationship of the primary players in the scene, it is possible that, had you not blocked your desire to be of service by your fear of not understanding his language, that you might have been able to be drawn in naturally to the interchange between the two, thus enlarging the community by a natural inclusion. Remember the Father indwells these beings. It may have been the better part of valor for you to withhold the giving of alms for you know not what his propensities are and the proprietor does, you see.

 

It would have given you an opportunity, perhaps, to observe more fully the far-reaching, further-reaching effects of such a desire to be of service and thus you could have made a well-informed decision as to whether or not to respond to your initial instinct which was to be of service. You did fine, daughter. You did well. But as to the matter of being afraid of not being able to understand a man's "jabber", I do recommend you take the matter to the Master himself, for His response.

 

Claireesa:       Thank you, Tomas. I think I have insight into the answer already. Thank you very much.

 

TOMAS:        You are very welcome, daughter. It is a pleasure to be with you and to afford each of us the opportunity to further our friendship and association. Are there other questions?

 

Rachel:           Not from me, Tomas. I'm pretty much drained. I did my move.

TOMAS:        Yes, we see the effects of your many decorations. It looks lovely.

 

Rachel            :           [Chuckle] Thank you. And I thank you for encouraging me to step out, for truly I experienced God in action. Truly I did.

 

TOMAS:         Let's not stop now!

 

Rachel:           No, I'm not stopping now, but I have to rest for a little while. I'm pretty much drained.

 

TOMAS:        It is well to remember balance, yes, and to attend to your mortal vessel. I will take that as a cue to remind you all of your physical beings. When I spoke to you earlier about your being connected to one another, it is also true that you share a certain modicum of literal physicality, for as your electro-chemical system manifests into your environment, it permeates environments abutting yours.

 

If, for instance, you are hyper-vigilant, your hyper-vigilance will reflect itself upon your neighbor. If you are depressed from perhaps poor diet, your depression will waft into the environment of your associates. And so not only are you manifesting personality, you are also manifesting chemistry, if you will, and it is important that you be aware of what and who you are and what you are manifesting into your environment, for it will impact upon your neighbor.

 

I am reminded of the phrase "socially fragrant." Socially fragrant does not mean expensive perfume. Socially fragrant means having a loving and healthy, clear and clean thinking mind, body and spirit. I ask you all to look closely at your machine and see to it, within your ability, that it is operating at maximum efficiency, for then you will be most effective and as you are more effective spiritually, you will be more happy emotionally. They are all connected. Once again we are reminded of relationship.

 

I will remove my self for your second phase. It has been a pleasure. I will see you soon. Good night.

 

Group:            Thank you to administering to our spiritual growth. Good night.

 

*****

 

DATE:                        March 16, 1999

LOCATION:              Butler PA USA

T/R’s:                         Gerdean and Hunnah

TEACHERS:              TOMAS and MERIUM

Group:            Rachel, Liana, Gerdean, Evangel, Thoroah, Claireesa, Hunnah, Leah

 

Topic of study:     

            Paper 193, FINAL APPEARANCES AND ASCENSION

                        2.  The Phoenician Appearance

                   3.  Last Appearance in Jerusalem Paper 2, THE NATURE OF GOD

                        4.  Divine Mercy

 

TEACHER SESSION:  

God's Mercy on You

 

TOMAS:        Good evening, class. I am Tomas. Merium and I have an agenda for you this evening, a double header if you will. We are going to approach the study and the understanding, the recognition and the application of the word, the value, and the quality of God you see in the word "mercy". Mercy is our subject this evening, and I would like to ask you each, in your extended stillness here, to give a moment to an understanding of mercy and, if you will, examine in your mind's eye a moment of awareness wherein you received mercy and were aware of knowing divine mercy, by and through Our Father or any of his agents.

 

I will ask you to think of mercy privately, and I will ask you to share individually, if you are inclined, if you are willing, an understanding of mercy so that we may all participate in this understanding of Godlikeness. Please then, think for a moment on the quality of mercy as you have known it bestowed upon you. Later we will look at how you have bestowed mercy on others. One moment.

 

I am curious now as to your interpretation. Are there any volunteers to discuss your comprehension of the value mercy?

 

Rachel, Liana, Gerdean, Evangel, Thoroah, Claireesa, Hunnah, Leah express their interpretations of the quality of mercy.

 

TOMAS:        I thank all of you for your intimate sharing and understanding of this quality, this quality of divinity that we try to attain. Indeed, as we become more godlike, we can understand mercy more readily for you begin to give an affection for your brethren that incorporates mercy in its being.

 

Think, if you will, about a newborn babe. The newborn babe sleeps and is perfect. It has no thought to be destructive or retaliatory; its cries are only in order that it may be heard for its most fundamental needs to be met. In many ways you are like the infant. You cry in order to see to it that your needs are met and, foolish babe, Our Father knows your needs even before you do.

 

It is such a quality that, in the infinite sense, it would not even be required; it is so inherent in love. In your dealings with others, are you aware of this godlike quality in your composition as a result of your association with your Adjuster? Are you aware of the quality of mercy resident within your own soul?

 

I would like for you all to think and savor an understanding of your own understanding of mercy as you have applied it in your life. I will not ask you to share your example on the record, but I would like each of you in your heart of hearts, to be clear in your awareness of a moment where you yourself manifested mercy. Proceed into stillness with this thought. One moment.

 

I would like each of you to see that mercy is an essence of divinity.  In your experience when you practice mercy, interpret it as patience, forbearance, tolerance, long-suffering, sacrifice. These are not actual mercy, but mercy allows for all of these interpretations to be manifested.  Mercy is existential, like love.

 

It is something that comes from divinity and passes through you as you are in alignment with divinity. You cannot love by an act of the will, nor can you manifest true mercy by an act of the will, but you can say, "It is my will that Your will be done. It is my will that You manifest Yourself in my life," and thus you give God the occasion to express Himself through you. If you are not in consort with divinity, you cannot manifest mercy, consciously or unconsciously but in concert none-the-less.

 

I have expressed the topic and prodded your comprehensions regarding the word, the act and the deed, but I would like to turn the podium over to Merium for her indelible mark.

 

MERIUM:     Good evening.

Group:            Good evening, Merium.

 

MERIUM:     It is apparent the sun kissed you all today and, if you did not step outside, found your heart. What a lovely day in your realm, and it spins upon this home, this time for renewal, newness.

 

It is time to continue to read the story of your progressive ascension in the spirit. Your ability to act, your ability to act more often, warms our heart to see you all gaining confidence in this area -- to just be and enjoy your day, doing what has to be done. You have all heard this before, but I understand in your realm you need to hear it often.

 

I do come to cheer you on. You are getting used to this newness within yourself. You are more comfortable with yourself. You are more comfortable with the new you. There will be many aspects of your human personality that will not be heard from because you will be busy being appropriate, being kinder, and more patient than normal, as you would have termed it. You will not have heard from the ghost of Christ past past. They will hang in your cupboard like clothes that no longer fit.

 

There is a line from a poem that a friend wrote that stood out.  It says, "An appreciation dawned in me."  You will have many of these experiences. There will be this comforting warm fuzzy appreciation, not for something external, but for the fact that you are allowed to be sensitively alert and you will be able to watch your demeanor.  Then there will be those delicious times while it will take afterthought to realize how beautifully a situation went, how easy the conversation, how effortlessly, and it is the times when you do not think about what's going on that are the very best. They are the most NATURAL.  You are going to be more natural.

 

I often feel that you think that I sing the same song all the time. You can almost anticipate my Pollyanna light-hearted touch, and it will be pleasing to you if you have been in an accepting mode, but if you were in the process of processing something, it will sound, "Oh, here we go again." Your eye will be slightly jaundiced, but it is understood on another level that this exchange is one of manna, you are being fed, and if I just said to you, "WaWaWaWaWa," it too would be a sufficiency.

 

Tomas, would you like to handle some questions?

 

TOMAS:        First I would like to thank you for calling to our minds the quality of mercy in the seasons, in the dawning of the new day and the warmth of the sun, in the development of friendships, in the awareness of association, in the sensitivity of your own insights. All of these experiences and awareness’s are reflections of mercy. Indeed, are there questions?

 

MERIUM:     I would like to comment. Wouldn't it be sad to be in Paradise and not to realize it? And in a sense, that's exactly what is going on. You are Paradise-bound. You are totally surrounded by love. You have all the support and all the ingredients for the sublime expression. Because you have human senses, you will always hear a cacophony of distraction and the secret is, of course, as Rachel pointed out, to maintain your focus, to maintain that smile that does not want to leave, that says that you are in business and you are reading the mail as well as writing it.

 

Rachel:           I have a question.  This doesn't have to do with mercy. As thoughts are flowing into your mind and you start acting upon them without really thinking about them, it's a foreign thing for me.  I'm having a little trouble with it.

 

TOMAS:        I must know more.

 

Rachel:           Like living in that river in your mind and as things come in and you're told to do things and you act upon them, you just start flowing through life and yet the humanist in you wants to say, "Stop! I want to look at this! I have to analyze it," and that seems to be where you get in trouble.

 

TOMAS:        Well, your Rodan says that where the spirit is a goal, the flesh is a fact. You cannot live in imbalance. You are in the world but not of it, and this too connotes balance. It is good to look at the circumstance but not allow the circumstance to own you. Eventually, even if you were to crawl upon the shores and allow the living waters to pass you by temporarily, momentarily, you are developing an instinct to swim. You will jump back in and you will not drown. In time you will become accustomed to the flow and you will allow yourself to touch upon the lily pads and walk upon the water.

 

Rachel:           Thank you.

 

TOMAS:        It is apparent that the needs of you sleeping babes are all met, at least for the moment. Thus, Merium and I will have mercy and depart, leaving you to your rest in the joy of sonship.

 

*****

 

DATE:                        March 23, 1999

LOCATION:              Butler, P.A. USA

T/R:                            Gerdean

TEACHERS:              TOMAS

Group:                        Rachel, Gerdean, Joniel , Thoroah, Leah and Claireesa

 

URANTIA BOOK STUDY:

            Again, from Paper 130, ON THE WAY TO ROME,

                        #4, Discourse on Reality: "The meaning of life is its adaptability; the value of life its progressability - even to the heights of God-consciousness."

 

TEACHER SESSION: 

Your Mercy on Others

 

TOMAS:        Good evening, crew. I am Tomas, your companion and friend. It is good to be here and good to hear you in such a rousing frame of mind. Joniel, my dear, it is nice to see you here again among your peers. Welcome home.

 

JoniEl:             Thank you, Tomas.  It's good to be back.

 

TOMAS:        It is wise for you to remember your associates in your spirit interests.

 

Your most invigorating discourse this evening has led me to believe that I had best jump in with a lesson, in-as-much as it is perceived there may be questions. At any rate, I will make haste to offer my commentary, and part of my commentary is based on one of the prayers in the text that infers an attitude of asking Our Eternal Parent to have mercy on us as we have mercy on others. Now that is an interesting concept. Indeed, how merciful are you with others?

 

I am asking you this because you know how dear mercy is to each of you. We indeed discussed mercy as of our last session, and you know how good it is to realize The Father's mercy in so many things, circumstances, beings, places and so forth. I promised we would later take a look at how you have mercy on others, and this seems to be an ideal place to jump in, for have you not been discussing the less fortunate, or the questionable among you in your realm?

 

It is appropriate for you to maintain an attitude of mercy, for you are not in any position to ascertain any background check on any of these individuals as to their past, present or future worth as individuals or as ascending sons, and so, have mercy.

 

Your quaint village here is not unlike millions of others wherein the intellectual and cultural, not to say economic, cream rises to the top and the lumps of coal that have not yet been pressed into diamonds are let loose to fall into the gutters and to be swept along the tide of life without good orderly direction.

 

Eternal Parent, have mercy on us, as we have mercy on others. Were it not for the good grace of Our Father, would we not, too, be lumps of coal, floating along as a leaf on the flume of life? But for that Spark of Life, that activation of Universal Mind, we would be but a speck of dust yet uncreated, and the Divine Mind has a plan, has a mighty plan, so large, so vast, so all-encompassing, so true, beautiful and good, it is totally fruitless and futile for us to attempt to gauge Father's determining factors as to the merits of the worth of one outside of ourself, much less ourself.

 

On the other hand, it is affirmed in your text that the Master, when he was here, often called for stern measures, high standards, great affirmations, conduct becoming dignified sons and daughters of the living God. His pronouncements would seem to want for everyone to be Creator Sons! How could anyone possibly live up to the exhortations the Master gave forth regularly, consistently?

 

These affirmations and exhortations were often reminders only for himself. When you find yourself extolling certain virtues, maintaining certain standards and requiring certain qualities, be harsh on yourself. Allow yourself to be your first student. Press yourself to gird up your loins of your mind, indeed, to forge ahead and be the best you can be, and have mercy on those who have yet to reach your level of attainment, awareness, growth, challenge and responsibility.

 

I wish I were able to teach like the Master. I wish I had his fluid, creative mind that would enable me to strew parables as he did, for surely these lessons that are so unlearned are so worthy of learning, and so simple they are, a simple parable would be so convenient for me, but like you, I get caught up in the mind, in the intellect, in the superconscious, in the reasoning, for I am not yet spirit either, and we speculate, we ruminate.

 

I cannot condemn you, you see. All I can do is attempt to keep my focus on what I am to do, and to me, not to argue with your lesson on adaptability, but my focus, my purpose, is to become a conduit of divine love as much as possible, and allow that divine love to work through me in such a way as to fully allow me to be completely and naturally who The Father intends for me to be.

 

Now I cannot try to be human. I cannot expect you to try to be me. It would be foolish and futile of me to want you to think and be and respond and react as I do, for you are different. Your purpose is the same, but your personality is different. Father's plan for you is custom made for you. When I see you doing something peculiar, to me, it behooves me to have mercy on the fact of my lack of understanding.

 

Eternal Parent, have mercy on us, as we have mercy on those around us, on our children, on our neighbor, on those we cannot understand, on those we cannot know of.

 

Well, I have had my say. Have you any commentary or questions or feed-back or what?

 

Rachel:           I will comment that that was a very beautiful and eloquent lesson. One I will take to heart, because we do so -- I in particular, I'm sure, many of us -- just love that mercy that is so inherent in Father's love and perhaps we forget, or I do, to bestow it, that same mercy, on other people I come in contact with, so I think I'll make a conscious effort to keep mercy in my mind. I thank you, Tomas, that was really lovely.

 

TOMAS:        Well, I'm glad you enjoyed my words. I am glad you seem to have taken them to heart. I have a full appreciation -- no, it is not a full appreciation; I cannot appreciate it completely because I am not from Urantia. I am not innate of Urantia, but I observe your dealings with your fellows here. I assure you, you have no idea of the depth and breadth of mercy that is needed here. Perhaps you do.

 

The fall-out, the disease, the disharmony of it all can do nothing from the Divine Mind but induce a sense of overwhelming mercy, and you look around and you see this fall-out, this residual, this pile of coal, and a survival technique for your mental peace, perhaps, your yearning for surcease and understanding, resorts to all manner of denial -- disbelief, cynicism, sarcasm, grandiosity, do-gooder-ism, all kinds of things. Mercy is what is necessary.

 

You cannot give too much mercy, like you cannot love an infant too much. In time, perhaps, an infant who is not loved correctly will become spoiled, but love bestowed freely and completely, healthily, wholly and naturally, cannot possibly spoil a child. Wholesome, healthy love is always appropriate. Just like wholesome, healthy mercy is always good.

 

Your planet needs a great deal of mercy. Your planet is filled with people who are like crippled children, and, in potential, they are able to run and jump as high as you, but before you begin to feel superior, or question their survivability in the spiritual sense, or even in the social sense, look at yourselves and see your own deformity. I don't suggest you do this to beat yourself up, but to put it in perspective that you, also, are deserving of mercy. Whether you come from a planet like Urantia or not, all children are deserving of mercy.

 

Mercy is like the rain. It cleanses. It's vital. It's necessary. It's wholesome. It's healing. You thrive on it. Have mercy on the ignorant, on the degenerate, on the poor, on the maimed, on the perverse, on the sentimental, on the simple-minded.  Have mercy.

 

Now there are others who have a different agenda, who have another purpose, who have a sculptured agenda/destiny that involves a cause, a matter, an issue, and for them mercy may not be appro­priate. For them, mercy may be in the way. For them, they get their orders from On High in a different way. I trust that Our Eternal Parents are in charge. I know there are other orders of beings. I don't have to understand all orders of beings. I only have to understand my relationship with my Parent in order for me to know that I'm doing what I need to do, and that's all any of us ought to be worried about.

 

Who do we answer to? How are we the best we can be? What is our relationship with our Indwelling Spirit? What is God telling us? God does not tell you to not be merciful. It may be irrelevant under circumstances, but in my circumstance as a teacher, and as a stimulator of your spiritual growth and the nurturance of your soul, it is my business to understand and plant seeds harvesting mercy.

 

Thoroah:         Tomas, I think of mercy, as the way you were describing it, it reminded me of going to school and the teaching in itself is mercy in action.

 

TOMAS:        Well, thank you, son.

 

Thoroah:         Because of the philosophy of teachers. The reason we need mercy is because we're still ignorant enough not to do it best and, understanding that, the teacher has enough mercy to just keep leading us on and on.

 

TOMAS:        And I have sufficient mercy to yearn to enable you to reach your greater potential. Even when ignorance is a relative thing, when you learn to find joy in spiritual insight, and when you learn to become an effective fisher of men, these things become so thrilling that the mercy I would have for you, changes from one of ignorance to one of appreciation, and you can begin to appre­ciate also and have mercy on your teacher, for you know what is involved as you mature and as you learn. In time, we become co-teachers and we are blessed with an even greater degree of and appreciation for the many facets of mercy.

 

Thoroah:         You mentioned that you know there are other orders of beings -- and I'm not going to ask you to be definite here, but I do have a question. It's part of the revelation. It's my understanding that Caligastia has been disposed of, or the issue has been adjudicated, but there's still this residue and if -- well, a possibility that some of his cohorts may still be active.

Do you have any knowledge on that?

 

TOMAS:        I have a great deal of knowledge on that, in-as-much as it has been a primary concern in the Universe of Nebadon. I am apprised of the adjudication and of the dissolution of the personalities of those involved in the rebellion who would not recant their principle upon which your world and several others were isolated and retarded. In truth there were many who did accept mercy and are being rehabilitated, but the power structure that devastated this corner of Satania has fallen and is no more. The power structure itself is gone, and so -- you hear me now -- there is no power to contend with. The only thing we are contending with is cause and effect and a lot of bad habits.

 

Thoroah:         Residual of the rebellion.

 

TOMAS:        Yes, and I assure you they are far-reaching, very deep-seated, but you are not alone. You are not alone in the reclamation. You have heard this many times. You are beginning to see the effects of the re-encircuitment. You are definitely aware of the -- oh, shall we call it 'signs of the times' -- wherein the values of your world are changing. Some people think it's because of the millennia; some people think it’s because of The Urantia Book's arrival; all of these are factors. It is where you are today. You are conscious of where you are today and it is a very exciting time to live today on Urantia in your corner of the universe, but there are no power structures. They have ceased to be.

 

Thoroah:         So in effect, they only live on in the minds of mortals.

 

TOMAS:        Actually, to be truthful, they don't even, because in the technical sense, your planet is vaguely aware of a Devil, a Satan, but they had no knowledge of Caligastia and Dalagastia or that early civilization. They have only perverted records discussing the war in heaven and the prince's staff, and so a vague idea exists but it is so shadowy as to be a mere haunted sense of having woke up from a bad dream, a bad dream that they have had for so many nights in a row they have come to believe it to be true.

 

But it is not ingrained in them as a reality, for it lacks reality, you see. It lacks Father. Father is light. Father is love and truth, beauty and goodness. And so as the day emerges, as the Son rises, we will see the shadowy, black world of the dream, the bad dream, fade into memory. That is all we're doing now, is letting the sun shine on the dark shadows of a bad dream.

 

Thoroah:         Thank you.

 

TOMAS:        Perhaps I have blundered upon my parable in spite of myself. If you could but look around and see these personalities as little ones who have had a bad dream, who have woken up and there is no one there to comfort them. They are afraid. Their hair is sticking out. Their pajamas are crooked. And they have been sobbing, and so they eyes are red; perhaps their face is contorted. These odd looking creatures are your mission. Have mercy.  Are there any other questions?

 

Claireesa:       Yes, dear Tomas, I'm wondering if being non-judgmental is what's entailed in being merciful. Is it just non-judgment and love equals mercy?

 

TOMAS:        Mercy is a manifestation of love. It's a divine manifestation of love. We can talk about love. In your human sense, you know parental love (mother love, father love); you know spousal love (loyalty, devotion); you know romantic love (Valentine's Day); you know love of job, church, neighborhood, car, pizza, football -- these are elements of the human understanding of love. Yea. Rah. Whoopie.

 

And mercy is a divine manifestation of love. Mercy really is not easy. You have to have a great deal of connection to The Father to manifest appropriate mercy. If you want to try to be merciful and you're not feeling loving, it's really quite laborious. You can't really have mercy without love. And so perhaps you could say that mercy was God's kiss, that shows his love.

 

Even, to take this analogy farther, even if the Father were to take his child on his lap and discuss with him a behavior modification situation, which some fathers might regard as judgment, might even entail a degree of reprimand or chastisement, not to say punish­ment, there is certainly a degree of judgment required. One must judge the merits of the misdeed or the counsel in the face of all things considered, and this can still be done in love and in mercy. Father can still plant a kiss on the brow of his son whom he has brought to tears in understanding of his error, and the son will be glad of the Father's kiss, even as he sits in tears feeling very small for having erred and displeased the father whom he loves so much.

 

Judgment is a devastating weapon in the hands of immature beings. It takes eternities to develop good skills in judgment. It is why we encourage you to assess and not judge, for as I am inclined to say, judgment connotes condemnation or correction inherent. Assessment connotes perusal for appropriate action. I believe, children, it is getting late in your time. Are there any needs to be addressed before we go?

 

Rachel:           None here, I guess.

 

TOMAS:        Then I will indicate a need on my part, and that is a need to embrace Claireesa, daughter, whom I have so much enjoyed in my realm of influence. How wonderful you are, daughter, and how beauteous is your countenance among your friends here. We welcome you with open arms any time your agenda should call you into this realm, and we give you our whole support as you return to your base of operations and your field of influence.  Be sweet, and give Abraham my best.

 

Claireesa:       That I will do. Thank you so much, Tomas. It's been so warm and loving getting to know you a little bit better. Transcripts sometimes leave you a little cold as to the feeling of a teacher's personality and I treasure this opportunity to have been here for this time.

 

TOMAS:        I treasure your opportunity to let them know I am not as gaunt and ponderous as my reputation.

 

Claireesa:       Oh, you're adorable.

Rachel:           We love you.

Clairessa:       You are so adorable.

 

TOMAS:        We love you, as well. And now, again, we will have mercy and turn you loose.

 

Clairessa:       Bless you.

TOMAS:        Faithful flock, farewell.

Group:            Farewell, Tomas.

 

*****

 

DATE:                        March 30

LOCATION:              Butler, P.A. USA

T/R:                            Gerdean

TEACHERS:              TOMAS

Group:                        Gerdean, Joniel, Thoroah and Rachel

 

MEDITATION:         Will's lesson of March 30

TOPIC:

Action Achieves Strength

 

TOMAS:        Good evening, berries. This is Tomas and I tell you it is thick here this evening. The density is peculiar to your dinner hour. I am sure we will be able to forebear and transcend in due course if we but commence, for it is in our best interest that we commit and then follow through.

 

For many, many centuries, as your world was awaiting its next evolutionary epochal step, the status quo was on a par with a state of dormancy. Evolution transpired, yes, but only rarely did it surge forward meaningfully. Your world now is seriously surging forward, as each of you allow it.

 

There is a mota that speaks of "Action achieves strength; moderation eventuates in charm." There is talk also that "religionists act". If you were to continue to put off until tomorrow what you could do today, you would remain dormant and you would perhaps eventuate in charm, but these times evoke action, impel excitement.

 

You have been admonished for many months to be mindful of the stillness, to find your foundation, to remain true to your trust, to be yourself, to be true to your understanding of your place in the universe. All of these are strengthening and stabilizing, and in an integral and vital way they are active also. How could you acknowledge that the kingdom of heaven is within you if you did not act upon that thought and allow the realization to occur, thereby revealing to yourself the incredible truth of your association with the living cosmos?

 

We call you to step out into your arenas and serve, to take risks, to be fearless, not to worry about whether you make a mistake in your service, but your many, many centuries of. dormancy and plodding evolutionarily forward disallows the courage necessary to stand out front, to act according to your impression of what you would do if you could, if you would.

 

Are you waiting for someone else to do it? Are you waiting for them to do it for you? Are you waiting for them to do it with you? Are you reluctant to do it because if you do you will stand alone? You will be alienated? You will be misunderstood? You will be feared? You will be crucified and persecuted?

 

Sister Will reminds us in the meditation you read this evening that fear is a master intellectual fraud practiced upon the evolving mortal soul, and so you have come to be so accustomed to this unreasoned fear that you restrain yourself from stepping out in faith to act, to be strong.  Here I am speaking to you of being active, being courageous, taking risks, while you sit complacent and dormant ...

 

Rachel:           You are dessert.

 

TOMAS          . . . with your bellies full and your creature comforts intact. To the contrary, my dear, I am not dessert. I am the appetizer, I have come to whet your appetite for truth and for thought and for action. I have come to parallel your life to the Life that hails from Paradise so that in this connection you too can conceive and act upon it, allowing a greater reality to come into being.  The act is yours.  What will you do?  Joniel?

 

Joniel:             I don't know.

 

TOMAS:        Have you aspirations and inspirations in your quiet time? Have you dreams and hopes for humanity and for those you love? Do you have ambition for your own growth and development?

 

Joniel:             I just wish it was faster.

 

TOMAS:        I urge you to act, and what is the first thing in action? Making a decision. Once you have made a whole-hearted, consecrated decision, you will be assisted. If it is Father's will, it will be. If it is not His will, if it does not come to pass, what have you lost by the effort? Face? Who cares! You get up and try again. I did not mean to pick on you, my dear. I wanted to incorporate you in the process.

 

Perhaps some brainstorming. Community action is often a way to get a toe-hold on service work because you have the strength of your companions. Of course when you have companions you have to reckon with their personalities and sometimes this makes the job slower and you might find it easier if you had done it by yourself. That is an experiential lesson also.

 

That is the kind of experiential lesson that may help you to learn your own effectiveness, or again, it might just bring you back to the realization that the group can do more than the individual if they all work together. This is the meaning of community. Have you talked about joint efforts, in-as-much as you are a group here?

 

Rachel:           Not really.  Joint efforts.  In what way?

TOMAS:        Oh, a service project, shall we say.

Rachel:           That hadn't even entered my mind, but it's a great idea.

 

TOMAS:        I happen to know that Thoroah and Gerdean have discussed joint efforts and even group efforts and we are scheduled to have some further discussions along those lines.

 

Thoroah:         We will get to that.

Rachel:           Keep me informed!  It could be fun.

 

TOMAS:        We will discuss it again and further, and your support and cooperation are noted and appreciated.

 

Thoroah:         Can I ask a little question here on action?

TOMAS:        Yes, Thoroah.

 

Thoroah:         I know the kind of action that I need to take, but it's not just a one level kind of thing. There are so many ways to act. I guess my biggest concern would be not seeing the places where I should act and being more interested in the things that I am conscious of acting on and maybe I'm missing something.

 

TOMAS:        There are things that you are quite gifted at, things that you can see very clearly. There are, at the same time, areas where you are not clear or where you have blinders up, but as you trust the process, trust The Father and your place in your own action, as an extension of His action, as you also develop trust for your companions, you will be delighted to find, as you have already, that many times that area that, for you, appears cloudy, is for them quite clear, and so between you, you have 20/20 vision.

 

Now multiply that by as many as are engaged in the project, and if the group is balanced, focused, and united in purpose, the workers indeed become a dynamic organism of service. You can see where it requires trust because if you could do the whole thing by yourself you wouldn't need them. But as you need them, as they need you, in this unity of purpose, your strengths are multiplied exponentially. Trust is a vital factor.

 

Thoroah:         Okay. I know I have difficulty trusting, for some reason.

 

TOMAS:        You have trouble trusting for the same reason as everyone on Urantia has trouble trusting. You have lived a legacy of betrayal. You are surrounded by self-serving, fear-based humanity reinforcing the same old value system. Here again I remind you of the value of your own peer group, your own spirit family, wherein you learn these valuable lessons that will allow you to forge ahead in faith and accomplish great works.

 

Distrust is a residue reaction that can be corrected. It is interesting to hear mortals say, "Oh, I'm not good at that." It is a simple way of closing the door on all opportunity.

 

Rachel:           That's true, but somebody TOLD us along the way that we weren't good at it.

TOMAS :       I will tell you now that that was a lie.

Rachel:           Yes.  I know that.  Now.

 

TOMAS:        And you believed these lies. Perhaps everyone wants to believe it because it would be easier if you denied yourself the opportunity to succeed or fail. Challenge yourself to discover the things that you can do, the things that you are good at, the things that you need help with, based upon your own understanding of yourself, rather than what somebody else has told you.

 

Rachel:           Well, I am doing that now and I'm having fun.

 

TOMAS:        Yes. All of the growing ones are, but don't fall prey to the generalities that pollute your environment intellectually. Fear is a master intellectual fraud practiced upon the evolving mortal soul. It's a fraud.

 

Thoroah:         The way to break up the fraud and expose it, I'm assuming, is that by taking action, it's the only way that we can unlearn what we've learned and prove it wrong.

 

TOMAS:        Precisely. To PROVE it wrong, for you can know in your heart, in your spirit, in your soul the truth, but when you ACT upon it, you have solidified the truth, you have contributed to God, you have given to the Supreme, you have given this light of truth into the cosmos, you have made it real, you have proved it, yes. This is why you are urged to act.

 

To sit, perpetually, in stillness, to remain unmoved, allows you to have inner strength, inner calm, allows you to be the eye in the hurricane, but it is through your actions that you advance your realm. You prompt thought. You effect change. You co-create.

 

If it is not time to advance, you will be shown how to advance moderately, but there are no backward steps built into your destiny path, and you are never called upon to be neutral, for therein is a danger of crystallizing. Inching forward is okay, but why inch forward when you can take giant steps, in confidence that the angels themselves are in support of your desire to be of service to Michael's dominion?

 

Thoroah:         Something you just said about truth struck me that ... I know in my mind I think about the truth, you know, it's always in quotations and it's something special and large and maybe even grandiose. The Truth. It's even more simple than that. When you said, if you do the right thing, you've corrected a wrong and you've added to God's perfection. That could be the simplest of right things, not necessarily something grandiose.

 

TOMAS:        This is true.

Thoroah:         And being ourselves is the ultimate truth for us.

 

TOMAS:        To thine own self be true, indeed. This is a big job! A supreme order. To be yourself. To find out who you are and have the courage to be it. To take orders from On High. To respond to the prompts of your superiors. To willingly, humbly, learn from those who know whereof they speak.

 

Thoroah:         Which could be anybody.

 

TOMAS:        Providing you have a clear understanding of the Spirit of Truth. And, of course, the ultimate authority of your indwelling Adjuster.

 

Thoroah:         Orders On High that come from within.

 

TOMAS:        That are affirmed and confirmed, that reverberate with the light of truth. Now, it is understood, the relative degree of all this, but don't let relativity stop you from advancing. It is in discovering how far to the left or how far to the right you have gone that brings you back to the straight and narrow, so to speak, and eventually you will find your path is smooth sailing. You will know your course. You will follow the Wayshower, in confidence of His leading and your desire to follow wherever He will take you.

 

These confidence levels come from being out there (tape turned)...

 

Thoroah:         That's an awesome campaign slogan.

Rachel:           "Fear for faith".  So true.

 

TOMAS:        Well, we have an interesting campaign afoot. We have the banner waving. We are out there now soliciting voters. In fact, there is only one on the docket.

 

Rachel:           Uh-huh.

Thoroah:         And they said yea or nay and our job is for them to make it a yea.

 

TOMAS:        Yea. It has been challenging for me this evening to instill in you enthusiasm, given the lethargy of your systems, but I am very pleased that we have gone as far as we have and that in your placid states you have been so receptive and responsive to these seeds of encouragement.

 

Rachel: It was a good lesson and it was well absorbed. It was a very good lesson.

TOMAS:        You are such an eager student, Rachel.

 

Rachel:           Right along the lines of my thinking lately, you know? Having the fear to realize my dreams ... but I'm going to have the faith to do it! So ... I'm in.

 

Thoroah:         I've had the privilege, Tomas, of experiencing getting a taste of the positive results of faith and trust in my relationship with Gerdean, and I can feel that transferring more into my faith with The Father. I've always had undeniable belief and faith and trust in God, but it's reaching a different type of personal level.

 

TOMAS:        Indeed it has, my son, and this is the wonders of the kingdom in action. Your prayer, the Master's prayer, that says, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" is a good indication that the kingdom on earth is inclusive of fellow believers wherein you can see The Father personified in your mortal associates. This is also the beginning of Light and Life.

 

This is one of my favorite themes, how each of you in your own realm of perfection can reflect the Father's light to each other, thereby encouraging and helping one another as you expand your individual spheres of influence to harmoniously abut the spheres of those surrounding you, ever enlarging the light of truth and Light and Life itself. It is in these relationships that you are made aware of the divine favor of the Father that reflects His love to His children.

 

Thoroah:         You made a lot of sense . . . Excuse me, Tomas.

Rachel:           [Laughter]

 

Thoroah:         What you said has allowed me to make a lot more sense about the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man because of what you just said about the reflectivity, that ... I mean it's like the brotherhood is the organism. I mean there's God and there's creation, and for some reason the way you said that, it just all made it seem so real about how it's all one unit and one can't operate effectively without the other one, and it just all makes sense all of a sudden.

 

TOMAS:        Congratulations. I am also going to congratulate myself. We made a point. We saw the light of truth. This is what the Teacher Base is for. We can do it, you see. We will not fail. As we reflect to each other the truth of our Being, we reflect The Father and His goodness, even His greatness, and His mercy. All of these things are infinitely possible because we are each embraced by and indwelt with His love and His presence.

 

As we allow this divine love to dominate our lives, we radiate greater glory to Him, thus inducing and encouraging others to yearn to know this same clarity of mind and soul, ever expanding and ennobling His creation in the spirit and in the flesh. Well, perhaps we have had dessert after all.

 

Rachel:           Yes, thank you.

TOMAS:        Are there questions?

Rachel:           No, not from this end of the couch.

 

Thoroah:         I have a question, and this is probably going to have a subjective kind of result to it, but I am naturally curious about the possibility of events that have happened in the recent past and are happening now and are going to happen in the future, although we don't know when and I don't care to know exactly when, but I do have a lot of interest and natural curiosity about how all the things that are going on tie in together and what the future might be and how to make sense of historical events and that kind of thing. A lot of people think that that's a total distraction and I'm wondering if it's possible to get some kind of an idea from you if it's a natural thing and if it's a good thing and it doesn't detract with my personal relationship with my TA and The Father.

 

TOMAS:        Are you speaking of global, political situations?

 

Thoroah:         That and taking it to the celestial/global/political level eventually. There's a lot of things that are going on and I think all of us are trying to make sense of this millennium nonsense in one way, shape, form or another, and then you tie in the Correcting Time with that and all the other machinations that are coming down the line, trying to figure out what they all might possibly mean. At the same time, there are indications that I see from all around the planet that the Father is at work in hundreds and hundreds of different ways, and I would love to be able to help make sense out of that, just for myself and for others' sake, too, and I'm wondering if that's a waste of time. I mean, there's the whole idea of, well, you should just pay attention to your inner self and take care of your own relationship, but yet somehow that seems like hiding the candle under the bushel a little bit, too.

 

TOMAS:        I would like to respond.

Thoroah:         Please.

 

TOMAS:        I would like to refer earlier to my admonition to you to disbelieve those who say, "you can't" and so it would be silly of me to say, "you can't" but part of me wants to say, "you can't understand everything that's going on." Even so, you can certainly look for sense and seek to find some way of congealing all of these many diverse factors that comprise life on your world as you perceive it in your mind's eye today.

 

I encourage you to trust Universal Mind to help you formulate those reality levels that are pertinent to your piece of mind in-so-far as these understandings are concerned. In the long run, from the farther view, everything is related. The emotional and psychic pitch that has been mounting having to do with your calendar is having a tremendously distorted effect on most people, because most people are only aware of their time-space limitations. Those of you who are aware of the greater universe, who live in the neighborhood of your cosmos as much and more than your global neighborhood, have the perspective to see that this is a temporary hysteria, but even in the face of its fever pitch, there will be spirit activation because of it. Spirit can be brought into being because of the catalyst of the day and time in which we are here in 1999 on Urantia. All of it relates, but it's a relative thing.

 

I know my answer may seem terribly obscure, but I'm trying to help you put in perspective, if you could but see how you have stirred yourselves up, like a top that has been pumped and pumped and pumped and then let go, it is spinning, swirling, madly all over the floor, bouncing into furniture, spinning, spinning.

 

Rachel:           No direction.

 

TOMAS:        Eventually it will wind down. In the meantime, a calendar birth date will have come and gone. Political situations will have risen and fallen. Souls will have been reborn. All of that. After the millennia celebration has come and gone, it will once again settle down, and like the top, will hum for a while and purr for a while and then lie down on its side and need another trumping in order to perform in its normal function.

 

Much of what you see is the result of calendar hysteria, but it is a symptom of the spiritual situation and a symptom also of Correcting Time.

 

Thoroah:         Are those coincidental?

TOMAS:        Certainly not.

 

Thoroah:         Okay.  I would like to be able to look at all of this from the view of the cosmos, as you said, and that's the only place that I feel comfortable coming from on the issue because, as you said, things are crazy here on this planet. It's very difficult to tell what's really going on at any particular time. You can hardly believe anything that you see, read or hear any more.

 

TOMAS:        We discussed this earlier, that your guidance needs to come from your understanding of the Spirit of Truth and your relationship with your Indwelling Adjuster. Now I want to add to this that it is also appropriate for certain ones among you who feel motivated, who feel the call, to go ahead and become involved in any number of these things, these enterprises or intrigues or scenarios or situations, industries and conflicts, that you feel led to do, as an individual, based upon your understanding of what The Father has in mind for you.

 

Thoroah:         Thank you.

 

TOMAS:        As a general teacher of spirit concept, however, it behooves me to stress the over-all picture, the generic, if you will, so that you can see or begin to see, and as you take these matters in confidence and prayer to the Master, he will disclose to you that which you would do well to understand, and relieve you of that which is not for you to worry about.

 

Thoroah:         I could use less stress.

Rachel:           Couldn't we all!  I think we create our own, though.

 

TOMAS:        When you trust that there are those who will do willingly what you find stressful, you will let it go, in order that they may more readily serve -- and vice versa. Your tendencies, as humans, to be a self-sufficient island, as we discussed recently, has interfered greatly in your ability to become one with your fellows.

 

We will continue our studies and our development of the soul as a result of life's experiences in conjunction with our relationship with our Divine Parents. In the interim, I will embrace you for this evening, commend you for your efforts, appease you for your presumed failings, and look forward to your week with interest.

 

Amen and farewell.

 

Rachel, Thoroah & Joniel:    Thank you, Tomas .   Good night.

 

*****

 

SPECIAL SESSION

Butler, PA April 4, 1999

EASTER SUNDAY - The candle is on.

 

TEACHERS:  TOMAS, ABRAHAM, GORMAN

TOMAS introduces GORMAN

ABRAHAM commends the midwayer corps

GORMAN talks about WORK and TEAMWORK

 

TOMAS:        Greetings children and co-workers, I am Tomas. Good evening.

Thoroah & Rachel:    Good evening.

 

TOMAS:        I know you were not expecting me because your personal teacher light is on, but if you will notice, my candle is inoperable, and so I have borrowed upon my neighbor's energy in order to accomplish my purpose. Indeed that is our theme today, and yet I will not be the one to deliver the message. Your friend and mine, Gorman, is here and has been long awaiting an opportunity at bat, and it seems the time is auspicious for you to begin your developing camaraderie with Gorman who will help you in your group effort and/or group efforts.

 

Incidentally, Abraham has asked to come and say hello before Gorman takes the podium, and before Abraham addresses his Teacher Base group. Thus we have a rather full agenda for such an impromptu gathering, but you see we lay in wait, and when we see your lights clearly shining, we pounce. One moment, please.

 

ABRAHAM:  Greetings, I am Abraham.

Group:            Greetings.

 

ABRAHAM:  I have rarely voiced my presence with you but I have of a surety been aware of your efforts, your most stimulating community and the good work having come from this area. It is our pleasure to observe how the various units begin to develop, the units that comprise the troops. Your unit here is small but potentially powerful and already effective.

 

You cannot see from your vantage point fairly, for you are all the while clouded by your personal prejudices and your short-sighted vision, but inasmuch as you have sworn to do the will of the Father and you have found each other to be comrades in the spirit, you have generated enough love energy to pull into existence a full regalia of reality. When you have gone from here, when you are in a place to do so, you will be able to behold your works on record.

 

I say this because I know mortals, having been one. I know you like to see your badge of merit. You like to see the medals and ribbons testifying to your valor, but in this army, we wear invisible medallions testifying to bravery and courage. You may polish yours, for assuredly you wear them and you may wear them proudly for you wear them for the finest of Commanders in Chief.

 

I am interested now to observe your next level of development and I am assured our able corps of midwayers will be effective in working with you in some of these details of effort that will tighten up the ranks. Shalom.

 

Group:            Thank you, Abraham, very much.

 

GORMAN:    Gorman here. What an honor it is, is it not, to work under such able leaders?

 

Rachel:           Extremely.

 

GORMAN:    We are going to talk about work. We're going to talk about teamwork. We are going to talk about effectiveness in the work. You are eager to play.

 

RACHEL:      Yes. Very.

GORMAN:    And you know how to play. But we will learn to work as if it were play.

Rachel:           That's a good idea.

 

GORMAN:    In your work, you have individually developed disciplines. You have learned how to shine on what is praiseworthy and acceptable. You have learned how to hide and camouflage that which is second-rate or uninteresting. This is because you have found your praise and reward from those, for the most part, who are happy to get what they can and who have little interest in your moral worth, but we have come now to bring forth the best in you, that which is of The Father, that which is of The Mother, those qualities of righteousness that give you such strength and capability that you yourself will not be content with second best or shoddy.

 

Thus we are going to portray/present/establish criteria for you to follow that will enable you to rise up to your potential as a worker. In this sometimes invigorating and sometimes grueling process, you will find your greatest stumbling block in the man, the woman next to you, for now we enter into teamwork, and as you bring your best, you expect also the best from others, and their understanding of their best may not be what you anticipate their best should be.

 

And thus we once again return to, as if we had ever left, the realm of religion and spirit association. Always will your faith foundations be called upon to contribute to your very being and to all that you have been able to portray and create on that which you believe in.

 

If we look at you all as independent little soldiers, expecting you to march in line, then we must realize that in order to get you to be in alignment with each other as well as with the Father, it is necessary that you begin to respect and appreciate the soldier at your side.

 

As you work with your comrade, you begin to see his strengths and recognize, in love, his weaknesses, as he does you. In this man's army, we do not hide our weaknesses. We acknowledge weaknesses so that they can be made strong. There is no failing in recognizing imperfection when you know that you are all imperfect, or relatively perfect.

 

Working together takes practice. The practice eventuates in an ability to work more efficiently, even expertly, and this feels good. This is a finely-tuned machine, with all of its parts in good running order, the small part and the big part together, important to one another.

 

There is another aspect here, and that is that the parts of this machine are human and they have feelings, emotions, and we will not attempt to persuade you that emotions are weaknesses as some armies will do, but by being sensitive to the emotional condition of your peers, your co-workers, you will be able to determine the dependability factor of the machine on any given day.

 

Sometimes the machine will just not start up, and on those days you may need to revert to independence. In time, in eternity, this independence which you so covet today will not be so desirous. As you begin to learn to know the comfort of association and the inherent strength in effective associations, you will begin to regard your individuality as critical but your independence as a drawback, and these are healthy developments.

 

We might as well begin here and now.

 

Well. We have had some preparatory remarks. I feel and sense the molecules among you lining up, poised and ready for an assignment and I will await your word on this because you are the rulers here.

 

Rachel:           Well then I will say, please, Gorman, give us an assignment! I'll speak for me. I'd like to learn to work more effectively. Partnership. Groups.

 

GORMAN:    Let's find something interesting to do, then.

Rachel:           Okay.

 

GORMAN:    And I cannot tell you what that will be because you need to tell me what you are good at. This should be interesting.

 

Rachel:           What I am good at!?

 

GORMAN:    What are your skills and abilities as you see it, as you bring forth your best yet in service to Father and his children?

 

Rachel:           I don't know. Healing? Talking. I like to talk to people. Decorating. (Laughter) I like working in the antique shop, but that's not -- I don't want to say that. I'm not sure what you're asking me. I'm good at advertising, I guess, maybe, selling myself. Services. I don't know. What am I supposed to be looking for?

 

GORMAN:    What can you do? What can you offer your comrades? I am notating your resume. Thoroah, what have we to expect from you as you see it?

 

Thoroah:         My experience in broadcasting, marketing, writing, speaking and the experience I've had working as part of a team, but as you have so noted, that the independence that I know I have seemed to covet at times, by now I have experienced times where I have that independence and I am not enjoying it as much, as you said, so it's beginning to happen already.

 

GORMAN:    I'm going to allow Gerdean to come off-line in order for her to contribute her alleged assets also. One moment.

 

Gerdean:        My "alleged" assets.

Rachel:           (Laughter) I find I'm just not good at listing my assets.

 

Gerdean:        Well, as I told Thoroah earlier, I am a word person. I like words. I deal with words. I like to think that words are my forte. I used to be organizationally skilled, but I've lost that skill. I guess, based on what Gorman said, I've got to begin to think in terms of my character assets as well as my skills, so I think I could say that I have to add that I have some degree of . . . tact and tolerance. Sensitivity. By the same token, I have no strength. I don't have much curiosity. But he didn't ask for my negative qualities.

 

Group:            (Laugher)

Thoroah:         What you don't have in curiosity, I have.

 

Gerdean:        That's good. Umm. I have a sense of balance and I have a sense of order. So I'll say those are my qualities at this point.

 

GORMAN:    Very well. Thank you, all three of you, for your expressions of your understanding of what you have to bring to our machine. It will be an audible, orderly, decorative piece. I guess you could say already it has truth, beauty and goodness and so we are off on the right foot.

 

The next question, as your friends in the Napoleon Hill ilk might query, is "Where is the need?" What do people need that you can provide? Rachel, what do you think people need?

 

Rachel:           What do I think people need? I think they need healing, the good word, to know they are loved. What else? Good cheer. Hope. Positive things. Everything good.

 

GORMAN:    Thoroah?

 

Thoroah:         They need to feel important. They need recognition. Not just on the mortal, human level, but to somehow know, have the knowing, that they are also recognized by the Father. Sometimes I think that the right kind of recognition kind of brings in both of those things at the same time. I think most people want to be recognized and feel valid.

 

GORMAN:    Good.  Gerdean?

 

Gerdean:        I think people want to feel comfortable and they want to eat. They want somebody else to do it for them. But again, those are negative things. I don't know. I don't know what they want. Unless, I think, they want to be acknowledged, they want to be validated, they want to be loved, like the others have said. I think they want to feel relieved of guilt and onerous burdens. I do think people are genuinely responsible and that they don't want to dump this stuff just to be carefree and irresponsible. I think people want something to do.

 

GORMAN:    I think so, too. Just like you here are meeting and approaching the process wherein you can learn how to be effective in doing something, for it will give you all of the above. It will give you feed-back, acknowledgement, a break from independence, an opportunity to feel important in an appropriate sense, and an opportunity to serve.

 

Well, I am going to pull out of your filing cabinet a ream of material which has come from your teachers -- Tomas , Merium and many, many others. These are raw materials, essentially, that are full of words, worthy of being made pretty, presentable, and broadcast or taught in any manner of ways. As a matter of fact, as these lessons have become part of your reality, you yourselves are broadcasting systems of these same truths. You do these things in your daily lives, you assure people that the Father loves them, and yet the impetus remains to begin learning the art of teamwork, and in particular, the art of teamwork as it is practiced in the kingdom of God as compared to the kingdom of men as your world has known it.

 

For instance, Rachel, you discussed your work in the antique shop, which brings you into contact with people and this is a good avenue for you to be of good cheer and plant seeds as well as to promote beauty and so forth. And Gerdean has that opportunity in the bookstore, as well as does Thoroah at the country club, but these are individual efforts. Your group effort needs to be born of a group commitment. You are individually committed to serving the Father but you have not made a group commitment to bring about a certain product or a certain effect. This is the value, now, of group prayer, group worship and group conference as to how to bring about the desired effect/product, for truly they are one in the same.

 

If you expect to do it in your realm and have it be a visible and viable reality within your realm as you know it, it must be sufficiently tangible, whether that be materially or emotionally or mentally, that it can be counted as a reality to the materialist, to the scientist, as well as to the religionist.

 

And so let us begin to understand our audience. It must include the non-believer; it must include the ones who won't buy anything, the hard sell. You need to appeal to all those who would seek what you seek. If you like it, they will like it, but don't limit yourself to strict spirituality if you want a broad base.

 

This is the advantage of some of these -- I'll use the word "peripheral" Correcting Time movements. Your loyalty to your revelation and to your personal religious experience is so powerful and penetrating that you are permanently altered - and this is good! - but you are in the minority. You need a broader base.

 

And so some of these that speak the truth without using the words that cause such controversy, that alienate, are in a way more effective than those of you who are so purist. Will you believe that whatever you do, you do for the Father and he will help you?

 

Rachel:           I'm truly beginning to believe that.

 

GORMAN:    Your options are immense. The opportunities abound. I think perhaps I need, at this point, to advise you that you will be advised. I will not do it. I am going to give that responsibility to greater powers than myself. It will come to you. I don't mean it will knock on the door, but it will knock on the door of your mind. You will come with some ideas. When you come up with an idea, write it down immediately. You will have four or five ideas, one or two of which will be more exciting than the others. That one or two ideas will begin to have banners flying off of it with secondary and tertiary filling and stuffing. Make a note of those as well. Give yourselves, oh let's say three days, and bring back your scraps of paper.

 

What is this? Sunday. Come back on Wednesday, before Nathaniel arrives and disrupts Rachel's equilibrium. Perhaps we can even induce Nathaniel to bring his ideas to the mechanism-in-the-making.  So have faith now, and fertilize those fields of possibility in your mind.

 

Rachel:           Now, Gorman.  This is for our group effort here, right?

GORMAN:    This is for you three people. Not for the berries and not for the pumpkins.

Rachel:           Okay.  Just in this home.

GORMAN:    This unit.

Rachel:           Okay.  This shall be fun.

GORMAN:    This shall be fun.  This shall also unify the home front.

Rachel:           Urn-hum.  I see that.

GORMAN:    Agreed?

Rachel:           Agreed.

GORMAN:    Then, "at ease."

Rachel:           That's a wonderful lesson, Gorman.  Thank you very much.

GORMAN:    One moment, please.

 

TOMAS:        This is Tomas. I thought I would sit with you for a moment before you head off to your various and sundries. It is a pleasure always to be with you and to enjoy your companionship. I am particularly eager to sit with you for a moment today because it is Easter Sunday and in your realm, in your collective consciousness, you have all been aware of the acknowledgement of the resurrection of our Lord Michael, the reigning Master Son of our universe.

 

What a privilege it is for us all who know him and love him to realize he is risen, and he is lifting us up into realms of divinity with him. What a magnificent Maker he is that he affords us this opportunity to grow and be and become an embodiment of creation such as to reflect the glory of God.

 

I am also looking forward to our upcoming adventures here in this new season and this new era upon us. It is my pleasure to be your friend. Call on us anytime and sit often with Father in repose and in receptivity of his divine love. The Source of all that is, is your source of renewal. Conjoin with Father and with each other in comfort of knowing you share this divine Source as your ultimate reality.  Amen and farewell.

 

Group:            Thank you very much, Tomas.

 

*****

 

DATE:                        April 6, 1999

LOCATION:              Butler PA, USA

T/R:                            Gerdean

TEACHERS:              TOMAS, MERIUM

Group:                        Joniel, Gerdean, Thoroah and Rachel

Meditation:                Teacher Will's lesson for April 6

TOPIC:

Simplicity Revisited

 

MERIUM:     Surprise!  I am Merium.

Group:            Hi Merium.

 

MERIUM:     I have been sent forth.  What is it the scripture says? "This is whom the Lord has sent."  He has sent me to play with you, to minister to you, to spend some time with you and to invite you to look at each other and also say, "This is whom the Lord has sent."

 

Little children, I speak to you today and call you little children because I want to remind you of the fact that Jesus took time out to spend time with the children. He even stopped his serious lessons in order to be mindful of the little ones. You have been very productive. You have been creatively working hard, making a place for yourself and giving yourselves admirable jobs to do in order to manifest your worth and willingness, but I remind you of the parable ... [long pause] One moment. [Long pause]

 

Gerdean and I have communication difficulties. She will not trust me to deliver a parable to suit her standards. I would like to talk about a parable having to do with Easter eggs, you see, and she objects. I will therefore not persist, but utilize this semi-willing vehicle in a fashion which is more compatible with her temperament … and I will speak then of simplicity. Children are simple. Children like to play at being grown up but they only like to play grown up because they are emulating their elders. They are putting on the fashion of their elders and thinking that it is finery and grandiose. It is an artificial existence that they assume in order to entertain themselves and in order to bring the reality of their elders down to a level where they can enjoy their understanding of what it must be like to be grown up.

 

You know how funny it is when little children, from their mental outlook, say things that are terrible embarrassment to their parents who have a broader, more expanded outlook and who are perhaps more aware of correct social usage, but children naively run in and say what comes to their mind and often, in their simplicity, reduce their parents' maturity to rubble. Out of the mouths of babes.

 

It is wise of you, as you become adult in the spirit, to also remember your childlike aspects -- not to just play and feel irresponsible, but to revert to that simple state of mind that allows you freedom from onerous attempts to be someone you are not, to be someone you cannot be yet, all the time -- even though you may aspire to be like them when you grow up.

 

I love to tell my children stories. I sometimes inveigle Tomas also to appreciate stories such as Jack & Jill and Cinderella with the birds and ribbons because every grown-up at heart is still a child and still responds to these parables in spite of how grown up they would like to think they are and would like others to think they are.

 

Another nice thing about being a child is that you can readily ask for help. You can naively and innocently and simply say, "Daddy, pick me up!" "Mommy, fix this for me." And it will be done. If it won't be done, it will be shown/ explained why you are truly old enough to stand alone or to fix it yourself, but you will always be admonished, lovingly, as is the way with our Eternal Parents. I am not going to talk much longer. I will let Tomas carry on. He is more inclined to be intellectual and professorial and so I shall not be; by contrast I am a munchkin. But he likes me.

 

Rachel:           We love you.

 

MERIUM:     And I love you, so very, very much. You are all so very, very dear. I'll see you again soon.

 

Group:            Thank you, Merium.

TOMAS:        Good evening.  This is Tomas.

Group:            Good evening.

 

TOMAS:        Every time Merium refers to me in such terms I feel stuffy. Perhaps I should have her fluff up my pillows. She has certainly fluffed the pillows in the parlor this evening and for this I am glad.

 

Merium reminds me of the value of maintaining a simple approach. You have been talking about reaching the people, and not just the thinking people, the academic scholars among you, not just those who are inclined to feed on all of the spiritual food that comes down the pike, but the common man, the simple neighbor. If you are accustomed to a certain sense of simplicity in your dealings with others, you will be better prepared to make those contacts in your simple day-to-day life. Meaningful contacts. So many of the contacts you have in your world are rudimentary and automatic and although this does provide a certain structure to your lives, this structure can become tedious and dull unless it is enlivened by love.

 

How do you tell the clerk in the store across the street that you love her? How do you stop the mailman and remind him or her that they are loved? How do you catch the eye of the lady or the gentleman who gives you tickets on your car and let them know you are not angry with them for doing their job and that they are loved? These are the simple truths of life. These people are your life. They are the work of your realm.

 

Granted, you create units of working elements; you create personal relationships; you have professional and social associations, and this assuredly is also accordingly work of your realm, but it is not so exclusive as to overlook the many, many persons who come into your life so regularly you take them for granted and neglect to personally prevail upon their indwelling God-fragment to acknowledge their existence, and the appreciation you find for the mortal of their indwelling. Are there any questions?

 

Rachel:           No questions. Like Gerdean was saying this morning, everybody wants to feel that they have value, that they have worth, so when you beam at them or smile at them and tell them to have a lovely day and to thank them for whatever they are doing, they have value. They feel good; you make them feel good about themselves. They're acknowledged; they're noticed. That's easy for me to do. I just go around beaming at everybody.

 

TOMAS:        You have a naturally vibrant personality.

Rachel:           Yeah.  If that's the essence of the work, then I'd say that's pretty easy.

TOMAS:        That is a facet of the work.

Rachel:           Yes, I knew it couldn't be THAT simple.

TOMAS:        Joniel, what do you have to say about all of this?

 

Joniel:             I can understand the contacts in the market place, but I'm having difficulty making contact beyond the market place.

 

TOMAS:        You have been making contact with your neighbors.

 

Joniel:             Yeah.  They've been there over a month and I'm just now starting to get to know them.  It seems slow.  It guess I just want to go out there and meet everybody all at once.

 

TOMAS:        You are ambitious, but you hold yourself back. There is something in you that is still reluctant. Perhaps it is a reflection on some of your difficult life experiences. It is not to say, Joniel that your assignment is to become vivacious. Your manner is different. Your approach is not the same as anyone else’s. You all need to realize we are discussing the language of the heart; not the fickle heart, but the heart of love that hails from On High.

 

And I don't want to infer here that you suddenly have to have a heart as big as Jesus, for that takes it away from your capability, but if you remember that part of your purpose and part of your joy is in the spirit, in the reality of spirit life, as it is for everyone, in potential, you will foster that love courageously and gleefully, as a child, knowing full well that there is a child in each person who is eager to respond, even though they too are feeling as if they must act grown-up or be responsible or defiant of all value.

 

It takes time to make friends. It only takes a moment to make a contact.  You respond differently, for example, to the ways that your various teachers address you, or appeal to you. Personality is unique. Everyone is different. It is an adventure, a curiosity adventure to find out who the child is within. When you encounter someone (most everyone) who does not acknowledge they are a child in there somewhere, then you have met someone upon whom you can rain good grace.

 

Acknowledging the child in each other, the child-likeness, is not the same as patronizing. It is child to child, reaching out to greet each other without all of the adult trappings -- simply, simplistically, looking, exclaiming, acknowledging, greeting and passing by another fellow en route to your destiny.

 

You already have learned that there is a connection between all of you in the molecular sense. There is relationship. Now when you pass your fellow on the street, knowing that you are associated by consciousness, add the element of childlikeness, and see what happens to your day. How cute you are.

 

It is no wonder that Jesus took time out to spend with the little children. They are guileless. They are as plain as the nose on your face. We all do well to learn these lessons from the little children, before they have been overly conditioned by the adults who advice and counsel them.  (Pause)  Am I going to do all the talking this evening?

 

Rachel;           Well, you're doing a good job of it! We're learning!

 

Thoroah:         Well, you did make me think of some things, Tomas. I know that since I -- either read one of your lessons or one that I participated in where you talked about the awareness of one Thought Adjuster of another's Thought Adjuster, to go along with all of that molecular common consciousness, I've been more and more aware of just passing people without acknowledging them. And although I think that, either it's been part of my personality or part of my personality and spiritual make-up to always get a rise out of people, to make them smile or whatever -- sometimes I'm childish; --I don't know if I'm childlike -- to make contact but I'm more and more aware of when I'm NOT doing it now than I have been before because I have been satisfied in just being secluded and just being withdrawn when I'm on the street, but I'm becoming more and more effusive, if you will, when I see people and I'm consciously trying to make them feel better and I really feel the chemistry when that happens .

 

TOMAS:        Yes. You have been doing some good reflecting and some good practicing, affecting your world. And now add this element of childlikeness and watch your perspective alter once again. It is a panorama of humanity indeed.

 

I am not suggesting that you don't all have things to think about and sometimes you are a mile away in your mind, but be in the now as much as possible, for that is truly all you can do anything about, particularly if you are walking on these streets and sidewalks that require skill and dexterity to maneuver and traverse.  I sense that you have been satiated already.

 

Thoroah:         I have a question on childlikeness.

TOMAS:        Good.

 

Thoroah:         I'm trying to get a grasp of it and not to confuse it with being childish but to think more openly and innocently, I guess as a child would, and I'm wondering if the application might be in the application, of dealing with people, of not putting on airs or trying to be cool or whatever it might be at the time, if that is what you're kind of getting at. [tape turned]

 

TOMAS:        I use the word "guileless" -- without guile, to describe children. They are unaffected, pure at heart, imaginative. Only later do children learn the peculiarities of parental influence and learn their parents' habits and machinations. Children are delightfully innocent of those games and they are sincere. They are sincere because they know no other way. They may be sincerely silly! but that's okay, because it is very apparent, they are not hidden. They are as plain as the nose on your face.

 

This is one of the delightful things about children. One of the qualities of childlikeness. One who is childlike has nothing to hide and nothing to fear. They have no hidden agendas. They are not intent on manipulating to get their way. They may use their charm, but even here it is a skill they have learned from their elders. Simplicity and sincerity are key elements of the childlike heart.

   

You point up that sometimes you are witty or clever in your conduct with meeting people and making inroads. This is a common tactic in your world. It is affable, but it lacks childlike sincerity and direct approach. The Master once said that in future ages they would know of our good humor, our mirth. The good humor and mirth of spirit association is not especially based on cleverness but on appreciation of our foibles and appreciation of the fallibility of imperfection with affection.

 

Perhaps my stuffy professorial manner doesn't see the humor in much of your humor here, but I won't lose any sleep over that.

 

Do you have an understanding of your own childlike nature?

 

Rachel:           Um-hum.

TOMAS          You are easy, my dear.  You have two sprightly children to practice with.

 

Rachel            :           Yes, I can understand. I can relate. I was just picturing them in my mind. They are so open and innocent. They just are. They are trusting. Wide-eyed and innocent looks.

 

TOMAS:        This is indeed an advantage of a reasoned parenting experience, and indeed in the parenting experience altogether.

 

Rachel:           Yeah.

 

TOMAS:        It is, you know, required that you experience parenting. Perhaps it is so that you can see the wonder of life coming alive again through the eyes of your child and then sharing that wonder with them, becoming, with them, a child of God as you all ascend in grace into adulthood together.

 

Rachel:           They teach you a lot. They make you remember what you have lost through this society and its teachings, the innocent view.

 

TOMAS:        It will come back if you allow yourself to see with eyes to see. Experiment with that in your leisure over the next few days. If Gerdean will allow me to insert an assignment on top of all the ideas you will be generating.

 

Rachel:           That's an EASY assignment.

Thoroah:         Not another assignment!  [Laughter]

 

TOMAS:        This one is fun, Thoroah. This one is to search out the children and learn to play. Joniel, are you up for such an assignment?

 

Joniel:             I've got just the person in mind.   The little boy downstairs.  I spent some time with him today.

 

TOMAS:        That's a great place to start your frame of reference.

Joniel:             My daughter's too old already.  She's 20.

 

TOMAS:        We can touch base with her childlike nature another evening. All of you are children at heart. Even your daughter.

 

I am going to withdraw. You are going to get tired of us if we don't back off. Tomorrow you have another appointment. I will stick around the neighborhood and keep an eye on you all and watch the child in you come up with bright ideas.

 

Rachel:           That's a good assignment.  Thank you, Tomas.

TOMAS:        Good night, children.  Sweet dreams.

Group:            Good night, Tomas.  Thank you.

 

*****

 

DATE:                        April 20, 1999

LOCATION:              Butler, PA, USA.

T/R:                            Gerdean

TEACHERS:              TOMAS, MERIUM

TOPIC: 

More on the Deep Mind

 

TOMAS: Greetings, friends. I am Tomas. I am the host this evening. There are many personalities in attendance, many of whom would like to play for you seem to be in a mood that lends itself to experimentation and affirmative experimentation at that.

 

I thought perhaps another lesson the deep mind might be in order--

 

Rachel:           I would love that.

 

TOMAS:        -- in-as-much as your minds are in an attitude of receptivity. The mind is wherein you largely live, for therein is your beliefs and perceptions. You think your way through your reality in the main, inasmuch as now you do not almost exclusively allow your emotions and lesser instincts to command your very existence. Having reached the realm where you are in a position of making choices constantly, your mind is occupied incessantly with thoughts of its own, and for its own interpretation of others' thoughts.

 

Herein too is where you can consider the topic "The Mind Arena of Choice" for even when you are observing your existence by and through your thoughts almost exclusively, that is to say not your physicality or emotionality but also not including an over­ abundance of spirit, herein is where those choices are made that can further your faith or feed your fear.

 

Rachel:           I'd rather further my faith.

 

TOMAS:        Consciously you would rather further your faith, and super-consciously you would rather further your faith, but there is an element of the creature that prefers the fear.

 

Rachel:           Yes, I recognize that.

 

TOMAS:        And a part of you is responsible for that. Fears are very tricky. They are elusive and ingenious at disallowing you to choose, for it is diminished when your self-mastery proves itself the victor with the Master, and it then becomes the vanquished and ultimately so insignificant as to be become non-existant. The lesser self balks at being eradicated.

 

Rachel:           Yes! It does. But if you so desire to have all those fears brought to the surface so that you can recognize them and get rid of them -- I mean, I have faith that will happen in time.

 

TOMAS:        This is a state of mind, a state of readiness, yes.

Rachel:           Purging them so to speak.

 

TOMAS:        Purging them so to speak and I call to your mind that part of your mind would have these be very grand and glamorous, such that the millions upon millions of insignificant and superficial fears comprising much of you are not called into account because of their insignificance. I want you to be aware that they're not insignificant and that it is yet again another irrational justification brought on by the master intellectual fraud.

 

Rachel:           Fear.

 

TOMAS:        Fear. For all of these fears -- reasonable and unreasonable, known and unknown -- are mere perceptions which you have adopted and/or agreed to by your need to adapt and survive in your animal mode. Now that you are consciously aligning yourself with the will of Paradise, your thinking patterns are called to assimilate your animal nature and it does not want to share. It is Luciferian, you see, Caligastian in its aspects. It would have total control. It would reign supreme in your life.

 

In your deep mind lie each of the paradoxes giving rise to a decision which can help you to realize yourself. Next to you in your essence, in your very being, is your indwelling Adjuster as you allow it to work with you and for you. In order for it to benefit you and help you work through and past these millions and millions of fears, you must opt in favor of following that divine will as compared to that insidious self which is the undoing of all those who would seek to presume upon divine mercy.

 

This is one of the reasons we encourage you to become true thinkers, and so few people are genuinely good thinkers. They are lazy. Their minds are lazy, for the most part. And we urge you to keep your mind exercised as well as your body and your spiritual muscle. Keep it limbered up with easy faith-giving exercises, such as daily quiet with the Father and an attempt to carry this in grace into your day and throughout your arena, your realm.

 

Grace is a manifestation of graciousness which comes from the peace which passes all understanding which comes from that poise which is renewed when you relate yourself with divinity, with the subtle, supple summons to walk the path of truth, beauty and goodness.

 

The effects of a disciplined mind are two-fold, depending upon your intent, your motivation, but if you are sincere in your quest, in due course your Thought Adjuster will become a Thought Controller and enable you to retain your association with those things you have learned within your spirit life that have now become an eternal part of the personality of your soul.

 

Rachel:           And this can happen here, right?

TOMAS:        This is happening here and can, certainly.  Take heart.

 

Rachel:           Well, I'm going to walk the path of the Father. It's been a real struggle to give up my fears. There's a lot of them. A whole lot of them. But I have good faith and good direction.

 

TOMAS:        Indeed, child, you are steering a fair course.

Rachel:           It's exciting.

 

TOMAS:        The most thrilling adventure of all. I understand there is some concern about an excess allotment of scheduled times for teacher sessions.

 

Rachel:           Urn-hum.

TOMAS:        Is it time, then, for us to alter our format?

Rachel:           I don't know.  Do you have a suggestion?

 

TOMAS:        I think I will put in for a brief vacation and allow your community here to enjoy the auspices of other attending personalities. Gorman* is quite enthused by your slightest attentions.

 

Rachel:           We'd love to talk to Gorman.

TOMAS:        I will urge him to hold down the post.

Rachel:           I wanted to say that was a beautiful lesson. We shall miss you.

TOMAS:        I shan’t be gone long.

Rachel:           Okay.

TOMAS:        And I will keep in touch by way of the circuits.

Rachel:           Okay.

 

TOMAS:        I leave you in the arms of a loving universe and devoted attentions from your sisters and brothers in the Teaching Corp throughout Urantia and beyond. Bless you, children. Amen and farewell.

 

Rachel:           Thank you, Tomas.

 

(Intermission)

 

GORMAN:    Gorman here.

Rachel:           Hey, Gorman.

 

GORMAN:    Hey, you! It is fun to be here with you, with your creative hats on. I am having a good time with this assignment. I am a bit of a peeping Tom because I am more curious than perhaps some others who have a circumscribed role. Mine is involving your personal lives to a great extent, not necessarily your spiritual lives or even your personal lives, but your working existences, and you mortals are a lot of obscure workers.

 

I say obscure because you all are so busy doing so little. Don't think I meant that as an insult, anybody, but only because I am a bit of a malingerer myself, but only because I have not made hay while the sun was shining more than once and so I recognize my cousins proclivities as one like my own. I share this so that you will feel comradely with me.

 

My work is not with an emphasis on your spiritual nature. I take it for granted that you are striving and that you are doing the best you can with what you've got and I'll let others fret about your soul growth. My work with you will be, as was said, having to do with production of effect/product.

 

Well, I can see that our machine needs some gears rearranged and some grease slathered here and there. What a rusty bag of nuts and bolts you are, when each one of you is such a finely honed tool by itself. The difficulty seems to be a reluctance to permit for a certain intimacy of operation.

 

I call to your mind the cogs in a wheel. Perhaps you are resistant to being a cog in a wheel. I urge you to by-pass that remnant of your bygone days and become enthusiastic about your cooperation and commingling, for that is the way that the gears mesh and begin to function as a working machine. What might you use to grease your machine?

 

Thoroah:         I've got to grease my attitude!

 

GORMAN:    I just touched base with that, yes, but now that you are cognizant of the role that attitude plays in allowing yourselves to become enmeshed in an effective ball bearing, what do you think now can pull this mechanism together in a simplistic and elementary way ^-' that will bring a sense of cohesion?

 

I have witnessed your delight with eating together and imbibing socially, but you have yet to practice enjoying your work. Herein I would like for you to agree upon a simple exercise, one which is related to your sense of responsibility or maintenance, a very elementary deed, indeed, and consciously, laughingly, joyously, giddily even, applying yourself to the ridiculous task, just to prove to yourselves you can have fun while you work.

 

When you have experienced, experientially realized, that simple satisfaction, you can allow yourself then to open the door wider to greater result. I will let you think about something to do for in the very process of making a decision to that effect will be adjusting your attitude, altering your approach, practicing your intent and greasing the wheels of cooperation that will bring about effective teamwork.

 

Thoroah:         Should we come up with this idea right now?

 

GORMAN:    I am going to recess early enough for you to give yourself a few minutes at that, but I won't keep you long this evening. I wanted to ask, before we call it a day, if anyone here has any courageous questions as to your effectiveness this week in essaying to follow through with our lessons so far and our progress to date.

 

Rachel:           Well, I'd say last week everything fell apart.

GORMAN:    Well, I know that!

Rachel:           (Laughing)  Okay.

GORMAN:    I said "courageous".

 

Rachel: Oh well, I don't know if I have anything courageous to say.

Thoroah: I have a question. How do I begin not to-take things so personally.

GORMAN:    Hold on for a minute, Thoroah. I'm going to have to ask for help here.

 

MERIUM:     I am Merium. I am going to address your quandary, Thoroah, inasmuch as I am authorized and I have the permission of your personal teacher to transmit to you what you would be advised if you were in communication with your own personal teacher, and I will do this only with your permission, which I now solicit.

 

Thoroah:         You have my permission.

 

MERIUM:     (transmitting Thoroah' personal teacher): Sensitivity is a. two-edged sword. It is a gift to be cherished, for your sensitivity to see nuances that the denser minded cannot perceive. In due course this sensitivity will supremely embellish your skills as a fisher of men, but until such time as you understand the nature of sensitivity, in terms of your personality, you will continue to be tripped by that same sensitivity which can be internalized and render you weakened by your interpretation of that which has been received by you so personally as to affect your strength.

 

I speak of your strength as your integrity and your qualities of reality inherent as a son of God, and those are the strengths which will weigh toward the development of that sensitivity such that your Father is going to benefit by it. The task at hand, my son, is to recognize your sensitivity and understand that as it is personalized, it is leading you to an opportunity to will your understanding of truth toward that which gives you your true identity. Does that answer?

 

Thoroah:         It's an amazing answer. I hesitated to ask how. I was not looking for someone to just supply me with a list of answers, but that helps explain everything. It makes me feel and understand it a lot more.

 

MERIUM:     I am happy to convey to you, Thoroah, the joy of your personal teacher who has been able to be afforded this opportunity to speak so familiarly with you.

 

Thoroah:         It's a joy to hear from my teacher, too.

MERIUM:     Our pleasure.  Bye-bye.

 

GORMAN:    Now I want you to see this as an example of effective teamwork. In case you didn't recognize my nuance.

 

Rachel and Thoroah:             We recognized it.

GORMAN:    Are there other questions?

Rachel:           Can I ask you a question, Gorman?

GORMAN:    "Are there other questions?"

Rachel:           How tall are midwayers?

 

GORMAN:    Six foot tall and bullet proof.  [Rachel and Thoroah and Gerdean laughing] But I wouldn't be offended if you regarded me as a peer of Tinkerbell.

 

Rachel:           Well, which is it? A peer of Tinkerbell or six foot tall?

 

GORMAN: I hope you realize the humor in your question. I am not that much different than you. As we ascend, in due time, we will be almost indistinguishable from each other. I am your cousin in almost every sense of the word. I see mortals who are big and I see mortals who are little, and so are we in the long-term. For now, we don't have any yardsticks, so what difference does it make?

 

Rachel:           (Laughter) It's irrelevant, really.

 

Thoroah:         I think we're perhaps simply overwhelmed, at least I am, to be able to share things like this with you. The last number of years I have been studying, one of the mentors talked about being able to communicate with entities (Napoleon Hill was the gentleman's name) and that the universe was just out there waiting to help us if we set up this, and I was just wondering if indeed that is part of the role that you have. You said it wasn't necessarily spiritual, but more on the line of life production and things, and I'm wondering if that's the kind of thing that Napoleon Hill was referring to.

 

GORMAN:    I don't want to be misunderstood. I have to first state that my underlying purpose is as spiritual as yours, as Tomas', as Michael's, as anyone's. I have made my decisions and am accordingly assured ascension along with you, and so I have that in common with you as an a priori. But we midwayers have been around a long time and perhaps forget that it's new to you, and we have been watching it all along.

 

I am working with you in a unit context, but that is not necessarily my sole function. For all this time -- well, not all this time but for quite some time -- we have all been applying ourselves toward attempts at contact with the advanced mortals of the realm who would make good "guinea pigs" to see if the transmitting process would be falling upon a fertile field and doing more good than harm. And so we have attained this apex that has allowed for the doors to open and the show to go on.

 

And so now we can go on to our next phase of operation.  Now that we have got your attention, we need to be about our Father's business, and different people do different things.  Your minds are sufficiently compatible that we have been inducted by and through the auspices of the social architects to create a morontia functioning unit here while you are all still in the flesh. We are practicing advanced crafts that will become the norm in a relatively short time.

 

Be assured we are snowballing now, even though it doesn't appear to be from your vantage point, but we've been around a long time and can see the acceleration taking place.

 

GORMAN:    You can tune into my broadcast anytime you like. I am enchanted with my assignment with you all and have great sympathy with the teachers who have already been working effectively with you for such a long time, your time frame. It is a challenge indeed and so don't feel lonely. You're not the only ones learning new things.

 

Well, ground crew, you have our best wishes in attempting to find a simple chore to apply yourselves to with consciousness of purpose. When you find it works, savor it, appreciate the effects of the universe and thank Father for including you in the game plan. Then embrace your fellows in delight of the process and pick another job to do, perhaps a little more challenging so that you can begin to test your metal and the strength and capabilities of this great machine we are going to use to feed the sheep.  See you later.

 

Group:            Thanks, Gorman.  Good night.

 

*****

 

DATE:                        April 27, 1999

LOCATION:              Butler, PA, USA

TEACHERS:              MERIUM and GORMAN

 

MERIUM:     I am Merium. Good evening. Right on time to compete with your furnace monster. I will learn my lesson one of these days, but I am glad to greet you this evening as your hostess. It gives me great pleasure to be here with you and to be part of our community of faith believers. We are enjoying your association and the association you each have with your spirit guides. You have brought quite a plethora of personality to the group this evening. We are glad to make you aware of ... (tape malfunction)

 

Well, everybody's here, is what I was trying to say. And now we can party. That was my formal introduction for the evening, but I am going to turn the microphone over to Gorman who is quite tickled by the opportunity again to be part of your community and your growing experiences in producing that which has value. One moment.

 

GORMAN:    Gorman here. Eager to be at bat once more with you in this fine game. Haven't we got some great weather for good sport! When your climate is conducive, you are inclined to maintain an attitude of winning, and this positive approach is contagious.

 

Well, I am very intrigued by your development. Even though there are major periods of time which elapse wherein you are occupied otherwise, we enjoy observing how your wheel is turning. The group project was quite entertaining as well as effective on your parts but you did not follow all the way through. I will not bore you with that detail. (Group laughter)  What has emerged, however, is a closer relationship because of that small joint effort.

 

Thoroah:         Maybe that's why we haven't gotten rid of the box springs yet; it's a monument to our effort so we want to remember it.

 

GORMAN:    Well, as you know, Thoroah, we are glib and able to rationalize and justify anything, which is part of the creative license given to you with free will.

 

I will remark upon your seeming resolution, Gerdean, to your soul struggle having to do with whether or not to acknowledge Tomas' stature and I will say, since he is away and cannot eavesdrop on my comment, that it is very big of you to acknowledge our existence. In particular, the existence of this loyal companion, guide, compassionate friend and tireless sojourner with you on your assignment in western Pennsylvania.

 

I know that Tomas could give a hoot whether or not he is formally acknowledged in your media, but the effects of his teachings are worthy of proclaiming from the hillside and you will observe from now on, Gerdean, as you approach your editing process, that you will have clear in your mind, your resource, your author of this paper who is beyond mortal.

 

In the very realization and acknowledgement of this great truth, you will be effectively allowing for a greater dimension to enter in to your editorial interpretation of what the writer is saying, depending upon his vantage point, and it is indeed most effective when you are allowing your characters to be who they are. They are then allowed to take on their own original identity and Tomas' identity is an original if I ever saw one.

 

So, acknowledging individuality and experiential wisdom allows for an element of presentation which would not be there if you had just allowed him to be a human like you. Are you not, after all, made more because of your association with divinity than you are as a mere creature of the realm and not acknowledging that spark of divinity which sets you apart.

 

One of those universal laws, if you will, the Father himself, the original I AM craves acknowledgement, because in acknowledgement it is possible then to reflect perfection, and to contribute to an inducement of perfection hunger.

 

In whetting the appetites of your associates for truth, you may go to great lengths to snag them and call them in from the fields in order to behold the bell pealing its ring of truth. Whether or not they stay for the Shepherd, whether they believe that you are a part of the Shepherd's flock, or whatever, is not your concern. That is the sole concern of their relationship with their indwelling God fragment, their relationship with Father Himself.

 

And so, all you can do, in your intent, is suggest in the spirit of Michael, and all he stands for, "Follow me." To say such a thing indeed requires imbalance on the side of mercy, innocence, childlike faith and so forth.

 

Well, this is a indeed a very interesting undertaking. Let me now experiment with you and throw open the floor and ask you to tell me, "Now what am I going to discuss next?" (Pause) I'm waiting.

 

Rachel:           What YOU'RE going to discuss next?

GORMAN:    Yes.

 

Rachel:           I'm supposed to tell you this?  I thought we were still on how to be an effectively working group.  We haven't mastered that one yet.

 

GORMAN:    We ARE working in a group. We have launched. And as a group we are communicating. Will you then tell me what I am going to say next?

 

Rachel:           I haven't a clue.

Thoroah:         I was just thinking we could all say thank you for the furnace going off.

 

GORMAN:    Oh, that was not my doing. That is a mere mechanical contrivance over which I have no interest in dominion. My sensitivity to temperature is irrelevant. I am going to incorporate you into this process.

 

Thoroah:         So I think what you're going to talk about next is why I have been spinning my tires this week. It seems like I have been having some difficulties with my computer. It seems like I needed the communication but it's also an excuse not to do anything when it's not working properly.

 

GORMAN:    Well, I could talk about that, yes, now that you mention it.

 

Thoroah:         I thought maybe that's what you'd talk about next, whatever we brought up. That was my concern of the week so far.

 

GORMAN:    Well, it's not my concern for the week but it is a concern, but it tells me that you are eager to lock yourself into your tools and be productive, but you are being thwarted in your effort. Is it possible (and I'm only picking your brain here), is it possible that you are being thwarted because you are heading off on a tangent?

 

Thoroah:         Yeah, I've been trying to figure out what the reason might be. I'm not sure which tangent I might be on. I have a number of things I'm working with and the thing that seems to affect me most is the broadcasting effort that we're trying to put together on the Internet. That's one of my major concerns right now, that I was a little bit inept and helpless with the situation. I'm trying to figure out what the lesson ... what I need to figure out here. There's always something in mind.

 

GORMAN:    You are maintaining your cool pretty well.

Thoroah:         Thank you.

 

GORMAN:    But that is not what I was going to talk about.   I'm going to ask again, Rachel, to present the next thing on the agenda.

 

Rachel:           You put me on the spot, Gorman. First thing that comes to mind is to work on the Fruits of the Spirit.

 

GORMAN:    And we are doing that.

Rachel:           Yeah.

GORMAN:    How?

 

Rachel:           How are we doing it? Well, from my perspective, Gerdean and I have done some editing, and Nathaniel also has done some editing with her, so the group sort of broadened there.

 

GORMAN:    You will need to begin again.

Rachel:           Begin again?

GORMAN:    Your perspective has changed.

Rachel:           Perspective has changed?

 

GORMAN:    Gerdean' s perspective has certainly changed, in that she is going to proclaim her author.

 

Rachel:           So we shall have to begin again.  You're right.

 

GORMAN:    Let me suggest, since we were earlier talking about personality manifestation appreciation of the I AM, acknowledgment, -- let's acknowledge who this character is, this Tomas who presumes to present himself as a celestial personality. How do you propose he ought to comport himself, inasmuch as we want the reader to see him sitting there? We want them to feel as if they are in the room with him, or that he is in the room with them as they are reading the words. The intimacy factor of the relationship between Teacher Tomas and his personal pupil of spirit reality is essential to bring into existence and even to dramatize.

 

If you continue to look exclusively intellectually at the configuration of his words, you will edit out his warmth and wit in an attempt to bring him down to your level so that you can see eye to eye in human terms. You will have not made a sale. But when and as you can induce the reader to open up their heart, mind and soul to the personality of the supernal teacher, you have allowed them to open their heart to Jesus, to God the Father, to the Mother Spirit. You have helped them open up their own soul's receptivity to a powerful personality/love force.

 

Now this is some very refined editing, and it has little to do with which or what or whom, but it does have to do with the presentation of a relationship between a supernal personality and a mortal truth seeker. Tomas may well command respect. He is an artist. Allow for his tolerance and patience. Give him time to meander around in order to draw you in.

 

You are so focussed, in your minds, to the Madison Avenue way of presentation, the "Zap!" Punch! "Zing!" "Whip!" Red!" approach to presenting your messages, you think you don't dare waste time on the embellishments and curlicues, and hasn't it been said before, in your own culture, "the trip is getting there."  Savor this opportunity to show your reader what you have found in your relationship with this wonderful teacher. It shouldn't be too hard to do.

 

Rachel:           It should be easy.

 

GORMAN:    I am very intrigued by the undercurrent of flowing water that has taken hold here in recent days. The flow is a warm, smooth trickle over a babbling brook, once too cold and rocky. So what have you been doing with yourselves, cousins?

 

Rachel:           Busying ourselves in our own little world.

Thoroah:         What did he say?  "Cousins"?

Rachel:           Cousins.

Thoroah:         Ah!  That was a question, right? What have we been doing with ourselves?

Rachel:           Yeah.

 

Thoroah:         I've been trying to work on a project I started when I was back in Colorado, something I was going to call "Sick and Tired" but I have changed the title to "Wouldn't it be Nice". I'm trying to turn all the negative stuff I had written before into something positive.

 

GORMAN:    You well might have something there, my lad. You have approached the chronic yearner. Yearners are a dime a dozen. In fact, if I had a nickel from every chronic yearner, I could build a big house.

 

"Whiners" is another name for chronic yearner, but I am not overlooking genuine frustration. The fact that people complain is like gossip is a form of communication. It is not a very positive form of communication but it is none-the-less a communication technique that is commonly used. You might encourage them at some point to reach forward and perhaps "all together now."  Oh, I am liking your work. What else have you been doing? What can I do to help?

 

Rachel:           Give us a project, Gorman.

 

GORMAN:    No.  You think of one! You come to the table with your ideas. I'm not a teacher, remember? I'm a team worker. You need to bring stuff to me, also.

 

Rachel:           Okay.

GORMAN:    I am here for you to become accustomed to working with as a teammate.

Rachel:           Okay.

 

Thoroah:         Thank you for the perspective.  I like it.

GORMAN:    We can do this.

Thoroah:         Yes.

 

GORMAN:    I'm going to be part of the general board of directors along with you.

Thoroah:         Great.

GORMAN:    Maybe I can contribute something.

 

Thoroah:         I think you can, obviously. You must be related to Tomas, or at least get along with Tomas pretty well. That sounded like something that Tomas would say. "I think I can help you with something, maybe.

 

GORMAN:    We are co-conspirators.

 

Thoroah:         I will come more prepared. I was wondering, when we started this session tonight, if there's any limit to when we might come to talk to you.

 

GORMAN:    I feel it only fair, you should be forewarned that I am the kind of battery that keeps on running. You can count on me most of the time, as you can on any of the personalities in the universe that I know. There are, of course, millions that I don't know and haven't the foggiest idea where they are or what they do, but that's okay because the ones I do know are the ones that matter. And we all enjoy what we do. We are just lucky enough to have drawn straws and gotten you guys.

 

Rachel:           Hmm.  Aren't you lucky?

Thoroah:         That's a nice compliment.

 

GORMAN:    We're having fun!  We've been waiting for thousands of years for just such a card game.

 

Rachel:           Oh my.

Thoroah:         Wow.

GORMAN:    Ante up.

 

Thoroah:         That's pretty impressive.  I have to think about that.

 

GORMAN:    Well, no one brought a pitcher of ice water to the board meeting, so perhaps we should call a recess and stretch and go out on the balcony and smoke and look at the stars. We'll be back in session whenever you want to. Deal?

 

Rachel:           Deal.

Thoroah:         Deal.  Absolutely.

GORMAN:    Later.

Rachel:           Later.

Thoroah:         Thanks, Gorman.

 

*****

 

DATE:                        May 4, 1999

LOCATION:              Butler, PA, USA

TEACHERS:              MORONTIA COMPANION; GORMAN

T/R:                Gerdean

Group:            Rachel, Gerdean, Thoroah and Joniel

 

 

MORONTIA COMPANION: It gives me great pleasure to extend myself to you in graciousness and companionability. How pleasant it is here in your environment. We have been observing your coming together and coming to order in intention of experiencing your religious life with your companions. I am a Companion, a Morontia Companion, and I am ever so glad to be with you this evening.  You may converse with me freely. I am not a teacher. You may take off your spectacles.

 

Rachel:           You're visiting?

 

COMPANION:          Companioning is a more closely appropriate phrase but inasmuch as it is a formal setting, yes, you could say we have come to visit.

 

Rachel:           Who do you companion now?

 

COMPANION:          We are companionable no matter where we are, and so it is a matter of whoever comes to us is companionable, you see. How good it is to know the intricacies of companionability such that you may incorporate it into your praise and worship, yielding a renewal of self-respect and social fragrance.

 

Rachel:           What makes one companionable?

 

COMPANION:          Well, there are more than one factors! It would seem that in order to have friends you must be friendly, therefore if you seek companions, you would be companionable, which is to say, interested in their welfare, in their feelings, in their nature. If you indicate an interest in someone and they respond in good faith, you have known some companionability between you, marking it as companionable.

 

Rachel:           And you are companionable to all types of beings? Or just certain types?

 

COMPANION:          By and large all types. We have a very, very large range of operation, if you will. We extend ourselves endlessly, if you will, in those who are responsive to what we stand for, who we are, very much like your peers come to you because of who you are. This is in part measure, it would seem, what was meant by the phrase that "they will come to you to whatever extent you are able to draw them" to think.

 

Rachel:           So you are seen as a friend to all.  Whoever needs it.

COMPANION:          Oh! What does need have to do with it? I am a friend.

 

Thoroah:         Is it peculiar to the times that we are living in that --it seems like we've had a lot of different visitors here within this group itself, and it seems like a lot of visitors are making themselves known to us. Is it because of something going on outside of us or is our own personal draw bringing all these new entities to us?

 

COMPANION:          It is much as if you had volunteered and were selected. You have an understanding of the universal law, my friend. You accommodate the universe graciously and see its cause and effect.

 

Thoroah:         That makes sense.

 

COMPANION:          It is fortuitous for us that you have here in this vessel an experienced "transmitter/receiver" for us to utilize and it is similarly succinctly true that your group teacher has abandoned you for a period and so you are left to your own devices and we are given an opportunity to experience the experience ourselves.

 

We will be your companions throughout the mansion worlds and we will be companionable entirely throughout, and as you acclimate yourself to your morontial nature en route to your spiritualizing you will more and more encounter us and find refreshment in these soires of poise and grace wherein our Master may commune with us in fellowship.

 

We are all very much a part of the on-going education and yet it is not always a matter of logic and reason that you are educated by and through; there are lessons to be learned also in God-like qualities such as graciousness and sensitivity enhancing refined speculation and conversation, a delight to minds hither and yon.

 

My friends I am going to depart. My density in your environment must surely hold you back from your youthful vigor.

 

Thoroah:         I can't believe that -- maybe your immensity! The immenseness of the whole thought process that I'm going through personally regarding a Morontia Companion being here, being able to almost touch the morontia thing seems ... you know. There is just a whole lot going through my mind about the whole connection. It's kinda neat, that's all.

 

COMPANION:          I have also enjoyed your company. My friends, we look forward to the continuation of our association infinitely. Good evening .

 

Thoroah:         Thank you very much for stopping by.

GORMAN:    Gorman here.

Group:            Hi, Gorman.

 

GORMAN:    Thanks for asking for me. I was hoping you would. When you are just learning a new routine, you feel awkward until you have mastered it in your mind and then in your pattern, so it's understood that you will grow into this at your own pace, and it's nice to be able to keep up with you.

 

Group:            (Laughter)

Rachel:           We move like turtles!

 

Thoroah:         It's like the comment that was made last week about the unfinished business that is still unfinished

 

GORMAN:   Well, it is, as you said last week, a monument to your teamwork.   That this monument dominates your primary vestibule is a testimony to all that there is something going on.

 

Thoroah:         Okay, yes.  It's in progress and we want to make sure we remember that.

 

GORMAN:    It is good to bear that in mind, actually, and remember all of this, because you are learning a new routine. Remembering the observation of the driving range and the object lesson inherent in Thoroah' swing and the dynamics involved in mastering such a skill that incorporates the physicality, the corporeality, is noteworthy and an interesting study of morontia energy in obedience to your will.

 

So if you can ascertain what works for you and do it, and if it is in accordance with His will, your energies will be augmented wherein you will be able to fulfill your mission / assignment/ chore/ project/ whatever.

 

Thoroah:         We won't know what it is or when it will click unless we try it to find out, I guess.

 

GORMAN:    Right! It goes back to that old thing about your being a microcosm of the Isle of Paradise. Through your Thought Adjuster (which is the Father), through the Spirit of Truth (which is the Son), and the Holy Spirit (which is the Third Source and Center, the Infinite Spirit), so you have the Thought, the Decision and the Action all in one, and as it is in accordance with the universal laws, the divine laws, then it can be. It can be created. It can come to pass. It can feed the Supreme. So there is some really good rationalizing and justifying as to why we really need to get down to business here and get something done.

 

Thoroah:         Yeah.

Rachel:           Wow.

GORMAN:    Because we are eager to feed the Supreme!

Rachel:           We should get together and discuss another little project for the three of us to do.

GORMAN:    You think you need some more practice?

 

Rachel:           Yes, I think we need some more practice.  We haven't accomplished anything yet, Gorman.  An end product, I mean.

 

GORMAN:    Well, then, discuss this -- oh, an end product!  We are still working on teamwork! We can't do a team project effectively until we have an effective team.  It's that exponential thing, you know.

 

Thoroah:         Exponential synergy.  Well maybe this weekend

GORMAN:    What are you going to do this weekend?

Thoroah:         Well, I just found out …

 

Rachel:           I think we have to be more structured than that.  We have to set aside a time that's good for all of us, to sit down for half an hour or something.   It has to be scheduled in.

 

GORMAN:    Three?  Four?

Rachel:           Three four what?

Thoroah:         Four people.

Rachel:           Five, six, seven, eight.

GORMAN:    Oh, we're really rolling along here. What are you doing? A group project? (Chaos)

 

Thoroah:         Nathaniel will be here this week-end and we're going to learn how to be companionable and work as a team.  I can hardly even SAY companionable, but that's what we'll  try to do.  I understand what the week-end is going to be about and maybe we could get some resolution to some things, get some focus on some things this week.

 

GORMAN:    Well, here's my two cents. How about we schedule Friday evening for adult activities of a social and business nature among you sojourners, and in there you can cover some tracks.

 

Thoroah:         Sounds good.

Rachel:           Okay.

 

GORMAN:    And what of you, my friend, Joniel? How have you been and what have you been doing with yourself.

 

Joniel:             Going crazy.

 

GORMAN:    I have seen more than my share of craziness in your neighborhoods. I empathize with your plight, my friend. My completely insane relatives, however, have been taken off the streets and that makes it much easier to commence with the gay life. (Group relapsed in giggles)

 

Rachel:           I love your sense of humor, Gorman.

GORMAN:    It is to laugh.

Rachel:           Hopefully we'll all be laughing down here one day.

 

GORMAN:    When you learn how.    I understand however it  is a tendency to take life very seriously when the world is too much with you.

 

Rachel:           Very seriously.

GORMAN:    Talk about a quicksand!

Thoroah:         Yeah.

 

GORMAN: Well, I won't get into that. That's not my assignment. Tomas is interested in your development but is not back yet and sends his regards. He can contact you by way of circuits but he is not in your immediate vicinity. He sends his love.

 

Group:            We send ours back, for sure. Thank you, Tomas. But we are making progress from where we were a couple of weeks ago, and now parts of the team are better than they were before.

 

GORMAN:    We are evolving. We evolve naturally when we want to do the same joint project in company with the morontia energies that will be augmenting all of the reality that you are bringing into being. It's becoming real, and you want to do it "correctly" --especially when there are many of you involved.

 

Weaving your tapestry loosely enough that you have air between you and yet tight enough that you are aware of how you are connected, inner connected, you get to be a voile, gauzy, film-like thing that can almost be seen with the visual eye.

 

Thoroah:         You can always spot a good team, no matter where you find it. Sports or anyplace, you can spot a good team.

 

GORMAN:    That's the great thing about the admonition that you ought to learn how to recognize the presence of God in others. That's a pretty sure sign that you can see good life occurring. It might be wrong, but it's at least an attempt.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained, anyway, and I'm eager to play.  Ante up! (Group laughter)

 

Thoroah:         I think that's the second time we've been challenged.

 

Gerdean:        Thoroah and I did an hour or two of conscientious editing on Sunday and that felt very good.  I think we made some progress on our product that I am concerned will not be ready by its dead-line, but I am mindful of the time and don't want to feel inappropriately pressed.  But I haven't called George yet about the cover art. Maybe I need to have you there with me, Rachel, so you can describe this cover that you saw. Okay?

 

Rachel:           Okay.

Gerdean:        Okay.  That's all, Gorman.  Thank you

 

GORMAN:    Good dog.  (Group laughter)  Here's a juicy bone for you.

 

Thoroah:         His tail's wagging and everything. No, but that really did feel good and it did seem like we're accomplishing something with the approach on it, anyway, and I was thinking about it after wards that it's very important in this process for us to make -- I know for me, when I'm involved in this editing process, whatnot --that I am seeking the Father's will, for sure, in my decision making process, so that we can be as close as possible.

 

GORMAN:    Yes. It also keeps the communication channels open between you and your teammates. This is essential to that tapestry which allows for the product to ultimately materialize.

 

It is the same theory precisely that goes into the creation of a world settled in light and life. It is the exact same thing, injecting the morontia reality into the thread of Urantia. But this is not a crafts class; this is another project entirely.

 

Thoroah:         Well, you are making me have visions of Afghans.

GORMAN:    I had the same picture.  Weaving.

Thoroah:         Uh huh.

 

GORMAN:    Well, kids, I guess I'll check out and check back with you later. I'm glad you called me in for a briefing.

 

Rachel:           Perhaps we'll call on your Friday.

 

Thoroah:         Yes, why don't we plan on that, if we can, if that is possible. I think that was a good idea.

 

GORMAN:    See you then.  Over and out.

 

*****

 

*****

 

DATE:                        May 7, 1999

LOCATION:              BUTLER PA

T/R:                            Gerdean

Group:                        Nathaniel, Rachel, Gerdean and Thoroah

TEACHERS:              MINEARSIA on Relationship; GORMAN on Functioning Units

 

MINEARSIA: I am Minearsia. My home base is in Pocatello. I have been here before. I am a Melchizedek in residence on Urantia. I have been intimately involved in your community development and am supportive of all your efforts in fostering the reality of the gospel in your lives and as that reality extends outward into your greater community. You have graciously requested a teacher to minister to you under the realms of relationship and I am happy to comply by orders of my superiors to be of service to you in this regard. My initial thrust in approaching relationship is going to come, of course, from the concept of the I AM, for how can there be relationship without at least two I AM ' s -- except as you have a relationship primarily with the First Source and Center and thus with yourself, for who are you but an extension of your primal reality, your original Source and Center?

 

As you understand, your initial relationship with Life, through the Font of Life, you can begin to develop the awareness of that Life within your life experience, by and through your decisions, based upon your primary relationship, or not, depending upon your free will choice. As you branch off of your fundamental reality, you encounter what I shall call static, for the fidelity factor has been diminished to the extent that you have not focused yourself on who you truly are and from whence you truly come.

 

The same truth can be had in relationship with others. That same universal law applies. If you either go too far afield of your primary identification, you become less real, and as you become less real, you stunt the growth of relationship. Therefore the key to any successful relationship is to be true to yourself as you ascertain yourself as the son of the original I AM.

 

When you comply with that reality, and respond to its leading, you are then in a continual condition of on-going growth. As others allow themselves also to be lured forward in their reality, they too are undergoing continual progressive spiritual growth, and thus your relationship is in a constant of growth itself,, requiring adaptation and flexibility in relationship that gives rise to a fresh approach every moment, and so love remains alive.

 

This is true in any kind of relationship, but there are many variations on the theme depending upon the nature of the relationship. They are not all comprised to foster and further spiritual reality in each other. Many times relationships are really more of a contract of a sort than a living friendship, but even contractual relationships can benefit from the truth that all great sense of direction and purpose comes from a high ideal, a high standard, a worthy goal.

 

And thus in relationship it is beneficial to profess a direction, a purpose, a fundamental goal, in order to have a mutual aim to grow toward, whether that be material success, four offspring, romantic love or ultimate perfection.

 

You would like, perhaps, to engage us all in some discourse surrounding your intrigue with relationship? The floor is open.

 

Rachel:                       I don't have any questions. We don't seem to be full of them.

MINEARSIA:            Yes, you are.

Rachel:                       (Laughter)  I assure you, probably I am.

MINEARSIA:            You are all pregnant with questions.

Thoroah:                     Where to begin.

 

Rachel:           Discuss how to have a successful relationship. I guess none of us have had a successful relationship before, so we're entering some new waters.

 

MINEARSIA: Yes, it is apparent to us that there are new relationships forming in hope of new levels of value and happiness for there is indeed good reason to believe that there is a new definition for love. The fact that you have all been given permission to love yourselves and have come to know how you are loved, instills in you enough self respect that you attract love. It is a natural consequence of your evolution of late in your spiritual yearnings.

 

You have sought your Source, found it to be good, and also within you. You have begun to trust that the Father is in each of your believing brethren and you have been encouraged to love that aspect of the Father within each of your peers. You have found peers with whom you may freely reflect your true nature, your godlikeness. You have been found to be glorious, beautiful and loveable. You have reflected that quality, those qualities, back from one to the other and found great comfort, great delight and great succor in such a reflection of the Father.

 

The romantic aspect of your separate loves for one another is another aspect of the religious life -- "refinement of sentiment" that provides further proof of the greatness of God. Your every sense is gratified and ennobled by this trust and commitment to love. It cannot help but produce good fruit.

 

Rachel:           You are in a relationship to be true to yourself and your First Source and Center and also to have goals. Is there anything else you would like to add? For ingredients to a loving relationship?

 

MINEARSIA:            I would like to pause on the threshold of one of your pregnant remarks and that is to qualify the nuance of the self. Yes you are to think of the self, but be always mindful of what element of the self it is that you are representing, for it is important to the human being to also have personality expression and the human personality expression is tainted by its animal origins, and thus it provides an intriguing study in character to observe your reactions to situations in relationship that could leave you finding yourself observing yourself in less than lovely ways .

 

This however is one of the values of a treasured friendship, for a friend will embrace you while you allow yourself to let go of your lesser reactions in favor of your superior responses as you begin to perceive your morontial reality developing.

 

Now, you say "What else?" There is the nuance, if you will, of children, offspring of relationship, and this in some ways is also a representation of a creative outpouring for not all people procreate but they still have much to offer their cultural progeny. And it is often in the decision to produce life that the initial goal is established that contracts the parties in relationship. Thus new relationships can come into being. But it does not preclude the original value of the original friendship.

 

Relationships worth having are indeed eternal. It is error to think that you will only know a person for a short period of time. It is a fact that as you all approach your eternal career you will be approaching the same challenges and university classrooms as you might here, and it is truly a small world, even if it is a vast universe .

 

That which has value in relationship has value eternally. Therefore it is imperative that you respect your parties in relationship, much as you have self respect, for yourself, based upon your understanding of your infinite nature.

 

In your human jargon you could say, "and they lived happily ever after" and it would be quite true, although it would take different shapes and offer different configurations under different circumstances, depending upon divine plan. (Phone ringing) There, you see?  Evidence of relationship.

 

I will step down. I know that Gorman is in the wings and is eager to meet with you also. I will stick around awhile in the event that your intermission gives rise to discussion that might warrant further questions. Good evening.

 

Rachel:           Thank you.

Thoroah:         Wonderful stuff.

GORMAN:    Gorman here.

Group:            Hi Gorman.

GORMAN:    Hey, crew.  What's going on?

 

Rachel:           I'm sitting here thinking we didn't bring anything to the table here.

GORMAN:    Oh, but you did!  You brought Nathaniel.  How are you, lad?

Nathaniel:       Good.  Good.

 

GORMAN:    It's good to be with you, good to see you, as it were. Indeed we've got a full house.   Well, have you had a business meeting or are you going to let me do the whole thing?

 

Group:            (Laughter)

Rachel:           Are we a hopeless lot, or what?

Thoroah:         Are we going by Robert's rules? or Gorman's rules?

Rachel:           We still don't have the mattress out!

GORMAN:    How telling!

Group:            (Laughter)

 

Thoroah:         Well, we're going to complete that project tonight. Just to show that our team is filled up. That's how we can complete it.

 

GORMAN:    The team is filled and ready to go. Alright, then, that's a mere minor detail that will fall in line, having made the decision. How wonderful we can now get on to the next decision.

 

Group:            (Laughter) Yes.

 

GORMAN:    Happily, a number of decisions have been made, and I will all give you credit for that, since all of you have had to make certain inherent decisions in order for us all to have come thus far. So I will congratulate you for your thought processes along the lines of progression and productivity, for thinking at all, which is, frankly, encouraging these days.

 

Group:            Laughter)

GORMAN:    But I will not let up on my prodding for we have only just begun.

Group:            For sure.  Yes.

 

GORMAN: There is another element of this meeting this evening that I want to call your attention to and that is I am going to also address, in keeping with our community base here, the extended community of the corporation Harp of God and it's subsidiaries including the Journal and the broadcasting company and indeed the fiction department as well, for we have begun a project that extends at least that far and beyond and it might as well be notated for the record that we are embarked on a configuration that will serve in various relationship functions for some time to come.

 

We are making as significant tracks on these forays into the human experience as you have been on in the mental, emotional and spiritual realms with your teachers. The phrase "ante up" that I have used is one I will bring again to your attention and I'd like to know if any of you have given that any thought.

 

Thoroah:         Well, the implication is that if we're going to play the game, we've got to put something on the table.

 

GORMAN:    Well, good. I am glad we have those cards on the table. Are you of a similar persuasion in your understanding, Rachel?

 

Rachel:           Urn-hum.

 

GORMAN:    I know that Gerdean is mindful of it as she often chews on our words as if it were a piece of gum. But Nathaniel, have you been apprised of my phraseology in these transcripts and in our discourse?

 

Nathaniel:       Maybe a little.

 

GORMAN:    But not sufficiently as to have made any determination as to what it is that I want to see you put on the table.

 

Nathaniel:       Right.

 

GORMAN:    I can see that your cursory conclusion is the scraps of paper and the ideas and so forth that we have discussed before, but I am really inferring something deeper and farther reaching, for in your world you know that a game of poker is not nearly as much fun when you play for matchsticks as when you play for cash. There is just something magical about cash money that gives the game an element of pizazz that was not possible without it. The impliction here being that this something that I'm looking for on the table is something that has a meaning to you that indicates an element of pizazz that could mean the difference between pleasure and pain or poverty and riches. It has to be meaningful, even if only two pennies, you see. It's the symbolism that I'm looking for.

 

When Jesus talked to his followers he one time had a little talk about "Counting the Cost" and I'm going to bring the same thing up and that has to do with counting the cost of staying in this card game. If you are serious about playing, then you need to dig deep into your symbolic pocket and pull up something that is indicative of the difference between pleasure and pain, between poverty and riches. It has to be significant. If this is a mere walk in the park, or if you're just along for the ride, then you'll not be putting in your true gusto, your oomph, your essence, and I don't think any one of us what to feel short-changed.

 

Thoroah:         I was just reminded of something I heard on a tape someone said, "What are you willing to give up for what you want?" basically determines the kind of passion and desire you get into something with.

 

GORMAN:     It goes back to what Minearsia was saying about relationship. If you have a purpose, a goal, a commitment, it can be assumed then that you have all put your motives and intentions out there to an equitable degree. To such a degree that you can do business with one another and have a meaningful relationship. You could have children. You could create. You could build things. You could bring reality up to a new level of functioning. You could create Light and Life on Urantia. These are possible because of the essence of you that you are willing" to put on the table.

 

Now I am not interested in your largess or your grandiosity. I don't care if your daddy has a bank full of money. I am not concerned about the quantity of your commitment but rather the quality of your commitment, for quality then is something that is recognizable by the very nature of your initial relationship with the original I AM. In other words, is this for fun or is this an, extension of your spiritual experience? If it is an extension of your spiritual experience, it has a reality to it I can support, and you will find worthy.

 

All of you have sufficiently healthy ego identities to want to do something that will garner the respect of your peers, your intimate peers, and the results of your mutuality will benefit those who are the recipients of your product, your effort. It has eternal value.

 

Now I am not suggesting that we break down into psalms and hosannas when we meet, but I am urging you all to bring to this capital good idea as much devotion and integrity as you bring to other aspects of your religious life.  We would appreciate if you would recognize your work on behalf of the Father, on behalf of that which you believe in, . . .

 

Gerdean:        Everything just went blank.  [Interminably long pause]. One moment, please.

 

GORMAN:    Just a little short circuit there, folks. Nothing to be alarmed about.  I am not going to try to pick up where I was. I would probably lose the T/R again. I will just back off and deal. Have you brought any fresh scraps of paper?  It's like a guy who watches the little girl next door grow up to become a real knock-out. We've been waiting a long time for this day.

 

Rachel:           For us to grow up, huh?

GORMAN:    I can't wait to ask her out.

Thoroah:         The only thing that's left is to do it.

 

GORMAN:    There are some minor details to be worked out like the disciplines of a schedule and the expenses of some post-it notes, a phone call or two, but I believe once this starts rolling it will coalesce very nicely.  I commend the same advisement to Marty on his angle, and the others as well.

 

Thoroah:         That seems to be one of the dilemmas that we're faced with right now is it seems so almost political.

 

GORMAN:    Of course it's political! You are social creatures and you all have a different perspective, but you all have worthy goals. Now granted, the goals that you are aspiring to and we in this board room are aspiring to are more specialized, have become more focused, perhaps, than the general community at large, and yet that is not to say that there are not other effective units of functioning in other communities.

 

I will call to your mind the efforts of the members of Nathaniel's community which has produced already product and brought about effect. It is also true that there have been visual tapes made and all manner of productivity in terms of proselytizing our beliefs even .... There's that short-circuit again.

 

These are lessons the entire movement is learning. I just get to do it with you guys and we get to put it on the record. It's a good idea, I think, to put it on the record. For posterity. In your rocking chair days you will perhaps enjoy remembering these early sessions of learning how to ante up when you were fearful of success and afraid to stand alone in your creative decisions. Won't it appear amusing when you have much experience under your belt to remember these early days and our discourses?

 

Thoroah:         Yes.

 

GORMAN:    I am going to set the microphone down on the table here and stand back. Minearsia is still here, I am here, Merium of course is here, a number of others are here in observation and I am going to leave the option open to you all, since you have us lasso'ed in, if you have any questions, any areas of discourse you would like to bring up, or anything before we call it a day. Thanks for the board meeting.

 

Group:            Thanks Gorman.

Thoroah:         I've never been felt like I was being watched before like that, but it does.

GORMAN:    Do you feel like it's an invasion of privacy?

Thoroah:         No.  No, it's very comforting, thanks, make you kind of think about it.

 

GORMAN:    This is Gorman again. I want to tell you that there are many things about you that don't interest us, (Group laughter) so it's not like we're hanging around watching you all the time. There is a great network of communication, however, that takes place with the permission of your Thought Adjusters and we help out in many of these situations by relaying information of a sort through the circuits to other personalities and they are thus able to kinda sorta converse with your personal teachers as to your ./ personal growth at the time and information along these lines about your soul development as well, and so there is a general handle on what you're going through, but like an egg that is being hatched, you don't have to watch it constantly. It just requires a little time and a little warmth and it will emerge on its own naturally. We might show up for the emergence, but it's not necessary we have a party

 

Thoroah:         It's still amazing to me all the effort that goes into caretaking my soul.

GORMAN:   You ain't seen nothin' yet, Thoroah.  (Group laughter)

 

Thoroah:         Overwhelming. Yeah, I guess that's the idea, is to let everybody feel how that feels.

 

GORMAN:    The very fact that you now know that you are not alone is going to take a long time to grow into, a millennia perhaps, before the entire human race is made aware of the inner life and how to effectively bring it into being. But there will be pockets of light and life emerging far before that and you yourselves have begun to glimpse these moments and these periods of time, so isn't it great that you don't have to wait to get your reward in heaven? You can take it as it comes.

 

Thoroah:         We were just talking about that tonight, how the -- like the idea of the Zooid colonies and whatnot, how these things have to evolve. It's going to have to start with small groups, small pockets.

 

GORMAN:    Yes, but it is the brotherhood emerging and extending and the reality of the Father is incorporating itself into your realm in such a way as to cause/effect permanent change. It's exciting. It's a lot of fun.

 

Thoroah:         I'm intrigued by how this age of light and life, which basically a behavioral kind of evolution, and how certain behaviors around the globe are all being influenced by different entities or influences or whatever but the result is to be a common behavior that will come out of all of that.

 

GORMAN:    The time has come! It's rather like the radish when the seed is planted in the early spring. The radish germinates and grows up to be a radish, red and hot and juicy, with green leaves, ever the radish, but it can't be ready until it's ready. It can't be ready in the wrong time of the year because the temperature must be right, the water fall must be right, but if you plant radishes when it's time to plant radishes, you're going to have a whole field of radishes.

 

And what has happened is you have reached a point of emergence into the new era, the new age, which embarks upon the mind, giving you an opportunity to think and create in ways that will affect your response to life, your relationships with other people, the work that you will want to produce, and the effects your new attitudes will bring about in your world.

 

That's the evolutionary part. It's inherent. But the revelation part is that which ascribes it to divinity and the wonders of the creators, lifting it up into a realm of morontia appreciation that is not appreciated or understood by radishes.

 

Thoroah:         That makes sense.

 

GORMAN:    It would probably make sense for me to sign off. I can sense that you are all quite relaxed and happy, full and yet pregnant, and so I will allow the birth of that idea,, that concept, that baby, that new one, to blossom. In time, like the radish, it will emerge and it will be perfect because we have devoted this time to its furtherance.

 

Catch you later, guys.  Good to see you.

 

Nathaniel:     See you, Gorman.

Thoroah:         Thank you, Gorman.

 

*****

 

DATE:                                    June 8, 1999

LOCATION                           Butler, PA, USA

T/R:                                        Hunnah

TEACHER:                            TEACHER

TOPIC:

There is Always Work

 

TEACHER:    I would like to tell you this evening that waiting for this connection is like waiting to see if you can get the needle threaded. She feels the activity but is not sure who is going to do the greeting. Recently she wrote in her transcript, "This is who the Lord has sent." And it is so with you, for she was not prepared to have guests this evening and ended up with three.

 

Greetings to you and you. You have traveled a long way! You do yourselves justice by being so loyal it has become part of you, this devotion. It is not just embroidered on the clothes you wear but is in the fibers of your body. You would not consider missing an opportunity to join the invisible carriers of justice. You like that? I chose the word "justice" because Hunnah's friend has been observing what so-called an attempt to bring justice.

 

Your planet keeps you very busy. There are many who live in the dark. But tonight we are interested in those who respond to the light. You see, a smile is similar to a red light on a machine that says that it is in working order. This smile, it is not her natural smile. There is a slight tension, like Howdy Dowdy. You did not know I had a sense of humor, did you? You do not even know who you are talking to. And I'm not going to tell you because, like her transcript said in the past, "This is whom the Lord has sent."

 

And the very fact that you are together and that you have joined us, the many that are here in this studio, merge with you in good will. We hope to bring fresh supplies and renew you in your purpose and assist in refining your ability to understand the many messages that come to you silently and mentally, that pop up and give you something to think about, new interpretations, new belief in yourself, courage to go beyond the familiar routine.

 

We eavesdropped this evening. It was recorded that you talked about employment, and it was just this evening that Hunnah stopped to see a friend who is not employed at present. To be employed is to be alive. You are never to pass up an opportunity to express your uniqueness of your individual personalities or to share the gifts of light that are being established in you. There is work for everyone if they can get over the idea that they are only supposed to work in a particular arena. There is work with satisfaction and dignity, work that will lend usefulness. You can lift your heads with pride.

 

Regardless of a person's abilities, there are employment possibilities available to them. And as you remain focused and committed to the higher course, doors will open, so to speak, and without having to stress yourself, something will come up. Plan on it, and it will not be a burden but a pleasure. It will give you something to talk about. You will have the strength to perform the duty and you will have the savvy to do it well. There is always work. Do not be concerned.

 

It is not always easy to be appropriate. There are some who find work because they cannot tolerate being dis-empowered; they have to have something to do. But I am speaking of service, and employment with dignity that is an inner commitment. Doing a job well and working in harmony with your brother is certainly honorable enough.

 

And then, of course, there is always time to play, and play comes when you least expect it. It can be very spontaneous. It does not have to be something you do every Wednesday night. Beware of ritual. It is tedious.

 

So, how about that. I have given my opinion, like a regular Joe, but you know that it contains living permission to go forth and allow yourselves to add this to an ever expanding consciousness, to add this opportunity. You are both very generous and kind and loyal. Would you not want to employ someone who has these qualities? Indeed. And you will be able to meet the requirements of those who would want you to be employed.

 

It sounds as if I’m telling you to go out and get a job. That is one way to look at it, but I would prefer that you say that you think of this talk as being the road and add a new experience to your venture. Bring your delicious fatigue home and talk about your day. Observe your fellowman at your side. Comfort and encourage them. They may not have developed the depth of living as you have and it will be an opportunity to hear yourselves to speak the words of encouragement. You will step out of being shy or self-conscious. That is behind you. This is a new expression of life that you have and it is time to release it.

 

There is an analogy here that I am giving my T/R. Taking an animal that has been repaired, brought back to health, and taken to its habitat. Great care, concern, has gone into the treatment, into this animal that has been injured, and watching it become strong and confident, so that it can return to its environment and natural habitat is most gratifying. Liken yourselves, all of you, to having been rifled and rescued from the quagmire of confusion on your earth and from the restraints of your family and community and their outmoded thinking.

 

Think of yourself as having been lifted up high, into a nest, for recuperation, right food, clearing of the mind and the releasing of the terror of the prior experience and you are rejuvenated. You are brought to a place where you can safely soar and go about your mission. You do not have to die and be recycled and come back again. This is an on­going experience. Let us say to be done with yesterday is to have died, and today, to be lifted up into the uplifting winds of a renewed consciousness and a new experience is a new life. Every day you have a new life. Every day you go to bed and you close your eyes and you disappear into the depths of the unknown, but there is enough memory in you to allow you to continue and to hear your new direction.

 

I hope that you will listen to this little analogy more than one time and that you will be able to be encouraged by this talk this evening that Hunnah had, before she came home tonight; someone had to be reminded that they had been renewed and were ready to start up again, that their little hiatus from the upset in their life had come to a closure and that it was time to get on with it, and it is the same here. Hunnah can apply this message in her own way. It is a message -- one size fits all. If a person hears this and they are already employed, let them take that day and apply it freshly, as if they had not been employed before. Let their challenge be to keep it fresh and alive and not to slack off.

 

I have enjoyed having this opportunity. You were faithful. You allowed yourself to come at the chance of having a gathering and you received what you hoped you would have. Is there anything special on your mind that I might help you with?

 

Leah:              Your words have been uplifting and inspiring. Beautiful.

 

TEACHER:    Once again I am reminded of your voice. How many times, Leah, have you been told to share your voice? It is special. We are so used to yourselves that you do not realize that you are carrying a bag of gold. Allow yourself to be open to the use of this beautiful voice. The cadence, the tenderness, the hope that it contains. The compassion. Newly developing and anchoring of strength and competence. Share it with the world. Even if you were packing groceries and you said, "Would you like me to put them in two bags instead of one?" they would hear your voice. It would resonate. Unbeknownst to them, they would be nourished.

 

And my dear friend, Evangel. You are stepping out from underneath a mantle of doubt and weight. You have been very patient and have not given up hope for the unknown to become something useful that would become appropriate for someone like yourself. If it is possible, allow it to happen. It's sort of like Christmas, you know. There is something for everyone. Do what you know how to do. That is the advice that Hunnah received from a teacher. Do what you do best. Don't burden yourself unnecessarily and if something comes along and piques your interest, something that has been recorded in you so long ago that you don't remember that you really care about it, it will come forth and let itself be known. Remember the hardships you carry are simply a picturing of ancient memories, but we are talking about a new life in Christ and that has to remain your focus.

 

Would you believe we received our little chat after all?

 

Leah:               Thank you. Very inspirational, too.

TEACHER:   Let me hear a confident statement from you, Evangel. I am your confidant.

Evangel:         I don't know what to say but I appreciate hearing what you have to say.

 

TEACHER:    You have traveled at lot. All you have to do is break the routine. You have been here many times. Do not be afraid to break the routine. It might be just the ticket. Supposing you decided to take a road and you got down it a little ways and you decided, "This isn't all that I thought it would be." It is all right to turn back and do something else. It is always all right to change your mind. There really are no wrong answers or decisions. It's simply that you allow yourself to relate to the situation you are in and if you don't like it and you don't see an apparent feeling that you do not have to stay with it, then leave and do something different.

 

Shall we be quiet? (Stillness) This silence is not unlike a transfusion of living waters. Your little group has been reluctant to allow itself to be stilled. In the upcoming talks, we will ask Merium or whoever is participating in the evening's affair, to allow yourselves, as a group, to be powerfully uplifted, a unified spirit, that you might be expanded and taught. You see, we are not willing to join the actors human. Man in your realm are accustomed to being entertained or entertaining. We are going to give you an opportunity to be stilled. It will be effortless ...

 

Thank you for coming.

 

Leah:              Thank you.

TEAC HER:   My blessings will remain with you.

 

*****

 

DATE:                                    June 29, 1999

LOCATION:                          Butler PA. USA

T/R:                                        Gerdean

TEACHERS:                          JUBAL, MERIUM, GORMAN

Group:                                    Leah, Thoroah, Evangel and Gerdean

TOPIC:          

JUBAL Discusses Righteousness

 

JUBAL:          Greetings.

Group:            Greetings.

 

JUBAL:          My name is Jubal. Thank you for your greeting. I am a visiting teacher. There are many here in my presence in this realm this evening besides yourselves. My friends, I am going to speak to you regarding righteousness.

 

Yes, you are challenged to be righteous and to be righteous in your arena. It is easy to be righteous in the presence of God. In the presence of God you are without guile, without demeanor, but when you confront your fellow creatures, you can only maintain your righteousness when and as you allow yourself to remain true to your Source.

 

Righteousness is recognized before you open your mouth to speak. Your righteousness is represented in your very presence, in your energy, in your being. To be challenged to manifest righteousness is to encourage you to be good. To recognize greatness. Not of yourself, but of your expression of that which brings reality to you.

 

People fear righteousness, therefore they will try to inveigle your support against righteousness. Then you will seek to be fraternal and allow this lapse of righteousness because you are imperfect in your understanding of each other. It is necessary that you understand each other in order for you to know love between you. Understanding invites righteousness.

 

Communication is more than art; it is potential worship. Your goal in communication ought to be communion. In attempting to understand each other, often, too often, you resort to a practice of intellectually assimilating facts and reactions as to who you are dealing with; allowing you to become victim to self-righteousness, for in this intellectualizing there is comparison. It is imperfect communication. It lacks the quality of righteousness that will perceive the righteousness factor in the other person, thus elevating your bond to true fraternity. A good choice. A good experience for me, for which I thank you.  Good evening.

 

Group:            Thank you.

 

MERIUM:     I am Merium, waltzing around now to lighten up your atmosphere. You do love to hear the Wagnerian tones of our male baritones. Well now it is time for my lilting coloratura.

 

There are great waves crashing on the shore of your world, great cleansing waves of the living water. Let's lie back in our pillows for a moment, children, and listen to the waves. Let yourself taste the salt air, feel the cool damp breeze, smell the saline solution, hear the treetops whisper in the breeze and behold the starry heavens a-twinkle with destiny -- universes upon universes, all calling forth the divine injunction to be perfect.

 

Allow yourself to feel the residue warmth of the day's sun still hugging the sandy shore. Sink into the dune of warmth. Beloved little ones, as you lie hushed in this paradise, at peace with yourself and in your world, you ARE perfect.

 

I invite you to come back to the beach with me often and soon. We can lie here together and look up at the stars and contemplate that which we have already known and that which we speculate will come in its turn, understanding our connection to divinity and realizing in our heart how mighty is our God who holds the universe in his loving hand. Rest gently, little children.  Be at peace.

 

GORMAN:    Gorman here.

Group:            Good evening, Gorman.

 

GORMAN:    How are you all this evening? Are you up to a mini-board meeting, or are you crashed on the beach with the waves? What's going on?

 

Thoroah:         About this time every night I start crashing on whatever the nearest beach is. My mind starts going south.

 

Leah:              I love the beach.

Evangel:         That was a beautiful little story, or picturization, that Merium gave.

 

GORMAN:    Yes, she set you up. I daresay each of us in our own time are given an opportunity to present a sliver of reality for you to partake of and enjoy. I am as laid back as you are and so I will not require any Agenda. I think you are all doing well in adapting yourselves to the immanent circumstances on hand and again pushing through the shell into a real ... chicken.

 

Leah:              [Laughter] I thought you were going to say a "hermit crab."

 

GORMAN:    I thought it better than "fowl". Anyway, I am going to check out. It's early yet, but I am a night crawler, so I'll crawl over and see if there is anyone else who has their light on that I might mess with for awhile.

 

Thoroah:         Can I ask you a question before you go?

GORMAN:    Certainly.

 

Thoroah:         I have a tendency, I believe, to think that the Urantia Book tells it all, and by that I mean I think that -- thinking that everything is contained in the Urantia Book, but I just had the thought recently that there might be a lot of things going on in and around us that the Urantia Book hasn't even mentioned. Is that a possibility?

 

GORMAN:    It is a possibility indeed! In fact, it was a major consideration of what all to include and what not to include in the revelation and the obviousness of that which has been overlooked is inherent in your question, and yet we feel in the main that the specificities of interest are sufficient to keep you working on -- what you can while respecting that speculation goes on throughout the universe, and so it is true that there is no one source that has all the answers, but it was decided what would be included for your benefit now and it has been made so.

 

Thoroah:         Sufficiently so.

 

GORMAN:    Sufficiently so. At least for a while. You know enough about our new direction that you have fuel for your journey.

 

Thoroah:         It's a launching pad, for sure.

 

GORMAN:    Yes, and in faith you can anticipate that if you remain true to the fundamental precepts of the text and observe the religious life of Jesus, you will be able to discern, through your understanding and through the auspices of the Spirit of Truth, enough that you will be able to enhance your realm by and through your very existence, which is a full-scale, forward motion operative.

 

You can appreciate other's efforts as well, bearing in mind that framework of knowledge that you have been exposed to and believe in. Experientially, you will advance -- and have been -- even without having read the Book, it is a time in your planetary history for advancement and because of the times themselves you will be catapulted into light and life, but you have the advantage of having the intellectual peace of knowing what is going on to a greater extent than many, even though experientially, they are on a par with you -- as far as THAT'S concerned. You see?

 

Thoroah:         Yes.

GORMAN:   Have I addressed your question?

 

Thoroah:         Yes, you have. There is just so many things going on that I'm curious. It's almost investigating, trying to put everything in its proper perspective.

 

GORMAN:    Remember that "moderation eventuates in charm."

Thoroah:         [Chuckling] Yes.

GORMAN:    Well, my charming companions. Are there other questions?

 

Leah:              I was wondering if what Jubal was talking about was the same as perversity. That ... what did he call it? When others finagle their standing …

 

GORMAN:    Well, no. I am certain he was not discussing perversity, but rather righteousness, and there is, I say laughingly, a big difference.

 

Leah:              Oh, I realize that.  But he was talking about how others can take you away from righteousness and you become fraternal …

 

GORMAN:    Yes.

Leah:              …and I was wondering if ...

GORMAN:    Yes, that is an indication of perversity, indeed.

Leah:              That's what I was asking about.

GORMAN:    Yes.

Leah:              I do realize they are two different things.

 

GORMAN:    Of course you do. Also, I understand in your conversation earlier you had some question, Evangel, about self-acting adjusters. Has that been clarified in the reading?

 

Evangel:         Yes. Still, even after reading that I am still curious as to what kind of Adjusters we have. I doubt it very much if you would be willing to tell us that.

 

GORMAN:    I am not privy to classification, only able to observe their behaviors to the extent of my own development. I have been aware of some of those nightly escapades, but only because I am aware of the energy movements. I cannot discern when one has gone from you, but assuredly I am not into disturbing your sleep so it would not come to my attention.

 

Leah:              But if the Adjuster is on a leave that usually happens when we are asleep, right? So we're not REALLY on our own.

 

GORMAN:    You are resting and in complete safety.

Leah:              They wouldn't leave us in a conscious state, would they?

GORMAN:    No.

Leah:              I was just wondering, when we read that.

 

GORMAN:    If they do temporarily detach, it will be under the circumstances that will not allow for you to be aware of their absence, lest you experience a sense of cosmic abandonment or spiritual isolation which is unnecessary.

 

Thoroah:         That's just good manners.

GORMAN:    Indeed.  The ultimate consideration.

 

Leah:              It's terrible what I forget about. I say in my head, "Father in heaven" and I forget about the Adjuster within you.

 

GORMAN:    You have a good exercise ahead of you then, for in this way you will be able to personalize that far-away God as an element of your own reality. You will have more fun than the amusement park. What a great idea, in fact, paralleling the religious life to an amusement park! Can't you just imagine the House of Laughs and the House of Horrors? And those rides where you hang upside down? Don't you just feel sometimes like it is an amuse­ment park being a human being? Being dunked into cold water? Oh, boy! Well, I guess I will withdraw.

 

Leah:              Thank you, Gorman.

 

GORMAN:    It is an honor to be your friend. I have been given the job here of signing off for the entire assemblage. The important thing they want me to convey to you is that your loyalty, your faithfulness in attending your meetings, wherein you will be made aware of your relationship with the spirit companions and heavenly helpers, is a great benefit to you. In the long run, it benefits us all. We take great delight in your righteousness. See you later. Bye.

 

Group:            Thank you, Gorman.  Bye.

 

*****

 

DATE:                                    July 27, 1999

LOCATION:                          Butler, PA, USA

T/R:                                        Gerdean

TEACHERS:                          MERIUM

TOPIC:

Anticipation

 

MERIUM:      Good evening, dear hearts. This is Merium. It is good to be here with you and to be allotted this opportunity to be your companion, friend and teacher. This evening I would like to share with you and experience with you a state of anticipation in-as-much as it is clear that a state of anticipation is coming upon you as it is coming upon all who allow themselves this festive sense of goodness in the near future.

 

The teachers have often talked to you about being in the present, being aware of Now rather than living in the past or in the future, and I am not discouraging you from remaining in the present tense but, while within the constraints and comforts of your present time, you can carry with you a sense of anticipation that gives great expectation of good things to come in the very near future, even in the continuing moments, one after the other, on into Paradise.

 

This sense of anticipation is enabled when you allow yourself the joy of childlike faith. Children wake each morning with a sense of adventure. Their slate is clean, and even when they have a certain amount of structure (which is good for children) they still anticipate the adventures that will come upon them, even within the limitations set down. They have not become accustomed to routine. They have not been jaded or embittered by the waters of sorrow. They are not cynical about humanity but remain fresh and educate-able. They look forward to each day with glee, as if it were a package to be opened, a gift of life to be enjoyed one moment at a time.

 

This sense of joyful anticipation is a wondrous and childlike place wherein to reside. Anticipation is the antithesis of anxiety, and this is one of the reasons you are encouraged to abandon anxiety for it cuts into your own joy, your own happiness, and your own anticipation for that which is true, beautiful and good. Thus when you find yourself courting anxiety, alert yourself to your mental propensity and turn it around to bring in the quality of anticipation, for that assumes that good will be the result of tomorrow, not dread, not something to fear, but something to cherish.

 

Look back upon your experiences in your faith path and testify to yourself that your experiences have brought only good, even those experiences which may have been difficult for you have reaped rewards of greater happiness, greater wisdom, greater appreciation for the Father and his plan for you. When you can begin to logically tell yourself that joy is allowed, is appropriate, that anticipation is a part of the challenge of facing each day as a new adventure in your faith path, then you can also reconfirm for yourself the value of sustaining your attitude of appreciation for life in general and this will contribute much to your ability then to opt for anticipation over worry and anxiety.

 

There is an element of spiritual reality in anticipation alike faith. You could anticipate the worst, but why, when the fruits of your anticipated joy is more fruitful? It is a hard lesson for you to learn, perhaps, but it is not impossible, and so when you are in a state of anticipation, allow yourself to further and foster that attitude into the very fibers of your existence, so that each day is fresh, each encounter is new, so that each approach is its own original and unique opportunity to present the Father and to see His wondrous works. Thus you will behold His wondrous works in your life on a constant basis. It is along the lines of the Master's admonition to be of good cheer, and so I say to you, "be of good cheer."

 

What can I do for you this evening, little ones? How have you been? (Long pause)

 

Evangel:         Okay.

MERIUM:     You sound a little sulky. Are you not anticipating good things?

Evangel:         You mean about the convention? Or life?

MERIUM:     In general.

 

Evangel:         Well, there is a little piece of me that feels the anticipation of goodness, but I am mostly overwhelmed with worry, and wondering if I can even make it through. I mean, I always get weirded out.

 

MERIUM:      "Weirded out."

Evangel:         Yep.

 

MERIUM:     You always get weirded out. Well, there indeed is a challenge for you, and one which you may adjust in your mind as a state of angst or a state of excitement. Indeed it is possible for you to continue to maintain your worry, whereupon you will likely reinforce your need to worry with justification for why you worried in the first place; or you may say, "I have always weirded out and I will continue to be my own weird self. I will continue to be me and I will continue to have encounters with individuals which spark interest and even conflict, but I am in full understanding of my place in Father's house and I, as His son, am welcome at His table."

 

Have you considered, dear one, that you might be the anchovy on the pizza? That you might be the hot pink on the pastel palette? You are your own person. You are not and never will be alike in many regards. Indeed, your personality is such that you will see to it that you weird out as many people as you feel you can. And so this is a part of the tightrope of excitement that you choose to walk in your life that will lend interest and challenge to those you contact.

 

Indeed, your very appearance and your personality manifestations are geared to evangelize the brilliance of the light, and so you will blind some by your light, my friend, and they may throw up their hands to cover their eyes. You cannot blame them! But you can understand them, in-as-much as you yourself have now attained the understanding, the wisdom of my words and of your own behavior such that you fully appreciate what effect you have on others as well as what effect they potentially have on you.

 

And you are strong, Evangel. You know whereof you speak. You are a gilded lily, a beautiful child of God who has the authority of your own experience and your own faith. Be at peace in your heart and enjoy yourself! You yourself are complete and replete as a child of God and whether or not you encounter support or adversity is irrelevant, in-as-much as you have within you that quality, those qualities which will enable you, by your own wisdom and strength and fortitude to prevail, even in the face of affliction. And so don't worry, but be anticipatory of the adventures and the new associates you will meet and the old friends you will embrace. Look upon it as a field trip with your classmates, for many of the things that you will see will surely appear to you to be from someone's science project, but that can be amusing and entertaining. If it is NOT entertaining, then turn the page and visit another classroom or another set of circumstances.

 

Under no circumstances ought you let the vagaries of an assemblage of believers bring you dismay for they are only people. They are only human. And they will err. It is your challenge, my son, and I KNOW that you have the character and the qualities of mind and spirit to make it happen, that you can maintain your appropriate equilibrium as you pass by.

 

Which is not to say that you will not have your own observations and which is not to say that given the sanctity of a select group of peers, you cannot discuss with them your reactions and responses of those who you find to be offensive or dull or peculiar or brilliant as the case may be, but it is not necessarily your job to encounter those folk and attempt to assimilate them and their understanding of their reality into your consciousness, no. You are your own consciousness.

 

Evangel:         Thank you. I feel better.

 

MERIUM:     I anticipate that you will have a wonderful time and have many memorable observations of your kin, and what an assortment of kin they are indeed! Even among fellow believers there are variations and differences of a dramatic order. The more conservative and fundamental as compared to the radicals and liberals, the young and old in mind and body and spirit, all sorts of people will be there, but remember this:

 

No matter what their backgrounds, no matter what their modus operandi, no matter how they go about doing the Father's will as they perceive it, they are indeed all children of the Father, and the Father loves them each one, and you may count on this as well:

 

Each one is indwelt by the Father and therefore each one, to the extent they that spend time in converse and communion with the Father, love him also. And so each of these people that you will encounter are involved in a personal relationship with Our Father, even though you may not understand it, even thought they themselves may not understand it; just like they may not understand you and they may not understand your relationship with Our Father, they know that you have one and that He loves you and that He loves them as well.

 

This is the important thing. Love conquers all, after all. If you can remember to love them, no matter what. Even if you don't like them, if you can remember that they are loveable because of their relationship to divinity, it will help you to get over those hurdles of misunderstanding that give rise to feelings of separation and alienation. You have a great deal to offer these people, your brothers and sisters. Never forget that, Evangel. You have a great deal to give.

 

Evangel:         Thank you. (Long pause)

 

MERIUM:     The last time we sat so quietly together was when we went to the beach. Do you remember?

 

Leah & Evangel:        Yes.

 

MERIUM:     Well, let's go today into the woods. Let's go deep into the forest. Have you got your hiking boots on? Pull up your socks and adjust your canteen and your back pack. Grab your walking stick and come with me, surefooted, up this trail. We'll do a little hike and then we'll sit and rest. While we walk we can contemplate the feel of the earth under our feet. That way, we will become stabilized in our upward trudge.

 

It takes a while to get the pace. It takes a few minutes to get your body in tune with your mind's eye and its purpose of hiking uphill, as it requires an exertion, and in order for you to be able to meet the requirements of your own will choice, you need to adjust your circuits accordingly. As I talk, I know you have been walking. We are putting one foot in front of the other on the trail which has been walked before by many.

 

Along the side of this path are the grasses and weeds, possibly some small stones here and there, and as we walk, the legs become accustomed and say, "Okay, I can do this. Not too fast, not too hard, but I can do this." And so we do and we go up and we begin to breathe. We go up and we feel that we are breathing a little more vigorously because of the steady uphill trudge, and the lungs are unaccustomed to the exertion, but in due time they, too, say, "Oh, wow! Oxygen! Okay, I can deal with that!" and so the oxygen now is allowed to flow into the lungs, into the blood, and is circulating through the body so that the entire body and mind now begin to feel better, stronger, more vigorous.

 

Let's stop for just a second, but not for long. Don't sit down. Just turn around and look back and see how far we've come. Look down there over the treetops to the valley. I can see the houses in the village where we began. I can see the cars, but I can hardly hear them now. What can I hear? I can hear the winds in the trees and the birds -- I can hear the distant noise, but nothing so specific as it lays claim to me.

 

Okay. Another thing I can hear is my heart beating. I can hear my heart beating and I can hear myself breathing. I am in tune with the hill. I am in tune with the upward trudge. So come now and come with me for awhile longer. Are you still with me?

 

Leah:              Yeah.

 

MERIUM:      As we walk, it is also possible to fall silent and know that you are in a progressive mode together. Even when you don't talk, when you are doing something together, you can pick up on the mutual energy that is being invested in the experience and you know that you are not alone. And so let us put one foot in front of the other and listen to the wind and listen to our own breathing, and listen to our heart beat, and listen to our feet fall upon the path.

 

Occasionally, perhaps, our foot will slide on the pebbles or crunch upon a stick and this is part of the association we have with the earth, with the temporal life. Let us continue and go further. We are almost at the top. Ahead now, as we anticipate the summit of our effort, we can look up and see the sky ahead. It is radiating energy. All of our own energy has been contributing to the greater energy of the universe, and so that which we see in the sky is suddenly something we can identify with as belong to us and us belonging to it. The sky is beautiful and clear. No matter if there are clouds or threatening storms, it is vibrant and we are part of it.

 

There are birds. Do you see the birds flying high? One at a time, perhaps, or two in company with each other. And in season it is possible to observe full flocks of birds en route to their summer home or their winter home.   Always is it possible to identify with other life as we invest ourselves in the exercise of finding value and identification with life.

 

Yes, our hearts are pounding and our mouths are dry. Our ears are ringing and our legs are beginning to ache from the effort, but we find ourselves one - two - three - at the very top. At the very top! And so now we can set down our gear and look at our sojourn. How far we have come! From here we can see the whole of the world, it seems. From here we have conquered. There is no higher place. This is a plateau that we have earned.

 

Let us sit. Let us sit, now, and feel the breeze on our face, have a sip of water. Feel the sweat dry upon the skin as you come to rest upon this pinnacle of creation. This experience of climbing a hill is like climbing from one level of reality to another. There is effort, but there is reward. It is a simple matter of allowing your will to lift you, one foot at a time, up the challenge made comfortably by your identification with your task, with your goal, and with your associates on your sojourn.

 

From here we can sit and watch the sun as it stretches into the west and observe the sunset as the sky becomes a blaze of color, as the stars begin to twinkle, and as we unroll our bedroll for our night's rest on this mountaintop, we can give thanks for the experience of the climb and for the view from this ascent.  Rest, then, with me on the hilltop, and breathe deep the cool summer air and feel the presence of starlight upon your face.  What a treat for me, to be able to tell a story!  (A brief recess)

 

I am here. Merium. And we have been enjoying our evening with you but you don't seem to be very "here." Are you all in anticipation of something or what? I am not certain where to go, having told a story and given a lesson. I will ask, are there any questions?  (Another long silence)

 

Leah:              I don't have a question, but I was just surmising that we were anticipating Thoroah's coming in the door.

 

MERIUM:     I see. I think then perhaps we could go off record until he arrives which indeed shall be soon. Perhaps he will want to engage us in something, and so let's prepare for our phase two, should there be one. We'll not go away. We'll observe your evening. Come again.

 

Leah:              Thank you. (Another brief recess)

MERIUM:     This is Merium. I wanted to say hello to Thoroah.

Thoroah:         Hi.

 

MERIUM:     It is nice to be able to call you by your name. That is to say a name that is befitting a man of your stature. Well, I will not say that your given name is not a wonderful name, but it is a temporal name and you are more than temporal, and so we delight to know you now in broader terms.

 

We've been having fun this evening. I have been having fun, certainly. I have had the entire dance floor to myself and I have done several waltzes around the floor. We do not have a participatory group this evening. I have been doing a solo act. And our friends in the wings are not rushing to come out and take over, so we are having an easy go this evening.

 

Thoroah:         Okay.

 

MERIUM:     Indeed, we got a late start, in-as-much as it was fun to visit and fun to watch you all visit in anticipation of your upcoming sojourn into the morontia-like atmosphere of IC99 and its incumbent festivities, but we are basically finished for the evening with the exception of any questions, which there weren't any, but we thought we'd ask you, since you're here now, if you have anything you wanted to discuss while we were scheduled and on-line.

 

Thoroah:         Well, I did want to thank you for fluffing the pillows last week.

MERIUM:     The feathers are still flying!

Thoroah:         Absolutely.

 

MERIUM:      I do want you to be comfortable, dear. There are those who think my mannerisms are affected; however, I feel it important to recognize your humanness and appreciate your reality level as it is, and not just as it can be and will be.  You are indeed still suckling babes, and need ministration, so I have no difficulty applying those ministrations to you for God knows there are opportunities and challenges abounding, which allow for you to strive and stress yourselves into greater application and greater acceptance of greater reality.

 

Well, that takes effort, and although I do not begrudge the effort involved in our ascent, I like to also appreciate that which is, that which gets sore feet, that which gets a headache, that which needs a boost, that which could use a tissue on which to blow the nose. These are a part of what make you real and precious. It is not just your soul that is dear to us, but you as people, as individuals, are also amusing and we have great affection for you, and so fluffing your pillows is the least I can do. I draw the line, however, when it comes to changing diapers.

 

You will and have set a noble example, Gerdean and Thoroah, to your neighbors in your community as to your mature choice, for being young sophisticates of your day and age, you would have done as well to be roommates ad infinitum, for truly your bonding has been replete in the emotional and spiritual realms which provide comfort and peace in your association, but by opting to abide by the adult traditions of your realm, you have shown support for those values which constitute the ennoblement of the home and family life.

 

Your decision will reflect well upon yourselves as a mature couple, abiding by the highest standards of your world while working for the noble goals of the greater realm of the Kingdom.  Our hat is off to you for your decision, and you may be assured of our continued association and counsel in the many and significant joys and challenges which lie ahead for you both as individuals and as a couple and as progressive workers in the field.  And you just thought I was looking for an excuse to party!

 

Thoroah:         Well, I have a new appreciation for your perspective. You ran down a litany of things, and sometimes when I get up in the morning, although I don't let it get me down like it used to, when I had a headache or an ache or something and I feel like, "Oh, this physicality is killing me!” I'm glad you have an appreciation for that.

 

MERIUM:     Surely. I have been human myself, you know, and not only have I been human, so has our Master, and he has reminded us on a number of occasions about the fact of the body and its function and pleasure. It's not to be overlooked.

 

Thoroah:         No, it isn't, and we do that sometimes.

 

MERIUM:     I will grant you the understanding of the hour and allow you to regard my closing remarks as a lullaby that will allow for you to sleep deep and have sweet dreams. Remember to say your prayers.

 

Remember when you find arbitrariness in your life to seek counsel from the spirit within, for that within will guide you in all your ways, will help you find the attitude, will help you find the words, will indeed speak those words with divine love around it, that those words will be heard, will fall on fertile soil, will give rise to new growth, new shoots, new fruits.  Be at peace. Goodnight.

 

Group:            Good night, Merium. Thank you.

 

*****

 

DATE:                        August 3, 1999

LOCATION:              Butler, PA, USA

T/R:                            Gerdean

TEACHERS:              TOMAS         

Group:                        Leah, Evangel, Gerdean and Thoroah

TOPIC:

Empathy

 

TOMAS:        Good evening. I am Tomas, your teacher.

Leah:              Good evening, Tomas.

Thoroah:         Hi, again, Tomas.

 

TOMAS:        It is wonderful to be back again with you all in this familiar configuration. We have been long apart from one another, we who are intimate friends. What busy lives we lead in the Father's Kingdom -- dynamic, exciting, fulfilling, satisfying days of our lives. A fine assortment of agondonters, you are. Each individually grappling with your own growth, your own faith, fears, challenges, opportunities and how wonderful it is to see you recognize one another as brethren, as fellow faithers, for in this way you support your belief your faith is enhanced because you have a soul connection with your fellows, kindred spirits.

 

This association between believers is a divine fellowship. It is based upon the fact that Father is our God. Our Father is God! Our very existence is as a result of the love of God. God is love. When you see God reflected, even feebly, in the souls of your brethren, you have seen Him. We yearn for Him, yet we fear Him. We are in awe of Him but we rejoice in Him as well. These are qualities a creature feels for his Creator. All of you, who have associations with other believers alike, enjoy this recognition of reality in one another.

 

You have this knowledge, those of you who have the knowledge of the Lord. Sharing the inner life is Godlike. How can it not be Godlike, for the inner life is God itself. Allow yourself to grow into yourself, your own potential

 

You are in awe of yourselves and your potential. You fear your own greatness. Fear not. But rather allow the hand of God to mold you, to sculpt you into the reflection of His glory that will be your destiny gift in return to Him for the life he has given you. You rejoice in yourself. Rejoice in yourself for you are a child of God. With feet of clay, you will rise above the swamp. You will ascend the mountain to the mountaintop. You will attain the pinnacle of perfection established for you, and you will do all this with willingness and vigor. Rejoice.

 

I was going to talk to you a little bit about empathy this evening, for it was clear in your earlier dialog with one another that you were empathic.

 

Leah:              Empathic?

 

TOMAS:        Empathic. Empathetic. Empathy is an emotional tool that may be used, that you may employ in fishing. In seeking to fish for sons of God in the pool of your arena, empathy can be a powerful building-block for trust, but it can also be a quicksand that drown you, and you will find your teaching ineffectual from a drowned perspective. Therefore it behooves you to understand the quality of empathy.

 

There are certain values that can and should and need to be shared, appreciated, recognized, supported, befriended; but there are also empathetic situations that will lead directly to trouble. Yes, I know Jesus said that you would be led into trouble if you followed Him. He did not say that every time you get into trouble it is His fault.

 

I believe you have a song or a film "Sympathy for the Devil". This is another look at the topic of empathy; the other side of the coin, perhaps. Being empathetic with evil because you yourself are evil, is a slothful technique of enduring the adage, "Misery loves company." There is no edification in this type of communion. I defile the word "communion" by using it in that context.

 

The Master, when he went fishing for souls, was compassionate, but he managed, with his infinitely perfect manner, to bequeath his fish with live bait such that it was smitten at once with the piercing truth of the matter. This piercing truth is not a painful experience. When your heart is pierced with divine truth, sublime beauty and infinite goodness, the tears you shed are tears of joy!

 

Empathy. An association of invaluable sharing or a dreadful waste of time, depending upon your fishing skills, and so cast into the waters and observe your technique in empathy and ascertain if it is reflective of Father's will or of a lesser will. That will be your exercise when you are of a mind to apply yourself to the lesson.

 

Are there questions of me this evening, or of any of our crew of celestial helpers?

 

Evangel:         I have a question.

TOMAS:        Evangel, my son. How good it is to hear your resonant voice.

 

Evangel:         Thank you. I doubt it if you'll answer it because I've learned through the past that, being a student of Andrea, that these questions are often not answered, but I want to know if you would be willing to tell us if what we call walk-ins are real, and not just if they are possible but that they actually happen on this planet, and what I understand of what a walk-in is supposed to be is if a human who for whatever reason like illness or some reason decides they don't want to live any longer, give up their body to another personality, a spirit, and that spirit regenerates the body or whatever and becomes like a teacher living in a human body. Would you like to comment about that?

 

TOMAS:        I would. Thank you for your recitation, and I have an initial response for you before I answer your question. My son, how many times you have approached me, albeit reluctantly, with a question, only to preface it by saying, "I doubt that you will answer my question." Now, what does this tell me about you? What does this tell you about you? What does this tell you about me?

 

Do you feel that I am not your teacher? Or that you cannot be taught? Or that I am going to allow you to figure it out for yourself, as a challenge or as an exercise? Or that you are not worthy of receiving a straight answer? Or any number of plausibility’s that belie the good faith relationship that you and I have shared for many years now?

 

Evangel:         Well, it's been my experience that when I ask these kind of questions -- you might want to call them curiosity questions -- that I don't often get any direct answer.

 

TOMAS:        Unfortunately I must be direct in my answer, for it is a sincere question. I feel it from you, and it is not necessarily a curiosity question, although I will say that I find the question curiously human in origin.

 

I have heard of and observed the life-style and mental machinations and belief systems of these individuals (many of them; there are charlatans among everyone), I have seen them undergo great transformation and attest that they are not the person they once were, that indeed the person who no longer choose to live but opted to leave had indeed died a very real death and was no more. Instead, in their stead, within this human form now resided a being of light, a manifestation of divinity such that could not be compared to the human, the wretched human, that once inhabited that splendid tabernacle. The difference between that person who did NOT know spirit, and the person now who LIVES in the spirit, is so great as to present to their mind an entirely different personality.

 

Now I will follow this up closely on the heels with the word game around the word "rebirth".   Rebirth is a term that would belong to the wretched sinner who opted to die, you see; whereas the new person who lives in the spirit would live within a new word frame, to testify to its new reality, rather than using such a "cliche" as rebirth. But wait. While this individual, these individuals may be displaying a dramatic change in their personal behaviors and attitudes, while they have certainly undergone a life transforming situation, they have been identified in the large by the phrase "walk in" as if they had walked out of their body and another person had walked in.

 

I will ask you to stretch your consciousness, Evangel, to include the concept that could reveal to you their sincerity, their genuineness in believing that they had been replaced by a mischief-making rebel midwayer or other demonic and mischievous spirit that would choose to enter into them against their free will in order to play tricks or to reveal themselves in a way that was not of the nature of the basic, fundamental laws of the universe.

 

The idea to me is repugnant, but as I just reiterated, it does not preclude me from having a loving regard for those individuals who may have identified then- rebirth, their spiritual psychic change, in terms that allow them to forego the past and grasp the future. I disdain such ignorance, but I love the ignorant, for their beauty in devising ways to ascend from the darkness into the light. They are with you, not against you, if you look at it in terms of the spirit, but in terms of the Truth, the process is impossible.  Has that answered?

 

Evangel:         I think so. I'd have to listen to the tape again..

Thoroah:         I thought it did.

 

Evangel:         So what you're saying  -- what I think you're saying, is a transformation, a rebirth, not really a different spirit moving into your body.

 

TOMAS:        An AWARENESS of spirit has come upon the person and altered their life. They are no longer who they once were.

 

Evangel:         Like I am no longer Chuck.

TOMAS:        Precisely.

Evangel:         Okay.

 

TOMAS:        It is a dramatization of their spiritual realizing. Speaking of the tape, how are we fixed for time?

 

Evangel:         We have about five minutes.

TOMAS:        I am becoming better adept at your mechanics.

Evangel:         I'll keep an eye on it.

Leah:              May I make a comment?

TOMAS:        Of course, Leah.

 

Leah:              The -- I could be wrong about this, but -- the individuals that Evangel is talking about... Well, I really cant talk for him, but -- that we have experienced together, don't seem to ... they don't seem to present what's happened to them as anybody being mischievous.

 

TOMAS:        No.

Leah:              They sincerely believe that they've been uplifted.

 

TOMAS:        Of course. My reference to the rebel midwayer or mischief making devil was entirely tongue in cheek (if I may use that phrase, having neither tongue nor cheek), but the understand of a walk-in came from the days when it was indeed that the medium (not to be confused with a transmitter/receiver), a medium of seances and contacting the dead, could be invaded by a walk-in, a mischievous spirit, an imp if you will, coming in quickly through the channel, unless the seer closed their channel correctly. All of this is part of your history, your evolution of attaining a recognition of God-consciousness and a self-conscious realization of the interaction of your life with the spirit realms.

 

There are many who find it easier to deny a possibility than to try to wrestle with the myriad variations on the theme. How can you argue that one has more validity than the other if you don't understand the subject well enough to discourse it intelligently. If you deny that it exists, you cannot discourse it intelligently; you cannot convey to the sincere believer an untruth if you cannot attend to him as a fellow religionist, having some degree of empathy for them as a people who have a belief system which is not commonly accepted by the current mores, much like yourselves in this Teacher Mission. Are we family? Or are we not? It is a manner of loving the sinner and hating the sin, loving the believer and hating the unbelief.

 

Leah:              Well, when Jesus spoke with people whose beliefs were untrue or contrary to what he was teaching, didn't he look for the similarities in their beliefs rather than dispel their beliefs?

 

TOMAS:        He had a penchant and he taught his apostles to add truth and that the negative, the untruth, would gradually fall away. Yes, it was a conscious method. But he was also ruthless in revealing iniquity, and so look to the peoples' sincerity. Are they sincere believers? Or are they denying the existence of the Father? Are they denying truth, beauty and goodness as they understand it? Which is all anyone can do when they don't have all the answers. Those of you who have the fifth epochal revelation, who have an understanding of the history ... one moment please. (Tape turned) ... of your world and your spiritual evolution are in a position to allow a transition from one belief system to another by the same loving technique of fishing for men as the Master employed. You can teach your brothers and sisters about the Father but if they and you share an understanding of who the Father is, in the sense that you are brethren in the spirit, that itself will speak more to affirming the truth than a seminar or a panel discussion will do. It is a living thing. Let me not do all the talking.

 

Thoroah:         I've enjoyed it!

 

Leah:              What I'm getting at... it's probably not appropriate to say, "Well, your belief system is screwed up. It says in the Urantia Book or our teacher Tomas told us such and such."

 

TOMAS:        Again I smile at you weak-willed humans. You need to apply your courage to the greater truth and that comes from within. You know love when you find it. It rings true for you, and it is not always found between the pages of a book but is more often found in the revelation that comes to you in your faith path. Your personal experiences allow for you to accept an experience as having brought you into a greater awareness of something. This has nothing to do with going up to someone and saying, "The answer is in that book" or "Someone I know knows the answers." "The other day someone told me the answers. I forget what they are!" Then you have nothing to share, except yourself. And that is a learning experience. It is a sharing experience, and friendship is an end in itself.

 

I'll take you back now to my earlier comments about empathy. Is this empathetic situation increasing your God-consciousness? Or is it pulling you down to where misery loves company? Again, your life has become a living testimony to your faith, a vital link between you and your Creator. Once again you have come to the realization that being a spirit-born, God-led individual is your life. It's the only reality there is. It's what we do; it's what we are; it's what we have; it's what we love. It's what IS.

 

Be all you can be. In being all that you can be, in a genuine sense, in a son of God actual reality sense, your words will find them your message will find them And when they find you as well, when you are found in your brethren, you have become family. All you need do now is not fight about that. What's to fight about? It's not a competition of "my God is bigger than your God." Your God and their God are one!

 

Leah:              Yeah.

 

TOMAS:        Michael has asked that we draw together around Him. He has asked us to come together as a family, to come to Him as little children, that he may speak to us and pause in the administration of a universe to spend time with us. Heed the call, my children. Heed the call.

 

I am going to leave you now. I will send in a substitute teacher for the balance of your session. I love you and look forward to seeing you very soon.

 

Group:            We love you, too, Tomas. Glad to have you back again.

 

GORMAN:    Gorman here.

Thoroah:         It's our substitute teacher!

GORMAN:    Lab assistant is my preferred handle, title.

Thoroah:         Okay.

GORMAN:    I rather like the idea of the white smock.

Thoroah:         We're liable to get into descriptions here.

 

GORMAN:    Well, I have been dealing with some very creative people. I believe it is a  technique that is contagious. Creativity is a wonderful thing to spread. It might help up some of the standardization and mediocrity I encounter.

 

Thoroah:         Yeah.

 

GORMAN:     Well, is everybody ready for the big sojourn? All your shoes are shined and stuff like that?

 

Leah:              Not quite!

 

Thoroah:         Well, I know someone who has the most important thing -- outside of all the wonderful spiritual stuff -- and that's a wedding dress.

 

GORMAN:     Gerdean has her [wedding] dress, yes. Happiness abounds. Trieste is very happy for her girl child, her sister, is quite pleased with her accomplishment of late and will be glad to reveal her charge to your Parents when you are betrothed in the company of your peers in Vancouver. What a glorious moment for young love, love in the universe, love under the administrative guidance of our local universe Master Son and his Consort. The Adam and Eve Material Son and Daughter influence in this unfolding of greater reality on Urantia since the opening of the circuits is one of the chief delights of the greater universe who watch Urantia with varying degrees of interest, fascination and so forth.

 

The love of lovers is immemorial, but with Our Father at the head of each of these unions, it is truly a crowning glory in the throne of Michael and in his Material Son and Daughter Adam and Eve who preside over us and look after us and impress their influence upon us. We delight in your love as we delight in all manifestations of love and will be tickled to observe your countenance, Thoroah, when you see your beautiful bride. Your love will no doubt ride upon the wind beneath my wings.

 

Thoroah:         I'm looking forward to it, too.

GORMAN:    Well, I am looking forward to autographing a few copies of the Fruits.

Thoroah:         I want to be there!

 

GORMAN:     It is going to be very crowded in the parking lot. It is very nice of them to build us a grandstand from where we can observe the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of interactions that will result in a harvest of fruit. The seed-planting is going to be prolific. What a sharing! Assuredly the effects of this conference will be felt, reverberated around the world, around the globe, several times over. Your spiritual bells will be ringing and you are joined in this celebration by many, many fellow believers of Our Father, even though they may not understand Him as we do.

 

So we'll be watching from the bleachers when it gets too crowded on the ground -- just like you guys.

 

Thoroah:         Along that line, Gorman, we've been talking a lot about this concept of a worldwide day of meditation and prayer, and I know that it has to have influence. I wonder if you can give us a perspective of what it's like to have millions upon millions of Urantians in prayer collectively.

 

GORMAN:    Sure! It's very easy. Picture a blowtorch with the pilot lit and then cranked all the way to the hilt. That's the difference. Now, what's the effect? Aye, there's the rub. The act is ours, the consequences God's, and he will take whatever reality is motivated on that day by whatever method you mortals choose to come together to worship Him, and prepare a grid work on which to build a new platform of reality.

 

In this case, a new millennium is coinciding with a new dispensation and an epochal revelation. Is it any wonder we have said from the beginning that the universe is observing Urantia with great fascination these days! It is a very dramatic unfolding in your evolutionary history, given all the mitigating circumstances.

 

Thoroah:         I think that's what some of us are having trouble accepting the fact that if anybody is like me when I got into the Urantia Book, I had all kinds of visions of all kinds of wonderful things happening to me and then I realized, after I cooled down a little bit that I was dreaming a little bit, that things go a little slower than that, but I think that all of us thought, at one time or another, that we'd like for something really momentous to happen in our lifetime, and it seems that this is going to be a time that's really going to be special to living here when it happens.

 

GORMAN:     Oh, yes. But let me touch a moment on grandiosity. When you were young and isolated, when you were alone and seeking survival, seeking approval, attention and success, when you were immature and sought love, you puffed up your chest in such a way as to draw attention to yourself in order to have your needs met. This is an early technique, but is not necessarily one which equates today when you look back and see what you might have done then is not to say that you behave the same way now.

 

I conceive of you going to this conference not as people who are puffed up by how important they are in terms of your planetary history but rather as participants who are glad to be along for the experience, and let us hope that that is the predominant attitude rather than, "Look at us. Ain't we sumpin^’?" For although it is wonderful to rejoice in yourself, we also want to reserve our highest accolades for He who has made it all possible. In this way we are allowed to maintain perspective on our own manifestation as well as on the various manifestations of the personalities of our sundry peers.

 

Thoroah:         That would be very counter-productive to go in there with that attitude. That would not at all accomplish what we're looking for.

 

GORMAN:    I agree with you. One moment. (Telephone interruption) Well, I'm outta here. I gotta go oversee some more stuff at the warehouse, but I'll still be around in the wings as it were if you need me, as will about a million other spirit helpers, so I’ll talk to you after while. Maybe when you get back. But Merium would like to say something before we sign off for the evening.   Later guys.

 

Thoroah:         After while.

 

MERIUM:     Dear friends. This is Merium. I am satiated. I haven’t heard Tomas hold forth with such fervor for quite some time and he simply bowled me over so I am basking in the glow of his effect on you, which is replete and serene. My little babies are well fed and happy clammy. I am going to send you off to your travels with my good wishes. Here, let me put some coins in your pocket and some lunch in your bag for you because I don't want you to want for anything while you are away. We will of course be there, having been part of this folderol for some time already, but we are also with the home troops, so don't anybody feel abandoned.  Have a wonderful time. I’ll see you out there. Bon voyage and good night.

 

Thoroah:         And thank you for your match-making abilities.

 

*****

 

[End of Vol. IV, Part 12 of 13]