[tmtranscripts] Olfana on "The Joy of Service"

[Susan Kimsey]

Hi everyone,

This is a lesson on "The Joy of Service" that Olfana gave us at this
year's Greater Bay Area Urantia/TM Christmas party.  I hope you find
that it inspires you in your own service efforts.

Love,  Susan
_______________________________________

Olfana on "The Joy of Service"      12/18/99

Greetings to all of you in this room.  (Smiling)  This is a joyous
season.  Let the bells ring out!  Let our hearts rise in celebration
of the love and energy now coming to redeem this world.  The Redeemer
came as a small, vulnerable, babe, many, many years ago.  But, his
energy bathes this planet, now.  We are to be reborn!  We are to be
regenerated in ourselves.  We are blessed in this process, and it is
most appropriate to celebrate a holiday that recognizes this Godly
Love that has blessed this world.  I am the Teacher, Olfana, and I
want you to know how dear you are to me, how much I feel connected
with all of you, now.  You are my hands and feet, my workers in this
world, just as I am a worker for the Great One, Christ Michael.  We
all serve together now, my dear children, and in this we can also
experience much joy.

There is a goodness that runs through your soul--when you reach out in
service to the world, when you rise to a higher calling that touches
your heart, enlightens your mind, and fills you with an energy of
motivation to do good, to seek out the needs of others in this world,
and offer assistance.  Let us all, for a moment, just in our own minds
and hearts, contemplate the service provided to this world by Christ
Michael.  (Pause)  Think of all the moments of love, patience,
courage, and rejuvenation, that he provided to all who heard his
words, felt his touch, experienced his presence.  This understanding
can fill your hearts, now.  This is the message of the Urantia Book,
most certainly--that you are to be a part of this experience of the
Creator Son coming to this world, also.  We all benefit from an
understanding of this great and ennobling story of the ministry done
by our Creator Son for this world.  Let yourselves feel the love he
has bestowed upon us.  It is not lightly that they refer to him as
"The Bestowal Son."  The bestowal of his love and nurturing care was
as a magical balm which instantly healed, and cleansed, and
rejuvenated, so much of what was sick, and dying, and tattered, in
this world.

How can you now enter into an expression of service which holds the
Master's model in your heart?  First of all, my dear ones, offer your
efforts in love, with love guiding you, with tenderness in your heart
toward all those you reach toward.  Recognize their humanity.
Recognize their nobility.  Recognize the soul power within each person
that you choose to work with.  See them as, indeed, the Blessed
Children of God, also, and feel this in your own mind and heart.  When
we offer service to the world with this attitude, we are, indeed,
noble beings.  We are filled with the Power of God energizing us, and
guiding us in our work.  There is no higher service, my dear ones,
than to make these efforts with this empowering you--this guidance,
this love filling you, as you reach out to others in the world.

There will always be opportunities placed in your path for such
service, my dear ones.  It is not necessary that you respond each and
every time that, perhaps, you feel your heart stirred.  It is quite a
bit to take on in this world, I recognize, with all the needs there
are to be filled.  Not everyone can contribute effort, or money, or
support, to every cause they hear of, or they wish to see succeed.  So
in this sense, calm yourselves.  Do not in any way feel yourselves
pushed in some frenetic fashion to, indeed, "save the world."
Instead, walk with joy on this path of service.  Realize that each one
of these moments of service is like a beautiful garden, and it is not
necessary that you smell and admire each flower, individually.
Sometimes it is enough to merely express regard and appreciation for
all the beauty that you see on this embankment, in this setting,
surrounding this lovely pond.  "All these flowers are marvelous, and I
so appreciate them."  This is, indeed, the same attitude you can have
toward opportunities of service.  Bless them.  Send them your love.
Send them your hopes.  And then, if indeed it is not appropriate for
you at that moment to stop and give specific assistance, it is fine to
move on.

God will be filling up your days with opportunities where you can
express the noble intentions of a Child of God.  And so, in this way,
my dear ones, think of this life, on this planet now, as indeed a walk
through "the garden of service."  There are many beautiful
opportunities in which to feel your soul glow, filled with the
Gratitude of God that you have something to offer to others, that you
are blessed in such a way that you can share of yourself, share of
your bounty, share of your own material possessions, or efforts, and
gifts, in this world.

And so, my dear ones, this is why we speak of "the joy of service."
Move through the episodes of your life recognizing that the joy of
service is this golden glow that can, indeed, touch all your days.
And, in that way, you will do God proud!  And therefore, as you
continue to experience this wonderful holiday, take a moment, as you
toast the moment, as you sing the songs of Christmas, as you hug your
friends and dear ones, as you open the beautifully wrapped gifts and
see the lovely surprises inside, in all these moments, think again of
Christ Michael, and the way in which his life here was, indeed, this
gift of bounty, and service, and appreciation for all of his creation.
And celebrate with Christ Michael, now, in this Christmas time.  Thank
you, my dear ones, for your attention to this lesson.

Half Moon Bay, CA Teaching Mission Group