2023-08-24-Personal Freedom and Creativity

Session

Opening

Dear Michael and Mother Spirit: Good evening, and a definite welcome from our group here in your presence. We always welcome acknowledging you, whenever we choose to do so. It is amazing to think of such enormously powerful, high eternal dear friends who are so patient with us. You so rarely forcibly intrude into our lives. You wait with anticipation for our greetings to you.

You invite us--any time it occurs to us in our own human sphere--to acknowledge the higher spiritual realms all around us. You let us know we are immersed in cosmic spirit dimensions originating from God the Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit of Paradise whose consciousnesses inhabit all of time and space. We are also in the territories and presences of our own Master Spirit of Paradise, the Ancients of Days of our own Super Universe, plus the heads of the Major and Minor sectors—all, coming down to you two, our Local Universe parents.

Our wonderful Urantia Book talks about how we have an expanding awareness of these spirits to look forward to in our life to come. Slowly, dimension by dimension, we gain the ability to directly register these greater spiritual presences already surrounding us.

So, Michael and Mother Spirit, we thank the two of you for already being near and available to us. You’re such good company as we go through these lives of ours with all their ups and downs. You help us meet each new day. Thank you. Amen.

Lesson

Michael: Good evening, dear ones; this is Michael. I second your acknowledgement of all the spiritual beings above us within whose consciousnesses we live. They are not only the Holy Trinity, but even others such as your own guardian angels with whom you are sharing your lives. Spiritual beings are a great part of the creation, from the highest Sons all the way down to us. Once this gigantic reality was put in motion, it’s been sustained moment-by-moment by the power of these higher Spiritual Beings whose greatest joy is within their power to just: let us be.

(Personal freedom and creativity)

They do their best to ensure your individual freedoms by enhancing your ability to choose, moment-to-moment. As your wonderful Urantia Book puts it, an intrinsic part of personality, right from God, is the ability to distinguish the good, the true, and the beautiful. Hopefully this ability grows as you live and gain experience in your God-fostered souls, to not only know the good, and choose it, but even live by it in all self-honesty. As you succeed, or--at times--stumble and fail, keep your inner honesty and integrity, that oneness within yourselves, with all the spiritual help they give you.

My dear ones, the whole spiritual community is doing their best to foster your own sense of freedom and abilities to choose, not only for your own life but also--by extension—for all your loved ones so near and dear to you. This way you personally help the society in which you live by being an example of a truth-seeker; for it is the truth that sets everyone free. Become someone who delights in exploring, with an open mind, all the thousand-and one-personal, social, and even political choices to be made, based on your own thorough research.

I emphasize, as does Mother Spirit, all the spiritual beings above the two of us--and you--who delight in what freedom we can exercise. This is their purpose, and a large degree of their intrinsic divinity, for this is the spiritual way. Always keep in mind: The greatest synonym of “spiritual” is “creative.” Personal spirit is that reality in creation that is not wholly dependent upon what came before. It stands in contra-distinction to physical reality which follows God’s absolute cause-and-effect, as there is no physical effect whatsoever without a universally sufficient physical cause. But the spirit of a living, unique personality is its own sufficient cause. Personal creativity in where God shares this essence, this ultimate power of his, with every personality he creates.

(How creative are you—moment-to-moment?)

Creativity is the ability to introduce something new and personal into the ongoing stream of time and space. Individual freedom depends upon it--to the degree each individual can realize and rise above the moment-to-moment situation as it is given to them. How creative are you being moment-to-moment? Or how much are you being determined by not only your own individual past, but by the past of those surrounding you? This is especially true of your loved ones you care so much for, and are so open to their situations too.

Your freedom of choice is a living ability to determine what is happening to you moment by moment. You can look around and realize the good--and even the not-so-good--within your human realm.

This is how the universe was set up. You have much to look forward to learning what your curiosity leads you to understand and get mastery over. You can have genuine accomplishments now, nothing so precious because they are real. You can achieve some genuine accomplishment as you go through your days, and make things different for the better. You might say this is your real work, with a reward right within itself for your enthusiasm. Real accomplishment is the wonderful feedback that gives you energy, even as you expend it. This is the delight you find in being actively alive.

(Responding to criminal activity)

This is why during the last lesson, on being asked, Mother Spirit addressed the human situation of deliberate criminal activity, when someone harms another physically, or materially, or mentally with fear. Like any other injury, it takes time and good faith to heal for, In addition to any material or physical harm, there is the psychological trauma, the impact and hurt to be healed. This impacts the profound mental and spiritual part of life, of meaning and value. How do you regain the meaning and value of your life after it has been deliberately attacked? How do you create your way out of this uniquely personal situation? As Mother Spirit correctly suggested, this is where you use the great inner power you’ve developed through meditation, being intensely aware of the gift of life itself from God.

Recently on a noble and worthwhile program to gain benefits for your Wounded Warriors, a once severely injured soldier mentioned that in the first moments of being grievously wounded, he focused on a powerful meditation that came to him, saying, “I concentrated on my breathing, saying to myself, ‘If I can just keep breathing, I’ll make it home to my wife.’”

(Practicing being still--highly consciously)

This power is what you keep in your hip pocket always with you. You practice it regularly. It’s the meditation Mother Spirit and I have introduced so often--known to all religions and spiritual exercises—of just keeping still and conscious, moment-to-moment, of being alive. Feel yourself breathing. Feel your heart beating. Know this ultimate treasure of life itself that cannot—ultimately--be taken from you. As Mother Spirit and I, and all your great spiritual teachers have reassured you, life is yours forever if you choose. This is your ultimate choice, your ultimate freedom . This is why you keep stillness meditation in reserve, especially for times of stress when you are on the edge of panic and losing control. Just be still, for it might take a while to calm down in the midst of a terrible situation. But if the situation does not require an immediate physical response, be still and keep track of your breathing and feeling alive. This you can cling to. It is the one thing that cannot be taken away from you so long as you are conscious. It is a way of thanking our Father for your life.

(Regaining your soul and the present moment)

You’ll need to regain this life of yours by coming back to the unique personal being that you are, with a soul of infinite value. These are your living experiences, counter-parted by an individual spirit of God who is also part of you, part of your soul. Regain your spiritual record, and yet not be bound by it; but be free. Have all you have done and experienced present, and still--if necessary—focus on the living moment--the Eternal Now we speak of, in which you are living. Having lost it in pain or panic, come back to yourself and to God--consciously. This great triumph can be yours when you need it most severely.

So please, my dears, take this treasure to heart. Meditate and let it give you heart. This is an genuine accomplishment, this staying here-and-now no matter what. No matter how delightful and glorious, or frightening and painful, be able to stay here-and-now and feel your next breath. Purely feel and appreciate this human life you already have, before you go on to the next. This is a supreme triumph, and it is your last and greatest refuge if need be. So respect and treasure this living moment of yours. Be totally aware of it from time to time.

(Occasionally let everything go outside the Eternal Now)

Occasionally let all your past go; and even your plans for tomorrow, and next week, and month, and the rest of your life. For you must plan as best you can. This too is part of your real work--to give some consideration for the future. Your anticipations and foresight are further aspects of your freedom. But even this needs to be relaxed from time to time. Just as your dear old sun regularly comes up every morning, yet there is still in each new day something that has never happened before--coming from God’s creativity and the way that he set things up. There is something profound not repeating itself, but unique in every personal ongoing moment.

(Your most fundamental and profound worship)

The way God’s uniformly continuing reality supports unique happenstance is all part of his great living creativity. Meditate on it from time to time. Think about things. Decide what has the greatest value in your life. Practice just being alive and thankful for it. This is the most fundamental and profound worship you can offer our Father. Now if you have any questions or comments, they are part of Mother Spirit’s and my delight in these conversations we have.

(Long pause)

Closing

If there are no comments or questions, let me bid you a fond Good Evening, my dear ones. Mother Spirit sends you her love, and I bid you: Be in my peace. Good night.