Introduction
Tomas Vol VI 2007 - Rio Rancho, NM - January 01, 2007 thru December 02, 2007 - Part 1 of 1
It is hard for me, Gerdean, the T/R, to see the forest for the trees. It is hard for me to know whether and to what extent the Teachers are real or a figment of my imagination; it is impossible to prove whether the Teaching Mission is a sociological phenomenon sanctioned and supported by celestial government or whether it is a delusion based on wishful thinking. It is hard for me to ascertain if the Teachers are helping us evolve our soul or if we are merely amusing ourselves. It is difficult to say why it becomes reality to some and others drift away. It is hard to know if what I feel after these sessions is genuine soul satisfaction or if it is some kind of psychological addiction. But the people I have come to know in and through the Teaching Mission are uncommonly real to me, and incredibly dear. What we believe we experience may be beyond ordinary description or understanding. But we are real people, with real concerns, looking for real solutions.
RIO RANCHO, NM, USA
VOL. VI, 2007
*****
DATE: January 7, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER: MERIUM and VIRGIL
TOPIC: "The Nalda Syndrome"
Reference: The Urantia Paper 143: Going Through Samaria
Section 5. The Woman of Sychar (pg. 1612-1615)
Prayer: (Men-O-Pah)
"Our Father, we thank you for this beautiful day that you have made. We are privileged to be here together, to walk on this good earth another day. We ask your presence and your guidance. We know that you have said to us that where two or three are gathered together in your name that you would be there, so we ask you to be here with us, to guide our thinking. These things we ask in the name of our Lord, Jesus. Amen."
Group: Amen. Thank you.
Gerdean: Were you going to say something else?
Elena: Well, I was hoping that our starting the year off right includes very much being with Merium and other helpers that we have, and what better way to start it off right -- with them! That's mainly what I wanted to say.
Gerdean: That's very kind.
MERIUM: Hello, hello, my lovely friends. This is Merium.
Group: Hi, Merium!
MERIUM: Let me come in and whisk you away. I know you would sit in the Master's company all day and we wouldn't get anything accomplished. I know He will forgive me for pulling you into focus. What shall we do first? Yes, let's say Happy New Year!
Group: Happy New Year!
MERIUM: Our Christ is born again in your minds and your hearts. Let our spirits rejoice in this new awakening, this new time of beginnings. How wonderful the cycles of nature, provided by our wondrous Creator. The dormancy of winter giving rise to new life, after the big sleep, into the glorious new day. Let us all hope that this year brings new days that provide the basic foundation of the birth of God-consciousness itself, for therein is where we live and move and have our being.
And let's welcome guests, one and all -- to the Father's table, but to our gathering, as well. Wanda, how lovely to meet you in our formal fashion. I hope we don't startle you or embarrass you. It's really a harmless parlor trick that we devise to amuse ourselves in lieu of other engagements on occasional Sunday afternoons. We do tend to socialize overmuch; however, we do nourish ourselves well and have a party such as this with Question and Answer occasionally from the spirit realm, from those unseen places and persons which are here to help uplift us in all ways and keep us in good cheer and in good faith.
I think I know what to talk about today but I'm thinking a visitor may supply the vehicle. I'd like to invite someone in who has not been here, who has not had this experience, so that he can-- Virgil is his name. -- Virgil can have this experience with you this afternoon. Virgil, would you please come in and talk to the group about Nalda, the woman at the well?
VIRGIL: Good afternoon. Yes, I am pleased to have the opportunity to experience this co-creative process of introducing a concept through an entity that you cannot see but must act on faith of its existence and its value. If there is no value to my expression, then I am very forgettable; if, however, there is merit to my words in your heart or your soul or your consciousness in any way that contributes to your enlightenment, then I have become immemorialized by your awareness of me and through our communication.
What has this to do with Nalda? Well, Nalda is the name of the woman at the well. You all know the story of the woman at the well. Anyone here have a passing recognition of the story that would share it?
Men-O-Pah: The woman was at this well, I presume it was the only water supply even close. And Jesus came by that well and he asked her for a drink and she gave him a drink. He said whoever drinks of the living water will never die, and I can give you that water. And this sort of dumbfounded and amazed the woman. But that's about all I remember of the story.
VIRGIL: Thank you. That is a generous retelling. Many of these parables are only assimilated in part, but this is the value of the parable: you hear what you need to hear and later another telling may reveal another meaning altogether. There are other parts to this story of the woman at the well. Are there any other remembrances?
Men-O-Pah: I should add that Jesus remarked that if you drink of the living water you will never thirst again, and I can give that water to you.
Paula: Why any of the prophets in those days ever said to people, you will never die, I can't understand, because of course everybody dies. We're bound to, of course. We're born and we live and then we die.
VIRGIL: There are two different themes here and I have no problem at all with one overlapping the other, for that obviously offers an area for teaching. But yes, the key word is thirst. It will quench the thirst. What I wanted to point out about Nalda is that when the Master spoke to her about the living water, she turned away and looked at yon hill and diverted herself from the issue of being in the presence of divinity, of drinking the cup that was offered her by the Master, as compared to the cup of water that she offered him. (Isn't he brilliant, how he maneuvers his teachings? So creative, in his teaching!) She looked away, as if not to see, and he called her back, pointing out that many people do this when faced with the living reality, divert their view, distract themselves, change the subject, turn the page, for the clarity of the moment is too acute.
Renault: [indistinguishable] because of her class, or rank or something, and that after he talked to her and told her things about herself and her life, he amazed her and she went back into the village to tell all the people about the marvelous man at the well. That's what I remember. She was at the well and he spoke to her and changed her life. And so, in essence, too, it doesn't matter who you are, you are still capable of receiving the Word, whether you are a woman or with this clan or that clan or whatever.
VIRGIL: Let's dwell now on this living water. After we have drunk of it, what does that mean? How is that perceived? How is that realized? What does that do to your life? How does that impact your behavior and your approach? Do you become a teacher and preacher on the street corner? Do you publish works? Or do you have a mind focused on God?
And then what of this, God? Is this God a formulation of your consciousness? One like the bearded God who sits in his chair [throne] with a ledger, perhaps keeping record, keeping score? Or is this God a part of you, such that when you give of yourself, you are as the living water that quenches the thirst of those you meet? Do you provide value and substance and meaning to those you meet?
Or like Nalda, do you skirt the issue and change the subject and talk about the fashion or the weather, politics or religion, and neglect to portray that peace, poise, graciousness, charm of personality, self-forgetfulness, compassion and patience as we understand him to have been, and which we ourselves so long to feel?
God is not in hiding. And yet we often keep Him hidden from others and ourselves because His affect on your consciousness is such that you feel estranged from humanity when you put it into effect, and so you release the connection and relinquish your grasp in order to feel more comfortable with your peers - peers who in their ignorance are more inclined than not to effect harm because of their frame of reference for survival, which is that of the animal in stead of the assurance of eternal life as it has become aware to you through this living water.
Those who know whereof I speak need not compete for attention, nor strive with one another, but rather perceive in each other a reflection of the I AM consciousness that is the fruit of our thirst. How they deprive themselves! They and you when you succumb to the lesser way when the higher way is so available.
We in these invisible realms wonder about you sometimes, but we are told by our teachers who know you better than we, that you do well, that you are indeed a courageous lot of human beings, able to withstand great cruelty and loss, disappointment and betrayal, and rally in faith that there is a reason, a lesson to be learned, a truth to be perceived, wisdom to be won, and righteousness to prevail as a result of this experience.
That concludes my formal lesson. I have appreciated the opportunity to practice my learning. I will return you to Merium for her ministrations. Farewell.
Group: Thank you, Virgil.
MERIUM: This is Merium, back again to fluff up your pillows and let the music play! This furniture arrangement has an odd feng shui. Gerdean feels as if she is performing instead of performing a service, and so there is a certain theatrical aspect to the afternoon, which is unnecessary. It is true that all the universe is looking in, but it doesn't have to be an auditorium. I have no problem with just sitting around your living room. In fact, if it is too formal and too stuffy, you know I am not going to put up with it. I'll open the windows and let the air in.
I have a couple things I'd like to introduce in terms of ways to affect the group, one of which is when we used to meet in the Butler group, we found that the sessions benefited if occasionally we took an intermission and as everyone's minds were stimulated by the foregoing conversation, the level of conversation stimulated such discussion as to evoke questions relevant to the topic in the balance of the gathering. I don't know if that would benefit this group or not but let's give it a shot. We will be in intermission. I'll be back.
[Intermission]
MERIUM: Well, of course, we are still here. Where would we go? We had an appointment! We have been enjoying your expressions. It is hard to find a lesson in it, however, since there are so many diffracted lights. Energy is like that. It can fill up a room, and unless there is a divining rod, it will fill the atmosphere without providing a grounding effect.
There are many ways that Deity operates in the universe. Your universe here, the local universe in general but your world in particular (and even specifically your own personal lives with its conditioning and connections, culture, language, traditions, mores and so forth), are all representations of divine reality. But everyone is not aware of the divinity aspect of life, and so they participate in life but are undirected. Whereas, those who are consciously engaged in a superconscious appreciation of reality, virtually live in another dimension, or at least have access to another dimension that relieves the monotony of the sameness of an architectural sphere of reality comprehension. It pushes the edges of the envelope so that you have a broader perspective.
From the spiritual perspective, everything is a part of the organism of divinity. From an unconscious perspective, it is experiential but without that existential awareness that you see and know and appreciate as religionists in the sense of the drinkers of the cup.
The dimension that you can enjoy with this compounded perspective, that is with the eyes of spirit as well as the flesh, provides the abundance that the Master spoke of when he said, "I came to give you life and to give it more abundantly." It had nothing to do with more material goods. It had to do with quality of life, not quantity. And in that context, neither do I mean quality goods over inferior goods; I don't mean "goods" at all. I mean that reality that will stop you in your tracks / put you on your knees. Remember who you are in a cosmic sense.
The marvelous thing is that when you face this reality and realize it within yourself, you become an active participant in the shaping of destiny. You become an actor, as compared to a reactor. There is nothing wrong with being a reactor, except that it takes up so much time that could be more effectively spent. Are there questions?
So how do you stay connected? You spend time in Stillness. You develop better habits, habits that will help promote this reality, this "peace which passes all understanding." In Stillness you find the strength you need to carry on. "From whence cometh my help"? From the Living Water. "Even now, he is taking in living water as we give it forth in social service."
Today we have taken time apart from the cares of the world to face our Creator, to sit by his side, to bask in his presence, to bathe in the living waters, to commune with Our Father, to know each other as sons and daughters, brothers and sisters -- siblings all in the divine family.
Savor the greatness of this moment. And return to it in the privacy of your home, in the morning, in the evening, and throughout the day, as you remember the greatness … of this moment. And this moment will become every moment, enabling you to work and play with more effectiveness, more staying power, and the ability to fill yourselves more quickly with the cup of human kindness.
Are there any other things that we could do while we are together? Are there things you want to share? Do you have any problems you'd like to talk about? Any specific issues that need attention? If you want to come away with me or one of us at another time, that can be arranged. It's free. You needn't worry about that.
We have quite a menu of persons who minister to the needs of humans. Personal teachers, group teachers, Melchizedek priests, universe administrators, companions, artisans, angels, and student visitors -- all of us eager to share our perspective and insight with you as you learn to walk the path of consciousness. It is our pleasure to be your companions.
Then let us take this moment into the next setting and return to it as needed for a continuation of the life as it is lived in spirit awareness. Adieu.
Group: Thank you! Happy New Year!
*****
DATE: February 4, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHERS: MERIUM, TOMAS and DOC
Topic(s): What Are We To Teach?
Elena: "Dear Father, it is such a pleasure to be here so that we can gather together, and we're more than two, Father, and we are gathering in your name. We would like to come here to listen to the words of whoever is here, our many instructors, and to make ourselves, our hearts, our minds ready to receive the wonderful words that you have for us today on how we could be closer and ever closer to you, Father, and to-- Well, that says it all. If we always are closer to you, then that really is the main thing that we need to be, so be with us today and thank you for this wonderful day together. Amen."
Group: Amen.
MERIUM: Good afternoon, Lovelies, my name is Merium. You know me well as your cosmic babysitter.
Group: Hi Merium.
MERIUM: What a delight to see new children in our midst, Mancos and Melody, as you are named. You are most welcome. We have been enjoying fresh air in other personalities such as yours and finding it refreshing. There is always a danger when you find something you cherish, to hold it close, to clasp it to your breast in such a way as to never let it go, and so this tends to invoke in you a sense of sanctity and sanctuary which, when socialized, will enlarge your community, and each time a new member of the community is introduced, it enlarges the circumference of your prayer, and so it feeds the soul, it stimulates the spirit, and it enlivens the social aspects of religion.
We thought to speak today about who we are and what we do. We like to do that occasionally, as an introduction, and it is also true that as we engage in this practice seasonally, we are establishing our history as we go. We are creating a culture; we are forging a new way of life. We are bringing spirit into the finite dimension, thus altering the very molecules by your consciousness. -- your superconsciousness! - and this can be understood as morontia reality.
Morontia reality is that vast realm of conscious intelligence - "being-ness" - that consumes the space between a finite material way of life and full-fledged spirit, for we do not become full-fledged spirit overnight or as we cross over. There is, in scripture, a reference that says, "In my Father's house there are many mansion," and so those mansion worlds are where we learn more about spirit and relinquish those qualities of our animal nature that remain with us as we traverse the spheres of illumination into the presence of God completely. I will invite Tomas to come in and talk for awhile.
TOMAS: Good afternoon, loyal students. It warms my heart to be with you again and to feel the camaraderie that fills this circle around the figurative campfire as we sit with the Great Teacher, our Master, Michael-- (long pause) Christ Son.
I am using jargon here that may not be familiar to our guests, and so I pause, lest I inadvertently cause confusion rather than bring clarity, which is my task as a Teacher in this Teacher Corps to which both Merium and I belong, as well as other Teachers.
We refer to Michael as our Lord. He is known to humanity as Jesus of Nazareth. But in our circles and circuits we know him as a Michael Son of the Order of Michael Sons, Creator Sons of the many local universes of the seven superuniverses of time and space. So when I refer to Michael, or Christ Michael, I am talking about the risen Christ, the Sovereign Creator of our universe, the local universe to which we are assigned - in particular to your corner of the galaxy.
You have been in isolation due to the Lucifer Rebellion and you are in rehabilitation due to the Adamic Default. Michael has come to your planet as Jesus and inaugurated some changes in your status as universe citizens and we are here to follow through with the work of our several predecessors in the work of advancing this world toward a state of mind and being we call Light and Life.
Light and Life, to those of you who are romantics, is when we all live happily every after. It is depicted in scripture, in Isaiah, where the lion and the lamb play together and a little child shall lead them in these Elysian fields of God-consciousness and a genuine demonstration of the brotherhood of man.
That introduction now aside, I'd like to turn our attention today to what is it exactly that we teach, we who are in the Teacher Corps. You call this the Teaching Mission. What is it that you are learning to teach? What are we all about? We are simply teaching friendship with God.
When Jesus was here he taught that Our Father is a loving God who cherishes His children. And when Jesus left here, when he departed from your world to return to his administrative position as Sovereign of his local universe, he left the Spirit of Truth in his stead, which serves to lead you each and all into the presence of the Master, he himself, Christ the Lord … and then in prayerful converse with him, our elder Brother and creator Father, we can worship the Universal Father in Paradise.
So we come to teach friendship with perfection, our Source, the First Source and Center in Paradise. Perhaps before I go too far we could relax a little bit into our "being-ness" and stretch our socialization of these words, in context, what each of your idea is as to what God is, for even those who do not share an intellectual conception of what God is, nonetheless share certain true realities. It is in faith of our mutual shared realities that we are able to listen to each other express his or her God-consciousness, each of which is a brush-stroke on the canvas of creation. Do we have a volunteer? What is God?
Mancos: God, to me, is the epitome of love. The love that he extends to us is immeasurable. And by that I mean what he did by giving us Jesus Christ - who died on the cross for all of our sins - he has given us a pathway to eternal lasting life through Christ. That in itself, when you think about it, and what he did in that one act of giving his only begotten son, his only son, that we -- and I know within myself we are all sinners, we all have that capacity to fail, to descend -- but he gave us the way out of that.
And by that, not only is he a God of love, he is also a just God. And someday, we have to be held accountable for our actions, whether we sin by omission or mission, so He is a loving God, but he is going to hold us all accountable for our actions of what we did, so the life we live here in that friendship is imperative, I feel, that we grasp the reality of that -- what it means to love one another, and that's what he wanted us to do, was to "love your neighbor as yourself" and that's a difficult thing to do. It's not an easy task that we love all these people and we extend that friendship that we were talking about.
But in my mind, that is what it is: God is love, but He is a just God and He does have a very strict requirement for us all. We all have a purpose and we all have a job and we have got to adhere to the laws and rules that He set down, and those are written in scripture. That's my version.
TOMAS: Thank you for your brilliant color, which adds to our picture of God's nature. He is indeed a God of love. And love is the desire to do good to others. As you mentioned, … (long pause) … well, …
Renault: Are we waiting?
TOMAS: I am backtracking because I was going to get caught up in the sharing but I'd also like to hear from others as to what God is, for there are other perspectives, other definitions, and other colorations on the nature of God that we seek to share when we profess to want to express God in our lives as we engage in friendship with God. I was going to say (and will if I can keep it in focus) …. No. It has slipped away again, so what other definitions are there?
Renault: Well, besides being just and all that you say, God is also an exceedingly merciful God so have no fear and the greatest sin is doubt, you see, not anything that you say or do, but it's the doubt that God loves you that leads you into sin. So … and in his mercy he will show you that that's not the case, so God is love always. Love is the glue that holds everything together.
The scientists even say that we know that the earth and things spin around but they don't know why things don't just go flying off and the only explanation they have is God's love is keeping it all together.
TOMAS: So we have a God of love who is the upholder of the universe.
Renault: Um-hum. Maker, creator, upholder.
TOMAS: Merciful, just and exacting. Interesting, so far. What else have we got?
Elena: Well, I think that God is the Creator and one thing I am learning in this Teaching Mission is that we actually have pieces of God inside of us and that learning that creativity and the energy and what to do with that, and learning through the flow of energy and love, and beginning to understand our power of creativity and developing ourselves in what God created us to be, and so I think that's one of the real miracles --
As God's children, we are to learn not only the love but also the ability to create and he has given us the choice to do that, so he is a benevolent Father, giving us the tools that we need to learn and then the guidance through that learning process. This is how I look at God.
TOMAS: A creator. What fun! For are we not all "a chip off the old block"?
Group: (Laughter) Yeah! Right!
Esmeralda: I think he is the patient God. If He weren't patient, He would have discarded me a long time ago.
Renault: In contrast to our impatience, you see.
Esmeralda: So he is a patient, loving, merciful Father. And we all strive to be good parents, too.
TOMAS: So," God isn't finished with us yet."
Esmeralda: Oh I don't think so. I don't think he will be ever! He is eternal.
Melody: I tend to agree with that, in that we are all a piece of art in progress and there are some fabulous pieces out there that God gave us to enjoy in each other and I think he continues to bless our lives and our world with the beauty of our world.
Esmeralda: But you know, I think that we will not really know what beauty is until we reach the morontia worlds. They say it is-- our earthly world here is beautiful but … and I think that's when we start to grow the most, as well, and I think we will--
Melody: Well, they say "travel broadens." (Group laughter)
Esmeralda: And it will take us a long, long time to grow enough.
TOMAS: If you were to …
Esmeralda: When you think about Abraham, who has been -- departed this earth what?
Renault: Four thousand years.
Esmeralda: Maybe three or four thousand years ago, has still not reached Paradise, and he is the main … isn't he your administrator of your teaching service?
TOMAS: He has an administrative post, yes, over certain factions of the Teaching Mission, but Machiventa Melchizedek is our overall administrator. He is our acting Planetary Prince and serves at the pleasure of Michael. Together they have sanctioned and fostered the Teacher Corps, which reflects in our presence with you today -- not only in our presence with you today but in the consciousness of hundreds even thousands of people across the globe whose awareness is being piqued by the growing awareness of divinity as part of your character. Beyond morals and beyond civilized behaviors, a compelling yearning for connection with the Divine is stirring. Father God has, since Pentecost, dwelt within each of his children (each of his children capable of making soul-developing decisions) but I digress into dogma. I am trying to keep our focus today on what is it that we teach.
We are not here to teach dogma. Dogma is created as a part of evolutionary religion and while it is true we are creating history even as we sit here this afternoon, I want to keep our focus on God Himself -- or Itself … or Herself, and not our attitudes and definitions as they create scaffolding. Much as my lesson recently about Nalda, the woman at the well, who sought to change the subject and take away the focus of her relationship with this great Reality, this awesome Creator, and divert it over to other philosophic or political topics. This is what you do best -- feather your nest. Let me help you fly.
Friendship with God presupposes you are your own best friend. And this is the point I have been attempting to get back to, since you Mancos spoke, for it is an important part of the realization of this mission we are on -- a step into morontia reality, even as it exists on Urantia (earth) today, as it exists here in this environment in Rio Rancho in this living room/campfire around which we sit in the presence of our Lord, to know more about the divine reality of which the material reality is but a shadow, even as the shadow in which mortals live is an architectural sphere designed specifically for your use and comfort in this phase of your existence and which is truly as perfect in your sphere as my environment is perfect for me and Paradise is perfect for God Himself.
Each of us has the opportunity to be all that we can be, and that is LOVE. Since we are sons and daughters of this living God, it does not immediately lift you up and out and away from the finite reality that you are a part of, thus you live and move and have your being in divine reality, even as you exist in the flesh. Can you feel the presence of God in the immediate environment? Can you sense the energy of the personality circuit that is bestowed upon you (and us in our realm as well), to reveal who we are as his creations?
We sit around and talk about God, which sets us apart from the animal that cannot know God. However it is you want to define it, each of you here know God, and God knows each of you. Because we know God, we are able to solve problems, think things through, love one another, rejoice, create, build, solve, worship, play and live. This is something to celebrate! This is the dignity of sonship, daughtership. Herein we are noble. This is our heritage as God's kids. Naturally we want to grow up to please Our Father. He has given us so much. We love Him for being the Protector and Comforter and Provider.
We love him also because He is in us and we can have faith in each other as a result of knowing Him and how He exists within each other as a viable reality. Something to which we can appeal, something we know can be merciful given the mortal willingness to reflect God's mercy, and so our consciousness of God's reality expands into the arena through us where we encounter God in others.
We look for God in others, knowing full well that the faith child wants to be drawn out and lifted up. Wants to be encompassed by this divine love. Wants to be exalted in sonship. And wants to serve in ways which are shown to be the right path, forgiving, bestowing, receiving and transmitting that love to those who have yet to understand that Our Father is love. And so when we teach love, we reveal ourselves.
If you have been taught that God is a jealous God, you will be afraid to be yourself for fear God will be angry. You will be afraid to love others for fear God will demand your undivided attention. Better you find out through faith in the divine will, through your own experience, or through your own spirit awareness of what love means than to disallow learning.
Our Mother is a great one for allowing children to play and learn socializing skills at their own pace and in their own way, knowing that much is learned by trial and error, and that some lessons are not learned except in difficult circumstances, and so children do learn, and sometimes they learn the hard way until they learn it does not need to be that difficult, until we reach the point where we want to be with God all the time, we want God to be with us all the time because He makes us feel good. He provides the ultimate security.
In Him we live and move and have our being. It is a morontia reality, one which is between worlds, but one in which you -- I say "you" for I am already morontia-ized. I live within the morontia zones; you are still finite, but even as finite creatures you can rise up to the stature of morontia beings in your awareness. This will enhance your physical environment. It will affect those with whom you come into contact. It will impact your world. God is powerful! And you have that God fragment built into your composition now such that you and God can work together to advance love, mercy and service to this world - this world in time and space.
I have talked quite enough today. I have outdone myself. I am going to turn the reigns back over to Merium who promises to refresh you with her charm of personality. We remain with you and observe your comings and goings, your struggles and victories. Your progress is reflected on high in the living records of planetary history, and so it goes. Enjoy.
Group: Thank you, Tomas.
MERIUM: I'm back to loosen you up a little bit. Tomas gets professorial, and formal. He likes to push the envelope, but he is planting seeds. All of them don't fall in the furrow just right and so they don't all sprout but he is an earnest worker, a real farmer. I like him. (We do, too.) I like me, too! (So do we.) I'm a lot more fun. I'm a lot younger and have much more of a sense of play, but I too can get heady. We had a lot of frame of reference to day, which was par for the course, considering we were talking about the Teaching Mission and the Teacher Corps and these are scaffolding and required some definition, but our reality extends beyond this scaffolding to genuine faith in our divine Source and Destiny.
All that considered and all that aside, shall we engage in a communication? Anybody want to jump in with commentary or questions? Free to cultivate the soil among yourselves.
Melody: Miriam?
MERIUM: Please speak up for the record so it can be transcribed, which reminds me: you will be broadcast.
Melody: Okay. Just a quick question, Merium. I was very happy that you came today. This is Mancos and my first meeting with you, and Elena had mentioned that you might be here but I was delighted because in my past I have a Miriam in my spiritual life who was very significant so I want to thank you for coming today.
MERIUM: Oh, you are welcome, and I thank you as well. We will be great friends!
Melody: Yes, I think so.
MERIUM: I want to teach you something from my perspective, and that is that there is an Order of Miriam, just as there is an Order of Melchizedek, an Order of Ruth and an Order of Michael Sons. They are difficult to explain; each one is unique, but the Miriams are quite heartfelt. They are rather earnest. It is hard to describe how the Miriam distinguishes itself but we do have a certain quality that we share. Perhaps it would be like if you were to say you are Capricorn and find another Capricorn; there is a connection there, whether you know what it is or not, it is curious enough that you have an association whether it means anything or not. The same is true for Volvo owners, or Volkswagen owners. There is a connection there that allows for a circuit to form. And so I have a circuit with other Miriams and we have something in common that even we could probably not define.
The Michael Sons, of course, are the Creators of the thousands of local universes that populate the universes of the Grand Universe, and the Order of Melchizedeks is an order of priesthood. Incidentally, we have (I think Tomas told you, a Melchizedek who oversees our doings and a number of other Melchizedek receivers participate in this movement some call the Teaching Mission). The Ruths are almost all caretakers of some distinction. There is just something about a Ruth that cares deeply.
Your friend Miriam, what was she like?
Melody: She wasn't a person. She was a person as you were saying like I belong, a sisterhood with Miriam.
Merium: And what was she like?
Melody: I don't know.
Merium: I see. Well…
Melody: She wasn't a person.
Merium: I understand. She was invisible.
Melody: As Ruth, or Melchizedek. The same. And I was assigned to Miriam.
Merium: Wonderful. Is it your personal teacher?
Melody: It was another spiritual group I belonged to.
Merium: I see. And so she was indeed a friend and sister in the spirit.
Melody: Yes, I believe so. Very much so.
Merium: Well, very interesting that she, of the Order of Miriam, and myself have something in common, even as she was assigned to work with another group, I am assigned to the Teacher Crops. But this is indicative of how our planetary administration has engaged us all in the process of advancing your world. It is not limited to the Teaching Mission. There are other divisions and branches of helpers, busily engaged in enhancing spirit consciousness and global connections, even political, social and so forth.
We are engaged, really, in a renaissance, a spiritual renaissance of sorts, which helps to appreciate that on one hand we are creating a new epoch, a new era, a new plateau, a new rung on the stepladder of ascension. Even as there are those who are busily engaged in scrapping and wrangling and destroying themselves and each other in chaos and consternation. It is an effort indeed to stay one step ahead of that rung that would have you all engaged in the same kinds of animalistic behaviors because even though you may be edified and civilized, culture and illuminated, you are still animals, and when the light is snuffed out by one foolish thing or another, it gives the other part of your nature an opportunity to run you ragged.
I have and we have enjoyed many lessons on the animal nature, from a seraphim pair of friends. We have engaged in many lessons indeed throughout the many years of our formal existence. These records that are being created today are the written records, but we seek to engage you in the act of being living records of your own evolution and your own advancement into morontia reality -- into that sphere of light and life that you can sustain and, as you can, maintain on a daily basis no matter what trying circumstance may seek to take you off balance.
We are noted windbags, all of us. You would think we like to hear the sound of our own voice, but let me tell you now, since this is a great opportunity, if any of you are interested in learning this odd technique of receiving/transmitting (from your perspective), we would be happy to work with you and practice with you to help you learn the mechanics of such a process. Gerdean calls it an art form. Others may call it preaching. Some might call it nonsense. And I'm certain there are many other definitions, including Church, that could be used, but the fact is we have been enjoying our get-togethers; we have benefited from the upliftment that comes from association with like-minded fellows and as I understand it, you have all enjoyed the camaraderie, socialization and food that goes along with being members of the human race and being participants in this mission. What else? Anything else?
Mancos : I'd like to ask you a question. I don't know if it's appropriate, but I've got a certain ailment that afflicts my body and -- actually I'm taking pain medication, Percoset -- which is a very strong op-oid to eliminate the pain but my question is -- and if you can't answer it, maybe you have resources, but I've been to at least seven specialists in diagnosis of this ailment and … do you have any input or advice on how that ailment might be resolved or a direction or path of having a physical body that is without pain?
MERIUM: I have no knowledge, but I can invite Doc, or Dr. Mendoza if he is not pre-engaged, to see if either of them are available and can shed some light if that would be amenable.
Mancos : Indeed it would. That would be wonderful.
Renault: I have back pain myself. I'm not on Percoset but I have -- besides my knees.
Esmeralda: Don't mention it! I had forgotten about mine.
DOC: I am here on a house call. This is Doc. I appreciate your calling. Excuse my informality. I'm a real country doctor. I am not a sophisticated specialist. I am actually a specialist in wellness of all orders, that is to say mental wellness, spiritual wellness, psychic wellness, physical wellness, and so I represent the fact that in many cases they are all tied in together - if not all cases. You say you have a pain problem? [Um-hum] I am not a crystal-ball gazer. Can you tell me something about your condition or do you want to have a private session?
Mancos : No. The pain originates in the hip. It feels like someone is sticking an ice pick in the hip and it goes down to the groin, and I've been to a lot of specialists, at least seven of them, that were directing me now towards it may be arthritis. That's what they're saying now and I don't really have any great confidence in what they are saying since I have been to so many specialists, but that's what they are saying. It could be arthritis. It's in the hip and groin.
DOC: These are neurosurgeon types?
Mancos : Neurosurgeon, pain specialists…
DOC: What about chiropractic?
Mancos: I've been to chiropractor. I've been to physical therapy. I've been around.
DOC: And they all say the same thing?
Mancos: No, they all kind of run you in a circle. It's called a circle of doctors and they really don't know themselves the cause or they refer you to someone else is what they do until you end up going back to your original family practitioner. He says, "Yeah, you're caught in a circle," and I said, "I know what I'm caught in," so my last endeavor has been with a doctor of arthritis and nothing conclusive as of yet.
Men-O-Pah: Does the pain go down your leg to your feet?
Mancos: Sometimes.
Men-O-Pah: You tried any acupuncture?
Mancos: No.
Men-O-Pah: No?
Mancos: They are saying that there is swelling in the hip.
Men-O-Pah: Yeah. Sure enough.
Paula: Men-O-Pah has tried it and it has helped him.
Men-O-Pah: Yeah.
Esmeralda: Is that same doctor?
Men-O-Pah: Yeah. He's in Santa Fe and he's an M.D. but he has a specialty in acupuncture. I've had macular degeneration in my eyes and he was able to turn that around and improve my vision so that I can still function. Also, I have sciatica. That's what I call that and it's so painful sometimes I can hardly walk but he can help you with that. I don't think he can make it go away. At least mine's not going away, but at least it's in a tolerable state, at least, and it doesn't bother me all the time, just some of the time. I don't have to take any medicine to keep the pain down.
Mancos: So what doctor do you advise?
Men-O-Pah: I can direct you if you want to go. I'll give you his phone number and I suspect he may be able to help you. Gotta drive to Santa Fe, though.
DOC: This is a situation that is a full-body malady brought on over many, many years. Without going into the automobile whose car parts are wearing out, I will refer to the fact that these parts are wearing out because the maintenance on your vehicle has not been optimum. I will borrow on … what is that woman's name? There are several mortal, holistic healers like … Louise Hay and others who bring to your attention that feelings buried alive never die and so they solidify, they crystallize in you and become spurs, irritations in your body, years - years later, after the fact.
The acupressure indeed brings relief for it rather lifts this irritation away from the nerve on which it is pressing. It cannot remove it, but it can alter the meat packed around it such that there is relief and this enables your consciousness to remember what it is like without the pain so that you are encouraged to seek and find that remission that will be permanent, that will evoke a permanent cure.
It may require what we require psychic surgery. Psychic surgery does not involve knives or needles. It involves finding out where the irritation came from. And in this I must say "Physician, heal thyself." It is a task that ultimately falls upon you, which is in part why it is that these doctors cannot agree on what is causing the problem, although there are some well-founded speculations as to what the eventual result will be. But they do not delve into the psyche or the emotions or the spirit, only into the medical, and thus they miss it. That is my diagnosis.
Evidently they are sufficiently severe as to warrant some studied attention on your part for you are wasting great amounts of energy fighting the pain that could as well be applied to finding out the source of the pain and healing the pain. Now, let me say something while I have your attention for there are some who would read this transcript, listen to this advice and become very angry because it implies that you caused it, you fix it. And it implies that people have created their own pain, when sometimes it is a real medical issue. Sometimes it is not your fault! And so I want to impress upon you that whatever it is, it is not your fault but it is your responsibility to deal with it.
You have tried to get professionals to pay attention and they don't know what to do. You are on your own, so you might as well take matters into your own hands and place them on the altar of your faith and go in with a spirit guide to find out what is causing that pain -- the pain underneath the pain, if you see what I mean.
You want to be very careful about those pain pills. It is not to say that they are to be discontinued, no, because it is not natural for mortals to live in incessant pain, nor is it to be expected. And I am sure I am not insulting your intelligence by making this remark for surely you have thought of this yourself. This may add impetus to your need to get to the root of the problem. If it were me (easy for me to say! I haven't ever been mortal so I cannot say that with 100% certainty that {if I were you} because I have no idea what that means. But I do know that the Life Carriers have created you according to a pattern of perfection and your system knows the way back. If it is not too late, that original state can be accessed, cultivated, and will serve throughout the duration of your mortal sojourn.
Of course, there is that other aspect, too, that simply says you are getting a little help in learning how to grow old gracefully. I am afraid in some contexts I am not much more help than the physicians you have already visited, but that is my diagnosis and my prescription. Go into Stillness, take a celestial friend and associate with you and ponder the root of the pain. As they say, "Embrace the pain!" and find out what it means and then turn it inside out and allow it to be eradicated in divine Light. In the meanwhile, acupressure/acupuncture may help you on your way toward wellness.
Have I given you anything you can use?
Mancos: One other question? And it has to do with "healer, heal thyself," going with a celestial friend to ponder the root of the pain, is that the measure or discovery process in "healer, heal thyself"?
DOC: Yes, since most -- most -- not all, most -- disorders and illnesses are self-induced. Not through a desire to self-destruct but from innocence and ignorance and accident. It is part of your duty to yourself to maintain your own equipment. When you are without endurance, throw yourself upon the lap of God for comfort and relief. Allow divine pressure to take away the pain of your human condition. And soar aloft, above the material plain, in prayer and worship, for this will surely bring relief.
But you will persist, I am certain, in the task of mastering your self and your vehicle such that it will continue to serve you well in your many productive and congenial years that lie ahead. There are diversions and distractions that can be employed as you work your way through those operations that will bring about surcease, even healing.
Renault, do you find merit to these in terms of your knee?
Renault: I think I will try some acupuncture. He's already told me I already have arthritis in my knee so I understand that. I just try to stay healthy and I just kind of put up with it, but it does limit me, as far as walking any distance or … I used to love to just go hiking but it's like "forget that! Forget skiing!" Forget anything like that but, I don't know. It's just one of things, I guess, that I just put up with. The back pain is a little hard to put up with. That's a little different.
DOC: In your back pain, keep your spine straight. Sit up tall. The entire physiology of humans is impacted by how you carry yourself. It is so easy for you to slide down into your human condition and stay there. (Um-hum) The animal nature loves comfort and it has a tremendous pull on the mind and body and spirit and it is encouraged by your culture, which is eager to nestle into an easy chair with comfort foods and pleasures -- not that there is anything wrong with pleasures but they too need to be managed, just as do pain medications.
You cannot seek for constant pleasure; there must be some endurance in existence. It is not just one party after the other, even as it need not be one long sustained pain. You will be done with this body at some point. You want to remember to not cripple your spirit, emotions, or thinking because of the decline of the physical condition. Admit it: you aren't kids anymore. It is sad to see the autumn leaves fall from the tree, but in faith you are assured that in the spring new shoots will come forth when the sap of life has thawed and the source of life begins to move you in time and space to become the foliage of springtime.
Elena: But Doc, it can be a kind of a crisis situation. I'm not talking about physical pain but the first time you have these little changes, it's a crisis mode! It's not something that -- the physical pain, I really am sorry. I mean, I'm glad you talked about the necessity, I guess, that we are not spring chickens anymore. And I'm not talking about Mancos's stuff. I'm just talking about aging in general and the first time you realize that, that's a blow! That's a shock.
DOC: As I understand it, it's a continual shock. (Group chuckles) But it's one you get over. You have no choice.
Paula: I think we'll live through it.
DOC: I think you're right.
Elena: Paula, that's really good!
Paula: The thing is, the human body is a strange piece of work. My former husband died of cancer of the lung and of course the first thing the doctors say is, "Are you a heavy smoker?" and he hadn't smoked in 30 years. But that's what took him. And nobody knows why it happened, but it did. And he was a fine man, and a strong and healthy man until that happened. And it's something so difficult to understand.
DOC: Understand it this way: No one gets out of here alive. (Laughter)
I am going to sign off for the day, not even giving you back to Merium for her hugs and kisses, for we are out of time. At least we are out of time on the tape and you might want to check on dinner. Before you go, let us stand and hold hands in a group configuration and someone can conclude our session in prayer. Thank you. (Thank you!)
Men-O-Pah: "Our Father, we thank you for this beautiful day and for this time together. Bless us we pray and open our eyes and our ears that we may see and hear those things that you would have us to see and hear. Bless this time that we spend together. And we ask it in your name, Lord. Amen."
*****
DATE: March 18, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER SESSION
Rio Rancho TeaM's 5th Anniversary
TOMAS: Shall We Continue?
MERIUM: Service to God or Ego?
Music: Elena on Piano: "Heavenly Sunshine"
Prayer: "Dear Heavenly Father, Wonderful Heavenly Mother, and wonderful celestial beings that gather around us today to shed your love on us and your guidance and your wisdom. We praise you for your valiant efforts at guiding us along in our one step at a time existence, and we are grateful for your presence here and eager to hear what you have to say to us today. So thank you for being here with us on this beautiful day and we are so welcoming you into this room and into our hearts. Thank you. Amen."
MERIUM: Amen and thank you, Elena, for your lovely bouquet of music and prayer. "Heavenly Sunshine" indeed! What a radiant outpouring! Do you know that the center of your sun is 35,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit and that it takes light years to get from there to your planet so that it's warmth can draw forth the daffodils buried in the earth, to come forth and trumpet springtime?
There is every reason to praise His holy name in song and thanksgiving for the bounties that are provided, not only for this world but for all the worlds throughout time and space. And even beyond, to those inert areas of the Master Universe that lay and await the divine finger to have writ itself upon it such that even you perhaps one day will be engaged in the creation of the universe.
For today, however, let's just gather here with who we are and what we have and celebrate the coming of spring and the anniversary of your group. Let me invite Tomas in since he will be blowing the candles out on the cake.
Group: Is it four years? No, five years! Time flies.
TOMAS: Time flies when you are having fun and/or actively participating in an ongoing pageant such as we enjoy in this unfolding of the divine will on Urantia.
Our group was technically begun in March of 1993 when I first made contact with Gerdean and celebrated with Hal and Rebecca -- Jared and Rebecca -- in the little house in the valley, attended also by Nolus and Jeremiah from the Woods Cross group who came to sanction and bless our coming into being. It took lo those many nine years for the bulb of the daffodil that is your group to come forth, and now we are seeing you in the full blush of your youth. I am proud to have served with this group in this unfolding and its members, those who have passed by and those yet to come. [Long pause]
Merium and I have been discussing (in this interim pause) your conversations prior to the opening of our session. Before we undertake the questions that you have formulated as a result of your active socializing, let me ask you what you anticipate from our gatherings.
Over the years we have acted as a church, as a social group, and as a ministry, but the potential of this configuration has not begun to reach its potential. Reaching your potential as individuals impacts on the potential of what you can do as a group, and so this means that you each are in a process of developing your own potential or your are not, and to the extent that you are growing in spirit reality, you are inherently contributing, while those of you who are not contributing to your own spiritual development, while not particularly advancing the group, are none-the-less maintaining a status quo that would serve to provide an anchor for those whose growth might otherwise waft off onto new things or other fields.
I will ask you then to think in terms of whether our group ought to continue or whether it has reached a point of fulfillment such that we are no longer perceived as needed or shall we embark upon a course of study for an experimental outreach or what do you propose we do with this which we have created, if anything.
It behooves us occasionally to check in with our members to find out if their needs are being met. It is certainly not our intention to obligate you to our teachings. Many groups have come into existence and faded, the participants going on to engage in their god-led, spirit-conscious lives of fulfillment and adventure.
It is a matter of free will. But we certainly want this to be most advantageous for you or as many of you who enjoy our company and counsel. Shall we retire the group? Or shall we persevere?
Esmeralda: Oh, I think we need to persevere. I would feel a very important part of my life had disappeared if we did not have our meetings. They mean so much and I don't know about the others but I have so much to learn, and these sessions are inspirational, educational, stimulating, inspiring … I think I said inspirational, but definitely inspiring …and I would feel quite a void if our group did not persist.
And in time, possibly, it will grow. It's not a fast thing to gain more members in our group, but there is still potential, and the group that we have is a nice family, so I would definitely want it to continue. Your teachings are very helpful.
Elena: I would definitely want it to continue. I think that -- and I participate certainly very actively in a church, too, but I don't-- I have the feeling that this is somehow closer and more on-line than the regular church environment. Not that … and I don't mean that in any critical way, because I enjoy that too, but I have to agree that I would feel bereft if this group were to not continue.
I think it's interesting, though, to look at what our group does and I think that maybe some input on what we-- how we would proceed-- might be a very good discussion, because I think if we were to focus and align some of the efforts that are being extended in the other parts of our lives, and maybe to focus those and gather them into one kind of think might be helpful and might be the good deal. And that actually relates to some of the questions, you know, that we have actually been posing, so I won't get into that, necessarily. I think we'd need to think a little bit.
I mean, just right off the top of my head, I guess one of the things that I'd like to … Sometimes I don't know from the lessons if I'm really getting it or not, and I guess sometimes what I would kind of like is just to have kind of … since we do have this kind of on-line contact -- to have a little bit more feedback about how we are doing. You know, that feedback thing individually, so just kind of check our progress, I think would be one thing that I would like. But then to be open in a discussion from everybody else about new ways we might consider.
Esmeralda: If we didn't have these sessions, we would miss all of you who visit with us.
Elena: Yeah!
TOMAS: Thank you. I would miss you, as well. I become very attached affectionately to my students.
I am going to suggest that we take a look, then, at our component parts in the concept of church, as you understand it. You think in terms of a cathedral or a building and the people attend the church. The parishioners go to church. But I would like to introduce the thought to you that you yourself are the church. You are the temple, the synagogue, the body of Christ. Whether and when you do things together as a larger body, or as a congregation, is another matter, but for now let's think in terms of you as individual churches -- a place of worship, a ministry, even a belief system, and a social outlet.
If you think in terms of yourself as "the church," the spirit within your church then can be your Thought Adjuster. And it is how you represent your Thought Adjuster that gauges what kind of church you are and how effective it may be, if at all, in your life -- and in the lives of others.
There are in your mind's eye many kinds of churches, based on sects, and edifices of evolutionary religion, and so your church -- which may be the little church in the wild- wood -- will not be the same as the mosque or the temple, but none-the-less the spirit is within that house of worship. When and as your church reflects the spirit within it in all you do, you have, to all intents and purposes, fused. The actual fusion may be delayed simply because the impact, the physical impact of fusion is such that it can be destructive of the environment, and so you are in some regards restrained from fusing until you leave the planet, when you don't have the physical body to concern yourself with. But you can begin to act even now as if you have fused. And to the extent that you have not fused, it will certainly be made apparent by your actions, which speak louder than words. And which will reveal whether it is the divine spark within that is expressing itself or your imperfect aspects. Even though, to be fair, even your imperfect aspects are a part of you as a Son of God; even fused, you are still not rendered perfect. There are many, many worlds ahead before you can call yourselves "perfect" in the ultimate sense of the word.
So rather than this Rio Rancho TeaM being thought of as a church, I will think of you each as individual little churches running around, and each of you will lay out your altar and your pews as is appropriate for you. I invite you to worship with one another. For in this process, you will discover the walls of your church come down and the glory of your being will rise up triumphantly to herald … springtime. The sunshine of his love.
I'll return you to Merium for fun and games. Bless you, my loyal students and eternal friends.
Group: Thank you, Tomas, for coming today. It's always great to have you. I'm glad you're going to be an eternal friend. That's good. Yes, that's wonderful.
MERIUM: Me, too? Yes, me too, and I will not always be your babysitter. (Chuckles)
Yes, I understand that there were questions in your discussion that you wanted to put on record for our response. Are you ready to get them out of the Job Jar?
Elena: Well, my question has to do with how we think about pursuing our passions and using our talents that God gives us and how that relates or conflicts or works with or works against Father's will, and our egos. I mean, on one hand, one of our tasks is to rid ourselves of ego, perhaps, and to go more towards Father's will. Okay. So how does that line up with actually us pursuing our passions and using our talents, because quite often when you're in the process of doing that, it appears that you're feeding your ego as opposed to doing that which Father would have us do. So I'd like your guidance on how we work with each one of those and still have an ever-closer path towards Father.
MERIUM: Excuse me while I stand here and look at the daffodils.
Elena: Oh, okay.
MERIUM: I am observing the fact that the energy from the sun went to great lengths to come all the way down here to bring the daffodil up out of the ground, so that it could reach up and spread itself in order to be the most dynamic, yellow daffodil it can be. And this same thing is true precisely. The spirit of God has come a looonnnggg way to burrow itself into the still, quiet recesses of your mind, in order to work with you as through time you begin to stir and awaken and emerge as a personality, even as a superconscious personality, in order to be all that you can be.
Am I going to stand there at that daffodil's side and berate it for having the audacity to manifest itself so radiantly, as if it were a bad thing? Am I going to stand next to you with my hand on my hip judging your unworth as a child of God to not manifest yourself as you are being called to do by the very molecules of your being, saying it is mere ego? If you were a lesser woman, I might consider it. But I recognize you as a daughter of the Divine. You are god-conscious and striving to become godlike.
What choice has a daffodil if it is following the pattern of its design but to become a daffodil? It cannot become a toadstool nor a tulip. It must be a daffodil or die trying. Whatever it is that emerges from you that you feel led to do in service to your congregation, you are encouraged to embrace as your task.
I would say that those who are not god-conscious, who simply want to come along and construct an idea because it will make them money or give them an edge somehow, might have their ego at the helm. But those of you who strive to know God and be like him are not they, even though each of you -- as relatively imperfect, as incomplete -- are going to manifest shades of ego manifestation. But if you are not driven by your ego (which is not a Father-fused attitude), then you are doing His will.
You are conscious enough of your consciousness to observe and recognize when you are in error and correct your ways for you know that the path you are on will fall short, will fail to provide you the satisfaction that can be derived from doing it well, doing it right, doing it according to the best sense of your comprehension of the divine will for you, through you, in you and as you -- a son of God, a daughter of divinity.
Those who strut their stuff to the exclusion of truth, beauty and goodness are like plastic flowers. They may look really good from afar. They may even look intriguing up close. But they lack that spark of life that renders them spiritually fragrant. (Sometimes even skunk cabbage is an appropriate reflection of the divine for it is, at least, real.)
Why? Were you feeling restricted? Did you think that your hobby was ego run amok?
Elena: Well, actually, I just kind wondered a bit because I had doubted, actually, why I was doing this, I guess. That's not entirely true. It had occurred to me that because I was interested in having it be financially successful, then it might be more ego-driven than … more firmly based than the spiritual side, so I guess sometimes any connection with money makes you wonder if your intentions are in the right place.
MERUM: That's because God has no use for money. Your spirit has no need for money either. But your church needs money because it is finite, material. (When I say "your church" I am drawing upon Tomas' rendering, in order for you to, say, keep fresh flowers on the alter or reupholster the seats in the choir, or provide tablecloths for the conference tables that will be set up out under the trees for picnic lunch. If that is in keeping with the pattern of the church you are creating then those will be valid expenditures that can be rightfully considered part of your responsibility. Just check your motives.
Now, when I say, "just check your motives," I don't mean to go so far as to say, "Well, I need flowers; I'd like to have flowers; flowers would look good on the altar. That would involve an investment of $17.00," whereas, "I don't have to have flowers on the altar; I could pick forsythia from the yard and they would do as well." This is allowing your mind to discern, as it says in the book, "Counting the Cost." And your ego is that which would say, "Oh, no! We must have flowers. We must have $150 worth of flowers. We must have more flowers than any other church in town, in order for people to take me seriously." That would be ego.
Elena: Okay. That makes sense to me. Well, I can see that I have a little bit of work to do then because part of this hobby is, you know, presenting yourself well and as attractive to other people, so … but I get your point. I mean, you can present yourself well and still not be to where you have to look better than anybody else kind of thing, so I think I get your point. Thank you.
MERIUM: You're welcome. You need to be presentable. Establish your own understanding of what it means to be presentable, based on your standards as you've worked out within yourself, perhaps in consultation with that divine aspect in you which is at the helm of your endeavor. It is the spirit that leads. If you are allowing the spirit to lead, then allow its inspiration to fill you, understanding that the mortal vehicle will be responsible for "counting the cost."
We have been dealing with you around fifteen years or so, and encouraging you to become all that you can be. Grow, develop and branch out, establish yourselves as ambassadors of His Kingdom, and invest yourself in ministry of one sort or another. And you have been counseled as to the talents that are given to the sundry stewards. And so as you recognize your talent and are impelled to serve, there begins to grow within you a stirring that can be called a "leading."
Look within you to ascertain if you are being driven by your own need to advance or excel or strut your stuff or prove something or make points or whatever as compared to following the leading that you are given from your higher consciousness, that morontia reality which will be superimposed through the leadings of the Thought Adjuster that show you the way.
Usually if you have to force something, you are going about it the wrong way. This is not to say that unfolding yourself does not take effort. There is no happiness without intelligent effort, no progress. But if you are butting your head up against a wall and not finding effects, perhaps you are going about it the wrong way. Perhaps you need to back up and reconsider your approach, your motives, or your design.
This all comes back to, once more, following the still small voice. And making certain that that small still voice is the voice of God and not the voice of your own ambition or your own ego-desires to seek position at God's table. If you are maneuvering your way to sit next to God for his favor, you are simultaneously edging someone else away and out, and that would constitute an egoistic act. Is that clear?
Elena: Yeah, it is. I mean it kind of gets back to where we came in, with your great example of the ego and the daffodils. So it kind of completes the circle there, I think. I think you touched on each one of the elements that I was asking about. And it still points out that still small voice. I mean, that's one of the threads that has been in your teaching for all the years, encouraging us to listen to that voice and I guess a lot of times we try to do everything else but that, perhaps. Or we get busy or whatever. And many of the lessons that you've given us have been certainly nudging us back to that topic, and I guess it's pretty easy to get away from that, and yet it's still the main answer, I guess. So thanks.
MERIUM: What seems to be easy is you misconstruing your will for His will. (Right) And this becomes an increasingly sensitive matter as your will and His will become more aligned, for it is easier then for you to say, "Oh, well, whatever I do God is going to smile upon it." And while, indeed, God may smile upon you, His child, He may not be smiling at some of your antics. In particular, if they are brutalizing others or pulling the rug out from under others' scaffolding.
It is only fair to comment that at this point in your development, error is to be expected. You learn by making mistakes, even those of you who are sincere of heart, because you cannot see the whole picture. You have to thus be kind to yourself as well as others when you see the ego encroaching. It is as if to say, "Your zipper is down" or "Your slip is showing." You don't do it in front of everybody and embarrass him or her about it. You go off to the side and with delicacy let it be known that their ego is sticking out.
It is not a crime to have an ego. All of you have one. It is when you are ego-driven that it becomes problematic, or when your desire to do His will becomes so paramount that you perceive His will as your will and you run roughshod over everyone in your desire to accomplish His will as you see it, even as you are like a bull in a china cabinet, breaking all the tea cups in your enthusiasm to be about His will.
It is all a very delicate balance. And it is when you take time in Stillness to discern this balance between your will and the divine will, and where you are in the paradigm, that you will find your stride and when you find your stride you will find that things work for you and on your behalf because the entire universe is interested in seeing you unfold, just as all those who have endured the long cold winter await the coming of spring and eagerly look with longing upon the sunny days that bring forth the bulbs that flower the path you walk.
Elena: That was beautiful. Thank you.
MERIUM: We have past those days when the daffodils disdained the tulips who looked down their nose at the hyacinth who shunned the crocus, and now see each as a precious contribution to the beautification of the TeaM Garden Club and Tea Party that is now discussing how it can take it's show on the road. It is very exciting to watch you find yourselves and seek to fulfill yourselves in service avenues, and those of you who have found it and who have been long at it are to be commended for your patience as those younger are cultivated to come into bloom. Thus, the entire realm becomes the Garden of Eden that we know as Light and Life.
Your desire to lead young souls in a Vision Quest that may lead to their finding their own still small voice within and their path in the Way and value in themselves as a human being, even a church within their own right that houses and honors its own spirit, is truly noble work, as well as fun for you who likes that kind of thing.
This is a part of the personality pattern which you have received, each of you, and coming into your own is as important for you as it is for the vegetables in the garden that know who they are and who become in time a radish or a carrot or a potato and to become who you are is not a reflection of ego, it is a reflection of the Divine Creator. And so I encourage you to be all that you can be, without shame. Let your petals radiate the dynamic beauty, truth and goodness of our Creator, without shame. And rejoice in it.
Elena: Thank you.
MERIUM: You have undertaken a big responsibility by doing so. Nurture your clientele. Pray on each step you take. Allow your counsel to be divine wisdom to the extent of your ability, understanding that you are working with God for Him and in Him. God is love and love is the desire to do good to others. If your desire is to do good to others and that remains more important than making a buck, then you'll be fine.
This counsel is intended to serve also those of you in the greater community, outside of Rio Rancho, who have your sundry ministries. The culture that is emerging from this phase of your development, socially and planetarily, is the skeleton upon which tomorrow's society/civilization will be built. Plow your fields with love and prayer. Plant your seeds with care. Nurture their growth, weed and hoe accordingly. The harvest will reflect the abundance of your relationship with the Divine.
I feel spring fever setting in. I can feel you daydreaming and laying back watching the clouds roll by, so I will withdraw, along with Tomas and the many others who come by, having seen your lights shine. Are there other matters to take up that you would seek to know or resolve before we go?
Elena: Did you want to ask your question, Mother?
Esmeralda: I don't really have any questions today. I've thoroughly enjoyed everything that has been told to us, by both you, Merium, and Tomas. It's been an especially good session, I think, today.
MERIUM: It has been a party in and of itself. Happy Anniversary! (Hooray!)
Esmeralda: I just realized it has been five years.
Elena: Isn't that great?
Esmeralda: It's a good record.
MERIUM: You have done well.
Esmeralda: I hope our next five are even more bountiful.
MERIUM: We could not have done it without you. Only in time will you realize how much you have given to your world by and through these simple Sunday sessions. Let's go play. Bye-bye.
Group: Bye-bye, Merium!
*****
DATE: April 1, 2007 -- Palm Sunday; April Fool's Day
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
JESUS: Rejoice in Me
MERIUM: Join Me in Repose
TOMAS: "Bridge Over Troubled Waters"
Elena and Men-O-Pah: Drumming and Native American Prayer: "Almighty God, to whom all power is given. I send the sound of my voice singing toward heaven. With your Spirit, Lord, I send the sound of my voice ascending towards heaven. Great Spirit, whose voice I hear singing in the wind, wind that gives the breath of life to all the world, hear my prayer and find my little medicine song acceptable unto thee. It has been said.
JESUS: Today I will come to spend some time with you, my children. I am he you know of as Jesus. I spend this moment with you because you are my children. You have gathered together in remembrance of me, and many others also today remember me in my triumphant ride into Jerusalem. In essence, I was asking that my little medicine song be pleasing to God, Our Father. It is not necessary to be a king and wear a crown and uphold the kingdom; I will do that. I will do that for Him.
You here in your gathering offer your little medicine song as well. Your humble gathering here reveals your own triumphant entry into the City and as the joy of our fellowship rises up within us, we all give testimony to the One who sent us, the One who made it possible for us all, and Who continues to make it possible for us on a moment to moment basis by upholding the universe as He does. He holds all the worlds of space in His hands.
The birdsong you hear is the sound of His voice. The affection with which you great each other is His love manifested. It is not possible to step outside his grace, except as you be unaware, and so I invite you today to be aware of God, divinity, the presence of supernal power in your life today, that you might ride triumphantly into the City and sing praises and shout "Glory! Hosanna!"
It gives my heart pleasure to see you rejoice in me, in the spirit that embraces you, infuses you, uplifts you, and gives your life meaning. Pausing to rejoice gives us the strength then to carry on, in faith of His good works. I join with you today in your fellowship as I do every time you meet, in thanksgiving of your devotion to the God that lives within you and in Whom we dwell.
But I will give the opportunity to address you further to my teachers, sons and daughters like yourselves who have discovered the delights of being and the tools wherewith to teach these techniques of friendship with God. Be of good cheer.
MERIUM: See me now, Merium, skipping gaily down the road, picking flowers along the highway, as I observe the burrow on which the Master travels into the City, my hair all afloat and aflutter with the morning breeze, much like the morning you enjoy today.
I will take advantage of the idyllic environment that we enjoy this moment to invite you to join me in repose. From within repose we can see the parade as it passes by, and wave occasionally to those who note our presence or perhaps strew a petal now and then.
Repose, children, is a close relative of Stillness. And yet it is with your eyes open and your consciousness fully intact, the sun shining and the material world at your feet, indeed, in the very atmosphere. Let the air touch you. Sense the energy coming from the sun, pouring down upon the earth and warming it like toast from the inside out, encouraging the grass to green and the trees to leaf, encouraging the fragrance right out of the blossoms.
Be kissed by the wind. Know that it is God passing by, saying hello, frolicking in the joy of being, as you can and do - even as a mortal in the flesh on this world far away from the central isle of Paradise, but well within the range of Our Eternal Parents who hover over and observe your every move, providing your every need, anticipating your needs even before you know you have them and preparing the way for you when you come.
Repose. Repose may take you into a reverie, a daydream state which allows you to cut your tether to your mortal concerns, which liberates you from the many obligations and compunctions of mortal existence. Assuming repose invites this refreshment from the burdens of existence, even releasing the power hold of your electro-chemical system such that your circuits are allowed to range freely. Feel the lullaby of life in this repose. Feel the sanctity and affection doted on you by Our Overseers. Allow yourself the joy of this experience and it can be done simply by hanging [positioning] yourself in the doorframe of your house as you look out upon the world, literally or figuratively speaking.
Such repose engenders graciousness and graciousness is a reflection of goodness. All life responds to goodness. And so if you would have your fellows respond to you, hold yourself within this reposeful state of mind and being when in their company. In this way they too will emerge from their shadows of self-protection and engage in the fellowship that allows the completion of the circle.
I am reluctant to stir the air, for it is sublime. An atmosphere conducive to anything! From here we can go anywhere and do anything. Especially as we go together. However, it is necessary that we go, for this is part of the balance that while we benefit from these still and quiet moments of reflectivity and repose, we take our joy into the arena and spread it around, socializing our belief in a loving and compassionate Deity, as we well know.
I must say how much I enjoy the dolls! For me, a babysitter of your children, it is indeed appropro that we be joined with as many representations of good behavior and attentive attitudes as possible. They are charming, as you all are, including the cat.
I am going to make so bold as to call for a brief intermission so that you can refresh your tea and have a moment of discourse as we loosen up your gears and your tongues so that we can engage in dialog and perhaps have some exchanges with others, as they are here to teach and share. We'll be back in a few minutes.
[Intermission]
TOMAS: I am Tomas. Good afternoon. It is good to see you all here, gathered together, good to be with you again as you can imagine, we in the invisible realms have been active in areas all over the map, not excluding your own lives, which, while you may seem so serene on the surface, often stir mightily beneath the calm exterior of your composure. "Bridge Over Troubled Waters."
We were talking before about our work with you, our reason for being with you, which is to teach you friendship with God, thus we need to have a god we can be friends with and there needs to be an understanding of what that friendliness would look like.
The extension of friendship with God is indeed your social arena, one with the other, which gives you an opportunity to reflect the attributes of divinity in your association with each other.
Interesting that the reading should speak of those whose minds can be changed with the prevailing influence, much as the populace is influenced by the latest news reports, which is an indication of allowing the temporal realities to determine how you perceive life. It allows the bearer of bad news as much power and influence as the bearer of good news. And thus your efforts in spreading the good news is even more important, for you know that love is more catching than hate, but it must be revealed or you will hide yourselves in the Kingdom and not represent it. To do so would be short-changing yourselves and your potential.
Thoroah: I need to interrupt because you said something about "representing the kingdom." I think everybody wants to know how are we supposed to do that. I think we struggle more over how we are supposed to represent the Kingdom than anything else.
TOMAS: Recently we had a little chat about what kind of church you are, and in that way you are able to personalize how you felt in the worshipful state -- if you are a Buddhist temple, an Indian altar, a Christian cathedral, a mosque, whatever -- as it will reflect how you comport yourself in your holy space. In carrying this attitude around with you into the arena, in your own repose, you are representing the Kingdom within.
And it will no doubt come up squarely against the kingdom of man, which is rather unlike the Kingdom of God at this point in your planetary evolution. You may feel like you are on the outside looking in, but hold fast to the hem of his garment for they may well be on the outside looking in you and what they need to see is your faith, your reality, your relationship with divinity. When they see that, they will be encouraged. The love of the Father will be reflected back to them through you. Whether you have had any discourse or not, and this is the difference, because you are not discussing anything theological or philosophical or psychological, but simply being.
Earlier you were chatting amiably about the weather and cats and those simple topics of human interest which everyone everyone notices, perceives -- there is no escaping it; you live here -- but when your life is a prayer, even these expressions of the weather and pouring tea can be a reflection of genuine spirit reality.
It is not required that you be about the business of teaching and preaching consciously constantly. There is a time and place for clarification of belief and thought, and the social arena certainly does allow for that opportunity, particularly as you have learned to trust one another within the boundaries of graciousness that you have established through relatively meaningless chatter, but which has cultivated the field such that you will be able to sow seeds of your own growth and your own thought and perhaps someone else might find them worthy of consideration.
But this is graciousness; this is comporting yourself with the confidence in-born of a son of God as he carries himself as a son of man, even into the kingdoms of men.
Most encounters outside of the Kingdom (as we are discussing) are confrontational and full of strife, competition, insecurity, besting one another, coercing or inducing or otherwise attempting to influence another into your way of thinking. Selling, converting. And yet you who have this inborn knowing of the Kingdom, as it is within you, are not driven to convince others of your way of thinking, but rather to invite others to investigate their own inner sanctuary and their own inner God-consciousness to allow them to live within the Kingdom as well, and once more, this has little to do with dogma or tenets of beliefs or customs.
When you can free yourself of these shackles, you can glide smoothly through the world -in it but not of it - and spreading good cheer everywhere you go … and this is cause for rejoicing … it is an acquirement, indeed. Am I clear there, Thoroah?
Thoroah: Very.
TOMAS: Outward expressions of inner Kingdom reality do not require rites and rituals, litanies, readings, or traditions -- only the recognition of divine sonship/daughtership, having equality of bearing in this heavenly Kingdom of which you are a part. It can be enjoyed by the rich and the poor, as was discussed earlier, simply by standing in the sunshine on a day like today, feeling the healing warmth of the sun penetrate your bones and bring healing relief to the cells which have longed for the light of day and free expression.
Carry the Kingdom with you into the field as you go, in your personal church, that cathedral or temple or mosque in which your soul resides. You will find yourself singing praises in spite of yourselves. Give off the give news by your very being.
What else have you got to chat with me about today? Any questions or concerns? Any growth problems you want to review? Any experiential glitches that others may benefit to hear about in terms of their own character development?
Elena: I have one. Yesterday I got really mad at my neighbor. [He was blaring his music between 4 and 5 in the morning and I got so angry. I called them over there twice and so eventually they stopped but I was awake and continually going back and forth, saying, "this is my choice in how I react to this," so I was working that whole time trying to get back to sleep, which I was not able to do, and then all throughout the day I lived with that and was struggling with that and it actually went over into the next day a little bit, too. But I knew it wasn't a good thing for me to be angry. I was trying to think about good things, or about what Jesus would do, or seeing what God sees in the person, and I would get that for awhile and then all of a sudden I'd be right smack dab in the middle of being angry at him. Actually, I think I've gotten over it, but … it's a battle within myself!
Group: Been there, too.
TOMAS: You were put upon. They forgot themselves. In a neighborhood such as the one in which you reside, it is to be expected that the wee small hours of the morning are naturally devoted to rest and quietude. And they simply forgot themselves in their revelry and in their need to divert themselves from the reality of the day, which evidently they find insufferable. If it were not insufferable, they too would be asleep.
Group: Or working.
TOMAS: Even so, the prevailing atmosphere of a residential community is one of conformity to ordinary civil protocols.
Melody: Yesterday, I got totally angry myself at a rock. Just literally pissed off. My friend came up to me and said, "Are you mad at me?" and it just totally went ballistic from there. I said, no I wasn't mad at him but I was mad. I was hoping to have a nice day planting plants and it's rocky soil. And there are not a few rocks; there's a LOT of rocks, and they're not all small rocks, they're ROCKS. So much to do. So anyway I just went totally out of whack because I was angry at a rock. (Chuckles) It happens!
Paula: It's the person, and not really what's going on in the world, and how you adapt yourself to it.
Elena: Is anger just a common complaint of our humanity that we need to master?
TOMAS: Whether or not the anger is justified does not take away the fact of the anger and so dealing with the anger is essentially what you are dealing with, yes. The neighbor will be quiet or not regardless of your requests or threats. And so the essential question is how do I deal with the anger? Should I be angry in the first place? Well, there is a certain consideration of whether you are being unreasonable or not but when you consider that reason has little to do with anger, you need to get quickly beyond that to determine what your anger is trying to teach you. What is it trying to say? Is it important or is an irritation? Is it about something that is going to affect your life or your well-being or that of others? Consider the source. And again return to your anger.
Often understanding why you are having a feeling will diffuse the feeling. Often recognizing what the emotion is and understanding why it is there will help you put the fire out. Your neighbor and your rock garden are both indicative of something over which you have seemingly no control and so it rankles you. It is right that you should give it serious consideration because if anger is not handled wisely, if it is acted out without honorable intent, it will likely backfire on you and make matters worse.
But anger in and of itself is not a bad thing. It is there for a reason. It is to help you look at what it is that you are not accepting and what can you do about it, if anything. Evidently there is something that can be done because anger is there. It's an indication of an irritation, and so if you cannot accept the situation, then you need to do something about it. After you have made this determination through consultation with yourself and your Higher Self, act accordingly and empower yourself.
The ideal solution will offend no one. But there are those who may benefit from the lesson you teach as you are learning how to deal with the intolerable situation wisely and well. It is not unlike a child to have a temper tantrum when it does not get its own way. Much of your anger is like the temper tantrum. And often this kind of demonstration of anger is like a firecracker; it is loud and hot and potentially dangerous, but short-lived.
A pique is rather satisfying if it does not cause damage to others. Just as a firecracker can be gratifying to those who set one off, as long as it doesn't hit someone in the eye. No matter what caused your anger, it is your anger and you are responsible for it. You are responsible for the effects of your anger. Have anger all day if you want it. But the effects of it are a part of your responsibility to self-mastery.
Elena: Thank you, Tomas.
Esmeralda: Maybe earplugs and planting around the rocks will be a solution.
Paula: I haven't had a good mad on for a long time. I kinda miss it. (Laughter) I remember a real good one that I had when I was about 17, I guess. There was a big sorority dance going on and this other girl and I both wanted the same dress to wear. We were shopping together (and that was a mistake in the first place) and I said, "That's my dress!" and she said, "Oh, no it isn't. That's the one I'm going to wear." So we got into a real mad on. And we finally decided that neither one of us would have that dress because it wasn't worth it. We liked our friendship better than the dress. So she got one she looked super in and I got one that really wasn't half bad, and so I thought, "Well, I solved that problem" but I still, once in a while, like to get good and darned mad about something. It gets some of the … It's good for someone to say once in awhile and say, "Hey, I'm mad about this and I think I'll get it out of my system."
TOMAS: Yes, it's like a car that backfires, blowing out the carbon that has gathered in the carburetor.
Paula: Well, you have to get some of that out of your system. You can't be a prissy all of the time.
TOMAS: Well, I am going to be a prissy and call it a day. I can see we're just going to chatter the rest of the time together, although I want to thank you, Paula, for the morality tale about the dresses. That was quite good, and your sharing, Elena and Melody about your feelings, and you, Thoroah, for your contribution. All of you are indeed dear to me and to us all. See you next time. Enjoy the resurrection.
Group: Thank you, Tomas.
TOMAS: Go rejoicing.
*****
DATE: May 6, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER: MERIUM
TOPIC: And No One Is Denied
Music: "The Holy City" [sung A Capella by Men-O-Pah, back-up by Elena] Adolph Adams
When as night as I lay sleeping I dreamed a dream so fair
I stood in old Jerusalem beside the temple there
I heard the children singing and ever as they sang
Me thought the voice of angels from heav'n in answer rang
Me thought the voice of angels from heav'n in answer rant.
Chorus: Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Lift up your voice and sing!
Hosanna, in the highest. Hosanna, to your King.
And then me thought the scene was changed New earth there seemed to be
I saw the Holy City Beside the tideless sea
The light of God was on its street The gates were open wide
And all who would might enter And no one is denied.
No need of stars to shine at night No sun to shine by day
It was the new Jerusalem that would not pass away
It was the new Jerusalem that would not pass away
Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Lift up your voice and sing!
Hosanna, in the highest. Hosanna to your King!
Hosanna, in the highest. Hosanna to your King!
MERIUM: I am Merium.
Group: Hi, Merium.
MERIUM: I am impressed. I am humbled and enthralled by your performance. What a wonderful presentation of the Lord! Isn't it amazing what is possible when your heart is in it? Even the work of the realm, the medial jobs that people have to go to, are made more, embellished, if it is done for God, in that same earnest intensity as is in the song you sang. We are enthused to prayer when we see this attitude take place. For indeed it is a prayer, this diligent application of the self to the life you live. So many people just go through the motions of living, and operate as if from a checklist and overlook the art of living and the enthralling task of cultivating morontia reality in your own environment.
Yes, feng shui is a good start along those lines. I have observed that many of these toys and tools of the trade are effective and do serve until the spirit gains the upper hand completely and then the regimen, the habit, the scaffolding upon which the reality was grown is no longer needed, and yet what fun it is to see you each at your own level of soul growth and spirit development, to see how eagerly you invest yourself in what it is you love … what it is you think you love.
Perception of love itself is never-ending. Unceasingly our appreciation of love is unfolding and changing, even as it is the one recognizable Reality all of us yearn for. If people could just see that being in the presence of God is no more than simply giving oneself to the task at hand, in full consciousness, they are giving homage to creation and to the Creator.
I don't have a lecture today. I don't have anything on the agenda. It is early spring. Everything is in readiness, and yet we are in no hurry. "T'was early in the month of May …."
Renault: Can we ask you questions, then, Merium?
MERIUM: I'd be delighted, yes.
Renault: Well, one is … maybe I should--
MERIUM: Don't edit yourself like that! Just spit it out.
Renault: I was wondering about the Adam and Eve default, and if the other planets in quarantine that received Adams and Eves (as I'm sure they did), and how long if at all it took them to break down and lose track of their mission scope and perhaps default. Or are our Adam and Eve the only ones? Or can you expound on that at all?
MERIUM: Well, I see what you mean that you don't know where to start because you asked about 20 questions there.
Renault: I was just wondering.
MERIUM: Our Adam and Eve -- that is to say, the Adam and Eve who served on this world -- had problems that no other Material Son and Daughter ever faced before because of the nature of the Rebellion. What makes yours different from the others is that the other 35 worlds participating in the rebellion where not at the same juncture as you were here. Adam and Eve thus had more unique problems on your world than on the others. I will try to explain it this way.
In terms of divorce in mortal families, children are always effected, but there is a certain phase of their development that such upheaval would be more devastating than others. Little ones, it is said, forget, and so they adapt much more readily. And after a certain point the personality is sufficiently established that they can adjust. But that mid-realm there, which is quite vulnerable, is where your planet lay.
There are many exceptions, because of the fact of your status as a decimal planet. The others are not affected as you are. I am not saying that they weren't affected. I am sure they were. But the devastation on this world was sheer hell. There have been other rebellions in other universes and some of them have had defaults by their Material Son and Daughter also, although for other reasons, different circumstances.
Adams and Eves are trained to be planetary parents, but unfortunately occasionally they do err. Perhaps not to the extent that yours did, by messing up the blood plasm for eons to come, but they have also been foolish. But surely you can understand why would, why their judgment may be impaired when the circumstances for which they had been trained are altogether unlike what they expected.
You could compare that to your own life, again, by thinking about if any of you have ever been through a divorce, that your ideals may have said, "I'll never have a divorce!" And yet when you got to that point of facing the fact that divorce may be the only viable solution for the situation, you had to recognize that you don't have all the answers, and sometimes you cannot live up to your ideals. You just have to forgive yourself and move on. And that has happened many times with other Adams and Eves. It just has not always reached the extent that yours has here with the life plasm, the crowning glory of Caligastia's folly.
The work of the Adams and Eves is a very important job. They are not selected to serve on a world without certain sponsorship, commendation, just like Caligastia had to be approved by his elders before he was sent here to be Planetary Prince. Same thing in your life, you can be appointed to a political position or given a situation to deal with and circumstances are such that you have to say, "I'm outta here!" or you get into it so deeply you can't turn back. That happens. That's part of the fatality that can occur because you have free will.
Even the Most Highs are vulnerable to error. But the higher you go on the spiritual hierarchy plane, the less mistakes are made until you finally get to a level where they just don't make mistakes. They do everything perfectly and, of course, the Universal Father is perfect. He sees the end from the beginning, so perhaps if we had His perspective we would say "All's right with the world in every aspect," because for some reason or other it will work out somehow. In the end He will win. And as long as we don't mind that, as long as we support that, we are in good graces with our self.
I was just thinking about the song you sang. About everyone being allowed to come in. "No one is denied." This is how it is that some folks choose not to go ahead. They choose to go a different way and there is no light at the end of that tunnel. They would rather take their chances on ceasing to exist than give up the idea that they are in any way limited by design, and the fact is, all of us have limitations because we are each only one fragile filigree in the fabric that is creation.
What did you ask me about Adam and Eve? Several things. What have I overlooked? Or have I put you all to sleep?
Renault: I was thinking that it only took a hundred years for the default, you know, for them to get off track, and how much of the bio plasm did not get passed on to future generations. And the results are arthritis and other-- cerebral palsy and things that afflict the human species that might have been diverted. You know. We might be a healthier species had they had a little longer to proceed.
And I was wondering, if perhaps the other worlds were more advanced in light and life prior to their quarantine, and ours happened so early in our development, it's almost like we never even had a chance. We were doomed from the beginning, almost. Not doomed forever necessarily, but a long, long time. The other planets … were they more advanced in human developments … in light and life?
MERIUM: Not necessarily. Like I said, some may have been younger, some may have been older. It was the peculiar circumstances of your world that beat them. Yet they [Adam and Eve] did not embrace evil on purpose.
Renault: No, no! Just misled. Off down the wrong path.
MERIUM: They made a few wrong choices but they did not set out to do evil, and even now, today, they serve on the Council of 24 in Jerusem -- the New Jerusalem.
Renault: Is there a way to help correct our bio plasm? Our DNA? To help the human species on this planet not be as disease-ridden and crippled and …?
MERIUM: The pattern has been implanted in you and so there is a possibility that over many thousands of years your DNA can be up-stepped, modified, corrected, improved, as long as it falls within the prescribed pattern that was planted in you by the Life Carriers. It is probably more important for you to focus on the social aspects of the default than the scientific, although it is certainly appropriate for scientists to investigate these solutions.
Stopping the downhill spiral of inferior breeding would help a lot, too. That is something you can work on as well. You are an organism, after all, and like an organism that has had a disease, once the disease is cut out the healing process can begin, but whether or not it can fully recover is a mystery. Whether or not you regain all that was lost does not mean you cannot learn methods and means of compensating.
Maintaining the attitude of good cheer is helpful, even in the face of disabilities and handicaps. You just have to learn to forgive and forget -- if at all you can. If you sit around blaming or pointing the finger, you waste valuable energy that could be spent accentuating the positive. We all know that all is not right with the world. There is starvation and disease, devastation, pollution, not just geologically but the peoples themselves are flawed, ill, unbalanced. Some are destructive and some are incredibly altruistic and giving. But if you can focus on your task at hand, and approach it as if it were a song of praise, you will be part of the solution more than the problem.
In a way it has probably been helpful for you to learn about Adam and Eve, and Lucifer, as someone with whom to be angry about things that happened to you that causes you supreme displeasure. It's always somewhat mortally gratifying to blame someone else for their problems and when you all understand that there are certain inherent problems that everyone has to deal with, then it is okay to become a little bit more compassionate with your fellows who may not have born up under the pressure of this world any better than Adam and Eve did. It is really all very relative.
They defaulted after only 100 years? Oh, yes, 100 years may seem like a very brief time in theory, but when you are walking on hot coals and don't know how, 20 seconds can seem like an eternity. How are your patience factors? Your endurance levels? Do you get discouraged? It is inherent here. That is something that we are trying to help you overcome. We are trying to help compensate for the absence of your Material Son and Daughter.
They would have provided the development that would have by now created a Garden of Eden on your planet. The wars would be a thing of the past. The races would not be blended because they were here well before Adam and Eve got here, but they would have learned how to live together and work together. There would not be this tribal warfare going on between the races incessantly, nor would there be the driving competition. It would have been a gentler milieu, with much more songs of praise and hosannas, but since Adam and Eve didn't do it, it falls on you to do it and we are here to help.
They will not be sending another Adam and Eve because they came to up-step the life plasm and they defaulted. So you can't get another, but you can see what the ideal is that they wanted to implant and you can rise to the challenge of being their loyal children, like many who experienced divorce and who, even without divorce, cannot understand their parents until they themselves are parents, or until late in life when perspective changes such that they can see farther.
Elena: Well, I'm kind of curious. We've also been told that when we go from this world to the next one, that what we haven't learned in this world then we get other opportunities so I guess, put in that context, am I understanding that right? What we don't achieve in this world then we certainly have the opportunity and are given the guidance still in the next one, to achieve what we haven't in this one? Is that right?
MERIUM: Yes, you can, but it will be personal. There is much that you can do here, while you are here, that will socially improve the world. The midwayers would certainly support any efforts that you could generate to help evolve the planet as well as yourself. If you have great ideas and ambitions for this world, yes you will still likely be able to do them in the morontia life, although many things will not be interesting there that are here.
Still, if you want to serve in civil service, you will find ways to serve On High as you would here, but you may not necessarily have the option of running for Mayor.
Elena: Well, you know, speaking for myself, I do get really discouraged here, about a lot of the things that are here. I mean, that doesn't mean that I don't keep trying to do what I can, and I certainly continue to start doing things; I'm not lacking in enthusiasm there. But I guess it does hold some comfort for me to know that what I don't achieve here, it is certainly possible in the next one, so I don't know. I look forward to accomplishing what I can in this world, but I also am enthusiastic about what it would be next, I guess is what I am trying to say, because, Merium, you mentioned the people who happened to have the experience of being a parent, or this or that or the other, that you'll have opportunities in the next world to get that which you don't get in this world.
MERIUM: Yes, of course. Yes, you are right. Opportunities abound, and many of the opportunities of Mansonia are remedial opportunities, such as making up for what you didn't get here. But there are other things you can learn in Mansonia -- in the mansion worlds -- that are new, like the universal language. There is no point in learning it here. It's just one big unfolding adventure, one vast school.
Esmeralda: It sounds exciting.
MERIUM: Well, it really is very satisfying. It can be exciting, but exciting is not as important to me as it is perhaps to your mortals.
Esmeralda: I think your saying "satisfying" was a better choice of words than exciting.
MERIUM: It is for me.
Esmeralda: I think for me, too. I'm not always pulling up the right world.
MERIUM: Sometimes mortals confuse excitement with fright. There's a fine line between excitement and fear.
Renault: The roller coaster has a certain amount of excitement and fear to it.
MERIUM: Yes. There is some strange phase of human development that loves to be scared.
Renault: Um-hum. That's why Steven King is so popular.
MERIUM: Indeed.
Elena: Well, we're not going to be bored, I don't believe, are we?
Renault: Or scared?
MERIUM: I think not. You won't be bored. There is no reason to be bored, put it that way. Or scared. You wanted to know more about what to anticipate in Mansonia?
Renault: Sure.
MERIUM: And you wanted to know what it was like on worlds where other Adams and Eves defaulted.
Elena: Right, and there are 36?
Renault: There's quite a few.
MERIUM: I see a lot of looking for other perspectives, looking for ways to learn more about what the options might be, some comparative analysis.
Elena: Have you been through them all?
MERIUM: I have been through the mansion worlds, yes. I think that's remarkable for an 18-year old babysitter, don't you?
Group: (Laughter) You get around! All seven of them? Well, babysitters are in big demand, I take it then, huh?
MERIUM: Indeed, on a world such as this. You all need to be observed and cultivated, nourished and coddled, and disciplined and attended to.
Paula: You know, I've always wondered whoever thought up the original idea of an Adam and Eve in a Garden of Eden. It's a beautiful story! But of course we have no idea whether there was ever such a place or people. It was a story that they started so that people would try to do good instead of evil, and if they didn't tow to the line and obey everything, then they'd get kicked out of Eden just like Adam and Eve did. Well, we have to tell stories like that to our children just to get them to learn how to behave and tow the line and do what they're supposed to do, and I don't think anybody figures you're supposed to take it literally and figure that there really was an Adam and an Eve and a Garden of Eden. You just don't --
All the different cultures had to have something like that, that they believed in, and I go to church and I believe that the Bible is a pretty accurate history of the things that went on and the wars that were fought and who was supposed to do the right thing and if you didn't do the right thing you really got punished, but that is what we taught our children. Behave and if you don't behave, Daddy will take you over his knee and give you a good spanking. And out you go. You're dumped out of Eden. And that was, I'm sure, what they were trying to do years ago when they first wrote the Bible. You weren't supposed to take everything in it literally, word for word.
You were supposed to understand the history of it and if you do things right, probably your life will be blessed and if you do things wrong you're going to get punished, just like you did when you were a little child and Mommy said, "Do thus and so, and if you do it the other way, Daddy will take you over his knee and spank you."
(And that's why I got a lot of spanking when I was a little kid, because I was an only child and they figured that if they didn't reprimand me, I'd do the same darned thing all over again, and I didn't like the spankings and I didn't like especially being put in my room with the door shut, because I had claustrophobia and I don't like it, but that's getting away from the lesson.)
It's just general idea. Some people, like my Grandmother, took every single thing in the Bible and said, "This is it! It happened exactly the way it tells you." And, of course, everybody knows that history has a lot of mistakes in it. I mean, it wasn't written down for people in those days. It was word of mouth, and you know what that means. That some of it is going to get mixed up and tangled, but the general idea behind it is try and tow the line and do things right and everything will turn out just fine. And if you don't, you'll probably get punished for it.
MERIUM: And another thing! They always blame it on Eve. I think that is unfair, don't you?
Paula: Yeah, I always thought so too.
MERIUM: Well, it's good to see women rise up and become self-aware and stand behind one another, but it's also true what you say that many stories have been handed down for centuries. This reflects in stories about the way they did it then as if it should still be done that way today. Earlier, Renault was telling Gerdean a story. Do your recall the story Renault?
Renault: About tying up the cat?
MERIUM: Yes. Tying up the cat devolved similar to the story about why they always cut off the end of the loin before it was roasted. Come to find out, great grandmother's pan was short, and so they cut off the loin back then, and the daughter did the same because "that's how Mom did it" and 500 years later they are still cutting off the end of the loin, because that's the way it's always been done, just as they are still tying up the cat.
Well, this is the way it has been with Bible stories, you are absolutely right. And you are right, too, that there are those who believe it to be the gospel and God's truth and make life insufferable for those who have a different opinion. This is the root of the Crusades, actually, because it becomes a sticking point of one interpretation of God versus another interpretation of God and so the battle is on. This is the way it is, though, in evolved religion.
It is fortunate that the gods understand that the evolving worlds go through certain phases. It's a good thing God is watching what's going on and can keep an eye on your growth. Just like children at some point need to be weaned or toilet trained, then learn to share, then learn to be responsible, and so forth, so must the children of time and space. That is why we have come. That is why throughout time someone or something has come to each evolving world at certain points in their evolution, to mark the culmination of an age and stimulate the growth of the next.
All the evolving worlds throughout the seven superuniverses are given a planetary prince in the early, early days of its existence. And at some point on every evolving world throughout the seven superuniverses, a Material Son and Daughter arrive to up-step the plasm of the mortals on the world so as to make them more receptive to divine leanings. Every inhabited world receives a Son of God who comes to implant the Spirit of Truth that will allow for the floodgates to open for the Thought Adjusters to come.
There are certain developmental phases on the evolving worlds that happen in the course of the maturation of the world. Your world is 5/7 of the way toward its maturity. But it has had some handicaps. You could say that it is almost a grown man, but it shot itself in the foot and broke its leg back there, and so he is gaining strength, he is still handsome, can still have children and work, but has a bit of a limp.
More will be revealed as you evolve. The Bible is an historic document deliberately compiled to serve a world in the wake of the appearance of Jesus on this planet, and it is to be commended for the work it has done in keeping the concept of the Son of God alive, even as it has done much to damage the Son of God by its inherent imperfection.
The Urantia Papers are the fifth epochal revelation and there will be two more. This is the commentary of a teacher, Teacher Merium with the Teacher Corps. The Teacher Corps serves those who have knowledge of the Urantia Papers. The Greater Teaching Mission includes the Teacher Corps and the Teaching Mission, but it may provide other philosophic contributions, many of which are from other religions in other parts of the world, many of which have Christian underpinnings, and many of which are quite refreshing and new.
But as a Teacher in the Teacher Corps, it is my responsibility to advise you of the epochal revelations to your world, the Material Sons and Daughters being one of them. You may want to investigate to find out who they really were, what they really did, what really happened to them -- not as a Bible story, but as a revelation. It's really quite a fascinating story.
[Gerdean questions the use of the word "story."] Story yes. Saga. Because still all the details are not known, all the minor points are not revealed. All of the emotions and effects and facts are not on record in the Urantia text but you have enough that it adds a great deal to understanding who you are, why the world is the way it is, and what you can do about it to find joy in it and to be of good cheer, as you minister to those you encounter as you pass by.
The entire universe is one vast school. You can certainly pour tea in class. It isn't all brutal learning. And it isn't all a lie. But it does help when you can understand things within your own context such that you can find intellectual peace. Those who have intellectual peace will not be troubled then by the disturbing the peace of others. Have we covered enough for one afternoon or do you want to go one more round?
Renault: Thank you so much.
Elena: I think that's some good stuff there. It's certainly given me something to think about. Really, it gives me perspective about accomplishing what we can. This is probably an understatement, but those things that were meaningful to me today were the importance of striving in this world to not only serve others but get as much as we can from this world so it will put us in a better place for the next one. And that there is a lot of variety, certainly, of things to do in the next world.
I got a good review, actually, about the Adam and Eve story and how that happened, about the plasm part. I had read that, but I hadn't picked up on that, so that was very interesting to me, too. I'm going to try to ask Gerdean what's in her upper filing cabinet. That kind of intrigued me, too, so it's been good.
Esmeralda: It's been a good lesson.
MERIUM: I'll just see if I can't cram in one more final thought then that might help tie together my little lecture to Paula with your question about what lies ahead, and that would be to elucidate that although you are just now approaching the fifth epoch, and you have the sixth and seventh phases on your world before it is settled in light and life, and before it reaches the fruition of its potential.
As I review the experience of the morontia worlds and attaining Jerusem citizenship, I oversee and wonder about and anticipate for you, the many things that you are learning now that are first mansion world and second mansion world realities that will increase as you pursue, advance and aspire and as time goes by, such that mortals will be able to learn here what they would learn on the fourth or fifth mansion world, and even at the height of your planetary development when everyone loves God and seeks to serve.
Even the sixth and seventh mansion world lessons will be able to be mastered on the material plane, such that worlds that have attained light and life don't have to go through the mansion worlds. They leave their planet of origin and arrive in Jerusem. That is a goal that we can see, we who have more experience and a broader perspective on time/ space than you do here in your time/ space configuration as finite mortal beings.
And so, as you tell tales of what went down, you can also look to anticipate what is yet to come. And even in the talking of it and the dreaming of it and the fantasizing about it, the real thrill, the real miracle, the real joy is the doing of it. The giving of yourself to the moment in sublime peace and trust of your doing it with and for the Lord, for truth, beauty and goodness. Doing it for love. And none will be denied. Bye bye!
*****
DATE: June 3, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHERS: Unidentified Speaker, Teacher Merium, Midwayers Jack and Dani
TOPICS: Be Firm in Your Faith; Anticipation of Summer Fun; Animal Training; Garden Spirits; Your Vision Matters; The Bees are Dying; The Assignment
Drumming & Cherokee Prayer: (Elena and Wayawahili) "Mighty God, through whom all power is given, I send the sound of my voice singing toward heaven. By your leave, Lord, I send the sound of my voice, singing toward heaven. By your leave, Lord, I shall live today."
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: By your leave, Lord, I will address Your children - I am one among many who are assigned to assist in the uplift of humanity, to bring about the light of truth, to expand understanding, to herald change - progressive change - even as we sink our feet into the earth, there to plant ourselves as firmly grounded in the work of the realm.
The work of the realm begins in your mind, through your choices. It extends in and through your vehicle, which carries you into your exterior environment, in your atmosphere, your presence, and as it impacts on those you encounter in your home, in your neighborhood, in your city-state nation globe. And so it is they sing, "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me." Let there be light and life across the land, and let me live in it as my perpetual, eternal estate, as a child of God and a citizen of His Kingdom. In this stronghold of identity, let us bond and intermingle in grace. Therein we will discover the way, the divine path, right living, which eventuates on earth as it is in heaven.
I honor your presence here today and speak to that in you which is unused to being addressed, that aspect of your inner life which you generally only share with yourself. And thus you can hardly know if it is real or if it is only real to you. If it is real to others and to you, then there is somewhat of a confirmation of your perceptions, and when these are tested over time, added to and pruned as necessary, there results a healthy organism, a society, one in which people delight to bear the burdens of others, for it is not an imposition or an obligation but a delight and privilege to serve in love.
It is, in fact, a testimony to the fear and desperation of the many on this earth who despair of circumstances that are beyond their control, and yet allow that which is beyond their control to consume them such that they have no peace of mind, no connection left with the still, small voice that was within, and is within, and will be within. Therein is that mustard seed, that grain of truth that when you say, "I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief," truth reveals itself. The universe responds to your sincere questions, your need to know, your desire to eliminate error and to embrace goodness.
You who are born of the spirit, who have knocked and to whom the door has opened, who know the sound of the Master's Voice, are those who are called to hold fast to your living faith, for that is the power that will advance you and your situation whether it is cosmic, global, metropolitan or integral to you.
I am going to remain unidentified, but I have enjoyed my visit with you today and am going to pass the microphone, as it were, to Merium, your cherished friend and "babysitter." Have a good day.
Group: Thank you. Come again.
MERIUM: I am here to bring in some fresh air and sunshine. Isn't it wonderful that spring has sprung?
Group: Um-hum, yes, wonderful.
MERIUM: And indeed, summer is merrily approaching. Isn't it wonderful to not have to wear (those of you in this culture here) heavy coats for a season, that you might "lighten up" and feel refreshed by the very wind beneath your wings. Hear the birds, feel the breeze, listen to the laughter of that which is new, untried, untested and is anticipated to be all and more you hoped it would be.
Anticipation is such a wonderful emotion/feeling. When you can wake in the morning with positive anticipation of what the day will bring, you immediately have invited God into your life, for you have asked that it be filled with wonder, solidarity, opportunity and responsibility - all of which are characteristics of our Universal Father.
"By your leave, Father, we rejoice in being like You. Therefore, help us understand how You are that we might know how You want us to be when we grow up. We live in You. And we find You in our peers. We see You within them, each and all, looking out upon the world from the mortal perspective and seeking the opportunity to encourage, reinforce and confirm the spirit reality of one another."
For what this does is it allows you to see God reflected back to you when you look at them, for they seek the same from You. To the extent that there are pieces missing in the connection is no reflection on anything except that you are still being formulated. You are still incomplete, each and all of you. And so it behooves you to be patient with one another, even as you anticipate that others will be patient with you. Are there questions?
Esmeralda: That last was a good thought, to help me be patient with everybody. And that way, maybe other people will be patient with us, because we are not as perfect as we seem to ourselves. It's something to think about.
Renault: I read an interesting thing that said the adage "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Another way of looking at it is that by helping others, they can help you. That you benefit because through your help, helping others, so that instead of just saying, "don't hit him because you do want him to hit you," it is more like, "give him a helping hand so that way he can help you, too," and I thought that was a very beautiful way of looking at that. Much more positive.
Esmeralda: Another thing, too, that I am reminded of there is Jesus said when you give a stranger a drink, you are doing the same for Him. Maybe that sort of thing. I don't think we expect to get back something just because we give. In giving, we give a lot, whether we get anything back, we get a good feeling.
Elena: Well, we certainly need one another. I have an example, a kind of minor irritation going on with my neighbor but right before I left, my dog Barney jumped over the fence - right through the electric fence that I just put up - so the neighbor, even though we were not on the greatest terms yet, although we're both trying to be on good terms but not yet smooth, they came around and let me know that Barney was out, so we really do need one another to lend each other a helping hand, like you said, because it certainly does come back and I still don't know what I'm going to do about Barney but …
Esmeralda: Even after a $1,300 fence.
Elena: Yeah.
Renault: Build a higher fence.
Men-o-pah: Maybe raise the voltage up a little higher.
Elena: I'll have to do that and just continue the training and not get discouraged.
Renault: Do you take him for a walk?
Elena: Yeah! This morning we went over to SIPI and went all around the campus.
Renault: Maybe there's a way up a fence that curves inward so he can't jump over.
Elena: That's a good idea. I'm entertaining anything towards a solution.
Men-o-pah: Well, there is an adjustment to raise the voltage in the fence.
Elena: When I get home I will call the guy and arrange it. I hate to do that.
Menopah: Well, he needs to get the message that he's not supposed to do that. [Group all talking at once] Hard case. [Group: further group discussion about animal training for cats and dogs]
0802-AB Jack here. You sound like you're building an armed camp over there! (Group laughter)
Elena: Well, I feel like I am! Yeah! I don't know what to do, so what should I do?
JACK: Well, you certainly got right to the heart of it, didn't you. That is: animal training. Much of what civilization entails is animal training. You either train your animal to behave in a way that is agreed to by others in your community or you have anarchy and constant warfare. You need to work these things out, indeed, but animal training is constant.
Even when animals are trained, they can "go off." They can be triggered by some kind of subconscious cue or get their electro-chemical wires crossed and fritz out for a minute because, as somebody said earlier, you aren't perfect. You aren't complete. There are errors in your constitution. And so there are "hard cases," as you say. And yet, it comes down to the hard truth that those who cannot and will not abide by rightful and reasonable regulations need to be exterminated or set off somehow so that others can be about the business of stabilizing society.
Esmeralda: Hmmm. That sounds like a deep thought.
JACK: It's not only a deep thought, it relates to many of the problems you are facing here on this planet in terms of your incessant warfare, your criminal element, the defectives that remain to multiply and weaken the strains of the culture that seeks to advance. There are some very real issues that are to be dealt with and they are illustrated very well in your situation with Barney.
Esmeralda: Actually I was thinking maybe he would use the word "Bush." (Chuckles)
JACK: Well, that's a dog of a different color. You'd better edit that out. I know people who get statements like that from "pseudo-celestials" get very upset. It doesn't reflect well on our culture.
Elena: Well, I shouldn't put Barney to sleep, though.
Menopah: Not until you've tried everything.
Renault: More restraint.
JACK: If he isn't hurting anybody, it makes the situation even more unjust, because you love the animal; you have already invested dearly in his well-being; and the efforts you go through to relate to your friends and neighbors, in terms of your relationship with the animal, indicate your commitment and your sense of responsibility, even your ethics and your morals. And so it is representative of you as a human being how this animal responds to your training or not and how your society looks at and thinks of you as its owner.
And so it does get extremely personal, and if you were to find that he was incorrigible and needed to be either institutionalized or put down, you would certainly want to know who those were who would stand beside you as a valiant soldier of the circles who did everything -- everything, everything, everything! - in your power to train the beast to behave himself under the circumstances that are required.
On the other hand, if he's going to be such a crackerjack, perhaps he needs to be trained in how to be a capitalist and then he can win prizes of some sort. (Chuckles)
Esmeralda: He is a prizewinner! He only has the one fault. He only recently learned how to jump the fence.
JACK: Does anyone out there know how to keep a dog from jumping over a fence? How high is the fence now? (About 6 feet.) Oh, it's not high enough. If he is a real "bounder" you need 8 feet! And there are greyhounds and other muscular animals that think nothing of 12 or 14 feet. You need a kangaroo to keep him company. (Further group discussions about the fence) So what shall we do then? Build a 12-foot fence between here and Mexico? (Group reactions) And who is trying to keep whom out. Or in? And for what reason?
Esmeralda: Well, between here and Mexico, nobody is trying to keep us in; we're just making a poor effort to keep them out.
JACK: Well …
Esmeralda: But then that gets us into a much deeper subject.
JACK: It certainly does, because it puts you in a position of deciding which side of the fence you belong on and when you are interested in the general advancement of the race, these peculiar situations that you become involved in, take all your time and energy.
Esmeralda: But it becomes so complex, and has so many different aspects to them.
[More discussions about dog training, books on the market.]
Elena: He knew I was leaving and he wanted to come with me.
JACK: Oh, I see. So he wants the universe to revolve around him. He has not learned how to share you with others. [Discussion now about getting him a canine companion.] If you can see a light at the end of the tunnel, then carry on and follow through with your commitment and he'll be a jolly old companion for you as you sit on your porch in your rocker after you retire, with him at your feet. That's a nice picture. It, too, represents ideals and dreams, aspirations and ambitions that are appropriate for you to contemplate.
[More about the dog.] The same could be said for Gerdean's cat. She is young, energetic, loves to leap and chase and tear around with capacities far exceeding those of her mistress. And there are days when we wonder if we made the wrong choice because she is such a test on occasion.
Esmeralda: But very rewarding in others, I'll bet.
JACK: The thing is, you see, there is this underlying sense of responsibility to take care of the creatures of the world, having been given dominion over them. And one of the ways that people choose to participate in the process is to take care of one of them, or more than one, as many as they can, even though some bite off more than they can chew and the animals take over, just as in some situations the inmates will take over the institution. Overcrowding is never a good idea. Animal training is something that will be necessary for you on a social level, and although they are not fun to think about, they really need to be bargained for.
Esmeralda: Will we have pets and animals in the morontia world?
JACK: That's a trick question. If I say "no" then you won't want to go.
Esmeralda: No, I'd still want to go, but …
JACK: If I said 'yes' I wouldn't be exactly telling the truth.
Esmeralda: Then maybe I should not have asked the question.
JACK: No, you should ask the question. I just have to qualify my answer.
Renault: Don't they belong to a material realm, rather than the spiritual, morontial?
JACK: Yes, the animals that you know belong to the physical kingdom. The morontia world has its own flora and fauna, if you will, but they are not like these, and so for me to say you could have cats and dogs or birds in Mansonia would be a mistake. But there are companions there, companions that "embrace the combined traits of a faithful horse and an affectionate dog and manifest an intelligence exceeding that of the highest type of chimpanzee." [Read about the spornagia on Page 528 of the Urantia Book.] Thus you will be able to be companioned by creatures who will amuse you, assist you and teach you elemental things about being, just as your pets do in this life.
And of course you will have certain responsibilities, but not to the extent that you have here because such a greater percentage of the animal nature is left behind. Let's take a break.
[INTERMISSION]
[Further group discussions about dogs.]
Renault: Remember when we had our conference down in the South Valley? There was something about a midwayer named Dani that was in this area.
DANI: That would be me! Thanks for saying "hello."
Renault: Hi! I didn't know if you were around.
DANI: I was around. I'm around as often as I can afford it. That is to say I do have things to do but when you guys get together, since you're a bright light in my neighborhood, I like to check in. It's kind of my responsibility to keep an eye on you anyway, because work with other midwayers who work with you and angels, of course, who have us helping on projects all over town, all over the county, all over the state, all over the region. We have a lot to do, you know, even though much of what we do is slow motion to what we'd like to see. Isn't that the case with everybody?
Group: For sure.
DANI: We have our own exercises in patience. Why? What did you want to talk about?
Renault: I don't know. I just remembered. I made an 1111 address for you guys, so I didn't know if you've been able to use it or not.
DANI: Well, we have our own townhouse, you know. (Laughter) It's not like we need to use your address, but thanks for thinking of us. Actually, I hang out on your patio sometimes. (Oh, cool!) And have been known to enjoy your company on the front porch. (How about that!) How about that! (Laughter) You thought I wasn't paying attention, huh?
Esmeralda: Do you ever stop by and watch TV with me?
Renault: I'll bet only when Tiger Woods is playing
DANI: I'm not big on TV but I have been to your place a number of times, especially when I've seen you in the garden and in the back. I have an affinity for fairies and wood nymphs and elves and all those fanciful, imaginative creatures you have ascribed as being midwayers and vice versa.
Renault: My garden is full of them.
DANI: There are, of course, energies specifically for growing things. And they give off energy! And so the spirit is involved in gardening. That's one of the reasons it always feels good to go into a garden where everything is thriving and taken care of. They give off energy that you can feel.
Renault: Be stop and smell my roses. They are just wonderful.
DANI: Oh, thanks. What color are they?
Renault: Pink!
DANI: I'll look for the pink ones particularly. It's not like I have time to sit around sniffing everything that comes into view, but I do like to stop and smell the roses. It's been a very lightweight day here! Close to home, so to speak. It's an informal kind of a day. I see there are sandwiches on the menu. (Group murmurs) And a vacation coming up for some of you. I didn't get invited. And I didn't put in for it.
Elena: Well, put in for Canyon de Chilly [pronounced d' shay'] and come with us!
DANI: Well, they've got me on a job, see. (Laughter) If I can break away, I'll come with you. When are you going?
Elena: June 16. That weekend. My friend is going to come to town and go with us, and it would be wonderful to have you with us.
DANI: If I get a chance.
Esmeralda: Any time you have a minute, drop by and we'll sit out in my back yard.
DANI: All right then. And if I can't make it to some of these, you know, there are others who will fill in and we can compare notes at the end of the day like people do.
Elena: Well, Dani, I appreciated the last time you came when you were saying you were going to help me drum up business and I think you probably have been doing that, is what my estimate would be.
DANI: Well, there are a lot of people out there who can benefit from what you have to offer.
Elena: I've hit on a little bit of a lull. I've gotten a little depressed about that, but I'm kind of back on track, I think again, too. So I think it's worthwhile to keep at it.
DANI: You're just like your puppy. (Laughter) You are bounding all over the place, jumping from one thing to another. How high can you go and how much fun you have. You are just looking for companionship and something to do. It's just as well that you aren't bounding constantly on this assignment you have undertaken about "Your Vision Matters" because there are other things you need to focus on, just as there are other things your dog can focus on besides his current fascination.
But don't give up because there's a lot to be said for your bounding. You inspire others and you are learning at the same time, and so allow what you are learning to be assimilated into your being, your consciousness, such that when you have an opportunity to put it into effect, it's a natural extension of who you are and not an affectation of your own training.
That's another instance of animal training. Give yourself the time you need to learn how to be all that you can be. And as you practice each new plateau of learning, you will meet the needs of those who are at that point at that time. People cannot grow any faster than they can grow. But neither should they be left to languish and get lazy, for then depression sets in. There has to be a good balance between kicking back and kicking in.
Elena: I like that. "Kicking back and kicking in." That was really good.
DANI: Thanks! (Chuckles) There are others here, in case anybody has something else they want to talk about besides cats and dogs. (Laughter)
Renault: I'm seeing lots of bees. Lots of birdsong, lots of bees around. Butterflies.
Esmeralda: The bees! Is there any word or help on what is causing the bees to die?
Paula: The bees? Dying?
Esmeralda: Which would be a big, big problem in the long run.
Men-o-pah: Better believe it.
DANI: Well, they are not all dying, only certain brands of bees are dying. Evolution is under control. You're not killing out any breeds or species that cannot be either replaced or modified through evolution. All through the ages various orders of creatures have become extinct, but not before they steps were taken to bring humanity to where it is today. It is a part of the process, the evolutionary process.
Now of course you don't want to go out of your way to make things miserable for a critter such that they can't survive any longer due to your abuse! There's no excuse for that. That's not much better than genocide. But if it happens naturally or within the natural order, it's to be expected. I can already see hands raised out there among those who would split hairs over what the natural order is. And we'll probably have an opportunity to observe your discussions of this issue for a long time to come.
Yes, I too like the butterflies and the rabbits and the birds. The grackles are back. But let me bow out. I've been here long enough. I'll give you back to Merium who has been playing hostess this afternoon. See ya!
Group: Thanks, Dani. Bye.
MERIUM: Well, kids, I'm going to give you an assignment, and that is to keep a job jar or a God box or a listing of wonders handy because I know that each one of you in the course of your days think. I know you think. And I know that you ponder. I know that you grapple. I know that you exalt and praise and pray. I know that you argue with yourself over points. You upbraid yourself over habits and twitter to yourself about things you would not want people to know had crossed your mind.
These are the spice of life. These are the photographs of your consciousness that reveal about you that which is within, and that is what I would like to hear about.
I do understand that you live in a material world, that you are material beings, in material homes requiring material things and food and pets. And those are fun to hear about. They always become an object lesson of some sort, and they are pretty easy to deal with since they are so germane to so many people.
But those windows of opportunity that arise when you are in your creative consciousness that would be such a joy to consider. Therein we find pathos, humor and an intimacy such that few have a chance to realize among others. Let's peel off one of the layers of the onion that encompasses the mustard of our group, and reveal another inner layer of tender truth about our innermost self which is not only the beast which needs to learn to "heel" but the soul which seeks to "heal" and strive such that others will follow.
If you are willing.
*****
DATE: July 1, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER: MERIUM
TOPICS: Support for Local Co-Creative Working Team; Pretending / Acting As If; Query as to the Seven Psychic Circles; Revelation Compared to Evolution
[The first three quarters of this session was lost due to a faulty mechanical connection.]
And so here we are, embarking upon a new epoch - not only we who are privy to the Urantia Papers, but all of humanity. For we were ready! You were ready. The planet was ready or the Book would not have come. These revelations do not come until the time is ripe and the time was ripe for this revelation. And so it enhances your knowledge greatly. But you were ready!
When it is time for a child to be born, it is ready to enter the world. And while the Urantia Papers were delivered to you as a revelation -- the fifth of epochal standing -- you who have not yet found the Papers were, even so, ready. And you are ready even now, "quivering on the brink," listening for, anticipating, hungry for, waiting to hear that which will trigger your hunger.
And you will notice that there is a plethora of material abounding that feeds that hunger -- and not only A Course in Miracles and the many movements of the New Age, but also abstract, remote and far-away philosophies and theories which have been waiting for the time to emerge into the light, to add its own illumination to this growing, swelling, expanding reality which is indeed occurring in your lifetime.
It is a very exciting time to be alive. And so those of you who see it happening, who appreciate the broad base from which this planet is being flooded, it is not unreasonable that we should come, too, that you should be able to reach up and in good faith accept our presence and act upon it. In time, our methods and means will evolve as you and your world evolves.
[People] on other worlds that have not been troubled with the Lucifer rebellion, the Adamic default and some of your other minor setbacks, are familiar already with this method of consulting with your superconscious for guidance. You spoke earlier, Esmeralda, of Celene, your personal teacher, to whom you speak but you testify you do not hear a reply, but I say to you "You do! You just don't hear it with your physical ears."
If you question the way of your path and discuss it with your guide, you will be answered and you will know if you are going with or against the guidance you are given from On High as you begin to act upon your decision. It is up to you, then, to ascertain if your decision is in keeping with the counsel you received or if it is contrary and willful. And it will be made apparent fairly quickly… if you are paying attention. In this way you are able to -- as they say -- walk the "straight and narrow."
To the extent that you choose not to walk the straight and narrow, you have every opportunity to veer wildly and widely, to the left and to the right, and enjoy (or not) experiential adventures that may (or may not) garner you wisdom -- free will being what it is. And so we are all on a faith walk here.
We are all looking in the direction of the Divine for how to proceed, and sometimes not knowing, we pretend, or we act as if. Bring the mind and the body will follow. And it will come to pass that what is divine, eternal and real will become a part of us, while that which is error or fleeting or merely fluff will fade away.
Those who take what they have acquired so seriously as to preclude change cannot stop growth. They can only make a loud noise in opposition to that which they do not understand. And you, too, have the option to not advance, to not put yourself out on a limb with your faith. You can go with the Rock of Ages and not go wrong.
Those of you who scurry ahead, or wish to, are curious and adventurous and will not be deprived of the opportunity to learn from your experience. You will not be condemned or discouraged from your efforts to be eagerly about the exploration of this new dispensation. Have patience with those who choose to stand firm in their faith. You do not have to take abuse from them or anyone who does not appreciate your hunger, courage, enthusiasm, and blind faith.
Sometimes when you watch a good movie or read a good book, you become so involved in the story line, in the emotions of the characters, and in the moral of the story, it stays with you for a long, long time. It may trigger things deep within you -- memories, sensations, and options that cause you to change your ways of thinking or responding. Does it matter if the movie was just a movie, or if the book was simply fiction? If the vehicle was able to give you that stimuli and that stimuli has contributed to your immortal soul, it ought not be disdained as being less than revelation, for in truth it did provide revelation.
And one more thing about this revelation business. Just because you have received revelation, it is not the end of the road; it is the beginning of a new journey. Evolution always has to keep up with revelation, and so just as a nugget of truth can be planted in your brain, it is not yours until you experience it; otherwise, it is simply an intellectual piece of wisdom worth hanging on the wall, perhaps, as a plaque, but not real. It is only real when you make it yours by living it.
And so those who have drawn the line on what we do as a remnant of the ghost cults or unworthy of the true sons of God, you must appreciate their naivete, for your world is still very backward and the people on it are still very superstitious and fear-ridden. Having revelation does not fix that. It only edifies for the next leg of the journey, which still must be played out.
And so consider this: you are playing out your future and the future of your world by your coming to be with us, to join in this configuration of expanded consciousness and creative interplay. The value you receive from your soul's investment is worth the cost of admission. Yes, that could be said, too, for your workshops!
Elena: So it's worth the cost of admission, by golly.
MERIUM: There is always a price, it seems, which is why the Master spoke about counting the cost. Is it worth it? Only you individually can decide, but on a day such as today, with the clouds billowing, the colors brilliant, everything young and abloom, including your faith and your attitudes, how can there be any question that the price you have paid for admission is a small price to pay indeed for the bounties we know as conscious sons and daughters of living reality, deity itself.
Perhaps we should conclude. [Pause] Bye-bye.
*****
DATE: August 5, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHERS: NEBADONIA and MERIUM
TOPICS: Embracing Divine Reality; Acceptance and Forgiveness; The Mad Hatter's Tea Party; Attitude of Gratitude on the Job
NEBADONIA: I am with you now, Nebadonia, your mother, embracing you with my presence, my ministry. All of my angels and ministering spirits who are involved in your development are also focused on our efforts, for it is our intent to assist your ascent into greater consciousness of true reality.
It pleases us to hear you discussing the impact of emotional energy directives -- how your disciplines to focus can affect your world and how this up-swelling of greater consciousness can affect the whole, the globe, even ultimately the universe. Thus it is that your decisions are important.
Your efforts to embrace divine reality and cosmic energy are part of the organizing of the oversoul of creation. This lofty thought does not preclude you from having very real and poignant human associations, experiences and perceptions based upon your knowledge and understanding thus far of who you are and what your life is all about.
In truth, you are wee babes, cosmic neonates, still small and starting out. But even from this sense of smallness, you are each developing a relationship with your spirit so as to become a powerful point of light and energy that can affect the course of destiny. You belittle yourselves when you believe you are ineffective. You have yet to practice and develop your powers, perhaps, but you are not without power. You are given spirit power, morontia energy and material matter with which to effect these changes that bring you greater happiness, even peace.
I see you in your many phases of development, each of you a different configuration of evolving reality, occasionally overlapping, occasionally conflicting, some more advanced in areas than others, some falling behind, and yet all as one, all my children, all engaged in the more or less industrialization of purposive energy, milling around and seeking to find those regions wherein your inherent abilities can shine, how you can reveal yourself and the Father to best advantage.
I am with you unceasingly in this process of redefining yourself, and wholeheartedly in support of your efforts. Your desire to please Michael and me is noted On High in the records of your history as a Son, a Daughter of God in becoming.
I add "in becoming" because it is on-going and just as you attain a pinnacle of accomplishment, a new wave appears on which you may pull yourself up and ride the crest onto shore, having the time of your lives on the ever undulating tide.
I see a question, the question being: Is forgiveness the same thing as acceptance? Is acceptance the same thing as forgiveness?
They can be … but in the style of your Teacher Tomas, I would say there are qualifiers. Just as in understanding "tolerance" as compared to "forgiving tolerance," we could say there is acceptance and there is acceptance with forgiveness. You can accept things by resigning yourself to them, but not with the full-hearted embrace that forgiveness brings; thus there is a difference, but acceptance is a beginning.
Acceptance does not mean resolve, resolution, or resignation. It means seeing things the way they are. If you see things as they are, in such a view as to find no fault, you have nothing to forgive. However, if you accept that things are a mess, that lessons need to be learned, (and/or) that remedial work needs to take place, it may be that acceptance of the situation has motivated an action other than forgiveness. Do you accept that babies need their diapers changed? Or do you have to forgive the child each time you clean up after him? Acceptance is not surrender as much as it is acknowledgement of what is.
There are those who say that what is, is perfect, and while this may be true with certain colored glasses, it is not at all true from other perspectives. It is just as easy to say "It is far from perfect!" and this would also be true. It is sometimes difficult to respond to your human needs for understanding and reassurance. Even those of you who are bathed in the spirit have questions as to how to reveal the spirit. And so these are worthy concerns, even if they are only temporary concerns on the highway to heaven.
Here is a good place to add that accepting the fact that everyone is on his or her own individual path is a forgivable estate. The generic truths of your being and your relationships are all transient. You are all buffers for one another. Like bumper cars, you press upon one another for the adventure of the action, as an exercise, even as diversion and recreation from the placid and serene regions of your inner life where you commune with Deity in Stillness and where all is right with your world.
There is also the matter of follow-through, for in acceptance, you accept and there is an end to it. But in forgiveness, there is an echo of reality that hails from beyond you. It is a reflection of your harmony with the infinite, taking it and you -- the situation, the parties, the principles -- out of and beyond the restrictions and confinements of the circumstance you have accepted. The spirit has lifted it up into a realm where action is made possible, where growth is immanent, and resolution forthcoming.
You can accept all by yourself, but you need spirit to know forgiveness. Does that help?
Gerdean: Yes. Yes.
NEBADONIA: I wanted to be with you for awhile today, to express myself through you and for you, for you to be reminded of how it is that I maintain a place in your being, in your consciousness and in your superconsciousness, even in your morontia reality. You have indeed created me, but I existed before you created me. You have created only that which you can understand. This is not to be disdained, for I am part of you and I am engaged in helping you toward your ultimate destiny goals.
It is my task, as the Divine Minister, to minister to you and through you by way of my spirits, myriad spirits, ministering spirits and adjutant mind spirits. A thrilling retinue of helpers has been created for this purpose -- to help you in your ascension. And as you strive to know more about them, more about us, and more about your place in the community / neighborhood / galaxy / universe, the more you push the envelope, the more you open the doors of perception and let in the light of truth. I will see to it that your feet remain firmly on the ground as you reach up to find the Son and the Father, and beyond.
Recognize this life as the cradle in which you lay, safe in the boughs of my branches. Rest in me that I may minister to you. I am your Mother. Come to Me. I leave you now. Perhaps another will take the microphone and engage with you. Farewell.
Renault: Thank you so much.
MERIUM: Hello, my darling daughters. This is Merium.
Renault: Hello.
MERIUM: Hello. We have a small tea party today. These are to my great delight. They allow us to be more intimate, even affected and stylized, as it is not so necessary that I be so generic as to attempt to reach the community soul of such a large and diverse group as we have seen and known here in this Rio Rancho TeaM Community.
We have others in attendance watching, so it is not like we can just "get down," as girls will do, but we can certainly relax and be familiar. Oh yes, I know, "familiarity breeds contempt," so let's not be that familiar! As it is appropriate, however, for a tea party, I have my hair in place and my shoes on and so we can comport ourselves as little ladies, little darlings of a certainty.
Renault: You mean "figuratively speaking." Because I don't have my shoes on.
MERIUM: Much of the morontia reality is strictly figurative. It is very much like playing dress-up. In fact, prayer stems from children babbling to their own alter ego, their imaginary friends, but what starts out as immature and juvenile is that which allows for its own growth through the bumps and bruises of disorder in growth, in the trials and tribulations of maturation on a finite world and with its inherent challenges.
But see, the thing is, while it is always possible to remember that we are children of God, our efforts to play grown up bring us into those dilemmas that call upon us to check our ethics and morals and principles and standards and practices and decorum and all. And so we create an environment, an architectural sphere, a realm of reality in which to work so as to experiment with those budding realities.
It is much easier to see when we sit around this table with our teacups and practice being gracious with one another in company with spirit. It is not as easy to see it, in the large, at a parliamentary procedure, or a conventional conference, but it is all the same thing -- children playing grown-up and becoming better at it as they practice. Of course, getting better at what is the question! Is spirit included? Or excluded? And how is it defined?
Here is what makes it interesting, and also makes it look more like the Mad Hatter's Tea Party than this one. There is an assignment for you this week: to think in terms of life as a tea party, and observe the engagements of those at play. What for? Well, because, it will help you to see how it is that these are children. It will help you accept them and forgive them. It will inspire you to think in terms of what they might do to improve the nature of your tea party.
You will notice some not having any fun at all, to your mind's eye, and so you will be able to study how other people live, just as Jesus was able to do when he traveled. This was not so that he could tell them how to live differently, but his personal encounters with individuals did help them as he taught them how to live better as individuals.
Naturally, you will not be invited to everyone's tea party, nor would you want everyone to attend yours. But observing these enclaves of individuals as a mother might see her precious children could help give you a more empathic or compassionate approach to your judgment. Oh, yes. I did say "judgment." I said "judgment" on purpose.
Renault: Discernment.
MERIUM: Discernment, of course, is the goal. But often it is revealed as judgment until a certain level of maturity is reached that allows discernment to override. It is such a busy playground. Instead of feeling overwhelmed with how much there is to observe or assimilate or ignore, also you may appreciate how your own tea party functions in itself and in the aggregate with others.
This is how the brotherhood is spread - through these small clusters of peace-loving, forward-thinking individual children of God. Children are only going to respond to the voice of spirit authority anyway, and so you might as well say, "Please pass the sugar." "Would you like one lump or two?"
Was there something else, in particular, that you wanted to talk about today?
Renault: Do you have any personal thoughts or do you know much about what is going on in my office and stuff that that I would ask you about?
MERIUM: I don't care what goes on in your office.
Renault: (Laughter) [Indistinguishable commentary]
MERIUM: Perhaps you need to think in terms of becoming a transmitter in your work environment. That would mean you need to train, as the transmitters do (as the T/Rs do) to stay out of the way in order for the teacher to prevail. If Linda stays out of the way and allows the nurse to operate, then Linda can live in her little pond happily and the nurse can represent the professional standards that are expected from the institution.
This is a challenge. It involves the subjugation of your own personality expression, allowing only for that in you, which is divine, to manifest. That may manifest in service, as a representative of the health profession, and as merciful ministry to those you would help. But it does require a curtailment of your attitudes and prejudices, your humor, your sarcasm, sloth, resentments, and your desire to go above and beyond the call of duty in a sense of expectation for some unnamed reward.
So while I do not urge you to humble yourself before hospital administration, you would do well to reflect a humble attitude in your works such that the administrators could observe it [your humility]. Your humility is for God and before God and in the work you would do for Him. So to the extent that the administrator / administration wants you to bow down to them, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.
Renault: And do the paperwork.
MERIUM: It's all about paperwork! That's what institutions are for: paperwork. There is also a critical matter of personality expression, and many times institutions are unfriendly toward personality manifestations over which they do not have control. And since you are "out of control" they keep a suspicious eye on you, and you feel paranoid as a result, yes. So the task is yours, not theirs, since you are aware. You are conscious of consciousness.
Set yourself aside. In this way you will have so much more freedom. Yes, you will have to do the bloody job. (Laughter) But if you quit fighting it, it really is much easier.
Renault: [Inaudible]
MERIUM: And it's only temporary.
You need to develop what they call an attitude of gratitude. It will help you if you can begin to thank God for everything, including your overbearing administrators and the restraints of the working environment, the absurd rules and regulations in effect that you are required to abide by. You need to be glad about and grateful for the machinery, which churns on like a large clock, having far too many moveable parts but nonetheless keeping time and broadcasting its existence far and wide.
Be grateful that a hospital represents Healing, that the work that you do and that your co-workers are engaged in was motivated by a desire to heal and/or relieve the suffering of the sick and those in pain. It is a field founded on compassion, fathered in mercy.
NEBADONIA: The work environment is a little kingdom where Michael and I rule -- his mercy and my compassion. Allow us to come through. Envision us in the inherent infrastructure of the place you work. We are your employers, and those who are doing the job of administrating the task of healing are like children at a tea party, playing grown up, doing what they feel they need to do as they grow into their potential.
Bring with you a spirit of encouragement, of sanction, of cooperation, and impress upon them in your attitude and in your performance how dedicated you are to serving in the field of your choice. They may or may not recognize that you do this for Me. You do not need to worship them. You only need to acknowledge their position at the table, at the tea party you are attending. Can this be helpful?
Renault: Yes, thank you. We're going to have a tea party on Wednesday morning. I will invite you to be there.
MERIUM: Is it a staff meeting?
Renault: Yeah. The boss [indistinguishable]
MERIUM: And so what is it they are going to do? "Off with her head!"
Renault: Sometimes she thinks I have an attitude, but … I'll think about that. [Indistinguishable] … just little cogs in the wheel.
MERIUM: Understood. It is flawed. I understand that.
Renault: Naturally, I wouldn't want to have to do her job.
MERIUM: Then, come back with your attitude of gratitude and give her flowers for taking on the responsibility of doing what she feels she can do best to keep the clock ticking, keeping the heart of medicine pumping, and the gears of your workplace on time. Assume she seeks to serve Me, and know that the angels of health are involved in all you do.
Across the globe, angels of health -- Mother's angels, Father's angels, your angels -- are busy engaging in the healing arts. Not only in making people feel better physically, but in helping them in their transitions -- not only to the next life but the next phase of their mortal life, for "growing old is not for sissies" and learning how to live with disease, learning how to face infirmity and death is an incredibly powerful ministry.
I have spoken to you before about hospice work. If you are working closely with these people who are approaching a transition of any kind, your work with them is invaluable. You do indeed act as "a soul on the job" when you allow your personality expression and your Adjuster's expression to come together in the soulful ministry of the healing arts to which you have dedicated your life.
Be ever grateful to those folks you serve. And be patient with their fears as they fall apart, with their anger as they grapple with their own demise. Help them along their path as they lose their faculties, even their minds in the process of letting go of their dependence on the material framework and making that leap, bridging that gap into the next dimension, always appreciating, understanding and respecting that what they feel they are approaching is perhaps not at all what you know to be true.
But here, Child, is where you can pretend to be a Reserve Corps of Destiny, hall-marking the decisions and choices that these mortals make as they lay dying, as they confront their mortality and their human frailty in ways that most people have denied exist, or have not had to look at until now. You have a tremendous responsibility.
You have been nursing for so many years it is second nature to you. You are quite blasé about it, on certain days cavalier, about the fact that you go in and do a few medical procedures and say a few words and fill out a few papers and go onto the next one. Muster up a new appreciation for the value that you provide that institution, and rather than begrudge what you do, uphold what you do. Represent Mother, the Divine Minister.
Bring dignity to your duty, that the administrators may take delight in you rather than be disturbed by you, thinking you may try to get away with something, or cannot wait to get away, or look for something to criticize, or generally disdain the way they do it. This comes from familiarity. It comes from having done it for so long. You have become weary. You take yourself and your efforts for granted, and when you forget how important the work is, you forget to allow the light to shine upon it.
You want the light to shine on you, instead, for being so long-suffering. And that is understandable! You need to treat yourself well. You need to devote time, energy, expense and whatever it takes to nurturing you when it is your turn, when it is your time.
Render to Caesar and render to God, and when you render to God, render to Renault as well, for that is in part who you are becoming. Nurture that in you which is divine.
Not to say you are to overlook the creature comforts of the animal, no. But understand that it takes more than physical and emotional nurturance. It also requires psychic and spiritual nurturance. Give the spirit first position and let spirit take care of you such that you can take care of your animal nature. Get your personal priorities in order so as to improve the quality of your own life. As you improve the quality of your own life, you improve the quality of the lives of those around you.
You begin to co-create with divinity the new dispensation, the new epoch, the new world, the new spiritual realm for humanity, the new tea party.
Renault: Thank you, Merium
MERIUM: Yes. I see also a truckload of stuff here I would do well to discuss with Gerdean. She would do well, however, to attend a group where she can be ministered to by someone outside of herself and her own immediate frame of reference.
Therefore, Gerdean, I am going to suggest to you that you formulate your concerns into a question and submit the question to your trusted teachers in other teacher bases. Teacher Daniel would be happy to counsel you again. Abraham would also be privileged to address your needs. There are others whom you trust that would not abuse you, even as they are able to cut through to the truth of your being.
Yes, I know that your favorite T/R friends are dying … dying out. But we Teachers are not dying out. We are still here and yearning to serve you and your soul needs in your growth. You cannot see the forest for the trees. You don't have to put it on TML. You can receive private counsel.
Gerdean: Yes, I could.
Renault: It sounds like a good idea.
Gerdean: It does. Sounds like a good idea.
MERIUM: Because, yes, it does affect you as a personality in your TeaM community and your co-dependence concerns. Yes. You fight very hard to rebuke victimization, but you confuse it with vulnerability. In the context of the development of the movement, you are feeling impacted in ways you would do well to have counsel about. [Pause] Isaac can't help you. There are others who can. Go pour some tea and cheer up.
Renault: Fear not! Be glad! Rejoice!
MERIUM: I'll be in the wings if you want to come back after Intermission. We have had some good discussion today, but if there is more, and if there is time, I'll certainly be around. Bye-bye.
*****
DATE: September 2
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
MERIUM: "Reflect the Light You Follow"
TOMAS: "Adjutants and Psychic Circles"
MERIUM: Good afternoon, my friends. This is Merium. I am here with you now as representative of the realm to where you reach when you reach for higher consciousness. Indeed, we embrace the presence of our Creator, Michael, and the heavenly hosts of the Divine Minister, Nebadonia, whose myriad names provide only an identification, but it is in identifying that which we adore and yearn to know more of that opens our hearts and minds to growth of the soul, and in the growth of the soul is where happiness lies. In a soul radiant with the joy of living, there is an awareness of the Divine in every detail, there is a consciousness of the Spirit in every thing, and the potential for communion with every other being. We reach for the potential in appreciation of the actual.
It is good to be with you again. It has been some time since last we came together. And yet you have been with us - and we with you - in ways which are not always a part of the human consciousness, just as God himself is always with you, although not necessarily within your consciousness of consciousness. As an intelligent creation, you have levels of consciousness that are outside of cognizance, and so God works with you and for you whether you are aware of it or not. But we see it. We who have eyes to see are able to discern the degree of godliness inherent within you at any given time by observing your responses to your life experiences.
As you know, as we have said before, the universe is one vast school, one immense and eternal learning experience. And while many of you feel you are self-sufficient and adequately cognizant of whatever it is you need to accomplish your task and find your way through the maze of mortal existence, there is always yet and still another degree of awareness just around the corner because this is the way it is, this exercise in attainment, this eternal adventure, this ascension plan that is instilled in you and set before you, and which way has been shown to you through the life and teachings of the Master.
And so we would have you also be teachers. And to be a teacher does not necessarily mean you need to propound certain scholastic or academic theories or philosophies, no, but that you should live your life as a God-knowing, spirit-led, intelligent aspect of evolving divinity in such a way as to reflect your reality at the level it is in you today at this time and under these circumstances and with the requisite degree of attainment that gives you the authority to represent that which you would teach.
The stage upon which you live is a dynamic theater, indeed. In living color you survey your world, your environs, and your relationships, and in your awareness you behold that which is good and you give thanks for that, even while you are conscious of the work which will need to be done in order to bring the light of truth to many who are still languishing in darkness, as evidenced by the many dark circumstances of death, disease and destruction which are abnormal to a normal-minded son of man and child of God as you are.
It is, in other words, sometimes easy to see and say, "There is a lack of light in that situation. There is a paucity of grace or kindness or compassion. It doesn't even go along with the essential universal laws. It is outside the realm of truth, beauty and goodness." Well, there is truth beauty and goodness everywhere, but by degrees. As we step up out of and away from darkness in our reach for better things -- better comprehension, more spirit, greater reality -- we teach by giving off our own flavor, our own fragrance. It is our ascending soul reflecting the light we follow. It is not necessary for you to propound theories and philosophies when your attitude speaks so loudly it can be heard in your actions, in your very being, whether you are making a conscious presentation or not.
But those of you who are conscious of this path and are eager to serve, who are awake to the possibilities, and who respond to the faintest flicker in your fellows, you will be kept busy at the task that occupied the Master when he walked this world. He often taught by drawing people out and engaging them in things they were interested in, using parables, analogies, words that they could understand, and he traveled extensively.
He traveled to many countries and met with mankind from many walks of life, many occupations, even many languages and cultures, and always was he able to identify with them and in them a fragment of perfection that he was able to appeal to and draw upon in order to impel these persons to seek a higher perspective, to take a farther view, to expand their limited parameter, to wonder about that which they did not know, so that they might reach for those things which were yet to be revealed. Those of you who do this, who reach for more yet to be revealed, are working in conjunction with the Spirit indwelling you as it consistently seeks to uplift your perspective and your responses to life. And the result is always increased happiness.
I have heard many discussions of late about suicide and depression and self-destructive behaviors and the like, even by religionists such as Mother Theresa or by the man you mentioned, Men-O-Pah, in your preliminary discussion [Lauren Vanderpost, who wrote "A Story Like the Wind" and "A Far Off Place"]. These people of great spirit have felt downtrodden because of an absence of an essential element of spirit which is integral to a soul, and that is a someone with whom to share your deepest self. Those who cannot find another human being with whom to share the secret recesses of their reality are "doomed" to seek and find it only in the Spirit.
And while we are rejoiced to know and embrace this saving grace of Spirit, we are also called to seek and find and embrace that Spirit which is resident within the fellow human being with whom we are in contact, for It, too, longs to see and be seen, to know and be known, to acknowledge and be acknowledged. Joy cannot be felt by yourself, and so you reach out to others, not only in the spirit but in the finite reality, so as to not have to live this life alone.
Those of you who can and do seek beyond the superficial, the obvious, the proprietary, culturally conditioned and/or politically correct ways and means, are blessed with that kind of full satisfaction that actually contributes to the evolution of the Supreme God itself. You advance the light and life of your world, not just your corner of the world but your world itself, for you have spilled your spirit into the ethers, into the atmosphere, as surely as flowers in springtime spew forth their pollen to ride the waves of the winds, even into lands far away, that enables spirit to be fruitful and multiply to the ends of the earth.
And so these soirees such as we enjoy on afternoons such as this contribute to your soul growth. They nurture your appreciation for your conscious relationship with divinity, and augment the energy of you and your associates and all your efforts touch, much of which is far beyond your awareness and even beyond your comprehension.
I am here today with many others, many aspects of personality and reality of a different nature than you are familiar with but, all the same, are part of your family and your future. And we are pleased to be encouraged and made welcome in your environment, as you are certainly welcome to ours. We enjoy, in this way, the brotherhood not only of mortal men, but sons and daughters throughout the giant galaxies of time and space, such that more and more you will know that you are not alone. Your neighborhood extends into infinity.
I have finished my lesson for the afternoon, if there is a lesson to be found in there for you, and since it has been such a long time, perhaps you have undergone adventures or challenges or growth situations that have given you thoughts to ponder or situations to which you have questions. Or perhaps you would just like to say "Hello." I am all ears. We are all open to receive your personality expression and your spirit expression into our midst. Please, share yourselves with us and with each other. [No questions.] I know of a question that has been submitted. Shall I take that one up or do you have one that we can address? All right then, let me make some adjustments so as to introduce the question.
Gerdean: This is Gerdean and I have the paper here from a conversation that was on the Teaching Mission list the other day between some Teaching Mission associates talking about the psychic circles.
Q: Yes, please, more about the psychic circles, what that attainment really is about. There are tantalizing indications that it's not strictly spiritual, which is confusing to folks, I think. To some extent I have long thought that there is something involved of awareness about being a universe citizen, and having a more long-distance perspective, and that this, combined with other things, is why a person has to attain the third circle before being able to move directly to the mansion worlds, that such individuals will not need the extreme remedial training in huge groups that those who have had the misfortune to not be able to grasp such concepts will require when they reach Mansonia as sleeping survivors.
I think the teaching mission enhances circle growth, as well. But exactly how, I would really long to have more information about this, and I think it's a good question to put to teachers in the here and now and see what comes out.
[First, we read from the Urantia Papers about the seven psychic circles, on page 1209.]
MERIUM: I am going to let Tomas respond to that question. He is already noted for his [long pause] teaching methods. I'll let him apply his own unique technique to this topic. I'll be back later to fluff up your pillows. [Group chuckles.]
TOMAS: Good afternoon, my lovely friends. This is your elder brother and Teacher, Tomas. I am glad to be here and glad to be called upon to add my expertise to the program and I hope that my methods, which I suspect Merium wanted to call "long-winded" and/or "long and winding roads," are able to reveal to you some further insight into these fascinating levels of human consciousness. Indeed, even superconsciousness.
I recall Merium having said something about superconsciousness. Let me restate that superconsciousness is consciousness of consciousness. You may know something, but know it only unconsciously. It is when you become conscious that you are aware of something that you now have the advantage of superconsciousness. Thus you can see more, see father, and see more perspectives than you can when you are limited not just to acting unconsciously but when you are thinking only in terms of your own short-sighted and limited perspective.
Therefore a response to this query is going to have to involve a great, grand brushstroke in order to pull all the pieces together. Perhaps, Gerdean, for your peace of mind you would do well to turn the tape over so that you can give yourself to the lesson and not be constantly concerned about the technological aspects of this moment. We'll be right back. [Tape turned.] Slow down. There is no fire to put out.
There are three elements I want to weave together. Three ideas I need to braid. I will focus on them one at a time so that you can pull them together. The first is to hold in mind the common illustration of the helix, that spiral figure that is utilized to indicate DNA. There is structure in the universe, and there is pattern and there is order. And so there is structure and pattern and order even in your own growth. But you are generally unable to see it. In fact, there are levels of your own growth that are impossible for you to see for you are like a tree growing in the forest.
If you think in terms of the structure of the system in which you live, for example. You live in the system of Satania, which is a considerable grouping of inhabited worlds in a sector of the Constellation Norlatiadek, one of 100 constellations in the local universe of Nebadon, (which was created by Christ Michael, your Master Son, whom you know as Jesus). Now, the system in which you live is comprised of many hundreds of worlds, the capital of which is Jerusem. Not Jerusalem, but Jerusem. And Jerusem is comprised of mansion worlds. ["In my father's house there are many mansions."]
These seven worlds have seven satellites each, and so, if you can, in your mind, picture this one world of Jerusem comprised of seven worlds, each of which are circled by seven worlds. Perhaps you have it pictured in your mind as the Tilt-A-Whirl at the amusement park, where you have seven baskets of laughing children, going around. Take that picture in your mind's eye now of the seven worlds surrounding seven worlds and braid it with the illustration of the helix. Now you can ride around and around and up and down until you are dizzy and weak with laughter.
Now let me also introduce the third hank of hair, here, and that is the seven adjutant mind spirits. The seven adjutant mind spirits are actually circuits. They are not brain cells, exactly, but they are awareness factors, and they are gifts of the Mother Spirit. This is how it is that God knows when the slightest sparrow falls from the sky, because of these mind spirits that indwell all living creatures, for even the animals of the realm are afforded five of these seven adjutant mind spirits.
I recall having a visitor a few years back, What-About-Bob, who discussed these in some detail, although I am sure they will need to be reviewed interminably until they become a part of your consciousness, even though by that time you will have departed from here and will have no more compelling need to understand them. Even so, for now, it behooves you to have some comprehension of these seven adjutant mind spirits, in particular if you hope to understand better this concept of the psychic circles.
So we have the psychic circles in operation as the third hank of hair, rising and falling in the double or triple helix of your own DNA, which you can think of as the universe of your own being. The adjutant mind spirits bring you into a consciousness of the spirit of truth, into the presence of the Master, who brings you into the presence of the Father. So, assuming that you are experiencing the full gamut of the seven adjutant mind spirits, you are able to take the next step to see how you are functioning now within the realm of practice of the seven psychic circles.
You begin at the beginning of your consciousness of consciousness with a cognizance of a greater reality, although not a very sophisticated one. And as you aspire to ride the waves of the experiential seven adjutants, you become able then to navigate and ascend the seven psychic circles. As you master yourself exponentially, you are lifted up until ultimately you attain the seventh psychic circle wherein you are able to speak directly to the God within you (which is, essentially, God the Father, as far as our purposes are concerned).
And so take these three hanks of hair: the illustration of you being like Jerusem, a world comprised of many smaller worlds, organized within a framework such as a double helix, and overlay that onto that the human experience of the adjutants (the spirits of intuition, understanding, courage, knowledge, counsel, worship and wisdom). And as you engage in self-mastery, you are simultaneously ascending your way up the psychic circles.
To reiterate, the kingdom of heaven is within you. Let us use Jerusem as a pattern. Look for the pattern of Jerusem within you, with the Thought Adjuster in the very center. And the seven adjutant mind spirits whirling around inside of your consciousness and your superconsciousness are like tilt-a-whirl cars, going up and down, around and around, as you experience life, needing to survive, developing your own consciousness, cultivating your own will, making your own mistakes, opening your own heart, finding your own voice, discovering something worthy to worship and attaining the wisdom necessary to live effectively with yourself and others.
As these are mastered, you also and simultaneously ascend the psychic circles, such that you yourself are the worlds that you traverse within yourself, within your own being, until ultimately you become the capital of that world within you in your own right, and you acquire the goal of gaining mastery over the mind that would bring to fruition your task of finding God and It's task of finding you and merging so closely as to only need now the physical fusion in order to become eternally and indissolubly one.
It is for this reason, if you can see this illustration, why every decision you make is important. Even what may seem to be frivolous or trivial contributes one way or another to your growth or your non-growth. It is to be expected that there are times of rest and reflection, particularly after spurts of growth or challenging experiences, but invariably the pattern of the universe is such that the carnival will go on, the ride will start up again, and you will have another opportunity to master yourself until ultimately you can take the ride without even getting dizzy.
And then, you can take the illustration from there. You can either get something to eat, or visit the livestock or the fine arts or the sideshows or anything in range. You can see I am heading off for the State Fair, so I'll leave you now and let Merium fluff up the pillows and pick up the pieces. I appreciate your being here and look forward to our autumn coming together in perfect poise for some winter studies and fireside chats. I wish you well and watch over you lovingly. Farewell.
MERIUM: Well, I'm back. Not that I went anywhere, but I'm back on tape and want to know if that was helpful, or if it completely confused the issue. I think the telling will be when this is posted and broadcast to the network systems established for global dissemination. Perhaps when the student reads Tomas' response it will reveal whether or not he was effective. In the meanwhile, I am assured that we have provoked thought and tapped into your imaginations sufficient to stimulate the growth of new concepts from these seeds so adroitly planted by my co-teacher, Tomas.
Are there any questions this afternoon?
Renault: Well, so, as we go spinning around in our little Tilt-A-Whirl of life here, finding our voice and feeling our heart and gathering our courage and using our seven adjutant spirits to help us through all this, keeping in mind there is a great cosmic citizenship out there and other worlds to traverse, we do certainly get caught up in our little day-to-day problems and worries that we have to work through, and I take it that those that bog us down, the kinks and the cogs of the works that hinder our progress, and we get caught up in trying to stumble over our problems and how to get though these things -- I think that is where seeking help and advice, now that we don't see the greater picture and know that God is out there and is with us -- I think we get caught up trying to struggle through our day to day activities, and we see our world caught up in problems, and we worry about it, and I think if there is a way to get through it all in a more spiritual manner, than animalistic manner, that we can traverse through our circles.
MERIUM: There is a way for you do that, and that is to love the cycle you are in. The sooner you can find its value, the sooner you can find divine reality within it, the sooner you can forgive it, accept it, embrace it, love it, bless it, and give yourself to it, the sooner you will be released from that level and allowed to go on to the next challenge. And so however long you take on any given ride, on any experiential venture, is going to depend on you as to how long it takes you to master that level. You can complain all day about a situation and think you can escape it by moving from here to there but if you have not mastered the lessons of that level, you are only moving around; you are not advancing.
It is in the mastery of each level that mastery is accomplished through divine reality, living love, in truth beauty and goodness. You cannot escape the process of becoming. You cannot skip over a grade and expect to graduate cum laude. There are no shortcuts. And yet the good news is that each level may be mastered if you can remember the message of the opening prayer/song that Men-o-pah sang, that Jesus is with you, that he goes with you through all these troubles. You and he will then together be able to find within each situation that which has value and is value. You will see with a new view and love even unlovely humankind with a dynamic affection.
You don't master them [others], you master yourself. And in the process of self-mastery, these little irritations fall away. They become part of the scenery. You have advanced in experiential wisdom, and as you acquire experiential wisdom you ascend the psychic circles until eventually your constant companion is God Himself. Is that helpful? (Yes)
There are many things that can be said beyond this on the same topic, further refinements and what Gerdean calls "Yebbuts" ("Yeah, but this" and "Yeah, but that") and that's fine because the Tilt-A-Whirl will go around again as many times as you need to ride on it in order to get the message, until there are no "buts" left.
I think we have had a double feature today. It has been a bounty for us, certainly, and an opportunity to make up for lost time, as it were. It is always a pleasure to conjoin with you and spend time with you in this morontia realm which we create and enjoy together.
Renault: I do have one final question. When we talk about all these other morontia worlds, and these other worlds out there, are they earth-like? Are we going to enjoy blue skies and green trees and grass and rivers? Are they similar, that kind of world?
MERIUM: You will not be visiting other material worlds in the system. You are going to ascend outside of the material worlds, as is everyone else who lives on a material world, which is the breeding ground for souls. The material worlds are in some ways the cocoons in which the soul embryo comes forth into the morontia way of life. You will, on these morontia worlds, no longer be finite. You will be morontia. You will pick up there just as you leave off here, and yes, there are worlds provided for you and they will represent to you the earth and sky of your home world, but it will not be as rugged. The weather will not be as severe, the mountains will not be as high, the rivers will not be as deep. It is moderate by comparison. But it is also beautiful and will provide well for you those comforts and satisfactions that are needful and appropriate for ascending beings. Even On High, when you are advanced in spirit reality, and even when you have become pure spirit and leave your morontia existence behind, you will still be provided a home in which to live, an architectural sphere in which to call your home.
Again, there is order in the universe. Including addresses. Perhaps even the equivalent of phone numbers, but I hesitate to go farther there lest I undo all the work we have done today in encouraging you to reach out of the finite field into the morontia zones where you abut the spirit which will soothe your driving need to return to your Source, and assure you of our association and the association of other intelligent life throughout the entire ascension career, beginning now.
Devoted children of the good news, I embrace you with fond affection and bid you farewell until next we meet. Bye-bye.
*****
DATE: October 7, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R's: Gerdean [for Merium] and Tiahuan [for Tomas]
TEACHERS MERIUM and TOMAS
"What Am I Doing Here?"
Elena: Music (Xylophone) and Prayer
MERIUM: [After a slight malfunction with the recording equipment we pick up at this point:] Isn't it what everyone wants to know after they know "Who am I?" It is "What am I to do? What is my purpose in life? What am I here for? What is the reason for my being? Am I a mere accident? Am I a mere fleck of dust that floats through the air without direction or purpose? Am I food for bigger beasties to feed upon, like big fish little fish? Are we victims of fate or are we purposive human beings? And if we are purposive, how does that come about? What ascertains our purpose? Is it something we individually assess for ourselves? Based on what?
There is a great deal of peace indeed to be had from doing what others expect of you, and what pleases others, for then you are the recipients of their approval, and this makes you feel good. But is this a pattern that you develop that curtails your being all that you could be because it is an easier, softer way? If once you can discern your own motives without judgment you can begin to eliminate these less effective behaviors, you can learn to lean more heavily on the destiny that awaits you in terms of your path -- your interpretation of the path, the path to Paradise, walking in His will, deriving personal satisfaction from the joint effort between you and your Indwelling Adjuster, your own essence of godliness.
In gatherings like this you have the opportunity to stretch yourselves, expand your self-imposed limitations, your pre-judgments, and other self-serving motivations that make you look good, in order to up-step that to what makes Deity look good. Inasmuch as it is your purpose to conform your will to the Divine will, you feel fulfilled in this process. Your happiness is your own reward.
And seeing your greatness reflected back to you through the goodness in you and your fellows, it helps to cement your understanding of who you are in a higher sense and encourages your development in the purposive realms of existence which go beyond the mere matter of maintenance to supreme levels of operation.
I cannot presume upon our guest, but I can certainly invite him to take the baton from this T/R to pursue the course. Would you be so willing?
TOMAS: This is Tomas. I am glad to greet you in this configuration, witnessing the changing of the seasons around you and within you. Behold, all things are being made new in this moment as ever. We gather to inquire into possibilities latent within us all. You think that we "on high" (so to speak) are fully realizing our own potential. This is a misconception that is understandable when mortals, especially those accustomed to isolation, begin to encounter the truth of who you and we are in this great pool of love provided by our Parents.
It is as though you were sequestered in an outlying hot tub with a wall between you and this larger pool. Some of you may have discerned evidence of others through this wall beyond your range of vision and, of course, many have come to sit in this tub with you speaking of this larger pool. Oftentimes they have been asked to leave, as if speaking of a greater pool while in the midst of this body of water, relatively speaking, would be taken as ingratitude. Far from it, however, for this water is derived from the same source.
And that some have erected, through their own choices, barriers - as if to isolate various configurations of children from one another, when the intent of our Parents is to allow us, regardless of the particular arena in which we dwell, to discern that it is related to countless others whose dimensions are truly beyond our capacity to know, until such time as we have begun (indistinguishable).
In this season of experience for this world, and for you gathered here, when the reason for becoming who you are as a world with other worlds leave you with a vision of those who really believe what they seek are now seeing is true, but how much greater is the vision whereby you see not merely those worlds through your own mechanical contrivance, as helpful as these are, so when there are those who are material-minded are apt to ask you to leave your present pool of placement where your soul is being heard, remind them that they too extend their range of vision through mechanical means.
And this is laudable and is to be encouraged in every manner that is possible, for dwelling in you is the desire to see God. And this Source, this infinite spark wants to speak, to learn, to experience. It is our Father dwelling in you desiring to extend himself through you and invite others to partake of seeing truth, unlimited by temporal conditions, by spatial limitations. It is for His children that he shares fully with his partners in Paradise Trinity.
You would form an emerging experiential deity through your own experience, living faithfully (indistinguishable) so do not doubt when those that would content only extending their vision through the invention of their own artifice to make use of this indigenous resource within you that is the Creator of your Source and Center.
Lift your eyes to these (indistinguishable) that surround you. Everything you see with your material vision, is the way the divine spirit makes contact with mortal man, with the spiritual light, without concern for others who would dismiss it, and invite by feelings or emotions, but in the realm of the highest and most spiritualized thinking, for "It is your thoughts, not your feelings, that lead you Godward." (Pg. 1104, 06)
(Indistinguishable) within you all, this desire to know is truly planted and nurtured by Our Father, Our Mother and all of our siblings where we stand together in this moment that is forever. It is single. It is solitary. It is personal religious experience. It is a part of the whole of increasing, ongoing perfection. How happy I am to be here with you in this fashion, through this voice, and in this community of friends.
MERIUM: Thank you, Tomas. Stay with us. There is more to come, but I am going to fluff up the pillows and turn up your volume. I am also going to ask for questions from the floor
Elena: Tomas! You mentioned something about "people would be asked to leave." I wonder what you mean by that.
TOMAS: Let me speak more directly. You know, throughout the course of history on an evolving world, whenever what is known is enjoyed as a source of (indistinguishable) there exists always a need to expand this comfort. There are and there is a tendency among all, to some extent -- and perhaps some more than others, for everyone has a role. Some conserve, some preserve, some discover and all of us do this together, so you see, there is built into this tendency to construct and design comfort that you know and with which you are familiar.
There is always the invitation to whomever would accept it, to step beyond these boundaries, and as you do, whether in your own experience or as defined by those with whom you dwell, you may encounter what appears to be (indistinguishable), their disapproval, perhaps persecution, and it maybe not so explicit as your forebears knew, but is nonetheless subtle and striking at this heart where it is your faith that leads you onward… inward …upward. You get the idea. Does this assist? Is this a more clear conception?
Elena: Yes. [Faulty tape]
TOMAS: Important it is to remember that as you are invited to pursue what you sense as an opening into certainty and what is unknown, and as you appear to part ways to some extent with that which you have shared as known, settled, comfortable with your fellows, be on guard against the propensity, quite natural and understandable, for you as you journey outward to look back and reply to the disapproval or the barbs thrown at you or laid very discretely around you, with an air of superiority, looking down as it were upon your fellows for what appears to be a more timid posture.
You recall in your text how it is that in every generation a civilization is imperiled when a certain percentage of youth, as they wrestle with becoming adults, avoid entering arenas of inquiry such as in the realm of philosophy, religion, cosmology, art, music, and so forth, things that are not so readily rewarding in a material sense. But likewise, this relative minority that is required in order for the maintenance of a progressive civilization remains outside of the context of that civilization, that is defiant and guarded and protected by those who would remain, as it were, in the port, in the pool, behind the wall that is safe or seemingly safe. Am I clear?
[Considerable material lost due to faulty recording.]
Thoroah: [Talking about when you step out of your own comfort zone you have to deal with those who balk against the separation.]
TOMAS: Yes, by all means, you never will separate. None of us are separate. But sometimes when you have grown accustomed to an apparent insular environment, you feel as you adventure, a need to recreate that isolation, even if in an expanded dimension, so what difference does it make? Taking one step out of isolation into another context? Would this be a source of satisfaction? Perhaps. For a moment. What you are experiencing in this time is the awakening of an entire world, and in truth, an entire universe awaiting (indistinguishable) elimination of these barriers, possibly erected by the decision of those who would deny what they cannot see.
Gerdean: I have a concern I would like to ask about, and that is, when we step outside the hot tub wall into the atmosphere, as it were, those of us who have some sense of spiritual purpose are - as part of the persecutions, perhaps - disdained as a "guru." It's that word guru I'd like you to talk about. We have a number of gurus in the avant garde that I have rubbed elbows with over the decades and I find them amusing and helpful often, also comical and pathetic. I consider myself one, if and when I apply the definition as I understand it. But it would just be helpful to hear something from an esteemed teacher about this attitude that happens, in some regard, when we set out to be ambassadors of a spiritual kingdom. Would you address that, Tomas?
TOMAS: Gladly, Gerdean. To use this metaphor with which we began, the term "guru" is it not but any other place deemed to be apart, and yet is close enough to remain visible to those within this solution that is, in truth, the gift of Our Parents' Love. Will they stand outside this water and teach about the experience of being in it? Such is the picture drawn in this word. Do not be distracted when your fellows or yourselves at any time find yourself standing beside this small pool speaking to those in it of another pool that they discern just over what is apparently a barrier. Remember, no one sets themselves upon the path of being an ambassador. It is the source of law that defines any government that is invested in its citizens. The law of a spiritual kingdom, of this that we are, our law is singular. It is love. Love delights in moving everyone in a dance of divinity attainment and as you move and are moved, you may find yourself in a position, temporarily, seen as distinct, but not for long. Once again you return, immersing yourselves in the Source of the impetus to stand at all.
The difficulty of terms of authority - designating esteem, respect, prestige perhaps - are problematic when they are defined by those that would have them be still and remain standing, looking over a barrier while speaking of what they see. It is not the intent of love for anyone to be left outside this healing bath of love, in any pool at any time.
Simply allow this fluid to have its way and know that it comes from within you, each and all, and as you do, you will not have time with which to imprison the voice of spirit, for this spirit is eternal. It speaks through all of us in different ways, in different moments, limited moments they are in time by its very nature, and yet a microcosm, a hologram if you will, of eternity, designed by Our Father to assist you in sharing the service of eternity. Such a destiny that awaits you! Does this help, Gerdean?
Gerdean: Yes, it does. It reminds me, too, of the word "ostentatious." Perhaps in our isolation, in our family isolations we've been conditioned to believe that anyone who has the nerve to step outside the bounds of propriety or custom or heaven forbid look over the wall or make a loud noise, be seen in any capacity, is in bad taste, poor form, as ostentatious. This is one of the things that stop me when I feel that I'm going outside of someone else's comfort zone -- in terms of how much I talk or some of the words that I use in my ministry, and I really want to be effective, and yet sometimes it seems like the best thing I can do is go back to bed and keep my mouth shut. So this is kind of what I was thinking of in terms of my own personal spiritual path -- how to proceed and have a sense of purposiveness in my reflecting the light, but without appearing to be some flaming ego on parade. I guess I just need to overcome my trepidation and forge ahead in the spirit -- onward, inward and upward -- and let the chips fall where they may.
TOMAS: Dear Gerdean, this trepidation is a trap of the ego that would prevent you from being free. It is the Spirit that you are that is free to speak -- to extend your hand, your heart and mind as is directed by its Source. When you or any would feel discouraged, as if you were reminded that you are but a shell, a body, who are you to think of yourselves as children of God? This is the complaint of those who have but themselves to be accountable for their dis-ease. As you allow yourself to be at liberty in love, you liberate all those around you.
If I may suggest that when you feel like retreating and, as you say "just going back to bed" as if to mend wounds encountered in your opening your blossom showing forth, sharing its fragrance, you are in truth simply acknowledging the priority and the source of the truth that you are by resting. And we, of course, have been for some time now encouraging everyone to recognize the priority of resting in this that is Our Father's Love. We have called it Stillness. You may call it anything you wish. You may call it Respite. You may call it a Reverie. You may call it communion, meditation, prayer, worship -- all of these and many more are quite appropriate. They all point you and we to this Source that we are, in truth.
But we remind ourselves as we re-charge ourselves -- and if I could borrow a metaphor from my friend here, each of you are as an agent of change, of nutrition, of life-giving oxygen that the body of God needs to have in extensive circulation. You are, as you find yourselves in your temporal, spatial identities, located at this moment in what is understood to be an extremity of God. You are passing through this chamber. The life-giving nutrients that you are, are being spent, and while there are ages to come before you stand in Paradise, you dwell in this place, you may at any time, for such is the gift of Paradise that it is embedded in every particle of creation, and what it is, is the heart of God, and as you find yourselves depleted, having spent yourselves in service, learning with your fellows the dance of divinity, and you have tumbled and tripped, your toes are injured, or another's, simply return to this space, if you will, that is everywhere, and allow yourselves to be refreshed in the chambers of the heart of God. This is where all the nutrients, all the food, all the riches, that you would carry to the outermost boundaries of creation - it is here, this place in which we dwell, even now. Do not lament when you sustain injuries, either to your ego or simply to your heart, having opened yourself to being vulnerable as much as you feel you can. Allow yourself the privilege of witnessing your heart becoming the heart of God.
Gerdean: Amen.
Student: Thank you.
TOMAS: Are there other questions?
Gerdean: There is another question, Tomas, but I am concerned about our endurance levels. Not that we are not having a wonderful time, but I just need to check with the group and see if they are --because this is a long question that has been submitted and might take some time to answer and I know some people here have other commitments, so let me go on pause and find out, okay?
[INTERMISSION]
Gerdean: I know that someone will say to put it on the record so I'm going to put it on the record. It's quite a lengthy thing:
"I would like someone in your group to address a question to Tomas since he is a self-described philosopher. Given the limitations of my mortal mind, I would like to ask if it is possible for the architects of existence to achieve their goals without the amount of suffering that this planet has known?
"I just made up the term 'architects of existence' to stand for all in the celestial realms who plan reality or existence. (I am aware of the Master Architects in the text.) Essentially, I am questioning the necessity, if necessity is indeed the case, for the amount of suffering we endure. Just to take the instance of the amount of suffering endured by what might be called the immaturity of the physical development of the planet that causes so much death and suffering through volcanic upheavals, earthquakes, and hurricanes.
"In other words, why not wait until the planet had gone through these primitive stages before planting life? It is, after all, difficult for sensitive and intelligent human beings to believe in a benevolent God when we are surrounded by so much suffering. Another way of approaching the issue I am raising is, rather than asking it in the form of a question, it might be made in the form of a suggestion from we lowly humans who are doing the suffering to our superiors who are planning future universes. If it is the case, and I believe it to be so, that we are co-creators with our celestial superiors, I should think they would be interested in some feed-back along this line. Do they have a suggestion box?
"Take, for instance, the default of Lucifer as narrated in our text. Here is a high Son with hundreds of thousands of years of training. Did this son have no personal experience of the love of the Father in all this time, so that at a certain point he could readily deny his existence and claim it was fraud on the part of the Creator Sons to claim such existence only to strengthen their political rule? I don't think the revelators did a very good job of explaining this default. It is stated that in our local universe these sons were given more personal freedom than the usual standard.
"Then the text goes on to say that this granting of extended personal responsibility to Lucifer is not an error in that more benefits have accrued from this state of affairs than the loses. I do not recall the benefits, if indeed they are listed. (And they would have a bit of an unreal quality about them when simply read, as contrasted with the vividness and immediacy of our experienced suffering and horror.) From where I am sitting, I would vote to limit the power of these sons if it would mitigate the suffering we and 39(?) other planets have had to endure. I think it is the divine within us that urges us to ask questions. It is the pull to understand. Yes?
"I am not angry at management. I am genuinely interested in what the wiser and more experienced teachers have to say, particularly, since we have been encouraged by the Master to be unafraid to examine all matters."
Gerdean: So. Any of that.
TOMAS: Dear friends. This is Tomas. I would endeavor to address these questions, this comment, critique, analysis of experience that we share, and particularly you in this world. The question begs the examination of the range of freedom. Indeed it probes: what is freedom? In asking the question, you yourself are exercising this freedom that is extended - and in this particular local creation is extended perhaps in a greater measure than many others, though not all, so you will allow that there is difference, the difference that composes the character of creation of which you are a part, a creative part.
Indeed, you, in many ways, are designing your own universe as you speak, based upon your experience and yes, it is valuable and it has come at a high price, therefore savor it even more deeply. Invite as many as would join you in sifting the seeds of wisdom as a harvest in this experience. Freedom entails responsibility, as we know. Were it not for such freedom, what meaning would there be in your question? Would you as a creator limit, and how much, your creation? You are doing this now, even as you speak, but as you limit yourself by limiting others, you are then confining according to your own preference, the concept of God within you.
It would be my intent, and it is my mission as a teacher in this initiative of healing the wounds that you have experienced, to encourage your confidence that is born of faith in our Father over and against, sometimes, the wisdom or lack thereof of any one or many of his beloved children. And so you will answer your own question in time and eventually in the service of eternity, should you so choose -- building upon the architectural plans of making use of this precious experience in the management and direction and creation of universes awaiting their moment to come forth from within us.
The question inevitably is one of how great is your faith in your fellows? Or better yet, how great a faith do you have in our Father working in and through them? How much of your own control would you cover them with and/or corral them? Yes, there are limitations that are designed into our creation. Having suffered as you have, you would restrain those limitations further. But in fact you are simply questioning how you could extend these limitations in a more effective manner, and I am grateful for your concern, your care, your understanding, your compassion, that is of a character ironically shaped by this experience that you may find a cause of regret.
And so you yourself offer the proof of the wisdom of the faith of our Father in His children, whether as we are as ascending mortals or in his finite children of birth and origin in a local creation born to administer the realms of time. I hope that you will discern that this experience is one that informs such administrators as we speak. Be assured that all is gathered in; nothing is wasted; everything serves the cause of love, and it is after all things have come and gone that love remains, our source, our hope, our joy, the inspiration of our liberty that is so freely shared, restrained only by the wisdom and mercy of this limitless love unfolding nevertheless within the limitations of time and space.
I thank you and I would encourage you to continue in your inquiry and proceed in the gathering of experience to inform your inquiry. We all depend upon one another to make real the reality of this love in time and space as it is in Havona.
MERIUM: I would add my two cents. This is Merium and in the wake of Tomas' dissertation, I'll be pedantic by this parable of you who love to garden, wherein the task of plowing the field in the spring involves large clumps of soil in which worms move and have their being, and some of them are cut in two as the blade swings deep into the earth. Worms are of a nature that they can withstand being halved; they simply adjust by becoming two worms.
Renault: How weird.
MERIUM: It's simply another example of how creation works. There are many rules, natural laws, in creation.
Moving through our garden experience, comes the day when the soil is cultivated and the seeds are planted in the furrows. Over time, if the circumstances and conditions are optimum, all the seeds will sprout and emerge from the soil in a race for survival. Here is the point where I would pause to inculcate the human race as an analogy. You are seedlings, one and all, and in order to have a good crop, in order for the fruit of the vine to come forth, there will need to be a series of weeding and hoeing, followed by hewing and pruning, so as to approach optimum, and this is sometimes how it is with the early races. Many are weeded out so that many others can survive and flourish.
Ask the Master Gardener if it is cruel to weed the garden, to pull out the many, many seedlings that will surely choke upon themselves in the furrow where they are planted if they are not either transplanted or eliminated by some merciful method, lest they become dwarfs, mutants, or such suckers as to deplete the soil of all the nutrition that is necessary for the growth of those which are fortunate enough to survive. Would that you could see how early in the game your earth is.
I certainly do not mean to imply that human lives are uprooted and snuffed out without a care, as if the Master Gardener were unthinking and uncaring or insensitive. From the limited perspective of the back yard gardener, it might seem so but when you have developed experience and can see the farther view, you can better appreciate that these laws, natural laws are in effect for a reason and that without abiding by certain facts of existence, existence will be retarded and slow.
Do not make the mistake of thinking I have just justified the deaths of all those who drown in the tsunami or succumb to plague, no, for even in mass murders and global disease there are sincere religionists whose voices are heard on high, who may be physically cut down but are salvageable on high as living beings worthy of survival. You just seem to have a sense of tenderness and compassion that goes to the victims of primitive existence as proof against the goodness of God and this is erroneous thinking. The Father does not delight in your suffering. Neither does he send you impaired or ineffective leadership, but in light of the gift of free will, it would be a mistake to blame God for how mortals use their free will -- not only mortals but heavenly helpers who go astray, as sometimes happens.
And ever remember that most of the worlds of time and space are controlled such that they do not have the variables that are allowed in these decimal worlds such as on which you reside where the opportunity for disaster is manifold more because of the adventure of options available to you that are not available on worlds more settled and constrained by universal law. Perhaps you can better appreciate the uniqueness of your world when you realize that it has undergone significant aberrations from the divine plan that was set in motion when this world was created by the master architects as a result of the planning - the conscientious and painstaking planning that went into it by your Creator Son and his Consort.
Indeed Michael's apology to the children of time and space was demonstrated in his decision to come here to see first hand the results of his creation, even that which had run amok, very much like you parents who love your children, even when they are immature, rebellious, defiant, disrespectful, and behave in vile manner. It is very difficult not to love your children. It is error to indulge such behavior and cultivate it and nurture it as if it were merciful. Mercy is not the same as enabling. It does not make excuses for evil, but understands evil and operates in the face of evil to do good.
It would seem Tomas has cultivated a Teacher's Assistant in me, Merium, as I begin to wax philosophic … interspersed with my babysitting and storytelling. Are there other questions or are there other comments? And Tomas, I am not usurping your place at the podium, merely facilitating this afternoon.
Renault: Can I just ask that you send my daughter's guardian angels to help her and watch over her and help her get through this, and I know a lot is being done. I just want to say thank you and keep up the good work.
MERIUM: There are indeed angels overseeing your daughter's care and development. She is not alone. She will benefit greatly by developing a relationship with the spirit such that she can actually approach assistance in faith of it being there. It is all very well and good for us to be there for her, and for others to be there for her, but she must develop her own faith in that fact. Help her recognize that she is not alone. In the farther dimension, help her realize that she is aided and assisted by the many morontia beings who not only look after her and her coworkers but who are assigned to the field of healing.
There are angels of health who are assigned to her place of employment, that reside there night and day and help with the healing processes of the residents therein - the patients as well as the employees as well as the visitors as well as any and all that have to do with that division of seraphic aide. What a blessing! How confidence-inducing it must be for those of you who know what division to which you are assigned, where your niche is, for once you have found your niche in the service to humanity, your service to the Father can shine.
Even within the field of medicine there are smaller, more specialized fields of service. Help her find the one that will draw her out, where she will run eagerly -- challenged and stimulated -- to embrace the task before her. Allow her to know the hope of fulfillment as a worker in the field. And as you have done, nurture her courage by giving her herself.
There is a midwayer there by the name of Mimi.
Renault: In the hospital?
MERIUM: Yes.
Renault: Okay. Good.
MERIUM: Yes. I will ask Mimi to be mindful of your daughter as she returns to work after her hiatus; however, I am quite sure Mimi is already well apprised and even now awaits her return to the scene where the synchronicities of healing can begin -- hers as well as those she serves. Have faith.
Renault: Thank you.
MERIUM: Are there other matters, other comments?
Gerdean: I, Gerdean, want to thank Rob for coming and for giving me the opportunity to ask questions and to sit at the feet of the Teachers as a student. I am greatly comforted through this ministry and I appreciate all of those who serve in the capacity as T/R as well as those who are called students in this teaching mission … not to mention my huge appreciation for the Teachers themselves.
MERIUM: Well said, Gerdean. We too have great appreciation for all the players, all the participants, all the elements of life that conspire to lift you up into the greater realms of light. Are there any closing remarks from you Tomas?
TOMAS: My dear friends, I glow with gratitude for your gathering and your witnessing Merium in a role to which you may not be accustomed. Allow yourselves to take up roles in which you may find yourself unaccustomed. For within you, as in us, is the Source of all, and nothing can fulfil a teacher like a student who has joined them in the task of extending themselves. Indeed, you have received much; you have much to give. Do not call yourselves short of that which Our Father sees in you.
Be of good cheer. We will be mindful of your progress
MERIUM: Bye bye.
*****
DATE: November 4, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHERS: MERIUM & MONJORONSON
TOPIC: Balance
MERIUM: Hi. I'll jump right in. How about we discuss "balance" this afternoon. Perhaps if we have a better appreciation for balance, we will see what's out of balance and thus have a gauge on how to formulate questions.
Speaking in terms of finding your Voice, your expression -- that is to say, your Adjuster's expression through you and with your co-operation -- there is a range of operation possible. In the past, as you have gone about the Father's business -- one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing -- you have been able to respond (or not) to the immediate demands / requirements.
Sometimes it requires intimacy, and here is the wondrous one-on-one we love so well and would have more often -- wonderful opportunities of sharing our inner life with others, bonding, becoming associates, even becoming friends -- as we have become friends with each other here in this "zone" where we meet.
At the other end of the spectrum, perhaps, is the understanding / recognition that whole-bodied truth is universal. Full-fledged truth is generic / germane to all. You think to broadcast the good news such that your Voice loses the tenor of intimacy as it extends out over the wavelengths of time and space into infinity.
Our Father knows we are about his business and Mother Spirit enjoys a constant consciousness and awareness of our energy, and so we need not worry about telling them. We really need not even worry about "singing to the choir" -- which would certainly constitute some of that intimacy that is so longed for, especially by those of you who have been set apart by quarantine and through isolation.
The concern, the focus, the Voice needs to be directed into the darkness in order to call forth those who still slumber. How does one do this? Is it like hollering off a cliff and hearing your echo in the canyon? Is it like shouting in a cave? It is like the shepherd who finds his cow by hearing the bell. The sheep know the sound of the Master's Voice.
Sometimes the Master's Voice speaks through music. Native American flute music, perhaps, or the crystal bowls, wherein a tone or timbre will grab your attention and grasp you by the life force. This is what your goal should be -- to reach into the dark with your life force in order to show the way. In order for you to show the way, you cannot admit that you also lose your way without acknowledging the sound of the Master's Voice as that which lets you be found. And so the seed is planted. The seed is planted that will spark that soul to strive to hear that sound that will lure them forward into the light.
By the same token, balance needs to be attained in the shining of the light you have. For you to shine the light in the eyes of someone who has been in the dark is to present false light. Allow the process to be natural, albeit certain. Remember, there are those who do not appreciate being reminded of what they don't yet know. And so, be discreet. Indeed, here is the merit of modesty. Everywhere there are signs of polarity, and indications of unrest. It is a cry for balance, wisdom. [Long pause]
MONJORONSON: I am Monjoronson. I know many of you do not believe I exist. I don't need you to. Many of you do not believe in me. I don't expect you to. I am called to perform certain services on behalf of your world and other worlds emerging from isolation and I am both proud and humbled to serve in this Correcting Time Mission.
Thank you, Gerdean, for allowing me to come through. We have understood (your reluctance) and were not surprised, as we in the higher echelons of planetary government and administration understand and are not surprised by anything that might go on in the mind of a mortal from Urantia at this point in time. It could be anything. And there are certain adventures ahead that will contribute to and support this recognition of wonder lure. But it is also true that there will need to be new foundations laid within you each individually and you collectively as we proceed building this bridge into the forthcoming dispensation … forthcoming epoch … forthcoming epochal period.
Don't worry about it. Just enjoy the singular truth of our being, the fact of eternal life. It is an ordered universe, and you are part of it. I suppose there will be those who will say you have sold out. To those you owe no explanation. By your fruits you shall be known. As you know in your mental framework, I and all the others are only representations of a greater reality than you can assimilate in fullness, and so as you can and do believe that there are heavenly helpers, ministering spirits, Teachers and visiting students, a Sovereign Son, a Gabriel, a Machiventa Melchizedek, it is not unseemly to accept a representation of a Magisterial Son.
Renault: [Indistinguishable reference to changes we are having.]
MONJORONSON: It is because the circuits here are opening, and your planet is being flooded with stimuli. That will be addressed individually and globally. It is not limited to the small conclave of Teachers in the Teaching Corps who have dedicated themselves to disseminating Urantia Book teachings through their students. It is not limited to those who work in other fields of science, religion, or any of the subsections such as education, economics, politics and the like.
I have been here for a very long time participating in the reclamation of this segment of the System. But I, like the others, have only recently been identified and presented as a personality capable of contacting humans and offering counsel, guidance and direction on occasion, as deemed appropriate. Like you, I often have things to offer the situation, but, like you, all my ideas are not workable. And so a modification needs to come about in order for the growth of Reality to expand in the face of the conscription and restraints of the individuals who have put forth their all into the process. I am overseeing much at this very pregnant time.
Let me withdraw from you at this time. I am glad to be made visible in this area. Thank you for receiving me.
Group: Thank you.
MERIUM: I'm back. I feel like such a child around some of these fellows.
Renault: So do we.
MERIUM: Well, indeed we are children, and more's the better for it. We are teachable and trusting and made assured by the knowledge that our Michael's mission is one of mercy. Do you have any questions? Did you remember what you thought to ask earlier and couldn't find? (No) No questions, no comment.
Renault: The weather is beautiful here, as always. Any insight into the kind of winter we are going to have?
MERIUM: No, I am not--
Renault: (laughing) A weather forecaster.
MERIUM: -- a weather forecaster or a crystal-ball gazer.
Renault: Just enjoy our beautiful weather.
MERIUM: Exactly. It is always more easy for us when you are at peace with your environs, for then you are less agitated and fretful, spilling pollutants into your system --
Renault: Which we are trying to heal.
MERIUM: -- that we are trying to get past. Such as adrenaline, anger, anxiety, and so forth and yes, of course, more coffee, more alcohol, more sugar, and other alterations to the electro-chemical status that we need stabilized for quality stillness and clear communications. "Clear channel" I believe is what they call it. If we are reduced to talking about the weather, I will toddle on. Go and find something to chat about.
Renault: Well, only in that we are blessed with enjoying good weather when other parts of our country and world are under devastating turns of the weather.
MERIUM: Well, yes, of course, it is always good to be grateful for what you have, and yet if we are to reach into the dark and lure people into the light, then we don't want to remind them how dark it is where they are. (No.) It was not long ago that your area suffered blight, draught, and many trees were lost due to the lack of water and some hungry bugs. Every area has its pros and cons and challenges. This is one of the aspects of the material life that you enjoy and that you must endure.
Those of you who do enjoy your physical environs are, again, rendered much happier citizens, much easier to deal with, than those of you who are not well situated. All of the animals have what you could call a natural habitat, and while it has been proven time and time again, possible for entire herds and schools and races to adapt, it is a long process.
Changes are best made over a period of time. Only God can safely do things abruptly, and assuredly those things will be well orchestrated, because God is the infinite upholder. Fortunately, we are not given that kind of power, only over that which falls within our realm of operation, and we can see effects of when things happen suddenly. If it is not planned, it gives error more than equal opportunity. Is this to encourage you to become a "control freak"? No. But it is to remind you that this is an orderly universe.
Do you ever have a sensation that you are being wound up, like a toy with a key? That something clasps you in the brain and manipulates your mind such that you are good to go for another round?
I am shown a picture of the Keystone Cops, running around in high speed. Sometimes you people are like that. It is virtually impossible to connect with that. We have to depend a great deal on the Adjusters themselves, and on the midwayers who are quite adept, and if there are -- when there are -- guardian seraphim, to reach you at so many points in the day and night when you are so under the influence of the mechanistic conditions of Urantia. You are impossible to access, as if you were wound up.
It is such a joy, now that so many of you have discovered the benefits of meditation, stillness, and the like, for it is in this slowing down that we are able to nurture and cultivate within your mind those thoughts and attitudes which can only come from having some degree of leisure. And while it is certainly possible for individuals to access this stillness in order to enjoy prayer and worship independently, individually, there is a cumulative effect in so many of you opting to assume certain practices in your life that will augment and enhance the developing illumination that is on call for the next generation, the next era.
Balance. We return to balance. Finding yourself once more in the position you hold as a universe citizen. The colors are so dynamic. Indeed, it has been brilliant. All the world's a stage and there have been some dramatic moments lately. The intrigue in the Middle East continues unabated, forest fires sweep through, lots of things, politics, all of it. All very interesting for you here now. It is such an interesting time. It is balanced of you to opt to spend time with us in the spirit as well, for we provide the other side of the coin, the other end of the polarity, the alpha and omega.
Listen to the birds, how they sing. Such faithful friends they are. Trust the many aspects of your life that are provided to give you comfort and provide your needs, the very ground you walk, the soil itself and everything growing thereon adorns your world and makes it your home, inhabited by the millions of creatures big and small, you who are so diverse and so very, very young, you are such a cradle here. I am so pleased to be assigned here as your babysitter/teacher.
Group: Thank you.
MERIUM: And thank you, dear ones. Run along and play. Everything is well in hand.
*****
DATE: November 11, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER: MERIUM
TOPIC: Holidays, Sincerity; Cat and Mouse Games
Elena on Piano: "Wayfaring Stranger" [Played by Jerry Garcia with David Crosby, Paul Kantner et al during the PERRO sessions in 1971, some circulating tapes refer to it as a Crosby song called "Over Jordan", but it is in fact a traditional song recorded by a wide range of singers including Burl Ives, Joan Baez, Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, Emmylou Harris, etc.] "Happy Birthday" to Gerdean. [Take time to open presents.]
MERIUM: How are you this afternoon, my lovelies? This is Merium. I am glad to be here because you know I cannot resist a party! What a lovely party you have had, indeed, on behalf of your stalwart T/R and good buddy, Gerdean.
What fun you have with your holidays. Actually, it seems you go from one holiday to the next, keeping yourselves in touch with the heartbeat of your culture which you have cultivated as a community, as a nation, and as a world. Holidays seem to take the drudgery out of the rut and routine of maintenance.
Renault: Give us an excuse to get together.
MERIUM: Indeed -- under joyous circumstances. Always there are occasions to get together to work or do something productive. This is the nature of the human animal, to be busy, to be industrious, and so he is even industrious about his holidays.
You are coming into indeed just into the holiday season. You may be well advised that
Holidays are not only a way of celebrating but a way of diverting oneself in revelry as compared to looking at the problems one faces in experiential living, and the more stressful the times of experiential living, the more revelry is needed. You may -- this group in particular - may have a picture of the Bob Hope ministry and others as well, to the service men during the World War. What it hit it was to take the entertainment to the troops. It kept the boys going, as well as pin-ups of course, of Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe and other lovelies. These kinds of diversions and distractions are not always simply a bit of fluff but are a genuine means of relieving the tension of existence, in particularly during times such as when you are at war, just to say you are in for a very busy season, it behooves you to brace yourself in advance, lest you get completely carried away in the hysteria of illusion.
There is always, of course, the underlying reason for the season. All these holidays have a purpose, to honor and acknowledge something that has contributed to your national culture or personal accomplishment, many of them generic enough to reach beyond boundaries to encompass the family of man worldwide. And so I love a party. The potential in these occasions wherein you get together to rejoice over something of value is a triumph to the human spirit.
But I really came to you today to talk about Sincerity.
Sincerity is a quality that bears witness to your ideal. And generally, considered, your ideal is the highest thing in your consciousness. It may not have been attained yet but it is, even so, that which you hold up and out for all to observe and for you to aspire toward. It is indeed the impetus that compels you to attain your ideal, which gives rise to your industry and your need to reflect yourselves in busyness in an attempt to attain these ideals. And so a purposeful life has a great deal of heart as compared to those who are driven.
In the cacophony of life, in the demands to accomplish and acquire, as well as the song and noisemakers of merriment, the tonal quality of sincerity awaits. It is like the sound of the Master's Voice, which all humankind recognizes. It is like harmony, that tonal quality of sincerity, and it becomes compelling to seek this tonal quality that is found in sincerity.
In a lifestyle that is bound up completely between the two fields aforementioned, that of vigorous work and vigorous play, there is often, too often, scant need to recognize or demonstrate sincerity. But it is one of those qualities akin to conviction that gives your presence Presence.
Everyone sooner or later tires of maintenance and of revelry, but sincerity is always a sound that harmonizes the soul … allowing for a sense of accomplishment, a sense of joyousness, and a sense of being at one and at home within thyself.
I rejoice in this quiet outpost in the desert. I saw through Gerdean today a roadrunner. What an enchanting little bird it is. [Group murmurs as to the neighborhood roadrunner.] You are somewhat like them yourselves. [Group chuckles.] Flitting here and there, bowing your head and lifting your tail feathers.
What a joy it is to know you people and to be here on this plane of existence to observe the fascinating lives you live as creatures of the realm. Each creation is so unique. And yours is no exception. So as I observe to you that I find delight and amusement, as well as occasion to overcome difficulty and emerge triumphant, I am certain that you also observe your lives as well, with its challenges and triumphs. I am more than curious to hear more about them. What have you been up to? Share with me your inner life and listen to the sound of your own sincerity as you share one with the other.
Esmeralda: Well, Merium, I'm afraid my life is not very exciting to observe. It seems like I do less and less, and have less of a purpose. I know I've had a full life and … but it seems like I'm not doing much with it right now-- So I'm very glad to be alive! And I'm very glad to have seen a roadrunner. And all of nature! Nature is terrific.
Renault: Even on its bad days.
Men-O-Pah: He just danced across the lawn there, to say hello to us.
Esmeralda: Yes, he comes right up-- I'm just not always out every day this time a year, but I think he has comes frequently.
Renault: What do they eat?
Esmeralda: There used to be some people that used to live in this neighborhood that got him little balled up bits of raw hamburger and they would come up and eat it.
Renault: Oh, so he is carnivorous!
Men-O-Pah: They are. They're meat-eaters.
Renault: Bugs. Snakes
Esmeralda: They say, 'don't feed natures creatures' because then they begin to depend on you, and if you don't continue, they are at jeopardy. So it's kind of hard to know what to do.
MERIUM: Well, there's a value lesson for you. If you feed nature's creatures such that they neglect to feed themselves, you have created a problem.
Esmeralda: A hardship.
Renault: Well, what about people that put out bird feeders? Would that--
Elena: That can do it.
Men-O-Pah: They'll keep doing it.
Esmeralda: Well, I have quit recently, because I feel the birdseed is attracting mice so much. I just had to get rid of the mice and so I haven't fed the birds for awhile … a few weeks.
Men-O-Pah: We clean up the mess they make. Or try to. And the cat gets near them.
Esmeralda: Yeah, but then sometimes … mice carry fleas and…
Men-O-Pah: So do birds.
Esmeralda: And there are so many pigeons here that-- Pigeons love tile roofs. We didn't use to have them until they started using tile roofs a lot in this area, and now the pigeons scare the small birds away, which are actually the ones that I wanted to feed. So I think there are problems. There are great joys that go along with it, but also great problems.
Men-O-Pah: We have mourning doves. We don't have any pigeons.
Renault: I used to have doves, but I don't see-- I think the pigeons have scared away the doves.
Paula: And we had a bad time. The cat got a bird the other day, one of the little birds, and she was carrying it; it was still alive and she brought it into the house and showed it to us. I started to spank her, but Men-O-Pah said, 'She's a hunter and she was proud of what she did; she wanted to show us." And I said, 'Yeah, but I feed those birds, and she was out killing them!"
Esmeralda: It's inbred in her.
Paula: I suppose I shouldn't have spanked her, but I did.
Elena: Well, next time, you can skip it.
Paula: I hope she never gets another one. But she got a mouse! And he got into the birdseed and all of a sudden, he got in the house! The birdseed was out in the garage and how he got in --
Men-O-Pah: The open door!
Esmeralda: They find ways.
Paula: And she's walking around with this live mouse in her mouth, showing what she got, and then she dropped him on the floor, on the ground. Well, he was so beat out by then he couldn't run. And he just kind of sat there looking real sad and looking at us, and then she grabbed him in her mouth again, like 'Big Deal.'
Renault: Did you put it outside? Did you put the cat outside?
Paula: I hope she took him out because we never did find the mouse again so I think he must have gone outside with her.
MERIUM: This is ordinary and appropriate behavior for animals, but by the time we evolve to man, we have potential for a new level of operation. If you were to replace those words of mouse, bird, cat, with words like countries, or political ideologies, you would have a new vision of what you engage in. Indeed animals can be barbaric, but as you resolve to be human, as compared to animal, you can make new choices about how to interact with your fellows and other creatures that share your habitat.
This is domestication, as you know, and civilization advances, slowly but surely. Even when it has setbacks, such as you perceive when you read the paper or watch the news and lament the current global situation. You are seeing it from and as the drama of the human animal. Look for that quality of sincerity in your leaders. Recognize what that sound sounds like. When you hear that sound that beckons you as being sincere, study it fearlessly to ascertain its motives, its intent, for sincerity in and of itself will cause you to follow but is it wisdom to follow that sincerity, that sincere voice, that tone, or is it folly?
One thing for certain is that you cannot tell who to listen to if what they say grates on your ear. And so people study the sound of sincerity to use it as a tool to lead, and this is wise. This is part of leadership. But do take the time to see where you are being led. Well, have I led you into a corner?
Elena: No, actually, I was going to see if anybody else has something to say before I chirped up. You talked about purpose and being driven, and you asked us to share about ourselves. I'm just worn out with trying to decide what my next step is, and I've just decided to take from now until the beginning of the year to kind of kick back. I've been meaning to do that for a while anyway, throughout this year and so I am going to try to spend more time with myself and not push any decisions or make any decisions or put myself to task for anything. I'm going to take myself off the hook, I believe. Those are my intentions. It's not very long between now and the first of the year.
That's what I think I should do. If I can't tell right now, between being driven and having a purpose, I think I'm kind of driven right now, to tell you the truth, and I'd like to be more purposeful.
MERIUM: Would you like some counsel? (Yes!) I already mentioned how busy it's going to be now, during your holiday season, and so you can't really do anything meaningful in the midst of that chaos anyway. But rather than assign yourself an arbitrary starting point, at the beginning of the year along with a lot of other people who make New Year's resolutions and look to the New Year as a good place to start, give yourself that time of year rather to relax and reflect so that when the spring thaw begins, which is generally around mid-February, you will be able to feel the life stirring within your branches, within your limbs, so that your own purpose will be revealed naturally, rather than you having to arbitrarily assign a decision to it.
I don't know if you understand what I mean here but it would be the difference of letting the human make the choice and letting your morontia reality make the choice.
Elena: Let it unfold.
MERIUM: That's right. You do yourself a disservice to-- Stop for the holidays and then pick up when the time is right for you germinate. Allow yourself to reveal itself. You don't need to drive yourself. It will show you "the way."
Elena: Okay. That hits a nice chord in me. I like that.
MERIUM: That way, you can use the seasons to your benefit, and when springtime is in full bloom, you will be in full sway with what you know to be the right and good thing for you to be doing at this time. So you will have a happier life and be more effective, even more productive.
Elena: Well, I like that.
Esmeralda: I like hearing that, Merium.
Renault: It gives your angels time to organize things and get a little more together for you.
Elena: That's good. Because I have really been striving forward, thrusting, trying to get forward, beating myself, so I think that sounds good.
MERIUM: You are at a time in your life where you are pondering the next couple of decades of your life, in terms of how much time you have as compared to how much you want yet to accomplish. It is a natural passage for intelligent mortals on this planet, in your culture, and so you are right in keeping with what one could expect from you at this time. Rejoice in the fact that you still have ambition and drive, that you have not succumbed to complaisancy … yet, for you do indeed still have much life left within your limbs and many fruits can yet be produced.
Elena: Thank you, Merium. I appreciate the guidance.
MERIUM: For you, Esmeralda, and 'the honeymooners,' "As the days dwindle down to a precious few" they are to be savored. You may not feel as though you have any ambition left or anything exciting going on in your life, but your reality is shifting. You too are preparing for another passage and you are now aware of mortality. Because you are closer to the statistical time of decline and departure, your challenge, of course, is not what to accomplish in the world but what to accomplish within yourself so that you will feel ready to leave when you are called.
Much of this should be/can be in appreciation of each moment. By being aware of each moment as it unfolds, each very quiet, unassuming moment, is in itself a miracle, because you are able to exist within it. This awareness of existing within the moment has lasting value. It helps assure you of your existence in time and space and once this becomes a part of your superconsciousness, you will and do recognize that this consciousness will continue to exist in millions and billions of moments from now, although it may not be in this form. And so you are able to serve yourself by preparing for your transition, just as Elena is preparing for her next transition, her passage into another decade of accomplishment and wish fulfillment on her world of origin.
When you are gone from here, you will not see things as you have enjoyed from here. These dazzling autumn days of yellow-gold cottonwood leaves with a backdrop of azure blue are something your eyes can feast on as a prayer of thanksgiving. It is not wasted time to behold beauty, truth and goodness. By now you know you are a part of it. You have claimed it. You own it. You have contributed your life. You have given all you have, and you have every right to sit back and rejoice in your accomplishments. You need not start another business or start another club unless you want to.
Esmeralda: Oh, thank you! (Group laughter.) No, I'm actually happy with my life, Merium. I just want to be sure I'm doing Father's will, and it's not always easy to know what Father's will is. So I'm actually comfortable, sitting back. I really am. I enjoy my daughters. I always did. I'm actually quite happy with my life. I realize it's a transitional time, and a preparatory time, but it's nice to be here as long as I should be here and it will also be nice to go on to many things.
As long as my daughters are okay, and I think they both are, then everything is fine. And I have had a good life. My daughters have been a large part of it and I think I have been greatly blessed. And I think I am still blessed. I think the morontia world will be wonderful.
MERIUM: I heard you earlier say you just want to make sure that you are doing what is necessary to … what was it?
Esmeralda: Father's will. And at this stage, I'm not sure what the Father's will is. I don't know if He wants me to be doing more than I am, or just preparing myself and/or my daughters for my not being around.
MERIUM: They are well trained. They will be fine. You will, too. The only thing you need to do is make certain your commitments are made. And it seems you have done that long ago. The gift of eternal life is acquired. Yes, it is give to you freely, but then you need to work with it, and to the extent you have been consciously involved in creation, you will survive. My concern has always been the survival of the individual personality. Not just his or her qualities that have value, but the actual personality. That is what God needs from you. And so if you are prepared to commit your personality into the keeping of your highest consciousness of Deity, then you will inherently work toward cultivating and perfecting that end. That is perfection hunger that is born into you. God wants to return to the Source from whence He came and He wants to bring you along with Him.
Esmeralda: Well, I want that, too.
MERIUM: Then you're "in like Flynn."
Esmeralda: Thank you, Merium.
MERIUM: What did I hear over here from the Santa Fe contingent?
Renault: Do you have any advice for me or my daughter? I just seem to be work, work, work, work, working here. Letting things take care of themselves, I guess.
MERIUM: Well, letting things take care of themselves is actually walking a very fine destiny path. When things fall in line and you have no problems to deal with, you must be doing something right.
Renault: It's not that I don't have problems.
MERIUM: I was going to say, then assuredly something would come along so that you have something to keep you hopping, to keep you from being bored silly with the maintenance of human existence.
Renault: I find opportunities come along to help other people or encourage other people or some way you can do your own little … extend your hand kind of thing to help out people. Some are grateful, some are not; I just try to keep harmony. Ha! I too feel like my life has been blessed. I do feel that I have many, many, many, many blessings in my life, so my problems are not that severe or bothersome, I think. I do worry about my daughter. I think she could probably use a little help. I think things are coming her way, too, so, any suggestions?
Paula: Yes, don't worry about things!
Renault: No, I don't.
Paula: Things have a way of working out. I've watched that happen.
Renault: I'm not without talent and resources, so….
Paula: And you young people here, you have your whole lives ahead of you! I probably don't have all that much time but I don't know. People in my family live into their 90's and some over 100. And I have had my physical here a little bit ago. She said I was 'very well preserved.' She said, there was nothing wrong with me. She said I was in very good health, so I figure Men-O-Pah is stuck with me. I'm going to stay alive! I think. Unless a truck runs over me, I feel fine.
MERIUM: Even if a truck were to run over you, you would get up and dust your feathers off and trot off to the next party.
Paula: Could be!
Men-O-Pah: I've been away, as you know, to corporate wars again, and to solve all the problems laid out, and fortunately I solved it. I don't know how long I can keep doing that. I think the time is short, I'll have to let go of those things. I notice my ability to work around the house, some of the things that would take me five minutes now take an hour. But I can still do them. I guess it's better to be able to do those things than not be able at all. And something you were saying about working? There's something noble about working. It's good. I think it is.
MERIUM: Indeed.
Paula: Noble or not, it wears you out!
Men-O-Pah: Well.
Paula: He came home and he'd be beat at the end of the day.
Esmeralda: He could have been ten years ago, too! I remember before I retired, many days I was really tired. Then there were days when I worked 14 hours and came home doing just fine.
MERIUM: This is the process we have been talking about, this mother nature and the seasons, the animal life and slowing down so that you can see each moment. And passages. And this being an older group, that is to say comprised of elders, has a different purpose and a different statement to make than those which are still dominated by youth and ambition. There is absolutely nothing wrong with work or youth or ambition. Neither is there anything wrong with recognizing limitations. But yes, it is very difficult for the noble beasts to admit they can no longer do what they once did readily.
There is no shame in this process, and yet it is unsettling, for it is often a constant reminder of what you no longer have. However, these long reflective days of such beauty provide the soul, the psyche in perspective. If indeed you have all lived your lives fully, as I believe you have, then you have nothing to regret in letting go which, as the scripture says, are the things of youth that today no longer serve. What serves today is your experiential wisdom.
As Paula says, don't worry about it. But when you are in the thick of worry about it and it is the most important thing to you, to not worry about it would seem like irresponsibility somehow. So yes, work is noble, and creates good character, but it is also true that the material vehicle tires and parts wear out. The joy of living today is in recognizing the perfection of the moment and your place within that perfect moment. That is the reality, which is enduring, even eternal. I have no counsel for you, Renault, or your daughter. You are doing what you need to be doing and learning how to love it.
Renault: You mean my job?
MERIUM: Acceptance of all those things that trouble you, challenge you or bring you joy. Accept what is. Including how you interact with it. You have called yourself air-headed or addlebrained or "Libra," but you are also -- or rather -- open to what opportunities avail themselves. You may appear to be flitting and irresponsible to some, but would a hummingbird spend much time on a plastic flower? No. It would recognize at once the artificiality and go on to some other blossom.
Each creature has a pattern that works well for its best interests, and each creature sooner or later learns its limitations, like the mouse in the paws of your cat. By staying alert to the possibilities of escape, survival, the very next moment of conscious existence is enough to constitute the will of God. Praise God! Be joyous! Carry with you a divine countenance of simply joy.
Esmeralda: There's an awful lot to be joyous about.
Renault: It's easier if you don't read the newspaper or watch the news.
Group: Yeah! Amen to that!
Esmeralda: You know, I recommend looking outside at night, at the beautiful moon, and sometimes the stars are so bright. And every once in awhile you get a star that isn't a star but an airplane. But the nights are beautiful and the days are beautiful. And we're surrounded by beauty in all things, and the love of God.
MERIUM: The love of God surrounds us.
Esmeralda: That's the most important thing that surrounds us, I think.
MERIUM: The Power of God protects us.
Esmeralda: But he protects all these … the birds and the mice and … he has it all in hand, so you don't have to worry, Paula, if Cricket catches the mouse.
Paula: You know, I think the Lord was watching over the mouse. Because I think he must have gotten away. But how he got in the house, I don't know.
Men-O-Pah: Through the door.
Paula: Anyway, she entertained us with the mouse. She wouldn't hurt him, but she would take him over, in her mouth, very gently. She didn't bite him. She just kind of played with him. Then she would have him in front of her, and she'd take her paw and swat her. The mouse probably didn't know what to do! He was probably having a heart attack. And she was playing with him. She didn't know she was supposed to kill him. She just played with him.
Men-O-Pah: She fully intended to kill him later.
Paula: But she had more fun showing us.
MERIUM: I am going to cut you loose so you can play cat and mouse games. There's got to be games at a party.
Paula: She thought it was a game. She just played with him. The poor mouse was about to have a heart attack.
Esmeralda: But you know, cats love playing.
MERIUM: See you next time!
Group: Thank you, Merium.
MERIUM: Bye-bye!
*****
DATE: December 2, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER: MERIUM
TOPIC: The Heart of the Matter
Prayer (Men-o-Pah): Last year our choir sang this piece and it kind of colludes to us. We sang it about three or four times, which is kind of unusual for us. We sang it both before and after Easter. The composer of this piece is Kenneth Medina. Kenneth Medina is black and his life is full of the spirit. "Send us love, send us power, send us grace."
MERIUM: Amen and thank you, brother Men-O-Pah for reminding us of his love, his power and his grace in the eyes of this old Negro spiritual. There is great heart in these words. There is great heart in the soul of each of you, each of you here today, as well as those of you who respond to the harmonious patterns from On High which you can use as steps on the ladder of cosmic ascension, even as we each condescend to climb that ladder in our individual destiny paths and tasks today.
We got heart. "Ya gotta have heart. Miles and miles and miles of heart." Is that not the song? Intellectual assurances are invaluable and the spirit is unfailing, but when you have heart invested in this experience of living the life, you have added the flavor of fine soup, the aroma of an exotic flower, the pain of experiential living, and the certain thrill of triumph. These elements of character are the playing fields upon which we act out our lives and demonstrate our faith.
We come to a new passage in this season, the winter solstice, into a new dispensation, a New Year, a new chapter in global history and in personal cycles of adventure in the flesh. Life is ever ongoing. Always are there opportunities for you to delve into a new pattern, in the experience of which you can gain wisdom through trial and error, through practice, by comparison, and in ways that will augment your existence.
Having heart embraces the human emotions that are also divine, those that are found in the fruits of the spirit, that are found in courageous loyalty to the job where people depend on you, courageous loyalty to the new grandchild or the burgeoning harvest of the future through these new ideas, new concepts, new children, new technologies, new beliefs that are coming into being -- often more quickly than we can keep up.
All of these are born upon and live in and through a pattern. Eventually it becomes easier to discern those patterns in which you emerge a better person in which you have been able to minister effectively, in which you have garnered emotional satisfaction, in which others have benefited from your existence, in ways that reflect supreme values, that encourage exploration and that exalt reverence in divine values. Heart accepts the pain, the loss, the suffering, the grief, the unfairness, and rises above it -- rises above all that to manifest hope and good cheer.
This is the season to be jolly, to behold the birth of the Christ child, in the eyes of Christendom; a time to celebrate the light; a time to revel in the experience of joy and appreciation for friends and family, to honor those good things about one another that we can depend upon and rely upon because they are an inherent part of the goodness of man, the beauty and the truth of humanity.
When you have heart, every day is Christmas. Every day is a day to celebrate the gift of life, the Spirit of Truth, the fact of sonship, the fraternity of others -- human and divine. We are all embraced in a fairyland of love, a dimension of goodness, of heart. How lovely to contemplate that you may be challenged by these words to fulfil the reason for the season and add the dimension of divine love to your festivities through a revelation of heart -- the heart of God that dwells within you each. Give your gifts as God gives his gifts: "with love, with power and with grace."
I'll conclude my little talk for the afternoon with that. I will allow a new pattern to present itself. Perhaps you will help me. We have several options, but I would like your involvement, your engagement. Do you want to tell me about what's going on with you? Do you have any challenges, any celebrations, any questions?
Elena: I just wanted to ask about mother, who is going through some health challenges, so I would be interested to hear any comments about her situation.
Paula: I have called her on occasion recently, but she can't even carry on a conversation; she gets tired. So I just break it off, and I think she is relieved.
Elena: Well, she's tired.
MERIUM: I think you've addressed the subject very well. She is tired! And as you mature, as your body ages, as it also grows weary, it is the opportunity then to reflect upon the life's experiences past and anticipate the transition ahead. It becomes more and more of a feature of the lives of the elderly, for in a way it is what you have lived all your lives to accomplish: "terrestrial escape!"
It is natural that people should pay attention to this process of changing from one form to another. Since you know you will take up in Mansonia just where you leave off here, it behooves you to know where you are here so that when you arrive there it will not be such a case of culture shock.
Becoming mindful of your relationship with your Adjuster - which is that which survives; that is the soul; that is what has lasting value -- that being comprised of the spirit of God and the personality of you -- that marriage, then, is what you want to build upon for your future existences.
Esmeralda is and has been grappling with her mortality and making peace with herself for some time. Her pattern, the one that she is familiar with, involves her own mother living well into her 90's, and so she has a reasonable expectation that she will do likewise. And she well may, in fact, do just that!
Elena: That's encouraging.
MERIUM: But she will, even so, experience these steps on the ladder of experience that will allow her to make the transition when it comes with peace and grace and not struggling and kicking as so many do, or in complete denial of what's ahead, as is often the case. And so the best service you can provide for her and those millions of others who are approaching this next passage in their life, is to be gentle with them, and allow their sojourn into the next dimension to be as gracious as possible.
Sometimes death happens suddenly. And those instances, of course, capture our attention and very likely impress us fearfully. But the actual truth is that death comes quietly and slowly to most people. It may come through sickness, it may come from hearts wearing out that cannot be replaced. It may come quietly and without much ado, such that there are a few who are allowed the dignity of dying in their sleep. But the truth is, we cannot advance into spirit beings unless and until we relinquish the material form, and so this is a natural part of the process. It is a natural and necessary part of life. Let it be a natural part of learning and experiencing, as well -- not a frightful and fearsome thing, but a natural and normal part of experiential living.
In time, you will be led to a chamber where your fusion can take place. When that day comes for your progeny, you on high can rejoice for the strides that were made and the ways in which you contributed to that evolutionary concept of death being a time of jubilation and release, a genuine graduation from this class to the next, a success story, a victory indeed, and not as a time of deep sorrow or judgment as it is taught and has been taught from time immemorial.
Leave behind the ghost fears; embrace the Light and walk toward it in confidence, in hope, in faith that when you approach the door, the Light will shine. "We'll leave the light on for you!" And when the door opens, He will be there and He will remember you. What a wonderful feeling that will be. Many of you look forward to that moment even now. We know He is with you, even now, in the spirit, but we know, too, that when you see Him, in the Resurrection Halls, when you awaken to behold your own Adjuster -- the Father, the Son, and the Spirit -- you will have attained something: you will have survived … in the eternal sense.
And so all the struggles, all the conflict, all the confusion, all the pain, all the difficulty, all the sacrifices, all the effort of living life as it is lived on an evolutionary planet are forgotten in the Light. They are made part of your experience, your personality experience, and so you take the value with you into eternity, even as you leave the pain behind. Just as a woman in childbirth forgets the pain of childbirth in the delight of beholding her newborn babe.
When you resurrect you will be in many ways like a newborn babe. You will be overseen and assigned work that is appropriate for your development. You will have brought much with you. You are gathering your treasures, your experiential rubies, as you experience your human existence, with all its difficulties but will also all its joys, mysteries, excitement, discovery and delight -- the heart, indeed. (Pause) I rambled.
Elena: No, I appreciate it. That was comforting, actually. I hadn't thought about -- when we think about our Thought Adjuster, I don't think about seeing my Thought Adjuster. I guess from my viewpoint, from my imagination, I see it as inside of me. "Seeing" him, that was a new look at it, and your words were very comforting so I appreciate that.
MERIUM: You might surprise yourself one day to look in the mirror and see your Adjuster alive and well in your own eyes. It's a mystery.
Elena: Well, I'll start looking for him. Looking for different things in the mirror wouldn't be a bad idea.
MERIUM: Well, if you are to look for the Adjuster in others …
Elena: Right.
MERIUM: … and find their divine aspects, it would make sense that you would have them within you as well, in order to recognize them elsewhere. And having survived without your body, without your trappings, without your titles, property, credit cards, clothing, or mannerisms, who are you? That is the relationship to cultivate. That relationship with your self, which is divine, which is along the order of infinity, as compared to that which is temporary.
Your love of your new grandchild, for example, is reflected in the perfect moment in time. This moment will never be duplicated. In time, you will admire your grandchild's school papers and ability to draw or knowledge of the heavens, even perhaps their skill at sports or ability to make conversation. That is yet another pattern of reality that is passing and you may not remember them specifically in eternity, but you will remember how that felt. You will remember the delight you shared with life and that life shared with you. You will remember valuing the curiosity spirit, the love of adventure, even while you may forget the circumstances. Was it grade school? Was it junior high school? Was it kindergarten or college? Was it my child or was it someone else's? Was it a human child or was it a midwayer? But the value, nonetheless, remains a part of your eternal pounding heart. Fear not that you will lose your good memories. Rejoice that you will not always remember the bad ones. This is an eternal truth. The good remains; the dross will fall away.
Paula: All you young people don't have to worry. Wait 'til you get to be as old as I am! On February 12, Lincoln and I are having a birthday! I know he is deader than a doornail, but I am alive and I'm feeling great, and I'm going to be 89! That's a heck of an age. Nobody lived that long in the family for the last several generations. Before that, they lived to be 100. I'll live to be 100 but I'm having such a good time, I don't want to give that up.
MERIUM: You'll have a good time there, too.
Paula: I'll bet I will. You meet all kinds of people and I like meeting people, to find out what they are like.
MERIUM: You have lived to be 89 because you have good stock, you have a good attitude, and you have maintained good habits. All of these contribute to your longevity. The pattern was that you would live much longer than a century, but there have been some setbacks. Those will be overcome in time and you are seeing the reparations take place since man lives longer than he did in ages past, barring those who live to be that ripe old age which is the human potential.
Elena: I wanted to ask you something else, actually. [The question was inaudible, but it had to do with feeling obligated to support all the many service organizations that solicit help, particularly for those less fortunate and particularly at this time of the year.]
MERIUM: I think you're on the right track. You know what calls you. You have a sense of what obligation is and where your loyalties lie. The thing is, you see, you fall within a certain range of socioeconomic accomplishment, and so you have given here and given there and so it has been noticed that you are a giving person and there are people who depend on people like you to support their ministry.
There is nothing wrong with that except that you are being inundated with the patterns that have developed since more people are being of service and there are avenues by which people can be of service and institutions are often able to do things that individuals are not able to do, such as dealing with other countries or unfortunates. You don't need to feel responsible for all these service ministries staying afloat. They know the risks. They have their aspirations -- both altruistic and not so altruistic, as any human institution will. But if you mind your counsel and live your life, you will discover those things to which you personally, willingly want to contribute; you will go out of your ways to find ways to support that which you feel your heart has responded to - not your social consciousness, your political awareness or your sentimental appreciation of life's greatest thoughts. But it is unreasonable to think that you can contribute to or support all these organizations. For now, throw them all in the trash. And allow your own awareness to let you know what you want to support.
If you are taking the rest of the year off, as you said you would do, and allowing January, even February to be a period of reflection on how you want your life to emerge, when the thaw comes and sap begins to flow anew through your veins, you will not clutter your consciousness with these overwhelming concerns of others.
When you serve, my dear, you are generous. You are and have been a whirlwind of giving and serving and doing and achieving. You are going to need to learn how to set some of that aside anyway. You cannot keep up the pace. Eventually you will recognize what it will take and indeed the sacrifices you will need to make in order to function more fully in those avenues of life that you will choose to follow and respect.
Elena: Well, that's good advice. I appreciate that. Thank you.
MERIUM: You need to learn how to weed the garden and thin out the plants as they come up, otherwise they will all choke upon itself and your garden will be a gnarled patch of vegetation without produce. You want to feel effective. You want that satisfaction of knowing you are doing God's will. You want to know that what you are doing is right for you, will provide you with soul satisfactions as well as pragmatic results that are necessary for you at this time in your life - as you begin to discern for yourself and let go of those things which can no longer be a consideration in your pursuit of doing those things which you know you can and will do something about, based on your choice your own purposive path.
That lesson above serves not just for the solicitors that come along on the Internet, but all the many well-intentioned people who come along seeking something from you.
Student: [Inaudible]
MERIUM: I can see that we are meandering afield.
Elena: Before you go, though, what did you mean about changing the pattern? What were you actually intending … in terms of our meetings.
MERIUM: Well, there is that, too. We can think in terms of the New Year, if that matters. I know that -- and this is business. I don't know that it needs transcribed and broadcast, but -- last year Gerdean announced that she wanted to take the first Sunday of every month to provide stability for a meeting and so we have done that, and that has been great grounding for Gerdean and evidently for others as well, but there are modifications that could me made or adjustments or changes that could also be made that would reflect on those of you who attend and/or those of you who don't. And so perhaps over supper you can talk about any changes you might like to make in the new season.
There are many possibilities, beginning with continuing as we are doing, introducing the occasional Urantia Book study or transcripts of other communities, an effort for others to learn the transmitting/receiving process, alternate dates, alternate locations, individual presentations, projects involving your skills as musicians, and a lot of other possibilities. I know how you are and how we are. We like a routine, but when it becomes a rut, we need to change. If we are in a rut, where is it a rut? If it is a routine, as they say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
There are always those who don't like it this way, or who want change. We need to hear from these people. We need to appreciate their level of growth so we can advance spirit reality in our relationships, in our community, in our culture, in our neighborhood, in our many, many ways and means of relating and bringing forth the Kingdom … on earth as it is in heaven … as closely as possible. In this way we lift it up, out of war, out of poverty, out of disease and into the Light.
Therefore, Light Workers -- my little lightning bugs, 4th of July firecrackers and fireplace cedar log pops -- let's make merry and let me know what you want to do because we'll be around.
Group: Good.
MERIUM: Bye-bye!
*****
[End of Vol. VI, 2007]
It is hard for me, Gerdean, the T/R, to see the forest for the trees. It is hard for me to know whether and to what extent the Teachers are real or a figment of my imagination; it is impossible to prove whether the Teaching Mission is a sociological phenomenon sanctioned and supported by celestial government or whether it is a delusion based on wishful thinking. It is hard for me to ascertain if the Teachers are helping us evolve our soul or if we are merely amusing ourselves. It is difficult to say why it becomes reality to some and others drift away. It is hard to know if what I feel after these sessions is genuine soul satisfaction or if it is some kind of psychological addiction. But the people I have come to know in and through the Teaching Mission are uncommonly real to me, and incredibly dear. What we believe we experience may be beyond ordinary description or understanding. But we are real people, with real concerns, looking for real solutions.
Rio Rancho, NM, USA
Volume VI - 2007
|
Date |
Teachers and Topics
|
Page |
|
01-07-07 |
MERIUM and VIRGIL: "The Nalda Syndrome" |
1 |
|
02-04-07 |
MERIUM, TOMAS and DOC: What Are We To Teach? Team Overview. Q&A: Health Issues |
6 |
|
03-18-07 |
MERIUM and TOMAS: Fifth Anniversary Meeting |
18 |
|
04-01-07 |
JESUS, MERIUM and TOMAS: "Rejoice In Me" |
26 |
|
05-06-07 |
MERIUM: "And No One is Denied" |
33 |
|
06-03-07 |
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER, TEACHER MERIUM, MIDWAYERS JACK AND DANI "By Your Leave" |
43 |
|
07-01-07 |
MERIUM: Co-Creative Working Team |
51 |
|
08-05-07 |
NEBADONIA and MERIUM: Acceptance and Forgiveness |
54 |
|
09-02-07 |
MERIUM: Reflect the Light You Follow; TOMAS: Adjutants and Psychic Circles |
61 |
|
10-07-07 |
TOMAS and MERIUM: What Am I Doing Here? |
69 |
|
11-07-07 |
MERIUM and MONJORONSON: Balance |
79 |
|
11-11-07 |
MERIUM: Holidays, Sincerity, Cat & Mouse Games |
83 |
|
12-02-07 |
MERIUM: The Heart of the Matter |
93 |
|
|
[End of Vol. VI, 2007] |
99 |
VOL. VI, 2007
*****
DATE: January 7, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER: MERIUM and VIRGIL
TOPIC: "The Nalda Syndrome"
Reference: The Urantia Paper 143: Going Through Samaria
Section 5. The Woman of Sychar (pg. 1612-1615)
Prayer: (Men-O-Pah)
"Our Father, we thank you for this beautiful day that you have made. We are privileged to be here together, to walk on this good earth another day. We ask your presence and your guidance. We know that you have said to us that where two or three are gathered together in your name that you would be there, so we ask you to be here with us, to guide our thinking. These things we ask in the name of our Lord, Jesus. Amen."
Group: Amen. Thank you.
Gerdean: Were you going to say something else?
Elena: Well, I was hoping that our starting the year off right includes very much being with Merium and other helpers that we have, and what better way to start it off right -- with them! That's mainly what I wanted to say.
Gerdean: That's very kind.
MERIUM: Hello, hello, my lovely friends. This is Merium.
Group: Hi, Merium!
MERIUM: Let me come in and whisk you away. I know you would sit in the Master's company all day and we wouldn't get anything accomplished. I know He will forgive me for pulling you into focus. What shall we do first? Yes, let's say Happy New Year!
Group: Happy New Year!
MERIUM: Our Christ is born again in your minds and your hearts. Let our spirits rejoice in this new awakening, this new time of beginnings. How wonderful the cycles of nature, provided by our wondrous Creator. The dormancy of winter giving rise to new life, after the big sleep, into the glorious new day. Let us all hope that this year brings new days that provide the basic foundation of the birth of God-consciousness itself, for therein is where we live and move and have our being.
And let's welcome guests, one and all -- to the Father's table, but to our gathering, as well. Wanda, how lovely to meet you in our formal fashion. I hope we don't startle you or embarrass you. It's really a harmless parlor trick that we devise to amuse ourselves in lieu of other engagements on occasional Sunday afternoons. We do tend to socialize overmuch; however, we do nourish ourselves well and have a party such as this with Question and Answer occasionally from the spirit realm, from those unseen places and persons which are here to help uplift us in all ways and keep us in good cheer and in good faith.
I think I know what to talk about today but I'm thinking a visitor may supply the vehicle. I'd like to invite someone in who has not been here, who has not had this experience, so that he can-- Virgil is his name. -- Virgil can have this experience with you this afternoon. Virgil, would you please come in and talk to the group about Nalda, the woman at the well?
VIRGIL: Good afternoon. Yes, I am pleased to have the opportunity to experience this co-creative process of introducing a concept through an entity that you cannot see but must act on faith of its existence and its value. If there is no value to my expression, then I am very forgettable; if, however, there is merit to my words in your heart or your soul or your consciousness in any way that contributes to your enlightenment, then I have become immemorialized by your awareness of me and through our communication.
What has this to do with Nalda? Well, Nalda is the name of the woman at the well. You all know the story of the woman at the well. Anyone here have a passing recognition of the story that would share it?
Men-O-Pah: The woman was at this well, I presume it was the only water supply even close. And Jesus came by that well and he asked her for a drink and she gave him a drink. He said whoever drinks of the living water will never die, and I can give you that water. And this sort of dumbfounded and amazed the woman. But that's about all I remember of the story.
VIRGIL: Thank you. That is a generous retelling. Many of these parables are only assimilated in part, but this is the value of the parable: you hear what you need to hear and later another telling may reveal another meaning altogether. There are other parts to this story of the woman at the well. Are there any other remembrances?
Men-O-Pah: I should add that Jesus remarked that if you drink of the living water you will never thirst again, and I can give that water to you.
Paula: Why any of the prophets in those days ever said to people, you will never die, I can't understand, because of course everybody dies. We're bound to, of course. We're born and we live and then we die.
VIRGIL: There are two different themes here and I have no problem at all with one overlapping the other, for that obviously offers an area for teaching. But yes, the key word is thirst. It will quench the thirst. What I wanted to point out about Nalda is that when the Master spoke to her about the living water, she turned away and looked at yon hill and diverted herself from the issue of being in the presence of divinity, of drinking the cup that was offered her by the Master, as compared to the cup of water that she offered him. (Isn't he brilliant, how he maneuvers his teachings? So creative, in his teaching!) She looked away, as if not to see, and he called her back, pointing out that many people do this when faced with the living reality, divert their view, distract themselves, change the subject, turn the page, for the clarity of the moment is too acute.
Renault: [indistinguishable] because of her class, or rank or something, and that after he talked to her and told her things about herself and her life, he amazed her and she went back into the village to tell all the people about the marvelous man at the well. That's what I remember. She was at the well and he spoke to her and changed her life. And so, in essence, too, it doesn't matter who you are, you are still capable of receiving the Word, whether you are a woman or with this clan or that clan or whatever.
VIRGIL: Let's dwell now on this living water. After we have drunk of it, what does that mean? How is that perceived? How is that realized? What does that do to your life? How does that impact your behavior and your approach? Do you become a teacher and preacher on the street corner? Do you publish works? Or do you have a mind focused on God?
And then what of this, God? Is this God a formulation of your consciousness? One like the bearded God who sits in his chair [throne] with a ledger, perhaps keeping record, keeping score? Or is this God a part of you, such that when you give of yourself, you are as the living water that quenches the thirst of those you meet? Do you provide value and substance and meaning to those you meet?
Or like Nalda, do you skirt the issue and change the subject and talk about the fashion or the weather, politics or religion, and neglect to portray that peace, poise, graciousness, charm of personality, self-forgetfulness, compassion and patience as we understand him to have been, and which we ourselves so long to feel?
God is not in hiding. And yet we often keep Him hidden from others and ourselves because His affect on your consciousness is such that you feel estranged from humanity when you put it into effect, and so you release the connection and relinquish your grasp in order to feel more comfortable with your peers - peers who in their ignorance are more inclined than not to effect harm because of their frame of reference for survival, which is that of the animal in stead of the assurance of eternal life as it has become aware to you through this living water.
Those who know whereof I speak need not compete for attention, nor strive with one another, but rather perceive in each other a reflection of the I AM consciousness that is the fruit of our thirst. How they deprive themselves! They and you when you succumb to the lesser way when the higher way is so available.
We in these invisible realms wonder about you sometimes, but we are told by our teachers who know you better than we, that you do well, that you are indeed a courageous lot of human beings, able to withstand great cruelty and loss, disappointment and betrayal, and rally in faith that there is a reason, a lesson to be learned, a truth to be perceived, wisdom to be won, and righteousness to prevail as a result of this experience.
That concludes my formal lesson. I have appreciated the opportunity to practice my learning. I will return you to Merium for her ministrations. Farewell.
Group: Thank you, Virgil.
MERIUM: This is Merium, back again to fluff up your pillows and let the music play! This furniture arrangement has an odd feng shui. Gerdean feels as if she is performing instead of performing a service, and so there is a certain theatrical aspect to the afternoon, which is unnecessary. It is true that all the universe is looking in, but it doesn't have to be an auditorium. I have no problem with just sitting around your living room. In fact, if it is too formal and too stuffy, you know I am not going to put up with it. I'll open the windows and let the air in.
I have a couple things I'd like to introduce in terms of ways to affect the group, one of which is when we used to meet in the Butler group, we found that the sessions benefited if occasionally we took an intermission and as everyone's minds were stimulated by the foregoing conversation, the level of conversation stimulated such discussion as to evoke questions relevant to the topic in the balance of the gathering. I don't know if that would benefit this group or not but let's give it a shot. We will be in intermission. I'll be back.
[Intermission]
MERIUM: Well, of course, we are still here. Where would we go? We had an appointment! We have been enjoying your expressions. It is hard to find a lesson in it, however, since there are so many diffracted lights. Energy is like that. It can fill up a room, and unless there is a divining rod, it will fill the atmosphere without providing a grounding effect.
There are many ways that Deity operates in the universe. Your universe here, the local universe in general but your world in particular (and even specifically your own personal lives with its conditioning and connections, culture, language, traditions, mores and so forth), are all representations of divine reality. But everyone is not aware of the divinity aspect of life, and so they participate in life but are undirected. Whereas, those who are consciously engaged in a superconscious appreciation of reality, virtually live in another dimension, or at least have access to another dimension that relieves the monotony of the sameness of an architectural sphere of reality comprehension. It pushes the edges of the envelope so that you have a broader perspective.
From the spiritual perspective, everything is a part of the organism of divinity. From an unconscious perspective, it is experiential but without that existential awareness that you see and know and appreciate as religionists in the sense of the drinkers of the cup.
The dimension that you can enjoy with this compounded perspective, that is with the eyes of spirit as well as the flesh, provides the abundance that the Master spoke of when he said, "I came to give you life and to give it more abundantly." It had nothing to do with more material goods. It had to do with quality of life, not quantity. And in that context, neither do I mean quality goods over inferior goods; I don't mean "goods" at all. I mean that reality that will stop you in your tracks / put you on your knees. Remember who you are in a cosmic sense.
The marvelous thing is that when you face this reality and realize it within yourself, you become an active participant in the shaping of destiny. You become an actor, as compared to a reactor. There is nothing wrong with being a reactor, except that it takes up so much time that could be more effectively spent. Are there questions?
So how do you stay connected? You spend time in Stillness. You develop better habits, habits that will help promote this reality, this "peace which passes all understanding." In Stillness you find the strength you need to carry on. "From whence cometh my help"? From the Living Water. "Even now, he is taking in living water as we give it forth in social service."
Today we have taken time apart from the cares of the world to face our Creator, to sit by his side, to bask in his presence, to bathe in the living waters, to commune with Our Father, to know each other as sons and daughters, brothers and sisters -- siblings all in the divine family.
Savor the greatness of this moment. And return to it in the privacy of your home, in the morning, in the evening, and throughout the day, as you remember the greatness … of this moment. And this moment will become every moment, enabling you to work and play with more effectiveness, more staying power, and the ability to fill yourselves more quickly with the cup of human kindness.
Are there any other things that we could do while we are together? Are there things you want to share? Do you have any problems you'd like to talk about? Any specific issues that need attention? If you want to come away with me or one of us at another time, that can be arranged. It's free. You needn't worry about that.
We have quite a menu of persons who minister to the needs of humans. Personal teachers, group teachers, Melchizedek priests, universe administrators, companions, artisans, angels, and student visitors -- all of us eager to share our perspective and insight with you as you learn to walk the path of consciousness. It is our pleasure to be your companions.
Then let us take this moment into the next setting and return to it as needed for a continuation of the life as it is lived in spirit awareness. Adieu.
Group: Thank you! Happy New Year!
*****
DATE: February 4, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHERS: MERIUM, TOMAS and DOC
Topic(s): What Are We To Teach?
Elena: "Dear Father, it is such a pleasure to be here so that we can gather together, and we're more than two, Father, and we are gathering in your name. We would like to come here to listen to the words of whoever is here, our many instructors, and to make ourselves, our hearts, our minds ready to receive the wonderful words that you have for us today on how we could be closer and ever closer to you, Father, and to-- Well, that says it all. If we always are closer to you, then that really is the main thing that we need to be, so be with us today and thank you for this wonderful day together. Amen."
Group: Amen.
MERIUM: Good afternoon, Lovelies, my name is Merium. You know me well as your cosmic babysitter.
Group: Hi Merium.
MERIUM: What a delight to see new children in our midst, Mancos and Melody, as you are named. You are most welcome. We have been enjoying fresh air in other personalities such as yours and finding it refreshing. There is always a danger when you find something you cherish, to hold it close, to clasp it to your breast in such a way as to never let it go, and so this tends to invoke in you a sense of sanctity and sanctuary which, when socialized, will enlarge your community, and each time a new member of the community is introduced, it enlarges the circumference of your prayer, and so it feeds the soul, it stimulates the spirit, and it enlivens the social aspects of religion.
We thought to speak today about who we are and what we do. We like to do that occasionally, as an introduction, and it is also true that as we engage in this practice seasonally, we are establishing our history as we go. We are creating a culture; we are forging a new way of life. We are bringing spirit into the finite dimension, thus altering the very molecules by your consciousness. -- your superconsciousness! - and this can be understood as morontia reality.
Morontia reality is that vast realm of conscious intelligence - "being-ness" - that consumes the space between a finite material way of life and full-fledged spirit, for we do not become full-fledged spirit overnight or as we cross over. There is, in scripture, a reference that says, "In my Father's house there are many mansion," and so those mansion worlds are where we learn more about spirit and relinquish those qualities of our animal nature that remain with us as we traverse the spheres of illumination into the presence of God completely. I will invite Tomas to come in and talk for awhile.
TOMAS: Good afternoon, loyal students. It warms my heart to be with you again and to feel the camaraderie that fills this circle around the figurative campfire as we sit with the Great Teacher, our Master, Michael-- (long pause) Christ Son.
I am using jargon here that may not be familiar to our guests, and so I pause, lest I inadvertently cause confusion rather than bring clarity, which is my task as a Teacher in this Teacher Corps to which both Merium and I belong, as well as other Teachers.
We refer to Michael as our Lord. He is known to humanity as Jesus of Nazareth. But in our circles and circuits we know him as a Michael Son of the Order of Michael Sons, Creator Sons of the many local universes of the seven superuniverses of time and space. So when I refer to Michael, or Christ Michael, I am talking about the risen Christ, the Sovereign Creator of our universe, the local universe to which we are assigned - in particular to your corner of the galaxy.
You have been in isolation due to the Lucifer Rebellion and you are in rehabilitation due to the Adamic Default. Michael has come to your planet as Jesus and inaugurated some changes in your status as universe citizens and we are here to follow through with the work of our several predecessors in the work of advancing this world toward a state of mind and being we call Light and Life.
Light and Life, to those of you who are romantics, is when we all live happily every after. It is depicted in scripture, in Isaiah, where the lion and the lamb play together and a little child shall lead them in these Elysian fields of God-consciousness and a genuine demonstration of the brotherhood of man.
That introduction now aside, I'd like to turn our attention today to what is it exactly that we teach, we who are in the Teacher Corps. You call this the Teaching Mission. What is it that you are learning to teach? What are we all about? We are simply teaching friendship with God.
When Jesus was here he taught that Our Father is a loving God who cherishes His children. And when Jesus left here, when he departed from your world to return to his administrative position as Sovereign of his local universe, he left the Spirit of Truth in his stead, which serves to lead you each and all into the presence of the Master, he himself, Christ the Lord … and then in prayerful converse with him, our elder Brother and creator Father, we can worship the Universal Father in Paradise.
So we come to teach friendship with perfection, our Source, the First Source and Center in Paradise. Perhaps before I go too far we could relax a little bit into our "being-ness" and stretch our socialization of these words, in context, what each of your idea is as to what God is, for even those who do not share an intellectual conception of what God is, nonetheless share certain true realities. It is in faith of our mutual shared realities that we are able to listen to each other express his or her God-consciousness, each of which is a brush-stroke on the canvas of creation. Do we have a volunteer? What is God?
Mancos: God, to me, is the epitome of love. The love that he extends to us is immeasurable. And by that I mean what he did by giving us Jesus Christ - who died on the cross for all of our sins - he has given us a pathway to eternal lasting life through Christ. That in itself, when you think about it, and what he did in that one act of giving his only begotten son, his only son, that we -- and I know within myself we are all sinners, we all have that capacity to fail, to descend -- but he gave us the way out of that.
And by that, not only is he a God of love, he is also a just God. And someday, we have to be held accountable for our actions, whether we sin by omission or mission, so He is a loving God, but he is going to hold us all accountable for our actions of what we did, so the life we live here in that friendship is imperative, I feel, that we grasp the reality of that -- what it means to love one another, and that's what he wanted us to do, was to "love your neighbor as yourself" and that's a difficult thing to do. It's not an easy task that we love all these people and we extend that friendship that we were talking about.
But in my mind, that is what it is: God is love, but He is a just God and He does have a very strict requirement for us all. We all have a purpose and we all have a job and we have got to adhere to the laws and rules that He set down, and those are written in scripture. That's my version.
TOMAS: Thank you for your brilliant color, which adds to our picture of God's nature. He is indeed a God of love. And love is the desire to do good to others. As you mentioned, … (long pause) … well, …
Renault: Are we waiting?
TOMAS: I am backtracking because I was going to get caught up in the sharing but I'd also like to hear from others as to what God is, for there are other perspectives, other definitions, and other colorations on the nature of God that we seek to share when we profess to want to express God in our lives as we engage in friendship with God. I was going to say (and will if I can keep it in focus) …. No. It has slipped away again, so what other definitions are there?
Renault: Well, besides being just and all that you say, God is also an exceedingly merciful God so have no fear and the greatest sin is doubt, you see, not anything that you say or do, but it's the doubt that God loves you that leads you into sin. So … and in his mercy he will show you that that's not the case, so God is love always. Love is the glue that holds everything together.
The scientists even say that we know that the earth and things spin around but they don't know why things don't just go flying off and the only explanation they have is God's love is keeping it all together.
TOMAS: So we have a God of love who is the upholder of the universe.
Renault: Um-hum. Maker, creator, upholder.
TOMAS: Merciful, just and exacting. Interesting, so far. What else have we got?
Elena: Well, I think that God is the Creator and one thing I am learning in this Teaching Mission is that we actually have pieces of God inside of us and that learning that creativity and the energy and what to do with that, and learning through the flow of energy and love, and beginning to understand our power of creativity and developing ourselves in what God created us to be, and so I think that's one of the real miracles --
As God's children, we are to learn not only the love but also the ability to create and he has given us the choice to do that, so he is a benevolent Father, giving us the tools that we need to learn and then the guidance through that learning process. This is how I look at God.
TOMAS: A creator. What fun! For are we not all "a chip off the old block"?
Group: (Laughter) Yeah! Right!
Esmeralda: I think he is the patient God. If He weren't patient, He would have discarded me a long time ago.
Renault: In contrast to our impatience, you see.
Esmeralda: So he is a patient, loving, merciful Father. And we all strive to be good parents, too.
TOMAS: So," God isn't finished with us yet."
Esmeralda: Oh I don't think so. I don't think he will be ever! He is eternal.
Melody: I tend to agree with that, in that we are all a piece of art in progress and there are some fabulous pieces out there that God gave us to enjoy in each other and I think he continues to bless our lives and our world with the beauty of our world.
Esmeralda: But you know, I think that we will not really know what beauty is until we reach the morontia worlds. They say it is-- our earthly world here is beautiful but … and I think that's when we start to grow the most, as well, and I think we will--
Melody: Well, they say "travel broadens." (Group laughter)
Esmeralda: And it will take us a long, long time to grow enough.
TOMAS: If you were to …
Esmeralda: When you think about Abraham, who has been -- departed this earth what?
Renault: Four thousand years.
Esmeralda: Maybe three or four thousand years ago, has still not reached Paradise, and he is the main … isn't he your administrator of your teaching service?
TOMAS: He has an administrative post, yes, over certain factions of the Teaching Mission, but Machiventa Melchizedek is our overall administrator. He is our acting Planetary Prince and serves at the pleasure of Michael. Together they have sanctioned and fostered the Teacher Corps, which reflects in our presence with you today -- not only in our presence with you today but in the consciousness of hundreds even thousands of people across the globe whose awareness is being piqued by the growing awareness of divinity as part of your character. Beyond morals and beyond civilized behaviors, a compelling yearning for connection with the Divine is stirring. Father God has, since Pentecost, dwelt within each of his children (each of his children capable of making soul-developing decisions) but I digress into dogma. I am trying to keep our focus today on what is it that we teach.
We are not here to teach dogma. Dogma is created as a part of evolutionary religion and while it is true we are creating history even as we sit here this afternoon, I want to keep our focus on God Himself -- or Itself … or Herself, and not our attitudes and definitions as they create scaffolding. Much as my lesson recently about Nalda, the woman at the well, who sought to change the subject and take away the focus of her relationship with this great Reality, this awesome Creator, and divert it over to other philosophic or political topics. This is what you do best -- feather your nest. Let me help you fly.
Friendship with God presupposes you are your own best friend. And this is the point I have been attempting to get back to, since you Mancos spoke, for it is an important part of the realization of this mission we are on -- a step into morontia reality, even as it exists on Urantia (earth) today, as it exists here in this environment in Rio Rancho in this living room/campfire around which we sit in the presence of our Lord, to know more about the divine reality of which the material reality is but a shadow, even as the shadow in which mortals live is an architectural sphere designed specifically for your use and comfort in this phase of your existence and which is truly as perfect in your sphere as my environment is perfect for me and Paradise is perfect for God Himself.
Each of us has the opportunity to be all that we can be, and that is LOVE. Since we are sons and daughters of this living God, it does not immediately lift you up and out and away from the finite reality that you are a part of, thus you live and move and have your being in divine reality, even as you exist in the flesh. Can you feel the presence of God in the immediate environment? Can you sense the energy of the personality circuit that is bestowed upon you (and us in our realm as well), to reveal who we are as his creations?
We sit around and talk about God, which sets us apart from the animal that cannot know God. However it is you want to define it, each of you here know God, and God knows each of you. Because we know God, we are able to solve problems, think things through, love one another, rejoice, create, build, solve, worship, play and live. This is something to celebrate! This is the dignity of sonship, daughtership. Herein we are noble. This is our heritage as God's kids. Naturally we want to grow up to please Our Father. He has given us so much. We love Him for being the Protector and Comforter and Provider.
We love him also because He is in us and we can have faith in each other as a result of knowing Him and how He exists within each other as a viable reality. Something to which we can appeal, something we know can be merciful given the mortal willingness to reflect God's mercy, and so our consciousness of God's reality expands into the arena through us where we encounter God in others.
We look for God in others, knowing full well that the faith child wants to be drawn out and lifted up. Wants to be encompassed by this divine love. Wants to be exalted in sonship. And wants to serve in ways which are shown to be the right path, forgiving, bestowing, receiving and transmitting that love to those who have yet to understand that Our Father is love. And so when we teach love, we reveal ourselves.
If you have been taught that God is a jealous God, you will be afraid to be yourself for fear God will be angry. You will be afraid to love others for fear God will demand your undivided attention. Better you find out through faith in the divine will, through your own experience, or through your own spirit awareness of what love means than to disallow learning.
Our Mother is a great one for allowing children to play and learn socializing skills at their own pace and in their own way, knowing that much is learned by trial and error, and that some lessons are not learned except in difficult circumstances, and so children do learn, and sometimes they learn the hard way until they learn it does not need to be that difficult, until we reach the point where we want to be with God all the time, we want God to be with us all the time because He makes us feel good. He provides the ultimate security.
In Him we live and move and have our being. It is a morontia reality, one which is between worlds, but one in which you -- I say "you" for I am already morontia-ized. I live within the morontia zones; you are still finite, but even as finite creatures you can rise up to the stature of morontia beings in your awareness. This will enhance your physical environment. It will affect those with whom you come into contact. It will impact your world. God is powerful! And you have that God fragment built into your composition now such that you and God can work together to advance love, mercy and service to this world - this world in time and space.
I have talked quite enough today. I have outdone myself. I am going to turn the reigns back over to Merium who promises to refresh you with her charm of personality. We remain with you and observe your comings and goings, your struggles and victories. Your progress is reflected on high in the living records of planetary history, and so it goes. Enjoy.
Group: Thank you, Tomas.
MERIUM: I'm back to loosen you up a little bit. Tomas gets professorial, and formal. He likes to push the envelope, but he is planting seeds. All of them don't fall in the furrow just right and so they don't all sprout but he is an earnest worker, a real farmer. I like him. (We do, too.) I like me, too! (So do we.) I'm a lot more fun. I'm a lot younger and have much more of a sense of play, but I too can get heady. We had a lot of frame of reference to day, which was par for the course, considering we were talking about the Teaching Mission and the Teacher Corps and these are scaffolding and required some definition, but our reality extends beyond this scaffolding to genuine faith in our divine Source and Destiny.
All that considered and all that aside, shall we engage in a communication? Anybody want to jump in with commentary or questions? Free to cultivate the soil among yourselves.
Melody: Miriam?
MERIUM: Please speak up for the record so it can be transcribed, which reminds me: you will be broadcast.
Melody: Okay. Just a quick question, Merium. I was very happy that you came today. This is Mancos and my first meeting with you, and Elena had mentioned that you might be here but I was delighted because in my past I have a Miriam in my spiritual life who was very significant so I want to thank you for coming today.
MERIUM: Oh, you are welcome, and I thank you as well. We will be great friends!
Melody: Yes, I think so.
MERIUM: I want to teach you something from my perspective, and that is that there is an Order of Miriam, just as there is an Order of Melchizedek, an Order of Ruth and an Order of Michael Sons. They are difficult to explain; each one is unique, but the Miriams are quite heartfelt. They are rather earnest. It is hard to describe how the Miriam distinguishes itself but we do have a certain quality that we share. Perhaps it would be like if you were to say you are Capricorn and find another Capricorn; there is a connection there, whether you know what it is or not, it is curious enough that you have an association whether it means anything or not. The same is true for Volvo owners, or Volkswagen owners. There is a connection there that allows for a circuit to form. And so I have a circuit with other Miriams and we have something in common that even we could probably not define.
The Michael Sons, of course, are the Creators of the thousands of local universes that populate the universes of the Grand Universe, and the Order of Melchizedeks is an order of priesthood. Incidentally, we have (I think Tomas told you, a Melchizedek who oversees our doings and a number of other Melchizedek receivers participate in this movement some call the Teaching Mission). The Ruths are almost all caretakers of some distinction. There is just something about a Ruth that cares deeply.
Your friend Miriam, what was she like?
Melody: She wasn't a person. She was a person as you were saying like I belong, a sisterhood with Miriam.
Merium: And what was she like?
Melody: I don't know.
Merium: I see. Well…
Melody: She wasn't a person.
Merium: I understand. She was invisible.
Melody: As Ruth, or Melchizedek. The same. And I was assigned to Miriam.
Merium: Wonderful. Is it your personal teacher?
Melody: It was another spiritual group I belonged to.
Merium: I see. And so she was indeed a friend and sister in the spirit.
Melody: Yes, I believe so. Very much so.
Merium: Well, very interesting that she, of the Order of Miriam, and myself have something in common, even as she was assigned to work with another group, I am assigned to the Teacher Crops. But this is indicative of how our planetary administration has engaged us all in the process of advancing your world. It is not limited to the Teaching Mission. There are other divisions and branches of helpers, busily engaged in enhancing spirit consciousness and global connections, even political, social and so forth.
We are engaged, really, in a renaissance, a spiritual renaissance of sorts, which helps to appreciate that on one hand we are creating a new epoch, a new era, a new plateau, a new rung on the stepladder of ascension. Even as there are those who are busily engaged in scrapping and wrangling and destroying themselves and each other in chaos and consternation. It is an effort indeed to stay one step ahead of that rung that would have you all engaged in the same kinds of animalistic behaviors because even though you may be edified and civilized, culture and illuminated, you are still animals, and when the light is snuffed out by one foolish thing or another, it gives the other part of your nature an opportunity to run you ragged.
I have and we have enjoyed many lessons on the animal nature, from a seraphim pair of friends. We have engaged in many lessons indeed throughout the many years of our formal existence. These records that are being created today are the written records, but we seek to engage you in the act of being living records of your own evolution and your own advancement into morontia reality -- into that sphere of light and life that you can sustain and, as you can, maintain on a daily basis no matter what trying circumstance may seek to take you off balance.
We are noted windbags, all of us. You would think we like to hear the sound of our own voice, but let me tell you now, since this is a great opportunity, if any of you are interested in learning this odd technique of receiving/transmitting (from your perspective), we would be happy to work with you and practice with you to help you learn the mechanics of such a process. Gerdean calls it an art form. Others may call it preaching. Some might call it nonsense. And I'm certain there are many other definitions, including Church, that could be used, but the fact is we have been enjoying our get-togethers; we have benefited from the upliftment that comes from association with like-minded fellows and as I understand it, you have all enjoyed the camaraderie, socialization and food that goes along with being members of the human race and being participants in this mission. What else? Anything else?
Mancos : I'd like to ask you a question. I don't know if it's appropriate, but I've got a certain ailment that afflicts my body and -- actually I'm taking pain medication, Percoset -- which is a very strong op-oid to eliminate the pain but my question is -- and if you can't answer it, maybe you have resources, but I've been to at least seven specialists in diagnosis of this ailment and … do you have any input or advice on how that ailment might be resolved or a direction or path of having a physical body that is without pain?
MERIUM: I have no knowledge, but I can invite Doc, or Dr. Mendoza if he is not pre-engaged, to see if either of them are available and can shed some light if that would be amenable.
Mancos : Indeed it would. That would be wonderful.
Renault: I have back pain myself. I'm not on Percoset but I have -- besides my knees.
Esmeralda: Don't mention it! I had forgotten about mine.
DOC: I am here on a house call. This is Doc. I appreciate your calling. Excuse my informality. I'm a real country doctor. I am not a sophisticated specialist. I am actually a specialist in wellness of all orders, that is to say mental wellness, spiritual wellness, psychic wellness, physical wellness, and so I represent the fact that in many cases they are all tied in together - if not all cases. You say you have a pain problem? [Um-hum] I am not a crystal-ball gazer. Can you tell me something about your condition or do you want to have a private session?
Mancos : No. The pain originates in the hip. It feels like someone is sticking an ice pick in the hip and it goes down to the groin, and I've been to a lot of specialists, at least seven of them, that were directing me now towards it may be arthritis. That's what they're saying now and I don't really have any great confidence in what they are saying since I have been to so many specialists, but that's what they are saying. It could be arthritis. It's in the hip and groin.
DOC: These are neurosurgeon types?
Mancos : Neurosurgeon, pain specialists…
DOC: What about chiropractic?
Mancos: I've been to chiropractor. I've been to physical therapy. I've been around.
DOC: And they all say the same thing?
Mancos: No, they all kind of run you in a circle. It's called a circle of doctors and they really don't know themselves the cause or they refer you to someone else is what they do until you end up going back to your original family practitioner. He says, "Yeah, you're caught in a circle," and I said, "I know what I'm caught in," so my last endeavor has been with a doctor of arthritis and nothing conclusive as of yet.
Men-O-Pah: Does the pain go down your leg to your feet?
Mancos: Sometimes.
Men-O-Pah: You tried any acupuncture?
Mancos: No.
Men-O-Pah: No?
Mancos: They are saying that there is swelling in the hip.
Men-O-Pah: Yeah. Sure enough.
Paula: Men-O-Pah has tried it and it has helped him.
Men-O-Pah: Yeah.
Esmeralda: Is that same doctor?
Men-O-Pah: Yeah. He's in Santa Fe and he's an M.D. but he has a specialty in acupuncture. I've had macular degeneration in my eyes and he was able to turn that around and improve my vision so that I can still function. Also, I have sciatica. That's what I call that and it's so painful sometimes I can hardly walk but he can help you with that. I don't think he can make it go away. At least mine's not going away, but at least it's in a tolerable state, at least, and it doesn't bother me all the time, just some of the time. I don't have to take any medicine to keep the pain down.
Mancos: So what doctor do you advise?
Men-O-Pah: I can direct you if you want to go. I'll give you his phone number and I suspect he may be able to help you. Gotta drive to Santa Fe, though.
DOC: This is a situation that is a full-body malady brought on over many, many years. Without going into the automobile whose car parts are wearing out, I will refer to the fact that these parts are wearing out because the maintenance on your vehicle has not been optimum. I will borrow on … what is that woman's name? There are several mortal, holistic healers like … Louise Hay and others who bring to your attention that feelings buried alive never die and so they solidify, they crystallize in you and become spurs, irritations in your body, years - years later, after the fact.
The acupressure indeed brings relief for it rather lifts this irritation away from the nerve on which it is pressing. It cannot remove it, but it can alter the meat packed around it such that there is relief and this enables your consciousness to remember what it is like without the pain so that you are encouraged to seek and find that remission that will be permanent, that will evoke a permanent cure.
It may require what we require psychic surgery. Psychic surgery does not involve knives or needles. It involves finding out where the irritation came from. And in this I must say "Physician, heal thyself." It is a task that ultimately falls upon you, which is in part why it is that these doctors cannot agree on what is causing the problem, although there are some well-founded speculations as to what the eventual result will be. But they do not delve into the psyche or the emotions or the spirit, only into the medical, and thus they miss it. That is my diagnosis.
Evidently they are sufficiently severe as to warrant some studied attention on your part for you are wasting great amounts of energy fighting the pain that could as well be applied to finding out the source of the pain and healing the pain. Now, let me say something while I have your attention for there are some who would read this transcript, listen to this advice and become very angry because it implies that you caused it, you fix it. And it implies that people have created their own pain, when sometimes it is a real medical issue. Sometimes it is not your fault! And so I want to impress upon you that whatever it is, it is not your fault but it is your responsibility to deal with it.
You have tried to get professionals to pay attention and they don't know what to do. You are on your own, so you might as well take matters into your own hands and place them on the altar of your faith and go in with a spirit guide to find out what is causing that pain -- the pain underneath the pain, if you see what I mean.
You want to be very careful about those pain pills. It is not to say that they are to be discontinued, no, because it is not natural for mortals to live in incessant pain, nor is it to be expected. And I am sure I am not insulting your intelligence by making this remark for surely you have thought of this yourself. This may add impetus to your need to get to the root of the problem. If it were me (easy for me to say! I haven't ever been mortal so I cannot say that with 100% certainty that {if I were you} because I have no idea what that means. But I do know that the Life Carriers have created you according to a pattern of perfection and your system knows the way back. If it is not too late, that original state can be accessed, cultivated, and will serve throughout the duration of your mortal sojourn.
Of course, there is that other aspect, too, that simply says you are getting a little help in learning how to grow old gracefully. I am afraid in some contexts I am not much more help than the physicians you have already visited, but that is my diagnosis and my prescription. Go into Stillness, take a celestial friend and associate with you and ponder the root of the pain. As they say, "Embrace the pain!" and find out what it means and then turn it inside out and allow it to be eradicated in divine Light. In the meanwhile, acupressure/acupuncture may help you on your way toward wellness.
Have I given you anything you can use?
Mancos: One other question? And it has to do with "healer, heal thyself," going with a celestial friend to ponder the root of the pain, is that the measure or discovery process in "healer, heal thyself"?
DOC: Yes, since most -- most -- not all, most -- disorders and illnesses are self-induced. Not through a desire to self-destruct but from innocence and ignorance and accident. It is part of your duty to yourself to maintain your own equipment. When you are without endurance, throw yourself upon the lap of God for comfort and relief. Allow divine pressure to take away the pain of your human condition. And soar aloft, above the material plain, in prayer and worship, for this will surely bring relief.
But you will persist, I am certain, in the task of mastering your self and your vehicle such that it will continue to serve you well in your many productive and congenial years that lie ahead. There are diversions and distractions that can be employed as you work your way through those operations that will bring about surcease, even healing.
Renault, do you find merit to these in terms of your knee?
Renault: I think I will try some acupuncture. He's already told me I already have arthritis in my knee so I understand that. I just try to stay healthy and I just kind of put up with it, but it does limit me, as far as walking any distance or … I used to love to just go hiking but it's like "forget that! Forget skiing!" Forget anything like that but, I don't know. It's just one of things, I guess, that I just put up with. The back pain is a little hard to put up with. That's a little different.
DOC: In your back pain, keep your spine straight. Sit up tall. The entire physiology of humans is impacted by how you carry yourself. It is so easy for you to slide down into your human condition and stay there. (Um-hum) The animal nature loves comfort and it has a tremendous pull on the mind and body and spirit and it is encouraged by your culture, which is eager to nestle into an easy chair with comfort foods and pleasures -- not that there is anything wrong with pleasures but they too need to be managed, just as do pain medications.
You cannot seek for constant pleasure; there must be some endurance in existence. It is not just one party after the other, even as it need not be one long sustained pain. You will be done with this body at some point. You want to remember to not cripple your spirit, emotions, or thinking because of the decline of the physical condition. Admit it: you aren't kids anymore. It is sad to see the autumn leaves fall from the tree, but in faith you are assured that in the spring new shoots will come forth when the sap of life has thawed and the source of life begins to move you in time and space to become the foliage of springtime.
Elena: But Doc, it can be a kind of a crisis situation. I'm not talking about physical pain but the first time you have these little changes, it's a crisis mode! It's not something that -- the physical pain, I really am sorry. I mean, I'm glad you talked about the necessity, I guess, that we are not spring chickens anymore. And I'm not talking about Mancos's stuff. I'm just talking about aging in general and the first time you realize that, that's a blow! That's a shock.
DOC: As I understand it, it's a continual shock. (Group chuckles) But it's one you get over. You have no choice.
Paula: I think we'll live through it.
DOC: I think you're right.
Elena: Paula, that's really good!
Paula: The thing is, the human body is a strange piece of work. My former husband died of cancer of the lung and of course the first thing the doctors say is, "Are you a heavy smoker?" and he hadn't smoked in 30 years. But that's what took him. And nobody knows why it happened, but it did. And he was a fine man, and a strong and healthy man until that happened. And it's something so difficult to understand.
DOC: Understand it this way: No one gets out of here alive. (Laughter)
I am going to sign off for the day, not even giving you back to Merium for her hugs and kisses, for we are out of time. At least we are out of time on the tape and you might want to check on dinner. Before you go, let us stand and hold hands in a group configuration and someone can conclude our session in prayer. Thank you. (Thank you!)
Men-O-Pah: "Our Father, we thank you for this beautiful day and for this time together. Bless us we pray and open our eyes and our ears that we may see and hear those things that you would have us to see and hear. Bless this time that we spend together. And we ask it in your name, Lord. Amen."
*****
DATE: March 18, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER SESSION
Rio Rancho TeaM's 5th Anniversary
TOMAS: Shall We Continue?
MERIUM: Service to God or Ego?
Music: Elena on Piano: "Heavenly Sunshine"
Prayer: "Dear Heavenly Father, Wonderful Heavenly Mother, and wonderful celestial beings that gather around us today to shed your love on us and your guidance and your wisdom. We praise you for your valiant efforts at guiding us along in our one step at a time existence, and we are grateful for your presence here and eager to hear what you have to say to us today. So thank you for being here with us on this beautiful day and we are so welcoming you into this room and into our hearts. Thank you. Amen."
MERIUM: Amen and thank you, Elena, for your lovely bouquet of music and prayer. "Heavenly Sunshine" indeed! What a radiant outpouring! Do you know that the center of your sun is 35,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit and that it takes light years to get from there to your planet so that it's warmth can draw forth the daffodils buried in the earth, to come forth and trumpet springtime?
There is every reason to praise His holy name in song and thanksgiving for the bounties that are provided, not only for this world but for all the worlds throughout time and space. And even beyond, to those inert areas of the Master Universe that lay and await the divine finger to have writ itself upon it such that even you perhaps one day will be engaged in the creation of the universe.
For today, however, let's just gather here with who we are and what we have and celebrate the coming of spring and the anniversary of your group. Let me invite Tomas in since he will be blowing the candles out on the cake.
Group: Is it four years? No, five years! Time flies.
TOMAS: Time flies when you are having fun and/or actively participating in an ongoing pageant such as we enjoy in this unfolding of the divine will on Urantia.
Our group was technically begun in March of 1993 when I first made contact with Gerdean and celebrated with Hal and Rebecca -- Jared and Rebecca -- in the little house in the valley, attended also by Nolus and Jeremiah from the Woods Cross group who came to sanction and bless our coming into being. It took lo those many nine years for the bulb of the daffodil that is your group to come forth, and now we are seeing you in the full blush of your youth. I am proud to have served with this group in this unfolding and its members, those who have passed by and those yet to come. [Long pause]
Merium and I have been discussing (in this interim pause) your conversations prior to the opening of our session. Before we undertake the questions that you have formulated as a result of your active socializing, let me ask you what you anticipate from our gatherings.
Over the years we have acted as a church, as a social group, and as a ministry, but the potential of this configuration has not begun to reach its potential. Reaching your potential as individuals impacts on the potential of what you can do as a group, and so this means that you each are in a process of developing your own potential or your are not, and to the extent that you are growing in spirit reality, you are inherently contributing, while those of you who are not contributing to your own spiritual development, while not particularly advancing the group, are none-the-less maintaining a status quo that would serve to provide an anchor for those whose growth might otherwise waft off onto new things or other fields.
I will ask you then to think in terms of whether our group ought to continue or whether it has reached a point of fulfillment such that we are no longer perceived as needed or shall we embark upon a course of study for an experimental outreach or what do you propose we do with this which we have created, if anything.
It behooves us occasionally to check in with our members to find out if their needs are being met. It is certainly not our intention to obligate you to our teachings. Many groups have come into existence and faded, the participants going on to engage in their god-led, spirit-conscious lives of fulfillment and adventure.
It is a matter of free will. But we certainly want this to be most advantageous for you or as many of you who enjoy our company and counsel. Shall we retire the group? Or shall we persevere?
Esmeralda: Oh, I think we need to persevere. I would feel a very important part of my life had disappeared if we did not have our meetings. They mean so much and I don't know about the others but I have so much to learn, and these sessions are inspirational, educational, stimulating, inspiring … I think I said inspirational, but definitely inspiring …and I would feel quite a void if our group did not persist.
And in time, possibly, it will grow. It's not a fast thing to gain more members in our group, but there is still potential, and the group that we have is a nice family, so I would definitely want it to continue. Your teachings are very helpful.
Elena: I would definitely want it to continue. I think that -- and I participate certainly very actively in a church, too, but I don't-- I have the feeling that this is somehow closer and more on-line than the regular church environment. Not that … and I don't mean that in any critical way, because I enjoy that too, but I have to agree that I would feel bereft if this group were to not continue.
I think it's interesting, though, to look at what our group does and I think that maybe some input on what we-- how we would proceed-- might be a very good discussion, because I think if we were to focus and align some of the efforts that are being extended in the other parts of our lives, and maybe to focus those and gather them into one kind of think might be helpful and might be the good deal. And that actually relates to some of the questions, you know, that we have actually been posing, so I won't get into that, necessarily. I think we'd need to think a little bit.
I mean, just right off the top of my head, I guess one of the things that I'd like to … Sometimes I don't know from the lessons if I'm really getting it or not, and I guess sometimes what I would kind of like is just to have kind of … since we do have this kind of on-line contact -- to have a little bit more feedback about how we are doing. You know, that feedback thing individually, so just kind of check our progress, I think would be one thing that I would like. But then to be open in a discussion from everybody else about new ways we might consider.
Esmeralda: If we didn't have these sessions, we would miss all of you who visit with us.
Elena: Yeah!
TOMAS: Thank you. I would miss you, as well. I become very attached affectionately to my students.
I am going to suggest that we take a look, then, at our component parts in the concept of church, as you understand it. You think in terms of a cathedral or a building and the people attend the church. The parishioners go to church. But I would like to introduce the thought to you that you yourself are the church. You are the temple, the synagogue, the body of Christ. Whether and when you do things together as a larger body, or as a congregation, is another matter, but for now let's think in terms of you as individual churches -- a place of worship, a ministry, even a belief system, and a social outlet.
If you think in terms of yourself as "the church," the spirit within your church then can be your Thought Adjuster. And it is how you represent your Thought Adjuster that gauges what kind of church you are and how effective it may be, if at all, in your life -- and in the lives of others.
There are in your mind's eye many kinds of churches, based on sects, and edifices of evolutionary religion, and so your church -- which may be the little church in the wild- wood -- will not be the same as the mosque or the temple, but none-the-less the spirit is within that house of worship. When and as your church reflects the spirit within it in all you do, you have, to all intents and purposes, fused. The actual fusion may be delayed simply because the impact, the physical impact of fusion is such that it can be destructive of the environment, and so you are in some regards restrained from fusing until you leave the planet, when you don't have the physical body to concern yourself with. But you can begin to act even now as if you have fused. And to the extent that you have not fused, it will certainly be made apparent by your actions, which speak louder than words. And which will reveal whether it is the divine spark within that is expressing itself or your imperfect aspects. Even though, to be fair, even your imperfect aspects are a part of you as a Son of God; even fused, you are still not rendered perfect. There are many, many worlds ahead before you can call yourselves "perfect" in the ultimate sense of the word.
So rather than this Rio Rancho TeaM being thought of as a church, I will think of you each as individual little churches running around, and each of you will lay out your altar and your pews as is appropriate for you. I invite you to worship with one another. For in this process, you will discover the walls of your church come down and the glory of your being will rise up triumphantly to herald … springtime. The sunshine of his love.
I'll return you to Merium for fun and games. Bless you, my loyal students and eternal friends.
Group: Thank you, Tomas, for coming today. It's always great to have you. I'm glad you're going to be an eternal friend. That's good. Yes, that's wonderful.
MERIUM: Me, too? Yes, me too, and I will not always be your babysitter. (Chuckles)
Yes, I understand that there were questions in your discussion that you wanted to put on record for our response. Are you ready to get them out of the Job Jar?
Elena: Well, my question has to do with how we think about pursuing our passions and using our talents that God gives us and how that relates or conflicts or works with or works against Father's will, and our egos. I mean, on one hand, one of our tasks is to rid ourselves of ego, perhaps, and to go more towards Father's will. Okay. So how does that line up with actually us pursuing our passions and using our talents, because quite often when you're in the process of doing that, it appears that you're feeding your ego as opposed to doing that which Father would have us do. So I'd like your guidance on how we work with each one of those and still have an ever-closer path towards Father.
MERIUM: Excuse me while I stand here and look at the daffodils.
Elena: Oh, okay.
MERIUM: I am observing the fact that the energy from the sun went to great lengths to come all the way down here to bring the daffodil up out of the ground, so that it could reach up and spread itself in order to be the most dynamic, yellow daffodil it can be. And this same thing is true precisely. The spirit of God has come a looonnnggg way to burrow itself into the still, quiet recesses of your mind, in order to work with you as through time you begin to stir and awaken and emerge as a personality, even as a superconscious personality, in order to be all that you can be.
Am I going to stand there at that daffodil's side and berate it for having the audacity to manifest itself so radiantly, as if it were a bad thing? Am I going to stand next to you with my hand on my hip judging your unworth as a child of God to not manifest yourself as you are being called to do by the very molecules of your being, saying it is mere ego? If you were a lesser woman, I might consider it. But I recognize you as a daughter of the Divine. You are god-conscious and striving to become godlike.
What choice has a daffodil if it is following the pattern of its design but to become a daffodil? It cannot become a toadstool nor a tulip. It must be a daffodil or die trying. Whatever it is that emerges from you that you feel led to do in service to your congregation, you are encouraged to embrace as your task.
I would say that those who are not god-conscious, who simply want to come along and construct an idea because it will make them money or give them an edge somehow, might have their ego at the helm. But those of you who strive to know God and be like him are not they, even though each of you -- as relatively imperfect, as incomplete -- are going to manifest shades of ego manifestation. But if you are not driven by your ego (which is not a Father-fused attitude), then you are doing His will.
You are conscious enough of your consciousness to observe and recognize when you are in error and correct your ways for you know that the path you are on will fall short, will fail to provide you the satisfaction that can be derived from doing it well, doing it right, doing it according to the best sense of your comprehension of the divine will for you, through you, in you and as you -- a son of God, a daughter of divinity.
Those who strut their stuff to the exclusion of truth, beauty and goodness are like plastic flowers. They may look really good from afar. They may even look intriguing up close. But they lack that spark of life that renders them spiritually fragrant. (Sometimes even skunk cabbage is an appropriate reflection of the divine for it is, at least, real.)
Why? Were you feeling restricted? Did you think that your hobby was ego run amok?
Elena: Well, actually, I just kind wondered a bit because I had doubted, actually, why I was doing this, I guess. That's not entirely true. It had occurred to me that because I was interested in having it be financially successful, then it might be more ego-driven than … more firmly based than the spiritual side, so I guess sometimes any connection with money makes you wonder if your intentions are in the right place.
MERUM: That's because God has no use for money. Your spirit has no need for money either. But your church needs money because it is finite, material. (When I say "your church" I am drawing upon Tomas' rendering, in order for you to, say, keep fresh flowers on the alter or reupholster the seats in the choir, or provide tablecloths for the conference tables that will be set up out under the trees for picnic lunch. If that is in keeping with the pattern of the church you are creating then those will be valid expenditures that can be rightfully considered part of your responsibility. Just check your motives.
Now, when I say, "just check your motives," I don't mean to go so far as to say, "Well, I need flowers; I'd like to have flowers; flowers would look good on the altar. That would involve an investment of $17.00," whereas, "I don't have to have flowers on the altar; I could pick forsythia from the yard and they would do as well." This is allowing your mind to discern, as it says in the book, "Counting the Cost." And your ego is that which would say, "Oh, no! We must have flowers. We must have $150 worth of flowers. We must have more flowers than any other church in town, in order for people to take me seriously." That would be ego.
Elena: Okay. That makes sense to me. Well, I can see that I have a little bit of work to do then because part of this hobby is, you know, presenting yourself well and as attractive to other people, so … but I get your point. I mean, you can present yourself well and still not be to where you have to look better than anybody else kind of thing, so I think I get your point. Thank you.
MERIUM: You're welcome. You need to be presentable. Establish your own understanding of what it means to be presentable, based on your standards as you've worked out within yourself, perhaps in consultation with that divine aspect in you which is at the helm of your endeavor. It is the spirit that leads. If you are allowing the spirit to lead, then allow its inspiration to fill you, understanding that the mortal vehicle will be responsible for "counting the cost."
We have been dealing with you around fifteen years or so, and encouraging you to become all that you can be. Grow, develop and branch out, establish yourselves as ambassadors of His Kingdom, and invest yourself in ministry of one sort or another. And you have been counseled as to the talents that are given to the sundry stewards. And so as you recognize your talent and are impelled to serve, there begins to grow within you a stirring that can be called a "leading."
Look within you to ascertain if you are being driven by your own need to advance or excel or strut your stuff or prove something or make points or whatever as compared to following the leading that you are given from your higher consciousness, that morontia reality which will be superimposed through the leadings of the Thought Adjuster that show you the way.
Usually if you have to force something, you are going about it the wrong way. This is not to say that unfolding yourself does not take effort. There is no happiness without intelligent effort, no progress. But if you are butting your head up against a wall and not finding effects, perhaps you are going about it the wrong way. Perhaps you need to back up and reconsider your approach, your motives, or your design.
This all comes back to, once more, following the still small voice. And making certain that that small still voice is the voice of God and not the voice of your own ambition or your own ego-desires to seek position at God's table. If you are maneuvering your way to sit next to God for his favor, you are simultaneously edging someone else away and out, and that would constitute an egoistic act. Is that clear?
Elena: Yeah, it is. I mean it kind of gets back to where we came in, with your great example of the ego and the daffodils. So it kind of completes the circle there, I think. I think you touched on each one of the elements that I was asking about. And it still points out that still small voice. I mean, that's one of the threads that has been in your teaching for all the years, encouraging us to listen to that voice and I guess a lot of times we try to do everything else but that, perhaps. Or we get busy or whatever. And many of the lessons that you've given us have been certainly nudging us back to that topic, and I guess it's pretty easy to get away from that, and yet it's still the main answer, I guess. So thanks.
MERIUM: What seems to be easy is you misconstruing your will for His will. (Right) And this becomes an increasingly sensitive matter as your will and His will become more aligned, for it is easier then for you to say, "Oh, well, whatever I do God is going to smile upon it." And while, indeed, God may smile upon you, His child, He may not be smiling at some of your antics. In particular, if they are brutalizing others or pulling the rug out from under others' scaffolding.
It is only fair to comment that at this point in your development, error is to be expected. You learn by making mistakes, even those of you who are sincere of heart, because you cannot see the whole picture. You have to thus be kind to yourself as well as others when you see the ego encroaching. It is as if to say, "Your zipper is down" or "Your slip is showing." You don't do it in front of everybody and embarrass him or her about it. You go off to the side and with delicacy let it be known that their ego is sticking out.
It is not a crime to have an ego. All of you have one. It is when you are ego-driven that it becomes problematic, or when your desire to do His will becomes so paramount that you perceive His will as your will and you run roughshod over everyone in your desire to accomplish His will as you see it, even as you are like a bull in a china cabinet, breaking all the tea cups in your enthusiasm to be about His will.
It is all a very delicate balance. And it is when you take time in Stillness to discern this balance between your will and the divine will, and where you are in the paradigm, that you will find your stride and when you find your stride you will find that things work for you and on your behalf because the entire universe is interested in seeing you unfold, just as all those who have endured the long cold winter await the coming of spring and eagerly look with longing upon the sunny days that bring forth the bulbs that flower the path you walk.
Elena: That was beautiful. Thank you.
MERIUM: We have past those days when the daffodils disdained the tulips who looked down their nose at the hyacinth who shunned the crocus, and now see each as a precious contribution to the beautification of the TeaM Garden Club and Tea Party that is now discussing how it can take it's show on the road. It is very exciting to watch you find yourselves and seek to fulfill yourselves in service avenues, and those of you who have found it and who have been long at it are to be commended for your patience as those younger are cultivated to come into bloom. Thus, the entire realm becomes the Garden of Eden that we know as Light and Life.
Your desire to lead young souls in a Vision Quest that may lead to their finding their own still small voice within and their path in the Way and value in themselves as a human being, even a church within their own right that houses and honors its own spirit, is truly noble work, as well as fun for you who likes that kind of thing.
This is a part of the personality pattern which you have received, each of you, and coming into your own is as important for you as it is for the vegetables in the garden that know who they are and who become in time a radish or a carrot or a potato and to become who you are is not a reflection of ego, it is a reflection of the Divine Creator. And so I encourage you to be all that you can be, without shame. Let your petals radiate the dynamic beauty, truth and goodness of our Creator, without shame. And rejoice in it.
Elena: Thank you.
MERIUM: You have undertaken a big responsibility by doing so. Nurture your clientele. Pray on each step you take. Allow your counsel to be divine wisdom to the extent of your ability, understanding that you are working with God for Him and in Him. God is love and love is the desire to do good to others. If your desire is to do good to others and that remains more important than making a buck, then you'll be fine.
This counsel is intended to serve also those of you in the greater community, outside of Rio Rancho, who have your sundry ministries. The culture that is emerging from this phase of your development, socially and planetarily, is the skeleton upon which tomorrow's society/civilization will be built. Plow your fields with love and prayer. Plant your seeds with care. Nurture their growth, weed and hoe accordingly. The harvest will reflect the abundance of your relationship with the Divine.
I feel spring fever setting in. I can feel you daydreaming and laying back watching the clouds roll by, so I will withdraw, along with Tomas and the many others who come by, having seen your lights shine. Are there other matters to take up that you would seek to know or resolve before we go?
Elena: Did you want to ask your question, Mother?
Esmeralda: I don't really have any questions today. I've thoroughly enjoyed everything that has been told to us, by both you, Merium, and Tomas. It's been an especially good session, I think, today.
MERIUM: It has been a party in and of itself. Happy Anniversary! (Hooray!)
Esmeralda: I just realized it has been five years.
Elena: Isn't that great?
Esmeralda: It's a good record.
MERIUM: You have done well.
Esmeralda: I hope our next five are even more bountiful.
MERIUM: We could not have done it without you. Only in time will you realize how much you have given to your world by and through these simple Sunday sessions. Let's go play. Bye-bye.
Group: Bye-bye, Merium!
*****
DATE: April 1, 2007 -- Palm Sunday; April Fool's Day
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
JESUS: Rejoice in Me
MERIUM: Join Me in Repose
TOMAS: "Bridge Over Troubled Waters"
Elena and Men-O-Pah: Drumming and Native American Prayer: "Almighty God, to whom all power is given. I send the sound of my voice singing toward heaven. With your Spirit, Lord, I send the sound of my voice ascending towards heaven. Great Spirit, whose voice I hear singing in the wind, wind that gives the breath of life to all the world, hear my prayer and find my little medicine song acceptable unto thee. It has been said.
JESUS: Today I will come to spend some time with you, my children. I am he you know of as Jesus. I spend this moment with you because you are my children. You have gathered together in remembrance of me, and many others also today remember me in my triumphant ride into Jerusalem. In essence, I was asking that my little medicine song be pleasing to God, Our Father. It is not necessary to be a king and wear a crown and uphold the kingdom; I will do that. I will do that for Him.
You here in your gathering offer your little medicine song as well. Your humble gathering here reveals your own triumphant entry into the City and as the joy of our fellowship rises up within us, we all give testimony to the One who sent us, the One who made it possible for us all, and Who continues to make it possible for us on a moment to moment basis by upholding the universe as He does. He holds all the worlds of space in His hands.
The birdsong you hear is the sound of His voice. The affection with which you great each other is His love manifested. It is not possible to step outside his grace, except as you be unaware, and so I invite you today to be aware of God, divinity, the presence of supernal power in your life today, that you might ride triumphantly into the City and sing praises and shout "Glory! Hosanna!"
It gives my heart pleasure to see you rejoice in me, in the spirit that embraces you, infuses you, uplifts you, and gives your life meaning. Pausing to rejoice gives us the strength then to carry on, in faith of His good works. I join with you today in your fellowship as I do every time you meet, in thanksgiving of your devotion to the God that lives within you and in Whom we dwell.
But I will give the opportunity to address you further to my teachers, sons and daughters like yourselves who have discovered the delights of being and the tools wherewith to teach these techniques of friendship with God. Be of good cheer.
MERIUM: See me now, Merium, skipping gaily down the road, picking flowers along the highway, as I observe the burrow on which the Master travels into the City, my hair all afloat and aflutter with the morning breeze, much like the morning you enjoy today.
I will take advantage of the idyllic environment that we enjoy this moment to invite you to join me in repose. From within repose we can see the parade as it passes by, and wave occasionally to those who note our presence or perhaps strew a petal now and then.
Repose, children, is a close relative of Stillness. And yet it is with your eyes open and your consciousness fully intact, the sun shining and the material world at your feet, indeed, in the very atmosphere. Let the air touch you. Sense the energy coming from the sun, pouring down upon the earth and warming it like toast from the inside out, encouraging the grass to green and the trees to leaf, encouraging the fragrance right out of the blossoms.
Be kissed by the wind. Know that it is God passing by, saying hello, frolicking in the joy of being, as you can and do - even as a mortal in the flesh on this world far away from the central isle of Paradise, but well within the range of Our Eternal Parents who hover over and observe your every move, providing your every need, anticipating your needs even before you know you have them and preparing the way for you when you come.
Repose. Repose may take you into a reverie, a daydream state which allows you to cut your tether to your mortal concerns, which liberates you from the many obligations and compunctions of mortal existence. Assuming repose invites this refreshment from the burdens of existence, even releasing the power hold of your electro-chemical system such that your circuits are allowed to range freely. Feel the lullaby of life in this repose. Feel the sanctity and affection doted on you by Our Overseers. Allow yourself the joy of this experience and it can be done simply by hanging [positioning] yourself in the doorframe of your house as you look out upon the world, literally or figuratively speaking.
Such repose engenders graciousness and graciousness is a reflection of goodness. All life responds to goodness. And so if you would have your fellows respond to you, hold yourself within this reposeful state of mind and being when in their company. In this way they too will emerge from their shadows of self-protection and engage in the fellowship that allows the completion of the circle.
I am reluctant to stir the air, for it is sublime. An atmosphere conducive to anything! From here we can go anywhere and do anything. Especially as we go together. However, it is necessary that we go, for this is part of the balance that while we benefit from these still and quiet moments of reflectivity and repose, we take our joy into the arena and spread it around, socializing our belief in a loving and compassionate Deity, as we well know.
I must say how much I enjoy the dolls! For me, a babysitter of your children, it is indeed appropro that we be joined with as many representations of good behavior and attentive attitudes as possible. They are charming, as you all are, including the cat.
I am going to make so bold as to call for a brief intermission so that you can refresh your tea and have a moment of discourse as we loosen up your gears and your tongues so that we can engage in dialog and perhaps have some exchanges with others, as they are here to teach and share. We'll be back in a few minutes.
[Intermission]
TOMAS: I am Tomas. Good afternoon. It is good to see you all here, gathered together, good to be with you again as you can imagine, we in the invisible realms have been active in areas all over the map, not excluding your own lives, which, while you may seem so serene on the surface, often stir mightily beneath the calm exterior of your composure. "Bridge Over Troubled Waters."
We were talking before about our work with you, our reason for being with you, which is to teach you friendship with God, thus we need to have a god we can be friends with and there needs to be an understanding of what that friendliness would look like.
The extension of friendship with God is indeed your social arena, one with the other, which gives you an opportunity to reflect the attributes of divinity in your association with each other.
Interesting that the reading should speak of those whose minds can be changed with the prevailing influence, much as the populace is influenced by the latest news reports, which is an indication of allowing the temporal realities to determine how you perceive life. It allows the bearer of bad news as much power and influence as the bearer of good news. And thus your efforts in spreading the good news is even more important, for you know that love is more catching than hate, but it must be revealed or you will hide yourselves in the Kingdom and not represent it. To do so would be short-changing yourselves and your potential.
Thoroah: I need to interrupt because you said something about "representing the kingdom." I think everybody wants to know how are we supposed to do that. I think we struggle more over how we are supposed to represent the Kingdom than anything else.
TOMAS: Recently we had a little chat about what kind of church you are, and in that way you are able to personalize how you felt in the worshipful state -- if you are a Buddhist temple, an Indian altar, a Christian cathedral, a mosque, whatever -- as it will reflect how you comport yourself in your holy space. In carrying this attitude around with you into the arena, in your own repose, you are representing the Kingdom within.
And it will no doubt come up squarely against the kingdom of man, which is rather unlike the Kingdom of God at this point in your planetary evolution. You may feel like you are on the outside looking in, but hold fast to the hem of his garment for they may well be on the outside looking in you and what they need to see is your faith, your reality, your relationship with divinity. When they see that, they will be encouraged. The love of the Father will be reflected back to them through you. Whether you have had any discourse or not, and this is the difference, because you are not discussing anything theological or philosophical or psychological, but simply being.
Earlier you were chatting amiably about the weather and cats and those simple topics of human interest which everyone everyone notices, perceives -- there is no escaping it; you live here -- but when your life is a prayer, even these expressions of the weather and pouring tea can be a reflection of genuine spirit reality.
It is not required that you be about the business of teaching and preaching consciously constantly. There is a time and place for clarification of belief and thought, and the social arena certainly does allow for that opportunity, particularly as you have learned to trust one another within the boundaries of graciousness that you have established through relatively meaningless chatter, but which has cultivated the field such that you will be able to sow seeds of your own growth and your own thought and perhaps someone else might find them worthy of consideration.
But this is graciousness; this is comporting yourself with the confidence in-born of a son of God as he carries himself as a son of man, even into the kingdoms of men.
Most encounters outside of the Kingdom (as we are discussing) are confrontational and full of strife, competition, insecurity, besting one another, coercing or inducing or otherwise attempting to influence another into your way of thinking. Selling, converting. And yet you who have this inborn knowing of the Kingdom, as it is within you, are not driven to convince others of your way of thinking, but rather to invite others to investigate their own inner sanctuary and their own inner God-consciousness to allow them to live within the Kingdom as well, and once more, this has little to do with dogma or tenets of beliefs or customs.
When you can free yourself of these shackles, you can glide smoothly through the world -in it but not of it - and spreading good cheer everywhere you go … and this is cause for rejoicing … it is an acquirement, indeed. Am I clear there, Thoroah?
Thoroah: Very.
TOMAS: Outward expressions of inner Kingdom reality do not require rites and rituals, litanies, readings, or traditions -- only the recognition of divine sonship/daughtership, having equality of bearing in this heavenly Kingdom of which you are a part. It can be enjoyed by the rich and the poor, as was discussed earlier, simply by standing in the sunshine on a day like today, feeling the healing warmth of the sun penetrate your bones and bring healing relief to the cells which have longed for the light of day and free expression.
Carry the Kingdom with you into the field as you go, in your personal church, that cathedral or temple or mosque in which your soul resides. You will find yourself singing praises in spite of yourselves. Give off the give news by your very being.
What else have you got to chat with me about today? Any questions or concerns? Any growth problems you want to review? Any experiential glitches that others may benefit to hear about in terms of their own character development?
Elena: I have one. Yesterday I got really mad at my neighbor. [He was blaring his music between 4 and 5 in the morning and I got so angry. I called them over there twice and so eventually they stopped but I was awake and continually going back and forth, saying, "this is my choice in how I react to this," so I was working that whole time trying to get back to sleep, which I was not able to do, and then all throughout the day I lived with that and was struggling with that and it actually went over into the next day a little bit, too. But I knew it wasn't a good thing for me to be angry. I was trying to think about good things, or about what Jesus would do, or seeing what God sees in the person, and I would get that for awhile and then all of a sudden I'd be right smack dab in the middle of being angry at him. Actually, I think I've gotten over it, but … it's a battle within myself!
Group: Been there, too.
TOMAS: You were put upon. They forgot themselves. In a neighborhood such as the one in which you reside, it is to be expected that the wee small hours of the morning are naturally devoted to rest and quietude. And they simply forgot themselves in their revelry and in their need to divert themselves from the reality of the day, which evidently they find insufferable. If it were not insufferable, they too would be asleep.
Group: Or working.
TOMAS: Even so, the prevailing atmosphere of a residential community is one of conformity to ordinary civil protocols.
Melody: Yesterday, I got totally angry myself at a rock. Just literally pissed off. My friend came up to me and said, "Are you mad at me?" and it just totally went ballistic from there. I said, no I wasn't mad at him but I was mad. I was hoping to have a nice day planting plants and it's rocky soil. And there are not a few rocks; there's a LOT of rocks, and they're not all small rocks, they're ROCKS. So much to do. So anyway I just went totally out of whack because I was angry at a rock. (Chuckles) It happens!
Paula: It's the person, and not really what's going on in the world, and how you adapt yourself to it.
Elena: Is anger just a common complaint of our humanity that we need to master?
TOMAS: Whether or not the anger is justified does not take away the fact of the anger and so dealing with the anger is essentially what you are dealing with, yes. The neighbor will be quiet or not regardless of your requests or threats. And so the essential question is how do I deal with the anger? Should I be angry in the first place? Well, there is a certain consideration of whether you are being unreasonable or not but when you consider that reason has little to do with anger, you need to get quickly beyond that to determine what your anger is trying to teach you. What is it trying to say? Is it important or is an irritation? Is it about something that is going to affect your life or your well-being or that of others? Consider the source. And again return to your anger.
Often understanding why you are having a feeling will diffuse the feeling. Often recognizing what the emotion is and understanding why it is there will help you put the fire out. Your neighbor and your rock garden are both indicative of something over which you have seemingly no control and so it rankles you. It is right that you should give it serious consideration because if anger is not handled wisely, if it is acted out without honorable intent, it will likely backfire on you and make matters worse.
But anger in and of itself is not a bad thing. It is there for a reason. It is to help you look at what it is that you are not accepting and what can you do about it, if anything. Evidently there is something that can be done because anger is there. It's an indication of an irritation, and so if you cannot accept the situation, then you need to do something about it. After you have made this determination through consultation with yourself and your Higher Self, act accordingly and empower yourself.
The ideal solution will offend no one. But there are those who may benefit from the lesson you teach as you are learning how to deal with the intolerable situation wisely and well. It is not unlike a child to have a temper tantrum when it does not get its own way. Much of your anger is like the temper tantrum. And often this kind of demonstration of anger is like a firecracker; it is loud and hot and potentially dangerous, but short-lived.
A pique is rather satisfying if it does not cause damage to others. Just as a firecracker can be gratifying to those who set one off, as long as it doesn't hit someone in the eye. No matter what caused your anger, it is your anger and you are responsible for it. You are responsible for the effects of your anger. Have anger all day if you want it. But the effects of it are a part of your responsibility to self-mastery.
Elena: Thank you, Tomas.
Esmeralda: Maybe earplugs and planting around the rocks will be a solution.
Paula: I haven't had a good mad on for a long time. I kinda miss it. (Laughter) I remember a real good one that I had when I was about 17, I guess. There was a big sorority dance going on and this other girl and I both wanted the same dress to wear. We were shopping together (and that was a mistake in the first place) and I said, "That's my dress!" and she said, "Oh, no it isn't. That's the one I'm going to wear." So we got into a real mad on. And we finally decided that neither one of us would have that dress because it wasn't worth it. We liked our friendship better than the dress. So she got one she looked super in and I got one that really wasn't half bad, and so I thought, "Well, I solved that problem" but I still, once in a while, like to get good and darned mad about something. It gets some of the … It's good for someone to say once in awhile and say, "Hey, I'm mad about this and I think I'll get it out of my system."
TOMAS: Yes, it's like a car that backfires, blowing out the carbon that has gathered in the carburetor.
Paula: Well, you have to get some of that out of your system. You can't be a prissy all of the time.
TOMAS: Well, I am going to be a prissy and call it a day. I can see we're just going to chatter the rest of the time together, although I want to thank you, Paula, for the morality tale about the dresses. That was quite good, and your sharing, Elena and Melody about your feelings, and you, Thoroah, for your contribution. All of you are indeed dear to me and to us all. See you next time. Enjoy the resurrection.
Group: Thank you, Tomas.
TOMAS: Go rejoicing.
*****
DATE: May 6, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER: MERIUM
TOPIC: And No One Is Denied
Music: "The Holy City" [sung A Capella by Men-O-Pah, back-up by Elena] Adolph Adams
When as night as I lay sleeping I dreamed a dream so fair
I stood in old Jerusalem beside the temple there
I heard the children singing and ever as they sang
Me thought the voice of angels from heav'n in answer rang
Me thought the voice of angels from heav'n in answer rant.
Chorus: Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Lift up your voice and sing!
Hosanna, in the highest. Hosanna, to your King.
And then me thought the scene was changed New earth there seemed to be
I saw the Holy City Beside the tideless sea
The light of God was on its street The gates were open wide
And all who would might enter And no one is denied.
No need of stars to shine at night No sun to shine by day
It was the new Jerusalem that would not pass away
It was the new Jerusalem that would not pass away
Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Lift up your voice and sing!
Hosanna, in the highest. Hosanna to your King!
Hosanna, in the highest. Hosanna to your King!
MERIUM: I am Merium.
Group: Hi, Merium.
MERIUM: I am impressed. I am humbled and enthralled by your performance. What a wonderful presentation of the Lord! Isn't it amazing what is possible when your heart is in it? Even the work of the realm, the medial jobs that people have to go to, are made more, embellished, if it is done for God, in that same earnest intensity as is in the song you sang. We are enthused to prayer when we see this attitude take place. For indeed it is a prayer, this diligent application of the self to the life you live. So many people just go through the motions of living, and operate as if from a checklist and overlook the art of living and the enthralling task of cultivating morontia reality in your own environment.
Yes, feng shui is a good start along those lines. I have observed that many of these toys and tools of the trade are effective and do serve until the spirit gains the upper hand completely and then the regimen, the habit, the scaffolding upon which the reality was grown is no longer needed, and yet what fun it is to see you each at your own level of soul growth and spirit development, to see how eagerly you invest yourself in what it is you love … what it is you think you love.
Perception of love itself is never-ending. Unceasingly our appreciation of love is unfolding and changing, even as it is the one recognizable Reality all of us yearn for. If people could just see that being in the presence of God is no more than simply giving oneself to the task at hand, in full consciousness, they are giving homage to creation and to the Creator.
I don't have a lecture today. I don't have anything on the agenda. It is early spring. Everything is in readiness, and yet we are in no hurry. "T'was early in the month of May …."
Renault: Can we ask you questions, then, Merium?
MERIUM: I'd be delighted, yes.
Renault: Well, one is … maybe I should--
MERIUM: Don't edit yourself like that! Just spit it out.
Renault: I was wondering about the Adam and Eve default, and if the other planets in quarantine that received Adams and Eves (as I'm sure they did), and how long if at all it took them to break down and lose track of their mission scope and perhaps default. Or are our Adam and Eve the only ones? Or can you expound on that at all?
MERIUM: Well, I see what you mean that you don't know where to start because you asked about 20 questions there.
Renault: I was just wondering.
MERIUM: Our Adam and Eve -- that is to say, the Adam and Eve who served on this world -- had problems that no other Material Son and Daughter ever faced before because of the nature of the Rebellion. What makes yours different from the others is that the other 35 worlds participating in the rebellion where not at the same juncture as you were here. Adam and Eve thus had more unique problems on your world than on the others. I will try to explain it this way.
In terms of divorce in mortal families, children are always effected, but there is a certain phase of their development that such upheaval would be more devastating than others. Little ones, it is said, forget, and so they adapt much more readily. And after a certain point the personality is sufficiently established that they can adjust. But that mid-realm there, which is quite vulnerable, is where your planet lay.
There are many exceptions, because of the fact of your status as a decimal planet. The others are not affected as you are. I am not saying that they weren't affected. I am sure they were. But the devastation on this world was sheer hell. There have been other rebellions in other universes and some of them have had defaults by their Material Son and Daughter also, although for other reasons, different circumstances.
Adams and Eves are trained to be planetary parents, but unfortunately occasionally they do err. Perhaps not to the extent that yours did, by messing up the blood plasm for eons to come, but they have also been foolish. But surely you can understand why would, why their judgment may be impaired when the circumstances for which they had been trained are altogether unlike what they expected.
You could compare that to your own life, again, by thinking about if any of you have ever been through a divorce, that your ideals may have said, "I'll never have a divorce!" And yet when you got to that point of facing the fact that divorce may be the only viable solution for the situation, you had to recognize that you don't have all the answers, and sometimes you cannot live up to your ideals. You just have to forgive yourself and move on. And that has happened many times with other Adams and Eves. It just has not always reached the extent that yours has here with the life plasm, the crowning glory of Caligastia's folly.
The work of the Adams and Eves is a very important job. They are not selected to serve on a world without certain sponsorship, commendation, just like Caligastia had to be approved by his elders before he was sent here to be Planetary Prince. Same thing in your life, you can be appointed to a political position or given a situation to deal with and circumstances are such that you have to say, "I'm outta here!" or you get into it so deeply you can't turn back. That happens. That's part of the fatality that can occur because you have free will.
Even the Most Highs are vulnerable to error. But the higher you go on the spiritual hierarchy plane, the less mistakes are made until you finally get to a level where they just don't make mistakes. They do everything perfectly and, of course, the Universal Father is perfect. He sees the end from the beginning, so perhaps if we had His perspective we would say "All's right with the world in every aspect," because for some reason or other it will work out somehow. In the end He will win. And as long as we don't mind that, as long as we support that, we are in good graces with our self.
I was just thinking about the song you sang. About everyone being allowed to come in. "No one is denied." This is how it is that some folks choose not to go ahead. They choose to go a different way and there is no light at the end of that tunnel. They would rather take their chances on ceasing to exist than give up the idea that they are in any way limited by design, and the fact is, all of us have limitations because we are each only one fragile filigree in the fabric that is creation.
What did you ask me about Adam and Eve? Several things. What have I overlooked? Or have I put you all to sleep?
Renault: I was thinking that it only took a hundred years for the default, you know, for them to get off track, and how much of the bio plasm did not get passed on to future generations. And the results are arthritis and other-- cerebral palsy and things that afflict the human species that might have been diverted. You know. We might be a healthier species had they had a little longer to proceed.
And I was wondering, if perhaps the other worlds were more advanced in light and life prior to their quarantine, and ours happened so early in our development, it's almost like we never even had a chance. We were doomed from the beginning, almost. Not doomed forever necessarily, but a long, long time. The other planets … were they more advanced in human developments … in light and life?
MERIUM: Not necessarily. Like I said, some may have been younger, some may have been older. It was the peculiar circumstances of your world that beat them. Yet they [Adam and Eve] did not embrace evil on purpose.
Renault: No, no! Just misled. Off down the wrong path.
MERIUM: They made a few wrong choices but they did not set out to do evil, and even now, today, they serve on the Council of 24 in Jerusem -- the New Jerusalem.
Renault: Is there a way to help correct our bio plasm? Our DNA? To help the human species on this planet not be as disease-ridden and crippled and …?
MERIUM: The pattern has been implanted in you and so there is a possibility that over many thousands of years your DNA can be up-stepped, modified, corrected, improved, as long as it falls within the prescribed pattern that was planted in you by the Life Carriers. It is probably more important for you to focus on the social aspects of the default than the scientific, although it is certainly appropriate for scientists to investigate these solutions.
Stopping the downhill spiral of inferior breeding would help a lot, too. That is something you can work on as well. You are an organism, after all, and like an organism that has had a disease, once the disease is cut out the healing process can begin, but whether or not it can fully recover is a mystery. Whether or not you regain all that was lost does not mean you cannot learn methods and means of compensating.
Maintaining the attitude of good cheer is helpful, even in the face of disabilities and handicaps. You just have to learn to forgive and forget -- if at all you can. If you sit around blaming or pointing the finger, you waste valuable energy that could be spent accentuating the positive. We all know that all is not right with the world. There is starvation and disease, devastation, pollution, not just geologically but the peoples themselves are flawed, ill, unbalanced. Some are destructive and some are incredibly altruistic and giving. But if you can focus on your task at hand, and approach it as if it were a song of praise, you will be part of the solution more than the problem.
In a way it has probably been helpful for you to learn about Adam and Eve, and Lucifer, as someone with whom to be angry about things that happened to you that causes you supreme displeasure. It's always somewhat mortally gratifying to blame someone else for their problems and when you all understand that there are certain inherent problems that everyone has to deal with, then it is okay to become a little bit more compassionate with your fellows who may not have born up under the pressure of this world any better than Adam and Eve did. It is really all very relative.
They defaulted after only 100 years? Oh, yes, 100 years may seem like a very brief time in theory, but when you are walking on hot coals and don't know how, 20 seconds can seem like an eternity. How are your patience factors? Your endurance levels? Do you get discouraged? It is inherent here. That is something that we are trying to help you overcome. We are trying to help compensate for the absence of your Material Son and Daughter.
They would have provided the development that would have by now created a Garden of Eden on your planet. The wars would be a thing of the past. The races would not be blended because they were here well before Adam and Eve got here, but they would have learned how to live together and work together. There would not be this tribal warfare going on between the races incessantly, nor would there be the driving competition. It would have been a gentler milieu, with much more songs of praise and hosannas, but since Adam and Eve didn't do it, it falls on you to do it and we are here to help.
They will not be sending another Adam and Eve because they came to up-step the life plasm and they defaulted. So you can't get another, but you can see what the ideal is that they wanted to implant and you can rise to the challenge of being their loyal children, like many who experienced divorce and who, even without divorce, cannot understand their parents until they themselves are parents, or until late in life when perspective changes such that they can see farther.
Elena: Well, I'm kind of curious. We've also been told that when we go from this world to the next one, that what we haven't learned in this world then we get other opportunities so I guess, put in that context, am I understanding that right? What we don't achieve in this world then we certainly have the opportunity and are given the guidance still in the next one, to achieve what we haven't in this one? Is that right?
MERIUM: Yes, you can, but it will be personal. There is much that you can do here, while you are here, that will socially improve the world. The midwayers would certainly support any efforts that you could generate to help evolve the planet as well as yourself. If you have great ideas and ambitions for this world, yes you will still likely be able to do them in the morontia life, although many things will not be interesting there that are here.
Still, if you want to serve in civil service, you will find ways to serve On High as you would here, but you may not necessarily have the option of running for Mayor.
Elena: Well, you know, speaking for myself, I do get really discouraged here, about a lot of the things that are here. I mean, that doesn't mean that I don't keep trying to do what I can, and I certainly continue to start doing things; I'm not lacking in enthusiasm there. But I guess it does hold some comfort for me to know that what I don't achieve here, it is certainly possible in the next one, so I don't know. I look forward to accomplishing what I can in this world, but I also am enthusiastic about what it would be next, I guess is what I am trying to say, because, Merium, you mentioned the people who happened to have the experience of being a parent, or this or that or the other, that you'll have opportunities in the next world to get that which you don't get in this world.
MERIUM: Yes, of course. Yes, you are right. Opportunities abound, and many of the opportunities of Mansonia are remedial opportunities, such as making up for what you didn't get here. But there are other things you can learn in Mansonia -- in the mansion worlds -- that are new, like the universal language. There is no point in learning it here. It's just one big unfolding adventure, one vast school.
Esmeralda: It sounds exciting.
MERIUM: Well, it really is very satisfying. It can be exciting, but exciting is not as important to me as it is perhaps to your mortals.
Esmeralda: I think your saying "satisfying" was a better choice of words than exciting.
MERIUM: It is for me.
Esmeralda: I think for me, too. I'm not always pulling up the right world.
MERIUM: Sometimes mortals confuse excitement with fright. There's a fine line between excitement and fear.
Renault: The roller coaster has a certain amount of excitement and fear to it.
MERIUM: Yes. There is some strange phase of human development that loves to be scared.
Renault: Um-hum. That's why Steven King is so popular.
MERIUM: Indeed.
Elena: Well, we're not going to be bored, I don't believe, are we?
Renault: Or scared?
MERIUM: I think not. You won't be bored. There is no reason to be bored, put it that way. Or scared. You wanted to know more about what to anticipate in Mansonia?
Renault: Sure.
MERIUM: And you wanted to know what it was like on worlds where other Adams and Eves defaulted.
Elena: Right, and there are 36?
Renault: There's quite a few.
MERIUM: I see a lot of looking for other perspectives, looking for ways to learn more about what the options might be, some comparative analysis.
Elena: Have you been through them all?
MERIUM: I have been through the mansion worlds, yes. I think that's remarkable for an 18-year old babysitter, don't you?
Group: (Laughter) You get around! All seven of them? Well, babysitters are in big demand, I take it then, huh?
MERIUM: Indeed, on a world such as this. You all need to be observed and cultivated, nourished and coddled, and disciplined and attended to.
Paula: You know, I've always wondered whoever thought up the original idea of an Adam and Eve in a Garden of Eden. It's a beautiful story! But of course we have no idea whether there was ever such a place or people. It was a story that they started so that people would try to do good instead of evil, and if they didn't tow to the line and obey everything, then they'd get kicked out of Eden just like Adam and Eve did. Well, we have to tell stories like that to our children just to get them to learn how to behave and tow the line and do what they're supposed to do, and I don't think anybody figures you're supposed to take it literally and figure that there really was an Adam and an Eve and a Garden of Eden. You just don't --
All the different cultures had to have something like that, that they believed in, and I go to church and I believe that the Bible is a pretty accurate history of the things that went on and the wars that were fought and who was supposed to do the right thing and if you didn't do the right thing you really got punished, but that is what we taught our children. Behave and if you don't behave, Daddy will take you over his knee and give you a good spanking. And out you go. You're dumped out of Eden. And that was, I'm sure, what they were trying to do years ago when they first wrote the Bible. You weren't supposed to take everything in it literally, word for word.
You were supposed to understand the history of it and if you do things right, probably your life will be blessed and if you do things wrong you're going to get punished, just like you did when you were a little child and Mommy said, "Do thus and so, and if you do it the other way, Daddy will take you over his knee and spank you."
(And that's why I got a lot of spanking when I was a little kid, because I was an only child and they figured that if they didn't reprimand me, I'd do the same darned thing all over again, and I didn't like the spankings and I didn't like especially being put in my room with the door shut, because I had claustrophobia and I don't like it, but that's getting away from the lesson.)
It's just general idea. Some people, like my Grandmother, took every single thing in the Bible and said, "This is it! It happened exactly the way it tells you." And, of course, everybody knows that history has a lot of mistakes in it. I mean, it wasn't written down for people in those days. It was word of mouth, and you know what that means. That some of it is going to get mixed up and tangled, but the general idea behind it is try and tow the line and do things right and everything will turn out just fine. And if you don't, you'll probably get punished for it.
MERIUM: And another thing! They always blame it on Eve. I think that is unfair, don't you?
Paula: Yeah, I always thought so too.
MERIUM: Well, it's good to see women rise up and become self-aware and stand behind one another, but it's also true what you say that many stories have been handed down for centuries. This reflects in stories about the way they did it then as if it should still be done that way today. Earlier, Renault was telling Gerdean a story. Do your recall the story Renault?
Renault: About tying up the cat?
MERIUM: Yes. Tying up the cat devolved similar to the story about why they always cut off the end of the loin before it was roasted. Come to find out, great grandmother's pan was short, and so they cut off the loin back then, and the daughter did the same because "that's how Mom did it" and 500 years later they are still cutting off the end of the loin, because that's the way it's always been done, just as they are still tying up the cat.
Well, this is the way it has been with Bible stories, you are absolutely right. And you are right, too, that there are those who believe it to be the gospel and God's truth and make life insufferable for those who have a different opinion. This is the root of the Crusades, actually, because it becomes a sticking point of one interpretation of God versus another interpretation of God and so the battle is on. This is the way it is, though, in evolved religion.
It is fortunate that the gods understand that the evolving worlds go through certain phases. It's a good thing God is watching what's going on and can keep an eye on your growth. Just like children at some point need to be weaned or toilet trained, then learn to share, then learn to be responsible, and so forth, so must the children of time and space. That is why we have come. That is why throughout time someone or something has come to each evolving world at certain points in their evolution, to mark the culmination of an age and stimulate the growth of the next.
All the evolving worlds throughout the seven superuniverses are given a planetary prince in the early, early days of its existence. And at some point on every evolving world throughout the seven superuniverses, a Material Son and Daughter arrive to up-step the plasm of the mortals on the world so as to make them more receptive to divine leanings. Every inhabited world receives a Son of God who comes to implant the Spirit of Truth that will allow for the floodgates to open for the Thought Adjusters to come.
There are certain developmental phases on the evolving worlds that happen in the course of the maturation of the world. Your world is 5/7 of the way toward its maturity. But it has had some handicaps. You could say that it is almost a grown man, but it shot itself in the foot and broke its leg back there, and so he is gaining strength, he is still handsome, can still have children and work, but has a bit of a limp.
More will be revealed as you evolve. The Bible is an historic document deliberately compiled to serve a world in the wake of the appearance of Jesus on this planet, and it is to be commended for the work it has done in keeping the concept of the Son of God alive, even as it has done much to damage the Son of God by its inherent imperfection.
The Urantia Papers are the fifth epochal revelation and there will be two more. This is the commentary of a teacher, Teacher Merium with the Teacher Corps. The Teacher Corps serves those who have knowledge of the Urantia Papers. The Greater Teaching Mission includes the Teacher Corps and the Teaching Mission, but it may provide other philosophic contributions, many of which are from other religions in other parts of the world, many of which have Christian underpinnings, and many of which are quite refreshing and new.
But as a Teacher in the Teacher Corps, it is my responsibility to advise you of the epochal revelations to your world, the Material Sons and Daughters being one of them. You may want to investigate to find out who they really were, what they really did, what really happened to them -- not as a Bible story, but as a revelation. It's really quite a fascinating story.
[Gerdean questions the use of the word "story."] Story yes. Saga. Because still all the details are not known, all the minor points are not revealed. All of the emotions and effects and facts are not on record in the Urantia text but you have enough that it adds a great deal to understanding who you are, why the world is the way it is, and what you can do about it to find joy in it and to be of good cheer, as you minister to those you encounter as you pass by.
The entire universe is one vast school. You can certainly pour tea in class. It isn't all brutal learning. And it isn't all a lie. But it does help when you can understand things within your own context such that you can find intellectual peace. Those who have intellectual peace will not be troubled then by the disturbing the peace of others. Have we covered enough for one afternoon or do you want to go one more round?
Renault: Thank you so much.
Elena: I think that's some good stuff there. It's certainly given me something to think about. Really, it gives me perspective about accomplishing what we can. This is probably an understatement, but those things that were meaningful to me today were the importance of striving in this world to not only serve others but get as much as we can from this world so it will put us in a better place for the next one. And that there is a lot of variety, certainly, of things to do in the next world.
I got a good review, actually, about the Adam and Eve story and how that happened, about the plasm part. I had read that, but I hadn't picked up on that, so that was very interesting to me, too. I'm going to try to ask Gerdean what's in her upper filing cabinet. That kind of intrigued me, too, so it's been good.
Esmeralda: It's been a good lesson.
MERIUM: I'll just see if I can't cram in one more final thought then that might help tie together my little lecture to Paula with your question about what lies ahead, and that would be to elucidate that although you are just now approaching the fifth epoch, and you have the sixth and seventh phases on your world before it is settled in light and life, and before it reaches the fruition of its potential.
As I review the experience of the morontia worlds and attaining Jerusem citizenship, I oversee and wonder about and anticipate for you, the many things that you are learning now that are first mansion world and second mansion world realities that will increase as you pursue, advance and aspire and as time goes by, such that mortals will be able to learn here what they would learn on the fourth or fifth mansion world, and even at the height of your planetary development when everyone loves God and seeks to serve.
Even the sixth and seventh mansion world lessons will be able to be mastered on the material plane, such that worlds that have attained light and life don't have to go through the mansion worlds. They leave their planet of origin and arrive in Jerusem. That is a goal that we can see, we who have more experience and a broader perspective on time/ space than you do here in your time/ space configuration as finite mortal beings.
And so, as you tell tales of what went down, you can also look to anticipate what is yet to come. And even in the talking of it and the dreaming of it and the fantasizing about it, the real thrill, the real miracle, the real joy is the doing of it. The giving of yourself to the moment in sublime peace and trust of your doing it with and for the Lord, for truth, beauty and goodness. Doing it for love. And none will be denied. Bye bye!
*****
DATE: June 3, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHERS: Unidentified Speaker, Teacher Merium, Midwayers Jack and Dani
TOPICS: Be Firm in Your Faith; Anticipation of Summer Fun; Animal Training; Garden Spirits; Your Vision Matters; The Bees are Dying; The Assignment
Drumming & Cherokee Prayer: (Elena and Wayawahili) "Mighty God, through whom all power is given, I send the sound of my voice singing toward heaven. By your leave, Lord, I send the sound of my voice, singing toward heaven. By your leave, Lord, I shall live today."
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: By your leave, Lord, I will address Your children - I am one among many who are assigned to assist in the uplift of humanity, to bring about the light of truth, to expand understanding, to herald change - progressive change - even as we sink our feet into the earth, there to plant ourselves as firmly grounded in the work of the realm.
The work of the realm begins in your mind, through your choices. It extends in and through your vehicle, which carries you into your exterior environment, in your atmosphere, your presence, and as it impacts on those you encounter in your home, in your neighborhood, in your city-state nation globe. And so it is they sing, "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me." Let there be light and life across the land, and let me live in it as my perpetual, eternal estate, as a child of God and a citizen of His Kingdom. In this stronghold of identity, let us bond and intermingle in grace. Therein we will discover the way, the divine path, right living, which eventuates on earth as it is in heaven.
I honor your presence here today and speak to that in you which is unused to being addressed, that aspect of your inner life which you generally only share with yourself. And thus you can hardly know if it is real or if it is only real to you. If it is real to others and to you, then there is somewhat of a confirmation of your perceptions, and when these are tested over time, added to and pruned as necessary, there results a healthy organism, a society, one in which people delight to bear the burdens of others, for it is not an imposition or an obligation but a delight and privilege to serve in love.
It is, in fact, a testimony to the fear and desperation of the many on this earth who despair of circumstances that are beyond their control, and yet allow that which is beyond their control to consume them such that they have no peace of mind, no connection left with the still, small voice that was within, and is within, and will be within. Therein is that mustard seed, that grain of truth that when you say, "I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief," truth reveals itself. The universe responds to your sincere questions, your need to know, your desire to eliminate error and to embrace goodness.
You who are born of the spirit, who have knocked and to whom the door has opened, who know the sound of the Master's Voice, are those who are called to hold fast to your living faith, for that is the power that will advance you and your situation whether it is cosmic, global, metropolitan or integral to you.
I am going to remain unidentified, but I have enjoyed my visit with you today and am going to pass the microphone, as it were, to Merium, your cherished friend and "babysitter." Have a good day.
Group: Thank you. Come again.
MERIUM: I am here to bring in some fresh air and sunshine. Isn't it wonderful that spring has sprung?
Group: Um-hum, yes, wonderful.
MERIUM: And indeed, summer is merrily approaching. Isn't it wonderful to not have to wear (those of you in this culture here) heavy coats for a season, that you might "lighten up" and feel refreshed by the very wind beneath your wings. Hear the birds, feel the breeze, listen to the laughter of that which is new, untried, untested and is anticipated to be all and more you hoped it would be.
Anticipation is such a wonderful emotion/feeling. When you can wake in the morning with positive anticipation of what the day will bring, you immediately have invited God into your life, for you have asked that it be filled with wonder, solidarity, opportunity and responsibility - all of which are characteristics of our Universal Father.
"By your leave, Father, we rejoice in being like You. Therefore, help us understand how You are that we might know how You want us to be when we grow up. We live in You. And we find You in our peers. We see You within them, each and all, looking out upon the world from the mortal perspective and seeking the opportunity to encourage, reinforce and confirm the spirit reality of one another."
For what this does is it allows you to see God reflected back to you when you look at them, for they seek the same from You. To the extent that there are pieces missing in the connection is no reflection on anything except that you are still being formulated. You are still incomplete, each and all of you. And so it behooves you to be patient with one another, even as you anticipate that others will be patient with you. Are there questions?
Esmeralda: That last was a good thought, to help me be patient with everybody. And that way, maybe other people will be patient with us, because we are not as perfect as we seem to ourselves. It's something to think about.
Renault: I read an interesting thing that said the adage "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Another way of looking at it is that by helping others, they can help you. That you benefit because through your help, helping others, so that instead of just saying, "don't hit him because you do want him to hit you," it is more like, "give him a helping hand so that way he can help you, too," and I thought that was a very beautiful way of looking at that. Much more positive.
Esmeralda: Another thing, too, that I am reminded of there is Jesus said when you give a stranger a drink, you are doing the same for Him. Maybe that sort of thing. I don't think we expect to get back something just because we give. In giving, we give a lot, whether we get anything back, we get a good feeling.
Elena: Well, we certainly need one another. I have an example, a kind of minor irritation going on with my neighbor but right before I left, my dog Barney jumped over the fence - right through the electric fence that I just put up - so the neighbor, even though we were not on the greatest terms yet, although we're both trying to be on good terms but not yet smooth, they came around and let me know that Barney was out, so we really do need one another to lend each other a helping hand, like you said, because it certainly does come back and I still don't know what I'm going to do about Barney but …
Esmeralda: Even after a $1,300 fence.
Elena: Yeah.
Renault: Build a higher fence.
Men-o-pah: Maybe raise the voltage up a little higher.
Elena: I'll have to do that and just continue the training and not get discouraged.
Renault: Do you take him for a walk?
Elena: Yeah! This morning we went over to SIPI and went all around the campus.
Renault: Maybe there's a way up a fence that curves inward so he can't jump over.
Elena: That's a good idea. I'm entertaining anything towards a solution.
Men-o-pah: Well, there is an adjustment to raise the voltage in the fence.
Elena: When I get home I will call the guy and arrange it. I hate to do that.
Menopah: Well, he needs to get the message that he's not supposed to do that. [Group all talking at once] Hard case. [Group: further group discussion about animal training for cats and dogs]
0802-AB Jack here. You sound like you're building an armed camp over there! (Group laughter)
Elena: Well, I feel like I am! Yeah! I don't know what to do, so what should I do?
JACK: Well, you certainly got right to the heart of it, didn't you. That is: animal training. Much of what civilization entails is animal training. You either train your animal to behave in a way that is agreed to by others in your community or you have anarchy and constant warfare. You need to work these things out, indeed, but animal training is constant.
Even when animals are trained, they can "go off." They can be triggered by some kind of subconscious cue or get their electro-chemical wires crossed and fritz out for a minute because, as somebody said earlier, you aren't perfect. You aren't complete. There are errors in your constitution. And so there are "hard cases," as you say. And yet, it comes down to the hard truth that those who cannot and will not abide by rightful and reasonable regulations need to be exterminated or set off somehow so that others can be about the business of stabilizing society.
Esmeralda: Hmmm. That sounds like a deep thought.
JACK: It's not only a deep thought, it relates to many of the problems you are facing here on this planet in terms of your incessant warfare, your criminal element, the defectives that remain to multiply and weaken the strains of the culture that seeks to advance. There are some very real issues that are to be dealt with and they are illustrated very well in your situation with Barney.
Esmeralda: Actually I was thinking maybe he would use the word "Bush." (Chuckles)
JACK: Well, that's a dog of a different color. You'd better edit that out. I know people who get statements like that from "pseudo-celestials" get very upset. It doesn't reflect well on our culture.
Elena: Well, I shouldn't put Barney to sleep, though.
Menopah: Not until you've tried everything.
Renault: More restraint.
JACK: If he isn't hurting anybody, it makes the situation even more unjust, because you love the animal; you have already invested dearly in his well-being; and the efforts you go through to relate to your friends and neighbors, in terms of your relationship with the animal, indicate your commitment and your sense of responsibility, even your ethics and your morals. And so it is representative of you as a human being how this animal responds to your training or not and how your society looks at and thinks of you as its owner.
And so it does get extremely personal, and if you were to find that he was incorrigible and needed to be either institutionalized or put down, you would certainly want to know who those were who would stand beside you as a valiant soldier of the circles who did everything -- everything, everything, everything! - in your power to train the beast to behave himself under the circumstances that are required.
On the other hand, if he's going to be such a crackerjack, perhaps he needs to be trained in how to be a capitalist and then he can win prizes of some sort. (Chuckles)
Esmeralda: He is a prizewinner! He only has the one fault. He only recently learned how to jump the fence.
JACK: Does anyone out there know how to keep a dog from jumping over a fence? How high is the fence now? (About 6 feet.) Oh, it's not high enough. If he is a real "bounder" you need 8 feet! And there are greyhounds and other muscular animals that think nothing of 12 or 14 feet. You need a kangaroo to keep him company. (Further group discussions about the fence) So what shall we do then? Build a 12-foot fence between here and Mexico? (Group reactions) And who is trying to keep whom out. Or in? And for what reason?
Esmeralda: Well, between here and Mexico, nobody is trying to keep us in; we're just making a poor effort to keep them out.
JACK: Well …
Esmeralda: But then that gets us into a much deeper subject.
JACK: It certainly does, because it puts you in a position of deciding which side of the fence you belong on and when you are interested in the general advancement of the race, these peculiar situations that you become involved in, take all your time and energy.
Esmeralda: But it becomes so complex, and has so many different aspects to them.
[More discussions about dog training, books on the market.]
Elena: He knew I was leaving and he wanted to come with me.
JACK: Oh, I see. So he wants the universe to revolve around him. He has not learned how to share you with others. [Discussion now about getting him a canine companion.] If you can see a light at the end of the tunnel, then carry on and follow through with your commitment and he'll be a jolly old companion for you as you sit on your porch in your rocker after you retire, with him at your feet. That's a nice picture. It, too, represents ideals and dreams, aspirations and ambitions that are appropriate for you to contemplate.
[More about the dog.] The same could be said for Gerdean's cat. She is young, energetic, loves to leap and chase and tear around with capacities far exceeding those of her mistress. And there are days when we wonder if we made the wrong choice because she is such a test on occasion.
Esmeralda: But very rewarding in others, I'll bet.
JACK: The thing is, you see, there is this underlying sense of responsibility to take care of the creatures of the world, having been given dominion over them. And one of the ways that people choose to participate in the process is to take care of one of them, or more than one, as many as they can, even though some bite off more than they can chew and the animals take over, just as in some situations the inmates will take over the institution. Overcrowding is never a good idea. Animal training is something that will be necessary for you on a social level, and although they are not fun to think about, they really need to be bargained for.
Esmeralda: Will we have pets and animals in the morontia world?
JACK: That's a trick question. If I say "no" then you won't want to go.
Esmeralda: No, I'd still want to go, but …
JACK: If I said 'yes' I wouldn't be exactly telling the truth.
Esmeralda: Then maybe I should not have asked the question.
JACK: No, you should ask the question. I just have to qualify my answer.
Renault: Don't they belong to a material realm, rather than the spiritual, morontial?
JACK: Yes, the animals that you know belong to the physical kingdom. The morontia world has its own flora and fauna, if you will, but they are not like these, and so for me to say you could have cats and dogs or birds in Mansonia would be a mistake. But there are companions there, companions that "embrace the combined traits of a faithful horse and an affectionate dog and manifest an intelligence exceeding that of the highest type of chimpanzee." [Read about the spornagia on Page 528 of the Urantia Book.] Thus you will be able to be companioned by creatures who will amuse you, assist you and teach you elemental things about being, just as your pets do in this life.
And of course you will have certain responsibilities, but not to the extent that you have here because such a greater percentage of the animal nature is left behind. Let's take a break.
[INTERMISSION]
[Further group discussions about dogs.]
Renault: Remember when we had our conference down in the South Valley? There was something about a midwayer named Dani that was in this area.
DANI: That would be me! Thanks for saying "hello."
Renault: Hi! I didn't know if you were around.
DANI: I was around. I'm around as often as I can afford it. That is to say I do have things to do but when you guys get together, since you're a bright light in my neighborhood, I like to check in. It's kind of my responsibility to keep an eye on you anyway, because work with other midwayers who work with you and angels, of course, who have us helping on projects all over town, all over the county, all over the state, all over the region. We have a lot to do, you know, even though much of what we do is slow motion to what we'd like to see. Isn't that the case with everybody?
Group: For sure.
DANI: We have our own exercises in patience. Why? What did you want to talk about?
Renault: I don't know. I just remembered. I made an 1111 address for you guys, so I didn't know if you've been able to use it or not.
DANI: Well, we have our own townhouse, you know. (Laughter) It's not like we need to use your address, but thanks for thinking of us. Actually, I hang out on your patio sometimes. (Oh, cool!) And have been known to enjoy your company on the front porch. (How about that!) How about that! (Laughter) You thought I wasn't paying attention, huh?
Esmeralda: Do you ever stop by and watch TV with me?
Renault: I'll bet only when Tiger Woods is playing
DANI: I'm not big on TV but I have been to your place a number of times, especially when I've seen you in the garden and in the back. I have an affinity for fairies and wood nymphs and elves and all those fanciful, imaginative creatures you have ascribed as being midwayers and vice versa.
Renault: My garden is full of them.
DANI: There are, of course, energies specifically for growing things. And they give off energy! And so the spirit is involved in gardening. That's one of the reasons it always feels good to go into a garden where everything is thriving and taken care of. They give off energy that you can feel.
Renault: Be stop and smell my roses. They are just wonderful.
DANI: Oh, thanks. What color are they?
Renault: Pink!
DANI: I'll look for the pink ones particularly. It's not like I have time to sit around sniffing everything that comes into view, but I do like to stop and smell the roses. It's been a very lightweight day here! Close to home, so to speak. It's an informal kind of a day. I see there are sandwiches on the menu. (Group murmurs) And a vacation coming up for some of you. I didn't get invited. And I didn't put in for it.
Elena: Well, put in for Canyon de Chilly [pronounced d' shay'] and come with us!
DANI: Well, they've got me on a job, see. (Laughter) If I can break away, I'll come with you. When are you going?
Elena: June 16. That weekend. My friend is going to come to town and go with us, and it would be wonderful to have you with us.
DANI: If I get a chance.
Esmeralda: Any time you have a minute, drop by and we'll sit out in my back yard.
DANI: All right then. And if I can't make it to some of these, you know, there are others who will fill in and we can compare notes at the end of the day like people do.
Elena: Well, Dani, I appreciated the last time you came when you were saying you were going to help me drum up business and I think you probably have been doing that, is what my estimate would be.
DANI: Well, there are a lot of people out there who can benefit from what you have to offer.
Elena: I've hit on a little bit of a lull. I've gotten a little depressed about that, but I'm kind of back on track, I think again, too. So I think it's worthwhile to keep at it.
DANI: You're just like your puppy. (Laughter) You are bounding all over the place, jumping from one thing to another. How high can you go and how much fun you have. You are just looking for companionship and something to do. It's just as well that you aren't bounding constantly on this assignment you have undertaken about "Your Vision Matters" because there are other things you need to focus on, just as there are other things your dog can focus on besides his current fascination.
But don't give up because there's a lot to be said for your bounding. You inspire others and you are learning at the same time, and so allow what you are learning to be assimilated into your being, your consciousness, such that when you have an opportunity to put it into effect, it's a natural extension of who you are and not an affectation of your own training.
That's another instance of animal training. Give yourself the time you need to learn how to be all that you can be. And as you practice each new plateau of learning, you will meet the needs of those who are at that point at that time. People cannot grow any faster than they can grow. But neither should they be left to languish and get lazy, for then depression sets in. There has to be a good balance between kicking back and kicking in.
Elena: I like that. "Kicking back and kicking in." That was really good.
DANI: Thanks! (Chuckles) There are others here, in case anybody has something else they want to talk about besides cats and dogs. (Laughter)
Renault: I'm seeing lots of bees. Lots of birdsong, lots of bees around. Butterflies.
Esmeralda: The bees! Is there any word or help on what is causing the bees to die?
Paula: The bees? Dying?
Esmeralda: Which would be a big, big problem in the long run.
Men-o-pah: Better believe it.
DANI: Well, they are not all dying, only certain brands of bees are dying. Evolution is under control. You're not killing out any breeds or species that cannot be either replaced or modified through evolution. All through the ages various orders of creatures have become extinct, but not before they steps were taken to bring humanity to where it is today. It is a part of the process, the evolutionary process.
Now of course you don't want to go out of your way to make things miserable for a critter such that they can't survive any longer due to your abuse! There's no excuse for that. That's not much better than genocide. But if it happens naturally or within the natural order, it's to be expected. I can already see hands raised out there among those who would split hairs over what the natural order is. And we'll probably have an opportunity to observe your discussions of this issue for a long time to come.
Yes, I too like the butterflies and the rabbits and the birds. The grackles are back. But let me bow out. I've been here long enough. I'll give you back to Merium who has been playing hostess this afternoon. See ya!
Group: Thanks, Dani. Bye.
MERIUM: Well, kids, I'm going to give you an assignment, and that is to keep a job jar or a God box or a listing of wonders handy because I know that each one of you in the course of your days think. I know you think. And I know that you ponder. I know that you grapple. I know that you exalt and praise and pray. I know that you argue with yourself over points. You upbraid yourself over habits and twitter to yourself about things you would not want people to know had crossed your mind.
These are the spice of life. These are the photographs of your consciousness that reveal about you that which is within, and that is what I would like to hear about.
I do understand that you live in a material world, that you are material beings, in material homes requiring material things and food and pets. And those are fun to hear about. They always become an object lesson of some sort, and they are pretty easy to deal with since they are so germane to so many people.
But those windows of opportunity that arise when you are in your creative consciousness that would be such a joy to consider. Therein we find pathos, humor and an intimacy such that few have a chance to realize among others. Let's peel off one of the layers of the onion that encompasses the mustard of our group, and reveal another inner layer of tender truth about our innermost self which is not only the beast which needs to learn to "heel" but the soul which seeks to "heal" and strive such that others will follow.
If you are willing.
*****
DATE: July 1, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER: MERIUM
TOPICS: Support for Local Co-Creative Working Team; Pretending / Acting As If; Query as to the Seven Psychic Circles; Revelation Compared to Evolution
[The first three quarters of this session was lost due to a faulty mechanical connection.]
And so here we are, embarking upon a new epoch - not only we who are privy to the Urantia Papers, but all of humanity. For we were ready! You were ready. The planet was ready or the Book would not have come. These revelations do not come until the time is ripe and the time was ripe for this revelation. And so it enhances your knowledge greatly. But you were ready!
When it is time for a child to be born, it is ready to enter the world. And while the Urantia Papers were delivered to you as a revelation -- the fifth of epochal standing -- you who have not yet found the Papers were, even so, ready. And you are ready even now, "quivering on the brink," listening for, anticipating, hungry for, waiting to hear that which will trigger your hunger.
And you will notice that there is a plethora of material abounding that feeds that hunger -- and not only A Course in Miracles and the many movements of the New Age, but also abstract, remote and far-away philosophies and theories which have been waiting for the time to emerge into the light, to add its own illumination to this growing, swelling, expanding reality which is indeed occurring in your lifetime.
It is a very exciting time to be alive. And so those of you who see it happening, who appreciate the broad base from which this planet is being flooded, it is not unreasonable that we should come, too, that you should be able to reach up and in good faith accept our presence and act upon it. In time, our methods and means will evolve as you and your world evolves.
[People] on other worlds that have not been troubled with the Lucifer rebellion, the Adamic default and some of your other minor setbacks, are familiar already with this method of consulting with your superconscious for guidance. You spoke earlier, Esmeralda, of Celene, your personal teacher, to whom you speak but you testify you do not hear a reply, but I say to you "You do! You just don't hear it with your physical ears."
If you question the way of your path and discuss it with your guide, you will be answered and you will know if you are going with or against the guidance you are given from On High as you begin to act upon your decision. It is up to you, then, to ascertain if your decision is in keeping with the counsel you received or if it is contrary and willful. And it will be made apparent fairly quickly… if you are paying attention. In this way you are able to -- as they say -- walk the "straight and narrow."
To the extent that you choose not to walk the straight and narrow, you have every opportunity to veer wildly and widely, to the left and to the right, and enjoy (or not) experiential adventures that may (or may not) garner you wisdom -- free will being what it is. And so we are all on a faith walk here.
We are all looking in the direction of the Divine for how to proceed, and sometimes not knowing, we pretend, or we act as if. Bring the mind and the body will follow. And it will come to pass that what is divine, eternal and real will become a part of us, while that which is error or fleeting or merely fluff will fade away.
Those who take what they have acquired so seriously as to preclude change cannot stop growth. They can only make a loud noise in opposition to that which they do not understand. And you, too, have the option to not advance, to not put yourself out on a limb with your faith. You can go with the Rock of Ages and not go wrong.
Those of you who scurry ahead, or wish to, are curious and adventurous and will not be deprived of the opportunity to learn from your experience. You will not be condemned or discouraged from your efforts to be eagerly about the exploration of this new dispensation. Have patience with those who choose to stand firm in their faith. You do not have to take abuse from them or anyone who does not appreciate your hunger, courage, enthusiasm, and blind faith.
Sometimes when you watch a good movie or read a good book, you become so involved in the story line, in the emotions of the characters, and in the moral of the story, it stays with you for a long, long time. It may trigger things deep within you -- memories, sensations, and options that cause you to change your ways of thinking or responding. Does it matter if the movie was just a movie, or if the book was simply fiction? If the vehicle was able to give you that stimuli and that stimuli has contributed to your immortal soul, it ought not be disdained as being less than revelation, for in truth it did provide revelation.
And one more thing about this revelation business. Just because you have received revelation, it is not the end of the road; it is the beginning of a new journey. Evolution always has to keep up with revelation, and so just as a nugget of truth can be planted in your brain, it is not yours until you experience it; otherwise, it is simply an intellectual piece of wisdom worth hanging on the wall, perhaps, as a plaque, but not real. It is only real when you make it yours by living it.
And so those who have drawn the line on what we do as a remnant of the ghost cults or unworthy of the true sons of God, you must appreciate their naivete, for your world is still very backward and the people on it are still very superstitious and fear-ridden. Having revelation does not fix that. It only edifies for the next leg of the journey, which still must be played out.
And so consider this: you are playing out your future and the future of your world by your coming to be with us, to join in this configuration of expanded consciousness and creative interplay. The value you receive from your soul's investment is worth the cost of admission. Yes, that could be said, too, for your workshops!
Elena: So it's worth the cost of admission, by golly.
MERIUM: There is always a price, it seems, which is why the Master spoke about counting the cost. Is it worth it? Only you individually can decide, but on a day such as today, with the clouds billowing, the colors brilliant, everything young and abloom, including your faith and your attitudes, how can there be any question that the price you have paid for admission is a small price to pay indeed for the bounties we know as conscious sons and daughters of living reality, deity itself.
Perhaps we should conclude. [Pause] Bye-bye.
*****
DATE: August 5, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHERS: NEBADONIA and MERIUM
TOPICS: Embracing Divine Reality; Acceptance and Forgiveness; The Mad Hatter's Tea Party; Attitude of Gratitude on the Job
NEBADONIA: I am with you now, Nebadonia, your mother, embracing you with my presence, my ministry. All of my angels and ministering spirits who are involved in your development are also focused on our efforts, for it is our intent to assist your ascent into greater consciousness of true reality.
It pleases us to hear you discussing the impact of emotional energy directives -- how your disciplines to focus can affect your world and how this up-swelling of greater consciousness can affect the whole, the globe, even ultimately the universe. Thus it is that your decisions are important.
Your efforts to embrace divine reality and cosmic energy are part of the organizing of the oversoul of creation. This lofty thought does not preclude you from having very real and poignant human associations, experiences and perceptions based upon your knowledge and understanding thus far of who you are and what your life is all about.
In truth, you are wee babes, cosmic neonates, still small and starting out. But even from this sense of smallness, you are each developing a relationship with your spirit so as to become a powerful point of light and energy that can affect the course of destiny. You belittle yourselves when you believe you are ineffective. You have yet to practice and develop your powers, perhaps, but you are not without power. You are given spirit power, morontia energy and material matter with which to effect these changes that bring you greater happiness, even peace.
I see you in your many phases of development, each of you a different configuration of evolving reality, occasionally overlapping, occasionally conflicting, some more advanced in areas than others, some falling behind, and yet all as one, all my children, all engaged in the more or less industrialization of purposive energy, milling around and seeking to find those regions wherein your inherent abilities can shine, how you can reveal yourself and the Father to best advantage.
I am with you unceasingly in this process of redefining yourself, and wholeheartedly in support of your efforts. Your desire to please Michael and me is noted On High in the records of your history as a Son, a Daughter of God in becoming.
I add "in becoming" because it is on-going and just as you attain a pinnacle of accomplishment, a new wave appears on which you may pull yourself up and ride the crest onto shore, having the time of your lives on the ever undulating tide.
I see a question, the question being: Is forgiveness the same thing as acceptance? Is acceptance the same thing as forgiveness?
They can be … but in the style of your Teacher Tomas, I would say there are qualifiers. Just as in understanding "tolerance" as compared to "forgiving tolerance," we could say there is acceptance and there is acceptance with forgiveness. You can accept things by resigning yourself to them, but not with the full-hearted embrace that forgiveness brings; thus there is a difference, but acceptance is a beginning.
Acceptance does not mean resolve, resolution, or resignation. It means seeing things the way they are. If you see things as they are, in such a view as to find no fault, you have nothing to forgive. However, if you accept that things are a mess, that lessons need to be learned, (and/or) that remedial work needs to take place, it may be that acceptance of the situation has motivated an action other than forgiveness. Do you accept that babies need their diapers changed? Or do you have to forgive the child each time you clean up after him? Acceptance is not surrender as much as it is acknowledgement of what is.
There are those who say that what is, is perfect, and while this may be true with certain colored glasses, it is not at all true from other perspectives. It is just as easy to say "It is far from perfect!" and this would also be true. It is sometimes difficult to respond to your human needs for understanding and reassurance. Even those of you who are bathed in the spirit have questions as to how to reveal the spirit. And so these are worthy concerns, even if they are only temporary concerns on the highway to heaven.
Here is a good place to add that accepting the fact that everyone is on his or her own individual path is a forgivable estate. The generic truths of your being and your relationships are all transient. You are all buffers for one another. Like bumper cars, you press upon one another for the adventure of the action, as an exercise, even as diversion and recreation from the placid and serene regions of your inner life where you commune with Deity in Stillness and where all is right with your world.
There is also the matter of follow-through, for in acceptance, you accept and there is an end to it. But in forgiveness, there is an echo of reality that hails from beyond you. It is a reflection of your harmony with the infinite, taking it and you -- the situation, the parties, the principles -- out of and beyond the restrictions and confinements of the circumstance you have accepted. The spirit has lifted it up into a realm where action is made possible, where growth is immanent, and resolution forthcoming.
You can accept all by yourself, but you need spirit to know forgiveness. Does that help?
Gerdean: Yes. Yes.
NEBADONIA: I wanted to be with you for awhile today, to express myself through you and for you, for you to be reminded of how it is that I maintain a place in your being, in your consciousness and in your superconsciousness, even in your morontia reality. You have indeed created me, but I existed before you created me. You have created only that which you can understand. This is not to be disdained, for I am part of you and I am engaged in helping you toward your ultimate destiny goals.
It is my task, as the Divine Minister, to minister to you and through you by way of my spirits, myriad spirits, ministering spirits and adjutant mind spirits. A thrilling retinue of helpers has been created for this purpose -- to help you in your ascension. And as you strive to know more about them, more about us, and more about your place in the community / neighborhood / galaxy / universe, the more you push the envelope, the more you open the doors of perception and let in the light of truth. I will see to it that your feet remain firmly on the ground as you reach up to find the Son and the Father, and beyond.
Recognize this life as the cradle in which you lay, safe in the boughs of my branches. Rest in me that I may minister to you. I am your Mother. Come to Me. I leave you now. Perhaps another will take the microphone and engage with you. Farewell.
Renault: Thank you so much.
MERIUM: Hello, my darling daughters. This is Merium.
Renault: Hello.
MERIUM: Hello. We have a small tea party today. These are to my great delight. They allow us to be more intimate, even affected and stylized, as it is not so necessary that I be so generic as to attempt to reach the community soul of such a large and diverse group as we have seen and known here in this Rio Rancho TeaM Community.
We have others in attendance watching, so it is not like we can just "get down," as girls will do, but we can certainly relax and be familiar. Oh yes, I know, "familiarity breeds contempt," so let's not be that familiar! As it is appropriate, however, for a tea party, I have my hair in place and my shoes on and so we can comport ourselves as little ladies, little darlings of a certainty.
Renault: You mean "figuratively speaking." Because I don't have my shoes on.
MERIUM: Much of the morontia reality is strictly figurative. It is very much like playing dress-up. In fact, prayer stems from children babbling to their own alter ego, their imaginary friends, but what starts out as immature and juvenile is that which allows for its own growth through the bumps and bruises of disorder in growth, in the trials and tribulations of maturation on a finite world and with its inherent challenges.
But see, the thing is, while it is always possible to remember that we are children of God, our efforts to play grown up bring us into those dilemmas that call upon us to check our ethics and morals and principles and standards and practices and decorum and all. And so we create an environment, an architectural sphere, a realm of reality in which to work so as to experiment with those budding realities.
It is much easier to see when we sit around this table with our teacups and practice being gracious with one another in company with spirit. It is not as easy to see it, in the large, at a parliamentary procedure, or a conventional conference, but it is all the same thing -- children playing grown-up and becoming better at it as they practice. Of course, getting better at what is the question! Is spirit included? Or excluded? And how is it defined?
Here is what makes it interesting, and also makes it look more like the Mad Hatter's Tea Party than this one. There is an assignment for you this week: to think in terms of life as a tea party, and observe the engagements of those at play. What for? Well, because, it will help you to see how it is that these are children. It will help you accept them and forgive them. It will inspire you to think in terms of what they might do to improve the nature of your tea party.
You will notice some not having any fun at all, to your mind's eye, and so you will be able to study how other people live, just as Jesus was able to do when he traveled. This was not so that he could tell them how to live differently, but his personal encounters with individuals did help them as he taught them how to live better as individuals.
Naturally, you will not be invited to everyone's tea party, nor would you want everyone to attend yours. But observing these enclaves of individuals as a mother might see her precious children could help give you a more empathic or compassionate approach to your judgment. Oh, yes. I did say "judgment." I said "judgment" on purpose.
Renault: Discernment.
MERIUM: Discernment, of course, is the goal. But often it is revealed as judgment until a certain level of maturity is reached that allows discernment to override. It is such a busy playground. Instead of feeling overwhelmed with how much there is to observe or assimilate or ignore, also you may appreciate how your own tea party functions in itself and in the aggregate with others.
This is how the brotherhood is spread - through these small clusters of peace-loving, forward-thinking individual children of God. Children are only going to respond to the voice of spirit authority anyway, and so you might as well say, "Please pass the sugar." "Would you like one lump or two?"
Was there something else, in particular, that you wanted to talk about today?
Renault: Do you have any personal thoughts or do you know much about what is going on in my office and stuff that that I would ask you about?
MERIUM: I don't care what goes on in your office.
Renault: (Laughter) [Indistinguishable commentary]
MERIUM: Perhaps you need to think in terms of becoming a transmitter in your work environment. That would mean you need to train, as the transmitters do (as the T/Rs do) to stay out of the way in order for the teacher to prevail. If Linda stays out of the way and allows the nurse to operate, then Linda can live in her little pond happily and the nurse can represent the professional standards that are expected from the institution.
This is a challenge. It involves the subjugation of your own personality expression, allowing only for that in you, which is divine, to manifest. That may manifest in service, as a representative of the health profession, and as merciful ministry to those you would help. But it does require a curtailment of your attitudes and prejudices, your humor, your sarcasm, sloth, resentments, and your desire to go above and beyond the call of duty in a sense of expectation for some unnamed reward.
So while I do not urge you to humble yourself before hospital administration, you would do well to reflect a humble attitude in your works such that the administrators could observe it [your humility]. Your humility is for God and before God and in the work you would do for Him. So to the extent that the administrator / administration wants you to bow down to them, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.
Renault: And do the paperwork.
MERIUM: It's all about paperwork! That's what institutions are for: paperwork. There is also a critical matter of personality expression, and many times institutions are unfriendly toward personality manifestations over which they do not have control. And since you are "out of control" they keep a suspicious eye on you, and you feel paranoid as a result, yes. So the task is yours, not theirs, since you are aware. You are conscious of consciousness.
Set yourself aside. In this way you will have so much more freedom. Yes, you will have to do the bloody job. (Laughter) But if you quit fighting it, it really is much easier.
Renault: [Inaudible]
MERIUM: And it's only temporary.
You need to develop what they call an attitude of gratitude. It will help you if you can begin to thank God for everything, including your overbearing administrators and the restraints of the working environment, the absurd rules and regulations in effect that you are required to abide by. You need to be glad about and grateful for the machinery, which churns on like a large clock, having far too many moveable parts but nonetheless keeping time and broadcasting its existence far and wide.
Be grateful that a hospital represents Healing, that the work that you do and that your co-workers are engaged in was motivated by a desire to heal and/or relieve the suffering of the sick and those in pain. It is a field founded on compassion, fathered in mercy.
NEBADONIA: The work environment is a little kingdom where Michael and I rule -- his mercy and my compassion. Allow us to come through. Envision us in the inherent infrastructure of the place you work. We are your employers, and those who are doing the job of administrating the task of healing are like children at a tea party, playing grown up, doing what they feel they need to do as they grow into their potential.
Bring with you a spirit of encouragement, of sanction, of cooperation, and impress upon them in your attitude and in your performance how dedicated you are to serving in the field of your choice. They may or may not recognize that you do this for Me. You do not need to worship them. You only need to acknowledge their position at the table, at the tea party you are attending. Can this be helpful?
Renault: Yes, thank you. We're going to have a tea party on Wednesday morning. I will invite you to be there.
MERIUM: Is it a staff meeting?
Renault: Yeah. The boss [indistinguishable]
MERIUM: And so what is it they are going to do? "Off with her head!"
Renault: Sometimes she thinks I have an attitude, but … I'll think about that. [Indistinguishable] … just little cogs in the wheel.
MERIUM: Understood. It is flawed. I understand that.
Renault: Naturally, I wouldn't want to have to do her job.
MERIUM: Then, come back with your attitude of gratitude and give her flowers for taking on the responsibility of doing what she feels she can do best to keep the clock ticking, keeping the heart of medicine pumping, and the gears of your workplace on time. Assume she seeks to serve Me, and know that the angels of health are involved in all you do.
Across the globe, angels of health -- Mother's angels, Father's angels, your angels -- are busy engaging in the healing arts. Not only in making people feel better physically, but in helping them in their transitions -- not only to the next life but the next phase of their mortal life, for "growing old is not for sissies" and learning how to live with disease, learning how to face infirmity and death is an incredibly powerful ministry.
I have spoken to you before about hospice work. If you are working closely with these people who are approaching a transition of any kind, your work with them is invaluable. You do indeed act as "a soul on the job" when you allow your personality expression and your Adjuster's expression to come together in the soulful ministry of the healing arts to which you have dedicated your life.
Be ever grateful to those folks you serve. And be patient with their fears as they fall apart, with their anger as they grapple with their own demise. Help them along their path as they lose their faculties, even their minds in the process of letting go of their dependence on the material framework and making that leap, bridging that gap into the next dimension, always appreciating, understanding and respecting that what they feel they are approaching is perhaps not at all what you know to be true.
But here, Child, is where you can pretend to be a Reserve Corps of Destiny, hall-marking the decisions and choices that these mortals make as they lay dying, as they confront their mortality and their human frailty in ways that most people have denied exist, or have not had to look at until now. You have a tremendous responsibility.
You have been nursing for so many years it is second nature to you. You are quite blasé about it, on certain days cavalier, about the fact that you go in and do a few medical procedures and say a few words and fill out a few papers and go onto the next one. Muster up a new appreciation for the value that you provide that institution, and rather than begrudge what you do, uphold what you do. Represent Mother, the Divine Minister.
Bring dignity to your duty, that the administrators may take delight in you rather than be disturbed by you, thinking you may try to get away with something, or cannot wait to get away, or look for something to criticize, or generally disdain the way they do it. This comes from familiarity. It comes from having done it for so long. You have become weary. You take yourself and your efforts for granted, and when you forget how important the work is, you forget to allow the light to shine upon it.
You want the light to shine on you, instead, for being so long-suffering. And that is understandable! You need to treat yourself well. You need to devote time, energy, expense and whatever it takes to nurturing you when it is your turn, when it is your time.
Render to Caesar and render to God, and when you render to God, render to Renault as well, for that is in part who you are becoming. Nurture that in you which is divine.
Not to say you are to overlook the creature comforts of the animal, no. But understand that it takes more than physical and emotional nurturance. It also requires psychic and spiritual nurturance. Give the spirit first position and let spirit take care of you such that you can take care of your animal nature. Get your personal priorities in order so as to improve the quality of your own life. As you improve the quality of your own life, you improve the quality of the lives of those around you.
You begin to co-create with divinity the new dispensation, the new epoch, the new world, the new spiritual realm for humanity, the new tea party.
Renault: Thank you, Merium
MERIUM: Yes. I see also a truckload of stuff here I would do well to discuss with Gerdean. She would do well, however, to attend a group where she can be ministered to by someone outside of herself and her own immediate frame of reference.
Therefore, Gerdean, I am going to suggest to you that you formulate your concerns into a question and submit the question to your trusted teachers in other teacher bases. Teacher Daniel would be happy to counsel you again. Abraham would also be privileged to address your needs. There are others whom you trust that would not abuse you, even as they are able to cut through to the truth of your being.
Yes, I know that your favorite T/R friends are dying … dying out. But we Teachers are not dying out. We are still here and yearning to serve you and your soul needs in your growth. You cannot see the forest for the trees. You don't have to put it on TML. You can receive private counsel.
Gerdean: Yes, I could.
Renault: It sounds like a good idea.
Gerdean: It does. Sounds like a good idea.
MERIUM: Because, yes, it does affect you as a personality in your TeaM community and your co-dependence concerns. Yes. You fight very hard to rebuke victimization, but you confuse it with vulnerability. In the context of the development of the movement, you are feeling impacted in ways you would do well to have counsel about. [Pause] Isaac can't help you. There are others who can. Go pour some tea and cheer up.
Renault: Fear not! Be glad! Rejoice!
MERIUM: I'll be in the wings if you want to come back after Intermission. We have had some good discussion today, but if there is more, and if there is time, I'll certainly be around. Bye-bye.
*****
DATE: September 2
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
MERIUM: "Reflect the Light You Follow"
TOMAS: "Adjutants and Psychic Circles"
MERIUM: Good afternoon, my friends. This is Merium. I am here with you now as representative of the realm to where you reach when you reach for higher consciousness. Indeed, we embrace the presence of our Creator, Michael, and the heavenly hosts of the Divine Minister, Nebadonia, whose myriad names provide only an identification, but it is in identifying that which we adore and yearn to know more of that opens our hearts and minds to growth of the soul, and in the growth of the soul is where happiness lies. In a soul radiant with the joy of living, there is an awareness of the Divine in every detail, there is a consciousness of the Spirit in every thing, and the potential for communion with every other being. We reach for the potential in appreciation of the actual.
It is good to be with you again. It has been some time since last we came together. And yet you have been with us - and we with you - in ways which are not always a part of the human consciousness, just as God himself is always with you, although not necessarily within your consciousness of consciousness. As an intelligent creation, you have levels of consciousness that are outside of cognizance, and so God works with you and for you whether you are aware of it or not. But we see it. We who have eyes to see are able to discern the degree of godliness inherent within you at any given time by observing your responses to your life experiences.
As you know, as we have said before, the universe is one vast school, one immense and eternal learning experience. And while many of you feel you are self-sufficient and adequately cognizant of whatever it is you need to accomplish your task and find your way through the maze of mortal existence, there is always yet and still another degree of awareness just around the corner because this is the way it is, this exercise in attainment, this eternal adventure, this ascension plan that is instilled in you and set before you, and which way has been shown to you through the life and teachings of the Master.
And so we would have you also be teachers. And to be a teacher does not necessarily mean you need to propound certain scholastic or academic theories or philosophies, no, but that you should live your life as a God-knowing, spirit-led, intelligent aspect of evolving divinity in such a way as to reflect your reality at the level it is in you today at this time and under these circumstances and with the requisite degree of attainment that gives you the authority to represent that which you would teach.
The stage upon which you live is a dynamic theater, indeed. In living color you survey your world, your environs, and your relationships, and in your awareness you behold that which is good and you give thanks for that, even while you are conscious of the work which will need to be done in order to bring the light of truth to many who are still languishing in darkness, as evidenced by the many dark circumstances of death, disease and destruction which are abnormal to a normal-minded son of man and child of God as you are.
It is, in other words, sometimes easy to see and say, "There is a lack of light in that situation. There is a paucity of grace or kindness or compassion. It doesn't even go along with the essential universal laws. It is outside the realm of truth, beauty and goodness." Well, there is truth beauty and goodness everywhere, but by degrees. As we step up out of and away from darkness in our reach for better things -- better comprehension, more spirit, greater reality -- we teach by giving off our own flavor, our own fragrance. It is our ascending soul reflecting the light we follow. It is not necessary for you to propound theories and philosophies when your attitude speaks so loudly it can be heard in your actions, in your very being, whether you are making a conscious presentation or not.
But those of you who are conscious of this path and are eager to serve, who are awake to the possibilities, and who respond to the faintest flicker in your fellows, you will be kept busy at the task that occupied the Master when he walked this world. He often taught by drawing people out and engaging them in things they were interested in, using parables, analogies, words that they could understand, and he traveled extensively.
He traveled to many countries and met with mankind from many walks of life, many occupations, even many languages and cultures, and always was he able to identify with them and in them a fragment of perfection that he was able to appeal to and draw upon in order to impel these persons to seek a higher perspective, to take a farther view, to expand their limited parameter, to wonder about that which they did not know, so that they might reach for those things which were yet to be revealed. Those of you who do this, who reach for more yet to be revealed, are working in conjunction with the Spirit indwelling you as it consistently seeks to uplift your perspective and your responses to life. And the result is always increased happiness.
I have heard many discussions of late about suicide and depression and self-destructive behaviors and the like, even by religionists such as Mother Theresa or by the man you mentioned, Men-O-Pah, in your preliminary discussion [Lauren Vanderpost, who wrote "A Story Like the Wind" and "A Far Off Place"]. These people of great spirit have felt downtrodden because of an absence of an essential element of spirit which is integral to a soul, and that is a someone with whom to share your deepest self. Those who cannot find another human being with whom to share the secret recesses of their reality are "doomed" to seek and find it only in the Spirit.
And while we are rejoiced to know and embrace this saving grace of Spirit, we are also called to seek and find and embrace that Spirit which is resident within the fellow human being with whom we are in contact, for It, too, longs to see and be seen, to know and be known, to acknowledge and be acknowledged. Joy cannot be felt by yourself, and so you reach out to others, not only in the spirit but in the finite reality, so as to not have to live this life alone.
Those of you who can and do seek beyond the superficial, the obvious, the proprietary, culturally conditioned and/or politically correct ways and means, are blessed with that kind of full satisfaction that actually contributes to the evolution of the Supreme God itself. You advance the light and life of your world, not just your corner of the world but your world itself, for you have spilled your spirit into the ethers, into the atmosphere, as surely as flowers in springtime spew forth their pollen to ride the waves of the winds, even into lands far away, that enables spirit to be fruitful and multiply to the ends of the earth.
And so these soirees such as we enjoy on afternoons such as this contribute to your soul growth. They nurture your appreciation for your conscious relationship with divinity, and augment the energy of you and your associates and all your efforts touch, much of which is far beyond your awareness and even beyond your comprehension.
I am here today with many others, many aspects of personality and reality of a different nature than you are familiar with but, all the same, are part of your family and your future. And we are pleased to be encouraged and made welcome in your environment, as you are certainly welcome to ours. We enjoy, in this way, the brotherhood not only of mortal men, but sons and daughters throughout the giant galaxies of time and space, such that more and more you will know that you are not alone. Your neighborhood extends into infinity.
I have finished my lesson for the afternoon, if there is a lesson to be found in there for you, and since it has been such a long time, perhaps you have undergone adventures or challenges or growth situations that have given you thoughts to ponder or situations to which you have questions. Or perhaps you would just like to say "Hello." I am all ears. We are all open to receive your personality expression and your spirit expression into our midst. Please, share yourselves with us and with each other. [No questions.] I know of a question that has been submitted. Shall I take that one up or do you have one that we can address? All right then, let me make some adjustments so as to introduce the question.
Gerdean: This is Gerdean and I have the paper here from a conversation that was on the Teaching Mission list the other day between some Teaching Mission associates talking about the psychic circles.
Q: Yes, please, more about the psychic circles, what that attainment really is about. There are tantalizing indications that it's not strictly spiritual, which is confusing to folks, I think. To some extent I have long thought that there is something involved of awareness about being a universe citizen, and having a more long-distance perspective, and that this, combined with other things, is why a person has to attain the third circle before being able to move directly to the mansion worlds, that such individuals will not need the extreme remedial training in huge groups that those who have had the misfortune to not be able to grasp such concepts will require when they reach Mansonia as sleeping survivors.
I think the teaching mission enhances circle growth, as well. But exactly how, I would really long to have more information about this, and I think it's a good question to put to teachers in the here and now and see what comes out.
[First, we read from the Urantia Papers about the seven psychic circles, on page 1209.]
MERIUM: I am going to let Tomas respond to that question. He is already noted for his [long pause] teaching methods. I'll let him apply his own unique technique to this topic. I'll be back later to fluff up your pillows. [Group chuckles.]
TOMAS: Good afternoon, my lovely friends. This is your elder brother and Teacher, Tomas. I am glad to be here and glad to be called upon to add my expertise to the program and I hope that my methods, which I suspect Merium wanted to call "long-winded" and/or "long and winding roads," are able to reveal to you some further insight into these fascinating levels of human consciousness. Indeed, even superconsciousness.
I recall Merium having said something about superconsciousness. Let me restate that superconsciousness is consciousness of consciousness. You may know something, but know it only unconsciously. It is when you become conscious that you are aware of something that you now have the advantage of superconsciousness. Thus you can see more, see father, and see more perspectives than you can when you are limited not just to acting unconsciously but when you are thinking only in terms of your own short-sighted and limited perspective.
Therefore a response to this query is going to have to involve a great, grand brushstroke in order to pull all the pieces together. Perhaps, Gerdean, for your peace of mind you would do well to turn the tape over so that you can give yourself to the lesson and not be constantly concerned about the technological aspects of this moment. We'll be right back. [Tape turned.] Slow down. There is no fire to put out.
There are three elements I want to weave together. Three ideas I need to braid. I will focus on them one at a time so that you can pull them together. The first is to hold in mind the common illustration of the helix, that spiral figure that is utilized to indicate DNA. There is structure in the universe, and there is pattern and there is order. And so there is structure and pattern and order even in your own growth. But you are generally unable to see it. In fact, there are levels of your own growth that are impossible for you to see for you are like a tree growing in the forest.
If you think in terms of the structure of the system in which you live, for example. You live in the system of Satania, which is a considerable grouping of inhabited worlds in a sector of the Constellation Norlatiadek, one of 100 constellations in the local universe of Nebadon, (which was created by Christ Michael, your Master Son, whom you know as Jesus). Now, the system in which you live is comprised of many hundreds of worlds, the capital of which is Jerusem. Not Jerusalem, but Jerusem. And Jerusem is comprised of mansion worlds. ["In my father's house there are many mansions."]
These seven worlds have seven satellites each, and so, if you can, in your mind, picture this one world of Jerusem comprised of seven worlds, each of which are circled by seven worlds. Perhaps you have it pictured in your mind as the Tilt-A-Whirl at the amusement park, where you have seven baskets of laughing children, going around. Take that picture in your mind's eye now of the seven worlds surrounding seven worlds and braid it with the illustration of the helix. Now you can ride around and around and up and down until you are dizzy and weak with laughter.
Now let me also introduce the third hank of hair, here, and that is the seven adjutant mind spirits. The seven adjutant mind spirits are actually circuits. They are not brain cells, exactly, but they are awareness factors, and they are gifts of the Mother Spirit. This is how it is that God knows when the slightest sparrow falls from the sky, because of these mind spirits that indwell all living creatures, for even the animals of the realm are afforded five of these seven adjutant mind spirits.
I recall having a visitor a few years back, What-About-Bob, who discussed these in some detail, although I am sure they will need to be reviewed interminably until they become a part of your consciousness, even though by that time you will have departed from here and will have no more compelling need to understand them. Even so, for now, it behooves you to have some comprehension of these seven adjutant mind spirits, in particular if you hope to understand better this concept of the psychic circles.
So we have the psychic circles in operation as the third hank of hair, rising and falling in the double or triple helix of your own DNA, which you can think of as the universe of your own being. The adjutant mind spirits bring you into a consciousness of the spirit of truth, into the presence of the Master, who brings you into the presence of the Father. So, assuming that you are experiencing the full gamut of the seven adjutant mind spirits, you are able to take the next step to see how you are functioning now within the realm of practice of the seven psychic circles.
You begin at the beginning of your consciousness of consciousness with a cognizance of a greater reality, although not a very sophisticated one. And as you aspire to ride the waves of the experiential seven adjutants, you become able then to navigate and ascend the seven psychic circles. As you master yourself exponentially, you are lifted up until ultimately you attain the seventh psychic circle wherein you are able to speak directly to the God within you (which is, essentially, God the Father, as far as our purposes are concerned).
And so take these three hanks of hair: the illustration of you being like Jerusem, a world comprised of many smaller worlds, organized within a framework such as a double helix, and overlay that onto that the human experience of the adjutants (the spirits of intuition, understanding, courage, knowledge, counsel, worship and wisdom). And as you engage in self-mastery, you are simultaneously ascending your way up the psychic circles.
To reiterate, the kingdom of heaven is within you. Let us use Jerusem as a pattern. Look for the pattern of Jerusem within you, with the Thought Adjuster in the very center. And the seven adjutant mind spirits whirling around inside of your consciousness and your superconsciousness are like tilt-a-whirl cars, going up and down, around and around, as you experience life, needing to survive, developing your own consciousness, cultivating your own will, making your own mistakes, opening your own heart, finding your own voice, discovering something worthy to worship and attaining the wisdom necessary to live effectively with yourself and others.
As these are mastered, you also and simultaneously ascend the psychic circles, such that you yourself are the worlds that you traverse within yourself, within your own being, until ultimately you become the capital of that world within you in your own right, and you acquire the goal of gaining mastery over the mind that would bring to fruition your task of finding God and It's task of finding you and merging so closely as to only need now the physical fusion in order to become eternally and indissolubly one.
It is for this reason, if you can see this illustration, why every decision you make is important. Even what may seem to be frivolous or trivial contributes one way or another to your growth or your non-growth. It is to be expected that there are times of rest and reflection, particularly after spurts of growth or challenging experiences, but invariably the pattern of the universe is such that the carnival will go on, the ride will start up again, and you will have another opportunity to master yourself until ultimately you can take the ride without even getting dizzy.
And then, you can take the illustration from there. You can either get something to eat, or visit the livestock or the fine arts or the sideshows or anything in range. You can see I am heading off for the State Fair, so I'll leave you now and let Merium fluff up the pillows and pick up the pieces. I appreciate your being here and look forward to our autumn coming together in perfect poise for some winter studies and fireside chats. I wish you well and watch over you lovingly. Farewell.
MERIUM: Well, I'm back. Not that I went anywhere, but I'm back on tape and want to know if that was helpful, or if it completely confused the issue. I think the telling will be when this is posted and broadcast to the network systems established for global dissemination. Perhaps when the student reads Tomas' response it will reveal whether or not he was effective. In the meanwhile, I am assured that we have provoked thought and tapped into your imaginations sufficient to stimulate the growth of new concepts from these seeds so adroitly planted by my co-teacher, Tomas.
Are there any questions this afternoon?
Renault: Well, so, as we go spinning around in our little Tilt-A-Whirl of life here, finding our voice and feeling our heart and gathering our courage and using our seven adjutant spirits to help us through all this, keeping in mind there is a great cosmic citizenship out there and other worlds to traverse, we do certainly get caught up in our little day-to-day problems and worries that we have to work through, and I take it that those that bog us down, the kinks and the cogs of the works that hinder our progress, and we get caught up in trying to stumble over our problems and how to get though these things -- I think that is where seeking help and advice, now that we don't see the greater picture and know that God is out there and is with us -- I think we get caught up trying to struggle through our day to day activities, and we see our world caught up in problems, and we worry about it, and I think if there is a way to get through it all in a more spiritual manner, than animalistic manner, that we can traverse through our circles.
MERIUM: There is a way for you do that, and that is to love the cycle you are in. The sooner you can find its value, the sooner you can find divine reality within it, the sooner you can forgive it, accept it, embrace it, love it, bless it, and give yourself to it, the sooner you will be released from that level and allowed to go on to the next challenge. And so however long you take on any given ride, on any experiential venture, is going to depend on you as to how long it takes you to master that level. You can complain all day about a situation and think you can escape it by moving from here to there but if you have not mastered the lessons of that level, you are only moving around; you are not advancing.
It is in the mastery of each level that mastery is accomplished through divine reality, living love, in truth beauty and goodness. You cannot escape the process of becoming. You cannot skip over a grade and expect to graduate cum laude. There are no shortcuts. And yet the good news is that each level may be mastered if you can remember the message of the opening prayer/song that Men-o-pah sang, that Jesus is with you, that he goes with you through all these troubles. You and he will then together be able to find within each situation that which has value and is value. You will see with a new view and love even unlovely humankind with a dynamic affection.
You don't master them [others], you master yourself. And in the process of self-mastery, these little irritations fall away. They become part of the scenery. You have advanced in experiential wisdom, and as you acquire experiential wisdom you ascend the psychic circles until eventually your constant companion is God Himself. Is that helpful? (Yes)
There are many things that can be said beyond this on the same topic, further refinements and what Gerdean calls "Yebbuts" ("Yeah, but this" and "Yeah, but that") and that's fine because the Tilt-A-Whirl will go around again as many times as you need to ride on it in order to get the message, until there are no "buts" left.
I think we have had a double feature today. It has been a bounty for us, certainly, and an opportunity to make up for lost time, as it were. It is always a pleasure to conjoin with you and spend time with you in this morontia realm which we create and enjoy together.
Renault: I do have one final question. When we talk about all these other morontia worlds, and these other worlds out there, are they earth-like? Are we going to enjoy blue skies and green trees and grass and rivers? Are they similar, that kind of world?
MERIUM: You will not be visiting other material worlds in the system. You are going to ascend outside of the material worlds, as is everyone else who lives on a material world, which is the breeding ground for souls. The material worlds are in some ways the cocoons in which the soul embryo comes forth into the morontia way of life. You will, on these morontia worlds, no longer be finite. You will be morontia. You will pick up there just as you leave off here, and yes, there are worlds provided for you and they will represent to you the earth and sky of your home world, but it will not be as rugged. The weather will not be as severe, the mountains will not be as high, the rivers will not be as deep. It is moderate by comparison. But it is also beautiful and will provide well for you those comforts and satisfactions that are needful and appropriate for ascending beings. Even On High, when you are advanced in spirit reality, and even when you have become pure spirit and leave your morontia existence behind, you will still be provided a home in which to live, an architectural sphere in which to call your home.
Again, there is order in the universe. Including addresses. Perhaps even the equivalent of phone numbers, but I hesitate to go farther there lest I undo all the work we have done today in encouraging you to reach out of the finite field into the morontia zones where you abut the spirit which will soothe your driving need to return to your Source, and assure you of our association and the association of other intelligent life throughout the entire ascension career, beginning now.
Devoted children of the good news, I embrace you with fond affection and bid you farewell until next we meet. Bye-bye.
*****
DATE: October 7, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R's: Gerdean [for Merium] and Tiahuan [for Tomas]
TEACHERS MERIUM and TOMAS
"What Am I Doing Here?"
Elena: Music (Xylophone) and Prayer
MERIUM: [After a slight malfunction with the recording equipment we pick up at this point:] Isn't it what everyone wants to know after they know "Who am I?" It is "What am I to do? What is my purpose in life? What am I here for? What is the reason for my being? Am I a mere accident? Am I a mere fleck of dust that floats through the air without direction or purpose? Am I food for bigger beasties to feed upon, like big fish little fish? Are we victims of fate or are we purposive human beings? And if we are purposive, how does that come about? What ascertains our purpose? Is it something we individually assess for ourselves? Based on what?
There is a great deal of peace indeed to be had from doing what others expect of you, and what pleases others, for then you are the recipients of their approval, and this makes you feel good. But is this a pattern that you develop that curtails your being all that you could be because it is an easier, softer way? If once you can discern your own motives without judgment you can begin to eliminate these less effective behaviors, you can learn to lean more heavily on the destiny that awaits you in terms of your path -- your interpretation of the path, the path to Paradise, walking in His will, deriving personal satisfaction from the joint effort between you and your Indwelling Adjuster, your own essence of godliness.
In gatherings like this you have the opportunity to stretch yourselves, expand your self-imposed limitations, your pre-judgments, and other self-serving motivations that make you look good, in order to up-step that to what makes Deity look good. Inasmuch as it is your purpose to conform your will to the Divine will, you feel fulfilled in this process. Your happiness is your own reward.
And seeing your greatness reflected back to you through the goodness in you and your fellows, it helps to cement your understanding of who you are in a higher sense and encourages your development in the purposive realms of existence which go beyond the mere matter of maintenance to supreme levels of operation.
I cannot presume upon our guest, but I can certainly invite him to take the baton from this T/R to pursue the course. Would you be so willing?
TOMAS: This is Tomas. I am glad to greet you in this configuration, witnessing the changing of the seasons around you and within you. Behold, all things are being made new in this moment as ever. We gather to inquire into possibilities latent within us all. You think that we "on high" (so to speak) are fully realizing our own potential. This is a misconception that is understandable when mortals, especially those accustomed to isolation, begin to encounter the truth of who you and we are in this great pool of love provided by our Parents.
It is as though you were sequestered in an outlying hot tub with a wall between you and this larger pool. Some of you may have discerned evidence of others through this wall beyond your range of vision and, of course, many have come to sit in this tub with you speaking of this larger pool. Oftentimes they have been asked to leave, as if speaking of a greater pool while in the midst of this body of water, relatively speaking, would be taken as ingratitude. Far from it, however, for this water is derived from the same source.
And that some have erected, through their own choices, barriers - as if to isolate various configurations of children from one another, when the intent of our Parents is to allow us, regardless of the particular arena in which we dwell, to discern that it is related to countless others whose dimensions are truly beyond our capacity to know, until such time as we have begun (indistinguishable).
In this season of experience for this world, and for you gathered here, when the reason for becoming who you are as a world with other worlds leave you with a vision of those who really believe what they seek are now seeing is true, but how much greater is the vision whereby you see not merely those worlds through your own mechanical contrivance, as helpful as these are, so when there are those who are material-minded are apt to ask you to leave your present pool of placement where your soul is being heard, remind them that they too extend their range of vision through mechanical means.
And this is laudable and is to be encouraged in every manner that is possible, for dwelling in you is the desire to see God. And this Source, this infinite spark wants to speak, to learn, to experience. It is our Father dwelling in you desiring to extend himself through you and invite others to partake of seeing truth, unlimited by temporal conditions, by spatial limitations. It is for His children that he shares fully with his partners in Paradise Trinity.
You would form an emerging experiential deity through your own experience, living faithfully (indistinguishable) so do not doubt when those that would content only extending their vision through the invention of their own artifice to make use of this indigenous resource within you that is the Creator of your Source and Center.
Lift your eyes to these (indistinguishable) that surround you. Everything you see with your material vision, is the way the divine spirit makes contact with mortal man, with the spiritual light, without concern for others who would dismiss it, and invite by feelings or emotions, but in the realm of the highest and most spiritualized thinking, for "It is your thoughts, not your feelings, that lead you Godward." (Pg. 1104, 06)
(Indistinguishable) within you all, this desire to know is truly planted and nurtured by Our Father, Our Mother and all of our siblings where we stand together in this moment that is forever. It is single. It is solitary. It is personal religious experience. It is a part of the whole of increasing, ongoing perfection. How happy I am to be here with you in this fashion, through this voice, and in this community of friends.
MERIUM: Thank you, Tomas. Stay with us. There is more to come, but I am going to fluff up the pillows and turn up your volume. I am also going to ask for questions from the floor
Elena: Tomas! You mentioned something about "people would be asked to leave." I wonder what you mean by that.
TOMAS: Let me speak more directly. You know, throughout the course of history on an evolving world, whenever what is known is enjoyed as a source of (indistinguishable) there exists always a need to expand this comfort. There are and there is a tendency among all, to some extent -- and perhaps some more than others, for everyone has a role. Some conserve, some preserve, some discover and all of us do this together, so you see, there is built into this tendency to construct and design comfort that you know and with which you are familiar.
There is always the invitation to whomever would accept it, to step beyond these boundaries, and as you do, whether in your own experience or as defined by those with whom you dwell, you may encounter what appears to be (indistinguishable), their disapproval, perhaps persecution, and it maybe not so explicit as your forebears knew, but is nonetheless subtle and striking at this heart where it is your faith that leads you onward… inward …upward. You get the idea. Does this assist? Is this a more clear conception?
Elena: Yes. [Faulty tape]
TOMAS: Important it is to remember that as you are invited to pursue what you sense as an opening into certainty and what is unknown, and as you appear to part ways to some extent with that which you have shared as known, settled, comfortable with your fellows, be on guard against the propensity, quite natural and understandable, for you as you journey outward to look back and reply to the disapproval or the barbs thrown at you or laid very discretely around you, with an air of superiority, looking down as it were upon your fellows for what appears to be a more timid posture.
You recall in your text how it is that in every generation a civilization is imperiled when a certain percentage of youth, as they wrestle with becoming adults, avoid entering arenas of inquiry such as in the realm of philosophy, religion, cosmology, art, music, and so forth, things that are not so readily rewarding in a material sense. But likewise, this relative minority that is required in order for the maintenance of a progressive civilization remains outside of the context of that civilization, that is defiant and guarded and protected by those who would remain, as it were, in the port, in the pool, behind the wall that is safe or seemingly safe. Am I clear?
[Considerable material lost due to faulty recording.]
Thoroah: [Talking about when you step out of your own comfort zone you have to deal with those who balk against the separation.]
TOMAS: Yes, by all means, you never will separate. None of us are separate. But sometimes when you have grown accustomed to an apparent insular environment, you feel as you adventure, a need to recreate that isolation, even if in an expanded dimension, so what difference does it make? Taking one step out of isolation into another context? Would this be a source of satisfaction? Perhaps. For a moment. What you are experiencing in this time is the awakening of an entire world, and in truth, an entire universe awaiting (indistinguishable) elimination of these barriers, possibly erected by the decision of those who would deny what they cannot see.
Gerdean: I have a concern I would like to ask about, and that is, when we step outside the hot tub wall into the atmosphere, as it were, those of us who have some sense of spiritual purpose are - as part of the persecutions, perhaps - disdained as a "guru." It's that word guru I'd like you to talk about. We have a number of gurus in the avant garde that I have rubbed elbows with over the decades and I find them amusing and helpful often, also comical and pathetic. I consider myself one, if and when I apply the definition as I understand it. But it would just be helpful to hear something from an esteemed teacher about this attitude that happens, in some regard, when we set out to be ambassadors of a spiritual kingdom. Would you address that, Tomas?
TOMAS: Gladly, Gerdean. To use this metaphor with which we began, the term "guru" is it not but any other place deemed to be apart, and yet is close enough to remain visible to those within this solution that is, in truth, the gift of Our Parents' Love. Will they stand outside this water and teach about the experience of being in it? Such is the picture drawn in this word. Do not be distracted when your fellows or yourselves at any time find yourself standing beside this small pool speaking to those in it of another pool that they discern just over what is apparently a barrier. Remember, no one sets themselves upon the path of being an ambassador. It is the source of law that defines any government that is invested in its citizens. The law of a spiritual kingdom, of this that we are, our law is singular. It is love. Love delights in moving everyone in a dance of divinity attainment and as you move and are moved, you may find yourself in a position, temporarily, seen as distinct, but not for long. Once again you return, immersing yourselves in the Source of the impetus to stand at all.
The difficulty of terms of authority - designating esteem, respect, prestige perhaps - are problematic when they are defined by those that would have them be still and remain standing, looking over a barrier while speaking of what they see. It is not the intent of love for anyone to be left outside this healing bath of love, in any pool at any time.
Simply allow this fluid to have its way and know that it comes from within you, each and all, and as you do, you will not have time with which to imprison the voice of spirit, for this spirit is eternal. It speaks through all of us in different ways, in different moments, limited moments they are in time by its very nature, and yet a microcosm, a hologram if you will, of eternity, designed by Our Father to assist you in sharing the service of eternity. Such a destiny that awaits you! Does this help, Gerdean?
Gerdean: Yes, it does. It reminds me, too, of the word "ostentatious." Perhaps in our isolation, in our family isolations we've been conditioned to believe that anyone who has the nerve to step outside the bounds of propriety or custom or heaven forbid look over the wall or make a loud noise, be seen in any capacity, is in bad taste, poor form, as ostentatious. This is one of the things that stop me when I feel that I'm going outside of someone else's comfort zone -- in terms of how much I talk or some of the words that I use in my ministry, and I really want to be effective, and yet sometimes it seems like the best thing I can do is go back to bed and keep my mouth shut. So this is kind of what I was thinking of in terms of my own personal spiritual path -- how to proceed and have a sense of purposiveness in my reflecting the light, but without appearing to be some flaming ego on parade. I guess I just need to overcome my trepidation and forge ahead in the spirit -- onward, inward and upward -- and let the chips fall where they may.
TOMAS: Dear Gerdean, this trepidation is a trap of the ego that would prevent you from being free. It is the Spirit that you are that is free to speak -- to extend your hand, your heart and mind as is directed by its Source. When you or any would feel discouraged, as if you were reminded that you are but a shell, a body, who are you to think of yourselves as children of God? This is the complaint of those who have but themselves to be accountable for their dis-ease. As you allow yourself to be at liberty in love, you liberate all those around you.
If I may suggest that when you feel like retreating and, as you say "just going back to bed" as if to mend wounds encountered in your opening your blossom showing forth, sharing its fragrance, you are in truth simply acknowledging the priority and the source of the truth that you are by resting. And we, of course, have been for some time now encouraging everyone to recognize the priority of resting in this that is Our Father's Love. We have called it Stillness. You may call it anything you wish. You may call it Respite. You may call it a Reverie. You may call it communion, meditation, prayer, worship -- all of these and many more are quite appropriate. They all point you and we to this Source that we are, in truth.
But we remind ourselves as we re-charge ourselves -- and if I could borrow a metaphor from my friend here, each of you are as an agent of change, of nutrition, of life-giving oxygen that the body of God needs to have in extensive circulation. You are, as you find yourselves in your temporal, spatial identities, located at this moment in what is understood to be an extremity of God. You are passing through this chamber. The life-giving nutrients that you are, are being spent, and while there are ages to come before you stand in Paradise, you dwell in this place, you may at any time, for such is the gift of Paradise that it is embedded in every particle of creation, and what it is, is the heart of God, and as you find yourselves depleted, having spent yourselves in service, learning with your fellows the dance of divinity, and you have tumbled and tripped, your toes are injured, or another's, simply return to this space, if you will, that is everywhere, and allow yourselves to be refreshed in the chambers of the heart of God. This is where all the nutrients, all the food, all the riches, that you would carry to the outermost boundaries of creation - it is here, this place in which we dwell, even now. Do not lament when you sustain injuries, either to your ego or simply to your heart, having opened yourself to being vulnerable as much as you feel you can. Allow yourself the privilege of witnessing your heart becoming the heart of God.
Gerdean: Amen.
Student: Thank you.
TOMAS: Are there other questions?
Gerdean: There is another question, Tomas, but I am concerned about our endurance levels. Not that we are not having a wonderful time, but I just need to check with the group and see if they are --because this is a long question that has been submitted and might take some time to answer and I know some people here have other commitments, so let me go on pause and find out, okay?
[INTERMISSION]
Gerdean: I know that someone will say to put it on the record so I'm going to put it on the record. It's quite a lengthy thing:
"I would like someone in your group to address a question to Tomas since he is a self-described philosopher. Given the limitations of my mortal mind, I would like to ask if it is possible for the architects of existence to achieve their goals without the amount of suffering that this planet has known?
"I just made up the term 'architects of existence' to stand for all in the celestial realms who plan reality or existence. (I am aware of the Master Architects in the text.) Essentially, I am questioning the necessity, if necessity is indeed the case, for the amount of suffering we endure. Just to take the instance of the amount of suffering endured by what might be called the immaturity of the physical development of the planet that causes so much death and suffering through volcanic upheavals, earthquakes, and hurricanes.
"In other words, why not wait until the planet had gone through these primitive stages before planting life? It is, after all, difficult for sensitive and intelligent human beings to believe in a benevolent God when we are surrounded by so much suffering. Another way of approaching the issue I am raising is, rather than asking it in the form of a question, it might be made in the form of a suggestion from we lowly humans who are doing the suffering to our superiors who are planning future universes. If it is the case, and I believe it to be so, that we are co-creators with our celestial superiors, I should think they would be interested in some feed-back along this line. Do they have a suggestion box?
"Take, for instance, the default of Lucifer as narrated in our text. Here is a high Son with hundreds of thousands of years of training. Did this son have no personal experience of the love of the Father in all this time, so that at a certain point he could readily deny his existence and claim it was fraud on the part of the Creator Sons to claim such existence only to strengthen their political rule? I don't think the revelators did a very good job of explaining this default. It is stated that in our local universe these sons were given more personal freedom than the usual standard.
"Then the text goes on to say that this granting of extended personal responsibility to Lucifer is not an error in that more benefits have accrued from this state of affairs than the loses. I do not recall the benefits, if indeed they are listed. (And they would have a bit of an unreal quality about them when simply read, as contrasted with the vividness and immediacy of our experienced suffering and horror.) From where I am sitting, I would vote to limit the power of these sons if it would mitigate the suffering we and 39(?) other planets have had to endure. I think it is the divine within us that urges us to ask questions. It is the pull to understand. Yes?
"I am not angry at management. I am genuinely interested in what the wiser and more experienced teachers have to say, particularly, since we have been encouraged by the Master to be unafraid to examine all matters."
Gerdean: So. Any of that.
TOMAS: Dear friends. This is Tomas. I would endeavor to address these questions, this comment, critique, analysis of experience that we share, and particularly you in this world. The question begs the examination of the range of freedom. Indeed it probes: what is freedom? In asking the question, you yourself are exercising this freedom that is extended - and in this particular local creation is extended perhaps in a greater measure than many others, though not all, so you will allow that there is difference, the difference that composes the character of creation of which you are a part, a creative part.
Indeed, you, in many ways, are designing your own universe as you speak, based upon your experience and yes, it is valuable and it has come at a high price, therefore savor it even more deeply. Invite as many as would join you in sifting the seeds of wisdom as a harvest in this experience. Freedom entails responsibility, as we know. Were it not for such freedom, what meaning would there be in your question? Would you as a creator limit, and how much, your creation? You are doing this now, even as you speak, but as you limit yourself by limiting others, you are then confining according to your own preference, the concept of God within you.
It would be my intent, and it is my mission as a teacher in this initiative of healing the wounds that you have experienced, to encourage your confidence that is born of faith in our Father over and against, sometimes, the wisdom or lack thereof of any one or many of his beloved children. And so you will answer your own question in time and eventually in the service of eternity, should you so choose -- building upon the architectural plans of making use of this precious experience in the management and direction and creation of universes awaiting their moment to come forth from within us.
The question inevitably is one of how great is your faith in your fellows? Or better yet, how great a faith do you have in our Father working in and through them? How much of your own control would you cover them with and/or corral them? Yes, there are limitations that are designed into our creation. Having suffered as you have, you would restrain those limitations further. But in fact you are simply questioning how you could extend these limitations in a more effective manner, and I am grateful for your concern, your care, your understanding, your compassion, that is of a character ironically shaped by this experience that you may find a cause of regret.
And so you yourself offer the proof of the wisdom of the faith of our Father in His children, whether as we are as ascending mortals or in his finite children of birth and origin in a local creation born to administer the realms of time. I hope that you will discern that this experience is one that informs such administrators as we speak. Be assured that all is gathered in; nothing is wasted; everything serves the cause of love, and it is after all things have come and gone that love remains, our source, our hope, our joy, the inspiration of our liberty that is so freely shared, restrained only by the wisdom and mercy of this limitless love unfolding nevertheless within the limitations of time and space.
I thank you and I would encourage you to continue in your inquiry and proceed in the gathering of experience to inform your inquiry. We all depend upon one another to make real the reality of this love in time and space as it is in Havona.
MERIUM: I would add my two cents. This is Merium and in the wake of Tomas' dissertation, I'll be pedantic by this parable of you who love to garden, wherein the task of plowing the field in the spring involves large clumps of soil in which worms move and have their being, and some of them are cut in two as the blade swings deep into the earth. Worms are of a nature that they can withstand being halved; they simply adjust by becoming two worms.
Renault: How weird.
MERIUM: It's simply another example of how creation works. There are many rules, natural laws, in creation.
Moving through our garden experience, comes the day when the soil is cultivated and the seeds are planted in the furrows. Over time, if the circumstances and conditions are optimum, all the seeds will sprout and emerge from the soil in a race for survival. Here is the point where I would pause to inculcate the human race as an analogy. You are seedlings, one and all, and in order to have a good crop, in order for the fruit of the vine to come forth, there will need to be a series of weeding and hoeing, followed by hewing and pruning, so as to approach optimum, and this is sometimes how it is with the early races. Many are weeded out so that many others can survive and flourish.
Ask the Master Gardener if it is cruel to weed the garden, to pull out the many, many seedlings that will surely choke upon themselves in the furrow where they are planted if they are not either transplanted or eliminated by some merciful method, lest they become dwarfs, mutants, or such suckers as to deplete the soil of all the nutrition that is necessary for the growth of those which are fortunate enough to survive. Would that you could see how early in the game your earth is.
I certainly do not mean to imply that human lives are uprooted and snuffed out without a care, as if the Master Gardener were unthinking and uncaring or insensitive. From the limited perspective of the back yard gardener, it might seem so but when you have developed experience and can see the farther view, you can better appreciate that these laws, natural laws are in effect for a reason and that without abiding by certain facts of existence, existence will be retarded and slow.
Do not make the mistake of thinking I have just justified the deaths of all those who drown in the tsunami or succumb to plague, no, for even in mass murders and global disease there are sincere religionists whose voices are heard on high, who may be physically cut down but are salvageable on high as living beings worthy of survival. You just seem to have a sense of tenderness and compassion that goes to the victims of primitive existence as proof against the goodness of God and this is erroneous thinking. The Father does not delight in your suffering. Neither does he send you impaired or ineffective leadership, but in light of the gift of free will, it would be a mistake to blame God for how mortals use their free will -- not only mortals but heavenly helpers who go astray, as sometimes happens.
And ever remember that most of the worlds of time and space are controlled such that they do not have the variables that are allowed in these decimal worlds such as on which you reside where the opportunity for disaster is manifold more because of the adventure of options available to you that are not available on worlds more settled and constrained by universal law. Perhaps you can better appreciate the uniqueness of your world when you realize that it has undergone significant aberrations from the divine plan that was set in motion when this world was created by the master architects as a result of the planning - the conscientious and painstaking planning that went into it by your Creator Son and his Consort.
Indeed Michael's apology to the children of time and space was demonstrated in his decision to come here to see first hand the results of his creation, even that which had run amok, very much like you parents who love your children, even when they are immature, rebellious, defiant, disrespectful, and behave in vile manner. It is very difficult not to love your children. It is error to indulge such behavior and cultivate it and nurture it as if it were merciful. Mercy is not the same as enabling. It does not make excuses for evil, but understands evil and operates in the face of evil to do good.
It would seem Tomas has cultivated a Teacher's Assistant in me, Merium, as I begin to wax philosophic … interspersed with my babysitting and storytelling. Are there other questions or are there other comments? And Tomas, I am not usurping your place at the podium, merely facilitating this afternoon.
Renault: Can I just ask that you send my daughter's guardian angels to help her and watch over her and help her get through this, and I know a lot is being done. I just want to say thank you and keep up the good work.
MERIUM: There are indeed angels overseeing your daughter's care and development. She is not alone. She will benefit greatly by developing a relationship with the spirit such that she can actually approach assistance in faith of it being there. It is all very well and good for us to be there for her, and for others to be there for her, but she must develop her own faith in that fact. Help her recognize that she is not alone. In the farther dimension, help her realize that she is aided and assisted by the many morontia beings who not only look after her and her coworkers but who are assigned to the field of healing.
There are angels of health who are assigned to her place of employment, that reside there night and day and help with the healing processes of the residents therein - the patients as well as the employees as well as the visitors as well as any and all that have to do with that division of seraphic aide. What a blessing! How confidence-inducing it must be for those of you who know what division to which you are assigned, where your niche is, for once you have found your niche in the service to humanity, your service to the Father can shine.
Even within the field of medicine there are smaller, more specialized fields of service. Help her find the one that will draw her out, where she will run eagerly -- challenged and stimulated -- to embrace the task before her. Allow her to know the hope of fulfillment as a worker in the field. And as you have done, nurture her courage by giving her herself.
There is a midwayer there by the name of Mimi.
Renault: In the hospital?
MERIUM: Yes.
Renault: Okay. Good.
MERIUM: Yes. I will ask Mimi to be mindful of your daughter as she returns to work after her hiatus; however, I am quite sure Mimi is already well apprised and even now awaits her return to the scene where the synchronicities of healing can begin -- hers as well as those she serves. Have faith.
Renault: Thank you.
MERIUM: Are there other matters, other comments?
Gerdean: I, Gerdean, want to thank Rob for coming and for giving me the opportunity to ask questions and to sit at the feet of the Teachers as a student. I am greatly comforted through this ministry and I appreciate all of those who serve in the capacity as T/R as well as those who are called students in this teaching mission … not to mention my huge appreciation for the Teachers themselves.
MERIUM: Well said, Gerdean. We too have great appreciation for all the players, all the participants, all the elements of life that conspire to lift you up into the greater realms of light. Are there any closing remarks from you Tomas?
TOMAS: My dear friends, I glow with gratitude for your gathering and your witnessing Merium in a role to which you may not be accustomed. Allow yourselves to take up roles in which you may find yourself unaccustomed. For within you, as in us, is the Source of all, and nothing can fulfil a teacher like a student who has joined them in the task of extending themselves. Indeed, you have received much; you have much to give. Do not call yourselves short of that which Our Father sees in you.
Be of good cheer. We will be mindful of your progress
MERIUM: Bye bye.
*****
DATE: November 4, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHERS: MERIUM & MONJORONSON
TOPIC: Balance
MERIUM: Hi. I'll jump right in. How about we discuss "balance" this afternoon. Perhaps if we have a better appreciation for balance, we will see what's out of balance and thus have a gauge on how to formulate questions.
Speaking in terms of finding your Voice, your expression -- that is to say, your Adjuster's expression through you and with your co-operation -- there is a range of operation possible. In the past, as you have gone about the Father's business -- one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing -- you have been able to respond (or not) to the immediate demands / requirements.
Sometimes it requires intimacy, and here is the wondrous one-on-one we love so well and would have more often -- wonderful opportunities of sharing our inner life with others, bonding, becoming associates, even becoming friends -- as we have become friends with each other here in this "zone" where we meet.
At the other end of the spectrum, perhaps, is the understanding / recognition that whole-bodied truth is universal. Full-fledged truth is generic / germane to all. You think to broadcast the good news such that your Voice loses the tenor of intimacy as it extends out over the wavelengths of time and space into infinity.
Our Father knows we are about his business and Mother Spirit enjoys a constant consciousness and awareness of our energy, and so we need not worry about telling them. We really need not even worry about "singing to the choir" -- which would certainly constitute some of that intimacy that is so longed for, especially by those of you who have been set apart by quarantine and through isolation.
The concern, the focus, the Voice needs to be directed into the darkness in order to call forth those who still slumber. How does one do this? Is it like hollering off a cliff and hearing your echo in the canyon? Is it like shouting in a cave? It is like the shepherd who finds his cow by hearing the bell. The sheep know the sound of the Master's Voice.
Sometimes the Master's Voice speaks through music. Native American flute music, perhaps, or the crystal bowls, wherein a tone or timbre will grab your attention and grasp you by the life force. This is what your goal should be -- to reach into the dark with your life force in order to show the way. In order for you to show the way, you cannot admit that you also lose your way without acknowledging the sound of the Master's Voice as that which lets you be found. And so the seed is planted. The seed is planted that will spark that soul to strive to hear that sound that will lure them forward into the light.
By the same token, balance needs to be attained in the shining of the light you have. For you to shine the light in the eyes of someone who has been in the dark is to present false light. Allow the process to be natural, albeit certain. Remember, there are those who do not appreciate being reminded of what they don't yet know. And so, be discreet. Indeed, here is the merit of modesty. Everywhere there are signs of polarity, and indications of unrest. It is a cry for balance, wisdom. [Long pause]
MONJORONSON: I am Monjoronson. I know many of you do not believe I exist. I don't need you to. Many of you do not believe in me. I don't expect you to. I am called to perform certain services on behalf of your world and other worlds emerging from isolation and I am both proud and humbled to serve in this Correcting Time Mission.
Thank you, Gerdean, for allowing me to come through. We have understood (your reluctance) and were not surprised, as we in the higher echelons of planetary government and administration understand and are not surprised by anything that might go on in the mind of a mortal from Urantia at this point in time. It could be anything. And there are certain adventures ahead that will contribute to and support this recognition of wonder lure. But it is also true that there will need to be new foundations laid within you each individually and you collectively as we proceed building this bridge into the forthcoming dispensation … forthcoming epoch … forthcoming epochal period.
Don't worry about it. Just enjoy the singular truth of our being, the fact of eternal life. It is an ordered universe, and you are part of it. I suppose there will be those who will say you have sold out. To those you owe no explanation. By your fruits you shall be known. As you know in your mental framework, I and all the others are only representations of a greater reality than you can assimilate in fullness, and so as you can and do believe that there are heavenly helpers, ministering spirits, Teachers and visiting students, a Sovereign Son, a Gabriel, a Machiventa Melchizedek, it is not unseemly to accept a representation of a Magisterial Son.
Renault: [Indistinguishable reference to changes we are having.]
MONJORONSON: It is because the circuits here are opening, and your planet is being flooded with stimuli. That will be addressed individually and globally. It is not limited to the small conclave of Teachers in the Teaching Corps who have dedicated themselves to disseminating Urantia Book teachings through their students. It is not limited to those who work in other fields of science, religion, or any of the subsections such as education, economics, politics and the like.
I have been here for a very long time participating in the reclamation of this segment of the System. But I, like the others, have only recently been identified and presented as a personality capable of contacting humans and offering counsel, guidance and direction on occasion, as deemed appropriate. Like you, I often have things to offer the situation, but, like you, all my ideas are not workable. And so a modification needs to come about in order for the growth of Reality to expand in the face of the conscription and restraints of the individuals who have put forth their all into the process. I am overseeing much at this very pregnant time.
Let me withdraw from you at this time. I am glad to be made visible in this area. Thank you for receiving me.
Group: Thank you.
MERIUM: I'm back. I feel like such a child around some of these fellows.
Renault: So do we.
MERIUM: Well, indeed we are children, and more's the better for it. We are teachable and trusting and made assured by the knowledge that our Michael's mission is one of mercy. Do you have any questions? Did you remember what you thought to ask earlier and couldn't find? (No) No questions, no comment.
Renault: The weather is beautiful here, as always. Any insight into the kind of winter we are going to have?
MERIUM: No, I am not--
Renault: (laughing) A weather forecaster.
MERIUM: -- a weather forecaster or a crystal-ball gazer.
Renault: Just enjoy our beautiful weather.
MERIUM: Exactly. It is always more easy for us when you are at peace with your environs, for then you are less agitated and fretful, spilling pollutants into your system --
Renault: Which we are trying to heal.
MERIUM: -- that we are trying to get past. Such as adrenaline, anger, anxiety, and so forth and yes, of course, more coffee, more alcohol, more sugar, and other alterations to the electro-chemical status that we need stabilized for quality stillness and clear communications. "Clear channel" I believe is what they call it. If we are reduced to talking about the weather, I will toddle on. Go and find something to chat about.
Renault: Well, only in that we are blessed with enjoying good weather when other parts of our country and world are under devastating turns of the weather.
MERIUM: Well, yes, of course, it is always good to be grateful for what you have, and yet if we are to reach into the dark and lure people into the light, then we don't want to remind them how dark it is where they are. (No.) It was not long ago that your area suffered blight, draught, and many trees were lost due to the lack of water and some hungry bugs. Every area has its pros and cons and challenges. This is one of the aspects of the material life that you enjoy and that you must endure.
Those of you who do enjoy your physical environs are, again, rendered much happier citizens, much easier to deal with, than those of you who are not well situated. All of the animals have what you could call a natural habitat, and while it has been proven time and time again, possible for entire herds and schools and races to adapt, it is a long process.
Changes are best made over a period of time. Only God can safely do things abruptly, and assuredly those things will be well orchestrated, because God is the infinite upholder. Fortunately, we are not given that kind of power, only over that which falls within our realm of operation, and we can see effects of when things happen suddenly. If it is not planned, it gives error more than equal opportunity. Is this to encourage you to become a "control freak"? No. But it is to remind you that this is an orderly universe.
Do you ever have a sensation that you are being wound up, like a toy with a key? That something clasps you in the brain and manipulates your mind such that you are good to go for another round?
I am shown a picture of the Keystone Cops, running around in high speed. Sometimes you people are like that. It is virtually impossible to connect with that. We have to depend a great deal on the Adjusters themselves, and on the midwayers who are quite adept, and if there are -- when there are -- guardian seraphim, to reach you at so many points in the day and night when you are so under the influence of the mechanistic conditions of Urantia. You are impossible to access, as if you were wound up.
It is such a joy, now that so many of you have discovered the benefits of meditation, stillness, and the like, for it is in this slowing down that we are able to nurture and cultivate within your mind those thoughts and attitudes which can only come from having some degree of leisure. And while it is certainly possible for individuals to access this stillness in order to enjoy prayer and worship independently, individually, there is a cumulative effect in so many of you opting to assume certain practices in your life that will augment and enhance the developing illumination that is on call for the next generation, the next era.
Balance. We return to balance. Finding yourself once more in the position you hold as a universe citizen. The colors are so dynamic. Indeed, it has been brilliant. All the world's a stage and there have been some dramatic moments lately. The intrigue in the Middle East continues unabated, forest fires sweep through, lots of things, politics, all of it. All very interesting for you here now. It is such an interesting time. It is balanced of you to opt to spend time with us in the spirit as well, for we provide the other side of the coin, the other end of the polarity, the alpha and omega.
Listen to the birds, how they sing. Such faithful friends they are. Trust the many aspects of your life that are provided to give you comfort and provide your needs, the very ground you walk, the soil itself and everything growing thereon adorns your world and makes it your home, inhabited by the millions of creatures big and small, you who are so diverse and so very, very young, you are such a cradle here. I am so pleased to be assigned here as your babysitter/teacher.
Group: Thank you.
MERIUM: And thank you, dear ones. Run along and play. Everything is well in hand.
*****
DATE: November 11, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER: MERIUM
TOPIC: Holidays, Sincerity; Cat and Mouse Games
Elena on Piano: "Wayfaring Stranger" [Played by Jerry Garcia with David Crosby, Paul Kantner et al during the PERRO sessions in 1971, some circulating tapes refer to it as a Crosby song called "Over Jordan", but it is in fact a traditional song recorded by a wide range of singers including Burl Ives, Joan Baez, Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, Emmylou Harris, etc.] "Happy Birthday" to Gerdean. [Take time to open presents.]
MERIUM: How are you this afternoon, my lovelies? This is Merium. I am glad to be here because you know I cannot resist a party! What a lovely party you have had, indeed, on behalf of your stalwart T/R and good buddy, Gerdean.
What fun you have with your holidays. Actually, it seems you go from one holiday to the next, keeping yourselves in touch with the heartbeat of your culture which you have cultivated as a community, as a nation, and as a world. Holidays seem to take the drudgery out of the rut and routine of maintenance.
Renault: Give us an excuse to get together.
MERIUM: Indeed -- under joyous circumstances. Always there are occasions to get together to work or do something productive. This is the nature of the human animal, to be busy, to be industrious, and so he is even industrious about his holidays.
You are coming into indeed just into the holiday season. You may be well advised that
Holidays are not only a way of celebrating but a way of diverting oneself in revelry as compared to looking at the problems one faces in experiential living, and the more stressful the times of experiential living, the more revelry is needed. You may -- this group in particular - may have a picture of the Bob Hope ministry and others as well, to the service men during the World War. What it hit it was to take the entertainment to the troops. It kept the boys going, as well as pin-ups of course, of Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe and other lovelies. These kinds of diversions and distractions are not always simply a bit of fluff but are a genuine means of relieving the tension of existence, in particularly during times such as when you are at war, just to say you are in for a very busy season, it behooves you to brace yourself in advance, lest you get completely carried away in the hysteria of illusion.
There is always, of course, the underlying reason for the season. All these holidays have a purpose, to honor and acknowledge something that has contributed to your national culture or personal accomplishment, many of them generic enough to reach beyond boundaries to encompass the family of man worldwide. And so I love a party. The potential in these occasions wherein you get together to rejoice over something of value is a triumph to the human spirit.
But I really came to you today to talk about Sincerity.
Sincerity is a quality that bears witness to your ideal. And generally, considered, your ideal is the highest thing in your consciousness. It may not have been attained yet but it is, even so, that which you hold up and out for all to observe and for you to aspire toward. It is indeed the impetus that compels you to attain your ideal, which gives rise to your industry and your need to reflect yourselves in busyness in an attempt to attain these ideals. And so a purposeful life has a great deal of heart as compared to those who are driven.
In the cacophony of life, in the demands to accomplish and acquire, as well as the song and noisemakers of merriment, the tonal quality of sincerity awaits. It is like the sound of the Master's Voice, which all humankind recognizes. It is like harmony, that tonal quality of sincerity, and it becomes compelling to seek this tonal quality that is found in sincerity.
In a lifestyle that is bound up completely between the two fields aforementioned, that of vigorous work and vigorous play, there is often, too often, scant need to recognize or demonstrate sincerity. But it is one of those qualities akin to conviction that gives your presence Presence.
Everyone sooner or later tires of maintenance and of revelry, but sincerity is always a sound that harmonizes the soul … allowing for a sense of accomplishment, a sense of joyousness, and a sense of being at one and at home within thyself.
I rejoice in this quiet outpost in the desert. I saw through Gerdean today a roadrunner. What an enchanting little bird it is. [Group murmurs as to the neighborhood roadrunner.] You are somewhat like them yourselves. [Group chuckles.] Flitting here and there, bowing your head and lifting your tail feathers.
What a joy it is to know you people and to be here on this plane of existence to observe the fascinating lives you live as creatures of the realm. Each creation is so unique. And yours is no exception. So as I observe to you that I find delight and amusement, as well as occasion to overcome difficulty and emerge triumphant, I am certain that you also observe your lives as well, with its challenges and triumphs. I am more than curious to hear more about them. What have you been up to? Share with me your inner life and listen to the sound of your own sincerity as you share one with the other.
Esmeralda: Well, Merium, I'm afraid my life is not very exciting to observe. It seems like I do less and less, and have less of a purpose. I know I've had a full life and … but it seems like I'm not doing much with it right now-- So I'm very glad to be alive! And I'm very glad to have seen a roadrunner. And all of nature! Nature is terrific.
Renault: Even on its bad days.
Men-O-Pah: He just danced across the lawn there, to say hello to us.
Esmeralda: Yes, he comes right up-- I'm just not always out every day this time a year, but I think he has comes frequently.
Renault: What do they eat?
Esmeralda: There used to be some people that used to live in this neighborhood that got him little balled up bits of raw hamburger and they would come up and eat it.
Renault: Oh, so he is carnivorous!
Men-O-Pah: They are. They're meat-eaters.
Renault: Bugs. Snakes
Esmeralda: They say, 'don't feed natures creatures' because then they begin to depend on you, and if you don't continue, they are at jeopardy. So it's kind of hard to know what to do.
MERIUM: Well, there's a value lesson for you. If you feed nature's creatures such that they neglect to feed themselves, you have created a problem.
Esmeralda: A hardship.
Renault: Well, what about people that put out bird feeders? Would that--
Elena: That can do it.
Men-O-Pah: They'll keep doing it.
Esmeralda: Well, I have quit recently, because I feel the birdseed is attracting mice so much. I just had to get rid of the mice and so I haven't fed the birds for awhile … a few weeks.
Men-O-Pah: We clean up the mess they make. Or try to. And the cat gets near them.
Esmeralda: Yeah, but then sometimes … mice carry fleas and…
Men-O-Pah: So do birds.
Esmeralda: And there are so many pigeons here that-- Pigeons love tile roofs. We didn't use to have them until they started using tile roofs a lot in this area, and now the pigeons scare the small birds away, which are actually the ones that I wanted to feed. So I think there are problems. There are great joys that go along with it, but also great problems.
Men-O-Pah: We have mourning doves. We don't have any pigeons.
Renault: I used to have doves, but I don't see-- I think the pigeons have scared away the doves.
Paula: And we had a bad time. The cat got a bird the other day, one of the little birds, and she was carrying it; it was still alive and she brought it into the house and showed it to us. I started to spank her, but Men-O-Pah said, 'She's a hunter and she was proud of what she did; she wanted to show us." And I said, 'Yeah, but I feed those birds, and she was out killing them!"
Esmeralda: It's inbred in her.
Paula: I suppose I shouldn't have spanked her, but I did.
Elena: Well, next time, you can skip it.
Paula: I hope she never gets another one. But she got a mouse! And he got into the birdseed and all of a sudden, he got in the house! The birdseed was out in the garage and how he got in --
Men-O-Pah: The open door!
Esmeralda: They find ways.
Paula: And she's walking around with this live mouse in her mouth, showing what she got, and then she dropped him on the floor, on the ground. Well, he was so beat out by then he couldn't run. And he just kind of sat there looking real sad and looking at us, and then she grabbed him in her mouth again, like 'Big Deal.'
Renault: Did you put it outside? Did you put the cat outside?
Paula: I hope she took him out because we never did find the mouse again so I think he must have gone outside with her.
MERIUM: This is ordinary and appropriate behavior for animals, but by the time we evolve to man, we have potential for a new level of operation. If you were to replace those words of mouse, bird, cat, with words like countries, or political ideologies, you would have a new vision of what you engage in. Indeed animals can be barbaric, but as you resolve to be human, as compared to animal, you can make new choices about how to interact with your fellows and other creatures that share your habitat.
This is domestication, as you know, and civilization advances, slowly but surely. Even when it has setbacks, such as you perceive when you read the paper or watch the news and lament the current global situation. You are seeing it from and as the drama of the human animal. Look for that quality of sincerity in your leaders. Recognize what that sound sounds like. When you hear that sound that beckons you as being sincere, study it fearlessly to ascertain its motives, its intent, for sincerity in and of itself will cause you to follow but is it wisdom to follow that sincerity, that sincere voice, that tone, or is it folly?
One thing for certain is that you cannot tell who to listen to if what they say grates on your ear. And so people study the sound of sincerity to use it as a tool to lead, and this is wise. This is part of leadership. But do take the time to see where you are being led. Well, have I led you into a corner?
Elena: No, actually, I was going to see if anybody else has something to say before I chirped up. You talked about purpose and being driven, and you asked us to share about ourselves. I'm just worn out with trying to decide what my next step is, and I've just decided to take from now until the beginning of the year to kind of kick back. I've been meaning to do that for a while anyway, throughout this year and so I am going to try to spend more time with myself and not push any decisions or make any decisions or put myself to task for anything. I'm going to take myself off the hook, I believe. Those are my intentions. It's not very long between now and the first of the year.
That's what I think I should do. If I can't tell right now, between being driven and having a purpose, I think I'm kind of driven right now, to tell you the truth, and I'd like to be more purposeful.
MERIUM: Would you like some counsel? (Yes!) I already mentioned how busy it's going to be now, during your holiday season, and so you can't really do anything meaningful in the midst of that chaos anyway. But rather than assign yourself an arbitrary starting point, at the beginning of the year along with a lot of other people who make New Year's resolutions and look to the New Year as a good place to start, give yourself that time of year rather to relax and reflect so that when the spring thaw begins, which is generally around mid-February, you will be able to feel the life stirring within your branches, within your limbs, so that your own purpose will be revealed naturally, rather than you having to arbitrarily assign a decision to it.
I don't know if you understand what I mean here but it would be the difference of letting the human make the choice and letting your morontia reality make the choice.
Elena: Let it unfold.
MERIUM: That's right. You do yourself a disservice to-- Stop for the holidays and then pick up when the time is right for you germinate. Allow yourself to reveal itself. You don't need to drive yourself. It will show you "the way."
Elena: Okay. That hits a nice chord in me. I like that.
MERIUM: That way, you can use the seasons to your benefit, and when springtime is in full bloom, you will be in full sway with what you know to be the right and good thing for you to be doing at this time. So you will have a happier life and be more effective, even more productive.
Elena: Well, I like that.
Esmeralda: I like hearing that, Merium.
Renault: It gives your angels time to organize things and get a little more together for you.
Elena: That's good. Because I have really been striving forward, thrusting, trying to get forward, beating myself, so I think that sounds good.
MERIUM: You are at a time in your life where you are pondering the next couple of decades of your life, in terms of how much time you have as compared to how much you want yet to accomplish. It is a natural passage for intelligent mortals on this planet, in your culture, and so you are right in keeping with what one could expect from you at this time. Rejoice in the fact that you still have ambition and drive, that you have not succumbed to complaisancy … yet, for you do indeed still have much life left within your limbs and many fruits can yet be produced.
Elena: Thank you, Merium. I appreciate the guidance.
MERIUM: For you, Esmeralda, and 'the honeymooners,' "As the days dwindle down to a precious few" they are to be savored. You may not feel as though you have any ambition left or anything exciting going on in your life, but your reality is shifting. You too are preparing for another passage and you are now aware of mortality. Because you are closer to the statistical time of decline and departure, your challenge, of course, is not what to accomplish in the world but what to accomplish within yourself so that you will feel ready to leave when you are called.
Much of this should be/can be in appreciation of each moment. By being aware of each moment as it unfolds, each very quiet, unassuming moment, is in itself a miracle, because you are able to exist within it. This awareness of existing within the moment has lasting value. It helps assure you of your existence in time and space and once this becomes a part of your superconsciousness, you will and do recognize that this consciousness will continue to exist in millions and billions of moments from now, although it may not be in this form. And so you are able to serve yourself by preparing for your transition, just as Elena is preparing for her next transition, her passage into another decade of accomplishment and wish fulfillment on her world of origin.
When you are gone from here, you will not see things as you have enjoyed from here. These dazzling autumn days of yellow-gold cottonwood leaves with a backdrop of azure blue are something your eyes can feast on as a prayer of thanksgiving. It is not wasted time to behold beauty, truth and goodness. By now you know you are a part of it. You have claimed it. You own it. You have contributed your life. You have given all you have, and you have every right to sit back and rejoice in your accomplishments. You need not start another business or start another club unless you want to.
Esmeralda: Oh, thank you! (Group laughter.) No, I'm actually happy with my life, Merium. I just want to be sure I'm doing Father's will, and it's not always easy to know what Father's will is. So I'm actually comfortable, sitting back. I really am. I enjoy my daughters. I always did. I'm actually quite happy with my life. I realize it's a transitional time, and a preparatory time, but it's nice to be here as long as I should be here and it will also be nice to go on to many things.
As long as my daughters are okay, and I think they both are, then everything is fine. And I have had a good life. My daughters have been a large part of it and I think I have been greatly blessed. And I think I am still blessed. I think the morontia world will be wonderful.
MERIUM: I heard you earlier say you just want to make sure that you are doing what is necessary to … what was it?
Esmeralda: Father's will. And at this stage, I'm not sure what the Father's will is. I don't know if He wants me to be doing more than I am, or just preparing myself and/or my daughters for my not being around.
MERIUM: They are well trained. They will be fine. You will, too. The only thing you need to do is make certain your commitments are made. And it seems you have done that long ago. The gift of eternal life is acquired. Yes, it is give to you freely, but then you need to work with it, and to the extent you have been consciously involved in creation, you will survive. My concern has always been the survival of the individual personality. Not just his or her qualities that have value, but the actual personality. That is what God needs from you. And so if you are prepared to commit your personality into the keeping of your highest consciousness of Deity, then you will inherently work toward cultivating and perfecting that end. That is perfection hunger that is born into you. God wants to return to the Source from whence He came and He wants to bring you along with Him.
Esmeralda: Well, I want that, too.
MERIUM: Then you're "in like Flynn."
Esmeralda: Thank you, Merium.
MERIUM: What did I hear over here from the Santa Fe contingent?
Renault: Do you have any advice for me or my daughter? I just seem to be work, work, work, work, working here. Letting things take care of themselves, I guess.
MERIUM: Well, letting things take care of themselves is actually walking a very fine destiny path. When things fall in line and you have no problems to deal with, you must be doing something right.
Renault: It's not that I don't have problems.
MERIUM: I was going to say, then assuredly something would come along so that you have something to keep you hopping, to keep you from being bored silly with the maintenance of human existence.
Renault: I find opportunities come along to help other people or encourage other people or some way you can do your own little … extend your hand kind of thing to help out people. Some are grateful, some are not; I just try to keep harmony. Ha! I too feel like my life has been blessed. I do feel that I have many, many, many, many blessings in my life, so my problems are not that severe or bothersome, I think. I do worry about my daughter. I think she could probably use a little help. I think things are coming her way, too, so, any suggestions?
Paula: Yes, don't worry about things!
Renault: No, I don't.
Paula: Things have a way of working out. I've watched that happen.
Renault: I'm not without talent and resources, so….
Paula: And you young people here, you have your whole lives ahead of you! I probably don't have all that much time but I don't know. People in my family live into their 90's and some over 100. And I have had my physical here a little bit ago. She said I was 'very well preserved.' She said, there was nothing wrong with me. She said I was in very good health, so I figure Men-O-Pah is stuck with me. I'm going to stay alive! I think. Unless a truck runs over me, I feel fine.
MERIUM: Even if a truck were to run over you, you would get up and dust your feathers off and trot off to the next party.
Paula: Could be!
Men-O-Pah: I've been away, as you know, to corporate wars again, and to solve all the problems laid out, and fortunately I solved it. I don't know how long I can keep doing that. I think the time is short, I'll have to let go of those things. I notice my ability to work around the house, some of the things that would take me five minutes now take an hour. But I can still do them. I guess it's better to be able to do those things than not be able at all. And something you were saying about working? There's something noble about working. It's good. I think it is.
MERIUM: Indeed.
Paula: Noble or not, it wears you out!
Men-O-Pah: Well.
Paula: He came home and he'd be beat at the end of the day.
Esmeralda: He could have been ten years ago, too! I remember before I retired, many days I was really tired. Then there were days when I worked 14 hours and came home doing just fine.
MERIUM: This is the process we have been talking about, this mother nature and the seasons, the animal life and slowing down so that you can see each moment. And passages. And this being an older group, that is to say comprised of elders, has a different purpose and a different statement to make than those which are still dominated by youth and ambition. There is absolutely nothing wrong with work or youth or ambition. Neither is there anything wrong with recognizing limitations. But yes, it is very difficult for the noble beasts to admit they can no longer do what they once did readily.
There is no shame in this process, and yet it is unsettling, for it is often a constant reminder of what you no longer have. However, these long reflective days of such beauty provide the soul, the psyche in perspective. If indeed you have all lived your lives fully, as I believe you have, then you have nothing to regret in letting go which, as the scripture says, are the things of youth that today no longer serve. What serves today is your experiential wisdom.
As Paula says, don't worry about it. But when you are in the thick of worry about it and it is the most important thing to you, to not worry about it would seem like irresponsibility somehow. So yes, work is noble, and creates good character, but it is also true that the material vehicle tires and parts wear out. The joy of living today is in recognizing the perfection of the moment and your place within that perfect moment. That is the reality, which is enduring, even eternal. I have no counsel for you, Renault, or your daughter. You are doing what you need to be doing and learning how to love it.
Renault: You mean my job?
MERIUM: Acceptance of all those things that trouble you, challenge you or bring you joy. Accept what is. Including how you interact with it. You have called yourself air-headed or addlebrained or "Libra," but you are also -- or rather -- open to what opportunities avail themselves. You may appear to be flitting and irresponsible to some, but would a hummingbird spend much time on a plastic flower? No. It would recognize at once the artificiality and go on to some other blossom.
Each creature has a pattern that works well for its best interests, and each creature sooner or later learns its limitations, like the mouse in the paws of your cat. By staying alert to the possibilities of escape, survival, the very next moment of conscious existence is enough to constitute the will of God. Praise God! Be joyous! Carry with you a divine countenance of simply joy.
Esmeralda: There's an awful lot to be joyous about.
Renault: It's easier if you don't read the newspaper or watch the news.
Group: Yeah! Amen to that!
Esmeralda: You know, I recommend looking outside at night, at the beautiful moon, and sometimes the stars are so bright. And every once in awhile you get a star that isn't a star but an airplane. But the nights are beautiful and the days are beautiful. And we're surrounded by beauty in all things, and the love of God.
MERIUM: The love of God surrounds us.
Esmeralda: That's the most important thing that surrounds us, I think.
MERIUM: The Power of God protects us.
Esmeralda: But he protects all these … the birds and the mice and … he has it all in hand, so you don't have to worry, Paula, if Cricket catches the mouse.
Paula: You know, I think the Lord was watching over the mouse. Because I think he must have gotten away. But how he got in the house, I don't know.
Men-O-Pah: Through the door.
Paula: Anyway, she entertained us with the mouse. She wouldn't hurt him, but she would take him over, in her mouth, very gently. She didn't bite him. She just kind of played with him. Then she would have him in front of her, and she'd take her paw and swat her. The mouse probably didn't know what to do! He was probably having a heart attack. And she was playing with him. She didn't know she was supposed to kill him. She just played with him.
Men-O-Pah: She fully intended to kill him later.
Paula: But she had more fun showing us.
MERIUM: I am going to cut you loose so you can play cat and mouse games. There's got to be games at a party.
Paula: She thought it was a game. She just played with him. The poor mouse was about to have a heart attack.
Esmeralda: But you know, cats love playing.
MERIUM: See you next time!
Group: Thank you, Merium.
MERIUM: Bye-bye!
*****
DATE: December 2, 2007
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
T/R: Gerdean
TEACHER: MERIUM
TOPIC: The Heart of the Matter
Prayer (Men-o-Pah): Last year our choir sang this piece and it kind of colludes to us. We sang it about three or four times, which is kind of unusual for us. We sang it both before and after Easter. The composer of this piece is Kenneth Medina. Kenneth Medina is black and his life is full of the spirit. "Send us love, send us power, send us grace."
MERIUM: Amen and thank you, brother Men-O-Pah for reminding us of his love, his power and his grace in the eyes of this old Negro spiritual. There is great heart in these words. There is great heart in the soul of each of you, each of you here today, as well as those of you who respond to the harmonious patterns from On High which you can use as steps on the ladder of cosmic ascension, even as we each condescend to climb that ladder in our individual destiny paths and tasks today.
We got heart. "Ya gotta have heart. Miles and miles and miles of heart." Is that not the song? Intellectual assurances are invaluable and the spirit is unfailing, but when you have heart invested in this experience of living the life, you have added the flavor of fine soup, the aroma of an exotic flower, the pain of experiential living, and the certain thrill of triumph. These elements of character are the playing fields upon which we act out our lives and demonstrate our faith.
We come to a new passage in this season, the winter solstice, into a new dispensation, a New Year, a new chapter in global history and in personal cycles of adventure in the flesh. Life is ever ongoing. Always are there opportunities for you to delve into a new pattern, in the experience of which you can gain wisdom through trial and error, through practice, by comparison, and in ways that will augment your existence.
Having heart embraces the human emotions that are also divine, those that are found in the fruits of the spirit, that are found in courageous loyalty to the job where people depend on you, courageous loyalty to the new grandchild or the burgeoning harvest of the future through these new ideas, new concepts, new children, new technologies, new beliefs that are coming into being -- often more quickly than we can keep up.
All of these are born upon and live in and through a pattern. Eventually it becomes easier to discern those patterns in which you emerge a better person in which you have been able to minister effectively, in which you have garnered emotional satisfaction, in which others have benefited from your existence, in ways that reflect supreme values, that encourage exploration and that exalt reverence in divine values. Heart accepts the pain, the loss, the suffering, the grief, the unfairness, and rises above it -- rises above all that to manifest hope and good cheer.
This is the season to be jolly, to behold the birth of the Christ child, in the eyes of Christendom; a time to celebrate the light; a time to revel in the experience of joy and appreciation for friends and family, to honor those good things about one another that we can depend upon and rely upon because they are an inherent part of the goodness of man, the beauty and the truth of humanity.
When you have heart, every day is Christmas. Every day is a day to celebrate the gift of life, the Spirit of Truth, the fact of sonship, the fraternity of others -- human and divine. We are all embraced in a fairyland of love, a dimension of goodness, of heart. How lovely to contemplate that you may be challenged by these words to fulfil the reason for the season and add the dimension of divine love to your festivities through a revelation of heart -- the heart of God that dwells within you each. Give your gifts as God gives his gifts: "with love, with power and with grace."
I'll conclude my little talk for the afternoon with that. I will allow a new pattern to present itself. Perhaps you will help me. We have several options, but I would like your involvement, your engagement. Do you want to tell me about what's going on with you? Do you have any challenges, any celebrations, any questions?
Elena: I just wanted to ask about mother, who is going through some health challenges, so I would be interested to hear any comments about her situation.
Paula: I have called her on occasion recently, but she can't even carry on a conversation; she gets tired. So I just break it off, and I think she is relieved.
Elena: Well, she's tired.
MERIUM: I think you've addressed the subject very well. She is tired! And as you mature, as your body ages, as it also grows weary, it is the opportunity then to reflect upon the life's experiences past and anticipate the transition ahead. It becomes more and more of a feature of the lives of the elderly, for in a way it is what you have lived all your lives to accomplish: "terrestrial escape!"
It is natural that people should pay attention to this process of changing from one form to another. Since you know you will take up in Mansonia just where you leave off here, it behooves you to know where you are here so that when you arrive there it will not be such a case of culture shock.
Becoming mindful of your relationship with your Adjuster - which is that which survives; that is the soul; that is what has lasting value -- that being comprised of the spirit of God and the personality of you -- that marriage, then, is what you want to build upon for your future existences.
Esmeralda is and has been grappling with her mortality and making peace with herself for some time. Her pattern, the one that she is familiar with, involves her own mother living well into her 90's, and so she has a reasonable expectation that she will do likewise. And she well may, in fact, do just that!
Elena: That's encouraging.
MERIUM: But she will, even so, experience these steps on the ladder of experience that will allow her to make the transition when it comes with peace and grace and not struggling and kicking as so many do, or in complete denial of what's ahead, as is often the case. And so the best service you can provide for her and those millions of others who are approaching this next passage in their life, is to be gentle with them, and allow their sojourn into the next dimension to be as gracious as possible.
Sometimes death happens suddenly. And those instances, of course, capture our attention and very likely impress us fearfully. But the actual truth is that death comes quietly and slowly to most people. It may come through sickness, it may come from hearts wearing out that cannot be replaced. It may come quietly and without much ado, such that there are a few who are allowed the dignity of dying in their sleep. But the truth is, we cannot advance into spirit beings unless and until we relinquish the material form, and so this is a natural part of the process. It is a natural and necessary part of life. Let it be a natural part of learning and experiencing, as well -- not a frightful and fearsome thing, but a natural and normal part of experiential living.
In time, you will be led to a chamber where your fusion can take place. When that day comes for your progeny, you on high can rejoice for the strides that were made and the ways in which you contributed to that evolutionary concept of death being a time of jubilation and release, a genuine graduation from this class to the next, a success story, a victory indeed, and not as a time of deep sorrow or judgment as it is taught and has been taught from time immemorial.
Leave behind the ghost fears; embrace the Light and walk toward it in confidence, in hope, in faith that when you approach the door, the Light will shine. "We'll leave the light on for you!" And when the door opens, He will be there and He will remember you. What a wonderful feeling that will be. Many of you look forward to that moment even now. We know He is with you, even now, in the spirit, but we know, too, that when you see Him, in the Resurrection Halls, when you awaken to behold your own Adjuster -- the Father, the Son, and the Spirit -- you will have attained something: you will have survived … in the eternal sense.
And so all the struggles, all the conflict, all the confusion, all the pain, all the difficulty, all the sacrifices, all the effort of living life as it is lived on an evolutionary planet are forgotten in the Light. They are made part of your experience, your personality experience, and so you take the value with you into eternity, even as you leave the pain behind. Just as a woman in childbirth forgets the pain of childbirth in the delight of beholding her newborn babe.
When you resurrect you will be in many ways like a newborn babe. You will be overseen and assigned work that is appropriate for your development. You will have brought much with you. You are gathering your treasures, your experiential rubies, as you experience your human existence, with all its difficulties but will also all its joys, mysteries, excitement, discovery and delight -- the heart, indeed. (Pause) I rambled.
Elena: No, I appreciate it. That was comforting, actually. I hadn't thought about -- when we think about our Thought Adjuster, I don't think about seeing my Thought Adjuster. I guess from my viewpoint, from my imagination, I see it as inside of me. "Seeing" him, that was a new look at it, and your words were very comforting so I appreciate that.
MERIUM: You might surprise yourself one day to look in the mirror and see your Adjuster alive and well in your own eyes. It's a mystery.
Elena: Well, I'll start looking for him. Looking for different things in the mirror wouldn't be a bad idea.
MERIUM: Well, if you are to look for the Adjuster in others …
Elena: Right.
MERIUM: … and find their divine aspects, it would make sense that you would have them within you as well, in order to recognize them elsewhere. And having survived without your body, without your trappings, without your titles, property, credit cards, clothing, or mannerisms, who are you? That is the relationship to cultivate. That relationship with your self, which is divine, which is along the order of infinity, as compared to that which is temporary.
Your love of your new grandchild, for example, is reflected in the perfect moment in time. This moment will never be duplicated. In time, you will admire your grandchild's school papers and ability to draw or knowledge of the heavens, even perhaps their skill at sports or ability to make conversation. That is yet another pattern of reality that is passing and you may not remember them specifically in eternity, but you will remember how that felt. You will remember the delight you shared with life and that life shared with you. You will remember valuing the curiosity spirit, the love of adventure, even while you may forget the circumstances. Was it grade school? Was it junior high school? Was it kindergarten or college? Was it my child or was it someone else's? Was it a human child or was it a midwayer? But the value, nonetheless, remains a part of your eternal pounding heart. Fear not that you will lose your good memories. Rejoice that you will not always remember the bad ones. This is an eternal truth. The good remains; the dross will fall away.
Paula: All you young people don't have to worry. Wait 'til you get to be as old as I am! On February 12, Lincoln and I are having a birthday! I know he is deader than a doornail, but I am alive and I'm feeling great, and I'm going to be 89! That's a heck of an age. Nobody lived that long in the family for the last several generations. Before that, they lived to be 100. I'll live to be 100 but I'm having such a good time, I don't want to give that up.
MERIUM: You'll have a good time there, too.
Paula: I'll bet I will. You meet all kinds of people and I like meeting people, to find out what they are like.
MERIUM: You have lived to be 89 because you have good stock, you have a good attitude, and you have maintained good habits. All of these contribute to your longevity. The pattern was that you would live much longer than a century, but there have been some setbacks. Those will be overcome in time and you are seeing the reparations take place since man lives longer than he did in ages past, barring those who live to be that ripe old age which is the human potential.
Elena: I wanted to ask you something else, actually. [The question was inaudible, but it had to do with feeling obligated to support all the many service organizations that solicit help, particularly for those less fortunate and particularly at this time of the year.]
MERIUM: I think you're on the right track. You know what calls you. You have a sense of what obligation is and where your loyalties lie. The thing is, you see, you fall within a certain range of socioeconomic accomplishment, and so you have given here and given there and so it has been noticed that you are a giving person and there are people who depend on people like you to support their ministry.
There is nothing wrong with that except that you are being inundated with the patterns that have developed since more people are being of service and there are avenues by which people can be of service and institutions are often able to do things that individuals are not able to do, such as dealing with other countries or unfortunates. You don't need to feel responsible for all these service ministries staying afloat. They know the risks. They have their aspirations -- both altruistic and not so altruistic, as any human institution will. But if you mind your counsel and live your life, you will discover those things to which you personally, willingly want to contribute; you will go out of your ways to find ways to support that which you feel your heart has responded to - not your social consciousness, your political awareness or your sentimental appreciation of life's greatest thoughts. But it is unreasonable to think that you can contribute to or support all these organizations. For now, throw them all in the trash. And allow your own awareness to let you know what you want to support.
If you are taking the rest of the year off, as you said you would do, and allowing January, even February to be a period of reflection on how you want your life to emerge, when the thaw comes and sap begins to flow anew through your veins, you will not clutter your consciousness with these overwhelming concerns of others.
When you serve, my dear, you are generous. You are and have been a whirlwind of giving and serving and doing and achieving. You are going to need to learn how to set some of that aside anyway. You cannot keep up the pace. Eventually you will recognize what it will take and indeed the sacrifices you will need to make in order to function more fully in those avenues of life that you will choose to follow and respect.
Elena: Well, that's good advice. I appreciate that. Thank you.
MERIUM: You need to learn how to weed the garden and thin out the plants as they come up, otherwise they will all choke upon itself and your garden will be a gnarled patch of vegetation without produce. You want to feel effective. You want that satisfaction of knowing you are doing God's will. You want to know that what you are doing is right for you, will provide you with soul satisfactions as well as pragmatic results that are necessary for you at this time in your life - as you begin to discern for yourself and let go of those things which can no longer be a consideration in your pursuit of doing those things which you know you can and will do something about, based on your choice your own purposive path.
That lesson above serves not just for the solicitors that come along on the Internet, but all the many well-intentioned people who come along seeking something from you.
Student: [Inaudible]
MERIUM: I can see that we are meandering afield.
Elena: Before you go, though, what did you mean about changing the pattern? What were you actually intending … in terms of our meetings.
MERIUM: Well, there is that, too. We can think in terms of the New Year, if that matters. I know that -- and this is business. I don't know that it needs transcribed and broadcast, but -- last year Gerdean announced that she wanted to take the first Sunday of every month to provide stability for a meeting and so we have done that, and that has been great grounding for Gerdean and evidently for others as well, but there are modifications that could me made or adjustments or changes that could also be made that would reflect on those of you who attend and/or those of you who don't. And so perhaps over supper you can talk about any changes you might like to make in the new season.
There are many possibilities, beginning with continuing as we are doing, introducing the occasional Urantia Book study or transcripts of other communities, an effort for others to learn the transmitting/receiving process, alternate dates, alternate locations, individual presentations, projects involving your skills as musicians, and a lot of other possibilities. I know how you are and how we are. We like a routine, but when it becomes a rut, we need to change. If we are in a rut, where is it a rut? If it is a routine, as they say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
There are always those who don't like it this way, or who want change. We need to hear from these people. We need to appreciate their level of growth so we can advance spirit reality in our relationships, in our community, in our culture, in our neighborhood, in our many, many ways and means of relating and bringing forth the Kingdom … on earth as it is in heaven … as closely as possible. In this way we lift it up, out of war, out of poverty, out of disease and into the Light.
Therefore, Light Workers -- my little lightning bugs, 4th of July firecrackers and fireplace cedar log pops -- let's make merry and let me know what you want to do because we'll be around.
Group: Good.
MERIUM: Bye-bye!
*****
[End of Vol. VI, 2007]