1992-10-11-Expanded Concept of Love

Session

Opening

Opening Prayer: Prayer of St. Francis

Daniel: "Good afternoon. I am Daniel your friend and teacher. On this beautiful day in your realm I am pleased to meet with you, to observe and witness your growth and your being able to witness to God's love and presence in your lives. I am, as always, watching for those steps you take that will help you in truly becoming the apostles of Christ Michael. And your work, your questioning, your desire to follow Him is being noted. For as each of you takes another step in the direction of the seeking and knowing the love of the Father, you are, in effect, taking another step in becoming that apostle as well.

Lesson

Love

My lesson this evening is upon love in a more expanded concept. Think now, all of you, what is your concept of love? (long pause) Love is so encompassing that it becomes very difficult to define it in a single definition. It has many layers, many different aspects.

The base layer is of mere feeling; feeling something for some object, some person, or of some relationship; a feeling. And this is often all that many are able to understand in this concept of love. For many it become just the physical relationship that one has with another; a very base and bottom feeling. Love encompasses far more than your sensual aspect. You are all aware of this and have taken broader steps; steps to recognize that love is not only a human attribute, but it is the Divine Attribute that defines God. And so when you are taking the higher path, your concept of love transcends that of any human concept or definition of this word.

In your coming to understand the First Source and Center, you will readily recognize that the Father, who has given life to all of His creation, is indeed the embodiment of what love is. Love is therefor very aptly defined as truth, beauty, and goodness in the spiritual and also in the human domain; that is, it can be defined in this regard when you uplift it to be so held. My words to you are this: when asked or called upon to give love to one another, your concept should be one that includes also providing truth, beauty, and goodness. For none of these can be separated or segregated from the other. God is all beauty. God is all truth. God is all goodness. God is therefor all love. And look to this in a divine way, but be more creative and bring it into your human realm.

When you can view that your religion should be the one that encompasses love, therefor encompasses truth, beauty, and goodness, you will begin to see these attributes in all of your human endeavors as well; that when you can view the goodness of all and see it as God sees it; when you can view beauty in all, in all of your things such as art, music, literature, science and on and one, you will again be coming closer to the true religion, that is, the Kingdom of the Father being made real for you as an ascending mortal. When you can understand that truth is revealed in many, many different ways; that truth is a reality that you can understand that has not only divine attributes but human as well, you are again understanding that the religion of the future needs to combine all of the human with the divine.

And so, take into consideration this week your humanness in appreciating the beauty, the goodness, and the truth that you see being revealed, being put forth for you on a human level. For surely what you can understand in the human level, you will bring forth in your spiritual realm and the two of these can merge into a very broad, encompassing aspect of how you need to view your life. You cannot separate that which you are, divine and mortal. So take the very aspect of Who God is, Truth, Beauty, and Goodness and bring them into your life that you may be perfect even as He is; that you, too, will understand those attributes. Look to your unfolding life, to your environment, to your relationship, to those things which you do and in all realize truth, goodness, and beauty. As you begin to come to this high plane in perception that which negates truth, beauty, and goodness will become less vivid in your perception.

My friends, you are being called upon to stretch and grow with every step. You have been led and guided from the very first lesson on the ability to change. And with each week we have addressed some aspect that would help you to take another step. And so, too, this week, while it is often difficult to remain in the God-conscious realm of perception, the more you can do so, the more you will bring about changes, the more others will seek you out to help them in their own lives.

Enjoy the human aspect of living as well as your newly growing spiritual awareness. Enjoy the sunsets and the stars in the sky. Enjoy the fall foliage. Enjoy the excited cries of young children. See the good in those who seemingly have no goodness. For when you make this your goal, to always see the good, you help them to see the good also in themselves. You must mirror these concepts for your brothers and sisters who have not understood, have not felt love, have not known that they, too, are worthy, that they, too, have the spark of the Father within them.

Realize that in many areas you will find truth; that it is revealed to you in accordance to that which you are ready to accept. So do not become disheartened with those who seem or appear to lag in the accepting of truth. For you see often they are on such a lower level of perception that they, too, must do as you have done; take steps that they, too, can become more aware of God's love, His truth, His beauty, His goodness. Be patient. Show tolerance. Be forgiving. All of these will aid in you being able to reflect God's love. You, too, will reflect truth, goodness, and beauty. This week become aware of this aspect of your being. And now I will accept questions."

Dialogue

N1: "Daniel, I don't have a question at the moment. I just wanted to thank you for a very beautiful lesson. And I could feel the truth, beauty, and goodness as you spoke, and I thank you."

Daniel: "Yes, N1. I acknowledge this. And I say to you: for your being able to risk as you do with your brothers and sisters regarding your questions, your concerns, and your growth progress in coming to know, love, and serve the Father, your question on free will is one that you, yourself, are beginning to resolve; that, you see, all are made available to God's perfect love, but because the First Source and Center has given creatures free choice, they must be the ones in the end who ultimately decide whether or not to be accepting of this love, to understand it, to believe in it. If all were perfected and created perfect, then there would be no doubt about acceptance of perfect love, for all would be already perfect. As a will creature, you are born with potentialities. All are capable of understanding and reaching their potential of knowing all perfect love. But it must be chosen. And realize that even if not chosen on this plane, the choice is still offered after this life. And so concern yourself with God's way being His way, that man created through God's love has been given a free choice, free will, to choose that which he deems. Struggle for a while more with this and allow your faith to transcend it. It is like Christ Michael in His teachings. When He was asked why he did not choose to give the truth to a lad, he replied that truth given at this point would be fruitless, for this lad needed yet to come to a higher level, to struggle a little more with the realities of where he was. When, and as you are elevated to newer and more broad truth, so shall you be guided."

N1: "Thank you Daniel for taking the time to respond to the questions that have been in my mind and the answer that you just now gave is what I felt that I needed to do with this right now. And that when I got done with this struggle then I would be ready. And I guess the end is certain. I know where I am going, but I need to be in this process of struggle with this question right now. And I appreciate your response. Thank you."

Daniel: "You are welcome."

B1: "Hello Daniel, this is B1."

Daniel: "Hello, B1."

B1: "I would like to second N1's appreciation for your lesson. When you asked us the question how we would define love, I was thinking of that wonderful sentence in the Urantia Book, 'Love is the desire to do to others' (56:10.21), but by expanding that to include sharing truth and beauty, I feel your lesson has actually broadened even that sentence from the Urantia Book. So I'm really grateful for your lesson."

Healing

Daniel: "Exactly, B1. I appreciate your comments and I know your next question regards the healing and I will answer now for you."

B1: "Ok, thank you."

Daniel: "V1, you and B1 have asked that you could bring about healing to your brothers and sisters. F1 has asked for this many, many months ago, and all is being taken care of. All three of you are healers. F1's healing for the time being is through the energy that she now uses. With time there will be more forceful energy afforded in your work, F1.

To V1 and B1: put forth healing for those that need it for more chronic or long term illnesses. Those who are needing help for short term can be dealt with on a basis that you deem necessary. You must remember that in being a healer, you must also take care that your own stamina and constitution are kept intact; that you can turn down those who you feel are not needing it at any given time. Pray for guidance in this regard.

To those in the group: realize that these healing gifts are meant just as that, gifts; that that which will run its course quickly, colds, etc., need not to be given these healings. For the channels for these, these people doing the healing, are exerting and putting forth energy as well. And these individuals must remain in good health so that they can give healings to those who truly need it. You who have been given this will know when it is right, when you should or should not give a healing. Pray for the guidance in this regard.

As to the placement of hands, this will be in accordance to that which needs to be healed. For instance, if a person is suffering from long term sinus problems, you would not place your hands on their feet, rather across the sinus area, you see. If you have further questions on this, speak with me in a private meeting."

B1: "Thank you Daniel. You, of course, were reading my mind and that was exactly what I was going to ask, both parts of that. Maybe one brief question. I have someone who is very chronically ill with chronic fatigue syndrome or possibly another diagnosis. She is not a member of this group and does not know about our teaching ministry or reads the Urantia Book. Will our ministry be restricted or limited to basically our own group, or is it possible on some occasions we would be healing people outside?"

Daniel: "Certainly on occasion you will minister to others, indeed. And realize that in order for any healing to be effective the recipient must be open and must thoroughly believe that these things are possible. For whenever there is negative feelings, whenever there is much skepticism or doubt, the proper channels cannot be opened up that will bring about healing. This, of course, is true in all healing, for the mind does, indeed, play a great role in healing. And so for the time being, while you are still developing the channels necessary for this to take place, do not provide services to others outside this group. There will be enough here to keep you busy."

B1: "Ok. Thank you very much. I will yield the microphone."

Service

C2: "Daniel, you undoubtedly heard our conversation beforehand when we were talking about, D2 read to us, the gifts of teaching, and healing, and ministry. It would help me for you to respond as to how 'ministry' is defined in those terms."

Daniel: "Certainly, C2. To minister to someone means to be of service, to provide help. And service/help can be in many, many areas. Offering a simple smile is perhaps the easiest form of ministry. Prayer, actual service, all of these things are ministering to another. As you also become more and more confident, as you become more able to hear the words of your guides, your indwelling spirit or whoever you are most apt to commune with, you will also provide services for others that step into a higher plane such as that of being a truth revealer, that of ministering to the illnesses of people as in counseling and in helping them to come to terms with their reality and the reality of the First Source and Center. So ministering is a very broad, indeed, course of action. And all will be ministering in various areas. Do you need more on this?"

C2: "No. With regard to my own particular gift and my particular role as an apostle, I perceive this ministry includes healing and teaching, but moves into the other realms as you have mentioned. Is ministry as inclusive as well or are there separate things? Do I need to choose one or the other of those?"

Daniel: "You see, some are better able to minister or to be of service in one realm. There will be many of you who will be able to provide service in many realms. And you will provide that service as called upon. As you lay that foundation, as you become strong, you take on the characteristics that are part of the gifts of the Spirit of Truth, and because of this you will have growing abilities to help in many areas."

C2: "That's helpful, Daniel. Thank you."

Names

B2: "Hello, Daniel. I wanted to talk about the spiritual names. If you could just give us a little more insight as to why we are receiving them, I think it would help us all. Thank you."

Daniel: "Do you mean why you are now receiving them or why they have been given in general?"

B2: "In general."

Daniel: "As you are given the personality gift from the Father, you are seen and understood by certain qualities. And these are who you are, that which bespeak of you. And now that we are working with you in much closer communication, in more total awareness and understanding, it has been granted that we who know you by this, by who you are, have been given permission to call you by who you are. And so, spiritual names have become part of your conscious awareness. Many will hear their own name. It does not benefit you to feel that because you hear your name or know it that you are any different from those who have not had this made known to them. Know that for certain individuals to discover this name on their own is an important aspect for them. Do not give more importance to these names than what is necessary, except that you, per se, are what we know you as. In your outer realm as a group you decide that which is most important. But know that in your quiet time when you are addressed by that who you are known as, you become evermore aware of your cosmic citizenship, of your eternal mission. Does this help?"

Teaching Mission

B2: "Yes, it does. Thank you. I have one other comment to make. V1 mentioned an article before we got together written by Urantia Book readers that may not necessarily follow the teaching mission. I have just finished reading an article on the same subject. It really makes me feel comfortable that Urantia Book readers or the general movement is not dividing over the issue of the teachers. It makes it so much easier to be involved in this and just let go because at the gathering at Bergdorf I felt a little uncomfortable before I went, because I didn't want to go preaching, I didn't want to go converting people even though I did really want to share what is happening. I didn't want to alienate them. And I felt really welcomed. B9 from Council said she really felt a difference this time in general and she yesterday attributed this to the teachings. So I just was wondering if you could comment on that or you feeling. Is this going to continue? Will there be troubled times? I am sure there individuals that struggle with it. Anyway, that is what I want to say."

Daniel: "Whenever there is any kind of change there will be the natural ebb and flow, ups and downs, those who fully support and those who fully disapprove. And, of course, there are those in the middle who are dissuaded or persuaded according to their willingness or unwillingness to accept. And so, while the teaching mission is taking firm root, over time you will meet those who cannot fully embrace that which you believe. Understand that they are entitled to that which they believe; that for you to try to persuade them differently would be fruitless. Rather, by your actions, by your zest and joy, they will know that there is something, there is something about this teaching mission that must, must be real. And with time those who are willing remain open will come closer and closer to acceptance, and many will embrace it as you have. Understand that the decree given from the Father through Christ Michael will come to pass and will take root in the hearts of men, hearts of women across this plane. And that which happens on this sphere will occur in the other spheres who have also been isolated as has Urantia. You may meet with those who disagree. When you are met with this, be that shining light of tolerance and understanding. Give them love and bless them that they too will be so guided. Does this help."

B2: "Yes. Thank you for all your guidance and your answer."

K2: "Daniel, this is K2. I had a lot of questions in my mind when we started out and a lot of them were answered in duality. I really appreciate that. I don't know if you are reading my mind or not, but..."

Daniel: "You know!"

Devotion

K2: "I know. One thing, and I am afraid for you to tell me is, how do we be Christlike to people and hold them in a spot where we don't find ourselves vulnerable to them, where we don't feel alone and hurt and used by them..and you probably know what I am talking about. How do I give that love unconditionally and protect myself?"

Daniel: "Difficult questions indeed! And one must realize that for all of you there will be these times when one must consider the person as a friend, as an acquaintance, as a family member. One must consider, in essence, the relationship that you have with another. As with any relationship, when you are understanding and knowledgeable you are able to bring to that relationship much more. If you can continually be understanding of where another is coming from, that which they do, then, can be isolated from you in the fact that you need to not take it as a personal affront to you; that is, do not personalize that which they give out. When you are strong in your own being, when you are in that God-conscious awareness, you are able to accept that person for who they are, for what they are, despite what their performances may be. And you are able to accept them even though they give out things that could hurt you. If you can not personalize that hurt but take and understand where that hurt is coming from on their part as well as on your part, you can, indeed, be able to walk in the path of the Master, embracing and loving all.

Even Christ Michael had to make these very, very difficult decisions. Even Christ Michael, while He understood His human nature, also understood the divine. And once He began His spiritual ministry, once He had been baptized and went to the mount and thought and prayed and communed with the Father, He understood fully His divine nature. He understood also His human nature. He understood and knew that His life, while He would do that caused Him to follow the Father's will, He still had to live within the human understanding as well. Even Christ Michael had to leave His family, had to turn His back on that which they deemed important for Him in order to follow the Father.

The best way, my friends, to help you to solve these kinds of problems is to study the life of the Master, to realize that even He who was the Son of God also, because He had taken on the mortal existence, had to walk the path that every human walks. Build yourself, so that you can be able to keep your relationship with others in perspective and that you can understand them and not be hurt.

And welcome back. We have missed you. I have been with you, of course, numerous times."

K2: Thank you, Daniel. It is good to be back."

Understanding

V1: "Daniel, that kind of a question brought up what I generally feel like doing when K2 said.. what do we do to protect ourselves. I immediately thought of my gut reaction as one to be defensive and to defend myself or to protect myself. I do resist this a lot more than I used to..and that is to go gossip to someone and find a friend who is going to agree with me. I am sitting here reacting with these two thoughts. We can talk to God, of course, at these times. And I think I hear you saying that we just have to be in communion with God, to let that situation go and know that eventually it is not going to matter. I have a terrible phrase that says, 'one hundred years from now it won't matter' but going through it is does bother us as mortals. Am I correct? Do you want to comment or what?"

Daniel: "Question understood. And let me state this: that while it is important that you can become knowledgeable about the person, as you begin to understand them, you do not necessarily need to run from them. To understand them gives you an advantage in that through understanding you can, perhaps, at some point in time, some point in your relationship with this person, help them to see higher truth, a different perspective. So to just hide or run from a situation is not what I have stated. What I have asked is that you realize that all relationships are often strained, but when you can approach it from a perspective that these people, or the relationship you are engaged in is a matter of perspective for you; if you realize why another does what he does, then you are to not personalize that which has been done. And if you feel the need to gossip, the best person to gossip with is the Father. For in your putting forth your feelings to Him, you are airing your problem, your concern. And in airing this your undoubtedly will come to full circle, asking the Father to give you more tolerance, more understanding and more guidance in dealing with this person. And you also ask the Father to give this person also guidance, understanding, tolerance. Do you see?"

V1: "Yes, Daniel. Thank you very much."

Defense

F1: "Hello, Daniel. Take that one step further. By running do you mean being passive or being a doormat; that through building our foundation and understanding and loving and seeing the beauty in others, that we can become assertive or to mirror for them in a loving way rather than in a defensive way, but also keep from (I think what K2 was saying)..sometimes it is easier for me to just go along, or to do things or stand back and not say anything because I don't know how to be assertive in a loving way or it comes up in a real defensive way or my ego gets in there. Is this what you are meaning?"

Daniel: "There are many ways to run and to hide. Let us look at the example you put forth. Often times it is difficult to know what to do in any given situation. To become defensive would be in error. To be passive would be more correct. In passivity, until you are in full conscious awareness of what needs to be said, you will, through your passivity seek the Father, seek guidance. Defensive maneuvers with others only build walls. To become a doormat is not good either. You must be able to rise above being belittled by others. And even if others do put forth much rage, much negative aspects on you, do not become the victim or doormat of it. Give back to this person love, realizing that they say and do out of their own fears, their own disharmony, their own feelings of inadequacy. When you can give this person love despite what they give you, you are rising above and seeing in more in God awareness. When another dumps on you, you can often say, 'I understand, yet I am a worthy person also. I understand why you would say this to me.' You see, relationships are part of your soul growth and as you are better able to be with others and not be in conflict with them, you are better able to serve the First Source and Center.

Of course you will never agree with everyone. For life is diversity. As you can understand your brothers and sisters then you are able to accept them for who and what they are, what their beliefs are, knowing that they, too, are a brother and sister of yours and a child of God.

Even Christ Michael made the important decision that in His ministry He would not personally defend Himself, even if it brought death, as it did. Truth will prevail. As you are witnesses of the truth, so shall what you put out be seen by others, be understood by those who are open and willing to understand."

F1: "Thank, Daniel, that helps. I was misinterpreting passive, I think, as being a doormat rather than non-reactive or whatever. And with working through codependent nature it is difficult at times to...sometimes you feel you have to react and you get all confused as to what you do and it takes a long time to work through that. And I appreciate that. That cleared up a lot of that for me."

Daniel: "You are welcome."

N1: "Daniel. That was helpful for me too. May I check that my understanding is correct here, that passive is not being a doormat; that being a doormat can do nothing but to personalize it and allow yourself to be hurt, whereas to be passive is to wait for guidance, but in the meantime to not personalize it and give love and blessing in its place?"

Daniel: "You are understanding correctly, indeed."

N1: "Thank you."

Self Realization

K2: "I guess I have kind of in my mind made a full circle here and I as a lowly human being I have been the opportunity...all my life I have been different..and we won't even get into that. So what I am feeling is that I have been given an opportunity to get as close to Jesus as I can, right, or to emulate Him as much as possible. How as a human being...its so amazing to me as I don't feel like I am worthy of any of that but I hear you say to be as much like Him as we can and how close and I feel lucky to be given this group and the knowledge that I am given..Oh, this is . .I think I have made a complete circle and it blows me away. It's very astounding because I can't be Jesus Christ, but how close can I get to Him? And I have to make the decision where I feel sometimes to go beyond being a human being in order to achieve what I can achieve and I see that as giving up a lot of my humanness too..maybe for me relationships and things other people have. Maybe I will always be this lonely person, but I will have my faith in Jesus, and that could be OK. I have a hard time crossing that line and accepting it. And on the other hand it is very confusing, because if I have this opportunity, why would I not want to do that, to be as close to Jesus as I could possibly be?"

Daniel: "Only you can answer that question. One must realize that the teaching of Christ Michael are just for any one group of people; that He brought His teachings that all would understand the Father and His Kingdom; that it would not be just for the Hebrews or Jewish people, but for all. And because, my dear, you are part of the all, why do you feel that you are unworthy to have heard His call? The Master says to you, 'Follow me, that through My teachings you will come to know the Father and His Kingdom.' No creature is ever unworthy. All who have the Indwelling Spirit can answer the call. You come full circle when you have heard the call and take action upon it, that you follow it. You, all of you my friends, have taken mighty, mighty steps. You have all come to the realization that even though you are dual nature, that even though you must support and be human, that it is through the actions, the doing and the part of your humanness that helps you to grow and to become in a spiritual life. When you can do those things in your material life that brings you another step day by day to more spiritual understanding, there also will you be developing spiritual growth. And as you develop spiritual growth the things in your material realm become that which you are guided to follow. For you have placed more importance on following the Father's will rather than the will of the will creature of the realm, of base animalistic followings.

To follow the Father does not mean that you will not experience human joy, human honors, human growth. It will mean that that which you experience in the human realm will be much more important because of the spiritual realm, because they will feed into one another.

Closing

Time is of essence now. I must take my leave. I call upon you this week to search out love, beauty, truth and goodness in all aspects of your life. My love and peace with you. I wish to speak with John and P1 privately when you can make this agreeable with D3's schedule and yours. My peace to you all."

Group: "Good night, Daniel."