1994-02-04-Your Growth Improves

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Topic: Your Growth Improves

Group: Pocatello TeaM

Facilitators

Teacher: Daniel, Larenzo, Tomas

TR: Rutha, Gerdean

Session

Opening

Opening prayer with prayer requests

Daniel: "Greetings, my friends. I am Daniel, your guide and your teacher. I welcome you here as always with open arms and a great sense of accomplishment.

Lesson

Growth

As you can readily witness your growth is ever moving upward, ever spreading out. You are moving in many directions and this movement is all conducive to following the will of the First Source and Center. Whenever one makes a commitment and a desire to follow the Father then there is a growing strength within the human structure. Whenever groups or more unite with this same commitment is there a growing and broadening basis.

And like thought then moves out into broader realms, thus bringing those on the periphery into a state where they are able to witness firsthand, and in witnessing thereby are they able to receive information that they can make better choices in their own lives. And so as individuals, you show strength. As a group you are even more able to change and change thoughts, and can implement much service toward one another.

We have been asked this evening to allow another to speak. And so this day will be of much importance for you, K3. Larenzo will speak. Note that your understanding of this name is not L-o-r-enzo but L-a-r-enzo. One moment please."

Larenzo: "Hello and thank you for this opportunity to come here today and to speak twice in one time span. This is, indeed, an honor for one who has waited for many years to speak. I hope that my speaking will not seem too forceful or enthusiastic. However, my joy this day is overwhelming in that I have, I believe, been able to strengthen a long time friendship with my dear student K3 to whom I send love this evening.

And may I extend that love to the members of this group, all of which I have enjoyed getting to know over the years. And let me report that I have seen tremendous growth and outreaching. The words that were spoken by B3 this evening do attest to my feelings as well, that through groups such as this, sitting down and sharing, there is growing and a great amount of learning that can take place. And this is part of what the Teaching Mission has on the agenda, that all can come together to form groups and friendships that support one another.

Strength, Spirit of Truth

The topic which I have been asked to speak upon this evening is on strength. Strength is that gift given by the Spirit of Truth. This is, as with all gifts, subject to many areas of interpretation and given to many layers of thought. In thinking about strength you can label it and divide it into physical strength of body, the mental strength, the intellectual strength and the spiritual strength. And so, you see, each one of these areas can hold for you various gifts, various attributes which make you a whole personality. Let us look at strengths first on the very finite material level of which you are, that being the physical.

Indeed is it necessary for you as a human being to know strength of body. To be able to move your physical body in time and space requires that you have the muscular strength, skeletal strength, and bodily organ strength to help you maintain this wonderful finite being that you are.

The rules for maintaining strength require that you keep a good balance of exercise and diet, which you are well appraised of. And so we will not stay long on this area.

In moving on to the next area, that of the mental strength, with which I will include the intellect, it is very important that you do not remain in a feeble or weakened state in the intellect. Rather is it asked of you to go through life ever being open to learning and processing new ideas, new information, and gathering to yourself as much knowledge as is possible to help you to grow into your potential and in seeing more first hand the First Source and Center. And so as with the physical you are asked to maintain a balance in your intellect, to continue to grow in this area as well. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity and sitting back and allowing others to learn. Rather take it upon yourself to be a student of life in its many areas.

The next level which I will address is that of the emotional/feeling state that you have. Strength in this area helps you in doing and following through with your desire and commitment to follow the First Source and Center. If you do not have emotional strength and fortitude then you often lack the ability to reach out and to help one another. When you are in a weakened state emotionally your body becomes unbalanced and thought processes become less clear. And therefor, voids are created. And so, it is asked of you to do what you can to maintain a positive higher level of emotional state. This is, of course, subject to electro/chemical fluctuations within your body. If the emotional and electro/chemical state is not in harmony then medical assistance is often required. There is also a greater aid and that is to seek that inner silence and quiet. For often the mental/emotional state is not a permanent state, but rather one of fleeting moments in which events trigger certain feelings. If a feeling of intolerance, for example, is upon you, (this is that attitude that has been spoken to you on several occasions) and if this is the case a moment of silence helps to bring you back into that alignment which will then bring back a more harmonizing effect within the body, and strength will again be quickened. And so strength in the mental apparatus helps you to be more outgoing and to help one another.

And the last area that I will address this evening is that of strength within your divine nature. As you have each been a witness to, this area has grown immensely for you all. For as you have discovered through your study of The Urantia Book, through your study in other areas of religion, science, and philosophy, you have begun and have come to the grand knowledge of the higher Source, the First Source and Center. Once this truth is known then you are able to understand a greater life's purpose and therefor do you catapult yourself into the desire to follow the First Source and Center. How you came to all of this was through that gift known as strength. Strength enough to follow the commitment, and strength enough to follow those promptings from within.

This day I ask you to consider the strength that has been given to you to help you maintain all these areas of existence. And in realizing that strength, that you give thanks and open yourself up stating you desire that you be supported, or you welcome that strength that is needed to support your desire to follow the First Source and Center. You see, without strength you would not be able to build and grow and become. The gift of strength has brought you to the point where you are now. For you have, each and every one of you, that great potential to achieve. Those who do not allow the fruit of the Spirit and the strength that is given to be a part of their lives are unable to make great gains in this earthly existence toward their potential. They fail to see that each experience, even though it requires, courage, fortitude, and strength to walk through that experience; they fail to realize that these experiences help them to grow humanly and divinely. And so as you sit in the stillness this week, allow the strength of the Spirit of Truth to aid you in meeting your higher and higher potential.

And that my friends is my message this evening, to look at the strength you have, realize it, and utilize it in your apostleship, in your sonship and daughtership, in your own human growing. I wish again to thank Daniel and Tomas for giving over this time to me this evening. And I must concur that Daniel and I have in many respects the same patterning of teaching, having gone to the same schools at the same time. We are linked in many ways. And so I again thank you for listening to my words, for allowing me to come into your lives. And to K3 and P4 I say that my conscious presence known to you now will aid you in your own lives. My love to you.

And to all of you, I commend you on your strength. For it has been the strength that you have opened up to that has helped you to accept this Teaching Mission, to accept teachers, to accept the love of the First Source and Center. I have been asked to not answer questions this evening, but will turn this over to Tomas who will now speak. Good evening."

Group: "Good evening, Larenzo."

Tomas: I am Tomas. And I, myself, have enjoyed the lesson, the words, the essence, and the truth presented by Larenzo. And it is refreshing and joyous to hear able teachers present their words to a captive audience such as this. Your eager absorption of the words of the teachers is impressive to us in that it is an indication that you do not believe that you have all the answers that you do not need help. We interpret absorption of these teachings as humility and truly this is so. And the result of your willingness to accept truths from your teachers, be they in the spirit or in the flesh, is a pleasure. Would that this example of you twelve apostles was expanded. And remember that your energies joining together does, indeed, accelerate, stabilize, solidify and propel forward those truths which we attempt to put forth in our teachings. Were it not for your willingness, Correcting Time would remain inert or be allowed to drift forward in leisurely fashion. And although we are not necessarily in a great rush, it is all too evident to those with ears to hear and eyes to see and hearts to feel that there are those who are languishing and are feeling untouched by Spirit reality. The energies put forth in believers such as yourselves strengthens the Correcting Time and the teachers, as well as yourselves and your community. Are there questions?

Dialogue

K3: No question Tomas, just a statement: Thank you. Thank you Daniel and thank you my teacher for being here! Twice in one day for the first time, that's outstanding! I love it! I enjoyed it and I send my love back. And to all those personalities that are in this room, our love again. Thank you.

Tomas: "So noted."

N1: "My question is in response to Larenzo's lesson on strength and the different areas of which he spoke, physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. And I believe that I understand that spiritual is primary. Our spiritual strength can lead to balance in all. And I realize that the goal is to have balance in all areas that were discussed and be open to the strength in all areas. I am aware, I guess, that the physical can effect the emotional and comes first. Is there a hierarchy in which it is good to work on bringing balance in those areas, say spiritual, then physical, intellectual and emotional will follow? As I think of wanting to balance all of those areas I feel a little overwhelmed! What I am asking is, beyond spending time in the quiet and working on spiritual strength, what is the next place to focus? Or maybe my question is missing the point that you have to focus on all at once?"

Tomas: "Your question is best answered by your relationship with your personal teacher since she is well appraised of what area in your growth might be lagging. And you well might be working on an area of strength on one level that needs focusing. And surely you will not be allowed to remain over-focused on one area before circumstances tilt sufficiently that you will be called upon to notice growth and strength in other areas. Trust in the process of ascension, and do not fear any guidance your personal teacher would bring you to as these are all working together. No more are you in danger of becoming severely unbalanced.

All areas of growth are equally important. All realms of strength and growth are balanced in our Father's plan. You do not learn calculus along with the alphabet. Trust your teacher and trust your interpretation of how she leads you into balance. Unified personality, as you know from mota, brings wealth. For the spiritual and the human together makes for a rich life, lacking in nothing, and certainly not weak."

Daniel: "Very well stated my friend and colleague, Tomas. And as this is a time when we have agreed to open formats there will be instances where we can aid in bringing forth a more rounded answer through dual or even triple efforts of teachers. And so as part of this format I have elected, (I meaning Daniel) to add to this already beautifully stated answer by Tomas in stating that, indeed, is it profitable and beneficial and behooves each individual to seek personal guidance regarding their own lives. However, there are times and there are those who are not yet at that place or that desire, yet who know exactly and consciously that guidance. And so my part in this answer will benefit a broader range of individuals.

One must realize that whenever any part of the personality is unbalanced, when any part is fragmented from the whole, that there incurs, then, disequilibrium to that whole. And so does this fragmentation disconnect from the connectedness of all. One must realize that there is this genuine connectedness. And so let us look at the first aspect, that being physical.

If you, for example, do not get enough rest and are deprived of sleep then your physical strength will diminish. There will be a lessening of the strength within your immune system and therefor will you be susceptible to disease and illness. By the same token sleep deprivation brings about disharmony within your mental and emotional capacity, thereby leaving you prone to be high strung, emotional, and not within norms in that regard. Also by that same token when one is deprived of sleep does the intellectual capacity become diminished as well and learning, retaining information, recall of information all suffer as well. Likewise when these areas are out of balance does it become more and more difficult to rely on help from, and to grow in, the spiritual domain.

And so you see how one aspect of your personality being out of balance will bring about a domino effect in the others as well. And so in this example it would then behoove the individual to go to the root of the problem, and that is lack of sleep, which could be caused physically or from emotional problems, etc., so that this sleep problem can be corrected. This is to say, then, that for each individual you must not disconnect yourself. You are a whole individual. When one aspect of your being is strong it will help strengthen the rest. If there is weakness it, likewise, weakens the rest. And so in order to maintain a strength for the whole the individual parts need to be harmonized.

The greatest reservoir of strength is to go into silence asking that what is necessary be made known. To you, the individual, will be given what you need that you can get back in harmony; and allowing, then, that the strength that the Spirit of Truth gives will, in fact, carry your through. Holding on to that faith and that belief will enable you to bring about strength in all areas.

And I thank Larenzo as I thank Tomas that the three of us can help bring into your perspective a broader picture.

N1: "Yes, I thank all three of you as well. That was very timely. Everyone of you added much more to my understanding. I'm deeply appreciative. Thank you."

Tomas: "How are we doing for time and energy, children?"

N1: "I'm doing fine."

K3: "Plenty of time, plenty of energy, plenty of tapes. Can we look forward to this type of interchange..three, maybe four. I am not greedy, but I have invited LinEl to speak to us. Not that I have any influence upon you up there, but..."(laughter).

Daniel: "As you know, K3, with God all things are possible.(laughter) As with the Teaching Mission, many of the actions and happenings were not within our realm of expectation; and things have been wonderfully opened up that much can occur. This seems to be a very suitable format for Tomas and myself. And it helps to broaden the teaching lesson immensely. We will just leave things open and as we have asked you in the past to 'go with the flow', so shall we."

Teaching Mission

B2: "This question is just addressed to anyone. This is Isaac. I have had some thoughts about the Teaching Mission and individual mortals and groups that seem to be having their ups and downs. My question is..would anyone care to characterize the overall picture of the Teaching Mission in terms of your objectives as teachers, and how things are going, kind of a report in general? And if that is not an appropriate request I will be glad to accept a no answer. But I am kind of curious about how you see things from your perspective...the overall Teaching Mission, since we are about three years into it now."

Tomas: "I am Tomas. I have a commentary. As in any endeavor undertaken we are dealing here with mortal men and women. Our overall reaction is that we are extremely pleased by the reception we have received, by the light that is given in those who have become committed to this advanced phase of teaching and learning.

And yet there are, as in any school, a certain percentage of dropouts, which is not to say that when they become adults they may not return to class and get their degree. And I am not inferring that anyone becomes a graduate in this ascension plan, certainly not at this point. However, in terms of mortals -- it is not uncommon, unlikely, nor unexpected that there will be some shifting and shuffling. And this is not discouraging to us. We have seen how the Mission -- the interaction among mortals and supernals, the subsequent action between believers and active, committed apostles -- has benefited. Some have only to reconsider. And some have deep work to do before knowing how to accept not just the teachers, but their fellow religionists. For under all you are mere mortals; and overall our Father prevails. And therefore it is believed that Correcting Time is by and large progressing on schedule. And we are not displeased with its reception and its effect."

B2: "Thank you Tomas. That was very complete. And I think my mortal feelings on the subject are in complete agreement with yours. I know that mere numbers of people is not an adequate measure of growth because that is too superficial a judgment. So I thank you for answering my question and I don't need any further elaboration."

Ability

J2: "Teachers, this is J2. I am happy to be here. I really enjoyed Larenzo's lesson on strength. I have a question on that. Of the three levels, the physical, the mental/intellectual and the spiritual he talked about how we have strength. The example he gave was, let me recall...I understand that initially when we are born we have endowments in these areas. Some individuals are born with great strength. Others unfortunately have physical problems. The same thing in intellectual capacities and spiritual receptivity. The example you gave that whatever we are given we can do things, like, for example, the correct amount of sleep or exercise and diet as we have heard in other lessons; we have responsibility and can do these things here. Now the Teaching Mission has really helped us awaken spiritually and to be able to grow there. So one of my questions is can we be opening up with our initial receptivity in the spiritual realm; that by doing the Father's will we can expand on that? And the Teaching Mission has provided spiritual healings for those of us who have physical problems we were born with.. which can be corrected in some cases or pushed aside to allow us to advance more into the intellectual or spiritual realms. My question is, are there possibilities of enhancing our intellectual and spiritual receptivities beyond what we were inherently born with?"

Daniel: "As mortals you have a finite body and are given the mind and capacity for certain growth potentials. As spiritual beings you are not limited in that as you incur growth and as you progress you add to that reservoir of spiritual knowledge and spiritual wisdom. And this cannot have limits placed upon it. Much of what you incur during this lifetime spiritually is not within your understanding as such. Your question as to whether you can increase your mental capacity..you can indeed grow and clearly become more knowledgeable regarding the workings of the material realm. And barring any mishaps physically, mentally, emotionally or socially, barring any mishaps to these areas, to your electro/chemical makeup, you can continue to learn and grow. It is true that the mental capacity for many individuals is greatly enhanced, to others more diminished. If, however, each individual would grow to the limit of their capability and potential there would be a tremendous change on this planet! So do not concern yourself with wanting more, rather concern yourself with reaching what you are already capable of. At this point in time the only person who has walked this plane and has reached that state was Christ Michael. You all have great reservoirs that yet need to be filled. And so concentrate on this, my friends.

Closing

I will bring now this meeting to its conclusion challenging you all to do your situps and pullups, to eat correctly, to read more extensively, to create a feeling, an attitude of more positiveness, to sit with the First Source and Center and the Indwelling Spirit in time of contemplation and adoration. In doing these will you find strength in body, mind and Spirit. And through that strength will you be able, then, to better serve the First Source and Center. My love and peace go with each of you. Larenzo sends his love. And Tomas, you may likewise give your farewell words."

Tomas: "My closing remarks include only that, perhaps, in the area of mental/emotional; an exercise you will, also, somehow on a consistent basis attempt and succeed in is; letting some stranger know that he is real by acknowledging his Indwelling Spirit in such a way as that individual is truly acknowledged. In lieu of that challenge let someone know they are loved, for love is contagious. And our benign virus can use a boost. My thanks for your kind attention this evening to our words and I look forward to our next encounter. Farewell."