2002-06-09-Advancing Evolution, World Citizens

Session

Opening

TOMAS: Good afternoon. Yes, I am Tomas, your companion, and I've been here with you during your conversations. How good it feels now to be included. I don't intend to take over the session but I will offer a few remarks along the lines of the nature of your conversation for this is the nature of the teacher, that he meet his students where they are. The range of human interest that you've settled into this afternoon is a good prompt for me to bring up to you how we advance human consciousness and human evolution.

Lesson

It wasn't long ago we discussed the winds of change, and look at the changes that you've been enjoying and anticipating! Relocating, marriage and other conjoinings, remodeling, rearranging the elements of your lives, new employment - these are always a good opportunity to review your patterns and make an assessment as to those which are patterns of behavior and attitude you want to carry with you into the new paradigm that is being created, or leave them behind as baggage that is a part of an old way of thinking and dealing with your world.

Habit

One of the factors involved in your own personal spiritual growth, the growth of your religious nature, is based upon your willingness to replace old and inferior habit patterns with new and improved habit patterns, for you are indeed creatures of habit and in this way you can will yourself into a new level of living, better health, improved relationships, and more efficient and/ or disciplined patterns of behavior.

And while these are a reflection of your choice, it is sometimes very difficult to make the choice stick. Sometimes habits get a hold of you and you cannot change the pattern, and this is problematic when these habits are part of the social mores; thus it takes generations sometimes to eliminate patterns that have been a part of the accepted standard of living for so many. The trend toward better health, less caffeine, no smoking, qualified drinking; the shift away from racist and sexist humor; the institution of political correctness; these are attempts to upstep human behavior.

Culture, Change

The paper from the Urantia Book, Paper 72, having to do with life on a neighboring planet, makes reference to the trend toward a more equitable balance of monies, such that the wealthy are impelled to downplay their affluence. This is a futuristic goal for your world. As it is now, it would seem that the aspiration for financial independence and material largess is still the goal of many. But this is in itself a reflection of evolution. A work ethic such as you experience in this culture is enough to influence individuals into making a work environment a major and important part of the culture and social life, whereas in future, the involvement with the work force will modify itself to allow for more leisure time activities and even more time for philosophy, art, culture, and religion.

So the dominant trends of one era are gradually giving way to trends of a new and better way. All these en route to planetary light and life. But in the interim, how difficult it can be and how interesting, to see how it is that individuals attempt to resist imminent change or force these changes on others. Indeed, it does bring about spurts of rebellion, for intelligent individuals enjoy making those will decisions for themselves and not merely changing in compliance to the wave of cultural fashion.

Those of you who are involved now in a new appreciation of spirit reality, the dimension of spirit that enhances your material life, that elevates you from the base animal level to an art of living in which your human aspects and your divine aspects are allowed to operate in conjoint harmony, are in the forefront of a growth trend to introduce also the effects of a religious life, those morals and ethics which stem from a personal relationship with divinity -- and I specify "with divinity" as a personal experience and not as a tenet or belief system or institutional approach.

As a forerunner you will, however, have to endure the establishment of these ideals in the masses as somewhat lesser interpretations of the divine reality you follow. This is exemplified in the recent popularity of angels. It began as a realization of the divine messengers in your culture and was realized commercially all the way through greeting cards, stationary and jewelry, to plastic dispensers of body lotion. And so you'll see the same thing happen to your esteemed ideals. And while it may at first appear to be discouraging to see how humanity tends to bring the exalted perception of God down to how they can handle His greatness, rendering Him trivial and petty, be encouraged that He is, even so, being invited to take part in the human condition.

For centuries God has been feared, and religion has been serious business. In the near future, indeed today for many of you, God is a radiant, joyous reality. But in order to bring about the family of humanity under divine guidance, it will be necessary to the people to gather unto them a God who is small enough that they can understand. And this will begin to infiltrate the social fiber so that words like God, our Father, the Divine Minister, Spirit, Jesus, Melchizedek, even phrases such as "ascended masters", "Angelic corp" and so forth, can become common phrases in your language. This is how we advance from the regime of man to the reign of God.

All this staging I've just described is inspired by your discussions of your everyday lives and how you deal with what is and search for what is said to be better. These social gatherings in restaurants, in churches, in offices, in shopping malls, all over the world are invited as methods of bringing forth the daily values of living the life that all of humanity can relate to. There has got to be other forms of dialog besides those which are fear-infested.

I and we are encouraging you in upstepping the common course of events to make life more meaningful, more peaceful, more productive, more personal, by the very ways in which you enjoy the company of your kindred spirits in gatherings such as these.

What can I do for you today, if anything? Are there questions or concerns or celebrations in need of acknowledgment?

Dialogue

ELENA: Tomas, I'll comment on a couple of things that you said that got my interest in particular and applied to my daily life. There were two of them. The quicker one possibly is: President Bush had a speech and it seems like everybody ends their speech with "God bless America" and I don't know … that kind of came to my mind when you were saying that phrases would be used and it might seem to be not as sincere. And I'm not saying that President Bush isn't sincere when he says that, but it does come across a little bit … I don't know … it was like a little stamp that's popular for everybody to tag on at the end these days. So that kind of came to mind.

But then, by what you're saying, it's important to get these phrases into the consciousness, even to maybe a little short of a MacDonald's meal for it, but at least to where it is on everyone's tongue so that there's … maybe it'll appear to be a more common thread. And that's of course the goal. So, is that kind of what you were saying? Or…?

TOMAS: Yes, that's a fine example, although it is another of those instances which inflame the sensibilities of many. It is very nationalistic, of course, and it has little to do with God himself. It sounds a bit less than a prayer, and more of an assertion - a battle cry, if you will. But yes, this is how the greatness of God is brought down to the level of humanity. It would be globally more favorable if another movement were to begin responding to that common phrase with an improved phrase that incorporated all of humanity.

ESMARELDA: You know, because people all over the world hear these speeches, because of our television and our radio and reception, so then everybody hears him but it's limiting it to America, so that's a little bit selfish. But that reminds me of something that Andy Rooney said the other day. I heard him on a program and he was talking about after September 11th all the people that fly the flags, and on the cars, and on their lapels, and everyplace, and he said he doesn't do that but that does not mean he is any less patriotic than those who have the flags on their car fenders and their pickup beds and all of those things. So which is …? That's similar to what you were saying. We need the symbols, maybe, but then on the other hand, if we are not flying flags symbolically, we still are just as patriotic. We can still be just as patriotic.

TOMAS: This is the same message that implicates you can be a believer without going to church. There are common forms that become the bandwagon, that carry off a standard and is supported by the masses. The message of Andy Rooney asks individuals to look deeper into themselves than the common standard, to soul-search. This is fashion, and, in a way, evolutionary fad. Certainly Mr. Bush is taking advantage of the current events to promote his administration, his country he has sworn to uphold and defend.

This is where you in the family of humanity are needed. You who realize that your brothers and sisters, in truth, are not simply Americans but are also Russians, Chinese, Indians, Koreans, Africans and so forth. It would be well to tout a global family. The planet earth has been a symbol of the globe, of course, but a global flag might be more in line with the trend of your nations, more readily understood as a comparison. "God Bless Urantia" has a nice ring to it.

ESMARELDA: It does!

ELENA: Now that brings up an interesting point, though, because a lot of people don't have the slightest clue that it's called Urantia. That's like, "God Bless Mother Earth"? I mean that's getting specific, I know, but it's kind of an interesting point. I'm kind of interrupting, but you were talking about stepping up efforts and maybe that's kind of a question about, you know, I was going to ask you about that in a couple of minutes anyway. Your comment about stepping up efforts. And I like the idea of a flag, a global flag, and about how to proceed on that and, you know, your comment earlier about replacing old habit patterns with new and improved ones - this is an example of that, too. So I guess so many times when someone mentions, "Well, let's go do something more," I'm ready! "Okay! Yeah, that's great. What'll we do?" Any ideas about that? Or just kind of see how it unfolds.

TOMAS: None at this time, but the seed is planted, the theme is verbalized, and the circumstances are now ripe for your creative investigation.

JANET: Tomas, don't you think that since September 11th, people are reaching out to other people and they are kinder to one another and trying to do something that's going to help? I know in my own experience, I've found that people reach out to me in a way they never have before. I have found them doing very kind things, like when I was on that cruise and my luggage was gone and that lady offered to let me wear one of her evening gowns because mine, of course, was gone - far, far away! - and I didn't even know this woman! She was a stranger to me, and yet she was kind enough to say, "Oh, you're the same size I am. Take it! Use it!" And I appreciated that so much. I certainly couldn't go to something formal in a pair of shorts! I mean, that was just a little example, but people, I've found, are just so kind.

TOMAS: Yes.

JANET: They have been to me, right along.

TOMAS: Yes, this is a good observation. This is true. This is also a chance for individuals to express their loving nature and give September 11th the credit for their being able to now express their appreciation for each other. They've had a chance to think about how life can be "snuffed out" "in a heartbeat" and many people are enjoying the new-found freedom of expression that is resultant from that value lesson that many Americans did learn.

The wound to America is being immortalized because these are the kinds of events that impress a people. The Holocaust had that effect also. They instill a sense that this must never be forgotten. We must always remember. The message therefore is remembered long and hard. Christ's crucifixion is one such event. It is remembered long and hard. But the good that came from his life here is the real message, just as there are real messages underlying the travesties of the Holocaust and the terrorist attack on September 11th and those realities are the realities that must be encouraged to grow. They would do well to build a shrine to that memory and then advance. Advance into the truth, beauty, and goodness that are revealed by a soulful search of the morals and ethics of a people at any given time.

There are a lot of things that need to fall away as new values come into existence. Encouraging letting go of the old way is a part and parcel of embracing the new way. Sometimes more quickly, sometimes more slowly, but when an event like September 11 occurs, it is a thrust that awakens a people like a cold glass of water when you are happily asleep. You wake up sputtering and angry, but once you are awake, you might recognize that you've overslept. I'm not suggesting that terrorists have a right to establish themselves as your alarm clock, but if each individual in a society was able to think for himself and enhance a reality which suited the oversoul of creation, it would be a different dispensation altogether. This is the value of consciousness, awareness. Not mere intellectual comprehension, but psychic and spiritual perception of another reality than the material reality that meets the eye.

JANET: But Tomas, wouldn't you say that the warmth that people are showing to one another and the kindnesses that they do, amounts to something good coming out of something that was so horrible.

TOMAS: Yes, of course. Yes, but it is also coming out of the people themselves. And that's not to be overlooked. People want to be good. They want to do good. They want to be loving. They want to be expressive of their divine nature. That, when it is devalued as superficial or immaterial, is discouraged, and when it is discouraged to the extent that individuals act as if they were emotional zombies, it is time for an alarm clock to awaken them so that they can freely think and be the children they are destined to be.

There are, you see, other travesties going on throughout the world that are not having a positive effect on people. There are backward nations and oppressed peoples who are experiencing such acts of violence and oppression, and that does not help them behaving more graciously.

What you are seeing is your perception and your perception is profoundly innocent. You are truly a childlike creature, trusting God and find Him in your life and in the lives of those you meet. This blessing of knowing our Father is being realized in your life as he reveals himself to you through others, and this is the wonder and glory of his nature. His nature is that which we would have be reflected in all earth's children, but there are so many who are lost, confused, angry, and opposed to the dimension of divine love, mercy, and ministry. These sores are going to need to be dealt with, in order for the body of the planet to become healed, to become wholly prepared to advance.

United States

America is a great country, yes. It is a young firebrand, creative and dynamic, and it has an opportunity here to truly be a world leader, but it must love the world, not only itself. Just as any member of the family of man must love his fellows as part of his family.

ANN: So I think that I am hearing you say, Tomas, that we cannot operate out of fear, that we have a family, our national family, that we are taking very good care of, but in the fact that we are taking care of our national family, we are forgetting to open our doors to the Urantia family which is far more important. So instead of running into our domain and hiding out of fear or building fences, it is time for us to reflect on possibly maybe our own actions of what causes so much anger, and open it up. What we know in habit or in past, we have an example in Israel and Palestine. We can fight! And it's proven you can fight for centuries and never change anything. And it just seems that we are in that beginning of that cycle, and that to be wise we would stop our actions now and see how we can openly solve our problems in a new way.

TOMAS: Well said. Let's take a large family of you mortals as an example. The Walton’s, a common television depiction, or any of those sitcoms that depict a nuclear family and many kids who have different interests, different ages. Think of yourself, America, as one of the kids who had the advantage of certain circumstances and who made the best of its circumstances, and you have siblings. There are other kids on this world that may be older, may be wiser, but you are operating with what you've got as they are operating with what they've got. Some of the kids in this family are bickerers, and they may never get along. Is it possible that they could fare well under the direction of one of you other countries as Big Brother or Big Sister until such time as the rift was healed, if only by not picking at it? Perhaps that's a rhetorical question, but if your country believes it is the precocious child, the one entitled to all the Christmas presents, the one that has all the scholarships to the best universities, the one who goes shopping when everyone else in the world is going to work or going hungry, it lets your image look a little spoiled, a little indulged, and I'm suggesting that the precociousness of this country could be replaed by genuine quality concern for others.

There's talk in the recovery community that you cannot help anyone else until you yourself are well. What constitutes "well"? What are your values? The values that are overriding have been material in nature, technological, but that font of loving kindness which you have begun to see since September 11 has been submerged under distrust and cynicism. For your country to emerge as a real world power it needs to acknowledge the value of its brothers and sisters in the global family, an appeal to the good of the whole that will require getting beyond egocentric vision.

There is a responsibility that goes with being as blessed and gifted as you are. You individuals here know the cost of maturity. You've learned your lessons through experience. You've been humbled and raised up. You are sensitive to the needs of others and the ways in which you might be able to help without destabilizing your own reality. This is what is necessary for your country, for your world, to begin to look at each other in terms of how might I help without becoming destabilized? Thus, I urge you to encourage the concept of the global family.

This phase of nationalism must of necessity come to pass. It is hoped we can advance into world peace and the realm of light and life without another global war or major annihilation of large parcels of geography. But in order for that to happen, the citizens of the world will need to come forth and join hands, as they are in some organizations and some movements. Set aside the propaganda. Realize that all over the world you are the same as other men and women. You have the same feelings, the same emotions, the same loyalties, the same needs, the same urges, the same desires, the same love. Those who eat rice are the same as those who eat potatoes. They are your family. They are a part of the global clan. They, too, sit around and talk about how they can improve their lot and the lot of their children, how they can enhance their energy by changing their diet, how they can improve their attitude by adjusting their approach.

JANET: Tomas, maybe I'm living in a dream world, but I have what might be called a childlike faith. I have no doubts. I am just very sure that God will watch over every one of us and that somehow, with all this kindness that I have seen recently toward one another, that that is bound to help and to bring good things out of something that was so horrible. And maybe this is what we needed as a shot in the arm, that we have to be kind to one another, if we are to go on in this world. And I think people are becoming … well, more willing to do things for one another since September 11th. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems that way to me.

TOMAS: It is a pattern, little one, that the advancing races encounter these events en route to peace, and they do become benchmarks in history that catapult your civilization forward or backward. It is our earnest prayer that it will launch us forward and not into catastrophe.

Your childlike faith is appreciated. I hope you appreciate my remarks are not limited to you in this room, but go out through the broadcast system to those in Armenia, Finland, Afghanistan and Jerusalem. There are trouble spots on your world, and just as you would find a trouble spot in your kitchen and set about putting it aright, it is our hope to find the trouble spots that exist in Urantia and set them aright so that we can have a happy home and celebrate it as the material source of our Master Son's seventh and final bestowal.

In the interim, by all means, enjoy the life you live, the joy you know, the radiance of spirit that is a part of your reality. Blow love on your concerns and give them to God as your inheritance allows. And pray for those who have not yet discovered the grace of divinity. That will be our future assignment - praying for those who have not discovered the loving Father that Jesus came to tell us about and that we worship today, even here in our midst, as the love that connects us, encourages us, and fills us with warm fuzzies such as peaches in the tree of life.

Closing

Carry on then, youngsters, and make those many adjustments that will enhance your life and the lives of those you love. And thereby set an example of how your lives are motivated by love and mercy and ministry. Be of good cheer. Anything before I go?

JANET: No. You've just made us all feel better.

ESMARELDA: Thank you for being with us this afternoon, Tomas. We all look forward to it so much, and we appreciate your never forgetting us.

ELENA: You're the best, Tomas!

TOMAS: Your loyalty is a warm fuzzy for me, and I release you with the blessings from On High. Then we'll see you next week at a new place and we'll enjoy a new perspective on this Kingdom of which we are a part. Adios, amigos!