2017-04-13-The Long Range Perspective

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Topic: The Long Range Perspective

Group: Lightline TeaM, N. Idaho TeaM

Facilitators

Teacher: Jonathan, Michael

TR: Mark Rogers

Session

Opening

Jonathan: I accept your welcome and bring you my appreciation. In overhearing your conversation, I am stirred with the sentiment expressed and so profoundly recall that sense of purpose and drive that one feels when they are placing themselves in service. There seems to be a sense of great importance, perhaps even urgency, to do what can be done for The Father, for spirit. In gratitude for all that you have received is this great desire to help out in the process, to lend a helping hand in the building of this spiritual experience, to offer your services in conjunction with the services you perceive from on high. And being of mortal countenance, it is routinely manifested that these feelings stir within the individual, the desire to provide for others some of this sense of goodness, of truth and of beauty that has been perceived in the experience of the one who desires to serve.

This is a natural and normal course of activity for those who have been graced and who are aware of this grace in their experience. And so it is that literally generation upon generation rise up to meet this call and to extend their efforts in ways that they may see appropriate to facilitate this spiritual experience and to facilitate that for others. This has taken many turns over the course of human history as many many expressions passed down through time and the efforts to bring spirit to others have been well meaning, albeit some have been misguided.

Doubt not that your efforts to partner with spirit and to facilitate this experience for others has been well received by all those who are with you in this process. It is not possible for you to fully grasp at this juncture of your development the significance your role may have played in this process. These things are embedded in eternity, that is, your efforts to promote and facilitate spirit with others have registered with them for all time, but it is difficult for you to measure such things. It is in fact impossible for you to measure such things let alone the personal individual spiritual growth that you have had in the process.

But these things are measured, they are known to those on high, they are appreciated and part of the fabric of this gigantic experiment on Urantia. But as mortals of the realm we are desiring to see results, to count the efforts, to be rewarded with the results of our efforts in our time where we may register them and appreciate them. Working in spirit, with spirit, for spirit is much like planting trees. When one plants trees, they are planting for the future. They are affirming their trust in the future. These trees that you plant even now will not be harvested by you. You will not live long enough to see the full manifestation and glorification of your efforts. These investments that you make in spirit are as the little seedlings; they are bound to grow big and strong and faithful, your experience with them is too short to provide you with the satisfaction of seeing the end results.

It is different than your efforts around your daily lives or the planting of your gardens for in those cases you are granted the privilege of seeing the rewards of your efforts within a season and this repeated pattern is conditioned within you so that you are expecting the rewards of spirit to come to fruit just as your gardens do whereas these fruits are more of the fruits of a forest that is planted now but doesn't become a forest for generations. This always remains true with matters of the spirit. They are unseen, unmeasurable, they are not able to be captured and measured at any point. They are the forests which grow ever so slowly but will certainly mature to be grand. It is helpful, if in all matters of spirit you take this long ranging perspective and do not see your efforts as those of planting the garden but of planting the forest. And even if those seeds that you plant are the seeds that you have nurtured within, then they are worthy of being part of the great forest.

We are used to calling in the phrase "fear not" and that is never more significant than as you move forward in these times of uncertainty and doubts. But even as we move forward in this process, recall that there have been decades of predictions, warnings, cautions and preparations. This is a long term process and you will all witness you have individually witnessed great periods of time pass in which you thought much would happen, much would change, much would turn around and you continue to have your expectations dashed because it has not been written yet. It is being authored as we move through this process.

And so we must take the long range perspective and trust with our faith in the truth that all is made right, all is well, all will come to pass for the good even if it may not appear so as we observe it; there are the seeds of goodness contained within all these options before us. Let's focus on planting these seeds of goodness as the seedlings and trust that future generations will enjoy the forest that we plant today. Trust just as you do in planting the trees that there will be the rain and the sun and the soil to nurture them, even if you are not there. This is the faith on which believers operate, this is what drives you forward to go ahead and plant the trees that you will never see fully mature.

I hope this analogy may serve to broaden your perspective some and grant you the peace and serenity of realization that you may not be designed to see the outcome at this point in your evolution, but nevertheless you may act in faith that the good seeds that you plant will produce the fruits of goodness and beauty. And if you have acted in accordance with your faith and your beliefs, then you have been successful in this endeavor here on Urantia, if you have stayed true to your purpose even in the absence of proof, in the absence of results, then you are born of spirit, you have an enduring faith and this is the success of this mission, this mission which is well larger than any Teaching Mission. It is the larger mission at hand of individual spiritual growth on this world through whatever means may be available, through whatever avenues of approach you may choose.

It is always a great pleasure to join you among friends and fellowship with you in hopes that I might bring a perspective to ease the suffering of uncertainty. All is well and as measured by the universe, your spiritual growth and advancement has been highly successful. You are here now, we are together, this opening of the door has occurred and we will stand on this truth, we will embrace this gift of grace and it is among the trees that we will plant.

Mark: Thank you Jonathan, I am literally graced with the image of you on one knee planting the seedlings, thank you.

Closing

Michael: My dear ones, I am Michael here to work with the image offered earlier and commit to you that I do have you in my "palm" as it were. You are well a part of my family and as such you are embraced by me in this eternal embrace. In times of uncertainty and doubt and need, come to me. I have my arms open to embrace you, I have my heart open to share my peace with you. I have my desires to protect you all as you are my children and so I commit to be with you throughout. Consult me as you have need of me, as I am there for you. This is my commitment, my promise and my desire. I can be no plainer spoken than that with you. I pray my words lodge within you and that my truth reside within you. Let it be so, even now.