[tmtranscripts] Ham on letting your light shine

[David Schlundt]

Also worth reading is the question about whether or not the teaching 
mission is getting stagnant.

07/20/2003

Ham: Greetings, children, I am Ham and I am grateful to have this 
relationship meeting time together with you tonight. Far have you come 
over these past few years. Each one of you is growing and blooming into 
your true natures. You are bearing the fruits of the spirit in your 
lives so that you are known as followers of the master, ones who seem to 
have spent time with him, who understand him not in a doctrinal way, but 
in a living human way. You are known in the universe as humans who 
commune with Michael. For you, his friendship is immediate and you 
exhibit security in his love.

You are people who have journeyed to a distant shore and then returned 
to give others a glimpse of that shore through your being, through word 
and deed. Increasingly, as you grow in the spirit, your delight in 
righteousness leads others toward that state of being.

For many centuries, men have poured over the gospels, they have created 
doctrine, they have marked lines between right and wrong based upon 
their reading of these gospels. Men have sought to teach as law what 
Christ lived in perfect freedom. Spiritual growth requires breaking the 
chains of tradition. It is forever true that the greater the spiritual 
influence, the freer the people. Doctrine, covenant, sacrament, all 
these things are well meaning outlines, but the life of the spirit 
naturally breaks free of the rules formulated by men.

The Master trusted God completely so he also trusted his fellow men. He 
trusted those who would come later to record his life and he knew that 
inevitably doctrine would arise. He himself left no written word, no 
basis for doctrine except his life as he lived it. He said, "let your 
light shine before men". Live your lives in such a way that you will 
shine a little light so that others may see more clearly.

His teachers, his disciples, taught very simple messages, that all men 
are the sons of God and all women are his daughters, not subjects of a 
king, not slavish adherents to a fossilized creed. No, the words he 
chose were liberated sons of the living God. Rejoice, said he, celebrate 
this knowledge, do not crawl toward God as a servant or a slave, but 
meet his as a son or daughter would greet a loving Father. This was the 
most revolutionary step in the long history of religion on this world 
and still it is incompletely understood because human beings have 
preferred safety and security and conformity over spiritual liberation.

The Master said, "I have never asked conformity, you should be one in 
spiritual purpose, but at the same time individual and unique in 
spiritual expression". All the holy books, all the words of the many 
wise teachers of yore, these should be respected but not venerated to 
the point of worship. Words on a page must not substitute for the word 
in your heart.

This week my children let your light shine. Give forth love and a loving 
word to all you come in contact with. Release the good news. Give it to 
others.

What are your questions?

Q" Ham, it was mentioned by a couple of people at the conference that 
they felt the teaching mission had grown stagnent. Do you agree with that?

Ham: Many times the master was urged to act and his only reply, my time 
has not yet come. Human beings are impatient. They desire human results 
in human time. Your time frame is very short and in this era when 
cultural change is rapid, it is even more seemingly pressing for humans 
to want to see earthly results from spiritual endeavors. Our time frame 
is very different. We cannot harvest before the wheat is ripe and our 
purpose in this generation is to foster spiritual growth in each one of 
you, individually. This is not the rapid building of a movement, no. 
This is the slow creation of a foundation for the future. We are working 
with just a few, a select few, human beings. We are engaging in a great 
effort to bring those few to higher spiritual levels. This will have its 
repercussions in the world and these repercussions will be in varying 
fields of human endeavor for we are not taking you out of your lives, we 
are enhancing the life you live. And, as you grow in the spirit, 
individually, your lights will shine before men and you will influence 
others. These others need not be the multitude, just another few people. 
Human history is shaped and guided and given direction by just a few 
people in each generation. This is not supposed to be an exercise in ego 
exaltation, ever. And those who are impatient, who want to see results 
now, are putting ego before their greater responsibilities and loyalties 
to Machiventa and the Master himself. Humility is a hard lesson to learn 
and pride always goes before a fall.

 

Q: Do you have anything for Rebecca?

Ham: My daughter, you do well. You are a person who can assimilate a lot 
of varying information quickly and form directions of thought well. You 
shall write a book of comparative religion contrasting the fact that 
Jesus did not write anything down versus Mohammed who wrote nonstop. 
Yes, you can do it. We will help you.

Q: Jared?

Ham: Yes my son, you are also coming into a productive period. Write 
both for book and record for again we would like to bring out both. Your 
mastery of you work continues to improve and this is a wonderful time to 
work diligently and seriously on this improvement. You do very well my 
son, be at peace. All is well.

Q: Last week a my friends and I had a conversation about death and life 
after death. What struck me was how certain I felt, and how confused 
they all seemed to feel. I did not feel like I should tell them they 
were thinking wrong, but I really did not know how to help them. Can you 
either critique my performance or give me some idea of how I might have 
handled this situation.

Ham: of course. Being certain about your place in the universe, 
receiving sonship from God is also salvation from death and this 
psychological readjustment occurs over a period of time. Without clear 
factual knowledge of the universe, such as is contained in the Urantia 
book, humans are naturally confused for they are without secure sign 
posts. Each religion carries conflicting understandings and once the 
medieval world of heaven, earth, and hell was shattered, there was not 
substitute conceptualization for the afterlife. In other words, there 
was no place that souls went, it was all metaphysical. Knowing that your 
soul and personality are reconstituted upon another physical world, this 
is only found in the Urantia book. There were and continue to be 
glimpses of these worlds flashed upon your world from time to time. But 
these do not give a factual account such as you find in your book. There 
is really no way to impart your own security with this knowledge without 
also imparting the knowledge itself. Steering people toward the book is 
not out of place. But, it is always best to wait until they inquire, 
where did you get this understanding, before you do so. The Urantia book 
can be a life preserver thrown to a drowning person. Sometimes they will 
take it, but most often they will cling to something else, some floating 
piece of wood that may take them even farther from their destiny. You 
have piqued their curiosity and they will undoubtedly inquire at some 
point. In other words wait until the next conversation then you might 
casually throw the Urantia book into the mix.

Q: May I ask for a personal message for Jim who wishes he were here.

Ham: My son, you do well. This simple job is giving you solid purpose 
and many opportunities for ministry. Let your light so shine as to give 
illumination, but not confusion. Demonstrate your living spiritual 
connection to God and to the Master as you give encouragement and hope 
to others. And my son, find peace in your heart. Grasp that peace that 
passes understanding and do not let it go. You are doing well. Have 
comfort and peace. That is all.

Q: May I ask for my own self?

Ham: certainly, my daughter. My dear, you are doing very well. This 
conference was a balm to your soul and a much needed retreat from the 
concerns of the world. Be at peace as you return to this world and your 
efforts therein. Do not worry that the way is steep or changing, but 
return always to your relationship with the Master himself allowing his 
spirit to comfort you and to guide you in all things. Your future will 
be just fine. Be careful in husbanding your resources and be open to 
many differing challenges that are coming your way.

Q: Would you mind explaining husbanding your resources?

Ham: Well, this is referring to being careful with your resources, in 
other words be a little bit miserly, be just careful so that you will 
have it when you need it.

Q:Do you have a personal message for Norbert?

Ham: Certainly, my son, you do very well. Be patient at this time for 
impatience is the curse of youth and many hasty decisions lead to 
long-lasting effects. Try to be content in what is right now. Move 
slowly and carefully. Go in peace my son.

Q: Do you have a personal message for Charlie B?

Ham: Certainly, my son, be at peace with yourself. You are a very 
forgiving person with every one else but yourself. All the times when 
you are tempted to judge yourself harshly, try to see it through the 
Master's eyes. Put things in greater perspective and accept your own 
humanity with all its imperfection but all its potential as well.

Q: Do you have any feedback for me this week Ham?

Ham: Certainly. My son, you do well. You have come very far and the past 
two weeks have been a time of growth and spiritual fruition. Growth, my 
son, can be painful. It can cause self-doubt and some painful 
self-examination. But these things are temporary and perspective comes 
with time. Be assured that you are being led to work that is important 
and sometimes the little things that seem to be nuisances are those 
things that hold the greatest potential in the unseen worlds. So be at 
ease my son, your way is clear and you are doing very well.

Very well, until next week, my love and my prayers are with you each. 
Farewell.


-- 
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David G. Schlundt, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Vanderbilt University
301 Wilson Hall
Nashville, TN  37203

Phone: (615)322-7800
Fax: (615) 343-8449
Email: David.Schlundt at Vanderbilt.edu
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Beauty is that which attracts the soul,
and that which loves to give and not
to receive

Kahlil Gibran
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