2009-04-19-Joy and Sorrow, Light and Darkness

Session

Opening

Prayer: Dear God, we thank You for the wisdom and the information that You have given to us in this Urantia Book text. How we would pray that we might not just look at the words and know it by intellect, but that we would continue to use the content. We thank You for the Teaching Mission, God, and the fact we are able to apply what we hear from our teachers. Help us to be open tonight. We thank You that the Thought Adjusters can use our mind to make us more like You, the potential that you have planned. Help us, we pray. Amen

DANIEL: Greetings, friends, I am Daniel, your friend and colleague, pleased to join you on this lovely afternoon on Urantia. You have had a long cold winter with many storms piling in one after the other with cold wet snow, while you have longed for spring.

Lesson

Today’s weather is testament to the fact that spring does come, will come, to be followed by the fullness of summer. And so it is in your lives, and so it is with this planet. Times of hardship, of doubt, of struggle and difficulty are necessary, as are the snows that provide the reservoirs, the frozen water, to be released at the proper time. And while difficulties and struggle are necessary, they are by no means the sum total of experience. One’s life, one’s experience of life, is much more influenced by the decisions one makes in response to the stimuli than the stimuli itself. Stimuli and struggle are experienced much more negatively when one tries to avoid some aspect of the experience, when one listens to the fear of the ego voice rather than grasping hands with your best friend, your Mystery Monitor.

So, my point is, that it is not in fact the struggles—that are a necessary part of life—that determines your experience of life. It is your response to these struggles, whether you shrink from them in fear and despair, a sense of victim-ness, and so forth, or whether you embrace them as an opportunity to test the mettle of your partnership with your best friend, your Mystery Monitor.

Now, this planet’s history has produced a culture of victimhood arising out of the reality of the facts of post rebellion living. But you need not accept that mantel. You have the knowledge, you have the inner resources, you have the loving help of a multitude of personalities to choose a different response: to beat your chest, to smile into the wind, to embrace the moment—not to express the physical strength of conquest, no! but the power of love, the power of faith, the power of the certainty to be found in your relationship with God the Father, God the Mother, God the Actor, demonstrated and known in the reality of the Indwelling Fragment and the encircuiting of the Spirit of Truth and the Holy Spirit.

From this perspective, life is full. Life is good. Life is filled with an amazing opportunity to be of service, to learn, to grow, to persevere, to endure, to leap mountains, to lead through your example, the example of an enthusiastic liver of life. Do not ask that life be different. Ask that you respond differently.

And so, my friends, a beautiful day like today is a reminder that life can be full of joy, not because it is without storms, not because it is without struggle, but because you have within you every resource you need to live it with joy, to live it in balance, and to live it with enthusiasm.

Are there comments, questions or any other way that I can interact with you on this beautiful afternoon?

Dialogue

Student #1. Daniel, thank you for your comments. I heard very well that you can live your life with joy in spite of, and it reminded me of a sermon I accidently turned on from Notre Dame Cathedral and the messenger was saying that this is the day the Lord has made and that the contrast is either happiness or sadness, but always this is the day that the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it. And that has been a terrific message for me, not that I’m living it, but no matter what comes into our life, this is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.

DANIEL: Indeed! I am giving the same sermon. I would like to make a note however: I am not saying do not be sad. It is quite possible to experience sadness and joy at the same time. I am not saying do not feel your feelings, but I am saying release the fear that holds you back, that stops you from partnering with your Best Friend. Let the fear go, but experience the full realm, the many dimensions, of what it means to be a human being living on Urantia.

Thank you for your comments connecting my discussion to that which you heard. Are there other questions, comments, thoughts? [Silence]

(Student name), my dear, I wish to address the passing of your mortal father. He is experiencing great joy as you are aware. You can trust this internal knowledge. You can count on the love and support of a myriad of beings who are with you and with your family at this time. You have much over care. Allow yourself to melt into it. Let it lift you and carry you along with the knowledge of your father’s joy.

Student #2: Thank you Daniel, so much.

DANIEL: I embrace you dear one. … One moment please.

Closing

ABRAHAM: Greetings, I am Abraham. Daniel has most graciously invited my participation in your meeting forum that I may speak directly with my dear, dear friend (student #2).

My dear, yes, have I been personally present with you during much of this past series of events in your life. I wish for you to fully comprehend my affection for you, my devotion to you and my admiration of you. My friend, my message to you today is to grant yourself peace. Be at peace. This is all, shalom.