[tmtranscripts] Rio Rancho TeaM -- August 7, 2013

[Gerdean O'Dell]

DATE:  August 7, 2013

LOCATION:  Rio Rancho TeaM

T/R:  Gerdean O'Dell

TEACHER: MERIUM

TOPIC:  The Art of Conversation toward the Goals of Teamwork

 

MERIUM:  Good afternoon, girlies.  This is Merium, your friend, your babysitter. How silly, huh? That a babysitter would come in to take care of two old ladies like yourselves.  Oh, I'm sorry! I did not mean to be rude.  That is not a phrase that you might find flattering, but I mean that as a term of endearment. You are, after all, not children in the temporal sense, although you are certainly children in the spiritual sense, and so I thought you would understand my humor and most especially the endearing aspect of my phrasing.  Let's start over.

 

Student:  That was a great start! You don't need to start over.

 

MERIUM:  All right then, let's continue to pour tea and enjoy a crumpet or two of conversation. I have been and we have been observing and listening to your exchange this lovely afternoon and see that it is primarily about socializing in one way or another - social networking, social arenas - the benefits and draw-backs of certain social engagements.  

 

It gives me an opportunity to contribute that when you leave here and arrive in the mansion worlds, you will be companioned and taught a great many things about proper socializing. "Proper socializing"? Well, yes, appropriate to your station. There are many people who depart from the worlds of time and space who have very little concept of the art of conversation. They have little regard for communication, thinking it is simply a matter of conveying information - rat-a-tat-tat - or filling up space. And yet communication covers a wide range of purposes and potentials.  There will be many, many ages ahead of you in which you will be learning how to get along with other people, how to interact with people that are similar to you and different from you. You will find yourself in groupings for differing purposes and for various lengths of time that are comprised of differing kinds of beings - ascending beings from different backgrounds with different philosophies and different modes of operation - simply to learn how to get along and communicate and eventually do something together.  

 

That you are intrigued with the idea here and now is to our liking for it would imply that/ infer that/ indicate that you will be good at it when you get there. There is much to be said about being in the company of people that are different from you, that have different backgrounds and values and tastes and beliefs.  There's also a great deal to be said for "kindred spirits" and those who gather together because of their commonality. Those who get together with a specific purpose, to sing together, will do well as long as they all sing within the same or similar range, and yet there are so many different kinds of singers and songs, you ought not be surprised if you have opera singers grouped in with choral singers, minstrel singers, folk singers, and other kinds of singers, just to provide the kind of traction that would give you each an exercise in adapting to others.

 

Adaptation is something that you will be doing throughout your universe career, adapting to circumstances and other personalities. It is the fierce rigidity of a fixed point of view that makes such fluidity difficult. When you have a number of people who are set in their ways they will not compromise, they are not flexible, they cannot or will not bend, then you have a stand-off, you have a gridlock. And in terms of music, you will be lucky to have a trio, more likely a duet, and perhaps solos rather than the choral arrangement that might be required or desirable.

 

There are things to be said, however, for those who are like-minded. There are certain seraphim who observe [Social Architects] to find who have certain skills and abilities that can be culled and grouped for a certain purpose, for certain tasks, not intended to be permanent but short-term, temporary but important functions that require mutual dedication to the task at hand. These kinds of working groups can be very effective and almost always look upon such an experience as satisfying, ennobling and productive.  To reach a point of cooperation from within such a group, however, requires that you get along well enough to focus on the work and not each other. This illustrates the point that many times when people don't get along, it's because they haven't got enough to do.

 

I think there is a phrase. Idleness is the devil's workshop.  Idle hands are the devil's workshop. And that is true for the social arena, as well. It's very easy to bicker and argue if and when you have nothing better to do; but as you have a project that can command your attention, you can throw yourself into the project with such gusto, you are willing to overlook the personality differences in order to get the work done.  This has been, in fact, a principle and a practice for a very long time on your world, as it is on most worlds. 

 

And it begins early in youth when children decide to build a fort, or a sandcastle. It's a temporary project that keeps them from hurting each other as they work together. Would that you had more projects involving other people!  However, it is not easy to find people who are willing to engage in projects with other people. Time is a factor; expense and energy are others that are serious considerations. Now you have the extra handicap of cyberspace. You might have great ideas, but without structure, without a foundation, you are at a loss as to how to build something in the ethers. It seems to work better in the finite world when you are still finite. 

 

Eventually, however, you will be able to involve yourself in projects that do not require a finite foundation. Even so, you will have morontia reality upon which to build your sandcastles and forts. Always there is provided the wherewithal to fulfill your dreams, projects, and ambitions. My point in discussing this at all today was to remind you that you will always be placed in situations where you will need to learn to get along with people who think differently than you do.  It is something that you will need to master such that you will be able to get along with anyone and everyone regardless of your background; it's part of your education and certainly a prerequisite to teamwork which is essential for much of the creative life you will live as a finaliter. 

 

There are, of course, problems in the meantime, dealing with disappointments when someone does not do what they say they are going to do, cannot keep their commitments for one reason or another, when they lose interest, when the project is reduced to what you call wrangling, it disintegrates in bickering, disagreement. This too is not unusual in youngsters such as yourselves. For one thing, you are not well versed in "long-term" perspectives. Your lives are so short you can't see what an eon is or an age or even an epoch. Your life is a blink of an eye, and so it doesn't mean as much to you; you can afford to take the easy way out and say, "I don't get along with those people and so I'm not going to bother with them." You can afford to do that in this life because this life does not go on indefinitely and there is a lot of room, a lot of leeway, a lot of latitude. On High there are time limitations as well but there is always the overriding sense of eternity ahead. Death no longer hangs over your head as a legitimate end. There is no reason to postpone or procrastinate. 

 

The most exciting thing about working together and learning how to work together, even those of you who are so very different, is the accomplishment itself of the work you undertake, whether it is a bridge, a radio station, a banquet, a car wash, or a political campaign.  The accomplishment is such a rewarding feeling, it is almost as valuable as the work that goes into the victory, the excitement, the challenge, the effort, the strategies, the calculations, the contemplations and the discussions. Even debates are exciting, and for the most part productive. And these things are all appropriate to your time and place in your growth as intelligent beings whether that refers to finite beings or morontia beings, material sons or ascending sons.  

 

You will not be able to avoid groupings, and working out the differences between and among you; it is a required course of study. The good news is that it will call upon you each to be as genuine as possible in order for  harmony to prevail, for when you are each bonded by spirit reality, there is no conflict in that reality. It is only as your spirit reality is embellished by your personalities that the conflicts arise and it is therefore the task of those personalities to appreciate the other personalities as a pearl of great price - which has already rubbed off all the extraneous sands and left only that which is compatible.  

 

And so I reiterate that some of the first beings you will encounter on the other side are the morontia companions who will help you learn to be compatible and companionable. I have very much enjoyed my time spent with the morontia companions. They are not philosophers or lecturers. They are simply companions. But they are the kind of companion that you learn from simply by observing and mimicking. They teach by example. And they have such fragrance - such social fragrance - as well as good humor. If you are willing to allow yourself to be molded accordingly, willing to let go of the hard crust that you picked up as a mortal, or the thin skin that you covet, many of the characteristics of the material life will be gladly dispensed with as you see there is no further need for them on Mansonia.  

 

But I will not linger there, for it is here you reside. I just wanted to help you understand the joys ahead of you and in many ways hint at what you can do in advance to be ready for, truly, when you arrive on Mansonia, you are not going to find yourself entering the pearly gates into a paradisiacal environment where everything is rosy; there you will discover many souls from many worlds, some of which are more of what you have had to deal with than those that are settled in light and life, so there will be services to perform. There will be work to do, and for those who like to feel productive, that is alluring.  Rest assured there are also opportunities to be at peace and savor the circumstances of the new life you live, and also to remember with affection these material days and years that you have spent on your natal planet.  

 

I always remember my home world with affection and a degree of nostalgia. I keep up with it through the mechanisms that are provided; I can see the progress that it is making and be alerted to the new arrivals.

 

Well, I have talked far more than I had thought I would. Let's close it down here for awhile. Perhaps we'll come back. Thank you for inviting me to your tea party. It is always a pleasure to be among you.  Bye-bye.

 
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