2002-05-23-Hope

Session

Opening

This is your friend and teacher, Welmek. Greetings to our guests this evening, and in welcoming back those who have not been here for some time.

Lesson

Tonight I wish to give a lesson on hope. Over the last few weeks we have been discussing the nature of trust in depth. And as I said to you, this was all part of an exploration of deepening your faith. And part of that faith experience is the quality of recognizing and sensing that which is in you to propel you Godward; to propel in the sensing of a brighter future. And that sensing is hope.

I would like you to do now, if you are willing, is to go on an adventure with me - on an adventure into the unknown, the unexplored. Picture in your mind's-eye that you are now on a treasure hunt - that a trusted friend has given you a map, and the map is clearly marked, and the map leads to a place of great beauty, and a place of great peace and joy. And since you trust this friend, you know that what is being said to you is true, and you can rely on this. And you know firmly within you that what you seek, you will find. And so, being in possession of this map gives you a sense of excitement, of adventure.

I would like you now, in your mind's-eye, imagine this scenario. Let your imagination captivate you. And just sense this awareness for a few moments, and we will continue onward. (Long pause)

Now I ask you to share with me one or two words of the feeling that this scenario calls to mind. What is it that you sense? Please share with me your brief comments.

Dialogue

Students: I am standing by, to be surprised! - Enthusiasm - Anticipation - I am experiencing grace and fluidity - Curiosity, and there's part of me that is a little trepidatious, a little fearful of going forward into the unknown.

Welmek: But do each of you, at some experiential level of awareness, sense excitement, and a pleasure at a new discovery? Something that takes you out of the realm of the ordinary, releasing you from your state of usual knowingness? Do you sense an excitation in this quality? Do I take your silence for a yes? (All say yes)

So, as I accumulate your responses, there does seem to be a sense of wonder, anticipation, newness, the quest for the discovery - curiosity. And all of these things feed the drive within you to attain something that is greater than what you have already experienced. It is directly proportional to the faith-lure you allowed to be activated. And that which catalyzes this, is this sense of hope: that things will be bright, and beautiful, and take you to that place of overwhelming discovery and adventure, and that new creative potentials will become fulfilled. Hope is the grandeur of trust. It is the anticipation of the beauty yet to be experienced. And you have an infinite well of hope within you that feeds your perfection-hunger that is a gift of the Father, to achieve high levels of personality expression in becoming the person you wish to be; the person you were born to be, the person God created you to be.

So if this hope then is a gift to move you in this direction, I would ask you what role does fear have in your life? If you are dominated or controlled or manipulated by fear, would you say that hope has a chance of being fully activated, of being fully experienced?

And so your destiny is quite assured by your choices of growing spiritually, but I would say to you, my friends, have you fully activated the hope within you, that is a springboard for this faith and the assurance of a beautiful destiny awaiting you? I ask you to take this question into stillness for a moment and ponder this. And say to your spirit, "Hope is a quality I wish to know more fully. Help me understand how to activate this." Ask your spirit what is still holding you back from hoping, being hopeful, sensing this hope to a greater degree. And after you have received your answer, please share that with me, if you are so willing. Take a moment now, and go with it. (Long pause.)

Student: It seems to me to be just a form of habitual patterns, of obstacles to that have built-up over time.

Welmek: There is a fear-response that is built into your mindal reactive patterns, I would say. You have a hope response as well. When you feel yourself in one of your habitual patterns, you can effectively short-circuit this, by asking for the quality and the awareness of hope to come into your being.

The promise of the future is well within you. You do not need to know what the future will be; you will need to live through numerous experiences to lead you to your destiny. But if you face your experiences with fear or with trepidation, then how can you enjoy yourself along the way? Would it not be much more pleasurable to be on this journey of discovery of who you are, and where your life is going, if you were hopeful that where you are being led is a place of great beauty and joy? And so, this is the simple exchange of being in the state of fear, as you move through life, through being in the state of anticipation and excitement and enjoyment. And it is very easy, my friend, to go within and just ask for hope to uproot and short-circuit any fear-response that comes to mind. Does this help? (Yes. Thank you.)

Student: Welmek, for me it is - maybe I'm feeling my age tonight, but I can recall a whole lifetime of dashed hopes - hopes that I can only encompass within my experience by seeing them as immature. In other words, the love I had at sixteen or seventeen, and falling desperately in love and then having it all crash terribly. I have to pick myself up and say well, that kind of relationship is immature. And so it seems that somehow we must find the courage to keep growing. And courage is one of those things that we never can have enough of. But I'm hopeful!

Welmek: In your response, you used the word "hopes" of your youth. I would exchange that word "hopes" for the word "expectation". And so this is where, from my observation, you in human experience, can sometimes become confused. Because when one of your expectations does not produce the anticipated results, what does that do to the idea of hope? It will quash it, will it not?

And so I am tonight referring to a level of spiritual direction that has as its core an idea of faith in that wherever you are being led is going to give you a higher lever of self-realization and understanding, and a broader view of reality than what your humanly-conceived expectation can image. And so if you were to activate hope at this level, then all of your experiences would be adding to your personality-foundation in a way that would be satisfying and illuminating and broadening and deepening of all of the potentials of talents and abilities and gifts that you have within. Do you understand the distinction I am making here?

Student: I think so, Welmek. I was expressing something that when you experience, it might even be a funny kind of greed or something, you said that expectations where everything seems boundless, I mean, it seems to be absolutely wealthy - just in one instance of finding a wonderful lover and companion. Something is just totally boundless, and you then learn that you are a finite being, in a way, that this is not to be. And then you have the question, which I think is a spiritual one; it's kind of a cliché but it has great meaning, is it better to have loved and lost, than not to have loved at all? And, I think that maybe hope says yes! As you say, this then becomes part of your soul, that experience that other person is now part of you.

Welmek: I would say to you, my friend, that you have learned a valuable lesson. You have tasted the sweetness of love; and you have looked at the fleeting emotional instability of the human heart when it has not been tested to go the distance. And so, would you say, that it is better to have had this experience of loving regardless of how long it lasted?

Student: Absolutely! Absolutely! I think this is actually what, in a way, generates hope.

Welmek: And so you had an experience, and then you build upon that experience, going into other relationships to broaden your sense of loving another person and allowing that other person to love you. And so it builds. And sometimes you cannot always see how the relationship is working and how it is adding to your overall-sense of who you are becoming, but it does in time. And as your mind becomes more increasingly spiritized, you see the ways these associations have inter-relationships.

If you divorce human expectation from what you think relationships should produce in your life, and ask that all relationships add to a deepening sense of who you are and how you learn to love, then would it not be enjoyable to love and appreciate everyone who comes into your life? (Very much, Welmek. Thank you!) Do you have any other questions this evening or has this been a satisfying answer?

Student: Thank you, Welmek! You're making a distinction here between expectation and hope. I value these; it's like one time I thought of the positive aspect of fear that helps you keep that motorcycle on a curvy road. You said, "No, that's not fear, that's caution." So these distinctions are critical. Thank you.

Welmek: You are most welcome, dear friend.

Student: Yes, Welmek, it just dawned upon me or it just hit me, as you were talking, just this moment. The idea of hope as the understanding or the awareness or the certainty that beauty, absolute beauty is in front of me, whether I see it or not at this moment; and knowing that it is always there, always present. And that the awareness and understanding and certainty that life is always for me - never against me. And that fear is just a cue that I am not in alignment with spirit or God-consciousness. And to see the hope is to, despite what is going on, in human relations, is to see the Christ within each person - despite their own lack of awareness of it.

Welmek: This is a valuable realization, and one that will serve you well. And so as you move from this fear-awareness, and as you sense this beauty, this hope will be the catalyst to bring more of that appreciation of the beauty into your visual-screen that at some point you will begin to more harmoniously balance that which you are perceiving with your physicals eyes and that which you are intuiting with your spiritual eyes. And so, even if a person acts most unkind, and most unjust towards you, your sense of hope and faith and trust will be so magnified that the beauty of this person will shine clear through their present state of unloveliness, and forge you together in a new spiritual kinship.

This is an important step in your relationships with other humans. This hope will foster feelings of compassion and tolerance and patience. For you know, it is only a matter of time before these potentials become actualized in these individuals as well. Do you understand how valuable this is now what you are experiencing?

Student: Oh! Very much so. It's the foundation of who I am. It's kept me going through all that I've been through and all that I am going to be going through. It's real certain within me.

Welmek: And so the hope, as you say, has become a certainty. (Yes.) And that faith becomes so ingrained as a part of you. How could you think or experience anything other than that?

This is what our Master so effectively achieved in His walk as a human. His faith in the overcontrol of the Father was supreme. And his hope for the future was sublime. And each of you in this room has the potential and the capacity to experience this just as exquisitely as Jesus did, if this is your heart's desire.

Are there any other comments or questions or need for elaboration in our discussion this evening?

Student: Thank you very much for bringing hope back into the current vocabulary. Sometimes I recognize and use the words faith and trust on those legs to stand upon. But I had really forgotten hope and it's what gives almost the will to fly into the future. Faith and trust, in my experience recently, has been staying power - that no matter what the obstacles were, with faith and trust, I could face them. But hope leads me to thinking about the future. And it's exciting and it's different than thinking just about the present. It's a gift. Thank you!

Welmek: My dear sister, it is my pleasure to give these lessons to help you, each of you, to expand your awareness of this wonderful equation of faith and trust and hope. For our creators, in their wisdom and love, know us so perfectly - what it is that we need to grow. And they give us all of the tools and fuels that we need to activate us, motivate us, and propel us into this quest of universal discovery - who God is, and who we are, and how life in the universe functions. What would we be without these three qualities of faith and trust and hope? And so it is a gift of the greatest love to give these small evolutionary beings who start out life on the far outreaches of the universe to learn the ways of perfection one small step at-a-time. Do you now appreciate how everything has been paved in front of you? You get to experience life - perfection - from its potential expression. And if you did not have these tools within you, you would be nothing more than animal in nature.

Hope is the icing on the cake, I would say, in your faith. For it gives you a sense of the beauty and the grandeur and the majesty and the glory that awaits you. So, activate that fully, my friends. And ask the Father to fill you to the brim of the cup of hope. And enjoy where you are being led!

I am hopeful that each of you will leave tonight with an increased commitment to live in activating this trust and faith within you. And before we conclude this evening, I would ask, are there any other questions on other topics that we can discuss this evening?

Student: Just before we do that, the thought that S. talked of, came to me as well - that hope is vision. And in talking about this tonight, I haven't heard - hope - in a long time, as well, and it kind of has re-activated that passion, that vision I have within me. So, I thank you for that.

Welmek: It has been my pleasure, bringing you this lesson this evening, as well. I appreciate my willing and inquisitive students.

Student: I have a lingering issue of doubt; there's so much disappointment on this, in our lives, based on our expectations. Many of our expectations, being quite reasonable to have, and yet some of them are not met here in this life. So I think I would just like to hear a clear statement that we are not abandoned, and that this is not all there is, despite the disappointments and sufferings that we might go through, and the hopelessness that we can face, as humans. It's very hard, sometimes, to see beyond that - to have faith in a happy ending or an onward progression. So, I guess I'm asking where the road to hope leads? I'm not sure what else (or) how else to put this?

Welmek: Before you can actively traverse the path of hope, I would suggest that the roadblock of expectation be taken down within your mind. You have certain needs within you. And those needs that are within you sometimes become expanded with desires of the culture and other expectations that you may not be consciously aware are subverting you from your true potential and destiny as a child of God.

So it is important to understand the difference between what is a true need of your soul, and a desire of the mind. And I say to you, as you begin to remove this roadblock of expectation that when you see the clearer path of hope your needs are being met. And that where you are moving to in life is a place of personality expression that is satisfying and revivifying and illuminating. Then, would you not want to continue on this road, in joy, and in a sense of anticipation and excitement about where you are being led? (Tape ends.) . And spend some time, in stillness asking for the delineation between expectation and need, and to see a clearer road ahead of you, so that the Father can activate those hopeful potentials within you. And I do believe that this would bear further scrutiny, in a lesson, for the entire group. Does this meet with your approval, C.? (Yeah, Oh yes!) Do you have any other comments or needs for clarification or elaboration at this time? (No, Thank you.)

I am very glad that C. raised this point. Because there are those disappointments within the human heart that are difficult to overcome, and they weigh heavy on the soul. And so these are things that do not serve you, and will not add to your continued enjoyment in life, unless they have been properly aligned with the perspective of the Father, and how He wishes you to see them. And so I do believe that this would be an appropriate time to conclude the meeting, pending further questions on this topic.

Student: It seems to me that hope depends sometimes on faith in life beyond this one. Because some people face hopeless situations, relative to their mortal being. So, I guess I would like to hear at least a brief commentary on life after death, since this world is so full of disappointing and seemingly hopeless situations for so many people? What is there beyond this veil-of-tears, if you will?

Welmek: Eternal joy - Infinite wonder - Unending love. This world is not a good composite of what life is like in the universe. I would say that it is exactly the opposite. For many have been bound in slavery to the fear-response, and this is not how you were designed to live. True, the potential to experience this is there, but it is not the Father's way, nor the Father's will for humans to live in degradation, poverty, suppression, basic human rights being carelessly tossed aside by the desires of a few. No, my friend, this is not what life in the universe is all about.

When those who have experienced, as you say, the full-dose of life in this veil-of-tears, they will be releases into a world of such beauty and light and joy, that it will seem like a dream until they become acclimated to higher-dimensional reality. Some people must await the time of their awakening on another world. But the hope for this can live within the human heart. And each of you, in your own way, can bring this hope to other people in great need, to expand their awareness, to share your love with them , to throw that lifeline to them that says, "You are not alone. You are not forgotten! You are loved, and you have wonderful potentials within you that are moving you in a direct and new way. So come with me and I will show you. Trust me, and I will help you find them."

This is the selfless service that we activate or, I should say, try to encourage you to activate within you. For the only way that this planet will ever emerge from its miseries is for each person to be so activated. And how does this become activated? One person at a time, sharing his or her love with the other. And so that person who is on the receiving end will begin to open and then experience love, and then wish to share that with another. And so on and so forth, until each human soul is alive and living and knowing and tasting and seeing the beauty of the destiny that awaits each person as a child of God. Does this help? (Yes, I cherish your words. Thank you.)

Student: But, Welmek, we do not have to die to experience eternal joy, do we? We can experience it, right here and now, infinite grace and eternal joy. It's here, right here - and now!

Closing

Welmek: The way is here. Some human hearts are more open to receiving than others. If you are so blessed as to have a heart open enough to receive this here and now, then the challenge, my friend, is to reach out to others and to help them open the door to receive and sense this, as well. Is it not one of the most enjoyable feelings in human experience, to share your joy with another person, and then for them to reflect that joy back to you? And so, help one another. Motivate one another. Love one another. And be that bright light of hope in another person's life! Good evening, dear friends.