1997-01-18-Your True Parents

Session

Opening

Lord Michael, we seek your presence. We seek your embrace, your companionship. We call upon you to be with us and to give us your blessing on our coming together. Our hearts join in gratitude for you in your wondrous gifts in this life that you have bestowed upon us, and in gratitude to the Father who dwells within us. Help us to stand firm in your presence, knowing that you are with us, that when we feel alone we can come to you in the blink of an eye and feel your warmth and your light and your love.

Beloved Maker, we gratefully acknowledge your teachers who have come to help us walk the path in this most difficult while most exciting time on your planet of nativity. We flounder as individuals, but as people in your family we are strengthened, knowing that we represent you and that you work with each of us and abide with us all.

Give us, Brother, the willingness to hear with ears to hear those words, those nuances of truth that will help us understand you better; indeed, that we may understand you so well as to walk shoulder to shoulder with you, comrades with you in this work of Kingdom-building.

Bless us as children, Michael, but help us to grow up to be pleasing to you and Our Father in heaven. Be with us now today in our gathering, that our hearts may open to your love through each other. Sanction and bless our studies, our learning, our fellowship, our growth, and our week as we leave here fed by the spirit that you bring by your gracious nature. Forever more. Amen.

TOMAS: Good afternoon, my friends. I am Tomas.

Group: Good afternoon.

TOMAS: My heart swells with appropriate pride in your diligence and your loyalty, you who venture forth in search of companionship in the spirit and understanding of your spirit nature, in hope of harmonizing your dual nature for greater personality integration and expression. We are most pleased with your efforts and with your faith.

Lesson

Education

My friends, last week we discussed the aspect of childlikeness as occasionally compared to childishness and I know that you have all reflected on that quality of childlikeness that places you in the hands of the Eternal Parents, that small one who is made secure in the love of the Divine Parent. You who pray, pray as a child of the Father, and you who seek comfort and healing pray as a child of the Mother, and you who pray for harmony and fellowship among yourselves pray to the Eternal Son, and in your youth, in your seeking, you are a child.

Even Michael, when he walked upon Urantia, could be equated/aligned in your mind as a child, in-as-much as he always came to the Father for guidance and inspiration and companionship and direction. Always was his prayer, "Even so, Thy will be done." His faith was childlike. He trusted the Father in all things, even as a mortal child trusts its human parent to provide all things. Let us look at your childlike aspects.

As you have observed your behaviors this week and the behaviors of others in terms of childishness and childlikeness, you can quickly ascertain that some children are more pleasant to be around than other children. Some children are delightful by their very being, while some wreck havoc on their environment by their very being. And the parent, the adult, may well wonder, "What will this child be like when it has grown? Will these same characteristics still prevail?"

And thus begins the process of formulating the behavior of the child that it will then conform to the standards of its societal role and societal expectations for how it is that a good child comports itself. Disciplines enter into the picture. Sharing is a lesson to be learned, and relearned. Various punishments may be meted out in order to impress a certain behavior modification, and so the child ultimately becomes molded into a cultural mold for the betterment of the whole.

You are, of course, all the products of such molding, and it is necessary that this guidance take place in order for the young and unruly child to learn how to function in and with its peers for eventual civilization. But I am more interested today in looking at a child and ascertaining what it is about the child itself that makes it "compatible" as compared to being "well-behaved."

And I envision a child now, which you may do also, who is sheer delight. You have heard it said in your scripture, "Out of the mouths of babes," [1] and you know that as the Thought Adjuster comes to a young one and before the young one is overmuch conditioned by behavior patterns outlined above, they have a relatively free and unhampered access to their perception of truth, beauty, and goodness. They are guileless. And herein is the joy, for they can be sincere in being their self.

Sincerity

There is a quality of devotion in a child who is sincere. Now this child may not intellectually understand all there is to know, but when you are invited to a tea party, when you are invited to visit the clubhouse, when you avail yourself to listen to the child's point of view, you will be startled and impressed by the degree of sincerity they allow their self. And that sincerity remains as long as their integrity remains intact also.

It is the sincerity of the child, both little and big, that makes this child pleasant, bearable, and loveable. And so as you perceive yourself as a child, with your snits and temper tantrums, with your unwillingness to share, with your fear of things that go bump in the dark … rather than hide your integrity, allow yourself the gift of sincerity, for when you are sincere, you are close to being real, and responses to your condition are more likely to be kindly and beneficial.

Sincerity comes from the inner core of the self. It is the soul speaking. It is speaking for itself its own feelings and interpretations and not what it has been taught by another. There are variations on the theme of sincerity to include lesser values (such as, for your understanding, sincerely angry, sincerely greedy, sincerely evil), but those are not my focus, nor yours, for you understand that you attain perfection by your sincerity and your decisions, and you make better decisions, more real and aligned decisions, when you take your own sincerity into account. And even when you share yourself sincerely with others (for in sharing yourself sincerely with others you get feedback), you can see if it is the feed-back that feeds your soul or if it is something that has been taught and learned as a behavior modification to societal expectations and cultural expectations rather than your own soul's expectations.

Reflect sincerity outward and recognize it when it is reflected back to you. This tool for your childhood is a gift. Everyone has it. And when you come together, like you are now, today, in sincere faith and appreciation of your spiritual growth in this family of believers, you are allowed to be sincere, encouraged to be sincere, heartened to be real. It is not necessary to be glib; it is not necessary to be clever; it is not required that you be politically correct; but only that you be yourself. And that may include your discomfort and your growing experiences, but in this arena, in this growing environment with your peers in the Kingdom, you will be regarded lovingly and nurtured graciously.

And so I say to you today to learn to trust each other as children, but not products of your mortal realm; rather as products of your Eternal Parents, your Father, Mother in Paradise, and allow your behaviors, your needs, your growth experiences, your questing, your happiness, your sorrows, your confusions, be a reflection of your relationship with Them. Align yourself, children, with your true Parents. Allow Them to raise you up.

I will speak further regarding your stature as a child of God at another time, in other lessons. I am eager now to engage in conversation with you. How shall we commence? Are there questions?

Dialogue

Kate: I have a question, Tomas. If you could just clarify one of these terms for me?

TOMAS: I will try.

Grace

Kate: The words are-- Grace. What does grace mean? And what does "ministering grace" mean?

TOMAS: You almost ask for a lesson on the fruits of the spirit. Grace is a state of being when it occurs in you and it is a gift when you are aware that you have received it. Grace is indeed like a yellow blanket that covers you and gives off a soft glow of warmth and light. Grace is a connection with spirit so viable and real as to literally alter your electro-chemical structure. It pulls in the morontia realm of existence and so you can walk in grace consciously, knowing you are walking with the spirit and in the spirit.

When you are not walking thus, but seek to know it, you then seek the touch of grace which comes through the Master, through the spirit, to bless you, to bring itself to bear upon you, in you and with you. Grace is a reflection of the Trinity. You can see grace in those who carry it comfortably. You can wish it upon those who stumble and fall. You can call upon it to wash over you, and, if you are willing, it will do so.

Ministering grace is grace by its very nature, for it cannot help but minister by its very being. As illumination relieves the darkness, so does grace minister to its surroundings. Does that clarify?

Kate: Yes, thank you.

TOMAS: You are welcome. I appreciate your question.

Hunnah: This is Hunnah.

TOMAS: Yes, daughter.

Hunnah: We have a small group this morning and it's cold outside and we have our warm hearts. Can we take a break for a moment to see if some of us have a question?

TOMAS: We shall have one of our infamous intermissions, then.

• Intermission

TOMAS: Welcome back. Happy Intermission. Indeed, it does provide you that safety valve that we referred to earlier, for you find yourself focused and fed and "get out get out get out" comes along to rid yourselves of all that which is blocking your sincere childlike faith. I am tolerant of your hiatus into your psychological and your emotional understandings of yourselves for that reason as well as others.

It is important to socialize. It is important, as I said earlier, to trust each other, and you evidence your trust of each other when you share in these ways, and the sanctity of the teacher platform allows you to experience this unabated, unfenced. Your discourses are sometimes even productive of soulful understandings of your own experiences.

Sincerity

I will add to my earlier remarks having to do with the sincerity of a good child, of a child, remarking now that this enchanting and delightful child's sincerity is a matter of the heart. And, as you have discussed in your intermission, albeit from far-flung points of view, your appreciation of reality is in the heart's manifestation, not being the romantic heart so much as the heart of truth, beauty, and goodness, the soulful appreciation of your integrity and reality, your imagination, your beliefs, your appreciation and your adoration.

Sincerity in a child is like poetry. This week, as you continue to observe yourself and others as children, observe also the poetry of sincerity. Be advised that it is difficult for the mortal to be sincere. Many individuals run from sincerity for it is too real for their "comfort zones." Many times people shun genuine sincerity for they are at once vulnerable. They have exposed their heart; they have been real and they feel vulnerable. And so sincerity is truly a rare commodity.

You would serve yourself, your peers and your Master if you were to be able to gently enable others to know sincerity, and you can encourage their sincerity by being sincere yourselves. Being sincere does not preclude having a sense of humor. Many people regard sincerity as onerous and burdensome for its tonal quality, as if you had to be mature in order to be sincere, but I tell you, as children, you have the biggest heart, the most guileless faith, the most sublime trust, the most radiant joy, and these are light-hearted, bountiful and beautiful, appealing and charming and loveable, and so exercise yourself this week by being sincere in your childlikeness. It will help you to continue to be childlike while restraining you from being childish.

Were there any questions formulated during the intermission or have any emerged for discussion? Or in the alternative, are there comments or collaboration to offer?

Celeste: I don't know, Tomas, but I just love the story that Leah just told. I liked that story; it's so real and so human. I just wonder what you thought about it. [Ed. note: Leah related an altercation in a gas station wherein an aggressive driver was verbally assaulting his highway prey. Leah angrily confronted the aggressive man, in defense of his victim.]

TOMAS: She has been working in the field. She has been up to her knees in mud and her sleeves have been rolled up that she may face the furrows of life with enthusiasm and gusto, for truly that is a situation, that which she described in her "altercation" at the gas station, that is a rightful matter for Correcting Time.

It was courageous of her to take this on. It is only fair to add that the circumstances of her life at this time and her emotional condition also at this time, her growing and developing willingness and readiness to act upon her light of truth has enabled her to thus respond to the situation toward correction. It may not have been possible a week ago and it may not be necessary next week, but it was indeed a valuable learning experience for Leah and the man and the boy, and all indeed will reflect upon value, although there will be great denial and thoughts of retribution in the process. The truth was demonstrated physically, dramatically and succinctly. Blessed be those who fight the good fight of faith.

The scripture about "swords and plowshares" wafts to the surface of the mental bank of Gerdean, but she is not well-versed in scripture and so it is alluded to for those of you who have that frame of reference for understanding. Alas, the plowshares, having risen to the surface, refuse to submerge and so I am drowning. One moment please.

Emotion

[Ed. note: An intermission discussion arose regarding emotions, to-wit, one person contended that emotions are exhausting and are therefore to be avoided; the other person construed this to be an unhealthy attitude. Tomas now responds to that issue.]

Yes, I also would like to reflect upon your discourses having to do with the emotional realms. And that experience at the gas station, the altercation in defense of truth, cannot be construed as less than an emotional experience, one which could be regarded as exhausting, but also could be regarded as invigorating, and so these emotions of the mortal realm are not as well defined as you would like to have them be.

Fear, for example, is not altogether unwholesome, for there are reasonable and unreasonable fears, given your evolutionary plateau, and other emotions have a wider range of value than you may like to think. There are also healthy kinds of love as well as unhealthy kinds of love. There are beneficial constraints as well as negative controls. The emotional range is, as I have described before, much like the Everglades of Florida. It is a wonderful place, exotic beyond description, and even though it may be dangerous in places, especially for the unskilled, it may also be awe-inspiring and breathtaking and exhilarating in its majesty and mystery.

It is indeed difficult to live a day in the life without benefit of emotion, for you are emotional creatures, but as we discussed, being allowed to walk in a unified personality, a well-balanced individual, human and divine, the emotions are not all-consuming. As you allow the spiritual outlook to light the way for you, you can sometimes see an emotional pitfall coming and sidestep it. If you don't see, and you stumble or get caught in the quicksand of, say, jealousy or rage or worry, you can call upon the forces of will, which will enable you to regain your footing.

Even in looking back upon your emotional escapades, you can look upon them and see what you have learned and what you have experienced as a result of having allowed yourself the experience which is constructed in and with emotion. An experience is good if it brings you closer to the Father, if it gives you increased understanding of your fellow beings, if it encourages and supports truth, beauty, and goodness in the end. Do not avoid going to the Everglades.

Closing

I must ask if this has been helpful. (Pause) I am also asking my transmitter who originally posed the question having to do with the emotions as a realm to eschew, for emotions can be exhausting, and she is availing her response to me that, yes, she is pleased with my response to her.

Very well. Have we covered adequate ground that you will gaily go into your more academic study? Are you ready to embark upon a cerebral and perhaps morontial appreciation of "The Nature of God" in your text?

Celeste: It is wonderful. I love that part of the text.

TOMAS: We, too. Let us then commence and I will bid you adieu for today, we who watch you lovingly and carefully. Be well, be adventurous, be joyous children.

Group: Love you, too, Tomas.

TOMAS: Sincerely yours. Farewell.

TEXTUAL STUDY: Urantia Paper 1, Concluded Foreword, Concluded