[tmtranscripts] Michael 10.25.04 - Presence of Mind: Time

JERRY LANE nytrayn at msn.com
Sun Oct 31 13:17:56 PST 2004


Dear Folks, I hope that my capitalizing all the pronouns referring
directly and exclusively to Michael, Mother Spirit, or God is helpful in
keeping in mind just "Who" they are, and not an intrusion. It seemed a good
idea when I started, so hopefully this intention is worthy of the actual
effect. Jerry (Nytrayn at msn.com)

Michael 10-25-04

Marin TM group

Dear Mother Nebadonia and Michael, We thank You for answering a basic
need of ours by letting us know again and again that there is no limit to
how many times we, in turn, can call upon You for guidance, and just to
share our lives with us. Help us to make the whole realm of spirit real, to
see the effects of what is invisible, to feel in our hearts what our minds
can only intimate, and then to share with our fellows that which is almost
inexpressible. For this we are very grateful to invite You, again, this
evening, to be with us. Amen.

Michael: Good evening, My children. This is Michael. Once again I welcome
you to be in My peace. Let it fill your hearts with an assurance that I am
here. I will never leave you. I will be your companion to the end of your
days here, and then on into the glorious future that awaits each one of you.
This is My promise. It comes from our Father, through your Mother and I,
and it is something that you can know. You asked for Our help to make Our
presence real for you. This, My children, is within your ability, and your
power, and your understanding. It is within all of these that this takes
place.

This knowledge is not affected by temporary doubts or questioning that may
cross your mind. It is larger than these. So never fear to question, never
fear to explore, never fear to test your own knowledge of spirit. For
spirit is beyond all of these and is capable of answering every question you
put to it. Indeed, this is how you know. And so We welcome your questions.
Bring them to Us, your Mother and I, for We delight in answering. We
delight in any contact you offer Us. Now: when events in your lives
threaten to overwhelm you, remember Us then especially. We realize that
this takes a presence of mind, a courage of detachment in the very moment
when you feel threatened or overwhelmed. This can come from your own
strength of character - a strength of your personality that preservers
through anything that may come your way. It is the strength of this
continuity of your own presence of mind that is increased by contact with
Us. It is something that you co-create with Us. It is a major dimension in
which We offer you to grow.

Consider for a moment what this means: presence of mind. This, my children,
is the reality of your Mother. She is the mind in which you think, and
perceive, and are aware of yourself as existing. This is Her! The
persistence of character in the face of overwhelming events is a strength
you build by being open to Her effects, by being aware that She is this
connection between your very essence and everything else that affects you.
She is this connection. And the more you are aware of Her doing this for
you - Her presence the connection itself that you have with everything you
experience, including not only the physical world and the whole realm of
your fellow human beings, but even your own body and your own awareness of
yourself - the more you can feel this pure connection with all of these
aspects of your life, the more you will be able to summon this awareness in
moments of stress or crisis. Then you will have the presence of mind to
call upon the very Creator Daughter of Mind. When these times come, ask
your Mother for help. She is capable of giving you Her viewpoint on the
whole situation. This can be a knowledge beyond any price. But this is
exactly the reality of spirit. This is the value of spirit. How you use it
will always be your choice. But to be able to use it, you must nurture the
reality of it.

There are even times when the farsightedness and the insight of spirit can
take the initiative and warn you of those events which can threaten you, not
only physically and mentally, but also spiritually. The important thing
here is to be open to the message contained in this sudden feeling of
trepidation. Again, this is a presence of mind that you may experience as a
sudden super-abundance of awareness. Be open to this. Welcome this. Do
not seek to merely suppress this kind of fear for its very strangeness. It
is far better to feel and to understand any sudden, sharp, penetrating fear
in order to understand the message it may be carrying.

Give it to Us. Offer a heartfelt prayer for Our help in understanding the
whole situation. What a gift your Mother has in store to offer you, My
children. That which can literally save your lives, is also that which can
enrich your lives, day by day, moment by moment.

Presence of mind - feeling your Mother in all that happens to you - is the
very means by which you experience life itself. Your worship of Her is none
other than this profound thankfulness for all that She does. And this is
something you can absolutely know as you know no other thing. Consider this
a minute or two. Remember those times of crisis in your lives - the very
suddenness of events and what it is to be overwhelmed. We’re talking here
about those situations you cannot possibly foresee. And so we are talking
about an amazing, saving grace.

Can you take some small portion of your life, now, from moment to moment, to
give to Her who provides the very connection to your life? Can you worship
and give thanks that it is possible, it is within your power to acquire this
ability to be aware of Her presence, the presence of mind? Consider this
awhile, my sons, and if you have any questions about this, or anything else
weighing on your hearts this evening, it is always Our delight to answer
you.

Student: Michael, I have two very difficult questions I would like to put
on the table this evening. They are weighing heavy on my mind. The first
question concerns relationship, relations between a man and a woman and a
marriage. I would like to ask: at what point, how does one know when the
dimming of love in a relationship has reached such a point where it is no
longer feasible to continue on with the relationship, especially when
children are involved? I present this very difficult question to you this
evening, Michael.

Michael: R, My son, all decisions are made within a context that gives them
meaning. So, first, I would offer this insight: ask yourself: can I make
this decision? Whether your choice is to separate, or to stay together, do
you have it within your personal power to make this decision? For the
context entails more than the consequences that you can foresee. Is this
not a large part of the difficulty - that you know from the experience of
living, many consequences cannot be foreseen? You are dealing here with
other human beings who have their own relative degree of freedom of choice.

Your own assessment - of your freedom in this situation - is necessary for
you to remind yourself that you do have this freedom. You may be willfully,
yet not always consciously, assuming a certain course of action in order to
keep certain options open, and this entails an amount of worrying and actual
suffering. But this is a valid choice, is it not? You are trying your best
to aim for an optimum future. And you may be paying a certain price to do
this. Only you can decide if this cost is worth it.

The other thing I could offer is: to clarify this optimum future you
envision, and to share this with your partner and your children. Be as open
as possible to the response you receive. Give them the freedom to envision
their own most optimum outcome, for it is in this realm of creative spirit
where you must start. Understand this level, that is, share this level
among yourselves with as much freedom as you can, before you then evaluate
the practicality of each others desires. Does this help you understand the
situation?

Student: Michael, I will take your counsel to heart. It is a very
difficult situation, and You have given me much wisdom tonight in Your
words. It will take some time for it to take root and to truly understand
all that’s involved here. So, I guess, my answer is, yes, it does help.

I have one other difficult question, and this concerns some words that came
from Machiventa Melkezedek some time ago about the shock waves that will hit
this planet. I’ve heard more, recently, from other sources about these
so-called shock waves and tonight, when you spoke of Mother warning us of
danger to come, these came back to mind. So I would like to ask You to
speak about these shock waves, supposedly from Paradise, that are soon to
hit this planet - so I can understand this more fully.

Michael: I think it would help to remember Who is at the center of
Paradise, and what the emanations of our Father are. The shock waves of
Paradise are love, and caring, and support. Keep in mind that, from the
very beginning of humanity – using the definition the text gives you of what
it is to be human - how one afternoon (on Urantia) when a brother and a
sister made a certain quality of decision, this registered instantaneously
on Salvington. (Note: I believe this is many light-years away) Remember
Who it was that came to indwell their minds at that moment, and Who lives in
your mind this moment. Does this answer your question, My son?

Student: I guess the only confusion that still remains, Michael, is why
these emanations would be referred to as shock waves?

Michael: This is an attempt to honestly describe phenomena from a human
point of view. Even on the most basic human level, an unexpected smile - a
genuine smile, from a supposed enemy is very shocking, is it not?

Student: Yes.

Michael: Just so, at times, love and warmth and caring can be very
shocking, and it is just these shocks that make our hearts rejoice. When I
spoke earlier about presence of mind, I was not referring to any
planetary-wide cataclysm, but to your daily life. For if you look around
with your hearts open, you will see your fellows perishing - in agony! - for
lack of this very thing. You don’t have to look for an apocalypse to come,
my children; you are living in the middle of one. Let us thank our Father
these shock waves of love are arriving. And be in My peace. Project it
into others as much as you can.

Student: Yes, Michael. Very soon I will be turning fifty years old, in
December, and there is a strong part of me that wishes to enter into a
different line of work, a vocation or purpose, something that’s more
fulfilling for my soul, for my creative expression. And I feel like I need
guidance into how I can create that and relieve myself, in time, of what I
am doing now - if it is all for my career good as well. Because there are
times when I feel…I wish to pray and meditate and write most of the time,
and to spread Your hope in whatever I do.

Michael: Yes, D, I would suggest a two-fold activity. Keeping in mind that
you are a living being, I will offer a horticultural example here. (Note: D
is a commercial gardener.) Think of yourself as a little shrub reaching for
the sun. You have all those little feelers in your being reaching for
growth, for spiritual substance on the most pragmatic level. This can mean
taking time to sit down and articulate to yourself, write down those things
which appeal to you. In a way this is so simple and seemingly
simple-minded, that it’s difficult. It’s like: why should I make another
list? But you need to have some ongoing record of this quest, some way of
communicating with the D of tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day -
some way of feeling: from where does that glowing sun of desire call to me?
- and then writing this down so you can get to the real work of deciding
what various alternatives mean to you. This is part of the meditation and
stillness you speak of needing.

The other, parallel and concurrent effort you must make is the pruning. Try
to be aware of blank moments in your day. These may be habits associated
with a certain time of day, or of the week, shall we say, like weekends -
times you should give to the spiritual adventure you feel you need to
explore. In other words, how much time and effort are you, I would suggest
the word wasting, though this may be too judgmental for you to hit yourself
with right now. But just moments or times, when you reflect back on them,
you wish you had done something else.

Student: Can you give an example…please?

Michael: No. (Group laughs, including D) This is part of your creativity,
My son. As I said before, the parent can tell the child what to do, but it
is your creativity We wish to nurture. And this is a judgment to make. If
that word sounds too harsh, say evaluate - e-value-ate. You are well
schooled that value is a spiritual assessment.

This is another step forward in the self-honesty that was brought up last
week – a way of being when you have this desire for a more full spiritual
life. Rather than jumping off and pulling up various parts of yourself by
the roots, it is better not to be so melodramatic and just patiently, but
thoroughly, look at your life for those times when you can meditate, rather
than thinking of some future time when you will do this if only…(Pause…) -
then that’s what you fill in.

Student: Kind of like procrastination?

Michael: Exactly. Here again you can ask yourself, and use this as a tool:
I would meditate more if... such and such were not happening. And then what
is the first thing you would exchange? What I’m suggesting is an overall
gradual changing of your life. For most human beings, it’s the small
patient steps, rather than the large melodramatic gestures, that hold.

Student: Yeah, so true.

Michael: But you need a way of saving, of preserving your efforts, a way of
communicating with yourself through time, and you have all of these physical
means of doing this. For most of human history, men and women had no notion
of keeping a journal, let alone a means of doing so. Such a thing can seem
so mundane that you can miss the essential nature of this communicating with
yourself through time.

As you remember several weeks ago, another of your brothers here was asking
the same question: how do I go from a general desire to specific actions?
And the answer is the same. You think about them, then you focus on them,
then you write them down so that this effort today is not lost to you
tomorrow. Can you do this, my son?

Student: I will try. I may do so. I used to do a lot of writing in a
journal, something I kind-of stopped. I did some writing yesterday morning,
and I felt good to do so - just random thoughts, random ideas and things of
what I was feeling. It helped to relieve the pressure and it kind-of made
things more clear, seeing them down on paper. It kinda…and also, this is a
sense of: this is part of who I am. These are my thoughts, my ideas, my
feelings. There was even a sense of relief and release. I will definitely
do so, ‘cause my soul wants to be heard by me.

Michael: Well, it seems you have anticipated My suggestion. I would remind
you to read and reread again your own messages to yourself, just as We have
been counseling you to purely relive moments in your life. In other words,
tap into your own soul to know, to really relive who you were before. So I
would suggest getting out those old journals and having a little visit with
all the D’s that once were. And be in My peace.

Student: Dear Michael, it seems we are all in this journey at a similar
spot in our development. Dr. Phil has a book out on family and the goal in
that book is to put the family first. Along the way of the TV show, he
mentioned that all successful people - he spent many years studying
successful people - had common characteristics - and I have read many books
like that myself - and, of course, one of them is to have a goal So I want
to thank You for Your inspiration, and Nebadonia’s inspiration last week.
It made me realize that my goal is Circle Attainment, which is sometimes a
little nebulous.

But in context with Dr. Phil’s show, and having intermediate goals too, and
of course, President Clinton’s book on meeting long term goals, made me
re-institute my goal for Circle Attainment, and various other projects along
the way. His point was: it’s very easy to make choices when you...when
you…something comes up and you say, “Well, this doesn’t line up with my
goals, so I don’t need that, thank you.” That was very helpful, and also
while we put family first, this idea of Circle Attainment or fusing with
your Thought Adjuster - it’s a goal that can make self-respect, even if one
never has to waver from that. I want to thank You for the priority on that,
and the calmness of my spirit too, You and Nebadonia. Thank You.

Michael: You’re very welcome, My son. This is Our delight: of being able
to share with you, Our children, that which you can really use.

Time is a very complex dimension as most of you think about it. It is
actually many, many more dimensions than you are aware of. How to use these
various possible dimensions is something you will be learning for a long,
long time. You have a saying: time is what you make it. And so it helps to
be conscious of these different uses.

Mother Spirit enables your personality, which is changeless, to connect with
a physical body that operates in a kind of organic time. Linear time, based
originally on day and night, then the phases of the moon, the passing of the
seasons, and only recently, the segmenting of this linear time through the
human invention of ever more precisely regular devices, has given you such a
feeling and awareness of time as a linear dimension that you can now think
in terms of goals, and even calibrate them in terms of size. In other
words, how long it will take to get to a certain goal; and also sequentially
- what goals come before others. You are so used to this you lose sight of,
or you forget, as it were, that this is a creation of yours. Here is where
you need to feel your heart beating, feel yourself breathing, wiggle your
toes, and then marvel, perhaps, at how seldom you need to do this, and how
much you are living in your own invented time. This should bring a great
joy to your hearts, My sons. It’s a marvelous ability you have - to create
these different dimensions of time, and then realize them - literally make
them real. For this is the gossamer web that all those goals are hung upon,
which makes them all possible. For you will get there! - someday. And be
in My peace.

Student: Thank You, Michael.

Student: Thank You, Father, for Yours and Mother’s support and
encouragement. I’m learning, little by little, to turn life over to You for
guidance, and loosen my own grip on life, and I’m experiencing more peace
and faith when things start to work out. And as You mentioned, time doesn’t
seem to work out in my own time frame - that I want it to work out in, but
it does work out. I’m learning to give my own time frame up and let You and
Mother govern the time frame, because You do a better job on this than I do,
obviously. So thank You very much.

Michael: You’re welcome, My son. Tonight I wanted to offer a vision, an
insight, into all the different kinds of time that human society, as a
whole, has both invented and discovered, and remind you of the organic,
living continuum that they are based on. This way you get an appreciation
of both the living continuity of time, and also the extremely precise
measurements of it you all enjoy so casually. I thank you for your growing
trust in Us, My son, and let Me assure you there are many, many, many more
kinds of time to encounter. And be in My peace.

Group: Thank you, Michael.

Michael: My sons, I would ask you to keep tonight’s lesson in your minds in
the coming weeks. It answers the question: how can we be prepared for that
which we cannot foresee? Your trust and your faith in your Mother and
Myself is growing - wonderfully. You are all experiencing how it truly –
works! The question then becomes: how can I remember to call upon You,
Father and Mother? And this is - presence of mind. Good evening.

Group: Good evening





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