[tmtranscripts] 05-30-96.PGH Appreciation; Humor

[Gerdean]

DATE: May 30, 1996
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
T/R: Gerdean

TEXTUAL STUDY: Urantia Paper 38
Ministering Spirits of the Local Universe

  1.. Origin of Seraphim
  2.. Angelic Natures
  3.. Unrevealed Angels
  4.. The Seraphic Worlds
  5.. Seraphic Training
TEACHING SESSION
"Appreciation" and "Humor"
A Visiting Morontia Companion

TOMAS: Good evening, my friends. Group: Good evening, Tomas.

TOMAS: Tender hearts, rejoice with me in the abundance of our gathering here this evening, for indeed we are many, not only in your material ranks, but in potential, as well. The armies have been acknowledged and indeed are in readiness to serve.

My loyal friends, how glad I am to be among you. I say this almost as a mantra, but I say this as a heartfelt expression of my appreciation for your willingness to avail yourself of these processes by which we may elevate our understanding of spirit reality in each individual heart and as it then relates to the heart which is beside you.

Perhaps I will speak a moment regarding "appreciation".

Appreciation is a facet of love, which is understood in a context enjoyed by any who has discernment. To appreciate a good meal, a full repast, is to savor not only the taste and feeling of fullness but to appreciate what has gone into the preparation of the feast, in other words, the efforts of many unseen helpers who have enabled the meal to be presented and consumed with delight. 

The same is true for a well-appointed home, such as you enjoy this evening, for such fineness is available for your aesthetic appreciation and it is not only understood for its immediate delight, but for the historicity and continuity which has been your cultural inheritance and the efforts of those owners who have devoted untiring energies into appreciation of fine things in life.

And so an appreciation is not a singularly selfish experience when it is taken in fullness, for you understand the full ramifications (wrong word) . for you to understand what has gone into bringing about the desired effect. 

And so we have come to appreciating one another. And as you behold each other it is easy to perceive in a fleeting glance the obvious, and yet in appreciation, you need to see what has gone before, what efforts have conspired to contribute to the range of color and tone and timber of each individual -- their cultural heritage, their racial composites, their socioeconomic understandings, their intellectualizations, their emotional backdrops and so forth, that the full picture may be presented for your enjoyment.

It is, therefore, with great joy that we join with you in these select evenings when we can sit in harmonious reflection of the full range of reality presented. Not only do we see your aspiring and radiating personalities, but we also see the background and the potential, and this, indeed, creates great wealth, a great tapestry of texture in each of you to contribute to that wondrous blanket of believers which will warm the cool nights of the soul of Urantia.

Appreciation also for yourself, and for your understanding of your place in the universe, is worthy of note in this conversation, in this topic, for it is too easy to gloss over your own worth, your own tremendous textile, and see only threads. Consider your wealth of experience and your triumphs and your lessons learned in your losses and failures. Consider the experiences that have been yours, the friends you have known, the secrets you have harbored and the release you have acknowledged upon expressing your innermost needs and desires to an intimate companion.

Consider how you got to be where you are today in terms of your own spiritual growth, your own development as a human being and as a soul, and appreciate your contribution to this process, for you have allowed it to happen, you have enabled it to happen, and more and more you are encouraging it to happen, that you experience life and that you learn from it and that you willingly and happily teach from your own personal experience of finding God and seeking to be like Him.

I will ask you a question. In company with the Master, he was known to suggest that in future times the world would know of our good humor. Why do you suppose he said "in future times"? Has anyone thought of that? Has anyone ... Yes.

Student: It comes to my attention that we are taught about life everlasting, so it would be a natural acceptance. I hope I understood you.

TOMAS: It is possible you did not understand my question. 

Student: Would you rephrase it please? 

TOMAS: In Jesus time ... 

Student: Oh, "in Jesus' time."

TOMAS: he said, "In future times men will know of our good humor." Do you suppose they were a somber lot?

Student: They were.

Student: I would say so. 

Student: To a degree, yes.

Student: It'd have to be evolution in a fashion of comprehension . . . and the gene pool, as well to ....

Student: And the violet race wasn't mixed with everybody at the time.

Student: Yeah, to learn the comprehension of humor.

TOMAS: This is well, for you have taken into consideration the evolutionary aspects in terms of genetics and in terms of accessability of spirit, for the Spirit of Truth had not yet been poured out upon all flesh at that time either. And so I am bringing that question forward today into this arena for you students and teachers who ponder and consider and ask, "How long shall we say 'in future times they will know of our good cheer and good humor'?"

What, my friends, do you suppose is holding back greater good humor and good cheer these days?

Student: Fear.

Student: Habit.

TOMAS: Two good students.

Student: What about the type of humor that people are accustomed to today? It's rather cynical and it can be very painful in certain social situations. It's a form of defense. But in a sense, if we are evolving, there's a lightness and a naturalness. It's kind.

TOMAS: The humor of today is spoiled wine and the ... I hear a remark which could be inclusive. Would you repeat your remark, sister?

Student: I said .... I think you said something about that all of the humor is, well, tainted, and I said, "but not all of it." Because there are some, well, I -- this week I really have been blessed, because I've had a tremendously hard week and I keep running into little squibs of phrases or sentences that people have printed in this, that and the other, and it's all good! Thank God! Because we're getting to where we're calling things bad and what we give we get, returns to us. So if we want good, we've got to see good.

TOMAS: You are correct to save and set aside and savor those bits of insight and humor which are a delight to your sensibilities and I am not excluding happiness by a long shot, but in reference to the remarks earlier from my friend, Hunnah, regarding cynical humor, I reiterate that that is tainted, sour, spoiled and not nourishing, not tasty or savory.

Although humor is a divine antidote to the exaltation of the ego among appreciative friends, it is not born well when it comes from an attempt to destroy or belittle a personality.

Student: In my childhood in our family, humor was given and received both in love and I never experienced harsh tones in any of the humor, but with someone intending to strike out, the tones are so harsh and so rough that you instantly know that it's an attack instead of fun or given with love, or just laughter.

TOMAS: And since the conditions on your world on the dark side of the moon are such that fear and bad habit prevail, it is difficult then to allow yourself the freedom to feel good humor and good cheer. Indeed, to weep is more in keeping, and prayer is more appropriate. I bring this to your attention because the desire to be lighthearted and joyous can come when you are associated and surrounded with individuals for whom you have developed an understanding, an affection, and have learned to appreciate, and who have come to appreciate you.

It is a way, in a way, of loving an individual (without getting jangled up in the semantics of that word for now). But you here, for instance, have some idea of the particular personality quirks and foibles of one another inasmuch as you have been companions of long standing. It is easy now for you to believe that you are loved by one another in the spirit and appreciated by each other in the human sense. And no one will take serious offense at what the other may do, for your appreciation and devotion to higher beauties, truths and goodness have given you the appreciation that each of you are imperfect and that you can withstand the vagaries of human existence among fellows who know you and love you in spite of yourself and your own quirks.

It is an uphill evolutionary struggle to attain that point of appreciation for your humanness that you may begin to feel light and joyous among each other, that your ego defenses have been abridged, that your worth is firmly understood, and you are appreciated. And you can appreciate what I am saying, each of you. I appreciate each and every one (of you) and as such I am not alone, for you are part of me and I am part of you.

Do you think that Jesus, when he spent time with the apostles, did not appreciate each of them? Understanding the personality strengths and weaknesses of each of his intimate companions? Surely you who have admired and followed the Master in his dealings with his apostles, understand how well loved he was by the Alpheus twins who were not commanded to give more than they were able, or those who doubted, or those who were firebrands.

The gift of personality among God-knowing human beings is truly worth sharing, and as your understanding of your spiritual nature gives way for your acceptance of your human nature, your human happiness will be greatly expanded. You may be happy with one another far more readily than you would be invited to express in that realm of the shadows that would destroy your happiness for the sake of misery in company. And so my children, my friends, I say to you to laugh and be of good cheer.

Are there questions this evening?

Student: Was the "impetuous apostle" Peter?

TOMAS: He was one of the impetuous apostles. It is true that any vibrant personality has impetuous thoughts and impetuous moments, some more so than others. It is also possible to bridle impetuousness that is bordering on problematic and it is a fine source of humor coming from one who is rarely so spontaneous. The study of human character and personality aspects reveals so many facets of potential for your own growth and delight, it could take a millennia to discuss the millions of nuances of personality which are available.

Student: May I ask you a question? 

TOMAS: You may ask.

Student: I would like some assistance with the correct use of my time. Sometimes we commit ourselves to things that are really no longer appropriate, or we get stuck in the lull of inappropriate activity, procrastination or whatever, and I would like to be able to connect with a proper use of that time. You said to ask, so I'm asking.

TOMAS: Indeed.

Student: Even though the day was very beautiful, I felt like I was caught up in an inappropriate use of time today, and I ... it's been on my mind.

TOMAS: I would suggest that you are looking at quality of time and what pleases you now which may not please you tomorrow. Appropriateness is a peculiar word, for I must ask you "appropriate to whom?"

Student: Well, I'd like to have more time than seems to be available. I would like to ... I guess there is no limit on the ways to celebrate life and therefor, perhaps, I would just like to, no matter what I'm doing, like to be able to celebrate more consistently, but there are old habits that seem to be hard. Feet of clay. I don't know. I really don't know quite how to specifically answer that.

TOMAS: I appreciate your struggle. I would suggest that you read in the text, in the Urantia Book, about "The Adjuster's Problem" and perhaps you will not feel so disheartened when you realize you are not alone in wanting to celebrate more often and more fully. The matter of prioritizing your time again goes back to stillness and, again, I would encourage you to process your spiritual approach to life early in the day. It will set a different tone; it will establish your priorities and open the path and the pace which will be easy for you to follow if you will.

The difficulty is that, on one hand, you have ideals, aspirations and noble intentions, but on the other hand, you are a human being, you are distracted, you get carried downstream. You get busy with other busyness, and although it may be a pleasant or meaningful or serviceable distraction, it somehow has not allowed you to attain and sustain your original desired delights. Try to fully appreciate what it is that you find yourself doing. If you find that what you are doing cannot be appreciated, stop doing it and go on to something with which you can devote your heart.

Remember that whatever you do for Jesus is an honorable avocation. If it is something that neither he nor you are interested in, perhaps you might be able to teach someone by merely following through with your desire to follow where your Master leads. Have my words been helpful?

Student: Yes. That certainly takes me out of myself.

TOMAS: Perhaps we have time for a short visit. One moment.

MORONTIA COMPANION: My friends, how are you this evening? I am a Morontia Companion, unnamed. I am pleased to be among you and to sense your graciousness and your anticipation. I am not a teacher. I am not one to whom a scholastic attitude would be appropriate. I am a Companion, and perhaps Tomas was being companionable in inviting me to sit with you to feel your graces, your ease.

Student: Are you assigned to any one of us? 

COMPANION: I am unassigned.

Student: It's good to meet you. 

COMPANION: Likewise. 

Student: Is this your first visit?

COMPANION: I have attended individuals here and there. I have observed your numbers here but I have not been given the opportunity to speak in such a way. It is an infrequent pleasure.

Student: You don't have a name?

COMPANION: That is correct. I can have one if you like. It is not uncommon for the midwayers, who are designated numerically, to attach themselves with a handle that you might feel more humanly associated, and I have observed they have a tendency to call themselves Bill and Joe and Bob and Sam and Mary and Pat, so that you feel they are like the boy or girl next door.

Student: Are you then one of the unnamed and unnumbered ones? I forget the right name for them.

Student: One Without Name or Number. 

Student: Yes, that's the way.

COMPANION: I am not thus. I am designated but I am not known by a name which would interest you.

Student: Are you capable of going out with one of us? Would you like to go to work with me tomorrow? (Group chuckle) We're allowed to take someone with us who is interested in the work I do. Would you like a field trip?

COMPANION: I would rise to the occasion but the idea is abominable to me. (Group laughter) How delighted I am to hear your laughter. I must confess that I am an individual of fairly refined tastes and I am highly selective about a working environment, if you will.

Student: What kind of work do you do?

COMPANION: I am a companion. I communicate.

Student: I need a communicator. I'm having problems with communications and I need to be a communicator.

Student: Do you mean that you help -- at our level, can you help us to express ourselves more fully? Or are you saying that you do that elsewhere?

COMPANION: I do this throughout the local universe, throughout the Mansion Worlds. All of your teachers have spent and do spend time with us. You, as you ascend, also will enjoy the company of the Morontia Companions, and you will indeed learn through association with us, but as I say, it is not in the manner of your teachers. And, I confess, you likely will learn by way of association, for it is true, you know, that when you are in the company of one who is pleasing to be around, who indicates interest in you, who delights your sensibilities and your mind, you are inclined to put forth your better aspirations toward meeting that being where you have rapport, and so as I approach you, you approach me and we are given the exercise of finding one another and this is a learning process.

Student: What are the best steps to take to learn such ...? 

COMPANION: You must know yourself and you must listen.

Student: May I ask ...? I'm not too familiar with what a Morontia Companion is, other than the descriptiveness in the two words itself. Are you a Morontia Companion as a result of the ascending career or are you designated as a Morontia Companion?

COMPANION: I have been and will be a Companion. It is my destiny.

Student: So you have not been a mortal? 

COMPANION: That is correct.

Student: Is this something new for you? To come to the planet and actually contact people before we reach the morontia level?

COMPANION: It is not as unusual as you might think. It is rare on Urantia, but in other worlds, more evolved, less dense, we have been known to carry on extensive soirees, many tea parties, and so it is an evolutionary process for this jumbled child/planet Urantia to come into as you, my students, are coming into awareness of your own morontia selves.

Student: So are you saying we are coming into a new phase where we're going to be having more contact with beings like yourself?

COMPANION: Much of it, of course, depends upon you, for we are companionable and are always in readiness to avail ourselves of the opportunity. The opportunity, however, is often not forthcoming. I will tell you one reason why. Even in evolved beings such as yourselves, it is often the case that you are so busy doing and striving that you have no time to sit and be merely companionable. But the wealth of existence in such a pastime as we master in, is obviously worth investigating since almost everyone on the way up stops at our floor often, you see.

Student: Is there any advice you would like to give us? I mean, I know you just gave us advice about going into stillness. Well, in reference to communicating. I know I'm asking a lot of questions but I was wondering, and communication is your forte. Is there any possibility you could help us with whether Mrs. P. here is ... She believes she is starting to hear. Is there any way you could help us with confirmation on that?

COMPANION: Let me suggest something here in reference to communications, not only communications between mortals and morontia beings, but between any kinds of beings, between individuals even such as yourselves. The art of communion is a full-range experience. It is not a simple matter of exchanging words and hoping that the word given is the word received is the word given. This is a very sketchy and iffy kind of communication. True communication compasses far more. It encompasses infinite degrees and variety of energies: personal and impersonal; physical, morontial and spiritual. It is colored by color, by music, by sound, by subliminal activity, by extraneous energies that abut and attack, that bounce around having no purpose but to get in the way of communication it would seem.

Full-flavored communication requires devotion, requires the kind of gracious attention that a mother gives her child, that a father gives his son, that lovers give to each other. Each communication that you have is the potential for a spiritual experience that would "knock your socks off" if you only knew how to develop it, if you would allow it, if you would encourage it in each other. But alas, I do not hold out extreme hope, for I see how busy you all are, how much importance is given to true communication. It is more observable that you each have something to say to the other as a method of defense. This is an old habit pattern, boys and girls. In time, with practice, if you find -- indeed IF you find -- that this is a practice that you would enjoy with your spouse, with your neighbor, with each other, with your Morontia Companions, with your midwayer companions, anyone throughout eternity, it will wait for you.

Student: Please don't give up hope. For us.

Student: You have enriched upon a subject that was greatly needed here. We're all in the business of communicating and you helped us to define or expand our comprehension of what it means that will in the days to come amplify itself and make itself be known in us? Is that correct? Is that the purpose of your being here?

COMPANION: I am here to be companionable. 

Student: Ummm, good. 

Student: You are.

COMPANION: If you like me, if you like how I am, if you appreciate that I am of the Father and that I have my being because of him and therefore am a reflection of him, if you see in me something Godlike that you yourself would like to have, to emulate, to experience, to bestow, to share, then you will see to it that you expose yourself more and more to those experiences, those challenges, those opportunities which will bring (it) about in your 1ives.

I will leave in a moment but I would like, before I go, to say that it is very scary to stand up and be your true self. It is so easy for you fledgling souls to go along with the gist. It is so difficult to stand alone in your faith, in your belief, in your confidence. It is so difficult. This is understood. And what we would also like for you to understand is that there are legions of helpers. Farewell.

Student: Before you go. You've been with me?

TOMAS: My friend, I am Tomas again. I am sorry. Our Companion has relinquished the floor.

Student: Well, you can communicate.

TOMAS: I can certainly communicate, yes, and I cannot speak for him but it is in all probability guaranteed that you have spent time with a Companion, for you have been companionable and you have not been alone.

Student: The energies. The energies this one brought are so familiar! All Morontia Companions have the same energy pattern as this one? The sensitivities ...

TOMAS: I am certain. I have met many, and I have found, (and you can read about them in your text) that they have an ebb and flow, and given the constraints of ebbing and flowing, they are the same.

Student: I've found that different beings have different energy patterns. I've recognized their -- it's like a signature? Would all Morontia Companions have the same feeling? As energy signature?

TOMAS: I believe so. Your perception of them may be different from mine, but I have found them all to be companionably thus.

Student: Well, I enjoyed it.

Student: I was wondering if I could plug in a suggestion here, since we talked about appreciation and we were talking about the possibilities of what to read next week and I was going to suggest that we could read about the personalities of the apostles and there's a paper that talks about their idiosyncrasies and their positive qualities. I just thought I'd put that in.

Student: I'd like to read about Morontia Companions! But I won't make it 'til next week. I'll be reading about them throughout.

TOMAS: I was going to say that as a teacher, I am getting rather excited with this class, that it is taking on extracurricular assignments and reading book reviews without them being assigned. I, of course, am not in the business of assigning you your various Papers and studies, for I will use whatever material is available to work with, as any decent teacher will do. I can see merit to almost any game plan that is presented. Indeed, even the Alpheus twins have something I can work with, and I will work with this: that it is time to call our evening to a close.

It has been an enchanted evening. I have appreciated the graciousness of our acting hostess and the environs as well as the company. How I miss you when we are not all together, for even though I admire you and appreciate you individually, it is always such an orchestration when we all come together; I eagerly look forward to the next tune.

My friends, Sing! Dance! Be Merry! Make Music! and I will see you soon. Farewell!

Group: Farewell. Thank you.
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