2003-03-10-The Will of God, Matter of Perspective

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Topic: The Will of God, Matter of Perspective

Group: Center for Christ Consciousness

Facilitators

Teacher: Michael

TR: Donna D'Ingillo

Session

Opening

MICHAEL: Peace be unto you. This is Michael. And I greet you with tenderness in my heart; my love for you and my devotion to you. Come into my presence. Let me give your mind rest. Take the weariness of life off of your shoulders, and place it in my hands. And I will comfort you and strengthen you. Think not of these burdens as yours alone to carry. Always walk with me, and we will share the experiences together. Let your minds more and more create those cherished moments of being with me, as we walk hand in hand toward our Father in Paradise.

Lesson

The human evolutionary struggle is not meant for you to walk in isolation. Yes, it is true, your planet has been quarantined; and many knew not the love of the Father nor the ways of the Spirit, which ministered constantly into the minds of humans. But that time is over, my sons. And now my Spirit of Truth rings strong and true in you, and calls you into the ever-expanding awareness of life, eternal life, in sonship, in full communion with your Divine origin and source.

You are embarked on the long journey toward perfection in aligning your will to that of the Father's. Tonight, I will address your questions pertaining to the incumbent difficulties in the evolutionary overcoming of the human will in favor of doing the divine will. For this is essentially once faith has been activated, where most of your struggles lie. Think about where you still have confusion, doubt, fear, or any sense of resistance to following our Father's plan for you. And feel free to share that with me, so I may add my perspective, not only as Michael of Nebadon, but as the one who faced the same challenges you now do, in my persona as Joshua ben Joseph. Please respond when you feel so compelled.

Dialogue

Student: Well, Michael, I've been working for quite a long, long time on the question of the will of God. So the question I have is not that I wonder if I can do the will of God, or that I am resistant to the will of God. It's more being unclear as to what is truly the will of God for me, in the sense that I can immediately and intuitively grasp what the message of divinity is, as compared to anything less that comes through some other levels: intellect, emotional, ego, cultural, or other people's impositions on me, which I've seen has been a pattern in my life. I've also recently understood that my mind is the bestowal through the Mother, and recently Mother has been speaking to us, and has asked us to tune in, because she wants us to know her better, especially the masculine gender. So, here I am wondering: How does the clarity that I need relate to the willingness of Mother to help us? How might I avail myself most effectively of that? So, that's my question: I'm wanting the certainty of divine communication connection.

Michael: My son, in your sincere desire to hear the word of God within your mind, you do. The faint voice grows stronger as your desire to follow the Father's will grows. You will increasingly expand this conscious recognition within your body of the Father's influence, and how He lovingly and steadfastly guides you in the direction for your personality to manifest all of the fine and lovely qualities that you have within you.

Do not think that because you have not achieved this exquisite, sustained level of communication that it is not occurring within you. For I say to you: that desire that you show is evidence that the Father's presence is indeed alive within you. For the very hunger that you have is activated by the Spirit, So you must not question that it is working within you. But I have in the past asked you to be patient. As your teachers have spoken to you about this very quality, this is where I would ask you to spend more of your communion time in being holding patient, watchful demeanor in your thinking.

Your desire will surely keep you well motivated to achieve that which you seek. However, there is a tendency to be anticipatory of a greater capacity than you have yet to experience. And this is all part of the motivational influence of your Thought Adjuster, who is actively aligning your thinking to that of the Father's. And so you are experiencing a heightened sense of wanting, of wantfulness. And this is fine. This is as it should be. For it will keep you interested, curious, hungry. And the spiritual life is adventurous. It is rugged.

What you can do now in your daily moment to moment life is to ask for what the Father would like to think about the situation to prevail: 'Not my thoughts, Father, but yours. Not my ideas, Father, but yours.' And this comes through patient practice of stilling your mind and allowing your thought streams quiet to the degree that the inner spirit can imprint onto the conscious mind the voice of the Father in saying, 'This is my will, this is my desire for you, my son.'

The teachers that we have sent to you have instructed you about stillness practice. And it was important to begin to do this, for it sets apart a time of day when you would be more attuned to allowing the spirit to work within your mind. And this is good, and is necessary for growth. But when the desire and the interest and the ability to think more along spiritual lines has grown to the degree that you can be consciously and actively seeking to do the Father's will, then it is incumbent upon the individual to begin to practice spiritized thinking throughout the course of the day. And that is to be consciously aware that it is not just your thoughts that you wish to think, but it is the Father's thoughts that you are seeking to blend with yours, to meld with yours, and to uplift yours to a realm where you are doing, thinking, feeling and responding the way the Father would have you respond as His child.

Be patient, my son. You are growing, you are responding. In your thinking, recognize when it is those times of mental activity that seem to diminish your own sense of connection or energy, and ask for the Father's thoughts to supersede yours. And as you grow more comfortable in doing this, you will find that indeed the will of God is not just a thought. It becomes the very essence of who you are. Have you any comments or questions on this answer?

Student: Yes. First of all I appreciate very deeply and wonderfully what you have said. And I know that part of the time lately, more and more, I have been functioning in that kind of a way. Because I'm consciously aware that as I check out this, that or another thing, and I may come to some sort of a dead end, then I can relax and say 'Oh, okay, well, the will of the Father is...', and something comes up that's in line with what's left to do. So I'm feeling some noticeable patience in that realm.

Then there's another part of me, that says, 'but less than six months from now I'm going to be 60 years old! And that's old! And I don't look old, feel old, think old, or anything. But I'm kind of like, sort of, maybe over the hill. Nothing good's going to happen, because, well, it's downhill from here on in.' And I know that's kind of weird and nutty to say, but what could you say to that?

Michael: It is a perceptual observation. And here again, do you wish to see yourself with the eyes of the material world who says that living a life of 60 or 70 or 80 years or more is old, and you should be decrepit and worn down? Or will you look at yourself through the eyes of the Father, who sees your years of experience as still a very small, tiny step on the road to a lifelong eternal career that you have waiting for you? And so, what is 60 years? What is 1,000 years? It is all a matter of observation.

But if you feel attached to this idea, then you can certainly ask the Father to help you correct your thinking, and be desirous of losing your attachment to seeing yourself from this perspective; and thereby allowing a new attachment as a small, eternal child to begin to activate your self-perception. Which would you rather be, young or old?

Student: The only way I wouldn't mind being old is if I happened to be in a category of elder in some particular context. And I'm not necessarily in that context right now. So, young in terms of a long, eternal career sounds really good. I don't feel I'm attached to the perspective I mentioned. It's just something that comes up a little bit, from time to time; and it does have some effect, but not an awful lot. So I don't think that's going to be a big obstacle. And I appreciate the opportunity to ask the Father to help me with replacing a little bit of that that I do have, with His perspective.

Michael: The wonderful thing about coming to our Father is that all of the perceptions of the material world will be given a new identity when you see yourself through the Father's eyes. Things of the material world are fleeting, and are false in your world at this time. Create a new reality, not only for yourself, but for the energy on your planet, by identifying only with that which the Father wills for you and wants for you. And when you carry that proudly within you, as an expression of yourself, you will begin to help this planet overcome their attachment of things material, in favor of the more spiritual substance that is the true composition of reality, and thereby helping your planet to become more spiritized in and of itself.

This is the responsibility that you have as a cosmic citizen. It is a matter of perspective, and it is always your choice. Has this helped you in your outlook?

Student: Yes it has, and particularly the part where you just said helping to spiritize the perspective on the part of my fellow planetary citizens. I sensed for a long, long time that my destiny was involved in some way [end of side one of tape] that my job, so to speak, in this life, is to develop myself in such a way, patiently, in conjunction with the spiritual guides who are there, and develop the capacity to assist people in truly spiritizing their perspective and their functionality. So I sense that that is a real major hint for what my destiny in this life is. And I'm wondering if you could confirm that any further or more specifically?

Michael: My son, would that I could tell you your destiny. But that would be depriving you of the exhilarating experience of finding it for yourself. You have my love, you have my support. What further confirmation could you possibly have need of?

Student: Touche. I understand. It's the doing, for example, of that spiritizing process in helping people other people. It's the same. I can't tell them or do for them. I am merely somebody who would be able to assist them in coming to that for themselves. So, you just expressed what is a perfect example of being a good example that I'm drawing on in terms of my functioning in life. So I am doubly appreciative of your last comments.

Michael: We would never wish to deprive you of one iota of achievement and satisfaction therein. Think how a young child gains self-confidence and pride by doing something well and learning a new fact, or making something new. You are so young, so enthusiastic in your desire for growth. We are here to support you and to love you and to encourage you. But never would we want to anticipate the things you would experience by telling you what you must do or what you should do. This is your choice.

Some choices will be better than others. And you will gain more confidence in making better choices the more you ask the Father for his perspective and opinion about your life. But never, never would we deprive you of the satisfaction of your achievement that comes with making the right choices that are consistent with the Father's will. It is our joy to see you achieve and to do well.

Student: I have one last comment to make in reference to that. I'm recalling in my early childhood, around the ages of two, three and four, that that was a very severe time for me. And as I perceived it as being deprived of the nurturing to be able to experience for myself the joy of discovery, the joy of satisfaction in ways like you were just describing.

But even though there were times in my life when I've experienced some pretty major breakthroughs in learning and growing, there's been a lot where I felt very squashed and squelched and so on. So I've become very sensitive to that and to avoid causing other people to be squelched, and therefore your comments are triply valuable for me now when I recall that. And how very, very willing I am of being supportive of but not imposing on others. Again, thank you.

Michael: Never hesitate to call on me for my support and my encouragement. I will be always in your corner, upholding you. We are all cheering you, our children here on this world, your Mother and I. You can only succeed if you continue to follow the Father's will. Be in my peace, my child.

Student: Oh, Michael, just hearing you speak fills my heart, so it is hard for me to talk. Thank you for visiting with us like this. I don't know almost any human being who was aware of what are would not be overcome with joy to be with you, to actually hear you speaking through a living, human being, our beloved D.

I would like to share one thing with you. From time to time, the other day I was reading something where our scientists now have dated the age of the universe to exactly 13.6 billion years old, and I was thinking how you, yourself, are over 400 billion years old. And it occurred to me that once you read The Urantia Book and fall in love with it, it puts you in two worlds. All of a sudden you're in a world where there are trillions of inhabited planets in the master universe, and on and on and on.

And meanwhile you're in a society that wonders if there's another inhabited planet out there somewhere. And all of something, Michael, I had a wonderful feeling that in a tiny, tiny minuscule way we are now living your life, a son of God, with a memory of leaving Paradise, wants to survive into a galaxy. And yet being around people in your day maybe wondered if the Earth was flat, or whatever they believed then. What you did for this revelation, that no matter how it tears us in two or forces us to live our lives, I think that's a wonderful stretch for us, like keeping one foot on the dock and one foot in the boat. But that could be the best way to be. Thank you.

Michael: Some day, my son, when you are more advanced in your spirit career, both in thought forms and substance, the evolutionary struggle will take on a particular sweetness and delight, because you will see the poetry in living and growing and achieving. Unfortunately, too many of your fellows are lost in the drudgery of daily life to see the myriad opportunities available to them, the sheer grandeur of taking this raw human form and making it into this incredibly brilliant and exquisitely beautiful treasure. You who have a larger perspective that is offered through your Urantia text, are now appreciative of the tension that is caused between the evolutionary nature and the divine influences as they become strengthened and prominent within you.

And so you can look forward to feeling this divine call to increasingly motivate you and cause you more wonder and more awe in how the Father works within your mind, urging you, beckoning you, enticing you, to 'follow Me', 'come with Me', 'be with Me', and how so doing and seeing the joy and beauty that comes along with growing in spirit. How could you possibly look at life as anything but an adventure of : how will I take this raw quality that I have and turn it into this priceless treasure that I can give to my Father Creator? How could you possibly look at it from any other perspective?

And yet we understand the difficulty inherent in seeing it from this way. But you have greater awareness and knowledge of this. And so I encourage you to spend your time in contemplation of the wonderful gift of life and growth you have been given. And to increasingly see the raw qualities that you have becoming increasingly more refined - as a fine sculpture becomes increasingly more brilliant and lustrous in the light, in the hands of the master craftsman. And this is your destiny. Become as beautiful as you can, my son. Your crowning achievement is a gift to all of the universe. Have you anything to add at this time?

Student: No, I think that is almost too full to bear. I feel full of joy, mainly with your help and with Welmek the last few years I'm inheriting more and more all the time. Just the beauty of other folks, every human face bears the full stamp of the human condition. And it's just the uniqueness of one.

I had a wonderful realization the other day. We have an expression 'you can't see the forest for the trees'. Because of all the individual trees you can't see the whole forest. I think for so much of us, Michael, it's the other way around. We can't see the trees for the forest. We're so caught up in our own ideas of other people. Those ideas and concepts we had to struggle so hard for as children, that we get to the point where we cling so tightly to our own ideas of other people - the forest - that we can't see the trees, we can't see the individuals standing right in front of it. And I just feel lately those individuals are emerging. It's a glorious thing.

Michael: There will come a time when you will not only see the trees, but each leaf and all of the components of the leaf, as your vision becomes more refined and well-honed. You will see all the lovely qualities that not only you but other people are becoming, and all the ways that the Father works within the individual, to make them so breathless and beautiful. Oh, what joy it is to be alive! (Amen) And be in my peace, my son. (Thank you, Michael.)

Student: Yes, Michael, over the past few days I feel like I'm being stretched beyond my own perceived limitations in this material world I live in. It seems like the other day where situations have arisen that the only place I could go was to God, and to relinquish myself totally into His will and agenda for me. And I lay down on the floor, and spread my arms out and said 'stretch me as far as I can go', because I do want to live as you lived upon this earth - to see things clearly and truthfully, and to see myself in others. And I noticed a peace come over me that had clarity, purpose and vision. And everything I've been reading points to the same direction and vision, whether it be the Course in Miracles or Conversations with God or a beautiful prayer book I have, How Prayer Can Change your Life. It says God only.

And this is how I want and desire to live. I want to break through these material limitations that I feel oppressed by. I want to be financially free, be free of debt, so I can help and give to others, and share with them who I am.

Michael: There is an attitude of freedom that comes in the spirit that supersedes the material environment. Always is this conditioned by your perception. It is a matter of perspective. And in choosing to experience that freedom in the midst of increasingly oppressive material challenges is a measure of high spiritual achievement. And if you have asked to be stretched, my son, then you are going to be very uncomfortable for a time, when you feel the weight of the material life as you are being expanded to look at things with the increasingly liberating and perspective-altering vision of the Father's will for you.

If you have sincerely undertaken this challenge, and I know in your heart you have, then you must be willing to undergo what this entails. You will be uncomfortable for a time, as you feel the burden of material living. The question to hold in your mind is 'how will I respond to this?

In the matter of your financial debt, spend some time in feeling in that place where you feel the weight of that. And you know how that feels to you. But would it be any different if you had the money to pay off your debts? That would be addressing it at the material level. But if it is your desire to live in the spirit, then you still may have the debt, but how will you in your mind approach your thinking about this debt? Realizing that in time it will be gone, and the Father is helping you to achieve this. And you feel a sense of lightness and support, while you are undertaking working yourself out of this from a material perspective.

These are your choices now. It is not that you meet the obligations from the material perspective. It is that you conspire with the Father to overcome this and the weight and the attachment they have to you through the ministry of the combined resources of the spirit within you. Remember, my son, there is nothing that we will not help you achieve. All of your challenges, every one of them, you can effectively relinquish yourself from now - in the spirit - so that even though your material life circumstances do not change, how you approach life liberates you to do the service that you want to do.

Then you will see how your outward life begins to change. It is a matter of perspective. And the more you grow in your trust that we are here to help you overcome the handicaps of material life - through your thinking and approach to life in your attitude - then the more liberty and the more light and the more you will enjoy life. It will be yours to cherish. Have you any comments on this? (Tape ended at this point).