<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.5730.11" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face="GoudyOlSt BT"><B>
<P>DATE:</B> April 24, 1997<BR><B>LOCATION:</B> Pittsburgh, PA,
USA<BR><B>T/Rs:</B> Gerdean and Hunnah</P><B>
<P>TEACHER:</B> <B>TOMAS and MERIUM<BR>TOPIC:</B> Learning to
Communicate<BR><STRONG><BR></STRONG><B>STUDY:</B> Urantia Book <BR>Paper 5,
Continued </P>
<P>Let us pray.</P><I>
<P>"Heavenly Father, thank you for your very existence and for ours, for the
gift of personality and the gift also of free will. Help us, dear Father, to
know what to do with these valuable gifts that You have given us. Help us to
align ourselves with Your will that these gifts may give back to You our
devotion and appreciation for your gift to us, in that, dear Father, we may be
granted eternal life.</P>
<P>"We have come a long way in our growth, in our desire to know You, in our
spiritual growths and in our service to others. Sometimes, dear Father, it seems
we've already been at this an eternity and yet we realize that we have only
begun. Help us to realize, dear Father, our growth, our reality, our eternal
aspects through You. Give us confidence of our relationship, of your indwelling
and our eternal life.</P>
<P>"Also, Father, help us to see in others Your personality. You, through our
brothers and sisters, that our lives may be enriched, knowing that You walk with
us, that You share this experience with us, that we are not alone, but that Your
presence is indeed a constant among us. Help us to rise above the fetters of
fear, and radiate the personality that You would have us be, that we may be
loved for You. In Michael's name we pray. Amen."</P></I><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Good evening, faithful flock. </P><B>
<P>Group:</B> Good evening, Tomas.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Sometimes it feels like a dog in heat, that we chase our tail
trying to catch up with ourselves, but indeed when we finally catch up with
ourselves we are found in Him.</P>
<P>Your meeting this evening has been most intriguing. Your studies are amazing.
Your personalities are a flower garden of unimaginable color. And yet you are
indeed each a creation and an extension of the God of personality. Radiant
blooms, one and all.</P>
<P>I realize that our format is topsy-turvy, but this is part of learning how to
work as a team. I would not want our group to become crystallized and regimented
to the point where you approached it with a ho-hum attitude, nor do I want you
to feel burdened by the cerebral aspects of the text and the ponderousnous of
the Teachers' lessons, but we must formulate some order in order that we can
maintain a sense of family and continuity.</P>
<P>I would suggest henceforth that all your gatherings begin with a moment of
stillness. This simple, rudimentary practice is invaluable in giving your mind
and soul a focus; not only for yourselves individually but as a testimony to
each other that you are now embarking upon a season of application toward spirit
intent.</P>
<P>I also would like to introduce a practice of sharing that has been successful
in some communities. As Merium has observed, you each have an almost desperate
need to express yourselves and this aspect of personality can be developed.
Therefore, I would like to institute, with your permission and cooperation, a
segment of time devoted to personal sharing, and in this upcoming addendum, I
will ask you to manifest some discipline, for your socialization in this realm
overlaps significantly and you digress. But in the format that I would suggest,
I would ask that you recall the assignment from the previous week and address
the group, one at a time, as to your week's activities, in particular having to
do with the effects of the assignment.</P>
<P>In this way you will have opportunity to apply yourself to the lesson in a
meaningful way, for you will need to report to your peers, by way of
socialization. It also will accommodate your need to share aspects of your life
with each other. It will serve the purpose also of, in an orderly fashion,
notifying your teachers of whether or not you have done your homework. There is
merit to this proposed format, and it is not just for our convenience that we
suggest this, but for your delight.</P>
<P>There are only a couple cautionary remarks, one of which is involving the
discipline of one individual speaking at a time, and I say, with a smile on my
face, that I realize that is an almost impossible assignment for you; and, no,
we are not interested in others' commentary regarding your report, but would
like to hear from you individually, in a soulful way, about your week and your
application to the lessons. This will give us a focus, a direction, and it will
give you an opportunity to share meaningfully. Would you be amenable to this
proposed agenda? (Group agreement) I tell you we have utilized it for months in
the Butler group and it has brought forth much fruit. </P>
<P>Very well. Last week, you will recall, the assignment was to observe your own
personality, your human personality, as compared .to your Father-bestowed
personality, and I don't know that any of you had an opportunity to
conscientiously follow through with that assignment since we did the lesson last
week "cart before the horse."</P>
<P>Let me then reassign that assignment for the following week, and this time,
having now read twice about the God of personality, and having the transcript at
hand to remind you of our discourse regarding personality, you can pay some
attention to your own personality and how it functions. Perhaps you can become
better acquainted with your own personality. Merium? Would you like to help me
out, in this context?</P><B>
<P>MERIUM:</B> I expected you to call on me later in the evening, after the
report.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Shall we then take an intermission and try a preliminary review,
if they are ready? I don't know if they are ready.</P><B>
<P>MERIUM:</B> When you invited them to share, I think that you have reassured
them that it would not be on tape, and they will supply themselves with what
they have to say. They have in mind what they know they will share. In truth,
they are going to share that which is pertinent, that which is waiting to be
revealed.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> The question then remains, shall we launch today or shall we wait
until next week? I think you are saying 'let's go with it today.'</P><B>
<P>MERIUM:</B> Yes. I would like to hear what they are going to say and not what
they are thinking they want to say. I will tell a little story. A wise one,
teaching students, approached a student and asked that she would be selected
that day to give the talk and she said to the teacher, 'Oh, you should have
called on me yesterday! I had a very good subject.' He said, "My dear, you would
not have spoken on that subject at all. It was something that your human mind
would be involved in. What you will speak in the lesson, you will give from the
higher realm."</P>
<P>And I encourage you all, just as Hunnah has to allow herself to stand aside
in order to express that which is really important, appropriate, to be revealed,
because what you will want to allow yourselves to do is to behold that which is
presented to you. It can be out shouted, and under the circumstances, that which
you share, that which you reveal, we will be allowed to witness and you will
witness within yourself, and it will be a great healing and a great releasing
and nurturing for you individually.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Very good. Also, we will get to know each other better. I have
only one further guideline, and that has to do with timing, for we have a
tendency in this group to spend too much time on socializing, and I hesitate to
let you run loose with the lectern. There was once a timepiece in existence at
this table. If it is in existence now, it could be helpful. If not, please
utilize the same comprehension of time as a timepiece would allow and manifest a
consideration for the time constraints of the evening. We will then be in
session off the record.</P><B>
<P align=center>[Intermission]</P></B><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Greetings, once again. I am Tomas. We have been appreciative of
your development in communication here in this format this evening. Thank you
one and all for your contributions and for the expressions and exposures of your
inner life and your external life as you manifest your way in the world.</P>
<P>You will reflect this week upon what you shared. You will realize that
certain things were not necessary to have shared but other things in your deep
mind and heart would have been wonderful to share had you thought of it, had you
had the courage.</P>
<P>Your communications will develop. Your sharing will gain greater depth. Your
communications with each other will lend themselves well to true personality
expression and you will benefit and your indwelling Adjusters will benefit. And
you will find that your communications will take on a new flavor, a new meaning,
a new value, and provide you with new rewards.</P><B>
<P>This, too, is part of the Correcting Time, that we learn how to communicate
in ways which include the spirit, not merely to suit the needs of the material
realms but that also fulfil the needs of the soul and the spirit.</P></B>
<P>I was recalling the character in your culture who is the opera singer, tenor
Pavorati, who waves the white handkerchief. When he holds up the handkerchief at
the end of an aria, he senses the audience's reaction, he keys himself in to the
sensibility of the listeners to see if they appreciated what he had to say, and
I tell you I feel as if you were all Pavorati's and I have tuned into you to
hear what you have to say, as you sometimes tune into me, and so we begin to
sense in each other what it is that we yearn to hear, what it is truly that we
are looking for when we seek acknowledgement from each other.</P>
<P>Your expressions, personality expressions, are each an aria of life as you
live it in your opera -- in the existential act that accompanies the symphony.
This week, be aware of the operatic aspects of life. See the comics, see the
melodramatic, the tragic and the romantic. See the emotional aspects of life as
it is presented through personality. And add a generous helping of the God of
all personality, and see how it is that He shows himself, even through His
ignorant children, how loveable they are in spite of themselves.</P><B>
<P>MERIUM:</B> I would like to encourage each of you to find someone who has
been introduced to you in a very negative way, who has been supported in the
sense of community in the negative way, and to embrace that individual, to open
a door to his or her opportunity to be released of this picturing of him or
herself.</P>
<P>Our brother has introduced a higher way to communicate with each other, to
appreciate each other, and we all are aware that there are times when we present
an attractive scene or profile. Movie stars particularly show a side of their
face that is their "best profile." There are people who do not have an
opportunity to present their best face to you under some circumstances. I
beseech you to extend them the Father's love. Remember who they are. Perhaps you
are the first one who will ever have known to do so. Thank you.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Thank you, Merium, and thank you students, dear friends. It is
late. I will entertain a couple questions if you have any. Otherwise we will
close early this evening. Are there questions?</P>
<P>And so be it. We will be with you this week as you investigate the marvelous
realms of personality. Farewell.</P><B>
<P>Group:</B> Farewell.</P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>