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Tomas Vol III - Pittsburgh, PA - Apr 05, 1999 thru Jul 08, 1999 - Part 13 of 13

When the end came, it came too fast. The only comfort was that there were more adventures ahead for Tomas and his entourage. The Pittsburgh group continued to meet, with Merium at the helm, with Hunnah as her loyal T/R, until Celeste moved to her daughter's in New England; Elyssia and her husband sold their home and moved into a fashionable town house closer to Beatrix, who continues to practice psychiatry; Hester resides with her husband in their family home. Rachel, Leah and Evangel moved to Florida. Gerdean and Mr. B were married at IC-88 before they went with Tomas into the Pacific Northwest where the adventures continued.

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PITTSBURGH, PA, USA

VOLUME III, Part 13 of 13

April 5, 1999 - July 8, 1999

C O N T E N T S

Date

Title

Page

April 5, 1999

Held in Detention

1

April 12, 1999

Soul Struggle

5

April 19, 1999

More on Soul Struggle; STUDENT VISITOR

Tomas' last lesson to the Pittsburgh Group

12

April 26, 1999

Grow Into Your Potential; JESUS, SOLITARY MESSENGER

18

May 3, 1999

TEACHER HAM Counsels the Group;

MAUGHAM, SPRINT, DORIAN, and TRIESTE Counsel their Charges

23

May 10, 1999

Live By Your Own Standards

33

May 20, 1999

The Good Earth; UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER

37

May 27, 1999

Come Into Balance; UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER

43

July 1, 1999

Leadership and Morals; UNIDENTIFIED VISITOR

45

July 8, 1999

Civilization in Flux; JUBAL, DORCAS, ROM

49


PITTSBURGH, PA, USA

VOLUME III, Part 13 of 13

*****

DATE: April 5, 1999

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA

T/R: Gerdean

TEACHER: TOMAS

Group: Elyssia, Celeste, Rachel, Mr. B., Gerdean, Hester and guest, Mrs. H.

URANTIA BOOK STUDY:

Paper 44, THE CELESTIAL ARTISANS

#3. The Divine Builders

#4. The Thought Recorders

#5. The Energy Manipulators

#6. The Designers and Embellishers

#7. The Harmony Workers

#8. Mortal Aspirations and Morontia Achievements Paper 191, APPEARANCES TO THE APOSTLES AND OTHERS

#6. The Alexandrian Appearance

TEACHER SESSION:

TOPIC:

Held in Detention

TOMAS:  Good afternoon, everyone. I am Tomas. How are you this afternoon?

Group: Good. Fine. We liked the reading.

TOMAS:  We did, too. I will begin with a bit of humor. Those of us who sit in the treetops observing you are all having a fit of hay fever because everything is blooming, and indeed spring is ablaze. The material manifestation of artistry is in full sway. The pace will pick up. We will find much to rejoice about in the next few weeks as the canvas of your neighborhood turns color and catches fire with the glories of the season.

Indeed, we are ablaze ourselves in our environment today with the awakening brought about by another celebration of our Lord's resurrection. It is always a celebration to see those who are touched by the spirit once again recommit themselves to a furtherance of devotion to the Son of Man and his efforts while on your world many years ago.

I pause in order to greet our new guest, known as Mrs. H. How are you, my dear?

Mrs. H.: I'm fine, thank you.

TOMAS:  Indeed, you are a Rock of Gibraltar, a strong woman of faith, a true sister in the spirit. We welcome you with open arms and encourage your dalliance in our social arena any time. We have come to love one another deeply in new ways. We have cut across cultural and social boundaries in order to share the platform with one another as children of God. And in this we frolic and we play without prejudice and without fear. We are glad to have you among us.

Mrs. H.:  Thank you.

TOMAS:  You will all recall that last week I gave you an assignment, an academic assignment if you will, and I will be eager to hear if any of you in fact followed up with your homework. Elyssia, did you find the scriptural reference as to the "great temptation of Christ"?

Elyssia: I didn't, but I feel as if I know it, but Celeste did look it up in the Bible and I was going to do it this afternoon but some of my friends arrived a little earlier than I thought, which was great and we had a great time and they helped me get ready but the time that I planned to put aside was kind of taken up with something that was more fun.

And then I also thought I remembered the one in The Urantia Book quite well but when I went to look it up, it was much more difficult to find than I thought it was going to be. I thought I was going to open the Concordex and get it like that! But I won't talk about it if there is someone who has done a more precise study, but if nobody is really ready to do that, I'd be happy to share with you that which I think I remember quite well. But Celeste has done the Bible part. [Everybody talking at once]

Rachel: Page 1493.

[Off the record discussion as to whether to do

the study in session or wait until next week.]

TOMAS:  Well, then, I will stick with my good humor and say that you will all be held in detention. [Laughter] The assignment holds and we will pursue it again. I am reminded now, for brevity sake, of the mota, the truth, that delay cannot interfere with your ultimate growth, and so you may dally as long as you like, but it is not my preference to dally any longer than is necessary, inasmuch as we have a scheduled appearance.

Let me not be reprimanding, but I am disappointed, for I had hoped to be able to discuss with you the concept of soul struggle. The idea of a soul struggle such as the one that Jesus experienced in the assignment is the kind of soul struggle that you each also have, and it is important to your spiritual development that you have an understanding of soul struggle and what is necessary to win that battle.

As your teacher I am eager to help you know how to gain victory when these struggles beset you. And so, now that you have perhaps some divine motivation for your investigations, we will persist next week.

But in the interim, in fellowship, I would like to engage you, if only briefly, on behalf of those of you who are ready to learn and those of you who have come to witness our loving association, for surely, Mrs. H. you must realize how loving we are in truth, even though at this juncture in this "classroom" I have had to deal with my undisciplined students, but most assuredly I do not love them one iota less.

Indeed, and I tell you this not to encourage your shenanigans, but sometimes it is easier to love you when I see how childlike you truly are, as it is easier to love the toddler than the child who should know better, and so again, you are forgiven and the mercy of the Father prevails. After all, if we cannot enjoy our efforts, well, here is a mota for you:

"Effort does not always produce joy; but there is no happiness without intelligent effort."

Next week, therefore, we will be ready. Are there any questions this afternoon?

Elyssia: I was going to ask you -- I was thinking about the thief on the cross and he recognized the greatness of the Lord and whereas the other one did not, and I wanted to ask you if you have ever talked to him. I mean, if I had a chance, I guess I'd ... I think I'll have a chance when I get there ... to talk with him and ask him to tell me about it.

TOMAS:   The 'him' you refer to is the thief?

Elyssia: Yeah.

TOMAS: We have not met. I have not had an opportunity to interview him as to his experience.

Elyssia: From what I know about our teachers, you have a lot of work to do, I know that. So to take time out to satisfy a whim like that -- perhaps it's not considered a productive thing to do with your "time". I mean, I know that you have time, too, on your level, I do know that. It's quite different from our time.

TOMAS:  You must understand my assignment, Elyssia. I am here for a purpose. I am not here to interview for People Magazine. I am here for your soul growth. YOUR soul growth, Elyssia, including your soul struggles. The struggle of the man on the cross was his personal experience, and perhaps as you begin to savor the value of victory in soul struggle, you will have an affinity, then, with that brigand and you will know first hand, through fraternity of human experience, what he felt when he approached Jesus on the cross.

Elyssia:  I see. Thank you.

Rachel: Tomas.

TOMAS:  Yes, Rachel.

Rachel: I'm going through a struggle about leaving my children again.

TOMAS: Where are you going?

Rachel: Well, I'm going off with Nathaniel for a while.

TOMAS: Are you leaving this week-end?

Rachel: No.

TOMAS: Then why are you worrying today?

Rachel: It took me two years to leave them last time, Tomas. I have to prepare in my mind.

TOMAS:  This will require a personal session, Rachel. I can understand that it is appropriately designated as a soul struggle. In fact, you point up to me and to us the crux of the soul struggle for it is between two supreme values, two yearnings. Otherwise, where is the struggle if it were a simple matter of good versus evil? And you certainly have a situation to ponder and consult with divinity about, but I cannot begin to answer your question for you, nor would I, except to express to you a compassion for the work ahead of you in terms of your struggle.

But it would do you well to follow the spirit more than your mind at this point. Your mind is capable of rationalizing anything, and the spirit will lead you true. Even so, you are fretting prematurely. You are setting yourself up for confusion and unnecessary distress by planning in advance that you will suffer.

Rachel: Okay. You're very right.

TOMAS: Today is sufficient unto itself and the troubles thereof.

Mrs. H.: May I make a comment?

TOMAS: I am eager to hear you.

Mrs. H.: Rachel, I have been a follower of Unity for 80 of my 88 years. It has a prayer group world wide. It is powerful. And whenever I have any weighty matter that I am hung up on, I don't go just to God, but I go to Unity. There is a number you can call, and they have a prayer group that is open and praying 24-hours a day and they call each person by name in the prayers. And I have had solutions made for me every time I have ever called Unity. I turn it over to God and to Unity and the answer always comes and the weight is always lifted. And that is a good source in addition to everything else, in the way of church and of this group.

TOMAS:  You have correctly identified that the most effective thing you can do is to pray, and when you have others praying for you, the prayers are infinitely strengthened. This is true.

Even so, it is not for you to worry about today. (Phone ringing) I can see that the branches are rustling and the distractions are going to increase, and so I will reluctantly call our session to an early close today, but not before I embrace you and again assure you of my untiring loyalty to your spiritual growth and your budding fellowship as believers in the kingdom.

To be continued.

Group: Thank you, Tomas.

Rachel: We'll do our homework next time.

*****

*****

DATE: April 12, 1999

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA

T/R: Gerdean

TEACHERS: TOMAS, MERIUM

Group: Hester, Elyssia, Celeste, Mr. B. and Gerdean

URANTIA BOOK STUDY:

Paper 45, THE LOCAL SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION

#1. Transitional Culture Worlds

#2. The System Sovereign

#3. The System Government

#4. The Four and Twenty Counselors

#5. The Material Sons

#6. Adamic Training of Ascenders

#7. The Melchizedek Schools

TEACHER SESSION: 

TOPIC:

Soul Struggle

TOMAS:  Good afternoon, dear ones. I am Tomas, your teacher, companion, guide and friend in our association en route to greater comprehension of spirit reality and divine association.

Group: Greetings, Tomas. Welcome.

TOMAS:  Welcome to you as well. It grieves me when we lose one sheep, but even so, we rejoice in the faithful flock of today. The words and attitudes of our gathering, as a result of our energy and configuration, are profound and plentiful and will go far. We always benefit by your aggregation, for the more we can comprise our minds' purpose, the greater our potential and capacity.

It is a soul struggle we all deal with -- how to consistently balance the supreme value as compared to the lesser but yet invaluable and cherished choices. I am glad to come back to our topic at hand and, Celeste, I acknowledge your gentle reprimand. Your words and feelings are duly noted and sincerely respected [Editor's note: In sharing, Celeste had remarked on Tomas' firm stance of last week regarding the class not having done their homework.] yet I, like you all, am able to justify my persistence in that which is what my God has given me to do. It is a matter of the sanctity of trust, and this, too, is at the heart of all soul struggle.

The subject has arisen as a result of being postulated by Elyssia’s inquiry into "the great temptation of Christ" and our subsequent investigations based upon our own hunger to know and to better illuminate our realm, embark, yes, upon a study of the references, textual references, to Jesus' having wrestled ...

Celeste: Tomas, I understand absolutely what you're saying and I've been searching in the Bible for ALL the different ways this happened to him, for many times he was tempted, and I have had a wonderful time this week trying to track them all down.

TOMAS:  You have certainly outdone yourself in terms of homework make-up, my child.

Celeste: I was just curious.

TOMAS:  It is indeed a matter to have in your grasp. The wrestle, the soul struggle, was experienced, you realize, as a human being, and so the inference is that each of you have your own soul struggle in matters of importance, preponderance. Remember that Jesus said, "I come not to bring peace, but a soul struggle," and yet he is called the Prince of Peace, but the definition here is at liberty.

The soul struggle that you encounter is an experience you share with the human Jesus, as do all ascending beings and many others as well. These cruxes in the path would seem to be obstacles set in your way to cause you distress, to invoke emotional anguish, to point out to you the possibility of betrayal to one idea in support of another, and feeling inadequate to make a decision at all, given the potential heartbreak and disappointment of your own experience and/or those otherwise affected by your decision one way or the other.

I will call to your mind Jesus' favorite prayer: "Even so, thy will be done." As we advance, gain morontial wisdom, experience enough adversity to fill the wisdom tank, as we attain such levels of association that we feel we have mastered all there is to know and that we have attained oneness with divinity, we are here admonished to remember it is our will that His will be done. It is so easy to become so invested that you take undue authority over your destiny.

Each decision you make indeed furthers or retards your development, and experientially you are given free will to determine which experiences you will engage in, in order to gain experiential wisdom that you may then enjoy teaching to those around you. But in each soul struggle, in each decision, prior to the clarity of the divine will for you, is a degree of setting aside your pre-conceived notions, your prejudices, your preferences, your desires, your perceptions, in order that truth should prevail.

People hang themselves up for a lifetime unwilling to face even one decision, the concept of a soul struggle is so overwhelming to them. But you are urged to become proficient at making such decisions as will further your spirit life and your enjoyment of life, that you may radiate the Life and Light that is within you, that is His will being done through you.

Celeste: Tomas, I'm glad that we have an eternity to learn and to understand and grow.

TOMAS:   Of course. This is not a crash course. These growth experiences take time. They are not always learned the first time around. They cannot be absorbed at first blush, but must recur like the tide upon the shore as the water ebbs and then flows in its tidal movement, inching further up and then inching away in order that it have time to maintain the balance of its very being and all that depends upon it.

This is indeed correct -- finding your time in space, finding your place in your universe, understanding your capabilities and your pace, knowing the sound of your instrument and practicing your instrument, loving the note it plays, correcting the sour notes that come seemingly by accident, and enjoining the symphonic realms of harmony in unison with others to sing praises.

Are there questions this afternoon?

MR. B.: I have a question, Tomas. It seems like it's such a dichotomy, to give up your own sovereignty to gain yourself.

TOMAS:  It is perhaps the most poignant paradox of all.

MR. B.:  It's difficult.

TOMAS:  Indeed, and hence the soul struggle. It is, even so, an exercise that becomes a coveted act on your part for it sharpens your skill and your appreciation for life itself. If you remain captive of your own perception of reality, you deprive Jesus of his yearning to share with his children the wonder of being in and through the universe as a child of God, as compared to enjoying the freedom of camaraderie with those others who also know they are children of the First Source and Center.

It is rather, my friend, along the philosophic ideas of the group as compared to the individual. Eventually you will understand the benefits of the association such that it's fascination and appeal significantly affects your need to hold so fast to your own individuality for it will be enabled a new freedom when you have entrusted it to a greater reality, a greater understanding of what that energy is and can do and how that personality is bestowed by Father to ideally function -- a conclusion, I might add, which would be ideally suited for both Father and mortal of Its inhabitation.

MR. B.:  I feel that transition at times. I guess what it is -- sometimes -- the giving of my desires to the Father's will, it almost seems like that's what I naturally want, and yet sometimes I sense, as I look back at it, hind-sight being 20/20, that I did enforce my own will without considering. Is there such a time as it becomes more instinctive? Or is it never instinctive?

TOMAS:  Indeed, the instinct is one which is elemental, and it would have you survive, but it is not the elongated, emancipated, evolved and elevated approach which is to become so in tune with your own soul and your personality's relationship to the Father indwelling, that your soul has an opportunity to take flight and begin to function on your behalf, for you have risen above and beyond mere survival of the species instinct to go into a yearning to soar into spiritual heights.

Your urge to live is enhanced when you are more thoroughly "indoctrinated" by your willingness to allow yourself to be subject to the will of God. It becomes not only easier, my son, it becomes the preferred Way.

MR. B.: Practice, practice, practice.

TOMAS:  And as Celeste says, it is a long-term course. But there are times when I feel I need to lasso you in from the playground in order to take up our studies in this Melchizedek university. I appreciate the fact of your attending and that you have been so gracious as to invite me and us back. Your faith flowers and the benefits of your growing faith and your belief in what you are doing, is real, viable and pertinent.

Celeste:  Tomas, I'm so thankful that you want to be with us. It's wonderful, wonderful.

TOMAS: I am learning to love you more and more.

Celeste: And we you.

TOMAS: Is there anything else this afternoon?

Elyssia: I still would like to examine this passage in the book because I simply -- I'm trying hard to think of what the struggle would be. I guess I must sort of be retarded in this respect. I'm trying to figure out what this huge struggle was because somehow I -- I mean, the way I understood Lucifer is that he wanted to be more independent. He wanted more freedom. He didn't .even quite believe that there was a Universal Father. That, I believe I understand from the Book…

TOMAS:  Yes.

Elyssia: ... so he began to be more and more separate, separated from the central ideas of worship ...

TOMAS:   Yes.

Elyssia: ... of his world. Now, he's with Jesus, and does Jesus have a hard time not punching him in the nose? I mean, or what is this? Is Jesus struggling to restrain ... to feel love for this soul that's brought down worlds? I mean, is that where the struggle is? I'd like to identify how the great Creator, as I think of him, in all his perfection and beauty, in all the things that he said in his coming, his service on our planet, indicated such magnificence that I simply am confused about this.

And then I'm also interested in this word soul; This word "soul struggle" because evidently this is where it's at. That's what you indicated to us; this is the important thing, to have a soul involvement, and yet I don't seem to have any of those big ...

TOMAS: Let us go back, then, and look at the scene that has caused this to come to our attention -- the soul struggle of Jesus. Jesus met with Satan and Caligastia and they did not discuss bread, pinnacles or kingdoms of the world. They discussed universe administration. And so as we look at his soul struggle, we are looking at a human being, the son of man, touching the parallel truths of Caligastia, Satan and Lucifer's powerful, effective, and to a great extent successful Manifesto in support of self-liberty.

I would like for each of you, simplistically speaking, to go back (not very far!) into your own experience and look at a moment when you have been faced with the choice of self-liberty or doing the Father's will. Jesus was aware of the soul struggle. How many times a day do you, do we, encounter an opportunity of being completely and acutely alive and in support of the Father's reality when our reality is so dominant/predominant?

Our self-interests, our committee, our understanding of things; our standards, our values, our loyalty, our comprehension of the Spirit of Truth -- these are not necessarily puny sins. These are soul struggles. Do you think it would have been important to mention Jesus sharing that those who would follow after him would leave their mothers, their fathers, their children, their husband, their wife, in order to follow him?

Now tell me, mortal human being friends of mine, if you would not find it a soul struggle to find yourself in a position of needing to let go of your loyalty to your own creation. Jesus, as the Creator Son of this local universe, created Lucifer. His own son wanted to include him in opposition to the First Source and Center.

I don't think that Jesus was in a humor to reprimand his errant son and I am certain that he had full cognizance of the long-term effect of the soul suffering that would be taking place far and wide as a result of Lucifer's mis-dealings. But Jesus ...

Elyssia: But by then hadn't many worlds or many souls followed Lucifer by the time Jesus was in the wilderness with Lucifer? By that time hadn't much ...

TOMAS:   Oh, yes, my dear!

Elyssia: ... separation occurred?

TOMAS:  Oh, yes. The Lucifer rebellion had indeed occurred thousands upon thousands of years prior to that. This incident of Jesus meeting with Satan, as Lucifer's representative, and Caligastia, was the effective adjudication of the Lucifer rebellion on that very day. The temptation was along the lines of universe sovereignty. It has to do with betrayal of trust. In the family. You surely understand betrayal of trust in the family. This is soul struggle.

Elyssia: Was Jesus then thinking of personal ... his son who was pulling him one way and his other faithful ones who had kept the faith in the Father.

TOMAS:  Of a certainty he was mindful of all of that.

Elyssia: There would have been the two forces and he would have been involved in both of them because he created both sides in this universe. He created Van, who was faithful.

TOMAS:  It was not a comparative analysis exclusively that he would be comparing these beings with mortal beings or other creations. The soul struggle was predominantly a face to face with the evil ones. The fact that Van and Amadon were faithful, that many other loyal midwayers and angelic orders were steadfast, is of course a part of the entire scenario of the Lucifer rebellion, but that was not specifically his struggle that day, although of course it was for all worlds of time and space, all of his worlds in his universe, a part of his gaining sovereignty over his universe.

Elyssia: The soul struggle, then, was it this heartbreaking time when he would have to cut this son loose and then see that he might come to this ultimate destruction that he did come to.

TOMAS:   Yes, my dear, even in the face of undying hope.

Elyssia: I see. And so it was partly that . . . partly this son . . . he was doing this, I guess, it would be like cutting your son loose. A lot of parents in our time have had to do it, and it's heartbreaking for them. It's utterly heartbreaking. A frame of mind.

TOMAS:  This is the nature of a soul struggle.

Elyssia: Yeah. That's good. I guess I'm beginning to feel that I can understand some of this now.

TOMAS:  I want to also add that the cursory perusal of this conversation we've had might garner a picture that would indicate that our subject was ethics or meaning, but the essence of this struggle is to forego the self-will for the divine will.

Mr. B.:  I can think of some examples of that, Tomas, when you put it in that -- For instance if you have a job decision where you are in charge of some people and you are actually close to the people but at some you have to bring them on the carpet, if you will, and point out their mistakes, and a lot of people think that's really an easy thing to do, but having been there and done that, I know it's not, so in a sense it's that kind of thing where you know you have to do something even though you don't want to.

TOMAS:  Along your analogy, I am envisioning also, and by comparison, an employee who has several employees working under him, such as a foreman, and they are working for a large factory that has other foremen in other areas, and this one foreman wants to go on strike and calls the other areas to join with him in striking against the company for better pay or other benefits.

It is actually very political. This is why you should not be surprised to see the caption "Gabriel vs Lucifer" since Gabriel is in authority governmentally in your universe. My adding this indicates the merit of Jesus giving the job of Summary Judgment, if you will, to the Father and not personally firing the foreman who led Urantia and other worlds into rebellion, default and isolation.

There are any number of ways of interpreting the concept of soul struggle, but its root is always a position as to go with the Father's will as he would have you, as compared to any other variation on that theme.

But we are all in the process of perfecting and it is -- a rare one indeed who gets it right all the time. In fact only those who are created perfected are expected to behave thus, although there are to emulate models of perfection of orders of beings who uphold by their own decisions the pattern of paradise perfection as it is infused in their being, and so it can be attained, it will be attained, and in the meantime, "ain't we got fun."

I am going to withdraw for the afternoon. I convey to you Merium's abiding affection and the affection and acknowledgement as well of our many local seraphim and assistants and visitors.

Elyssia: I remember that Jesus himself came to tell us about what happened at the baptism and explained the important part of that to us and it was very wonderful for all of us, and so if he ever chooses to, he might teach us himself sometime, but in the meantime I really thank you because I think I'm beginning to get a picture of it. Thanks to Mr. B. too.

Celeste: I also wrote some things down, and Jesus gave his disciples authority over unclean spirits, and then it said the disciples power over demons, he described as proof of "Satan falling as lightning from heaven." I thought that was so interesting. Once Jesus gave them that power.

Elyssia: What I like are these things that Mr. B. is helping me with, which is to kind of visualize situations that would be, you know, faintly similar to what Jesus' situation would be. He must have been foreseeing this time when he was going to come into this position with his son. He must have been foreseeing that.

Celeste: This says, "Jesus himself evidently believed in a kingdom of evil spirits under its own powerful ruler" and he said that this is what he had come to destroy. That's Mark.

TOMAS:  Quote your cite. Notate your research for our benefit, Celeste.

Mr. B.:  That was Mark you said?

Celeste:  Urn-hum. Mark 3:22-27.

TOMAS:  Thank you. Well, we had a good practice here. We'll be back with some more good study next week. Is everyone doing okay?

Elyssia: I do have a personal problem. Do you have time?

TOMAS:  I can chat with you after we resolve our group this afternoon if it is ...

Elyssia:  Well, I can talk about it in the group. It's nothing that is that kind of ... but

I feel that I'm being put in a position where I have to behave in a way that I find very distasteful, and that means, I suppose, that I don't think it's totally honest. My granddaughter tells me that it's honest. The situation is that my son is going to be married and there was a family upheaval due to a person. At the time I told him he could never be part of family gatherings that we would see him individually but he couldn't ever be part of a family gathering because he created such upheaval that it was absolutely incredible. Hurt somebody terribly.

Now my son's going to be married and I want to invite my dear sister-in-law but this person is married to this person who has created havoc every time he's part of a family group. We're afraid to tell him that we're going to have a wedding, but we also feel very underhanded in dealing with it some other way, and so I feel that I'm being put in a position where I'm going to have to be handling something in a way that I find rather distasteful.

TOMAS:  What you are having is a conflict of loyalties and values. Indeed, it is a soul struggle. I am not going to tell you what to do or flip the coin, but in your heart you know what you need to do. We have had this conversation before. This issue has come up in your life on other occasions and you wrestle with it every time. You will get it one of these days and it will not be such a struggle, but you need to stand by your highest value, and so make your determination, Elyssia, as to what your highest value is and stand by it.

If it is not upheld, that is not your concern so much as establishing your value for yourself in terms of your foundation relationship with your Indwelling Adjuster. That is the bottom line as to who you answer to for your decisions. And, "let the chips fall where they may." That decision can only be made, yet and again, by you, my dear, and I encourage you to be strong, in truth ... beauty and goodness.

Elyssia: I realize that I can do that. By myself.

TOMAS:  I'll see you next week and I'll be eager to hear all the latest developments. Good afternoon.

Celeste: Thank you for today. Wonderful.

*****

DATE: April 19

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA

T/R: Gerdean

TEACHERS: TOMAS, CONSTELLATION NORLATIADEK STUDENT VISITOR

Group: Elyssia, Celeste, Mr. B. and Gerdean

URANTIA BOOK STUDY:

Paper 46, THE LOCAL SYSTEM HEADQUARTERS

#1. Physical Aspects of Jerusem

#2. Physical Features of Jerusem

#3. The Jerusem Broadcasts

#4. Residential and Administrative Areas

#5. The Jerusem Circles

16. The Executive-Administrative Squares

#7. The Rectangles - The Spornagia 18. The Jerusem Triangles

TEACHER SESSION: 

More on Soul Struggle

TOMAS:  Good afternoon, loyal students, I am Tomas, your companion and assistant in ascent.

Group: Good afternoon, Tomas. Thank you for coming.

TOMAS:  It is indeed my pleasure, and today you afford me a degree of stimuli as well. I can sense from the electro-chemical system of the transmitter that you have had a feisty conversation. I am going to defer your "issue" for just a few moments for I would like to follow up and continue, if I may, with our discussion of the soul struggle, which we have been attempting to absorb as a viable and on-going reality in the life of a God-knowing, spirit-led individual who seeks to do the divine will in his and her life.

You know that you have been admonished that you have only one fight and that is the good fight of faith. These matters of soul struggle are those matters which enhance your faith. These battles that rage, these wrestling bouts that you have within yourself, are the battles that inch you forward into greater reality, that enable you yourself to become more real.

Sometimes being more real is uncomfortable. It means you have to be alone with your decision, except for your connection with your highest concept of God, that ideal which has led you to make the choice that you can regard as the highest option in the soul struggle at hand. We discussed last week, and to some extent the week before, the nature of the soul struggle as it was experienced by Jesus, the human being who experiences with you these bouts of wrestling with the Father's will versus the self will.

Let's temporarily take Jesus out of the picture for your conditioning is such that you always think of him in terms of his divinity, even though he has repeatedly assured you and you are assured in the recitation of the Bestowal instructions as well as his great decisions in how to follow through on his bestowal mission and his work with his apostles without superhuman assistance. So let us just simply look at the ascending son and daughter, you here, people like you who have been born of the spirit, who seek to do the highest good and promote furtherance of the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

In your personal configuration you have, you bring with you, your conditioning pro and con, your belief systems pro and con, your prejudices and biases and preferences, your personal coloration, your willingness and unwillingness, your instinct for survival, your need to be one with your fellows, your desire for establishment of purpose in your society, a longing for home and hearth, a loyalty to pre-supposed values, for which you fight nobly, even when it is antithetical to your greater growth.

You here are no longer in that faction of individuals who could be commonly construed as "timid souls" for you have made soulful decisions which have enabled you to break through to greater vision, greater appreciation for the divine way, and all that that infers and entails. And yet all of your weight leans toward the side of that which you know and which is upheld by the greater mass of mankind and your evolved histories.

And thus any time now that you choose to remember the Father, that you choose to identify with the Master, that you put yourself in a position of counting the cost and opting to go forward, you have grappled in your soul and have won a soul struggle on the side of victory for your faith in the living water.

The living water is real. Even though it cannot be seen with mortal eyes, it cannot be drunk from a mortal cup. It cannot sustain you from dying of thirst such as the water you know on your realm, and thus, for the most part, the living water takes second place to the literal interpretation of reality; whereas, when you have set sail for Paradise with your valiant Adjuster piloting your ship, you begin to appreciate the sea upon which you sail and the wind which moves you forward.

The momentum of the spirit, the reality of divinity is a view that is seen only with the unfamiliar eye of the soul. Each soul struggle that realizes your affinity/ affiliation with your indwelling Adjuster is that reality which creates a more real you and which contributes greatly to the reality of your spirit influence, including the Evolving Supreme, and as a result of opting for that choice in your struggles, the supreme decision unfailingly allows the material shadow to reflect the greater way.

Thus you parade truth for all to see and they will have to deal with their own soul struggle as they see you and others courageously waving your banner for Michael of Nebadon as your choice of loyalties, as your victory over doubt and fear. Each occasion of moral dilemma is for each of you an opportunity to once again commit yourself to the reality of divinity, and in that process is the disturbing moment of truth wherein you yourself decide whether or not to follow the guidance of the Spirit of Truth or whether to go with what you feel is mortally, socially, culturally, materially or literally the standard to follow.

That is the existential instant only you are aware of and the only accurate witness is Father Himself, and so we have a lot of rationalizing, justifying, fast-stepping, fast-talking, dancing around a lot of very good ideas and setting aside our opportunity to take the kingdom by spiritual assault once again.

This is yet another example, my pupils, of how it is that we urge you to become teachers. How can you teach these truths except by your very example? And when your example is standing there proudly displaying the badge of honor given to you by your own knowledge and understanding of your integral relationship with Christ Michael and in appropriate humility for your own growth, can you lead us even further into early light and life. And this is not mere rhetoric. This is our mission. You are our workers in the field.

Well, I just wanted to reiterate to you again that these matters of the soul struggle are not immune to the mortals of time and space, nor that you cannot be expected to make such decisions as Michael made, but you will make the same essential decisions in your heart as he did. Did he not say: You are not expected to live MY life; you are expected to live YOURS. And he will companion you as you do it. Are there questions this afternoon?

Elyssia: I want to say that I'm so happy that we're still touching on this soul struggle thing because it was very wonderful study, it IS a very wonderful study, and I'm glad we're continuing to touch on some of it.

TOMAS:  I am glad you are eager to work! We ebb and flow. Sometimes we party; sometimes we exercise those muscles, those spiritual muscles that have been flagging. It seems our new season has wrought a desire to put forth effort in order to bring about great product, great fruit.

Elyssia: Well, we have a different atmosphere anyway. It's just great to have a large group, but there's something about the cube, 4x4, which has a certain kind of direction and some kind of quiet about it, perhaps. I feel as if we might all be going in the same direction to a certain extent, and so it's nice to do it sometimes like that.

TOMAS:  We always enjoy the configuration no matter how it may be presented. Indeed, you are correct. It is a good solid group here. Like a table, it has four able legs to uphold the feast that Father has presented.

Elyssia: Well, we all have dedication to the book and to the Teaching Mission and so it's pleasant to have that kind of oneness. We went from 16 and 24 and 30 down to 16 and then 10 people who didn't have time for this study who'll be, I'm sure, working out in some other way.

TOMAS:  I am going to remind you that a handful of apostles and a few volunteers enabled a great many truths to advance. I am also reminded of the option given to the multitudes when Jesus suggested that if they were not really willing to count the cost, they could return to their homes in peace, and most of them did, but some forged ahead, and this is one of the qualifiers, if you will, of the proponents of advancing truth: they have made those soul commitments and won that inner battle that enables them to fearlessly face what might for some be an overwhelming struggle.

Elyssia: I think it's great that we have a male person to give us some male energy that you used to talk about, Tomas.

TOMAS:   I appreciate it, yes, and I can sense a certain stabilizing  effect in the room. Isn't it nice, Mr. B. to be appreciated for being a male person?

Mr. B.:  It's very unique these days.

TOMAS:  This is a reflection on your cultural upheaval and I need to qualify that and say the cultural upheaval of the world in its current state of evolution and not in your world as a resident of the superuniverse. The spiritual kingdom has no, prejudice regarding gender. Each is important to our experience.

Elyssia: I was going to ask about the embarrassment. The sentence that says you will be embarrassed when you're in this place to realize something about your world or wherever you came from.

TOMAS:  Let me help you here, Elyssia, and help the typist as well as the reader. I would like for you to formulate your question in such a way as to cite where it is that you are quoting from and quote directly therefrom in order that it may be made part of the record, and that way I, too, will have the advantage of understanding from whence you have a quandary.

Mr. B.:  My question would be, would we have to park in handicapped spots when we get to the mansion worlds?

TOMAS:  I will park your question over there with the blue and white paint and return to that in due course.

Mr. B.:  [Page 529] "When Satania can return to the constellation fold, then will come up for consideration the readmission of the isolated worlds into the system family of inhabited planets, accompanied by their restoration to the spiritual communion of the realms. But even if Urantia were restored to the system circuits, you would still be embarrassed by the fact that your whole system rests under a Norlatiadek quarantine partially segregating it from all other systems." I guess what we'd like is a clarification of the embarrassment referred to.

TOMAS:  I am considering inviting a guest in to address your interesting question. One moment, please.

CONSTELLATION NORLATIADEK STUDENT VISITOR:  I am going to remain unidentified, but I will say that I am here today as a student visitor and I am representing your Constellation. I am not unusual in that regard. Often there are Constellation personnel en route through the realms of time and space that pauses to note your learnings here.

I am pleased to be asked to discuss the situation inasmuch as it has, as you know, undergone a considerable adjustment since the effects of the adjudication as they immediately impacted your world and as the repercussions of the adjudication are even now continually, albeit not instantly, contributing to an altered state.

Satania has been reinstated as a part of Constellation Norlatiadek. It technically was never not part of the Constellation but it was segregated because of the disease of self-will instituted by your Planetary Prince in liaison with others in the System.

It would be as if there was an umbrella over the area in default and the sun was shining throughout the rest of the constellation, but that portion that was affected by the rebellion under the umbrella, you who have been under the umbrella have not gotten a suntan.

The context of the word embarrassment indeed is a reflection on the disease of your world and other worlds which have been without the support and guidance of your Material Son and Daughter and the ways of life which would be yours had you not suffered the effects of the rebellion so early in your evolution.

It is not a shame for you in terms of your understanding of shame. It is therefore not the kind of embarrassment that you would understand, even your understanding of what embarrassment is. It would simply be realizing that your skin had not seen the sun, whereas everyone else had either been to Florida or had been able to afford a tanning salon.

No doubt your teachers are turning up the heat and the sun is radiantly shining upon you. At least insofar as you allow the reflection of divinity to penetrate through that mirage of an umbrella, inasmuch as the original umbrella is now non-existent. As you begin to see the sun shine and act as if the sun were shining upon your face you will grow tan, you will grow strong, you will grow robust and begin to sprout forth and in due course others will see they have no excuse not to also turn their face to the sun. And this is a process, but it is in progress even now.

I am eager to assure you that we are not in any desire or any position to bring any disgrace or shame upon you as individuals or even as a planet, a world. We are attempting to connect you as if you were a premature baby and are plugging you in and supporting you with everything we can so that you can become vital and strong and robust and perhaps by the time you have ascended into the mansion worlds, you yourselves will be quite brown.

Celeste: We KNOW that's what you want to do for us. We never have doubted that for a moment.

STUDENT VISITOR: I have enjoyed this diversion. It is original in all of Nebadon. I will report to my fellows the fortuitous occurrence which enabled me to participate in your most recent revelatory experience/ experiment. Farewell.

Group: Thank you very much. Thank you, Tomas.

TOMAS:  It was indeed a fortuitous event and a fortunate visitor who was able to give you a vantage point that seems to have helped. I want to say that I could have said the same thing, and in fact would have, but it is an old show business technique, you see, to bring on the next show and enliven your imaginations and your appetites for the next act. I jest.

I jest only because I am enlivened and entertained by you humble creatures who are even now so self-conscious you would park your car in the handicapped zone for having been part of a system rebellion and it is again a part of the legacy that you have all suffered under. It is not your fault, and in fact you are not truly crippled; you are not truly delinquent; you are not truly diseased or stupid; you are not even victims, but you are in a unique experiential position to appreciate that your experience here is unlike any throughout the entire grand universe. This incorporates all of the facets of the background of your world, your local universe, and the entire perspective.

When we say that each of you are individual and unique, you can see how it is that even all the worlds are individual and unique. There are no two things alike throughout the universe. This is an example. A bit of an extreme example, perhaps, but an example, even so, and it gives rise to some unique growing experiences and in future some unique teaching experiences, which again brings me back to my role with you, for as you begin to promote the gospel in your personal life and as you have lived it, you become a walking testimony to the divine love of the will of God.

No matter what book you read, no matter what associations you aspire to or affiliate with, no matter what church you go to, no matter what ... you can represent the love of God in your life in its purest form. And herein you will indeed have learned from the Master himself, the great Teacher, the great love of our life.

Good afternoon.

Group: Good afternoon. Thank you, Tomas. We love you.

*****

DATE: April 26, 1999

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA USA

T/R: Gerdean

TEACHERS: JESUS, MERIUM, SOLITARY MESSENGER

URANTIA BOOK STUDY:

Paper 47, THE SEVEN MANSION WORLDS

#1. The Finaliters' World

#2. The Probationary Nursery

#3. The First Mansion World

#4. The Second Mansion World

#5. The Third Mansion World

TEACHER SESSION:

TOPIC:

Grow Into Your Potential

JESUS:  Peace be upon you, my children. I embrace you. I come to sit with you awhile, to draw you near to me, in answer to your prayer, your heartfelt yearning, to be closer to the Shepherd. Come, flock, and gather around me that I might enfold you and assure you of Father's overcare. You are indeed escorted as you frolic among the hills. As you rejoice in the harbingers of spring. You will not be led astray nor will you be left overlong to become mischief makers or lost from the firm embrace of Him Who sends me and who now sends you. What do you do as you remember me? As you remember me, you remember to call upon My Father for your counsel -- that Father Whom in all things is Our First Source and Center of our being.

Do not set me aside in order to take care of the affairs of the day, no. I am the affair of the day. I am not limited. By your faith you shall know me and you shall do many great works in my name. Yea, even though you walk through lives which are troubled and downtrodden, in despair and discouraged, fear-filled and remorseful, angry and embittered, you will bring to them the cup of living water, the fruits of the spirit, the sweet taste of truth upon your lips, to feed my little sheep, my little ones who have forgotten whence they come. I bid them return to me. I ask you to carry your staff into the meadow and call out with ringing voices your proximity to the Shepherd. Call far and wide for those who have fallen into the shadows and lost their way. Embrace them and lift them up and bring them home to me and we will return once again as a family to Our Father in heaven.

You are endowed now in your realm with the gift of potential. When you walk or journey through your season upon us, behold the signs of spring in view and prepare yourselves for the bounty. This foretaste of perfection is to savor and reflect upon the foretaste of other perfections yet to come in your future adventures within my universe. The palette of life is beginning to sweep across the canvas of Urantia, giving rise to its own potential.

Go forth, young ones, and be born into your own potential as the season embraces us and the new shoots sprout forth. Indeed, feed my sheep. Go in peace.

MERIUM:  Hello, my friends and playmates. I am Merium. I am here to assure you of your mentors who will not forsake you, your local family members who have the assignment of overseeing your cosmic citizenship.

I am not going to give a lesson. I am going to bring in a visitor who is passing by, inasmuch as Tomas is gone and we can alter our agenda somewhat. In a moment I will return.

SOLITARY MESSENGER:  Greetings. I am here to convey greetings and salutations from your fellow gardeners, the many orders of beings throughout the universe who enjoy with you the exhilarating thrill of enabling art, living art, to become a part of the environment. As you mulch and seed and cultivate and fertilize and trim and mow your environments, your gardens, so too do the beings who are far above you and far transcend you in your development and experience.

The concept of the garden is a supreme concept. It connotes an area of perfection wherein you may live and have your being. These environments are architectural spheres which are everywhere throughout the known universe, including Paradise itself, and so always will you be comforted and enthralled by the aesthetics of your gardens. Horticulture is a gift and an art form as much as any gift and art form.

You who enjoy visualizing or hearing angels, you who enjoy the healing arts of one sort or another, you who attend the teachers through your transmitting/receiving mechanisms, are all gift givers but none is more supreme than the gardener who has committed himself to beauty through the taking of the seed of life and nurturing it into perfect existence.

Take this greeting from the univitatia and other gardeners as an opportunity to allow yourself to experience the reflectivity of worship as you begin to fondle the fertile soils in preparation of your yearly abundance of seasonal offerings from mother earth and Mother Spirit.

MERIUM:  This is Merium again. It was a pleasure to hear from the Solitary Messenger as to the far away univitatia.

Elyssia: It was wonderful to hear from a Solitary Messenger. And it's great that you're here, Merium.

MERIUM:  It is an opportunity for me to be vocal. I am, even so, somewhat handicapped without the vocal chords of Hunnah whose affinity with my prompts are such that we can quite readily clip along, whereas I am not given such a hiatus with our Gerdean, but again this is appropriate for our configuration and as you learned in your lessons today, the group effect is made more meaningful as we proceed down the pathway of morontia learning.

Elyssia: Have you ever met this Solitary Messenger before? This particular one?

MERIUM:  No, I have not. I hope you realize there are millions of creative personalities throughout the universes of time and space. It might be as if you were to have gone to the airport in New York City and then come home and I would ask you, "Did you see so-and-so at the airport? You know them, don't you?" Well, only if I were going to be assigned to the airport for a millennia or so. It is an opportunity for me, as it is for you, to get to meet many student visitors as they come by, come through to observe.

Elyssia: Well, even so, we that never saw Solitary Messengers well enough to be tremendously impressed by them.

MERIUM:  Then you will remember that they are a solitary lot and do not work well with others such as I do and you do in your much more sociable and gregarious nature. It was, however, very social and gregarious of the Messenger to bring the greetings from Edentia.

Elyssia: And did Tomas go to Salvington?

MERIUM:  He has not gone to Salvington, no. He is not that far away, but he felt it would be a good idea to allow you all to limber up somewhat from the rigidity of applying yourselves so consistently to his techniques, his tenor.

Celeste: But we love his techniques. I don't think that there was any rigidity when Tomas was here.

MERIUM:  It was more a concern that it become an habitual association. It is very much like when you have a partnership or a marriage and you are together night and day; it is good to now and again take a respite from one another, that you have an opportunity to stand back and reassess your self in terms of your own individuality. It is also an opportunity for Gerdean to work through some of her own soul growth without the constant rigors of a teacher at her mind.

Elyssia: Is Merium going to stay with us for awhile while Tomas is gone?

MERIUM:  I am Merium. I am here, and I'm not going anywhere. I have taken several mini-vacations with Hunnah. I have been aboard a ship and aboard a plane; I have been to several coastlines and shows, so I am having a great time and am not feeling any undue stress or treadmill. I am not saying Tomas felt as if he were on a treadmill, but I have a hunch anyone as serious as Gerdean must surely feel she has been trudging incessantly and so a vacation for her from Tomas is in order.

Elyssia: Could you comment just a little bit about the beautiful mansion worlds?

MERIUM:  Well, I suppose I could. I'm not that far up into the worlds myself, I confess, but I have certainly proceeded you by a degree, so what do you want to know?

Elyssia: I think I would love to see those babies in the probationary nursery.

MERIUM: What shall I say then?

Elyssia: You could describe them.

MERIUM: I couldn't begin to.

Elyssia: I mean, do they look like our babies here?

MERIUM:  Of course! Everyone loves babies. It doesn't matter what they look like, everyone loves babies. You love baby possum and baby chipmunks, baby rhinoceros and baby mice. Babies are babies and what makes them so delightful is the fact of their potential. They have not been wisened or sullied. They are pure potential.

This is the charm of sunrise. You have no idea what the day will bring but it's got to be good because "Look at that sunrise!" It is the same with the senses. The senses are the harbinger of feelings which, given a good mood, are indications of good auspices to come. As long as your mind is open and free to the adventure, you emote an attitude of undying hope that is akin to the charm of the infant, the cherubic child of destiny who has yet to realize his own moral choice.

Elyssia: Well, have you heard any of them say anything about missing the chance to go beyond the cosmos like the finaliters could? Do they talk about that at all?

MERIUM:  They have no frame of reference for disappointment in that context.

Elyssia:  I see. That's good. That's great. We like to do that for our own children, here. Protect them from disappointment.

MERIUM:  You do them a disservice. They must learn how to experience disappointment. It is a necessary part of your growth.

You do your children a great disservice when you protect them from life's vicissitudes. You must rather prepare them to grapple with the vicissitudes of life. Give them the confidence that they can stand up to the difficulties which will be presented; they have the inner strength and capability in their own moral constitution and/ or as a result of their relationship with Our Father and his agents, including the family they are born into -- which is you --that they can handle life's difficulties and grow in strength, enthuse upon disappointment.

Elyssia: Oh, that's great! I'm really glad that you mentioned this in passing about the children. We do tend to protect them when we can. Too much perhaps. Maybe the boys in Colorado were too protected and couldn't handle -- I've heard it said so often this week, "Well, if people are picking on you, handle it personally like that."

MERIUM:  I am not authorized to develop the theme arising out of the unfortunate school situation in Colorado. I am more or less grounded from your entertainment medias.

Elyssia: That's probably great.

Hester: You don't know how lucky you are.

MERIUM: Ah, but I do!

Elyssia: Did you spend some time in the nurseries yourself, Merium?

MERIUM:  Oh, yes, I did, in spite of my experience in my native sphere with many, many younger brothers and sisters in terms of my community. I enjoyed my time with the nurseries and volunteered often and was given the opportunity to extend my stay somewhat since I had become quite involved in the parenting experience, specifically regarding a personality or two, which gave me a great deal of experiential wisdom and I would not diffuse it or abort it prior to the learning completion.

Elyssia: Well then you were in the nurseries because you had been -- more or less your parenting experience was with younger brothers and sisters. Did I get that correct?

MERIUM:  I am speaking in the aesthetic sense not in the literal sense. I was an only child, and so I did NOT have brothers and sisters, but part of my "make-up work" was to some extent garnered in the nurseries.

It is very difficult to explain the many-faceted elements of any of the mansion worlds, even the most elementary. Perhaps ...

Elyssia: Well, to change the subject, they were talking last week on the radio about Swedenborgians and I was listening because I had had a brush with Swendenborg and I enjoyed it tremendously, but I found myself wishing that the interviewer, who was a ... (tape turned; some lost) answers and squelching these people who were trying to explain something about Swedenborg and I was wishing that we could be more open-minded here.

MERIUM:  It would seem, referring to your earlier dialog, that Swedenborg was a heretic.

Elyssia: Yes! [Laughing] I think he was, and probably still is considered such by some.

MERIUM: Advanced teachers often are, although not always, as some teach quietly and so subtly as to not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. Some become more visible, more vocal, and more vulnerable to public attack and opinion.

Elyssia: Oh yes. The public can certainly attack.

Hester: Especially when they don't know what they're talking about.

Elyssia: But they did bring up the fact that Swedenborg evidently did say a lot of the things that we read in the Book that Jesus said.

MERIUM: Swedenborg was a man of earnest and sincere in spiritual insight. He was one of those human beings who was "blessed" with a fortuitous electro-chemical system that allowed him to be vulnerable to we who would be influencing those that we might prior to the greater awakening.

Elyssia: It was more difficult, certainly, to read him than it was to read The Urantia Book. I'm so glad that The Urantia Book seemed to be written as simply as the midwayers could possibly do it.

MERIUM:  It is not written simply; however, it is written in modern phraseology for the most part. That is one of the elements of its presentation. It is intelligently put forth. It is exquisitely constructed and upheld throughout by the conspiratorial nature of the revelators (that affirmative)…

Elyssia: I feel close to those midwayers who arranged this for us.

MERIUM:  Indeed they are superb workers in the field and very close to you. As you allow yourself to know them and invite them into your life they will help you even more, and yet it is only fair to forewarn you that as you invite inspired assistants you will be given extra home work.

Hester:  True, true, true. But it's fun.

MERIUM:  And so prepare yourself essentially for greater stamina will be required. Perhaps you can work up some energy by working in the garden and/or dancing.

It's time for me to call it a day on behalf of your friends and mine. We will be with you this week as you observe the palette of springtime being painted across your visual canvas. Be enthralled with the Creators who reflect this divine perfection throughout all the realms On High as well as on your street.

Go in peace. See you next week. Bye-bye.

Group:  Bye.

*****

DATE: May 3, 1999

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA USA

T/R: Gerdean

TEACHERS: MERIUM, HAM, MAUGHAM, SPRING, DORIAN, TRIESTE

URANTIA BOOK STUDY:

Paper 47, THE SEVEN MANSION WORLDS

#6. The Fourth Mansion World

#7. The Fifth Mansion World

#8. The Sixth Mansion World

#9. The Seventh Mansion World #10. Jerusem Citizenship Paper 48, THE MORONTIA LIFE

#1. Morontia Materials

#2. Morontia Power Supervisors

TEACHER SESSION:

TOPIC:

Ham Counsels The Group

MERIUM:  Dear ones, good afternoon. I am Merium and I am delighted to be here with you to run and dance and play and sing and be joyous and free in our fraternity, our sorority, indeed. How are you lovely girls this afternoon?

Group: Greetings. Good. Glad you're here.

MERIUM:  I will not leave you without the student-teacher relationship, but I tell you there are times when we must have a staff meeting before we are quite determined what it is to bring before you. Your personal teachers are all here and all would enjoy an opportunity to have a moment with you in person on the record, as it were, and I am certain Gerdean can accommodate your teachers if you are inclined to want to hear from them, but Ham also is here and he would like to say a thing or two along a more adult and/or administrative line, and so in keeping with our sociability, I would like to ask Ham to come in and greet us and then perhaps we will have time to play among ourselves in our own personal growth. One moment.

HAM:  Good afternoon, loyal fellows. I am Ham. I am your friend and your teacher as well. How are you this afternoon?

Group: Urn-hum. Good. Welcome.

Celeste: You used to come here a lot, didn't you?

HAM:  I have been here on a number of occasions. I am an active participant in the Teaching Mission and I visit many groups periodically. It seemed appropriate that I come by and visit you today inasmuch as your Tomas is abstaining and I wanted to come to counsel with you in terms of your growth and development as a community, as a teacher base, and impart some assurances as far as assigning teachers are concerned.

Celeste: We're doing fine except that we got a little smaller. We lost a lot.

Elyssia: We haven't lost a lot; we've gained a lot.

Hester: I think we're stronger than we've ever been.

Elyssia: We gained a lot of what we needed.

Celeste: Well, that's good. I mean, that's true.

Elyssia: We needed more consolidation and I feel good about it. I feel this way was very satisfying.

Hester: Exceptionally.

Celeste: It was, really. Except, I'm sorry that more people aren't able to be here to join us.

Elyssia: But it seems that sometimes the -- I wonder what Ham's experience has been with other groups as they get bigger and smaller and sometimes they fluctuate and sometimes they stop and then they start and over the years he has probably seen ... would you comment on that, possibly, for us please?

HAM:  I can elaborate in some sense since I have been regarded as the grandfather of the Teaching Mission movement, but -- I was perhaps the first in the minds eye of many. When Rebecca became my mouthpiece in the Woods Cross group, we were a quiet and standard sized study group of readers, and as the brushfire of the Teacher Corps took hold, we swept the foothills in a blazing heat of excitement.

Eventually this settled down, much as you are experiencing in your evolution as a group. The wonder-seekers, the joy-seekers, thrill-seekers, will not be still enough to allow for the disciplines of soul growth, but their seeds are planted and in due course they will return renewed, eager again to experience meaningful soul development and share this experience with like-minded peers. As such, we have seen groups grow and diminish and grow and diminish.

The evolution of a group is, in large part, a saga of the evolution of the individuals comprising the group, and many times the entire congregation changes over, but in most cases there is a pillar of the community who holds fast at the gate and oversees those who enter into the inner garden of unearthly delights that the teachers bring.

How you comport yourself in your teacher base is your free will choice and obviously it is beneficial for you to do what is most compatible and beneficial for your particular group's needs; that is to say, the needs of they who comprise the bulwark of your community, for "upon this rock I will build my church."

Elyssia: I see. A wonderful description. It always seemed to me, Ham, that every time we meet there is some sort of wonderful, very -- I don't want to say magic, but -- very special meaning in the size of the group and it portends what the meeting will be like. There's a special feeling I get whether it's 4, 2, 3 or 10 or 7.

HAM:   Was that a question?

Elyssia:  It was something that I just wanted to tell you about it. I just wanted to tell you that over the years that I felt -- when I see the group gathering, as I do, then I say -- there's something special tonight in this four. There's something special tonight in these two. And it always seems to be that no matter how many there are, there's a very special kind of meeting, based partly on the number of people.

HAM:  I am not at ease completely with responding to your outpouring for I am not familiar with your history to that extent and the mind patterns that would evoke you to pre-determine certain dispositions coming from certain configurations; but, I will allow that in an anticipatory attitude such as you indicated, you are at least allowing for good things to come from the gathering no matter how many people are there. You have, in your way, given the group your sanction, your blessing, and it does not disappoint you.

It is perhaps a personal instance of applied prayer that it is the attitude that matters, and the Father within you responds to your own attitude of accepting whoever it is that is there as a party to the gathering.

Elyssia: It reminds me of the time that a famous educator said that there is a school every time there is a teacher and a log and the students sit on the log, and I forget who that educator was but I felt that it applied to our group and I remember when we first started here in Pittsburgh and there were two and sometimes three of us, it was just as exciting and wonderful as when we had many people, and there was perhaps even a deeper connection so -- I've been through that that long time.

It's so wonderful to have experienced the workings of the Father here in the group, and now it's just wonderful to greet you because we've cared about your having come and we greeted you with enthusiasm with Rebecca and we were always excited about getting those teacher lessons.

HAM:  Indeed we are all still industrious. In order to round out our conversation, as a teacher I would like to remind you then of the value of the mota that the shepherd will go out and look for the lost sheep in order to fill up his flock.

Celeste: I love that story.

HAM:  You mention the delight you experience no matter who arrives at the meeting, but it is sometimes interesting to see how you can alter the fundamental foundation by introducing an unknown element in the form of a guest, similar to when the bridegroom threw open the doors and invited in the man on the street to partake of the wedding feast when the guests would not attend because they had already too many things to do; they had previous engagements and more important things to do than to sit at the table that had been provided.

If you throw open your doors to those in the streets who would come, you would alter again your appreciation of the configuration of those who gather around your table for the supper.

Elyssia: If I see somebody standing around waiting to join this group, I am sure to invite them and believe me, we live in the City of Pittsburgh, and as Gerdean knows, it's very different from the west. We have a stable, conservative population and we have people who are fearful of our wonderful teachings and fearful of our wonderful spirit guides and so believe me if somebody is around, let me know. Let me know or let any one of us know, please, or have one of the teachers nudge us so that we're open to the possibility of uniting people.

Celeste is marvelous and she talks about the book and has encouraged people to look at it and I know we've all done that.

Celeste: But that's all they've done, is LOOK at it.

Hester: Sometimes that's all they can handle.

Celeste: I know that.

Hester: In time, as they think about it and as it has a chance to work inside of them, they'll start looking for the book.

Celeste: I'll say, "I've just been reading my Urantia Book" if they ask what I've been doing, and they never ask more about it.

Hester: It took me 10 years to get into the Book after I had it.

HAM:  It is very important that in learning how to be a teacher, you give lessons applicable to your student, to the person who is presented to you. As Merium is inclined to say, "This is whom the Lord has sent." If the Lord has sent this person to you, to say to him "follow me", you must then speak to him in language he can understand.

Have you sought to find his or her level of understanding? It is the most …

Elyssia:  I'm working on this. I talked to our teacher a long time ago about a young girl who wrote a letter to me and told me she didn't believe in God and I recently made a move to give her exactly a tape from my church that I think would help her, and made a move to get a book to her which sort of testifies, it's called "The Quest for Certainty" and you understand, Ham, why that would be helpful for her, and so I'm making that move for this young woman and I know Hester and Celeste are always spreading the word in their own wonderful words. Believe me, they are very super, and I think Gerdean, too. They are super, these people here.

Hester: Thank you for the trust.

Elyssia: I've heard you do it. Urn-hum. But to actually bring them to The Urantia Book as such is not, quite, probably, what we're talking about.

Hester: Well, I feel that when they're ready, The Urantia Book will be put in their hands.

HAM:  What you must do is become walking Urantia Books. You cannot expect everyone to read that book. You cannot expect every one of the Father's children to be able to consume such a volume. The concepts are staggering to many. The vocabulary alone is intimidating. It is all very well and good for those who take it upon themselves to look up the words and study the meaning of the concepts, but those who hunger and thirst for righteousness have not got to wait until they plow through 2,000-odd pages to find the truth that you, in your heart and in your faith, have in you that is in your power to propose to them and share with them and enliven their own spiritual reality without having uttered the name of the Book or having quoted from it or having made reference to any of it's cosmology or any of that.

The truth of the gospel is spiritual in nature; end of report. You don't need books. It is the living gospel that we are attempting to proclaim. It is, of course, important that those of you who can, gain an understanding of the nature of the universe, such that you yourselves can feel a certain intellectual satisfaction in understanding that the universe is upheld and that it is peopled by personalities that can assist you and will aide the universe in its organization.

Elyssia: This is great. I think you're giving us. Kind of a commission here, and I would like to say, maybe we should study ways of talking in a helpful way, in speaking in a helpful way. But one is always concerned about sounding sanctimonious or as if you know something these other poor souls don't know. You fear you're going to blow it completely if you come across that way, so I tend to…

HAM:  Blow what?

Elyssia: Blow the chance to be helpful, if you're too open. Now we need to study this.

HAM:  Serious work to do in this community. I am glad that Tomas has taken a hiatus. It is good for him to stand back and observe what his class has been doing. It is good for Gerdean to be given a break from his dependability factor. It is important for you all to learn how to make contact with your own divine guides. As long as you continue to put the responsibility off onto The Urantia Book or Tomas or something or someone else, the longer you can put off dealing with those issues that hold you back from being all that you can be in the mission of Michael to introduce anew the gospel of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

This is the nature of our mission. The same gospel that Jesus taught, we teach.

Elyssia: Well, maybe you can ... You've been in a lot of different groups, so maybe you can describe some things that some people are doing to be all that they can be and do all they can do in reaching out effectively to their fellows. Perhaps you can give us some examples. I've always been a person who requested examples and sometimes I got a response and sometimes I didn't. We love stories.

HAM:  Yes, you do. You love stories and vignettes and anecdotes and this is a very entertaining way of taking it off of yourself and putting it onto someone else. It is a very personal matter. I have and you have heard of the many group efforts that have been done. Your group here has been effective in the EXPO project and in hosting others who visited here, various and sundry service projects. Your support of the mission in terms of financial support and emotional support is of note and yet the examples that you might seek are those examples that are so personal as to be available only between you and your God fragment, and many times you yourself are not aware of how it is that you have been able to allow the Father to operate through you as you pass by.

This is the true nature of spontaneous and dynamic religious living. It is not to hold back and curtail yourself in fear of alienating a false belief system, but rather to instill and inspire such enthusiasm for the love of God that you are contagious. Love is contagious and if you gather your wits about you from the Father, you have nothing but seeds of joy to plant and what does it matter to you if they fall on barren soil or if the soil throws it back at you? It is not for you to take personally. It is not your kingdom. It is the Father's kingdom, and all you are asked to do is to feed his sheep.

Celeste: I think they have that love in their heart. People become open. They don't have to say anything and you don't have to say anything. It just is catchy. Contagious.

HAM:  Yes, infectious and contagious, is this benign virus, but it is also helpful when you can in fact follow it up with an acknow­ledgement of what is transpiring. It may be true that two individuals can experience the mota of a moment, one of those joyous instances in time wherein the world twinkles in acceptance and delight of its very gift of being, and rather than allow that moment to pass without acknowledgement, give voice to your sincere praise of the Creator and give God his due.

Celeste: I think that's a wonderful second thing that happens, when you have this joy in your heart and connect. The most exciting thing is that you DO start to talk about it and understand one another and pray together ... (tape turned)

HAM:  ... that you love God, both of you, acknowledging his divinity and goodness, then you have established between you a frame of reference that allows you to uphold that reality evermore. It is not left to chance, then, that you have another "magical moment" but that you can from then on manifest your loyalty to religious principles even when you are hard at work in the trenches of experiential living.

Hester: Ham, I have an example that just came to me last night. I just discovered that a niece of mine, who I had influenced (so she said) way back when she was a child, is to be ordained in one of the new age churches in the next two or three weeks. She's graduating and is to be ordained and she is going full time into the ministry and she is a couple of years younger than Max was, and she has two -- she had arthritis very badly as a child, and finally had to give up her own hands, and -- she has two synthetic hands, but you know something? You'd never know it. She acts just like I do with both my hands, and she is a fantastic girl and I am deeply grateful that she called me to say, well, "Aunt, I want you to know that I've made the grade." And I think this is what you have been trying to say. You don't have to plug at it; you just have to be it.

HAM:  That will suffice for this afternoon. I remember giving you earlier an admonition that it is necessary that you spoon feed your students and we have gobbled already large mouthfuls. I am going to go back to my teacher base and enjoy their configuration and yet I am ever pleased to have been able to come here and speak with you and encourage you and to fill in for Tomas while he is taking a break.

It in fact gives us all an opportunity to move around and shake things up a little and so, flock, thank you for your hospitality. I will return you to your gracious hostess, Merium. Shalom.

Elyssia: Thank you for coming.

Celeste: We're very grateful that you came to be with us today.

MERIUM:  Hello again, this is Merium. I do wish you could see us from this side and you would indeed see how wonderful these males are, these wonderful male companions in the mission. I know I tease Tomas and here is Ham and there is Daniel and LinEl and others, almost all sounding the same, but from the eyes of the spirit, they are so colorful and so loving, you would not find them dull at all. I don't know how to paint them in more cheerful colors.

For me it is easy. I talk about opening in the windows and letting in the fresh air and in fluffing the pillows to help you feel comfortable and these are symbolisms of your culture that enable you to see me as an adjunct of the Mother who would comfort and nurture you and we look at our male associates and teachers as educators and authority figures, again from the frame of reference of the mortal and it is a distortion of the comfort and wisdom that they reflect in their very being.

There is a great strength in these personalities that give me confidence in my dancing.

I am going to give the personal teachers an opportunity to make contact with you, if you like. I see that it is getting late and we cannot stay past their bedtime, but we can certainly touch base a little bit. Would anyone have a preference to ...?

Elyssia: I would love to hear from Maugham or any of my teachers.

MERIUM:  Yes, Maugham is eager to speak to you also. Let me shove over. Just a moment, please.

MAUGHAM:  Ah, Elyssia, how good it is to be able to open myself to you and allow you to enfold yourself to me in the embrace of our deep friendship. You have been busy, my dear, by far more busy than I would have commended you to. You are deeply conditioned, however, to persist into realms of concern which you have been culturally encouraged to take upon as your doing, and you obviously learned that lesson well, but it is difficult because I would help you undo it. It -- this conditioning, this tendency to give of yourself so much that you have caused your soul to bleed -- is a call above and beyond that which is needful or even good for you or those concerned.

Your compulsion to be a good girl is a life-time compulsion based upon your early, early training. You still want to be the perfect angel, the darling of the party, the delight of all and it causes you to squirm if you have offended anyone. You are so eager to please and to be well liked. Your conditioning is certainly not unfamiliar to us or to your peers, and so once again, my dear, it is not as if to say you were alone in your reactions to life's outpourings, but you as well as millions of others, would simplify your lives immeasurably, allowing for finer-tuned relationship with your indwelling God fragment, therefore being far more effectual in the long run, with much greater ease of operation, were you not to be so / remain so constrained by your conditioning.

Elyssia: Uh-huh. I have a feeling that I'm working on my computer skills and I have this feeling that once I get it in place, I'll enjoy it, because I did enjoy it previously. It think it was about a year ago that I really enjoyed the quiet of working and writing and it was exciting and I feel it's going to happen again.

MAUGHAM:  I would encourage you to come to talk to me once you have learned how to work your machine and we could learn to engage in an intimate dialog, one with the other, and I would be happy to be able to help you to see some things about yourself that you will be a delighted to relinquish, when you see it reflected back to you from the computer screen in black and white.

Elyssia: Thank you. I think it will happen pretty soon, and I am excited about it.

MAUGHAM:  I am going to have to leave you now, Elyssia, inasmuch as there are others. My kiss upon your brow, child. I love you very much.

Elyssia: Thank you.

SPRING:  I am Spring and I am here to see my little one and to; again wash the dust from your weary travels. My child known as! Hester, how are you, my friend?

Hester: Very well, thank you. How are you?

SPRING:  Yes, I have reason to be full and in good humor. I am also impatient to be about my Father's business, and peculiarly, much of my Father's business is you.

Hester: Thank you!

SPRING:  Yes. I cherish your personality and your invigoration. You are a plucky number.

Hester: Never saw myself thus.

Elyssia:  That's perfect!

SPRING:  You, too, however, would do well to spend more time with your personal teacher, that is to say me, because I am assigned to you to, among other things, enable you to let go of those things which, like an albatross, drag around your neck and hold you down from being the delightful child that you are capable of being when you allow yourself to soar freely in the arms of the Dove.

Hester: I like the analogy.

SPRING:  The language of the spirit is unfettered, and the human condition is too often fettered with those things, those shackles and chains, which hold you to the dense material existence, the aspect of the dense material existence which gloms and clogs your spiritual arteries. You would find greater freedom in the fields of the Lord if you were to walk unfettered in the light of the sun.

It is a wonderful life to live, even as a material being, when you can find reflected back to you the truth, beauty and goodness of the I AM. It is a goal of eternity to find reflected back to you that you might reflect out also, the perfection of divinity in every iota of ideation and upon everything you look -- butterflies and buttercups included.

Hester: True.

SPRING:  Little child, return to your youth without all of that which was thrust upon you. Return to those days when you first met your spirit nature, your indwelling Adjuster, allow yourself to go back to those innocent years and allow Him to bring you up without those discolorations, without those wounds. You are weary from them. You must one day let them go and it would do you well to let them go yesterday.

I did not come to nag you. I came to encourage you and to help lift you up into the living water which I try to represent. In my name Spring I come to you once again, child, and dribble upon you my sustenance in my tears of sorrow and of joy. I give .you my word I am an extension of the living water and you are the fruit. Let us grow to great height together.

Hester: I'm willing. Ready and able. Thank you very much.

DORIAN:  Oh, my pretty girl. You seem to avoid me, Celeste. Is it because of my handle?

Celeste:  I’m not avoiding you. I never want to do that. I would like to be closer to you.

DORIAN:  Yes, indeed.

Celeste: That's what I would like.

DORIAN:  Yes, indeed. You could borrow upon the concept then of Mike's Mystery Monitor. If you were to think of me, your spirit guide, your companion, as the associate of your mortal existence, a loyal friend, an undying associate, always eager to bring to you the best, the finest, the romantic and the good, then you will have some idea of how I would like to be regarded by you. I know, of course, I am not and can never be your spouse nor can I ever compare myself to your indwelling God fragment, for I am not God and I am not Mike, but I can convey to you, I have the same feelings for you, the same sentiments, the same wishes, hopes and desires. I would be your joyous companion, one which would walk with you when you go forth into your realms and keep you company in your path through your life to your morontia existence.

Yes, it is also my job, if you will, to help you to polish your personality gems such that you give off your priceless luminescent glow and I am able, in order to glorify our Creator, and this I cannot do without you.

I want to thank you for your companionship and for your ability to be so gracious. You are also very stubborn, my dear, but your graciousness almost compensates.

Celeste: I love you very much, especially for all that you just said to me. I'm willing to go with you anyplace, anytime. Thank you.

DORIAN:  Yes, it is such a peculiar "phenomenon" to have this relationship, this liaison, and it is augmented even more by our opportunity to converse. When you think to yourself in your mind many times you are conversing with your spirit guides but you are not aware of them as being other than your own ego-identification and this cheats yourself of the companionship of many creative personalities and energies which are gifts of the loving universe to you in order to make your pathway more free from things over which you might stub your toe or stumble.

Beautiful daughter, we relinquish you from our formal communication but assuredly, all of you, your guardian seraphim and spirit guides, as well as indwelling Adjusters, are engaged in a constant overcare of you who are all precious in his sight. On behalf of the personal teachers, I return you to Merium for her final remarks.

Elyssia: But Merium, what about our darling Gerdean? She should have the comfort of this -- oh, maybe she hears it all the time! I don't know.

TRIESTE:  I am Trieste and I will insert briefly that Gerdean is as guilty as everyone of ignoring me and yet we, even so, have developed a fine-tuned understanding of when things are right and when things are not so right. When things are right, I let her go and when things are not so right, I wait for her to come to talk it over with me, for somehow she has the feeling that I am going to yell at her. Now this is her conditioning, and perhaps it is one that you all also share, but I have time and again calmed her fears and assuaged her anxieties by simply wanting to be her friend and talking over with her what she would talk over with a good friend if one were so intimate and able to hear her thoughts as I can.

Yes, my child, girl child here is doing alright. She is going through her own soul struggles and growth throes. With the addition in her life of a mate of the stature and status of Mr. B., she has finally met her match indeed, and this has thrown her into a dimension of which she has not been a part and there are many things to savor and many lessons to learn, much adjustment of power centers and energy regulators, if you will, and so we've got lots to do. She is alright.

You are all alright. Let me bow out and give you to Merium.

MERIUM:  Well, I enjoyed my role today as emcee but I didn't get to talk very much myself. I am eager to get Hunnah back on-line and then we can catch up with some of our enthusiastic response to life's many adventures. It is good to be here with you here. On behalf of other teachers and celestials, I wish you a good week and we will see you soon.

*****

DATE:  May 10, 1999

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA

T/R: Gerdean and Hunnah

TEACHERS: MERIUM

URANTIA BOOK STUDY:

Paper 48, THE MORONTIA LIFE

#3. Morontia Companions

#4. The Reversion Directors

#5. The Mansion World Teachers

TEACHER SESSION:

TOPIC:

Live By Your Own Standards

MERIUM:   Good evening.

Group: Good evening.

MERIUM:  Hunnah is sitting here wondering if Gerdean is going to open her mouth at the same time. It is sort of two that have a piano to share and have not rehearsed, and one might be wondering if the other is going to open up this chord, but it is indeed a pleasure to be here with you this evening, and you are all like you are deliciously ripe for picking. Gerdean?

Gerdean: Yes.

MERIUM: Trooper.

Gerdean: Yes.

MERIUM:  These are not human accolades. They are stars in a crown. You have served well, but you are NOT going to be allowed to retire.

Gerdean: I didn't think so.

MERIUM:  No, but I thought that I would utter the words so that we could get them on tape.

Gerdean: Thank you.

MERIUM:  So you are not even on a leave of absence. You are simply working in the back room with heaps of paper stacked around you, with new inspiration and a sense of what comes next well established in you. Good work.

Gerdean: Thank you. I'm glad you're here.

MERIUM: Are you going to share the platform?

Gerdean: I couldn't find anybody!

MERIUM:  Alright. Hunnah has a reservation about having too much to say, but it's no longer her say. She has been sent, you might say, to her room.

Gerdean: Not because she's been naughty.

MERIUM:  No. She is a beholder, as all of you are beholders in your own way. You have been stimulated sufficiently that you can scarcely leave the house or pick up a book or answer the phone without new inspiration moving in on you. You have new eyes to see and new ears to hear and your voice has been offered up to serve indeed.

Confidence will be upon you as never before. Hunnah's friend Erata has astounded people because this has become incorporated into her natural personality. She is no longer dealing with two -- on and off. She is ON and is learning what to do with doubt. It is recognized and treated in the moment, and you have already, among yourselves, learned to do the same. You hear the error and immediately pull it out like a weed, mentally perhaps, or redesign your statement to be clearer unto what you are trying to say.

Hunnah had a teacher one time who made a very interesting statement but it applies here: "You will no longer have likes and dislikes, but you may have preferences." You will simply know what the better choice is to be and you will be comfortable with it and it will be rather effortless for you to do so. It will show itself in you as a subtle poise, and it does not really matter if anyone else notices or compliments you. It's sort of like learning to sit in your saddle comfortably, or run the machine. You sort of become so familiar with it that it doesn't seem as if it's any more than an extension of yourself into another way of doing things. Are there questions this evening?

Gerdean: I can't think, off the top of my head, of a question, not academically, but I did want to thank you for the lessons I've learned from you. I just wanted to take this opportunity.

Most poignantly, recently, you would have spoken through me at one of the meetings but I resisted what you wanted to teach, in the way you wanted to teach it, and rather than making me feel uncomfortable in any way, you said, "Well, that's fine. That's your standard. I'll find another way to get the message across." and you found another way, but it was very interesting to me, in reflection, that you just simply said, "Well, that's your standard," and it was like -- I never had noticed anyone ever before accepting that that was my standard and that that was okay. I guess what I'm suggesting is that one of the human tendencies is -- I don't know if it's competitive or what it is, but -- it seems like we always have to argue with somebody's point of view, like it's not good enough, it's the wrong one, it reminds them of their Aunt Gertrude who they didn't like, I don't know what it is, but -- maybe I'm just in appreciation of the simple grace that you manifested, but it rally wonderful and I'm still relishing that facet that ... "that's my standard."

I mean, that's such a valuable lesson to take into myself, because when I look at other people whose ideas are, to me, totally ludicrous, or completely out in left field somewhere, or their taste in clothes or food or companionship,... I can simply let it go and say: "That’s their standard." They have a right to change it if and when they want to someday, but it's not for me to say that it's wrong for them to have today -- if they're not projecting on me. Anyway, it was a value lesson that I learned in a very, very simple sentence fragment which I am eternally grateful for. I just wanted you to know that.

MERIUM:  I'm glad you shared that with us, Gerdean, because what you have said is that you have demonstrated in words what happens with this process of growth. That in the right environment there are issues that can be dealt with painlessly and everyone here that has ever been at this table has had probably a similar experience only you were able to really pick it up and look it over and see it with greater appreciation.

This is also a type of maturity. Maturity is a very abused word, but previously I said that you were all ripe, deliciously ripe, and this is an indication of your fruitfulness and when you are able to receive and use a situation as a lesson for yourself, which is sometimes like an anesthesia to make it forever easy, when you see parts of your old self showing and the new self, the new way, and how wonderfully gentle it can be, you are in this wonderful state of observation where you are utilizing the lessons and it is really interesting how you have been nearly marinated in them because you work with the transcripts by yourself and these words are almost tapped into your DNA now.

It's like -- Oh, there is a line of scripture here. Goodie, goodie. Here comes another one. "Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh." When the words are yours, they become you, you become them.

There is integration and when you use them appropriately, they are alive; you bring new life to them when you understand and have accepted this, absorbed it into your beingness, and so these lessons that you embrace -- others may completely miss it -- but as a transmitter/receiver you have a strong advantage and also a disadvantage that others do not have. And one is that there is a part of you that is listening to all this with a muzzle, or you might say a gag, and it keeps that knee-jerk reaction at bay, but on the other hand it can prick you in such a way that it will throw you out of the T/R frequency briefly, like falling off your bicycle, and you get back on.

All of you have sat around this table and witnessed various members of the group who have managed to allow transmitter/receiving, and it is not the virtue that you think it is. Part of this reason is because the configuration of their electrical impulses in their body, and it is easier for some than for others, and when this happens it is does bring indeed a sense of satisfaction to be able to deliver the mail, but on the other hand, it can create for some others, human unworthiness or it might put them in a position of criticism out of self-defense, because as Hunnah's transcript this evening pointed out, that the human authority does not want to share the line with anyone, and to have two transmitter/receivers speaking or a third party, is really similar to being in a chorus. Everyone is paying attention so completely, and enjoying themselves, and feeling satisfied with the expression of the choral composition that they are willing to be totally directed as to when to come in on cue, and so when Merium and Tomas were together, there was this development -- not a challenge but there had to be a development of poise and timing between the two. And I am mentioning this because it can reflect on into your daily life. Those of you who have a lot to say as a part of your normal personality will be tempered and you won't need the attention and you won't need to speak.

Hunnah received some beautiful words, just as you had mentioned accepting that moment, with her friend Margaret, who was advising her about writing poetry. She said, "You must honor the reader. You must give them credit for knowing something." Now this is very, very important, because when you speak of this enrichment to others, you talk to them because -- and you have moved into a new place of discourse here -- because they have a Thought Adjuster and you know it. This is your new term, and when you learned about what a Thought Adjuster was, you have been forever committed to knowing who the other fellow is and what they contain.

There is no longer any margin of error permissible because when you do miss it, you will feel the discomfort immediately, so that when you speak you don't have to spell out -- just like -- we have teachers here. They know that they do not have to teach every word. A good teacher leaves room for having a response because they have stimulated the knowledge in that individual, and when that individual can deliver what has been learned back to that, the teacher has the confidence that they're coming along. And teaching is what this is about. Once again, you have appeared to come to a place that entertains you. It is social. It is awesome. You don't know any other friends who are friendly with celestial teachers. I mean, this is a very classy group! But it is something you hesitate to talk about because they want to put you on the funny farm, but in the meantime you have been brought to a point of knowing that you are indeed whom the Lord has sent, and if you have been sent, then you better know equally that the one whom you are with has been put into a state of receptivity and that the tables can be turned and that you will be receiving through them.

This is what we call "feeding my sheep" and it's a literal interpretation. It sounds so humble and so trite, but on the other hand, it was an appropriate term at the time.

Today we would say, as you were indicating earlier, these people that you meet know they are so close and all you have to do is get closer and assist them -- and it will look as if you're not -- but it will suddenly find out that they have walked on water. They have gone where they really wanted to be simply because someone who understood and accepted them and let them know they were worthy and welcome into a new realm of life experience.

I think it is wonderful that we have met this evening. I will not keep you late unless you decide that you want to get going here and talk more, but I am really pleased that Gerdean brought this example up and allowed me to run with the ball, so to speak.

Group: Thank you.

Elyssia: That was a beautiful lesson.

Gerdean: When Tomas left he said he was going to put in for vacation. The other night the message was conveyed that he could be reached on the circuits but that he was still not around and you said earlier that, no, he had not gone to Salvington, so ... what's he up to? Do you know?

MERIUM:  Well, one of the things that he is up to is giving you a change of pace. It is very easy to get used to the way someone does something, and if all goes well, Hunnah will branch out and we will be allowed to have guests here, or you may surprise yourself. There may be guests. I am not going to reply as to where Tomas is because that will put my T/R into a spasm and we have been doing well this evening.

Gerdean: Okay.

MERIUM:  But we'll get ... how does that go? That grape song. Heard it on the grapevine. If you have access to the grapevine, we'll bring in a report later.

Gerdean: Well, if you see him, tell him I said hello.

MERIUM:  Hello is understood. Indeed I will because he will be checking with me.

Gerdean: Yes, I'm sure he will.

Celeste: I want to say hello to him too!

MERIUM: Well, thank you very much, and it was good to be back.

Group: Thank you so much, Merium. It was grand. Just grand.

*****

DATE: May 20, 1999

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA

T/R’s: Gerdean and Hunnah

TEACHERS: Unidentified

TOPIC:

The Good Earth

TEACHER (Hunnah):  I hope each of you is enjoying your good earth and of course each of you are left to discern what that means. The good earth. And take advantage of it. I hope that each of you will take time today and will take time in the near future, to acknowledge the earth. When you are a child, it doesn't occur to you to acknowledge anything in particular. You are too busy relating to it and just accepting it as it is. So I hope that you will be able to be childlike in your acknowledgement.

Are you all sitting around with an empty bowl for me to fill? Did you bring a spoon? I would like to have someone say a word to me please, to trip the lever, so to speak. Is there a word among you?

Celeste: I don't know but at my house we've been turning the good earth, trying to plant greenery and stuff, but it really is wonderful when you start working with the earth. It's wonderful! It's such a pleasure! It wears you out but it's such a pleasure to do that for awhile.

Elyssia: We have purple flowers outside the house now and that would be the same color, or close to it, that are the color of the flowers of the mansion worlds and I was just thinking how much I like purple and then Abram and Hunnah brought me some purple flowers on a cake.

TEACHER: It's as if Elyssia's mind is almost always in heaven. And we know, of course, that our friend Abram is always thinking about food.

Celeste: Is there good earth in heaven?

TEACHER: Oh, yes, in a sense there is.

Hester: And there's a good heaven in earth, too!

TEACHER: Yes, there is, and it is up to you to develop this understanding, that it might be understood by others; and not in a teaching or preaching manner, but in a natural interaction of appreciation. But we're not going to talk about farming or horticulture this evening, but I will direct our attention to the fact that it is your springtime, a new beginning, of a new crop and the seeds that have been planted in your consciousness will be showing themselves and it is not unlike farming in this sense that you have been seeded every year and every year you have different ranges of growth within yourself.

There are some things that have not germinated and there are others that are well on their way and you are very comfortable with the area, but no matter what you have learned, each lesson can develop branches, or you might say expand and become a crop unto itself of enrichment for you. I don't want to be too vague, but you were talking about the fruits of the spirit, and all of these have been cultivated as you have entered your own personal prayer and as you have communal gathering here with us, and you have brought yourself to this refined energy pattern where you are released into a more compliant and receptive state. The argument in many areas of your understanding has left you and you are going to break ground into new interpretations and new understandings of facets of what you have learned, and many of you are living and consciously aware that you are being challenged in a particular area and you can rely on the fruits of the spirit to come forth. 

You can identify what the experience is relating to in yourself and you can apply your lessons. You are indeed in a state, all of you, of applying what you have learned. Being a student is not being a bird with your mouth open, being fed by the teacher. It is the digestion of this word and then your going out and your applying it in your daily life, whether it's the observation and appreciation of justice in your courts or if it’s the considerations that have shown themselves in your personal family life.

I am not here this evening to tell you something brand new. I am here to stir and stimulate that which is in you that it might help you to utilize your daily experiences more fully, and I must say that I am going to take advantage of my T/R and tell you that she hit the wall just recently with some things that she has been unable to identify, and when you find yourself restless and you cannot put your finger on it, it does help if you will sit down and write because a word will come up that will identify. Use it, and the first thing you know, out will pop the area of unease. It will help you target and see what wants to be released, and in this case -- and I am not hesitant to use it because you can all be enriched by it -- is an area of commitment.

What frame of mind were you in when you made the commitment? Were you just being agreeable with someone that you committed yourself to someone that you don't want to do but you don't know how to handle it, or have you taken an oath, or have you put yourself in a compromising position and you do not know how to deal with it. When you have this discomfort develop, it indeed turns out that you have chopped a pile of wood and you are about to have a home fire because you need to utilize this opportunity and burn things down until you see what is hiding or what you are to pay attention to and see and pay attention to in yourself, and your teachers and counselors are with you at all times so that you may deal with it.

If there is an area in your body that is hurting you, there are many to direct you to the supporting structure in that body that helps you, if you are this type of person, to identify an area in your life where you are not being supported, or cannot swallow, or you cannot reason with something. All of this helps you to give root to these fruits of the spirit. We call them fruits and give them names, but before they have been fruits, they have been seeds in you, seeds of righteousness, seeds of intelligent living, tools to work with that become part of you.

It says in scripture that when you learn these truths it becomes bone of your bone, flesh of your flesh, and that's what happens. When you are connected with your counsel, when you are connected with your Christ mission and you are involved in exercising the blessings that you have been shown, you are successful as they become bone of your bone. You can share them with others. You know. You have lived that truth. It is yours forever and it is your mota. So I am wanting to direct you into your challenges in your daily lives, for when you find something new on the docket, so to speak, consider it a doorway, saying, "Obviously there is something going on here and I plan on picking it up and going through the door successfully because I will use this to help me know what I am to know and to be strong."

These challenges are not punishment. It isn't that you don't experience some of them weeping, but not out of punishment, but out of opportunity you need to apply what you have learned. This is your arena. This is your earth experience and we want you to be in and connecting with all the aspects of your lives. I am also going to encourage you to distinguish the difference between someone else's challenge and your own.

My friend here read an article years ago about living with someone who is depressed, and in the article it helped the reader to realize that they had only one true responsibility and it was to keep themselves strong. Therefore if they were strong, then they would be of use to that person and they would not be feeding the weakness of that individual but would be able to support the strength in them.

If any of you are familiar with Al Anon, this is something that is taught. It is presented through that medium. So whether you are dealing with a weakness of your own or with others, there is only one lesson that is always consistent and that is you remain faithful to the Christ of your being, to the quiet times, to your inner receptivity to the Thought Adjuster in you, and when you make this your primary discipline, it becomes the backbone of your daily living. It will support your legs, your back, your mind, your heart, your hands, and you must constantly remind yourself who you are serving - the man, the fleshly senses of yourself or the direction of the Christ spirit and the purpose of its mission. 

I am doing all the talking but I am here to fan you all, to billow the flames, to help you to burn away the error in your judgment and to help you become selfless and purposeful and joyfully directed. I heard you say, "Oh, I enjoy it because Merium is coming," but Merium is always, hopefully, bringing you down on your knees, to sit down next to the Christ to listen, and then when you rise, you can join the Martha, the working force aspect of your experience, with joy and with renewed vision and purpose.

Celeste: Thank you so much.

TEACHER: I cannot tell you often enough and my friend here knows herself that she is not been able to practiced what I preach the way she would like, but when you are grappling with anything, when you have gotten off the rail, gotten off track because of the human conditioning, loves a scrap, loves the frustration, loves the excitement, can hardly wait for the fire whistle, it comes forth very easily. It changes the TV station. It makes you out doing things that you don't really know why you are doing them, but while you have this partner, it seems, for a while it seems there are two of you, in time you become so unified, you must, I guess, consider the truth of your being your true partner, for you still have this sense of two-ness, and we're talking about one. 

I cannot quote the part of the bible that talks about being able to imprison this lesser way. These are my words, now. When you become absorbed for the purpose of your strength of purpose and your character and your relationships.

Leah:  I think its Romans 7.

TEACHER: If you have a background of scripture and you have read it enough and familiarized yourself with it and you find it in your inner pondering, it will slip in like a guest at an appropriate time and will strengthen you in whatever is going on. This is a very common practice of Christians who remain in the fold of the church. 

So are any of you heavy laden? Have you left your myriad concerns? You know yourself if you have gone out shopping -- and you men will not relate to this very much but -- a woman's purse can get very heavy, and she is apt to carry even more than one, and sometimes they will take the purse and dump it out and wonder, "What is this doing in there? I don't need this, that and the other thing." You take these things out and you pick up your purse and you say, "Oh, this is much, much better." This is what you need to do more often with your heart-mind, is to go in and say, "What are you carrying that around for!?" 

Elyssia:  I'm always doing that. Every other day! My husband says that my purse frightens him.

TEACHER: Does it frighten him because it becomes too empty in one particular place?

Elyssia: No. "What could possibly be in this thing?" When he carries it for me.

TEACHER: Perhaps you can surprise him. It is known among social workers that when women get older their purses get heavier because they have insurance policies and rings and things in them because they don't want to lose them, and that is a bad/scary sign, so spring cleaning is in order.

Elyssia: It's more like make-up.

Hester: Mine are keys. They're hard to get rid of.

Elyssia: Keys. To doors. That's sort of a symbol, isn't it?

TEACHER: That's a good one. Our friend has many keys to many doors.

Celeste: I don't think your purse matters quite so much as your mind.

TEACHER: Well, that's what I'm trying to get you to think a parallel is.

Elyssia: Our minds are cluttered up, I guess.

TEACHER: So you must take the scrub brush to your mind even now and then, too, but it is a discipline and you have all day to continually says, "Do I really need to be thinking about that?" In the Buddhist tradition, they have many suggestions of what to do with this itchy mind, this restless monkey. It has to have something to do, and sometimes when Hunnah is minding other people's business when she drives the car, she mentally gives herself a yellow balloon to hold. She tells herself, "Here is the balloon, take hold of it and pay attention to it." It is a way of giving that equipment something to do.

Elyssia: That's great.

TEACHER: I am not going to burden you with a lengthy chat here. I am here to refresh you on what you already know. I stimulate, and I pack a lunch when I speak to you. You go home with that proverbial shopping bag but you don't know it because it weighs very little. I fill your pockets and leave this room that you are in and when you are lifted up into it, you literally leave LOADED. Your lunch is packed and there is money in your purse and there are things that you have in your home and in your mind and it's as if we will need a program to open up on schedule.

Just as our friend opened the Book this evening to the subject of humility, doesn't it fascinate you that you can, "Voila!" There is a topic from a page that you did not plan to open to that is appropriately chosen to go with the subject that you had. So plan on this serendipitous experience. It keeps you bright and light and keeps you from getting too serious.

Elyssia: Lately I've had some success, just a little more, in connecting with people that I just sort of run up against in the outside world and I've had just a little more success because I might deliberately pause and this has been working for me a little bit. To pause at any transaction and deliberately look at this person and look very much, hopefully, into their eyes, and when I do it, there is an answer in theirs, too, and I realize that slowing down the pace of this transaction makes them notice, "Well, wait a minute. Something's going on!" and something IS going on. I'm trying to reach out and touch them, as a person, and so I've had a tiny amount of success with doing this particular thing. I want to say it makes me feel pretty good!

TEACHER: I want to thank you for sharing this because what you have just done is that you have set this pattern out for others to consider, but the magic word here is "slowing down." When you slow down, this opportunity can take place, so think about how interesting that will make an experience if you allow yourself to slow down so that the goodness that has been prepared for that exchange can enter and reveal itself, and of course you've told your side of the story, but that individual who talked to you would probably tell you, "I was talking with this woman and we received eye contact and it made such a difference." So you do not know what the repercussions are or the rewards are of slowing down.

Elyssia: You did a beautiful job of describing the way it was, and I was sitting next to a person at a big dinner. Another thing happened this weekend. I had such a feeling of compassion and love for him because of his great struggle with his genetics, his alcoholism, and I just looked at him and in my heart I said, "God bless you for trying so hard," and just let him know I prayed for him. And I felt that there was some sort of a meeting of hearts there and I think he was grateful and he knew that I was thinking about his very rough, rough road. And so it was a very pleasurable experience that stayed with me for awhile.

TEACHER: I have an analogy here and I will blend it with this sharing that you have given which is perfect for me and I appreciate it, but if you are going to set a nail in place, you have to bring down the hammer and hit it square in order for it to sit up straight so that you can repeat the procedure until the nail is all the way where you want to send it. When you are on this path consciously, there have been many looks upon you who have already wakened. There is a great deal of perturbation that is never identified because of the state of the consciousness of that individual, and then finally comes the moment when this activity appears to be picking up, but it's actually been going on for a long time. When you experience this compassion or when you receive an uplifting awareness, it is because that stroke of purpose has come down on you one more time to a point where it’s well into its mission of where it's going. Every time you allow yourself to make a generous gesture to someone of appreciation or patience or you bite your tongue, you are, in a sense, bringing down a stroke that is going to hold them upright and let them bed on their way in better shape, going along further without wilting or taking a wrong turn.

In order to get going, you need repeated strokes of confidence in order to get you there, because there are so many buffeting errors that are coming at you, whether it's a weak constitution, no self-confidence, all these things influencing, but then comes that moment when the person says, "and then I suddenly realized…" and that person becomes awake enough that they can be consciously fed.

Elyssia: That is going to be a helpful image to take along with me.

TEACHER: Watch your hands, in your daily work. Pay attention to your hands. It is so fascinating to see that you are really operating this body and there is so much going on with the body that is programmed, is pre-conditioned, but let yourself watch your hand or your whole arm doing something -- whether it is washing dishes, starting the car, putting the key in and turning -- there is a muscle of appreciation that can be developed in everything you do. I want you to be more aware of your physicality so that your spirit and your body are coming together and orchestrating better consciously. This is not a must. I am bringing it to your attention as a sort of a fun thing to do but when you do it, I hope it is because all of a sudden you look down and then you see and you will be able to come back and say, "Guess what happened!" You can watch your hands doing things and it's a very nice connecting experience.

Well, I think we have touched upon enough suggestions to stimulate you into finding your own Geiger-counter for wonderment. I wish you blessings and may you offer up your spirit at night to be taught. Do not hesitate to call each other, to keep in touch with someone who speaks your language. Thank you.

Group: Thank you.

*****

DATE: May 27, 1999

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA

T/R: Hunnah

TEACHER: Unidentified

TOPIC:

Come Into Balance

TEACHER (Hunnah):   This has certainly been quite an evening, and I have a hard act to follow. Much has been said. Your plates should be very full. What are those little white containers that you get in restaurants? You will have to ask to take the serving home that you did not consume.

It was very enjoyable, hearing your meeting. You have an outstanding example of summa cum laude, you might say. She took the promises and put them to work and allowed them to develop in her. She serves the Father well. 

If you were in school and you met a senior, so to speak, and you were a freshman, you would perhaps be in awe of someone who acquired the accolades of living the lesson. You do not hear much about heroes anymore, or heroines. The media's telescopic lens has brought everyone down to a lesser state, but that is judging externally. Would it not be wonderful if you were all motivated to find your role model? You read your books and you gather words and your human mind remembers what you read, but there will come a point where you will put down the book. You will only be inspired, perhaps, to read just to still yourself a little. But the dependency upon being entertained mentally will be brought into proper proportion. You have tapes; you carry videos. You are drunk with your addiction. You are toxic with amusement. You are a society steeped in what it sees on TV, but when one comes among you who is glowing with the truth, it is time to take stock, to notice.

I am not telling you not to listen to tapes or read books or watch a video or hear a speaker, but I am asking you to allow yourself to come into balance. The subject of a Urantia University is true, but its classrooms are scattered wide, and you come in and feast upon the word, but you have grown fat because you do not burn the energy that the words contain. You must get out and live it, prove it, work with a principle, develop it in your body like a muscle. Then when it is yours, it is of your bone and of your flesh and you may speak effortlessly and with confidence and, yes, you will be empowered if it is appropriate to be so.

We are talking about balance. We're talking about walking the talk. We're talking about coming out and speaking up in an appropriate way. It is time to be done with old habits. You are getting too comfortable. A Urantia group is just as susceptible to the flaws as are religious groups. A bible study can be contaminated by endless hours of repeating verses that they know by heart, but if you do not go home and live these words, they may as well be taken out with the garbage. It is time for a change and you are going to be allowed to initiate it among yourselves. 

It is time for a change. No more sad stories. No more allowing yourselves to be convinced that things will ever be different. You shall have to make private review with yourself: Who do I served? The conditioned habits of my humanness or is it time to represent the living Christ of your being? 

I think our friend this evening expressed who the Christ in you is. You are all comfortable with different words, but you knew. You KNEW. Some of you may have had a personal response to her empowerment. Others may have been overwhelmed by the energy and the fatigue of the day. When you gather around your guest, whether it is Merium or whether it is Tomas, or it is a messenger, you have often commented how casual it is, but we speak to a part of you that understands and we know that our time is not being wasted, and we know that you have changed and among ourselves we discuss how you are going to continue to change and how you will serve. You will be separated and come together less often, but not to doze or chew, but be truly alive with the reports of the good will of your daily experience.

Allow yourself prayerfully to be prayerful. Even among you who have been so loyal over the years to the various written words, you too are burdened by the demands of your daily life. It is your responsibility to keep your prayer life fresh and to avoid being repetitious. I am not scolding this evening. I am simply announcing a change in the weather, so to speak. There are changes, and they are coming very fast. You will not be put in a situation that is so great that you will not be able to cope with it, but I can assure you that every time you respond appropriately to the inner needs of this commitment, that it will add to the ascension and the expansion of your morontia presence.

I'm not offering you a quiz this evening, and I am not asking you if you have any questions. I am simply saying to be of good cheer and recognize the old habits and say to yourself, "I think this should be done differently this time." Allow yourself to change track, and do so in a way that adds excitement to your day. "I wonder how this day will unfold?"

I must tell you something about our friend here, Hunnah. She visited a born again and again and again Christian many years ago, who was not able to leave home and she had bible study there, and this woman always incorporated the teaching of scripture while she would be with her. And in the hall entry there was a box with little pieces of paper that were scrolled and tucked together and you could pick one and read it, and so when the nurses came in to see her, they would usually help themselves. She was one of the many who felt they had to stay a very long time because there were those who needed to be shown, who needed to see and hear the witnessing of what was in their hearts.

It is indeed time for you to shout it from the housetops, or from your car window. And not in a foolish way, but I can assure you that it will be alright. It is time to let the world know, appropriately, who you serve and it does not have to be used in the old language, particularly, but it will make itself known and it will set those with you at ease; it will not frighten them. They are encumbered, and those who are ready will be sent to you. They will find you and you will be so surprised, but it's the way it's going to be. Do not go home and look in the mirror and expect to see a beautiful blond. You are all victims of judging by appearances and you were told so and that does make it more exciting. 

The story about Red Riding Hood is so bad. She was so pure and so filled with love for her grandmother that she didn't have to look for her grandmother, she just knew she would bed with her grandmother. Do not look for the wolves. Look for love and you will be rewarded. Thank you, and have a good evening.

*****

DATE: July 1, 1999

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA USA

T/R: Hunnah

TEACHERS: MERIUM, VISITING TEACHER

TEACHER SESSION:

TOPIC: 

Leadership and Morals

MERIUM:  Good evening, friends.

Group: Good evening.

MERIUM:  I want to tell you that there is a great congregation gathered this evening and we are so pleased with your discussion. You will be touched individually in your discernments, in your ponderings, in your wonderments, in your sacred moments. You will be brought back from the distractions that you may once again ponder and revere the living Christ of your being.

Thank you, Leah.

Leah: Thank you.

MERIUM:  Thank you, Leah.

Leah: You're welcome.

MERIUM:  Thank you, Leah. It is most important that you let yourselves be spontaneous. It is most important that you not go with the rehearsed decisions, mental decisions that are ground out from your human need to be in control.

And that's one of the reasons why it is so important to come together with friends, that you will be allowing your spirit to be lifted up and that the authority that makes you tired might be taken from your shoulders, this mantle of needing to be right, this mantle of human judgment, human hunger for information. It slows you down. I do not want you removed from it, but I want you to come in for your rest, and this respite this evening has been very, very good. How has your week gone?

Elyssia: Great. I was dancing with my Thought Adjuster!

MERIUM:   Very good!

Elyssia: I love to dance and I really enjoyed it. I really thought it was great. I'm going to go on doing it. It was SO much fun.

MERIUM:  Very good! And I highly recommend that everyone at this table experience the same.

Elyssia: I just look slightly above my eyes, because -- why do I think my Thought Adjuster is taller than I am? But I do think that, and I look just slightly up and it seems so real!

MERIUM:  If you allow spirit to dance with you, you will always have a partner. And even the fellows here this evening can dance around the room when no one's looking. It is most liberating, and I must remind you that in many cultures it is the male that dances, so you have every right to express yourself in dance and with loving embrace.

It is important to let it out. The hidden splendor can show itself in many forms. Well, I am hoping this evening not to just gabby, gabby gab. I do want to touch on something of substance. I would like to talk about your inner wisdoms. The wisdoms that you have unearthed in yourself. They pop up almost like mushrooms, but what I want you to do is when you sense that a wisdom pops up and makes itself known that it might be a wisdom, do not be satisfied with the first glance or the fact that you see that it's there.

These wisdoms are settling. They are empowered to allow you to expand your definitions. The words of the Master asked you to look at your brother both as a human being and as a God fragment. That certainly does change the scenario, does it not? That's plenty of homework.

Not to be belabored, but when it occurs to you that there is an opportunity here to take a second look, let your Thought Adjuster take you on a journey and expound upon the opportunity of this discovery of what it is that you have given judgment to or that has caught you with irritation. Ask yourself why is it?

It's most interesting reading if you allow yourself to discover what's going on in yourself that brings you righteous indignation. The beauty of being able to observe yourself and others as a human being helps you to put things in a true perspective because it allows your spirit to stretch and move the words around to show you that you are getting caught on analyzing the human condition. And yes, you may analyze it, but you are not to stay there. You're to see it for what it is, and move on.

This discussion this evening about leadership and morals was sufficient to stimulate all of you, and you will all have benefited from this discussion, as if you had, like the apostles, tapped the Master on the arm and said, "Please, may I go with you further? I have to have a little more time on the subject."

You are indeed allowed to have privy counsel with any one of the many forms of counsel that are available to you. If you are still apprehensive about others, then all means speak with the Master. Tap him on the shoulder and say, "This discourse has troubled me. I would like it if you would help me to clear it and settle it, that it may not be a disturbance in my heart anymore." For it is the heart focus that we want to offer to the Father and if we are being constantly in agony over what we have swallowed in the human scene, we will never be without a bellyache. We must go to the counsel of those who have the discernment, who will bring you out of ignorance and soothe you that you may digest the morsel of that beautiful guidance and the peace of mind that can be offered by this true Friend.

How many times I have sat here in this chair with my friend coming through to you and sounded like Heloise or perhaps even frivolous, but there is nothing that can match allowing yourself to indulge in sitting at the feet of the Master, even speechless. Lay your heart out and say, "Master, I must rest here with you. I am overwhelmed. I am weary. I am weary of taking thought about my health, judgments, duties, being everything to everyone." Or if you feel as if you are caught up in inertia, speak to him about inertia.

By the way, that is simply a symptom that indicates that you have to go and be with someone who can lift you up. "Spirit of God, lift us up." You can read words, but they must be written by one who IS the words, who has LIVED their words, and then their counsel will be as manna.

I would like to have you feel that when I speak to you, that my words are manna, but what it is, is that we are two or three joined together in the name of Truth of the Spirit of God. That is really what the message is. There is energy in the words and you feel the response in your heart. There is unity and acceptance, and then you move on, and you learn to sing your own song. Go and dance with the partner of your choice.

I think I will stop there. [Long pause]

VISITING TEACHER:  My friend here is going to "allow" me to speak. She senses a change of energy and she asks that she not interfere this evening and this gives us an opportunity to bring blessings from the universe into this home, and to thank the gracious hostess who has committed herself to accommodation of the Living Lord.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if every home would want to take the time, every household would open the skylights in their home, to allow the voices of friendship and the extended family to enter. There would be no separation. Everyone in the family would understand who was coming and why they were gathered. Children would be quiet and content, while the heralding of good news would flood in and fill the rooms of that home, that would welcome the Lord. Their hearts would rejoice and understand even the silence between the lines. Nothing is wasted. No one would be restless. It would be such a joyous occasion that it need not be entertaining. It would be comparable to total renewal.

You set crystals out in the sun to rejuvenate them. That is the form of in-filling that is required in one day, such a blessing when such an activity will take place, and it is up to you to encourage those whom you have met, to learn to take time to consider the higher way of life, without preaching.

Preaching and teaching have their place, but there is nothing better than the harmony of uplifted configuration in your body and the demeanor of your well-being to advertise that something special is upon you and then those who are thirsty or needy but sensitive will come and your slightest gesture will serve that need individually, each time they approach.

I have not brought a lesson. I have come to honor you and thank you for your devotion and we are asking you to continue. Hunnah surrendered this evening when Elyssia said how she enjoyed Merium and how much it meant to her. Hunnah does not own Merium, but if she could bring her into this home, then that is what must be done.

What are your gifts? Acquaint yourself with your gifts and allow yourself to develop new ones. Ask the Master to show you what it is that He wants you to do. It will be so much easier if you ask because there is so much waiting to come into you that you may shower it and feed thousands.

I am not going to speak long, but I am pleased to be here and I prefer to be without name, but all of us realize that we are in agreement in our heart, and that is a sufficiency, and some day our friend here will be delivering names, but in the meantime, as I said, the heavens rejoice in your commitment. Thank you.

Group: Thank you!

Leah: [Singing] Oh, go in beauty. Peace be with you till we meet once again in the light. Oh, go in beauty. Peace be with you till we meet once again in the light. Oh, go in beauty. Peace be with you, till we meet once again in the light.

Celeste: That was beautiful.

*****

DATE: July 8, 1999

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA USA

T/R: Gerdean

TEACHERS: MERIUM, JUBAL, DORCAS, ROM

Group:  Celeste, Evangel, Leah, Gerdean, Hester and Elyssia

URANTIA BOOK STUDY

Paper 51, THE PLANETARY ADAMS

#1 Origin and Nature of the Material Sons of God

#2 The Adamic Missions

Paper 140, THE ORDINATION OF THE TWELVE

#7 The Week Following the Ordination

#8 Thursday Afternoon on the Lake 1. Doing the Father's will.

TEACHER SESSION:

TOPIC: 

Civilization In Flux

MERIUM:   Good evening, everybody.

Group:  Good evening, Merium. Thank you for coming.

MERIUM:  How I enjoy your parties. I wouldn't miss it. Indeed, it is always fun to be here and today is no exception. I have a guest speaker, if you will, who will entertain you in a manner ala Tomas who remains away on sabbatical. But I am here and I get to play hostess and I am most pleased to be part of your lives and this wonderful group of devoted followers of truth, beauty and goodness. One moment please.

JUBAL:  Good evening. I am Jubal. I am a teacher.

Group: Good evening.

JUBAL:  It is good to be here. I appreciate your profound patience as you await your teacher. I am inexperienced, and yet I have been around enough to remember my manners. How are you, Evangel and Ah Leah?

Evangel:  Fine. Thank you.

Leah:  Good. Getting better.

JUBAL:  We all strive, and it is the striving that matters. If we strive, we cannot help but get better. Happy Birthday, my dear Celeste. I understand it is an annual festival you undergo here.

Celeste: Thank you so much.

JUBAL:  And gracious Elyssia, it is a pleasure to meet here in your sphere. It is a loyalty you have steadfastly maintained for millennia, as it were, and the stability provided by your base here is supremely appreciated. My dear Hester, child, it is a delight to be in your presence.

Hester: Thank you!

JUBAL: You are a charming personality. Your light is very clear. It is apparent that your journey is soon to begin in earnest, and won't it be divine! All of you are on a journey. I am going to discuss, to some extent, your -- Oh, I am very sorry, Gerdean! I am overlooking your presence while I am dependant upon it. I am glad for your vocal skills and for your obedience to our yearning to be heard. As a voice on the circuits of improving fidelity.

Yes, we are going to discuss your work in the field. Your little reading this evening that touched upon the Master (but barely) indicates the job of a teacher and/or preacher is to provide the service of revealing Father God to your fellows. Some people have an understanding already of Father God. Some think they do. They are more difficult because they are lost in their intellect and it is your job to go out and find the lost sheep, even though they are supposedly found within the value system that has been their shield and armor. It is also true that if their waters are not stirred, they can become stagnant; they may have, in fact, been longing for you to come along to give them a swirl, so to speak, so that they can glimmer a new glimpse of greater reality.

You of course can be respectful of timid souls, but it is not necessary to respect them to such an extent that you give them more of your obedience than you do to Our Father who has instructed you to reveal Him in your lives, and to present Him in such a living way as to enliven the reality of your peers, your hearers.

This is a tricky business. Many of you have a tendency to see someone who is altogether, that is to say they present a good image. They drive a nice car, they have a nice home, their kids are not in trouble with the law, and therefore they bespeak a certain image, they bespeak certain "Christian values" and so you say, "Well, those people I don't need to bother with because they are fine."

What kind of a judgement is that on your part that you should look at your fellowman and say, "I will not talk to that person's God Fragment. I will not enliven them with Our Father's reality, for they are fine." Even if they are fine, the striving for perfection and the ability to share the conjoint appreciation for your association with divinity is such that you should want to embrace your fellow with all of your spiritual power and experience the same supreme love as He gives you.

This is the nature of the spiritual life. It is born of love, the desire to give love. It is not based on anything less. It is a very difficult, very, very difficult thing for you here to be always mindful of love. You are not surrounded by it. You are not encouraged in it. You are creatures of habit who have become well versed in social graces and in survival techniques, but your under­standing of divine love has only begun to glimmer as a possibility in your souls.

This flame must be fanned; it must be emblazoned upon your heart in such a way that your bonfire is able to be the torch that lights the eternal flame of those around you. In order for you to feel and promote this benign virus of love, this immortal inflammation, you must be intimate with your Source. Only the Father can feed you the coals that will stoke your fire. As you are filled with divine love, then, you will be filled with energy and you will be shown ways in which to infuse others with your passion for the dynamic life as it is lived in the spirit.

I am going to urge you all to think about how you carry the flame of the reality of the Father into your life. The Spirit of Truth that is depicted as a flame is steadily burning and ready to ignite the tiniest spark of recognition and this can grow into a mighty fire that will eventually burn away all the roughage of non-life.

And I add. And I don't mean to discourage you by such an addition, but I add, I encourage you to learn to love one another as Jesus loves you. This may not appear to be a crackling fire but a steady warm glow, the kind of fire that makes you want to pull up a chair and sit mesmerized and fascinated by its very existence. Consider pulling up a chair and looking at your neighbor with the same intent, enrapt fascination as Jesus found in his contemporaries and as he finds in you today.

Thank you for your attention. I have enjoyed my visit. I will bow out and invite our hostess Merium to engage you with any questions there may be. I will return another time.

Leah: Thank you, Jubal.

Hester: Thank you for coming.

MERIUM:  Well, that was nice. I am so much the party animal that I would like to say Thank you, Jubal, for the campfire. Now we can roast marshmallows. I am mindful of your appetites and there is cake, so I won't go into a long dissertation of my own but if there are questions it would please me to either answer them or direct them to where they might be best served. Anyone?

Elyssia: I was thinking that it would be so nice if Celeste's teacher could come in because of the fact that it's a wonderful birthday week-end for her. I know that you said that she was very stubborn.

Celeste: Who said that?

Elyssia: But he also said a lot of other beautiful things about her.

UNIDENTIFIED: It is necessary for Celeste to ask for her teacher. Perhaps it is because she is so stubborn, but it is a lesson, none the less, that must sooner or later be learned -- all of you -- and that is to address your own issues. A teacher cannot answer questions for you on behalf of another who can ask themselves. That is a matter for prayer, perhaps, but for example for someone to ask to know someone's spiritual name is incorrect.

It is necessary that the individual become an active participant in his own destiny. It is the reason for free will. If free will is not exercised on behalf of one's own faith and soul growth, what's the point of having it? Someone cannot carry you into Paradise. You must carry yourself by and through your decisions.

Now perhaps we can say that you would like to offer a gift to your friend Celeste and you know that a true treasure is a personal teacher, and so I am looking at your gentle nature, your gentle spirit, and seeing how perhaps it is that you would take it upon yourself to offer someone's personal teacher to himself.

Elyssia: That's pretty funny when you think about it. I can see that it really doesn't work that way.

Celeste: Well, I am perfectly willing to talk to my personal teacher. Always have been, always will be. I'm not stubborn at all.

DORCAS:  Indeed, you are headstrong. This is Dorcas. I am half of your home team. It is indeed a pleasure to be able to address you and to have an opportunity to bite into a bit of mota, a little mini lesson in life's mysteries and wonders.

You mistake us when we lovingly refer to you as stubborn. That is a mortal word implying mulishness and balking, both referencing the animal nature of not only yourself but of all your fellow creatures. On the other hand, my daughter, you are a strong woman who has made great decisions of a high mindal nature, and therein you indeed are wise to be headstrong, for you will not be rent asunder when some trifling wind would blow you away from your faith path which is firmly under foot. When you are given a piece of news or a portion of an insight, always turn it around and look at the other side of the coin. There is almost nothing that cannot be seen in light of the human and the divine. It is the nature of the personal teacher to work with your personality and to help it to be as well balanced and effective as possible, thus rendering you most happy, and so while the animal may be stubborn, the higher mind is firm. This is good balance, to recognize the dual nature and to appreciate the tendencies and the value of both.

Celeste: I pray that I will never resist the help of my personal teacher. Never.

DORCAS:  We join you in your sincere prayer. The resistance that we encounter is more often unconscious than conscious, but with the help of your Indwelling God Fragment and your own willingness to be brought into closer conformity with its will for you, you will be made aware of those subtleties which stand in the way of your being your most effective and honored self. It is not necessary for us to stir you up, for you are a willing branch on the living vine.

We are, Dorian and I, very pleased with our assignment, our association. You have always -- always -- proven to be companionable and integral. Many happy returns of the day.

Celeste: Thank you.

Elyssia: If we were to -- I was visualizing the teachers and remember a book I loved which was written by a little minister and he said he saw Gabriel. Gabriel materialized for him. He was materializing for him being very tall and brawny and had a gold belt. A big gold belt. And I really loved that.

And I've also been listening to these people on television who say, well, I can contact the people that passed on that cared about you and then they ask a question, "How did my son die?" or something. Very, very difficult. And they get seeming help. And I just wondered if you view that as being okay. Is that just a ruse?

MERIUM:  This is Merium. Who are you asking? Shall I find someone to address that for you?

Elyssia: If there is somebody that answers that kind of question.

MERIUM: Let me see who's here. Just a moment.

Elyssia: All right.

ROM:  Rom is here. This is Rom. I'm not a very high teacher but I've been around awhile. I'd be happy to address the subject but I'm not going to be very lofty about it. I'm a secondary midwayer, cousin, and I am able to talk about this because I have been able to see the effects of these evolving behaviors over the many hundreds of years that I've been around. Did I say "evolving behaviors"?

Group: Urn-hum. Yes, you did.

ROM:  Well, I think I will erase that word. It's not necessarily an evolution, because people have been seeing the spirits for as long as I can remember and that's a long time. The part in your textbook I will bring to your mind is the part about the wise men, and in there you might recall it talks about how it is that you have these great imaginations and how you love myths and even fantasies and it comes as no surprise to you, I am sure, to realize that your imaginations and your evolving -- yes, evolving -- spiritual realities -- are going to converge all along the way, thus your impression of your attainment in spiritual understanding is going to be visibly manifested to you by whatever means is available to your mental contraption that will give you the validation of that reality which you have found to suffice for you as a spiritual experience.

Now. I am not debunking these experiences. Some of you have seen angels. Gerdean has seen the morontia form of Michael, or Jesus as she describes the picture. This man you were talking about, this minister, has seen Gabriel with his gold belt. Now what do you suppose Gabriel has need of a gold belt for? Even, so, it was important that this minister should see him with a gold belt and therefore it meant something to him, as did Jesus in the morontia form for Gerdean, as have many, many -- I don't want to say hallucinations. These are not hallucinations -- these are manifestations of faith. They are picturizations of a confidence in a belief system.

It is like the Medjegori, when the sun is affected. These people are actually seeing the power centers do things to the sky such that, were they not caught up in their profound faith, they would be blind. But faith can move mountains. It can cover the sun. It can present images, believable images, representations of all manner of wonderful projections. This is one of the gifts of the Divine Minister, through the auspices of the mind. Error will pass away in the light of truth.

What were you listening to that radio program for, Elyssia?

Elyssia: Well, I guess I just found it quite intriguing because the people were asking questions seemed to be quite well satisfied with these answers, which I thought was amazing.

ROM:  They were looking for answers that they thought could be found in this medium. Perhaps you were looking for the Spirit of Truth.

Elyssia: Yes, certainly. I hope that I was. And yet I think I was trying to find out if there's help for these people in these terribly difficult things so many of them are connected with -- the loss of one's children, and there's so much of that now. Our society is in such disconnecting state that you just know that there are a lot of parents out there who are in difficult circum­stances and you yourself feel there is only little, thin ice. I think that. We parents are on thin ice in this world of today. The stability of our culture ... I compare it to my mother in law who lived in a little village and there was stability, and they guarded the stability of their family fiercely, and we have carelessly given it away.

ROM: No, no, no, no, no, no. We have not. You are looking at the world from the vantage point of the grandmother in the remote village with stable values and not fully appreciating that that value was indeed appropriate for that time. I was there! I knew her! I knew the neighbors! I saw the chickens. I saw the cows! I know the village! These values are and were good and necessary, but the changes that are coming about today are also necessary for the new level of stability that is to come cannot come based upon the old reality. It must be renewed.

You read about it this evening in your text. The scripture might reflect the story about new wine in old vessels. You have to appreciate the turmoil of today is an evolutionary state that is thrusting the way of life as it was last century, into the way it is going to be in the next century, and it is going to be up in the air for quite some time.

Yes, we can all long for those wonderful quiet, stable, neighborhoods and villages. The great era of tribal loyalty and clan security. But if we are to become one world, if we are going to begin to recognize each other as connected and interdependent, it is necessary that we expand our view from the village to the global and this is a large step. It will not settle down overnight.

You have to fully understand (and I will not discuss economics and sociology) but I know you understand the family is undergoing tremendous change because of the women's liberation which has been so recently bestowed and which has been so tardily given. If women had been liberated generations, had your evolution been different, your families would have experienced a different kind of stabilization. It may not have been the nuclear family that you all seem to look back on with such nostalgia, but it is en route to the greater family of man which will allow for you to love your children and your grandchildren even when they are the offspring of your neighbor or your neighboring country.

It is a far vaster outlook, and so I will say too that the young people are looking at the elders and they are as dismayed and confused about what the elders have been doing as what the elders are looking at the young people and saying, "What are they doing?" It is a dreadful communication gap which is born of the fact that each of you is saying, "My way is right and your way is wrong."

Now that can be overcome through communication skills. All communication should be not only to convey information but to seek communion with one another's soul -- ideally with and through an acknowledgement of communion with the Father of us all. These kids cannot grow up to be who their parents were. They cannot. It's not the same world. Nor is it meant to be.

I am not going to sit around this planet for another thousand upon thousand years waiting for you to evolve because you are enjoying the village life. We really must get on with our advanced spiritual strides.

Celeste: Bravo.

Elyssia: It gives one pause when you look at these things in Kosovo and the things you see, all these civilizations in flux.

ROM: Yes.

Hester: Including us.

ROM: Ours as well.

Elyssia: The world isn't quite so painful for us, although it is painful, I'm sure, but ...

ROM:  You keep yourselves sufficiently anesthetized and your self-induced programming is such that you have all rather brain­washed yourselves into believing that you are fine. And we go back to what Jubal was talking about.

Well, I think I have stayed long enough. Merium, I appreciate your flagging me and waving me over here. It is such entertainment to deal with mortals. I enjoy mortals, you know. I’ve been around them for so long. I, however, don’t want to take away from your job as teacher and take over your soapbox so I will bow out and wave you goodbye. I’ll be back later. Thanks! Have a piece of cake for me. Happy birthday!

*****

[End of Vol. III, Part 13 of 13]