1999-09-21-Atlantis, Gomorrah

Session

Dialogue

THOROAH: I have something I told Evangel I would do for him, since Evangel and Leah have departed for Florida. Evangel is trying to make some connections that will psychically help him out, and one of his questions has to do with the fact that -- if I can recall correctly -- that Machiventa implied, through a T/R that Evangel was privy to, that Atlantis is mentioned by a different name in the Urantia Book, and Evangel was curious about that; and I'll admit, since the question was there, I got curious about it myself because I could not find Atlantis in the Urantia Book.

TOMAS: It is not noted. If Machiventa knows about it, he did not tell me. Actually the entire topic of Atlantis has fascinated people far and wide, for it seems to have all the earmarks that would delight the mind of man which enjoys such mysteries.

THOROAH: Atlantis and space ships.

TOMAS: Yes, other realms are always more fascinating than the work at hand -- even though, of course, mysterious realms and other civilizations always hold the promise of some perspective on your life here.

THOROAH: When I look at the provocative things that are there -- as you probably noticed I am curious about a lot of things -- it probably is more from a perspective basis than anything else, for to me the most fascinating thing that could possibly happen has happened in my life time! And that, first of all, is that the First Epochal Revelation has begun and, now, that the Teaching Mission is here, and it is the Correcting Time. I mean, the things that have happened in my short life span far outweigh anything else. Maybe it gives me a base from which I can be more curious and adventurous, too.

TOMAS: I am fascinated by the human fascination with Atlantis. I have read the history of your world and know that the Garden whereupon Adam and Eve materialized, was set upon a peninsula that was inset into the Mediterranean Sea and that it gradually sunk. And it would be understandable to the molecular memory of mankind, perhaps, to be interested in knowing what the first garden looked like that had been created by the Material Son and Daughter bestowed upon your world.

If I were a mortal, I would elaborate that theme when I encountered people who were fascinated by the former civilization of Atlantis, if indeed it had ever existed, for what are they truly seeking? What perspective are they looking for? It is this that I would find most interesting.

THOROAH: It would seem that any mythology that would have grown out of the original garden would obviously have translated itself somewhere into an Atlantean type of thing.

TOMAS: Yes, and in a young planet such as this, that has had considerable turbulence with mountains forming and continents drifting and so forth, it is not unlikely that many civilizations have ended up under the sea.

THOROAH: As a cultural anthropologist … No, never mind. I'm not going to go there.

TOMAS: Why not?

THOROAH: I was going to say: where would you say to look?

TOMAS: Where would I look for what?

THOROAH: For that sunken Garden of Eden. I suppose it's still in the Mediterranean someplace. [Editor's note: UB page 826-7

TOMAS: It was something like 35,000 years ago. It would probably show no remnants of its earlier glory, although if one were to go down there, as was afforded the scientists who raised the Titanic, they might be able to discover some of the aqueducts and the temple if they knew what they were looking for, but that's a project that has not been formulated yet in the minds of Urantians.[1]

THOROAH: No. They are more interested in Noah's Ark than the Garden of Eden.

Evangel had another question. It's along the same line. This has to do with something that was revealed in the Dead Sea Scrolls and, of course, the Bible talks about Sodom and Gomorrah. The Dead Sea Scrolls said something about it, but the Urantia Book said something about "the natural disaster that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah" and, curiosity being what it is, we were wondering what kind of a natural disaster that could have gained this mythological proportion.

TOMAS: Volcano, is my understanding. That would be called a natural disaster, when the earth erupts and buries a city. It is my understanding that it was a volcano eruption, but I could be wrong. It may have been earthquake or other, but I think it was volcano.

THOROAH: Well, that would be a -- thinking of what a volcano can do and considering the times -- a "vengeful God," in the context of those days. That might have been a good representation of such vengeance, for a volcano to spew forth.

TOMAS: Oh, yes, those old gods and goddesses blew their tops frequently.

THOROAH: Thank you for the common sense approach to some things we get so fascinated by, sometimes we don't see the obvious.

TOMAS: You are enchanted with the mystical.

THOROAH: Yeah. Thank you.

TOMAS: You are welcome.

THOROAH: On behalf of Evangel and Leah.

TOMAS: My associates Evangel and Leah are always getting into one adventure after the other and assimilating the associations of their ways, bringing home their trophies of knowledge and exposure as cats bring home mice and birds. They are a delight to me, my children.

THOROAH: It's such a temptation. We have a sounding board, if you will, this talking to personalities much wiser and experienced than us to offer us insight. It's a wonder we don't bring more toys and dead birds and mice to you.

TOMAS: I assure you, you bring plenty, and I admire them and dispense with them as graciously as I know how. Unfortunately, on occasion I might appear to be a natural disaster, opening a large hole into which we all fall, but that is to be expected in a communication such as we are developing. We are all growing in this experience together. I am learning how to reach you and how to respond to what will feed you without becoming a bore or a burden, and you are learning to be comfortable with the counsel available and accept it as you are ready.

It is a gracious arrangement provided, and we do well to succeed in it to the extent that we do. We are very pleased, over a period of time, to observe, with the human perspective, how we are developing. From our standpoint, we have said all along that we were amazed at the way your spiritual wicks caught fire, but now you are beginning also to believe it and see it occur. It is invigorating for us to know that Father's universe is expanding into the darkness; His light is shining into the shadows and helping lift the fog of conditioning on your world.

THOROAH: Sometimes we don't know how handicapped we are. That's sort of the double-edged sword of enlightenment, because it reveals our handicaps.

TOMAS: It is also why it is valuable to learn to be gracious with yourself and to often sit in the comfort of Our Father, for in knowing Him and feeling His protection, you know that you are loved. Even though you may still struggle and tumble and fall, you are beloved, and the more you realize this, the more courageous you can become in learning the lessons that will enable you to grow to spiritual adulthood.

THOROAH: Well, your relationship has really helped me. I look back at where I was and I'm amazed, and it was obvious that I needed to learn how to love and to be loved, and since then -- I don't doubt that I am loved. Intellectually, I know it more than ever. And I am now starting to KNOW it more than ever. I don't have that feeling of impending doom, like the other shoe is going to drop all the time, like I used to and it's a wonderful, wonderful absence.

TOMAS: This is truly one of the side-effects. Faith levels have increased exponentially here. As each of you become aware of your direct connection with divinity, that creates a safety net for everyone. This sense of doom and gloom is a result of the isolation, and the conditioning was long and deep, but as the sun shines and you are aware of it, the love will eradicate the fear, the doom, the gloom, and all of that. Rejoice.

THOROAH: I want to say that on these birds and mice and things we bring before you and we learn from them, I'm learning how you deal with them and in the way you answer the curiosity, I'm learning from you how to do that myself. I know that we are supposed to be learning how to teach and the way that YOU handle them teaches ME. I don't know if that is part of the Teaching Mission Manual or not, but the way you handle it is a good lesson for me.

TOMAS: You have paid me a high compliment, Thoroah. I am obviously doing my job if you are learning that lesson. We are teaching you to be teachers, and as you see your teacher's methodology and find them of value, you might try them yourself and see how effective they may be for others, since they seem to be effective for yourself. These are lessons that I teach based upon the approved curriculum of the Melchizedeks and under the guidance of Michael, our Sovereign, as he himself taught "as he passed by."

Closing

THOROAH: I enjoy your teaching.

TOMAS: I enjoy you very much, as a student, as a friend, as a co-worker and as a fellow apostle. It would behoove you now to go to your rest, for tomorrow is another day, a day in which the Lord will reign supreme in your life and in the lives of all of those who give honor to him. See you soon. Amen and farewell.

THOROAH: Thank you, Tomas.