1999-12-17-Resurrection

Session

Opening

Archangel (Bill/Isaac): I speak to you this evening with authority from Michael of Nebadon. I am an Archangel of the Resurrection who as been observing your group and similar groups throughout this country. I come with good tidings, with good news which shall be to all people on this planet as well as the others emerging from rebellion status.

Lesson

As you approach the season of remembrance of our Sovereign Creator Son you have the advantage of two thousand years of evolution to enlarge and make more meaningful that great and wondrous event. Once again we are in the process of the down stepping of major celestial contact which was proceeded by the definitive text for the upgrade of revelation of this fifth epochal experience. But as you all know the contact is not limited to the words on the pages of the book, but to all men and women who desire to discover and to know God is the contact offered and made realizable. And so at this time when your Christian culture is threatened with an overwhelming of materialism and paganism, should you, my friends, with your lives demonstrate the true meaning of Michael's bestowal.

He came to bring life and to bring it abundantly. He came to show the way to God, his Father and our Father. He came to demonstrate how a person can truly live a spiritual life. He came to fully understand what it is to be human. I invite you this evening to join the angelic chorus which ever and anon broadcasts the message of God's universe reality: let there be peace on earth and good well among all people. Enjoy your ceremonies and your rituals, which can bring your closer to the emotional and spiritual meaning of Michael's coming. While you walk in the flesh continue to live in the spirit so that people can really notice there is a fragrance about you, a flavor to you, which is the radiance of your divine Indweller.

Take yourselves out of the doldrums of over emphasis upon yourself and take instead the burden of Michael, which is light. It is not heavy. Take his yoke upon you and learn of him for he is meek and humble, even as he is the Sovereign Creator of this universe. Let the joy of Christmas ring the bells of your soul and light your eyes with the sparkle of hope which is not based upon fantasy, but is based upon true reality.

Now my dear people I take my leave to join my sisters as they prepare their anthems of glory at this time of year. Be cheerful. Let your love be sincere and genuine. Pray for one another, but most of all lift up your hearts and minds to behold the love of God that unifies the universe and holds it together in structure and substance. Good evening.

Daniel (Bob): My friends, I am Daniel, your teacher, guide and elder brother. I trust you enjoyed the words of our colleague this evening. She has been with us on numerous occasions and (we) felt tonight was an appropriate (time) for her to speak to you her words of greeting. Now I add mine to the mix. My children, your preciousness is close to my heart, for I love each of you so much. It is difficult to leave each of you to go to another as I do my rounds, for it is a time of grieving. This has made my rounds more difficult, yet I remain steadfast to my appointed task. And I seek to be with each of you on a somewhat regular basis.

Tonight we have a similar task for you to accomplish related to the format that we have established these last few weeks. We trust you enjoy this style of teaching for we find it suits our current needs quite well. Now for tonight's lesson, here is Brother Aaron.

Aaron (Bill): Greetings, my friends, I am Aaron. We are aware of the time and so I will reduce my questions to but a single inquiry. Actually what I wish you to do might be more appropriately called role-playing. I wish you to imagine someone, either male or female, adult or child asking you this question: "I've noticed you seem to be different than most people I meet. You seem to be happier, more confident, more positive. Can you tell me the secret of your joy, your happiness, your peace?" So if you were in fact asked this question, how would you reply?

I will revert to a circular procedure so that all may struggle with this imaginary, but very realistic situation. I will begin with Virginia and conclude with Bill. I will stay in touch with Bill while others are answering and then release him for his own reply. Again, if you are totally unable to respond to my question, you do not get an "F" for the day. You do not get any negative consequences. I would merely ask you to make an effort to answer.

Dialogue

Virginia: Well teachers, when you first said that question I thought of Gwen's question to Ken tonight, when she said, "what do these three concentric circles mean?" And it really is very similar because the circles are a symbol of what it means to have God in our life. I'm not sure that this year someone would come up to me and say, "why are you happy; why are you positive?" (Laughter.) But it has certainly been my experience in the past. In fact my reputation at Bonneville School has been until recently that I was a naive, Polly Anna. And I guess that if someone were to say something to me now, and certainly there are individuals that do, I would point to the fact that, what ever happens, God loves me. That's a pretty powerful influence in one's life. So I think that's what I would say.

Aaron (Bill): So Letah, my dear, you would refer to your own experience?

Virginia: Absolutely. No one can divorce themselves from their own experience. Whatever your experience is, is your reality. So joy and peace and happiness and love and positive positions on this planet have to be the result of my experience, which is that God has been the most powerful, loving experience in my life for a long, long time.

Aaron (Bill): Thank you for your forthright answer. And truly no one can argue with someone else's experience. Had you referred to a religion, a belief taught to you by a church, or even possibly had you referred to your understanding as it has been enhanced by the Urantia Book, that in itself would not have the power of your own experience. So, again my dear, I appreciate your clear and effective answer.

Gwen, you may feel the question is inappropriate for you, for you have been recently in depression, but still how would you try to reply to such an inquiry?

Gwen: Well immediately, when you asked the question, I agreed that right now there is no way I could relate to that, you're asking me that question. But I have in the past been in a place where I can imagine someone asking me that question--why I am in a state of incredible happiness and peace. And it emanates from my body. So I have been there before. I do have a feeling of what that is and I hope to be able to get there again soon.

I also know in the past I've struggled with happiness coming from other people. And that is something I have had to learn over time, which is that true happiness can only come from within myself. So, when I refer to this happiness in the answer to the question, it is a happiness that is deep inside myself. It is inside me. It is a feeling of completeness. It is a feeling of connectedness with God, whereas when I walk down the street I feel that my feet aren't touching the ground. It is a feeling that if I were alone on the planet I would still have completeness enough to continue on with that happiness. I've been there before and I hope that everyone can be there, at some point in their life.

Aaron (Bill): Thank you very much for sharing your true feelings. Your answer then, even though you may not feel as emotionally connected to it as you have in the past, your answer is that you do not feel alone, that you are connected to God, that it is this connection that gives you this joy and peace. Did I understand you correctly?

Gwen: Yes, the inner peace is a big part of that for me. That is the stumbling block for me, the inner peace. And as I have that, the pathway to God is free and clear.

Aaron (Bill): And of course, this connection to God is because you, as well as every other sentient mortal being, are a child, are the offspring of God, are a daughter in your case or a son in another. That is the degree of the intimacy, a direct connection of the most profound order. Thank you.

Marty, how would you reply?

Marty: Again I always have trouble with the words, but to me it all boils down to the fact that I am able to feel the love of God much more intimately now than I ever have, that Christ Michael is closer to us, to me. In the Bible he was just a figure, but in the Urantia Book it seems that I can learn a little bit more about him and feel closer to him, and of course, to God through the Thought Adjuster. I feel that whatever has come and changed me has come from the basis of being loved by those people and all the angels that are around us. You just don't feel alone any more regardless of what happens. You can still feel that you are always loved regardless. Even if everything else has gone wrong you still have something to hold on to.

Aaron (Bill): Would you say that your time in stillness has aided you in this connection, this feeling of intimacy with Christ Michael?

Marty: I'm sure it probably has. I am not near as good with it as I should be, and gotten back to it. But I think that when I was doing it that it definitely did help and I keep thinking I will get back to it. But hopefully I will get myself turned around and back to it again because I miss it. I think that is definitely one of the major ways you can come up with that feeling.

Aaron (Bill): Thank you, Marty. I will make this comment about the Urantia Book. This book is the basis upon which the fifth epochal revelation proceeds. It is important to understand the universe in its true nature. It is important to understand the Trinity on Paradise. It is important to understand that each of you, and others of moral status, has a part of God in you in your minds, creating with your cooperation your eternal souls. These concepts are equally important as the experience. While many people have true experience but know not these concepts, their enlightenment must await the future. Eventually of course all mortals in the mansonia career learn far more than is contained in the pages of the Urantia Book, so that partial knowledge on this planet and others is compensated for.

But there is no substitute for experience. And so the more experience that you can have with your spiritual sources, your Thought Adjuster, the spirit of Christ Michael, the Spirit of Truth, your angelic complements who guard your destiny, the midwayers sometimes, and (personal) teachers, the more contact that you can have, the more chance you have to experience spiritual growth.

And now Bob, if you would, if you would care to reply to my question, I would be enlightened.

Bob: I don't think so. (Laughter.) Almost always when one of my students asks me a question, if I don't have an idea, it comes to me—quickly. I get no such help tonight. (Banter.) Well, the answer to your question is I haven't the foggiest idea what I would say, except I'm sure I would come up with something. But at this moment in time I do not know what I would say.

But it is interesting that just prior to your asking the question; I was wondering why that hasn't happened to me. Why haven't I been asked why I seem to be so happy, so positive? And I wonder why more people haven't asked me, and maybe some of the rest of you have felt the same way. (Some agreement expressed.) Why isn't that (happening), because I feel that I am that way. And I say, isn't it obvious? Where are these people? Can't they see what's going on here? (Laughter.) But I don't get that question raised, which raises lots of questions in my mind as to why is that no happening. Maybe I'm not doing as well as I thought I was. My guess is that it has more to do with the people we deal with. Spiritual issues really are not a part of human conversation. That's my experience, and unless you open the door just a crack, those questions tend not to be asked.

Bill and I have had lots of experience promoting the Urantia Book in schools we have been at. We've talked to people on occasion at times we thought were appropriate, and we got no where. (Laughter.) We've struck out, but that is a question that I think I need to deal with and one which I plan to give some thought to over next few days/weeks/months, with the hope that someday, in the not too distant future somebody is going to ask me. (Laughter.) And will have a halfway literate answer to give them. (More laughter.) But as of tonight I haven't.

Aaron (Bill): My dear friend, before you seriously wound yourself with self-flagellation, (Laughter.) let me say this. First of all, the fact that you are not normally worrying about this or practicing this in your mind is not to be taken as a negative quality. Rather you should be commended for your faith and trust that God will speak to you when those times should come. Secondly, you all suffer from the truism that "a prophet is without honor in his own country". [1] People have difficulty in changing their perceptions of others, or even of themselves, when true change has occurred. Sometimes it takes a long time for the change to be perceived. Others who know not their history and meet them can be much more accurate in their appraisals. So you may not find your tried and true acquaintances of many, many years asking this question of you, (and I speak now to you all), but rather a new-comer into your life, when seeing your flavor and taste of divinity as contrasted with their usual experiences, bringing this question to the forefront. So rest at ease. Do not beat yourselves up, any of you. I am not bringing this question up to arouse any anxiety or cause you to feel guilty. Ultimately you must rely on the Spirit to speak, even as Jesus advised his original apostles not to worry about what they would say. I know we have three more yet to respond. So let us proceed. Ken, how would you reply to this question?

Ken: You had mentioned before that we would be approached in this manner. And this question has rattled through my thought process several times on how to respond to somebody. If somebody should come up and ask me that question, I would be honored. But in reality the honor would be to the Father for giving me the understanding and helping me build my faith in Him that I may share the three main attributes that I have repeated many times, truth, beauty, and goodness. I have talked to people before about the Urantia Book and it has basically turned them off. But if you can talk to them about God, about faith, about loving, about understanding, talk to them—talk to their Thought Adjuster from the heart.

Aaron (Bill): Thank you. And again you have expressed a most important point, and that is that the focus is not on the self. It is not an egocentric achievement to have joy, happiness, hope, commitment, and so forth. It is in fact the renunciation of the concept that self should sit on the throne of the mind and heart. It is the renunciation of this selfhood and the proper enthronement of God in your lives that has accomplished this. With one small part though. You must honestly admit your responsibility and that is that you made the choice to respond. God is always the initiator, but you must respond. When you answer others, be careful that you not give an impression that God chooses certain people, and ignores others, for this, of course, is not true. But people have various degrees of light that comes to them due to their culture, due to the circumstances of birth, due to their education or lack their of, but everyone has to make the choice to respond to the light they have. I hope that I have made clear my meaning here. It is not an egocentric reply, but it is also true to say that you all follow the light that you had. Maybe not perfectly but you would not be here tonight if you had not responded. This concept Daniel has advised you on many times.

Pat, how would you reply to a hypothetical questioner?

Pat: Well, when you first asked the question I, unlike Bob, thought I could not imagine anyone asking me that. So, I think the only thing I would say is that basically I have been open to the will of the Father. And I appreciate your words about being open and following the light, because I have asked myself why I'm here many times. (Laughter.)

Aaron (Bill): Thank you for your reply. It is my sense, Pat, that you are very appropriately nestled in this gathering, that you truly belong here. And even though you had your hesitations at first, you have been willing to pursue truth, beauty, and goodness to the end, which is, of course, the mortal experience of divinity. Therefor you have been willing to follow the guidance of the piece of God that lives in you.

And now Isaac, take off your hat.

Bill: Well, Aaron, there was once an occasion that a person asked me that question, and I felt that I did a rather poor job of answering it. It seems like I referred to the Urantia Book, and didn't do a very good job; so I'm not going to say that that first attempt was what I would do now.

It would depend on the level of intimacy between me and the other person. If this was someone that I thought I could trust more of myself to, I might put in some details about how it was before I had effective contact with God. And in my case it would have to include aspects of my personal life, which are more readily understood in a group of people whose focus is upon addiction and those kinds of issues, because for me I had made a connection earlier in my life and it was more or less rather seriously interfered with by the same kind of chemical imbalance that can be caused by other kinds of mental illness, mood disorders, and so forth. In my case it was artificially induced by my own choice. So once that was cleared out of my head, then I was able to hear God speaking to me, God conversing with me. I was able to resume my connection. So I guess I would have a little bit different reply than someone who didn't have to deal with the substance abuse issue. I do in effect say this, (although people are not asking me), in meetings where I talk about my practice of reading the Urantia Book, prayer and worship that I do on almost a daily basis.

Virginia: I must give my husband the credit. He has become one of the most positive people I know! We have played a reverse role because of my own personal trials right now. So there are some prophets that speak and help out.

The other thing is, you mentioned speaking out of your own country/family, and I thought of the fact that my sister shared last Saturday that she and her husband both are dying. It was so easy to say I know you are going to find a loving God on the other side. It was such an unplanned statement. I know that is when the spirit gives us words to say. So, thank you.

Aaron (Bill): Now, Letah my dear, indeed are you experiencing more and more the spontaneous expression that comes from the leading of your indwelling Spirit. This is not merely an impression; it is a fact.

Isaac is truly appreciative of your comments. While the adage may be true in general, of course, it is not always a matter of rejection and disbelief on the part of those who are close to you.

Now in reply to his (Bill's) comment, I would say this. You have shown great bravery, my friend, in finally uncovering and accepting the reality that your life was under the tyranny of the insanity that was alcoholism. But you are not at fault, for that is an inherited disease. Many do not brave the tempest of the soul to see where the ship of life is headed, and you have taken the other course. From your experience you will speak as you do, with power and with truth.

Closing

And now to all of you, my friends, I say to you, you are wonderful people. You are God's children. You are my brothers and sisters. I am ecstatic! Let us all bend our knees to the Father of lights who has sent his only begotten Son of the universe of Nebadon to grace this planet with his love. In the name of the Universal Father, the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit, may grace, mercy and peace be with you all. Good night. [[Category: Unknown