2002-09-26-Gratefulness & Greatfulness

Session

Lesson

Good evening. This is your friend and teacher, Welmek. I am pleased to be here with you this evening, and wish to offer a lesson on a topic we have not to my recollection addressed before; and that is the subject of gratefulness.

There are two meanings of this word that I wish to present this evening. One is spelled GRATEFULNESS, and the other is GREATFULLNESS.

Think about those qualities or gifts in your life for which you are appreciative. Spend a few moments thinking about the range of good qualities or bountiful blessings you have been given. Pay particular attention to how you feel about these in your life. And when you have sensed their impact within your being, please share with me what that appreciation feels like if you can. (pause)

Dialogue

Student: Welmek, with some kind of unerring grasp of our situation, you seem to have hit the nail right on the head. When I think of some of the people I have known, and what I have shared with them, I feel overwhelmed. If someone would ask me at that moment how I feel, I would just have to say great!

Welmek: The point of this lesson, my friend, simply stated.

Student: Welmek, when I express gratitude, there are things which are puzzles in my life that gives me a sense I’m creating my experience as the (undistinguishable) free will and choice. I don’t know nearly enough.

Welmek: Would you say that you enjoy the feeling that that creativity affords you? (Oh, yes) Would you say it is empowering and enriching? (Yes) And would you also agree that it gives you a better idea of some of the untapped potential that you have? (Yes) Thank you.

Student: Welmek, my friend, when I think about all the gifts I have been given, there are so many. What I feel is simply the Father’s love through all these gifts that he has continually given me throughout my life.

Welmek: Would you consider yourself to be blessed?

Student: That was the word that came to mind, yes.

Welmek: Would you also agree that they bestow a sense of making you more than you currently already are or have? (Yes, I do.) Thank you.

Student: To me the greatest gift is the realization that over the course of my life I have consistently, repeatedly opted for the higher choice. Aim high. And the feeling is, in spite of frustration and difficulties at times, the real bottom line is a sense of fulfillment. In spite of all the uncertainty around it, I just am very clear that progress is consistently occurring.

Welmek: And so would you say that operating in this mode gives you a better grasp of living in faith?

Student: These days it’s beginning to be more clear that that’s the case.

Welmek: Thank you.

Student: Good evening, Welmek. When I count my blessings and I look at all the wonderful things that have happened in my life, it helps me to grow in my faith and to feel more secured in the fact that I am a beloved daughter of God – and that I am never alone. And it gives me solace when I am in situations when I don’t see it clearly. I rely on this faith more and more to show me the way and not to get scared about the future.

Welmek: Would you qualify this gratefulness as a capacity to lead you to greater depths of appreciation for who you are becoming?

Student: I’ve never looked at it that way. But thank you, I’ll look at that right now.

Welmek: I say this to you, as all of my comments have been to each of you, to put a particular frame of reference within your thinking about yourself and your life. It is these times when your minds are focalized on the good qualities and bountiful blessings that elevate your mind to a heightened awareness of the beauty and the richness that you have been so generously bestowed with as a gift from our Father who loves you very, very much.

And it is at these times when you begin to appreciate that you are more than the sum of your experiences – that you have a well nigh limitless potential – and that each and every day you are getting bigger. You are growing into that vastness of your personality that you can only now begin to imagine how great and beautiful that is.

This is why I used the double term this evening, as part of our instruction. You are becoming great. And there is a fullness of being that transcends the limited way that you have looked at yourself and the limitations of your abilities. When you appreciate what you have been given, recognizing the loving divine source of that, you immediately step into the realm of spiritual reality that automatically begins to craft your personality into something more: more lovely, more real, more alive, and more satisfying to you.

I hope in the coming days you will remember that this is part of your destiny – to become greater than you are now – to become full of greatness as you begin to see yourself more in conscious cooperation with your Father fragment. It is that which is within you of your divine source that allows this to happen. Are there any other comments about the feeling that you experienced while acknowledging your gratitude?

Student: Welmek, I have a feeling sometimes of humility. And it’s a very paradoxical feeling. I thought at one time that, you’re under the perception, like humility is the perception is something enormous. And so at the same time you feel like one grain of sand on a beach, but all of a sudden you’re aware of the ocean.

Welmek: We have talked about the nature of paradox. And it is so, that there is always this correlating, balancing quality that keeps one from getting too full of oneself. And in this lesson of gratefulness that we speak, I am glad that you sense the humility. For it is only then when you feel this proportional sense of your relationship to the Father that you can truly begin to accept how our Father shares everything with you and makes you more than you already are.

And it is in this sharing of His personality with you that allows this to happen. Because as you grow more loving, compassionate, forgiving, tolerant, patient, merciful, and all of the other adorable attributes of the Father, you will sense within you this growing magnitude of your capacity to be Father-like. And that is what makes you great and appreciative all at the same time.

Student: I’m experiencing two interesting things. One is the more consistent at all times of experiencing a form of grace, and not so much static from less relevant things. The second thing is an accelerating-ness and intensity in the timing of transformation. It seems to be speeding up very evidently, and I feel it a lot. I look at the people I’m around, and experience more efficiency in the interactions with them. It’s exhilarating.

Welmek: I am pleased to hear that you are enjoying this transformative undertaking you are now so firmly enmeshed in. It is quite a different means of living, is it not. And do you find that your world is ripe with adventure and promise? Would I be as bold as to assume that?

Student: Yes, it kind of reminds me of some of the characters I’ve read in various novels. The way the novels are written there is adventure all along the line, and there’s entertainment; and there’s learning going on because of the skill of the writers who introduce a lot of technical and psychological characteristics that aren’t readily seen in everyday life. So it’s akin to that.

Welmek: So your life is becoming a real page-turner?

Student: Yup!

Welmek: And you and your spirit are writing new chapters every day. How delightful to hear your life expressed like this.

The object of gratitude enlivens the spirit for it releases you from the drudgery and the mundane nature of daily choreful task fulfillment. If you, in your inner thinking lives, can cultivate more of an appreciation for those goods things that you have been given, you would find yourself being attentive to that which you are doing in a more positive and joyful manner.

A gratitude attitude is a certain catalyst to experiencing divine communion with your spirit. For it is in this very appreciative recognition for the good qualities that you acknowledge the Father Creator of all good things. If you desire communion with the Father at this level, spend time in conscious appreciation for everything you admire, appreciate, and enjoy in life.

It does not matter if you repeat yourself. But as you start to make this mental pronouncement of all you enjoy, you will begin to see more deeply and more broadly into the rich variety of elements of life to enjoy. You can expand your gratitude for good music, the smell of flowers, the sunshine, the laughter of a child. And as you reflect on this, you will find yourself being transported into a realm of levity and light, of beauty and of mirth; and you can reside in that place even while you are in the midst of a physical chore that you may otherwise find cumbersome or unpleasant.

In this way you are walking in the realms of the material and the spiritual. And while daydreaming in and of itself can be an unproductive mental pastime, a gratitude attitude is what takes you into the realm of spirit so that you can commune with the Father, and ask that those qualities that are those He can share with you be given to you, because you will be appreciative of the goodness and the beauty that you are enjoying in your mental state.

All human greatness – true greatness that has true spiritual significance in value – is based on this. And now I encourage you, my friends, to think about this as an attitude to adopt more throughout your day; and to spend some time in stillness thinking of ways in which you can incorporate this more into your life.

I will pause now and take your comments and questions.

Student: Well, I have a comment, about the "gratitude attitude’. I’m smiling about it, because for many years in my yoga training I kept on hearing a simple phrase that said "An attitude of gratitude is the highest yoga". Yoga is the union and you were just saying that the gratitude attitude puts you right into spirit and links you to the Father.

I enjoyed this repetition in a newer context for me for the exact same teaching that I have been away from for a long time anyhow, and am appreciative that it’s going to a new level and it’s being restated in a terrific way. Thanks!

Welmek: You are most welcome, my friend. And the thrilling aspect of truth is that there are many ways to express that quality of the Father that is real and good and true. And you see it from many different perspectives, and it always enlivens and quickens the soul; and all paths lead to the truth.

Student: I want to go in reverse to assure gratitude for those things that seem benign, as well as those things which on the surface seem negative: my health.

Welmek: My friend, the struggles of the physical body can sometimes weigh heavily upon the soul. And they alter your ability to view life with a positive perspective and an appreciative heart. Would you find this to be so in your life at times? (Very much so) So how is it that you find yourself appreciative for being infirm? I believe that is what you are now asking me. Is this correct?

Student: I think my major challenge is to accept it and use it as a teaching and a learning experience. Although it doesn’t seem to serve on the outside, it is bringing me ultimately to Spirit. It would not have been so if that condition was not present.

Welmek: I say to you that escaping the challenges of being in a physical body are very difficult on this planet. Your medical sciences lack certain understanding on how the body works and how the body heals. And so you are somewhat constrained by the limitations of your society.

But you have a mind, and you have a spirit that work cooperatively within you to help you understand the distinction between the "you" that you perceive as inhabiting the physical vehicle and the "you" that you perceive as being the child of the Father and a child of divine destiny. I say to you tonight, to which "you" do you wish to attach your judgment and validation upon? This is your choice.

Student: I say yes, this is a question of my choice. It is like a growing commitment to my spiritual reality that I value, and in my best moments I find the infirmity to be a teacher.

Welmek: Then if this is the case, would it not also be acceptable in your mind to appreciate this as a learning tool?

Student: Yes, and I find that I am more and more inclined to do that.

Welmek: And the more you attach yourself to the idea of being a child of the Father – and growing more alive and enriched in that persona – you will find yourself detaching more from the physical idea of who you are; and thereby transforming your identity and learning to adjust and adapt to the limitations that you find yourself working within.

And so you can, in time, more fully use this experience to appreciate what you are learning about yourself through all experiences of your life. I would suggest that you attach yourself more and more to who you are becoming, and allow Michael and our Mother Spirit to work within you to sever those old attachments. And in time you will lose that which you were, and become more fully that which you wish. Does this help? (Very much, thank you). Do you need any further elaboration or clarification? (I don’t think so) Thank you.

Student: Welmek, on a lighter note, in honor of this session this evening, I would like to have a t-shirt made that says "I have attitude with gratitude", if that’s okay with you.

Welmek: Do you think your fellow brothers and sisters would find that amusing as well?

Student: I’m not sure.

Welmek: Well, why don’t you have one made and wear it and see what your responses are? I say this, because it would do many of your brothers and sisters much good to see that being grateful can lighten their load in life.

Student: Yes, that was my intention.

Welmek: And to have these little reminders (side one of tape ends) to be a reminder, or to plant a new thought that may actually begin to help someone overcome their burdens. You never know how much a small idea can begin to change large thought patterns and habits. So why not try and see? It might give you a smile in wearing it. (pause) I would hope that you would have had more comments on this lesson this evening.

Student: Well, Welmek, I can offer the observation that if you think about appreciation, you sometime experience it as an objective perception, in the same way that a house appreciates over the years. It grows in value. And you sometimes lose sight of the projection that you are appreciating it. You are giving it value.

I guess my mind is running in these, what you call co-creative balance this evening, because the appreciation seems to be the co-creative thing you have with the reality around you.

Welmek: If you use this energy dynamic more consistently, you will find that you are more able to use your creativity channels to greater expression and enjoyment. The more you augment your creative capacities, the more the Father can commingle his creative potential and stimulate you. There must be this fertile environment for the creator juices as you say to flow.

That is why a healthy imagination can act as a stimulus and worshipful communion, can catalyze those potentials into actuals and create wonderful new expressions that all add to the evolving Supreme Being.

Student: Welmek, does the Father Adjuster sometimes give you a kind of instantaneous feedback, because sometimes I have a wonderful experience as I perceive the world around me getting more beautiful, I have a sense of I must be doing something right. And, conversely, if the world around me seems to be kind of dark and gloomy, I know that part of that, at least, is my own responsibility.

Welmek: There is a mirror reflection of the divine that is registered within the conscious mind when you are in such an alignment. The degree to which you appreciate that is consistent with your ability to understand the source of that. And as you grow more real in the Father, you grow more appreciative of the Father in you. It is a co-relational experience. Does this answer your question?

Student: Oh yes, very right to the point. Thank you.

Student: You know, I was thinking that getting back to the grateful thing, by one being grateful and in my more materialistic level being grateful of what they have. For example, I am grateful just to have the necessities to live and be comfortable, because there are those that are not so fortunate. By one being grateful and realizing that what they have and how lucky they are, they are able to open a lot more opportunities to be helpful to mankind – by knowing what they have and by knowing what other people don’t have. Does it not make them easier to be more compassionate, more helping?

Welmek: As a general rule, I would agree with that idea. There is a level of spiritual maturity that accompanies the capacity to be grateful. By that I mean, a child may be grateful by a toy that he or she gets, but that does not necessarily make them help their brother or sister with their homework.

In time, as the capacity for an individual to see beyond himself or herself and that their actions affect other people, this will help an individual understand that there are repercussions and consequences to how you treat another individual. And, in time, that person grows in maturity and understanding that positive behavior is indeed a good thing.

And as a person grows beyond that awareness, and accepts that other people deserve love, deserve happiness and good things; adopting a grateful, compassionate attitude in life will begin to impress upon the other person the desire to share that which you have been given with others. And so then the capacity to love and serve becomes more dominant. And that is when true altruism and the fraternity of humankind begins to blossom. Do you understand the progression?

Student: So you are saying that through time someone becomes, or has the ability to become more grateful, through time and experience?

Welmek: And, as that person begins to grow less self-centered and begins to adopt an attitude of self-forgetfulness. It may happen in time, but it does usually happen through a variety of life experiences that put a person in a position to let go of their ego and become more focused on others. Some people will stay quite spiritually young and ego-centered, and others will grow and become selfless and service-oriented.

It is not so much a matter of age as it is a matter of desire and the growing maturation process that happens over time. Do you see the distinction I am making here? (Yes) Do you have any more comments or questions?

Student: Welmek, I would just like to share with you my gratitude and gratefulness for your continued patience and your teachings, and that of all the spirit guardians that are now among us. I can’t express how grateful I am that this is taking place now on this planet. But most important, how grateful I am for your patience.

Welmek: My brother, let me share how grateful I am with each and every one of you who come here to hear the words of all of us who teach you with such tender regard and deep affection. You have yet to fully appreciate that which we so genuinely enjoy in serving you, in sharing our experience with you. And so you give us many opportunities of creative instruction, and it is such a joy and a delight.

I do so look forward to the days when we can look one another in the eye and share all of the feelings that we experience when we gather together. There literally are no words to express the union of our minds as the teacher/student, and as we learn from observing you as we become then the student, as you teach us what it is that you experience through your life on Urantia.

It is a touchingly difficult display of my affection, for I cannot embrace you in physical form. But I can ask that Michael encircuit you in his love, so that all of the love present here tonight can enter the room and be experienced by all of us. Would you enjoy this experience now?

Students: Absolutely, Yes.

Closing

Welmek: Then let us all join hands and share in our Master’s love. And as I take my leave of you, may you feel this love more deeply in your being as you grow more beautiful and full of gratefulness and great fullness in Him.