1997-02-21-Angels of Progress-Churches

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Topic: Angels of Progress & Churches

Group: SE Idaho TeaM

Facilitators

Teacher: Aaron

TR: Simeon

Session

Opening

"I greet you tonight. I am Aaron. An intimate gathering, indeed, of friends here. I have a story to tell. Regarding its actuality, it may be absolutely true or wholly fictitious, depending upon your outlook. Regardless, it is the intent at all times that the truth will prevail, whether in fiction or in fact.

Lesson

Urantia Book, Planetary Government

There was a great revelation impending for this world, and regarding the manner of its presentation, you have two groups directly concerned in the celestial realm, the Angels of the Churches and the Angels of Progress. Now these angels have different functions, different goals, and yet work in God's kingdom for the prevailing of the ultimate evolution of mortals and of all beings to Light and Life. The Angels of the Churches serve to conserve essential patterns, to protect good things already in place, and to serve as a watch guard, to apply brakes on accelerated evolution that could create instability.

The Angels of Progress, on the other hand, serve to move society forward toward the advancement of understanding in many phases of life -- social, economic, religious, political. These angels are concerned with building momentum and affect change regarding circumstances of society, and of groups, and of individuals, to diminish the crystallizing of outlook and the grinding of evolution to a halt. How do you relate to these groupings? Would you consider yourself to be under the tutelage of the Angels of the Churches or the Angels of Progress? Heavy questions indeed. And yet you truly do not have the required information to answer such a question. So I won't ask it. (Laughs)

The Angels of the Churches and the Angels of Progress, while functioning as they do, serve compatibly with the role of your Heavenly Parent. Angels of Progress wished to make no reference to gender pronouns in the God concepts. With this revelation many petitions went forth that each grouping felt should be considered regarding the manner of the presentation of this Urantia revelation. The Angels of Progress looked to the possibility of introducing concepts of God which would transcend the current conceptions of that day, concepts eliminating male, concepts sublimely presenting God as a Parent of all and yet without eluding to gender. The Angels of the Churches petitioned in response, in counter, that to make such an introduction would be to diminish the influence of the revelation and its capability to find a foothold in a world as yet dominated by the ideas of God as a Father, as a male figure. The response to the petition sided with the Angels of the Churches. Angels of Progress wished to include statements on race and genetics but the Angels of The Churches thought it would cause controversy, and yet the Angels of Progress petitioned to introduce concepts regarding race, genetics, inheritance factors, which they felt to be critical to the immediate future of Urantia.

Knowing the sensitivity of these subjects and the possibility for future retribution against such a revelation, it was considered to be an unnecessary risk, and the Angels of the Churches petitioned that this request be denied, that to introduce such statements regarding race would severely curtail the capability of this revelation to impact, much the same argument as the reverse issue. And the Angels of Progress were allowed for this introduction, to make these frank statements regarding such sensitive issues.

Never, truly, in all of these petitions and in all of this dialogue and interaction was there an argument between either group. They did not see themselves as factions, but more as fractions of a whole; when added together they could create the complete outcome. Two elements of interest regarding these would be impatience and fear. The human outworking may contain these elements, while the spiritual organizations on high do not function as such. The Angels of Progress march forward patiently, understanding with a cosmic view. The Angels of the Churches conserve admirably, maintaining the foundations and the fabric of society, not doing so out of a fear of the future and what may unfold.

These are heavy issues to consider in human outworking of evolution and of conserving spiritual realities. Inclinations to create happenings, to impact, to do something now, often are born in a sense of impatience, and your strong desire to hit the brakes with every bit of your strength, to push away new things, change, progress, occurs often out of fear. And yet somewhere in the middle, where the real possibilities lie, where the actuality resides, there is a balance of function. There is an emphasis on personal progression to develop group progression, to develop societal progression. There is an emphasis on maintaining truth, on creating social stabilities within your manner of maintaining the foundations of interaction. Progressive stability is the goal of an evolutionary society and of any grouping regarding the realization of those outlooks. And so, again, a heavy question would be, do you serve and grow and develop under the tutelage of the Angels of the Churches or the Angels of Progress?

Communication, Transmitting

On a different topic, I would like to discuss communication and its reception by human beings. It is encouraged in this Correcting Time that no human being should feel as though they do not have spiritual guidance functioning with them in the trials of their lives. In the Teaching Mission it is promoted that every individual, through dedication, struggle, and effort can develop a connection with spiritual sources, ultimately leading to the strongest connection with the Spirit of God indwelling you. Very few mortals on this planet are incapable of recognizing, in time, and with effort and patience, this communication on various levels. It is an encouraged outworking.

It is promoted and yet there are concerns by certain angels that to do so aside from groupings of individuals may create isolation. And so, it is encouraged that mortals seeking communication with spiritual agencies should have a grouping to function within, to maintain a sense of balance with the whole, while at the same time pursuing development personally with these connections. We speak to you in groups because in groups you serve to bounce ideas off of one another, offering feedback, insight, a balancing effect to the private prayer, worship and communication, which can, without socialization, lead to isolation of personality. And yet, our communication with you, utilizing mortals, is a very tenuous relationship. The factors which make up an ideal candidate for transferring social information aside from personal communication are somewhat more defined when we seek to urge a human to share such information with their fellows in the hopes of formulating a grouping. We have undergone research, had many, many conversations amongst ourselves, and amongst others, teachers to ourselves from higher evolution and creation. And yet, at the same time, we do not place much emphasis upon these workings for there is great danger in elevating the ego of a mortal to a sense of importance. And many of your TRs that have served in group function can attest to these struggles, to these many questions within their mind, sometimes introduced by ourselves, sometimes, and many times, introduced by their own mind. And yet, when the time comes to serve these questions move aside and they function.

Honest self-examination is very worth while when in a position of communicating information for others, aside from oneself. Those mortals that have a capability to question, to work through these issues in their mind, are becoming more ideal for service in such a manner, and yet we are not discussing doubt, but honest doubting. Critical examination of oneself, aside from judgment, is not to be abhorred, and at the same time, many serve to place themselves in paralysis by the constant tearing down of one's actions and performance in life. When communicating personally, for yourself, be enthused that you are receiving information from celestial agencies. Simeon struggles when I say to also take it with a grain of salt, to not make it so important, but more of a common reality in the lives of spirit-born mortals, understanding the relationship of the human tendencies with the divine tendencies, knowing that the relationship itself clashes and yet strives for unity.

When communicating for a group of people, if placed in that role, take it as a privilege. Set aside the fear and the impatience, the inclinations to make things happen, and the inclination to stop things from happening; and become a vessel of divine love by opening one's attitude of soul toward the spirit within and allowing the outpouring to unfold.

Review your efforts on occasion. File those things inconsistent in a place where they can be viewed again; and make note of the beauty that has resulted, the truth that has been imparted into your lives. You are humans of the next generation, spiritually speaking. You and your efforts to advance beyond your self-consciousness to a universal consciousness are, and will, set examples for generations to come. Through your efforts be diligent in understanding the joy and the grand beauty of what is transpiring, and be most assured when you are striving sincerely and with motivations turned toward the First Source, that you are functioning in a worthwhile manner.

I have finished my discourse this evening and would gladly open to questions. The floor is yours."

Dialogue

Transcendence

Carla: "I listened with great interest to your lesson about the Angels of Progress and the Angels of the Churches, given that my primary vocation is church. I guess I would like to believe that they are not mutually exclusive, and that to respond to your question -- do I feel as if I am guided under the tutelage of the Angels of Progress or the Angels of the Churches that I find myself not being torn between but being made whole by both. And I'm wondering if you can respond, or shed further light, or comment." . . . .

Aaron: "It would be my pleasure for your conclusions were the conclusions I was hoping for from the dialog this evening. A sincere child of God serves the universe, never simply one agency or another. And through outlook and by aligning oneself toward the unifying perspective of the middle ground, your efforts become more reflective of the ultimate goal of both parties through their functioning. In short, I like your thinking." "The goal of this revelation is to uplift the individual to a place where they realize their relationship with the universe, one family following the will of God. As the institutions progress ever so slowly alongside these upliftments, the hope is that they will reflect this emphasis and preeminence of the individual and their relationship to the one Source rather than submitting their will to human agencies. And the church certainly has a place in the progression of society much to the extent that it can serve a socializing function of fellow believers, individual believers, in God. With the believer as the most important factor in this relationship, the social institutions serve as hopefully reminders of this reality and they bring this idea of socialization forward to the same individuals much as I discussed, leading one from isolation into groupings."

Carla: "That was the impetus for much of my thought in that as you talked about we as a group, and I will use the word community, do balance each other and we do grow and so I saw that the church was the name of a grouping in which those socializations, those balancings, those learnings would be shared and celebrated together as well as expanded, so I guess that would be in keeping with what you just said. So thank you."

Aaron: "Thank you for your clarifying and redirecting questions. These are the issues of this revelation, and as they come to light and are discussed, further revelation will ensue."

Virginia: "Aaron, I really appreciated your lesson tonight, and I'm thinking in terms of the one phrase 'progressive stability'. I really think that that is the combination of the Angels of the Churches and the Angels of Progress. And here I am sitting thinking 'I want stability but I want growth!' So that phrase meant a lot to me. I also appreciated the fact that you certainly are cautioning us as we do hear from the celestials that we realize that this is something that is to support us but also something that we must recognize as something to care for and to let our group help us evaluate so that we are not in error. I think of how often the book has warned not to become unbalanced, so that we can speak with some direction about our loving Parent. Am I making myself clear?"

Aaron: "Yes, Virginia, your thoughts are clear to me. And your conclusions also bring satisfaction that my talk with you has proven beneficial as I perceive it has with all of you on different levels. Another key ingredient to the functioning of a worthwhile community is to be able to recognize your individuality and at the same time place it in its proper role within the system, the community, without the need to play or perform several functions but to find your function and to perform it to your utmost capability. If one realizes this, what attends their outlook most often will be a lighthearted perspective - less importance on every issue and more of the realization of family first and the development of the issues as the everyday functioning of the family, the community. Personalities performing together in unison do not play the other personality's instrument, but perform on theirs in its multifaceted abilities to the hilt with all of their power.

Closing

Thank you for your commentary to me tonight. I appreciate your stimulation of thought, Virginia." . . . .