2002-04-14-Worship Perfection

Heading

Facilitators

Session

Opening

TOMAS: Greetings, I am Tomas, your friend and teacher, companion and host. Welcome to you this gorgeous afternoon. How gracious of you to come inside and sit with one another in assertion of your rightful place in the universe. You are in good company with your associates in the material world and with those of us who also join with you from the more ethereal realms of reality.

Lesson

One prominent reality which is in evidence, as a common thread that weaves you all together, is the ritual of laughter and its contagion as testimony to your good spirits, but more to the point is the method now of worship you enjoy in living these experiences of your life. There is nothing that is not a prayer, but there is much that is not worship. Worship is the stillness that gives you the reminder of infinity. It is being in the eternal now. It is thanking divinity for the right to partake of this incredible and vital existence.

There is a thing in your language that asks, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound?" (pause) When you, in your solitude, are enmeshed in the spirit so completely as to be outside yourself, are you aware of yourself? (pause) Only God responds, but God is all there is. And so, He hears, and you sing praises as the echo of His Voice, which is all you hear.

Such beauty is in your world! Such immense joy is inherent in the reality you experience as a sentient being with God-consciousness. Your perspective is ennobled as a result of your conscious connection to divinity, your literal sonship, the offspring of the Original I AM.

They say that love makes the world go around and your musical scores, motion pictures, depict love as a carousel, in petticoats. A romantic interpretation indeed! A depiction of heaven on earth. And this is available to anyone who authorizes our Creator to direct the show, to put on the pageant of our lives. The pilgrims of time, having reached certain appreciations for their interdependence on a celestial reality connection - I apologize for my mouthpiece. It was editing me and so our connection was broken.

But this I will weave into my words for you today, for as the conscious mind interjects into this divine place in which you worship -- simply by enjoying your recognition of the truth, beauty, and goodness of divinity -- then you are thrust into the experiential realms which often are not fraught with the delights of prayer and thanksgiving. And now all of a sudden you are in the field, alert to service opportunities, ambitious that others may know the delights of sonship and bask in that energy which is infinite and eternal.

And lest I overlook the real essence of our value lesson here, the essential ingredient is love that will enable you to merge those moments with humanity that will enable you to bridge another gap between the material reality and the divine, so as to help mankind come one step nearer to that blessed state of mind which we recognize as worship. Such a source of joy and inspiration cannot help but want to share and expand the consciousness of perfection to the ends of the earth and to the ends of time.

There now, we have sat in spiritual pulchritude. I long to hear your voices, to hear from you, to engage with you in our association so that our appreciation for this salve of love may be realized, exercised, strengthened and reality-ized, so that your reality indeed can reinforce the reality of the realm. What do you think? Do you think that Tiger Woods today has enhanced the Supreme? Sports fans?

Dialogue

ANGUS: : Well, in the relative sense of the way he does the things he does, yeah, there's some beauty and goodness there, and the truth of it is in the game of golf itself.

DORENDA: I'm not even a golf enthusiast but I can recognize that what he offers to golf is the - I can see truth and beauty in his playing. I mean, there is a ring to it, even for a non-golfer, so yeah, I'd have to say that it's visible.

MARY JO: I always think, too, about the good. As far as I know, of what I have heard and read, he does an awful lot of good for a lot of people, especially underprivileged children. It used to be that golf was a game that only the wealthy could play and to learn and I think that good sportsman-ship for youngsters (and some oldsters, too, as far as that goes) is good, but he has made it possible for a lot more children to enjoy the game, which gives them, I think, a better fellowship and a feeling of security in our material world, and for those things I think he really does add to it. And it's just very enjoyable to watch such physical perfection! And mindal, too. Golf is a game that you have to exercise your mind with, so those things are good, I think. As far as whether he is maybe depicting -- and I do not know what his spiritual situation is at all, but he seems like a good person, and so he does service in a way. Of course, he is paid very well for it, too. But then he uses part of his money to make things nicer for other people, too.

TOMAS: Here we have a real fan! And I am happy to confirm that indeed this young professional is a hero in terms of having those qualities that one might look up to him as an example of how to comport oneself in ones livelihood, for while this game is also very civilized, it is not civilized without the participation of those who express civil behaviors and good sportsmanship. It's also a method of observing the disciplines that enable one to perform an art, an athletic expression, so exquisitely as to raise it to an art form and have the civility to maintain congenial relations with your competition as well as your support staff and manifest respect to your superiors.

How can I object to your worship? I am not suggesting you worship Tiger or the players or even the game, no, but those values which are an expression of a derivation of perfection which has been developed as a cultural expression so as to represent the best in performance. This is what you all strive for in your own way and in your own life, and this is a reflection of the divine in you, which would choose to bake the best pie or be the best soprano or cut the thickest log. All these efforts to overtake, overcome, and enhance human value and dignity is an effort for the Supreme. Not for the physical demonstration, not for the material representation, but for the essence of integrity which attempts to perfection.

Thus you now can see how your lives are busily engaged in efforts for God-consciousness, even when you are not discussing theology or making reference to a deity. And while those efforts of Tiger Woods and Oprah Winfrey and John Denver ad infinitum are philanthropic, indeed, it is their essential character that is the true statement of truth, beauty, and goodness.

Well, have any of you done anything perfect this week?

DORENDA: Tomas, I wanted to comment about what you just said. Actually, I am concerned about my lack of perfection, naturally, and reading some of the other transcripts about now being a really critical time in the world, and it being very important for us each to do what we can. And I was thinking, "Wow! I've probably dropped the ball every which way possible!" And I was feeling bad about maybe not holding up my part as well as I would like to, and maybe I'm just looking for reinforcement (and you gave me some reinforcement and I really appreciate that) about doing what we can, even if we're not talking about God or in other ways, that we can still perform our particular kind of worship. I may not be getting it perfected, but you see what I mean? So, I found that - I hope I wasn't misinterpreting or getting it incorrect, but - it is such a critical time and I would like to think that I'm doing my part and what I can in doing what God created me to do.

TOMAS: Understood. You remember that your world is changing very rapidly. This period of time in history is moving very quickly, and there are new ways of keeping up with all the things that are going on, or enough of them that you are far more well-informed than ever before, at least as to circumstances and situations which are newsworthy. So much of what you are barraged with consistently is unnecessary, irrelevant to anything but the keeping up of the cacophony of chaos in which many minds reside.

But you who have come to experience the peace which passes all understanding, those of you who have tasted of the quietude of perfection in a moment of worship or a reflection thereof such that you were able to admire, appreciate, savor something outside yourself, you have at least that much comprehension of serenity and security that will allow you to promote that reality in the face of such chaos as is in evidence everywhere you look today in your world.

If you let yourself, you can become overwhelmed by the knowledge of all that needs done, and you end up "spinning your wheels" needlessly expending energy on something or everything you can do nothing or little about. Better to find one small thing you can do and do it well. Learn to focus on something you can do something about, and don't question whether you are great enough - or even good enough - but rather humbly apply yourself to that small task, which will then open the door to the next task at hand and so you carry your service field in a way that you can be more effective in a way that will keep you from being enveloped in the maelstrom of chaos, even the confusion of which rightful cause is more pressing, more needy, more onerous.

And if there is nothing else you know how to do that will be part of the solution, pray. For that is the essential way to find out if indeed there is something you can do something about it or not, as it will be made clear to you, through your integral relationship with your eternal parents, what to think, hence, how to feel, and thus what to do or what not to do in terms of that which tugs at your heart strings or toys with your mind.

You are in no position to judge yourself, daughter. It is natural for you to assess your own abilities and ascertain if you are meeting your natural capacities, but to feel that your incessant yearning is a key to the solution, no. Focus specifically and absolve yourself of the tendency to have a cloak of incessant responsibility over your shoulders. Sometimes the best thing you can do is play with the cat. (Group chuckles.)

Feel peace, know peace, invite peace, and allow it to be such a reality that it cannot help but go out like a radiant beam of light, like a warm sun ray, into the environment that yearns to be healed by the vitamins and minerals that are electro-magnetically injected into the environment by your earnest…ness.

I hope you feel better.

DORENDA: Oh, I sure do. Thank you, thank you.

ANGUS: I've been thinking a lot about perfection, at least about the last two weeks, and the relativeness of perfection, etc., in our perfection hunger, but to me, one of the biggest scams on humankind was the idea that we started perfect and everything literally went to hell in a hand basket after that, and to me that is a scar, a psychic scar that we all have to deal with, instead of having the perception that we are on a road to improvement, we are psychically wounded into the idea that we are on the road to degradation.

TOMAS: It is a very old theory on your planet. Way before the Material Son and Daughter were here, your ancestors were primitively downgrading itself.

THOROAH: It was their perception they were from the Prince's staff and they started off perfect. They were relatively in perfection compared to what we are, but … They were not perfect beings but we are led to believe that, right?

TOMAS: They were obviously not perfect.

MARY JO: I think that we simply - I don't think that we can attain perfection on our planet. I think that we strive to improve, and I think we strive to follow the Father's will - maybe we don't strive hard enough - but I don't think that perfection on this planet is attainable. I think we simply work toward it and grow and even in the mansion worlds I think we still will be striving to become more Godlike and I think that is mainly the goal, or should be the goal in our lives.

TOMAS: It is the ultimate goal of your Paradise ascent, and yet, even so, in relativity, it is experienceable in your world today, in your life, and thus in others lives' also, if you simply allow yourself to acknowledge perfection when you see it. Perfection is worship. It is without flaw. It is at one with God. And that is how it is possible for you to be perfect in your realm even as the Universal Father is perfect in his realm. If you put off perfection, you are guilty of the same technique as those long ago who put off the understanding of the great truth of Jesus that "the kingdom of heaven is within you." If you keep thinking, as many religionists have through the ages, that the kingdom is some future time, it will never come!

Indeed am I reminded to remind you that the Master said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom and all these things will be added unto you." Seek ye first the Kingdom NOW. Seek ye first your perfection now, in your life, as you live it, even in its relative smallness, even acknowledging its relative imperfection at the same time. If you are mindful of the values of good and evil and are able to extricate yourself from the concept that you are bad, then you will give yourself a better chance of acknowledging that you are good and that you are a part of the goodness of God.

So acknowledge your goodness now, your relative perfection, as you are able to. Even as it may be a fleeting moment now and then, even as your appreciation of your reality as a part of the Kingdom is a temporary or fleeting recognition. Give in to the urge to feel that divine enmeshment that will reward you with a strengthened sense of connection to that which is ultimate perfection. And thus reinforce your own perfection-hunger and your own perfection recognition.

To say you have perfection is not a feather in the cap of the ego. It is glory to God.

ANGUS: It's a good golf analogy. As bad as I play, I hit a perfect shot once in awhile.

MARY JO: A couple of times.

ANGUS: And the recognition of a Tiger Woods playing a perfect round, and me playing a perfect round, are two different types of perfect. And the game is set up so that it's handicapped, so that if I'm playing against Tiger, I would be given the relative chance to be as good. So there is a little analogy there to the game of golf that is relative perfection.

MARY JO: Thank goodness for handicaps.

TOMAS: And there isn't anyone in my circle of friends who is not aware of how truly handicapped you all are. (Group laughter.) I only say that to remind us of the challenges, the unique challenges that are inherently yours as a result of your home planet, not to diminish your value or your potential perfection attainment. It's a point I like to make because so many people think that perfection is unattainable, and while it is unattainable in the Ultimate sense, it is certainly attainable in your association with divinity, in your configuration with reality.

As you are helping to learn about it and co-create with it -- the new era, the new age, the new dispensation that lies ahead toward global light and life - it's necessary to attest that it is possible for perfection to exist here on this world. Even though you may not see what it looks like, believe it is possible and strive towards it while you are here, and thus leave a legacy that countermands the legacy that was left to you.

I'll use an example of a tree. It may be most natural for a tree to shoot straight up, but sometimes trees are gnarled and bent because of their growing conditions, thus they become crooked or twisted. As apple trees may become crooked and bent, they still produce delicious apples. So can your tree of Urantia be as perfect as Manzanita bushes - crooked and gnarly and still perfect.

MARY JO: I like that theory. Thank you, Tomas. That should make all of us feel better, and it does make me feel better, thank you.

ANNE: I really feel that you have answered every question that I had this past week. Sitting here today has been rather an enchanting experience. But I seem to get caught in the theory of - you gave Oprah as an example, and Tiger, and John Denver who had very specific talents and nurtured them -- And then you went on to the play analogy, I believe, and I am caught there, knowing that for all of us here we have very full lives, which really means then that we are in many plays at the same time, and we have varying roles in those plays.

We are not always the star. And those areas that we are the star, we are displaying one kind of talent, and yet sometimes we have a bit role and sometimes we are working behind the stage. All of those have talents, and so what I think I hear you saying is that our job is to pray for our talent, to reflect on it, and to enjoy the success that we do. Perhaps it is the success -

When Tiger makes a hole in one, he gets to experience that success, and perhaps you can call that perfection, so … I think that I'm hearing you say that when we are in a role and experience success, that is one piece of perfection that we can look at as encouragement to move on -- And be proud of it! To accept that, knowing that it Is not the end, that tomorrow there is a new play starting. But to accept where we are today. But thank you for speaking to us so clearly today.

TOMAS: I am glad you have ears to hear such that my parables are effective. (pause)

You are talking about attainments. You are acknowledging growth attainment and the joy of acknowledging your own growth. And this is indeed a joyous moment, a time of thanksgiving and celebration, and effectively constitutes a psalm of praise, which accolades you receive from your attainment from others is mere peer acknowledgment. The personal religious experience is between you and God -- that you have met the mark, made the right choice, found the light at the end of the tunnel, connected with the resolution - which experiences are very real and very necessary for the expansion of your own soul -- but the reward of social acknowledgment is secondary. Even as the efforts of any hero is to hear others tell them, "How great thou art!" it is encouraging and it is something that is an entitlement, as an ascending son/daughter, but it is also after the fact. It is the reflection of the reality rather than the reality itself, which transcends time and space. It also transcends show business and role playing, even while it is certainly true that the material life is a kaleidoscope of scenes and views that, like a good parable, will portray divinity in such a way as to be understood by you, appreciated, and clasped as a reality worth holding onto, worth developing, worth cultivating as a key to the Kingdom, a part of the ultimate goal.

The troublesome thing about mind-expansion is that as soon as you have grown into comprehension, your windows and doors open and in flood a whole new category of questions. Hence it is advisable, on occasion, to just play with the cat. (group laughter)

I am glad you are joining us today, Carl. I am privy to your presence, even though my enrapt class has failed their social graces.

GROUP: (Abject apologies)

TOMAS: Well, Carl, let's just play with the cat. CARL: Good advice.

TOMAS: I have no fear that we have lost anything, and that we have gained everything in our camaraderie this afternoon. It is as if we were all able to, at heart, allow our identities a moment of freedom from individualism in order to wash ashore in the living waters, so that we all feel a part of infinity, even for a moment in time and space. This kind of instant gratification of group worship is one of the "metaphysical" factors that charge our configuration with a dimension that transcends the mundane, that lifts us up into a realm of grace wherein we feel the urge to be Godlike and to reflect the qualities of our Creator, the nature of God. Are there questions??

MARY JO: Carl, do you have any questions to ask?

DORENDA: If you wanted to, you could, you know.

ANGUS: Or you can play with the cat.

CARL: That sounds like a smart idea.

MARY JO: Well, Tomas, it's not a question, but you've certainly given me more to think about on the subject of perfection because I had never thought that I had seen perfection in any way, so I've done quite well with a number of things - like my two daughters, for instance - although I had such good material to work with, but really that was not -

DORENDA: Tomas, would you tell her that she is one of the best mothers? She won't believe me. I keep telling her. And would you tell her how wonderful she is? Maybe she'll believe you where she doesn't believe me.

MARY JO: No, I do think that my two daughters are evidence of something going right, but …

DORENDA: Tell her she has good ears, too.

MARY JO: But I think it's as close as I have come to perfection, but on the perfection idea of the communication with the Father, that has given me more to think about and to work with.

TOMAS: That is the area that matters, you see. That is where perfection comes from. How you perform is another subject entirely. What you give to the Supreme is a result of the First Cause. The First Cause is the realm I'm interested in and am encouraging you toward, for this has nothing to do with what you do. It is more with who you are and how you are innately, inherently, infinitely. That is another dimension indeed and one which you have only to grasp by allowing. It is here that you become as a little child, to the extent that you give yourself up to your Eternal Parents' loving embrace. That's the perfection Source; that's the perfection that you seek to carry in your personality expression. But how you express that in terms of what you do, including having children, raising daughters of the Divine Minister, is another category altogether. It's a common misunderstanding in humankind. What you are and what you do are two different things.

ANNE: Do we not act? Do we not do based on what we are?

TOMAS: Not always, no. Most of what you do is for reasons other than who you are and more on who you think you are or what someone else has said you are, and there again is another topic entirely.

GROUP: Yes!

TOMAS: Now we are getting into the meat of our meeting, the mind is opening, the mota are impinging, and it's almost time to quit. This is decidedly corporeal, this arena in which we operate. And this is why we continue to grow, because we learn something and then experience that instant of awareness, that reflection of perfection, that God-conscious state that actualizes that which we momentarily realize, in order for new impetus to enter in, in order to stimulate your soul development. They say that eventually the soul begins to grow on its own accord, and that is because it insists upon its existence. Its determination to attain perfection has no reluctance, no further hesitation, has hunger, perfection-hunger. And so think about perfection-hunger this week and what you do to satisfy your appetite.

Closing

Are there other matters? (silence) Then let me take my leave by giving you each a good commendation for the work you've done in class this afternoon. You have brought me and my peers great joy in your upturned countenances and we smile upon our conjoint efforts in the work.

See you next week.

Farewell.

Group: Bye, Tomas!