Daniel - Lesson on Gratitude and Giving Thanks - Jun 21, 1992 - Pocatello, ID

Group: Pocatello, Idaho

Teacher: Daniel

Topic: Gratitude and Thanks

June 21, 1992

Opening Prayer: Prayer of St. Francis

Daniel: Good evening. I am Daniel. I am your teacher. It is so nice to be here with all of you tonight. It is good that so many are here this evening. I am always honored to be your teacher and your guide.

In this evening's lesson I would like to address you about the concept of gratitude, thankfulness. My friends, as we have been meeting weekly one of the main objectives I have asked you to be aware of is this very virtue, to be gracious and to be thankful to the First Source and Center for your lives, for who you are, for your faith, for the knowledge that you have of Him, for the knowledge you have about yourself, and for the understanding you have of the Father's love for you.

When you begin your prayers, when you come to that time when you are in communication with the First Source and Center, you have been asked to be of a grateful mode. And so I again admonish you to keep this in the forefront of your thoughts. When you can be thankful, when you can be of gratitude consciousness, then you have brought yourself by this very nature to a higher level, for in gratitude you are in a positive frame of mind. When your perception is of this mode, you are in a sense seeing in a spiritual light. Those who cannot see to be thankful, cannot feel gratitude, are not in a positive frame of mind. Their minds tend on the calamities of life. They have shut themselves off from the First Source and Center. They are lacking in trust and hope. Their faith is shortsighted. And so I ask you to come to the First Source and Center with this frame of mind, for in doing so you are better able to be in direct alignment, to be in communication with your Father. And so please continue in this regard, for it brings you ever closer to being able to fully follow the Father's will, to be able fully to follow in the footsteps of your teacher/brother Christ Michael.

And let us now look at gratitude and thanksgiving on a more material plane. Keep it as a spiritual mode when addressing the Father. And now with your brothers and sisters you must also reach out to show sincere gratitude to them, for them, and be of this mind with them.

You see, in your ability to be grateful you are being a light for others. They see your ability to smile in the face of adversity, to rise above the littleness of the day. And so look at gratitude as a way to keep you ever mindful of the total picture, of which you are but a small part, of which you see only a small part. In your ability to see the good, to be thankful for the things you have, you are taking away those limitations which would normally confine you to a very narrow channel.

Life has many ups and downs and many of the activities you perform on a daily basis can be very mundane, can be those things which you do without thinking. My lesson this evening is going to ask you to be mindful of all these activities that you perform during your days and see them in a broader light, a broader perspective.

When you go to the grocery store (and I use this as an example for D3 herself who has often said, 'I hate this job..why do I have to do it?') look upon this as an adventure and be thankful and grateful for the wonderful grocery stores that you have in this country. If you were in other countries you would not have the variety. You would not have the ability to run in on a moment's notice and pick up an item or two. If you are in war torn countries you are not even able to go to a grocery store. And so you see my dear friends, my lesson tonight asks you to take another step in mundane activities and look with it in a brighter, higher light and be thankful and be of gratitude. For when you can do this, you will bring your consciousness, your understanding of your dual nature more in line. They will become more in the frame of following the First Source and Center, of following His will. It is in being able to carry out everyday activities in your life with a higher level or awareness that you grow. If you are trapped in just the material and do things just for a material cause or material reason, you are not building your soul or your foundation. But when you can see that the things that you do are for a higher purpose, can be viewed in a much higher light, then you are accomplishing two things at the same time, gratitude in all that you do. My wish for you all is for you all to have this propensity to be of more gratitude. Let this be your calling for this week.

You, my dear friends, are like a coin, a coin that has two sides, your two natures. And yet a coin is bonded together. It is one unit. And so I call upon you to bond your duality together and to know that a coin brings forth nothing when it is held in the pocket. But when it is spent, when it is put out into the general public, it brings forth goodness. So spend yourself. Show your gratitude, your love to others. Validate people for who they are. Be thankful for all that you have. See the brighter side of life. For in being in this mode you are able to raise the consciousness of those around you. Let your coin of who you are be in circulation, that it may bring forth fruits, that it may be the shiny coin that brings others to the First Source and Center, that helps others to see the wonderful aspects of life.

Those who are positive always find a way around a problem. Those who negative run into walls. In being grateful you begin to tear down many of the barriers that have kept you in your inner shell. Reach out to one another. Be thankful for who you are and the knowledge that you have. I am truly thankful to all of you for you have all been working very hard to bring yourselves into that alignment with the First Source and Center. You have been tested and tried many times. And I have often heard you in your dilemmas put forth a word of thanks that it is through these trials that you can grow. And many of you have been able to be thankful for this. And again I thank you. And the words for this week are to think of those things in every aspect of your life that you can be grateful for. Climb another rung on the ladder and seek for the positive. Another step in the path to the First Source and Center is gratitude, is thankfulness. And now I will accept your questions.

B1: "Daniel, this is B1."

Daniel: "Hello B1."

B1: "Thank you for a wonderful lesson. I want to comment on it but first I feel that I should introduce you to someone you have already met. R4, from Woods Cross, is with us tonight." Daniel: "Hello R4. I am very much aware of your presence and welcome. We are pleased you could come."

R4: "Thank you."

B1: "As you probably know V1 and I and N1 and G2 were up in the gorgeous mountains of Telluride, Colorado attending a wonderful music festival. And as I was having quiet time I was thinking about gratitude. And one of the things that I realized then was that gratitude is a choice; that it is a choice of what you are looking at, what you are focusing and concentrating on which certainly is implied in what you are saying. So I want to thank you for the lesson which seems to be one that was going on in my head as well. It's great to be back."

Daniel: "Thank you B1 for your wise understanding and for sharing with the group. And yes, you all enjoyed a refreshing time. Recreation is essential for you, for all of you, to help you through life. And this was a most beautiful area. All travelers, C2 included, welcome back."

F1: "Daniel. I just wanted to say thank you. This has happened two weeks in a row now, how Cindia has taught us throughout the week and her teaching has led up to what you are teaching and how it all fits in together and connects; and it's a further confirmation to me how well you work together. And I am really in awe and am humbled by it. And I just want to say thank you very much."

Daniel: "Thank you F1. I appreciate your frankness. And let me put forth to the group that presently F1 is enjoying the company of Cindia, is not ready for public exposure. Please be considerate of her and know that there will be more understanding of the mission for F1 and L1 as time progresses. My love to you both."

F1: "Thank you. I appreciate that."

B2: "Hi Daniel."

Daniel: "Hello B1."

B2: "I just wanted to pass on some words from M1 in Couer D'Alene. I am not sure if you know him or not yet but He's real excited with what is happening with Elyon and apparently B9 is starting to feel things and senses either Elyon or someone else coming through. She hasn't heard words yet but they are all really excited. And the size of the group is expanding rapidly. There are regularly ten and increasing beyond that pretty fast. And they attribute it to the teaching mission. And they want to thank you for all you have done for their group also."

Daniel: "Thank you B1. This has been noted and know that I am aware of M1. And please let B9 know that these feelings she has are real. Things are progressing very nicely for her. Yes."

B2: "Thank you." B3

B3 S: "Daniel, this is B3. I have a question on the stillness. But first of all let me say thank you. As you have done so often, your message has been right where I needed it. I wanted you..well you probably already knew that. Thank you and the rest of the corps of the teachers for coming into my life. It's been a marvelous experience."

Daniel: "Thank you, B3."

B3 S: "My question on the stillness..I asked you a couple of weeks ago..you probably remember, about meditating. I was stuck with the heaviness that you talked about. I want you to know that now that is a marvelous experience. I am really enjoying it, but I am stuck again. Is this..the problem is, it is so exciting and so wonderful that I can't concentrate. I can't listen. And the only way I can concentrate is to back out of that and so I guess my question is and I am not saying this very well..Is this heaviness feeling something I should seek out and work through? Is there something on the other side of that? Or help me on that, would you please. I am stuck here too."

Daniel: "Certainly, B3. I am happy to explain this for all of you. You see, those of you who are just new to this stillness, to quieting the body, to the total relaxation of the electro-chemical mechanism of your body, to the slowing down of bodily functions, to the stilling of the mind so that thoughts do not keep you on a course of doing within the mind. You see, when you first experience this total stillness you are naturally in a state where you do feel much peace, much security, serenity, much ecstasy, so to speak. It is a place where, if you could, you would spend a great deal of time. And know that this feeling is natural and should not be looked upon as hampering you. As you get more used to the stillness, to this feeling, you will, like all things, be able to grow past the first explosion into its reality to the feelings it brings you. If I may use an analogy, you all have experienced the ability to learn to ride a bike. And the elation you felt when you could manipulate this mechanical thing, this freedom you felt, was one you could not put aside; that most of your waking hours were a good time spent riding this bike. But as time went on, the initial experience of riding a bike wore off and soon the riding of the bike became the vehicle for you to pursue other things, other avenues to get to other destinations. And so it is with the stillness. When the initial newness does wear off, then you will be able to experience again the quietness of the mind and when this happens at that point you will then be able to reap more spiritual benefits. You will, in time, be able to hear that Indwelling Spirit which you are striving to be in communication with. Has this helped?"

B3: "Yes, greatly. Thank you."

R4: "Daniel, this is R4."

Daniel: "Yes, R4."

R4: "It's nice to be again in your presence. I have read your teachings to this group and have been touched by your wisdom and understanding. I thank you very much for this lesson this evening. My gratitude is often overflowing and other times I forget, so it is well to be reminded. The last several days Harkana from Missouri called and asked that I meet him in Durango, Colorado. Close thereby will be a meeting of the Rainbow Family of Light. And this group is dedicated to prayers and collective conscious desire to heal the world. During the last few days it has been made known to me that this group will be very fertile to receiving the knowledge that the teacher mission has come for the correcting time or the healing time and that this particular event will be attended by the Angels of Progress, which was curious to me as I am not very familiar with[them]. I wonder if you could comment on that particular thing. We intend to go, some of us from Woods Cross."

Daniel: "Certainly. 'Whenever two or more are gathered in my name there will be an answer for you.' And know that when those of you who gather in a prayerful mode to bring about a higher consciousness you are, in effect, bringing about change. And, yes, what transpires in the many groups that meet, that seek for higher consciousness, that they in effect are putting out those things which will bring about an upliftment. They are adding vital energy into a collective consciousness. And part of my message tonight to you is whenever you can be positive you, too, are adding to this collective consciousness. Any negative input feeds into the negative aspects. And so, R4, I am aware of this group. And know that there are many things happening that are bringing forth progress. This mission is, in effect, beginning to move with much more rapidness. Many areas are being channeled into to bring about an enlightenment for you on this plane so that you can be given the tools to bring about those things necessary for planet survival and spiritual survival. I wish you well. And I say to this group that in conclusion of tonight's thing it might be well to have D3 lead you in a love prayer that brings forth positive thought, that will help you to again raise your consciousness of the fact that even though you are one, you can add to the collective good of all. Enjoy your trip and you will bring back good news."

R4: "Thank you very much."

N1: "Hi Daniel. It's good to be here."

Daniel: "Hello N1."

N1: "I very much appreciate your lesson tonight on gratitude. Gratitude is something I have been aware of for some time, but have difficulty with. I think I often see gratitude as a 'should' somehow and although I want to have gratitude I find a real heaviness sometimes and I wonder how to go to get around this. Your lesson tonight was helpful in the gratitude in the little things. I can somehow find that easy in cleaning the house or whatever, and can enjoy that. And sometimes in the whole scheme of things and in looking back, I can have gratitude for the lessons from the past. But often in the midst of things I have a very difficult time with gratitude. I see everything I don't have and want instead of being able to focus on what I do[have]. And I'm wondering how to get around this heaviness and this 'shouldness' of gratitude and how to really experience the gratitude. It is something I am very aware would change my life if I could practice that more."

Daniel: "Yes, N1. And know that it is in learning to be grateful in the little things that lays the foundation for you to be able to be grateful in the larger scheme of things. So, as with all things, you must start very narrowly, very basic, and work to the grander, more broad picture. So what you are doing now is laying the groundwork for the future, for you to be able to move past these barriers you now feel. Know, also, my dear pupils that because you are a time/space creature that you must work within a certain time frame; that you cannot overnight change; that all progress must be steadily seeded and cared for. If you were to change too quickly, this radical change would bring much disharmony in your life. There would be a imbalance. So when you are faced in the middle of crisis of feeling that you are not progressing as you would like, go back to this very concept that you are, at any given moment, and that is what it should be. You see, you must live in the present. You must live in the moment that you have now and make the best of that moment. And in the midst of crisis, there must be those moments when you can see a reason to be thankful, a reason to hold up a more positive ideal, and snatch that and be thankful for that. It is in snatching these individual moments that you will make it through this crisis. And at a future date you will look back and say, 'yes, I can be thankful for that experience, for it has given me much. Through it and from it I have grown, I have seen things from a different perspective.' And so, there is no easy way around these obstacles. You must work on the little things so that you can get through the big things. Take each moment as it comes remembering always that the First Source and Center is always there, can always be trusted and counted upon to give you what you need. And so even when you are at your lowest point, fall back on this faith you have. Allow the Indwelling Spirit to carry you through.

There is a beautiful story that many of you have heard. This story is one that has abounded in your world for a long time, yet I will relate it here for it fits in with what we are discussing. The story states that a mortal, an ascendant being has gone on to the other side and he is reviewing his life. And this mortal notices many things about his life. And when they are finished the First Source and Center asks this being, this mortal, if he has any questions. And the mortal says, 'Yes. I noticed in my high times, when I was most happy, when things were going well, there was always two sets of footprints. There was mine and there was yours. But I can't understand, and I don't know why that when I was walking in the shadows, when I was down, when I needed most a friend, there was only one set of footprints. How could you have abandoned me then?' And the First Source and Center says, 'My son, you do not understand. It was during those times that I carried you.'

So please, all of you, let your Indwelling Spirit carry you through those times of trials, and be thankful for His presence in your being. Does this help?"

N1: "Yes, thank you."

V1: "Hello, Daniel. This is V1. You used a phrase a while ago that reminded me of one of the beautiful songs that we heard and the phrase in the song was, 'don't remove the obstacle, but just show me the way around it'. And so when you said that, it just is a beautiful picture to me of the huge rocks of the Colorado mountains and sometimes we don't go over them, we go around them. So thank you for that and thank you for enlarging what I had heard years ago in a sermon called, 'The Grateful Give'. I guess in the organized church the time we are asked to be grateful is when it is pledge time. I have always thought in terms of that really relating to money instead of the fact that if I am grateful, really maybe unconsciously, I am giving. So I really thank you. It was very encouraging." Daniel: "Yes V1 and thank you. And know my friends that as you become more in line with that beautiful First Source and Center, with your God-consciousness, that, you see, you will find many paths around the obstacles and the obstacles become almost illusions to you for you can see a broader picture, a grander scope. And as you are able to be more mindful of who you are, you naturally grow in gratitude because you understand your uniqueness, your place in the cosmos and thankfulness for your being is what you will be in most awe of. And so, again, use this lesson this week to help you to grow in this area."

V1: "Thank you Daniel."

C2: "Daniel, this is C2. I am here. I am home and I love it. It was just as you said it would be. I had no doubt that it wouldn't be. Wales was wonderful and I am filled with gratitude at the number of wonderful things that happened to me there and continue to happen to me as I just am. Your lesson this evening was one of..it is so simple that it is so easy to forget. And thank you for reminding us that even when I have to dust or clean my office I have gratitude for the opportunity to just, number one, have an office or house, but also that it provides an opportunity for me to think and to expand who I am and what I am doing and be in touch with all of life."

Daniel: "Very well put my friend. And I enjoyed visiting you and the history of that area was very different from here. You have gleaned much from this trip that will help you in your being, in your understanding of who you are."

C2: "I look forward to that, thank you."

K4: "Good evening Daniel."

Daniel: "Hello K3."

K3: "We have P4's sister and husband visiting next week. We would like to set up a private session if we may. They are from Oregon. They have read all your papers and of course are good Urantia Book students, also. Is this possible?"

Daniel: "Certainly. I will be very happy to meet with these people and you just check with D3 and set up a time. I will be available. Yes."

K3: "Thank you."

N1: "Daniel, I did have one question of curiosity. I wondered at the time..were you at the D6 part of the concert with my brother and I and his girl friend?"

Daniel: "No, I was not there at that time. I was with you several other times. I was not there at this particular time."

B1: "This is B1 again, Daniel. A number of years ago in a very bad time in my life, bad and good mixed, I wrote a bunch of music. It was sort of bad music, sad music, and there was some good music too. During this vacation the thought came to me that perhaps I should consider writing some new music. I wondered if you had anything to do with that thought or what you think of that? I guess that is it."

Daniel: "Please know, all of you, that part of your nature is to be creative, to bring forth new light and to be part of creation with the First Source and Center. You will be creating with Him throughout eternity. And so what you put forth in this life that is creative brings you further along your path, helps you to become more in focus, and you can see with more clarity. For whenever you are creative, you find you are most happy. So you must follow those things that bring you not only more in touch with your divinity, but also with your humanness. And creating is an avenue that will mesh these together."

B1: "Thank you."

V1: "This is another interest of mine just as a result of reading this morning. I was reading about the Seconaphim and that a lot of beings were not available to use in our behalf at the time the Urantia Book was written. And I am just curious if indeed the circuits are completely open now where all of the help is available to each of us?"

Daniel: "Because of the ajudication and the re-encircuiting of circuits there is, of course, yes, more help. More beings have been freed to be able to come and follow missions here to help you all. So know that because of this there is a newness, a rebirth for this planet."

V1: "Thank you."

C2: "Daniel, earlier in your responses, I don't remember where, you mentioned of course that we will learn as we become more aligned with our First Source and Center that we will acquire what we need to survive. And your comment just now that there will be a renewal of the earth leads me to...let me stop right there. When I hear the word 'survive' I often think of struggle, I think of just really tough times. And almost like a grubbing or a really working hard to just exist. And I hear you saying this last statement that indeed there is hope, and not only hope there is promise and I firmly believe that as well. As you probably know one of the things that I did when I was in England was to attend the Europe mystery plays which was a five hour cycle of the whole story of creation and going through 'doomsday'. And a relatively vivid portrayal of what the medieval mind thought 'doomsday' to be. Are you talking about a 'doomsday' when you are talking about the skills to survive?"

Daniel: "Here again I cannot forecast and am not allowed to speak on these types of things, on future events in this mode. You are building your foundations to help you to grow, to become more spiritually in line, so that you can help those brothers and sisters around you to also be of understanding of the Fatherhood and of the cosmos and your relation to it, your relation to one another. And your commitment here is in following His will. The skills I talk about and this renewal means that there will be much spiritual upliftment. As to whether or not there will be other types of....(long pause due to interruption at door). The reason you need to build your foundation is for your personal upliftment, your spiritual enlightenment, as well as your ability to be of service to your brothers and sisters to move them along. The survival mechanism you speak about is, of course, always part of life. There will always be during this time those things which you must work through which call upon you to be able to fall back upon your ability as a human to survive against all odds. This is not to say that you are preparing necessarily for great catastrophes, but that you are just preparing yourself to live your life as it unfolds. This has been quite fragmented. I hope you are understanding. D3 apologizes for the delay."

C2: "Daniel, yes I understood and I am appreciative that you are not about the business of forecasting. I'm also appreciative that we are indeed to live our lives as day to day and not out of the fear what might or out of ecstasy of what might happen, but to live as though and indeed we are here now and to be strenghtened and to fully...I guess that ties in with being fully grateful and in acts of gratitude for the present and putting that whole thing in perspective. I just made those connections and wondered where that was. Thank you."

Daniel: "Exactly. And all of you, please be aware that you must not build your foundation out of fear, for if you are doing so you are not really building a foundation. You are erroneous in your thought pattern if think you are and you are doing so out of fear. For you must build your foundation out of love, out of tolerance, out of forgiveness, out of courage, out of trust and faith and knowledge of your sonship and daughtership with the First Source and Center. Yes."

C2: "Thank you Daniel."

N1: "Daniel, C2's question leads me to another question that has been some concern to me. Prior to the teachings of the Urantia book I believed that some how all of us would survive, given infinite time to choose the way of love. And one of the things that has really bothered me is to realize that extinction is a possibility, is terribly difficult for me to deal with. But my question is when you talk about survival I understood the idea of soul survival, but that word for me also carries the things that C2 described, even not in terms of necessarily this world, but in the sense of soul survival. How many people choose not to survive? My dad and I were having a debate about that and I read in the Urantia Book that there are many, many Thought Adjusters that..or there are Thought Adjuster who have many indwellings without a fusion. And that is really upsetting to me, even though I realize that some of those indwellings take place in beings that don't fuse with Thought Adjusters, they are just practicing. Would you comment on that for me. I guess the question is not clear. How many of us survive? What are the probabilities. All those sorts of questions that you don't want to answer, so maybe you can address my upset at the idea of extinction."

Daniel: "Yes, N1, I understand your question and its framework. And know you are correct. I cannot give you an exact number. Know that most mortals do go on, do survive. And know also that many of the Adjusters that you speak of are not only from this plane, from Urantia, but from the many other evolving worlds. So know that even if you should die tomorrow, my dear friend, that which you have left on this plane you will take up on the next at the very same place of attainment. And that while you wish to experience as much as you can on this plane, do not be fearful for what will happen if you should die tomorrow. You must not think that you yourself will not choose to go on, for you see, most of you have already made that choice now. You are already committed to following the Father's will. You are already searching for that pathway so that you know what it is that is His will that you may follow. And this is your desire. And you have set the steps in motion by the path you are taking, by the doors you are walking through. Do not fear the unknown. Do not fear that you will be ever abandoned. You know within your own intellect, N1, that this is impossible. Now embrace it with your heart and your emotions and know that you are moving to follow His will by your presence here. Is this more helpful?"

N1: "Yes, Daniel. But I don't think my fear is for myself as such. I feel like I know that I have made that choice. I guess my concern is that there are people that I care about that I'm afraid won't make that choice, and I guess what it brings up for me is a sense of helplessness and I guess I don't like the fact that people can choose that. I can think of people in particular that I see on real self destructive paths and I'm really afraid that they won't turn around."

Daniel: "My dear, know that in each individual there is that Indwelling Spirit working also; that in this sense alone there is always the help of this Mystery Monitor to ever keep those individuals moving along paths that will help bring them to enlightenment. And know that the process of actual extinction goes through a vast tribunal; that it is not so easily dealt with; that these people who you speak of will be given their day and as I have said, most mortals do choose to go on. Please concern yourself with helping these people by giving them love and support. Do not fear for their paths, but rather be a support for them. For if you have fear you cannot open your channels to know the way that you can be of help to them. Is this helpful?"

N1: "Yes. That is! Thank you."

John: "Good evening Daniel." Daniel: "Hello, John. How are you?"

John: "Fine, thanks. We are on our way to southern Oregon this next weekend and we understand there is a Urantia group in Talent that is close to where we will be visiting. And we were wondering if it was appropriate to take some of your transcripts or some of your tapes, perhaps Ham's and if it would be appropriate to share with that group?"

Daniel: "When you get there you will know by the tone, by your acceptance, whether or not you will be greeted with open arms or with much skepticism. It is appropriate that these teachings be made available to all. So proceed with guidance from the First Source and Center, which you have. Know that these truths will become more accepted as time goes on. I am pleased that you and P1 are willing to risk, to open yourself to this. Go with my love and trust in your own intuition in this regard. You will do fine."

John: "Thank you. We will work on it."

Daniel: "I will now draw this meeting to a close. It is has been a different atmosphere here, has it not? I wish to let you all know again how grateful I am to you; how thankful I am that you allow me to come into your midst. For you know, as I have spoken before, we are helping each other to grow, to become. Go this week and find those things which you have forgotten to be thankful for. And I send you my love and my peace. R4, please take my love back to Woods Cross to this group who we are all very fond of and feel very connected to. My love to you."

Group: "Thank you, Daniel."

END