1996-12-26-Routine vs. Rut, Life Adventure

Session

Opening

TOMAS: Greetings, faithful friends. This is Tomas.

Group: Greetings, Tomas.

TOMAS: I am glad to be with you again and glad to have the diversions of one holiday at bay. You have no idea how they alter the energy circuits, the patterns of Urantia. It is fortunate that they are anticipated to some extent -- these mass configurations which are largely emotional. It is always a holiday for the mortal and therefore to us to some extent but it is the preferred method to consistently plod forward, and so we are back to resume our forward trek. I can see that my transmitter is somewhat clogged this evening and, as usual, this will pass as the oil is applied to the mechanism.

Lesson

I have a choice of two topics I have in mind to call to your attention and so I believe what I will do is speak a few words on one of them and then invite another to come and speak on this other topic which provokes interest, but we will leave time for our customary sharing and camaraderie, for these will be short lessons, perhaps to lubricate the gears of Gerdean.

I will begin and follow up on my earlier remarks about pace and pattern, and bring to your attention the facet of life that we know of as ROUTINE, for in the routine there is security, there is efficiency, there is constructive accomplishment. A routine of life gives structure to life, and as time-space creatures, you do well to make quality use of your time and space. It enables you to develop disciplines and appreciation for accomplishments over a long period of time.

Through the value found in a good routine, you can put yourself on automatic pilot for many of the mundane affairs in life, allowing your mind freedom to wander into more fertile realms. In confusion or in times of stress, a routine can be a comfort and a consolation. As you who take leave from your routine to celebrate holidays or take vacation understand, it is sometimes satisfying to return to the calm routine of the work force following a tumultuous yet enjoyable hiatus into revelry and song and breaking of routine behaviors. And so routine can be a friend, a constructive ally in life's unfolding.

I am reminded of Daniel's words on this topic some time ago and so I will add, for your benefit, his addition, that being the antithesis of routine and that also being what you would call a RUT, for a rut now is a routine that has been followed for so long, it is so deeply ingrained, you have lost your power of choice in how to remove yourself once the rut has you in its grasp.

And I will draw the picture of tires which have tread the same road for a long time and over the years the weather has played havoc on the road and the tires seem to know where to go in order to prevail - perhaps even in ice, where you have some traction because of the security of traveling within the rut, but if you were to turn left or right too swiftly, you would lose control. And so remember that a rut can be dangerous, and a rut is formed when a routine pattern has been followed for so long and so methodically that you are not even aware that you are in the rut and that you have lost the power of choice.

And so as you return to your arenas following this festive season, this holiday break from routine pattern, look to see if you embrace your routine with appreciation for its value or if you stand in fear of your tires falling into that same old rut.

It is with pleasure now that I invite a visiting Teacher to speak to you regarding a facet of creation which lends fragrance to routine and will save you from the ruts of life. One moment, please.

Adventure

GRETA: Greetings. How wonderful to be invited to share Tomas' platform of teaching. It is a rare opportunity, a unique privilege. I am Greta. I am a teacher of the same status as Tomas but without some of his experiential -- long-range, long-term experience of teaching in this manner. I have, however, experienced this process. It is always an adventure, and I would like to address you briefly this evening regarding ADVENTURE.

I, as well as others who observe your gatherings, listened to your soul responses to what was read earlier from an anonymous author having to do with the qualities of youth, and we perceive that each of you would benefit from a conscious reflection on life as an adventure. You hear the word "experiential" often. You respond to the prompts of your teachers conscientiously and to the assignments with due consideration, dutifully and dearly, but as with youth, you would do well to approach your assignments, your routines and your experiences adventurously, as an adventure, filled with wondrous things to learn and discover.

It is easy for you to envision children having an adventure. Perhaps they are at play in the woods. As children, you all played in the woods and had adventures. You foraged under rocks, you knocked over toadstools, you peeked into hollow logs, you dared to climb that tree, you gathered berries, nuts and wild flowers, consumed them, gave them as gifts, placed them as offerings for the nature spirits who were your friends. And you, as adventurous children, found delight around every corner with each new day. You awoke with an eager anticipation of the adventure before you.

But your lives, my friends, have taken on the rut of adulthood, of fear, of conservancy, of maturity and dignity, of responsibility, of your faith path. And so many times your soul you perceive in a burdensome way rather than the adventure of the ages. And so, along with Tomas, I will ask you to look at your life as you pick up your baton and as you observe your routine. Has life itself become so much of a routine that you neglect to expect the adventure, the opportunity that the light of discovery, the newness, the excitement which the Father provides in your adventure of living?

As you recognize your own childlike qualities, as you remember that you are a child of faith, looking toward the great unknown, the magnificent engagement, consider its adventurous aspects and face it gladly. Those tired concerns of the world are shackles. Shuck them. Learn to live lightly, in faith, in joy, in the security of the adventure of finding God and becoming like Him.

Dear ones, thank you for this occasion to formulate and present a small lesson for your enjoyment and edification. It has been my pleasure. I will relinquish the floor to our host, Teacher Tomas. Good evening.

TOMAS: I thought you might enjoy the companionship of a feminine Teacher to help liven up the rut of Teacher Tomas. (Group giggle) How are you, dear friends?

Dialogue

Dissemination

Iyana: Tomas, this is Iyana. I feel that we already have our ruts made now since we've been into the spiritual teachings here, that we are practicing our lessons so that our program for the day, so to speak, starts out with a meditation and we get our surprises as certain things happen in the meditation, and we go on to the day. We sing. We think about the path that we're on. We look out the window and see nature and we rejoice. And this goes on through the day and I think this is an adventure in itself and that the rut is good! If we want to deviate, get off it once in awhile and so we do in opening ourselves up to other people and other directions. But I do believe that since we've been in this Teaching Mission, many, many of us have changed our programs and that we are doing what we're taught, and as we do it we become more and more as we are growing in the spiritual way. I'm speaking for myself anyway and to my friends here.

TOMAS: Yes, Iyana, I take it that you are speaking from your own perspective, for what other perspective can there be? And it speaks true to those who truly do walk in faith and grace and find life's surprises and opportunities and adventures a steady source of joy, a reality in the face of illusion. All of my students, however, are not as fresh as you, and sometimes my remarks extend even beyond the immediate configuration to those who, perhaps, languish in isolation and in their isolation and in their eagerness to grasp hold of "the hem of his garment," hold so tenaciously they forget the joy of living, the thrill of discovery, the adventure before them.

Iyana: Where do we go to meet these people? When are they coming to us so that we can explain these things to them? Why don't they ask us questions? When I talk to people, no one will ask me a question. I want them to ask me questions so that I can tell a few little things to them, not to overwhelm them. I know that I was told "they will come, they will come" but how long will I be here for them to come? (Group chuckle)

TOMAS: Yes, I hear you in your frustration and your desire to serve, but as you understand, all things must wait upon time, and although patience is called for, it is difficult to wait for the opportunity, and so it behooves you to whet their appetites. And therein is an adventure in itself, a creative adventure, for there are as many ways to whet the appetite as you have imagination to do and this, too, is part of the adventure, for you may entice them with honey or with lemon, and everyone has a varied taste.

Not everyone responds to the same lure. It would not do you well to pre-suppose that because you enjoy lemon meringue pie, everyone else salivates for lemon meringue pie, and so as you plant your seeds and whet the appetite, allow for those who would prefer mincemeat or peanut butter, and that is to say, lighten up and have an adventure. Spread whatever creative seeds you can willy-nilly and that will one day be watered and fertilized by yet another worker in the field.

As you devote focused energy on one who presents himself or herself to you, you can learn to teach and preach, but do not overwhelm him or her with your wisdom all at once. Yes, you have tremendous resources to offer but remember the analogy that those who have been in the darkness cannot endure the light of a 100-watt bulb; they can perhaps only withstand the soft candle-glow until they themselves become strengthened. As you set out to become fishers of men, dangle your bait where the fish are. Let them nibble a bit before you yank them to you.

Iyana: Thank you. In other words you don't come on strong, you play it by ear.

TOMAS: Have patience. Spiritual growth is best done "slow but sure." There are certain inherent dangers in over-rapid growth, and although you would enjoy peers of spiritual maturity and longstanding, as you desire to be a worker, you need to work effectively. Think in terms of what they need and not what you need. They may not need too much, but as that is digested and sits well with them, they will return for another bite. Work with them. Observe them grow. Pat them on the back for their efforts. And eventually you can perhaps challenge them with a fresh concept.

Iyana: It seems that a lot of people that I've met are very comfortable with where they are so there's nothing more you can do for them because they seem to be satisfied.

TOMAS: They have become complacent. It does not behoove you who are alive in the spirit to allow complacency to overtake you, for as you become complacent, you cease to care. And it is imperative that we care what happens to each other, to Urantia, for caring is an aspect of love and God is love. If we cease to care, we have said, "I don't care for that much love, thank you." That attitude is a branch to be hewn down and cast into the fire. Those who are complacent can be startled or stimulated, but turn your attention more to those who are young and unburdened by the fears and ruts of the continuum. Young chronologically or young in spirit, but those who are willing.

Many times people are not willing to grow in the spirit unless and until they have been beaten, they have been disappointed, they have known despair. At this time their spirit will reach for the Father, for they have allowed their ego to step aside sufficiently that their soul yearns to spring forth in rebirth of understanding. At that time seeds that have been planted spring to the surface, feed the growth, stimulate.

Happiness

Hunnah: Tomas, would you expound on the words contentment and complacency?

TOMAS: Well, I appreciate your question and I will attempt to discuss it intelligently and sensitively. Contentment is a certain satisfaction within the self, within the soul, that is garnered by appreciation for life's gifts/ bounties. Contentment is like the cat's purr. Complacency, however, is like the cat that is asleep in front of the fireplace, who opens an eye, observes a mouse walk past and goes back to sleep.

Group: (Chuckling) Off duty. Not interested.

TOMAS: When you are complacent, you are content to a fault. Contentment is an honorable station brought about from the adventure of living, the appreciation of a good routine, a day's work done well, and certainly something that sweetens your mortal existence. Contentment is an inner understanding that the Father oversees, Michael embraces, the helpers are on duty and so forth. Complacency, however, borders on self-serving, for it is more akin to smug, and even superior, such as, is lacking in compassion or concern for others. Complacency is carelessness, over-confidence that borders on not adventure but risk. Guard against complacency for it is the favored prayer that "It is my will that your will be done" as it keeps you involved in the process. If you say, "Thy will be done, God. I'm going to curl up in front of the fireplace, knowing that you have it all under control," then you have become complacent toward God and toward your brothers and sisters. Have I helped to distinguish the difference between contentment and complacency?

Hunnah: I think so.

TOMAS: Now we come to side two of the album and that is if you are to guard against being complacent, and you must act in someone's best interests, you then become involved in other people's business; whereas if you are content, you can sit by the fire and observe that all is well while it is well and it is not necessary to chase every mouse or swat every ball. (I'm afraid I have gotten tangled up in a ball of yarn myself!) (Group giggle)

Hunnah: You are also saying that when we deal with what comes to us, and we have been awake, our appropriate response should come about. We're not in that mode of correcting, but being supportive and . .. compassionate, I guess.

TOMAS: Yes, the contented cat draws people to it by its contentment.

Iyana: Would that mean serenity?

TOMAS: Yes. Peace. Enduring peace, that fruit of the spirit that allows their approach.

For if people perceive that when they approach you, you are going to pounce on them or interfere in some way with their comings and goings, they will not approach. And so you may be ready, willing, eager and able to serve or teach or preach, but if some aspect of your personality provides a barrier to their approach, your work is fruitless, your desires are unmet.

It is well to want to serve, but look to your motives. Are you trying to over-compensate for your complacency of spirit by over-involving yourself in their motives and their affairs?

Hunnah: Well, I feel that when we get to someplace and we slack off our inner vigil, which happens without our really realizing it, we kind of get stuck and it awakens us. These are terms that we are using that are very -- I was going to say if you were in a state of analysis, an analysis being an indication that you've got to get back to being centered and re-focused. I didn't mean to lead you astray. It's hard to stay real close sometimes with all the rumble and distraction going on around you.

TOMAS: Actually I was largely distracted by the cat that is my own creation!

Hunnah: The metaphor.

TOMAS: The metaphor.

I will tell you, however, that inasmuch as this has been a very fruitful (shall we say "fruitcake?") lesson this evening with my "routine versus rut" and Greta's lovely visit and discussion of "adventure," now our talk of "complacency and contentment," leads me and us to believe that this is a plate of high-calorie, high-cholesterol consumption and that any more would bring spiritual indigestion, so I am going to close our session for the evening.

Do not feel, however, that you need to quit your discourse for there are some things here that bear understanding and further chewing. I would like, however, to allow you that opportunity without my talking much more about the subject. [Objections from the students] I will tell you what. I will stay in the wings. I will announce "Intermission!"

Hunnah: Good. I didn't want you to go.

Ruth: Yeah, because I want to talk to you.

TOMAS: I will return. Let Gerdean also involve herself. And so temporarily "farewell."

[Lengthy Off-the-record discourse on physical health matters]

TOMAS: We have come to enjoy these "intermissions."

Group: Eavesdropping! Did you get an ear-full, Tomas?

TOMAS: The truth is that we observe you, by and large, individually, in your more superficial and routine environments but seldom do we get to observe you interface as intimately and vehemently as you do during these peculiar intermission sessions, and so we are learning a great deal about you in the process. Whether or not you are learning anything about yourself remains a mystery, but we find it interesting. And so, welcome back, and I embrace you, Ruth. I understand you had something you wanted to bring to my attention.

Teaching

Ruth: Yes, I wanted to talk to you. Okay. Number one. (There are a couple things) First off, you told my niece -- not to worry. You were right, of course. She has found a young man who is more or less kind of helping to straighten her out, which we are very grateful for. I hope he continues to be a positive influence. [Referring to counsel Tomas gave in an earlier session.] Number two. I don't know if I draw these people to me or if I just accidentally am in the right place at the wrong time and they appear, but I ran into a gentleman at the Laundromat (of course), who proceeded to instruct me in the fact that the Klan was very good, and that we should continue to rid the world of all the inferior races, and that Hitler was a wonderful person, and I was tired and cranky and my blood was at a boil, but I thought to myself, "Well, you're going to have an awful lot of chances to live this all over again!" and-- Tomas, is there a reason why these people keep finding me? Or was I just at the right place at the wrong time?

TOMAS: It is purely conjecture, my dear, but I will interpret even so, as it relates to our discourse in general this evening, and it goes back to Iyana's lament about teaching and preaching, and how it is that so many people don't want to know, while she is so eager to share. And we discussed planting seeds and stirring them up, whetting their appetite.

Now, what we have in your case is someone who is brazen in planting his seeds. He is stalwart in promoting his beliefs. And you, by comparison, are cowed and bowled over by the audacity of this man's philosophies and his vigor in promoting them. It therefore may be that you encounter such so that you can perceive that your enthusiasm and your zeal in promoting your belief systems have a vast range of potential in order to meet the test of the challenge presented.

Remember in the Urantia Book where it discusses "Why do the Heathen Rage?" They rage because (paraphrased) their goals are easily seen. They know precisely what they're after, while we/you are altogether too vacillating in your approach to promoting the Kingdom. The advisement in that Paper is for you to take the Kingdom by spiritual assault and the young man in the Laundromat was rather taking you by assault with his ideas. It may be your demure bearing, but if you had stood on the dryer and told him about Machiventa Melchizedek (group laughter), chances are he would have bowed to your fury.

Ruth: Well, I did fury back at him. And he went off in the other way.

TOMAS: I can understand your sincere desire to squelch such a philosophy as racism and racial superiority, which precludes an appreciation of the spirit which is the resolution of these difficulties, but the man was blinded by his own ignorance.

Ruth: Yeah, I told him that, too.

TOMAS: I am glad that you had opportunity to respond and that, once again, you were well tendered by your Guardian Seraphim and kept from harm.

I would also like to commend the situation regarding your beloved niece. I am, of course, glad of her development. I am not at all surprised . ..[Tape ended -- gap in transcript while another tape was found and installed.]

Ruth: Also, Tomas, I had a situation that came up, rather long. My brother-in-law's brother, he's very fundamentalist. I gave him a massage and we were talking. He wants to go into my type of work and he proceeded to question me on spirituality and how could I do this. And the spiritual level. How was it affected by the different modalities? And without trying to be too evasive, I tried to give him an answer that he could accept. And I reasoned there is a reason for all things that happen, but sometimes I need a lot more help with my words.

TOMAS: Your words are fine. It is your delivery of them, your perceptions of them that might need some boning up. Your instincts in this instance, up against a "fundamentalist Christian," are to not alienate him through dogma but to encourage him through your understanding of the spirit, which may or may not be his understanding of the spirit. In which case, referencing the energy, the physics of the human being, the life force within the spinal column, and so forth, the more mechanistic facets of therapeutic touch, healing, Reiki --

Ruth: Oh, I didn't get into Reiki. I didn't think he could handle Reiki. I just -- I just told him about therapeutic touch.

TOMAS: I wouldn't worry, then, for you have kept it rather within the realms of physicality and the material body and this is not alarming as it might be if he realized that you were manipulating spirit energy, he may find cause for alarm in defense of the Holy Spirit. You are fine.

Your natural desire to serve is coupled with a healthy censoring of your delivery; it enables, then, for your words to be guided by the spirit and you come closer then to true transmission by that method of communication - literally working in the fields - than perhaps even I do in this manner of transmitting through Gerdean.

Ruth: Thank you. TOMAS: And thank you!

Health

Hunnah: Since you were listening to our chitchat and I got rid of some things that were bugging me, I would like to have you comment about manifesting and maintaining health. See I didn't plan to word it that way, but that's the way it came out.

TOMAS: Manifesting and maintaining health--

Hunnah: -- because there are things that will go on in an individuals life before they live in the light, and that can be something we have to climb around, or it dissolves, and I'd like to know if you want to comment.

TOMAS: Gingerly. I want to say that I overheard your expository, understanding that you have voiced these things, but I am not sure that you have gotten to the bottom of them.

In order to manifest good health, you must have good health. Once you have good health, then you can manifest it and maintain it. And, therefore, as you ascend and become more aligned with spirit, and find that your systems are operating in a unified fashion, with spirit dominance, you will be less and less vulnerable to the ills inherent in the human condition; but as you aspire to attain that point of manifesting and maintaining health, you are prone to encounter those normal situations where your health stumbles, either through genetic defects, social stressors, psychic disturbances, emotional glitches, or any of many other considerable factors.

You cannot begrudge the human being falling ill. It does what it does because that's what it has to work with. As you help it work more efficiently, it then can help you to manifest and maintain good health. Thus, you must pay attention to your many levels, including your fundamental physical level. Many of your physical facets are beyond your scope of understanding; many diseases that are seemingly inherent are prone to attack from the rear. As you are aware of your body, as you are aware of unnatural indicators in your body, you can readily investigate the nature of this irregularity and correct it, determining also why it was that it manifested, and did you contribute to the manifestation of disease by your emotional, mental or spiritual attitudes and correct those also?

But do not be hard on yourself when you fall ill or when you fall prey to disease. The human race is young and has been sorely bungled. There are great strides being made in your medical community to overcome some of the defects of the physical condition resultant from not only the Adamic Default but many other difficulties inherent in a life on Urantia, due to working environments and conditions, weather, nutrition, and so forth. These are part of Correcting Time, that they be brought into the light and, as you would say, Hunnah, "evaporated," but even in the process of being brought into the light that they may be evaporated, they must be dealt with.

Nutrition must become a part of every child on the planet, every human child. Water, air, these are your birthright, pure and simple. Working conditions have been slow to evolve and, although you may be aware of great strides that have been made, there are still great giant steps that need to be made in terms of learning, if you will, how to even develop some of those fundamental routines of building a life, building a community, building a civilization. In due course the circumstances will provide higher, better conditions for the human animal to work and play in, less emotional stress, less psychic stress, less fear, and these too will contribute to a better health, and so we work to that end.

Your altruism is noted and truly respected, for you have been told that if you have faith you can move mountains, and these many miracles of healing the woes of the mortal condition can be accomplished in a transcendence of time - which is truly a miracle - and so you have reason to expect that these ills may be dissolved in the light. But it takes time for cause and effect to work itself out.

So while you are being a forerunner of a new way, while you teach and preach that as a child of God and in divinity you are perfect here and in the flesh, in your human environment, there are many, many who plod on in the quagmire of despair, who have a long way to go physically, medically, emotionally, socially, psychologically, ecologically, educationally, politically and so forth, in order to embrace the concept that you hold dear today.

As the medical profession invests in developing cures for many diseases, they develop also new machines to read the body, to listen to its music, to learn to hear for sour notes, and you are in a position, in your society, to take full advantage of those arts and skills which your society provides. Consider it, in fact, a true blessing that you are in a position to have these facilities available to you. There are millions who cannot even conceive of such medical wonders. That is all.

Group: Thank you. Thank you for staying with us. You've given us a lot to think about. And thanks to Gerdean.

Closing

TOMAS: We are eager to serve. We delight in service to you, Michael, all of us here. We are tireless in your presence. We seek the adventure of becoming your friend and being close to you. We seek to know your ways, that we may adopt them and apply them to our personality, in ways that will honor you and bring relief for our brothers and sisters who live in fear, who cling to the illusion, who feel unworthy of your love. Give us, Creator, the stalwart spirit necessary to go into your vineyard and feed your sheep. Show us the way. Reveal to us that service which we can render to you, as we perceive you in each child we meet, in each face we encounter. Beloved Creator, we look upon you understanding your beauty, your glory and your grace. Help us to be reminded that you also are in the lame and the sick and the ugly. Help us to serve you there, Father. Embrace us and walk with us as we walk your path home on this wonderful adventure. Good night, Michael, and good night, friends. Amen and farewell.