2003-12-28-Opinions

Session

Opening

Men-O-Pah's Prayer: Our Father, we have You say that where there are two or three gathered together in Your name, there shall You be, and so we sit here at Your feet, asking You to guide our thoughts and speak through Tomas those things that You want us to hear. We ask these things in Your name. Amen

TOMAS: Yes, by all means, let me not stop the flow. Let's hear the question from the student.

Thoroah: The question submitted is: "What real value or purpose do our human opinions have/serve here on earth, as well as in the 'grand scheme of things'. Or in other words, "What purpose, if any, do our opinions serve in a real spiritual sense, as well as in an intellectual (material/earthly) sense?"

Dialogue

TOMAS: A student pondering the words of the Teacher is what we enjoy, students who are paying attention to our lessons so as to augment their own understanding of what comes into their mind to be a part of their reality.

Let me begin my response to this man's real questions by remarking that the mistake many make is to conjecture that God is in his heavens and all is right with the world, as if God On High were some transcendent being who had no common interest in what makes men tick in the ways of the world and in the process of finding one's way through the world. God is not in some far off place, but is within each of you and therefore within each of your experiences. Even when a mortal being is without consciousness, God is nonetheless and even so in that being and a part of his or her reality. The extent to which the human being seeks to incorporate spirit reality is the extent to which God is allowed expression. But this can be done even among the heathen, even in foxholes, even in sewing circles. God is no respecter of persons; he will work with and through any and all of you who have your wits about you.

Thus, let us return to the question. The young man, Bob, my friend and student from “Down Under,” has inquired about my use of the word “opinion.” I had said I had no opinion on the Christmas holiday, and this seemed to support Bob's theory that opinions are worthless in the spirit context but are, rather, configurations of the mental and intellectual realm, somehow thus having less meaning, less significance, less reality, and obviously less godliness.

However, he wants to know what is the reason for opinions. What is the purpose of opinions and, with the world situation the way it is, the news being what it is, even your own social circles being what they are, even the Teaching Mission itself plagued by opinions . .. which, of a certainty, would seem to be distracting from the solemnity of the spirit or the sense of oneness that spirit will bring, - why do we even tolerate opinions? What possible worth have they? What good are opinions? And ought we not simply refrain from having them, as I did in terms of Christmas, because it is not a part of my cultural background?

Well, we enter into a discussion here of supermortal interest, because the opinions that I will discuss, the need for opinions, that is, will have to do with meaningful values, rather than the opinions that everyone has, which constitute drivel because they are insignificant.

Opinions are a part of the process of ascertaining your perceptions. They are a way of interjecting your perceptions into the social arena in order to try them on for size, in order to find out who is with you and who is against you. Who agrees with your opinion and who takes exception to your opinion will tell you how other people's perceptions weigh against your own.

I will not discourage you from your opinions or your opining, for this is very much like the process engaged in when an artist takes up the brush to create a masterpiece. Each brush stroke has something to offer. Even though one brush stroke by itself may say nothing, as it is set next to other strokes, with other colors, the overall dynamic begins to take shape, and so we have the shape that has been created by the group through its combined opinions, and I ask you to look around, then, and see, what your opinion has contributed to creating?

I am working with you in terms of the Correcting Time, that is to say, we Teachers are intent upon working with you to help you correct your perceptions, to include the consciousness of the Divine in your lives in all you do, in order that the consciousness of the God of all creation can be a part, again, of meaningful life for all its creation.

This is not only in your personal religious experience, but as it is played out on the social canvas, in the political picture, a part of the global paradigm of going from one perception of reality to another, and so as we up-step the mind of the individual, naturally this will stimulate the development of the up-stepping of other individuals and ultimately will up-step the entire globe.

None of this is outside of God’s purview. None of it is outside our interests. Remember when Teacher Ham initially announced the opening of the circuits and the beginning of the Correcting Time, he indicated that these changes and these teachings would infiltrate the educational system, the economic structure, the very philosophies of living, it would enter into science and religion, it would become a part of all of the fabric of humanity, all the schools of thought that have been bereft of the guidance and counsel of the Material Son and Daughter and the benefits of the initial civilization of Dalamatia which was lost to you through the Lucifer Rebellion.

This entails a tremendous amount of invigorated involvement in every walk of life, every fiber of planetary existence, and thus we will encounter myriad opinions and they will change from day to day as perceptions change, but to put forth your opinion is like wetting the tip of your finger and holding it up to see which way the wind is blowing. The wonder of it is, the individual who is truly growing will be open to allowing his opinion to be modified according to the winds of change which come into its consciousness that provide food for thought and soulful consideration of the paradigm of reality from what was to what can be.

Now, we are talking to religionists. I am speaking to you as students of spirit reality and as that spirit reality impacts the life you live and the planet you live on. Therefore, I will respect the fact of your opinion because it reveals to me the perception of reality that you have at this time. Thus, if you are a good student of the teachers, you will not “slam” someone for having the opinion they do, but will appreciate the character of the individual who holds the opinion in order to ascertain how that opinion was formed.

You must become as the Ancients of Days, and determine from that vantage point the background of the individual, the conditioning they have experienced, culturally, educationally, intellectually, socially, financially, religiously and otherwise, for all of these brush strokes will have contributed to create the portrait of the person you see who has opined in such a way as you feel compelled to respond, in such a way as you, the art critic, have chosen to point out the flaws in the brush strokes of your friends and neighbors.

In other words, my friends, it is not a crime to have an opinion. Opinions are to be encouraged, for he who has no opinion has not been thinking, has not done any thinking of his own. For surely you can appreciate that if you are hearing someone voice an opinion, which is merely mouthed words from an opinion he has heard from someone else but which lacks substance, which is perhaps merely an emotional platform, which is not an opinion but an emotion, you will know how to deal with that. You will be able to set that aside as having relatively little value as compared to the thinking individual who truly opines the philosophy that has been felt in his heart and mind and soul, as contributory to value.

The individual who seeks to advance value will remain open to other opinions. He has not fixed his opinion into a set belief, but remains open to growth and development. And this is a good student: one who is flexible enough to allow his opinion to not be the bottom line and the end result of all his studies, but a mere supposition of reality based upon what he knows thus far, given the information he has encountered to date. This leaves the way open to further discourse and further investigation and further development of respect for your fellows who think and who have the tenacity to stick with the issue until it is revealed what the divine way will reveal -- which is the way that will provide light for all to see. Whether that is in education, economics, ecology or whatever.

To disregard someone’s opinion is to disregard their very existence, in terms of your relative incompleteness, the fact of your mortal stature. If you were God, if you were completely perfect, if you were evolved to Paradise and beyond, it would be different, but you are all in a state of becoming. You are all advancing and developing. Therefore, none of you know all absolute truth.

It is a great man who can listen to the simple opinions of the simple-minded and respect the fact of those opinions, even when he knows there is so much more to truth. This is like the wise parent who will sit down with his child, who babbles and tells fantasmagorical stories of wonder and amazement, but which – while appropriate for the child mind, is inadequate for the hunger of the adult who craves greater substance – gives the young mind an opportunity to grow. Just as you give the young soul an opportunity, for all of these contribute to the development of the human being, and this world is indeed comprised of human beings.

Human beings are what will right the wrongs of the world and carry forward the evolution of humanity, the combined races and genders and cultures of your planet and of any planet. Therefore, think. Think deeply and well. Not merely mouthing the opinions that you have heard from others. Not merely carrying forward the opinions that have been handed down to you through tradition. But that you are in the process of developing as you develop your own reality, for in this way you are able to forge your own growth and the growth of others as you pass by.

I like to keep relativity in mind. Not only in this context, but in all contexts. Any absolute statement can be taken at face value, but in the end, even absolutes must be given a frame of reference of relativity, for in the context of eternity, all things are modifying and changing. Even, for example, the idea that beliefs lack reality as Bob said I said. They lack reality as compared to something. They don’t lack reality completely. This element of relativity is sometimes taken to the nth degree, to the point where nothing is meaningful anymore.

Yet you are creatures of time and space and as creatures of time and space you must surely appreciate the value of relativity, for while you have attained certain assurance in one area, you have yet to begin to investigate others. And while you may have attained a degree of perfection in one skill, you may be completely artless in another. This does not wash out your growth. It does not negate your accomplishments thus far. It merely indicates the relativity that you must consider when you consider … anything!

The early mortal races tend to think in terms of black and white, all or nothing at all, forever or never. And this yin yang approach fails entirely to appreciate the variegated and kaleidoscopic variation of potential that exists within you each for your own enjoyment and edification. Marry yourself not to one point of view. This makes you myopic. It curtails your appreciation of other points of view. It leaves you wanting for relationship with others. It allows you only to be one stray blob of enamel far away from the canvas of life that is depicting human growth today. Join the human condition. Have an opinion. And do everyone a favor: have it be an opinion that you have generated by and through your own mind.

Now I have completed my professorial duties. What would you like to discuss today? Have you questions regarding the lesson itself?

Myra: A statement, Tomas. Before we started the meeting, Men-O-Pah had in his prayer, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there you also are” and when you started talking about opinion, I started thinking about … if people did not have opinions, or share opinions, there would be no conversation! Because, I know, I was trying to think of a conversation I have had in perhaps the last week which did not include opinion and I cannot think of one. And so, that brought me to thought that … that is why we are a spiritual family, because we need each other… and that opinions then become very, very important because those opinions almost become like rungs on a ladder, because when we get other people’s input, it is the input that helps us grow from step to step. I think that is the first time I have put that together as a need. As human beings, we are communal people. So when you were talking about opinion today, it was the first time, I think, that I put that together of how much I really needed other people, but it wasn’t a question, it was just a statement about what I learned, what I got out of today’s lesson.

TOMAS: I’m glad you got that out of today’s lesson, and that my words and Bob’s question have sparked this recognition within you. But I assure you that you have had additional help for your mind from perhaps the Quickeners of Morality and other spirit entities that enable you to grasp certain concepts that will enhance your appreciation of the greatness of the adventure we are embarked upon. Upon this tremendous experience of discovering how vast and magnificent the spiritual experience is. And living is a spiritual experience, just as thinking is a vital part of this experience. For in our thoughts, in our thinking, in our mind is where we mull over those concepts, which we assimilate or discard according to our current growth needs.

There are many wonderful thoughts that come your way that you haven’t time to deal with now. Just as if you were receiving Christmas gifts, you receive opinions from people night and day. From the television, from the newspaper, from the telephone, from your personal companions, from your associates, even from strangers whose voices waft in and out of your consciousness, floating on the air waves of time and space.

Many of these are deflected and cast aside, not because they are uninteresting, but because you haven’t got room for them right now, just like many Christmas presents are quite marvelous baubles and pleasant detractors but you haven’t time for them now. It is appropriate that you should set them aside until a time when you are tired of thinking and you choose to divert yourself in amusement, at which time you are able then to pull out the thoughts you were able to set aside from your earlier context, to now muse in enchanting delight. And vice versa.

There are those who are only able to deal with the glitz and shiny baubles of reality right now, and who set aside those ponderous thoughts of philosophy or theology or psychology that require grown-up thinking or advanced application. And yet these thoughts are waiting in abeyance for that childlike mind to begin to hunger for greater truth, beauty and goodness; for a greater appreciation of morality, ethics, responsibility; and they will present themselves because the Great Giver On High will provide the ministering spirits opportunities to impart these ideas to you later down the road when you are ready for further development.

The universe is busy helping you become more than you were, indeed, all that you can be. And yes, it is true, people do need each other, but they don’t always understand why. That entire concept of the gregariousness of humanity is one I will perhaps set aside for another day, but the organism of advancing humanity is an incredibly interesting discussion, which reveals more about your contribution to the development of your world’s approach to these matters, which will bring earth to light and life, to a point of leisure and peace, which then gives rise to foresight and a yielding to the higher drives held yet in abeyance as we await the dissolution of these turbulent times.

So much more lies ahead, and you will certainly play a part in the planet’s advancement, as you are now today contributing, by opening yourself to the concepts that I am given from On High to implant in your mind, in order for you to be stimulated to develop those new opinions within your own consciousness that can then be spread like seeds upon the field of potential, for your planet and its inhabitants.

Thank you, Myra. It is good to hear from you. I enjoy your participation in our classroom discussion, for as a teacher, a fellow teacher, you provide for me a certain innate camaraderie. I like to think you are attending Continuing Education courses here. Not as if I am providing a new field for you, but an extension of the one you have been practicing all along. This is good for you as well, for it allows you to accept that which you bring to the classroom – not as a new student, but as one who is already well embarked upon the process of education. And appreciative of the roles the teacher plays in the life of its students and the relationship that we share with each other as fellow teachers. Even so, I enjoy having you as a student, as well, for you uphold the learning curve in our classroom.

Myra: Thank you. I enjoy being your student, and I really like it when I don’t fall asleep. (Group chuckles.)

TOMAS: Yes, well, I will no feel remiss. I was admonished many years ago that when students fall asleep in my class, it is because they have been carried away by another dominant energy, and this is not to cast negative aspersions on my abilities as a teacher, but to acknowledge the greater need that was met through my ministrations with the rest of the class while you went somewhere else you needed to go. That may be into restful sleep or into morontia travel of some sort. Whichever way is not my concern. I am also feeding your subconscious mind, and so you cannot escape it.

Myra: Good.

Men-O-Pah: I love the words, “Marry yourself not to the single opinion. It will make you myopic.” Nothing short of profound.

Thoroah: Yeah.

TOMAS: These adages that you pull out of the teacher lessons are yet another product of the process we engage in that can be made material and mounted on the wall, reinforcing again the initial concept I brought to class today, that God is not far off in his heavens; he is here with you and where you are. And one of the things that we will do (and are doing) is taking God from that lofty perch and making him part of the fiber of your daily lives. The more God becomes a part of your cultural consciousness, the quicker we will see light and life.

Therefore, flood the environment with truth, beauty, and goodness, in whatever manifestation you perceive. For this helps brighten the path and lighten the load of those who carry the delightful burden of the Master, that we lift up our countenance to promote: the love of God and the joy of service in all we do.

Paula: Well, you know these lectures and our participation in them, these impressions, keep our minds active and I think they add a great deal to us, each one, individually.

TOMAS: I accept your apple (group chuckles) and will set it on my desk to proudly show my peers. You are precious to me, Paula. And all of you: those of you who are here and those of you today who are absent; those of you also who have been here and those of you who will return. Many of you who have not yet come within the sound of my voice or the sound of the voices of angels will one day come to hear the harmonious tones of spirit which sing to all that siren song, “Follow me.”

Closing

Let us be on our way then, to enjoy the day and to carry forth the lessons learned, the opinions that will germinate and formulate from today’s theology, and the happiness we share in this Family of God. Amen. And farewell.

Group: Farewell. See you next week, Tomas. Thank you