Aaron - Receptivity of Gods Presence - Stillness - Oct 26, 2003 - SE Idaho

SE Idaho Teaching Mission

Aaron

Stillness and Continual Receptivity to God’s Presence

T/Rs: Nancy and Bob D.

October 26, 2003

*  Daniel: Let us be in prayer. I am Daniel. Father as we gather in this circle of love, friendship, and family, expand the awareness of these, our students, as well as our own that we may know the unity of your creation and our part in it. Open our minds for receiving your wisdom, and our hearts for receiving your love. So be it.

*  Aaron: Greetings friends, this is Aaron. Tonight we will take this opportunity to do an exercise of stillness with you in an attempt to enhance your receptivity. This also aids in strengthening the circuits between each of you here, and to the Source within you. So if you could allow yourself to slip into the quiet mind for a period of time tonight I would bring us back out again in a few minutes. (Pause)

Allow the background noise to be a gauge for you in your attempts to move beyond your direct physical environment into a closer embrace with your Divine Parent. (Pause)

Now as you feel a greater presence, a closer tie to your Creator, you may open in receptivity to offer for a return of insight to you, not that you must speak audibly, but that you open to receive, whether consciously or unconsciously. (Pause)

I would encourage your efforts to remain in receptivity this evening and I would like to offer you an opportunity to share any thoughts or ideas coming to you from that stillness zone. This does not have to be in the form of T/Ring, but merely recognize that we are here and would attempt to engage. If we could move in a circle to Simeon’s left, Virginia, if you have any input, feel free to share.

Virginia: Whenever I try to go or do go into stillness, the one thought that I continually have is that my will might be given over, put in alignment, controlled by my Thought-Adjuster. Here recently I’ve listened to the tape where Jesus had spent the 40 days before he went into public ministry. It said that because he desired to do the will of the Father, that it would be accomplished. My question since then is that if we so desire, can it be such an automatic thing for those of us that were not the Master Sovereign? Certainly the end of the path is known, but it’s knowing and doing the will of the Father each moment that we live here. And if we so desire, does that mean it’s accomplished? Those were the things I was thinking about.

*  Aaron: PamElla, would you be willing to share?

Nancy: I’m not unwilling. What I have to share isn’t so much my current experience, but more the feeling of the energy tonight took me back to the time that I first experienced the Mother Spirit very powerfully and personally. And then also I was thinking of past T/R practices with the idea of hooking up the circuitry. I was missing Debbie to my left, and mostly I was very relieved and grateful that you took and picked up on this topic because it was reassuring. In Daniel’s opening prayer, something was said about expansion, and the unity, it was like I was envisioning the circuitry. I could see us connecting and exploding and becoming a part of the whole. I guess I don’t really consider myself to be a T/R anymore. I’m a person willing to fill in where there are gaps and I find this experience to be very frightening. So I personally felt some validation in this topic given what I had seen in Daniel’s prayer.

*  Aaron: Thank you. Pat, do you have any thoughts to offer this evening?

Pat: Aaron, I would like to say thank you for this experience in quiet this evening. As you may well know, I have difficulty in my quiet time. This exercise tonight has been most helpful. When you said that if you feel the presence to open up to that presence, I was able to do that this evening and felt that I made a small inroad there and I thank you for that.

*  Aaron: Thank you for sharing your experience. Sometimes the family directed toward God aids the individual’s personal attunement and so group attunement has its place in the overall development and in helping the individuals so they can return to their every day efforts feeling renewed in the possibilities of gaining a deeper contact. Marty, my friend, do you have any thoughts to share this evening?

Marty: Not really. I still struggle with the stillness and so the practice is most appreciated. I assume I still have trouble with the receptivity so I’m hoping with practice it will still come.

*  Aaron: Take heart that you do receive. The conscious awareness may be the area that is muddied for you, but any time you can turn your thoughts inward to the source of love and truth within, rest assured that there is an exchange. And the receptivity must be prefaced by efforts to feel the presence, and thus in your stillness time if you would let go of any need to receive consciously and simply seek the presence of God, in time you will develop a deeper connection and will know that the reception is there. I hope this adds to your efforts this evening.

Marty: Thank you.

*  Aaron: Ken, my friend, have you anything to offer this evening?

Ken: No. I focus on the Thought-Adjuster and ask for his guidance and to be strong, to have courage, to step forward in finding my talents and to use my talents to achieve the potential that has been placed within me, to serve the Father, that his will be done, not mine.

*  Aaron: You say, “No,” but your offering is beautiful. Thank you for adding to the plate this evening.

I asked you to try to remain in receptivity, not just for the purpose of this particular effort at stillness and group communication this evening, but also the practicing of the stillness should hold in your mind the desire to leave the stillness time still being in receptivity. It isn’t done when you get up from the chair, but rather should you attempt to find that quiet place of strength and then ask for reception. As you go forth in your day, attempt to remain in that presence so that you can build the capacity to recognize that presence more consistently, even as you move from stillness to jump in the shower, or wash the dishes, get in the car and go to work, or interact with the difficult people that you meet in your day. The stillness practice is an initiator, but the life you live should be enhanced by this practice, such that when you stand up, remember the feeling you have. Continue in the recognition that you are more closely attuned to the spirit.

It will slip away at times, yes. Suddenly you will be doing something and realize that the feeling is now dissipated. But the continued practice of trying to remain in the presence of God will strengthen those currents and the ability to actually do that which you yearn for.

So this is the reason for encouraging you to remain in the presence tonight, so that you may realize this love saturation and calming presence does not need to leave you and although it will, due to your lapses in consciousness as a material being, it is still there and ready to be reconnected to your life as you simply return inwardly and regain the connection.

Doing the will of God is nothing more or less than sharing your inner life with God, the willingness to bring Him with you in everything that you do.

(Sudden switch as the presence of Michael’s energy rises within the T/R)

*  Michael: I am Michael. My friends, My children, thank you for your dedication to this mission. You may wonder, at times, whether your dedication is real, whether you are slipping, or have lost the way. But I say that while the path can be anything but straight, you all have the desire to do good, to know God, and to be a part of that family which is embodied by your relationships here to each other and with our Father.

Be willing to go the extra mile. When you see an idea, let it become a possibility. When you see the possibilities, let them become the reality. This is what I can encourage you to do in your lives, for the Father will guide you, and your ability to take those ideas and pursue, when it is possible, will lead toward the inevitability of light and life. It is the motion toward light and truth that is more important at this stage of existence than the actual attainment, for the motion insures the attainment. It becomes a Supreme effort, for as your motion is toward enlightenment, the understanding that is embodied within truth, beauty, and goodness, others will be strengthened to move in the same direction.

So I encourage you and I applaud you for those efforts you make no matter how small you believe they are. Be open to my presence and the presence of our Mother Spirit. Those lesser areas within you, those weaknesses you perceive, can be healed. The impatience, the fear, the anger, these are simply turbulences, and as you draw in the energy of love, you will be freed to better serve that which you can, already in your mind, see.

My blessings and love are with you this evening. Be true to that relationship with our Father and give yourself the cushion to experience that relationship in the way that is best suited to your unique potential. Goodnight, my children.

*  Daniel: I am Daniel, once again with the microphone. We wish to provide the opportunity for questions, discussions, or comments if anyone so desires.

Virginia: Daniel, my comment about Jesus earlier, where because he wanted the will of God in his life it was just going to happen, that preceded the water turning to wine at the marriage in Canaan. The comment was that it could not have been against the will of the Father, or the water would not be turned to wine, even though Jesus was the most surprised of anyone there. It was just a very interesting interplay for me to listen and think about accomplishing the will of the Father while here.

*  Daniel: Yes, Virginia, and you see much of tonight’s lesson was intended to be an answer to your question. Michael, as the person, the man Jesus, was in tune with his Father at all times. This is the purpose of the stillness exercise this evening and the purpose of the discussion of taking this stillness with you and expanding the time you can spend functioning in your outer world while maintaining that inner connection. From this space the Father’s will is potentially manifest. With regards to the wedding, you must understand the will of the Father in the broad sense of truth, beauty, and goodness. Because Jesus was a Creator Son, his desires could become manifest, of course, not because the Father had any particular end goal in having superlative wine be served, but rather because truth, beauty, and goodness had no objection. Does this commentary assist you, my dear?

Virginia: Of course it does Daniel. It’s always the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness and certainly that has got to be a part of it. It has to be God’s will and in order to understand that I’m sure we have to be in alignment continuously. Thank you.

*  Daniel: Yes, you are welcome. Are there other thoughts, concerns or questions?

Bob: Something that strikes me regarding what Virginia had brought up there, was this thought that once a child of God has a certain relationship to God and exhibits mastery of their circumstances, of complete self-control, for the most part, is that in a sense a sign of that maybe? A line in the Urantia Book says something to the effect of, “What a true son of God desires, and the Father wills, is.” It seems to me that a true son of God is someone who has already attained a certain level already, and they wouldn’t come up with something that wasn’t the will of God. So even Jesus, in his surprise of getting caught in the trap, he just didn’t have the capability to come up with something that was against the will of God. It’s like he lived inside the will of God. Is that kind of a state that is attained to get to that place where, for example, the Father’s will becomes manifest in the desire? Does that make any sense?

*  Daniel: Yes. The statement you are quoting from the Urantia Book is very much parallel to the question that Virginia has posed from her reading in other sections in the Urantia Book. A son or daughter who has come to the point of desiring God’s will has certainly gained great maturity, for they know of God and in their desire to do God’s will they also know God. Again, it is in the knowing God, the bringing God with one into every aspect of your life, that God’s will is then manifest. Does this answer or did I simply repeat myself?

Bob: It clarifies. An example came to mind. I’ve often wondered what happened in this situation in my life. Coming back from a conference, a friend of mine started to have some health problems and it was getting worse for them. I was in Atlanta and a few of us had gone out to dinner and it hit me in the car that I should ask this person if they were willing to receive healing. I fought that desire for a while because I thought that was a pompous thought to have, to think I could be involved in something like that. After a bit, though, I felt it would be more detrimental not to offer, so I brought it up. The person said, “Yes,” and was thankful. So I just turned it over to God and said, “Okay, I think this thought came from you. If it’s not against your will, please help this person.” There was a little hands on healing time where I was just in prayer and trying to be a conduit, but then I stood back and allowed whatever to happen to happen. There was a strong energy in the room and when it was done the person was better.

So I wonder what happened. I certainly don’t feel I’m yet at a place in my life where I’m consistently in the will of God, but at that point I felt in tune with God. Was that just a glimpse of what is possible, or a fluke situation? Do you know what I’m saying?

*  Daniel: And I will turn the question back to you, Simeon. Was that a fluke? (Laughter)

Bob: Well, I don’t believe it was a fluke. I guess I hold out in my mind that there may have been some physical reason or explanation. I believe that God healed the person, made it known, and there was some reason to do that, to help that person, for whatever reason. I’ve never really delved into it enough to try to figure it out since then. So yes, I believe God did this thing, but the main thing I received was that when I am in the will of God, much more is possible than what I would normally have believed was possible in the everyday existence when I start to get caught up in the mundane realities of life. I was probably looking for a little confirmation also, so thank you for turning it back to me.

*Daniel: And it has been confirmed, yes. I wish to answer a question of PamElla’s at the same time that I expand upon your commentary. While Aaron was discussing remaining in receptivity throughout this evening, into the car, through your days, PamElla was noting that she knows this experience well, has in fact used it in meetings, at work, with friends, etc., but finds it tiring, even as the peace and the power that is there in that space is strengthening. And so she wondered why it is so hard to remain there and desired to ask Aaron that question.

I wish to compliment you, Simeon, on the example you provided by sharing this experience, for indeed is this the co-creative power that a personality with connection to the Father and in subservience, can experience.

The reason we are bringing this exercise to your attention and asking you to practice is because maintaining the connection is like exercising any other muscle. If you had reason to lift a fairly heavy weight to achieve a particular purpose once, you could probably do this, particularly if the purpose was your heart’s desire, but you might find that if you needed to repeat that sequence repeatedly, your muscles would give out. Even though this reason you are lifting the heavy object is your heart’s desire, you simply could not continue if you were not conditioned, but by conditioning yourself you become stronger and you are able to make that lift many times, to the point that you can continually be aware of God’s presence with you.

And so stillness is the beginning of the challenge and reward of reaching for God and finding God. Thank you, Simeon. Thank you, PamElla.

Bob: A realization I just had was this idea that I didn’t generate the idea of healing this person, but that it was given by God or whatever agency, so I realize the potential that I could have taken it as the idea that I could just heal anybody because I healed one person, and then the thought that hit me was, no, it was because it was generated by God that I could do this. If I went to the other side of trying to generate it myself, it shifts the focus away from receiving from God what is possible toward trying to force what I then think is possible. And so the realization I received is to try to be in tune with God, and therefore He can give me what is possible to do, and then I can do it, rather than trying to do things for God without letting the Source lead.

*  Daniel: Yes Simeon, you have put the dot on the “I.” You have properly understood the alignment, for you see, if you were desiring to do God’s will, but you had a list of things that you thought were God’s will and you were busily following those activities, you might not be aware of what it is God would desire you to be doing in those moments. So yes, it is allowing God to lead and being willing and courageous enough to respond to the lead that brings forth the grandeur of God working in your life. Thank you for that addition.

Bob: Thank you. Even in your response I find myself able to apply that to my present circumstances.

*  Daniel: And now, my friends, I sense the time has come to close tonight’s activities. Please stand and hold hands. PamElla is hearing a simple benediction that I will now willingly proclaim. Go in peace to love and serve our Father. Have a good week.

END