[tmtranscripts] N. Idaho Teacher Group 9/2/01

[Rick P. Giles]

North Idaho Teaching Mission Group
Topics: Authority, Empowerment, Character, Cleverness
Teachers: Tomas, Elyon, Machiventa
 
September 2, 2001

*	Tomas (Gerdean TR):  I am Tomas.  Good afternoon.  It is a pleasure indeed
to be in the midst of you all who sit around this campfire of love.
	The lesson I have for you is in response to a question put forth as to
authority, and I ask you to look at the word and see therein the word "author". 
I therefore address the author in you, that creative wealth which makes the
decisions that bring your life into a parable, a story, a document, a drama that
becomes a part of history.
	I have no authority over you.  Only you have authority over you, inasmuch
as it is your will which will determine how you proceed.  I can give you all the
authority of men and angels and, if it is not something you accept, it will
do no
good.  All sheep are looking for a shepherd.  All who have not a clear-cut
road-map of where to go are looking for highway signs.  All who seek for signs
are looking into the lives of others for direction, in particular in those whose
lives particularly indicate that they have a handle on how to proceed.  It is
only through their own authority that they proceed, in that they are
operating in
and with a consecration of their wills.
	The degree of compatibility that your will and the divine will have
together is a measure of success, but your will may not be directed toward
personality focus on the self.  The criteria for becoming attached by guardian
seraphim is frequently because the will has determined to follow a cause, often
having nothing to do with God or spirit reality, but because the will
decision is
selfless or in the service of that which will benefit.  These individuals are
upheld in their work and gain authority over their efforts even while they have
no desire for recognition.  Recognition is not to be eschewed; the Father
himself
enjoys acknowledgment.  But seek not the source of your strength or authority
from outside yourself, for that authority can be taken away.  Like the tree that
grows on the side of the mountain with its roots deep in the crevice of the
rock. 
That personality which is formed by a hardy will is tenacious enough to hang
onto
truth, beauty, and goodness as it is understood will not be blown away by the
winds of change.  Seek strength from within.  Learn by your experiences, even by
your mistakes and your victories.
	I hope this has been helpful.  That is all.

*	Elyon (Jonathan):  Greetings, this is Elyon.  I am glad to have our
featured friend Tomas to bring this topic up for our perusal.
	I too intend to address this question on authority, and I also would like
to extract from the word "authority" a few other considerations, for instance, a
certificate that grants authority is in reality an authorization, that is, the
author, as Tomas has pointed out, has acknowledged that you are in possession --
be it of understanding or skill -- of the author's pre-created expression.
As we
address authority in the context of spiritual matters, you are authorized
because
you are indwelt by the Author of all things.
	Another aspect we can attach to this topic is authenticity.  Again, it
contains the implication or connection to the word "author".  If your expression
is genuine, that is, a bonafide spiritual experience, it is authentic, and you
have every reason to disperse it with authority.
	Throughout the vast realms of creation any personality sensitive to the
rays of truth, those beings of goodness, and those waves of beauty
recognizes the
absolute Author and soon realizes that all who seek the Father are
reporters.  We
investigate, research, and then report, demonstrate, disseminate.  A reporter is
as valued as an authority, for the context of the discipline of reporting is to
pay attention to fact, truth, and accuracy.  You who seek the verities of the
kingdom are authorized to report your discoveries to those in need.
	It has been emphasized to you that you are commissioned by Michael to
spread the gospel; likewise you are authorized by the indwelling presence of the
Father.  Our work with you as teachers has always been extended in the
spirit and
with the deliberate assertion that we are your students, for we in no way
seek to
have you rest the credibility of the spiritual experience on an authority
that is
placed in us.  The authority we find is found in stillness.  As much as we long
for and have taken a pledge toward the correction of the conditions on this
planet and the establishment of helpful and helping qualities, our mission
excels
on one single point, and that is that each of you establish a deeper personal
connection with the Father's eternal gift.  Having made that, all the rest falls
in line.
	  I acknowledge the attendance of many of you today and alert you to the
fact that we are likewise here in abundance, and will make our contact.  I now
step aside for others to address you.

*	Machiventa (Mark):  Machiventa here with you this morning.  It is a great
pleasure to see all the desks in a row, lined up so neatly and all of you so
groomed, so patient, so alert, and so attentive.  It is indeed a great joy
to see
the eager faces as lesson after lesson is drawn up on the board, and you eagerly
take mental and spiritual notes.
	We will go on a little bit with our theme and with recognition, with
acknowledgment.  With the certainty of accomplishment comes the next aspect of
empowerment.  As each of you receives your authority from the Authority of all,
as each of you establishes your credibility through your validating life
experience, the next natural extension is for you to become empowered,
emboldened
to follow through on your teachings, to extend your perceptions to their very
limits, to experiment with your techniques, to spread your wings. This is where,
as they say, the rubber meets the road.  This is where experience becomes real
and practical.  This is where eternal decisions are made.  The more you come to
recognize that you are a player in the unfoldment of this divine reality, the
more you align yourself with the unfoldment plan and the easier, the better, the
more successful your actions become and the less concerned you are by whose
authority you project, because you are losing the self identity attachment to
this authority.  You are moving beyond the question of authority into the realm
of action.  This exudes authority to all those who contact it.  They will see
that you are reporting, you are representing to the best of your ability the
higher authority, and that you are not looking to be the one recognized for
this,
merely the reflector of this process.  Thereby is the issue of authority in your
actions irrelevant, as you are being a reflective device.  You are passing on;
you are shining the Father's light; you are not the origin of the light or the
truth or the love.  You may add your contribution as it passes by you.  You may
flavor the waters.  You may cause a wide spectrum in the light which passes
through your prism, but you realize that the light and the love and the life are
from on high.  Therein is all you need to be concerned with regarding the issue
of authority.
	I would once again express my joy at seeing you all in this classroom and
at the many and great changes I have observed in our actions together.  I am
thrilled with the joy of the prospects before us unfolding as the flowers in the
field come to bloom in the spring.  Thank you for your time.

	Mary:  Thank you.  I'd like to hear more on empowerment.  Is empowerment
what happens when you decide to move, to act?  Is it an internal decision?  Or
does it entail some connection with spirit established when action is taken?  In
Christian circles they say "empowered by the Holy Spirit".

*	Machiventa:  You make an important distinction and one well worthy of some
discussion.
	You are correct in your observation that often people of ultimate authority
credit their empowerment to the spirit connection, to the realization that the
source from which they draw their reality is of a high spiritual nature, and,
therefore they become so confident of the source, not necessarily of themselves,
that they are then empowered because of this confidence to act, which is the
second part of your distinction.  The action is a result of the empowerment
which
occurs through the very aspect you describe, the spiritual link-up which
provides
you with the enhanced perspective to realize that the power is above all, is
accessed by the individual, who becomes so motivated by this spiritual
connection
that they are empowered to act.  This acting is a result of this certainty they
feel of the spiritual correctness of their attitude.
	When you are in great conviction of any point, you are prepared to stand
with that conviction and argue with conviction on your side.  Regardless of the
correctness of your position, your conviction provides you with the stamina and
the propensity to argue your point.  Likewise, when your conviction is derived
from spiritual connection outside of yourself, you stand firm with this
conviction regardless of the fact that you in your own personal spiritual
experience may not encompass this entire reality as yet.  Therefore each of you
in this room has become familiar to some degree with expressing spiritual
reality
which is indeed beyond your own personal experience but which you fervently
believe because you have had access to this spiritual connection.  Therefore do
you feel empowered to be about the action as a result of that empowerment, to be
about the outworking of your spiritual understanding.
	So, the distinction you made is an important one.  Yes, your spiritual
connection is important to establish your authority.  Your authority is
important
to establish your motivation which then turns into your actions which are then
seen by others as the fruits of the spirit.  This is the attractant which lures
others who may view you as an authority when you exhibit such conviction.
	Does this help with perspective?
	Mary:  Yes.

	Gerdean:  The apostle Peter had presumptuous self confidence.  It caused
his fellow apostles no end of trouble.  This stumbling block, how do we overcome
being clever to really have true character?  Presumptive self confidence is
obviously fun for he who is wielding it, but is not necessarily the most
effective method of teaching.
*	Machiventa:  I would refer you back to your teachings with which you are so
wonderfully familiar.  Recall the statements to you that to those have great
confidence the Father acts to restrict that.  To those who need confidence the
Father acts to gain them confidence.  There is a healthy middle ground of
confidence in your teachings, in your spiritual realities.  Too little is not
just right as too much is not just right.  I would say that the Father has
assured us that He works under both circumstances and works with both
conditions.
	Your best defense against either having too little chutzpah or too much is
in your spending time with the Father.  He has what it takes to balance any
equation, to give you what you do not have and to restrain in you what you may
have a little too much of.  It is all there for the asking in the stillness with
the Father, to crawl up and spend time with the Father, sit with Him and be with
Him and ask that 
He provide you what you need is your best possible reaction to your desire to
find common ground, to find a middle path, to find balance.
	Sometimes it is recognized that in the human mind it is requested, if not
required, that validation come from outside sources and sources deemed to be
appropriate to the cause.  Therefore I am empowered to speak for the teacher
group to acknowledge the spiritual depth and scope of the individuals present in
this group at this time from an outside source, one whom you have invested with
certain authority.  I return the favor to you, each one, and unequivocally state
in words for you to hear today that you have achieved certain spiritual
benchmarks which qualify you to be spokespersons for the spiritual realities you
are able to comprehend.  This authority has been granted to us, the
teachers, and
as you have heard, has been granted from Michael himself directly to you.  I
recall these to your memory so that you have further confirmation within
yourselves that each one is of a spiritual stature sufficient to this task.
Each
one has been authorized by no less than your creator to be a spokesperson.
	I offer you my assurance that I see you as this, as well, and to whatever
degree these words find lodging in yourselves as some form credential, or proof,
or confirmation, so be it.  I offer them meant as such and hope that with these
words come the great appreciation of all of us for you being involved in this
process with us and the many steps you have made in your lives to be here
with us
at this time.  It is truly miracles unfolding before us.  It is a spectacle to
behold.  We will all remember these formative days.  I see such brightness and
light when I see the individuals in this group.  One day you will see the many
ripples which you have generated even here, even now, which resonate throughout
the universe and which precede you in your path.  I honor you.  I thank you.

*	Elyon (Jonathan):  Elyon once again contributing.  I would like to rewind
to the question of "character" and "clever" and play with that some.
	When it is described of Jesus how he lived, it is summed up simply as, "He
went about doing good."  Peter, though well intended, did not adhere to that
manner without attaching the condition of notice-ability, recognition.  He was
aware of the crowds.  The master, on the other hand,  when complemented, he
asked, "Why do you call me good?"  He expressed character.  Character exists in
relation to no other thing.  It is simply your being as it manifests at this
point in your ascension.
	Clever, to play with the word, is like cleaver.  It seeks conditions.  It
seeks outside oneself for recognition.  As a cleaver parts one into two, a
clever
individual requires others in front of whom he may be clever.  Michael did good
out of character and required no recognition from any about him to validate his
goodness, even to the point of questioning why they called him good.  In
scrutinizing your motives you can use this method to determine your intention,
that is, will your action stand independent, for its own worth?  Or does it
require the approval, or is it attempting to recoil others?  Then you will begin
to discern more clearly self-driven motives of cleverness or spirit-driven
motives from character.
	I hope this has contributed.

	Gerdean:  It's like cleverness is impatience.

*	Elyon:  We could draw from the calamities of the Adamic default to
illustrate your statement that the impatience expressed at the time led to the
clever actions that destroyed the intention of the mission.

	Angus:  So, there's no clever way out when you are trying to solve a cosmic
problem?

*	Elyon:  If we follow in this manner of connecting cleverness with
impatience, this is correct.  But we must not include in the disposal of
cleverness keen discernment, the ability to apply wit with precision, to be
sharp
and alert, and to be fast acting when truth is recognized.  These qualities are
useful in cosmic problem solving.

	Angus:  Yesterday was mentioned that sometimes we worry too much about self
aggrandizement.  We should do as we feel inspired and not worry; that if it
agrees with what the Father has in mind it will be fine.  If it doesn't agree it
won't matter.  We shouldn't concern ourselves about being clever.  Go ahead and
be sharp.

*	Elyon:  History is dotted with many self-aggrandizing individuals; the
pages are full of the conquests and the achievements of those so driven.  But in
the outreach of the melchizedeks we are less concerned with these few who stand
so prominently.  Our mission is to reach the self-deprecating and to draw them
out of the stagnant sense of inability, for the mid range of these two extremes
is where the bulk of humanity resides, where the enormous quantity of spiritual
longing dwells in every soul, in all souls.  This is the common ground you all
share.  This is the mission field.
	The work is enormous.  The opportunities are great.  There is little time
to be fretting over self-aggrandizement or unnecessarily self-deprecating. 
Finish the job, and then we'll discuss those two qualities about oneself.
	In the course of your ministry corrective opportunities will present
themselves for you to better align the motivations of self with the
activities of
spirit.

	Mary:  I would like to extend an invitation for all personalities present
to pause for a moment at the close of our encounter.
	Take a deep breath.  Recognize that we have discussed today the Father, the
Universal Father.  The First Source and Center is the ultimate answer for so
many
of our questions.  He is our ultimate authority.  We derive our authority from
Him.  He is the empowerment that we seek.  He is the one who can bring
balance to
our characters; we can absorb that quality from Him.  He is the source of all
things true, good, and beautiful that we desire.
	So, the invitation at this point is for all of us, the humans, the
teachers.  I humbly invite our creator Michael and his consort the Mother Spirit
to join us at this time in acknowledging the universal Father for all things
good.  Pause for a moment to absorb His goodness and reflect it back to Him and
thank Him.
	All that you desire, all that you seek, all that you long for can be found
through Him.