From: "Angus Bowen" <angoose@juno.com>
To: <lightenlife@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [lightenlife] Rio Rancho NM TeaM (5/23/04)
Date: Monday, May 24, 2004 11:10 PM

DATE: May 23, 2004
LOCATION: Rio Rancho, NM TeaM
TEACHERS: TOMAS & ANATOLIA
TOPICS: Acceptance is the Key
This World Matters
T/Rs: Gerdean and Matthew
Music: Elena on Piano: "Oh, Master, Let Me Walk With Thee"
Prayer: Matthew: Let us place ourselves in the presence of Jesus, the
Christ.

Master Teacher,

We come to you today as we are glad to be together again after just one
week that seems like a month between our Sunday meetings, and are happy
to be together once again to hear the formal word from those who are
without body but are fully with mind and grace and soul. For that
reminder of what we are on a weekly basis, if not more often, we are
grateful, for you gave a truly splendid example of what that is all about
in your ministry and in your teachings and in your living. For it was as
I would put it not preaching but simply living the word that was the
demonstration to us all that will live for all time and beyond.

In our admiration, service, and devotion to you and the Heavenly Presence
that is before us within our beings and before us in eternal avenue
toward All that is, we are grateful. For the concerns within each of our
hearts and minds that you know, may they be placed on the altar before
Our Father for transformation or transmutation to be brought to fruition,
as you know our desires. For all else, we are asking for your continued
encouragement of our respective and collective journeys and we place our
faith in you always. Amen.

TOMAS: Good afternoon, my friends, I am Tomas, one of your Teachers.
Anatolia and I are again happy to be in your presence and to be in the
configuration established before and in the format of long-standing. This
is indeed our shining hour, as we again are about the Father’s business
in enabling, encouraging, enhancing and entertaining you to be about the
Father’s business as well.

When we ask the Master if we might walk with him a while, it brings joy
to his countenance, inasmuch as it is your conscious choice to walk with
him and to supplicate his blessing. Always is he with you, but not always
is he acknowledged, and it behooves you to conjoin yourself with him
since it is often his theme to put your mind at ease as to those things
which cause you such concern and worry.

What he might say to you instead of "fear not" is "have not worry," "be
of good cheer," and "peace be upon you." But it is understood that in the
life you life, the current global condition, the tumult of the times, and
with the awakening which you have begun, you see how much work there is
to do and you fret about how to go about making it happen as quickly as
possible, so that others might enjoy this peace which passes all
understanding. But in your attempts to make it so, often you stir the
waters only to make them muddy and not to make them more enticing.

What a skill it is to educate, enable and entertain on behalf of truth,
beauty and goodness! I am, myself, often called into consultation with my
peers and my supervisors to dissect my methodology in such a way as to be
better apprised of how I go about my work. There are those who would
think that if I were to allow myself the liberty of letting God do
everything, I would not find myself in the way. I would thus teach
flawlessly. However, it is not the Father’s way to do everything for you,
but rather through you. In this way you participate, as I participate,
and in this way we all learn.

But there will be nothing learned unless and until it is understood the
present paradigm. One must first accept what is before one can hope to
make any changes. Much of material life is spent resisting, struggling
against, denying or upbraiding that which it finds unacceptable, and this
serves no useful purpose. It is stirring up the waters, making them
muddy. It may make that person feel better in venting his or her
frustration for a moment but has it fully addressed the situation? Or has
it merely been an emotional response to what is?

Emotional responses may catch your attention but you cannot leave it in
the emotional realm and expect there to be fruitful results. For the
wisdom of the ways of the higher path, the better pattern of creation
must become a part of the perspective. Otherwise, you are like the
hamster in the cage on the treadmill, amusing yourself your entire
lifetime, seeming to go a long distance, but truly staying in one spot
spinning your wheel.

Again, I repeat: to walk with Jesus is to not worry. The perspective he
provides removes that burden from your shoulder. No longer are you
weighted under that debilitating mass of concern, scrambling in your
frustration and despair over the imperfection of how it seems. He lifts
you up; he sets you aright and encourages you to see with the vision that
allows the perspective that gains you the insight that encourages your
forbearance into the challenging situations of life in an evolving world.

This is not to suggest you have no concern for the world in which you
live or that which you behold, but it is to help you keep in perspective
that up-swelling of emotional response to the conditions of the world. It
is humbling, indeed, for you to recognize your limitations, and to know
that alone it is impossible for you to change the world from its current
course of action to the one you might prefer, even to the one the Master
might prefer. It is, indeed, humbling to recognize that only you are
subject to your will; others are not required to feel as you do or
believe as you do.

This is part of the complexity of "unity in diversity." But the key to
accomplishing something as a community or a society or a group of
like-minded believers is to accept each other just as Jesus accepts each
of you when you say "Gentle Jesus, let me walk with you for a while." He
will embrace you, uplift you comfort and console you, revitalize you with
his untiring energy, and bring relief and good cheer to your soul.
Releasing your worries to him, his burden is light, the burden is easy.

The emotions of the human condition often serve to be a stumbling block
to the perspective that will bring solutions, not only for your own
perspective but for the perspective shared by others, even while each of
you may be entirely unique in your approach. In this way, the values of
truth, beauty and goodness are given an opportunity to prevail even while
the particularities or peculiarities of the solution may not be exactly
in keeping with your preferred method.

I hear the word "compromise" coming to your minds. And many of you are
unwilling to compromise, who feel that when it comes to value, what you
value, is the same as your value, and that anything less than 100%
acceptance is a rejection of your uniqueness – even your God! This stance
alienates and separates. It is a defensive stance. And is not accepting
the differences inherent in you each. None of you are 100% alike. None of
you share the same spiritual experience.

The fact that you are able to agree on so much of a spiritual nature
makes it a phenomenon. How we love to have others agree with us, so that
we can feel like we are experiencing a phenomenon, when it is far more
realistic to understand that our differences, our uniqueness in
perspective, is the cherished privilege of those who trust the Father as
Jesus trusted the Father when he was here and when he would go aside and
ask the Father if he could have a little time alone with Him.

Take time in your stillness to inculcate the Father, to ask the Master if
you can walk with him, for he is perhaps the most understandable
representation of God to you because he lived a mortal life as you do,
and he dealt with all the things that you deal with. Maybe not in quite
the same way, but essentially the same realities, and he sought the same
results.

Acceptance is the key. For once you have accepted what is, you have
accepted the joy of knowing who you are in the scheme of things. And from
that vantage point, you are in a good position then to know how you might
affect, educate, enhance, enlist, enable and entertain the other elements
of the human race. In the smallness is where you know your greatness and
the greatest among you must be the server of all.

This seed has been planted in your deep mind and will bear fruit. Thus I
conclude my lesson for the day, and in patience of God’s will unfolding,
await Anatolia’s words for you this afternoon.

ANATOLIA: Welcome, friends and comrades in arms.

Mine is not an anti-war message, but is a message of perspective for
where you live and breathe and have your being. I use the word "comrade"
in loose terms but not in terms of its contrary meaning, for truly,
comradeship is what our joint or unifying factor has at its root, for we
are all in this together. Some places are under severe conditions and
others are more pleasant, yet have some factor that lends itself to an
inhospitable environment.

I encourage you to become aware of your environment, both physical and
spiritual, for with what your world is currently entertaining, you may
not find it worth watching, yet it is very real and will need to be
watched and dealt with at some level within your hearts and minds and to
be aware that things can get out of control rather rapidly when one is
playing with fire. This is something that you may not have great control
over; nevertheless, you have ultimate control over your reaction to it.

I can only invite you to consider that if the worst happened to you, or
you happened to be in one of the countries that is facing extreme
deprivation or conditions which threaten your daily existence, you would
be forced to consider what your role is in the divine plan and to be
willing to accept the fate of your physical being under those conditions.
I invite you to join with your comrades in arms, those with whom you
share the planet, to become more at one with them in solidarity, if you
will, for the plight that they are experiencing. For it is truly the
nature of life, both here and elsewhere, that so long as one lives, there
is evidence that life has meaning, value and purpose.

This is the heart of my lesson for today, to invite you to share the
concern for those who would appear to be victims to desire for either
their land, their air, or their oil, and to be more aware that the
individuals that inhabit the land are truly your brothers and your
sisters. Even the enemy that would be considered the enemy are without
land, without identity, and without accountability for what havoc they
may raise. It is not that they are to be discarded in the picture of
comradeship; rather, they are lost sheep that have wandered far from the
flock.

One cannot nor should not condemn those who are astray, but rather to
blend your consciousness with that of your Universal Mother and Father to
enable you to have a sense of forgiveness and inclusion for those who
would otherwise be considered infidels. Even though one may hold you at
knife’s end in demand of something of your attention or allegiance, even
this would not be enough to sever your connection with that one or other
individuals that/who have gone astray will nevertheless be part of you
and you of them for eternity.

For the Master has not chosen to make some eligible for life eternal and
others not, to have selected the bad fruit from the good from the very
beginning. But rather, all that have life have the value of such life at
their very Core; despite their actions, they are part of you as you are
part of them. I only encourage you to gain a perspective that while you
may consider your lives depend upon identifying an enemy, I assure you
that in reality, there are not enemies. Bring your hearts and your minds
to the forefront of what is happening in your world. Whether it be middle
east or the far east or the southern portion of your planet, be mindful
of what your world is facing together, and what transitions and attitudes
toward hearts and minds must be felt and appreciated for this planet to
survive as a means of grace-bearing presence in a world of matter.

This world matters, and it is for you to incorporate and to inculcate a
sense of unity among all races and all peoples. This is something that,
by your adoption, may not change reality as you know it; nevertheless,
you yourself will be closer to acceptance of the truth of why there are
differences yet unity in your purpose, for everyone has the same purpose,
but countless ways in which to express it, and that is the purpose of
being true to yourselves and to your Creator, to bring about a better
world, and to occupy the space that if God could occupy, would be a
better world.

I leave you with this message to encourage you to accept the world
citizenship that you have by virtue of your presence on this planet, and
to aid in your acceptance but non-acquiescence to what is happening in
your world. Accept the unity of humanity and pray that the adoption of a
unified world hastens in its presence in your world. For this I encourage
you to consider for this coming week and thereafter, an attitude which
may be more inclusive and that can change your attitudes – both in the
every day behavior and practices that you may choose from henceforth.

Be good stewards of the place in which you live, both individually and
collectively. Know that what you do makes a difference. You can plant a
flower. In so doing you have changed that place which, prior to your
action, had been bare and free of beauty expression. This is a small
example of what power and ability you do have. May your actions, desires
and wills create only good that is shared by all you encounter. I
encourage you to look forward to a beneficial week and look forward to
our time together next week and thereafter. Peace be with you.

Group: Thank you.

TOMAS: Tomas returning to acknowledge the counsel of Anatolia that
acceptance is not the same as acquiescence. And to thank you for your
bearing with us as we have burdened you today with ponderous concepts
which will fertilize your growth and create in you good fruit. What
manner of matters do you bring to us today in terms of your joyous
personages? You were light and carefree when we first came together,
laughing and reminiscing of happier times, enjoying the ministry of the
reversion directors. The full spectrum of life is upon you and upon us,
for which we are glad. Will we find discussions therein? The floor is
open.

Elena: Well, part of the discussion that I got was very beneficial to me,
because this week I found it extremely hard to be anything but just
totally being either repulsed or despairing about things and so your –
what you said today, Tomas, was very helpful to me, and I could apply it
in any measure, actually, even if – like, to Barney, or the way I look at
the prison situation over in Iraq, or whatever, so I personally found it
very helpful.

TOMAS: It is due to the Master’s comforting presence that you were able
to accede to these words of wisdom, for the unrighteousness of many
situations is indeed apparent. However, it is in the manner in which you
deal with these emotional responses to such a life on such a planet that
will constitute your effectiveness in being about the Father’s business
in and on your path therein.

Thus, we encourage you to pause throughout the course of the day to take
counsel with that personality and presence of Divinity, which will put
things in perspective for you. Not so that you will be pacified, but that
your perceptions will be clarified, such that you can deal with them
intelligently, and not muddy the waters by reacting emotionally – which
is, of course, the standard and common response.

Good. Anything else?

Esmeralda: I think that we are all grateful for the presence of the
celestial beings that bother our Master Teacher. If it were not for these
things, I think our emotions might run away with us, because this is
extremely trying and frustrating, and at times almost enraging time. It
seems that there is so many things that are not right at this time, and
that our country is in ill-favor, and that so many people and countries
hate us, so the thing that we have to have to keep us going, I think, is
the presence of all that we have around us, our good friends and
celestial beings around us.

TOMAS: It would behoove you to have a universe perspective as well, on
this Correcting Time, this opportunity to turn Urantia inside out,
bringing it back into the fold, as it were. It is this point of view that
enables you to see that the sins of your forefathers (not your immediate
forefathers but your planetary forefathers) have to be corrected in order
for your world to begin its sojourn into the light as you yourselves have
been turned around and brought into the light.

This is, in many ways, a birthing taking place, and yet nothing will be
born from these labor pains if the Spirit of Truth is not conceived in
the minds of the men and women who embroil themselves in such upsets.
While it is a phenomenon for anyone to have the exact understanding of
another’s spiritual experience, it is certainly appropriate, perhaps,
that the essence of the act can be appreciated.

Just as Anatolia addressed the fact that those who you may regard as
"foreigners" are not really foreigners at all, but are your fellows in
the flesh and potentially in the spirit. They have feelings like you do
-- emotions -- all the human characteristics of love, loyalty, lust and
loathing. They are not different, but similar.

This is a way of opening up your limited point of view from an American
to a Planetarian. The entire planet is in the spotlight, not simply a
handful of nations. And although America seems to be making the greatest
splash currently, that is a part of this nation’s "personality". As a
young country, it is garish, adolescent, emotional, dramatic. That does
not make it better or worse; it is merely national character being
revealed.

As Anatolia also said, some of these "foreigners" have not got a country,
have not got a culture! Have no way to be colorful and daring-do as you
are here in this country. Even while there are some countries which are
quite settled, even dormant, who find this all "much ado about nothing."
The planetary condition is insurgent, turning inside out, and will
continue to go through this cycle like the hamster on his treadmill until
such time as the desire for peace and stability outweighs the need to
react and upset.

The Native American leader (Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce) who said "I
will fight no more forever!" was not always a pacifist, but he became
wise as a result of seeing so many of his fellows massacred as a result,
perhaps, of so much daring. In the spirit of my theme for the day,
acceptance might serve everyone better, but at this point in your
development, as a race of people a global race of people, it is not
possible to ascertain or guarantee how docile or wizened any one of you
have become.

There is still a great deal of the Caligastia legacy alive and well that
has not yet died out, that is still disturbing and destroying. This
perspective may help you see the reason for many of these changes, or if
not the reason, the impetus behind such outworkings. "My God versus your
God" is an old, old story, an old battle that has been fought for many
centuries.

The living God has yet to draw all His children to him, such that they
say, "May I walk with you for a while?" and in walking with the light of
truth for awhile, they may see they have lost their taste for war. They
have outgrown their desire to possess and overpower. They may perhaps
say, "I will fight no more forever." And when that day comes, we will
have turned the corner. We will have indeed witnessed the legacy of
destruction pass and the inheritance of divinity overtake us.

This is the fight worth fighting, the point of reference for comrades.
This is where we work together toward that end that will be the
beginning. The Alpha and the Omega is with us. He walks with us even when
we are unable or unwilling to know he is. The knowing of his presence,
the willingness to walk with him, allows the human consciousness to rest
in those heavenly arms, to give up the burden, the yoke, for the master
to carry. For it is his world, his shrine, his universe, in fact. We are
his children, his creations. He is a divine son, and the divine will will
prevail.

When, in times to come, you visit the archives On High, you will have the
opportunity to look back at the development of your world through the
records, and you will be fascinated to find where you live and when, what
the times were from the universal perspective. You will be awed and
appreciative that you have been brought through it, that you have indeed
found as much joy, adventure and discovery as you have found even before
we came to assist, for you are a remarkable people, a wonderful creation,
a resilient species -- agondonters, all -- having discovered the reward
of "the Kingdom of Heaven is within you" and that the faith that leads
you forward is real, even though it is not something you see every day.

Paula: You know, what I was thinking, just the other day, about those men
of ours in the United States uniform who have brought disgrace to our
country over there in Iraq. I think they should be punished severely and
then given a dishonorable discharge so that they can never benefit from
any of the rewards of the men who have served their country, because what
they have done is brought disgrace to our country all over the world, and
there’s no excuse for any of them, none whatever.

TOMAS: You are not surprised to discover you are not alone in your
opinion.

Paula: I’m sure.

TOMAS: However, I am not here to discuss the particulars of your
planetary condition; I am here to encourage your soul growth, your
relationship with your Indwelling God Fragment and the birth of a new
epoch of truth beauty and goodness.

Let us party, children. I am going to withdraw, for I have brought a pall
of seriousness; or perhaps you brought it with you and I addressed it.
But I encourage you to lighten up, to love the day, to love each other
and bask in the goodness that is within you each, the celebration that
you exemplify in being here today and in being ambassadors of the God we
adore. Relish your differences and appreciate the moments of seeming
phenomenon when you are all cosmically enjoined in sympathy, in
compassion, in humor or in truth.

We are very proud of your efforts and love you very deeply and look
forward to our extra Sunday next week to see what delights and surprises
will be forthcoming.

Amen. Farewell.