[tmtranscripts] Pocatello Transcript 4-14-00

[Bill Kelly]

POCATELLO TEAM

4-14-00

Andronason (Bob S): I am Andronason, your current Melchizedek resident
instructor.  My role with you this evening is to introduce this evening's
program, and to let you know that all goes well.  Those of us with extended
vision see much happening here in this country and around the world which
you are not aware of.  Hence, I say all goes well.  Now my children for
this evening we have planned a full program.  We trust it will meet your
expectation and satisfaction.  I now pause to allow the next speaker to begin.

Thomas (Bill): Hello, dear friends.  This is Thomas visiting you and at the
same time claiming my right as one of your former instructors.  I wish to
bring some information before your thoughts this evening most of which is
not new in content, but my purpose is to emphasize its importance in your
everyday living.

I wish to discuss expectations..  Expectations are part of the normal human
experience in which all people engage.  It is literally impossible to be a
self-conscious, sentient being and not hold ideas regarding the future,
one's individual future and larger perspectives as well.  Expectations, of
course, can be on a spectrum ranging from the very negative to the very
positive.  This continuum depends upon individual factors and varies
greatly for each individual.  Some people weight their expectations more
towards the negative end; others more to the positive end.  There is both a
characteristic flavor to their expectations as well as variations on a very
frequent basis.  You build up your expectations as a result of past
experience, which is then added to basic dispositional predilection.  By
this I mean to say that some people are more naturally cheerful, and more
naturally optimistic by temperament.  

In addition then to temperament and past experience there is also an often
unrecognized third factor, which is the factor called free will choice, or
the domain of decision-making.   Never is it true that human beings are
merely the product of heredity and environment.  (Ed: Emphasis ours.)  This
erroneous view is continued in your science today, without adequate
recognition of free will choice.  This then is the origin and
characteristics of expectations.  We have concluded that expectations are a
universal factor of all human experience and that there is great variety
due to the interaction of the three basic causes: the
temperamental-heredity factor, the experiential history and the
decision-making capability.

Now I wish to talk about the pluses and minuses which attend the
functioning of expectations in human minds.  On the plus side, expectations
make it possible to dream and plan bigger and better things, to hope for
positive change, to look for the adorable and desirable in your
interactions with other people.  The drawback to positive expectations is
the possibility of disappointment, disillusionment, discouragement.  When
people set their expectations high for a predicted event and it fails to
materialize, disillusionment results.  When you set unrealistically high
expectations for other people's behavior then you are also in danger of
being disappointed, while a pessimistic and negative expectation for
another's behavior will almost surely influence that person in the expected
direction.  It is also possible for an unrealistic positive expectation to
result in severe disappointment

In regard to negative expectations we state this position: these are
contrary to the Indwelling Spirit's direction.  To expect things to worsen
is to fail to understand the positive leavening of the Kingdom of God as
yeast in bread causing it to rise, as the mustard seed growing into the
mustard tree.  Evolution is not accidental and spiritual evolution is of
the same nature as physical evolution, in an upward purposeful direction.
Therefor, in the larger sense, negative expectations are out of
synchronicity with the leading of your spiritual influences.  You see, you
have referred to this concept already this evening and it was almost a
happy coincidence that your talk corresponded with our planned session, but
we have learned to believe and know that probably such things are not
coincidental, that God in his manifold wisdom brings all things together
according to his purpose.  If your expectations are low and you expect
little out of life then you will be rewarded with exactly what you
expect—very little in the way of satisfaction and change.  And if your
expectations are high you open yourself up to the possibility of attaining
them.

The final thought that I would like to share with you this evening is the
appropriate arena for expectations.  One can roughly conceive of three
arenas of expectation: expectations regarding one's self; expectations
regarding other people, especially significant others; and expectations
regarding everything else in general.  The most appropriate arena in which
to hold the highest expectations is the arena of personal expectation.
You, with the help of your Indwelling Adjuster, literally determine the
extent to which you will fulfill your dreams and goals.  At least on the
spiritual level this is true.  There are no outside influences which can
effect spiritual development.  Outside influences can influence strongly
the course of external events, either in the lives of others or in the
general environment, but no handicap of culture, education, race, religion,
language, and in normal minded people, mental ability, will stop you, or
prevent you, or limit you in your spiritual growth.

In the second arena, expectations you hold toward other peoples, you should
be very cautious.  I advise you to be cautious in a general manner, that
you do not set such high expectations on other people that you forget the
realm of free will choice, or overlook environmental factors or ignore
temperamental proclivities.  Your relationship to other people, in terms of
expectations, needs always to be modified by the realization that in the
ultimate sense each individual is responsible for themselves.

In the third arena, the environment in general, you do well to employ the
technique of science in predicting the outcomes of whatever course of
action, whatever concern you have.  None of us has access to the mind of
God in the sense that we do not know the future before it happens.  When we
make predictions in the Teaching Mission we use very complicated,
sophisticated, mathematical models...believe it or not.  Our models are
more powerful than yours because we have many more variables that we know
how to quantify and put into the equations; but still we talk only in terms
of probabilities when we talk about future events

In terms of final outcomes our expectations can be based upon faith,
knowledge, and revelation, these mixed together.  You will not, until you
reach Paradise, dispense with faith.  Knowledge will constantly increase,
as will revelation.  And so, my friends, there will always be a role for
the exercise of expectations.  We, who are no longer mortals, are not
delivered from this propensity; in fact, we actually spend quite a bit of
time in our free moments discussing our expectations for the future of the
grand universe, including the role of the Finaliters, the Creator Sons and
Creative Spirits, and the character of the Transcendentalers who may be
eventuating on ultimate levels in the future.

I sense now that I should bring this talk to a conclusion so that we can
dialog about this concept.  I open the floor to your interaction.

Bob S: Thomas, thank you for those very interesting words.  I couldn't help
thinking, when you said we should expand our expectations, that this is
going to open us up to frustration.  What's the role of frustration in all
of this?

Thomas (Bill): Yes, when I said expand your expectations, I also, in the
last part of my talk, noted that they are most appropriately expanded with
regard to one's personal future.  And even there frustration may occur.
Perhaps I ought to say especially there, but that is so variable between
people and at different times in a person's life.  You see, you must always
remember that expectations are not iron-clad guarantees, at least the
time-frames do not have iron-clad guarantees.  We can make the statement
that Urantia will reach the era of Light and Life.  This is our
expectation.  We are absolutely certain this is true, but we cannot say it
will reach the era of Light and Life tomorrow or the next week thereafter,
or the next year, and so forth, because that all depends upon individual
free-will decision making.  Mortals make the biggest mistakes when they
become over confident in their models of prediction, when they over
simplify the variables which feed into the predictive equation, and fail to
take into account any number of important factors.  When this happens, then
the expected event does not occur, and frustration results.  The Urantia
Book wisely counsels us to reduce the number of expectations we have
regarding other people, and thereby reduce our disappointment.  It does not
give this counsel, regarding oneself.  What do you think is the best way to
handle these frustrations, Bob?

Bob: Poorly!  That's how I usually handle it.  (Laughter and comments.)

Thomas (Bill): What I am suggesting is, have you some wisdom as to how you
deal with frustration itself, whether it come from expectation which is the
usual cause, that you would be willing to put on the tape?

Bob: I really don't know.  It, frustration, seems to be such a part of the
whole process.  I assume it's part of living, and it is part of our
experiences.

Thomas (Bill): Yes, frustration does seem to be prevalent in early stages
of civilization.  One of the best techniques that I am familiar with, that
I have used personally, is what your social scientists now call reframing,
meaning the event is reinterpreted in a larger perspective and framework.
In the process of reinterpretation the tension between expectation and
actuality is often greatly reduced.  That which is perceived initially as
failure, as tragedy and unmitigated evil can become, upon reinterpretation,
a challenge for growth, an opportunity for forgiveness, an experience in
learning greater patience, a chance to exercise greater love, and thereby
increase one's soul growth.  What do you think of that concept?

Bob: I like it.  It sounds like it (frustration) is just part of living
though, because isn't that what we see as we live day in and day out?  So
is this just a part of life?  We are to be frustrated and learn how to deal
with that as a part of our experiences, and hopefully learn something, like
patience—quickly!  (Laughter.)  I want patience quickly.

Thomas (Bill): As I said at the beginning, people vary a great deal on
their expectations, from one end of the spectrum to the other.  And some
people really are more placid of temperament and are able to handle
disappointments without the physiological reactions that others, perhaps
like yourself, experience much more frequently.

It is part of life because it is there, but it is not there in a final
sense, or in an immutable sense.  Yes, growth is the name of the game, but
again I have found the key to be in the change of perspective, which the
career after mortality so greatly facilitates.  We, of course in our
efforts, are attempting to share Morontia wisdom with you.  This is on the
very cutting edge of your science's understanding, and we are interacting
with it at that point, because all revelation has to connect with the
highest evolved concepts.  If I could or would tell you things totally and
utterly beyond your experience, they would be meaningless and make no
sense.  Do you understand my emphasis here?

Bob: Yes.

Thomas (Bill): You have a saying, which is, keep on keeping on.  There is
great wisdom in this, great wisdom.

Bob: But I don't like it.  (Laughter.)  I guess I don't have to like it.  I
just have to do it.

Thomas (Bill): Well, I would add one more idea here.  When frustration
becomes high, then it is time to change one's direction of attention.  Stop
whatever is causing the frustration whenever its possible, and do something
different.  That is why we talk about reversion, and diversion, and
recreation.  A balanced life is one in which there is the proper healthy
flow between work and play, rest and worship.  Sometimes people have too
severe an ego drive toward achievement, and their expectations for how
quickly they will accomplish something are very unrealistic.  This can be
very frustrating!  As one matures, hopefully one becomes more realistic
about one's abilities, one's rate of accomplishment, and accepts who they
are in terms of these limitations.  This is one of the goals of adulthood,
to take and modify the flaming passion of youth, which has great dreams and
wonderful goals with totally unrealistic understanding of how long-term
some of these things might be.  Adulthood, as you gain more and more
experience, should result in a more appropriate assessment of one's goals
and expectations.

Virginia: Thomas, I had two thoughts as you were talking.  As a teacher,
expectation is incredibly important  Certainly research has been done where
teachers have been given an average class and told these were gifted
children, and they performed like gifted children.  Therefor I know how
important expectation is.  I know you must be realistic with anyone, with
yourself or with your class.  But I think that if we, as human beings,
really believed in that other person making it, reaching a goal, they could
do it a lot faster and go a lot further, than if we say they are an
inferior kid, or you should have seen her brothers, or blah, blah, that I
hear so often in my profession.  So expectation is incredibly important.
(Comments.)  

One of my most immature third graders lost a tooth today, and she is
thrilled, because  I had have told her for three years that when the teeth
start falling out she's going to be a great reader.  And she believes it,
and I do too.  (Laughter.)  It's so incredible.  You should have seen her
in the middle of the lesson, she was just thrilled and her face glowed and
she expects something very positive to come, and that's going to happen.  I
truly believe it.
	
The other thing, (and then I will shut up and you can comment on what I
have babbled  about), when you said it takes reframing, the thing I
immediately saw was the story in the Urantia Book about the very primitive
man holding a club. The frame become much larger and we see the wild animal
and the family that he is protecting with that club in his hand.  I think
that many times that it is because my frame is no small that I cannot see
the potential, the very positive potential, of the people that I rub
shoulders with each day.

Thomas (Bill): Thank you, Virginia, for stressing a very important aspect
of expectation in which all too often limits are placed upon people's
abilities and possibilities of achievement, which limit them so that when
there is a different set of expectations, whether by deliberate
experimental manipulation, as in the research that you referred to,
(Comments.) or in other means, then people do perform at a higher level
than was originally expected.  My cautions about limitations on
expectations regarding others was not intended to restrict ability and
achievement expectations.  I was referring to the fact that people do make
decisions; and that it is impossible to predict those decisions with a
great deal of certainty.   Therefor, there may be disappointments etc., as
a result of the behavior of other people.

Virginia: In relationships, Thomas?

Thomas (Bill): Yes, and in accomplishments, not due to a lack of ability or
lack of belief in their ability, but in, shall we say, a bad choice that
takes them off-track.  Do you understand the difference I am making between
expectations of ability and expectations of decisions?  (Virginia concurs.)  

Thank you for filling this point  because it is terribly important and
leads me to say... think about the larger picture of this that you bring
up.  What are the limitations placed upon God's children in terms of
ascension-potential?  None.  Once the decision to go in that direction has
been made, in a deep sense at the level of engagement or betrothal, that
person is on their way and only fusion awaits the manifestation of that
unlimited potential.  So, again, as I said, your point is extremely well
taken.   That is why, as I said earlier, we know that this planet shall
reach Light and Life, for gradually more and more people will make those
decisions that enhance their future and change the level of their
functioning.  And as individuals change, groups change; as groups change,
societies chance; and eventually the whole bread is leavened and fully baked.

Are there other comments?  If not there is one more speaker this evening.
I am waiting for any more comments before I relinquish the platform.
Marty, my friend, do you want to offer a comment?

Marty: No, I was just thinking along the lines that Virginia was.  I know
as a parent how hard it was to put too much expectation on your children
without making them discouraged, but at the same time encouraging them to
do all that they had the potential to be.  I know it was a lot of times
(that) we wondered if we were pushing them too hard, of weren't pushing
them hard enough to meet those expectations.  I think that is one of the
hardest—seems like with other people, you can back off, but with your own
kids you are always trying to do the very best for them that you can.
(Laughter.)  And yet you don't want to cause them too much frustration
towards over achieving.  Its kind of a fine line to try to walk it seems.

Thomas (Bill): My opinion is that you and Buck were pretty good parents.
You did a very good job with your children for you taught them the
importance of responsibility, of making decisions and taking the
responsibility for them.

Marty: Thank you.  I'm afraid that's my soapbox.

Thomas (Bill): But you see it is the very truth, and many people are
handicapped because they believe that they are victims.  They don't realize
the degree they could, if they would, change their lives for the better.
Very well, thank you for your words.  I was appraised that you had some
good things to say.  That's why I was asked to prompt you.  Now I will let
this final speaker come forth.  One moment please.

Cora (Bill): I am Cora.  (Comments.)  I have been petitioning for a chance
to get on the docket, and we took a vote, (Comments) and I was granted this
opportunity.  I am not here to give a big speech or another lesson.  The
lesson by teacher Thomas is sufficient for the evening.  I am here to speak
on behalf of the other personal teachers, to tell all of you that we
cherish you.  We truly delight in being your companions.  We are not
constantly with you like your Guarding Angels.  We do other things, and we
are with other people at times.  But we want you to know how important it
is that we maintain our friendship, and that you are aware that we are ever
eager to provide assistance

>From our perspective you are all walking on your paths with steady steps.
You are all becoming more and more adept at dodging the obstacles which are
in the way of finding foot holds and hand holds when you scale the sheer
walls of difficulties and dilemmas; and you are all learning to stretch out
in the meadows of joy and carefree pleasure as you learn more and more how
to worship God and seek his guidance.

As Easter approaches and goes by I recommend that you all read the story in
the Urantia Book of the final days of our Creator Son.  I would make this
an assignment, and I do have teacher Daniel's approval.  Do yourself a
favor, and read how Michael completed his life in obedience to God, and how
he was raised to life on the third day.

So my friends, be bringers of hope, raisers of expectations, burnishers of
the gold which is the soul of every brother and sister that you encounter.
But first of all start with the dedicated and joyous polishing of your own
soul.  Water and feed yourself spiritually.  Until we meet again, and on
behalf of all the teachers, I am Cora.  Good evening.