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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">DATE:</B><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>January 3, 2010</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">LOCALE:</B><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Rio Rancho TeaM</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">T/R:</B><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Gerdean</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">TEACHER:</B><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>What About Bob, a
Cherubim</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">TOPIC:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Languishing in Isolation</FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT-ABOUT-BOB:</B><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Hello.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Group:</B><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Hello.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT-ABOUT-BOB:</B><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I’m not wasting any time … because the
opportunity presents itself so seldom these days, one must strike while the iron
is hot.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Group:</B><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Thanks for coming.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT-ABOUT-BOB:</B><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Thanks for being open to a visitor.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is What-About-Bob and Lady, as
anticipated.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I heard you rattle off
a litany of topics that we might like to embark upon, the New Year being fresh
on your minds.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It would be nice to
suggest that you utilize the New Year as an opportunity to renew your contacts
with your celestial helpers but we hesitate to do such a thing because you fall
short, you fall by the wayside oftentimes in your rush to do life on life’s
terms, and when you look around and see you have fallen off your pattern, you
feel guilty and/or as if you didn’t need it anyway, or that it has served its
purpose, and so it becomes just another thing to deal with -- like New Year’s
Resolutions, we hardly make them anymore.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">And knowing that, we observe how many people do make
resolutions and how many of them are so short-lived.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is more often an exercise in
frustration and self-defeatism than it is a self-stimuli package.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But that said, it is always intriguing
to test your own capacities, your own disciplines, your own endurance
levels.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It’s always good to
challenge yourself, particularly when you have an idea of what your capacities
are and you pretty well function within those capacities effectively.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It would seem “If it ain’t broke, don’t
try to fix it.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But sometimes,
making that extra effort, going that extra mile – just one more push up – will
set a new record toward your sense of accomplishment.</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Much of the work of the spirit is being your cheerleader
and coach.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Inasmuch as love is the
benign virus, it is constantly seeking to infuse you with positivity. Even about
yourself.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And so when you are
vulnerable to feeling less than optimistic about “things,” the mere reach for
higher values, expanded consciousness, divine intelligence will help lift you up
an d over the edge into a plateau of operation that is better than the
alternative, which would be that couch potato you referenced.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It’s similar to adding a dimension to
reality that creates morontia reality over and above mere
metaphysics.</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">I wanted to speak to you a bit today about the tendency
of mortals to languish in isolation, which is a tendency that can be cultivated
as a response to the limitations that beset you in a cultural paradigm.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The more populated the world becomes, it
would seem, the less opportunity you have to feel that pinch of isolation that
would lead to languishing, but in truth, a crowd is a very lonely place to
be.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is like the maelstrom, the
exterior of the hurricane in which you find yourself in the peaceful eye.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You really don’t want to hang around in
that energetic chaos, progressive but destructive, any longer than is avoidable,
but the alternative is the isolation of self-imposed exile from others whose
existence is another whirling dervish.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>This is the manner of electro-chemical beings.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They are able to bounce off the walls
and off of each other much like bumper cars until such time as they have order
and a good orderly direction, which often requires rules, guidelines and
disciplines which most folk are not willing to undertake even to accomplish the
peace which passes all understanding. </FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Let’s take this a bit further and socialize it.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>If you can follow my illustration here,
think of each of you as that electrochemical whirling dervish, grounded by the
immediate and eternal point of reference that is unchanging.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You have then the challenge of
recognizing and identifying with, even working with that unchanging personality
reality of another entity all the while by-passing and stepping over the
constant effects of the electrochemical environment that lays between you like a
moat.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The atmosphere must be
by-passed. And yet each of you spill so much into your atmosphere, it is coming
at you and going out from you almost incessantly, simply by the nature of your
physical and chemical composition.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>You may seek to function completely from the center within, but no matter
how earnest and sincere your efforts are to be perfect and to reflect
perfection, you cannot control what happens to the energy you call your own when
it escapes from your sanctuary and explodes into the external environment, which
lays between you and your peers.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>And still one languishes in isolation.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So how does one overcome that middle
ground / turf?</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">You are admonished to learn to perceive the presence of
God in one another and in yourself.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Many people think that this is a state of sublime peace and it is, but it
is much more.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is all things; it
is all encompassing; it even encompasses the chaos that is your
environment.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is expectations
about what God is or how people should project that energy that causes such
social unrest.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is also why
people will put up with the chaos and imperfection that is part of the human
condition, even to the extent of putting up with abuse – so as not to feel the
pinch of isolation. Yes, it is possible to live within your sanctuary with God
as your constant companion, but it does not render you useful to the world
outside if you cannot relate to the world outside and identify with it, even in
its chaos. </FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">The chief inhibitor to this being a productive and
compassionate reality for many of you is the inability to recognize the presence
of God within.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You have closed
yourself off to protect yourself from that emotional and mental excitement.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You have put up boundaries such that
nothing can get through – either in or out – and you end up isolated, wherein
you languish.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Now, you may not even
realize you are languishing.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You
may think you are being serene.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You
may think this is peace when it may actually be stagnancy. And these nuances of
mortal reality can come and go often in the course of any and all
individuals.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">When people feel the need for socialization, they
generally find a way to make a connection with other people, through calling
them on the telephone or going to visit them or even going to the mall where
they may be assured of a population much like themselves – individuals in
motion, carrying on the business of living.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This diminishes the sense of isolation
and of languishing, and so shopping is a great stimulator of energy on many
levels.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It soothes the savage
breast (the savage beast as well) and temporarily pacifies the electrochemical
environment.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is something on
which to focus, something self-gratifying.</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Does anyone have anything they would like to ask, any
questions about what I’ve talked about, or anything at all? We’ve got the
opportunity and I have managed to interject my little message and so I would
like to hear from you, should you like to open yourself and enter the energetic
avenues of possibility that lay between us.</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#1:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Can I ask about the health
of my friend, G.H.?</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>What do you want to
ask?</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#1:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Is she near death? Is she
in the dying stages?</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN>This is a crystal ball question.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#1:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I—Really.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>No one knows.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Just being sort of … out
there.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN>I don’t find fault with your question; I just can’t answer
it.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#1:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Okay.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(Pause)<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Our group is going forward well.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We’re enjoying the Papers.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We welcome any
visitors.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN>You have found yourself a suitable paradigm of action.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You have all rather agreed on a course
and have been sticking to it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This
makes for smooth sailing.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is
one of the things necessary to establish effective teamwork, having the mutual
unity of purpose that you all understand to be the reason you have all gotten
together.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Sometimes pulling the
energies in, sometimes pushing them out – as you would say “pushing the
envelope” – but by and large you know what you meet for, and you apply yourself
to that task.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Having a program, an
agenda, a purpose, adds structure and order to what might otherwise be a part of
the whirling dervish.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Structure provides you with an anchor that you can glom
onto together as a social group – as a group rather than isolated
individuals.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It’s good to see how
effectively working groups can be made to order, and how effective and happy
members can find themselves therein.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>This kind of behavior gives off good energy, just as an upbeat
God-conscious, spirit-led individual gives off good energy … although again,
what happens to that energy after it leaves the nest – the collective nest in
this case – will depend upon the electrochemical configuration into which it is
spilled.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It may be met with fear
and trepidation; it may be met with acceptance and peace; and it may be accepted
with enthusiasm as part of the solution.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>And those are not for you to know in advance.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Just know that as the Master taught,
some seeds will fall on fertile soil, some will fall on barren ground, and some
will be whisked off on the winds to further pollinate fields far and away from
yours.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So, in other words, it’s
good to see you are having a good show of it in your group.</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#1:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And apparently the
fortuitous, serendipitous events that come together that create the wonderful
happenings ….</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN>Aren’t they wonderful to behold?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>This is one of the cherished gifts of faithers.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They are given glimpses of the reality
they strive for.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is like proof
of their assurance of spirit reality, confirmation of their faith.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#1:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Thank you so much for those
confirmations, too. I think it also encourages prayerful activity because you
also see your prayers are being heard and answered and tended to and problems
solved and things like that and it’s amazing and wonderful, and thank you,
everybody involved.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is the power of
numbers, the value of teamwork, the beginning seeds of civilization on higher
levels.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#1:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>What fun.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Dynamic.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Yes.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>What fun.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#2:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Well, is there any advice
as we go forth this year?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Do’s or
do not’s?</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Who is
“we”?</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#2:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Anybody.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Us.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>No.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Again I am not inclined to pull out the
crystal ball.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#2:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I mean in
general.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></B><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In general, it’s a new year for you.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It’s the same period of time to
us.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#2:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It’s <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">now</I>.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Truly, it is <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">now</I>.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Following yesterday, preceding
tomorrow.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In many ways it’s what
you make of it; in other ways, it’s how you handle it.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In another way, it’s what you do with
it, whether you ignore it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The main
thing is to experience it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And, as
we discussed above, in terms of whether to experience that as a sacred place of
worship and companionship with the divine mind, or to attempt to reach out and
connect with others, and to what extent you are successful, may you all have fun
doing it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is not to say that
some disciplines and exercises are not without struggle or effort, but there is
no happiness without intelligent effort.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>And so think not it will be a piece of cake.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It will not just be handed to you.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You will need to do some contributing to
the process, but again, this is what makes it fun. This is how you can claim
participation in the advancing, ascending, reality in which you live and of
which you are a part -- ultimately, the evolving God of experience, to which you
meaningfully contribute.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#2:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“Not my will but Thine be
done,” hopefully.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Yes.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So we would like to know and be guided
in our comings and goings and joyful happenings that the paradigm that we live
and create is one blessed by divine design.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Amen.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#2:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I just hope we can put
enough good thoughts toward a good awakening, new future, new paradigm, new
world structure of everything --- and I know it takes a long time and it’ll all
get there and there’ll be struggle and hopefully we can keep the joy and
happiness along there as we do that; and keep in touch with what we’re doing and
where we’re doing because we are all children of God and we’re on a destiny
here, so we want to make it as pleasant as possible and as easy for people as
possible.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>That’s my wish for the
New Year.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></B><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Well, that’s very interesting. You seem
to be seeing the future from a very parental and affectionate vantage
point.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#2:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>More like a
grandparent.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Less
involved.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Well, at some point, it’s
okay to acknowledge your own experiential wisdom and the importance of passing
on what you know to those who follow.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>This is part of the natural design, the divine design, if you will.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>That’s why experience is the best
teacher and why people should be respected for that experience, simply because
it has been experienced -- without judgment as to whether it was a good
experience, a bad experience, helpful, not helpful, or any number of
qualifiers.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There was an interesting talk this
morning about cause and effect, and how different religions call it.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Some call it karma, some call it “as ye
sow, so shall ye<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>reap” … so
everybody addresses it, it’s just called something different.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Basically it’s the Golden
Rule.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Right.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And what you put out is what comes back
forth to you.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Such as when you point
your finger at someone, you have three pointing back at you.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Right.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Or the mirror.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Well, yes, this all
reflects on the fact that on some level you are all connected, and on that level
of cosmic connection, that intelligence gridwork, you cannot know isolation for
you are “one with everything.”</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You are never alone.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There are too many entities
around.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>When you live on that
transcendental plane, yes.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>When you
live in the finite world, however, you are subject to the vagaries of the finite
existence, and it is not always so evident.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Nor can one simply forego one’s own will
to the point of perpetual non-existence.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>One must have a will to make choices!<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So a good balance is a good perspective
-- one which offers the polarity inherent in contrasts, such as male and female,
providing perspectives on an issue; or the angels of the churches and the angels
of progress having differing perspectives; but overall growing while maintaining
the stabilization necessary to allow the growing to be constructive rather than
destructive.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Rather like the
positive and negative play together to provide the balance necessary for my
companion and I to interact and interchange our gifts and tools to the situation
we apply ourselves to in service.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Left foot, right foot; left foot, right foot; adjuster, guardian;
adjuster, guardian; breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Balance.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Patience, Obedience.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>My guardian angels.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB</B>:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Balanced with action.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Work and play.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Study and recreation.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Well we seem to have answered all the problems of the
universe, for the moment.</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Well, questions are
endless.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And they all come back to
the same source.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Within.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Within.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And more will be revealed.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#4:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Bob, I had a question after
you finished talking, because in all of your talking you were talking about
physical presence, the physical presence of God within the self and the physical
presence of God within other people, and that solidifying reality, as compared
to the space between us that is more chaotic and electro-chemical, bouncing
around, up for grabs, depending upon how it is affected and how it is received
by whatever else is going on out there.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>So I wanted to hear more about, or talk more about the aspect of the
presence of God – perceiving the presence of God and/or experiencing connection
or isolation on the Internet, in our sundry avenues of society that we find on
the Internet. You have any comments to make about that as to how it may be the
same or different or what its unique challenges are? Or anything?<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Anybody else want to add to that
query?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Well, just how it makes us
all interconnected in ways that we’ve never been before.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#5:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I immediately thought of
the amount of cell phone communication, texting, on top of all the Internet,
e-mail, almost instant contact we have with a lot of people and a lot of sources
and resources we didn’t have 20-25 years ago, and that in itself seems like it
was an extension of reality into that more ethereal everything-being-connected
syndrome.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Yes, you have a good
perspective there and one which I will take off on, that having the perspective
of faith and the nebulous and invisible morontia reality that does not require
the physical paradigm that you depend upon so heavily and are so poignantly
aware of in your mortal existence.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>In your room here, for example, there are desks and chairs, snacks and
lighting, air and substance, as well as the energy of your own persons and the
exchanges that go on among and between you, including the cat.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>On the telephone, on the Internet,
through mechanical means and devices where you are not in the same physical
presence, but present mindally/consciously, there are differences,
definitely.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">The presence of God in that sense has to be assumed.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You have to assume that the people you
are talking to are indwelt, and whatever qualities you choose to project upon
them, and there we get into the whirling dervish aspect again immediately, and
those are easily underscored, highlighted and proved to your mind when certain
words are used, certain words that have certain connotations to you.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Some words that some may feel extraneous
or violent or baiting may on another day in another light simply appear as
colorful or appropriate.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And so the
same thing holds true – you react as evolving creatures, according to your state
of being at that time. </FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">It is more difficult to step over the electro-chemical
chasm that occurs between personalities without the physical presence there to
allow the Adjusters’ immediate access to one another.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In a marriage relationship, for example,
a husband and wife can have a misunderstanding, even a mild spat, and within a
short period of time have thought it out, thought it through, recognized the
ramifications coming and going, and relying on the Spirit of Truth and the
Divine Fragment to do their work, the work is done such that domestic harmony
may resume without much ado.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">That healing that comes when the oil of reconciliation is
poured out upon you in a configuration that you can share intimately is
different from one that you share socially in a crowd that may or may not have
the degree of conviction that it might have in person, simply because the
healing is based on faith and assumption rather than on the actual shared spirit
only possible through intimate human contact.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And yet you look for intimacy on these
lists and through these emails and through these exchanges because you yearn for
connection; you desire to share; you look for nuggets of truth, beauty and
goodness; you seek to feed on what the others have to offer as you seek to feed
others with your offerings, and so a quasi-organism is created.</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">A “quasi-organism” can develop synergy and can develop
teamwork and can get things accomplished, but they will be mostly mental – much
more so than emotional.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And so if
you look to get things done academically or mechanically, a computer is a great
way to do it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But if you seek
emotional connection or confirmation, you will find yourself wanting, since
technology is incapable of providing that type of intimacy you seek and find
with sharing on a personal level.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>This is not to say that bonds cannot be made, or broken, although they
seem to be broken much easier in a mechanical milieu than they do in person
precisely because the presence of God, the physical, literal, actual presence of
a fragment of God within you <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">and your
peer</I> will add a dimension of reality to that situation that will lend itself
more readily to sustaining itself, rather than breaking into pieces.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Even so, there are relationships that – in the physical
sense – become so volatile and electric, there is danger of an explosion and so
the distance afforded by the mechanical means of technology is probably a good
idea for a time; however, when I address my friends and students, I normally
don’t assume you are so low level as to be prepared to engage in fisticuffs over
anything.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I assume you to be
further advanced than that.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And yet
I was one of the first to admonish my friends, my mortal friends that they ought
not to assume <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">anything</I>.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><U>Anything</U></I></B>!</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">It is in the assumption that the problems are ignited.
When someone sends an email using a word that you find to be inflaming, you
assume the worst, when the fact is there are many definitions. And some people
have no idea of the definition at all; they only understand how it was used
once.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It brought about a negative
circumstance and they consider anything surrounding that henceforth to be
something they want no part of.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The
same thing is true with personalities.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>“Oh! Yes! I’ve heard of him!<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>I’ve heard he’s a real pain in the neck.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I don’t want to get to know that
person.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And so assuming things is
a grand way to cultivate ignorance and prejudice.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Far better to ask, even if you are
maligned for asking, than to assume you know things about others based on even
what they had to say, because of the nature of that interim space, that whirling
dervish of electro chemical energies that lay in wait to snarl and confuse, as
compared to the grounding – the God Fragment that acts as a lightening rod in
the midst of the storm.</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You give the lightening a
way to ground, so it doesn’t –</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So that it goes right
through you and energizes you but does not destroy everything in sight.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is the constancy of the Divine
Fragment as well as the constancy of your personality -- that personality which
God has given you to serve as the vehicle for the Adjuster.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is the reason we are always in
support of your getting together. Whether you are getting together as a pair of
friends to discourse or do something together, a group of friends to get
together and do something together, or an assembly of friends and associates to
get together and do something, to share something – or just to be together –
because this unites you in the classic, original and personal sense as the
Family of God.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The Family of Man
with God as your Father, and He being there with each of you as a testimony to
that greatest of realities.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">The computer will do in a pinch and it will do well for
certain mechanistic functions, but it will always fall short in providing you
with that which you long to know and feel from your peers; you will need to
await the presence of your peers to feel that release from isolation and
alienation that only can be filled by the spirit.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>All the rest of that is academic,
mental, and of great value but incredibly impersonal.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is also a “dry run” albeit a flawed
one as to how you will actually interact in person when you finally reach that
point.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Chances are many of your
impressions will be confirmed, but do not be surprised when many of your
assumptions fall away like the illusions they are in the realization of the
genuine substance of your peers, which you may never had known had you not had
the opportunity to meet them in person.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Does this help clarify?</FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#4:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It does.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Why am I so late to see some of these
things?</FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB</B>:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Well, it’s just like the
psychic circles.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You get what you
get when you’re ready for it and you can’t push it; you can’t make it
happen.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You may walk past it 20
times but only see it that once.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It
takes what it takes!<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And it is not
like it’s such a big revelation.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>It’s just my observation from a very peculiar perspective, for I am
always an assumption on your part.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>And so you have to assume I am here even to listen to me, and so even as
I admonish you to never assume anything, I then have the nerve to speak to you
and expect you to listen; I assume you hear me, and so we have yet another
paradox that only faith will overcome.</FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#5:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We’ll know it when we know
it.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Precisely.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And it will serve until we know
better.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Anything else?<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So we’ve been pursuing this
path of the knowledge of good and bad since before Adam and Eve, learning, ever
learning, so I assume that’s probably what it’s all about – is experiencing day
by day as we interact with each other and the Family of God out there.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We can only just
guess.</FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Well, you can have
faith.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And that, in fact, will keep
you going.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But don’t be surprised
if the cosmos turns the page and your faith is shaken to create an enlarged
faith.</FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Fear not, in other
words.</FONT></FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Easy for you to say!<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>When your reality is shaken to the core
and you stand there naked –</FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>-- wondering what the hell
happened. “Why me, oh Lord?”</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#5:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It’s very easy to get our
self-confidence shaken.</FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Indeed, you seem to make a
practice of shaking your own faith just to have something to do.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This brings me back to what we talked of
earlier about how much work we do with you in your mind is to help you rally
against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and even when it’s not that
outrageous, you seem to think it is.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>This is a result of your unfortunate heritage, one which will take some
time to overcome but we are determined to do that, and when I say we are in the
process of overcome this, please know it is not simply for the Correcting Time
of Urantia, it is a part of your rehabilitation so that you are prepared to
advance in the cosmic realities of right living On High.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">In shedding the mental malfunctioning of yesterday’s
mental paradigm -- you could call it brainwashing, cosmic brainwashing of a
higher kind, rinsing away the smoke and dust of a former age to allow the mind
to live in the clear stream of consciousness that is without fear, the one which
is advertised in Michael’s message and throughout the Urantia text, trickling
into the consciousness of all God’s children who opt to hold high the mission,
who are the light workers, the troops, the soldiers, the warriors, the workers,
the band, the merry band of spiritual activists who are helping keep the good
cheer afloat as you on this sphere undergo the trying and testing times of
physical, financial, political, ecological, philosophical, economic paradigms so
topsy-turvy today.</FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Your ability to be buoyant is stirring, even as your
tendency to despair is understood.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>But as you know, love is more catching than hate and God’s will will
prevail, and there is nothing unfortunate about that.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Once again, let me say farewell for Lady
and I are off to a dinner party and must leave, but we’ll be back at the next
opportunity to communicate together in mutual interest.</FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Student
#3:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Bon
appetite!</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">WHAT ABOUT
BOB:</B><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And Bon
voyage!</FONT></FONT></P>
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