2014-02-09-N. Idaho TeaM

Session

Lesson

Charles: [Mark] Good morning, it is indeed my pleasure to jump in and join your conversation this morning and pick up on some of the threads offered here. There a common phrase in your culture that your country, America, is known as the melting pot of the world but I would take and alter this perception slightly. A melting pot infers by its very description that all aspects are somehow poured into the same vessel, that extreme heat is applied and that all these different elements then combine together to become as one element. Certainly there are aspects of this analogy which may be useful to the mind when contemplating the combination of many different elements and the functioning as one, but I would offer perhaps a greater analogy of the country that you are attempting to define in its characteristics. I would refer to this country more as a great and glorious garden. In this analogy I would welcome you to envision that each individual which comes and plants themselves in the overall garden, brings to the garden their distinct flower, even their distinct fruit and each one of these come together to be planted in the same common garden but have still an individual expression to make, their own flower to bloom and grow.

It is the combination of all these flowers and fruits which bring such diversity and at the same time such wholeness to the garden. You see, the idea is not that every individual melt down and become something different than they are, the idea in fact is that every individual grow to be the best flower that they are and to share this glorious accomplishment for all to behold within the context of the total garden. Any garden is considered a splendor when it has vast diversity, when you are able to witness all manner of expressions of bounty contained within the garden. Such a garden is considered glorious when there is great diversity coming together in harmony, the harmony of growing together in one place under one master gardener with the common awareness that they are all part of this fold, that they all desire to be within the garden, they all seek nourishment from the same soil, they all depend upon the same conditions in order to survive and yet each one, every one, will have its unique opportunity for expression to become the grandest flower that they are able under these circumstances.

Many times it occurs within the garden that certain species and types are grouped together and they enjoy the association of each other and banding together to be a vibrant patch within the garden but nevertheless, they are not separate from the garden. They are part of the whole. The gardener enjoys selective planting and there is much in any garden left up to those who would tend it, who would nourish it, who would plan it and put the energy into its execution. The garden of this country is being tended by all those who are watching out for it, who are trying to maintain its stability and yet accommodate its diversity. nWhat a grand and glorious spectacle it is, to witness the unique combination that is the garden of this country.

So I invite you all to see that this country may act as a microcosm for you to observe in contrast to the macrocosm, the entirety of the planet in contrast with this country. It is no less a garden, it is no less one gigantic whole and yet there are diverse crops and many unique and beautiful species which thrive within this garden. Any good gardener will know the value of diversity and of the preservation of that which has come before you, the value of the seeds, the care taken to nurture them. This is what people are so concerned about, about preserving their heritage, their native lands, cultures, languages and dress. They see the value in these ancient seed stocks and keeping the variety alive because it is the state and different and unto itself.

But nevertheless there is this desire to come and plant themselves in the big garden and to bring their variety and their distinction and their difference into the larger picture and this must be embraced by the wise gardener. It is not a threat to the garden that other species are introduced. It is an enhancement of the variety and the overall scope and texture that is present within the garden. This may be a slightly new and different way to view this experiment called America, where there is the desire for a commonness, a uniformity of ideals and purpose, but there is also the great desire to maintain the heirloom type qualities that the distinct and different cultures bring to the garden. Certainly allowances can be made and accommodations can be provided while still maintaining the integrity of the overall garden.

This brings up another analogy, and that is, to the gardener, what is a weed? A weed to one gardener is an unwanted invasive species which threatens to take over and dominate, while to another gardener, that very same weed may be the supply for making tea or wine or other valuable derivatives. So there is lack of uniform agreement on the value and necessity of those different aspects which grow inside the garden but I tell you plainly that one mans weed is another persons herbal remedy and all these are possible to exist side by side if provisions are made and respect for the distinction is maintained. There is value to be derived in all these different perspectives about the relative value of each and every contribution to the garden. These perspectives must be respected but they will be undergoing constant metamorphosis as the expansion of awareness of these differences comes to the protectors of the garden. What once may seen as a threat, may be adopted as a rare virtue, one to be protected and preserved and what once thought as some of the staples to be planted may be weened out in favor of more other righteous plantings.

I hope this new version of the melting pot turned flowering garden may be helpful for perspective in your consideration of the aspects in play around your observations of the accepting of the diversity within the garden as demonstrated by your fellows. I appreciate your bringing this topic for discussion to the table this morning and my opportunity to offer my contribution. I bid you all farewell and your peace be expanded as your days are long, thank you.

Light: [Cathy] I am coming from the position of being in my own group. Your initiative and intention created an entirely new personality, Light. I am an extension of your love and creativity. That was the beginning but I have become so much more through growth. I have been given opportunity for expression of my unique talents. Your efforts have supported me and enhanced my opportunities. I am most affectionately attached to your group and cherish each of you as we grow together. Once again, I encourage you to join with me in the application and enhancement of light, let's play.

Jonathan: [Mark] My friends, it is my pleasure to join you once again this morning, I am Jonathan here again. I am attracted not only by this group but by any discussion of gardening, weeds and flowers. I would like to refer to the fact that I am no stranger to getting down and pulling the weeds out from around those plants which I wish to provide space for, I am thinking in this instance of the distinction between weeds and plants. As a gardener, one knows that plants such as grass will, if allowed, grow and take over every square inch around them and dominate the landscape to the degree that nothing else can really survive.

Therefore it is important if you wish to have diversity, in distinction from this grass, that there be an active measure to curtail this naturally growing element to the degree that other elements may be introduced and even thrive within that environment. It is important that one maintain some rather constant diligence to execute their freewill choice as to what is given priority within their own garden. If left unattended, these naturally occurring elements, these weeds will thrive and choke away most of the diversity that one would introduce.Therefore, one must maintain this attitude of conviction that it is proper and good to monitor and apply intention to removing these naturally occurring elements enough so that others may have a foothold and may take up in these areas you would provide as a garden.

A garden requires the gardener to maintain this perimeter, to supply the nutrients and the water, to keep the wildlife at bay so that these flowers may thrive and these fruits may develop. Without the gardener there is nothing but the raw patch of land which will be consumed by these naturally occurring elements. Therefore it does take some direct intention to create an environment, an environment conducive to diversity, conducive to welcoming different species, different hybrids, different varieties and types and to bring them in much as the life carriers did, to provide them an environment which is conducive to their survival and growth, to maintain this environment and keep back the forces at play which would threaten to overtake.

So I point to the fact, in this analogy, that without the gardeners and without the master gardener, the plan would be threatened by the randomness of what may happen. But with the gardener and those who would provide the effort, the space may be maintained for the expression of something that is nothing more than the freewill expression of the gardener. Those master gardeners who planted the garden of this country had a vision, an idea of providing a place for all to bring their exotic species and plant them in the fertile soil and to be given this opportunity to maintain their area of the garden to fight against the natural incursion of weeds and to thrive where they were planted. That is the design of the original master gardeners who have provided the blueprint for us in this country. Now, it is up to us, each individual gardener, to work to maintain what it is we would have in our plot, what it is we would tend and what it is we would pull to allow for that which we desire to flourish. It is an ongoing and active practice as you know, one season of being untended and a garden may be overrun.

Truly, this scenario and this analogy are one of my fondest remembrances of life as a mortal, this directly kneeling down on the earth and applying your intention through your hands, pulling the weeds, planting the seeds, arranging and deciding what will live and what will die. What you would promote and what you would curtail is a joy of being a mortal of the realm. This very act pervades your entire life experience. What will you leave room for in your internal garden? What will you bring in? What exotic species will you introduce and what weeds that you no longer have use of will you painstakingly go to the trouble of removing to provide room for that which you would nourish and which would build the soil of your soul? This is what your opportunity comes to, each one tending their own garden and together collectively tending this greater garden, this experiment of America.

Closing

It is always a great pleasure and privilege to come and spend time with you, to join in energy signatures and to resonate together to a common theme. I cherish this opportunity provided. I will never tire of exercising it and I count on all of you, my fellow gardeners, to meet me from time to time in this garden of spirit where we will gladly roll up our sleeves and get to work, to get down on our knees and familiarize ourselves with the most basic of elements, that we may make a garden pleasing in our sight and to our Divine Parents. Even as we do now, it is my pleasure to get dirty with you to cultivate the soil and to envision the great and glorious flowering and the splendid fruits which can only be had by such efforts as we will provide.

Accept my love and joy to be with you and I take yours with me. Until the next time we meet in the garden, I bid you all a great day.