2010-08-13-Spiritual Pragmatism

From Nordan Symposia
Jump to navigationJump to search

Lighterstill.jpg

Teaching buddha small.jpg

Heading

Topic: Special Session #19

Group: N. Colorado TeaM

Facilitators

Teacher: Monjoronson

TR: Daniel Raphael

Session

Opening

Vicki: Dear Father, once again we gather, asking you to encircuit us with your truth, beauty and goodness, and we give gratitude in a humble way to this and to all unseen helpers who allow this to happen. We ask for your guidance at this time. Amen.

MONJORONSON: Good morning, this is Monjoronson. (Good morning, Monjoronson. It is awfully good to hear your voice.) Thank you, it is good to hear your voice as well; it is good to be in your presence. I have not presented many lessons lately through this group, but I would like to do so occasionally in the future as necessary.

Vicki: We welcome that.

Spirituality

  • Practical Spirituality

MONJORONSON: Today, I would like to speak to you about “Practical Spirituality.” Many people become confused when they think in terms of what is religious, and think in terms of religion and their spirituality, and in the context of their daily lives. In the most undeveloped stage, individuals see religions as “out there,” away from themselves, as institutions, as buildings, organizations, authorities, doctrines and documents you put on shelves, and a place where you go and socialize for one to two hours per week on Sundays. That is the sum total of religions and religious context for most people in technically developed nations. This does not begin to touch upon the pragmatics of spiritual development, and how your spiritual relationship, your relationship with spirit can have a tremendous effect upon your practical day-to-day life’s developments.

Balance

  • Achieving peacefulness, balance and centeredness

I would first like to begin telling you about the practicality, the pragmatics of developing a practical spirituality. We begin by seeing that it is not “out there;” it is not in another location, but within you. It is a personal practice of becoming acquainted with your self as an evolving individual, and this precedes going within and being in the stillness. The pragmatics of developing a practical spirituality begins with understanding yourself, becoming at peace, rather than in conflict and emotional turmoil day-to-day and hour-to-hour. It is acquiring a centeredness and a balance in yourself, where you are grounded into the earth; you are neither “airy fairy” nor so deeply grounded that you do not understand or participate and know that the world around you is a spiritual being, has spiritual energies that engulf you and enfold you and empower you, to fulfill all that you desire to come into your life.

The mind and the emotional body that is in upheaval and destruction is not capable, is not able to sustain the peace of mind and centeredness where practical spirituality can become applied. Your first practice then must begin within yourselves, to become at peace, to accept your situation in life as it is, but one that you can improve with your spiritual development. If you are in turmoil, then it is important that you seek out assistance to become peaceful in your mind and your emotions, and in your social existence. Particularly it is important that you become at peace with yourself, that you do not see yourself as needing to become better or more prosperous, more powerful or have more authority and control than other people, but that you live in peace and you accept yourself as you are. Saying these things does not diminish your need to grow—not at all. You will continue to grow, and as you grow, more authority and power will be given to you that is honest, authentic and genuine, which is appropriate for your growth. Not that you control other people or their lives, unless they come to you and ask you for assistance or they come to you and they are employed by you—or they are under your tutelage, and you are their teacher.

So this is the beginning of a practical spirituality. This is necessary because you need a quiet mind, one that is open to spirit, one that is open to insight, suggestions, and so on, from your Thought Adjuster, your Guardians and midwayers and other teachers who are near to you. These are the ones who assist you in your daily life to find your way, in your spiritual growth and development. This lifetime is a lifetime of education; [as] you go from one plateau to another of personal growth, and the more powerful and more knowledgeable you become, the more that you are required to learn and be at peace, and to let the flow of the universe become a part of your life, and you invite it to become a part of your life. There is a oneness in the universe to which you become more closely attuned, as you grow in your spirituality.

Growth

  • Growth through making decisions from options available

The practical spirituality that we speak of is not the kind where you live in a monastery or a convent and practice your spiritual development through a regimen of daily life of simplicity and practice. No, this is one where you live in your daily life where you are, as you are, and you engage the development of your life in the world wherein you live. You are students of life. When you open yourself and ask for options for decisions for growth, know that spirit will be there to deliver those options to you. Your decisions are sacred to us; they are inviolate; no one will choose for you, and require you to follow that decision. Your decisions are your own, and you are responsible for them. In a practical spirituality, with a practical relationship with your spiritual guardians, you can ask for assistance and guidance, to become more aware of what the options of life mean for you; what they have available to you; what they mean in total. These options in life may be a new job; it could be a new car; it could be whether to have children or not; it may be whether to be in partnership with someone else; it may be to decide whether you would be better off, or that you would improve your spiritual growth by not being in relationship with someone—or by being in relationship with someone [else]. You grow where you are.

When you ask for growth, when you ask for movement into your life, know that options will be given. Very seldom do teachers touch you on the shoulder and say, “Okay, here is a program of options for you. Choose one which seems best for you.” No, it does not work that way. Rather, it may be that if you are looking for a job, someone calls you up unexpectedly, a friend whom you have not seen for five years and says, “Hey, would you be interested in this job position? I know that you have some skills which would fit with it, and we would like you to take a look at this company with us, to see if this would be available for you.” Do not be surprised, too, if someone knocks on your door and asks you if you would like to begin a paper route, in your spare time. You see, the universe does not know the difference between large or small opportunities. Options are options; they come to you and you decide. The worst-case scenarios where you ask for options for your life, you are given options and you make no decisions, you make no choices. You present the universe with a state of confusion, and so your teachers will sit back and wait for you to activate yourself to move ahead.

Decisions then action are required to move ahead in your spiritual growth. Practical spirituality involves practical decisions about your practical life in all aspects. You are not instantaneously given a morontial body while you are here on this world; you would have to fuse to achieve that end. Yes, and there are individuals who do fuse during this mortal lifetime, even on this backward planet. And there will be more that occur in the future, and even some who you will become aware of in the future of your lives. This will be, perhaps, more stupendous, more publicly exciting than any activity or any other incident which would occur in recent history, to have a fusion occur on your planet and be viewed and witnessed by thousands of people would be quite an occasion, don’t you think?

Vicki: Yes, that’s for sure.

Stillness

  • Practice stillness—God within you has much to say!

MONJORONSON: Certainly. Practical spirituality involves this lifetime in your world, where you are. Now the enhancement of this relationship between yourself and spirit is enhanced and developed by your spiritual empowerment, where you work not only in the outer, but you work on the inner, where you meditate once or twice a day, where you are in stillness, where you quiet your mind to assist you to hear spirit speak to you. God within you has much to say! God within you, your Thought Adjuster, has tremendous amounts of guidance to give you. When you still your mind, and it can speak and your mind can hear, those moments of quiet, even a few seconds at a time are important for the inner development of your spiritual life. And as you develop on the inner, your outer life will change as well, if you desire it to.

  • Comparison to others is unproductive

There are many advanced individuals who have stayed with the same employment, the same life situation, for decades. Their outer [persona] does not reflect, necessarily the inner spiritual development. As well, when you develop your inner capacity and you develop the outer [to complement it], you are truly assisting God the Supreme to develop in its capacity. And when you fuse with your Thought Adjuster that will surely become a part of God the Supreme’s being. You present a gift to it through your life. Practical Spirituality is not one sided—it is many sided. It is your inner mind; it is how you speak to yourself, how you feel about yourself. It is in relationship to others, how you feel in relationship to them, your importance or your non-importance; whether you have the same authority and capacities as others do. It has to do with how you deal with material wealth, or material poverty. Your practical spirituality speaks much about your life as you review your life in context of the outer. Many of you hold yourself in comparison to others all the time; I wish you to stop this activity, as it is unproductive and it puts you in a state of envy, which is not productive.

Socialization

  • Your social practices are essential to your spiritual growth and development

The fears of your being, whether physical, mental, emotional, social or spiritual and material, are the realms in which you examine your life, and in which you work your practical spirituality. Many of you see yourselves as developing yourself, alone; that you are concerned with your own personal spiritual development. There is a practical element beyond the outer and the inner for yourself, and that is the inner and the outer and with others. You are social beings. As you grow in your spirituality, you come into service to others and for others, and in serving others, you serve yourself, you serve Christ Michael, you serve your Thought Adjuster and you serve God the Supreme.

You can ask others to begin holding meditations together. It may be that you would sponsor a workshop, where you would teach others. You would invite others into the growth process as individuals in a social setting. As you will always be social beings in a social universe, your social practices now are essential to your spiritual growth and development. Many of you are socially receding, and that is not held against you one bit. Others of you are quite socially aggressive, and enjoy being with others, you enjoy teaching others, you enjoy being a student with others; you enjoy holding workshops and retreats to share in camaraderie and fellowship, and the wonderment of spiritual beings enjoying each other as spiritual beings in a social setting. You have much to do in your lives, for yourself and for others.

You have children, and so your practical spirituality involves sharing your spiritual life with your children, so that they may make choices about their infinite career with knowledge and with awareness, and that they can choose whether to be with you in the afterlife, or not. Practical spirituality involves those pragmatics of life, which are fundamental to your survival. Many of you worry about your current situation in the world, as your world seems to be in turmoil and many geophysical cataclysms are occurring, almost on a regular basis.

Your survival also involves the practical nature of your spirituality, for making decisions. Some of you will not take any precautions in the event of an emergency, and so you will seek spirit assistance during crisis—this is wonderful. Some of you will take precautions and prepare for the future, and when crises occur, you too, will seek spirit to assist you during this crisis. This is very practical; on one hand, the practicality involves preparing for those crises, on a material basis, and others of you will prepare only for the spiritual necessities during crisis; the choice is yours.

The emphasis of this lesson today is upon your work with yourself, and your work with others. In your work of being aware of others, being aware of yourself, many of you are self-critical. Many of you are aware of others and you are critical of others, about how they proceed with their spirituality. Both of these situations say so much about yourself; if you love yourself, you will accept yourself. If you love others, you will accept them as they are, where they are, and if you see that they are in need of teaching then you will approach them and ask them what they know about this area where you feel that they have an impoverishment of spirit. Then, if you see that and they are aware of it, you may offer your assistance to help them grow. It is all about growth; it is not about competition; it is all about sharing; it is all about integration. It is not about selfishness or separation, my friends, but working together.

Groups

  • Social support groups

Your world needs this practical spirituality. You do not have to practice it in a church, though the wonderful nature of a church and a congregation or parish is that it provides you with a stable infrastructure of fellowship, which is so necessary during personal, social and global catastrophes. You have a support group. Many of you who are alone, who are spiritually evolved, oftentimes are socially immature, so that when crises come, you have difficulty surviving by yourself. This is quite natural and quite normal. Do not be surprised if this occurs in you—even those of you who are vastly spiritually evolved, for there is a need for support from others, who have shared the same calamities that you have, that you are now going through.

Pattern

Setting the patterns for spiritual growth in the future

We wish you to apply your practical spirituality to yourself and to others, to see your world as an opportunity in which to grow; it is a school to learn how to apply this practical nature of spirituality. This is not solely for this realm, as you will have an evolving spirituality on the morontial realm, where you will practice your spiritual evolution in the same and very similar manners as you learn now, by ingraining these patterns of growth and the applications of your spirituality on a practical nature, you will have that engrained in you for the afterlife, when you are in the morontial realm. And when you fully become conscious of where you are and who you are and what your life is about, you will be able to launch yourself out with your Guardian in your new program of spiritual growth in the schools that are available to you. There you will learn how to interact with others on the morontial realm in very similar manners as you do now. Setting the pattern now for your spiritual growth, will assist you tremendously in the future.

This concludes my lesson for today. If you have questions regarding it, and I hope there are many questions, as I have offered you many nuances on which to ask; I would be glad to answer them now or in the future. If there are questions now, please present them.

Emotion

Vicki: Thank you, Monjoronson. You talked about the fact that practical spirituality precedes stillness, and it reminds me of many hours recently, when I have been in the emotional turmoil of grief. How does one respond to or cope with that, prior to stillness, so that he/she is capable of going into a stillness session?

  • Dealing with emotional turmoil

MONJORONSON: One of the most essential aspects of practical spirituality is accepting yourself as you are, where you are, knowing that as you are and where you are is only a starting point for the future. By being in denial of your grief, by being in denial of your loss, you forestall the approach to understanding and awareness and appreciation of your experiences. By accepting them, accepting your grief, by accepting your tears and crying your bereavement, then you accept where you are and know that it is a real part of your being. This prepares you for stillness today and in the days in the future. When you are in denial of the loss, when you are in denial or repudiate your grief, then you forestall the balance of yourself, the peacefulness of yourself and the balance of emotion that you seek. Acceptance is a point of departure for growth, and this is how you will grow and how you will be able to enter into stillness. Grieve, cry, bemoan your situation and empty yourself of these things and emotions and this will prepare you for your stillness even more.

Vicki: Okay, thank you. I’m going to move on. When we encounter someone who is dominated by a sense of ego and power in their actions, how do we respond to them in a spiritually pragmatic way that is effective?

Ego

Responding to someone dominated by ego and need for power

MONJORONSON: This too, requires acceptance. You accept them where they are, as they are, and rather than trying to deny accepting them where they are and as they are, and try to change them to how you think they should be, you accept them. And in accepting them, you see that they are as they are. I know this sounds befuddling, but it truly is a matter of accepting others as they are, where they are, rather than trying to improve them. When you try to improve them, according to your standards, you see them as separate from yourself. Whereas if you accept them where they are, you become integrated with them by accepting them. This does not mean that you accept their behavior or their ego state, or their actions, but you accept them as an individual where they are, knowing that they perhaps need to grow. How is it that you would assign yourself as the one to teach them? This is an important question to ask. Rather it may be that you might ask that individual, “How do you find this approach in dealing with others to be productive and to lead others into right action?” Their answers will assist you in how you may move ahead to aid them in their growth, regarding their ego, their needs for power and control.

It is not that you would want to walk past them and ignore them; it is much as though you would see a wayfarer on the road without sandals who had a large thorn in their foot, and they needed assistance to remove it. Would you stop and ask them if they needed assistance in dealing with their problem? Surely you would. If you walked by, that would put you in a position of arrogance or condescension from them, and you would be separate from them. It is important to offer assistance to others who you see in need, in a way that they may accept that they may become open to your suggestions.

Humility

  • Growing past ego to be in humility

If, however, you see this person is closed as Jesus saw the young man on the road whose heart was closed, and he walked past him without making comment to him. He knew that he was not open or receptive to any suggestions from Jesus. This is a determination that you will need to make. The question and situation you bring forward is one which is endemic upon your world. There are so many people pointing to others as being in error, where they themselves have not looked at themselves in a similar manner. It requires a tremendous openness to grow past one’s ego, to be in humility, to live humbly in relationship to others, as a way of empowering yourself and others. You set the example by how you approach this person, and it is something to be done carefully, with caution and with love.

Vicki: It seems, Monjoronson, that much of what we’ve lost in Christ Michael’s teachings needs to be revived, possibly in the name of spiritual pragmatism. Would you agree with that?

Jesus

  • The practicality of Jesus’ teachings

MONJORONSON: Most definitely! I agree with that. His teachings were very practical in nature. The feeding of the 5,000 was an example of that—practical applied spirituality. He did not do it as a show piece; he did not do it as a lesson; he simply did it. It was a practical need to feed many people, and so he applied mind over matter to provide the provisions for this large group of people. This is an example of the empowered mind over matter in the practical application of an evolved spirituality.

Vicki: So when we talk about the act of spiritual pragmatism, we’re really talking about the concept of right-mindedness. Is that correct?

Rightmindedness

  • Right-mindedness and spiritual pragmatism

MONJORONSON: That is correct. Right-mindedness is not something that you do once a week for an hour. Right-mindedness is a condition of mind that is ongoing. You see, the very nature of spiritual pragmatism requires a mind that is empowered 24 hours a day—24/7 as you say. It is not something that is done occasionally; it is a state of mind, and a state of mind conditions the life where you live and the evolved nature of your spirituality has a direct effect upon the evolution of your mind. Remember, mind is infinite in its capacity to grow, therefore mind has the evolving capacity to take on a more practical and pragmatic nature in your interaction with your day-to-day life.

Vicki: If we could define spiritual pragmatics, let’s say, in terms of just a few central words that would guide us—what would you say they were? One that I came up with in your lesson was acceptance—could you give me a few more?

Investment

Defining spiritual pragmatism

MONJORONSON: Yes, “acceptance” is one; “consistency” is another; “constant” is another; and a particularly important word is “invested.” Invested means that you are already committed to something. Invested means that you have already put in, invested the energy necessary to bring something about, that is state of mind, it is reviewing the options, making a choice, making a decision for action and then taking action. This is not separate from your life, whether it is making your lunch for your workday, or for being in stillness with the Father within. You must make decisions and take action, knowing that what you need is provided. You take the necessary action to engage and invoke the action and co-creative partnership with spirit and universe energies to fulfill your choices.

[Daniel: That was a good question, Vicki.]

Vicki: It is very hard to be consistent, unless you’re invested or committed to it. Yes, I can see the relationship between these words.

If we could create, Monjoronson, a better model for spiritual pragmatism in the business sector, what would this look like?

[Daniel: You are tough!

Vicki: I don’t mean to be, it’s just my mind—it goes everywhere!]

Business

  • A model for businesses and other social institutions

MONJORONSON: Perhaps, most central, to applying spiritual pragmatism to the business environment, is to begin striving to build or devise your business community, your business environment as becoming sustainable. You’ll find that spiritual pragmatism offers a sustaining ideal and offers a basis for designing sustainable environments, including that which is in business. Your question begs for a major revolution of thought and values in your business environment. Spiritual pragmatism is thoroughly invested in and by the values of a sustainable world on all levels.

Vicki: Then the same would apply to our educational sector and our governing structures and practices… Spiritual pragmatism then is value based, is that correct?

MONJORONSON: Yes, it is. You see, I began the lesson by encouraging you to develop your spiritual growth, your capacity for spiritual pragmatism, by developing its evolution “within” yourself—the emphasis is on “within.” Once you do that, then you engage that in your relationship to your world. If you are at peace within yourself, then you would like to see peace as you live within your world. Now, that takes it to another step as we went from intra-personal relationship, to inter-personal relationships, and now you have given us course and direction [in] our relationship to social institutions. Practical spirituality then takes on the area of social sustainability. These are in many ways very similar. Your personal sustainability as a spiritual being in a material world depends upon the continuous action of your spiritual designs within yourself, as you apply them to your world outside yourself. Now, you are beginning to think in terms of your world and the social institutions, and strive to apply those same values of sustainability to your world. Yes, those values are very similar; they are quite identical.

Practice, Intention

Practicing intentional consciousness with spiritual pragmatism

Vicki: So then, another concept that we had talked about [in] sessions before, is intentional consciousness. (Exactly.) And it sounds like spiritual pragmatism being that it begins within, is very much a practice of intentional consciousness as well?

MONJORONSON: Voila! Yes, you have discovered the kernel of this discussion. Intentional consciousness is directly connected to spiritual pragmatism.

Vicki: I’ve had some time to think about spiritual pragmatism and what I thought it meant

MONJORONSON: Holding intentional consciousness allows you to then project your spiritual consciousness into the pragmatics of living in a material world. You have allowed them to become inseparable. When you combine these two, then you have engaged yourself as a spiritual being in a material world on a 24/7 basis for practical results that show up in your life as peace and prosperity, harmony, divine order, divine timing and development. You see this in evidence where there is serendipity and coincidence in your life. These show that you are in the “bottom of the groove” of spiritual living, that divine timing, divine order, divine development, serendipity, coincidence and so on, are evidence in your life that you are practicing spiritual pragmatism. And you are to be applauded for this, and this is a measurable achievement in your life. Do not disregard those incidences of serendipity and divine coincidence when they arrive in your life, but clap your hands and say, “Hallelujah, this is wonderful!” and move on.

Vicki: That was an interesting perspective, and I will definitely think of that when it happens in my life. I think, Monjoronson, I’m beginning to understand. When we have intentional consciousness, it must come from within, and if we keep that intentional consciousness at the forefront of our mind, it becomes more of a constant, more consistent; it becomes the vision that drives our lives. Is that correct?

MONJORONSON: That is correct.

Money, Relationship

  • In what ways is our culture the least spiritually pragmatic?

Vicki: It’s very helpful. In our culture, where do you see us as the least spiritually pragmatic?

MONJORONSON: As a culture, and this includes millions, if not billions of people, in the areas where you are least spiritually pragmatic is in your relationships, in your intimate love relationships and with money. And also in your personal relationships with power, control, and authority. These seem to be separate from your practice of a spiritual nature. As I review your trainings that you have had—and I mean “you” as a social collective in your culture—have not been well taught about the pragmatic spirituality in your relationships, or with your ego and your inner needs for power, authority and control, and this affects how you behave in your love relationships and with anything having to do with money. You see this as completely separate, whereas in a more evolved, developed society, with a better educational system that includes the pragmatics of spirituality these are integrated into social learning practices.

Vicki: I think it’s been a reoccurring theme in our discussions regarding our culture and our social institutions, being that we have one standard for when we go to church, and another standard for how we live. Would you agree, Monjoronson

Process

  • Universe operates without push, without force, without power.

MONJORONSON: Exactly. The point of this lesson is that there is no separation, that you practice your spirituality all the time, whether you are sleeping or awake, and that you practice it in the practical elements of your life. You live in a “push society” and this works against a nature of letting the developments around you occur in order and in right development. You want it when you want it, and you want it now! And, you want it perfect, and this is not how the universe operates. The universe is a process; it is developmental, and your spirituality takes on a practical nature when it engages that process and that developmental progression — without push, without force, without power.

Vicki: Thank you! So now we’re talking about patience and tolerance…

Patience

  • Patience, tolerance and forbearance

MONJORONSON: Yes, and forbearance.

Vicki: And forbearance, and now it’s becoming more concrete, I think.

MONJORONSON: Yes. I most appreciate your questions that help this lesson become more succinct and understandable, i.e. more practical for those who read it.

Vicki: Well, thank you, and Monjoronson, I can’t express my gratitude for bringing these concepts to the forefront for us, because we need to hear them, over and over again. I see the same themes running through our sessions together, and by continually revisiting them, hopefully, they will make a lasting impression.

MONJORONSON: We hope so as well. As we progress now during this traumatic transition era of your world, applied spirituality, spiritual pragmatism, is and will be more essential for finding peace and harmony and letting your world come into balance as it is going to, with or without you. You will need to learn—you must learn—new skills of letting the world “do its thing,” to let it work through its processes, rather than trying to fight it. You, as a nation, this Western nation of the United States, has the most difficult time with itself as it tries to force itself to become more productive, more efficient, more controlled and more directed, and this is not how the universe works. There must be a balance between a conscious effort to improve the future and a passive, empowered “letting” the world develop and become more improved.

Vicki: As we continue on through this period of turmoil and catastrophe, I am concerned that many will experience long-term stress. And so, Monjoronson, if we can “let it be,” so to speak and exercise acceptance, patience and tolerance, while consistently practicing intentional consciousness, this will eliminate or at least temper some of that long-term stress that may occur among people as they go through these catastrophes. Is that true?

Peace

  • Pragmatism of an evolved spirituality

MONJORONSON: That is true. Yes, your pragmatism of an evolved spirituality lets you be at peace, without having angst, without having anxieties about watching the world do what it is doing. You do not need to get involved in everything to force things to develop as you hope they would. Just as you see where your friends need assistance, oftentimes just being passive and accepting them and loving them as they are, assist them to grow into their new nature, and so too with your world.

Vicki: That was very helpful, because I think we all feel we need to… we don’t always understand how to comfort, and how to help.

All of this, Monjoronson, reminds me of the saying that became quite popular a while ago and maybe a little overused, where one would ask, “What would Jesus do?” Would you relate that to spiritual pragmatism?

MONJORONSON: Yes, I could relate that to Christ Michael when he was here as Jesus, but this is a bit off-putting, simply because it again, while it is a good way of [using] the model of Jesus to accept what would Jesus do, the practical, pragmatic spirituality requires that you “know” what Jesus would do, and act on it. Asking, “What would Jesus do?” is not a rhetorical question. It is a question of pragmatic spirituality that you incorporate into yourself; it is not a question that you ask just as a curiosity question, but something that you learn from, and eventually you will find that question is asked less and less often. What would Jesus do becomes a part of your nature and his pragmatic spirituality becomes the mantle that you wear all day long and all night long.

Vicki: So, what you are saying is that for some people they wouldn’t internalize this. It requires internalization, to the point where you act upon it. Is that correct?

MONJORONSON: Yes, that’s correct.

Vicki: Well, thank you! I think with this poor phone connection, it might be time to close this session, unless you have more that you would like to share?

Closing

MONJORONSON: No, all is well. Thank you for the invitation to be here and the opportunity to speak to you. Thank you again for your commitment to Christ Michael and Machiventa and to the work that all three of us do. Good day.

Vicki: Good day, Monjoronson, and thank you so much for your presence with us.