Teaching Mission Newsletters

FROM THE EDITOR

Much of this letter is devoted to the lessons from Ham and Olfana as these lessons and words speak powerfully and beautifully to issues current in my growth and I trust will resonate deeply within your hearts and minds as well.

Always, I look forward to receiving your stories to share in the newsletter as examples of what we are experiencing - the dilemmas, challenges and lessons. I hesitate to share yet another of my stories for the newsletter is not about me, but while I wait to share your stories, I hope again that in sharing it will encourage you to come forward to tell of your experiences. While we are each unique and our struggles individual, the basic core issues we are all grappling with to understand and overcome are the same.

"Letting Go To Get" is a phrase with which we are probably all familiar. It is often quoted in seminars and books on prosperity and growth. As with many other statements, this has been another one that I have understood and often repeated, but never "owned." I did understand that this statement has many levels and that the true meaning of this is a lot deeper than is commonly understood for creating prosperity in one's life. It is more about "Letting Go, Letting God," for our Father is the source of all prosperity. I have been uncomfortable with many of the prosperity principles as they so often are interpreted on a superficial level of achieving material prosperity, when in fact it is spiritual prosperity that is the goal. I have no doubt that one may gain material prosperity with many of the prosperity principles, but I don't believe that the results will be lasting or bring one any lasting satisfaction. My experiences in the last month have elevated the truth in these simple phrases to a higher level of integration - at least for the moment as learning for me seems to consist of the "Aha" and feeling that now I get it only to backslide, pull myself back up and realize that I forgot and slowly the lesson takes hold.

Those of you who have talked with me this last year will recognize that "overwhelmed" has been the word I have used to describe my feeling. It has perplexed me that for a year, I have not been employed and yet I have not been able to catch up. I have spoken of "the bridge," referring to a bridge between the material old patterns and the spiritual new patterns. I have been pacing this bridge back and forth. When I move to the spiritual side and start doing the things that feed me, I feel good and motivated. When I think of the future and the need to be financially responsible and employed I move to the other side of the bridge and it doesn't feel good. While I was still living in Bradenton, I was told by one of my teachers that the dilemma we are facing now is recognizing our duality and learning to allow the divine within to take precedence. Thus, it is like being on a bridge. We go back and forth torn by the patterns of the past and not yet grasping all that it means to be on the other side. Well, let me tell you, I have been pacing back and forth. Looking back, I realize that it was the indecision that was causing the sense of being "overwhelmed."

I had been at my computer talking with my "Family," an appellation I finally decided on after tiring of addressing Father, Michael, Mother Spirit, Adjuster, Teachers, Midwayers and All Helpers of Father in the attempt to be all inclusive, seeking for guidance on how I could best use my talents in their service. Within less than a week, Michael asked me about making a commitment. I was astounded to find myself hesitating. Was this really Michael? Was I imagining this? Was this my ego? Surely, I had been present in the Sarasota group, when we had been told that at some time we would be given assignments, but was this real? When I had gotten past my "I don't think so stage," I asked Michael why I would hesitate to make this commitment, when surely we both knew I would. Michael explained to me it was because of my fear of defaulting on a commitment to him, the Creator Son, a commitment that I viewed with great gravity, solemn ness and sacredness.

Upon making the commitment to Michael, I stopped pacing, my energy returned and I no longer felt overwhelmed. It would take a lot of work and, perhaps, I might end up as a bag lady, but I would be the happiest bag lady with my big blue book and my "Family." I understood that it was okay to pursue some employment as long as my main focus and energy was to my committed work. Seemed okay. I got busy on my "assignment" and low and behold, to my utter amazement, an opportunity dropped in my lap to earn money and use my talents.

But, I was committed, so I decided to go to the individual and give him my very best ideas with the sole idea and intention of being of service and then telling him that I wasn't interested in doing more than playing because I had other more important work to do, which I did. It came to me as some surprise to discover that that was fine with him. I could do both!!! This opened up the opportunity to combine this with a project I have been trying to work on with Chris Hart to develop sales for her Caisse's Tea and the polarity units, which I know have incredible potential for healing many of the problems on our planet.

It remains to be seen how it will play out for there are many things yet to be settled, but this experience again showed me the magnitude of coordination and the magnificence of the Mother Spirit's network when a commitment is made and one moves forward with the desire to be of service and able to LET GO of the outcome. It reminds me again of Michael's statement to me as I contemplated starting the newsletter that when you step forward in faith, the whole universe rushes to support you. And the outcome is not important. It has been the lesson that is of importance. I am sure that I will take many more backward steps, but slowly like a turtle I am learning to "TURN IT OVER," get out of the way, forget about the outcome and stay focused on serving when the opportunity presents itself.

As we approach the Christmas season, what better gift to give Michael and the Father than to take some quiet time to contemplate the source of all our gifts and ways we may offer them in His service. In thinking about this, we might keep in mind that Christmas is the most difficult time of the year for many who suffer from depression, loss of loved ones, loneliness, painful memories and separation. Let us shed our good cheer and light on these individuals to lift their spirits during this season.

Making cookies this Christmas? One of our readers tells of making cookies like gingerbread men in different colors. I am sure you all can guess the colors! What a nice way of incorporating some of The Urantia Book material into the Christmas traditions.

Wishing you all a Christmas Season full of love an joy as you reach out to be with and connect with your families, friends and strangers in the true spirit of brotherhood.

Allene Vick

Editor

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                    FROM THE READERS

November 1996

Each year on November 10, I receive a Christmas message from Our Lord which I am sending along to you. I am also sending a bit of Urantia history to you prepared by Mark Kulieke whose parents were in The Forum. It may be too long for you to reprint, but I thought you would find it interesting, and have much meaning for the Urantia Book students.

Avis Nicholas

Sarasota, FL

November 10, 1996

Christmas Message from Michael

My children. As the season that you celebrate My Birth on this our world approaches, and you once again celebrate this event, I would ask that you look more deeply into my Life and the purpose I have for the world.

Do you not realize that the Father and I ache to see the conditions on our world. The death, the destruction, the insane scramble to have more and more of the world's goods instead of the spiritual riches we offer to you. If you would accept our spiritual wealth, we would gladly add all else that you need to live your life here. Then you would be truly wealthy in every aspect of that word. By substituting the things of this world in the effort to fulfill you inner needs, you impoverish yourselves needlessly.

We are mindful of your needs. As your Creator I am well aware of what will satisfy your being, of what will satisfy the soul and bring joy and contentment. Do not let material objects be a substitute for your spiritual needs. "Seek you first the kingdom of heaven, and all else will be added."

Let simplicity be your watchword. Simplicity in all things. Look deeply into My Life. It was a simple Life. A life lived with our Father, doing His Will, by loving Our children wherever I found them. This I ask of you. Live simply and love your brothers and sisters as I love them, and as the Father loves them. Come, simplify your lives and dwell with Us.

May your hearts be filled with love for each other in the coming year. May you be filled with joy to be part of the great work in reclaiming the world for our Beloved Father. Your Friend and King.

                                      *

Our thanks to Mark Kulieke, who was good enough to give his permission to use the following material in the newsletter and sent some changes he has made to the original copy that Avis sent.

THE NEW MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

The Forum was the group that met and studied the Urantia Papers before their publication. Not only did the members of this group receive and react to the revelatory material, they were intimately connected with its inception. They had much to do with giving shape to the Urantia Papers, because these papers and individual portions of papers came in response to the questions and discussion of Forum members. The end result you know as The Urantia Book, a work intended to be seen and studied by millions in the coming centuries.

Some of the dialogue with the superhumans was not intended for publication and formal presentation to the world. There were probably many different reasons. Much of it seems to have been scaffolding. Some written material from the superhuman revelators had to do with directions for initial publication of The Urantia Book and the formation of organizations. In its time, this material was very meaningful, but once its purpose is served, its usefulness is gone. Some material satisfied curiosity but was intended for a relatively few people as it was quite informal or personal in nature. Some material was sensitive, classified as it were.

Most of this writing is now gone. Most was directed to be destroyed by the superhumans. Some fragments still exist. And memories of others persist.

The writing which is the subject of this paper existed at least as late as the 1970's and therefore I trust it was not extra-sensitive in nature or it would have been destroyed earlier. I would consider it to be in the realm of writing limited in the extent of interest and somewhat timebound as well. Therefore, while it does not belong in The Urantia Book, it is likely to be of some interest to many current day students of the book.

I recall hearing this paper read and it was to my memory written by Midwayers. It was perhaps 2000-3000 words in length and it obviously had appeared in response to a question by Forumites. And the paper answered a question of approximately this meaning and wording:

"Now that we know that Jesus was born on August 21st and not December 25th, what should we do about celebrating Christmas."

The answer imprinted strongly in my mind. However, I do not have a photographic memory and regret that the following paraphrase is not hardly so eloquent as what I heard. But at least I recall the essence of the answer and it is as follows:

It is true that you know December 25th not to have been the birthday of your Creator Son. You will no doubt develop many new traditions around a celebration on August 21st. Even so, you have evolved man worthy customs, traditions and meanings associated with the celebration of Christmas. You should act in a slow and careful manner in altering these practices. Do not dispose of them in a precipitous manner. That would serve to take something out of your lives that contains much truth, beauty, and goodness. Rather than eliminate this holiday celebration and all that is associated therewith, we would like to see you transmute Christmas into something new, to elevate it to new and higher meanings and values.

We would propose that you let the day stand as a celebration not only of the gift of Jesus, his life and teachings, but also as a time to honor and remember the lives and teachings of all the many religious leaders and teachers of truth down through the ages on Urantia. You have a rich heritage of many noble souls who sought to advance and uplift truth on your sphere and often gave their lives in the attempt. This heritage as portrayed in The Urantia Book begins with Onagar and extends down to the time of Guru Nanak.

This relatively small number of mortals gave so much to your world. You would do well to have a time for remembering them for their devotion to the advancement of truth on Urantia. You have no current holy day which honors them. Christmas, which already combines traditions deriving from Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity as well as various primitive cults would be well suited to serving as a reminder of the gift of truth from the many mortal and immortal sources down through the ages.

And because you honor all these teachers of truth from all faiths, Christmas also serves as a day of celebration of the Brotherhood of Man. Already your Christmas traditions carry many themes relating to brotherhood, "Peace on earth and good will among men." If you form the practice of honoring the religious leaders of all faiths, it would be a powerful unifying force and you would attract many others to follow your lead. In this way, you can take a day which you may initially have thought to have lost some meaning for you and give it new meaning, even more meaning than it had before.

The many mortal and superhuman teachers of truth mentioned in The Urantia Book include, but are not limited to, the following:

Onagar

Mansant

Fantad

Porshunta

Orlandof

Singlangton

Onamonalonton

Orvonon

The Caligastia One Hundred and their one  hundred human assistants - I include all of them  because all served faithfully for 300,000 years and it would appear that those who  joined the rebellion were sincere in following  their leader

Van

Amadon

The Vanites

The Amadonites

The Nodites

Adam and Eve

Adamson and Ratta

The Adamites

The Sethites/Amosad

Enoch

The Andites

Machiventa Melchizedek and his missionaries

Amenemope

Ikhnaton

Abraham

Isaac

Moses

Joshua

Elihu

Samuel

Elisha

Amos

Hosea

First Isaiah

Jerimiah

Second Isaiah

Ezekial

Ezra

Daniel

Haggai

Malachi

Gautama Siddhartha

Confucius

Lao Tse

Mo Ti

Zoroaster

Jainist teachers

Pindar

Zenophanes

Anaxagoras

Socrates

Plato

Aristotle

John the Baptist

Jesus of Nazareth

The twelve apostles

Abner and the apostles of John

The Women's corps

The seventy evangelists

Rodan of Alexandria

Stephen

Paul of Tarsus

Philo of Alexandria

Barnabas

James, brother of Jesus

Athanasius

Pantaenus

Clement

Mohammed

Martin Luther

Guru Nanak

The many unknown or now barely known teachers       of truth of all ages

                                  *******

William S. Sadler, Jr., a member of the Contact Commission, made comments related to this theme at a session that was taped at Berkeley Elliott's home in Oklahoma City in 1962. The text of his statement is as follows:

"When I first learned August 21st, not December 25th, was Jesus' birthday, was Christmas, I felt a void like something had been taken away. I analyzed the origin of Christmas, did my homework and put together as best I could: What is Christmas?

December 25th was a high and holy day in the Roman Empire before Jesus was born. December 25th was a holy day in Mithraism, which is an offshoot of Zoroastrianism, a masculine religion for men only, very popular with the Roman Legions.

Christmas also incorporates something of the Roman blowout at the end of the year, the so-called Satunalla, when everybody had a reversal of roles - bosses waited on the employees and masters waited on the slaves. It was a time of lavishness.

Christmas incorporated the Teutonic legend of the hero who needs help in his mission, perhaps the slaying of a dragon, the liberation of a princess, the going on a crusade, and something impels him to go out in the forest and there under this lofty fir tree lays the magical gift, the sword which he needs to accomplish his mission.

These traditions come together in our Christmas and I summed this little essay up by saying: Christmas, December 25th, is no longer Jesus' birthday, but Christmas now symbolizes to me the up reach of evolutionary religion seeking for the down reach of revelatory religion. Christmas symbolizes the up reach of the religion that man has made and is looking for help to improve. Christmas is still a holy day to me, but it is not Jesus' birthday. It stands for all of man's strivings, his superstitions, but also for his hunger for God. Christmas is man asking questions; August 21st is the answer!"

                                  *******

Attaching this new meaning to Christmas provides an explosion of possibilities for new traditions that can be both fun and meaningful. I have no doubt that a great many new practices can evolve which will return more of the religious meaning to Christmas and moderate the material aspects of this holiday.

It was due to the message regarding Christmas that several celebrations were held by First Urantia Society in Chicago it he 1980's attempting to incorporate these ideas. I know that this same concept was also employed in a few Wisconsin study groups. A number of different services have been tried as well as decorations relating to the idea. One of the Urantia Papers that seems well-suited to being used in conjunction with the with the new meaning of Christmas is Paper 92. However, it is not my intent to discuss or explore specific practices. I am simply interested in passing along the concept that Christmas could be a time to celebrate the religions of the world, the races of man, and the religious teachers who contributed to our planetary heritage.

Prepared by Mark Kulieke

March, 1992

[This copy includes comments by William S. Sadler, Jr. that were added since Mark Kulieke's original writing in 1992. -Ed]

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     CELESTIAL WORDS AND TEACHINGS

Excerpts from Lessons from Ham, Teaching Mission Transcripts of the Nashville group submitted by Rebecca Bynum.

September 2, 1996

Greetings, children, friends, and coworkers for truth. I am Ham and I am glad that you are all here this evening. We are grateful for your perseverance and also your steadfastness in your belief in and loyalty to me personally. I am grateful for this, for your love, though I am but a representative of many. I am just the voice you hear and the contact you have to a wider universe. For this also I am grateful.

You who are disappointed in group dynamics and group indecisiveness and inaction should understand that group functioning is dependent on the character of each individual comprising the group. Groups tend to reveal the character of those who work within it. You have all experienced this with working with groups of colleagues.

Socialization tends to require much more than working alone does. You all will someday have requirements that entail social working. Probably in the future this requirement will be met within the teaching mission structure, but for now as I said at the conference, the teaching mission's requirement is for each person to find their own individual calling and to pursue it with their foremost abilities.

Spiritually, you are not ready to embark on great group projects. Like children learning to play alone first, you are learning to play alone before you are brought into larger groups for coordinated actions. Of course you all have to work with others in your daily lives and in your work. Gradually, with much trial and error and effort, you are learning the better ways to treat others. Gradually, you are learning to take others into consideration in your minds. Even this is a big step for you children.

You have been told that to have success you must be single minded in your thinking. This is a formula for disaster instead. Always must you listen more than you speak, think of others more than yourselves, and learn to plan your lives this way.

We need you to begin letting go of some of the self focus. The master thought not of himself, but of those he was serving. And so he said, he who would save his life shall lose it and he who would lose his life shall find life in everlasting abundance.

You are not born into this world to achieve a career goal. Rather you are born into this world to learn the first lessons of living. Remember that you are just children starting out on your eternal adventures. You are learning elementary lessons about life and how you will learn to live.

Everyone who inflates their self-importance is brought down, and those who would serve humbly the greater goals of heaven are brought up. Do not be too harsh with yourselves when you catch yourself in exaggerated self-importance because you are like a child learning to walk, you must take a few steps and then fall and then rise and take a few steps and then fall again.

This is not a matter of eternal importance for your souls or anything. Humans on this planet tend to become over serious about their spiritual standing. Long years of your churches' indoctrinations concerning eternal damnation and so on have led some of you to recoil in horror and fear over the most minor of human trespasses. But I tell you in all seriousness, that he who would be greatest must become servant to all peoples. And this does not meant to a select few or even to those you choose. When you choose to become servants of the greater powers, even a servant of love itself, you must understand that this service requires hardship and sacrifice. Part of this sacrifice is the sacrificing of old ways of thinking, and of action.

In short, you must cease to think of yourselves as the center of the universe and seek instead to serve the center of the universe. When once you have come to the decision to consecrate your will to his will, then the first lessons are ones of acceptance, tolerance, learning to listen to others and to support their goals and viewpoints.

The Father in heaven reaches out to all beings and in your lives and in your own ways likewise will you learn to reach out to all beings. Service entails first a change of heart, change of attitude toward the world. And this change must be completed before your ascension career can really begin.

Groups tend to bring out the human tendencies of selfishness because of the amplification of will that group actions tend to promote. We are as always very pleased with each person's progress here today. But, I will tell you that there are tests ahead which will help you define your areas of selfishness and will require that you put this on the table so to speak. These extraordinary burdens must finally, eventually be cast aside because nothing weighs down the soul like the burdens of selfishness. It is this burden that will anchor you to the spot and restrict your progress in the future. Questions?

Q: I suppose the single-minded pursuit of success is a form of selfishness?

Ham: Correct, exactly.

Q: I am chuckling because I can see that nailing me to the spot.

Q: Dorinda had some questions, she wanted to know if she could find out the name of her teacher.

Ham: Dorinda, you are blossoming my child and have surely sought after the greater realities of the kingdom of heaven in your life. There is now a sense of falling away and a falling toward something at the same time. You are daring to live a dynamic life of truth seeking and embracing of righteousness with your heart. This path is frightening to others who seek the security of traditional religious boundaries. The Father is found in all places, in every human being, so I would say to you have patience and respect for others who feel secure in their knowledge of Him. That is essentially all except to say that your request for a teacher has been processed and you may sometime receive word of his presence. His name I will not reveal at this time for you will receive it yourself.

Q: I have a question. Intellectually, I understand the concept of he who would save his life shall lose it and he who would serve save it. Can you give us some examples in everyday life? You would not run into the middle of a gunfight. Could you explain that a little more please?

Ham: Yes, this is really a process of gradually relinquishing what you would think of as self motivation. The Master was, after his baptism, not motivated by his own self interest any more. He lived his life totally and completely subject to the Father's will and his motivation was for the good of his universe. He gave up his self-life and relinquished all concern for himself for the greater good of the many.

Q: I think you are going to have to be more specific for me. Surely you aren't saying that if we want to read a book because we are interested in it we should not because this is selfish, because it is not in the greater good of the world, we should not do it? Does that mean if you are really interested in studying something...

Ham: Your difficulty is in trying to take a spiritual concept and make it a material how to book. This is the stumbling block of religion. Spiritual realities are only experienced spiritually and are not translatable into material reality without binding and eventually killing the spiritual content. Think of the religious traditions of the Sabbath, for example. The Sabbath day becomes just one more day of duties and traditions rather than its original intent which was for spiritual upliftment and contemplation. Once you say, "well if we are going to be contemplating the spirit, then we must all congregate in church and not work: and whatever the whole list is , then you are taking a spiritual concept and planting it into material reality. Is this example helping you to understand?

Q: I guess that is a good example. I think a lot of people are really confused by this, and like you said try to translate it into material examples. One of the most interesting points you made tonight is the difference between spiritual concepts and material issues. In my opinion, it would be good to talk about this again at a future time because it seems like something that finally sets some issue straight for people or clarifies it for people.

Q: It is where the rubber meets the road.

Q: That is probably a good way of putting it.

Q: Let me see if I understand this. It is a matter of changing attitude and motivation more than specific changes in behaviors. As you make this change towards becoming more selfless it may or may not affect particular things you do in your life at particular stages in your growth.

Ham: Correct.

Q: In a short phrase, it is how we think about what we do. Is that it, how we perceive?

Ham: Each person's selfishness is manifested differently. You all have selfishness problems because if you didn't you wouldn't be a human being in a human body. But in each person, they are manifested differently. Sometimes, and you must all be careful of this, you can deceive yourselves into thinking that selfish actions are done for higher motivations.

Q: I have probably done poorer at this than any of us. I think it is a shifting of polarity, shifting in such a way that you take from the one and give to the many. One's preoccupation with self interests and all the natural desires for self is lost. You take the concern for yourself off and put it on other people and that allows you to grow and heal and you end up serving. The concern for others leads to the serving of others. The soul is fed. Life is backwards to the way it looks, you get by giving instead of taking. The soul is nourished by giving. Whatever you would like your soul to possess tomorrow you give to someone else today. You become as a little child and trust the Father that all your needs will be met. the only valuable thing you can do is give. You shift your polarity around, you turn your center from ego to soul, and you have lost your life in serving others lives and in serving them you join them and you become a part of the supreme and there is no loss but you have dissolved your life in the fluidity of everybody. He who lays it down to go heal someone else, to lose the preoccupation with self and one's own desires, selfish desire, is freedom. That seems to be what he is talking about to me. You have really found out what life is, you are the same guy and we are connected.

Q: I think we are set up to be selfish. We are only given one life, we are not going to have seven bestowals, we only have this one here. It is interesting.

Q: It's to give you something to overcome. The energy. Like on page 51 of the Urantia Book.

Laughter

(We looked on page 51 and read the following)

The uncertainties of life and the vicissitudes of existence do not in any manner contradict the concept of the universal sovereignty of God. All evolutionary creature life is beset by certain inevitabilities. Consider the following:

1. Is courage--strength of character--desirable? Then must man be reared in an environment which necessitates grappling with hardships and reacting to disappointments.

2. Is altruism--service of one's fellows--desirable? Then must life experience provide for encountering situations of social inequality.

3. Is hope--the grandeur of trust--desirable? Then human existence must constantly be confronted with insecurities and recurrent uncertainties.

4. Is faith--the supreme assertion of human thought--desirable? Then must the mind of man find itself in that troublesome predicament where it ever know less that in can believe.

5. Is the love of truth and the willingness to go wherever it leads, desirable? Then must man grow up in a world where error is present and falsehood always possible.

6. Is idealism--the approaching concept of the divine--desirable? Then must man struggle in an environment of relative goodness and beauty, surroundings stimulative of the irrepressible reach for better things.

7. Is loyalty--devotion to the highest duty--desirable? Then must man carry on amid the possibilities of betrayal and desertion. The valor of devotion to duty consists in the implied danger of default.

8. Is unselfishness--the spirit of self-forgetfulness--desirable? Then must mortal man live face to face with the incessant clamoring of an inescapable self for recognition and honor. Man could not dynamically choose the divine life if there were no self-life to forsake. Man could never lay saving hold on righteousness if there were no potential evil to exalt and differentiate the good by contrast.

9. Is pleasure--the satisfaction of happiness--desirable? Then must man live in a world where the alternative pain and the likelihood of suffering are ever-present experiential possibilities.

                                      *

September 9, 1996

Ham: Greetings, children, friends, and coworkers for the good and the triumph of truth and the spread of beauty. We are happy to greet you all again this evening. Once more are you confused over human actions and again you should understand that where human beings are interacting with each other, statements are misunderstood. The human frailty of ego sensitivity comes into play. This is predictable, and should not surprise you at all because human beings are subject to human frailty even those involved with the mission. We are allowing for all your errors to play out. We are understanding of human fallibility and yet the understandings which you gain undergoing these social challenges are important and worth risking the credibility of the mission to some minds because you all are forced to decide central and important issues for yourselves.

Each person must evaluate his or her own beliefs and decide their own course of action. Inevitably, there are situations where human leadership is required. However, we never interfere with your understandings or decisions concerning group interaction. We will, of course, guide you in many ways, and give you information or insights that may help your understandings of others, but the human dynamic is something that we do not tamper with. This will ultimately serve to strengthen the individuals who remain within the mission and will weed out others who are responding more to social stimulus than spiritual stimulus.

Yes, in a sense, we project that there will be some 20 years of this kind of testing until the humans emerge who will courageously go forward together to change your world situation. This first few years has entailed the weaning off the Urantia Book where you had once found all your wisdom and truth there. Now you are asked to find it in living life, in your reality. We understood that the majority of Urantia Book readers are by nature "bookish" people who are more comfortable with a philosophical approach in their thinking, a more abstract and somewhat removed view of life. The teaching mission has been designed, therefore, to engage you personally with your own fears, your own hope, you own social interactions which is extremely important.

You are all still learning to begin to have true interaction with your neighbors. So often, when we observe your social intercourse, there is too much form and formality and not enough spontaneity, not enough true expression. So we have been working with you all on your attitudes, your attitudes towards yourselves and toward other people.

Once again, I will state the object of this next phase is to teach you to recognize selfishness in ourselves and to begin to eradicate it. To truly become a servant to humanity, you must learn to serve one human at a time. In the process, you may experience some humiliation, some stressful periods, and a gradually intensified social intercourse that you may not have experienced before.

Some of you are taking this process easier than others. This is not indicative of spiritual levels at all. It is just a training that you all require. Throughout the ascension experience,  socialization is a priority. You cannot learn to work together if you retreat from social interaction. Always, in the mansion world experience and beyond, you are pushed into wider and wider realms of socialization because it is easy to profess love for you fellows as an abstraction, but when your fellows are a reality is when that exhilarating love connection, when made, is a triumph for your life.

Jesus, of course, said love your enemies, and this he meant literally. This he meant as a commandment. You must over time encounter people who have very different world views than you do and learn to love them even if they respond with hatred towards you. Hatred is just fear and fear is just ignorance. So how can you hate someone who hates you knowing this, knowing that they are just ignorant, they are just lacking in understanding, like a child.

You who are here in this room tonight will ultimately be taking wisdom, knowledge, and awareness out into the greater world and you must first be certain to remove your own prejudices, for these things that are called prejudice distort reality and can alter the purity of spiritual truth. One need only think of the apostle Paul for an example. Therefore, we will be working with you on these very personal topics because we are trying to help you remove the beam from your own eye that you may better see to remove the mote from your brother's eye.

Tonight I would like to hear from each of you, your own feelings at this time about your personal selfishness and prejudices.

[Here there follow individual responses. Included below are several of Ham's statements. -Ed]

Ham: Yes, there are many connections between selfishness and prejudice. Both are stifling of the human spirit and potential. Both tend to blind the victim to their own awareness and greater potential. Both prejudice and selfishness are likened to blindness.

Ham: It is true, the selfish desire for comfort progressively limits your potential. This is absolutely true across the board. There is greater comfort in spiritual achievement, but this requires the letting go of our established patterns of comfort whether they be social, or intellectual, or physical.

Ham:...you should examine your own comfort zones which allow you to be intellectually or socially comfortable. Even hectic exercise, which is physically uncomfortable, can be emotionally comfortable. Are you seeing the subtle differences?

Ham: This is the key to begin, to recognize within yourselves your own personal patterns of selfishness, and to release these patterns.

Ham: When you are willing to truly lay down your burdens, then you will have great peace. Too many miles you have trodden carrying these burdens of selfishness. If you truly desire to change, then you must make this change a request. But if you request change, and yet do not truly desire it, your prayers go nowhere. Therefore, ask the Father to change your heart and to remove your selfish tendencies and gradually it will come to pass and all these external problems will disappear as well.

Ham: Continue on your pathway. Continue to expand your awareness of yourself. Take the bad with the good in this expansion because there is always both in any truly balanced awareness. Don't flinch and pull the curtain to when you see something you dislike. You have to achieve a total self awareness eventually, so don't put off the hard work today.

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09/15/96

Greetings, children and friends, I delight to experience your presence here tonight. I am Ham and I wish this evening to discuss opportunity with you. Opportunity is always knocking, so to speak. Opportunity is graciously awaiting your response. The world is filled with opportunity. You must learn to exploit this opportunity, and not to dismiss or to squander it.

Opportunity is like weaving a skein of fabric. our individual threads are interwoven with each other. The individual idea or research or human contact or creation are all interwoven with each other creating the fabric that is opportunity and is your life. This fabric is what draws the attention of others who can use your life's work in a greater garment.

No human being lives or works in a vacuum. Every person you meet, every human you treat with love and respect, every unselfish deed, every creative impulse, every thought and every understanding, your beliefs, our faith and, yes, your fears and your weaknesses - all contribute to the fabric you are weaving. Take care then to inspect those threads which you would use. For this fabric is the opportunity, the passage way, into your future.

Do not be discouraged when you consider our past creations, for this gradually fades from sight as you weave newer and greater and more wondrous ideas into your fabric. One's life pattern enlists ideas in all its creation. The wise man says, you are what you think, and I say you are becoming in the direction you are thinking. You must understand, though, that you cannot project yourself through thought ahead of your material, your weaving. Each thread must find its place, you cannot miraculously become something completely different from what you are just by wishing or thinking yourself there. But, you can chart your direction and if you do not neglect the fabric, that is, neglect the small individual threads which must all be put in place to create your opportunity for the future, then surely as night follows day, you will achieve our destination.

I do not advise you to be dreamers, but no great thing was ever done without first being dreamed of. All of you here want deeply to help your world's forward progress toward the goal of light and life. You must all understand that this goal is a far off, but it can be dreamed of. You can dream of a future where there is no hatred, or violence, disease, hunger, or warfare, where all human beings exist in loving respect for all other human beings. We understand that there are very many of you who are contributing to this forward progress and we humbly and sincerely embrace you and your work. You also forget the great strides made by those who have preceded you. Therefore, I say to you, think deeply on the opportunities you are creating, the fabric that you are presenting to the world or will present to the world.

Think not that it does not matter, because it matters intensely to you, to your world, and to the on looking universe. There is no planet watched more intensely than Urantia is. We monitor and watch and nurture every human being on your planet in varying degrees. You here are watched more intently than others, your decisions and your actions are all of great interest to us. Do not think that you are working alone against insuperable odds, for you are given many of the threads which go into your fabric. Is this clear to everyone? Are you beginning to understand the responsibility you have to accept these threads?

Q: I worry that you can have too many threads you are working with and they get tangled in a knot and you have to stop and untangle them before you can get any weaving done. Can you give some insight into how to choose the best opportunity when faced with many?

Ham: Sometimes, the best opportunity is the stillness time to explore the inner world with the Father in peace and tranquility. The answers are often held in these times. The knots will untangle without your worrying about them.

Q: Ham, isn't arrogance just a pose? A compensation for low self-esteem, the lack of feelings of self worth?

Ham: Arrogance is a taking of unearned position, or a position which in the eyes of others is unearned. Jesus said, is it not better to take a lower seat at the table and be brought up than to arrogantly choose the seat of honor and be rebuffed? It is a matter of personal interaction. Humans always resent arrogance, even when justified, arrogance is seen as a lack of proper humility.

Arrogance brings untold sorrows, for it always attracts negativity.

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More on the Systems Broadcasts shared by Henry Zeringue from his teachers Berca and Johnson.

We are the thought voice of your mind bringing you thought from higher mind, just as pockets of warm fresh water bring pockets of new life into the ocean brine in the brackish coasts of your continents.

Michael has decreed much for the full establishment of Urantia into its proper rank of Universe Sonship. In time much change will bring Urantia to the brink of a really "NEW AGE" where mankind will not fear to reach to Father and ask His Will. This new "dawn" will challenge everyone to make proper adjustments to live in the New Harmony to be played upon your world. Seek now in your daily lives to withdraw into seclusion with Father in the form of worship known as the "Stillness." Quietly relax and focus your mind upon emptying it of all thought and feeling and remain in the still yet real presence of Father's love.

Know that as time progresses and your connection to the wisdom of the universe is secured, you will be prepared to face the ensuing changes which will usher Urantia into her rightful place in the spiritual lineage of the universe. When all is in place it is important that many of you are prepared to respond to the demands of the changes which will ensue.

Know that your continual connection to spirit and with spirit will ensure a proper guidance for the many choice decisions you will be called upon to administer. The reopening of the System Circuits of Broadcast Circuitry will confront all existing and established authority on our world into a revelation that YES, you are not isolated and Yes, and with your help we will be of assistance to you and your world!!

The reopening of the broadcast circuitry will ensure such upliftment in the Light to your world as to render it vulnerable to all who have not the light enough to receive these broadcast phenomena. At some point it may be viewed as a gigantic broadcasting network of intergalactic proportions which will dwarf the existing internet as much as Jonah was dwarfed by a gigantic whale. Be still and calm. Know that the establishing of the morontia circuitry here on Urantia is a small step in the climb to the portal of light and life. The Urantia Book certainly is a large cornerstone in the foundation to light and life. The teaching mission may be viewed as mortar around this stone as the up-stepping of this planet's vibration must occur to bring [it] into alignment with the post Lucifer adjudication verdict that Urantia be reconnected to its System status as a Sister-Sphere in the System of Satania, of Nebadon. This is very normal procedure for your world, in addition to the exceptional resource brought here because of your status as Michael's bestowal sphere.

Be not afraid to enter into your rightful position and know that as you are ushered into this position, you will become nestled into the Spiritual Sovereignty of God's Bosom.

Children of the Earth gather and celebrate your rebirth into spiritual insight and spiritual healing. Grow forth in your work and happiness and know that you are loved and cared for. Continue your practices of seeking the presence within.

Thank You, Berca

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10/23/96 - Johnson

REJOICE THAT YOU HAVE FOUND ME AND CONTINUE TO LIVE WITH LOVE AND KINDNESS TOWARDS MY CREATION. ALL MEN WILL COME TO KNOW ME BY KNOWING YOU.

THE SYSTEM BROADCASTS ARE SENT IN LIGHT TO THE PLANET. Individuals will be prepared to receive these messages and information; in turn to pass along this information. In time more and more people will be able to directly connect with these broadcasts. At first the midwayers, the unseen helpers on your world will aid in the reception of these broadcasts. These broadcasts are the primary planetary hookup to the system capital. All exchanges must be transmitted through the system capital. On your world the broadcasts are non-referencable. The system circuits to your world were shut off so long ago that there is no mention of them at all in our historic records.

Part of the correcting time intentions are to establish a reference for these broadcasts which will appear in the near future on your world. These teacher transmissions are an important step for you to access information from off your world. For the purposes of this mission of Michael's, the teaching information is mainly and purposefully spiritual -- for it is the spiritual growth which will affect rigorous change in your human perceptions. Yes, the time is now, that you may begin to grow accustomed to the presence of Spiritual Power on your world. Too long have you been isolated with confusion and distortion of truth and reality.

It is our endeavor to prepare as many of you as possible for the changes which are upon your world. The reconnection of your world to the broadcast circuits of the Universe will engender much confusion and speculation at first; once the primary shock is absorbed, this is when there will be tremendous responsibility to interpret and to help bring people into the correcting time. Man and Spirit soon become partners in planetary projects designed to interface the human with the Spiritual. The thought adjusters await the time when their true purpose will be fully respected as necessary. Were it not for the patient ministry of these divine essences, your planet would not have reached the degree of social culture it already has. Now there is an urgent task these adjusters must perform in order to urge their inhabitants into positive growth through constant change. The cycle of planetary age which is upon you now will be one of the most socially challenging eras in the history of your world. It will be necessary for your world to align itself with the one truth of the "Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man" in order to benefit from the tremendous changes at hand.

You will continually be challenged to seek guidance within. Father is the only one who can guide a whole world to peace, harmony, love and nurturing. Soon all of the circuitry will be in place to greatly facilitate a smooth transition through active spiritual growth.

It takes a tremendous amount of work to bring a planet to the dawn of Light and life. The individuals who have volunteered to come here to Urantia at Michael's request are preparing your world as well as possible for the transitions which will be upon you soon.

Always remember that as you view the future and infinity from your present position, these are nothing more than our present tasks at hand. Though these visions and thoughts will motivate you, what you are doing in the time you live is the most important consideration.

Do not be alarmed for all will be prepared for those who have prepared within themselves a faith-functioning relationship with the Divine presence which resides within our minds and hearts. Open your mind and seek the guidance from the One who truly loves and knows you from within the universal mind lattice of your mental construct. No matter what comes to your world, your personal work will always remain the same. This is what you are being prepared for -- to contact the sea of calmness within the tempest of your mind and there receive abundance of Love and nurturing with precise guidance from Him who is taking you homeward.

Thank You, Johnson

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The following lessons were sent in by Susan Kimsey of the Half Moon Bay, CA Teaching Mission Group.

June 21, 1996

A Lesson on Sharing Yourself from Olfana

This is Olfana who greets you now. I feel much pleasure in this opportunity to engage myself with you in this opportunity to share. Let us consider for a moment what these "opportunities to share" can consist of. Can you share your kindness with those around you? Can you share your patient heart? Can you share your quiet mindfulness with someone who is not at peace? Can you share your love and protection to one who wanders in the dark? Can you share your trust in the light which descends from the heavens, and bathes your soul in the spirit of God the Father, the Mother, the One Parent of All? Indeed, can you share of your soul, my dear students? This is the highest and greatest good you can offer to others in our own development and spiritual evolution --to share from your soul all that you are, all that you choose to be, in any one moment of time in this material creation. As you move through the days of your lives, say to yourself, "I will seek these opportunities to share my soul with others. I will stretch my being out into the world and express it to all those to whom I can relate. I will offer myself as a sharing." In this manner, with this concept within your mind and heart, you will be sharing of yourself. And, indeed, my dear students, you will be sharing the Power of God, as it flows through you. You will be an expression of the creative good which is all "of God." Seek then, opportunities in which you can comfortably, happily, kindly, gently, or exuberantly, share of your soul-self. And, in this manner, the more ways in which God's Power will continue to flow, and flow, and you will be fully with His Spirit. There is no lack, no scarcity, no loss, whatsoever, in this effort, my dear students. This is always an empowerment, a strength of your being, to offer yourself in this manner. I appreciate, so much, this opportunity to share myself with you, and to sense your being stretching outward, and greeting me as I speak. Namaste.

07/15/95

A lesson Spiritual Treasure from Bethera

Let us, now, discuss treasure as our topic. What will one treasure of one's life? This is a most important question to contemplate, my dear students. You are building a storehouse of treasures as you live each day. And, indeed, these treasures are not, merely, of the earth. There are spiritual treasures you will accumulate here, and savor once you have passed from this physical manifestation. What is this spiritual treasure you will someday hold? It will be a treasure of experiences and relationships that have deep and significant meaning to you, as you continue to grow, and understand yourself as a being of God's Creation. Some of these spiritual treasures are identified, even now, for you. You know that the understanding of another that you have within your family, for instance, is, indeed, most treasured while you live, and would clearly be of significance once you pass on. But, I would ask you to recognize further treasure that you, now, at times, overlook. Treasure moments of peaceful appreciation for all that you have become thus far in this life. Treasure the understanding you hold of the growth in others for whom you care deeply. Treasure the life lived by all those who have now passed from this earth, and continue onward. Savor moments of beauty and good cheer that you experienced with this person while they lived. And know that this is treasure they enjoy, now. In this contemplation, you are, indeed, empowering their ability to appreciate this treasure in their own progress. You are adding sparkle and glistening highlights to these treasured memories they are able to experience with great frequency. As they contemplate this experience shared with you, they know of your own contemplation of this experience, also. And, this is a form of communication and communion which you can offer to them any moment that you choose to experience this contemplation. Treasure the beauty you have seen in your life on this planet, the physical beauty of this marvelously complex world--not just captured within a moment, but, indeed, expressed in the motion of change: the treasure of a flower opening to the sunlight, the treasure of the skies lit with the colors of sunrise and sunset, the treasure of sunlight upon the leaves, the treasure of the flight of birds, the remarkable arabesque created by the butterfly. Treasure the many ways in which our physical being can experience sensation: the cool, crisp wind which invigorates you, the warmth and comfort of the sun shining down upon your skin, the comfort and blessing of touch provided by those you choose to embrace and hold with love, the experience of change that you progress through in your physical growth and aging. There is beauty in the increase and diminishment of your energies. And I wish you to seek these treasures more actively in your own lives!

When you have completed this life, you will have created a marvelous chest of glowing energy which will change from this glistening light into particularized moments that you will be able to recover and savor as a spiritual being who strives to understand, further, this physical life. You will reach into this treasure chest of golden light, and you will pull out--here, a photographic moment of one you cherish; here, a bauble or a memento which reminds you of a particular moment of happiness; here, an article of clothing which will recapture for you a way in which you expressed your being, as you lived your life. This treasure, my dear students, will be most unique and fulfilling, and I would encourage you to recognize that, at every moment in your life, you are given opportunities to increase this treasure for yourselves. You will treasure these moments of God-inspired choices which you will accumulate, and then be allowed opportunities to share with others, on your own eternal journey. That, again, is one of the marvelous possibilities with regard to this spiritual treasure you create for yourselves. You may share this treasure with others when you have passed to this level of eternal perception. You will be able to place your treasure as a contribution to all others, and in this way, the gifts of experience offered to us from the Father will benefit all. So then, I encourage you to build this treasure, not only for yourselves, but also because it becomes a component of the glistening Masterpiece of Creation which is ultimately possessed by the Supreme Being. I hope my words have served to inspire within you a greater sense of appreciation for the opportunities of truth, beauty, and goodness, offered in your lives. And, that you will become treasure-seekers, as you live your daily lives. Consider this concept, please. As you approach your day, say to yourself, "I seek treasure, now, in my life, Father. Help me to discover the shiny moments you have placed along my path to You. I will reach for them, and accumulate them, for my continuing appreciation and fulfillment throughout my eternal progress." I end this lesson now.

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There was part of a transcript I wanted to share in this newsletter cautioning against too much speculation concerning future events, but I seem to have misplaced it. However, while we all like to play out what if scenarios in our minds, from those I have been talking with we are all too busy  with the tasks and lessons at hand to be living in the future. -Ed

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                          NEWS UPDATE

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                    THE URANTIA BOOK

4. THE INCARNATION -- MAKING TWO         ONE

And so certain unworthy children of Michael, who had accused their Creator-father of selfishly seeking rulership and indulged the insinuation that the Creator Son was arbitrarily and autocratically upheld in power by virtue of the unreasoning loyalty of a deluded universe of subservient creatures, were to be silenced forever and left confounded and disillusioned by the life of self-forgetful service which the Son of God now entered upon as the Son of Man - all the while subject to "the will of the Paradise Father."

But make no mistake; Christ Michael, while truly a dual-origin being, was not a double personality. He was not God in association with man but, rather, God incarnate in man. And he was always just that combined being. The only progressive factor in such a non-understandable relationship was the progressive self-conscious realization and recognition (by the human mind) of this fact of being God and man.

Christ Michael did not progressively become God. God did not, at some vital moment in the earth life of Jesus, become man. Jesus was God and man -- always and even forevermore. And this God and this man were, and now are, one, even as the Paradise Trinity of three beings is in reality one Deity.

Never lose sight of the fact that the supreme spiritual purpose of the Michael bestowal was to enhance the revelation of God.

Urantia mortals have varying concepts of the miraculous, but to us who live as citizens of the local universe there are few miracles, and of these by far the most intriguing are the incarnational bestowals of the Paradise Sons. The appearance in and on your world, by apparently natural processes, of a divine Son, we regard as a miracle --the operation of universal laws beyond our understanding. Jesus of Nazareth was a miraculous person.

In and through all this extraordinary experience, God the Father chose to manifest himself as he always does--in the usual way--in the normal, natural, and dependable way of divine acting.

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                       Spiritual Treasure

Father, let us store Your Treasure

In our hearts, in our minds, and in our very     beings.

Help us to recognize

The many valuable and appealing experiences

You attempt to share with us daily, Father.

Help us to recognize

The way in which our free will is the means

By which we will achieve

The collection o these treasures.

We are allowed to seek choices in this life!

Open our minds, our hearts, our eyes

To the many beautiful, glowing opportunities

That exist for us, Father.

And let us, always, humbly remember

To provide treasure for others.

We seek to be Your Treasure, Father,

In all our moments of creation on earth. Amen.

Bethera 07/15/95

Half Moon Bay, CA Teaching Mission Group