Teaching Mission Newsletters

FROM THE EDITOR

A special thanks again to Mark Kulieke for his permission to share his article, "The New Meaning of Christmas," in the last issue. Judging from the comments I received, this idea seems to have struck a very positive chord with many of you. Hopefully, we can find ways to include this new meaning of Christmas into our traditions to make Christmas more universal and inclusive of all peoples in the years to come.

It does, indeed, give me great pleasure in this issue to be able to share with you more news about the individuals in the Teaching Mission. The regional and national gatherings have afforded us the opportunities to get to know each other and to forge bonds of understanding and support. Thus, it is always a delight to hear news of what each of you as individuals and groups are doing and experiencing along with your thoughts and insights. For lack of a better title, I have called this column, "TM Family News." Any suggestions for a better title would be appreciated. It is my hope that in the coming year, this part of the newsletter will expand with your help. And it may help you, to see the similarities of experience, to gain insight from others and to find ways in which we might be of assistance to each other by sharing our talents and experience with others as we learn more about their individual and group endeavors.

Maybe as we begin to realize the importance of nurturing the "child" in each of us, we will turn more of our attention to the nurturing of the children in our families, our communities, our nation and our world. As always, we must start with ourselves and let our own understandings come forth in ever widening circles. In this issue, it is good to see some of the fruits of our teachings directed at the young.

If you are like me, I think some of these lessons will provide some meaty stuff to chew on for awhile. Will, Tallahassee's teacher, has asked her students to go back over the lessons given previously. Those who take the time to follow Will's advice will find many a surprise awaiting them during this exercise.

Many, if not most of the newsletter readers, are not on the net. My apologies to those of you who are on the net and have already read some of the material in the newsletter. I continue to resist putting the newsletter on the net. It still feels more appropriate to keep it a less public forum for sharing.

As another year comes to an end, I thank all of you for your kind words of encouragement, your contributions and your support.

May the New Year bring you love, joy, peace, good health and blessings from the Father.

Allene Vick

Editor  

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                    FROM THE READERS

December 7, 1996

Wasn't it interesting that your editorial and my message from Michael were the same? Putting Him First! I guess that was the message he wanted out this month. Putting first things first.

Avis Nicholas

Sarasota, FL

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     CELESTIAL WORDS AND TEACHINGS

Again, thanks to Pam Sanderson and Barry Norby for sharing with me some of the transcripts off the net. The following is one Pam felt was particularly meaningful.

November 11, 1996 - Spokane

(Ann begins a prayer which so obviously turns into a transmission midway. Recorder is turned on while in progress.)

*. . .This is the way my son, walk ye in it. Listen closely to the inner voice for it will never lead you astray, but it will point the way before you and it will make sure that your feet will have a sure path to walk on. And you will feel my peace and you will know my love and you will know it is I leading you.

Forsake not the way, walk not in our own way, but walk in the path that is set before you and you shall have my love always in your heart, my son.

*Aaron: Good evening. This is Aaron, my friends. Tonight I would discuss with you concerning individuality and its balance in relationship to the whole. Tonight I would discuss with you concerning individuality and its balance in relationship to the whole.

Quite often the understanding has been presented that the goal of the universes is unity, oneness, a bonding of all personality into an indissoluble unit of love and family. In relationship, the effort toward understanding other personalities is required and from working in combination with others, many issues may rise about the level of one's participation within a relationship.

One of the basic causes for diminished perception of reality in interaction is the lack of recognition of one's individuality personally. If one does not have the capability to relate individually with freedom, then it is true that they are incapable of promoting individuality in another. In this you may begin to understand that relationships and interaction must begin first with the individual, with whom you are building that relationship within to the spirit.

In striving for unity, for oneness throughout the universes, what then is the purpose of individuality? It seems to equate that individuality should be sacrificed to maintain unity, to find oneness.

This is critically incorrect. True unity will nurture, support, and uplift individuality, uniqueness, due to the fact that the individuality of any being is rooted in the personality endowed upon them by the First Source and Center of all things.

For one to sacrifice personality to gain an expression of unity would be a false reflection and lend itself more toward uniformity. The unity of individuals never requires sacrifice in its most ideal form, for each personality, all personality, is required to have full freedom of expression before universal unity is realized. All personality throughout the grand universes must have full expression because the endowments are the gift from God which are as a jigsaw puzzle to the realization of the Supreme.

When each personality is placed in its proper role and function the result will be an integrally symmetric continual function of truth, beauty, and goodness, portraying the reality of all value combined.

As we bring this concept closer to you in your individual lives, you must then ask yourselves why it is that you would sacrifice your value and your personality to gain acceptance and commonality with others if, in reality, your free functioning of personality expressing itself, uniquely representing an aspect of our Universal Parent, is the crowning achievement and greatest possible good that one can accomplish?

Where you exist at this point in time seems to be as a battlefield of wills exerting themselves, trying to gain control, to have expression. The chaos in this evolutionary state is due to the dual nature of animal and spirit, the will of the ego, the will of God. Your functioning at this level is to synchronize the animal will with the Divine leading through continual effort at making choices that are enlightened by truth, enhanced in beauty and empowered with goodness.

Recognize that to sacrifice our individuality to gain relationship is to deny the basic principles of spiritual insight. The questions arises: Do you wish to have animal human contact and interaction to satisfy the longing and loneliness of human heart at the sacrifice of reality, more so than to have reality expressed through you find interaction and relationship with the reality expressed through another? At what point will the human cease to compromise integrity and gain a birthright of spiritual endowment?

Individual expression is required to find unity and to know family. To hear the call to sacrifice for the team, to let the majority prevail, to go with the flow without rocking the boat, is to witness the control of ego will upon individual expression. Consensus is better built through the honest airing of value from each personality, allowing harmonic views to take precedence through shared insight and understanding, rather than a dominating attitude of majority prevailing. True personality expression will find resolution in any scenario, whether it is one, five, ten, or many, many personalities in communication.

Well Simeon has been ready to quit for the last five minutes and I have struggled valiantly to maintain a stream of thought, so I will let go at this time . . .

Ann: It's a pretty heavy subject because it's going from the animal into the spiritual, the fact that we're both, and then going from a group of individuals and so it's hard to understand and relate to a higher concept because we don't understand the higher concept in order to know how to relate to it. We're so involved in relationship as we have grown and developed and have so many influences in life, that it's difficult to come to the perception of knowing and being in touch and expressing personality when we have been taught that personality is just who we are. Because of the Urantia Book we're understanding that personality is given to us by the First Source and Cause, so how do we distinguish our character from personality? Is it something we're to distinguish, perceive, to begin to acknowledge and understand? That we can grasp the higher concept and begin to integrate the higher concept into our everyday living? Do you follow our difficulty?

Aaron: I understand your dilemma. It is the dilemma I've tried to present to you. Character evolves based upon experience, knowledge. Personality never changes, it's changeless, that which is constant about an individual. It is a difficult perception to separate character and personality at this level of existence.

You can rest assured that when you are most honest and real with your feelings and your desires that your personality is gaining a higher degree of expression than at any other time. When you are feeling a true and honest sense of closeness with God, your personality is being amplified in that presence.

I would say that it is not so important to identify your personality as it is to seek to find what it is that motivates you, what inspires you and to understand the value or lack of value that you place upon yourself. In achieving an awareness of these, you, by seeking to amplify the positive and to understand the value, will gain in the ability to find expression of personality.

The truest manifestation of personality occurs when an individual lacks self-consciousness, but the development of this capability, the diminishment of self-consciousness occurs by first understanding the self, knowing who you are, understanding your desires, seeing what motivates you and then acting upon who you are. As you gain in expression, the level of focus upon one's self diminishes to the point where one simply acts in freedom, fully self-confident in the capabilities of the spirit and the personality in integral functioning together to manifest nothing but beauty and truth and goodness in your life, the actions reflective of a confidence and faith in the highest reality, that it will manifest itself through you.

Therefore, no need will then exist to have many moments to contemplate self. Few attain this level in a lifetime. Jesus of Nazareth is the greatest example.

But this is how one may begin and at times you may feel that you are becoming self-centered, selfish, and I would say that in the initial stages of self-realization toward personality expression, it is an outgrowth that one will have periods of self-centeredness. The healthy manifestation of this inward reflecting will be the beginning of a diminishing influence of one's selfish desires in favor of the innocent thrill of witnessing personality expression through one's material vehicle. The joy of achievement and the recognition of beauty beginning to possess one's being will inspire a continued effort toward manifesting the reality of one's inner leading.

In short, practice, effort, application, will achieve the goal in time, but the beginning is to start with an understanding of self.

Ann: So when we want to develop self-confidence and self-esteem, if we rely upon the animal nature, it will be very difficult to attain.

Aaron: It would be hollow.

Ann: Hollow. . . right. And what you're saying is if we go from the spiritual aspect, finding who we are, discovering our self and then learning how to express ourselves, then in time that lack of self-confidence will diminish and will eventually disappear because within expressing the personality that has been given to us of the First Cause and Center and that is the true expression.

Aaron: If I could have said what I did in shorter terminology through this person, I would have enjoyed to have those words. Beautiful summation.

In this, the recognition of the embracing of one's ego as a lover should be witnessed. To see how the ego begins to respond to your honest self-reflection should be to witness with affection the jealousy, the insecurity, and the tremendous desire for recognition that this animal inheritance has.

If one enters into a battle to diminish their ego they have already lost. Better it is that one takes the ego and its reactions and caresses it, nurtures it, and offers it total acceptance, for in this, will the ego be tamed. It knows not how to battle against love toward itself.

Ann: Aaron, that's tremendous, tremendous insight. Tremendous. I have always seen the ego as the enemy and have in my own life battled and tried to subdue it and tried to subdue it in others, as you well know. But this is a whole new concept that we can embrace and in doing this find a door to walk through to find that personality that we just didn't know existed.

Aaron: Yes, the personality exists in relationship to the ego. In a sense, one must subdue the ego before personality expression can attain its highest manifestation. The only way to subdue the ego is to love it and if you love the ego, it will begin to love that it is loved. It will begin to love the personality, for the personality is that which is truly loving the ego if one chooses to love their frailties and their shortcomings. The two will enter into a relationship and the ego's will will become the will of the spirit in a way that could never be done through struggle.

Ann: Then you are saying that when we see the ego raise its head, when we see these characteristics being expressed from the ego of jealousy, lack of self-confidence, lack of self-esteem, pride, are you saying that we're to embrace the ego and give it love and through that it loses it power and submits itself to the personality? But it's a process, Aaron, isn't it? It would be a very long process in many of us.

Aaron: Most certainly. The ego does not trust easily.

Ann: Right. Would that process then, give strength to the soul, that the soul then can better express itself through the individual? I wanted to say through the personality, but I didn't know if I should say that, because I don't really understand fully the personality.

Aaron: Yes, the soul will gain in expression. The relationship of personality to the spirit is the creation of the soul and therefore soul expression would be personality expression at its highest levels, for it is the personality in relationship to God.

Ann: Then when the soul leaves the body with the spirit and the personality, is that retained in soul as something that is permanent? Or do lessons have to be learned over and over again?

Aaron: The personality is retained. The soul, the spirit come together on the mansion worlds in another vehicle to continue its expression.

Ann: Okay. But the soul will retain that which we have gained in this lifetime?

Aaron: Yes. All value is retained.

Ann: So this is certainly something that will be of great value for those that are on the spiritual path to consider, to study, to look into, as it were, that this could be a starting of accomplishment within the personality, the soul, and the ego.

Aaron: Yes. The relationship of the ego in all of this is as a defender of your safety and comfortability. It fights progress until it can see that progress is valuable and will not hurt you. The ego is not an enemy, therefore when treated as such it can do nothing but continually defend itself. If it is seen as an integral part of a material being and offered acceptance and nurturing, it will follow the course of reality as laid forth by the spirit to the personality through the soul.

Ann: This is a lot to consider and think about. It's almost like a whole new vision of a path that can be taken and a goal that would be worthy to strive for.

Aaron: And it is worthy to strive for the goal of this unity within one's being, for as one understands the relationship within themselves they will find individual expression at its highest levels and by so doing it allows a greater awareness of unity by that individual due to the honest functioning of the spiritual endowments. The unity achieved with any other individual will be of a nature much more satisfying than the compromising that is so prevalent in relationship building today on your world.

Ann: Could an individual pursue this path and if another individual is not pursuing it, would that then be an expression of truth and reality that would help the other person? I'm trying to think of how to do this. If you're starting on this path, obviously everyone's not going to be following it.

Aaron: It may be a lonely journey in the beginning, but when you have that inward relationship the level of loneliness is not of any great proportion.

Ann: Yes, I know in my life I've been alone, but there are times I've never been lonely because of the spiritual and yet I've been told, "Ann, you can't isolate yourself, you've got to be around people, relate to people." So sometimes I get very confused in my own individual walk with Father.

Aaron: Yes, the true spiritual enlightenment seeks contact with other personalities as it is not nourished in and of itself, but through contact with others in relationship. If family is the ultimate goal, then isolation of one's personality, while having short term benefit for reflection and understanding, cannot be desirable in the long term. The personality will desire integration with other personalities, even as it seeks to find perfection through the Father, because the realization of family is as integral to our existence as our identifying more and more with God, for truly they are one and the same.  . . . He's tiring.

Ann: Is it time to?

Aaron: Yes, it's time to.

Ann: Well, Aaron, I am a little saddened that this might be our last session together. I was looking forward to weekly and a long period of sessions with you.

Aaron: Ann, I will speak to you anytime.

Ann: Okay. Well I wish Simeon well. I would never hold him back, but we started the sessions and they're really getting deep. You've given some real meat for us to chew on and digest.

Aaron: Yes, and you may know that this information, while being beneficial to impart, still takes a secondary course to one's relationship to themselves and their personal spiritual seeking, for that is of a higher quality at all times than secondary influences such as myself.

. . . It has been my pleasure to be here this evening and I look forward to the manifestation of our personalities as the years unfold and as you move through your existence. There will be a day and a place where we will meet face to face in spirit and I look forward to a time we converse in such a manner as friends on our journeys through the universes. All of this is simply a prelude to a greater journey. "Life is but a day's work." as they say. "Do it well."

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It seems a good way to end the year with some food for thought found in these excerpts from The Fellowship International Conference 1996 in Flagstaff, Arizona

Solonia (TR - Daniel): I greet you as friends. This is Solonia. Much is happening in your lives at this time. You are all becoming aware of your personal missions. You are beginning your faith steps which are necessary to accomplish the grand transformation of the planet of Michael. You will have struggles, yet these struggles need not be painful. They are exercises and lessons for your own personal growth for that which you are so dearly wanting to accomplish.

You have noticed of this place a level of energy that is above the usual for this large of a function. You are connecting circuits with many whom you have known but not seen and who you have seen but not known. The light which each of you is sharing at this function is creating an energy which is noticeable to the majority of attendees. The joy of discovering friendships, discovering the Father in your many brethren, and seeing the presence of Michael, and the desire of each. As the days pass, it will become more apparent to all that much is happening, that a transformation is taking place.

The love that each of you share with those who are having difficulty is a great part of this transformative process. The experience of the beginning level of Light and Life will touch many unawares. You who have been prepared and are preparing as teachers have a mission; it is to reveal our Master to your brethren. Reveal Michael as you yourself experience Him. The love, the compassion, the understanding of human frailty, and the recognition of the potential human divinity in cooperation with the divine Adjuster of each.

It is a gift to all of us who are watching to see the growth of Light and Truth and Love which is happening at this time to overcome the division which has been festering in this movement for years. The unification of the ideals of brotherhood, which all share, must be the fulcrum for overcoming the antagonisms of differing ideas.

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Unseen Friend (TR - Deborah): You are like a field of flowers, beginning to open their blossoms, their fragrance filling the earth and drawing many to you. This is our way, attractive, not invading the sanctity of another's will. We honor your will and through our relationship with you, you are learning to achieve the same regard toward the will of others. This is as it should be. For all must come of their own choosing, of their own perception of truth and ability to respond to Love that is given.

Your greatest gift is to be that conduit of Love that nurtures the seeds of truth, the potentials of perfection within each person who is within your realm of presence. That realm extends out much farther than your physical being. Others can sense this, though they do not understand. That is how they are drawn to you, that is how the opening occurs for you to reach out to them. Though they may be hesitant, your touch will be responsive to their need. It may be light, it may be embracing. As you follow your guidance within, you will be more aware of the right way of approaching each person. And that ability of awareness is heightened by your communion with your indwelling presence which you achieve through prayer and stillness. Through your commitment  to live your Father's will in your life, all are welcome into this mission of light and sharing of love.

You are blessed to believe in the truth of this blessing and receive it fully into your being. Our love pours forth and surrounds you. The victory is already attained in our Father's mind. Trust in this process that must unfold in time in your life and you will be fully aware of your victory now, even in its process of happening.

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Rantarason (TR-Bob): I am Rantarason, been known as Andranason, and the names are irrelevant. We utilize these names because we attempt to bring a personal nature to this mission. It is not required, it has been our choice to do so. One can perceive just as well without knowing any name of any entity. If you perceive the spirit of God, the form of ministry in which it takes does not make the truth any larger or smaller, for the truth stands as it is in all of its glory.

Q: What have you and Minearisa been up to these days and what did Minearisa mean by changes at hand?

Rantarason: We two are actually many Melchizedeks, not just us. Montarnek, Malvantra, Mantuba, many Melchizedek are coordinating to follow up on the vast recommitment to the Correcting Time by human individuals. After a period of trial and tribulation, this period of time is quite necessary for the humans to understand their dedication, where they would center their lives. Some have fallen away due to a lack of materialization of desires in human channels. This creates uncertainty for a period of time. Many have reevaluated to the depths, to the core of their being, what they are doing. Many have made a new commitment to follow through on the Father's will as they perceive it. Many continue to believe in the truth of this Mission, this Correcting Time. And so we have gone forth to shore up the troops, to strengthen the wings, to re-instill purpose individually, collectively. It is time to act on what you believe with the highest conviction you can muster, with faith that truth and love will guide you in your sincerity.

This is a call to arms, the arms of love, not battle. The unfolding of this ministry will be determined by your willingness to proceed. This seems easy to do. "Yes, I will follow the Father's will, just so long as I don't have to do that!" or "I will do it, but that's scary." It is time to break the barriers of fear, it is time to act in the face of insecurity, it is time to exercise faith, and only the individual can decide what that means for them. The collective in its greatness should always be determined by its individuals, its individual's desires to come together. This creates harmony rather than uniform desire.

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Ham (TR-Rebecca): Greetings friends, children, colleagues in the fight of truth over error, good over evil, and beauty over ugliness. I am Ham. I humbly thank you all for your diligence and perseverance. Your faith and your courage.

There are some rapids in the waters ahead which you will use all your skills, all your faith, all your wisdom, even your faith-love, to traverse. We have long observed you, each one, through many trials and tests. We are sure of you, each one. Your faith commitment has grown only stronger over time and you are now unshakable in your duty-destiny. We have long watched love grow in your hearts and watched you take risks for that love, to open your hearts even further for the sake of the Father and of the Son who went before you.

You are now learning what the Kingdom of Heaven is. For some, you tarried at the doorway, others rushed in, and still in confusion, could not see the simple tasks before you. Others have entered and received the Father's embrace which endows you with the love you need to carry forth in the world as you were meant to do. The tasks before you will require you, each one, to reach deeply in your hearts for all your experience; your experience of beauty, your experience of goodness and what it means, your experience of truth and what value is. You will have hard choices to make. You will know when they arrive, for there is much asked of those who have truly asked to serve.

Most of you, yea, I would say all of you, have sacrificed something for the chance of serving a higher reality. And as you begin this great service mission, you will have to leave things behind which have become too heavy to carry. When you have left all vestige of selfishness on the roadway, then will your steps be free and you will be fully and totally able to heed the Master's voice and go when He calls you. When the Master told the rich man to sell all he had and follow him, he was speaking to everyone. Not in the literal sense, but in the spiritual sense must you give all you have, all that you are holding onto selfishly, you must give. When the Master calls you, you must follow, or you must remain behind, like the rich man who could not sell his possessions. Therefore, as you move in your lives, remember to heed the fact that there are little pieces of selfish desire which, though difficult to renounce, is absolutely necessary for you to do if you are to follow Him.

Loving one another, loving yourselves, is only the first step, children. There are many things ahead for you which you may not understand now but which you will see during this next year, you will grapple with this decision again and again and again. This is truly the time when the fruit is separated from the chaff. When you discern what is of value and what is useless in your lives. Remember that as you go through these great trials of living, the Master stands beside you, holding your hand, stroking your head and saying, "This is the way." That is all.

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Nebadonia: (TR-Eugenia): Open your heart, allow me to come in. I am here. I am your Mother. Let me fill your hearts with my love, with my healing. Your Father is ever with you, as am I. Know that we stand beside you. We are your support, as are myriad others who your Father has brought to you. Do not think that you walk this path alone, for even when you feel alone, you are supported. There are those among us tonight who have allowed me to open and touch their hearts. I would that all my children would let me in, would know of my presence in their lives. There will be times in your futures, most assuredly, when you will forget. Remember this night and the love that you have allowed to come in. Let this be the foundation that carries you through. For surely, the Father touches each and every one of His children who open the door to His light. You are His light in this world. You allow His light to open the hearts of my other little ones that are so painfilled that they cannot find their way to Him. You are blessed for the work that you do.

                                      *

Michael (TR-Daniel): My little ones, I am your Father, and too, I am your brother. Do not lose sight of either of these designations for me. For as you live your lives, so did I. You have been told of your struggles which are along your path, but remember that with our love and the love of our Heavenly Father, these struggles will bring great joy. I too share in each of your struggles, my dear ones. Your Mother and I surround you at all times. Lift up your souls to the one within you. For there is your strength. There is your purpose. There is your drive. Never lose sight of this fact.

When you desire guidance, it is our Father who so freely gives it to you. His ministers are often the avenue, for this often is how Father speaks with us. You each are also His ministers, and through you does He speak, and minister, and love. Your gifts are of Him, share freely. You have all answered the call. You are my disciples, you are my apostles. Follow me.

Seek within you the greatest good. Leave aside false modesty. For the source of all of your good is our Father. You are each important channels of His divine mercy and goodness. You have each chosen His way. Why then would you belittle yourselves for that which He has created in you and which you have chosen to accept. You each, dear ones, are yet so young, and we expect you to make mistakes, to fall down and to get back up, to run and play and skin your knees. You are so often too hard on yourselves. You dwell too much on those areas of your growth which you have not yet attained. Look instead to your own motivations. Your motivations are beautiful and good, as are the motivations of each little one who has discovered the Father. Be not concerned for what others may say or think of you. Concern yourselves mainly with the understanding of our deep and total love for you.

You are each a unique expression of me. We are all unique expressions of our Father. Together we will go far. Together we are already making incredible progress. Perfection is our goal my children. It is not our present state, yours, nor mine. I am Sovereign of this universe, yet as you see, it is not yet perfect. That, we will create together. Look to me and to your Mother, always, for we truly are that. Recognize us, call to us. Run and sit in our laps frequently. You bring us great joy.

I leave you my peace, children, and my deepest, deepest love.

                                      *

Ambrose (TR-JoiLin): You have each been prepared for a journey of great magnitude as well as great joy. You are both blessed and honored to take up Michael's banner and walk this walk of victory for this planet. Urantia. Look to the Father within your own hearts. I encourage you, our parents encourage you, to seek His guidance upon arising each day, and end your day embracing His spirit. For in the former will your marching orders be given to you in each and every moment of your day, and in the latter, will you feed, will you drink from the wellspring that resides within your own heart.

You know the way, for you have been indeed well taught. It is easy, when we allow ourselves to become caught within the anxieties and trials of life to forget from where your sustenance, your strength, your guidance comes. I encourage you to remember, dear students, beloved friends. That is all.

                                      *

Will (TR-JoiLin): Beloved of the Father. Allowing our love to flow out to all brothers and sisters. The light of the Father shines forth from your very heart, lighting the dark path, he shows the way. The majesty of the Father enfolds us and supports us. Wherever we gather, he is.

Greetings beloveds. It is I, Will, your Teacher who loves you. I look upon this room this evening with such delight. You fill our hearts to overflowing, with the beauty and the light that you are. There are those of you here who experience our presence for the first time. I welcome you.

All you here present, each of you has a big, blue book, the light of your lives. For within those pages lives the inspiration, the truth, the bedrock of your faith, and you are all lights. The knowledge you've taken within your hearts and allow it to flow out into the arena of your lives. Father blesses each and every one of you for the service you do, for your brothers and sisters, if you live your lives each day recognizing the piece of divinity that resides within our hearts.

Welcome into the space of our daily life, the consciousness, open to his leading, recognize him, the nudges you're given inside your own heart. Then you will be instrumental in helping us, and the Father of all of us, to begin to move this world into the stages of light and life. That is the task at hand. We've talked about his, in all of the classrooms across this world. The simple things we do in our daily lives. A smile to a disheartened stranger, a touch on the shoulder, a gentle word, a small gift it seems, and yet miracles are wrought, and the ripples of love move from that space into the world at large.

Each and every time your heart is opened to a fellow, it's the Father's love magnified through you, in service to him, and the Brotherhood. If you only recognized, and understood, how powerful you all are in the gifts that you give, well you will. Take this piece of knowledge within your hearts today. Take it home with you, make it work and watch the world change.

For those of you to whom this Teaching Mission is a new experience, I would ask you to understand that it is not important that you accept, any more than it is important that when reading our beloved Urantia Book, you understand each and every term, or each and every concept. Simply be open, that is all it will take to change the world. My blessings I leave with you.

                                      *

Paramahansa Yogananda (TR-Eugenia): Good evening my brothers. I am a new name in the Teaching Mission. To many who are in this room tonight, I am known s Paramahansa Yogananda. It is my privilege and pleasure to be with you tonight, for my small victory in the world was to share the love of God as taught in the East for the Western world's hunger for knowing the God within. As a teacher I was sent, guided, directed to your nation, the United States, to begin a colony in which the teachings of the East could harmonize with the knowledge and truth taught and focused upon in the West.

It was my mission given to me by God. I, as a normal being. lived upon this planet as you and all others before you have done. And yet I was able to attain a level of consciousness with God which for some of you may seem impossible or unlikely in your lifetime. I am an example of an individual who was able through the teachings of my own teachers and through practice and experience in the humble center of my being, to know the God within and furthermore exert my own strength and power of which Will has just now alluded to. The power is within each one of you. None of you are remiss in the qualities which it takes to achieve a living God consciousness, a state of being in joy and bliss, in each moment of each day of each year of your life in the mortal realm. It is possible and furthermore will become more common as individuals such as yourselves who are open to the possibilities, give yourselves to the stillness within, the practices of meditation or whatever technique you desire to use in which you shall most effectively reach the quiet space where you and God reside together as one.

I urge and encourage you to seek this space. I also encourage you to carefully select the moments and the times in which you find yourself able to attain a quiet place. It is an easy technique but one that must be learned through practice. One does not ride a bicycle without practice, nor does one attain the quiet space without practice. Time with God should be our objective first and then it becomes a reality. Each of you are capable. I admonish you to give this thought contemplation in your days to come. If you are now practicing a meditation technique, I urge you to be faithful to the one that seems most effective to you. If you are as of now, erratic in your approach, I encourage you to seek out one who may assist you in a comfortable, accepting environment. If you are not now practicing stillness or do not believe it is possible to attain, I encourage you to open your minds, seek out those who have had those experiences. Discuss it with them. Read books which are on many shelves in your book stores about the benefits of this practice, for you will not only find God in this practice, you will also find better health and greater joy and simplicity in your living standards. Your life styles will change and you will be pleased with what you find in others around you and in your own lives.

The stillness is a word which is utilized in the Teaching Mission, but it is not different from any other terms taught by many other teachers who have disciplines which may differ in some ways from those which I taught. It matters not, which technique you use. It matters that we find a way. There are some dangers if you do not have the proper attitude, or perhaps seek to push yourself beyond your limits. There are some dangers, but these are, generally speaking for individuals who have attained the understanding that most Urantia readers have, relatively minor. If you do experience perhaps slight fears or doubts, or have an experience which is uncomfortable, I encourage you to seek one who has had ample experience and can assist you through these difficult moments. I speak to you of these negatives and that is not the word that I wanted this speaker to use. I speak of these slight difficulties, because I do believe that you need the warning. Meditation is a practice, a tool, a technique, to gain further acquaintanceship with the Father. One cannot develop friendship without spending time with the friend or the one with whom you desire to become a friend. God is your friend, he is a quiet friend, he is ever present, whether you seek him or not.

However, you will know him when you do seek him an invite him into your lives more fully and effectively. It is in the stillness where healing the body, the agonies and pains of being a mortal can be corrected and changed for the better.

Peace attained within is the peace that will bind the world in Light and Life And it begins with you in the here and now, and it will come. The sooner you yourself lives and knows that you are living in light and life now, the more effectively the world will change and ready itself for complete light and life activity.

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Brenda (TR-Scott): I just want to share with you a few moments, something that the Master did when he walked that helped to bring more and more believers into the fold. And that was to be God loving in all things that he did. One of the most gratifying experiences that you will have, some of you have, some of you haven't, but more and more of you will, is when a person comes to you, a coworker, a friend, a family member, a complete stranger says to you, "I have been watching you, everything that you do, you do with such loving grace. Everything that you do , you do with such happiness and fulfillment. How can I learn to be like you? What is there that I can do to become the way you are?" and my friends, you've opened the door for another, and I beseech all of you to be the person who these people come to. We all know what its like to have someone try to force their ideas on us, trying to sell us with their book, or prophecy, or plan, or faith. When someone does this to you, your action is to defend yourself, hold tight, stand fast. That is the reaction of others when you do the same to them, but when you don't try to push, when you just love, behave as the Master behaved when he lived, in all things that you do, that is where we will grow.

All these things we're teaching you, seeking the stillness, prayer and worship, service, love, all these things are steps to help you become the person that is a guiding light for others. It doesn't matter if you read the book or not. It doesn't mater if you believe in this Mission of not. But if you're a guiding light for others, then you are truly a part of the family and kingdom of God.

Go forth and love. Go forth and be he or she who others come to for guidance. We are are so excited of the potential of those in this room, and even those who aren't in this room. We love all of you so much, and we know that you joined this Mission because of what we offer to you, and you've heard us ask before, do the same for others. And I can stress this over and over and over, because this is where our success lies.

Sharman (TR-Rick): I am one of your fellow planetary Brothers, Sharmon. I have a short message as I am in a hurry. You do know that we Midwayers are more like you than our Master. We spend much time on this planet and are greatly focused on its progress. Our personal growth is really planetary progress, for as you have come to know, we can continue our growth when this project has come to fruition. You who have the Father within, are focused upon personal growth. Since we share this world, I ask you also to work towards planetary progress, so that we, our older brothers may move forward in our personal growth. Sometimes this little world of ours feels like a cruise ship. Many tourists, few shipmates. But I assure you, the bridge is run by qualified Melchizedeks. We have steamed out of the harbors. Much work my Brothers and Sisters Much, much work.

                                      *

Minearisa (TR-Nancy): I am Minearisa. a Melchizedek son in service to our lord Christ Michael in this time of correction.

Michael has deemed that it is time for his beloved planet so long darkened, so long blighted by rebellion, to begin to move into Light and Life. Those of you within the Teaching Mission, with history in the Teaching Mission are aware of this. Those of you new here this evening may not be aware of all that it has transpired, and it is my desire that you know that your pleas for assistance for turning the darkness of this world into Light have been heard. The Correcting Time is here. This is now. The circuits have been rehooked. Urantia is no longer an isolated planet.

I realize this brings doubt into some of your minds. Allow this doubt to be, for it is natural, it is a part of the human mechanism. Healthy skepticism is good. However, I know you are all fair, I know you are all inquisitive. I ask you to consider the spiritual quickening that you yourselves feel. I ask you to consider the sharing of hearts. Indeed does it sometimes appear, when one listens to the news, when one observes the social, political structures that the Correcting Time is not here, nay, the dawn is not arriving, rather, the darkness is deepening. But this is not the case. The dawn is here. The very early dawn. The stars are still visible in the sky but there is a lightening on the horizon.

Michael has deemed that the time has come for the wrongs to be made right. The fifth epochal revelation is the beginning of this enormous undertaking. More changes are in store. More will be made known. It is through the work of the individual that your planet will be turned from the dark to the light, that Urantia will come into Light and Life. It is the undertaking of each of you individually in your desire to say "God, I will that your will be done" that this will be done. It is the action of getting to know God, to love God, in building that relationship with the First Source and Center that these changes will be brought about, for God will have God's way with this planet.

You have heard from your Teachers this evening about the beneficence and necessity for the practice of quiet. For it is this practice that solidifies that relationship to your beloved friend, the Father, the indwelling spirit. It is in the silence that one finds the still, small voice. It is from the silence that individual transformation will take place. That will be the catalyst foundation basis for planetary transformation. You my friends, stand at the brink of history, what a thrilling time to be alive. What a thrilling time to walk the soil of this planet.

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                       TM FAMILY NEWS

HALF MOON BAY, CA - The following is a post from Susan Kimsey on the net. Part of it includes "The Rock and Water" lesson from Olfana, which appeared in the September 1993 issue of the newsletter. Since the readership at that time was small and the lesson such a good one, it appears here again along with Susan's words of how it came about. Thank you, Susan. I was getting tired of my stories.

Hi everyone! Well, when it rains, it pours . .. not only am I doing hospice care for my mom, who is dying from ovarian cancer, but I found out on Friday that their house is FULL of termites! The termite inspector says they have to "tent" the entire house, which means I have to move my almost blind dad and dying mother to a motel for four days, so that the house can be fogged with what is essentially nerve gas! There is lots of preparatory work I have to do at their house before it is gassed, so this will be one of the few times you'll be hearing from me for awhile.

I have wanted to post more about what I have gotten from Olfana and Tarkas about alternative healing, etc., but haven't had the time. I've been reading others' posts, and can see much consistency with what I've been told, and what other Teachers have said about "vibrational energy," healing, etc. There is so much of this theme that is popping up all over the place now in the general media that what I worried would sound "far out" if I talked about it in 1993, now seems almost commonplace. People talk about "hands on healing" now as easily as they talk about acupuncture or homeopathic remedies. I think the pace of change in people's acceptance of these concepts in wonderfully amazing!

Please don't think I consider myself an expert on these matters. When Olfana started talking about all this stuff to me, I was a new transmitter, and wondered what on earth was going on. I'm an English teacher, for God's Sake! What did I know about any of this??? I wasn't even exactly sure what "chakras" were, when Olfana told me that she and the Life Carriers were "balancing" mine as part of my needed "adjustments." (!!!) As I sat in stillness, following the directions I was hearing from Olfana, moving my hands up and own my body, not touching my skin, but feeling strong tingling and pulsations in my hands, I had plenty of moments to battle with thoughts that I was NUTS! But, "the proof was in the pudding," and when I cooperated in these balancing exercises, I felt wonderful and refreshed afterwards. Finally, I decided to quit worrying about my sanity, and just cooperate. :-)

Then again, there were Tim's doubts to contend with. . . Tim and I have been together since 1985, so he knows me very well. When I started TRing in 1993, he was open-minded and supportive of my efforts. But after 6 months of my transmissions, which were full of discussions about "energy vibrations," our colorful auric lights that the Teachers could see, body positions for meditations that would boost our "energy circuits," meditations filled with rainbows of mental colors, dietary suggestions, hands-on-healing instructions for myself and others, etc., Tim was feeling rather overwhelmed. He confided to me that he would have an easier time accepting this "TRing stuff" if I would get "normal" lessons on spiritual concepts, like other TR's got . . .Olfana's smiling and gentle response to Tim was that "Lessons would come later" and that what they were doing with me at the moment was the priority. Finally, on September 10, 1993, Olfana gave us her first recognizable "lesson." Our group has come to refer to it as "The Rock in the Water," but , officially, I call it a lesson on "Body Perceptions." Tim and I were doing this session together late at night on a weekend. Tim was still feeling confusion about the type of messages I was receiving, but he had enough experience with Olfana at that point that he felt a great love for her, and trusted the "reality" of our experience with her and Tarkas as our Teachers. So there we sat, close to midnight on September 10th, when Olfana chose to answer our confused and murky understanding of what she was trying to teach us with the imagery of "the rock in the water." Enjoy! Much love, Susan

A lesson "Body Perceptions" for Olfana --"The Rock in the Water"

Sept. 10, 1993

Tim: The first question I have is regarding my background in Christian Science. I'm having trouble understanding what I perceive to be a contradictory emphasis in books like "Keys to the Scriptures" and "A Course in Miracle," with books like the "Urantia Book." On the one hand, Christian Science and "A Course in Miracles" seem to emphasize to me a very high level of understanding of a spiritual world, and seem to denounce the reality of a materialistic world. Yet books like Kryon's book and the "Urantia Book" seem to indulge in endless speculation about "energy forces and material forces." The involvement that S has with the healing energies, including her involvement with the flower essences and the gem elixirs, imply that these are crucial to her background in spiritual evolution, and her understanding of healing. Can you clarify some of this for me?

Olfana: (Smiling) You touch upon issues of great importance! We understand your confusion regarding these many questions. Let us digress for a moment. Can you allow the use of symbolism, symbolic images, to help you, perhaps, to comprehend?

Tim: If you think these symbolic images will help, yes.

Olfana: [Note: TR sees an image of a shiny black rock, perhaps obsidian, placed in a clear glass beaker, that is filled with water. The beaker is placed in the middle of a simple table, so that a person can walk around the beaker, and observe it from all angles. The atmosphere is that of a scientific laboratory.] If you place a rock in water, is it not true that your perception of the rock can change when you view it, looking downward into the water? And then, you shift, and perceive the rock from, let us say, the side of a glass container that holds this rock and water. Also, if you placed your face into the water, would you again see the rock from a slightly changed perception? Do you understand the image we create here?

Tim: Yes. I've experienced those different perceptions [of a rock magnified by the water] a number of times.

Olfana: Then please hold this image in your mind, as we proceed to discuss concepts of "the body." The physical, bio-chemical mechanism, or instrument, you are housed in, is now, indeed, like the rock, of material substance. Yet, your perception of this body you inhabit can change, depending upon your perspective. Sometimes you feel you -are- in the rock in the water. Yet this is only one perspective. When you look from outside the cylinder, through the water, does not the rock appear magnified, greater than its original image?

Tim: Yes.

Olfana: Your consciousness is not only connected to this "physical being." Much of your perceptions of your consciousness, as limited to this body, is illusory--just as the rock, appearing magnified, is an illusion of light waves affected by the water. Lessons learned from the perspective of being "in the body" are a necessary part of your experience in this lifetime. However, you are, indeed, so much more than what the body -appears- to limit you to, that teachings such as the "Course in Miracles," or the doctrines of Christian Science, encourage you to expand your perceptions past these body limitations. True "essence of the rock" is not modified by these perceptual changes caused by different viewpoints of it. Just so, your being is not limited by "body perceptions." Higher truths surrounding the complete make-up of your being are not fully understood, or widely taught, on your planet. In other words, I might say, you have seen the rock from many different angles in this cylinder of water. But, thus far, you have not reached in, and pulled out the rock, in order to gaze upon it, -alone-. The water surrounding this rock is representative of the many illusions or beliefs that exist in your philosophical doctrines. "A Course in Miracles" encourages you, as does the work of Mary Baker Eddy, to see that these illusions can be penetrated, and, through inspiration, a clearer perspective--perception--of the true entity that you are, can be discovered. However, doctrinaire interpretations that the body has -no existence- on the physical plane are also incorrectly stated--perceived. You cannot deny that one is seeing an aspect of the rock, even when viewed through water. Just so, seeing the body as a physical entity has some accuracy. Adjustments to the "vibrational manifestation of your entity" can, indeed, take place. And physical imbalances do occur. These teachings of such matters as flower essences, energy transmissions, and adjustments are appropriate to one level of perception of your being. (Olfana smiles) You are not removed from the water, yet! Therefore, within the boundaries of this perception, the body needs to be dealt with. Indeed, the time comes when you are truly released from any limiting perceptions of your being as connected to a physical manifestation. But, it is the -ideal- which is striven for in "A Course in Miracles" or the Christian Science teachings. Those wo can release themselves from illusions of "body boundaries" can indeed create new perceptions of themselves--HEALED perceptions of themselves! But most mortals need to begin their comprehension of themselves at a level much more connected to the physical world. In the "Course in Miracles," Jesus says, "If taking a pill allows you to feel less anxious, then, by all means, take this pill." There is much truth in this teaching. It encourages you to see that leaving behind your illusions of the body is a -process- that builds towards a final moment of clarity--just as one realizes that by shifting positions, and observing the rock, that these changing perceptions of the rock in the water are more the result of the water than the rock. That moment of clarity liberates you to reach in, and remove the rock from the water--to see it -free- of the substance which clouded your true perception of it! Just so, your release from illusions surrounding the body will come at the point you choose to remove your perceptions of "your being" from the body, which -seems-to contain it. We hope our attempt to elucidate your concerns regarding these issues has been helpful. We thank you for your patient attention.

Half Moon Bay - CA Teaching Mission Group

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 KEIZER, OR

10-29-96

Hope you are doing well in health - everyone knows you are doing exceptionally well in Spirit! Your newsletter is a great service Everyone in the Willamette Valley really looks forward to receiving each issue.

Mona and I have finally realized we cannot do the UP [Urantia Parent] newsletter and other service publications in our spare time. Therefore, the foot-dragging finally ended for Mona. She quit her State Department of Education and now works part-time tutoring local middle and high school students who have difficulty with "the system." I am slowly but surely working myself out of a job with a university. We are currently working on the premier issue of our future "for profit" publication, "The Spiritual Child." The UP newsletter will continue as a service publication of T.M. members. "The Spiritual Child" will be our effort to reach non-Urantia-Teaching-Mission parents. We'll see how it goes. We are trusting that we will be guided in this effort, as we have been guided in the Urantia Parent newsletters. We will keep you posted on developments.

Mona and Milton West

[Well - here is a fine opportunity for any of you who have some information, experience, or knowledge of newsletter/magazine publishing to come forward and contact Mona and Milton. I spoke with Milton and they would be most grateful to hear your suggestions and learn of your experience and knowledge as this is new step for them. Mona and Milton are to be congratulated on their commitment to the "Urantia Parent" and "The Spiritual Child." It takes a lot of dedication and commitment to do the "Urantia Parent" and to take on this new project, "The Spiritual Child.". If Santa (otherwise known as Nebadonia and her "elves") was generous to you at Christmas, sharing it with Mona and Milton may be a good way for you to pass the gift along. As we support each other and share our talents and experience, we all grow and foster the growth of God the Supreme. You can contact Mona and Milton West at:

The Light & Life Press

What better way to start the New Year than sharing???!!! -Ed]

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ELLSWORTH, ME - Jack Malaby sent me a copy of Child of the Universe by J. Thomas Ford in which a child in the womb converses with his mother. "Mother. .. I am here, inside your precious womb, my first home here in time and space. Speak to me, ask me questions, test my knowledge. See if I know whereof I speak. I am here for you, Mother, here to perform a task, specifically to issue instructions on how to raise me up to the level of my actual mental, physical. and spiritual potential, as a Child of the Universe. As a benefit, along the way, I shall try and help you expand your consciousness, open your mind to its universal source, bolster your self-respect, increase your self-esteem and compound your understanding tenfold. If I am successful, all your fear, anxiety and tension will melt away when I walk you into the foyer and formally introduce you to your true spiritual identity as a Child of the Universe. Just like me."

It is a project that has taken twenty years in evolution and written with the general public in mind (not just for Urantia Book readers), although as readers, you will recognize many of the teachings of The Urantia Book. I can't think of a better gift for an expectant mother, but you'll want your own copy to read first.

Paperback editions can be ordered for $14.95 including postage and handling from:

Epigrammata Press

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 EDEN, UT - Jeremiah is holding his own. Nolus is feeling the strain of working and being caregiver. As any of you who have experienced being a caregiver know, this is a full time job in and of itself - a demanding one that is constant. They are most grateful for all your prayers, cards, letters, calls and suggestions. They have been busy reading all the material they have received. Let us continue to keep them in our prayers for we KNOW the power of prayer.

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 DOTHAN, AL - I had received a call from James McNealy several years ago asking if I knew of any blacks in the Teaching Mission or readers and how they felt about certain passages in The Urantia Book. At that time, the only black I knew of who read The Urantia Book was someone I had introduced the book to. All I could report to him was that she had not taken offense to those passages. I did tell him that this one of a couple of things that I originally had some problems with in reading the book and it made me uncomfortable. Then I joined our Washington Metro group this year, which is a predominantly black group and I intended to write James. I got as far as asking members of the group if they would mind if I sent him their names and address, which, of course, they said was fine. And then I got sidetracked.

Well, James called me this month and what a joyous conversation I had with him! He was delighted to learn of our group and said that if I sent him their names and addresses, he would write to them. While we were talking, James told me that he was a believer in the Teaching Mission because he had had several visions and had started writing poetry. Talking with him was one of those uplifting experiences that makes your heart want to sing in celebration of life and the truth, beauty and goodness of our Father and way He reaches out to touch us through others. James sent our group a cassette about himself along with some of his poetry. I think you will all enjoy this. Gracious Mind

Dear God give us a mind filled with

Love protecting our every thought,

Where peace becomes a reality

As millions have lived and sought.

Give us a mind filled with justice

Where fairness is way with all,

Then happiness will be as plentiful

As countless leaves in the midst of fall.

Give us a mind filled with wisdom

Where folly will be hard to find,

Then dignity will find its place

As people learn to be ever so kind.

Give us a mind filled with hope

As a farmer plants and awaits its yield,

Then sadness will be just a second

As bountiful crops cover each and every field.

Give us a mind filled with compassion

Where even the hungry are given his bread,

Then we will love our neighbor as

Surely your hold word has said.

Give us a mind filled with forgiveness

So hatred will never more come to be,

Then people the world over

Will be peaceful as water covers the very sea.

Give us a mind filled with righteousness

Where obedience comes to one and all,

Then sheep like people from distant lands

Will heed our precious call.

Give us a mind filled with faith

Where trust in you will be our might,

Then no one will be made to

Stumble, guided by your holy light.

Give us a mind filled with joy.

So our burden will be able to bear,

Then songs will be sung in praise

As we turn to you with thankful prayer.

Give us a mind filled with goodness

That we may learn to help one and all,

Then our mind will be raised

From that shameful first edenic fall.

We look forward sharing more of your work and hearing more from you, James.

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 POCATELLO, ID - Bob Devine has moved to Pocatello. We all hope you will get quickly settled and enjoy you new home.

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 TALLAHASSEE, FL - Many of you have talked about building a community. Fred Harris has requested ideas and suggestions for this, so if you have any thoughts, let Fred hear from you.

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                    THE URANTIA BOOK

The confusion and turmoil of Urantia do not signify that the Paradise Rulers lack either interest or ability to manage affairs differently. The Creators are possessed of full power to make Urantia a veritable paradise, but such an Eden would not contribute to the development of those strong, noble, and experienced characters which the Gods are so surely forging out on your world between the anvils of necessity and the hammers of anguish. Your anxieties and sorrows, your trials and disappointments, are just as much a part of the divine plan on your sphere as are the exquisite perfection and infinite adaption of all things to their supreme purpose on the worlds of the central and perfect universe.               Page 258

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             7. THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH

The flesh, the inherent nature derived from the animal-origin races, does not naturally bear the fruits of the divine Spirit. When the mortal nature has been upstepped by the addition of the nature of the Material Sons of God, as the Urantia races were in a measure advanced by the bestowal of Adam, then is the way better prepared for the Spirit of Truth to co-operate with the indwelling Adjuster to bring forth the beautiful harvest of the character fruits of the spirit. If you do not reject this spirit, even though eternity may be required to fulfill the commission, "he will guide you into all truth."

Evolutionary mortals inhabiting normal worlds of spiritual progress do not experience the acute conflicts between the spirit and the flesh which characterize the present-day Urantia races. But even on the most ideal planets, pre-Adamic man must put forth positive efforts to ascend from the purely animalistic plane of existence up through successive levels of increasingly intellectual meanings and higher spiritual values.

The mortals of a normal world do not experience constant warfare between their physical and spiritual natures. They are confronted with the necessity of climbing up from the animal levels of existence to the higher planes of spiritual living, but this ascent is more like undergoing an educational training when compared with the intense conflicts of Urantia mortals in this realm of the divergent material and spiritual natures.

The Urantia peoples are suffering the consequences of a double deprivation of help in this task of progressive planetary spiritual attainment. The Caligastia upheaval precipitated world-wide confusion and robbed all subsequent generations of the moral assistance which a well-ordered society would have provided. But even more disastrous was the Adamic default in that it deprived the races of that superior type of physical nature which would have been more consonant with spiritual aspirations.

Urantia mortals are compelled to undergo such marked struggling between the spirit and the flesh because their remote ancestors were not more fully Adamized by the Edenic bestowal. It was the divine plan that the mortal races of Urantia should have had physical natures more naturally spirit responsive.

To withstanding this double disaster to man's nature and his environment, present-day mortals would experience less of this apparent warfare between the flesh and the spirit if they would enter the spirit kingdom, wherein the faith sons of God enjoy comparative deliverance from the slave-bondage of the flesh in the enlightened and liberating service of wholehearted devotion to doing the will of the Father in heaven. Jesus showed mankind the new way of mortal living whereby human beings may very largely escape the dire consequences of the Caligastic rebellion and most effectively compensate for the deprivations resulting from the Adamic default. "The spirit of the life of Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of animal living and the temptations of evil and sin." "This is the victory that overcomes the flesh, even our faith."

Those God-knowing men and women who have been born of the Spirit experience no more conflict with their mortal natures than do the inhabitants of the most normal worlds, planets which have never been tainted with sin nor touched by rebellion. Faith sons work on intellectual levels and live on spiritual planes far above the conflicts produced by unrestrained or unnatural physical desires. The normal urges of animal beings and the natural appetites and impulse of the physical nature are not in conflict with even the highest spiritual attainment except in the minds of ignorant, mistaught, or unfortunately overconscientious persons.

Having started out on the way of life everlasting, having accepted the assignment and received your orders to advance, do not fear the dangers of human forgetfulness and mortal inconstancy, do not be troubled with doubts of failure or by perplexing confusion, do not falter and question your status and standing, for in every dark hour, at every crossroad in the forward struggle, the Spirit of Truth will always speak, saying, "This is the way."                                        Page 382

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                  UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

           THE INTERNATIONAL TEACHING

                 MISSION GATHERING 1997

                  Snow Mountain, Colorado

                        "LOVE IN ACTION"

                       August 21-24, 1997

For Information and registration packets contact Barry Norby at 936 Buck Drive, Dover DE 19901. To offer suggestions or offer your help with the program contact Eric Johnson at 303-604-2347.

Bob Lea reports that a dozen are already registered. Remember, JANUARY 31, is the deadline for deposits. DON'T LET THIS IMPORTANT DATE SLIP UP ON YOU.

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          PROSE, POETRY AND PRAYERS

My daughter wrote this poem last year, when she was 15. We've both been cleaning our bedrooms all afternoon, and she unearthed her poem from under a pile of teenage debris. She brought it to me, and asked me to take a few minutes to read it. I enjoyed it a lot, and thought you might too. Love Susan Kimsey.

                               Happiness

I find my happiness in my soul.

The sun warms my soul.

The earth soothes my soul.

The ocean calms my soul.

My crying is letting the sadness release from my       soul.

How do you find happiness?

When you were little, it was cotton candy,               laughing friends,

Fun times, birthdays, and new toys, just the simple      things.

When you're older, it's friends who make you          smile,

Boyfriends and girlfriends to make you love.

Family to make you feel secure.

Happiness isn't always easy to find when you're        older.

You need to find it within yourself.

You have to earn your happiness, by knowing that       you deserve it.

Life can be so tremendously hard,

But we all end up finding our happy thoughts.

Friends come and friends go,

Each one strengthening you piece by piece.

Life is so full of so many things that you can't just      spill it into one poem.

People get so depressed and sad.

It is so easy to be sad, but it does not get you          anywhere.

Strive to be happy.