2005-05-22-Relative Levels of Truth
Heading
Topic: Relative Levels of Truth
Group: SE Idaho TeaM
Facilitators
Teacher: Daniel
TR: Bob S.
Session
Opening
Prayer (Virginia):
Father we thank you that you are the greatest reality, the greatest truth, the greatest love, the greatest leader, the greatest being that any of us can know. We would ask that you would keep us on the path. Help us to recognize what the next step in our life is, the direction to go, the people to relate to, the words to accept as Your gift. We thank You for the greatest gift that came to our world here. We would pray that we might listen to His spirit and be an example of the truth, as we know it.
DANIEL (Bob S.): This Daniel, your teacher, guide, friend, collaborator and one who continues to be proud of my class. Yes, I consider you to be students in my classroom. I am not the only teacher, as you know, but I have taken the responsibility for this group unto myself. And from that point of view, you are my class, and I am your teacher.
Lesson
The delay in starting tonight’s lesson was related to your earlier discussion. We try to provide lessons that are current and helpful to the level which each of you demonstrate as you converse prior to our lessons. So, it took us a few moments tonight to decide if we should make any major adjustments to the lesson we had planned. And if so, what? And as we often do, we are making some minor adjustments to tonight’s lesson. So, sit back and listen to your teacher as we begin tonight’s lesson.
You can all remember when you were a child, how simple things were. For the most part, it was just you and your siblings and your parents, and perhaps a few close friends who lived in the neighborhood, who constituted your world. For all human children that is pretty much their world. At least if we can characterize their lives as normal. Unfortunately there are few families in which that type of normal environment exists. And I think you all know to what I am referring. We can pick that up later if that needs more explanation.
But harping back to those days, when you were young in your world and compare it to your world today, how much bigger has your world become? For many of you it is almost the whole planet of Urantia. Your news in newspapers and on television really encompasses the whole globe.
How much wider is your group of friends? Many of you have friends in foreign countries and in many states of this country. So, your world which began as a child to be quite small and limited is now covering the whole planet. You can travel to anywhere you want. You can, via your various means of communication, talk to people in all parts of the world. How much bigger has your world become compared to what it was when you were a child?
Now with your Urantia Book resource, you have been given a much clearer picture of what life is like beyond your planet of origin and what it will be like once you leave the physical bound human-being hood, if I can use that word. As your spiritual development grows, so will your truths, as you discussed earlier. As you grow, spiritually, so will your ability to see higher and more profound truths. Perhaps the best example of that is the section(s) in the Book on Morontia Mota. While you can grasp some idea of what the book is talking about in those paragraphs on mota, you have been told, and I reiterate, that your understanding of these concepts will grow and your understanding will broaden as you mature spiritually.
In some sense it is like what is what is happening with your science now. Your scientists are almost daily coming up with new discoveries, new ways to use old ideas, new understandings of old ideas that bring them more use-ability and so on. So it is true, as Virginia read in your text, that truth is relative to your level of development. That is true from a scientific perspective and a spiritual point of view. As your understanding of God’s will for each of you progresses, the truths that the Urantia Book has introduced will take on newer and broader and higher levels of understanding. In all phases of your science, understandings are leading to new discoveries and scientific growth. And hopefully you can see the parallels I am trying to make clear. There are many other examples I could have used, but your TR has a scientific attitude so that was the one I chose to use tonight.
There are ultimate truths, which as you grow you will begin to comprehend. There are absolutes, which your book discusses. As you progress spiritually, you will begin to comprehend these ideas on elementary levels. But there will come a time when you will need to know more, and that is why a second book is being discussed. There are some readers of the book who comprehend the ideas of it well enough that they are ready for the next level, the next book.
Worry not about where you stand. Each of you is on a different path. Some of you will take longer than others, but you have an eternity. It is not a race. The championship does not belong to him or her who gets there first. It is for everyone. One day all of you will meet God face-to-face. And it matters not to Him how long you take. You are His beloved son or daughter irrespective of the time it takes you to accomplish and complete your path to Him.
The lesson is on truth. Jesus was a great purveyor of the truth. He did not want to upset people particularly, although He did at times with those who refused to be open to new ideas. All of you are open to new ideas. There are other human beings who are not. Many of you know such individuals. Their time will come. Don’t worry about them. You have own life to live, your own path to traverse, your own truths to learn as your experiences present themselves. If you are open and sensitive and caring and desirous to learn, you will learn. You will progress. I’m not saying you won’t make mistakes, I have and you have. Hopefully we are all learning from our experiences whether they be positive or negative. One can learn from both. So, do not put yourselves down when you make a mistake. You humans are prone to be your own worst enemy when it comes to judging yourself. Try to be open, not judgmental. See the truth as it presents itself. And if you are open and will allow us, we your teachers, your personal teachers, your personal guides, your supernal friends, will assist you to see the truth as it is from your perspective.
Again, all of you have different perspectives. So, the truth may be slightly different for each of you. Don’t let that truth get in your way of seeking higher truths. The truth can be both absolute and relative. Those are not contradictions. There are fundamental truths in the universe. Your ability to see them varies, depending on your experiences, your history, your personality all of which are different. So, while you can learn from one another, recognize that each one of you follow a different path. And the truths that you see may be, will! be, can be, sometimes are, sometimes aren’t different from your friends. Try not to let those differences be points of contention. Rather let them be what they are, just differences as each of you is different and has a different background and a different personality. Some of those differences may be helpful. Some of them may not be. It is all a part of your growing and developing and living. So seek the truth wherever it may be found. And if it doesn’t feel right, don’t put yourself down. Look elsewhere for the truth. The truth is everywhere.&! nbsp; But not all of it will be helpful. Each of you must walk your own path.
Well, I hope I have not sufficiently confused you with the complexities of human and morontial existence.
The life we all are called to live is not always clear. That is part of living. One day you will see everything clearly. But those days are not yet here. They are not yet here for me either. I hope you draw some solace from that.
Well, lets take questions, comments, concerns. What is on your mind tonight? I throw the door open to whatever or wherever you are.
Dialogue
(the group is silent)
I hope the silence conveys the fact that you are thinking and are not frustrated, although frustration can be a learning tool as well.
Ken: Daniel, I’ve been reading a lot lately—all the information from the net on this Correcting Time—and as is typical what you have done this evening, you have put a lot of morsels upon the plate. And yes there is frustration. Which morsel do we partake of first, second and third? There is so much on the Father’s plate to partake of. Where do I begin?
DANIEL: Thank you Kenneth, your thoughts are always interesting. The short answer is "it doesn’t matter."
Ken: They all taste good.
DANIEL: All of the goodies on you plate are good, as you say. Experience is experience whether it be frustrating or eye-opening. So, it really doesn’t matter where you begin. And for some that is confusing, I recognize that.
My work as a physician, when I was human was to, as psychiatrists do today, was to help individuals organize their lives. And for many that was to decide where they wanted to begin. There are so many things you have to learn and they all must be learned. So, from that point of view it doesn’t matter where you begin. Pick one! Yes, there are some that are bigger areas of difficulty, are bigger morsels to chew on and will take longer to digest. But they must all be dealt with. So, it doesn’t matter where you begin or even how you proceed.
Again, each of you is different. Some of you like to tackle your problems head-on. Others prefer to sneak up on them from the side. And others would prefer not to deal with them at all. But you know in the back of your mind that some day you are going to have to deal with that, and you recognize that maybe sneaking around and attacking it from the rear, taking it on one bit a time, may be the best way for you. But you have so many things to clean up in your lives, so many truths to see that are not yet clear to you, so many parts of your own existence, which need to be polished, refined and expanded.
There are so many things which block you from seeing the truth which must be dealt with eventually. Again, God doesn’t care. He knows eventually, all of those will be dealt with. Your life will be ship-shape. And you will be ready to meet the Eternal truth, the Second Source and Center, just prior to meeting Him.
So take heart my friends. I have made vast progress in my life. And can tell you from my own experience and from what I see in your lives, you too will one day, as will I, come face-to-face with the Universal Father, the Creator of everything, including us. That day is along way off. But there is no hurry, take your time. But begin. Deal with those frustrations. Get them behind you. Deal with those bad habits you have established. Get them behind you. Ope! n your eyes to the truths that God has established in His universe. Don’t be shy. Don’t be modest. Recognize in humility how far you have to go, but in confidence based, upon how far you have come. Look back at that child you were, and see how much you have grown. Amazing isn’t it?
So do not let the fact that you have a long way to go put you off. Your lives are just beginning. The truths are yours for the taking. Be optimistic. Put the negativity of your world in perspective. Live in this world, yes! But do not be of this world.
Well Kenneth, does that help?
Ken: Yes Daniel, it does. Thank you for adding flavor to my plate.
DANIEL: It is my pleasure. Does anyone else have a question, comment, concern, frustration that you wish to pursue?
Pam: Hello Daniel, it’s so nice to be back in this group again. I was going to ask about the second Urantia Book and how that is going and how we can contribute to that?
DANIEL: Yes, hello Pam, it is good to have you back with us. Now to your question. The new book is only in its most preliminary stages. Perhaps the "thinking-stage" is the best way to characterize it. There are many humans who are interested in working on this project. And they are in the basic stages of communicating with each other, trying to decide how they should begin. They are always looking for additional help. So if you are interested in getting your feet wet in that project, I am confident they would accept your assistance. So, I would suggest you try to contact them if you are interested. The Internet seems to be their current mode of communication. I would suggest you contact Kenneth. He seems to be the one in this group who knows the most about that project. Kenneth, are you willing to provide some information?
Ken: Are you referring to the Second Revelatory Commission?
DANIEL: We are. (Alright, yes I would. I will.)
Pam: Thank you Daniel.
DANIEL: You are most welcome my friend. Anyone else have a question or comment?
Closing
I take it by your silence we have reached the point of maximum input tonight. Let us stand and join hands as is our custom. Is there a volunteer to close tonight’s meeting?
Ken: Yes.
Our dear Parents, Universal Father, Deity, we stand here in harmony. We stand here in love. We stand here with gratitude in our hearts. We have listened, we have learned and now we apply these teachings, this love You have presented to us, given to us freely, we too share this freely with our brothers and sisters.
We send our love to the center of the circle and it spirals up to You, the Creator of All. Your love showers down upon us. We give our love to all. May we grow. May we be of service. It is in your name that we come Michael. We are.
Amen. Amen