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<BR>DATE: December 1, 2001
<BR>LOCATION: Spokane, WA
<BR>T/R: Gerdean
<BR>TEACHER: TOMAS
<BR>TOPIC: MERCY
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<BR>[preliminary on-going conversation:]
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<BR>THOROAH: ... that person not being who the other person thinks that person's supposed to be. So everybody is trying to please everybody else.
<BR>GERDEAN: Or they're not who they said they were.
<BR>THOROAH: They're not who you THOUGHT they said they were.
<BR>GERDEAN: Right.
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<BR>THOROAH: I'm going to go back there every time because we keep saying they are misrepresenting themselves to us. That becomes a crutch. "Somebody misrepresented themselves to me." Well now, whose fault is that? If I let them misrepresent themselves to me, I wasn't paying attention.
<BR>GERDEAN: Or I was seeing what I wanted to see and not what was really there.
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<BR>THOROAH: And I have gone back so many times and said, "Yes, I saw that but didn't want to deal with it." You know? I mean when you've been through so many relationships, you go back and look at what you've overlooked – overlooked on purpose! - and the stuff comes back to haunt you. To take people for who they are, you've got to be yourself. I think as much as a people are themselves, is the extent they allow someone else to be themselves. Those two things are kind of tethered together.
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<BR>GERDEAN: Right. It's that "acceptance" thing.
<BR>THOROAH: And that's why we have to first love ourselves.
<BR>GERDEAN: Right. Exactly. That gives me more compassion and tolerance for other people because I know I have to accept myself in order to live with myself - honestly.
<BR>THOROAH: Yeah, it's like we're trying to turn everybody blue, but if we aren't blue, we're only part blue. So that's kind of where we are. We're only part way there, in learning what it is to love ourselves.
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<BR> I think there must be something that we can learn in this physical realm that will help us quantumly to overcome some conditioning. We have been conditioned and conditioned and conditioned for so long, and I know the knowledge of the spirit; just the exercise of talking to our teachers on the spirit level are practices in getting to know ourselves better while learning to love ourselves better. But man, the faster we could learn to at least LIKE ourselves ...the quicker stuff will start to happen!
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<BR>GERDEAN: And then it helps, too, when it's reflected back You know, you could be barking up a tree if you keep saying, "I like me, I like me, I like myself" and you put yourself in a position where you're constantly being reminded of the areas where you don't like yourself. It gets really hard to grow when your flaws are being constantly thrown in your face!
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<BR>THOROAH: Yeah. Those affirmations about liking yourself ... I suppose it helps to have the mind-frame that "I'm trying to learn to like myself" and those affirmations will help, but you learn to like yourself out of habit, just like you've learned to dislike yourself out of habit. It has to be a thing where you actually see your own value somehow. You recognize the truth of it to the point where that truth takes over.
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<BR>GERDEAN: Or it's predominant.
<BR>THOROAH: And becomes more and more predominant out of pure habit.
<BR>GERDEAN: Conditioning. Re-conditioning.
<BR>THOROAH: Yeah.
<BR>GERDEAN: Well, let's see what the Teachers might have to offer.
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<BR>TOMAS: Good afternoon, little flock. I am Tomas, your brother, teacher, guide, companion, fellow ascendant. This is a process, this perfecting that we undergo, and you courageous little villains are on the initial rung of the eternal ladder. Not only are you beginning at the beginning in your own self awareness, but the stage upon which you operate is under reconstruction also. This is wonderful for those of you who enjoy drama, who worry that the heavenly gates will offer you eternal boredom, so you tend to scramble around incessantly attracting to yourself those circumstances which will enable you to savor your chaos indefinitely.
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<BR>It is no mistake that the world of the cross is regarded as that one which will evermore reveal the Eternal Son's mercy. Were you to even now create a temple to the Father, you would ultimately be led to allow its foundation to built upon a stance of mercy and the throne would be crowned by mercy. Mercy is the element which is essential in this world and to those who hail from this world. Without mercy there is no hope, there is no lasting joy, there is no real progress. Thus while you attempt to become strong and live up to your potential -- as warriors, braves, shamen, masters of morontia reality -- you will have mastered nothing until you realize the value of mercy.
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<BR>Mercy does not mean you go around feeling sorry for yourself or other people. Having mercy does not mean that you wield power over your subjects and that the blessing of mercy is something you grant as if it were a favor to those who grovel at your feet. Mercy is the lubricant that allows the rough edges of your imperfection to be glossed over in the realization that each of you are aspiring toward perfection. While perhaps your interim behavior and growing experiences belie that unspoken reality, the truth is, if you want mercy you need to show mercy.
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<BR>This is a very real aspect of your character as a student of cosmology inasmuch as your native planet is that world of the cross where the Creator Son made his final bestowal toward acquiring sovereignty over his universe. His life is a flowering depiction of mercy, even to those statements on the cross as to forgiveness. Even as he met with crucifixion and death, still he depicted mercy, for as a Son of the Eternal Son it is a part of who He is, just as mercy is a part of who you are as you equate yourself to being a Son of God. If you deny your mercy, you deny your sonship.
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<BR>If you desire the mercy of others, you will bestow mercy freely and generously because it is part of you. Not because it has been earned or because it is well deserved but because it is like a fruit of the spirit which is an inherent part of the Spirit which lives within you. Tap into that core reality of mercy and embrace it and make it yours and allow it to become a viable part of the benign virus, for what is love if not mercy?
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<BR>We were having a discussion, Paulo and I, before we ventured "on stage" here, as it were, about the Master's well known words having to do with being born again, born of the spirit, wherein he makes reference to the capacity of the spirit-born son to "see with eyes to see and hear with ears to hear" which requires, of course, a focused eye and clarity of these high senses. And we remarked that when Jesus spent time with his apostles, when he preached and taught the multitudes, his times were such that there were no printing presses, there were no messenger services such as your inter-net provides or the television, the newspapers, magazines. The written word is the predominant form of communication in your world today. You listen far more to the radio, the television and music and their messages than you do to each other. Even your personal communications are often reduced to notes and memos left on little yellow stickies in order to catch your friend's attention, to pick up milk at the store, to remember to let the dog out, to please get gas on the way home, to remember Mildred's birthday, to say "I love you".
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<BR>But Jesus never gave any counsel in terms of how you read. He didn't say, "I call upon you to be born again, born of the spirit and discern what you read with the eyes of the spirit." Thus many of you who eagerly consume most of these media presentations are vulnerable to whatever influence comes sailing over the airwaves or into your unconscious. It's such a part of your culture, it would be unnerving for you to close it off. You would feel you were betraying your responsibility as a human being to not hear broadcasts about your neighborhood, your weather, your world, your neighbors, in terms of the written word.
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<BR>We find it interesting that you will sit and listen to the Teachers in faith of our concern for you, in faith of our integrity as the Teacher Corp under Melchizedek and in service to Christ Michael. You will listen to our words and read them voraciously, glossing over the imperfections that are revealed in the transcripts as insignificant in view of the wonder of our words and our communication with you. The very process itself of these elders attempting to commune with you and help you in your growing, is such that you overlook the imperfections of the process. You show mercy. You have mercy on the transmitter, the transcriber, the teacher, the group itself, the individuals who ask questions, sometimes - to your mind - foolish questions, but you embrace it all in the spirit of mercy because it's part of the growing reality of your spirit life, your morontia reality. When you read the Urantia text you have the same acknowledgment of authenticity that allows for you to grapple with the concepts it presents and allow for its wisdom even when occasionally these concepts disturb and interrupt your own well-fashioned concept of belief, in order to allow it the benefit of the doubt, so that you yourself can expand and grow in consciousness and in reality. How can you take this same yearning to absorb truth, beauty and goodness into your world and face the plethora of information that is coming at you as an intelligent and discerning human being, child of God, without also recognizing those same spirit tools that are afforded anyone who is spirit-born and God-led?
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<BR>When you see a child's drawing on the wall of a cubicle of a co-worker and the letters are mis-formed, the words misspelled, you don't hold that against the child or the person who has posted proudly the message from the child. Can you not also look at these outpourings from your human fellows as if they too were attempts at creating a greeting card for their parents? Can you not overlook the misspelled words or the flawed perceptions, understanding that they are created by one who is in process of being formed?
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<BR>That wonderful image comes to mind of your adage, "Be patient with me! God isn't finished with me yet!" is at the heart of mercy. As you attempt to supplant error with truth, your critical nature is sharpened, and while the discernment that results is essential, it is also essential that you manifest mercy lest you unwittingly crucify the creative expression of that child who would seek to spew forth his or her words and wisdom offering, just as if it were an expression direct from the Thought Adjuster, from the personality, from the spirit consciousness of the mortal, he who has eyes to see and ears to hear.
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<BR>Sometimes these many journalistic essays stimulate the various adjutant mind spirits. Your reaction may be a "knee jerk reaction" based on your spirit of intuition, and, without recognizing what in you is stimulated, you carry on as if it were a Holy Grail rather than stimuli for the spirit of intuition. The same is true for all of the adjutant mind spirits. Almost all mortal information is directed at one or the other of those circuits that will pique your interest and generate your energy. In this way the writer, the author, the originator is encouraged, derives feed-back, is rewarded.
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<BR>It's not everything that is going to come from the Spirit of Truth. It's not everything that is going to rise to the level of wisdom, or even acknowledge the level of worship, but all of you can certainly understand those values which are inherent in the human condition which evoke empathy and sympathy. You all have an emotional comprehension of how it feels to read the small print of an insurance policy. That is hardly rising to the level of revelation, but it certainly will do something for the spirit of courage.
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<BR>Well, these are some of our observations as we look upon you this afternoon, on a very enclosed environment. Anything you want to talk about?
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<BR>THOROAH: The subject of mercy, being a lubricant. I was thinking, as you were talking about that, when oil is taken to stressful points in an engine, the viscosity of the oil is tested, challenged, and it seems as though perhaps we are, on this planet, (which would be known as much for mercy as anything else,) – we're sort of testing the viscosity of mercy. There seems to be a lot to overlook. That was the thought I had.
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<BR>TOMAS: Overlooking is not the same as being merciful. Turning a blind eye to actuality is irresponsible. At this point in your evolution, in this world, upon which you live, your mercy is purely personal and thus you have a flawed perception of what mercy is. It's undeveloped. It's unappreciated. As a whole, as a community, as intelligent generations begin to become mature enough to manage its affairs globally, as an organism, as an entity, as a planetary whole, mercy will take on new meaning as new appreciations of justice come into play.
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<BR>The confusion at this point is because you feel (you plural, generically) feel that being merciful is allowing someone to get away with something, and that in order to maintain order, to uphold justice, it's essential that mercy be tempered with wisdom. This is entirely true as we speak of behaviors which affect the whole -- and, as you know, we're engaged in a process of uplifting the whole of Urantia by and through the re-encircuitment, in the Correcting Time. And so each of you individually are requested to ponder the quality of mercy in your own heart, your own soul, and ask yourselves if your actions as a conscious child of God has challenged the viscosity of Michael's mercy or was that only as you acted in ignorance and in fear? Proceed.
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<BR>THOROAH: I had another thought about mercy, that we need to understand that mercy is there - and I do at times feel like I take that mercy for granted - I find myself questioning whether I'm taking advantage of mercy. Both of those attitudes or approaches are based upon a sense of guilt or of fear and anger, which is more pathetic and pitiful than it is evil. It's hard to know which one of those reactions or intuitive feelings are real.
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<BR>TOMAS: You will discover it, in the end, even while your mind grapples with the value levels of your personal discernment, including your prejudices, as you approach the core reality of the issue, the situation, the circumstance, the lesson, the moment in this classroom. There are those who presume upon divine mercy, and yet their presuming upon divine mercy is done in ignorance and not out of wilfulness. If they believed, if they knew, if they understood that they were trying to get away with something, they would be aware enough to know the folly of their ways. Thus you may look at people and say, "They are presuming upon divine mercy!" and that well may be true, but unless and until the realization is made in their own soul, they will not benefit by your judgment of their condition.
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<BR>THOROAH: Well, in a sense, aren't we supposed to understand that divine mercy is a reality? Like gravity is a reality. I just take it for granted and I assume that gravity is there, and so in the same sense, I assume that divine mercy is there. I know more about gravity and appreciate it more than I know about divine mercy and appreciate it. But as I learn, they'll become equal realities to me. Is that kind of what the process is?
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<BR>TOMAS: This is well illustrated in looking at the incident at the World Trade Center. It's very easy for anyone to recognize the natural law of gravity when the buildings fell in upon themselves, but there are few who would immediately recognize the universal quality of mercy in the instant pain and lasting residue of the emotional comprehension of those affected. Only by a grasp of the reality of the Eternal Son is it possible for you mortals to perceive the infinite mercy that is also a part of those kinds of human events which scar the face of Urantia. Only by the vantage point of a supernal personality are you able to recognize that absent the immediate angst and anger of animal reaction is the continual flow of love to and for all creatures great and small -- those taken and those remaining, those at work and those in denial, those responsible and those oblivious. Many of you have a gut response that is akin to mercy, and yet you haven't yet developed an artful way of expressing your reality. You haven't yet found the words, the means, to denote the supernal reality which is mercy, as your perception is colored by your own fear, anger or misunderstanding of what has transpired that would evoke such a sense of mercy.
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<BR>It's an inherent conflict in those of you who are of dual nature. At least until such time as your animal nature is sufficiently mastered to conform to the view of the spirit. And this is impossible in toto because of your material reality. But you can still perceive from the spirit, and you can realize mercy as an inherent part of your divine nature which dwells within you, even as you walk upon Urantia a mortal being subject to the vicissitudes of the mortal life. Being merciful is more than being kind. And being merciful is not being blind.
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<BR>THOROAH: It's empathy, sympathy and understanding – all of those.
<BR>TOMAS: And compassion. Indeed.
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<BR>THOROAH: These are all traits of the Father that are hard to achieve. Sometimes it's frustrating knowing we can't achieve these things but I guess the grand experiment is how we take this spiritual reality that is a part of us and work it into the material.
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<BR>TOMAS: Yes, because you can know them. You can know these qualities because of the indwelling Adjuster, thus they are a part of you, and you can release that influence into your environment.
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<BR>Perhaps we should conclude for the afternoon, subject to your extended homework assignment of investigating the quality of mercy as a direct inheritance of the Son to his Sons. (Pause) Need I also recognize Daughters? So be it. Farewell! </FONT></HTML>