Changes

==Session==

==Session==

===Opening===

===Opening===

Dear Michael and Mother Spirit,    I’ve been trying to get some grasp on what is the [[essence]] of the coming holidays--or holy-days--at this [[time]] of year.  I recalled the [[words]] of the carol celebrating the little town of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem Bethlehem], the assertion that “the [[hopes]] and [[fears]] of all the years are met in thee tonight” with your birth as [[Jesus]].  It always puzzled me: what had fear to do with it?  What could it mean by a meeting of hope and fear?  But the more I [[thought]] of it, the more it seemed they are inextricably tied together.

Dear Michael and Mother Spirit,    I’ve been trying to get some grasp on what is the [[essence]] of the coming holidays--or holy-days--at this [[time]] of year.  I recalled the [[words]] of the carol celebrating the little town of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem Bethlehem], the assertion that “the [[hopes]] and [[fears]] of all the years are met in thee tonight” with your birth as [[Jesus]].  It always puzzled me: what had fear to do with it?  What could it mean by a meeting of hope and fear?  But the more I [[thought]] of it, the more it seemed they are inextricably tied together.

   

   

It’s fear that [[challenges]] the innate hope of a living [[human]] [[being]], yet by the same token it’s hope that allows us to conquer our fears.  So your coming was the meeting of these two [[things]].  The hope that you embodied then, and now in our ways of contacting you and [[Mother Spirit]], do give birth, do bring into [[consciousness]] those very fears and limitations that are holding us back.  It’s by having [[faith]] and hope in the two of you, and in our loving connection, that we are able to meet those fears.  That is the triumph of hope.

It’s fear that [[challenges]] the innate hope of a living [[human]] [[being]], yet by the same token it’s hope that allows us to conquer our fears.  So your coming was the meeting of these two [[things]].  The hope that you embodied then, and now in our ways of contacting you and [[Mother Spirit]], do give birth, do bring into [[consciousness]] those very fears and limitations that are holding us back.  It’s by having [[faith]] and hope in the two of you, and in our loving connection, that we are able to meet those fears.  That is the triumph of hope.

===Lesson===  

===Lesson===  

MICHAEL:  Good evening my children, this is Michael.  I am very happy, very pleased to share this time with you.  Mother Spirit and I once teased you with the notion that this is how one and one make three, that when two people get together and really enjoy each other, it seems there is some third thing that comes into [[existence]].  And this is real, this emerging surround of enjoying the [[spiritual]] [[dimension]] of [[human]] reality.  It’s always here; you are always connected through your [[Thought Adjusters]], through the pure spirits of [[God]]’s [[presence]] within you, but when you get together--and this might be by telephone or email or your delightful Christmas cards--however it is you get together and [[share]] your lives with each other--this is making [[manifest]] and bringing into being, acknowledging and delighting in this spiritual [[dimension]] that so often goes unnoticed.

MICHAEL:  Good evening my children, this is Michael.  I am very happy, very pleased to share this time with you.  Mother Spirit and I once teased you with the notion that this is how one and one make three, that when two people get together and really enjoy each other, it seems there is some third thing that comes into [[existence]].  And this is real, this emerging surround of enjoying the [[spiritual]] [[dimension]] of [[human]] reality.  It’s always here; you are always connected through your [[Thought Adjusters]], through the pure spirits of [[God]]’s [[presence]] within you, but when you get together--and this might be by telephone or email or your delightful Christmas cards--however it is you get together and [[share]] your lives with each other--this is making [[manifest]] and bringing into being, acknowledging and delighting in this spiritual [[dimension]] that so often goes unnoticed.

===='''''Friendship'''''====

===='''''[[Friendship]]'''''====

For many this is just an inexplicable feeling [[good]] to be with a friend.  It’s almost a definition of [[friendship]]--being with those people who simply delight you to be near even beyond your own ability to know why.  The [[feeling]] seems to just spring up of it’s own.  And it’s that springing up of life and joy within you that is, in its final [[analysis]], inexplicable.  It just happens.  So much of your curiosity is directed at this happening to know why, so you can do it again, you end up simply marveling at it.  This is the unfathomable [[wonder]] of friendship, this extra [[dimension]] that comes into being when you get together.     

For many this is just an inexplicable feeling [[good]] to be with a friend.  It’s almost a definition of [[friendship]]--being with those people who simply delight you to be near even beyond your own ability to know why.  The [[feeling]] seems to just spring up of it’s own.  And it’s that springing up of life and joy within you that is, in its final [[analysis]], inexplicable.  It just happens.  So much of your curiosity is directed at this happening to know why, so you can do it again, you end up simply marveling at it.  This is the unfathomable [[wonder]] of friendship, this extra [[dimension]] that comes into being when you get together.     

   

   

You have that rather cynical expression that misery loves company.  But seen in this [[light]], that’s a rather [[negative]] way of seeing, actually a put-down, of human nature, that when you are miserable you just want to lay it on someone else--just heap your burden on someone else.  But that doesn’t really [[work]], does it? There are burdens that are yours alone to bear, and relief cannot be found in just any kind of simple company which might only make it worse.  Though misery may love company, it’s not just any company is it?  Think of all the hardships the [[human]] [[race]] has known.  Think of the [[fear]] and the [[pain]] you yourself have known and how it is lightened, not just by company, but by that special company you call friends.

You have that rather cynical expression that misery loves company.  But seen in this [[light]], that’s a rather [[negative]] way of seeing, actually a put-down, of human nature, that when you are miserable you just want to lay it on someone else--just heap your burden on someone else.  But that doesn’t really [[work]], does it? There are burdens that are yours alone to bear, and relief cannot be found in just any kind of simple company which might only make it worse.  Though misery may love company, it’s not just any company is it?  Think of all the hardships the [[human]] [[race]] has known.  Think of the [[fear]] and the [[pain]] you yourself have known and how it is lightened, not just by company, but by that special company you call friends.

===='''''Sharing'''''====

===='''''[[Sharing]]'''''====

It’s the sharing within friendship that destroys misery.  It’s the very existence, the very [[demonstration]], if you will, of the [[reality]] of friendship, of this spiritual [[dimension]] of human reality; that is what works.  This is what has enabled the human race to face and conquer all the tooth and claw of the [[animal]] world, all the hardships of life--the hunger and pain and exposure--even the sure [[knowledge]] of inevitable [[death]]: all of this has been more than counter-balanced by the sheer reality of friendship.

It’s the sharing within friendship that destroys misery.  It’s the very existence, the very [[demonstration]], if you will, of the [[reality]] of friendship, of this spiritual [[dimension]] of human reality; that is what works.  This is what has enabled the human race to face and conquer all the tooth and claw of the [[animal]] world, all the hardships of life--the hunger and pain and exposure--even the sure [[knowledge]] of inevitable [[death]]: all of this has been more than counter-balanced by the sheer reality of friendship.

   

   

Merry Christmas, my dear ones.  Let us look to [[First Source and Center|the Source]] of the very reality of merriment.  This too is where you find my peace.  Now if you have any questions or comments this evening, let’s make merry with them.

Merry Christmas, my dear ones.  Let us look to [[First Source and Center|the Source]] of the very reality of merriment.  This too is where you find my peace.  Now if you have any questions or comments this evening, let’s make merry with them.

===Dialogue===

===Dialogue===

===='''''Worship'''''====

===='''''[[Worship]]'''''====

Student:  Father Michael, I have a question about [[worship]], like, what is it?  You’ve hinted from time to [[time]], but I would like to know more explanation, if you would, please.  What is worship and how do we do it?

Student:  Father Michael, I have a question about [[worship]], like, what is it?  You’ve hinted from time to [[time]], but I would like to know more explanation, if you would, please.  What is worship and how do we do it?

===='''''Gratitude'''''====

===='''''[[Gratitude]]'''''====

MICHAEL:  Yes my son, as you have been told, as you’ve read, the ability, even the [[desire]]--the impetus to worship and feel [[thankful]] means you have crossed over a threshold, and not only in the general sense of the dividing line between the [[animal]] and the [[human]], but right in your own life.  You have all [[personal]]ly crossed this threshold.  Sometime as a young child you moved beyond a kind of monkey-see--monkey-do kind of [[behavior]] to make a [[quality]] of [[decision]].  You chose to do something your own creative spirit suggested and it granted you the quality of [[free will]] [[dignity]], the dignity of being a full, if still little [[human being]].  The [[realization]] of a [[potential]] that was with you from conception finally was [[manifest]].  You [[experienced]] the [[dimensions]] of [[worship]] and [[wisdom]] in their most primal sense by this first act of [[choice]] with an upwelling [[feeling]] of the kind of [[joy]] and delight of being alive that [[transcends]] any kind of merriment an [[animal]] might know.   

MICHAEL:  Yes my son, as you have been told, as you’ve read, the ability, even the [[desire]]--the impetus to worship and feel [[thankful]] means you have crossed over a threshold, and not only in the general sense of the dividing line between the [[animal]] and the [[human]], but right in your own life.  You have all [[personal]]ly crossed this threshold.  Sometime as a young child you moved beyond a kind of monkey-see--monkey-do kind of [[behavior]] to make a [[quality]] of [[decision]].  You chose to do something your own creative spirit suggested and it granted you the quality of [[free will]] [[dignity]], the dignity of being a full, if still little [[human being]].  The [[realization]] of a [[potential]] that was with you from conception finally was [[manifest]].  You [[experienced]] the [[dimensions]] of [[worship]] and [[wisdom]] in their most primal sense by this first act of [[choice]] with an upwelling [[feeling]] of the kind of [[joy]] and delight of being alive that [[transcends]] any kind of merriment an [[animal]] might know.   

   

   

Student:  Thank you, Father Michael.

Student:  Thank you, Father Michael.

===='''''Ritual'''''====

===='''''[[Ritual]]'''''====

Student:  Good evening, Michael.  My question tonight is along the lines of your talking about people coming together and enjoying one another, and sharing in their spirit.  I see it as a whole [[continuum]] of the way we come together.  Is there, from your [[perspective]], your [[mind]], a time when it goes from being people coming from a deeper spiritual sharing in what we could call a [[religion]]--and how that spirit of wanting to come together and worship together…  How much is there a qualitative [[difference]] between people getting together in the holidays and having a good meal versus people getting together and sharing a religious [[ritual]] together?  

Student:  Good evening, Michael.  My question tonight is along the lines of your talking about people coming together and enjoying one another, and sharing in their spirit.  I see it as a whole [[continuum]] of the way we come together.  Is there, from your [[perspective]], your [[mind]], a time when it goes from being people coming from a deeper spiritual sharing in what we could call a [[religion]]--and how that spirit of wanting to come together and worship together…  How much is there a qualitative [[difference]] between people getting together in the holidays and having a good meal versus people getting together and sharing a religious [[ritual]] together?  

   

   

MICHAEL:  Yes, my daughter.  There is no necessary [[qualitative]] [[difference]].  There is no direct correlation between spirit and--shall we say--some [[relatively]] reoccurring event as in every religious establishment on [[earth]], no correlation because these [[events]] can be attended almost devoid of spiritual sharing.  They can be social requirements of the folks around one who demand these outward observances be made, so they can be made begrudgingly and with much inner cynicism and fraudulent [[emotion]], and so forth.  Whereas two friends getting together in the holidays after perhaps years of not seeing each other, just that kind of thing is really a holy day for them.  

MICHAEL:  Yes, my daughter.  There is no necessary [[qualitative]] [[difference]].  There is no direct correlation between spirit and--shall we say--some [[relatively]] reoccurring event as in every religious establishment on [[earth]], no correlation because these [[events]] can be attended almost devoid of spiritual sharing.  They can be social requirements of the folks around one who demand these outward observances be made, so they can be made begrudgingly and with much inner cynicism and fraudulent [[emotion]], and so forth.  Whereas two friends getting together in the holidays after perhaps years of not seeing each other, just that kind of thing is really a holy day for them.  

===='''''Inner Life'''''====  

===='''''[[Inner Life]]'''''====  

From our viewpoint, religion is exclusively the [[relationship]] of an [[individual]] [[personality]] to [[God]].  This is the sum total of [[religion]].  What you call your religions, your religious [[Groups|groupings]], are the socialization, the [[sharing]] of that [[relationship]].  So there has to be this something inside, this [[inner life]], this inner relationship with [[God]], which [[Mother Spirit]] and I spoke about the last few times.  As you say, when people with this inner sense of spirit get together, then that is the quality, the qualitative difference that may or may not coincide with so-called religious festivities.  If you will, that’s the religion within the festivities, and what these festivities hopefully help to bring about.  

From our viewpoint, religion is exclusively the [[relationship]] of an [[individual]] [[personality]] to [[God]].  This is the sum total of [[religion]].  What you call your religions, your religious [[Groups|groupings]], are the socialization, the [[sharing]] of that [[relationship]].  So there has to be this something inside, this [[inner life]], this inner relationship with [[God]], which [[Mother Spirit]] and I spoke about the last few times.  As you say, when people with this inner sense of spirit get together, then that is the quality, the qualitative difference that may or may not coincide with so-called religious festivities.  If you will, that’s the religion within the festivities, and what these festivities hopefully help to bring about.  

   

   

   

   

Student:  Pretty much so.  I can see how there is a strong tendency to nail it all down--so to speak--and make it all just so, and get people to respond in a certain way.  But it would be nice to allow people to be free--to choose to come and go in whatever they believe; it would really make a [[difference]].  

Student:  Pretty much so.  I can see how there is a strong tendency to nail it all down--so to speak--and make it all just so, and get people to respond in a certain way.  But it would be nice to allow people to be free--to choose to come and go in whatever they believe; it would really make a [[difference]].  

   

   

MICHAEL:  Well, once you socialize your religious [[feelings]], there is some deliberate planning involved in getting together.  Since you are in such a mobile [[society]] these days, it means you are scattered around so much more now than in the past.  But by the same token, you can utilize all your modern modes of transportation and [[communication]] to get together.   

MICHAEL:  Strictly for myself, back then, the ability to have others within me--within my [[consciousness]]--was, like your own, an ability I had to [[grow]].  But I can say that after my [[baptism]] and regaining my self-awareness as a [[Creator Son]], as Michael, that was my great thrill and [[joy]] from that [[moment]] on--to totally [[encompass]] folks, whether they were aware of this or not.  I think any of you who read the story of my life, either in various versions of the [[Christian bible]] or the [[Urantia book]], were [[immediately]] struck with the [[fact]] that while some could recognize to a large degree the kind of person I was--the [[spiritual]] [[dimension]] I had, there were others who were quite blind to it.  For those who were very much afraid of this [[spirituality]], who were immediately put off by me for what threat I posed to their [[social]] or [[political]] [[status]], there was the supreme [[irony]] of their having spent their whole lives preparing for the coming of their notion of the [[Messiah]], yet they could not recognize him when he stood before them.  It was with this supreme irony that I fulfilled [[prophesies]].

But yes, in my later years after I had achieved my own, shall we say, self-comprehension, when I became aware--much as you do in your own [[moments]] of [[enlightenment]], become aware of your true [[nature]] as a spiritual being; from that moment on fellow [[human being]]s do become more [[transparent]].  You are so much more capable of letting them in, and perceiving their spiritual nature as well.

Student:  So in that sense, your ability was greater in spite of their unwillingness, or maybe their unawareness of who and what you were.  Was their lack of spiritual [[maturity]] less of an impediment to you?

MICHAEL:  Yes, my daughter, just as it is with you.  Once you are aware of your own spiritual nature, you can more readily perceive this in others, and how they, as unique individuals, are [[manifesting]]--or crippled in manifesting--that hallmark of [[spirit]]--[[creativity]].  You are intuiting that the lack of inner spiritual development, which I could perceive directly, this lack of creativity was what handicapped them, and made them merely fearfully reactive.  If you will, they did not have the [[grace]] of humility to open themselves to something greater than themselves, which was right within them too--their own spiritual nature.  This rendered them incapable of recognizing mine--or each others’.  These are the poor-in-spirit individuals who live in [[Negativity|cynicism]] and see all [[humanity]] either as victors or victims, powerful users of others, or mere chumps to be used.  That is their only [[frame of reference]].

 

Yes, this was very clear to me.  Even at the end I would have acquiesced to some of their demands that I [[demonstrate]] my [[powers]] to them, had it not meant I would be impairing their own [[necessary]] inner growth, spiritually, to do so.  That was my limitation as their [[Creator]]-Father, and as yours.  There is no separation within me, my daughter, between what I cannot or will not do.  These are one in me.  And so I will not, I cannot acquiesce to something that will stunt your spiritual [[growth]].  It’s why [[Mother Spirit]] and I refuse to tell you what to do.  (much laughter)  This is for you to choose, and either enjoy or suffer the consequences.  There is God’s will here--always--to discover and to choose to follow, choose to enact yourself.

MICHAEL:  Thank you, my daughter.  It was exploring these real [[dimensions]] of being human that, like I said, have such a very special place in my own [[soul]].  My human life was just so precious to me, in spite of being threatened with what was quite common at that time, not only with [[death]], but with being [[torture]]d to death.  That was deemed the necessary [[terror]] with which to keep the people under control--to make death as [[Pain|long-suffering]] and agonizing as their cynical [[imaginations]] could come up with.  That’s been the [[Darkness|dark side]] of man’s [[creativity]].

In spite of all that I did my best as a human being to stay true to myself and just hang on to the very end.  But in doing so I [[discovered]] that will of my Father’s that [[transcends]] human suffering, even that which is deliberately inflicted one upon another.  It is not only that you will [[survive]] even this kind of death, but that right in it your Father does not separate Himself from you.  And even though your ability to [[experience]] this [[truth]] may also, humanly, come and go, the [[hope]] that meets that [[fear]] can abide in you, and you can know that triumph.  That final triumph will be standing on all the fear of all your years.  That hope is the everlasting light of spirit.  And you can see that [[light]] in this life.

[[Trust]] yourselves, my dear ones.  This [[hope]], this [[worship]], this [[thankfulness]] and appreciation of whatever comes; this is your truest link, your real [[connection]] with [[God]].  In this you are most like Him.  In this you can choose to join with Him to create and sustain life, first in yourself--between the two of you, and then with those others out there, those others who are also His gift to you.

 

So have a [[wondrous]] and joyful time.  Feel for this very [[essence]] of the holidays and what makes any day truly [[holy]].  And be in my [[peace]].  Good evening.

 

[[Category: The Teaching Mission: Dialogues]]

[[Category: The Teaching Mission: Dialogues]]

[[Category: Friendship]]

[[Category: Friendship]]

[[Category: Inner Life]]

[[Category: Inner Life]]

[[Category: Sharing]]

[[Category: Sharing]]

[[Category: Ritual]]

[[Category: Ritual]]

[[Category: 2009]]

[[Category: 2009]]