1998-12-18-Celebration of Christmas

Session

Opening

Daniel (Bob S.): "I am Daniel. I will open tonight's session with my greetings, my love to those of my friends and students gathered here on this occasion, celebrating the earthly holiday of Christ Michael's birth. Your world's holiday has not been lost on us. We celebrate with you this momentous occasion, and besides, this way we get to celebrate twice. My friends, your discussions this evening were most appropriate for follow-up to the session you had last week. Our wish for you was that you would take time to reflect your own individual reactions to the events which occurred and see where you were personally; and identify goals, ideas, where you may personally feel it appropriate to pursue yourselves. We, your guides and teachers, have been with you consciously or superconsciously this week to assist you in this endeavor. Those of you who are new to this experience may, between this time and our next meeting, wish to avail yourselves of this opportunity; and others of you may wish to spend additional time contemplating your personal situation regarding the feelings, the ideas, the concerns which were expressed a week ago. Well, with these words of opening I now pass to allow the next speaker to address you."

Lesson

Ego

Andirondek (Cath): "This is Andirondek. I am giving this TR a powerful image of holding an infant, and conceptualizing what it is like to inhabit that infant body and mind, for all the messages are 'I am' -- I am hungry, I am cold, I am wet, I am sleepy, I am content. And as that child goes through the natural process of growth and development, the focus gradually shifts outward; and with that gradual shift outward, comes the concomitant development of ego. Over time ego's job becomes to shift the focus from what is inside to what is outside. Finding fault is one of ego's favorite pastimes. And as this development process continues, there becomes a split. The 'I am' is rarely listened to. The ego becomes very busy in its full-time attempt to shift the focus outward, and thus, to keep the mind focused on ego, for ego's greatest fear is that universal fear of abandonment and loss of love. When one begins to mature spiritually there is a natural shift of focus inward.

Ego perceives that as abandonment and reacts out of fear and begins all sorts of gyrations to force the focus back outward. So, in order to have a direct connection with God, with your Indwelling Adjuster, one cannot sever oneself from ego, because ego will throw a tantrum. It is best to reassure ego that the changes you are undergoing, the introspection you must complete, will not leave ego out in the cold. As you enter this Christmas season, and are surrounded by images of the Christ child, take a moment to think of this child as symbolic of the 'I am' and remember to listen to that small voice. I bid you good evening."

Christmas

Klarixiska (Bill): "My dear brothers and sisters, I am Klarixiska, rejoicing with you in your mood of sharing love, in the true spirit of Michael's bestowal. It is of the very essence of God's nature, whether expressed through the First, Second or Third Persons of the Trinity, to freely share and give of Deity essence to all the universe of universes. This giving of Michael of Nebadon in which He down stepped Himself into the lowest will-creature form, that of mortal humanity, in order to come close to us and show us this essence of divinity in His life, is characteristic of the Eternal Son, is illustrative of the partnership of Father and Son, and is further upheld and demonstrated by the Infinite Spirit's coordination of mind with matter and spirit purpose. It is strange to me to behold your planet arrested in its nightmarish dream world by the song of the angels announcing peace and good will, to the ears of this generation of mortals on Urantia. The reality of God's nature of always giving and sharing is not understood very well at the conscious level, even though that theme strikes a chord deep within the soul of each one. True it is that many look upon the world of their experience as black with occasional white patches, when in reality, in its totality, the universe reality is white, with black patches gradually blending into grey and achieving more and more purity of white. You, my friends, are living on a different plane than many of your fellows, and as you have shared this evening, you are aware of your morontial status, even as you are living a mortal life.

You do well. We are all proud to be associated with this fine group, situated here in this region of the world, as we at the same time share our joy with our fellows who feel the same way about their charges. It is true that when you first met us, you held us high, on lofty pedestals because we are in fact many years older than you. I am glad to say that we have left our pedestals in your mind to sit among you as comrades, as older brothers and sisters, having no more inherent value than you have. This recognition on your part on the essential uniformity of spiritual endowment on each will-creature from the Father of Lights enables you to democratize your relationships more, to look for the wisdom of your brothers and sisters within this group, and in this experiential laboratory develop these habits of perceptions so that you can actually begin to see the true siblinghood of all individuals whom you meet. I place my morontial energy as my arms extended around all of you, and wish you a blessed and joyful Christmas season. Thank you for listening and being my brother, my sister. Good evening."

Dialogue

Introspection

Virginia: "Teachers, I'm not sure who is ready to speak, but I hope it's OK if I ask a question at this time? I feel it's very interesting, again I don't know if I have permission...."

Bill: "Yeah, you do."

Virginia: "OK. Something else that I heard on the way over here, and it's very interesting as I listened to our second teacher tonight talking about introspection, that as you begin to mature you turn inward again. My question, that I had told some of the group that was here that I had a question to ask tonight, was on the very issue of introspection, because Jesus said when he was ordaining the twelve, that he did not believe in religious introspection. He never taught character building, but rather character growth. My question on the way over here as I was thinking about it was, "how can we examine ourselves without religious introspection?" Of course I do make a distinction in my own mind between religion and spirituality, but what do we do if we don't take a good look at our position, spiritually? Character...once again, I say here's my question, and . ..."

Andirondek (Cathy): "This is Andirondek. The distinction to be made here is one between religious introspection and introspection. Religious introspection has historically meant lecturing oneself regarding a list of shoulds -- I should have faith, I should be giving. While these are important messages, true introspection involves listening versus lecturing. Is this clear?"

Virginia: "That certainly helps. But, there are certain things that I would say -- I should be kind, I should be loving, you know, and some of the fruits of the spirit that I would like to see increased, and that only comes as a result of examining oneself, and that isn't a list of religious shoulds, it's a list, to me, of spiritual growth; and you have to examine oneself in order to be honest so that you can grow, move on."

Andirondek: "This is true, but there must be a balance achieved between listening and looking for fault, for shortcomings, and mortals are often on the short end in terms of listening."

Service, Self Evaluation

Daniel (Bill): "I would add further comment. I am Daniel. The problem with religions introspection is that it tends to be egoistic and self-centered. In terms of your culture, you have a saying, 'a watched pot never boils.' The energy consumed in introspecting about one's spiritual level takes one's attention away from others, from service motivation, and draws the world into the suction of a self-centered thinking process. Jesus was the perfect human being because he turned over every decision to the guidance of his Indwelling Adjuster, his Father. And to the extent that a person, a mortal, can stop worrying about his or her spiritual status and desire above all to do the same thing, to say that it is my will that your will be done, and turn their attention to others in service, will they then approximate to some degree or another the life of our Master. It is not my intention as your teacher to encourage you in morbid self-examination. I have directed that you try to remember events and interpretations of them as children at times in order for you to move through the process of self and other forgiveness. But I would be remiss if my teaching should lead you to focus on this self-identity process at the expense of turning over to God for the guidance of the present moment, for the present moment is the moment in which you have contact with God. Has this clarified for you, my dear?"

Virginia: "I really thank both of you teachers and I think what you've said is what I would want to hear, because I did believe that it is not negating of self that produces spirituality, but rather wanting to do the will of God, and yet, certainly it does... there has to be some sort of examination of where I am and what I'm doing in order to make sure that my desire is to do that of my Father."

Daniel: "I would advise you to turn away from a formalized approach to this self-appraisal, except when you stumble. When you stumble, and you know clearly that you have erred, that you have done that which is in error, then take a good look at it until the picture is clear, stand up, get back on your journey, and give it no more thought in terms of your regret or guilt. Remember the lesson, yes, but put your gaze forward. That is all." Virginia: "Thank you, Daniel."

Closing

Aaron (Bob D.): "This is Aaron. My friends, I would offer a few words of closing this evening. But in response to Virginia's intelligent question that has sparked much desire to answer, I would first try to offer you a story about a young man who had a self-righteous sense of purpose. The ego and spirit both have functions within the being, and this youth certainly had a well-developed sense of self, such that he felt the desire to express himself for the edification of all others. Youth often lacks wisdom and this boy was no exception. He had the yearning of his personality, but it was clouded with the ego who desired attention. Obviously his efforts produced frustration as many did not desire to listen to his self-righteousness and attitude. In his disillusionment this man was forced to reckon with himself and his immaturity. A long process of self-reflection ensued where the ego and the personality played out various exercises, first against each other, eventually with each other. The personality realized that the ego desired attention. In the wisdom of the First Source, the slow, nurturing of a relationship between the self and the spirit began, rather than an endless cycle of battling, trying to destroy the self, which has never been something that is overly effective. Awareness was the result of the relationship of this period of introspection and the ego was not dormant, but rather began to trust the leadings of the spirit, that what would satisfy the self more would be the wishes of this eternally mature outlook. Therefore, over time there developed an ability within this youth, now mature adult, to wisely minister to those within his life.

The purpose of this narrative is simply to realize that early life breeds discovery of self and self-importance, and introspection is healthy in building the relationship of self to the spirit such as will create the eternal body, or soul vehicle. The real expression that the youth desired was found in the mastery and the maturity of its relationship inwardly to the spirit. Do you understand how there is a difference between self-reflection, perhaps, and the introspection that the revelations speaks of which may promote the idea that . .. or limited circumscribed viewpoint of an ego-centered universe, Virginia?'

Virginia: "I'm sure that it will take some reflection on my part as to what the three different teachers have said. So, I'll try to do that this week."

Aaron: "Thank you. I know that our desire is to share easily and it is not always possible for me to express through these TRs as fluently as I would perhaps like. This season affords you opportunities, my friends, while the meaning that it holds is various to each of you. It seems a common thread is the spirit of giving and we would like to give you encouragement for this development. If you would look to those around you and see the little ways that you may offer something in someone's life during these holidays you may find that the giving lightens the load of your own stresses and worries in life. Doing things outwardly for others can have a great feeling effect upon the soul, and we encourage you, when you're finding life stressful, to look for an opportunity to help another, even in small ways. We think you will find the anxiety lifting and the perspectives clearing to recognize that life is much more than a particular struggle or difficulty. We look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks as a group. In the mean time we hope to share with you personally and to rejoice with you in the season. We bid you a good evening. May your journeys be safe and your lives be light. Good night."