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<DIV><B>
<P>DATE:</B> April 3, 1997<BR><B>LOCATION:</B> Pittsburgh, PA,
USA<BR><B>T/R:</B> Gerdean </P><B>
<P>TEXTUAL STUDY:</B> <BR>Urantia Paper 4: God's Relation to the Universe
</P><B>
<P>TEACHERS: TOMAS & MERIUM<BR>TOPIC: Community of Purpose</P>
<P> </P>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Good evening, my precious ones. I am Tomas, I am so glad to be
here and I am even more glad that you are here with me. It has been a while
since I have met with you in this configuration. It gives me a great sense of
stability to reconvene in this hallowed room. We in the celestial realms enjoy
the latitude of the spatial components of this area. In your understanding you
might appreciate that the treetops make good bleachers on which to sit and watch
your learning processes, your socializations and your spirit strivings.</P>
<P>Even though we have not met lately in this particular location, I and we have
not been idle. We have been diligently addressing our new format of focus which
is "the group" and I am happy to see that your studies this evening contribute
to our outline, inasmuch as, in order to develop a solid loving band of
believers in harmony and unity with such great diversity, it is necessary that
you understand that each of you are the way you are supposed to be and thus your
socializing, your coming together, is not founded upon trying to set the other
one straight, but rather in full appreciation of your differences, and more
importantly, of your united goals and purposes.</P>
<P>We have come a long way in this group toward attaining our goals. Your
socializations have gathered depth and yet in this classroom situation of
willing eager students, learners of truth and better ways, we shall proceed with
even further refinements, for only good can come from your continued efforts
toward learning how to be healthy, happy, wholesome followers in community of
purpose.</P>
<P>I would borrow upon a reference that Elizabeth made earlier in the evening as
to her cultural conditioning regarding socialization and use it as an example of
her conditioning so that you each might compare, in the privacy of your mind,
your conditioning as to how you learned to socialize, for whereas some were
encouraged to have an opinion, others were discouraged from having opinions;
while some were encouraged to express their feelings, others were not allowed to
manifest feelings, and so forth.</P>
<P>Now this, you see, is one of the disparities of the mass conditioning. That
is, you are all different in the way that you were raised by your parents, your
earthly family environments, your clan. You were raised with certain behavior
expectations and they predominate in your comings and goings today. Our purpose
in this study of the group has to do with how to comport yourself in fraternal
terms so that you together as a group can radiate such true harmony of spirit,
even with your many differences, that you will reflect outward to the greater
community that you have learned certain truths and values that enable you to
love one another as Jesus loved his apostles, and as he admonished them to love
their peers and as I admonish you to love yours.</P>
<P>A study of the human family shows a great variation. Often families are
inbred and cloistered and look upon those outside as outsiders and unwelcome.
The bond that forms through the blood disallows loyalty outside the immediate
association of the family structure. But you see that in the Kingdom, all men
and women are your brothers and sisters and so it does not behoove us to remain
cloistered and selective as to whom we will share our family format (with), for
if, as you read this evening, all are equal in God's sight spiritually, and if
this is a spiritually-based operation (this configuration), then we must learn
to love those outside and incorporate them into the family of believers that you
are here today now, loving one another, understanding your peculiar differences
but enjoying and having loving tolerance for those aspects of personality which
fall short of your peculiar ideals.</P>
<P>It has been suggested by the Master that men shall know that you have been
with Him, and I would like for people, when they see you together, to also say,
"It is apparent that the Christ has been with them, for they know Him and they
honor Him by how they love one another." There are many delightful practice
exercises that we can engage in, in order to augment, stimulate, further and
address your fraternity aspects. My friend and co-worker Merium is here this
evening and perhaps she would like to add a thing or two. I will invite her. One
moment.</P><B>
<P>MERIUM:</B> Good evening, my friends. I am Merium. </P><B>
<P>Group:</B> Greetings, Merium.</P><B>
<P>MERIUM:</B> How honored I am to partake of this social gathering, this
occasion which you have created for personality expression, for honoring each
other, for comforting each other, and for greeting each other in the spirit. It
is a pleasure to be a participant in these sentiments and these actualities. It
is so infrequent that we get to encounter a working situation so amenable to
guidance as you are here. Tomas has been most gracious in inviting me to help
him with some of the aspects of group inter-association. I will point out to you
a couple of things that he and I have had a chance to observe and to some extent
speculate about in our brief but poignant piece of time here that we have worked
together.</P>
<P>Tomas and I admire each other greatly. We come from completely different
backgrounds. Indeed, our backgrounds are fairly irrelevant in terms of our
purpose. He and I are both filled with, yes, hundreds and thousands of years
worth of vital and precious memory experiences, but we relay very little of
these to each other, for they bespeak times past which serve for reflection
individually and can act as a teaching mechanism in a, shall we say "sponsoring"
or "mentoring" situation, but he and I are comrades and we have our work to
perform, and so we focus primarily on our work, understanding that we innately
have immense regard for each other because we understand the integrity of the
other.</P>
<P>It is inherent also that we have a deep affection for each other, and we are
not reluctant to make it known that we admire each other and that we have
affection for each other. It has been noted by some of our students that we are
gracious with each other and it comes as some surprise to me that it was
noteworthy, for it is natural, but in the learning process it becomes first a
matter of noticing, and once you become aware, then you can realize, and then
you can act, and then you can become, and then it is incorporated, and then you
appreciate.</P>
<P>It is very apparent to me, if not to Tomas, that you all have a tremendous
need to express yourselves, and I suspect that it goes beyond the mere ego
aspect of wanting the sound of your own voice to reverberate back to your
attention. I truly believe that each of you has something vital to share and to
say, but it is not always obvious how to say what your soul would like to say,
for your soul, your Father-bestowed personality has been so conditioned and
over-controlled by your earthly family of upbringing and your cultural and
social conditioning as to how it is that the human animal comports itself.</P>
<P>You know that you learn by watching others, and what little monkeys you
mortals are! And so much of your learning, your behavioral learning, has come
from watching other [mortals] rather than having a divine guide to show you and
other divinely guided peers with whom to practice. We cannot fault you for the
paucity of your plight here, but we can evince an earnest interest in
Correcting. </P>
<P>It is an overwhelming undertaking to embark you upon realms of socialization
that would harmonize with the Morontia Companions, but again, as you read in
your lesson, "if I cannot do it, there is one in me who can," and so I, along
with Tomas, and along with each of you, put my full faith in our Divine Parents
that they will raise us up, that they will teach us how to manifest the loving
fraternity that would most please the gods and that most clearly demonstrate to
his myriad children on earth your having been touched by angels. </P>
<P>I am most grateful for the opportunity to be here with you and to contribute
to this mutual admiration society. Thank you.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I am Tomas and I have completed my discourse. I am eager now to
engage with you in terms of what you have brought for us to play with. There
were questions?</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> What does the Book mean when it says that all people of normal
mind have a Thought Adjuster? We can't quite figure out what normal mind means
by the narrator, by the Divine Counselor. We can't figure it out.</P><B>
<P>Hestor:</B> Are there limitations? [Indistinguishable]</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> It is a good question and it is also a good qualifier, Hestor,
that you have added. There are sometimes limitations based on damage, but I will
set that aside and address the greater subject of normal-minded, and I will not
go on at length, for the bottom line is that it is necessary that an individual
have sufficient mental capacity to make those decisions which will assure his
eternal survival. That is to say, can they make those decisions which will give
birth to the soul and can they then assist in the development of the soul by
those decisions that can only be made by a normal mind?</P>
<P>Obviously it does not limit itself to I.Q. You could say that someone with an
exceptionally high I.Q. was not of normal mind, and by the same token, there are
some who are considered "slow" who are not in the normal range of I.Q. but who
are capable of making soulful and meaningful decisions regarding their survival.
There are those who have had a normal mind and have made requisite decisions but
due to accident or disease or sustained fever, have lost the capacity to make
decisions, and that would be constituting a sub-normal mind. The point being,
the being must be able to make soul-ascending decisions.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> Thank you. That's a good bell-weather there: the ability to
make decisions. Evidently that's a big part of this question and thank you very
much for answering the question so roundly. And I think that Anne had something
she might put to a group question.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I am delighted.</P><B>
<P>Anne:</B> We came across a paragraph that was dealing with opportunities for
spiritual growth, socially and economically and materially and morally, and we
were wondering about the morally, the moral opportunities that people were
afforded, and, I guess, that's a big subject, I don't know.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Indeed, a wonderful subject it is, for your opportunities begin
early in life. When you make your first moral decision you receive your Thought
Adjuster and so you see how important these moral decisions are! Let me
elucidate somewhat.</P>
<P>Moral is what is right. Now, conscience may or not be what is right.
Conscience is a set of values that you have been taught, that are cornerstone of
your values as a mortal of the realm. The family structure, the social arena,
the churches, the institutions, these are well-fraught with concepts of right
and wrong. This field brings with it much guilt, much blame, much suppressed
creativity, much that is not right in a cosmic sense, but it is a system of
behavior in the human sense.</P>
<P>Now, referring back to what is moral in the spiritual sense, true morals are
a result of your relationship with divinity, for as you go about your life and
you come to a point of decision-making, you will make a moral decision, a right
decision, based upon NOT what society would have you do, not what school or
church or employment or parents or spouse would have you do, but what God would
have you do. What would God have you do? And that God is the personal Father.
And you can see, in understanding what I mean when I say moral, what the Book
means when it refers to moral, is that there are millions of moral
opportunities.</P>
<P>Obviously honesty provides a great range of opportunity in the moral
department. If no one noticed, could you steal something? No one would notice.
Your conscience may or may not bother you depending upon if you felt justified
under the circumstances in taking this item from this place for this purpose.
But the moral decision-making process is a matter that transcends conscience and
mere mores and goes to the heart of the matter, and that is that although no one
else may know, YOU know, and the Father knows, and you cannot hide from the
Father.</P>
<P>And so the moral decision would be the decision that had the sanction of the
Father, that had the full approval of the Father. Moral decisions are highly
personal matters. Society has made a great business of making morals its
business, and this has been necessary in the evolution of the ages, but the
mature human being is capable of governing himself according to his relationship
with divinity, and when people quit hiding behind mores and begin to stand up
and be moral, there will be change. There will be great liberation.</P>
<P>Remember, there are angels who supervise. I am not recommending liberty
without license. That, even, is a moral situation -- that you do not presume
upon divine mercy. That is another moral opportunity. Each moment has an
opportunity. Each situation has an opportunity. Each personality that you meet
provides an opportunity for a moral approach to life, to God-consciousness.
Moral opportunity is a cornucopia of fruits to be sampled and savored and
shared.</P>
<P>I don't know if I have edified you as to moral opportunity. Please respond.
Do you understand?</P><B>
<P>Anne:</B> Yes.</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> While you were talking I was reminded of the biblical story of
Jesus who healed the man with the withered hand, I believe it was on the
Sabbath. The social more said you don't do any labor on the Sabbath but
obviously his moral decision was that there was a prophecy to be
fulfilled.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Well done. Good example. These are indeed part and parcel of our
learning format here, for in company with each other, in appreciation for the
values and the loyalty that you find here in your comrades in the spirit, you
can begin to venture into moral opportunity with one another. You can begin to
venture into exposing new levels of reality in your personality expression that
has not been afforded the opportunity in your more dense social milieu. I
encourage you to address each other sincerely.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> I have a question about just everyday life now. During the
EXPO, Gerdean and I were talking about the Book, and I began to think that I was
going to be as enthusiastic as I really feel, and Gerdean even, I think, began
to feel that way, too, and yet Jesus said never to, by the force of your
personality, to bring people into your beliefs, and so I felt a little bit of
concern there, that I was overstepping that boundary because I just felt so
enthusiastic about saying to people some very strong things about the Book,
because that's what I really believe! and I, of course, think that everybody
should just drop everything they're doing and immediately start to read this
Book, and I wondered if you could comment on that.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I would be delighted. I will recall to your mind the excerpt from
The Urantia Book that also discusses why the heathen rage, and Jesus there
admonished that those who were entirely too lackadaisical about their teaching
message, should indeed take the kingdom by spiritual assault, and so whereas you
are not to coerce them on one hand, it is vital that you spill forth your
enthusiasm for righteousness on the other.</P>
<P>And I will point out, too, that in coercing someone, it intimates that they
are mindless and cannot make up their own mind about what to believe in, and I
do not believe, Elizabeth, that you are looking for that kind of sheep. Indeed,
I do believe that you understand that a man must develop his own concept of God,
that even by introducing him to The Book, he still must chew on its concepts and
pages to develop a full appreciation for the feast that has been presented.</P>
<P>No, I felt your enthusiasm was very beneficial to the booth, to the Book, and
to those who partook of your endeavors, and probably most particularly, for
yourself, for you were truly "wheeling and dealing" in the spirit. Well
done!</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> Thank you. I really feel better now and I'm going to charge
ahead. I have a whole list of people that we're going to be calling and we're
all going to have a chance to interact with them.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I am glad for that, and remember that we are a loving family of
living believers here. We are not a church and we are not a conglomeration of
conscience and mores. As we embrace these new fellows into our fellowship, it is
well to remember that our head is Jesus who loves us and would have us love each
other as He loved us, and so if we can remember to keep that love at the core of
our being, individually and as a group, then our arms are open wide and all who
come to call will feel welcome and want to stay and contribute to this marvelous
embrace.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> Thank you very much. I think that helps a lot. To know that
you can do this. I guess I've had this question for a lot of years and tended to
want to maybe play down the Book because of it, but now I'm into a different
stage, now that you've helped me along.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I am glad I could help. I have some understanding of the bushel
that the Book was under for awhile, inasmuch as it was restrained by copyright,
and this was indeed necessary. And yet the door has opened and it is not as it
was. It is still probably not the kind of book that ought to be advertised on
the television, but it is certainly more open, and indeed, if we are to touch
base with these hungry hearts, these spirit seekers who are out there
willy-nilly searching, finding, discarding, searching more, it would behoove us
to be in the thick of things and not sitting off on our pedestal waiting for
them to stumble and fall and grovel to the truth. Right?</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> That's true.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> We are workers in the field, and it is the field where we
march.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> We're glad that we're back and have this wonderful chance to
be with you.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I have an assignment [for you] before I sign off. I would like for
you each to practice indicating to as many as you can how much you appreciate
them. I would like for you to overtly-- and not artificially but sincerely --
affect individuals by advising them of how much they mean to you. How much a
gesture affected you, something about the individual that you find of value or
of joy, and commend them sincerely and graciously.</P>
<P>This is almost what you would call a moral opportunity, because it gives you
a chance to speak lovingly to someone that you might not have thought of before
this assignment. Stay out of trouble! Remember that when you go among them, [you
are] to remain as wise as serpents and peaceful as doves, but in your life there
are those who you know are dear to you that you have not told, or even casually
that you have enjoyed, that would enjoy hearing. As Merium and I naturally and
automatically appreciate each other and have affection for each other, go ahead
and let it be known that person, you think, is pretty swell.</P>
<P>I look forward to our reconvening. Have fun this week. Enjoy yourselves
enjoying others. Farewell.</P>
<P align=justify> </P>
<P align=justify> </P>
<P> </P>
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