[tmtranscripts] One Short Life in the Flesh (8-07-97.PGH) Merium & Tomas

[Gerdean]

DATE: August 7, 1997 
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
T/R: Gerdean

Stillness and Prayer 
URANTIA BOOK STUDY:
.....(1) Paper 113. SERAPHIC GUARDIANS OF DESTINY, Page 1241:
..........#1. The Guardian Angels; 
..........#2. The Destiny Guardians;
..........#3. Relation to Other Spirit Influences;
.....(2) Paper 12. THE UNIVERSE OF UNIVERSES, Page 134:
..........#5. Space and Time;
..........#6. Universal Overcontrol;
..........#7. The Part and the Whole;
.....(3) Paper 159. THE DECAPOLIS TOUR, Page 1769:
..........#5. The Positive Nature of Jesus' Religion

Stillness and Sharing 
TEACHER SESSION
TOMAS and MERIUM
One Short Life in the Flesh 
Promulgating Sincerity
Turning the Other Cheek 
Walking the Second Mile

MERIUM: This is Merium.

Group [Elizabeth, Celeste, Jane, Wendy, Bruce, Leah, Gerdean, Ann, Hester]: Thank you for coming.

MERIUM: I am happy that you have invited me. I am glad to be here. I am glad to be given the opportunity to come on-line first and greet you. My associate Tomas is in the wings and available also, but in this configuration this evening, it was deemed that my more gentle manner should precede him. 

I am glad for the largess and the youth of this configuration. Welcome to you lovely young people. You have brought with you the vigor and enthusiasm that will indeed stir up the sedentary ways of a kind routine. Everyone benefits from these kinds of gatherings. It is similar to your reading this evening that when you feel you have it down, whoops! Along comes a surprise and the settling process begins anew and the assimilating begins again - the attempt to comprehend who you are and how you fit, in association with others in the scheme of things.

[Pause] Please forgive what seems to be a delay. We are having consultation and we are also enjoying your stillness. It is very difficult to allow your minds that clear space to attain poise and a prayerful attitude when the energies are so active, when the physical realm is dominant. It is of benefit to you and also to us to have this moment. In your words, we can "hear ourselves think."

And so we are "thinking" about what, of the many aspects you studied this evening, and of the many things you discussed, would lend itself well to a sermonette by your loyal teachers. Perhaps the core truth of the evening's events and interchanges has been the question of how can you accomplish all the things you want and need to accomplish within a short time frame, when everything has merit.

One Short Life in the Flesh

How is it possible to accomplish all the things you want to do, you need to do, you feel are important, and how do you do this in an arena where there are others who also have an understanding of what is important, is indeed a dilemma which constitutes the human condition. It brings into being all manner of competition and stimulation and discord and accomplishment. Indeed, it makes the world go round.

You are correct, Bruce, that, when someone is genuinely seeking a response to a need, a soul question, it is arbitrarily rude to put aside the need in honor of a format. How often have you considered the baseness of organized religion, which sets aside the spiritual hungers of the parishioners in exchange for formality? Always is it important to meet a soul's need if you are aware that the need exists.

I am not going to offend anyone here, I hope, by discussing a situation that entails human need for understanding which is different from the soul's need to feel an association with spirit reality. Indeed there are many, many kinds of need -- emotional and physical and financial and so forth -- and when the need is loudly crying, it can attain the heights of a piercing cry in the wilderness for divine intervention. Even a child's falling in the gravel while chasing his toy can emanate up like a prayer.

And so we must consider the need of the part, the need of the whole, the need of the configuration, the need relative to each individual. Each individual here is precious and priceless and unique. Each one here is indwelt by the Father. Each one here is flanked by spiritual associates. Each one here has the active ministrations of the Spirit of Truth.

Our format has been in process of development for we have been, this year, in process of assimilating the individuals comprising the group, understanding their uniqueness, and considering the benefit of the whole, of the community; not that the format has replaced the call for help, no, but so that the community can learn to operate as a unit rather than as a vehicle of discord.

That is neither an apology nor an explanation, merely a statement. For our goal as a community of believers is to serve, and always would we seek to serve within our ranks, as any family would, but also to serve outside, in the general and greater family of man. We are our own support group here and we seek to assist each other, and in the genuine needs of the individual, it is all of our jobs to assist and nurture and care for each other.

It requires great faith and great trust if not great innocence - childlikeness - to come with the attitude of needing help and prevailing upon your brethren for the help you perceive you need. It is a courageous and noble attitude, and each one present here, who may or may not have responded, in a one-on-one situation would have poured out their heart and told you of more examples than you would have had time for.

And we do not have a spokesman here, so no one could speak for the group to simplify, and as Leah has rightly pointed out, "We cannot take all our questions to the teachers. They have come to teach us to be teachers, and sooner or later we have to teach each other."

It is very gratifying that your innocence and sincerity is leading this discussion. Sincerity indeed is underdeveloped in your culture, in your world, in your social arena. In a one-on-one situation it may be more possible, but in your social arenas, sincerity has been pushed far into the shadows, into the cloakroom. Community socialization can be very glib, very polished and politically correct, and so deep-seated in your modus operandi you are not aware of the insincerity that you have learned and that you have brought with you.

Promulgating Sincerity

The idea of sincerity makes many people nervous. They are uncomfortable around sincere people. It makes them realize, perhaps, how shallow they might be or they might appear, and so often sincerity is persecuted and rejected, which causes you then to create barriers and layers and layers of defense mechanisms and toughness, which is very, very difficult for the spirit and for the sensitive to bear up under. It is lonely behind all those barriers and defenses, but to be sincere and childlike and say "I seek your counsel" requires great courage and so for that we thank you.

In the mansion worlds you will work to learn how to leave behind every vestige of insincerity. It is a good practice to begin here to learn what is insincerity and leave it behind with your animal vestiges. Sincerity will carry you into reality. Forgive those who do not recognize sincerity. How often do we see it, after all?

Sincere fairness is a fruit of the spirit, and to be sincerely fair, we have, each of us, acknowledged our own sincerity also and have worked on this fruit and will continue to work on this fruit, but we will be fair in our dealings with others and with ourselves.

I wonder if sometimes when you think that Tomas has been ponderous and heavy, you might be stumbling on his sincerity.

TOMAS: I am Tomas. I am the one now to clap my hands and say, "Let's dance!" Shall we dance? Good evening.

Group: Good evening, Tomas.

TOMAS: I have been enjoying Merium's discourse. She enjoys an opportunity now and again to proselytize; I am happy to give her that opportunity for it relieves me of having to review my notes. How are you, and is there anything I can do for you this evening?

Turning the Other Cheek

Elizabeth: Well, perhaps you could add a bit to the reading about turning the other cheek, because you have talked to Jesus and you have been with him on Salvington and no doubt he's spoken about this many times to you individually, Tomas.

TOMAS: We have shared on this concept, yes. I must confess to you that I feel rather in the middle here, for in the Master's portrayal of turning the other cheek, his majesty, you see, was such that when he pulled himself up and showed his cheek, that mortal knew that that act had been presented. It was decisive and not weak.

Now, on the other hand, there is the mortal, who has an entirely different background on which to draw, and when the mortal turns the other cheek, he fully expects to get not slapped but stepped on! It is an entirely different understanding of the same words; it's almost a different code of ethics because of where you come from and where Michael comes from.

Now, that is not to say that that bridge cannot be gapped, and it is truly in the understanding of how it is that you can return evil with good. I know that you can understand the example of a feisty, even rebellious teen-ager who argues with everything the authority figure offers; he is turning the other cheek right and left. He is saying, "Yeah? Who sez?" and there is no victimization here! He is ready to take on the world. Action personified. Even if it is defiance, it is certainly action.

The current vogue of understanding regarding turning the other cheek brings to mind "victim," "abuse," "codependency," "doormat," unfortunate emotional connotations, and when these words strum the emotions, when they affect the emotional condition, they trigger emotional responses, and the mortal becomes debilitated by non-action; they are paralyzed by fear of the emotion that triggered the initial feeling of victimization.

And so they do not have that majesty of spirit; they do not have the self-respect; they do not have the understanding of their nobility and their divinity potential, their dignity as a child, a son or daughter of God. You've got it! It's in there! Just like it was and is with Michael. He, however, devoted his life to fostering that relationship. That was his entire purpose for being here. That was his calling and he succeeded admirably. He lived the perfect life, the perfect human being. You can do the same thing.

He had struggles, he had difficulties, he was a human being. He had the same things you have, and he had his priorities in order. He spoke to the Father often and sincerely, asking for understanding, for guidance, for direction, and when he got direction he acted upon it, in faith, courageously, even when he stood out from the crowd, alone, with no peers, no one to talk to, no one to consult except his spirit companions and his understanding of Higher Power.

And he has said that you have it within you to do these things also. And so the thing we all must do is learn to identify with that aspect of God that indwells us, that is so personal to us, that is perfect and good, until we realize that we too are perfect and good -- relatively speaking, of course -- but we have a right to stand up in dignity and majesty of being a son, a daughter of the living God. All it takes is truly knowing and truly living what you know.

There is no greater experience throughout all eternity. This is my response to your question having to do with turning the other cheek. In the face of your potential, indeed, in the face of the potential of any and all, how could we deny the positive? With the strength and the power of the knowing of the association with the Infinite God, how could we lack driving power to give it back to them a hundredfold, with love even?

You align yourself with weakness when you embrace the human part of you while you deny your better half, your other half. You are of dual origin, my children. You are not just an animal, you are also indwelt by God. This unified personality -- the personality of the human and the Father-bestowed personality of the Father functioning as one well-rounded, well-unified human being -- is a dynamic personality, engaging, infectious. Dynamic indeed. Turning cheeks right and left, stopping traffic. You can do it. Just stay close to your Source.

Don't just stay close to your Source, Merium tells me. Talk to him! Love him! Sit on his lap, tell him stories, let him tell you stories, have an actual relationship with this God. Let him be the most real, the most intimate, the most exciting, the most compelling, the most entertaining, the most satisfying, the most amusing, the most marvelous experience in the world for truly He is. Truly He is.

Now. I believe you also read somewhere this evening that you are not to be overwhelmed with a lot of flowery language, and so I withdraw my flowery language, for I would not stoop to coercing you with mere emotional ploys and fancy language, although I daresay if the Father has given me the words to speak and the mouth through which to speak, I cannot shut off the flow of His words, and so, again, I do not apologize nor do I explain, but merely state.

Are there other questions this evening? Are there further questions regarding turning the other cheek or walking the second mile?

Bruce: What?
TOMAS: Walking the second mile.
Wendy: Oh, I'm not done with the first! (Group laughter)

Walking the Second Mile

TOMAS: Walking the second mile is a parallel to turning the other cheek, that if someone makes you do THIS, then you do THAT and then some, so that you have shown them, as in turning the other cheek, that you are willing to do even more, only through love. Now, in this context, it is very difficult to conceive how anyone can make you do anything, although I suppose we could say you MUST get up in the morning. You must pay your taxes, you must abide by certain civic laws, and so on and so forth. And so let us take an example out of the hat.

You must get up at 6:00 in order to catch the 7:00 bus to get to where you need to be at 7:30. Is that fair place to start?

Group: Yes.

TOMAS: You must. All right. If you must, then get up at 5:30, and by getting up at 5:30, you have robbed 6:00 of its control over you. By 6:00 you are ready for 6:00. You are awake, you've had your caffeine, you've had your shower, you've eaten your Wheaties, you talked to God, you have the whole day laid out. You are ready for it. 6:00. That is an example of walking the second mile.

Now, that may be a humorous example to show how it works, however, in real life it is really quite difficult, and I do not make light of it, for when you are forced to do something that is unpleasant and indeed difficult if not painful, how can you willingly do it and then engage yourself in even further what you might call "abuse" in order to make a point to a "sadist" who wants you to be miserable in the first place?

In the mortal understanding that may be a rather sick and sadistic philosophy to follow, but let us now infuse it with the Father's love. Let us now think in terms of that majestic personality who is in love with God and life, who has discovered the appreciation of being and noting parts of perfection, who has thrilled to an understanding of an eternal plan for survival, who has seen the miracles of creation, who has wept in an understanding of love, who has touched infinite kindness, who has known ideal circumstances.

This rich human being has something to share with others, has known a depth of feeling that is worthy of the belief of every other person. The worship impulse has wanted you to call out in broad daylight, "Thank you, God! You've brought the sun, the clouds, the rain, the colors, the balloons, the children, the laughter, the wonders, the growth, the possibility, the miracle of life." Something good. And I know that if you are touched by the spirit you understand what I'm saying.

And so then you come along to someone who has not seen this. They are not acknowledging the greater reality. Imagine the darkness in which they live! Imagine the cave of existence. How sorrowful it must be. Of course, they are grumpy! Of course, they are sadists. They are miserable! They have not met the Lord. They have not known these wonders that can make you weep for their beauty and their glory.

Have mercy. Have mercy. Is it not said that this is the planet of mercy? It is indeed.

Elizabeth: Well, Tomas, I'm so interested and I have enjoyed this so much, and I do want to interject this point that one of our dear ones here is suffering not just for herself, but she -- there is an involvement with the little innocent ones, that even tonight we read that their seraphim always behold God, and so when the dear little ones are involved, it gets complicated, in my opinion. Could you address that issue just a little bit?

TOMAS: Well, yes, and I will incorporate that with what I was talking about, and I believe you can analogize that these wonders, these perfect glories, these smells and sights and sounds of laughing children and balloons and gaiety indeed are your children, your own children, and yet there is this one or others who are in the darkness, who are lost in dis-ease and despair and angst and anger and fear and fury and a set of values far removed from those who have seen the light.

Even so, it is necessary that you stand tall and, with the forces of good, overcome evil, by having faith that in the long run God's will will prevail. Remember we did discuss "The Part and the Whole" and that although the part may or may not be in accordance with God's will, in the large His will will prevail. And it is not as though you are not still available to these children. 

You are still in radiant presence of them, and perhaps if you were to stand tall and align yourself with your Parent and the Parent even of you and your children, you could gain that dignity status that would enable you to support your children in love and even walk the second mile in praying for their father, their daddy, that he become a second miler with you, with all of those, of us, who march forward in the good fight of faith.

Always does spirit lend a dimension to the human experience which lifts it up out of a mere animal existence with its tribal conditionings and behaviors into the light of spirit illumination. Always is the power and strength of the First Source and Center available to you to elevate your approach and your delivery in your seeing your life's experiences.

Far better for you to arrive flanked by spirit reality and good faith into the courtrooms and into the battlegrounds of life and face the challenge in grace and peace than to allow them the pseudo-power of the Christians and the lions. I will not tell you to turn the other cheek, for that, to you, represents victimization. To you I will say, stand up. Stand tall in the spirit. Get your chin up, and you can do it! and your children will admire you. They will admire you for they will sense your inner strength. They will want to grow up to be like Mom. They will want to be with Mom. And you can teach them how to love their Daddy, also.

My dears, it grows late. Part of the concern in our formatted evening is that there is not enough time. It is much like those of you who want to accomplish everything in one short life in the flesh. How can you be a suave bachelor and a family man? How can you be an airline stewardess and a llama farmer in the Andes at the same time? How can you do all the things you want to do? Well, I tell you, we have to do what we can and determine our priorities, and understand that those things that you truly crave to do will be done in eternity. It is not necessary to do all things in one short life in the flesh.

Enjoy your lives. Appreciate your lives, but recognize that life goes on and on. Your learning is only beginning. Your joys are only beginning. Your challenges still lie ahead. Not all of them. You have done well. You have come thus far. I do not mean to deny your accomplishments and your growths so far. It was simply my way of saying that we have run out of time for today.

Group: Thank you very much.

TOMAS: It has been my and our pleasure. I look forward to our next interlude. Peace. Farewell.

Group: Thank you, Merium, too.



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