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<DIV><FONT face="GoudyOlSt BT"><B>
<P>DATE:</B> May 1, 1997<BR><B>LOCATION:</B> Pittsburgh, PA, USA
<STRONG><BR></STRONG><B>T/R:</B> Gerdean<BR><B>TEACHER: TOMAS<BR>TOPIC: A Life
of Loving Service </P></B><B>
<P>TEXTUAL STUDY:</B> </P>
<P>Urantia Paper 6, The Eternal Son </P>
<P><B>TOMAS:</B> Greetings, my friends, I am Tomas.<BR><B>Group:</B> Good
evening, Tomas.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> It is good to be with you again. All of us in the celestial realms
rejoice in your steadfastness, in your yearning to grow in spirit reality, in
your desire to do His will, and in your efforts to serve. Lovely personalities,
how are you this evening?</P><B>
<P>Celeste:</B> Wonderful.<BR><B>Leah:</B> Just great.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> It has been a good evening and continues to be productive of
spirit communion. This evening's studies regarding The Eternal Son have brought
now into your comprehension of Deity an aspect of action in mercy and as you
have observed in your recent assignment regarding personality<B>, </B>the fact
of personality is activated by<B> </B>and through mercy. You now have the chief
two ingredients toward living a life of loving service.</P>
<P>Those instances where you observe personality, without judgment, wherein you
recognize a fleeting glimpse of reality -- be it childlike faith, confusion,
experience of the ages, relative retardation, enchanting aspects, and all manner
of personality manifestation -- there is within you then that which is called to
serve.</P>
<P>Many times the smile is adequate. Many times the acknowledgement speaks
volumes, fills untold wells of loneliness. It may not be your responsibility to
bring your concern for their wellbeing into the picture, but as you accept and
acknowledge and pass by, you have served. We have spoken of this from the
beginning -- to open doors between you; to allow the fear to fall away, in trust
of divine guidance.</P>
<P>And now you begin to see the Father at work in the lives of His myriad
children. You have sought for Him, you have found Him in the Isle of Paradise,
you have found Him within your own essence of association in your own Mystery
Monitor, and now you <I>glimpse</I> Him in others - not only in the spiritual,
but also in the actual, the mortal, the existential existence of your fellow
creatures.</P>
<P>This acknowledgement that these beings are the children of Our Father
enlarges your world. You are not alone. You are embarked on a joyous adventure
wherein you will encounter other interesting personalities throughout eternity.
Much of your on-going eternal education is adapting to, adjusting to, responding
to, working with, appreciating, enjoying personalities. You cannot always select
what personalities you will encounter, but you always have free will choice as
to how you will treat/regard any and all those that you do encounter. How would
the Father regard this child of His?</P>
<P>As you see personality and may or may not opt to respond in a service way,
you may deprive yourself of the opportunity to serve altogether, but as you are
touched by life, as you see the Father-indwelt personality with the difficulties
that they suffer in this mortal life, the challenges they face, see them in
mercy of their standing. Allow the embrace of The Eternal Son to wash over that
being -- your brother, your sister. And so even when you cannot or will not
engage yourself personally, you can operate through the spirit to project your
Father's love and mercy on that personality.</P>
<P>This you can do as a conscious act of your will. It is a service. I invite
you to look at this because oftentimes the distress that you see in your arena
is enough to allow you to pretend that it does not exist, for the frustration is
potentially overwhelming as to how you can serve, how you can do something about
it. Rather than deny its existence, envelop it (the individual and their
circumstances) in a shroud of love and mercy as you pass by. You need not ask
for anything on their behalf or in their regard, but direct your love that you
have received from the Father to them through the Father.</P>
<P>It is, of course, far more intriguing when you allow yourself to become
involved in the realm. Nothing is more important, you see, than the work of your
realm, but it is true that your capacities cannot encompass every individual
human being. You do have finite capacities, after all. But to the extent that
your own expanding infinite love is eager to serve, direct your free will to
love and mercy. </P>
<P>Merium is here this evening and would speak regarding the Sermon on the
Mount. One moment.</P><B>
<P>MERIUM:</B> Good evening, my lovelies. Tomas and I are yet getting used to
each other, you see. Teamwork takes time. Sharing is a learned condition, and
although Tomas is infinitely eager to share with me his platform of teaching, he
is not entirely accustomed to my personality, and so we adapt, as he has said,
and as you already well know.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> Someday you will have to describe your personality for
us.</P><B>
<P>MERIUM:</B> Someday, as you get to know me, you will be able to tell me about
it yourself! Indeed, you remind me of our session on Tuesday, but I will only
titillate you by that hint, and so you must find out by hearsay how we carried
on, on Tuesday, but this evening I would like to discuss, but briefly, this
thing about the meek.</P>
<P>You have, some of you, been discussing the meek. The meek are easy to discuss
for they do not threaten. Like the elderly man and woman, like the Butler
citizens, like the Sunday School children, these are examples of the meek. There
is no threat from them. They are easy to recognize, easy to observe. Theirs'
truly is the Kingdom of Heaven. They have not only inherited the earth, they are
quite comfortable upon it. They make themselves at home here. They have no
argument with their Maker or their lot in life. They have accepted and adjusted.
They are not angry. They are not impatient. They are meek and they are beloved.
They are not troublemakers, they are not rabble-rousers, they are not
do-gooders, they are not movers and shakers. They are meek, easily accessible,
too easily vulnerable.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> Well one person who isn't meek is ___ [spouse of a group
member]. He was an example of a personality that wasn't meek.</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> Very un-meek.<BR><B>MERIUM:</B> I recognize that. I did not include
him for that reason.</P>
<P>In, again, focussing on "blessed are the meek," I remind you to be meek, to
be at home on Urantia, to be a man among men that you might rub shoulders with
your fellow men. </P>
<P>Am I receiving signals that I should be saying female gender words
here?</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> No!<BR><B>Leah:</B> You probably heard me say that. There are
no men in this room.<BR><B>MERIUM:</B> It is a language usage.<BR><B>Leah:</B>
Of course.</P><B>
<P>MERIUM:</B> I intend no disrespect to our gender.<BR><B>Elizabeth:</B> "Our"
gender.<BR><B>MERIUM:</B> I return you to brother Tomas.</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> Thank you for coming.<BR><B>Elizabeth:</B> Thank you very much,
Merium.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> We are both here and are both available to "field questions or
comments. Let's move on. Are there questions about our discussions or about your
experiences on your assignment or about your reading, or any commentary?</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> Well, in speaking about personalities, sometimes I feel a
little concerned because I enjoy putting personalities around me that I find
easy to deal with and pleasant and I don't think I'm getting a lot of practice
in dealing with the other type of people, and so I think maybe I'm not using my
time here to learn as much as I should, but I prefer not to have to do it unless
it's thrust upon me. </P>
<P>I certainly did put in a lot of years with my father, who was a bit of a
curmudgeon personality, so maybe I got a lot of practice there, I'm not sure,
but I was getting the idea that you were saying something to us about a lot of
our growth is going to take place in our relationships with these diverse
personalities. Is that correct, Tomas?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> That is certainly correct. And this will be so throughout
eternity.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> And yet I seek the personalities that are easy for me to deal
with. That's not a lot of practice, as I said.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> You have become skilled at insulating yourself against the
vicissitudes of life.<BR><B>Elizabeth:</B> Yeah. I have.<BR><B>Celeste:</B> That
seems to be a very normal thing to do.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> It is a normal thing to aspire toward, but it is not always
successful, and yet, Elizabeth, you have effectively insulated yourself from
much that could cause you damage; that is, you and your family. But you have
also removed yourself from the mainstream wherein the seeds are able to fall on
fertile soil.</P>
<P>It is perhaps not your liking to fraternize with the ilk of the Alpheus
twins. Granted they are not what one would call socially fragrant,
intellectually challenging or stimulating, creatively stimulating, even
spiritually compatible, but they are important, you see, for they are your
brothers. They are part of your family, and although you can insulate yourself
and educate yourself and so forth, you will one day need to accept your
fellowship leanings.</P>
<P>There is no satisfaction as deep as recognizing the fraternity of siblings in
the spirit, and in the spirit it matters not whether you are clever or smart or
witty, but that you are real. In time you will yearn to become not more
gracious, more refined, more well insulated, but <I>more <B>real</B></I>.
Indeed, as you grow in the spirit you become more Real, and like "The Velveteen
Rabbit," this is not done by remaining insulated and on a shelf, but it comes
from being rubbed and hugged and scratched and buffeted until your whiskers fall
off.</P>
<P>I understand that the structure of your life has deep roots. Great history
goes into this insulated existence in which you have found yourself. But it is
true, as you say, that your eternity in front of you involves adapting to other
personalities and it is a good time and place here and now to begin, recognizing
that all attached humans to these personalities are not necessarily what you
would call lovely. It is <I>hard</I> to love unlovely mankind, but it is an
aspect of Sonship that you want for your brothers even that which they do not
know that they want for themselves.</P>
<P>How have you been, Kate?</P><B>
<P>Kate:</B> Good.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> It is good to see you.</P>
<P>I sense that you are not as vocal this evening as you normally are. Perhaps
it is because we have experienced some focused sharing. Have you found merit to
our exercise? (Yes) I enjoy hearing you learn to communicate, to convey
meaningful value to each other.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> We're probably going to continue, in a certain respect. We're
going to continue a little bit of this, even if we get a new assignment. I think
we're going to do this again.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I appreciate the sharing aspect and would encourage it to
continue, for it eliminates excessive chatter. I do appreciate the need for
socialization and the culture which you share, and indeed the fragrant
personalities that you are that would give rise to such joyous socialization,
but it is my purpose to introduce <I>the spirit</I> into your lives.</P>
<P>The Paper having to do with Religion in Human Experience indicates that there
is a difference between a social gathering and a spiritual gathering, and I am
going to pull rank and say that I believe that if we are here in honor of
Michael and to study how he lived, it is more toward a spiritual meeting than a
social meeting, and so I would like to keep communion as a part of our gathering
together, and perhaps when you have a party I can observe without comment.
However, I do not want to usurp your intercourse, and so when I have concluded,
or when the teaching platform has concluded, you are certainly at liberty to
return to your social customs.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> I think it's productive to do what we did and to keep it to a
certain extent focused on a spiritual path. I think everybody else feels that
way. We do a lot of social things, so this isn't supposed to be truly
social.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I will then think about an assignment for you for next week, and
let us continue to observe what is personality --not that you have to do
anything about it, mind you, but observe what you perceive to be
personality.</P>
<P>(In reference to those personalities who are so difficult of loving -- you
are cherished for your efforts, for your long suffering, for your endurance, and
indeed for your mercy, for final judgment is beyond the mortal realms. It lies
in the Ancients of Days who have greater wisdom that we. It is not for us to
determine when personality has become extinct, when the light of a personality
has gone out.)</P>
<P>We will continue to observe personality in terms of the living tree, the
living fruit.</P><B>
<P>Kate:</B> Fruit of the spirit, Tomas?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS</B>: Always. I do not mean to bring up this fruit to maturity too
quickly, but in observing personality, observe personality as it is - alive! The
tree is alive and showing fruit. It is not ready to be hewn down and cast into
the fire. It is the living personality that I want you to observe ("Let the dead
bury the dead."). Focus on that child of God. Continue to appreciate their
personality, their mortal personality aspects as a child of God, given
personality by Him.</P>
<P>And see, too, allow your spirit inside you to speak to you regarding your
service. Is it a nod? Is it eye contact? Is it "Hello?" Is it shared laughter?
Is it a complaint about the weather in good humor? Is it further discourse?
These small steps open doors. Continue to remind yourself of the purpose of your
life: to know God, to be more like Him, and to serve his children, fostering the
reality of God on Urantia.</P>
<P>Yes, we will not go too far in the assignment. Continue to study personality.
Observe, admire, be amused by your fellow brothers and sisters, and feel for a
leaning in terms of service. Report back to me then next week regarding any
leanings you may have felt. We will go from there as to what then to do with
those leanings. All right?</P><B>
<P>Group:</B> (Assent)</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Merium joins me in wishing you well on your adventures this
upcoming week. It is spring. People are out and about. They are innocent. They
are fresh. They may be grumpy but they are happy that it is spring, and so the
positive outweighs the negative. Therefore, enjoy yourselves. Walk in grace and
in beauty. Farewell.</P>
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