2001-09-13-The Oliver Question

Session

Dialogue

Legion : Yes, this is Legion.

David : Welcome, Legion.

Legion : So, you are about to be tested. Yes?

David : I wouldn’t say “about to be.” I understand your point, but it feels to me like I’m being tested all along, the last couple of weeks, ever since we returned. Thank you, your point is well taken.

Legion : So, tell me, what is your complaint?

David : (laughter) (cough)

Legion : Yes, that urges you to think deeper into the tone of your approach. Yes?

David : Yes. I think my complaint is that I feel that I am being pushed to the limits of my patience, which has to do with the value I place on hearing from you teachers, and the value I place on our group, and the value I place on…

Legion : Practice. The value you place on practice is very high, is it not?

David : Yes. You’ve asked me to write about it. I don’t feel very qualified, but I’ve got the assignment.

Legion : If everyone waited until someone said, “Now! you are qualified!” your patience might be tried even further.

David : That is so.

Legion : You are qualified, my friend. Do not indulge in that self-doubt. Yes. So, as you might say, our friend Mr. Practice needs more practice. Yes?

David : I don’t know what is going on with our friend, Legion. I have come to you at this point asking for a handrail again, as I did before I went to visit my daughter. (Legion : Yes.) I feel humbled by my anger yesterday. However, I was able to read in one of the past lessons where you were urging us not to be afraid of our emotions, to accept and allow…

Legion : Yes. Humility of respect for love. Humility of respect for the emotions. Humility of respect.

David : Yes. I think I have a question forming. Before I went to see Brother Patrick, Devina gave me a very wonderful lesson. One of the things she expressed was the need for respect to be taught. I think that is a good surfing line.

Legion : Yes. And now you must learn to respect that past. Your anger comes from lack of respect being demonstrated toward you, or your beloved. But as well from your self-doubt. Your self-doubt is established on the yet to be completely surrendered hope, that you, indeed, can rescue someone. Do I come to rescue you?

David : I did not get that last. Would you repeat it?

Legion : Let us examine. Do I come to rescue you? No. Rescue takes place when the saver throws the life ring to the drowning man, and drags him in to safety. But the drowning man must reach for the ring, grab hold, hang on, be willing to be saved. Rescue takes place when the fireman climbs the ladder and grabs the frightened person and throws them to the net, or drags them kicking and screaming to safety. This example is a kind of rescue that may not even allow for the free will choice of the one being rescued. And if this person, having been caught in the fire once, chooses to return, must the fireman throw himself to the flames? No. The rescuer, to the best of his ability and training, must always respect his limits, his training, his ability, and respect as well the heat of the fire, the flame of the situation. No rescue requires, nay, no rescue demands the sacrifice of which you complain.

David : I think these metaphors would be much more poignant for me if I were to understand that you are placing me in the rescuer position? I know he is a rescuer. But are you saying that is my motivation with Mr. Practice, at this point?

Legion : I observe. I see the mirror reflecting back upon itself. Let go, my friend. Surrender. Surrender your complaint. Surrender your need to set your friend straight. And attend now, attend to the truth that is yours to speak. Speak only the truth with love. You do not need to engage upon a war, a tug of war with one who would not listen. Yes, that need to give, that need to save the broken hearted, the wounded, the ones who have fallen away, this little nugget of pride in the power of God’s love, yet rests within you. Surrender to God what is God’s. This is a time for you to speak clearly. Bring the comfort of your love, but speak with respect of the diminishing sense of mutual love, mutual respect, and enduring loyal relationship. These are the issues, as you say, that trouble you.

David : Would you speak them again, please?

Legion : I will continue, first. It is not to be of any concern, this group of yours. We will continue. We will continue with the growing co-operation of your beloved transmitter, growing co-operation growing from greater discipline and understanding. We will continue, my friend. Allow. Allow the group to find it’s true level. Respect your need to sustain friendships of loyalty, loyalty-love, loyalty of respect. This, my friend, is what first you throw away when you step into the shoes of the preacher’s son, trained to pass out the word and save. This, my friend, is why, even with Devina at your side, you endured the lack of respect for your request that one not speak ill of your neighbor, that one not beleaguer you with the woes of your own storm, that one not besmirch the reputation of those you know and love, those known by him to be your friend. Thus you did not speak. You did not speak to him of the respect required for relationship with you, for relationship with your beloved partner and wife, for relationship with your valued, and coveted, group, for relationship with me, your teacher, and others. I say this, not to criticize, my friend, but to bring your attention once again to that which you have hoped and prayed in your stillness to have surrendered, fully, completely, totally erased from the pattern of your mind, the automatic impulse of your behavior. It is true, what angers you in him, Mr. Practice, yet resides within you. Do not deny this. You would save your friend from dire straits, from the disaster you see him creating right before your eyes. Focus not upon the safety net you would provide for him, nor upon your desire to safely guide him back into the fold. Speak your truth, only, my friend. Speak your truth with love. It is your respect he must earn. It is respect for you he must learn. It is respect for your beloved you must demand. Yes?

David : (silent) Yes, I’m listening very carefully to you, Legion. I feel a little discouraged. I don’t know what to say to him, or how to begin. Could you give me a surfing line? You have used the word respect. I instinctively know the value of that…I…

Legion : My friend, let us suppose you are speaking to a child. A child of God, you would agree. (David : Yes.) My beloved child, you are behaving badly. I need for you to see. I need for you to learn. This is acceptable. This is behavior is not acceptable. Learn. Learn, now, my child. An apology will not cut out your tongue. Rather, you have cut your tongue to avoid the apology, and your tongue now speaks …what do you say, the two-forked tongue? (David : Forked tongue.) the forked tongue, thank you. This I trust you mean to say, might also be two-faced. Yes?

David : Yes. Legion, I didn’t get what you said…I cut my tongue to avoid an apology? I’m confused.

Legion : No, my friend. We were speaking to this child behaving badly. This child who needs to learn. He has the free-will choice to behave as he chooses. He has the free-will choice to follow his own direction, the guidance he believes to be true. Still, whatever path he may choose, he needs to hear from you. His choices relate to you. His behavior relates to you, and your friendship with him. He is not your child. You are not his father. You are his friend, and friendship, for you, requires…perhaps now it is time for you to say what friendship requires. Respect. Yes?

David : Yes.

Legion : Say it with me. Respect.

David : Respect.

Legion : Mutual respect.

David : Mutual respect.

Legion : Loyalty. Love. Respect of loyalty. Respect of love. You live in a world, a jungle, if you will, a world that has, that contains, harm. A jungle that harbors the killing snake. You do not need this in a friend. You need a friend to join with you, not to divide, even devour your loving care, and suck upon your hope that you can save him, change him, force him, if you will, by the power of your emotion. Thank you. Continue, if you will.

David : (silent)

Legion : Listen to this again. Once you have settled with your friend and spoken the truth in your heart, we will welcome an opportunity to return, if she, and he, and you are willing. You are not alone. Do not fear.

David : Thank you. (Legion : Thank you.) There is one thing I wanted to say…(Legion : Yes.)…you know, this quality that Mr. Practice has, is a quality that I have too, which is a compassion for what might be called “the downtrodden” on this planet. I’ve studied religion a bit on this planet, and one of my senses is..the fact that Christianity, in many of it’s expressions, is able to reach out to the poor, the downtrodden, is one of the good things about that religion, as I see it. It certainly does not escape my attention, in our textbook of record, that Jesus ministered to these people quite freely and openly and it spoke of the fact that Jesus had focused his ministry there.

Legon : My friend, your friend, Oliver, has great compassion, but lacks clarity of thought and communication. You have great compassion, but are reticent with your clarity of thought and communication. The reticence is the remainder of that emotional belief, taught to you when you were a child, the emotional belief that you, sometimes you alone, certainly you always must try to save those less fortunate, those who do not see clearly. Yes, Jesus, whose ability from early childhood on to shed the chains of the training of his religious instruction and superstitious parental culture was strong, Jesus who from early childhood on turned to his Father of love, listened, listened, listened, and communed until the clarity of his thought and communication was so infused with his Father’s love he could speak to thousands, he could minister to those far from sight. Christianity, religion as it is practiced, is always driven to demonstrate the compassion once witnessed, now written. Many truly surrender their pride in the power of God’s love, their pride in God’s miracle working, truly surrender this and effectively minister to those who cross their path, effectively enter the dens of iniquity, the smokehouses of tragedy and strife, and raise the wounded, leave light and love to diminish, even erase, the darkness. But, many harbor their secret pride and this creeps into the misunderstanding that only the truly great and godly, the truly giving, will hang upon the cross of sacrifice. You recognize, of course, that many good works are done by those who apparently sacrifice nothing at all, and stand upon their pulpits of gold, draped in satin, this pride, not secret, too often demands the sacrifice from others, that they give in order to receive, not receive in order to give. And they demand of many what so many have so little to give. Promising, empty promises.

Be not discouraged. God’s love seeps through, permeates the good, the bad, the indifferent. Continue, my friend, to walk steadily in the path you have chosen. The path I have come to teach to you, to guide you, to instruct you. You do not need to assign yourself impossible tasks, nor any tasks at all, I have enough to give you. Thank you.

David : Thank you, Legion. But may I go back a second? (Legion : Yes.) I thought I heard you say that in dealing with Oliver that I should not bring up stuff about the group, and I’m not sure I heard that correctly, and I feel I need to get clear about that.

Legion : Thank you. My counsel is this. Do not try to rescue the group, as you try to rescue Oliver. Speak to him your truth, your truth said with love. Allow him to speak his. The nature and direction of the group will become quite clear. You do not need to rescue him, nor do you need to protect your group, not even the transmitter, I might say, for should this disruption continue, she has every permission from me to protect herself, and discontinue in order to start again. Nothing of value will be lost, my friend. Nothing of value can be destroyed. Does this satisfy?

David : Yes, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, I did take this task on myself, didn’t I?

Legion : Yes. Respect that your loyalty to your friends, and your human love for your partner and wife, triggered that old choice again, to carry the burdens of the world upon your fragile shoulders. You have the strength, my friend, and the courage, to speak your truth and let your friend consider what he will do.

David : He claims that he has instructions from you all to stay in the group.

Legion : And? You take this a written in steel?

David : No, I think there is some value to him staying in the group, because I don’t see anything around him that is going to give him either the reality of love, the reality of the truth of our perception of what is going on…and it isn’t our task to rescue Oliver…

Legion : There is value, my friend, to be found in everything. It is not your task to see where he will be brought to the truth. It is your task to give him your truth, only, spoken with love, spoken with courage. Stand tall, my friend. There is value, yes, in standing tall, and standing by, and standing with, but surely when you reflect upon your own life journey, your travels, your joys as well as your sorrows, surely you see there has been value, as well, in turning away, walking another direction. Even when at some future point you discovered, this is not where I wish to be, this no longer has the value I thought I would receive…still, the value of what you never once imagined you would receive, was yours in this discovery. Yes?

David : Yes.

Legion : Thank you. Even that which has been written in steel, can be scratched out.

Closing

David : I need to get down to a more pragmatic level. We are having the group meeting tomorrow, we expect Germann and possibly his daughter to be there…I have some concern about having Patrick at that meeting tomorrow, because he really hasn’t been formally asked into the group, by the group, only by Oliver…and I feel that the group, presently Patrick is creating so much distress in my partner’s psychic and emotional life that it will be exceedingly difficult for her to carry on in her usual fashion…

Legion : We will speak to this at a later time. We have been working with her to understand the possible ramifications of his presence, as well his absence. We understand your concern.

David : Thank you. We are about ten minutes before Oliver is to arrive. I wish to thank you for your presence here today…(Legion : Thank you.) and the lovingness of your concern…(Legion : Thank you.) and the wisdom and respect with which you treat us.

Note

The original document had the following lesson directly following from above even though it was dated two weeks earlier.